Large-Eddy Simulation of a 3D airblast injector using a diffuse interface four-equation model: effects of evaporation and combustion

This work presents Large-Eddy Simulations of a three-dimensional airblast-type injector using a diffuse-interface Multi-Fluid approach. A four-equation model is employed, including a consistent phase transition solver and a thermodynamic closure suitable for evaporating and reacting flows. The influence of evaporation and combustion on the spray and flow dynamics is investigated through a comparative analysis of cold, evaporative, and reactive configurations. The method is first validated against reference results and known behavior for similar injector geometries. It is shown that the addition of evaporation significantly alters the liquid fuel distribution, particularly in the inner recirculation zone, while combustion further modifies both liquid and gaseous fuel fields due to temperatureinduced evaporation and fuel consumption. The reacting case exhibits typical flame features, including hollow cone structures and localized high-temperature zones near stoichiometric mixture fractions. These phenomena align well with expected flame behavior under airblast conditions. Phase transition and combustion also have a notable impact on the velocity field, with increased expansion and stronger recirculation induced by heat release. The proposed model captures these effects in a unified framework. Finally, the present multi-physics approach enables consistent and efficient simulation of multiphase, reactive sprays, providing physical insight into the coupled interaction between atomization, evaporation, and combustion. The method shows good numerical performance on the 3D injector, with a reduced computational time of 2.1 × 10 -5 s.mpi/node/it, which has no overcost compared to the Lagrangian reference model. The fully explicit treatment of the equation of state (NASG) ensures excellent robustness on complex geometries, while avoiding the iterative procedure required by cubic-type EoS. These numerical properties make the DIM suitable for industrial LES configurations involving evaporation and combustion, and further model development.


Benoît Péden, Pierre Boivin, Nicolas Odier. Large-Eddy Simulation of a 3D airblast injector using a diffuse interface four-equation model: effects of evaporation and combustion. Combustion and Flame, 2026, 285, pp.114771. ⟨10.1016/j.combustflame.2026.114771⟩. ⟨hal-05557933⟩

Journal: Combustion and Flame

Date de publication: 14-01-2026

Auteurs:
  • Benoît Péden
  • Pierre Boivin
  • Nicolas Odier

Digital object identifier (doi): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.combustflame.2026.114771

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