First-Principles Petascale Simulations for Predicting Deflagration to Detonation Transition in Hydrogen-Oxygen Mixtures
Hydrogen has emerged as an important fuel across a range of industries as a means of achieving energy independence and to reduce emissions. DDT and the resulting detonation waves in hydrogen-oxygen can have especially catastrophic consequences in a variety of industrial and energy producing settings related to hydrogen. First-principles numerical simulations of flame acceleration and DDT are required for an in-depth understanding of the phenomena and facilitating design of safe hydrogen systems. The goals of this project were (1) to develop first-principles petascale reactive flow Navier-Stokes simulation code for predicting gaseous high-speed combustion and detonation (HSCD) phenomena and (2) demonstrate feasibility of first-principles simulations of rapid flame acceleration and deflagration-to-detonation transition (DDT) in stoichiometric hydrogen-oxygen mixture (2H 2 + O 2 ). The goals of the project have been accomplished. We have developed a novel numerical simulation code, named HSCD, for performing first-principles direct numerical simulations of high-speed hydrogen combustion. We carried out a series of validating numerical simulations of inert and reactive shock reflection experiments in shock tubes. We then performed a pilot numerical simulation of flame acceleration in a long pipe. The simulation showed the transition of the rapidly accelerating flame into a detonation. The DDT simulations were performed using BG/Q Mira at the Argonne National Laboratory, currently the fourth fastest super-computer in the world.