Large-Eddy Simulations of kerosene spray combustion in a supersonic jet flow

High-speed reactive two-phase flows, relevant for the development of future scramjet engines, are studied by Large-Eddy Simulations. The present configuration is inspired by the supersonic Cheng's burner replacing hydrogen with kerosene in the gaseous or liquid phase. The sonic kerosene injection is surrounded by a supersonic co-flow of hot vitiated air, ensuring a jet flame's stabilization. The global equivalence of the burner is set to 0.5. A 5-species global mechanism and a more detailed mechanism from the literature involving 19 species and 54 reactions are compared with a new optimized chemistry involving 18 species and 29 reactions. The impact of ignition delay and droplet size on flame stabilization dynamics and combustion modes is discussed. The necessity of a sub-grid closure for the source terms is assessed. Whatever the kerosene phase, the flame structure is dominated by the non-premixed combustion regime, even if a non-negligible contribution of the rich premixed regime is detected. • A reduced kinetic scheme for kerosene oxidation is provided. • A fully compressible Navier-Stokes solver is coupled to a Lagrangian spray solver to run two-phase supersonic combustion. • A lifted supersonic kerosene-air flame is detailed.