scholarly journals Numerical Simulation of the Oil Droplet Size Distribution Considering Coalescence and Breakup in Aero-Engine Bearing Chamber

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (16) ◽  
pp. 5648
Author(s):  
Fei Wang ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Guoding Chen ◽  
Donglei Zhu

In order to improve the inadequacy of the current research on oil droplet size distribution in aero-engine bearing chamber, the influence of oil droplet size distribution with the oil droplets coalescence and breakup is analyzed by using the computational fluid dynamics-population balance model (CFD-PBM). The Euler–Euler equation and population balance equation are solved in Fluent software. The distribution of the gas phase velocity field and the volume fraction of different oil droplet diameter at different time are obtained in the bearing chamber. Then, the influence of different initial oil droplet diameter, air, and oil mass flow on oil droplet size distribution is discussed. The result of numerical analysis is compared with the experiment in the literature to verify the feasibility and validity. The main results provide the following conclusions. At the initial stage, the coalescence of oil droplets plays a dominant role. Then, the breakup of larger diameter oil droplet appears. Finally, the oil droplet size distribution tends to be stable. The coalescence and breakup of oil droplet increases with the initial diameter of oil droplet and the air mass flow increasing, and the oil droplet size distribution changes significantly. With the oil mass flow increasing, the coalescence and breakup of oil droplet has little change and the variation of oil droplet size distribution is not obvious.

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lars Robert Hole ◽  
Knut-Frode Dagestad ◽  
Johannes Röhrs ◽  
Cecilie Wettre ◽  
Vassiliki H. Kourafalou ◽  
...  

The effect of river fronts on oil slick transport has been shown using high resolution forcing models and a fully fledged oil drift model, OpenOil. The model was used to simulate two periods of the 2010 DeepWater Horizon oil spill. Metocean forcing data were taken from the data-assimilative GoM-HYCOM 1/50 ∘ ocean model with realistic daily river input and global forecast products of wind and wave parameters from ECMWF. The simulations were initialized from satellite observations of the surface oil patch. The effect of using a newly developed parameterization for oil droplet size distribution was studied and compared to a traditional algorithm. Although the algorithms provide different distributions for a single wave breaking event, it was found that the net difference after long simulations is negligible, indicating that the outcome is robust regarding the choice of parameterization. The effect of removing the river outflow was investigated to showcase effects of river induced fronts on oil spreading. A consistent effect on the amount and location of stranded oil and a considerable impact on the location of the surface oil patch were found. During a period with large river outflow (20–27 May 2010), the total amount of stranded oil is reduced by about 50% in the simulation with no river input. The results compare well with satellite observations of the surface oil patch after simulating the surface oil patch drift for 7–8 days.


2018 ◽  
Vol 37 (11) ◽  
pp. 88-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianwei Li ◽  
Wei An ◽  
Huiwang Gao ◽  
Yupeng Zhao ◽  
Yonggen Sun

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
pp. 2017-194
Author(s):  
Lin Zhao ◽  
Michel C. Boufadel ◽  
Feng Gao ◽  
Thomas King ◽  
Brian Robinson ◽  
...  

Abstract (2017-194) The presence of methane bubbles in the oil and gas blowout could greatly reduce the oil droplet sizes. Bubbles tend to introduce energy into the system and separate oil droplets from each other. The interaction of oil droplets and gas bubbles in the near field of a blowout was investigated numerically using the VDROP-J model, whose droplet size distribution (DSD) was thoroughly calibrated. For this purpose, a new numerical scheme has been developed in VDROP-J to account for the interaction of gas bubbles and oil droplets in the blowout, giving simultaneous simulation of bubble and droplet size distribution along the discharged plume. Validation shows improvement of the model compared with the one without considering the gas bubble and oil droplet interactions. Effects of gas volume fraction on the droplet formation are also investigated. This new development will enhance the knowledge in subsea oil and gas blowouts.


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