Large-Eddy Simulation of a Hydrogen-Air Non-Premixed Rotating Detonation Combustor Coupled with a Downstream Nozzle

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-4271.vid In the present work, a large-eddy simulation (LES) study is conducted for a full-scale hydrogen-air non-premixed rotating detonation combustor (RDC) coupled with a downstream nozzle. The computational fluid dynamics (CFD) framework employs detailed hydrogen/air chemistry and adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) to achieve a good trade-off between simulation runtime and accuracy. Simulation datasets are further analyzed to gain insights into the detonation wave dynamics, heat load/losses in the combustor, and exit flow-field, with the overarching goal of guiding strategies to achieve optimal RDC-turbine integration for stationary power generation applications. Numerical results show a strong detonation wave followed by a series of reflected shocks. The unburnt vitiated reactants that pass the leading detonation wave are burnt behind one of the trailing shocks resulting in azimuthal reflected-shock combustion (ARSC). The detonation wave dynamics predicted by LES show good agreement with experimental observations. Analysis of phase-averaged exit flow profiles for the simulated operating condition indicates predominantly supersonic flow at the nozzle exit with flow angles of up to 30 degrees observed in the oblique shock region.