HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SUPPORT FOR UNITED KINGDOM CONSORTIUM ON TURBULENT REACTING FLOWS (UKCTRF)
Lead Research Organisation:
Newcastle University
Department Name: Sch of Engineering
Abstract
The proposed UK Consortium on Turbulent Reacting Flows will perform high-fidelity computational simulations (i.e. Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes simulations (RANS), Large Eddy Simulation (LES) and Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS)) by utilising national High Performance Computing (HPC) resources to address the challenges related to energy through the fundamental physical understanding and modelling of turbulent reacting flows. Engineering applications range from the formulation of reliable fire-safety measures to the design of energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly internal combustion engines and gas turbines. The consortium will serve as a platform to collaborate and share HPC expertise within the research community and to help UK computational reacting flow research to remain internationally competitive. The proposed research of the consortium is divided into a number of broad work packages, which will be continued throughout the duration of the consortium and which will be reinforced by other Research Council and industrial grants secured by the consortium members. The consortium will also support both externally funded (e.g. EU and industrial) and internal (e.g. university PhD) projects, which do not have dedicated HPC support of their own.
The consortium will not only have huge intellectual impact in terms of fundamental physical understanding and modelling of turbulent reacting flows, but will also have considerable long-term societal impact in terms of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. Moreover, the cutting edge computational tools developed by the consortium will aid UK based manufacturers (e.g. Rolls Royce and Siemens) to design safe, reliable, energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly combustion devices to exploit the expanding world-wide energy market and boost the UK economy. Last but not least, the proposed collaborative research lays great importance on the development of highly-skilled man-power in the form of Research Associates (RAs) and PhD students of the consortium members, who in turn are expected to contribute positively to the UK economy and UK reacting flow research for many years to come.
The consortium will not only have huge intellectual impact in terms of fundamental physical understanding and modelling of turbulent reacting flows, but will also have considerable long-term societal impact in terms of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. Moreover, the cutting edge computational tools developed by the consortium will aid UK based manufacturers (e.g. Rolls Royce and Siemens) to design safe, reliable, energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly combustion devices to exploit the expanding world-wide energy market and boost the UK economy. Last but not least, the proposed collaborative research lays great importance on the development of highly-skilled man-power in the form of Research Associates (RAs) and PhD students of the consortium members, who in turn are expected to contribute positively to the UK economy and UK reacting flow research for many years to come.
Planned Impact
The major impacts of this research endeavour are summarised as follows:
Development of fundamental understanding and modelling of turbulent reacting flows
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Much of the benefit of the research activities in the UKCTRF will contribute to all the major modelling methodologies (e.g. flamelets, Conditional Moment Closure and Probability Density Function) of turbulent reacting flows in general. The high-fidelity models developed in the project will lead to accurate prediction from CFD simulations, which can help in the economical design of IC engines and gas turbines for better efficiency and environment friendliness and in the abatement of fire and explosion hazards. This suggests that the findings of this research endeavour will be of particular interest to power plant and automobile sectors of the industry (e.g. Rolls Royce, Siemens and Shell etc.). The research outcomes will be disseminated through participation of the consortium members in international conferences (e.g. International Combustion Symposium, European Combustion Meeting, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) meeting, ASME Gas Turbine meetings etc.) and their publication in reputed scientific journals (e.g. Combustion and Flame, Physics of Fluids etc.). The research will also be presented by the members in the meetings of the British Combustion Institute and the Institute of Physics to attract attention from the automotive, gas turbine and fire-safety industry in the UK. The DNS and LES databases resulting from the project will be made available to other interested researchers upon request.
IC-engine, gas turbine and fire related applications
-------------------------------------------------------
The major beneficiaries of this work are the UK based industries (e.g. Rolls Royce, Shell and Siemens etc.) which are engaged in developing new concepts for designing low-pollution and high efficiency IC engines and gas turbines. Moreover, fire related research in the consortium will minimise the effects of atmospheric chemical pollution, accidental releases, fires and explosions, which in turn will lead to the development of improved fire-safety and reliable fire-resistant structures. The technological advancements of this consortium will also help in designing energy-efficient and environment-friendly combustors especially for the UK based industries (e.g. Rolls Royce, Siemens, Shell etc.), which will also bring a long-term benefit for society. The data will be shared to other UK research groups upon request, and will play a significant role in devising and calibrating new models to carry out high-fidelity RANS/LES simulations. Finally, the CFD software community, who use state-of-the-art combustion RANS/LES models in their codes to yield high-fidelity predictions, will also be interested in this work.
Manpower development
--------------------------
The proposed project is based on the collaboration between the different turbulent reacting flow research groups in the UK, which will ensure an extensive knowledge exchange between PIs, CI and the PhD students and RAs working in this project. This project will not only broaden the expertise of the investigators but also be highly valuable for the RAs and PhD students for their academic and career development. The RAs and PhD students will receive extensive training on a variety of topics such as advanced thermo-fluid mechanics, turbulence, reduced chemistry, and combustion model development. They will also learn advanced techniques for high performance computing, which will improve their analytical and mathematical skills. This project lays substantial emphasis on the development of both technical and transferable skills of the RAs and PhD students, which, in turn, increases the chances of their employability.
Development of fundamental understanding and modelling of turbulent reacting flows
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Much of the benefit of the research activities in the UKCTRF will contribute to all the major modelling methodologies (e.g. flamelets, Conditional Moment Closure and Probability Density Function) of turbulent reacting flows in general. The high-fidelity models developed in the project will lead to accurate prediction from CFD simulations, which can help in the economical design of IC engines and gas turbines for better efficiency and environment friendliness and in the abatement of fire and explosion hazards. This suggests that the findings of this research endeavour will be of particular interest to power plant and automobile sectors of the industry (e.g. Rolls Royce, Siemens and Shell etc.). The research outcomes will be disseminated through participation of the consortium members in international conferences (e.g. International Combustion Symposium, European Combustion Meeting, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) meeting, ASME Gas Turbine meetings etc.) and their publication in reputed scientific journals (e.g. Combustion and Flame, Physics of Fluids etc.). The research will also be presented by the members in the meetings of the British Combustion Institute and the Institute of Physics to attract attention from the automotive, gas turbine and fire-safety industry in the UK. The DNS and LES databases resulting from the project will be made available to other interested researchers upon request.
IC-engine, gas turbine and fire related applications
-------------------------------------------------------
The major beneficiaries of this work are the UK based industries (e.g. Rolls Royce, Shell and Siemens etc.) which are engaged in developing new concepts for designing low-pollution and high efficiency IC engines and gas turbines. Moreover, fire related research in the consortium will minimise the effects of atmospheric chemical pollution, accidental releases, fires and explosions, which in turn will lead to the development of improved fire-safety and reliable fire-resistant structures. The technological advancements of this consortium will also help in designing energy-efficient and environment-friendly combustors especially for the UK based industries (e.g. Rolls Royce, Siemens, Shell etc.), which will also bring a long-term benefit for society. The data will be shared to other UK research groups upon request, and will play a significant role in devising and calibrating new models to carry out high-fidelity RANS/LES simulations. Finally, the CFD software community, who use state-of-the-art combustion RANS/LES models in their codes to yield high-fidelity predictions, will also be interested in this work.
Manpower development
--------------------------
The proposed project is based on the collaboration between the different turbulent reacting flow research groups in the UK, which will ensure an extensive knowledge exchange between PIs, CI and the PhD students and RAs working in this project. This project will not only broaden the expertise of the investigators but also be highly valuable for the RAs and PhD students for their academic and career development. The RAs and PhD students will receive extensive training on a variety of topics such as advanced thermo-fluid mechanics, turbulence, reduced chemistry, and combustion model development. They will also learn advanced techniques for high performance computing, which will improve their analytical and mathematical skills. This project lays substantial emphasis on the development of both technical and transferable skills of the RAs and PhD students, which, in turn, increases the chances of their employability.
People |
ORCID iD |
Nilanjan Chakraborty (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Hadjipanayis M
(2015)
Thermal radiation from vapour cloud explosions
in Process Safety and Environmental Protection
Han X
(2018)
The Effect of Stratification Ratio on the Macrostructure of Stratified Swirl Flames: Experimental and Numerical Study
in Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power
Han X
(2019)
Flame macrostructures and thermoacoustic instabilities in stratified swirling flames
in Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
Hasslberger J
(2021)
Physical effects of water droplets interacting with turbulent premixed flames: A Direct Numerical Simulation analysis
in Combustion and Flame
Herbert A
(2020)
Applicability of extrapolation relations for curvature and stretch rate dependences of displacement speed for statistically planar turbulent premixed flames
in Combustion Theory and Modelling
Jones W
(2015)
LES of a methanol spray flame with a stochastic sub-grid model
in Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
Jones W
(2015)
Examination of an Oscillating Flame in the Turbulent Flow Around a Bluff Body with Large Eddy Simulation Based on the Probability Density Function Method
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Jones W
(2017)
An investigation of a turbulent spray flame using Large Eddy Simulation with a stochastic breakup model
in Combustion and Flame
Jones W
(2017)
A stochastic breakup model for Large Eddy Simulation of a turbulent two-phase reactive flow
in Proceedings of the Combustion Institute
Jones W
(2019)
Assessing the Effect of Differential Diffusion for Stratified Lean Premixed Turbulent Flames with the Use of LES-PDF Framework
in Combustion Science and Technology
Kasten C
(2021)
Principal strain rate evolution within turbulent premixed flames for different combustion regimes
in Physics of Fluids
Kasten C
(2020)
Statistical Behaviors of Turbulent Scalar Fluxes in High-Pressure Turbulent Premixed Combustion in the Context of Large Eddy Simulations
in Combustion Science and Technology
Katragadda M
(2014)
Modeling of the Strain Rate Contribution to the Flame Surface Density Transport for Non-Unity Lewis Number Flames in Large Eddy Simulations
in Combustion Science and Technology
Katragadda M
(2014)
Modelling of the Curvature Term in the Flame Surface Density Transport Equation: A Direct Numerical Simulations Based Analysis
in International Journal of Spray and Combustion Dynamics
Katragadda M
(2014)
Modelling of the Tangential Strain Rate Term in the Flame Surface Density Transport Equation in the Context of Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes Simulations: A Direct Numerical Simulation Analysis
in Mathematical Problems in Engineering
Keil F
(2020)
Sub-grid Reaction Progress Variable Variance Closure in Turbulent Premixed Flames
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Keil F
(2020)
Analysis of the Closures of Sub-grid Scale Variance of Reaction Progress Variable for Turbulent Bunsen Burner Flames at Different Pressure Levels
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Keil F
(2020)
Flame Surface Density Transport Statistics for High Pressure Turbulent Premixed Bunsen Flames in the Context of Large Eddy Simulation
in Combustion Science and Technology
Klein M
(2019)
Evaluation of Flame Area Based on Detailed Chemistry DNS of Premixed Turbulent Hydrogen-Air Flames in Different Regimes of Combustion
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Klein M
(2015)
A-priori direct numerical simulation assessment of sub-grid scale stress tensor closures for turbulent premixed combustion
in Computers & Fluids
Klein M
(2016)
Analysis of the Combined Modelling of Sub-grid Transport and Filtered Flame Propagation for Premixed Turbulent Combustion
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Klein M
(2017)
A Comparison of Strategies for Direct Numerical Simulation of Turbulence Chemistry Interaction in Generic Planar Turbulent Premixed Flames
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Klein M
(2018)
Flame Curvature Distribution in High Pressure Turbulent Bunsen Premixed Flames
in Flow, Turbulence and Combustion
Klein M
(2017)
A-priori Direct Numerical Simulation assessment of models for generalized sub-grid scale turbulent kinetic energy in turbulent premixed flames
in Computers & Fluids
Klein M
(2018)
Turbulent scalar fluxes in H 2 -air premixed flames at low and high Karlovitz numbers
in Combustion Theory and Modelling
Klein M
(2018)
A-priori analysis of an alternative wrinkling factor definition for flame surface density based Large Eddy Simulation modelling of turbulent premixed combustion
in Combustion Science and Technology
Klein M
(2016)
Scale similarity based models and their application to subgrid scale scalar flux modelling in the context of turbulent premixed flames
in International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow
Klein M.
(2017)
Flame curvature in high pressure Bunsen flames
Koniavitis P
(2017)
A methodology for derivation of RCCE-reduced mechanisms via CSP
in Combustion and Flame
Koniavitis P
(2018)
Reduction of a detailed chemical mechanism for a kerosene surrogate via RCCE-CSP
in Combustion and Flame
Konstantinou I
(2020)
Effects of Fuel Lewis Number on the Near-wall Dynamics for Statistically Planar Turbulent Premixed Flames Impinging on Inert Cold Walls
in Combustion Science and Technology
Lai J
(2017)
Statistical behaviour of vorticity and enstrophy transport in head-on quenching of turbulent premixed flames
in European Journal of Mechanics - B/Fluids
Lai J
(2018)
Heat flux and flow topology statistics in oblique and head-on quenching of turbulent premixed flames by isothermal inert walls
in Combustion Science and Technology
Lai J
(2022)
A comparison between head-on quenching of stoichiometric methane-air and hydrogen-air premixed flames using Direct Numerical Simulations
in International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow
Description | A group of leading academics from fifteen United Kingdom institutions have been joined by internationally recognised experts to form the UK Consortium on Turbulent Reacting Flows (UKCTRF). As a consortium, they will make a focussed effort to address the global and UK challenges of energy efficiency, environmental friendliness and high-fidelity fire safety. This consortium was launched in January 2014 and it will run until January 2019. Thus, it is still early for this consortium to deliver substantial key findings and research outcomes, but the research currently under way will address the following objectives in the near future: -World-leading computational research on turbulent reacting flows in the UK using HPC. - DNS of premixed, non-premixed, stratified flames and particle-laden turbulent reacting flows. -Utilisation of physical insight obtained from DNS to develop high-fidelity models for RANS and LES simulations. -Highly parallelised RANS/LES codes with high-fidelity combustion models which can contribute routinely to the design of highly-efficient, environmentally-friendly IC engines, gas turbines and reliable improved fire-safety measures. -Making the high-fidelity computational tools available to UK industries so that they can be used to design a new generation of combustion devices to exploit the expanding world-wide energy market and contribute to the UK economy. -Creating a forum for collaborative and complementary turbulent reacting flow research in the UK -A platform to share HPC expertise and sustain internationally-competitive UK computational reacting flow research. -To support both externally funded (e.g. EU projects and industrial) projects and internal (e.g. university PhD) projects, which do not have dedicated HPC support of their own. -Development of highly-skilled man-power in the form of RAs and PhD students, who in turn are expected to contribute positively to the UK economy and UK turbulent reacting flow research for several years to come. -To develop a forward-looking collaborative software development strategy to efficiently exploit future HPC hardware. |
Exploitation Route | UKCTRF will provide a platform for a large number of research-active UK-based combustion scientists who will benefit from the stimulating and collaborative environment it offers. The consortium will manage the HPC resources on behalf of its members, reducing the risk of not using the resource and eliminating the need to apply individually which will simplify EPSRC's workload in dealing with individual applications for computing resources. By pooling computing resources together and allocating them whenever individual needs arise, the national HPC facilities will be used more efficiently. By working collaboratively in a consortium the members will also be able to reduce duplication and tackle grander challenges than any one individual can attempt. The proposed consortium will offer both fundamental physical understanding and improved modelling methodologies for turbulent reacting flows. The knowledge gained from the research activities will contribute to the design cycle of new generation energy-efficient and environmentally-friendly IC engines and gas turbines and minimise the effects of atmospheric chemical pollution, accidental releases, fires and explosions. Benefits accrued from the research activities in this consortium will contribute to all areas of reacting flow analysis and combustion modelling. The research outcomes will be disseminated through participation of the consortium members in international conferences (e.g. International Combustion Symposium, European Combustion Meeting, Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) meeting, ASME Gas Turbine meetings etc.) and their publication in reputed scientific journals (e.g. Combustion and Flame, Physics of Fluids etc.). The research will also be presented by the members in the meetings of the British Combustion Institute and the Institute of Physics to attract attention from the automotive, gas turbine and fire-safety industries in the UK. The DNS and LES databases resulting from the project will be made available to other interested researchers upon request. A website for data-exchange and documentation, and specific results will be made available for public download. The RAs and PhD students will also benefit greatly from the annual review meetings and the proposed workshops, which will give them excellent networking opportunities to forge future collaborations with UKCTRF members who are the UK's leading computational combustion experts. This will not only be beneficial for the learning experiences of RAs and PhD students but also will have an impact on recruitment with the opportunity for industrial representatives to see the latest work of many talented researchers at UKCTRF events. |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Education,Energy,Transport |
URL | http://www.ukctrf.com |
Description | The UKCTRF consortium was launched in January 2014 and it will run until January 2019. The vision of UKCTRF is closely aligned with the 'Energy' research theme of EPSRC under the headings of Energy Efficiency and Conventional Generation. The major beneficiaries of this work are the UK based industries (e.g. Rolls Royce, Shell and Siemens etc.) which are engaged in developing new concepts for designing low-pollution and high efficiency IC engines and gas turbines. Moreover, fire related research in the consortium will minimise the effects of atmospheric chemical pollution, accidental releases, fires and explosions, which in turn will lead to the development of improved fire-safety and reliable fire-resistant structures. Given the long term nature of the design-cycle of IC engines, gas turbines, and fire-resistant structures, as well as the time required to build up enough confidence in the community, it is likely that the impact of this project, in terms of new product and wealth creation in the UK, will be felt in a time-scale of 10-20 years. The technological advancements of this consortium will also help in designing energy-efficient and environment-friendly combustors especially for the UK based industries (e.g. Rolls Royce, Siemens, Shell etc.), which will also bring a long-term benefit (in a time scale of 10-20 years) for society. The data will be shared to other UK research groups upon request, and will play a significant role in devising and calibrating new models to carry out high-fidelity LES and RANS simulations. Finally, the CFD software community, who use state-of-the-art combustion RANS/LES models in their codes to yield high-fidelity predictions, will also be interested in this work and ultimately this benefit will be realised in 5 -10 years' time-scale. This consortium lays substantial emphasis on developing a highly skilled UK-based workforce in the form of postdoctoral researchers and PhD students who will eventually carry the expertise gained in the course of the project in their future roles. This benefit will be felt immediately as many young researchers (PhD students and RA) are already getting valuable experience of using High Performance Computing to address challenging problems of turbulent reacting flows which, in turn, is directly linked to the issues of energy efficiency, environment friendliness and improved fire-safety. Addressing these issues will therefore have significant socio-economic impact. |
First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Energy,Environment,Transport |
Impact Types | Societal,Economic |
Description | Advanced numerical techniques for pulverized biomass combustion modelling |
Amount | £94,557 (GBP) |
Organisation | Research Council, Portugal |
Sector | Public |
Country | Portugal |
Start | 01/2016 |
End | 01/2019 |