Browsing by Subject "combustion"
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Item High Flash-point Fluid Flow System Aerosol Flammability Study and Combustion Mechanism Analysis(2013-12-02) Huang, Szu-YingThe existence of flammable aerosols creates fire and explosion hazards in the process industry. Due to the operation condition of high pressure circumstances, heat transfer fluids tend to form aerosols when accidental leaking occurs on pipelines or storage vessels. An aerosol system is a complicated reactive system; there are neither systematic flammability data similar to the case with pure gases, nor clearly described ignition-to-combustion process of a droplet-air mixture system. The flammable regions of three main, widely-used commercial heat transfer fluids: Paratherm NF (P-NF); Dowtherm-600 (D-600); and Plate Heat Exchange Fluid (PHE), were analyzed by electro-spray generation with laser diffraction particle analysis method. The aerosol ignition behavior depends on the droplet size and concentration of the aerosol. From the adjustment of differently applied electro-spray voltages (7-10 kV) and various liquid feeding rates, a flammable condition distribution was obtained by comparison of droplet size and concentration. All of the fundamental study results are to be applied to practical cases with fire hazards analysis, pressurized liquid handling, and mitigation system design once there is a better understanding of aerosols formed by high-flash point materials. On the other hand, the process of combustion from initial stage to global flame formation was simulated with COMSOL-multi-physics in terms of heat transfer, droplet evaporation, and fluid dynamics of liquid-air interaction. The local temperature change through time, as an indicator of luminous flame appearance, was analyzed to describe the flame development and ignition delay time of aerosols. We have conducted a series of simulation regarding physical formula in description of this combustion process, and will conclude with how temperature distribution influenced the appearance of luminous flames, which was the symbol of successful ignition of aerosol. The mitigation implementing timing and location can be characterized with further understanding of this combustion process. The potential application of the ignition delay will be beneficial to the mitigation timing and detector sensor setting of facilities to prevent aerosol cloud fires. Finally, the scientific method of aerosol flammability study was discussed for its potential impacts on experimental results. A modeling point of view was introduced, with the analysis of electric field application on fuel droplets, and the related fundamental study of the ignition phenomenon on aerosol system. Existing charges from electrospray is beneficial for the monodispersity and control of aerosols for fundamental study. However, the additional charges accumulated on the droplet surfaces are likely to have impacts on flammability due to the excess energy they applied to the aerosols system and droplet-droplet distraction or turbulences. This is a re-visit of aerosol flammability study method, with a conclusion that charges did have positive impact on droplets? ignition concentration range with a balancing effect on turbulence increase to reduce the ignition chance.Item Investigation of combustive flows and dynamic meshing in computational fluid dynamics(Texas A&M University, 2005-02-17) Chambers, Steven B.Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is a ?eld that is constantly advancing. Its advances in terms of capabilities are a result of new theories, faster computers, and new numerical methods. In this thesis, advances in the computational ?uid dynamic modeling of moving bodies and combustive ?ows are investigated. Thus, the basic theory behind CFD is being extended to solve a new class of problems that are generally more complex. The ?rst chapter that investigates some of the results, chapter IV, discusses a technique developed to model unsteady aerodynamics with moving boundaries such as ?apping winged ?ight. This will include mesh deformation and ?uid dynamics theory needed to solve such a complex system. Chapter V will examine the numerical modeling of a combustive ?ow. A three dimensional single vane burner combustion chamber is numerically modeled. Species balance equations along with rates of reactions are introduced when modeling combustive ?ows and these expressions are discussed. A reaction mechanism is validated for use with in situ reheat simulations. Chapter VI compares numerical results with a laminar methane ?ame experiment to further investigate the capabilities of CFD to simulate a combustive ?ow. A new method of examining a combustive ?ow is introduced by looking at the solutions ability to satisfy the second law of thermodynamics. All laminar ?ame simulations are found to be in violation of the entropy inequality.Item Modelin combustion of multicomponent fuel droplets: formulation and application to transportation fuels(Texas A&M University, 2006-04-12) Vittilapuram Subramanian, KannanThe quasi-steady, spherically symmetric combustion of multicomponent isolated fuel droplets has been modeled using modified Shvab-Zeldovich variable mechanism. Newly developed modified Shvab-Zeldovich equations have been used to describe the gas phase reactions. Vapor-liquid equilibrium model has been applied to describe the phase change at the droplet surface. Constant gas phase specific heats are assumed. The liquid phase is assumed to be of uniform composition and temperature. Radiative heat transfer between the droplet and surroundings is neglected. The results of evaporation of gasoline with discrete composition of hydrocarbons have been presented. The evaporation rates seem to follow the pattern of volatility differentials. The evaporation rate constant was obtained as 0.344mm2/sec which compared well with the unsteady results of Reitz et al. The total evaporation time of the droplet at an ambience of 1000K was estimated to be around 0.63 seconds. Next, the results of evaporation of representative diesel fuels have been compared with previously reported experimental data. The previous experiments showed sufficient liquid phase diffusional resistance in the droplet. Numerical results are consistent with the qualitative behavior of the experiments. The quantitative deviation during the vaporization process can be attributed to the diffusion time inside the droplet which is unaccounted for in the model. Transient evaporation results have also been presented for the representative diesel droplets. The droplet temperature profile indicates that the droplet temperature does not reach an instantaneous steady state as in the case of single-component evaporation. To perform similar combustion calculations for multicomponent fuel droplets, no simple model existed prior to this work. Accordingly, a new simplified approximate mechanism for multicomponent combustion of fuel droplets has been developed and validated against several independent data sets. The new mechanism is simple enough to be used for computational studies of multicomponent droplets. The new modified Shvab-Zeldovich mechanism for multicomponent droplet combustion has been used to model the combustion characteristics of a binary alcohol-alkane droplet and validated against experimental data. Burn rate for the binary droplet of octanol-undecane was estimated to be 1.17mm2/sec in good concurrence with the experimental value of 0.952mm2/sec obtained by Law and Law. The model has then been used to evaluate the combustion characteristics of diesel fuels assuming only gas phase reactions. Flame sheet approximation has been invoked in the formulation of the model.Item The effects of cycle-to-cycle variations on nitric oxide (NO) emissions for a spark-ignition engine: Numerical results(Texas A&M University, 2004-11-15) Villarroel, MilivoyThe objectives of this study were to 1) determine the effects of cycle-to-cycle variations (ccv) on nitric oxide (NO) emissions, and 2) determine if the consideration of ccv affects the average NO emission as compared to the mean cycle NO emission. To carry out the proposed study, an engine simulation model was used. The simulation determines engine performance and NO emissions as functions of engine operating conditions, engine design parameters, and combustion parameters. An automotive, spark-ignition engine at part load and 1400 rpm was examined in this study. The engine cycle simulation employed three zones for the combustion process: (1) unburned gas, (2) adiabatic core region, and (3) boundary-layer gas. The use of the adiabatic core region has been shown to be especially necessary to capture the production of nitric oxides which are highly temperature dependent. Past research has shown that cyclic variations in combustion cause ccv of burn duration, ignition delay and equivalence ratio. Furthermore, literature has shown that variations of these three input parameters may be approximated by a normal frequency distribution. Using the mean and standard deviation, and a random number generator, input values were tabulated for the ignition delay, burn duration and equivalence ratio. These three input parameters were then used to simulate cyclic variations in the combustion process. Calculated results show that cyclic variations of the input parameters cause the cycle-by-cycle NO emissions to increase and decrease by as much as 59% from the mean cycle NO of 3,247 ppm. The average NO emission resulting from ccv was 4.9% less than the mean cycle NO emission. This result indicates that cyclic variations must be considered when calculating the overall NO emissions.Item Thermo-chemical conversion of dairy waste based biomass through direct firing(Texas A&M University, 2007-04-25) Carlin, Nicholas ThomasGrowing rates of manure produced from large dairies have increased concern for the environmental quality of nearby streams and watersheds. Typically the manure from the freestalls on these dairies is flushed with water to a mechanical separator. Here, flushed dairy biomass (DB) is parted into separated solids and separated liquid. The separated liquid is discharged into lagoons for treatment and eventual land application. This thesis proposes thermodynamic models for firing DB in small scale boiler systems that would eliminate land application and lagoons, which are being claimed to be the source of nutrient leaching and overloading. Fuel analysis of flushed DB from a dairy in central Texas show that it contains 93%moisture (%M), 3%ash (%A), and 4%combustibles (%Cb), while separated DB solids contain 81%M, 2%A, and 17%Cb. The dry, ash-free higher heating value of DB is approximately 20,000 kJ/kg. Using dry, ash-free results, computations can be made over ranges of %M and %A. For example, DB containing 70%M requires 9.74%Cb to vaporize all moisture and produce gaseous products of combustion at 373 K, but requires 17.82%Cb to burn in a regenerative combustor with a flame temperature of 1200 K. Separated solids that are pressed in an auger to 70%M (3%A and 27%Cb) can burn at 1200 K with exhaust temperatures of up to 1130 K and a minimum required heat exchanger effectiveness of 15%. Pressed solids can thus be fired in a boiler, where the remaining separated liquid can be used as feed water. The pressed solids only can release about 30% of the heat required to vaporize the remaining unclean feed water. However, pressed DB solids can be blended with drier fuels to vaporize almost all the unclean water. The low quality steam produced from the unclean water can be used in thermal processes on the farm. A similar system can be developed for vacuumed DB without the need to vaporize unclean feed water. As for large dairies with anaerobic digester systems already installed, directly firing the produced biogas in a small scale boiler system may be another way to similarly vaporize the remaining effluent.