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At least 73 records · Page 4

A simplified hydrocarbon reaction mechanism for combustion applications

A simplified chemical kinetic reaction mechanism for the combustion of a hydrocarbon fuel is presented and discussed. The observed kinetic behavior of propane combustion as determined in shock tube studies and the calculated kinetic behavior of propane/air mixtures as derived from a detailed propane combustion mechanism were used as a data base for constructing and refining the mechanism. The mechanism contains 13 chemical species and 26 chemical reactions. Numerical studies revealed that the simplified mechanism can reproduce the observed kinetic behavior of propane/air mixtures, including laminar flame speeds, over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. It is anticipated that the mechanism can be used in various combustion applications and provide a more realistic description of the combustion process than can be achieved using global reaction mechanisms.

Jachimowski, C. J.↗

Jet-A reaction mechanism study for combustion application

Simplified chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms for the combustion of Jet A fuel was studied. Initially, 40 reacting species and 118 elementary chemical reactions were chosen based on a literature review. Through a sensitivity analysis with the use of LSENS General Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, 16 species and 21 elementary chemical reactions were determined from this study. This mechanism is first justified by comparison of calculated ignition delay time with the available shock tube data, then it is validated by comparison of calculated emissions from the plug flow reactor code with in-house flame tube data.

Lee, Chi-Ming↗

Jet-A reaction mechanism study for combustion application

Simplified chemical kinetic reaction mechanisms for the combustion of Jet A fuel are studied. Initially 40 reacting species and 118 elementary chemical reactions were chosen based on the literature review of previous works. Through a sensitivity analysis with the use of LSENS General Kinetics and Sensitivity Analysis Code, 16 species and 21 elementary chemical reactions were determined from this study. This mechanism is first justified by comparison of calculated ignition delay time with available shock tube data, then it is validated by comparison of calculated emissions from plug flow reactor code with in-house flame tube data.

Lee, Chi-Ming↗

Testing of fuel/oxidizer-rich, high-pressure preburners

Results of an evaluation of high pressure combustion of fuel rich and oxidizer rich LOX/RP-1 propellants using 4.0 inch diameter prototype preburner injectors and chambers are presented. Testing covered a pressure range from 8.9 to 17.5 MN/square meters (1292 to 2540 psia). Fuel rich mixture ratios ranged from 0.238 to 0.367; oxidizer rich mixture ratios ranged from 27.2 to 47.5. Performance, gas temperature uniformity, and stability data for two fuel rich and two ozidizer rich preburner injectors are presented for a conventional like-on-like (LOL) design and a platelet design injector. Kinetically limited combustion is shown by the excellent agreement of measured fuel rich gas composition and C performance data with kinetic model predictions. The oxidizer rich test results support previous equilibrium combustion predictions.

Lawver, B. R.↗

Symposium /International/ on Combustion, 18th, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, August 17-22, 1980, Proceedings

Problems related to combustion generated pollution are explored, taking into account the mechanism of NO formation from nitrogen compounds in hydrogen flames studied by laser fluorescence, the structure and similarity of nitric oxide production in turbulent diffusion flames, the effect of steam addition on NO formation, and the formation of NO2 by laminar flames. Other topics considered are concerned with propellant combustion, fluidized bed combustion, the combustion of droplets and sprays, premixed flame studies, fire studies, and flame stabilization. Attention is also given to coal flammability, chemical kinetics, turbulent combustion, soot, coal combustion, the modeling of combustion processes, combustion diagnostics, detonations and explosions, ignition, internal combustion engines, combustion studies, and furnaces.

Source record↗

Test verification of LOX/RP-1 high-pressure fuel/oxidizer-rich preburner designs

Two fuel-rich and two oxidizer-rich preburner injectors are tested with LOX/RP-1 in an investigation of performance, stability and gas temperature uniformity over a chamber pressure range from 1292 to 2540 psia. Fuel-rich mixture ratios range from 0.238 to 0.367 and oxidizer-rich mixture ratios range from 27 to 48, and carbon deposition data are collected by measuring the pressure drop across a turbine simulator flow device. The oxidizer-rich testing demonstrates the feasibility of oxidizer-rich preburners, indicating equilibrium combustion as predicted, and the measured fuel-rich gas composition and C-asterisk performance are in excellent agreement with kinetic model predictions indicating kinetically-limited combustion.

Lawver, B. R.↗

Computational Modeling of Multi-Phase/Multi-Species Flows with Applications to Liquid Rocket Engines

Accurate prediction of all physical phenomena in a combustion chamber is essential for better understanding of the system performance. Atomization, evaporation, combustion, chemical kinetics, and turbulence are those processes of great importance that need to be well understood. Processes involving the liquid phase in a combustion chamber will be further complicated under supercritical conditions. More advanced and accurate numerical techniques are required to extend our understanding of the above phenomena. A computer program for multi-species/multi-phase flow was developed for NASA/MSFC in 1992. This code, called Liquid Thrust Chamber Performance (LTCP) program takes an Eulerian- Eulerian approach and is based on the Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) technique with Lax-Friedrichs upwind method. Under the NASA/ASEE SFFP the LTCP code was used to predict the performance characteristics of several engines that were of particular interest to NASA. This code was also successful in a combustion detonation study. Converting the program to the PC platform was accomplished which extends usability and makes it available to a wider range of users. The Eulerian formulation of the liquid phase provides a suitable model that can be extended to include combustion modeling under supercritical conditions. The results have been compared against the ones of other codes and available measured data. The algorithm proved to be robust and efficient for problems with stiff source terms.

Navaz, Homayun K.↗

Partial equilibrium model for predicting concentration of CO in combustion

A simple kinetic model, based upon the concept of partial equilibrium, is developed for predicting carbon monoxide concentrations in such steady-flow hydrocarbon-air combustion systems as gas-turbine combustors. The only two kinetic constraints used in the model are on the rate of change of the total number of gaseous particles in the system, and on the rate of change of the CO concentration. The accuracy of the model is verified by comparison with experimental results obtained by burning kerosene with air in a 130,000 Btu/hr atmospheric-pressure steady-flow burner. Burnt-gas cooling rates of 1,000,000 K/sec, about the magnitude encountered in the dilution zone of gas-turbine combustors, were obtained with a compact water-cooled heat exchanger. Good agreement between measured CO concentrations and the values predicted by the partial-equilibrium model was obtained.

Morr, A. R.↗

TPSAS-NF1676L-32577-DND

The ground testing of hypersonic vehicles requires the replication of the flow conditions at high speed and altitude. To produce these flow conditions, stored compressed air is expanded through a convergent-divergent nozzle to produce the required pressures and speed. However, the expansion process also cools the air, and so to match the flight temperatures, some form of heating needs to be employed. Vitiated heating is a common method, where the air is heated by burning fuel in the low speed side of the nozzle, and then oxygen is added to bring the level of O2 up to match that of standard air. The resulting flow no longer has the same composition as standard air, (except for the oxygen level), but rather contains combustion products, often referred to as vitiates as part of the mixture. The presence of these vitiates in the flow effects the wind tunnel test conditions. For example, the specific heat and molecular density are changed, the kinetics of combustion are altered and the flow features in the test article are altered. In this talk, the effects of the vitiates on the testing conditions and on the performance of test articles is described. Specific examples include the effects of molecular density on the flow, how combustion processes are altered by the presence of vitiates and how condensation of vitiates can alter the test conditions. In addition, the effect of the less common vitiates produced by arc-heated tunnels are mentioned, such as NO, non-thermal equilibrium and the presence of copper solids in the flow. Finally some thoughts on how large an effect these vitiates have on the test results are presented.

Andrew T Norris↗

The chemical shock tube as a tool for studying high-temperature chemical kinetics

Although the combustion of hydrocarbons is our primary source of energy today, the chemical reactions, or pathway, by which even the simplest hydro-carbon reacts with atmospheric oxygen to form CO2 and water may not always be known. Furthermore, even when the reaction pathway is known, the reaction rates are always under discussion. The shock tube has been an important and unique tool for building a data base of reaction rates important in the combustion of hydrocarbon fuels. The ability of a shock wave to bring the gas sample to reaction conditions rapidly and homogeneously makes shock-tube studies of reaction kinetics extremely attractive. In addition to the control and uniformity of reaction conditions achieved with shock-wave methods, shock compression can produce gas temperatures far in excess of those in conventional reactors. Argon can be heated to well over 10 000 K, and temperatures around 5000 K are easily obtained with conventional shock-tube techniques. Experiments have proven the validity of shock-wave theory; thus, reaction temperatures and pressures can be calculated from a measurement of the incident shock velocity. A description is given of the chemical shock tube and auxiliary equipment and of two examples of kinetic experiments conducted in a shock tube.

Brabbs, Theodore A.↗

Fluidized bed combustor modeling

A general mathematical model for the prediction of performance of a fluidized bed coal combustor (FBC) is developed. The basic elements of the model consist of: (1) hydrodynamics of gas and solids in the combustor; (2) description of gas and solids contacting pattern; (3) kinetics of combustion; and (4) absorption of SO2 by limestone in the bed. The model is capable of calculating the combustion efficiency, axial bed temperature profile, carbon hold-up in the bed, oxygen and SO2 concentrations in the bubble and emulsion phases, sulfur retention efficiency and particulate carry over by elutriation. The effects of bed geometry, excess air, location of heat transfer coils in the bed, calcium to sulfur ratio in the feeds, etc. are examined. The calculated results are compared with experimental data. Agreement between the calculated results and the observed data are satisfactory in most cases. Recommendations to enhance the accuracy of prediction of the model are suggested.

Horio, M.↗

Kinetics and mechanism of soot formation in hydrocarbon combustion

The focus of this work was on kinetic modeling. The specific objectives were: detailed modeling of soot formation in premixed flames, elucidation of the effects of fuel structure on the pathway to soot, and the development of a numerical technique for accurate modeling of soot particle coagulation and surface growth. Those tasks were successfully completed and are briefly summarized.

Frenklach, Michael↗

The promising chemical kinetics for the simulation of propane-air combustion with KIVA-II code

The development of chemical kinetics for the simulation of propane-air combustion with the use of computer code KIVA-II since 1989 is summarized here. In order to let readers understand the general feature well, a brief description of the KIVA-II code, specially related with the chemical reactions is also given. Then the results of recent work with 20 reaction mechanism is presented. It is also compared with the 5 reaction mechanism. It may be expected that the numerical stability of the 20 reaction mechanism is better as compared to that of 5 reaction mechanism, but the CPU time of the CRAY computer is much longer. Details are presented in the paper.

Ying, S. J.↗

Comparison of numerical techniques for integration of stiff ordinary differential equations arising in combustion chemistry

The efficiency and accuracy of several algorithms recently developed for the efficient numerical integration of stiff ordinary differential equations are compared. The methods examined include two general-purpose codes, EPISODE and LSODE, and three codes (CHEMEQ, CREK1D, and GCKP84) developed specifically to integrate chemical kinetic rate equations. The codes are applied to two test problems drawn from combustion kinetics. The comparisons show that LSODE is the fastest code currently available for the integration of combustion kinetic rate equations. An important finding is that an interactive solution of the algebraic energy conservation equation to compute the temperature does not result in significant errors. In addition, this method is more efficient than evaluating the temperature by integrating its time derivative. Significant reductions in computational work are realized by updating the rate constants (k = at(supra N) N exp(-E/RT) only when the temperature change exceeds an amount delta T that is problem dependent. An approximate expression for the automatic evaluation of delta T is derived and is shown to result in increased efficiency.

Radhakrishnan, K.↗

Relation of Turbojet and Ramjet Combustion Efficiency to Second-Order Reaction Kinetics and Fundamental Flame Speed

Theoretical studies of the turbojet and ramjet combustion process are summarized and the resulting equations are applied to experimental data obtained from various combustor tests. The theoretical treatment assumes that one step in the over-all chain of processes which constitute jet-engine combustion is sufficiently slow to be the rate-controlling step that determines combustion efficiency.

Childs, J Howard↗

Paralinear Oxidation of CVD SiC in Simulated Fuel-Rich Combustion

The oxidation kinetics of CVD SiC were measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in a 4H2 (central dot) 12H2O (central dot) 10CO (central dot) 7CO2 (central dot) 67N2 gas mixture flowing at 0.44 cm/s at temperatures between 1300 and 1450 C in fused quartz furnace tubes at I atm total pressure. The SiC was oxidized to form solid SiO2. At less than or = 1350 C, the SiO2 was in turn volatilized. Volatilization kinetics were consistent with the thermodynamic predictions based on SiO formation. These two simultaneous reactions resulted in overall paralinear kinetics. A curve fitting technique was used to determine the linear and parabolic rate constants from the paralinear kinetic data. Volatilization of the protective SiO2 scale resulted in accelerated consumption of SiC. Recession rates under conditions more representative of actual combustors were estimated from the furnace data.

Fox, Dennis S.↗