Comparison of two-equation turbulence models in simulation of a non-swirl coal flame in a pilot-scale furnace

Abstract

The capability of six two-equation Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) models for simulation of a non-swirl coal flame in a pilot-scale furnace has been investigated. These turbulence models—the standard k-ε model, re-normalization group (RNG) k-ε model, modified k-ε model, Wilcox k-ω model, Menter k-ω model (also called BSL model), and Shear-stress transport (SST) model—are assessed with the use of measured gas phase velocity, temperature, oxygen, and carbon dioxide volume fraction data from the literature. Predictions of the standard k-ε model, RNG k-ε model, BSL, and SST model are generally in good agreement with the experimental data. The Wilcox k-ω model generally overpredicts O2 volume fraction and underpredicts CO2 volume fraction. The modified k-ε model yields results that have large discrepancies from measurements.