Comparison of the Large Eddy Simulation of a Turbulent Subsonic Dimethyl Ether Flame with Experimental Data

Abstract

Recent improvements in combustion measurement techniques have made it possible to gather data from turbulent flames produced by complex hydrocarbons, such as the biodiesel Dimethyl Ether (DME). The main objective of this paper is to quantitatively and qualitatively compare the simulation of a DME flame against newly obtained experimental results. In order to understand the context of these results, the theory behind turbulent combustion, numerical simulation methods and modern experimental techniques are analyzed. In this paper, the results of the simulation do not closely match up to the experimental results, because the flame temperature near the nozzle inlet in the simulation is too low. A flame visualization of this simulation confirms this underprediction. Furthermore, it appears that the simulation has experienced a lifted flame. In this thesis, two possible causes behind this phenomenon have been identified. The first is that the simulation runtime was insufficient and the second is that the composition of the experimental flame is too different to the composition of the input flame in the simulation.