Numerical Study on Influences of Drag Reducing Additive in Supercritical Flow of Kerosene in a Millichannel

To improve the performance of a high-pressure refueling liquid oxy-kerosene engine, the influence of drag-reducing additive on the heat transfer characteristics in the supercritical flow of kerosene in a microchannel for regenerative cooling is explored. The finite-volume CFD numerical simulation method is applied using the RNG k-ε turbulence model and enhanced wall function. The current work faithfully represents the effect of the drag-reducing additive in kerosene through numerical calculations by combining a 10-component model for the physical properties of the kerosene and the Carreau non-Newtonian fluid constitutive model from rheological measurements. Results suggest that the 10-component kerosene surrogate can describe the supercritical physical properties of kerosene. The inlet temperature, inlet velocity, and the heat flux on the channel wall are driving factors for the supercritical kerosene flow and heat transfer characteristics. The pressure influence on the heat transfer is negligible. With polymer additives, the loss in pressure drop and heat transfer performance of supercritical kerosene flow decrease 46.8% and 37.5% respectively. The enhancement of engine thrust caused by reduction in pressure drop is an attractive improvement of concern.

Experimental Investigation of Flow Instability Between Two Vertical Parallel Channels Using Supercritical CO2

Supercritical flow experiments were conducted at University of Manitoba using supercritical flow facility-vertical (SFF-V), which is a two vertical parallel channel assembly. The working fluid was CO2 at supercritical pressure and was driven by natural convective forces rather than a pump. Different system pressures (7.4 MPa–9.1 MPa), inlet temperatures (7 °C–30.1 °C) and various outlet-channel k-factors were used. A total of eleven parallel channel out-of-phase instability boundary points were obtained and the details of those cases are reported herein. These results can be used for code validation, to enrich the limited database of supercritical parallel-channel instability and to lend further insight into supercritical flow instability in heated parallel channels.

Submarine topographic control on distribution of supercritical-flow deposits in lobe and related environments, middle Eocene, Jaca Basin, Spanish Pyrenees

ABSTRACT Submarine lobe and related deposits are amongst the largest discrete sandbodies on Earth, and can be significant hydrocarbon reservoirs. In outcrop and core-based studies, tools such as analysis of bed-thickness and grain-size distributions have been used to improve the understanding of the composition and architecture of such sandbodies. Analysis of sediment-gravity-flow (SGF) processes have also proved to be a useful tool in understanding the evolution of submarine lobes. In this paper, based on outcrop studies of submarine lobe and related deposits in the middle Eocene Jaca Basin, Spanish Pyrenees, a revised interpretation of the depositional environments of the lobe and related deposits and a new model for their architectural evolution is presented. This model is based on an analysis of bed-thickness, grain-size distribution, and a qualitative and quantitative study of the distribution of supercritical-flow deposits (SFDs) in these environments. The interpretation of lobe and related environments is mainly based on sandstone content and the distribution of sedimentary facies. The main supercritical-flow sedimentary structures recognized in the Jaca Basin, are unstable and stable antidunes, upper plane beds and backset-laminated beds. This study demonstrates that seafloor topography, strongly controlled by both syndepositional tectonics and the accumulation of mass-transport complexes, likely exerted a significant influence on lobe architecture and the distribution of SFDs. Local increase in bed thickness, together with a progressive decrease in grain size and little variation in the proportion of SFDs in proximal-to-distal and axial-to-lateral directions, can be explained by: i) an increase in basin confinement of the distal part of the Jaca Basin due to tectonically induced narrowing, ii) enhanced local lateral confinement due, at least in part, to “carbonate megaturbidites” present in the distal part of the Jaca Basin and creating topography. Thus, basin confinement is introduced as a new parameter playing a role on flow criticality. There is a decreasing proportion of SFDs between the submarine channels and canyons of the Ainsa Basin and the submarine lobes of the Jaca Basin, the last basin being the focus of this paper. This confirms previous studies showing that channel confinement and slope gradient likely played an important role in flow criticality.