Some remarks on modeling CSTR combustion processes

Simulation of CSTR combustion experiments by means of numerical modeling has recently started to appear in the literature. In order to give a methodological contribution to the development of such models, the authors highlight the main problems that, in their opinion, should be tackled. Correct derivation of energy balance and its effects on simulation of dynamic behavior of combustion processes are discussed. The role played by flow characteristics of the reactor exhaust, by assumed initial conditions and by the usual simplifying assumptions, is presented by means of numerical experiments. The necessity of devising appropriate numerical procedures to overcome the problems arising from the multiplicity of states expected from the nonlinearity of the process is also stressed. Results of numerical experiments are obtained, as an example, on the basis of a kinetic scheme for the combustion of acetaldehyde at low temperatures. © 1990.