scholarly journals Dynamics of premixed methane/air mixtures in a heated microchannel with different wall temperature gradients

RSC Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 2066-2073 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Ratna Kishore ◽  
S. Minaev ◽  
M. Akram ◽  
Sudarshan Kumar

The unsteady flame propagation mode (FREI) is affected by the wall temperature gradient. As the temperature gradient approaches zero, the mixture ignites at its auto-ignition temperature, frequency decreases and this leads to extinction of FREI mode.

Author(s):  
Kaoru Maruta

For understanding flame stability in microcombustor, fundamental studies on the combustion characteristics in a meso-scale channel with a prescribed wall temperature profile have been conducted. Results showed that the existence of dynamic oscillatory flames and weak flames in addition to the normal propagating flames for the first time. It is then recognized that the weak flame phenomena can be applied for examining multi-stage oxidation of hydrocarbon fuels in wide temperature range from 300K up to auto-ignition temperature. Based on the preliminary experiments with various fuels including primary referenced fuel for gasoline, research octane number (RON) of the test fuels can be clearly described by the aspects of the stabilized stationary multiple weak flames. The methodology can be termed “flame chromatography” and it is expected to be applied for fuel indexing of future alternative fuel characterizations.


2004 ◽  
Vol 50 (170) ◽  
pp. 342-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Perry Bartelt ◽  
Othmar Buser

AbstractAn essential problem in snow science is to predict the changing form of ice grains within a snow layer. Present theories are based on the idea that form changes are driven by mass diffusion induced by temperature gradients within the snow cover. This leads to the well-established theory of isothermal- and temperature-gradient metamorphism. Although diffusion theory treats mass transfer, it does not treat the influence of this mass transfer on the form — the curvature radius of the grains and bonds — directly. Empirical relations, based on observations, are additionally required to predict flat or rounded surfaces. In the following, we postulate that metamorphism, the change of ice surface curvature and size, is a process of thermodynamic optimization in which entropy production is minimized. That is, there exists an optimal surface curvature of the ice grains for a given thermodynamic state at which entropy production is stationary. This state is defined by differences in ice and air temperature and vapor pressure across the interfacial boundary layer. The optimal form corresponds to the state of least wasted work, the state of minimum entropy production. We show that temperature gradients produce a thermal non-equilibrium between the ice and air such that, depending on the temperature, flat surfaces are required to mimimize entropy production. When the temperatures of the ice and air are equal, larger curvature radii are found at low temperatures than at high temperatures. Thus, what is known as isothermal metamorphism corresponds to minimum entropy production at equilibrium temperatures, and so-called temperature-gradient metamorphism corresponds to minimum entropy production at none-quilibrium temperatures. The theory is in good agreement with general observations of crystal form development in dry seasonal alpine snow.


Author(s):  
Ida Truedsson ◽  
Martin Tuner ◽  
Bengt Johansson ◽  
William Cannella

The current research focuses on creating an HCCI fuel index suitable for comparing different fuels for HCCI operation. One way to characterize a fuel is to use the Auto-Ignition Temperature (AIT). The AIT can be extracted from the pressure trace. Another potentially interesting parameter is the amount of Low Temperature Heat Release (LTHR) that is closely connected to the ignition properties of the fuel. The purpose of this study was to map the AIT and amount of LTHR of different oxygenated reference fuels in HCCI combustion at different cylinder pressures. Blends of n-heptane, iso-octane and ethanol were tested in a CFR engine with variable compression ratio. Five different inlet air temperatures ranging from 50°C to 150°C were used to achieve different cylinder pressures and the compression ratio was changed accordingly to keep a constant combustion phasing, CA50, of 3±1° after TDC. The experiments were carried out in lean operation with a constant equivalence ratio of 0.33 and with a constant engine speed of 600 rpm. The amount of ethanol needed to suppress LTHR from different PRFs was evaluated. The AIT and the amount of LTHR for different combinations of n-heptane, iso-octane and ethanol were charted.


2011 ◽  
Vol 88 (12) ◽  
pp. 4968-4979 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincent Knop ◽  
Jean-Baptiste Michel ◽  
Olivier Colin

2012 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 1250072 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALI AMIRI-JAGHARGH ◽  
HAMID NIAZMAND ◽  
METIN RENKSIZBULUT

Fluid flow and heat transfer in the entrance region of rectangular microchannels of various aspect ratios are numerically investigated in the slip-flow regime with particular attention to thermal creep effects. Uniform inlet velocity and temperature profiles are prescribed in microchannels with constant wall temperature. An adiabatic section is also employed at the inlet of the channel in order to prevent unrealistically large axial temperature gradients due to the prescribed uniform inlet temperature as well as upstream diffusion associated with low Reynolds number flows. A control-volume technique is used to solve the Navier–Stokes and energy equations which are accompanied with appropriate velocity slip and temperature jump boundary conditions at the walls. Despite the constant wall temperature, axial and peripheral temperature gradients form in the gas layer adjacent to the wall due to temperature jump. The simultaneous effects of velocity slip, temperature jump and thermal creep on the flow and thermal patterns along with the key flow parameters are examined in detail for a wide range of cross-sectional aspect ratios, and Knudsen and Reynolds numbers. Present results indicate that thermal creep effects influence the flow field and the temperature distribution significantly in the early section of the channel.


Author(s):  
R. A. Hamilton

SynopsisThe temperature gradient in the lower atmosphere can be directly determined by measuring the optical refractive index of the air. This method is suitable for use on the Greenland ice sheet where errors introduced by water vapour are small, and where the strong solar radiation reflected by the snow surface makes it difficult to measure temperature differences over height differences of about I metre.The refraction was measured by observing the apparent vertical angle of each of a set of targets at distances up to 4 km. from a theodolite. The refraction was found to vary linearly with the distance of the target. The true vertical angle to the targets was determined when a second theodolite was available and reciprocal sights could be taken with it from the site of target to the fixed theodolite. The true vertical angle varied with time due to slow descent of the theodolite as the firn slumped; a correction for this was made. The standard error of the temperature gradient measurements was about 1.5 × 10−2 C.° per metre. It is considered that the method could be developed and improved so that over a range of only 100 metres temperature gradients could be measured to an accuracy of about 0·1° C. per metre.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 734-745 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Robert ◽  
Jean-Marc Zaccardi ◽  
Cécilia Dul ◽  
Ahmed Guerouani ◽  
Jordan Rudloff

Two main abnormal combustions are observed in spark-ignition engines: knock and low-speed pre-ignition. Controlling these abnormal processes requires understanding how auto-ignition is triggered at the “hot spot” but also how it propagates inside the combustion chamber. The original theory regarding the auto-ignition propagation modes was defined by Zeldovich and developed by Bradley who highlighted different modes by considering various hot spot characteristics and thermodynamic conditions around the hot spot. Two dimensionless parameters ( ε, ξ) were then defined to classify these modes and a so-called detonation peninsula was obtained for H2–CO–air mixtures. Similar simulations as those performed by Bradley et al. are undertaken to check the relevancy of the original detonation peninsula when considering realistic fuels used in modern gasoline engines. First, chemical kinetics calculations in homogeneous reactor are performed to determine the auto-ignition delay time τi, and the excitation time τe of E10–air mixtures in various conditions. These calculations are performed for a Research Octane Number (RON 95) toluene reference fuel surrogate with 42.8% isooctane, 13.7% n-heptane, 43.5% toluene, and using the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) kinetic mechanism considering 1388 species and 5935 reactions. Results point out that H2–CO–air mixtures are much more reactive than E10–air mixtures featuring much lower excitation times τe. The resulting maximal hot spot reactivity ε is thus limited which also restrains the use of the detonation peninsula for the analysis of practical occurrences of auto-ignition in gasoline engines. The tabulated ( τi, τe) values are then used to perform one-dimensional Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of auto-ignition propagation considering different hot spots and thermodynamic conditions around them. The detailed analysis of the coupling conditions between the reaction and pressure waves shows thus that the different propagation modes can appear with gasoline, and that the original detonation peninsula can be reproduced, confirming for the first time that the propagation mode can be well defined by the two non-dimensional parameters for more realistic fuels.


Author(s):  
Lin Chen ◽  
Xiao Zhang ◽  
Ren Zhang ◽  
Wanhui Zhao

Abstract Natural gas is a promising fuel for IC engines with minimal modification, whereas its low power output and slow flame propagation speed remain a challenge for automobile manufacturers. To find a method of improving the natural gas engines, methane combustion with different additions was comparatively studied. High-speed direct photography and simultaneous pressure were performed to capture detailed combustion evolutions. First, the results of pure methane combustion confirm its good anti-knock property, and no pressure oscillation occurs even there is an end-gas auto-ignition, indicating that high compression ratio and high boosting are effective ways to improve the performance of natural gas engines. Second, adding heavy hydrocarbons can greatly improve engines' power output, but engine knock should be considered if low anti-knock fuel was used. Third, as a carbon-free and gaseous fuel, hydrogen addition can not only increase methane flame propagation speed but reduce cyclic variations. However, a proper fraction is needed under different load conditions. Last, oxygen-enriched combustion is an effective way to promote methane combustion. The heat release becomes faster and more concentrated, specifically, the flame propagation speed can be increased by more than 2 times under 27% oxygen concentration condition. The current study shall give insights into improving natural gas engines' performance.


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