Air Mixture Research Articles

Effect of Air-Liquid Homogeneous Mixture on the Linear Dynamic Characteristics of a Hydrostatic Journal Bearing

Abstract Water lubricated hydrostatic journal bearings are widely used to support radial load of pumps in nuclear power plants. In some situations, these pumps may be required to operate with a mixture of water and air. This compressible air–water mixture will alter the dynamic characteristics of the hydrostatic journal bearings and can have a significant impact on the vibration behavior of the entire pump shaft line. This work is a parametrical investigation of the rotordynamic characteristics of these bearings relative to the volume fraction of the ingested air. The compressibility, the density, and the viscosity of the air–water mixture depend on this volume fraction. In order to evaluate this influence, a homogeneous air-liquid mixture model were developed. Moreover, for low viscosity lubricants, inertia effects can also have an important impact on bearing rotordynamic coefficients. Therefore, the flow is modeled first with the Reynolds equation and then with the bulk flow system of equations to evaluate this impact. The results show the variation of the direct and cross-coupling stiffness and of the direct damping with the evolution of inertial effects and of the level of air contamination.

Experimental Evaluation of CNG Substitution Ratio on Exhaust Gas Emissions of Diesel/CNG Dual Fuel Combustion

The addition of Compressed natural gas as a complement to diesel in compression ignition engines in dual-fuel combustion mode is a viable technology for increasing efficiency and lowering emissions. This work investigates the impact of a dual-fuel operating mode on the engine exhaust pollutant emissions of a diesel engine using compressed natural gas as the principal fuel and neat diesel as the pilot fuel. Compressed natural gas was injected into an intake manifold of a single-cylinder diesel test engine under different engine operating parameters, and up to 80% substitution was attained. And diesel fuel was injected after the compressed natural gas air mixture was compressed. The tests were carried out at five different compression ratios ranging from 13:1 to 15:1 in steps of 0.5:1. The experiment study revealed that injecting CNG into diesel engines via dual fuel combustion significantly impacted exhaust gas emissions compared to pure diesel combustion. The Carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbon (HC) emissions were increased, while carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxide (NOX) and smoke opacity were decreased in dual fuel combustion compared to single diesel fuel.

Experimental study on combustion of H2–CO–air mixtures in closed and vented vessels

Experiments were conducted in two test facilities, a 0.25 m3 spherical vessel and a 60 m3 rectangular vented chamber, to examine the premixed combustion behavior of H2–CO mixtures. The study aims to provide data for the validation of models used for the assessment of combustion risks during postulated nuclear severe accidents and the use of syngas as an alternative fuel. The effects of fuel concentrations, molar ratio of CO/H2, initial gas temperature, steam concentration, and fan-induced turbulence on the flame dynamics are presented in this paper. The measurements are compared with literature data and predictions by empirical correlations. Within the range of the fuel concentration (≤15% in air) examined in this study, the results demonstrate that both the closed and vented combustion dynamics of H2–CO–air mixtures are similar to those of H2 only mixtures. The peak overpressures are always greater with more H2 in the mixture due to slower flame speeds of CO relative to H2. The combustion overpressures of H2–CO mixtures become similar to those of H2 mixtures when the fuel concentration is greater than what is required for downward flame propagation. The effect of fan-induced turbulence is much more pronounced for extremely lean mixtures.

Risk Assessment of Explosion Accidents in Hydrogen Fuel-Cell Rooms Using Experimental Investigations and Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulations

For the safe utilization and management of hydrogen energy within a fuel-cell room in a hydrogen-fueled house, an explosion test was conducted to evaluate the potential hazards associated with hydrogen accident scenarios. The overpressure and heat radiation were measured for an explosion accident at distances of 1, 2, 3, 5, and 10 m for hydrogen–air mixing ratios of 10%, 25%, 40%, and 60%. When the hydrogen–air mixture ratio was 40%, the greatest overpressure was 24.35 kPa at a distance of 1 m from the fuel-cell room. Additionally, the thermal radiation was more than 1.5 kW/m2, which could cause burns at a distance of 5 m from the hydrogen fuel-cell room. Moreover, a thermal radiation in excess of 1.5 kW/m2 was computed at a distance of 3 m from the hydrogen fuel-cell room when the hydrogen–air mixing ratio was 25% and 60%. Consequently, an explosion in the hydrogen fuel-cell room did not considerably affect fatality levels, but could affect the injury levels and temporary threshold shifts. Furthermore, the degree of physical damage did not reach major structural damage levels, causing only minor structural damage.

Data-driven prediction of the output composition of an atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in open air hosts numerous chemical species engaged in thousands of chemical reactions. Comprehensive diagnosis of its chemical composition is important across various fields from medicine, where reactive oxygen and nitrogen play key roles, to surface modification. In applications, a centimeter-scale helium–air jet operates for minutes, featuring micrometer-sized streamers and an atmospheric pressure-induced collision frequency in the hundreds of GHz range. To address this intricate multi-scale issue, we introduce a machine learning approach: using a physics-informed neural network (PINN) to tackle the multi-scale complexities inherent in predicting the complete list of species concentrations, gas temperature, and electron temperature of a CAP jet supplied with a mixture of helium and air. Experimental measurements of O3, N2O, and NO2 concentrations downstream of the plasma jet, combined with fundamental physics laws, the conservation of mass and charge, constrain the PINN, enabling it to predict the concentrations of all species that are not available from the experiment, along with gas and electron temperatures. The results, therefore, obey all the physical laws we provided and can have a chemical balance with the measured concentrations. This methodology holds promise for describing and potentially regulating complex systems with limited experimental datasets.

Determination of the Effect of the Addition of Second-Generation Biodiesel BBuE to Diesel Fuel on Selected Parameters of “B” Fuels

Progressive and increasingly noticeable climate change is forcing the search for new energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, especially carbon dioxide. One way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is by gradually replacing fossil fuels with biofuels. The authors of this work addressed the production of second-generation biofuel. The purpose of this study was to produce second-generation biodiesel from babassu palm oil (BBuE) and first-generation biodiesel from rapeseed oil (RME), to study their properties, and to determine the effect of the addition of these biodiesels to diesel fuel on selected properties of “B” fuels that affect the fuel–air mixture formation process and the combustion process. Biodiesel from babassu oil was produced because it is non-edible and has a different composition than canola oil. Then, fuels were prepared that were mixtures of diesel oil and biodiesel containing from 10 to 40% (v/v) BBuE or RME (B10, B20, B30, and B40).Tests were conducted on selected physicochemical properties of the obtained fuels. “B” fuels prepared with BBuE and DF were shown to have more favorable fuel properties than those obtained from RME and DF. Fuels that are blends of BBuE and DF have slightly higher heating values, higher cetane number values, a more favorable distillation curve, lower dynamic viscosity values as a function of temperature, and marginally lower flash point values compared to the corresponding blends of RME and DF. Esters with shorter molecules have been shown to have more favorable fuel properties.

Hierarchical Computational Screening of Quantum Metal-Organic Framework Database to Identify Metal-Organic Frameworks for Volatile Organic-Compound Capture from Air.

The design and discovery of novel porous materials that can efficiently capture volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from air are critical to address one of the most important challenges of our world, air pollution. In this work, we studied a recently introduced metal-organic framework (MOF) database, namely, quantum MOF (QMOF) database, to unlock the potential of both experimentally synthesized and hypothetically generated structures for adsorption-based n-butane (C4H10) capture from air. Configurational Bias Monte Carlo (CBMC) simulations were used to study the adsorption of a quaternary gas mixture of N2, O2, Ar, and C4H10 in QMOFs for two different processes, pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and vacuum-swing adsorption (VSA). Several adsorbent performance evaluation metrics, such as C4H10 selectivity, working capacity, the adsorbent performance score, and percent regenerability, were used to identify the best adsorbent candidates, which were then further studied by molecular simulations for C4H10 capture from a more realistic seven-component air mixture consisting of N2, O2, Ar, C4H10, C3H8, C3H6, and C2H6. Results showed that the top five QMOFs have C4H10 selectivities between 6.3 × 103 and 9 × 103 (3.8 × 103 and 5 × 103) at 1 bar (10 bar). Detailed analysis of the structure-performance relations showed that low/mediocre porosity (0.4-0.6) and narrow pore sizes (6-9 Å) of QMOFs lead to high C4H10 selectivities. Radial distribution function analyses of the top materials revealed that C4H10 molecules tend to confine close to the organic parts of MOFs. Our results provided the first information in the literature about the VOC capture potential of a large variety and number of MOFs, which will be useful to direct the experimental efforts to the most promising adsorbent materials for C4H10 capture from air.

What’s new for the clinician – summaries of recently published papers

Interdental cleaning devices in the form of dental floss and interdental brushes have traditionally being used as adjuncts to plaque removal in the interproximal areas of teeth. However, their routine use among younger adolescents has been reported in many studies to be less than optimal. In orthodontic patients, fixed braces promote supra- and subgingival accumulation of biofilm by impeding oral hygiene resulting in an altered oral microbiome, enamel decalcification and gingivitis1. It was recently shown that patients with upper and lower multibracket appliances are affected significantly more frequently by gingivitis (65%) and white spot lesions (30%).1 Additionally, in the predominantly young orthodontic patients, interdental spaces are often too narrow to use interdental brushes and flossing is challenging and time-consuming. Oral irrigators are easy to use even in the presence of orthodontic braces and are therefore favoured by many patients. Most oral irrigators use a stream of water only to mechanically remove plaque from interproximal areas but there are also oral irrigators which use a mixture of air and water, called microburst technology.

Study on Gasoline–Air Mixture Explosion Overpressure Characteristics and Flame Propagation Behaviors in an Annular Cylindrical Confined Space with a Circular Arch

Gasoline–air mixture explosions mostly occur in buried tank rooms, which are annular cylindrical confined spaces with circular arches. In this paper, explosion experiments at different gasoline–air mixture volume fractions are carried out in an annular cylindrical steel bench with a circular arch curvature radius of 900 mm and an annular half-perimeter to radial width ratio of 12π. The results show that the development process of explosion overpressure is clearly divided into four stages after first-order differentiation treatment. Compared with other types of confined spaces, 1.70% is still the most dangerous gasoline–air mixture volume fraction. However, this type of confined space has a larger inner surface area in the same volume condition, which will inevitably increase the heat absorption rate, reduce the chemical reaction rate, and slow down the flame propagation speed. Meanwhile, this spatial structure will inevitably make the explosion flames collide, which will promote positive feedback coupling between explosion flames and pressure waves, making the explosion more violent and dangerous. These results can provide theoretical and technical support for the explosion prevention design of buried tank rooms.

Parametric instability in propagating flames and the impact of hydrogen enrichment on the onset of secondary instability

A self-excited acoustic instability of laminar premixed flames propagating in an open-ended tube with a length of 700 mm and a radius of 10 mm was simulated by solving the reacting unsteady compressible Navier–Stokes equations, to understand the way of massive acoustic generation and its onset behaviors. Four fuel–air mixtures with an equivalence ratio of 1.2 were considered, namely, methane–air and methane–hydrogen–air mixtures, to identify the role of hydrogen in rich methane–air mixture. Parametric instability, which generated huge acoustic disturbance and violent flame pulsations, was observed only for a particular methane–hydrogen–air mixture with RH = 0.2, consistent with previously reported experimental observations. For the investigation of the reinforcement mechanism of acoustic instability under parametric instability, the flame surface area modulation was examined. It was found that violent subharmonic flame front pulsations could strongly modulate the flame surface area in the fundamental mode, resulting in a fluctuating heat release rate and increased thermoacoustic coupling. When hydrogen addition was small, attaining a higher level of primary instability, which is the precursor of the parametric instability, was more dominant than increasing the threshold level for the onset of the parametric instability. With larger hydrogen addition, the increase in the threshold level was more dominant than attaining a higher level of the primary instability. In particular, as the flame propagation time decreased, the level of the primary instability was saturated in larger hydrogen addition. This study elucidates the mechanism for the acoustic generation of propagating flames under the parametric instability, and the effects of hydrogen enrichment within rich methane–air mixtures.

Acoustic attenuation in mixtures of air and water droplets

Sound propagation through mixtures of air and water-droplets occurs in many natural systems such as in fogs and clouds, where it has been observed that acoustic waves are attenuated to a greater degree than in the absence of water droplets. This effect has been exploited at space shuttle launches with the sound suppression system, where water sprayed around the shuttle significantly reduces the acoustic power radiated from the rocket engines. Theoretical studies have investigated various mechanisms causing acoustic attenuation in air-water droplet mixtures: heat transfer, mass transfer and momentum transfer. More recent studies have incorporated other mechanisms into analytical models so that they are more representative of sound propagation through fogs or clouds. The aim of this paper is to review the different mechanisms causing attenuation of acoustic waves, and to present a comparison of the different analytical models to illustrate the differences in predicted acoustic attenuation and dispersion. Some limitations of the different models are identified, and proposals for experimental work to validate analytical results are discussed.

Application of heliox for optimized drug delivery through respiratory tract

Understanding the transportation and deposition (TD) of inhaled particles in the upper respiratory tract is crucial for predicting health risks and treating pulmonary diseases. The available literature reports highly turbulent flow in the extrathoracic (ET) region during normal breathing, which leads to higher deposition of the drug aerosol in this region. To improve the targeted deposition of inhaled drugs, in the tracheobronchial airways, it is essential to understand the flow and particle transport dynamics and reduce the turbulence behavior at the ET region. The less-dense heliox gas could reduce the turbulence behavior at the ET; however, the knowledge of heliox inhalation therapies in drug aerosol TD remains underachieved to realize the full potential for assisted breathing and drug delivery. Additionally, the impact of the inhalation of heliox mixed with other gases on particle deposition is missing in the literature. Therefore, this study aims to develop a mixture model to advance the knowledge of inhalation therapy. A heliox (78% helium and 22% oxygen) and a mixture of heliox and air are used to understand the flow behavior and particle TD in airways. The impact of different inhalation and Stokes numbers on the deposition efficiencies in the ideal and age-specific upper airways is studied. The study reports that less-dense heliox gas has lower turbulence intensity and results in lower deposition efficiency in the G3–G5 lung airways compared to air and mixture inhalations. Moreover, slightly higher deposition efficiencies during mixture inhalation as compared to air inhalation are found in the upper airways. The deposition patterns of different inhalations obtained in this study could help improve targeted drug delivery into the upper and deeper lung airways.

Deflagration-to-Detonation Characteristics and Detonation Wave Structure of the Flake Aluminum Powder–Air Mixture

Deflagration-to-Detonation Characteristics and Detonation Wave Structure of the Flake Aluminum Powder–Air Mixture

Технология использования чернового концентрата в качестве минералов-носителей

Технология использования чернового концентрата в качестве минералов-носителей

Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis and Experimental Results for the Dynamic Performance of Two Long Smooth Surface Annular Seals Operating With a Liquid in Air Mixture

Abstract Compressors in subsea oil and gas production must handle wet gases to reliably operate for extended periods of time. Annular clearance seals contribute to compressor performance and do affect system rotordynamic stability. Prior experimental work with two smooth surfaces, uniform clearance seals supplied with a light oil in air mixture and undergoing similar operating conditions produced direct stiffnesses (K) with distinct trends as the liquid content increased to 8% in volume. Both seals differ in length and diameter albeit having similar radial clearance. Other force coefficients for both seals, namely, cross-coupled stiffness (k) and direct damping (C) increase as the inlet liquid volume fraction (LVF) grows. Rationale for the peculiar differences in centering stiffness (K) is missing. Hence, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model and its predictions, the thrust of this paper, unveil flow field details (pressure, velocity fields, and liquid content evolution) for the oil in air mixture. Besides the CFD model, an enhanced bulk-flow model (BFM) also predicts the seals' leakage and dynamic force coefficients. Both models predict through flows agreeing well with the measured ones, the maximum difference is less than 16%. The BFM direct stiffness (K) does reproduce closely the experimental K whereas the direct damping coefficient (C) is up to ∼41% lower than the test result. The CFD model captures the variation trend of K versus inlet LVF for the first seal, albeit its magnitude is thrice the experimental stiffness. The CFD C agrees well with the test data for both seals, the largest difference is less than 10%. In spite of the complexity of the CFD model, significant differences with the experimental results persist, in particular for K. When considering the seal inlet corner as round, the CFD model produces a significant reduction in K to better approach the test result for a seal supplied with air. Attention to the seal geometry is paramount to produce accurate predictions.

Anti-sintering Ni-ZnO catalyst stabilized by a dual protection of SMSI and carbon for efficient RWGS reaction

Colloidal nanoparticles with uniform particle size distribution, tailored exposed facets, and controllable compositions appealed to broad interests in heterogeneous catalysis. Nevertheless, due to the strong attachment of capping agents to the nanoparticles, cleaning the nanoparticle surface without changing the size of nanoparticles remains a significant challenge. Herein, based on the double confinement of the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) effect and carbon encapsulation, the well-stabilized Ni-ZnO-S3 catalyst was successfully synthesized. The size of Ni nanoparticles after calcination in the sequence of H2-N2 mixture, air, and H2-N2 mixture remained below 5 nm. Due to no significant size change in Ni nanoparticles, the prepared Ni-ZnO-S3 catalyst served well as model catalysts in the RWGS reaction, where the CO2 conversion and CO yield increased proportionally to the Ni loading weight. According to the result of in-situ FTIR, an associative mechanism of RWGS reaction over Ni-ZnO-S3 was also identified. Therefore, this dual protect strategy provides a potential solution for building highly anti-sintering catalysts based on the colloidal synthesis route.

Thermal-hydraulic characteristics analysis of steam–air condensation in vertical porous-wall corrugated tubes

In the passive containment cooling systems (PCCS) of Generation III nuclear power plants, the condensation performance of steam containing non-condensable gas (NCG) in condensate tubes is critical for removing heat from the nuclear power plant containment. By applying a novel porous-wall corrugated structure in the condenser tubes of this system, it was found that under certain conditions, a double vortex is formed inside and outside the porous layer, which is conductive to the transportation and condensation of steam to the condensing wall. The VOF multiphase relation and Brinkman–Forchheimerextended Darcy model in combination of local heat balance, condensation and species transport equations are employed to describe the heat and mass transfer in the porous-wall corrugated tube during condensation. The numerical analysis are conducted to investigate the effects of waveform channel, porous layer and its thicknesses, subcooling of cooling wall and inlet air mass fractions on flow and condensation under different inlet velocities, in which simulations agree with the experimental data. The results show that the condensation heat transfer is greatly influenced by the vortex distribution and air accumulation. At inflowing velocity of 1 m/s, the waveform with amplitude of 1 mm and wavelength of 18 mm can achieve the highest performance evaluation factor, φ (about 67.5 % enhancement than the smooth tubes). The ratio of waveform amplitude to wavelength needs to be chosen properly in consideration of convection between solid matrix and steam–air mixture in porous layer, and non-condensation gas distribution near cooling wall of condensation tube.

Quantitation and evaluation of NO2−, NO3−, and H2O2 in the sonolysis of aqueous NaOH solution under air and air-Ar mixture: Effects of solution temperature, ultrasonic power, and ratio of gas mixture

When an aqueous solution containing dissolved air is sonicated, H2O2, HNO2, and HNO3 are formed. This is a result of the formation of active bubbles with extremely high-temperature and high-pressure. The yields of H2O2, NO2−, and NO3− are representative indexes for understanding the chemical effects of ultrasonic cavitation in water. However, these yields often vary under the acidic conditions caused by sonication. In this study, we measured the yields of H2O2, NO2−, and NO3− in the presence of NaOH, which suppresses the reaction between NO2− and H2O2 and prevents the formation of NO3− in a bulk solution. Therefore, the yields obtained should correspond to the actual yields just after bubble collapse, directly reflecting the chemical effects of the active bubbles themselves. It was confirmed that the yields of NO2− and NO3− decreased, while the ratio of [NO3−] to [NO2−] ([NO3−]/[NO2−] ratio) increased with increasing solution temperature, suggesting that the temperature and pressure in collapsing bubbles decreased with an increase in the solution temperature. Ultrasonic power clearly affected the yields of NO2− and NO3−, but it did not affect the [NO3−]/[NO2−] ratio, suggesting that 1) the quality of the active bubbles did not change largely with increasing ultrasonic power, and 2) the quantity related to the number and/or size of active bubbles increased with increasing ultrasonic power up to a certain power. Additionally, the effects of the ratio of air to Ar on the yields of NO2−, NO3−, and H2O2 were investigated. These yields could be affected not only by the bubble temperature but also by the concentration of reactants and intermediates inside the collapsing bubbles. The chemical reactions are quite complex, but these yields could be valuable analytical tools for understanding the quantity and quality of active bubbles.

Effects of radiation heat loss on planar and spherical hydrofluorocarbon/air flames

Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC), which are mildly flammable and pose potential fire risks, have received greater attention as a viable low global warming potential alternative to traditional refrigerant and fire-suppressant compounds. Therefore, there is a demand to accurately quantify their flammability and reactivity to establish proper safety metrics. This study investigates the effects of radiation heat loss on slowly-propagating HFC/air laminar flames. Planar 1-D simulations of R-32/air and R-1234yf/air flames show significant reductions in laminar flame speed due to radiative heat losses from the flame zone. Simulations of spherically expanding flames (SEF) revealed that the radiation-induced flow needs to be considered when interpreting data from experiments. To this end, a Spherical-flame RADiation-Induced Flow (SRADIF) model was developed to estimate the burned gas inward flow velocities in constant-pressure SEFs, utilizing the optically thin limit assumption to model radiation heat loss. The model was validated against results from detailed numerical simulations of SEFs, from which radiation-induced inward flow was derived using a new formulation considering both the radiation heat loss and convective flow effects. Results show that SRADIF accurately predicts the inward flow velocity for R-32/air mixtures over a range of conditions and performs significantly better compared to existing analytical models. However, the model was unable to accurately predict flow velocities for R-1234yf/air flames and the reason for this is discussed. (224 words)

CO2 scrubbing, zero gases, Keeling plots, and a mathematical approach to ameliorate the deleterious effects of ambient CO2 during 13 C breath testing in humans and animals.

13 C breath testing is increasingly used in physiology and ecology research because of what it reveals about the different fuels that animals oxidize to meet their energetic demands. Here I review the practice of 13 C breath testing in humans and other animals and describe the impact that contamination by ambient/background CO2 in the air can have on the accuracy of 13 C breath measurements. I briefly discuss physical methods to avoid sample contamination as well as the Keeling plot approach that researchers have been using for the past two decades to estimate δ13 C from breath samples mixed with ambient CO2 . Unfortunately, Keeling plots are not suited for 13 C breath testing in common situations where (1) a subject's VCO2 is dynamic, (2) ambient [CO2 ] may change, (3) a subject is sensitive to hypercapnia, or (4) in any flow-through indirect calorimetry system. As such, I present a mathematical solution that addresses these issues by using information about the instantaneous [CO2 ] and the δ13 CO2 of ambient air as well as the diluted breath sample to back-calculate the δ13 CO2 in the CO2 exhaled by the animal. I validate this approach by titrating a sample of 13 C-enriched gas into an air stream and demonstrate its ability to provide accurate values across a wide range of breath and air mixtures. This approach allows researchers to instantaneously calculate the δ13 C of exhaled gas of humans or other animals in real time without having to scrub ambient CO2 or rely on estimated values.