A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Accelerated numerical simulations of hydrogen flames: Open-source implementation of an advanced diffusion model library in OpenFOAM
Authors: Haider, Ali; Morev, Ilya; Rintanen, Aleksi; Shahin, Zin; Tamadonfar, Parsa; Karimkashi, Shervin; Wehrfritz, Armin; Vuorinen, Ville
Publisher: Elsevier
Publication year: 2025
Journal: International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Article number: 152115
Volume: 189
ISSN: 0360-3199
eISSN: 1879-3487
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2025.152115
Publication's open availability at the time of reporting: Open Access
Publication channel's open availability : Partially Open Access publication channel
Web address : https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360319925051183?via%3Dihub
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/505761551
Self-archived copy's licence: CC BY
Self-archived copy's version: Publisher`s PDF
Here, the OpenFOAM software with the dynamic load balancer library DLBFoam is investigated for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of different hydrogen (H2) flames. The benefits of DLBFoam for hydrogen have not been thoroughly investigated in the past. To explore this, a new open-source diffusion model library FickianTransportFoam is implemented in this study. FickianTransportFoam includes species-specific constant Lewis number and mixture-averaged models with correction velocity to account for preferential diffusion. The model is first verified for one-dimensional (1D) premixed and non-premixed counterflow flames. Additionally, four hydrogen/air flames are explored: (1) two-dimensional (2D) laminar freely propagating premixed flame, (2) 2D axisymmetric laminar non-premixed jet flame, (3) three-dimensional (3D) turbulent non-premixed swirling flame, and (4) 3D turbulent premixed swirling flame. The main results and achievements regarding the implemented transport models are as follows. First, the results from 2D freely propagating flame demonstrated thermodiffusively unstable flame formation using the mixture averaged model. The analytical and numerical dispersion relationships agree well for the linear instability growth phase. Second, the model functionality is demonstrated for a laminar 2D jet case with conjugate heat transfer. Furthermore, validation and grid sensitivity studies for the 3D turbulent flames are carried out. Third, the computational benchmark for each configuration indicates a factor of ~10-100 speed-up when utilizing DLBFoam. Finally, the test cases and source codes for FickianTransportFoam are openly shared.
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Funding information in the publication:
This study is financially supported by Business Finland, grant number 7578/31/2022 ‘‘HENNES’’. Ville Vuorinen would like to acknowledge the support of the COST action CYPHER CA22151. Zin Shahin acknowledges financial support from Merenkulun säätiö, Walter Ahlström säätiö, and Tekniikan Edistämissäätiö. Ali Haider acknowledges Merenkulun säätiö for financial support and Ennova Technologies for providing the meshing tool license. Parsa Tamadonfar would like to acknowledge the Research Council of Finland (grant number 332835) and the Hi-EFECTS project by Nordic Energy Research (project number 172460). Shervin Karimkashi would like to acknowledge the Research Council of Finland project Wet-HyAm (grant number 361479). We highly appreciate the computational resources provided by CSC - Finnish IT Center for Science, which enabled performing the large-scale numerical simulations of this study.
