Global Sensitivity Analysis in Non-premixed Counterflow Flames

Numerical simulation of critical reacting flow features of hypersonic propulsion devices requires accurate representation of finite-rate chemical kinetics. However, the detailed kinetic models that are being developed for practical fuels of interest are rather complex, typically involve over hundreds of species in thousands of elementary reactions, and cannot be used in multi-dimensional simulation codes in the foreseeable future. The fundamental chemical kinetic parameters of detailed models are known to have significant level of uncertainties due to the limited experimental data available. For this reason, detailed models continue to evolve with new experimental data as well as improved optimization algorithms. In particular, the problem of understanding the non-linear coupling between thousands of reactions that are being optimized can be addressed by using Global Sensitivity Analysis (GSA) techniques. Although work has already been done in ignition and flame propagation, the purpose of the proposed research is to accelerate the understanding of reactions coupling and their importance, in particular by including non-premixed flames in GSA.