A Multi-fluid Model is proposed for turbulent combustion in explosions at infinitely-large Reynolds, Peclet & Damkoehler numbers. It is based on the gas dynamic conservation laws for the mixture, augmented mass-energy conservation laws for each fluid (fuel-F, oxidizer-A and products-P). Combustion is treated as material transformations in the Le Chatelier plane--rather than ''heat release'' found in traditional models. This allows one to construct thermodynamically-consistent representations of the fluids. Such transformations occur at an exothermic front--which represents, simultaneously, a sink for F & A and source of P. The front is represented by a Dirac delta function at the stoichiometric contour in the turbulent field. This Model then provides an extraordinarily clear picture of turbulent combustion fields, which are normally clouded by a myriad of diffusional effects.

Considered here are explosions from condensed TNT charges--where the expanded detonation products gases are rich in C and CO [1]. Mixing with air causes oxidation/combustion [2], which dramatically increases the pressure in confined systems (vid. Fig. 1). We treat this as an Inverse Problem: infer fuel consumption from the measured pressure P {triple_bond} {bar p}(t)/p{sub i}. The Model expounded here represents a valuable tool for extracting the evolution of combustion system from a readily measurable quantity (pressure). The Model establishes the fuel consumption history as well as the evolution of thermodynamic solution (specific volumes, energies and densities) of the components that will generate the observed pressure profile. This solution in Thermodynamic (State) Space provides extraordinarily clear insight into the combustion process, which is normally clouded by a myriad of transport processes that occur in physical space.

Turbulent combustion fields established by detonative explosions of TNT in confinements of different sizes are studied by high-resolution numerical simulation, using AMR (Adaptive Mesh Refinement) method. The chambers are filled with nitrogen or air at NPT conditions. In the second case, the detonation products, rich in C and CO, act, upon turbulent mixing with air, as fuel in an exothermic process of combustion, manifested by a distinct pressure rise. It is the evolution in space and time of this dynamic process that formed the principal focus of this study. Our results demonstrate a dominating influence of the size of the enclosure on the burning rate--an effect that cannot be expressed in terms of the classical burning speed. Under such circumstances, combustion is of considerable significance, since it is associated with a calorific value (''heat release'') of an order of 3500 Cal/gm, as compared to 1100 Cal/gm of TNT detonation. The numerical simulations provide considerable insight into the evolution of combustion fields dominated by shock-turbulence interactions. Fuel consumption histories, extracted from the simulations, reveal the dynamic features of the system, represented by the rate of combustion (akin to velocity) and its change (akin to acceleration). Time profiles of the mass fraction …