Numerical prediction of the ignition probability of a lean spray burner

The optimization of the igniter position is a critical issue in modern aviation gas turbines since it can help to minimize the amount of energy required for ignition and to guarantee a fast relight in case of flameout. From a numerical perspective, several spark discharges should be simulated for each spark position, to account for different realizations due to time-dependent turbulent motions. Unfortunately, standard simulations are impractical to use for this purpose, due to the need of carrying out several unsteady simulations, leading to a huge associated computational effort. This is why low-order models have been developed, providing an affordable estimation of the local ignition probability, by sacrificing the accuracy and the physical consistency of the prediction. In the present work, a previously developed low-order design model has been implemented in ANSYS Fluent 2019R1® and used to investigate the ignition performance of a single-sector, confined spray flame, where data from laser ignition experiments are available. A non-reactive Large Eddy Simulation, which is validated against experimental data, provides the base flow needed to feed the model. If the tuning parameters of the ignition model are well calibrated, it provides quite good results. In the test case here investigated, it is shown that ignition is possible in the outer recirculation zone and very unlikely elsewhere. Later, a discussion about the effect of the most relevant tuning parameters is carried out. It is shown that the model mostly succeed to identify the area of possible ignition, even if the lack of calibration could lead to a poorer agreement with the experimental data.