PDF modeling and simulations of pulverized coal combustion – Part 1: Theory and modeling

A transported probability density function (PDF) method is developed for pulverized coal combustion. Two separate PDF transport equations, one for the gas phase (joint velocity-composition PDF) and one for the coal particle phase, are solved by means of stochastic Lagrangian methods. The gas composition is described by two mixture fractions (one that tracks the devolatilization products and one that tracks the char combustion products) and the total specific enthalpy. Two different models are proposed for the unclosed terms in the gas-phase PDF transport equation due to the mass transfer from the solid to the gas phase through devolatilization and char combustion. To close the transport equation for the coal particle PDF, the gas phase velocity and composition sampled along the coal particle trajectories are modeled. Radiative heat transfer is modeled by a discrete transfer method (DTM) to solve for the Reynolds averaged radiative heat transfer equation for a gray absorbing emitting and scattering gas–particle mixture. The turbulence–radiation interaction of the emission is given in closed form in the proposed two-phase PDF approach.