Implementation and Validation of a REDIM-Based CFD Solver for Combustion Applications

The complexity of the combustion process makes the computational time using a detailed mechanism unacceptable, therefore, it is necessary to simplify the mechanism. The reaction-diffusion manifolds (REDIM) method is a reduction model that takes the coupling of molecular diffusion and chemical reactions into account to reduce computing times, and can be utilized in different types of combustion simulations. In this work, the REDIM method is implemented into a new OpenFOAM-based CFD solver. The use of both generalized and physical coordinates to represent the manifold is analyzed for freely propagating laminar flames. The REDIM-based solver is then used to calculate 2D laminar counterflow flames. Different detailed mechanisms, progress variables and inlet velocities are applied to calculate the 2D counterflow flames and to evaluate the performance of REDIM at steady and extinction conditions. It is shown that the results computed by the REDIM method have good agreement with the results obtained by detailed simulations. Furthermore, the REDIM method offers a significant reduction in computational cost in the newly developed solver.