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At least 181 records · Page 10

Prototype thin-film thermocouple/heat-flux sensor for a ceramic-insulated diesel engine

A platinum versus platinum-13 percent rhodium thin-film thermocouple/heat-flux sensor was devised and tested in the harsh, high-temperature environment of a ceramic-insulated, low-heat-rejection diesel engine. The sensor probe assembly was developed to provide experimental validation of heat transfer and thermal analysis methodologies applicable to the insulated diesel engine concept. The thin-film thermocouple configuration was chosen to approximate an uninterrupted chamber surface and provide a 1-D heat-flux path through the probe body. The engine test was conducted by Purdue University for Integral Technologies, Inc., under a DOE-funded contract managed by NASA Lewis Research Center. The thin-film sensor performed reliably during 6 to 10 hr of repeated engine runs at indicated mean surface temperatures up to 950 K. However, the sensor suffered partial loss of adhesion in the thin-film thermocouple junction area following maximum cyclic temperature excursions to greater than 1150 K.

Kim, Walter S.↗

Methods for heat transfer and temperature field analysis of the insulated diesel, phase 3

Work during Phase 3 of a program aimed at developing a comprehensive heat transfer and thermal analysis methodology for design analysis of insulated diesel engines is described. The overall program addresses all the key heat transfer issues: (1) spatially and time-resolved convective and radiative in-cylinder heat transfer, (2) steady-state conduction in the overall structure, and (3) cyclical and load/speed temperature transients in the engine structure. These are all accounted for in a coupled way together with cycle thermodynamics. This methodology was developed during Phases 1 and 2. During Phase 3, an experimental program was carried out to obtain data on heat transfer under cooled and insulated engine conditions and also to generate a database to validate the developed methodology. A single cylinder Cummins diesel engine was instrumented for instantaneous total heat flux and heat radiation measurements. Data were acquired over a wide range of operating conditions in two engine configurations. One was a cooled baseline. The other included ceramic coated components (0.050 inches plasma sprayed zirconia)-piston, head and valves. The experiments showed that the insulated engine has a smaller heat flux than the cooled one. The model predictions were found to be in very good agreement with the data.

Morel, Thomas↗

Thermal barrier coatings for gas turbine and diesel engines

The present state of development of thin thermal barrier coatings for aircraft gas turbine engines and thick thermal barrier coatings for truck diesel engines is assessed. Although current thermal barrier coatings are flying in certain gas turbine engines, additional advances will be needed for future engines. Thick thermal barrier coatings for truck diesel engines have advanced to the point where they are being seriously considered for the next generation of engine. Since coatings for truck engines is a young field of inquiry, continued research and development efforts will be required to help bring this technology to commercialization.

Miller, Robert A.↗

Development of the Junkers-diesel Aircraft Engine

The working process of the Junkers engine has resulted from a series of attempts to attain high performance and to control the necessarily rapid and complete combustion at extremely high speeds. The two main problems of Diesel engines in aircraft are addressed; namely, incomplete combustion and the greater weight of Diesel engine parts compared to gasoline engines.

Gasterstadt,↗

Three-dimensional modeling of diesel engine intake flow, combustion and emissions-2

A three-dimensional computer code, KIVA, is being modified to include state-of-the-art submodels for diesel engine flow and combustion. Improved and/or new submodels which have already been implemented and previously reported are: wall heat transfer with unsteadiness and compressibility, laminar-turbulent characteristic time combustion with unburned HC and Zeldo'vich NO(x), and spray/wall impingement with rebounding and sliding drops. Progress on the implementation of improved spray drop drag and drop breakup models, the formulation and testing of a multistep kinetics ignition model, and preliminary soot modeling results are described. In addition, the use of a block structured version of KIVA to model the intake flow process is described. A grid generation scheme was developed for modeling realistic (complex) engine geometries, and computations were made of intake flow in the ports and combustion chamber of a two-intake-value engine. The research also involves the use of the code to assess the effects of subprocesses on diesel engine performance. The accuracy of the predictions is being tested by comparisons with engine experiments. To date, comparisons were made with measured engine cylinder pressure, temperature and heat flux data, and the model results are in good agreement with the experiments. Work is in progress that will allow validation of in-cylinder flow and soot formation predictions. An engine test facility is described that is being used to provide the needed validation data. Test results were obtained showing the effect of injection rate and split injections on engine performance and emissions.

Reitz, R. D.↗

Straight Vegetable Oil as a Diesel Fuel?

Biodiesel, a renewable fuel produced from animal fats or vegetable oils, is popular among many vehicle owners and fleet managers seeking to reduce emissions and support U.S. energy security. Questions sometimes arise about the viability of fueling diesel vehicles with straight vegetable oil (SVO), or waste oils from cooking and other processes, without intermediate processing. But SVO and waste oils differ from biodiesel (and conventional diesel) in some important ways and are generally not considered acceptable vehicle fuels.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS,BIOMASS FUELS↗

Method for alcohol upgrading to jet, diesel, gasoline, and valuable co-products

A method for converting an alcohol to a jet-diesel hydrocarbon fraction, comprising contacting the alcohol with a pillared two-dimensional zeolite catalyst at a temperature of at least 200° C. and up to 500° C. to convert the alcohol to hydrocarbons comprising: (a) a first mixed olefin fraction containing a mixture of C 2 -C 5 olefins; (b) a first paraffin fraction containing C 3 -C 5 paraffins; and (c) a gasoline fraction containing C 6 + hydrocarbons; and the conversion of the alcohol is energy neutral or exothermic. The first mixed olefin fraction may be subjected to an oligomerization process to result in a second paraffin fraction containing C 3 -C 6 paraffins along with a C 7 + partially unsaturated fraction, and the first and second paraffin fractions combined into a total C 3 -C 6 paraffin fraction, which can in turn be subjected to a dehydrogenation or aromatization process with hydrogen gas as byproduct, and the hydrogen gas recycled for use in producing the jet-diesel fraction.

Li, Zhenglong↗

Alkyl dialkoxyalkanoates as bioderived, high cetane diesel fuels

A fuel for an internal combustion engine includes a C 5 to C 30 dialkoxyalkanoate corresponding to formula (I), wherein the R 1 group is —H or a —CH 3 group, the R 2 and R 2 ′ groups are alkyl groups independently selected to have 1 to 9 carbon atoms; and the R 3 group is selected to have 1 to 9 carbon atoms. The compounds described herein may be used as neat fuels or mixed fuels (with diesel, biodiesel, jet fuel, marine fuel or other fuel compounds) in autoignition or spark ignition engines, such as diesel engines, gasoline (spark ignition) engines, MCCI, Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engines, or more generally in Low-Temperature Gasoline Combustion (LTGC) engines (using gasoline-like fuels), that have the high-efficiency advantages of HCCI but can operate with some level of charge inhomogeneities. Methods of making these compounds are environmentally friendly and can be done in a continuous manner.

Myllenbeck, Nicholas↗

Impedance Scan of Inverter-Based Resources and Diesel Generator for Stability Analysis: Preprint

Impedance-based methods are widely used for power system stability analysis with inverter-based resources (IBRs), e.g., assessing dynamic interactions between the power grid and an IBR, control interactions between multiple IBRs, and the sub-synchronous oscillation and damping phenomenon. Since it is difficult to get a numerical model 100% matching with the hardware IBR, using the hardware inverter directly to obtain its output impedance has become a prominent approach nowadays. Therefore, this article presents the impedance scan using hardware IBRs, and also a hardware diesel generator as it still stays with the grid before the grid completely goes to renewable. The devices under test (DuTs) for the impedance scan includes two 3-..phi.., 480 V, 60 Hz commercial grid-forming IBRs (one of 250 kVA and another of 125 kVA rating) in series with ..delta..-Y transformers, one 3-..phi.., 480 V, 60 Hz commercial grid-following IBR (of 125 kVA rating), and a 3-..phi.., 480 V, 60 Hz commercial diesel generator (of 187.5 kVA rating). Using voltage signals perturbed with sub-, inter-, and higher harmonic components, and measuring the current response, the positive-sequence impedances are computed via an offline- based post-analysis. Moreover, best-fit transfer functions are estimated that closely resemble the measured data points of the positive-sequence impedances. Based on the observations from various outcomes of the hardware experiments, this article also provides some fundamental insights on the equivalent positive- sequence impedance of a combination of multiple hardware components by comparing the estimated and the empirically computed impedances. A comparative insight on the damping capability of the DuTs using the positive-sequence impedances of the hardware is also discussed.

grid following inverter↗

Influence of Combustion Gas Temperatures on Piston Deposits for Diesel and Ammonia Dual-Fuel Combustion

As new fuels are adopted for marine engines, it is necessary to understand their impact on lubricant performance. In order to evaluate the performance of existing lubricants and inform the development of new ones, a deposit control test protocol has been developed using the ExxonMobil Enterprise two-stroke marine diesel research engine. Repeated tests at the target speed/load operating condition but different thermal conditions show that the temperature of the combustion gases is a key driver in the formation of deposits on piston surfaces, impacting both the quantity of deposits and whether they are hard or gummy. These impacts are examined for diesel combustion as well as ammonia dual-fuel combustion. Among alternative marine fuels, ammonia has perhaps the most unanswered questions regarding interactions with cylinder lubricants. The influence of ammonia dual-fuel combustion on the thermal conditions experienced by the lubricant are discussed. Scrape down oil samples were collected after operation with ammonia for analysis and comparison with fresh oil. Chemical analysis using a GC/MS instrument did not show significant permanent chemical changes in the lubricant due to ammonia exposure.

Kaul, Brian [ORNL] (ORCID:0000000184813620)↗

Local Air Quality Impacts of a Peak-Shaving Diesel Generator Unit in Waynesville, North Carolina

The Waynesville Electric Department in Waynesville, North Carolina, operates a 2,000-kW diesel generator with a 4% capacity factor, emitting less than 1 ton annually of PM2.5, VOCs, carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO2), and approximately 1.8 tons of NO. The National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) conducted high-resolution, near-source air-quality modeling to evaluate the generator's impacts. Results indicate minimal effects on ambient pollutant concentrations: annual PM2.5 increases are below 0.0004 microgrm/m3 for local census tracts, while CO and SO2 levels increase by less than 0.00004 ppm and 0.0002 ppb, respectively. Estimated annual premature mortality attributable to PM2.5 exposure is less than 0.001 cases across Haywood County, with an associated economic impact of approximately $12,000. This report complements a separate technoeconomic analysis to inform Waynesville's investment strategies for demand reduction.

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY↗

Emergency Diesel Generator Backup Power Systems for Military Bases

Backup power systems on military installations must provide reliable power during a grid outage. The risks of blackouts and loss of electric power are not new. Outages of just a few hours are well known, but longer duration outages are becoming more frequent. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force now require backup power from one to two weeks. For multiday outages, the reliability of emergency diesel generators will have a significant impact on the installation’s backup power system’s ability to provide power for critical missions.

backup power↗

Enhanced low temperature performance of bimetallic Pd/Pt/SiO 2 (core)@Zr(shell) diesel oxidation catalysts

Here, in this study, the diesel oxidation performance of degreened (DG) and hydrothermally aged monometallic and bimetallic Pd/Pt/SiO 2 (core)@Zr(shell) catalysts with varying Pd/Pt molar ratios from 3/1–1/3 was evaluated. Pd/Pt(3/1)/SiO 2 @Zr (DG) achieved 50% and 90% conversion of CO at 166 °C (T 50 ), 169 °C (T 90 ) and total hydrocarbons (THCs) at 198 °C (T 50 ), 244 °C (T 90 ). Decreasing the Pd/Pt molar ratio led to a decrease in the T 50,90 ’s, with Pd/Pt(1/3)/SiO 2 @Zr (DG) achieving T 50,90 ’s at 153, 156 °C for CO and 171, 200 °C for THCs, respectively. Moreover, Pd/Pt(1/3)/SiO 2 @Zr showed enhanced hydrothermal stability. XRD and TEM showed that in the hydrothermally aged bimetallic catalysts, the fraction of Pd present as a Pt-Pd metallic alloy increased with Pt content. The enhanced low temperature performance of Pd/Pt(1/3)/SiO 2 @Zr compared to the other studied catalysts was attributed to Pd being primarily present in metallic form, despite being subjected to severe oxidizing conditions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Soot and PAH formation in high pressure spray pyrolysis of gasoline and diesel fuels

Time-resolved soot and PAH formation from gasoline and diesel spray pyrolysis are visualized and quantified using diffuse back illumination (DBI) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) at 355 nm, respectively, in a constant-volume vessel at 60 bar from 1400 to 1700 K for up to 30 ms. The delay, maximum formation rate, and yield of soot and PAHs are compared across fuels and temperatures and correlated with the yield sooting indices on either the mass or mole basis. The delays generally decrease with increasing temperature, and the formation rates of both PAHs and soot generally increase with temperature. The apparent PAH-LIF yield may decrease with temperature due to PAH growth and conversion into larger species, signal trapping, and thermal quneching. Soot yield generally increases with temperature. The mass-based YSI correlates reasonably well with soot delay, but YSI does not correlate well with soot yield. Here, the mass-based YSI is a more appropriate predictor of sooting propensity than the mole-based YSI.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Enhanced Component Performance Study: Emergency Diesel Generators 1998-2020

This report presents an enhanced performance evaluation of emergency power system (EPS) and high-pressure core spray (HPCS) emergency diesel generators (EDGs) at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. This report evaluates component performance over time using (1) Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Industry Reporting and Information System (IRIS) data from 1998 through 2020 and (2) maintenance unavailability performance data from Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Basis Document data from 2002 through 2020. The objective is to show estimates of current failure probabilities and rates related to EDGs, trend these data on an annual basis, determine if the current data are consistent with the probability distributions currently recommended for use in NRC probabilistic risk assessments, show how the reliability data differ for different EDG manufacturers and for EDGs with different ratings; and summarize the subcomponents, causes, detection methods, and recovery associated with each EDG failure mode. The EDG failure modes considered are fail to start (FTS), fail to load and run (FTLR), and fail to run after one hour of operation (FTR>1H). Engineering analyses were performed with respect to time period and failure mode without regard to the actual number of EDGs at each plant. The factors analyzed are: subcomponent, failure cause, detection method, recovery, manufacturer, and EDG rating. The following increasing trends were identified for EDGs for the most recent 10-year period: • HPCS EDG FTS failure probability • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of start demands (demands per reactor year) • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of FTLR demands. The following decreasing trends were identified for EDGs for the most recent 10-year period: • EPS EDG FTS failure probability • EPS EDG FTLR failure probability • EPS EDG unavailability • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of FTLR events (failures per reactor year).

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS↗

Enhanced Component Performance Study: Emergency Diesel Generators 1998–2022

This report presents an enhanced performance evaluation of the emergency power system (EPS) and high-pressure core spray (HPCS) emergency diesel generators (EDGs) at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. This report evaluates component performance over time using (1) Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Industry Reporting and Information System (IRIS) data from 1998 through 2022 and (2) maintenance unavailability performance data from Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Basis Document data from 2002 through 2022. The objective is to show estimates of current failure probabilities and rates related to EDGs, trend these data on an annual basis, determine if the current data are consistent with the probability distributions currently recommended for use in Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) probabilistic risk assessments, show how the reliability data differ for different EDG manufacturers and for EDGs with different ratings; and summarize the subcomponents, causes, detection methods, and recovery associated with each EDG failure mode. The EDG failure modes considered are fail to start (FTS), fail to load and run (FTLR), and fail to run after one hour of operation (FTR>1H). Engineering analyses were performed with respect to time-period and failure mode without regard to the actual number of EDGs at each plant. The factors analyzed include subcomponent, failure cause, detection method, recovery, manufacturer, and EDG rating. The following increasing trends were identified for EDGs for the most recent 10-year period: (1) HPCS EDG FTS failure probability, (2) EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of start demands (demands per reactor year), and (3) EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of FTLR demands. The following decreasing trends were identified for EDGs for the most recent 10-year period: (1) EPS EDG FTS failure probability, (2) EPS EDG FTLR failure probability, (3) EPS EDG unavailability, and (4) EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of FTLR events (failures per reactor year).

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Enhanced Component Performance Study: Emergency Diesel Generators 1998-2024

This report presents an enhanced performance evaluation of the emergency power system (EPS) and high-pressure core spray (HPCS) emergency diesel generators (EDGs) at U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. This report evaluates component performance over time using (1) Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) Industry Reporting and Information System (IRIS) data from 1998 through 2024 and (2) maintenance unavailability performance data from Mitigating Systems Performance Index (MSPI) Basis Document data from 2002 through 2024. The objective is to show estimates of current failure probabilities and rates related to EDGs, trend these data on an annual basis, determine if the current data are consistent with the probability distributions currently recommended for use in Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) probabilistic risk assessments, show how the reliability data differ for different EDG manufacturers and for EDGs with different ratings; and summarize the subcomponents, causes, detection methods, and recovery associated with each EDG failure mode. The EDG failure modes considered are fail to start (FTS), fail to load and run (FTLR), and fail to run after one hour of operation (FTR>1H). Engineering analyses were performed with respect to time-period and failure mode without regard to the actual number of EDGs at each plant. The factors analyzed include subcomponent, failure cause, detection method, recovery, manufacturer, and EDG rating. The following increasing trends were identified for EDGs for the most recent 10-year period: • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of start demands (demands per reactor year) • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of FTLR demands • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of run>1H hours. The following decreasing trends were identified for EDGs for the most recent 10-year period: • EPS EDG FTR>1H failure rate • EPS EDG unreliability • EPS and HPCS EDG frequency of FTR>1H events (failures per reactor year).

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗