Particle clustering in turbulent premixed flames

Transport of inertial particles in turbulent reacting flows is frequent in a number of engineering and natural systems. Aim of this work is to illustrate the effect of the fluctuating instantaneous flame front on the particle spatial distribution. To this purpose a Direct Numerical Simulation of a Bunsen premixed flame seeded with small inertial particles is performed. The flamelet Stokes number St fl, defined as the ratio between the particle relaxation time and the flame front time scale, is found to be the proper parameter to characterize the particle dynamics in a premixed flame. Clustering of inertial particles is apparent, especially beyond the flame front. The amount of particle segregation is here quantified by the clustering index and two distinct contributions are found to interplay. The first is independent of the particle inertia and affects also tracers. Actually it is associated to the abrupt variation of the particle concentration induced by the fluid expansion across the flame front. The second effect is mainly due to the time lag associated to the particle inertia that, in proximity of the front, affects both the mean and the fluctuation of the particle number in a fixed volume. The global effect results in an intense clustering of the inertial particles in the flame brush region with a maximum for particles with flamelet Stokes number: St fl = O(1).