Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>Large Eddy Simulations are conducted for the Coria Rouen n-heptane spray jet burner, featuring an unconfined geometry with a non-swirling air co-flow. The resulting lifted flame exhibits a complex structure governed by strongly coupled interactions of turbulence, droplet evaporation, and chemical reactions. The multiphase flow is modeled using an Eulerian–Lagrangian approach to provide detailed insight into turbulent spray flame structures. Simulations are performed with the finite volume open-source code OpenFOAM. The combustion chemistry is represented using a Flamelet Generated Manifold (FGM) approach, whereas turbulence-chemistry interaction is modeled with Artificially Thickened Flame (ATF) and a power law efficiency function. Two correction strategies, referred to as standard and projection methods, are implemented to address the interaction between the artificially thickened flame and liquid droplets. Departing from a successful validation process of the employed models, the obtained results complement previous investigations conducted for turbulent spray flames stabilized by pilot flames. The importance of the correction strategies for the accurate prediction of lifted spray flames is clearly identified. Both approaches deliver in general similar results, but the projection approach is presented as the most suitable due to the evaporation rates observed on the droplets, with closer agreement with the reference experiment, and furthermore the better theoretical consistency.</p>