Design of “SIREC-1” Wire Mesh Open Volumetric Solar Receiver Prototype

Author(s):  
Félix M. Téllez ◽  
Manuel Romero ◽  
María J. Marcos

Abstract The paper describes the design and status of development of a new open volumetric air receiver prototype. This receiver design, though developed in two phases, constitutes one deliverable in a Spanish project carried out by CIEMAT, IAER and INABENSA. The project, called SIREC, is partially financed by the European Funds for the Regional Development program (FEDER). The receiver prototype is now in fabrication and will be tested in the Sulzer volumetric receiver test facility at the Plataforma Solar de Almería (PSA) in Spain. Testing is scheduled for April, 2001. The prototype design includes an air return system and modular absorber elements, to facilitate their replacement and reduce manufacturing costs. The absorber is wire mesh. A computer code has been set up to select the mesh size (wire diameter and mesh distance) and number of screens. A sensitivity analysis for a variety of operating conditions has been carried out with this code to guide the absorber design and its testing.

Catalysts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Conti ◽  
Barbara Bosio ◽  
Stephen John McPhail ◽  
Francesca Santoni ◽  
Davide Pumiglia ◽  
...  

Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (IT-SOFC) technology offers interesting opportunities in the panorama of a larger penetration of renewable and distributed power generation, namely high electrical efficiency at manageable scales for both remote and industrial applications. In order to optimize the performance and the operating conditions of such a pre-commercial technology, an effective synergy between experimentation and simulation is fundamental. For this purpose, starting from the SIMFC (SIMulation of Fuel Cells) code set-up and successfully validated for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells, a new version of the code has been developed for IT-SOFCs. The new release of the code allows the calculation of the maps of the main electrical, chemical, and physical parameters on the cell plane of planar IT-SOFCs fed in co-flow. A semi-empirical kinetic formulation has been set-up, identifying the related parameters thanks to a devoted series of experiments, and integrated in SIMFC. Thanks to a multi-sampling innovative experimental apparatus the simultaneous measurement of temperature and gas composition on the cell plane was possible, so that a preliminary validation of the model on local values was carried out. A good agreement between experimental and simulated data was achieved in terms of cell voltages and local temperatures, but also, for the first time, in terms of local concentration on the cell plane, encouraging further developments. This numerical tool is proposed for a better interpretation of the phenomena occurring in IT-SOFCs and a consequential optimization of their performance.


2015 ◽  
Vol 244 ◽  
pp. 121-129
Author(s):  
Marian Peciar ◽  
Roman Fekete ◽  
Peter Peciar

This article deals with the presentation of modern applications for processing powdered, primarily hazardous, waste to an agglomeration form appropriate for subsequent processing by classical methods, for example in the construction, automotive and consumer goods industries. The aim of the research work was to set appropriate operating conditions in order to appreciate currently non-processable wastes resulting from the intensive production of often extremely expensive materials. Technologies which enable returning powder waste back into the primary production cycle were developed and experimentally tested, thus saving raw material resources. When necessary for the fixing of fine airborne particles with a problematic compacting curve (hard to compress, repulsive due to the surface charge) extrusion processes using a patented technology enabling controlled modification of shear forces in the extrusion zone were successfully applied. A new type of axial extruder allows the elimination of the liquid phase and as a result prevents the clogging of the extrusion chamber. In the case of need for granulation of sensitive materials (for example pharmaceuticals not allowing the addition of any kind of agglomerating fluid or reacting strongly in the contact of the two phases), a process of compaction between rolls with different profiled surface was successfully applied. The developed high technologies and the resulting products thus represent a major contribution to environmental protection in the context of not only the work but also the communal environment.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Bartos ◽  
Kurt Drewes ◽  
Allan Curtis

Author(s):  
Jingjing Luo ◽  
Dieter Brillert

Abstract Dry gas lubricated non-contacting mechanical seals (DGS), most commonly found in centrifugal compressors, prevent the process gas flow into the atmosphere. Especially when high speed is combined with high pressure, DGS is the preferred choice over other sealing alternatives. In order to investigate the flow field in the sealing gap and to facilitate the numerical prediction of the seal performance, a dedicated test facility is developed to carry out the measurement of key parameters in the gas film. Gas in the sealing film varies according to the seal inlet pressure, and the thickness of gas film depends on this fluctuated pressure. In this paper, the test facility, measurement methods and the first results of static pressure measurements in the sealing gap of the DGS obtained in the described test facility are presented. An industry DGS with three-dimensional grooves on the surface of the rotating ring, where experimental investigations take place, is used. The static pressure in the gas film is measured, up to 20 bar and 8,100 rpm, by several high frequency ultraminiature pressure transducers embedded into the stationary ring. The experimental results are discussed and compared with the numerical model programmed in MATLAB, the characteristic and magnitude of which have a good agreement with the numerical simulations. It suggests the feasibility of measuring pressure profiles of the standard industry DGS under pressurized dynamic operating conditions without altering the key components of the seal and thereby affecting the seal performance.


Author(s):  
Shou-Heng Huang ◽  
Ron M. Nelson

Abstract A feedforward, three-layer, partially-connected artificial neural network (ANN) is proposed to be used as a rule selector for a rule-based fuzzy logic controller. This will allow the controller to adapt to various control modes and operating conditions for different plants. A principal advantage of an ANN over a look up table is that the ANN can make good estimates to fill in for missing data. The control modes, operating conditions, and control rule sets are encoded into binary numbers as the inputs and outputs for the ANN. The General Delta Rule is used in the backpropagation learning process to update the ANN weights. The proposed ANN has a simple topological structure and results in a simple analysis and relatively easy implementation. The average square error and the maximal absolute error are used to judge if the correct connections between neurons are set up. Computer simulations are used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this ANN as a rule selector.


Author(s):  
S. Esakki Muthu ◽  
S. Dileep ◽  
S. Saji Kumar ◽  
D. K. Girish

Life estimation of Directionally Solidified (DS) MARM-247 HPT gas turbine blade used in a turbofan engine of a supersonic aircraft is presented. These blades were drafted into the engine as a replacement for the polycrystal (NIMONIC) blades since a more efficient, reliable and durable material with high strength and temperature resistance was required to further enhance the life of the turbine blade and the efficiency of the power generation process. The supersonic aircraft is having a repeated mission cycle of a fast acceleration from idle, a 1hr cruise at Mach 1.5 and a fast deceleration to idle. The mission cycle which is a repetition of acceleration, cruise and deceleration cycles can produce wide variety of complex loading conditions which can result in HCF, LCF and creep damage of the turbine blade. Empirical equation of the universal slope developed by Manson was used to estimate the damage component due to LCF. The cumulative stresses and strains due to creep as a function of time was determined using Time hardening rule. Creep data for MARM-247 was correlated using LMP to predict the lives to 1% of creep strain at worst possible combination of temperature and stress value. Damage due to creep per mission cycle was determined using Life fraction Rule proposed by Robinson and Taira. The vibration characteristics of the turbine blade were predicted using Modal analysis. Campbell diagram was plotted to ascertain whether any nozzle passing frequency fall within the working range of the blade. Harmonic analysis was carried out to evaluate the magnitude of the alternating stresses resulting from the blade vibrations at resonance during the acceleration and deceleration cycle. HCF life of the turbine blade was assessed using Goodman diagram. The total damage of the turbine blade per mission cycle due to the above loading was assumed as the combination of the individual damage due to fatigue and creep. Time to failure under combined creep and fatigue damage was estimated using linear damage rule. Non linear features of FEA tool ANSYS12.0 was exploited to calculate the stress distribution, creep, plastic and the total strain encountered by the turbine blade as a function of mission cycle time. The loading spectrum associated with the mission cycle which includes the temperature, gas pressure and the speed profiles were obtained from a sophisticated engine ground test facility which was configured to simulate actual engine operating conditions. The proposed method of cyclic life estimation using FEM was validated by performing various component and engine level tests. A good agreement was observed between the calculated and observed blade lives.


Author(s):  
Thomas Ho¨hne ◽  
So¨ren Kliem ◽  
Roman Vaibar

The influence of density differences on the mixing of the primary loop inventory and the Emergency Core Cooling (ECC) water in the cold leg and downcomer of a Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) was analyzed at the ROssendorf COolant Mixing (ROCOM) test facility. This paper presents a matrix of ROCOM experiments in which water with the same or higher density was injected into a cold leg of the reactor model with already established natural circulation conditions at different low mass flow rates. Wire-mesh sensors measuring the concentration of a tracer in the injected water were installed in the cold leg, upper and lower part of the downcomer. A transition matrix from momentum to buoyancy-driven flow experiments was selected for validation of the CFD software ANSYS CFX. A hybrid mesh with 4 million elements was used for the calculations. The turbulence models usually applied in such cases assume that turbulence is isotropic, whilst buoyancy actually induces anisotropy. Thus, in this paper, higher order turbulence models have been developed and implemented which take into account for that anisotropy. Buoyancy generated source and dissipation terms were proposed and introduced into the balance equations for the turbulent kinetic energy. The results of the experiments and of the numerical calculations show that mixing strongly depends on buoyancy effects: At higher mass flow rates (close to nominal conditions) the injected slug propagates in the circumferential direction around the core barrel. Buoyancy effects reduce this circumferential propagation with lower mass flow rates and/or higher density differences. The ECC water falls in an almost vertical path and reaches the lower downcomer sensor directly below the inlet nozzle. Therefore, density effects play an important role during natural convection with ECC injection in PWR and should be also considered in Pressurized Thermal Shock (PTS) scenarios. ANSYS CFX was able to predict the observed flow patterns and mixing phenomena quite well.


2004 ◽  
Vol 126 (3) ◽  
pp. 850-857 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Adinberg ◽  
Michael Epstein ◽  
Jacob Karni

A novel solar process and reactor for thermochemical conversion of biomass to synthesis gas is described. The concept is based on dispersion of biomass particles in a molten inorganic salt medium and, simultaneously, absorbing, storing and transferring solar energy needed to perform pyrolysis reactions in the high-temperature liquid phase. A lab-scale reactor filled with carbonates of potassium and sodium was set up to study the kinetics of fast pyrolysis and the characteristics of transient heat transfer for cellulose particles (few millimeters size) introduced into the molten salt medium. The operating conditions were reaction temperatures of 1073–1188 K and a particle peak-heating rate of 100 K/sec. The assessments performed for a commercial-scale solar reactor demonstrate that pyrolysis of biomass particles dispersed in a molten salt phase could be a feasible option for the continuous, round-the-clock production of syngas, using solar energy only.


Author(s):  
Godwin Ita Ekong ◽  
Christopher A. Long ◽  
Peter R. N. Childs

Compressor tip clearance for a gas turbine engine application is the radial gap between the stationary compressor casing and the rotating blades. The gap varies significantly during different operating conditions of the engine due to centrifugal forces on the rotor and differential thermal expansions in the discs and casing. The tip clearance in the axial flow compressor of modern commercial civil aero-engines is of significance in terms of both mechanical integrity and performance. In general, the clearance is of critical importance to civil airline operators and their customers alike because as the clearance between the compressor blade tips and the casing increases, the aerodynamic efficiency will decrease and therefore the specific fuel consumption and operating costs will increase. This paper reports on the development of a range of concepts and their evaluation for the reduction and control of tip clearance in H.P. compressors using an enhanced heat transfer coefficient approach. This would lead to improvement in cruise tip clearances. A test facility has been developed for the study at the University of Sussex, incorporating a rotor and an inner shaft scaled down from a Rolls-Royce Trent aero-engine to a ratio of 0.7:1 with a rotational speed of up to 10000 rpm. The idle and maximum take-off conditions in the square cycle correspond to in-cavity rotational Reynolds numbers of 3.1×106 ≤ Reφ ≤ 1.0×107. The project involved modelling of the experimental facilities, to demonstrate proof of concept. The analysis shows that increasing the thermal response of the high pressure compressor (HPC) drum of a gas turbine engine assembly will reduce the drum time constant, thereby reducing the re-slam characteristics of the drum causing a reduction in the cold build clearance (CBC), and hence the reduction in cruise clearance. A further reduction can be achieved by introducing radial inflow into the drum cavity to further increase the disc heat transfer coefficient in the cavity; hence a further reduction in disc drum time constant.


Author(s):  
Dongming Gan ◽  
Jian S. Dai ◽  
Lakmal D. Seneviratne

This paper introduced a new metamorphic parallel mechanism consisting of four reconfigurable rTPS limbs. Based on the reconfigurability of the reconfigurable Hooke (rT) joint, the rTPS limb has two phases while in one phase the limb has no constraint to the platform, in the other it constrains the spherical joint center to lie on a plane. This results in the mechanism to have ability of reconfiguration between different topologies with variable mobility. Geometric constraint equations of the platform rotation matrix and translation vector are set up based on the point-plane constraint, which reveals the bifurcated motion property in the topology with mobility 2 and the geometric condition with mobility change in altering to other mechanism topologies. Following this, a unified kinematics limb modeling is proposed considering the difference between the two phases of the reconfigurable rTPS limb. This is further applied for the mechanism modeling and both the inverse and forward kinematics is analytically solved by combining phases of the four limbs covering all the mechanism topologies.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document