Multi-dimensional computer simulation of MHD combustor hydrodynamics

Argonne National Laboratory is investigating the nonreacting jet-gas mixing patterns in an MHD second stage combustor by using a two-dimensional multi-phase hydrodynamics computer program and a three-dimensional single-phase hydrodynamics computer program. The computer simulations are intended to enhance the understanding of flow and mixing patterns in the combustor, which in turn may lead to improvement of the downstream MHD channel performance. A two-dimensional steady state computer model, based on mass and momentum conservation laws for multiple gas species, is used to simulate the hydrodynamics of the combustor in which a jet of oxidizer is injected into an unconfined cross-stream gas flow. A three-dimensional code is used to examine the effects of the side walls and the distributed jet flows on the non-reacting jet-gas mixing patterns. The code solves the conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy, and a transport equation of a turbulence parameter and allows permeable surfaces to be specified for any computational cell. 17 refs., 25 figs.