Session: 04-29 Hydrogen II

Submission Number: 178918

Technically Premixed H2 and H2-CH4 Combustion Modelling With Virtual Chemistry 

Aiming to reduce the computational costs typically associated with detailed chemistry, virtual chemistry offers a promising and flexible approach to address the challenges of accurately modeling hydrogen–methane (H2–CH4) combustion across a wide range of operating conditions. In this study, several reduced reaction mechanisms were developed by introducing a set of virtual species and single-step reactions designed to reproduce the main chemical and thermal characteristics of two representative H2–CH4 mixtures. The proposed mechanisms differ in the optimization targets adopted for the kinetic parameters — including ignition delay times, laminar flame speed, and adiabatic flame temperature — as well as in the formulation of the global reaction pathways.
A novel reaction is also proposed to capture the influence of hydrogen enrichment better, particularly addressing the difficulty of reconstructing the laminar flame thickness at elevated temperatures and for high hydrogen fractions.
The validation and assessment of the developed mechanisms were carried out through Large-Eddy Simulations (LES) of a lean premixed industrial burner, allowing for direct comparison with experimental measurements. Results obtained with both skeletal and virtual chemistry approaches demonstrate that properly optimized virtual mechanisms can effectively reproduce key combustion features while achieving substantial reductions in computational cost, thus highlighting an optimal balance between accuracy and efficiency for practical LES applications.

Presenting Author: Simone Castellani University of Florence

Presenting Author Biography: I am a research fellow who completed my PhD last year, focusing on the advanced modelling and simulation of hydrogen and hydrogen-methane combustion for clean energy applications.

Authors:

Simone Castellani University of Florence
Pier Carlo Nassini Baker Hughes
Roberto Meloni Baker Hughes
Antonio Andreini University of Florence