Large Eddy Simulation of an Oscillating Flame in Turbulent Flow around a Bluff Body

The present research aims at providing a reliable model for the simulation of oscillating flames which are often discovered in industrial gas turbine combustors operating at lean premixed conditions. The paper presents a Large Eddy Simulation of an oscillating bluff-body stabilised flame with a probability density function model of the subfilter scale interaction. The results show good overall agreement with the measurements, especially with regard to the phase-resolved spatial extent of the reaction zone. A phase shift between the computed total heat release rate and the measured hydroxyl chemiluminescence is observed. The mass fraction of formaldehyde determined in the median plane of the combustion chamber has been identified as a useful measure for the total heat release rate.