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At least 487 records · Page 27

Modeling of premixing-prevaporizing fuel-air mixing passages

The development of a computer program for the analytical prediction of the distribution of liquid and vapor fuel in the premixing-prevaporizing passage by the direct injection method is described. The technical approach adopted for this program is to separate the problem into three parts each with its own computer code. These three parts are: calculation of the two-dimensional or axisymmetric air flow; calculation of the three-dimensional fuel droplet evaporation; and calculation of the fuel vapor diffusion. This method of approach is justified because premixing passages operate at lean equivalence ratios. Hence, a weak interaction assumption can be made wherein the airflow can affect the fuel droplet behavior but the fuel droplet behavior does not affect the airflow.

Anderson, O. L.↗

Comment on tangential wave motion in unstable combustors

An attempt is made to gain insight into the injection boundary instability mechanism as captured by a simple computational tool developed for liquid rocket engines. Considerable evidence is generated supporting a hypothesis that destructive tangential-mode instabilities in liquid-fuel combustors are driven by combustion processes occurring at the propellant-wetted injector face. The driving action is found to be directly analogous to a burning solid propellant surface mechanism, responsible for solid rocket motor instabilities. Since the proposed instability mechanism has not been fundamentally confirmed, experimental research is strongly recommended.

Litchford, Ron J.↗

Comparison of Four Strong Acids on the Precipitation Potential of Gypsum in Brines During Distillation of Pretreated, Augmented Urine

In this study, three different mineral acids were substituted for sulfuric acid (H2SO4) in the urine stabilizer solution to eliminate the excess of sulfate ions in pretreated urine and assess the impact on maximum water recovery to avoid precipitation of minerals during distillation. The study evaluated replacing 98% sulfuric acid with 85% phosphoric acid (H3PO4), 37% hydrochloric acid (HCl), or 70% nitric acid (HNO3). The effect of lowering the oxidizer concentration in the pretreatment formulation also was studied. This paper summarizes the test results, defines candidate formulations for further study, and specifies the injection masses required to stabilize urine and minimize the risk of mineral precipitation during distillation. In the first test with a brine ersatz acidified with different acids, the solubility of calcium in gypsum saturated solutions was measured. The solubility of gypsum was doubled in the brines acidified with the alternative acids compared to sulfuric acid. In a second series of tests, the alternative acid pretreatment concentrations were effective at preventing precipitation of gypsum and other minerals up to 85% water recovery from 95th-percentile pretreated, augmented urine. Based on test results, phosphoric acid is recommended as the safest alternative to sulfuric acid. It also is recommended that the injected mass concentration of chromium trioxide solution be reduced by 75% to minimize liquid resupply mass by about 50%, reduce toxicity of brines, and reduce the concentration of organic acids in distillate. The new stabilizer solution formulations and required doses to stabilize urine and prevent precipitation of minerals up to 85% water recovery are given. The formulations in this study were tested on a limited number of artificially augmented urine batches collected from employees at the Johnson Space Center (JSC). This study successfully demonstrated that the desired physical and chemical stability of pretreated urine and brines can be achieved using alternate pretreatment formulations under laboratory conditions. Additional testing and hazard assessments will be required to determine the feasibility of utilizing the proposed urine pretreatment formulations on ISS.

Muirhead, Dean↗

Solid surface wetting and the deployment of drops in microgravity

The complete or partial deployment of liquid samples in low gravity is primarily influenced by the interfacial properties of the specific liquid and solid materials used because the overwhelming bias of the Earth gravitational acceleration is removed. This study addresses the engineering aspects of injecting and deploying drops of prescribed volume into an acoustic positioning chamber in microgravity. The specific problems of interest are the design, testing, and implementation of injector tips to be used in a simultaneously retracting dual-injector system in the Drop Physics Module microgravity experiment facility. Prior to release, the liquid to be deployed must be retained within a restricted area at the very end of the injectors under dynamic stimuli from the continuous injection flow as well as from the stepped motion of the injectors. The final released drop must have a well determined volume and negligible residual linear or angular momentum. The outcome of Earth-based short-duration low gravity experiments had been the selection of two types of injector tips which were flown as back-up parts. They were successfully utilized during the USML-1 Spacelab mission as the primary tips. The combination of a larger contact surface, liquid pinning with a sharp edge, and selective coating of strategic tip surfaces with a non-wetting compound has allowed a significant increase in the success rate of deployment of simple and compound drops of aqueous solutions of glycerol and silicone oil. The diameter of the samples studied in the Drop Physics Module range between 0.3 and 2.7 cm. The tests conducted on-orbit with a manually operated small device have allowed the calibration of the volume deployed for a few drop sizes. The design for improved tips to be used during the next USML flight is based on these results.

Trinh, E. H.↗

An Investigation of the Coefficient of Discharge of Liquids Through Small Round Orifices

The work covered by this report was undertaken in connection with a general investigation of fuel injection engine principles as applied to engines for aircraft propulsion, the specific purpose being to obtain information on the coefficient of discharge of small round orifices suitable for use as fuel injection nozzles. Values for the coefficient were determined for the more important conditions of engine service such as discharge under pressures up to 8,000 pounds per square inch, at temperatures between 80 degrees and 180 degrees F. And into air compressed to pressures up to 1,000 pounds per square inch. The results show that the coefficient ranges between 0.62 and 0.88 for the different test conditions between 1,000 and 8,000 pounds per square inch hydraulic pressure. At lower pressures the coefficient increases materially. It is concluded that within the range of these tests and for hydraulic pressures above 1,000 pound per square inch the coefficient does not change materially with pressure or temperature; that it depends considerably upon the liquid, decreases with increase in orifice size, and increases in the case of discharge into compressed air until the compressed-air pressure equals approximately three-tenths of the hydraulic pressure, beyond which pressure ratio it remains practically constant.

Joachim, W F↗

Solid Surface Wetting and the Deployment of Drops in Microgravity

The complete or partial deployment of liquid samples in low gravity is primarily influenced by the interfacial properties of the specific liquid and solid materials used because the overwhelming bias of the Earth gravitational acceleration is removed. This study addresses the engineering aspects of injecting and deploying drops of prescribed volume into an acoustic positioning chamber in microgravity. The specific problems of interest are the design, testing, and implementation of injector tips to be used in a simuttaneously retracting dual-injector system used in the Drop Physics Module microgravity experiment facility. Prior to release, the liquid to be deployed must be retained within a restricted area at the very end of the injectors even under dynamic stimuli due to continuous injection flow as well as to the stepped motion of the injectors, and the final released drop must have a well determined volume as well as negligible residual linear or angular momentum from the deployment process. The outcome of Earthbased short-duration low gravity experiments had been the selection of two types of injector tips which were flown as back-up parts and were successfully utilized during the USML-1 Spacelab mission. The combination of a larger contact surface, liquid pinning with a sharp edge, and selective coating of strategic tip surfaces with a non-wetting compound has allowed a significant increase in the success rate of deployment of simple and compound drops of aqueous solutions of glycerol and silicone oil. The diameter of the samples studied in the Drop Physics Module ranged between 0.3 and 2.7 cm. The tests conducted onsrbit with a manually operated small device have allowed the calibration of the volume deployed for a few drop sizes. The design for improved tips to be used during the next USML flight is based on these results.

Trinh, E. H.↗

Solid Surface Wetting and the Deployment of Drops in Microgravity

The complete or partial deployment of liquid samples in low gravity is primarily influenced by the interfacial properties of the specific liquid and solid materials used because the overwhelming bias of Earth gravitational acceleration is removed. This study addresses the engineering aspects of injecting and deploying drops of prescribed volume into an acoustic positioning chamber in microgravity.

surface↗

Prediction of Bubble Diameter at Detachment from a Wall Orifice in Liquid Cross Flow Under Reduced and Normal Gravity Conditions

Bubble formation and detachment is an integral part of the two-phase flow science. The objective of the present work is to theoretically investigate the effects of liquid cross-flow velocity, gas flow rate embodied in the momentum flux force, and orifice diameter on bubble formation in a wall-bubble injection configuration. A two-dimensional one-stage theoretical model based on a global force balance on the bubble evolving from a wall orifice in a cross liquid flow is presented in this work. In this model, relevant forces acting on the evolving bubble are expressed in terms of the bubble center of mass coordinates and solved simultaneously. Relevant forces in low gravity included the momentum flux, shear-lift, surface tension, drag and inertia forces. Under normal gravity conditions, the buoyancy force, which is dominant under such conditions, can be added to the force balance. Two detachment criteria were applicable depending on the gas to liquid momentum force ratio. For low ratios, the time when the bubble acceleration in the direction of the detachment angle is greater or equal to zero is calculated from the bubble x and y coordinates. This time is taken as the time at which all the detaching forces that are acting on the bubble are greater or equal to the attaching forces. For high gas to liquid momentum force ratios, the time at which the y coordinate less the bubble radius equals zero is calculated. The bubble diameter is evaluated at this time as the diameter at detachment from the fact that the bubble volume is simply given by the product of the gas flow rate and time elapsed. Comparison of the model s predictions was also made with predictions from a two-dimensional normal gravity model based on Kumar-Kuloor formulation and such a comparison is presented in this work.

Nahra, Henry K.↗

New Test Rig to Measure Alternating Current Losses of Both Low and High Critical Temperature Superconductors

This paper presents the design, development, operation, and test capabilities of a proposed superconducting coil testbed to measure alternating current (AC) losses at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Superconducting AC losses are important in the design of electric stators and rotors, power transmission lines, transformers, fault current limiters, magnets, and superconducting energy storage (not batteries). The new liquid-hydrogen-based rig will allow superconducting testing across a wide range of test parameters, including injected current up to 400 A, frequency (0 to 400 Hz), magnetic field (0 to 0.6 T), phase angle between induced voltage and injected current (–180° to 180°), coil coolant temperature (18 to 28 K), and AC power loss (5 to 30 W). While the target application of interest is 20 K superconducting MgB2 (the only superconductor that can presently be made with low losses) stator coils for future electric machines, the rig can accommodate test articles (TAs) with straight wire, tape, cables, coils of any shape, any allowable combination of superconducting wire and fluid (e.g., yttrium barium copper oxide (YBCO) coils and liquid nitrogen), and AC or direct current (DC) testing. The new spin rig builds upon the existing Air Force spin rig through a more flexible mode of fluid control, a wider gap space (up to 10.2 cm) for TAs, and the ability to accommodate TAs over a wider range of operating temperatures (18 to 95 K) using liquid hydrogen, gaseous helium, or liquid nitrogen as the working fluid, thus supporting direct cooled machines below 77 K.

liquid hydrogen↗

Model development for flash boiling spray and validations with isooctane, hexane, ethanol and their binary mixtures

The objective of this study is to develop a comprehensive model for spray atomization under the consideration of flash boiling, which includes nucleation, bubble growth, and droplet breakup. Although flash boiling has been previously studied, there is still no well-established analytical and numerical model of their mechanisms, or general guidelines on the implementation of this atomization strategy. In this study, detailed formulations are elaborated for the unified spray atomization model under both non-flash and flash boiling conditions. Next, the model was implemented into CFD software and 3-D simulations were performed for model validations. Two fuel blends are tested: ethanol-isooctane blends and hexane-isooctane blends. Simulation results were compared with the experimental measurements conducted using two methodologies, DBI (Diffuse Backlight Imaging) system for spray images captured by a high-speed camera, and a PDA (Phase Doppler Anemometry) system for droplet size measurement during the spray injection process. It was found that the current flash boiling model can accurately capture the spray characteristics under different environment conditions, such as the spray plume interactions and liquid penetration. The averaged Sauter mean diameter (SMD) calculations match the measurement sufficiently well. The spray structures for both single- and multi-component fuels during the injection process are well represented by current model.

42 ENGINEERING↗

Catalytic combustion with steam injection

The effects of steam injection on (1) catalytic combustion performance, and (2) the tendency of residual fuel to burn in the premixing duct upstream of the catalytic reactor were determined. A petroleum residual, no. 2 diesel, and a blend of middle and heavy distillate coal derived fuels were tested. Fuel and steam were injected together into the preheated airflow entering a 12 cm diameter catalytic combustion test section. The inlet air velocity and pressure were constant at 10 m/s and 600 kPa, respectively. Steam flow rates were varied from 24 percent to 52 percent of the air flow rate. The resulting steam air mixture temperatures varied from 630 to 740 K. Combustion temperatures were in the range of 1200 to 1400 K. The steam had little effect on combustion efficiency or emissions. It was concluded that the steam acts as a diluent which has no adverse effect on catalytic combustion performance for no. 2 diesel and coal derived liquid fuels. Tests with the residual fuel showed that upstream burning could be eliminated with steam injection rates greater than 30 percent of the air flow rate, but inlet mixture temperatures were too low to permit stable catalytic combustion of this fuel.

Anderson, D. N.↗

Determining the extent of potential fugitive fluid migration from geologic carbon storage in hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs: Insights from one-dimensional numerical modeling

Numerical modeling of Geologic Carbon Sequestration in permeable reservoirs initially containing hydrocarbons is conducted using the multi-phase, multi-component thermohydrologic simulator TOGA (TOUGH Oil, Gas, Aqueous; TOUGH stands for Transport Of Unsaturated Groundwater and Heat), to determine how phase and composition of the original fluids influence the extent of the zone where upward fugitive fluid migration could potentially occur, denoted R f . The area within R f comprises regions of substantially elevated pressure and free-phase CO 2 saturation, where a breach in reservoir sealing capacity would lead to upward fugitive fluid migration. The model examines the conditions within the storage reservoir that could lead to fugitive flow, but does not model the fugitive flow itself. A one-dimensional radial model of the storage reservoir is used, and three initial phase conditions are considered: single-phase aqueous, two-phase gas-aqueous, and three-phase oil-gas-aqueous. Components that may be present are H 2 O, CO 2 , CH 4 , C 4 H 10 , and C 10 H 22 . The most important factors controlling Rf are (1) the initial gas-phase saturation within the reservoir, and (2) the lateral extent of multi-phase initial conditions, particularly CO 2 . The composition of liquid and gas phases has a secondary effect. The impact of reservoir depth, thickness, injection rate, and hydrologic properties are also briefly examined, with thickness (or equivalently injection rate) having the biggest effect. These results can help to understand important trends in potential response of CO 2 -EOR fields being considered for dedicated CO 2 storage.

CO₂ plume migration↗

Observation of electron spin resonance of negative ions in liquid helium

Electron spin resonance signals of negative ions in liquid helium were observed. The line width and g-value were measured. Electrons injected into helium by field emission from ferromagnetic tips are shown to be polarized. A new technique for the measurement of electron spin polarization is presented.

Reichert, J. F.↗

GaInAsSb/AlGaAsSb injection lasers for remote sensing applications

Double heterostructures of InGaAsSb/AlGaAsSb quaternary alloys on (100) GaSb substrates were grown by the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) technique. Room temperature operation near 2.1 micron wavelength has been achieved under pulsed conditions with pulsed threshold current density of 7kA/sq cm.

Forouhar, Siamak↗

Urine Pretreat Injection System

A new method of introducing the OXONE (Registered Trademark) Monopersulfate Compound for urine pretreat into a two-phase urine/air flow stream has been successfully tested and evaluated. The feasibility of this innovative method has been established for purposes of providing a simple, convenient, and safe method of handling a chemical pretreat required for urine processing in a microgravity space environment. Also, the Oxone portion of the urine pretreat has demonstrated the following advantages during real time collection of 750 pounds of urine in a Space Station design two-phase urine Fan/Separator: Eliminated urine precipitate buildup on internal hardware and plumbing; Minimized odor from collected urine; and Virtually eliminated airborne bacteria. The urine pretreat, as presently defined for the Space Station program for proper downstream processing of urine, is a two-part chemical treatment of 5.0 grams of Oxone and 2.3 ml of H2SO4 per liter of urine. This study program and test demonstrated only the addition of the proper ratio of Oxone into the urine collection system upstream of the Fan/Separator. This program was divided into the following three major tasks: (1) A trade study, to define and recommend the type of Oxone injection method to pursue further; (2) The design and fabrication of the selected method; and (3) A test program using high fidelity hardware and fresh urine to demonstrate the method feasibility. The trade study was conducted which included defining several methods for injecting Oxone in different forms into a urine system. Oxone was considered in a liquid, solid, paste and powered form. The trade study and the resulting recommendation were presented at a trade study review held at Hamilton Standard on 24-25 October 94. An agreement was reached at the meeting to continue the solid tablet in a bag concept which included a series of tablets suspended in the urine/air flow stream. These Oxone tablets would slowly dissolve at a controlled rate providing the proper concentration in the collected urine. To implement the solid tablet in a bag approach, a design concept was completed with prototype drawings of the complete urine pretreat prefilter assembly. A successful fabrication technique was developed for retaining the Oxone tablets in a fabric casing attached to the end of the existing Space Station Waste Collection System urine prefilter assembly. The final pretreat prefilter configuration held sufficient Oxone in a tablet form to allow normal scheduled daily (or twice daily) change out of the urine filter depending on the use rate of the Space Station urine collection system. The actual tests to prove the concept were conducted using the Urine Fan/Separator assembly that was originally used in the STS-52 Design Test Objective (DTO) urinal assembly. Other related tests were conducted to demonstrate the actual minimum ratio of Oxone to urine that will control microbial growth.

Source record↗

Validation of Supersonic Film Cooling Modeling for Liquid Rocket Engine Applications

Topics include: upper stage engine key requirements and design drivers; Calspan "stage 1" results, He slot injection into hypersonic flow (air); test articles for shock generator diagram, slot injector details, and instrumentation positions; test conditions; modeling approach; 2-d grid used for film cooling simulations of test article; heat flux profiles from 2-d flat plate simulations (run #4); heat flux profiles from 2-d backward facing step simulations (run #43); isometric sketch of single coolant nozzle, and x-z grid of half-nozzle domain; comparison of 2-d and 3-d simulations of coolant nozzles (run #45); flowfield properties along coolant nozzle centerline (run #45); comparison of 3-d CFD nozzle flow calculations with experimental data; nozzle exit plane reduced to linear profile for use in 2-d film-cooling simulations (run #45); synthetic Schlieren image of coolant injection region (run #45); axial velocity profiles from 2-d film-cooling simulation (run #45); coolant mass fraction profiles from 2-d film-cooling simulation (run #45); heat flux profiles from 2-d film cooling simulations (run #45); heat flux profiles from 2-d film cooling simulations (runs #47, #45, and #47); 3-d grid used for film cooling simulations of test article; heat flux contours from 3-d film-cooling simulation (run #45); and heat flux profiles from 3-d and 2-d film cooling simulations (runs #44, #46, and #47).

Morris, Christopher I.↗

Solar thermal propulsion for planetary spacecraft

Previous studies have shown that many desirable planetary exploration missions require large injection delta-V. Solar Thermal Rocket (STR) propulsion, under study for orbit-raising applications may enhance or enable such high-energy missions. The required technology of thermal control for liquid hydrogen propellant is available for the required storage duration. Self-deploying, inflatable solar concentrators are under study. The mass penalty for passive cryogenic thermal control, liquid hydrogen tanks and solar concentrators does not compromise the specific impulse advantage afforded by the STR as compared to chemical propulsion systems. An STR injection module is characterized and performance is evaluated by comparison to electric propulsion options for the Saturn Orbiter Titan Probe (SOTP) and Uranus Flyby Uranus Probe (UFUP) missions.

Sercel, J. C.↗