Fully-Coupled Turbojet Engine CFD Simulations and Cycle Analyses Along the Equilibrium Running Line

Author(s):  
Alejandro Briones ◽  
Andrew W Caswell ◽  
Brent Rankin

Abstract This work presents fully-coupled computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations and thermodynamic cycle analyses of a small-scale turbojet engine at several conditions along the equilibrium running line. The CFD simulations use a single mesh for the entire engine, from the intake to the exhaust, allowing information to travel in all directions. The CFD simulations are performed along the equilibrium running line by using the iterative Secant method to compute the fuel flow rate required to match the compressor and turbine power. The freestream pressure and temperature and shaft angular speed are the only inputs needed for the CFD simulations. To evaluate the consistency of the CFD results with thermodynamic cycle results, outputs from the CFD simulations are prescribed as inputs to the cycle model. This approach enables on-design and off-design cycle calculations to be performed without requiring turbomachinery performance maps. In contrast, traditional off-design cycle analyses require either scaling, calculating, or measuring compressor and turbine maps with boundary condition assumptions. In addition, the CFD simulations and the cycle analyses are compared with measurements of the turbojet engine. The CFD simulations, thermodynamic cycle analyses, and measurements agree in terms of total temperature and pressure at the diffuser-combustor interface, air and fuel mass flow rate, equivalence ratio, and thrust. The developed methods to perform CFD simulations from the intake to the exhaust of the turbojet engine are expected to be useful for guiding the design and development of future small-scale gas turbine engines.

Author(s):  
Serdar Üşenmez ◽  
Sinan Ekinci ◽  
Oğuz Uzol ◽  
İlkay Yavrucuk

Having a small-scale turbojet engine operate at a desired speed with minimum steady state error, while maintaining good transient response is crucial in many applications, such as UAVs, and requires precise control of the fuel flow. In this paper, first the mathematical model of a Small-Scale Turbojet Engine (SSTE) is obtained using system identification tests, and then based on this model, a classical PI controller is designed. Afterwards, to improve on the transient response and steady state performance of this classical controller, a Fuzzy Logic Controller (FLC) is designed. The design process for the FLC employs logical deduction based on knowledge of the engine behavior and iterative tuning in the light of software- and hardware-in-the-loop simulations. The classical and fuzzy logic controllers are both implemented on an in-house, embedded Electronic Control Unit (ECU) running in real time. This ECU is an integrated device carrying a microcontroller based board, a fuel pump, fuel line valves, speed sensor and exhaust gas temperature sensor inputs, and starter motor and glow plug driver outputs. It mainly functions by receiving a speed reference value via its serial communication interface. Based on this reference, a voltage is calculated and applied to the fuel pump in order to regulate the fuel flow into the engine, thereby bringing the engine speed to the desired value. Pre-defined procedures for starting and stopping the engine are also automatically performed by the ECU. Further, it connects to a computer running an in-house comprehensive Graphical User Interface (GUI) software for operating, monitoring, configuration and diagnostics purposes. The designed controllers are used to drive a generic SSTE. Reference inputs consisting of step, ramp and chirp profiles are applied to the controllers. The engine response using both controllers are recorded and inspected. The results show that the FLC exhibits a comparable performance to the classical controller, with possible opportunities to improve this performance.


Author(s):  
Megan F. Karalus ◽  
K. Boyd Fackler ◽  
Igor V. Novosselov ◽  
John C. Kramlich ◽  
Philip C. Malte

The stability of hydrogen combustion under lean premixed conditions in a back-mixed jet-stirred reactor (JSR), is experimentally and numerically investigated. The goal is to understand the mechanism of flame extinction in this recirculation-stabilized flame environment. Extinction is achieved by holding the air flow rate constant and gradually decreasing the flow rate of the hydrogen fuel until a blowout event occurs. In order to gain insight on the mechanism controlling blowout, two dimensional computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulations are carried out for the lean premixed combustion (LPM) of hydrogen as the fuel flow rate is reduced. The CFD model illustrates the evolution of the flow-field, temperature profiles, and flame structure within the JSR as blowout is approached. A single element chemical reactor network (CRN) consisting of a plug flow reactor (PFR) with recirculation is constructed based on the results of the CFD simulations, and its prediction of blowout is in good agreement with the experimental results. The chemical mechanism of Li et al. is used in both the CFD and CRN models, and GRI is used in the CRN for comparison. The modeling suggests that lean blowout does not occur with the flame in a spatially homogeneous condition, but rather under a zonal structure. Specifically, the flame is stabilized by the entrainment of combustion products from the re-circulation zone into the base of the reactant jet. The mixture of hot products and incoming premixed reactants proceeds through an ignition induction period followed by an ignition event. As the fuel flow decreases, the induction period increases and the ignition event is pushed further around the recirculation zone. Eventually, the induction period becomes so long that the ignition is incomplete at the point where the recirculating gas is entrained into the jet. This threshold leads to overall flame extinction.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alejandro Briones ◽  
Joshua Sykes ◽  
Brent A. Rankin ◽  
Andrew W. Caswell

Author(s):  
Hun Cha ◽  
Yoo Seok Song ◽  
Kyu Jong Kim ◽  
Jung Rae Kim ◽  
Sung Min KIM

An inappropriate design of HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator) may lead to mechanical problems including the fatigue failure caused by rapid load change such as operating trip, start-up or shut down. The performance of HRSG with dynamic analysis should be investigated in case of start-up or shutdown. In this study, dynamic analysis for the HRSG system was carried out by commercial software. The HRSG system was modeled with HP, IP, LP evaporator, duct burner, superheater, reheater and economizer. The main variables for the analysis were the temperature and mass flow rate from gas turbine and fuel flow rate of duct burner for given start-up (cold/warm/hot) and shutdown curve. The results showed that the exhaust gas condition of gas turbine and fuel flow rate of duct burner were main factors controlling the performance of HRSG such as flow rate and temperature of main steam from final superheater and pressure of HP drum. The time delay at the change of steam temperature between gas turbine exhaust gas and HP steam was within 2 minutes at any analysis cases.


Author(s):  
Chi-Rong Liu ◽  
Hsin-Yi Shih

The purpose of this study is to investigate the combustion and emission characteristics of syngas fuels applied in a micro gas turbine, which is originally designed for a natural gas fired engine. The computation results were conducted by a numerical model, which consists of the three-dimension compressible k–ε model for turbulent flow and PPDF (presumed probability density function) model for combustion process. As the syngas is substituted for methane, the fuel flow rate and the total heat input to the combustor from the methane/syngas blended fuels are varied with syngas compositions and syngas substitution percentages. The computed results presented the syngas substitution effects on the combustion and emission characteristics at different syngas percentages (up to 90%) for three typical syngas compositions and the conditions where syngas applied at fixed fuel flow rate and at fixed heat input were examined. Results showed the flame structures varied with different syngas substitution percentages. The high temperature regions were dense and concentrated on the core of the primary zone for H2-rich syngas, and then shifted to the sides of the combustor when syngas percentages were high. The NOx emissions decreased with increasing syngas percentages, but NOx emissions are higher at higher hydrogen content at the same syngas percentage. The CO2 emissions decreased for 10% syngas substitution, but then increased as syngas percentage increased. Only using H2-rich syngas could produce less carbon dioxide. The detailed flame structures, temperature distributions, and gas emissions of the combustor were presented and compared. The exit temperature distributions and pattern factor (PF) were also discussed. Before syngas fuels are utilized as an alternative fuel for the micro gas turbine, further experimental testing is needed as the modeling results provide a guidance for the improved designs of the combustor.


Author(s):  
Gu Shan-Jian ◽  
Yang Mao-Lin ◽  
Li Xiang-Yi

A method to measure the fuel distribution and the percentage of fuel flow rate captured by a V-gutter flameholder in a high speed airstream has been developed. The effects of configuration and size of the probe and temprature of the sample mixture in the probe on measurement have been investigated. The detailed determination of isokinetic sampling condition is described. The effects of V-gutter geometry on flowfield have been considered. The total experimental error is of the order ±5%.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Il Doh ◽  
Young-Ho Cho

A pumpless fuel supply using pressurized fuel with autonomous flow regulation valves is presented. Since micropumps and their control circuitry consume a portion of the electrical power generated in fuel cells, fuel supply without micropumps makes it possible to provide more efficient and inexpensive fuel cells than conventional ones. The flow regulation valves in the present system maintain the constant fuel flow rate from the pressurized fuel chamber even though the fuel pressure decreases. They autonomously adjust fluidic resistance of the channel according to fuel pressure so as to maintain constant flow rate. Compared to previous pumpless fuel supply methods, the present method offers more uniform fuel flow without any fluctuation using a simple structure. The prototypes were fabricated by a polymer micromolding process. In the experimental study using the pressurized deionized water, prototypes with pressure regulation valves showed constant flow rate of 5.38 ± 0.52 μl/s over 80 min and 5.89 ± 0.62 μl/s over 134 min, for the initial pressure in the fuel chamber of 50 and 100 kPa, respectively, while the other prototypes having the same fluidic geometry without flow regulation valves showed higher and gradually decreasing flow rate. The present pumpless fuel supply method providing constant flow rate with autonomous valve operation will be beneficial for the development of next-generation fuel cells.


Author(s):  
Bhaskar Tamma ◽  
Juan Carlos Alvarez ◽  
Aaron J. Simon

Reduction in emissions, especially NOx has been the main study of various engine researchers in the light of stringent emission norms. To reduce the time and cost involved in testing these technologies, engine thermodynamic cycle predictive tools are used. The present work uses one such predictive tool (GT Power from Gamma Technologies) for predicting the influence of water addition in a turbocharged 6-cylinder diesel engine intake on engine performance and NOx emissions. The experiments for comparison with modeling included the introduction of liquid water in the engine intake stream, between the compressor and intercooler ranging from 0 to 100% of fuel flow rate. NOx emission reduced linearly with water addition with reduction of 63% with less than 1% penalty on fuel efficiency at 100% water addition. The GT Power model predicted the performance within 5% of experimental data and NOx emission within 10% of the experiments.


Author(s):  
Uyi Idahosa ◽  
Saptarshi Basu ◽  
Ankur Miglani

This paper reports an experimental investigation of dynamic response of nonpremixed atmospheric swirling flames subjected to external, longitudinal acoustic excitation. Acoustic perturbations of varying frequencies (fp = 0–315 Hz) and velocity amplitudes (0.03 ≤ u′/Uavg ≤ 0.30) are imposed on the flames with various swirl intensities (S = 0.09 and 0.34). Flame dynamics at these swirl levels are studied for both constant and time-dependent fuel flow rate configurations. Heat release rates are quantified using a photomultiplier (PMT) and simultaneously imaged with a phase-locked CCD camera. The PMT and CCD camera are fitted with 430 nm ±10 nm band pass filters for CH* chemiluminescence intensity measurements. Flame transfer functions and continuous wavelet transforms (CWT) of heat release rate oscillations are used in order to understand the flame response at various burner swirl intensity and fuel flow rate settings. In addition, the natural modes of mixing and reaction processes are examined using the magnitude squared coherence analysis between major flame dynamics parameters. A low-pass filter characteristic is obtained with highly responsive flames below forcing frequencies of 200 Hz while the most significant flame response is observed at 105 Hz forcing mode. High strain rates induced in the flame sheet are observed to cause periodic extinction at localized regions of the flame sheet. Low swirl flames at lean fuel flow rates exhibit significant localized extinction and re-ignition of the flame sheet in the absence of acoustic forcing. However, pulsed flames exhibit increased resistance to straining due to the constrained inner recirculation zones (IRZ) resulting from acoustic perturbations that are transmitted by the co-flowing air. Wavelet spectra also show prominence of low frequency heat release rate oscillations for leaner (C2) flame configurations. For the time-dependent fuel flow rate flames, higher un-mixedness levels at lower swirl intensity is observed to induce periodic re-ignition as the flame approaches extinction. Increased swirl is observed to extend the time-to-extinction for both pulsed and unpulsed flame configurations under time-dependent fuel flow rate conditions.


Author(s):  
Mark G. Turner ◽  
John A. Reed ◽  
Robert Ryder ◽  
Joseph P. Veres

A Zero-D cycle simulation of the GE90-94B high bypass turbofan engine has been achieved utilizing mini-maps generated from a high-fidelity simulation. The simulation utilizes the Numerical Propulsion System Simulation (NPSS) thermodynamic cycle modeling system coupled to a high-fidelity full-engine model represented by a set of coupled 3D computational fluid dynamic (CFD) component models. Boundary conditions from the balanced, steady-state cycle model are used to define component boundary conditions in the full-engine model. Operating characteristics of the 3D component models are integrated into the cycle model via partial performance maps generated from the CFD flow solutions using one-dimensional meanline turbomachinery programs. This paper high-lights the generation of the highpressure compressor, booster, and fan partial performance maps, as well as turbine maps for the high pressure and low pressure turbine. These are actually “mini-maps” in the sense that they are developed only for a narrow operating range of the component. Results are compared between actual cycle data at a take-off condition and the comparable condition utilizing these mini-maps. The mini-maps are also presented with comparison to actual component data where possible.


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