Oseni Temitope Damilola¹, Obojobo Donatus Obukeajeta², Ochuele Dominic Agida³, Moses Adondua Abah³ and Micheal Oladosu Abimbola³
¹Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Kwara State University, Kwara State, Nigeria
²Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Southern Delta University, Ozoro, Delta State, Nigeria
³ResearchHub Nexus Institute, Nigeria
(✉) Corresponding Author: Moses Adondua Abah; m.abah@fuwukari.edu.ng
Received: Aug 20, 2026/ Revised: Sept 20 2026/Accepted: Sept 21, 2026
Highlights
- LES resolves dominant turbulent structures for improved simulation of reacting flows.
- LES provides greater detail than RANS while requiring less computational cost than DNS.
- Subgrid-scale models are essential for representing unresolved turbulence in combustion simulations.
- Turbulence–chemistry interactions strongly influence premixed, non-premixed, and partially premixed combustion.
- LES supports combustion-system design, optimization, and emission-control applications.
- Applications include gas turbines, engines, aerospace propulsion, and low-carbon fuels such as hydrogen and ammonia.
- Machine learning, reduced-order models, exascale computing, and digital twins are advancing LES capabilities.
Abstract
Large Eddy Simulation (LES) has become one of the most powerful computational approaches for investigating turbulent combustion because it resolves the dominant energy-containing turbulent structures while modeling the effects of unresolved subgrid-scale motions. Compared with conventional Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) methods, LES provides improved predictive capability for complex, unsteady reacting flows, while remaining computationally more feasible than Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS). Consequently, LES has gained widespread application in the design, optimization, and emission control of modern combustion systems. This review presents a comprehensive overview of modeling approaches and practical applications of LES in turbulent combustion. It first outlines the fundamental principles of LES, including filtered governing equations, turbulence resolution, and the challenges associated with reacting flow simulations. The review then examines major subgrid-scale turbulence models, turbulence chemistry interaction strategies for premixed, non-premixed, and partially premixed combustion, and numerical considerations influencing simulation accuracy and computational efficiency. Current approaches for model validation against experimental measurements and DNS datasets are also discussed, with emphasis on predictive accuracy, uncertainty, and computational cost. Furthermore, the review summarizes representative applications of LES in gas turbines, internal combustion engines, aerospace propulsion, industrial combustion systems, and emerging low-carbon fuel technologies involving hydrogen, ammonia, and biomass. Finally, recent advances in machine learning-assisted LES, hybrid and reduced-order modeling, exascale computing, and digital twin frameworks are highlighted, together with the key scientific and computational challenges that continue to limit widespread industrial implementation. By synthesizing recent developments across modeling methodologies and engineering applications, this review provides a concise reference for researchers and engineers while identifying future directions for improving the accuracy, scalability, and practical adoption of LES in turbulent combustion research.
Keywords: Large Eddy Simulation (LES), Turbulent combustion, Subgrid-scale modeling, Turbulence–chemistry interaction, Computational fluid dynamics (CFD), and Low-carbon combustion.
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How to cite this article
Damilola, O. T., Obukeajeta, O. D., Agida, O. D., Abah, M. A., & Abimbola, M. O. (2026). Large Eddy Simulation (LES) of turbulent combustion: A review of modeling approaches and applications. Chemical and Environmental Science Archives, 6(3), 77–91. https://doi.org/10.47587/CESA.2026.6305
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