Dynamic Characterization of a Laboratory-Scale Thermal Pulse Combustor

Author(s):  
Sirshendu Mondal ◽  
Achintya Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Swarnendu Sen

Pulse combustors are widely applied for heating, drying and even propulsion applications because of their higher efficiency, higher heat transfer rates and lower emission than steady combustors. However, fundamentals of this pulse combustor remain till date largely unexplored. Experiments are conducted on a laboratory-scale thermal pulse combustor. The set-up consists of an upstream section, the combustor and the tailpipe. The optical signal from the flame is measured with a photomultiplier tube and pressure fluctuations are measured using a dynamic pressure transducer. The time series data reconstructed with SSA (Singular Spectrum Analysis) reveals that at a given air flow rate as the fuel flow rate is reduced, three distinct regimes are observed: strongly pulsating, weakly pulsating and non-pulsating. Nonlinear analysis suggests the existence of quasiperiodic orbits for the pulsating cases. The phase difference between pressure and heat release rate fluctuations confirm sustained instability for the pulsating cases. The characteristic frequency is found to decrease with decrease in fuel flow rate and increase in tailpipe length for a given air flow rate. Different orientation of fuel inlet has been implemented to achieve pulsating combustion under lean fuel conditions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 124 (1278) ◽  
pp. 1170-1189
Author(s):  
C. Cai ◽  
L. Guo ◽  
J. Liu

ABSTRACTThe gas temperature of the supersonic heat airflow simulated test system is mainly determined by the fuel and air flow rates which enter the system combustor. In order to realise a high-quality control of gas temperature, in addition to maintaining the optimum ratio of fuel and air flow rates, the dynamic characteristics of them in the combustion process are also required to be synchronised. Aiming at the coordinated control problem of fuel and air flow rates, the mathematical models of fuel and air supply subsystems are established, and the characteristics of the systems are analysed. According to the characteristics of the systems and the requirements of coordinated control, a fuzzy-PI cross-coupling coordinated control strategy based on neural sliding mode predictive control is proposed. On this basis, the proposed control algorithm is simulated and experimentally studied. The results show that the proposed control algorithm has good control performance. It cannot only realise the accurate control of fuel flow rate and air flow rate, but also realise the coordinated control of the two.


2021 ◽  
pp. 174425912098418
Author(s):  
Toivo Säwén ◽  
Martina Stockhaus ◽  
Carl-Eric Hagentoft ◽  
Nora Schjøth Bunkholt ◽  
Paula Wahlgren

Timber roof constructions are commonly ventilated through an air cavity beneath the roof sheathing in order to remove heat and moisture from the construction. The driving forces for this ventilation are wind pressure and thermal buoyancy. The wind driven ventilation has been studied extensively, while models for predicting buoyant flow are less developed. In the present study, a novel analytical model is presented to predict the air flow caused by thermal buoyancy in a ventilated roof construction. The model provides means to calculate the cavity Rayleigh number for the roof construction, which is then correlated with the air flow rate. The model predictions are compared to the results of an experimental and a numerical study examining the effect of different cavity designs and inclinations on the air flow rate in a ventilated roof subjected to varying heat loads. Over 80 different test set-ups, the analytical model was found to replicate both experimental and numerical results within an acceptable margin. The effect of an increased total roof height, air cavity height and solar heat load for a given construction is an increased air flow rate through the air cavity. On average, the analytical model predicts a 3% higher air flow rate than found in the numerical study, and a 20% lower air flow rate than found in the experimental study, for comparable test set-ups. The model provided can be used to predict the air flow rate in cavities of varying design, and to quantify the impact of suggested roof design changes. The result can be used as a basis for estimating the moisture safety of a roof construction.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahrbanoo Hamedi ◽  
M. Mehdi Afsahi ◽  
Ali Riahi-Madvar ◽  
Ali Mohebbi

AbstractThe main advantages of the dried enzymes are the lower cost of storage and longer time of preservation for industrial applications. In this study, the spouted bed dryer was utilized for drying the garden radish (Raphanus sativus L.) root extract as a cost-effective source of the peroxidase enzyme. The response surface methodology (RSM) was used to evaluate the individual and interactive effects of main parameters (the inlet air temperature (T) and the ratio of air flow rate to the minimum spouting air flow rate (Q)) on the residual enzyme activity (REA). The maximum REA of 38.7% was obtained at T = 50 °C and Q = 1.4. To investigate the drying effect on the catalytic activity, the optimum reaction conditions (pH and temperature), as well as kinetic parameters, were investigated for the fresh and dried enzyme extracts (FEE and DEE). The obtained results showed that the optimum pH of DEE was decreased by 12.3% compared to FEE, while the optimum temperature of DEE compared to FEE increased by a factor of 85.7%. Moreover, kinetic parameters, thermal-stability, and shelf life of the enzyme were considerably improved after drying by the spouted bed. Overall, the results confirmed that a spouted bed reactor can be used as a promising method for drying heat-sensitive materials such as peroxidase enzyme.


Author(s):  
Hun Cha ◽  
Yoo Seok Song ◽  
Kyu Jong Kim ◽  
Jung Rae Kim ◽  
Sung Min KIM

An inappropriate design of HRSG (Heat Recovery Steam Generator) may lead to mechanical problems including the fatigue failure caused by rapid load change such as operating trip, start-up or shut down. The performance of HRSG with dynamic analysis should be investigated in case of start-up or shutdown. In this study, dynamic analysis for the HRSG system was carried out by commercial software. The HRSG system was modeled with HP, IP, LP evaporator, duct burner, superheater, reheater and economizer. The main variables for the analysis were the temperature and mass flow rate from gas turbine and fuel flow rate of duct burner for given start-up (cold/warm/hot) and shutdown curve. The results showed that the exhaust gas condition of gas turbine and fuel flow rate of duct burner were main factors controlling the performance of HRSG such as flow rate and temperature of main steam from final superheater and pressure of HP drum. The time delay at the change of steam temperature between gas turbine exhaust gas and HP steam was within 2 minutes at any analysis cases.


Author(s):  
Achintya Mukhopadhyay ◽  
Subhashis Datta ◽  
Dipankar Sanyal

The effect of tailpipe friction on the combustion dynamics inside a thermal pulse combustor has been investigated using a nonlinear model consisting of four coupled first order ordinary differential equations. The dynamics of the system is represented through time series plots, time-delay phase plots, and Poincaré maps. The results indicate that as the tailpipe friction factor is lowered, the system undergoes a transition from steady combustion through oscillating combustion to an intermittent combustion with chaotic characteristics before extinction. The time series data are shown to be useful indicator for early detection of extinction. In one approach (thresholding), the occurrence of local peak pressures below a predefined threshold value is identified as an event and the number of events (event count) and largest number of successive cycles with such events (event duration) are recorded as the friction factor is lowered. In another approach, the statistical moments (kurtosis) of the data are used. Number of kurtosis peaks above a prescribed value and variance of the kurtosis values are recorded for decreasing values of friction factor. All these numbers sharply increase as the system approaches extinction.


1979 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 357-362
Author(s):  
H. C. Hewitt ◽  
E. I. Griggs

Author(s):  
Chi-Rong Liu ◽  
Hsin-Yi Shih

The purpose of this study is to investigate the combustion and emission characteristics of syngas fuels applied in a micro gas turbine, which is originally designed for a natural gas fired engine. The computation results were conducted by a numerical model, which consists of the three-dimension compressible k–ε model for turbulent flow and PPDF (presumed probability density function) model for combustion process. As the syngas is substituted for methane, the fuel flow rate and the total heat input to the combustor from the methane/syngas blended fuels are varied with syngas compositions and syngas substitution percentages. The computed results presented the syngas substitution effects on the combustion and emission characteristics at different syngas percentages (up to 90%) for three typical syngas compositions and the conditions where syngas applied at fixed fuel flow rate and at fixed heat input were examined. Results showed the flame structures varied with different syngas substitution percentages. The high temperature regions were dense and concentrated on the core of the primary zone for H2-rich syngas, and then shifted to the sides of the combustor when syngas percentages were high. The NOx emissions decreased with increasing syngas percentages, but NOx emissions are higher at higher hydrogen content at the same syngas percentage. The CO2 emissions decreased for 10% syngas substitution, but then increased as syngas percentage increased. Only using H2-rich syngas could produce less carbon dioxide. The detailed flame structures, temperature distributions, and gas emissions of the combustor were presented and compared. The exit temperature distributions and pattern factor (PF) were also discussed. Before syngas fuels are utilized as an alternative fuel for the micro gas turbine, further experimental testing is needed as the modeling results provide a guidance for the improved designs of the combustor.


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