This week we publish the report “Verification, validation and uncertainties quantification in industrial combustion modelling: some practical tools”, by A. Parente, C. Galletti, G. Coraggio, L. Tognotti

The activity described in this report was carried out in the framework of the IFRF project “Validation of combustion modelling for practical combustion systems” and co-sponsored by University of Pisa.  We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of Dr. Chiara Galletti and Dr. Alessandro Parente.

The report proposes a methodology for estimating the uncertainty in experiments and numerical simulations, to promote a constructive validation of computational approaches.  Validation hierarchies are suggested for two combustion applications that attract increasing interest in the combustion field: a flameless and an oxy-fired furnace.  Two guiding examples, a self-recuperative flameless unit and Fo.Sper furnace, are then identified to show the main steps involved in the V&V methodology.  These include the determination of the total error in the experimental data, including the statistical reproducibility and experimental error, the evaluation of the numerical error and modelling uncertainty, and the quantification of the level of agreement between experimental data and numerical simulations.  Finally, the consistency between numerical models and experimental data is discussed, showing the potential of V&V of identifying which values of the uncertain input parameters allow defining a consistent predictive model.

Dr. Parente, at present assistant professor at Universite Libre de Bruxelles, will present the main results of the research work at this week’s workshop on CFD validation, in Turku, http://www.calendar.ifrf.net/event.html?id=377.