Enthalpy Diffusion in Multicomponent Flows

摘要

The enthalpy diffusion flux in the multicomponent energy equation is a well known yet frequently neglected term. It accounts for energy changes, associated with compositional changes, resulting from species diffusion. Enthalpy diffusion is important in flows where signicant mixing occurs between species of dissimilar molecular weight. The term plays a critical role in preventing local violations of the entropy condition. In simulations of nonpremixed combustion, omission of the enthalpy flux can lead to anomalous temperature gradients, which may cause mixing regions to exceed ignition conditions. The term can also play a role in generating acoustic noise in turbulent mixing layers. Euler solvers that rely on numerical diffusion to mix fluids cannot accurately predict the temperature in mixed regions. On the other hand, Navier-Stokes solvers that incorporate enthalpy diffusion can provide much more accurate results.