Influence of Fuel on a Valveless Pulsejet Engine Performance and Pollutant Emissions

Author(s):  
Andreia Melo ◽  
Francisco Brójo

Abstract In this work the performance of a valveless pulsejet with two different fuels and several fuel mass flows was numerically estimated. Results for pressures, velocities, traction and pollutant formation are presented. Even though this type of engine has many advantages over the conventional types, it still has many problems for application in civil aviation due to noise levels. Although having a very simple construction, operation is not completely understood, so studies continue to be made in order to have a better knowledge of the physics behind operation. For engine sizing, was performed a calculation procedure based on data of existing engines and equations reported in the literature. The pulsejet operation was then simulated using ANSYS Fluent 16.2. Simulations were 2D transient, three different fuel flows were analysed: 0.04 kg/s, 0.06 kg/s and 0.1 kg/s and two fuels used: propane and methane. For propane an additional case was defined, being the fuel mass flow of 0.12 kg/s. The results obtained are similar for the two fuels, the variables have the same behaviour with the variation of the fuel flow except for the operating frequency.

Author(s):  
Jesus Ortiz-Carretero ◽  
Alejandro Castillo Pardo ◽  
Vassilios Pachidis ◽  
Ioannis Goulos

It is anticipated that the contribution of rotorcraft activities to the environmental impact of civil aviation will increase in the forthcoming future. Due to their versatility and robustness, helicopters are often operated in harsh environments with extreme ambient conditions and dusty air. These severe conditions affect not only the engine operation but also the performance of helicopter rotors. This impact is reflected in the fuel burn and pollutants emitted by the helicopter during a mission. The aim of this paper is to introduce an exhaustive methodology to quantify the influence of the environment in the mission fuel consumption and the associated emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). An Emergency Medical Service (EMS) and a Search and Rescue (SAR) mission were used as a case study to simulate the effects of extreme temperatures, high altitude and compressor degradation on a representative Twin-Engine Medium (TEM) weight helicopter, the Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk. A simulation tool for helicopter mission performance analysis developed and validated at Cranfield University was employed. This software comprises different modules that enable the analysis of helicopter flight dynamics, powerplant performance and exhaust emissions over a user defined flight path profile. The results obtained show that the environmental effects on mission fuel and emissions are mainly driven by the modification of the engine performance for the particular missions simulated. Fluctuations as high as 12% and 40% in mission fuel and NOx emissions, respectively, were observed under the environmental conditions simulated in the present study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 258
Author(s):  
Hua Wen ◽  
Yulong Jiang ◽  
Jinglong Ma

The fuel flow in the diesel engine nozzle has a vital impact on the fuel atomization and spray, and the fuel mass flux affects the internal flow of the nozzle. The visual experimental platform for a transparent nozzle was built to obtain the image of fuel flow in a nozzle with a small sac combining the back-light imaging technology and a high-speed framing camera. A two-phase three-component numerical model, based on the OpenFOAM solver, was calculated to quantitatively analyze gas ingestion and cavitation in the nozzle. The results indicate that at the end of injection (EOI), fuel cavitation and external air backflow (gas ingestion) occur successively in the nozzle, and both phenomena first appear in the orifice and then transition to the sac. Cavitation collapse is the major factor of gas ingestion, and the total amount of gas ingestion and cavitation mainly depends on the sac. The outflow of fuel largely depends on the total amount of cavitation and the inertial outflow of fuel at the EOI. The type of cavitation in the nozzle mainly presents annular and bulk cavitation, the former primarily exists in the sac, while the latter is established within the orifice. Therefore, larger mass flows will contribute to stronger cavitation and gas ingestion.


Author(s):  
Jesus Ortiz-Carretero ◽  
Alejandro Castillo Pardo ◽  
Ioannis Goulos ◽  
Vassilios Pachidis

It is anticipated that the contribution of rotorcraft activities to the environmental impact of civil aviation will increase in the future. Due to their versatility and robustness, helicopters are often operated in harsh environments with extreme ambient conditions. These severe conditions not only affect the performance of the engine but also affect the aerodynamics of the rotorcraft. This impact is reflected in the fuel burn and pollutants emitted by the rotorcraft during a mission. The aim of this paper is to introduce an exhaustive methodology to quantify the influence adverse environment conditions have in the mission fuel consumption and the associated emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx). An emergency medical service (EMS) and a search and rescue (SAR) mission are used as case studies to simulate the effects of extreme temperatures, high altitude, and compressor degradation on a representative twin-engine medium (TEM) weight helicopter, the Sikorsky UH-60A Black Hawk. A simulation tool for helicopter mission performance analysis developed and validated at Cranfield University was employed. This software comprises different modules that enable the analysis of helicopter flight dynamics, powerplant performance, and exhaust emissions over a user-defined flight path profile. For the validation of the models implemented, extensive comparisons with experimental data are presented throughout for rotorcraft and engine performance as well as NOx emissions. Reductions as high as 12% and 40% in mission fuel and NOx emissions, respectively, were observed for the “high and cold” scenario simulated at the SAR role relative to the same mission trajectory under standard conditions.


Author(s):  
M. A. Abd Halim ◽  
N. A. R. Nik Mohd ◽  
M. N. Mohd Nasir ◽  
M. N. Dahalan

Induction system or also known as the breathing system is a sub-component of the internal combustion system that supplies clean air for the combustion process. A good design of the induction system would be able to supply the air with adequate pressure, temperature and density for the combustion process to optimizing the engine performance. The induction system has an internal flow problem with a geometry that has rapid expansion or diverging and converging sections that may lead to sudden acceleration and deceleration of flow, flow separation and cause excessive turbulent fluctuation in the system. The aerodynamic performance of these induction systems influences the pressure drop effect and thus the engine performance. Therefore, in this work, the aerodynamics of motorcycle induction systems is to be investigated for a range of Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM). A three-dimensional simulation of the flow inside a generic 4-stroke motorcycle airbox were done using Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver in ANSYS Fluent version 11. The simulation results are validated by an experimental study performed using a flow bench. The study shows that the difference of the validation is 1.54% in average at the total pressure outlet. A potential improvement to the system have been observed and can be done to suit motorsports applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 8066
Author(s):  
Thowayeb H. Hassan ◽  
Abu Elnasr E. Sobaih ◽  
Amany E. Salem

The cost of fuel and its availability are among the most major concerns for aircrafts and the aviation industry overall. Environmental difficulties with chemical pollutant emissions emitted by aviation machines are also connected to fuel consumption. As a result, it is crucial to examine factors that affect the overall fuel usage and consumption in the airport-based aviation industry. Several variables were investigated related to the total fuel consumed, such as dry operating weight (DOW) (KG), zero-fuel weight (ZFW), take-off weight (TOW), air distance (AIR DIST) (KM), and ground distance (GDN DIST). Analysis of the correlation between total fuel consumed as well as the extra fuel and selected variables was conducted. The results showed that the most positively associated factors with the total used fuel were the air distance (r2 = 0.86, p < 0.01), ground distance (r2 = 0.78, p < 0.01), TOW (r2 = 0.68, p < 0.01), and flight time (r2 = 0.68, p < 0.01). There was also a strong positive association between the average fuel flow (FF) and actual TOW (r2 = 0.74, p < 0.01) as well as ZFW (r2 = 0.61, p < 0.01). The generalized linear model (GLM) was utilized to assess the predictions of total energy usage after evaluating important outliers, stability of the homogeneity of variance, and the normalization of the parameter estimation. The results of multiple linear regression revealed that the most significant predictors of the total consumed fuel were the actual ZFW (p < 0.01), actual TOW (p < 0.01), and actual average FF (p < 0.05). The results interestingly confirmed that wind speed has some consequences and effects on arrival fuel usage. The result reflects that thermal and hydrodynamic economies impact on the flying fuel economy. The research has various implications for both scholars and practitioners of aviation industry.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 779
Author(s):  
Ashraf Elfasakhany

Biofuels are receiving increased scientific attention, and recently different biofuels have been proposed for spark ignition engines. This paper presents the state of art of using biofuels in spark ignition engines (SIE). Different biofuels, mainly ethanol, methanol, i-butanol-n-butanol, and acetone, are blended together in single dual issues and evaluated as renewables for SIE. The biofuels were compared with each other as well as with the fossil fuel in SIE. Future biofuels for SIE are highlighted. A proposed method to reduce automobile emissions and reformulate the emissions into new fuels is presented and discussed. The benefits and weaknesses of using biofuels in SIE are summarized. The study established that ethanol has several benefits as a biofuel for SIE; it enhanced engine performance and decreased pollutant emissions significantly; however, ethanol showed some drawbacks, which cause problems in cold starting conditions and, additionally, the engine may suffer from a vapor lock situation. Methanol also showed improvements in engine emissions/performance similarly to ethanol, but it is poisonous biofuel and it has some sort of incompatibility with engine materials/systems; its being miscible with water is another disadvantage. The lowest engine performance was displayed by n-butanol and i-butanol biofuels, and they also showed the greatest amount of unburned hydrocarbons (UHC) and CO emissions, but the lowest greenhouse effect. Ethanol and methanol introduced the highest engine performance, but they also showed the greatest CO2 emissions. Acetone introduced a moderate engine performance and the best/lowest CO and UHC emissions. Single biofuel blends are also compared with dual ones, and the results showed the benefits of the dual ones. The study concluded that the next generation of biofuels is expected to be dual blended biofuels. Different dual biofuel blends are also compared with each other, and the results showed that the ethanol–methanol (EM) biofuel is superior in comparison with n-butanol–i-butanol (niB) and i-butanol–ethanol (iBE).


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 465
Author(s):  
Mengyuan Sun ◽  
Yong Tian ◽  
Yao Zhang ◽  
Muhammad Nadeem ◽  
Can Xu

Under the background of economic globalization, the air transport industry developed rapidly. It turns out that the city-to-city network has not been able to adapt well to the development of the society, and the hub-and-spoke network came into being. The hub-and-spoke network demonstrates the advantages of reducing the operating costs of airlines to keep a competitive advantage, and by maintaining the interests of airlines in the rapidly developing context. However, during the operation of aircrafts, they consume fuel and spew a great deal of harmful pollutants into the air, which has an adverse impact on the living environment. This paper explores the impact and external costs associated with hub-and-spoke network in air transport from an environmental perspective. With some mathematical models, we construct a hub-and-spoke network and take a quantitative study on the environmental impact of air transport. For calculating pollutant emissions, meteorological conditions were considered to revise the pollutant emission factors of the Engine Emissions Data Base (EEDB) published by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). The environmental external costs measurement model is employed to calculate the externality of toxic gas and greenhouse gas (GHG). In order to make the study more convincing, two alternative networks are computed: hub-and-spoke network and city-to-city network. It is found that the hub-and-spoke network is associated with poorer environmental impact and environmental external costs because of the different network characteristics and the scale of the fleets. Therefore, under the general trend of green aviation, the environmental impact and environmental external costs associated with hub-and-spoke network in air transport provides a certain reference for airlines’ strategic decision-making.


Author(s):  
Ioannis Goulos ◽  
Fakhre Ali ◽  
Konstantinos Tzanidakis ◽  
Vassilios Pachidis ◽  
Roberto d'Ippolito

This paper presents an integrated methodology for the comprehensive assessment of combined rotorcraft–powerplant systems at mission level. Analytical evaluation of existing and conceptual designs is carried out in terms of operational performance and environmental impact. The proposed approach comprises a wide-range of individual modeling theories applicable to rotorcraft flight dynamics and gas turbine engine performance. A novel, physics-based, stirred reactor model is employed for the rapid estimation of nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. The individual mathematical models are implemented within an elaborate numerical procedure, solving for total mission fuel consumption and associated pollutant emissions. The combined approach is applied to the comprehensive analysis of a reference twin-engine light (TEL) aircraft modeled after the Eurocopter Bo 105 helicopter, operating on representative mission scenarios. Extensive comparisons with flight test data are carried out and presented in terms of main rotor trim control angles and power requirements, along with general flight performance charts including payload-range diagrams. Predictions of total mission fuel consumption and NOx emissions are compared with estimated values provided by the Swiss Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA). Good agreement is exhibited between predictions made with the physics-based stirred reactor model and experimentally measured values of NOx emission indices. The obtained results suggest that the production rates of NOx pollutant emissions are predominantly influenced by the behavior of total air inlet pressure upstream of the combustion chamber, which is affected by the employed operational procedures and the time-dependent all-up mass (AUM) of the aircraft. It is demonstrated that accurate estimation of on-board fuel supplies ahead of flight is key to improving fuel economy as well as reducing environmental impact. The proposed methodology essentially constitutes an enabling technology for the comprehensive assessment of existing and conceptual rotorcraft–powerplant systems, in terms of operational performance and environmental impact.


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.


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