Session M4: Energy: Thermodynamics and Combustion

High Speed Imaging of Diesel Fuel Sprays

Fuel sprays primarily serve as methods for fuel distribution, fuel/air mixing, and atomization. In this research, a constant pressure flow rig vessel is being tested at various pressures and temperatures using n-heptane. The experiment requires two imaging techniques: color Schlieren and Mie-scatter. Schlieren captures density gradients in a spray which includes both liquid and vapor phases while Mie-scatter is only sensitive to the liquid phase of the fuel spray. Essentially, studies are mainly focused on extracting the liquid boundary from the Schlieren to possibly eliminate the need for acquiring the Mie-Scatter technique. Four test conditions (combination of low and high pressure and temperatures) are used in the application to attempt to find the liquid boundary independent of the Mie-scatter technique. In this pursuit the following methods were used: a color threshold, a value threshold, and the time variation in color. All methods provided some indication of the liquid region but none were able to capture the full liquid boundary as obtained by the Mie-scatter results.   

Study of ethanol and gasoline fuel sprays using mie-scatter and schlieren imaging

Many cars today are capable of running on both gasoline and ethanol, however it is not clear how well optimized the engines are for the multiple fuels. This experiment looks specifically at the fuel spray in a direct injection system. The length and angle of direct injection sprays were characterized and a comparison between ethanol and gasoline sprays was made. Fuels were tested using a modified diesel injector in a test chamber at variable ambient pressures and temperatures in order to simulate both high and low load combustion chamber conditions. Rainbow schlieren and mie-scatter imaging were both used to investigate the liquid and vapor portions of the sprays. The sprays behaved as expected with temperature and pressure changes. There was no noticeable fuel effect on the liquid portion of the spray (mie-scatter), though the gasoline vapor spray angles were wider than ethanol spray angles (possible a result of the distillation curves of the two fuels).   

Effects of porous insert on flame dynamics in a lean premixed swirl-stabilized combustor

In this study, we investigated different methods of determining the effect a porous insert has on flame dynamics during lean premixed combustion. A metallic porous insert is used to mitigate instabilities in a swirl-stabilized combustor. Thermoacoustic instabilities are seen as negative consequences of lean premixed combustion and eliminating them is the motivation for our research. Three different diagnostics techniques with high-speed Photron SA5 cameras were used to monitor flame characteristics. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) was used to observe vortical structures and recirculation zones within the combustor. Using planar laser induced fluorescence (PLIF), we were able to observe changes in the reaction zones during instabilities. Finally, utilizing a color high-speed camera, visual images depicting a flame's oscillations during the instability were captured. Using these monitoring techniques, we are able to support the claims made in previous studies stating that the porous insert in the combustor significantly reduces the thermoacoustic instability.   

Effects of Heat Loss and Subgrid-Scale Models on Large Eddy Simulations of a Premixed Jet Combustor Using Flamelet-Generated Manifolds

Large eddy simulations (LES) of a turbulent premixed jet flame in a confined chamber are performed using the flamelet-generated manifold technique for tabulation of chemical kinetics and the OpenFOAM framework for computational fluid dynamics. The configuration is characterized by an off-center nozzle having an inner diameter of 10 mm, feeding a lean methane-air mixture with an equivalence ratio of 0.71 and mean velocity of 90 m/s, at 573 K and atmospheric pressure. Conductive heat loss is accounted for in the manifold via burner-stabilized flamelets and the subgrid-scale (SGS) turbulence-chemistry interaction is modeled via presumed filtered density functions. The effects of heat loss inclusion as well as SGS modeling for both the SGS stresses and SGS variance of progress variable on the numerical predictions are all systematically investigated. Comparisons between numerical results and measured data show a considerable improvement in the prediction of temperature when heat losses are incorporated into the manifold, as compared to the adiabatic one. In addition, further improvements in the LES predictions are achieved by employing SGS models based on transport equations.   

Effects of pressure on syngas/air turbulent nonpremixed flames

Large eddy simulations (LES) of turbulent non-premixed jet flames were conducted to investigate the effects of pressure on the syngas/air flame behavior. The software to solve the reactive Navier-Stokes equations was developed based on the OpenFOAM framework, using the YSLFM library for the flamelet-based chemical closure. The flamelet tabulation is obtained by means of an in-house code designed to solve unsteady flamelets of both ideal and real fluid mixtures. The validation of the numerical setup is attained by comparison of the numerical results with the Sandia/ETH-Zurich experimental database of the CO/H$_{2}$/N$_{2}$ non-premixed, unconfined, turbulent jet flame, referred to as “Flame A”. Two additional simulations, at pressure conditions of 2 and 5 atm, are compared and analyzed to unravel computational and scientific challenges in characterizing turbulent flames at high pressures. A set of flamelet solutions, representative of the jet flames under review, are analyzed following a CSP approach. In particular, the Tangential Stretching Rate (TSR), representing the reciprocal of the most energetic time scale associated with the chemical source term, and its extension to reaction-diffusion systems (extended TSR), are adopted.   

Coupling Between Turbulent Boundary Layer and Radiative Heat Transfer Under Engine-Relevant Conditions

The lack of accurate submodels for in-cylinder radiation and heat transfer has been identified as a key shortcoming in developing truly predictive CFD models that can be used to develop combustion systems for advanced high-efficiency, low-emissions engines. Recent measurements of wall layers in engines show discrepancies of up to 100\% with respect to standard CFD boundary-layer models. And recent analysis of in-cylinder radiation based on recent spectral property databases and high-fidelity radiative transfer equation (RTE) solvers has shown that at operating conditions typical of heavy-duty CI engines, radiative emission can be as high as 40\% of the wall heat losses, that molecular gas radiation can be more important than soot radiation, and that a significant fraction of the emitted radiation can be reabsorbed before reaching the walls. That is, radiation changes the in-cylinder temperature distribution, which in turn affects combustion and emissions. The goal of this research is to develop models that explicitly account for the potentially strong coupling between radiative and turbulent boundary layer heat transfer. For example, for optically thick conditions, a simple diffusion model might be formulated in terms of an absorption-coefficient-dependent turbulent Prandtl number.   

An Experimental Study on Burning Characteristics of n-Heptane/Ethanol Mixture Pool Fires in a Reduced Scaled Tunnel

Fire accidents in recent decades have drawn attention to safety issues associated with the design, construction and maintenance of tunnels. A reduced scale tunnel model constructed based on Froude scaling technique is used in the current work. Mixtures of n-heptane and ethanol are burned with ethanol volumetric fraction up to 30 percent and the longitudinal ventilation velocity varying from 0.5 to 2.5 m/s. The burning rates of the pool fires are measured using a precision load cell. The heat release rates of the fires are calculated according to oxygen calorimetry method and the temperature distributions inside the tunnel are also measured. Results of the experiments show that the ventilation velocity variation has a significant effect on the pool fire burning rate, smoke temperature and the critical ventilation velocity. With increased oxygen depletion in case of increased ethanol content of blended pool fires, the quasi-steady heat release rate values tend to increase as well as the ceiling temperatures while the combustion duration decreases.   

Radiative Heat Transfer and Turbulence-Radiation Interactions in a Heavy-Duty Diesel Engine

Radiation in piston engines has received relatively little attention to date. Recently, it is being revisited in light of current trends towards higher operating pressures and higher levels of exhaust-gas recirculation, both of which enhance molecular gas radiation. Advanced high-efficiency engines also are expected to function closer to the limits of stable operation, where even small perturbations to the energy balance can have a large influence on system behavior. Here several different spectral radiation property models and radiative transfer equation (RTE) solvers have been implemented in an OpenFOAM-based engine CFD code, and simulations have been performed for a heavy-duty diesel engine. Differences in computed temperature fields, NO and soot levels, and wall heat transfer rates are shown for different combinations of spectral models and RTE solvers. The relative importance of molecular gas radiation versus soot radiation is examined. And the influence of turbulence-radiation interactions is determined by comparing results obtained using local mean values of composition and temperature to compute radiative emission and absorption with those obtained using a particle-based transported probability density function method.   

Thermodynamic Control System for cryogenic propellant storage~: experimental and analytical performance assessment

Future operations in space exploration require to store cryogens for long duration. Residual heat loads induce cryogenic propellant vaporization and tank self-pressurization (SP), eventually leading to storage failure for large enough mission duration. The present study focuses on the Thermodynamic Venting System (TVS) control strategy~: liquid propellant is pumped from the tank, cooled down by a heat exchanger and re-injected, as a jet, inside the tank. The injection is followed by vapor condensation and liquid bath destratification due to mixing. The system cold source is created thanks to a Vented Branch where a liquid fraction is withdrawn from the tank and expanded through a Joule-Thomson valve. The vented branch vaporization permits to cool down the injection loop. Quantitative analyses of SP and TVS control have been experimentally performed using a $110\,L$ tank and a simulant fluid. A database of accurate temperature and pressure dynamics has been gathered and used to validate a homogeneous thermodynamic model which provides a fast prediction of the tank dynamics. The analytical model has been coupled with a multi-objective optimizer to identify system components and regulation strategies that maximize the tank storage duration for various mission types.   

Experimental Investigation of A Heat Pipe-Assisted Latent Heat Thermal Energy Storage System

In the present work, different operation modes of a latent heat thermal energy storage system assisted by a heat pipe network were studied experimentally. Rubitherm RT55 enclosed by a vertical cylindrical container was used as the Phase Change Material (PCM). The embedded heat pipe network consisting of a primary heat pipe and an array of four secondary heat pipes were employed to transfer heat to the PCM. The primary heat pipe transports heat from the heat source to the heat sink. The secondary heat pipes transfer the extra heat from the heat source to PCM during charging process or retrieve thermal energy from PCM during discharging process. The effects of heat transfer fluid (HTF) flow rate and temperature on the thermal performance of the system were investigated for both charging and discharging processes. It was found that the HTF flow rate has a significant effect on the total charging time of the system. Increasing the HTF flow rate results in a remarkable increase in the system input thermal power. The results also showed that the discharging process is hardly affected by the HTF flow rate but HTF temperature plays an important role in both charging and discharging processes.