Future progress in turbulent combustion research

Abstract Turbulent combustion research is projected to be an important area of research well into the twenty-first century. Issues of current interest in turbulent flame structure and computational prediction are outlined and forecasts are made for approaches that are likely to lead to significant advances. There is a mounting body of evidence that concepts and models derived from the laminar flamelet hypothesis are not valid over many of the conditions of practical interest for both premixed and non-premixed systems. Approaches such as Conditional Moment Closure and Monte–Carlo simulation of the transport equation for the probability density function are considered to have the most promise for pollutant prediction in non-premixed systems. Large Eddy Simulation may be necessary for non-stationary premixed problems and for bluff-body and swirling flows.