A Theoretical Assessment of Napier’s Law

1987 ◽  
Vol 109 (4) ◽  
pp. 460-463
Author(s):  
Y. Candau

Napier’s Law is advantageous for calculating critical mass flow rate of water-steam mixture. On the basis of numerical computations, it has been recently extended to a number of fluids. A theoretical approach using simple thermodynamic calculations can account for the existence of such a law when a few basic conditions are fulfilled.

Author(s):  
S. F. Goh ◽  
S. Kusadomi ◽  
S. R. Gollahalli

The main purpose of this study was to comprehend the effects of burner diameter and fuel type on smoke point characteristics of a hydrocarbon diffusion flame and its radiation emission. The critical mass flow rate of pure fuel at this smoke point was measured. At nine different fractions of the critical mass flow rate, nitrogen gas was supplied along with the fuel to achieve smoke point. At each condition, flame radiation and flame height were measured. The axial radiation profile at the critical fuel mass flow rate for one burner was also measured. Three fuels of differing sooting propensities were used: ethylene (C2H4), propylene (C3H6), and propane (C3H8). Three different burners with inner diameters of 1.2 mm, 3.2 mm and 6.4 mm were used. Results showed that propylene had the highest critical fuel flow rate and the highest nitrogen dilution required to suppress smoking and total flame radiation, followed by ethylene and propane. For all fuels, the curves of nitrogen flow rate required for smoke suppression versus fuel flow rate exhibited a skewed bell shape. The variation of Reynolds number at the critical fuel mass flow rate with the burner diameter showed a linear relation. On the other hand, the variation of total flame radiation with burner diameter was nonlinear.


Author(s):  
Saad A. Ahmed

Centrifugal compressors or blowers are widely used in many industrial applications. However, the operation of such systems is limited at low-mass flow rates by self-excited flow instabilities which could result in rotating stall or surge of the compressor. These instabilities will limit the flow range in which the compressor or the blower can operate, and will also lower their performance and efficiency. Experimental techniques were used to investigate a model of radial vaneless diffuser at stall and stall-free operating conditions. The speed of the impeller was kept constant, while the mass flow rate was reduced gradually to study the steady and unsteady operating conditions of the compressor. Additional experiments were made to investigate the effects of reducing the exit flow area on the inception of stall. The results indicate that the instability in the diffuser was successfully delayed to a lower flow coefficient when throttle rings were attached to either one or both of the diffuser walls (i.e., to reduce the diffuser exit flow area). The results also showed that an increase of the blockage ratio improves the stability of the system (i.e., the critical mass flow rate could be reduced to 50% of its value without blockage). The results indicate that the throttle rings could be an effective method to control stall in radial diffusers.


1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. V. Otugen ◽  
R. M. C. So ◽  
B. C. Hwang

Experiments were carried out in a model vaneless diffuser rig to investigate the rotating stall phenomenon and its relation to diffuser geometry. The experimental rig consisted of an actual impeller which was used to deliver the flow to the vaneless diffuser. Mass flow rate through the system could be adjusted by varying the rotational speed of the impeller at a fixed inlet opening or by changing the inlet opening at a fixed impeller speed. The flow exited to room condition. As such, the rig was designed to investigate the fluid mechanics of vaneless diffuser rotating stall only. Attention was focused on the effects of diffuser width and radius on rotating stall. Three diffuser widths and three outlet radii were examined. The width-to-inlet radius ratio varied between 0.09 and 0.142 while the outlet-to-inlet radius ratio varied between 1.5 and 2. Results showed that the critical mass flow rate for the onset of rotating stall decreases with decreasing diffuser width. The critical mass flow rate is affected also by the diffuser radius ratio; larger radius ratios resulted in smaller critical mass flow rates. The ratio of the speed of rotation of the stall cell to impeller speed is found to decrease with increasing number of stall cells. This relative speed also decreases with increasing diffuser radius ratio, but it is largely independent of the diffuser width.


Author(s):  
A. Nouri-Borujerdi ◽  
P. Javidmand

This paper presented a numerical study that predicts critical mass flow rate, pressure, vapor quality, and void fraction along a very long tube with small diameter or capillary tub under critical condition by the drift flux model. Capillary tubes are simple expansion devices and are necessary to design and optimization of refrigeration systems. Using dimensional analysis by Buckingham’s π theory, some generalized correlations are proposed for prediction of flow parameters as functions of flow properties and tube sizes under various critical conditions. This study is performed under the inlet pressure in the range of 0.8 ≤ pin ≤ 1.5Mpa, subcooling temperature between 0 ≤ ΔTsub ≤ 10 °C. The tube diameter is in the range of 0.5 ≤ D ≤ 1.5mm and tube length between 1 ≤ L ≤ 2m for water, ammonia, refrigerants R-12, R-22 and R-134 as working fluids. Comparison between the results of the present work and some experimental data indicates a good agreement. Cluster of data close to the fitted curves also shows satisfactory results.


Author(s):  
Congmin ZHANG ◽  
Changqi YAN ◽  
Haifeng GU ◽  
Jiguo TANG ◽  
Xiangcheng Wu

Author(s):  
Nelson Martins ◽  
Maria da Graça Carvalho ◽  
Naim Afgan ◽  
Alexander Ivanovich Leontiev

The heat flux measurement is one of the essential parameter for the diagnostic of thermal systems. In the high temperature environment there are difficulties in differentiating between the convective and radiation component of heat flux on the heat transfer surface. A new method for heat flux measurement is being developed using a porous sensing element. The gas stream flowing through the porous element is used to measure the heat received by the sensor surface exposed to the hot gas environment and to control whether or not the sensing element receives the convection component of the total heat flux. It is possible to define a critical mass flow rate corresponding to the destruction of the boundary layer over the sensing element. With subcritical mass flow rate the porous sensing element will receive both the convective and radiative heat fluxes. A supercritical mass flow rate will eliminate the convective component of the total heat flux. Two consecutive measurements considering respectively a critical and a sub-critical mass flow rate can be used to determine separately the convection and radiation heat fluxes. A numerical model of sensor with appropriate boundary condition has been developed in order to perform analysis of possible options in the design of the sensor. The analysis includes: geometry of element, physical parameters of gas and solid and gas flow rate through the porous element. For the optimal selection of the relevant parameters an experimental set-up was designed, including the sensor element with corresponding cooling and monitoring system and high temperature radiation source. Applying the respective measuring procedure the calibration curve of the sensor was obtained. The linear dependency of the heat flux and respective temperature difference of the gas was verified. The accuracy analysis of the sensor reading has proved high linearity of the calibration curve and accuracy of ± 5%.


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