Abstract

This paper investigates a slug-flow expander (SFE) for conversion of high-pressure gas/vapor into kinetic energy of liquid slugs. The energy transfer from high-pressure to kinetic energy is quantified using thrust plate measurements. Non-dimensional thrust data is used to quantify performance by normalizing measured thrust by thrust for the same water flow rate at zero air flow rate. A total of 13 expander configurations are investigated and geometries with the shortest cavity length and the smallest exit diameter are found to result in the largest non-dimensional thrust increase. Results show that thrust augmentation increases with the initiation of slug flow in the SFE. The analysis performed on the normalized thrust readings suggested that as the water and air flow were increased to critical conditions, the liquid slugs produced by the SFE augmented the thrust measurements. The final performance evaluation was based on linear regression of the normalized thrust measurements where slug flow was generated for each SFE architecture. Greater magnitudes of the slope from the linear regression indicated the propensity of the SFE to augment thrust. This analysis confirmed that for the SFE configurations over the range of values investigated, the SFE increased thrust up to three times its original value at no air flow. Given the inherent multiphase nature of the slug-flow expander, application to systems involving expansion of wetting fluids (water as part of a waste-heat recovery system) or air with water droplet formation (as part of a compressed-air energy storage system) could be considered.

Highlights

  • In recent years there has been increasing emphasis placed on energy use by society and the sources from which the energy that is used is derived

  • The analysis performed on the normalized thrust readings suggested that as the water and air flow were increased to critical conditions, the liquid slugs produced by the slug-flow expander (SFE)

  • In order to quantify the performance of each SFE geometry, thrust measurements were made at various component flow rates of water and air

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Summary

Introduction

In recent years there has been increasing emphasis placed on energy use by society and the sources from which the energy that is used is derived. The motivations for this are multi-fold and include: growing concern for the environment and a desire to reduce quantities of Green House Gases (GHG). The work associated with the gas expansion imparts kinetic energy to the water which in turn imparts a reaction force on the container. This enables the water rocket to move upward in the vertical direction.

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