Numerical Simulation on Submerged Jet Reaction of Molten Aluminum and Water Vapor

The submerged jet reaction of molten aluminum and water vapor can be used as a new method of hydrogen generation in hydrogen-oxygen closed cycle power system, and can improve the rate of hydrogen generation and the stability and controllability of hydrogen generator. However, this reaction has the characteristics of high temperature, opacity and complex local flow state, so it is difficult to observe the flow field through conventional methods. In order to explore the flow field characteristics of the reaction, this paper uses the non-premixed combustion model in the software Fluent to conduct a numerical simulation on this reaction. The accuracy of probability density function(PDF) query table is improved by the ideal mixture density calculation method, so that the numerical model can simulate the gas-liquid reaction more accurately, and can obtain the parameter distribution of the reaction jet flow field of molten aluminum and water vapor, the variation law of the temperature distribution of flow field and the water vapor core region under different inlet velocities of water vapor. The results show that the numerical model used in this paper can simulate jet combustion reaction reasonably; The flow field of molten aluminum-water vapor reaction jet is composed of water vapor core region and mixed product region, where the water vapor core region occupies much less space in the jet region than the mixed product region; When the inlet velocity of water vapor increases, the highest temperature and volume of the high temperature region rise, and the length of the water vapor core region increases. This research may provide a reference for further study on submerged jet reaction of molten aluminum and water vapor and the design of hydrogen generator.