Laminar flamelet method (LFM) based prediction procedures for turbulen
t premixed combustion are presented. Two different approaches are inve
stigated. In one case, the standard eddy dissipation concept (EDC) is
used as the turbulent combustion model and the laminar flamelet model
is applied as a post-processor for subsequent nitrogen oxide predictio
ns. In the second approach, however, a higher predictive potential is
achieved by employing the LFM as the turbulent combustion model. Predi
ctions are compared with experiments for two different turbulent premi
xed flame configurations, namely for an essentially parabolic, laborat
ory flame, and a strongly swirling, recirculating flame of an industri
al gas turbine burner. Results show that a substantial increase of pre
dictive capability compared to more traditional methods is achieved by
the flamelet method, not only for laboratory flames, but also for pra
ctical gas turbine applications. For the latter, the classical order o
f magnitude analysis suggests that the combustion occurs outside the l
aminar flamelet regime. Despite this, laminar flamelet predictions sho
w relatively good agreement with experimental data, supporting argumen
ts that such modelling is appropriate beyond the classical laminar fla
melet combustion limits defined in the Borghi diagram. (C) 1998 Elsevi
er Science Inc. All rights reserved.