Characterizing Premixed Syngas Combustion and Flame Dynamics in Micro Scales

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunita Pokharel ◽  
Mohsen Ayoobi ◽  
V’yacheslav Akkerman
Keyword(s):  
Small Scale ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Fixed Temperature ◽  
Detailed Chemistry ◽  
Inlet Velocity ◽  
Gaseous Fuels ◽  
Lean Combustion ◽  
Syngas Combustion ◽  
Stable Flame

Abstract Syngas can potentially replace most of conventional fuels, due to its lower emission rates in the case of lean combustion with acceptable energy densities, and can be used in small-scale combustion-related devices. However, with various constituents having various burning characteristics, syngas combustion at micro scales can be more complicated than that of conventional gaseous fuels. It is therefore highly important to understand syngas combustion characteristics. In this work, premixed syngas combustion in a horizontal, two-dimensional microchannel of length 20 mm and width 2 mm is simulated with detailed chemistry, with axisymmetric boundary condition on the lower wall of the computational domain and a fixed temperature gradient on the upper wall to account for the conjugate heat transfer. The simulations are run with varying inlet velocities ranging from 0.1 m/s to 3.0 m/s. The flame shape and dynamics were similar for all the cases, however, not all cases resulted in a stable flame. Two different types of results, i.e., (i) stable flame and (ii) flames with repetitive ignition and extinction (FRIE) are observed. The ignition, extinction, and FRIE events have been characterized in various cases. In addition, the FRIE phenomenon is analyzed by investigating the FRIE periods (the time intervals between the two consecutive ignitions). Similar to the ignition delays, the FRIE periods are found to be dependent on the inlet velocity. The loci of ignition and of a stabilized flame (in stable cases) are found to be further away from the inlet as the inlet velocity increases.

scholarly journals Computational Analysis of Premixed Syngas/Air Combustion in Micro-channels: Impacts of Flow Rate and Fuel Composition

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (14) ◽  
pp. 4190
Author(s):  
Sunita Pokharel ◽  
Mohsen Ayoobi ◽  
V’yacheslav Akkerman
Keyword(s):  
Ignition Time ◽  
Green Energy ◽  
Flame Stabilization ◽  
Ignition Process ◽  
Fixed Temperature ◽  
Inlet Velocity ◽  
Combustion Properties ◽  
Micro Channels ◽  
Syngas Combustion ◽  
Inlet Conditions

Due to increasing demand for clean and green energy, a need exists for fuels with low emissions, such as synthetic gas (syngas), which exhibits excellent combustion properties and has demonstrated promise in low-emission energy production, especially at microscales. However, due to complicated flame properties in microscale systems, it is of utmost importance to describe syngas combustion and comprehend its properties with respect to its boundary and inlet conditions, and its geometric characteristics. The present work studied premixed syngas combustion in a two-dimensional channel, with a length of 20 mm and a half-width of 1 mm, using computational approaches. Specifically, a fixed temperature gradient was imposed at the upper wall, from 300 K at the inlet to 1500 K at the outlet, to preheat the mixture, accounting for the conjugate heat transfer through the walls. The detailed chemistry of the ignition process was imitated using the San Diego mechanism involving 46 species and 235 reactions. For the given boundary conditions, stoichiometric premixed syngas containing various compositions of carbon monoxide, methane, and hydrogen, over a range of inlet velocities, was simulated, and various combustion phenomena, such as ignition, flame stabilization, and flames with repeated extinction and ignition (FREI), were analyzed using different metrics. The flame stability and the ignition time were found to correlate with the inlet velocity for a given syngas mixture composition. Similarly, for a given inlet velocity, the correlation of the flame properties with respect to the syngas composition was further scrutinized.

Numerical Study of Methane and Air Combustion Inside Heat-Recirculating Combustors

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanxia Li ◽  
Zhongliang Liu ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Jiaming Liu
Keyword(s):  
Gas Flow ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Convection Heat Transfer ◽  
Central Area ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Inlet Velocity ◽  
Strong Convection ◽  
Simulation Results ◽  
Lean Fuel ◽  
Set Up

A numerical model on methane/air combustion inside a small Swiss-roll combustor was set up to investigate the flame position of small-scale combustion. The simulation results show that the combustion flame could be maintained in the central area of the combustor only when the speed and equivalence ratio are all within a narrow and specific range. For high inlet velocity, the combustion could be sustained stably even with a very lean fuel and the flame always stayed at the first corner of reactant channel because of the strong convection heat transfer and preheating. For low inlet velocity, small amounts of fuel could combust stably in the central area of the combustor, because heat was appropriately transferred from the gas to the inlet mixture. Whereas, for the low premixed gas flow, only in certain conditions (Φ = 0.8 ～ 1.2 when ν0 = 1.0m/s, Φ = 1.0 when ν0 = 0.5m/s) the small-scale combustion could be maintained.

Coherent structures in oscillatory boundary layers

2003 ◽  
Vol 474 ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
PAOLA COSTAMAGNA ◽  
GIOVANNA VITTORI ◽  
PAOLO BLONDEAUX
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Vortex Structures ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Steady Flows ◽  
Low Speed ◽  
Sequence Of Events ◽  
Low Speed Streaks ◽  
Oscillatory Boundary Layers

The dynamics of the vortex structures appearing in an oscillatory boundary layer (Stokes boundary layer), when the flow departs from the laminar regime, is investigated by means of flow visualizations and a quantitative analysis of the velocity and vorticity fields. The data are obtained by means of direct numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes and continuity equations. The wall is flat but characterized by small imperfections. The analysis is aimed at identifying points in common and differences between wall turbulence in unsteady flows and the well-investigated turbulence structure in the steady case. As in Jimenez & Moin (1991), the goal is to isolate the basic flow unit and to study its morphology and dynamics. Therefore, the computational domain is kept as small as possible.The elementary process which maintains turbulence in oscillatory boundary layers is found to be similar to that of steady flows. Indeed, when turbulence is generated, a sequence of events similar to those observed in steady boundary layers is observed. However, these events do not occur randomly in time but with a repetition time scale which is about half the period of fluid oscillations. At the end of the accelerating phases of the cycle, low-speed streaks appear close to the wall. During the early part of the decelerating phases the strength of the low-speed streaks grows. Then the streaks twist, oscillate and eventually break, originating small-scale vortices. Far from the wall, the analysis of the vorticity field has revealed the existence of a sequence of streamwise vortices of alternating circulation pumping low-speed fluid far from the wall as suggested by Sendstad & Moin (1992) for steady flows. The vortex structures observed far from the wall disappear when too small a computational domain is used, even though turbulence is self-sustaining. The present results suggest that the streak instability mechanism is the dominant mechanism generating and maintaining turbulence; no evidence of the well-known parent vortex structures spawning offspring vortices is found. Although wall imperfections are necessary to trigger transition to turbulence, the characteristics of the coherent vortex structures, for example the spacing of the low-speed streaks, are found to be independent of wall imperfections.

scholarly journals AxiSEM: broadband 3-D seismic wavefields in axisymmetric media

Solid Earth ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 425-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Nissen-Meyer ◽  
M. van Driel ◽  
S. C. Stähler ◽  
K. Hosseini ◽  
S. Hempel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Normal Modes ◽  
Spectral Element ◽  
Multipole Expansion ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Earthquake Sources ◽  
Third Dimension ◽  
Computational Resources ◽  
Background Models

Abstract. We present a methodology to compute 3-D global seismic wavefields for realistic earthquake sources in visco-elastic anisotropic media, covering applications across the observable seismic frequency band with moderate computational resources. This is accommodated by mandating axisymmetric background models that allow for a multipole expansion such that only a 2-D computational domain is needed, whereas the azimuthal third dimension is computed analytically on the fly. This dimensional collapse opens doors for storing space–time wavefields on disk that can be used to compute Fréchet sensitivity kernels for waveform tomography. We use the corresponding publicly available AxiSEM (www.axisem.info) open-source spectral-element code, demonstrate its excellent scalability on supercomputers, a diverse range of applications ranging from normal modes to small-scale lowermost mantle structures, tomographic models, and comparison with observed data, and discuss further avenues to pursue with this methodology.

scholarly journals Cloud droplet diffusional growth in homogeneous isotropic turbulence: bin microphysics versus Lagrangian superdroplet simulations

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech W. Grabowski ◽  
Lois Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Fluid Flow ◽  
Time Scale ◽  
Isotropic Turbulence ◽  
Spectral Width ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Homogeneous Isotropic Turbulence ◽  
Diffusional Growth ◽  
Droplet Concentration ◽  
Bin Microphysics

Abstract. Increase of the spectral width of initially monodisperse population of cloud droplets in homogeneous isotropic turbulence is investigated applying a finite-difference fluid flow model combined with either Eulerian bin microphysics or Lagrangian particle-based scheme. The turbulence is forced applying a variant of the so-called linear forcing method that maintains the mean turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and the TKE partitioning between velocity components. The latter is important for maintaining the quasi-steady forcing of the supersaturation fluctuations that drive the increase of the spectral width. We apply a large computational domain, 643 m3, one of the domains considered in Thomas et al. (2020). The simulations apply 1 m grid length and are in the spirit of the implicit large eddy simulation (ILES), that is, with explicit small-scale dissipation provided by the model numerics. This is in contrast to the scaled-up direct numerical simulation (DNS) applied in Thomas et al. (2020). Two TKE intensities and three different droplet concentrations are considered. Analytic solutions derived in Sardina et al. (2015), valid for the case when the turbulence time scale is much larger than the droplet phase relaxation time scale, are used to guide the comparison between the two microphysics simulation techniques. The Lagrangian approach reproduces the scalings relatively well. Representing the spectral width increase in time is more challenging for the bin microphysics because appropriately high resolution in the bin space is needed. The bin width of 0.5 μm is only sufficient for the lowest droplet concentration, 26 cm−3. For the highest droplet concentration, 650 cm−3, even an order of magnitude smaller bin size is not sufficient. The scalings are not expected to be valid for the lowest droplet concentration and the high TKE case, and the two microphysics schemes represent similar departures. Finally, because the fluid flow is the same for all simulations featuring either low or high TKE, one can compare point-by-point simulation results. Such a comparison shows very close temperature and water vapor point-by-point values across the computational domain, and larger differences between simulated mean droplet radii and spectral width. The latter are explained by fundamental differences in the two simulation methodologies, numerical diffusion in the Eulerian bin approach and relatively small number of Lagrangian particles that are used in the particle-based microphysics.

Isothermal Jet Suction Through the Lateral Openings of a Cylindrical Funnel

2010 ◽  
Vol 54 (04) ◽  
pp. 268-280
Author(s):  
Dipti P. Mishra ◽  
Sukanta K. Dash ◽  
P. Anil Kishan
Keyword(s):  
Eddy Viscosity ◽  
Unstructured Grid ◽  
Air Entrainment ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Computational Domain ◽  
Low Velocity ◽  
Air Jet ◽  
Original Contribution ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
Suction Flow

This paper discusses the computation of air entrainment in to the louvers of a cylindrical funnel as a result of a high-velocity isothermal air jet placed inside the funnel having different lengths of protrusion and different funnel diameters. The experimental setup consists of a cylindrical Perspex tube with circular louvers cut around it. The flow through the nozzle is measured with a rotameter, and the velocity at the cylinder outlet is measured with a hot wire anemometer. The numerical simulation is carried out by solving the conservation equations of mass and momentum for the funnel with a surrounding computational domain so that the suction can take place at the louver entry. The resulting equations have been solved numerically using finite volume technique in an unstructured grid employing eddy viscosity based two-equation k-e turbulence model of Fluent 6.3. It has been found from the experiment and the CFD computation that there exists an optimum funnel diameter for which the mass ingress into the funnel is highest, and also there exists an optimum protrusion length of the nozzle that entrains maximum air flow into the funnel. For isothermal air suction the mass ingress into the funnel does not depend on the inclination of the funnel, whereas for low velocity and high temperature of the nozzle fluid the mass ingress in to the funnel depends on the inclination of the funnel. After a critical nozzle velocity (Gr/Re2 < 0.5), the mass ingress into the funnel does not again depend on the inclination of the funnel. An approximate relation for the entrance length of a sucking pipe has also been developed from the present CFD solution. The original contribution of the paper is the setting of a computational methodology for computing various conditions of suction flow in to a funnel while having the numerical confidence by comparing the CFD result with a small-scale experimental measurement in the laboratory.

The Influence of Thickness of Nitrocellulose Wood Lacquer on Formaldehyde Emission Rates

2011 ◽  
Vol 354-355 ◽  
pp. 231-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xue Jiao Xiao ◽  
Bao Qing Deng ◽  
Peng Zhang ◽  
Yun Lin Zang ◽  
Meng Ling Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Film Thickness ◽  
Emission Rate ◽  
Paint Film ◽  
Formaldehyde Emission ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Airflow Rate ◽  
Emission Rates ◽  
Double Exponential ◽  
Exponential Decay Model ◽  
Set Up

This study aimed to investigate the influence of the paint film thickness on formaldehyde emission rates. A small-scale environmental chamber was set up to test the formaldehyde emission from wood lacquer with different thicknesses. In all experiments, the temperature, the airflow rate and the relative humidity were the same, which were set to 23 °C, 1000 L/s, 45 %, respectively. The emission rates of formaldehyde were calculated through the double exponential decay model. Results showed that the peak concentration was dependent of the paint film thickness. The thicker the film thickness was, the slower the emission rate was.

Axisymmetric Flow in a Motored Reciprocating Engine

1978 ◽  
Vol 192 (1) ◽  
pp. 213-223 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. Gosman ◽  
A. Melling ◽  
J. H. Whitelaw ◽  
P. Watkins
Keyword(s):  
Laser Doppler Anemometry ◽  
Axisymmetric Flow ◽  
Flow Characteristics ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Mean Velocity ◽  
Inlet Velocity ◽  
Reciprocating Engine ◽  
Laminar And Turbulent Flow ◽  
Flow Through ◽  
The Mean

A study was made of axisymmetric, laminar and turbulent flow in a motored reciprocating engine with flow through a cylinder head port. Measurements were obtained by laser-Doppler anemometry and predictions for the laminar case were generated by finite-difference means. Agreement between calculated and measured results is good for the main features of the flow field, but significant small scale differences exist, due partly to uncertainties in the inlet velocity distribution. The measurements show, for example, that the mean velocity field is influenced more strongly by the engine geometry than by the speed. In general, the results confirm that the calculation method can be used to represent the flow characteristics of motored reciprocating engines without compression and suggest that extensions to include compression and combustion are within reach.

scholarly journals Conversion of Liquid to Gaseous Fuels for Lean Premixed Combustion

1995 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Stoffel ◽  
L. Reh
Keyword(s):  
Diesel Oil ◽  
Premixed Combustion ◽  
Liquid Fuels ◽  
Fuel Vapor ◽  
Main Process ◽  
Lean Premixed Combustion ◽  
Gaseous Fuels ◽  
Lean Combustion ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Lean Premixed

The lean premixed combustion of gaseous fuels is an attractive technology to attain very low NOx emission levels in gas turbine engines. If liquid fuels are converted to gaseous fuels by vaporization, they also can be used in premix gas burners and similar low NOx emissions are achievable. Experiments were carried out in a test rig in which the three main process steps of liquid fuel combustion (vaporization of fuel, mixing of air and fuel vapor and combustion reaction) can be performed successively in three separate devices and examined independently. A wide range of liquid fuels (methanol, ethanol, heptane, gasoline, rape oil methyl ester and two diesel oil qualities) was vaporized in an externally heated tube in the presence of superheated steam. These fuel vapors were led to a Pyrocore® radiant burner operating in fully premixed mode at atmosperic pressure. For all fuels without bound nitrogen, NOx levels below 15 mg/m3 at 3% O2 in the dry exhaust gas (2.5 ppm at 15% O2) were measured at lean combustion conditions. However, the nitrogen particularly bound in higher boiling fuels like diesel oil was converted completely to NOx under these conditions. The fuel bound nitrogen (FBN) proved to be the major source of NOx when burning vaporized diesel oil.

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