Jet Fuel Cavitation in a Converging Diverging Nozzle

Author(s):  
Michael P. Davis ◽  
Patrick F. Dunn ◽  
Flint O. Thomas

The focus of this research proposal is the experimental characterization of fuel cavitation in flow through a converging-diverging nozzle. Cavitation of fuel presents additional complexities (as compared to that in water) because fuel is a multi-component mixture. In any practical engineering environment, large quantities of solid microparticles are resident in the fuel. Gas nuclei trapped on these microparticles has been shown to enhance bubble production in water, and their effect on fuel cavitation is an issue that will be investigated. Measurements also will be made with cavitating water for comparison. A converging-diverging nozzle was chosen as the means for producing cavitation because its type of area constriction is similar to other flow devices such as valves and pumps. Cavitating C-D nozzle flows also have been modeled extensively in the literature. The data that will be acquired include axial pressure profiles, nozzle flow rate, high-speed images of the cavitating region, axial void fraction profiles, and axial velocity profiles. Pressure, velocity, and flow rate data will be used to determine the pressure ratios and limiting mass flow rates when the nozzle is choked. High speed images will be used to identify the structures present in the two-phase region (whether the gaseous voids are spherical bubbles or amorphous slugs. Axial void fraction data will provide information on gas evolution in the flow. Experimental data for cavitating nozzle flows are limited to water cases where bubble nucleation is not a primary source of the two-phase mixture. The proposed research hopes to provide detailed pressure, void-fraction, and velocity measurements for comparison with existing models. The main differences between fuel and water cavitation will be highlighted.

Author(s):  
Afshin Goharzadeh ◽  
Keegan Fernandes

This paper presents an experimental investigation on a modified airlift pump. Experiments were undertaken as a function of air-water flow rate for two submergence ratios (ε=0.58 and 0.74), and two different riser geometries (i) straight pipe with a constant inner diameter of 19 mm and (ii) enlarged pipe with a sudden expanded diameter of 19 to 32 mm. These transparent vertical pipes, of 1 m length, were submerged in a transparent rectangular tank (0.45×0.45×1.1 m3). The compressed air was injected into the vertical pipe to lift the water from the reservoir. The flow map regime is established for both configurations and compared with previous studies. The two phase air-water flow structure at the expansion region is experimentally characterized. Pipeline geometry is found to have a significant influence on the output water flow rate. Using high speed photography and electrical conductivity probes, new flow regimes, such as “slug to churn” and “annular to churn” flow, are observed and their influence on the output water flow rate and efficiency are discussed. These experimental results provide fundamental insights into the physics of modified airlift pump.


Author(s):  
Arvind Jayaprakash ◽  
Sowmitra Singh ◽  
Georges Chahine

The dynamics of a primary relatively large bubble in a water mixture including very fine bubbles is investigated experimentally and the results are provided to several parallel on-going analytical and numerical approaches. The main/primary bubble is produced by an underwater spark discharge from two concentric electrodes placed in the bubbly medium, which is generated using electrolysis. A grid of thin perpendicular wires is used to generate bubble distributions of varying intensities. The size of the main bubble is controlled by the discharge voltage, the capacitors size, and the pressure imposed in the container. The size and concentration of the fine bubbles can be controlled by the electrolysis voltage, the length, diameter, and type of the wires, and also by the pressure imposed in the container. This enables parametric study of the factors controlling the dynamics of the primary bubble and development of relationships between the bubble characteristic quantities such as maximum bubble radius and bubble period and the characteristics of the surrounding two-phase medium: micro bubble sizes and void fraction. The dynamics of the main bubble and the mixture is observed using high speed video photography. The void fraction/density of the bubbly mixture in the fluid domain is measured as a function of time and space using image analysis of the high speed movies. The interaction between the primary bubble and the bubbly medium is analyzed using both field pressure measurements and high-speed videography. Parameters such as the primary bubble energy and the bubble mixture density (void fraction) are varied, and their effects studied. The experimental data is then compared to simple compressible equations employed for spherical bubbles including a modified Gilmore Equation. Suggestions for improvement of the modeling are then presented.


Author(s):  
Jacqueline Barber ◽  
Khellil Sefiane ◽  
David Brutin ◽  
Lounes Tadrist

Boiling in microchannels remains elusive due to the lack of full understanding of the mechanisms involved. A powerful tool in achieving better comprehension of the mechanisms is detailed imaging and analysis of the two phase flow at a fundamental level. We induced boiling in a single microchannel geometry (hydraulic diameter 727 μm), using a refrigerant FC-72, to investigate several flow patterns. A transparent, metallic, conductive deposit has been developed on the exterior of rectangular microchannels, allowing simultaneous uniform heating and visualisation to be conducted. The data presented in this paper is for a particular case with a uniform heat flux of 4.26 kW/m2 applied to the microchannel and inlet liquid mass flowrate, held constant at 1.33×10−5 kg/s. In conjunction with obtaining high-speed images and videos, sensitive pressure sensors are used to record the pressure drop profiles across the microchannel over time. Bubble nucleation, growth and coalescence, as well as periodic slug flow, are observed in the test section. Phenomena are noted, such as the aspect ratio and Reynolds number of a vapour bubble, which are in turn correlated to the associated pressure drops over time. From analysis of our results, images and video sequences with the corresponding physical data obtained, it is possible to follow visually the nucleation and subsequent both ‘free’ and ‘confined’ growth of a vapour bubble over time.


2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad A. Rahman ◽  
Johana Gomez ◽  
Ted Heidrick ◽  
Brian A. Fleck ◽  
Jennifer McMillan

Experimentally accurate void fraction measurements are a challenge in an air/water, two-phase flows through an industrial nozzle assembly, as a highly non-uniform void fraction exists in the feeding conduit prior to the nozzle. In this study, average void fractions were measured by isolating a section in the feeding conduit of a horizontal nozzle assembly, termed as the quick-closing-valve (QCV) technique. A high-speed video camera was utilized to capture the asynchronization closing time, tac. The average closing time and asynchronization for the pneumatically controlled valves were 200 ms and 2 ms, respectively. Based on the equation of 100umtac (1−α)/αlc, the synchronization error between the two valves was 1.12%, 1.26%, and 1.79% for the 1%, 2% and 4% ALR cases, respectively; here um is the mixture velocity, α is the void faction, and lc is the closing length. Higher synchronization error at 4% ALR occurs due to enhanced momentum in the flow regime. Experimental results indicate that the average α over the 33.4 cm feeding conduit (6.25 mm ID) was 76% (αtheoretical = 75%) for the 2% ALR, and 85% (αtheoretical = 83%) for the 3.3% ALR. In the two-phase, two-component flow the α affects the drop size and stability of the spray produced from an industrial nozzle assembly. Learning from this study will yield insights and conceptual understanding of two-phase flow phenomena in conduit, which would affect stability, pulsation tendency, and possibly atomization performance of the nozzle downstream. Two-phase flow nozzles have wide applications in the industries, e.g. petrochemical, pharmaceutical, and others.


Author(s):  
Benjamin Gallman ◽  
B. Terry Beck ◽  
Mohammad H. Hosni

Abstract While normally certain unwanted phenomena are to be avoided, cavitation has useful engineering applications. Specifically, it can be used as to create cooling potential in a novel non-vapor compression refrigeration process. Cavitation occurs when the pressure of the working fluid (compressed liquid) drops below the saturation pressure. Since the cavitation (flash) results in an abrupt reduction in temperature, the working fluid can take in energy as heat from the surroundings during cavitation, which results in a cooling potential (refrigeration). In a converging-diverging nozzle, as the fluid passes through the throat the pressure decreases. If the pressure drops below the saturation pressure, cavitation can occur. The current research focuses on measuring the pressure nearby the cavitation front, and the associated pressure distribution within the two-phase region, in a converging diverging nozzle. A blow-down flow system was used to conduct measurements with water as the working fluid. The flow rate was measured with a rotameter and a Coriolis flow meter. The nozzle is a transparent 3D printed nozzle with an inlet diameter of 9.3 mm, throat diameter of 1.71 mm, and an outlet diameter of 9.3 mm. The upstream reservoir was kept at atmospheric pressure and was elevated above the level of the nozzle inlet. The downstream reservoir was evacuated to create a pressure difference that would drive fluid through the nozzle. The pressure distribution within the nozzle was measured using eight pressure transducers connected to the nozzle with 0.006” diameter taps, and a high-speed camera was used to capture flow visualization. The pressure distribution was measured for steady cavitating flow at several back pressures, and during an increasing flow rate to capture pressure changes during cavitation initiation. These results give direct pressure measurements during cavitating flow, along with the accompanying flow visualization. They should prove useful for furthering the understanding of the metastable fluid mechanics behavior of cavitating flows, and thereby contribute to the ability to ultimately maximize the cooling potential of the cavitation phenomena.


Author(s):  
Ari Hamdani ◽  
Nobuyoshi Tsuzuki ◽  
Hiroshige Kikura

Two-phase swirling flow through a pipe is a complex turbulent flow and its prediction is still challenging. The present paper describes the experimental investigation of the air-water two phase swirling flow in vertical co-current flow. Swirling flow is induced by a twisted tape in a 20 mm inner diameter pipe. The flow is investigated using Ultrasonic Velocity Profiler (UVP), which allows the measurement of liquid and gas velocities simultaneously. Furthermore, simultaneous measurement of void fraction is performed using Wire Mesh Sensor (WMS). The experimental results reveal that swirling flow has significant impact on bubbles’ distribution. In low liquid flow rate, the average bubble velocity is fairly uniform along the radial position and void fraction increases in the near wall region. However, increasing liquid flow rate at constant gas flow rate leads to increase in void fraction in the core region, this is mainly due to drift velocity which is affected by centrifugal force. Experimental findings and parametric trends based on the effects of swirling flow are summarized and discussed.


2005 ◽  
Vol 127 (11) ◽  
pp. 1280-1284 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. J. Kobus

The objective of this research is to investigate large-scale transient flow surges of the condensate leaving in-tube condensing flow systems because of perturbations in the inlet vapor flow rate, and the influence of the subcooled liquid inertia of the condensate on these transient responses. Small changes in the inlet vapor flow rate momentarily cause large transient flow surges in the outlet liquid flow rate. Condensate inertia is seen to destabilize the system into an underdamped behavior where the flow rate can overshoot the final steady-state position several times. A one-dimensional, two-fluid, distributed parameter system mean void fraction (SMVF) model of the time-dependent distribution of liquid and vapor within the two-phase region is developed for predicting these transient characteristics, which it is seen to do quite well, especially when consideration is given to the complex nature of the problem.


2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (8) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sangho Sohn ◽  
Jaebum Park ◽  
Dong-Wook Oh

A simple use of Venturi might be used to measure two-phase flow rate within relatively low GVF(gas volume fraction). Upstream flow entering Venturi can be improved with installed flow homogenizer which is easily fabricated by 3-dimensional printer with multiple holes. Simultaneous measurement between high-speed flow visualization and dynamic differential pressure measurement was made to find visual criteria for two-phase flow rate measurement with different GVF ranged from 0% to 30%. It was observed that the two-phase flow rate can be reliably measured up to 15% of GVF using flow homogenizer. FFT(Fast-Fourier Transform) results proved that the long flow homogenizers (type 2 and 4) showed a lower amplitude of differential pressure (Δp) than the short flow homogenizers (type 1 and 3) respectively. So the optimized flow homogenizer can be useful to measure two-phase flow rate at low GVF.


Author(s):  
Özden Ağra ◽  
Hakan Demir ◽  
Ş. Özgür Atayılmaz ◽  
Ahmet Yurtseven ◽  
A. Selim Dalkılıç ◽  
...  

In this paper, the void fraction of alternative refrigerant R600a flowing inside horizontal tube is determined by means of an experimental technique, well known correlations in the literature and a generalized neural network analysis. The horizontal tube is made from smooth glass tubing of 4 mm inner diameter. The test runs are done at average saturated condensing temperatures between 30 and 40 °C while the average qualities and the mass fluxes are between 0.45–0.91 and 68.5–138.1 kg m-2s-1 respectively. The flow regime determination inside the tube is performed by means of sight glasses placed at the inlet and outlet sections of the test section, used for in-tube condensation tests, virtually. An image processing technique, performed by means of a high speed camera, is used to determine the void fractions of stratified and annular condensing flow of R600a experimentally. The void fractions are determined using relevant measured data together with 11 different void fraction models and correlations reported in the open literature analytically. Artificial neural network (ANN) analysis is developed to determine the void fractions numerically. For this aim, mass flow rate, average vapor quality, saturation temperature, liquid and vapor densities, liquid and vapor dynamic viscosities and surface tension are selected as the input parameters, while the void fraction is selected as the output. Three-layer network is used for predicting the void fraction. The number of the neurons in the hidden layer was determined by a trial and error process evaluating the performance of the network and standard sensitivity analysis. The measured void fraction values are found to be in good agreement with those from ANN analysis and correlations in the literature. It is also seen that the trained network are more predictive on the determination of void fraction than most of the investigated correlations.


Author(s):  
P. K. Vijayan ◽  
M. Sharma ◽  
D. S. Pilkhwal ◽  
D. Saha ◽  
R. K. Sinha

A one-dimensional theoretical model has been used to analyze the steady state and stability performance of a single-phase, two-phase, and supercritical natural circulation in a uniform diameter rectangular loop. Parametric influences of diameter, inlet temperature, and system pressure on the steady state and stability performance have been studied. In the single-phase liquid filled region, the flow rate is found to increase monotonically with power. On the other hand, the flow rate in two-phase natural circulation systems is found to initially increase, reach a peak, and then decrease with power. For the supercritical region also, the steady state behavior is found to be similar to that of the two-phase region. However, if the heater inlet temperature is beyond the pseudo critical value, then the performance is similar to single-phase loops. Also, the supercritical natural circulation flow rate decreases drastically during this condition. With an increase in loop diameter, the flow rate is found to enhance for all the three regions of operation. Pressure has a significant influence on the flow rate in the two-phase region, marginal effect in the supercritical region, and practically no effect in the single-phase region. With the increase in loop diameter, operation in the single-phase and supercritical regions is found to destabilize, whereas the two-phase loops are found to stabilize. Again, pressure has a significant influence on stability in the two-phase region.


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