An adaptive 3-D CFD solver for modeling explosions on large industrial environmental scales

The paper describes the computer code REACFLOW, developed at the JRC for th e numerical simulation of compressible gas flows with chemical reactions, w ith the objective of studying large-scale chemical explosions. The code emp loys a finite-volume scheme on an unstructured 2-D or 3-D grid, coupled wit h turbulence models, and modules for either finite-rate chemistry source te rms or a model for the interaction between turbulence and combustion. To ov ercome the problems which are related to different scales, an adaptive full y reversible CFD method is used. New grid points are temporarily inserted i nto the mesh to track strong disturbances in,the flow (such as shocks or fl ame fronts) and removed when not required. The code has been tested on a number of different 2-D and 3-D problems, inc luding fast turbulent deflagrations and detonations on medium and large sca le problems.