Simcenter STAR-CCM+ 2021.

1 | User Guide

Eddy Break-Up: Coal Combustion

The combustion of pulverized coal is still one of the main primary energy conversion mechanisms worldwide.

In this tutorial, you simulate the flow and combustion of coal particles in an axisymmetric coal combustor. Coal
furnaces are often used to provide heat for a specific purpose. Therefore, it is useful to simulate the
temperature and monitor any products of incomplete combustion at the outlet—such as carbon particles or
carbon monoxide gas. Since coal often contains sulfur impurities, it is also prudent to monitor sulfur dioxide
emissions (a pollutant which contributes significantly to acid rain).

The coal particles enter the computational domain together with transport air at a velocity of 23m/s and a
temperature of 70 °C. At a different boundary, combustion air inflow is specified as a velocity profile VZ r with
swirl Vθ r .

The following diagram shows the geometry of the coal combustor:

Initially, the combustion chamber is filled with hot air at a temperature of 527 °C. Upon injection of the coal
particles into the combustor, the coal particles devolatilize to form the combustible gaseous fuel. The high
initial temperature around the coal particles ensures that devolatilization begins and also ignites the gas-phase
combustion.

The Lagrangian Multiphase model is used to simulate the dispersed phase of solid coal particles, and the
Radiation model is used to simulate radiative heat transfer within the system.

To set up a coal combustion simulation in Simcenter STAR-CCM+, you require the following information:

• Proximate and ultimate analysis of the coal sample

• Calorific value of the coal sample (LCV)
• Specific heat of coal
• Particle density of coal

In the particle phase, the multi-component coal particle consists of four components: raw coal, char, ash and
moisture (water). The exact composition of these components depends on the proximate analysis of the coal.
The coal particles undergo several processes once they are injected and flow through the domain.
Simcenter STAR-CCM+ provides the following models to describe each of the processes:

• Evaporation of the moisture content in the coal is modeled by the Coal Moisture Evaporation model
• Coal volatile formation is modeled by the Coal Devolatilization model
• Oxidation of the remaining char is modeled by the Char Oxidation model

The Coal Moisture Evaporation Model is based on a quasi-steady evaporation process where the driving force
for evaporation is the departure from the vapor-liquid equilibrium using the Ranz-Marshall correlation.

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The coal volatile that is released into the gas phase as a result of the coal Devolatilization model mixes with the
surrounding gases to undergo an oxidation process. The gas-phase combustion reactions consist of two steps:

CoalVol + O2 CO + H2O + N2 + SO2

CO + 0.5O2 CO2

To properly define the gas-phase reactions, you require the coal volatile composition, which is computed based
on the proximate and the ultimate analysis as well as the coal volatile specific heat.

Contents:
Prerequisites
Loading the Starting Simulation File
Selecting Physics Models
Setting Material Properties
Defining Reactions
Defining the Coal Particles
Setting the Initial Conditions
Setting the Boundary Conditions
Defining the Coal Particle Injector
Specifying Solver Parameters
Monitoring and Plotting Carbon
Visualizing Coal Combustion Products, Temperature, and Velocity
Running the Simulation
Visualizing the Results
Bibliography

Prerequisites
The instructions in this tutorial assume that you are already familiar with certain techniques in
Simcenter STAR-CCM+.

Technique Tutorial
The Simcenter STAR-CCM+ workflow Introduction to STAR-CCM+
Using visualization tools, scenes, and plots Introduction to STAR-CCM+

If you have not already done so, download the tutorial files bundle. See Downloading the Tutorial Files from
the Support Center Portal.

Loading the Starting Simulation File

For this tutorial, you are provided with a starting simulation file that contains the mesh operations necessary
for generating a 2D axisymmetric mesh of the coal combustor.

To import the starting simulation file:

1. Launch Simcenter STAR-CCM+.

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2. Select File > Load.

3. In the Load a File dialog, navigate to the reactingFlow folder of the downloaded tutorial files, select
coalCombustion_start.sim, then click OK.
4. To generate the 2D axisymmetric combustor mesh, right-click the Geometry > Operations node and select
Execute All.
The mesh generation process takes a few minutes to complete. You can monitor the progress in the output
window.
5. When mesh generation has finished, create a mesh scene to view the mesh.

The quadrilateral cell mesh is refined using wake refinement at an angle of twelve degrees from the inlet
surfaces for a distance of two metres.
6. Save the simulation as EBU_Coal.sim.

Selecting Physics Models

The standard EBU version of the Eddy Break-Up model is used to represent the combustion reactions that occur
within the coal combustor, since the reaction rates are limited by the rate at which turbulence mixes the
reactants and heat into the flame zone.

To select the physics models:

1. Rename the Continua > Physics 1 node to Coal Combustion.

2. For models in the Coal Combustion continuum:
a) In the Enabled Models group box, deselect Two Dimensional.
b) Select the following models in order:

Group Box Model

Space Axisymmetric
Time Steady
Material Multi-Component Gas
Reaction Regime Reacting
Reacting Flow Models Reacting Species Transport
Reacting Species Models Eddy Break-Up
Flow Segregated Flow
Gradients (selected automatically)
Segregated Species (selected automatically)
Segregated Fluid Enthalpy (selected
automatically)

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Group Box Model

Equation of State Ideal Gas
Viscous Regime Turbulent
Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (selected
automatically)
Reynolds-Averaged Turbulence K-Epsilon Turbulence
Realizable K-Epsilon Two-Layer (selected
automatically)
Wall Distance (selected automatically)
Two-Layer All y+ Wall Treatment (selected
automatically)
Optional Models Axisymmetric Swirl
Lagrangian Multiphase
Radiation
Radiation Participating Media Radiation (DOM)
Radiation Spectrum (Participating) Gray Thermal Radiation

3. Click Close.
4. Select the Models > Eddy Break-Up node and set the following properties:

Property Setting
Reaction Control Standard EBU
Source Term Limiting Activate

5. Right-click the Models > Multi-Component Gas > Gas Components node and select Select Mixture
Components.
6. In the Select Mixture Components dialog:
a) Expand the Material Databases > Standard > Gases node and select the following:
◦ CO (Carbon Monoxide)
◦ CO2 (Carbon Dioxide)
◦ CoalVolatile (Coal Volatile)
◦ H2 (Hydrogen)
◦ H2O (Water)
◦ N2 (Nitrogen)
◦ O2 (Oxygen)
◦ SO2 (Sulphur Dioxide)
7. Click Apply, then click Close.
8. Save the simulation.

Setting Material Properties

Since the composition of different types of coal varies, it is important to define the correct composition of the
type of coal that is used in the combustor.

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The raw coal devolatilizes into char in the particle phase and CoalVolatile in the gas phase. The composition of
the coal volatile species is not fixed, but depends on the properties of the coal type being simulated. The
proximate and ultimate analysis of the coal sample determines the coal volatile composition. In addition to the
proximate and ultimate analysis, the calorific value of the coal type is needed to estimate the heat of formation
of the coal volatile.

The proximate analysis is given by:

Component Mass Fraction (-)

Volatile Matter 0.5502
Fixed Carbon 0.3668
Ash 0.083
H2O 0.0

The ultimate analysis (dry ash free) is given by:

Component Mass Fraction(%)

C 80.36
H 5.08
N 1.45
S 0.94
O 12.17

The proximate analysis gives us a yield of 0.6, the low calorific value of coal is 7.1 kcal/g and the specific heat
of coal is 1100 J/kg K.

To set the material properties:

1. For the Coal Combustion continuum, select the Models > Multi-Component Gas > Material Properties >
Thermal Conductivity node and set Method to Mass Weighted Mixture.
2. Expand the Multi-Component Gas > Gas Components node.
3. Multi-select all of the [Gas Component] > Material Properties > Molecular Weight nodes and set Method
to Elemental Composition.
4. Define the composition of the CoalVolatile.
a) Expand the Gas Components > CoalVolatile > Material Properties > Elemental Composition node.
b) Right-click the Elemental Composition > Elemental Composition Method > Atoms node and select
New Atom.
c) In the Add atom to elemental composition dialog, set Choose atom to S and click OK.
d) Expand the Atoms node and set the following properties:

Node Property Setting

C Value 2.8029
H Value 4.2329
N Value 0.0860
O Value 0.6340
S Value 0.0240

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5. Expand the Gas Components > CoalVolatile > Material Properties node and set properties:

Node Property Value

Specific Heat Method Constant

Constant 1100.0 J/kg-K

Heat of Formation

Constant -4725729.0 J/kg

6. Expand the Multi-Component Gas > Material Properties node and set the following properties:

Node Property Setting

Absorption Coefficient Method Weighted Sum of Gray
Gases

Weighted Sum of Gray Gases Optical Path Length 1.8 m

7. Save the simulation.

Defining Reactions
Due to the heating of the coal particles, the coal volatile matter is released to the gas phase. The coal volatile
mixes with the surrounding gases to undergo an oxidation process. In this tutorial, you specify the gas phase
reactions in two steps.

To define reactions:
1. For the Coal Combustion continuum, right-click the Models > Reacting > Reactions node and select New
Reaction.
2. Rename the Reactions > Reaction 1 node to CoalVol + O2 -> CO+H2O+N2+SO2.
3. Set up the sub-nodes of the CoalVol + O2 -> CO+H2O+N2+SO2 node as follows:

Node Action
Reactants Right-click and select:
1. Add Reactant > Gas Mixture > Coal Volatile.
2. Add Reactant > Gas Mixture > O2

O2 Set Stoich. Coeff to 2.16675.

Products Right-click and select:
1. Add Product > Gas Mixture > N2
2. Add Product > Gas Mixture > CO
3. Add Product > Gas Mixture > H2O
4. Add Product > Gas Mixture > SO2

N2 Set Stoich. Coeff to 0.043.

CO Set Stoich. Coeff to 2.803.

H2O Set Stoich. Coeff to 2.1165.

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Node Action

SO2 Set Stoich. Coeff to 0.024.

4. Create one more [Reaction] node and re-name it as CO + 0.5O2 -> CO2:
5. Set up the sub-nodes of the CO + 0.5O2 -> CO2 node as follows:

Node Action
Reactants Right-click and select:
1. Add Reactant > Gas Mixture > CO.
2. Add Reactant > Gas Mixture > O2.

O2 Set Stoich Coeff to 0.5.

Products Right-click and select Add Product > Gas Mixture >
CO2.

6. Save the simulation.

Defining the Coal Particles

The Lagrangian Multiphase model is used to define the interaction between a discrete phase of solid coal
particles and the continuous background phase of the fluid domain within the coal combustor.

Coal is defined as a multi-component coal particle consisting of the four components raw coal, char, ash, and
water. The injected coal particles undergo several processes flowing through the combustor:

• Evaporation of moisture content

• Coal volatile formation
• Oxidation of the remaining char

The evaporation of the moisture content of the coal particle is modeled by the coal moisture evaporation
model. This model is based on a quasi-steady evaporation process where the driving force for evaporation is
the departure from the vapor-liquid equilibrium using the Ranz-Marshall correlation. The Coal Devolatilization
model determines the rate at which the coal volatile escapes from the coal particle and is released to the gas
phase. In this tutorial, you use the half-order char oxidation model to calculate the char oxidation. With this
model, char is oxidized through O2, H2O and CO2.

To define the coal particles:

1. Within the Coal Combustion continuum, right-click the Models > Lagrangian Multiphase > Lagrangian
Phases node and select New.
2. Re-name the Lagrangian Phases > Phase 1 node, Coal.
3. For the Coal phase, select the following models in order:

Group Box Model

Particle Type Material Particles
Residence Time (selected automatically)
Pressure Gradient Force (selected automatically)
Spherical Particles (selected automatically)
Material Multi-Component Coal

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