An adjoint approach for determining sensitivity of laminar flames

Combustion simulations involve a large number of parameters including chemical rate coefficients and species diffusivities. When comparing such simulations to experimental data, it becomes essential to know the relative impact of each of these parameters on the target quantity. For problems that involve a small number of simulation targets and a large number of parameters, adjoint-based sensitivity analysis is highly efficient. In this work, we develop the continuous adjoint equations for a laminar flame configuration, and provide a numerical algorithm for the solution of the dual problem. Simulations of a hydrogen flame are used to test this new approach. Key results pertaining to model validation are discussed.