Aerodynamic characterization of isothermal swirling flows in combustors

Swirl flame stabilization is widespread among burners’ manufacturers, but the complex flow patterns are not yet fully understood. The interaction of two confined swirling jets leads to the formation of two recirculation zones being the flame located on the shear layer between the both zones. In such conditions, the lean mixtures can be burned producing low emissions. In the present study, flow structure and turbulent mixing of two isothermal coaxial jets are investigated using Large Eddy Simulation (LES). This is a challenging tool to achieve accuracy but it requests demanding spatial resolution and special treatment of results. By contrasting time-averaged radial profiles with experimental data of a classical benchmark, the model is validated. Results show that LES is able to reproduce the basic features of the flow pattern. Besides, the spectra analysis of instantaneous flow fields provides not only the energy decay but also the most energetic flow structures.