Pore-scale simulation of filtration combustion

Principle investigators:

1. Igor Aleksandrovich Yakovlev, Ph.D., Senior Researcher (yakovlev-i-a@yandex.ru)

2. Sergey Dorzhievich Zambalov, Ph.D., Senior Researcher ( zambalovsd@gmail.com )

Tomsk Scientific Center conducts numerical studies of thermochemical processes in various porous media in the framework of the pore-scale simulation approach (PSS), when a porous structure (granular layers, foams, permeable blocks, etc.) is considered to be explicit. The flows of multicomponent reactive gas mixtures, the thermal conductivity of the porous matrix and the effects of interfacial heat transfer and radiation are considered.

This approach takes into account the effect of local inhomogeneities of the porous medium on the combustion process. In particular, for packed ceramic balls, the obtained results showed the appearance of non-stationary local effects due to irregular packing of particles during quasi-stationary propagation of filtration combustion waves. Flames with repetitive extinction and ignition (FREI) were found to be unstable at low filtration velocities.

The PSS approach significantly differs from other approaches in the case of detailed consideration of local effects in various thermochemical processes in porous media. For example, the most common models of filtration combustion based on volume averaging (volume-average approach) are incapable of accounting for local inhomogeneities. Experimental procedures are limited, since the sensing elements are often comparable to the pore size and, in addition, affect the process itself, and optical analysis methods are not available due to limited optical permeability of the porous medium.

The proposed pore-scale simulation approach can be applied to study local effects in various thermochemical processes in porous media.