Experimental Analysis of Biogas Combustion With Different Foam Materials in a Porous Media Burner

The existing biogas Conventional Burners (CBs) are less energy efficient and are designed for rich fuel combustion. Porous Media Burner (PMB), working on the principle of combustion in porous media offer several advantages including high thermal efficiency, low emissions, high power intensity, etc. In this work, a study on the effect of porous material on the thermal behaviour of a biogas operated PMB is presented. A state-of-the-art PMB working in the thermal load range of 5 to 10 kW has been developed, which can be used for both industrial and domestic purposes. It is a two section burner composed of a combustion zone and a preheat zone. Keeping the material of the preheat zone unchanged (Al2O3 ceramic), the burner is tested with two different materials in the combustion zone (SiC and ZrO2 foams). Experimental investigation has been done to analyze the stability criteria and study the temperature distribution in the PMB. This includes the identification of the stable operating limits (flashback and blow off) and measurement of temperature profiles in axial and radial direction. These assessments confirm that SiC is a better choice over ZrO2 for lean biogas combustion in PMB.

Experimental Investigation of Flow Blurring Atomizer at Near Field Using Particle Image Velocimetry

Two-fluid flow blurring atomization is characterized by the backflow recirculation of the air phase in the liquid pipe by bifurcation of the liquid and airflow. Most of the primary spray process is completed in the injector due to the penetration of air into the liquid tube. Thus, the majority of the liquid ligaments are converted into a fine spray at the outlet of the nozzle. Experiments were performed with two different air to liquid ratios (0.6 and 1) by mass, where water is considered as the liquid and airflow was kept constant (0.2 g/s). To change the ALR, the liquid flow rate was changed. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) diagnostic technique provides the full-field velocity of the spray droplets (discrete phase). It may be noted that sprays are self-seeded and PIV measurements reflect the droplet velocities instead of air velocity. To understand the effect of the spatial resolution of PIV on spray droplet velocity; experiments were conducted at three different spatial resolutions (11.8, 16.4 and 23.22 μm/pixel) for each ALR. As the ALR is increased, the mass of the liquid in the spray decreases, resulting in finer atomization and velocity of the spray droplets. This means that finer droplets are generated for the same mass of air at a lower liquid flow rate as compared to higher liquid flow rate. Note that Reynolds stresses provide an indication of the turbulent breakup of the droplet and larger magnitudes observed for higher ALR indicate finer atomization.

Analysis of Part Electric Gas Turbine: A Novel Hybrid Propulsion Concept

A gas turbine engine (GT) is very complex to design and manufacture considering the power density it offers. Development of a GT is also iterative, expensive and involves a long lead time. The components of a GT, viz compressor, combustor and turbine are strongly dependent on each other for the overall performance characteristics of the GT. The range of compressor operation is dependent on the functional and safe limits of surging and choking. The turbine operating speeds are required to be matched with that of compressor for wide range of operating conditions. Due to this constrain, design for optimum possible performance is often sacrificed. Further, once catered for a design point, gas turbines offer low part load efficiencies at conditions away from design point. As a more efficient option, a GT is practically achievable in a split configuration, where the compressor and turbine rotate on different shafts independently. The compressor is driven by a variable speed electric motor. The power developed in the combustor using the compressed air from the compressor and fuel, drives the turbine. The turbine provides mechanical shaft power through a gear box if required. A drive taken from the shaft rotates an electricity generator, which provides power for the compressor’s variable speed electric motor through a power bank. Despite introducing, two additional power conversions compared to a conventional GT, this split configuration named as ‘Part Electric Gas Turbine’, has a potential for new applications and to achieve overall better efficiencies from a GT considering the poor part load characteristics of a conventional GT.

Near Wake Regime Study on Wind Turbine Blade Tip Vortex

In the present research article results on wind turbine blade tip vortex have been presented, the measurements have been done behind a model scale of horizontal axis wind turbine rotor. The rotor used for flow characterization is a three-bladed having NACA0012 cross-section, the study has been performed for low range tip speed ratio of 0–2 and wind speeds range of 3–6 m/s. The investigation has been conducted specifically to near wake regime, which is often expressed as the region of regular helical vortex structures. Although this nature of regular helical vortex pattern has always been a question of debate with respect to changes in the flow condition, rotor geometry and point of measurements. A systematic experiment was done mainly on the frequency of vortex shedding through hot-wire anemometry (HWA), and the corresponding frequency is express in terms of Strouhal number. Present article work within near wake regime includes tip vortex shedding stability analysis for different blade pitch angle and flow condition. From the systematic experimental observation, the evaluated data indicate that the Strouhal number has an incremental trend when the blade pitch angle is close to 40°, and above it inconsistency in frequency response is observed.

Lean Blowout Phenomena and Prior Detection of Lean Blowout in a Premixed Model Annular Combustor

Strict emission norms in the last few decades have paved the path for adaptation of new low NoX emission alternatives to power generation and aircraft propulsion. Lean combustion is a very promising and practicable technology for reducing NOX reduction and also have very high fuel efficiency. However, lean combustion technology suffers from inherent combustion instabilities that are manifested under different conditions, most importantly, thermoacoustic instability and lean blowout. Lean blowout occurs when a gas turbine combustor operating close to lean limit, for lowest NoX emission, faces abrupt changes in fuel homogeneity, quality or flow rate. While many work have been done in thermo-acoustic instability and flame propagation in annular combustors, studies in lean blowout in annular combustors are very limited. The lean limit of combustors are not fixed and is dependent on fuel characteristics and operating condition including environmental effects. So accurate online prediction of lean limit is very important to keep the combustors operating safely near lean limit. Recent works have demonstrated that single burner combustors leave out a significant amounts of physics including interaction of flames from different burners prior to blowout. In this work, a stepped down swirl and bluff body stabilized annular combustor in CB configuration (having chamber and burner), is used as experimental test rig having 4 number of identical burners. Video and heat release data are taken at different conditions as lean blowout is approached. Frequent attachment and reattachment of the flames prior to lift off was seen. As lean blowout is approached, inherent subtle differences in the different burners get amplified when flame becomes sufficiently weak and flame symmetry is broken. As air fuel mixture is made gradually leaner, one by one the flames from different burners elongates although remains partially attached to burner. Further lowering the equivalence ratio results in lift off and merging of the flame fronts of different burners. Three pixel averaged color ratios are extracted from still camera RGB images as flame stability indicators which are, red by blue, red by green and blue by green. The parameters show marked change at the point of lift off as well as at the lean blowout point.

Experimental Analysis of Vortex Induced Vibration in the Bladeless Small Wind Turbine

Vortex-induced vibration is one of the predominant fundamental concepts for forced oscillation which attracts considerable practical engineering application for energy conversion. In this work, an oscillation of a mast arising as a result of wind force is utilized for energy conversion. The paradigm for energy conversion from vortex-induced vibration in the mast is the bladeless wind turbine. It consists of a rigid mass known as a mast, fixed in the spring of stiffness (k) and allowed to oscillate along the direction of the flow. In this work, four different types of mast have been fabricated and tested. The first is uniform tapered hollow conical mast (MAST1), the cross-section of the second is uniform tapered plus symbol (MAST2), the third is uniform tapered inversed plus symbol (MAST3) and the fourth is uniform tapered simple rectangular cross-section (MAST4). All the masts were fabricated using fiber carbon. The experiments were conducted in a versatile small wind turbine testing facility of Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai. This test facility contained an open jet wind tunnel with variable frequency drive and other measuring instruments. The vibration sensor was located in the mast where it experienced a large oscillation in a free stream. In this experiment, an increase in wind velocity led to a terrible change in the amplitude of vibration. A vigorous oscillation was experienced in this mast at this critical frequency, when the natural frequency of the mast was synchronized with the frequency of the vortex shedding and the frequency of the oscillation of the mast. The total force in this oscillation was a summation of the body force due to the mass of the mast and vorticity force that is mainly which was the result of the shedding of the vortices. In this work, extensive studies have been carried out for Reynolds number ranging from 2.5 × 105 to 5.0 × 105. The mast length to diameter ratio of 13 was exposed to various speeds of wind and response was measured. The occurrence of the maximum oscillation in a simple rectangular mast was seen where vortex shedding due to the bluff body was large for constant mass and spring stiffness. The frequency of the oscillation at maximum amplitude of the rectangular cross-section mast was equal to the natural frequency, due to vortices shedding at critical velocity. This demonstrated the appropriateness of the simple rectangular cross-section for harnessing the low rated wind energy and its suitability for renewable energy conversion in the small bladeless wind turbine.

Control of Lean Blowout in Partially Premixed Swirl-Stabilized Combustor Using a Fuel Rich Central Pilot Configuration

The main problem for using reliable and stable diffusion combustion in modern gas turbine engines is the production of NOx at a higher level which is not permissible for maintaining the healthy environment. Thus, combustion in lean premixed mode has become the most promising technology in many applications related to power generation gas turbine, industrial burner etc. Although the lean combustion minimizes NOx production, it suffers from an increased risk of lean blowout (LBO) when the requirement of thrust or load is low. It mainly occurs at the lean condition when the equilibrium between the flame speed and the unburnt air-fuel mixture velocity is broken. Current aircraft gas turbine engines operate fuel close to the combustion chamber which leads to the partially premixed combustion. Partially premixed combustion is also susceptible to lean blowout. Therefore, we have designed a swirl-stabilized dump combustor, where different lengths of fuel-air mixing are available. Our present work aims at improving the combustion stability by incorporating a secondary fuel injection through a pilot arrangement connected with the combustion chamber for premixed as well as partially premixed flames. Incorporation of the pilot system adds a small fraction of the total fuel into the combustion chamber directly. This investigation shows significant extension of the LBO limit towards leaner fuel-air mixture while the NOx emission in the combustion chamber is within the permissible limit. This result can be used for aircraft operators during the process of landing when fuel supply has to be decreased to reduce engine thrust or for power plants operating at low loads. The study of control is based on the colour variation of the flame which actually defines the changes in combustion characteristics. For early detection of LBO, the ratio between the intensity of red and blue colour obtained from flame images with a high speed camera is used. As LBO is approached, the ratio of red to blue intensity falls monotonically. When the ratio falls below a preset threshold, a small fraction of the total fuel is added to the central pilot line. This strategy allows the LBO limit to be shifted to a much lower equivalence ratio (maximum 20% and 11% for fully premixed and least premixed flames, respectively) without any significant increase in NOx production. The analysis includes a feedback control algorithm which is computed in MATLAB and the code is embedded in Labview for hardware implementation.

Brayton Cycle As an Alternate Power Conversion Option for Sodium Cooled Fast Reactor

Enhancing the safety and economic competitiveness are major objectives in the development of advanced reactor designs with emphasis on the design of systems or components of the nuclear systems. Innovative power cycle development is another potential option to achieve these objectives. Sodium cooled fast reactor (SFR) is one among the six reactor design concepts identified by the Gen IV International Forum for development to meet the technology goals for new nuclear energy system. Similar to the power cycle used in conventional fossil fuel based thermal power plants, sodium-cooled fast reactors have adopted the Rankine cycle based power conversion system. However, the possibility of sodium water reaction is a major concern and it becomes necessary to adopt means of early detection of leaks and isolation of the affected SG module for mitigating any adverse impact of sodium water reaction. The high exothermic nature of the reaction calls for introducing an intermediate sodium heat transport loop, leading to high overall plant cost hindering commercialization of sodium fast reactors. The Indian Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) also uses Rankine cycle in the power generation system. The superheated steam temperature has been set at 490 degree Celsius based on optimisation studies and material limitations. Additional Fast Breeder reactors are planned in near future and further work is being done to develop more advanced sodium cooled fast reactors. The closed Brayton cycle is a promising alternative to conventional Rankine cycle. By selecting an inert gas or a gas with milder reaction with sodium, the vigorous sodium water reaction can be avoided and significant cost savings in the turbine island can be achieved as gas turbine power conversion systems are of much smaller size than comparable steam turbine systems due to their higher power density. In the study, various Brayton cycle designs on different working gases have been explored. Supercritical-CO2 (s-CO2), helium and nitrogen cycle designs are analyzed and compared in terms of cycle efficiency, component performance and physical size. The thermal efficiencies at the turbine inlet temperature of Indian PFBR have been compared for Rankine cycle and Brayton cycle based on different working fluids. Also binary mixtures of different gases are investigated to develop a more safe and efficient power generation system. Helium does not interact with sodium and other structural materials even at very high temperatures but its thermal performance is low when compared to other fluids. Nitrogen being an inert gas does not react with sodium and can serve to utilise existing turbomachinery because of the similarity with atmospheric air. The supercritical CO2 based cycle has shown best thermodynamic performance and efficiency when compared to other Brayton cycles for the turbine inlet temperature of Indian PFBR. CO2 also reacts with sodium but the reaction is mild compared to sodium water reaction. The cycle efficiency of the s-CO2 cycle can be further improved by adopting multiple reheating, inter cooling and recuperation.

Experimental and Numerical Assessment of Cross Flow Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

Due to increase in energy demand along with environmental awareness, the attention is shifting towards renewable energy sources. A wind turbine developed from Banki water turbine is used in this study as it starts at low-wind speeds and has high starting torque. Experimental investigations are carried out on a test rig equipped with open jet wind tunnel with wind velocity varying from 7 to 11 m/s. Later, 3D steady-state numerical analyses are performed using ANSYS CFX for better understanding of the flow physics of cross flow VAWT. The experimental investigations revealed that cross flow VAWT has a good self-starting ability at relatively low-wind speeds. A peak power coefficient (Cp, max) value of 0.059 is observed for the tip speed ratio (λ) of 0.30. As the tip speed ratio is raised further, the Cp value is observed to decrease gradually. The numerical simulations reveal the reason for the drop in Cp value. This is due to lessening of positive interaction between the flow and cross flow VAWT blades at higher λ due to vortex formation. The torque coefficient is found to decrease almost linearly from a peak value of around 0.49 at λ = 0 to a value of 0 around λ = 0.60. Polar plot between angle and torque shows that torque output of the turbine is nearly same in all directions which reinforce the potency of cross flow VAWT to be omni-directional as it produces the same performance regardless of wind directions.

A Comprehensive Analysis of the Fiber Laser Application in Cleaning Process of Corrosion Layers for Iron-Based Samples

This paper describes the comprehensive review of the gradual layer removal of reactive corrosion products from Iron sample to establish the methodology for less intrusive and exacting laser cleaning approach. Effects of laser radiation on substrate, factors affecting the efficiency of graffiti removal and laser parameters such as wavelength, focal length, pulse duration effect, speed, power constant, line space and laser pattern are investigated. Nano-second pulse fiber laser, operating in the near-IR at a wavelength of 1064 nm and power capacity of 30W was used in the study. The laser system was coupled via computer with EzCAD 2.9.9 UNI, a vector graphic editor, with a CAD-like capability that enables users to perform rapid, precise and complex surface scanning treatments in a repeatable way. A series of laser cleaning studies has been performed on corroded iron reference samples along with analyzing the effects of various parameter changes on the corroded surface using Alicona 3-D surface analyzer. Chemical composition, microscopic analysis and oxide content test for the various layers of sample is been determined with SEM. The results obtained from various tests are providing reliable base to understand laser cleaning mechanism and their effect on different laser characteristics.