A robust numerical model for premixed flames with high density ratios based on new pressure correction and IMEX schemes

In this study we present a model for the interaction of premixed flames with obstacles in a channel flow. Although the flow equations are solved with Direct Numerical Simulation using a low Mach number approximation, the resolution used in the computation is limited (∼1 mm) hence the inner structure of the flame and the chemical scales are not solved. The species equations are substituted with a source term in the energy equation that simulates a one-step global reaction. A level set method is applied to track the position of the flame and its zero level is used to activate the source term in the energy equation only at the flame front. An immersed boundary method reproduces the geometry of the obstacles. The main contribution of the paper is represented by the proposed numerical approach: an IMEX (implicit–explicit) Runge–Kutta scheme is used for the time integration of the energy equation and a new pressure correction algorithm is introduced for the time integration of the momentum equations. The approach presented here allows to calculate flames which produce high density ratios between burnt and unburnt regions. The model is verified by simulating first simple solutions for one- and two-dimensional flames. At last, the experiments performed by Masri and Ibrahim with square and rectangular bodies are calculated.