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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 559 records · Page 31
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2018

Optimization of nanosecond transient plasma ignition for clean combustion

Based on a previously developed, retrofittable nanosecond pulsed TPS ignition prototype, transient plasma ignition technology is evaluated for higher energy efficiency and lower emission by optimizing pulse power conditions using advanced diagnostic-based approaches. Combustion performances of a TPS ignition electrode powered by nanosecond voltage pulses of two different rising times (i.e. 4 ns and 8 ns) but the same full-width-half-maximum (FWHM) of 6 ns were compared for single-shot and high-repetition-rate ignitions. The use of faster risetime reduces the voltage amplitude criterion for combustion ignition under a single-shot, stoichiometric fuel-air condition, resulting in higher energy efficiency. In addition, it was demonstrated that high-frequency bursts of pulses positively affect the combustion process; four-consecutive pulsed plasma ignition at a pulse repletion rate (PRR) of 1 kHz needs only half of the voltage to achieve combustion, and increasing the PRR from 1 kHz to 10 kHz improves the energy efficiency by a factor of >1.3. A prototype of retrofittable nanosecond pulsed ignition system was developed and tested in a newly built testing/diagnostic platform, paving the way for ultimate optimization of the TPS prototype for low cost, highly efficient, and low emission combustion.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2019

Combustion Research I.1 Sprays, Flow, Heat Transfer and Turbulent Mixing

LANL is working with the Partnership for Advance Combustion Engines (PACE) a DOE sponsored consortium of national laboratories for the research and development for creating smarter engine design tools for sustainable transportation. Much of that effort is focused on heat, mass and momentum transfer within and engine. LANL’s focus in 2019, in particular under PACE has been spray modeling and engine mixture formulation, development of conjugate heat transfer analysis (heat transfer to the environment surrounding the combustion chamber). Our efforts relay on the Fast, Easy, Accurate and Robust Continuum Engineering (FEARCE) software developed at LANL as the next generation of engine modeling software for turbulent reactive and multiphase flow, a 2019 R&D 100 winner. This work is relevant to the DOE Vehicle Technologies Office efforts at addressing national energy security as well. Less dependence on petroleum products leads to greater energy security. By Environmental Protection Agency standards, some vehicles are now reaching 42–50 mpg mark. These are conventional gasoline engines. With continued investment and research into new technical innovations, the potential exists to save more than 4 million barrels of oil per day or approximately $200 to $400 million per day. This would be a significant decrease in emissions and use of petroleum and a very large stimulus to the U.S. economy. Better understanding of fuel injection and fuel–air mixing, thermodynamic combustion losses, and combustion/emission formation processes enhances our ability to minimize fuel use and unwanted emissions. Helping to accomplish this understanding, the FEARCE modeling program is working to provide state-of-theart capability for accurately simulating combustion processes: to have a predictive methodology in a software helping industry and researchers not only meet national goals on fuel usage and emissions, but global goals. In addition, a predictive, robust, and accurate capability for simulating the engine combustion process helps to minimize time and labor for development of new engine technology.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2023

Combustion of petroleum-based transportation fuels and their blends with biofuels: a new approach for developing surrogates and understanding the effects of blending

Accurate and versatile reaction mechanisms are necessary to simulate combustion of transportation fuels blended with biofuels for improving fuel efficiency, reducing fuel consumption and mitigating the formation and emissions of combustion products harmful to the atmosphere. This project involved a combined effort of simulation and experimentation of liquid fuel burning using a combustion configuration amenable to numerical modeling with a level of detail not previously achieved for blends of biofuels with gasoline certification and surrogate fuels. The configuration of an isolated droplet burning under conditions where gas transport arises solely from fuel evaporation was selected as the platform for experiments and numerical modeling. The spherical symmetry and one-dimensional gas transport that results enabled simulating the droplet burning process with an precedented level of detail. Processes associated with unsteady gas and liquid transport, formation of particulate and gaseous products, radiation, multicomponent phase equilibrium at the droplet surface and moving boundary effects from droplet evaporation, were incorporated in a single numerical framework. The numerical model was based on the open source code OPENSmoke++ (OS) adapted to incorporate the effects noted above. In addition to simulation, an experimental design was developed for the isolated droplet configuration to acquire the data needed for validating the numerical model. Several broad accomplishments of the project were the following: demonstrating generally excellent agreement between measured and simulated combustion parameters for the fuel blends examined that included mixtures of heptane and isobutanol as a model system, and surrogates comprised of up to seven miscible components mixed with ethanol or isobutanol as representative biofuel additives; using a new approach to validate reaction mechanisms of biofuel blends which incorporated fuel evaporation into the process along with developing an experimental design for acquiring data to compare with simulations; and showing that a wealth of information could be obtained on the combustion physics of biofuels from experiments requiring volumes on the order of only nanoliters at a time thus opening the way to evaluating biofuels synthesized by new processes early in development.

02 PETROLEUM↗
DOE OSTI2021

A kinetic evaluation on NO 2 formation in the post-flame region of pressurized oxy-combustion process

Pressurized oxy-combustion is a promising technology that can significantly re-duce the energy penalty associated with first generation oxy-combustion for CO 2 capture in coal-fired power plants. However, higher pressure enhances the production of strong acid gases, including NO 2 and SO 3 , aggravating the corrosion threat during flue gas re-circulation. In the flame region, high temperature NO x exists mainly as NO, while conversion from NO to NO 2 happened in post-flame region. In this study, the conversion of NO → NO 2 has been kinetically evaluated under representative post-flame conditions of pressurized oxy-combustion after validating the mechanism (80 species and 464 reactions), which includes nitrogen and sulfur chemistry based on GRI-MECH 3.0. The effects of residence time, temperature, pressure, major species (O 2 /H 2 O), and minor or trace species (CO/SO x ) on NO 2 formation are studied. The calculation results show that when pressure is increased from 1 to 15 bar, NO 2 is increased from 1 to 60 ppm, and the acid dew point increases by over 80°C. Higher pressure and temperature greatly reduce the time required to reach equilibrium. With increasing pressure and decreasing temperature, O plays a much more important role than HO 2 in the oxidation of NO. A higher water vapor content accelerates NO 2 formation in all cases by providing more O and HO 2 radicals. The addition of CO or SO 2 also promotes the formation of NO 2 . The NO 2 formation in a pressurized oxy-combustion furnace can be over 10 times that of an atmospheric air-combustion furnace.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
NASA NTRS1952

Effect of design changes and operating conditions on combustion and operational performance of a 28-inch diameter Ram-jet engine / T. B. Shillito and Shigeo Nakanishi

The results of an altitude test-chamber investigation of the effects of a number of design changes and operating conditions on altitude peformance of a 28-inch diameter ram jet engine are presented. Most of the investigation was for a simulated flight Mach number of 2.0 above the tropopause. Fuel-air distribution, gutter width, the presence of a pilot flame, cimbustion-chamber-inlet temperature, and exhaust-nozzle throat area were found to have significant effects on limits of combustion. Combustion efficiency increased with increasing combustion-chamber-inlet temperature and was adversely affected by an increase in the exhaust-nozzld area. Similiar lean limits of combustion were obtained for both Diesel fuel and normal heptane, but combustion efficiences obtained with Diesel fuel were lower than those obtained with normal heptane.

NOZZLES, EXHAUST - ENGINES, JET↗
NASA NTRS2018

Comparison of Combustion Dynamic Characteristics of Two Advanced Multi-Cup Fuel Injectors

An experimental investigation of the combustion dynamic characteristics of two advanced multi-cup lean direct injectors (LDI) under simulated gas turbine combustor conditions was conducted. The objective was to gain a better understanding of the physical phenomena inside a pressurized flame tube combustion chamber and study the effects of injector flow number on combustion dynamics. The injectors are known as Three-zone Injectors one and two or 3ZI-1 and 3ZI-2, respectively. The injectors were experimentally evaluated at inlet pressures up to 1.724 MPa, non-vitiated air temperatures up to 828K, and adiabatic flame temperatures up to 1975K. Dynamic pressure measurements were taken upstream of the injectors and in the combustion zone. The combustion dynamic behavior of the two injectors was measured over a range of inlet pressures, inlet temperatures, fuel air ratios, and fuel flow splits.

Combustion Dynamics↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Effects of Ambient Inert Gas Properties on Cool-Flame Combustion of Normal-Alkane Droplets in Microgravity

Cool-flame-supported quasi-steady droplet combustion was first observed during droplet combustion experiments conducted onboard the International Space Station (ISS) in the Combustion Integrated Rack (CIR) with n-alkane fuels. These cool flames, not visible to the naked eye, result from the existence of the negative-temperature-coefficient (NTC) region during the combustion n-alkane fuels when the chemical-kinetic pathways experience a transition from the low-temperature chemistry to the normal, high-temperature-controlled chemistry. In this study, we present results for the cool-flame-supported droplet burning rates and extinction diameters for n-alkane fuels (n-heptane, n-octane, n-decane, and n-dodecane) in inert-diluent-substituted ambient environments. In these ISS experiments, some of the nitrogen in the ambient gas mixture is replaced by an inert gas, namely, carbon dioxide, helium, or xenon. Different diluents were observed to exert remarkably different influences on the cool-flame combustion of fuel droplets. The results show that the cool-flame extinction diameter is drastically increased with helium dilution compared to N2, CO2 or Xe, and Xe dilution leads to longer burning with a smaller extinction diameter. Unlike hot flames, the cool-flame burning rates are controlled by the cool-flame temperature established in the NTC region by the chemical kinetics, rather than by equilibrium thermodynamics, and the thermo-physical properties of the ambient gases, which control the heat feed back to the liquid droplet. The cool-flame extinction is triggered by the instability that occurs at the low-temperature end of the NTC region, below which cool diffusion flames become statically unstable. A quasi-steady theoretical model, presented earlier, which involves a six-step reduced-chemistry mechanism, valid around the lower end of the NTC region, is shown to explain the observed experimental trends qualitatively.

microgravity↗
NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Combustion and Emissions Analysis of Alternatives

NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate requested an analysis of alternatives (AoA) study on the following three competencies in 2020: subsonic transport acoustics, combustion and emissions, and aircraft icing. This presentation will address details specific to the combustion and emissions analysis of alternatives study. The basic process used for during the AoA study in shown in Figure 1. Figure 1. Flow chart of the Analysis of Alternative process used in this study. The combustion study team was multidisciplinary, including a wide range perspectives and areas of expertise. Inputs were collected from within NASA and a wide range of external stakeholders, including aircraft engine companies, aircraft airframe companies and other government agencies. Eight future realities for aviation were developed in preparation for the applying the AoA process, such as future realities with increased or decrease airline traffic, greater emissions stringency, or a revolution in energy infrastructure (such as hydrogen usage). Based on the inputs collected, over seventy technical elements applicable to combustion and emissions research were developed. To rank the importance of these technical elements for each future reality, a set of evaluation criterion were developed that can be generally characterized as environmental impacts, technologies enabling reduced fuel burn, and elements requiring significant NASA involvement or having significant industry pull. Using in-house codes to apply the TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) methodology, as well performing consistency checks and other analysis by the study team, a ranked set of technical elements was generated. Several research needs were identified and analyzed to determine the highest priorities for potential research by NASA in the combustion and emissions area. Results from the study will be presented.

combustion↗
DOE OSTI2019

Evaluation of Combustion Models for CFD Simulation of Pre-Chamber Ignition in a Natural Gas Engine

Natural gas is considered an attractive alternative fossil fuel as it produces 25% less carbon dioxide and emits fewer amounts of toxic pollutants compared to gasoline and diesel. A pre-chamber type ignition device in a natural gas engine is capable of extending the lean operating limit, and hence improving thermal efficiency, by providing spatially distributed ignition with multiple turbulent flame-jets and accelerating the combustion rate. However, the process of ignition in the main chamber triggered by turbulent jets emanating from a pre-chamber is very sensitive to the pre-chamber geometry and fueling strategy, and any effort to optimize these parameters requires fundamental understanding of the underlying physical and thermodynamic phenomena, which can be studied by a multi-dimensional numerical simulation approach. In this study, three turbulent combustion models widely adopted in the multi-dimensional engine modeling community were preliminary evaluated to simulate the combustion process in a natural gas engine with a pre-chamber spark-ignition system. One multi-zone well-stirred reactor model, and two flamelet-based combustion models, G-equation and Extended Coherent Flamelet Model, were employed for this assessment. Under a fuel-lean condition, the three combustion models were used to match experimental data and analyze the differences in terms of in-cylinder pressure and heat release rate.

combustion model evaluation↗
DOE OSTI2020

Ducted Fuel Injection vs. Conventional Diesel Combustion: Extending the Load Range in an Optical Engine with a Four-Orifice Fuel Injector

Ducted fuel injection (DFI) is a technique to attenuate soot formation in compression ignition engines relative to conventional diesel combustion (CDC). The concept is to inject fuel through a small tube inside the combustion chamber to reduce equivalence ratios in the autoignition zone relative to CDC. DFI has been studied at loads as high as 8.5 bar gross indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP g ) and as low as 2.5 bar IMEP g using a four-orifice fuel injector. Across previous studies, DFI has been shown to attenuate soot emissions, increase NO x emissions (at constant charge dilution), and slightly decrease fuel conversion efficiencies for most tested points. This study expands on the previous work by testing 1.1 bar IMEPg (low-load/idle) conditions and 10 bar IMEPg (higher-load) conditions with the same four-orifice fuel injector, as well as examining potential causes of the degradations in NO x emissions and fuel conversion efficiencies. DFI and CDC are directly compared at each operating point in the study. At the low-load condition, the intake charge dilution was swept to elucidate the soot and NO x performance of DFI. The low-load range is important because it is the target of impending, more-stringent emissions regulations, and DFI is shown to be a potentially effective approach for helping to meet these regulations. The results also indicate that DFI likely has slightly decreased fuel conversion efficiencies relative to CDC. We find that the increase in NO x emissions with DFI is likely due to longer charge gas residence times at higher temperatures, which arise from shorter combustion durations and advanced combustion phasing relative to CDC.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Combustion of 10–100 μm aluminum droplets in detonation products gases

Here we describe a two-phase model of combustion effects in aluminized high explosive (HE) charges. It is based on: (i) a Gas Dynamic Model of the expansion of the detonation product gases and their turbulent combustion with air; and (ii) a Heterogeneous Continuum Model of aluminum (Al) droplets and their combustion with the detonation product gases. Initial conditions are based on an analytical similarity solution for a cylindrical Chapman-Jouguet (CJ) detonation propagating at the CJ detonation velocity. The CJ jump conditions are computed at the thermodynamic equilibrium state by the Cheetah code, assuming the Al droplets are inert. We assume that the Al is 10 % of the charge mass and occurs as droplets at the CJ state. Different initial droplet diameters, ranging from 10 to 100 microns, are studied. A hydrodynamic combustion model based on large Damköhler numbers is employed in this study, -3σ(1 + 0.276 $\sqrt{Re}$)/($Kd^2_w$). It has a square-root dependence on the Reynolds number (Re) and inversed-squared dependence on the droplet diameter (d w ). The burnout time (t B ) of the Al droplets has a three-halves dependence on the droplet diameter, t B ~ ($d^0_w$) 3/2 . After burnout, the detonation products act as detonation products of the HE charge with active Al. They turbulently mix with air and form a combustion layer on the outer edge of the fireball. Details of the two-phase model, initial conditions and evolution of the flow field will be described.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2013

Application of High Performance Computing for Simulating the Unstable Dynamics of Dilute Spark-Ignited Combustion

In collaboration with a major automotive manufacturer, we are using computational simulations of in-cylinder combustion to understand the multi-scale nonlinear physics of the dilute stability limit. Because some key features of dilute combustion can take thousands of successive cycles to develop, the computation time involved in using complex models to simulate these effects has limited industrys ability to exploit simulations in optimizing advanced engines. We describe a novel approach for utilizing parallel computations to reveal long-timescale features of dilute combustion without the need to simulate many successive engine cycles in series. Our approach relies on carefully guided, concurrent, single-cycle simulations to create metamodels that preserve the long-timescale features of interest. We use a simplified combustion model to develop and demonstrate our strategy for adaptively guiding the concurrent simulations to generate metamodels. We next will implement this strategy with higher-fidelity, multi-scale combustion models on large computing facilities to generate more refined metamodels. The refined metamodels can then be used to accelerate engine development because of their efficiency. Similar approaches might also be used for rapidly exploring the dynamics of other complex multi-scale systems that evolve with serial dependency on time.

Finney, Charles↗
DOE OSTI2020

Optimization of energy requirements for CO 2 post-combustion capture process through advanced thermal integration

The energy optimization modeling work described here was performed to determine efficiency improvements that could be achieved for existing coal-fired power plants to retrofit a partial CO 2 capture from the post-combustion flue gas for carbon sequestration through thermal integration. The work presented includes optimization of the mono-ethanol amine (MEA)-based post-combustion CO 2 capture to reduce energy requirements that could be achieved at existing power plants by thermal integration of the steam turbine cycle, boiler, CO 2 compression train and post-combustion CO 2 capture process to offset efficiency and capacity losses that would be incurred by retrofit or implementation of post-combustion CO 2 capture. Furthermore, partial CO 2 capture, involving treatment of less than 100% of the flue gas leaving the plant and modular design of the CO 2 scrubbing system, was also investigated. Thermal integration of the steam turbine cycle with boiler and CO 2 compression train improved cycle and plant performance and offset, in part, the negative effects of post-combustion CO 2 capture. The best-analyzed integration options improved gross power output by 5% and net unit efficiency by 1.57%, relative to the conventional MEA process. Operating with 40% CO 2 capture increased gross power output by 11.6–14% (depending on the MEA thermal integration option), relative to the conventional MEA integration and 90% CO 2 capture. The improvement in net unit performance is larger compared to the improvement in turbine cycle performance because of the CO 2 compression work, which is also reduced by partial CO 2 capture.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2020

Distribution of rare earth elements in fly ash derived from the combustion of Illinois Basin coals

This study examined rare earth element (REE) trends for Illinois Basin coal-sourced fly ashes, with the goal of understanding the elemental composition and resource potential for various fly ash fractions. Illinois Basin coals have a high volatile C through A bituminous rank with a moderate ash content (slightly>12% ash (dry basis)), about 3% sulfur, and, in general, lower concentrations of hazardous and other trace elements than many Central Appalachian coals. Fly ash from the combustion of Illinois Basin coals tends to have a high Fe 2 O 3 content owing to the amount of pyrite in the feed coals. The rare earth element (REE) concentrations in Illinois Basin coal-sourced fly ashes are less than that for fly ashes from the combustion of Central Appalachian coals. The Upper continental crust-corrected fly ashes show an H-type enrichment, a positive Eu N /Eu N * , and, in some cases, a sharp Gd peak. For comparison, a suite of fly ashes from the combustion of a blend of eastern Kentucky coals had an H-type enrichment, a positive Eu N /Eu N * , but only a minimal Gd peak. In contrast, fly ash from the combustion of the Fire Clay coal, a REE-rich coal, had a negative Eu N /Eu N * and a sharp Gd peak. Finally, these results highlight the importance of feed coal composition on trace element contents of respective combustion fly ash fractions and also the unique REE enrichment patterns of the Illinois Basin fly ashes relative to the better studied fly ashes of eastern Kentucky and Central Appalachia.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2019

Conversion of Coal in a Fluidized Bed Chemical Looping Combustion Reactor with and without Oxygen Uncoupling

Chemical looping combustion (CLC) is a carbon capture technology that involves circulating metal-based oxygen carrier particles between two reactors, where the metal is alternately oxidized by air and then reduced by fuel as the fuel combusts. In the variant of CLC known as chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU), the oxygen carrier releases gaseous O 2 in the fuel reactor, allowing for a rapid reaction with solid fuels. This study focuses on improving the understanding of mechanisms responsible for carbon conversion of coal and coal char in a bench-scale fluidized bed reactor using oxygen carriers with and without oxygen uncoupling properties. Effects of coal particle size and temperature on the rate of carbon conversion are evaluated in order to quantify performance and to aid in design and modeling of large-scale fully circulating chemical looping systems. The data confirms that conversion with a copper-based CLOU carrier is faster and results in lower CO and CH 4 concentrations than the natural ore ilmenite, which does not have CLOU properties. Furthermore, with coal as fuel, the increase in the rate of char carbon conversion with CLOU is lower than that previously reported because of competition for oxygen by volatiles. Conversion is also faster with smaller particles but results in higher CO concentrations as small particles gasify and release volatiles more quickly.

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT↗
DOE OSTI2023

Gas and Propane Combustion from Stoves Emits Benzene and Increases Indoor Air Pollution

Exposure pathways to the carcinogen benzene are well-established from tobacco smoke, oil and gas development, refining, gasoline pumping, and gasoline and diesel combustion. Combustion has also been linked to the formation of nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and formaldehyde indoors from gas stoves. To our knowledge, however, no research has quantified the formation of benzene indoors from gas combustion by stoves. Across 87 homes in California and Colorado, natural gas and propane combustion emitted detectable and repeatable levels of benzene that in some homes raised indoor benzene concentrations above well-established health benchmarks. Mean benzene emissions from gas and propane burners on high and ovens set to 350 °F ranged from 2.8 to 6.5 μg min –1 , 10 to 25 times higher than emissions from electric coil and radiant alternatives; neither induction stoves nor the food being cooked emitted detectable benzene. Benzene produced by gas and propane stoves also migrated throughout homes, in some cases elevating bedroom benzene concentrations above chronic health benchmarks for hours after the stove was turned off. Combustion of gas and propane from stoves may be a substantial benzene exposure pathway and can reduce indoor air quality.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗
DOE OSTI2017

Ab Initio Computations and Active Thermochemical Tables Hand in Hand: Heats of Formation of Core Combustion Species

Here, the fidelity of combustion simulations is strongly dependent on the accuracy of the underlying thermochemical properties for the core combustion species that arise as intermediates and products in the chemical conversion of most fuels. High level theoretical evaluations are coupled with a wide-ranging implementation of the Active Thermochemical Tables (ATcT) approach to obtain well-validated high fidelity predictions for the 0 K heat of formation for a large set of core combustion species. In particular, high level ab initio electronic structure based predictions are obtained for a set of 348 C, N, O, and H containing species, which corresponds to essentially all core combustion species with 34 or fewer electrons. The theoretical analyses incorporate various high level corrections to base CCSD(T)/cc-pVnZ analyses (n = T or Q) using H 2 , CH 4 , H 2 O, and NH 3 as references. Corrections for the complete-basis-set limit, higher-order excitations, anharmonic zeropoint energy, core–valence, relativistic, and diagonal Born–Oppenheimer effects are ordered in decreasing importance. Independent ATcT values are presented for a subset of 150 species. The accuracy of the theoretical predictions is explored through (i) examination of the magnitude of the various corrections, (ii) comparisons with other high level calculations, and (iii) through comparison with the ATcT values. The estimated 2σ uncertainties of the three methods devised here, ANL0, ANL0-F12, and ANL1, are in the range of ±1.0–1.5 kJ/mol for single-reference and moderately multireference species, for which the calculated higher order excitations are 5 kJ/mol or less. In addition to providing valuable references for combustion simulations, the subsequent inclusion of the current theoretical results into the ATcT thermochemical network is expected to significantly improve the thermochemical knowledge base for less-well studied species.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2020

Field-emission plasma enhancement of H₂–O₂ micro-combustion

In this paper, a detailed three-dimensional computational model is developed to assess the potential of micron-scale field emission dielectric barrier discharge (FE-DBD) plasma actuators in non-premixed microburners with channel heights in the range of L z = 0.25–0.75 mm. Results for H 2 –O 2 combustion with Reynolds number Re = 100 are studied for different configurations of plasma actuator arrays. Without plasma actuation, results agree with corresponding experiments, although in this case the burner typically suffers from incomplete combustion due to thermal quenching, radical quenching, and slow diffusive mixing. For the range of conditions simulated, plasma actuation increases combustion completeness from 25%–70% to 40%–80% by enhancing mixing, generating radicals, and Joule heating. Ionic wind resulting from the FE-DBD plasma disrupts the otherwise simple laminar flow in the burner, accelerating the growth of a mixing layer and enhancing heat transfer to channel walls. The larger, lower temperature flames reduce thermal gradients (and thereby thermal stresses) in the walls. Radical generation due to electron-impact dissociation extends the reaction zone in the diffusion flame and increases combustion completeness. In all cases, the additional heat release with plasma actuation (100–190 W) is significantly larger than the power needed to sustain the plasma (≲0.1 W), suggesting that plasma actuation may provide a significant advantage in energy generation using realistic portable micro-combustion devices.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗