Reconstruction of heat release rate in one-dimensional counterflow flames

The heat release rate (HRR) is a fundamental parameter in combustion science and technology, critical for both performance monitoring and device optimization. However, its direct experimental determination remains challenging, even for well-defined one-dimensional (1-D) laminar flames. This study develops a computationally efficient method, termed the Fast Temperature-based HRR Prediction (FT-HRRP), to accurately reconstruct HRR profiles in 1-D counterflow flames using solely temperature data, derived through rigorous analysis of the energy equation. A comprehensive validation database was established by using flame simulations of hydrogen-ammonia fuel mixtures with both non-premixed and premixed configurations, systematically examining the method's robustness across various strain rates (40–300 s¯), ammonia blending ratios (0–80 %), and equivalence ratios (0.8–1.2 for premixed cases). The reconstructed HRR profiles show excellent agreement with reference calculations, capturing all essential characteristics, including profile shapes, peak locations, and half widths of profiles. The accuracy and robustness have been confirmed by the experimental data from a published paper. Incorporating the additional physics of species mass transfer of key components (H₂, NH₃, O₂, N₂, etc.) in the present method, some subtle albeit nonessential features of HRR profiles can be well reproduced. The proposed method has the potential of being a useful and efficient analysis tool for 1-D counterflow flames. © 2025 Published by Elsevier Ltd.