Low-order modeling of high-altitude relight of jet engine combustors

A physics-based, low-order ignition model is used to assess the ignition performance of a kerosene-fueled gas-turbine combustor under high-altitude relight conditions. The ignition model used in this study is based on the motion of virtual flame particles and their extinction according to a Karlovitz number criterion, and a stochastic procedure is used to account for the effects of spray polydispersity on the flame’s extinction behavior. The effects of large droplets arising from poor fuel atomization at sub-idle conditions are then investigated in the context of the model parameters and the combustor’s ignition behavior. For that, a Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes simulation of the cold flow in the combustor was performed and used as an input for the ignition model. Ignition was possible with a Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of 50 μm, and was enhanced by increasing the spark volume. Although doubling the spark volume at larger SMDs (75 and 100 μm) resulted in the suppression of short-mode failure events, ignition was not achieved due to a reduction of the effective flammable volume in the combustor. Overall, a lower ignition probability is obtained when using the stochastic procedure for the spray, which is to be expected due to the additional detrimental effects associated with poor spray atomisation and high polydispersity.