SBIR Phase I: ADVANCED NONGRAY RADIATION MODEL COUPLED WITH A CFD CODE FOR LARGE-SCALE FIRE AND COMBUSTION APPLICATIONS

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I study is aimed toward demonstrating the feasibility of using the correlated k-distribution approach, in conjunction with the control-angle discrete ordinates method (CA-DOM), for accurate and fast simulation of non-gray radiative transport in large-scale fires and combustion systems. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been used in the combustion industry with considerable success during the past decade. Currently, however, there exist no CFD package, which treats non-gray radiation in combustion gases with the desired level of accuracy and computational efficiency. With a trend towards cleaner combustion, radiation from molecular gases is assuming a major role in the determination of combustor performance, and NOx emissions in particular. Under this Phase I study, a novel approach to predict radiative transport in combustion gases, based on the correlated k-distribution approach, will be developed. The correlated k-distribution approach has recently been used with great success, and has the potential of improving computational efficiency by orders of magnitude. This is as opposed to other models, which promise only marginal improvements. The proposed development will be conducted within the framework of the commercial CFD code, CFD-ACE+. The model will be evaluated by comparing its predictions against experimental and analytical data. Special attention will be paid towards computational efficiency. The proposed radiation model will be the first commercial tool of its kind. Its uniqueness lies in its ability to predict radiative transport both accurately and fast. It is expected to have significant impact on the gas turbine, furnace building, and automotive industry, where CFD design and optimization is already standard practice. In addition, the tool could be used effectively for the simulation of large-scale fires and for atmospheric radiation calculations