Reactive flow
Reactive flow refers to fluid flows with chemical reactions occurring either at the interphase
between different fluid phases, within the fluid phase, or in solids. It finds applications in various
areas, including catalytic cracking in chemical processes, combustion in IC engines, CO2 capture
processes, and polymerization. Reactive flow simulations are becoming increasingly important
for understanding and optimizing processes such as carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and heat storage
in porous media, geothermal energy production, and volcanic eruptions [1]. The simulations
involve repeated chemical reaction calculations, which typically occupy a significant portion of
the total simulation cost [2]. The development of rapid frameworks for reactive flow simulations,
including the use of machine learning and dynamic mesh optimization, is an active area of
research to make the simulations more efficient [2].
Reactive flow is used in CO2 capture processes through a method known as reactive capture,
which involves the integration of CO2 separation and conversion. This approach eliminates the
production of high-purity CO2, potentially increasing overall energy efficiency and reducing
capital expense [3, 4]. In reactive capture, CO2 is captured from a mixed gas stream and directly
converted into a valuable product, without the need for a purified CO2 intermediate. This process
integration allows for the regeneration of the CO2 capture media through the conversion of CO2
into value-added products, offering potential benefits in terms of energy efficiency and cost
reduction. While the field of reactive capture is still in its early stages and technologies are
primarily at the proof-of-concept stage, they hold promise as an enabling technology for
decarbonizing the economy [3-5].
The pioneering work on reactive flow in gases was presented, particularly in the context of
combustion, where the chemistry of reaction and the mechanics of flow play distinct roles,
incorporated in a broadly applicable theory [6]. Cloutman et al. [7] was discussed the numerical
simulation of reactive flow in internal combustion engines. It was also discussed that
multidimensional numerical simulations of the reactive fluid flow in an internal combustion
engine cylinder are useful in helping engine designers obtain insight into the physical
mechanisms governing efficiency and pollutant formation. Also a range of studies have explored
the multidimensional numerical simulation of reactive flow in internal combustion engines.
Butler [8] has developed comprehensive models for engine cylinder simulations, with
Cloutman's [7] work focusing on a two-dimensional code and Butler's review emphasizing the
challenges and methods for addressing them. Zolver [9] introduced a parallel solver for transient
three-dimensional chemically reactive fluid flows, demonstrating its capabilities with examples.
The main outcomes of the study include the demonstration of KIFP's capabilities through speed-
ups for spray and combustion cases, successful performance of a full calculation involving
compression, spray injection, and combustion in a gasoline direct injection engine, and the
effective solution of the full Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes equations for multi-species flows
with spray and turbulent combustion using time-splitting decomposition. Nussbaum [10]
extended this work to gas-particle flows with combustion, using a non-conservative finite
volume approach. The paper presents a numerical model for simulating reactive gas-particle flow
in internal ballistic, based on the Gough's model, and proposes a numerical method using the
Rusanov scheme to simulate this type of flow. It also demonstrates satisfactory results in
simulating academic and real configurations, as evidenced by the comparison of simulations on a
60 mm gun with experimental measurements, showing good agreement between the two.
3.1. Transient Plasma in reactive flow
The behavior of transient plasma in reactive flow has been studied in various contexts. Amatucci
et al. [11] observed reactively driven plasma waves in the ion-cyclotron frequency range, which
were influenced by a strong inhomogeneity in energy density. In their study the laboratory
observations show the excitation of reactively driven plasma waves in the ion-cyclotron
frequency range associated with a localized, transverse dc electric field. The wave excitation
occurs even when the field-aligned current is negligible, which is a situation often reported in the
space plasma environment. The fluctuation spectrum is broadband in frequency and its peak
depends on the magnitude of the dc electric field. The comparison with theory indicates that
these waves result from a strong inhomogeneity in the energy density caused by sheared E 3 B
flow. Meillot et al. [12] simulated the behavior of plasma flow in a D.C. plasma spraying gun,
finding that the transient plasma flow in air atmosphere was similar to experimental
observations. Hahn and Li [13] investigated the transient behavior of a nonequilibrium plasma
formed by merged beams, highlighting the role of radiative recombination and three-body
recombination in the initial stage of plasma rearrangement. Sato et al. [14] and Baker [15] both
provide valuable insights into the reactive flow analysis of nonthermal plasma in a cylindrical
reactor. Sato's work, in particular, offers a comprehensive understanding of the chemical reactive
flow fields, including gas velocity, temperature, and NO and NO/sub 2/ concentrations. This is
further supported by Baker's model, which evaluates the flux of reactive-gaseous species
surviving transit through a cylindrical reactor. However, it's important to note that Sato's study
focuses on a rectangular reactor, so the findings may not directly apply to a cylindrical one.
Additionally, Makinde [16] offers a mathematical investigation into the effect of convective
cooling on reactive flow in a cylindrical pipe, which could potentially be applied to the analysis
of nonthermal plasma in a cylindrical reactor.
References
[1] Swaminathan N, Parente A. Machine Learning and Its Application to Reacting Flows:
ML and Combustion. Springer Nature; 2023.
[2] Veljkovic I, Plassmann PE. A scalable scientific database for chemistry calculations in
reacting flow simulations. InInternational Conference on High Performance Computing
and Communications 2005 Sep 21 (pp. 948-957). Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin
Heidelberg.
[3] Deutsch TG, Baker S, Agbo P, Kauffman DR, Vickers J, Schaidle JA. Summary Report
of the Reactive CO2 Capture: Process Integration for the New Carbon Economy
Workshop, February 18-19, 2020. National Renewable Energy Lab.(NREL), Golden, CO
(United States); 2021 Aug 13.
[4] Siegel RE, Pattanayak S, Berben LA. Reactive capture of CO2: opportunities and
challenges. ACS Catalysis. 2022 Dec 27;13(1):766-84.
[5] Freyman MC, Huang Z, Ravikumar D, Duoss EB, Li Y, Baker SE, Pang SH, Schaidle
JA. Reactive CO2 capture: A path forward for process integration in carbon management.
Joule. 2023 Apr 19;7(4):631-51.
[6] Williams, F.A., 1985. Combustion Theory, 2nd ed. The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing
Company, Inc., Menlo Park, CA.
[7] Cloutman LD, Dukowicz JK, Ramshaw JD. Numerical simulation of reactive flow in
internal combustion engines. InSeventh International Conference on Numerical Methods
in Fluid Dynamics: Proceedings of the Conference, Stanford University, Stanford,
California and NASA/Ames (USA) June 23–27, 1980 1981 (pp. 119-124). Springer
Berlin Heidelberg.
[8] Butler TD, Cloutman LD, Dukowicz JK, Ramshaw JD. Multidimensional numerical
simulation of reactive flow in internal combustion engines. Progress in energy and
combustion science. 1981 Jan 1;7(4):293-315.
[9] Zolver M, Bohbot J, Klahr D, Torres A. An Unstructured Parallel Solver for Multi-phase
and Reactive Flows in Internal Combustion Engines. InParallel Computational Fluid
Dynamics 2003 2004 Jan 1 (pp. 251-258). Elsevier.
[10] Nussbaum J, Helluy P, Hérard JM, Carriere A. Numerical simulations of gas-
particle flows with combustion. Flow, turbulence and combustion. 2006 Jun;76(4):403-
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[11] Amatucci WE, Walker DN, Ganguli G, Antoniades JA, Duncan DB, Bowles JH,
Gavrishchaka V, Koepke ME. Plasma response to strongly sheared flow. Physical review letters.
1996 Sep 2;77(10):1978.
[12] Meillot E, Guenadou D, Bourgeois C. Three-dimension and transient DC plasma flow
modeling. Plasma Chemistry and Plasma Processing. 2008 Feb;28:69-84.
[13] Hahn Y, Li J. Transient behavior of a nonequilibrium plasma formed by merged beams.
Zeitschrift für Physik D Atoms, Molecules and Clusters. 1996 Jun;36:85-92.
[14] Sato T, Ito D, Nishiyama H. Reactive flow analysis of nonthermal plasma in a cylindrical
reactor. IEEE transactions on industry applications. 2005 Jul 18;41(4):900-5.
[15] Baker BR, Wood BJ. A Model for Molecular Flow of Reactive Species through Cylindrical
Reactors. Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology. 1971 Jul;8(4):555-60.
[16] Makinde, Oluwole Daniel. "Analysis of non-Newtonian reactive flow in a cylindrical pipe."
(2009): 034502.
