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At least 37 records · Page 2

Application of mixing-controlled combustion models to gas turbine combustors

Gas emissions were studied from a staged Rich Burn/Quick-Quench Mix/Lean Burn combustor were studied under test conditions encountered in High Speed Research engines. The combustor was modeled at conditions corresponding to different engine power settings, and the effect of primary dilution airflow split on emissions, flow field, flame size and shape, and combustion intensity, as well as mixing, was investigated. A mathematical model was developed from a two-equation model of turbulence, a quasi-global kinetics mechanism for the oxidation of propane, and the Zeldovich mechanism for nitric oxide formation. A mixing-controlled combustion model was used to account for turbulent mixing effects on the chemical reaction rate. This model assumes that the chemical reaction rate is much faster than the turbulent mixing rate.

Nguyen, Hung Lee↗

An extended supersonic combustion model for the dynamic analysis of hypersonic vehicles

The development of an advanced dynamic model for aeroelastic hypersonic vehicles powered by air breathing engines requires an adequate engine model. This report provides a discussion of some of the more important features of supersonic combustion and their relevance to the analysis and design of supersonic ramjet engines. Of particular interest are those aspects of combustion that impact the control of the process. Furthermore, the report summarizes efforts to enhance the aeropropulsive/aeroelastic dynamic model developed at the Aerospace Research Center of Arizona State University by focusing on combustion and improved modeling of this flow. The expanded supersonic combustor model described here has the capability to model the effects of friction, area change, and mass addition, in addition to the heat addition process. A comparison is made of the results from four cases: (1) heat addition only; (2) heat addition plus friction; (3) heat addition, friction, and area reduction, and (4) heat addition, friction, area reduction, and mass addition. The relative impact of these effects on the Mach number, static temperature, and static pressure distributions within the combustor are then shown. Finally, the effects of frozen versus equilibrium flow conditions within the exhaust plume is discussed.

Bossard, J. A.↗

Modeling Combustion in Supersonic Flows

This paper discusses the progress of work to model high-speed supersonic reacting flow. The purpose of the work is to improve the state of the art of CFD capabilities for predicting the flow in high-speed propulsion systems, particularly combustor flow-paths. The program has several components including the development of advanced algorithms and models for simulating engine flowpaths as well as a fundamental experimental and diagnostic development effort to support the formulation and validation of the mathematical models. The paper will provide details of current work on experiments that will provide data for the modeling efforts along with with the associated nonintrusive diagnostics used to collect the data from the experimental flowfield. Simulation of a recent experiment to partially validate the accuracy of a combustion code is also described.

Drummond, J. Philip↗

Atomization data for spray combustion modeling

Computer models that simulate the energy release processes in spray combustion are highly dependent upon the quality of atomization data utilized. This paper presents results of analyses performed with a state-of-the-art rocket combustion code, demonstrating the important effects of initial droplet sizes and size distributions on combustion losses. Also, the questionable aspects and inapplicability of the generally available atomization data are discussed. One important and misunderstood aspect of the atomization process is the difference between spatial (concentration) and flux (temporal) droplet size distributions. These are addressed, and a computer model developed to assess this difference is described and results presented. Finally, experimental results are shown that demonstrate the often neglected effects of the local gas velocity field on the atomization process.

Ferrenberg, A. J.↗

Computational experience with a three-dimensional rotary engine combustion model

A new computer code was developed to analyze the chemically reactive flow and spray combustion processes occurring inside a stratified-charge rotary engine. Mathematical and numerical details of the new code were recently described by the present authors. The results are presented of limited, initial computational trials as a first step in a long-term assessment/validation process. The engine configuration studied was chosen to approximate existing rotary engine flow visualization and hot firing test rigs. Typical results include: (1) pressure and temperature histories, (2) torque generated by the nonuniform pressure distribution within the chamber, (3) energy release rates, and (4) various flow-related phenomena. These are discussed and compared with other predictions reported in the literature. The adequacy or need for improvement in the spray/combustion models and the need for incorporating an appropriate turbulence model are also discussed.

Raju, M. S.↗

Composite propellant combustion modeling with a porous plate burner

A burner is designed to model on a large scale (millimeters) the complex vapor phase processes that take place on awkwardly small scales (about a hundred microns) in the combustion of practical AP/ composite propellants at conventional pressures. Binder vapor evolution is modeled with gaseous fuel (ethane in the experiments reported) flow through a porous plate and oxidizer vapor with the flow of a gaseous oxidizer (air and enriched air in the experiments reported) through discrete holes in the porous plate. Measured flame standoff distance and surface temperature variations are consistent with theoretical predictions at atmospheric pressure. Data obtained at several atmospheres are discussed in the light of the current theories of propellant burning that place varying emphasis on the roles of chemical kinetics and fluid dynamic diffusion/mixing in the vapor phase of a burning composite propellant. The potential and proposed future applications of the burner are indicated.

Kumar, R. N.↗

Thermodynamics and combustion modeling

Modeling fluid phase phenomena blends the conservation equations of continuum mechanics with the property equations of thermodynamics. The thermodynamic contribution becomes especially important when the phenomena involve chemical reactions as they do in combustion systems. The successful study of combustion processes requires (1) the availability of accurate thermodynamic properties for both the reactants and the products of reaction and (2) the computational capabilities to use the properties. A discussion is given of some aspects of the problem of estimating accurate thermodynamic properties both for reactants and products of reaction. Also, some examples of the use of thermodynamic properties for modeling chemically reacting systems are presented. These examples include one-dimensional flow systems and the internal combustion engine.

Zeleznik, Frank J.↗

Spray combustion modeling

Concern over the future availability of high quality liquid fuels or use in furnaces and boilers prompted the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) to consider alternate fuels as replacements for the high grade liquid fuels used in the 1970's and 1980's. Alternate fuels were defined to be combinations of a large percentage of viscous, low volatility fuels resulting from the low end of distillation mixed with a small percentage of relatively low viscosity, high volatility fuels yielded by the high end of distillation. The addition of high volatility fuels was meant to promote desirable characteristics to a fuel that would otherwise be difficult to atomize and burn and whose combustion would yield a high amount of pollutants. Several questions thus needed to be answered before alternate fuels became commercially viable. These questions were related to fuel atomization, evaporation, ignition, combustion and pollutant formation. This final report describes the results of the most significant studies on ignition and combustion of alternative fuels.

Combustion↗

Numerical analysis of pulse facility transient flow through a supersonic combustion model

The supersonic high enthalpy flow from a shock tunnel facility flowing through a two-dimensional duct simulating a combustor has been computed for two test conditions for both steady and transient inflow. The nominal test conditions had stagnation enthalpies of 4.3 and 12.1 MJ/kg, with corresponding flight Mach numbers of 9 and 16, respectively. A full Navier-Stokes code (SPARK) was used to compute the flow development and the mixing of a hydrogen jet injected from the base of a central strut. Results of the calculations are presented and compared with wall pressure data. Additional comparisons of the transient and steady inflow results are presented to assess the effect of transient flow on the data. This paper presents a status of the progress in applying CFD codes to analyze the transient flow from a pulse facility.

Rogers, R. Clayton↗

Computerized reduction of elementary reaction sets for combustion modeling

If the entire set of elementary reactions is to be solved in the modeling of chemistry in computational fluid dynamics, a set of stiff ordinary differential equations must be integrated. Some of the reactions take place at very high rates, requiring short time steps, while others take place more slowly and make little progress in the short time step integration. The goal is to develop a procedure to automatically obtain sets of finite rate equations, consistent with a partial equilibrium assumptions, from an elementary set appropriate to local conditions. The possibility of computerized reaction reduction was demonstrated. However, the ability to use the reduced reaction set depends on the ability of the CFD approach in incorporate partial equilibrium calculations into the computer code. Therefore, the results should be tested on a code with partial equilibrium capability.

Wikstrom, Carl V.↗

Computerized reduction of elementary reaction sets for CFD combustion modeling

Modeling of chemistry in Computational Fluid Dynamics can be the most time-consuming aspect of many applications. If the entire set of elementary reactions is to be solved, a set of stiff ordinary differential equations must be integrated. Some of the reactions take place at very high rates, requiring short time steps, while others take place more slowly and make little progress in the short time step integration.

Wikstrom, Carl V.↗

Simulations of diffusion-reaction equations with implications to turbulent combustion modeling

An enhanced diffusion-reaction reaction system (DRS) is proposed as a statistical model for the evolution of multiple scalars undergoing mixing and reaction in an isotropic turbulence field. The DRS model is close enough to the scalar equations in a reacting flow that other statistical models of turbulent mixing that decouple the velocity field from scalar mixing and reaction (e.g. mapping closure model, assumed-pdf models) cannot distinguish the model equations from the original equations. Numerical simulations of DRS are performed for three scalars evolving from non-premixed initial conditions. A simple one-step reversible reaction is considered. The data from the simulations are used (1) to study the effect of chemical conversion on the evolution of scalar statistics, and (2) to evaluate other models (mapping-closure model, assumed multivariate beta-pdf model).

Girimaji, Sharath S.↗

Characteristics of Vaporizing Cryogenic Sprays for Rocket Combustion Modeling

Experimental measurements of the volume-median drop diameter, Dv.5e, of vaporizing cryogenic sprays were obtained with a drop size measuring instrument developed at NASA Lewis Research Center. To demonstrate the effect of atomizing-gas properties on characteristic drop size, a two-fluid fuel nozzle was used to break up liquid-nitrogen, LN2, jets in high-velocity gasflows of helium argon and gaseous nitrogen, GN2. Also, in order to determine the effect of atomizing-gas temperature on specific surface-areas of LN2 sprays, drop size measurements were made at gas temperatures of 111 and 293 K.

Ingebo, Robert D.↗

A-Priori Tuning of Modified Magnussen Combustion Model

In the application of CFD to turbulent reacting flows, one of the main limitations to predictive accuracy is the chemistry model. Using a full or skeletal kinetics model may provide good predictive ability, however, at considerable computational cost. Adding the ability to account for the interaction between turbulence and chemistry improves the overall fidelity of a simulation but adds to this cost. An alternative is the use of simple models, such as the Magnussen model, which has negligible computational overhead, but lacks general predictive ability except for cases that can be tuned to the flow being solved. In this paper, a technique will be described that allows the tuning of the Magnussen model for an arbitrary fuel and flow geometry without the need to have experimental data for that particular case. The tuning is based on comparing the results of the Magnussen model and full finite-rate chemistry when applied to perfectly and partially stirred reactor simulations. In addition, a modification to the Magnussen model is proposed that allows the upper kinetic limit for the reaction rate to be set, giving better physical agreement with full kinetic mechanisms. This procedure allows a simple reacting model to be used in a predictive manner, and affords significant savings in computational costs for simulations.

Norris, A. T.↗