Subgrid scale modeling considerations for large eddy simulation of supercritical turbulent mixing and combustion

This paper presents a systematic investigation of large eddy simulation (LES) and subgrid scale (SGS) modeling with application to transcritical and supercritical turbulent mixing and combustion. There remains uncertainty about the validity of extending the LES formalism developed for low-pressure, ideal-gas flows to simulations of high-pressure real-fluid flows. To address this concern, we reexamine the LES theoretical framework and the underlying assumptions in the context of real-fluid mixing and combustion. Two-dimensional direct numerical simulations of nonreacting and reacting mixing layers of gaseous methane and liquid oxygen in the thermodynamically transcritical and supercritical fluid regimes are performed. The computed results are used to evaluate the exact terms in the LES governing equations and associated SGS models. Order of magnitude analysis of the exact filtered and subgrid terms in the LES equations and a priori analysis of the simplifications are performed at different filter widths. It is shown that several of these approximations do not hold for supercritical turbulent mixing. Subgrid scale terms, which are neglected in the LES framework for ideal-gas flows, become significant in magnitude compared to the other leading terms in the governing equations. In particular, the subgrid term arising from the filtering of the real-fluid equation of state is shown to be important.