Heat Release Dynamics Research Articles

Numerical Simulation of Rapid Heat Storage in Plate-Fin Phase Change Heat Exchanger

Rapid phase change heat storage has significant application value in high-power density thermal management systems. This paper presents a comparative numerical simulation study of the rapid heat storage and release dynamics of two types of finned plate heat exchangers with different fin shapes. The study reveals that, under the same fin thickness and volume fraction, the contact surface area of triangular fins is 1.6 times that of rectangular fins, but the heat storage rate of triangular fin heat exchangers is 2 times that of rectangular fin heat exchangers. Due to the small characteristic scale and high material viscosity of the heat exchanger, the natural convection velocity of the liquid phase during the heat storage process is low, and its influence on enhancing the heat storage rate is weak.

Investigating the thermal and chemical kinetic effects of the internal residual on the cyclic dynamics at the dilute limits of a spark-ignition engine

The cyclic variability in the misfire and partial burn regimes of a dilute spark-ignition engine are primarily due to the feed-forward mechanism present in the residual gases. This study experimentally investigates the influence of the specific heat capacity/thermal effect and chemical kinetic effect of the internal residual on the heat release dynamics in the misfire and partial burn regimes of a dilute spark-ignition engine. Each effect is investigated by displacing excess air with bottled N2 and CO. Both short-term and long-term heat release dynamics are analyzed using association rules. Results show both an increased amount of dilution and higher specific heat capacity can result in similar dynamics. It was also found the misfire regime appears to be more sensitive to the chemical kinetic effect than the partial burn regime. Comparison of spark-to-CA05 and spark-to-CA50 between dilution methods was also conducted, where it was found the chemical kinetic effect did tend to reduce both spark-to-CA05 and spark-to-CA50. Overall, results from this study suggest different control strategies may be necessary to effectively mitigate the combustion instabilities when operating in each regime.

Evaluation of the variable valve timing strategy in a direct-injection hydrogen engine with the Miller cycle under lean conditions

The favorable physicochemical characteristics of hydrogen make it an excellent alternative fuel for IC engines. Compared with hydrogen port injection, hydrogen direct injection provides multiple degrees of freedom for injection strategies and mixture formation, which can effectively suppress abnormal combustion and enhance engine performance. Variable valve timing (VVT) and the Miller cycle, as advanced and effective means of improving engine performance, are less investigated based on a direct-injection (DI) hydrogen engine. Hence, to optimize the performance of a DI hydrogen engine, strategies of the Miller cycle and VVT are introduced. In this work, a 1.5 L direct-injection engine with a VVT system was employed to evaluate the effects of the Miller cycle, intake valve closing (IVC) timing, and exhaust valve opening (EVO) timing on the airflow exchange process, in-cylinder charge characteristics, heat release process, dynamics and emission characteristics. The engine speed was stabilized at 1400 rpm and the strategies of lean combustion and late injection were used. The main results are as follows. As the IVC timing is delayed, the ratio of pumping mean effective pressure to indicated mean effective pressure (PMEP/IMEP) first decreases and then slightly increases, and the engine tends to achieve a high level of brake thermal efficiency (BTE) when PMEP/IMEP is lower. The optimization of intake and exhaust VVT can shorten combustion duration and reduce cyclic variation by increasing volumetric efficiency and improving mixture distribution at ignition timing. Furthermore, the engine reaches 42.22% BTE and a high level of brake mean effective pressure by the cooperative control of IVC and EVO timing. NOx emissions can be controlled below 100 ppm by employing the synergistic effect of the Miller cycle and VVT. It is worth mentioning that exhaust VVT as a way to compensate for the performance of the DI hydrogen engine with the Miller cycle should not be ignored.

Linear control of thermoacoustic oscillations with flame dynamics modeled by a level-set method

This article focuses on co-simulation of the coupled nonlinear dynamics of flame heat release rate, acoustics, and feedback control in an active thermoacoustic oscillation control system. This work is motivated by an extensive existing body of literature showing the potential of closed-loop active control to suppress thermoacoustic oscillation. Linear algorithms such as linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) control are often used for thermoacoustic oscillation control, with the important caveat that flame heat release rate oscillation is often highly nonlinear. This creates a need for a tool that can co-simulate the coupled nonlinear thermoacoustic dynamics with linear control. The main contribution of this article is the development of a tool capable of co-simulating nonlinear heat release dynamics using a level-set formulation, together with linear acoustics plus a linear feedback controller. The article demonstrates this framework on an LQG-controlled wedge flame in a unidimensional Rijke tube. The nonlinear thermoacoustic model is formed in a modified level-set solver by connecting the linear acoustics to the original nonlinear flame dynamics via a velocity convection equation. This framework succeeds in preserving the nonlinearity of the thermoacoustics in the Rijke tube without the LQG control. For the flame-driven Rijke tube in this article, LQG control is successful in suppressing the nonlinear thermoacoustic oscillation. In addition, the simulation based on the framework is useful in elucidating the impact of factors such as flame location, flame temperature rise, and the timing of the onset of LQG control on the instability suppression performance and energy needs.

Parametric Analysis of the Combustion Cycle of a Diesel Engine for Operation on Natural Gas

The publication research task is related to one of the solution aspects in reference to decarbonization of transport by transferring the operation of diesel engines to natural gas. The results of converted diesel engines into operation with dual-fuel (D-NG) without significant constructive modifications are focused on forecasting the energy efficiency parameters of in-service engine models and evaluation of the reserves improvement. This paper presents energy efficiency parameters and characteristics of the combustion cycle methodological optimization of high-speed 79.5/95.5 mm diesel engine with a conventional fuel injection system. Interrelations between the indicated efficiency (ηi), combustion cycle performance parameters (excess air ratio (α), compression ratio (ε), degree of pressure increase in the cylinder (λ), maximum cycle pressure (pmax), air pressure (pk), air temperature (Tk) after compression, etc.), and heat release characteristics were determined and researched. Directions of the optimization when the engines were operating in a wide range of load (pmi) modes were also obtained: the low energy efficiency in the low-load mode were due to reduced heat release dynamics (combustion time increased up to 200° CA). The main influencing factors for ηi were the pilot-injection portion phase (φinj) and α, optimization of ε was inefficient. To avoid exceeding the permissible limits of reliability for pmax, the realized reserve of ηi increase was estimated as 10%. Methodological tools for the practical application of parametric analysis to the conversion of diesel to dual-fuel operation have been developed and adapted in the form of a numerical modeling algorithm, which was presented in nomogram form. For improvement of initial energy parameters for a specific engine models heat release characteristics identification, accurate methods must be used. The proposed methodology is seen as a theoretical tool for a dual-fuel conversion models for in-service engines and has benefit of a practical use of a fast application in the industrial field.

Combustion of silane-nitrous oxide-argon mixtures: Analysis of laminar flame propagation and condensed products

The laminar burning rate, the explosion peak pressure, and the pressure rise coefficient have been measured for the first time for silane-nitrous oxide-argon mixtures using the spherically expanding flame technique in a constant volume combustion chamber. For these three parameters, the values obtained were higher than for hydrogen-nitrous oxide-argon and typical hydrocarbon-based mixtures. A maximum burning rate of 1800 g/m2 s was measured at 101 kPa, whereas under similar conditions, a maximum burning rate around 950 g/m2 s has been reported for hydrogen-nitrous oxide-argon mixtures. To better understand the chemical dynamics of flames propagating in SiH4–N2O–Ar mixtures, a detailed reaction model from the literature was improved using collision limit violation analysis and updated thermodynamic properties calculated with a high-level ab initio approach. The reaction model predicts the burning rate within 14% on average but demonstrates error close to 50% for the richest mixtures. The chemistry of the H–O–N system is important under all the conditions presently studied. The chemistry of the Si–H–O–N system demonstrates an increasing importance under rich conditions. In particular, the reactions (i) forming SiOx(s); (ii) describing the interaction of Si-species with N2O; and (iii) involving silicon hydrides, have an important role for the heat release dynamics. The condensed combustion products formed in the silane-nitrous oxide-argon flames were sampled and characterized using electron micrograph, electronic diffraction, energy-dispersive spectroscopy, and X-ray powder diffraction. For all equivalence ratios, silica spherical particles with a mean diameter in the range 200–300 nm were observed. In addition, for mixtures with Φ ≥ 2.2, silicon nanowires were formed. X-ray diffraction experiments showed that the silicon nanowires are composed of metal silicon characterized by a cubic structure (lattice parameter: a=5.425Å) with the Fm-3m space group.

Heat-release dynamics in a doubly-transcritical LO2/LCH4 cryogenic coaxial jet flame subjected to fuel inflow acoustic modulation

Large Eddy Simulations are used to study the heat-release response to fuel inflow acoustic harmonic oscillations, in a coaxial jet flame where both reactants (O2 and CH4) are injected in a dense cryogenic state. The geometry is that of the academic test rig Mascotte, operated by ONERA (France), which high pressure operating conditions are relevant for the characterization of flame dynamics in Liquid Rocket Engines (LREs). The simulations, which are carried out with a real-gas fluid solver using a detailed kinetic scheme for CH4 high-pressure oxycombustion, provide a thorough insight into the flame response for a wide range of forcing frequencies, spanning from approximately 1kHz to 20kHz. Local Flame Transfer Functions (FTF) are computed and analyzed: regions of preferential heat-release response are observed to be highly dependent on the forcing frequency. An analysis based on a flame sheet assumption is conducted to distinguish the main sources of heat release fluctuations: the primary contribution comes from the species diffusivity oscillations, while the density variations have a negligible effect. The second largest contributor is either the mixture fraction gradient or the flame surface area, depending on the forcing frequency. The FTFs are expected to be useful for thermoacoustic Low-Order Models or Helmholtz solvers, and the subsequent analysis has the potential to guide future development of analytical models for flame dynamics in LREs.

A Backstepping-based observer for estimation of thermoacoustic oscillations in a Rijke tube with in-domain measurements

This paper presents an observer design for estimation of thermoacoustic instabilities in a Rijke tube. To study this problem, we consider that the acoustic dynamics is represented by the wave equation with a point source term representing the heat release. In turn, the heat release dynamics is given by a first-order ordinary differential equation (ODEs). The observer, whose design is based on the backstepping methodology, relies on measurements of acoustic pressure and velocity at an arbitrary point of the domain. The design employs a folding transformation (with two folds) around the measurements and the heat release point, allowing to write the system into a form with more states but boundary measurements and ODE couplings. Then, we formulate a well-posed and invertible integral transformation with both triangular and full terms that maps the observer error dynamics into an exponentially stable target system. The theoretical results were tested through numerical simulations in order to show the effectiveness of the design.

Impact of Sensor Placement on Mode Observability and LQG Control of a Thermoacoustic System

This paper investigates the effect of sensor placement on the observability and LQG control of a thermoacoustic model. This model describes combustion instability in a one-dimensional combustor, called a Rijke tube. The transfer function describing this model is transcendental because of the time delay terms in the heat release dynamics. We apply Padé approximation to achieve a finite-dimensional transfer function and truncate the system by neglecting states with low Hankel singular values. We then analyze the impact of the placement and number of sensors on the observability of each mode of the resulting reduced-order model. Next, we design an LQG controller for suppressing pressure oscillations in the simplified thermoacoustic system. We find that placing sensors near the model’s pressure nodes slows down the rate at which LQG control attenuates pressure oscillations, increases the control effort required for this attenuation, and worsens the controller’s robustness.

Analysis of Heat Release Dynamics in a Compression-Ignition Engine with Multiple Fuel Injection

Analysis of Heat Release Dynamics in a Compression-Ignition Engine with Multiple Fuel Injection

Effect of the fuel-air flow velocity on heat release rate of swirling non-premixed methane flames

A laboratory-scale gas turbine model combustor fueled with methane is studied experimentally with the aid of three-dimensional computed tomography of chemiluminescence (3D-CTC) and high speed (5 kHz) chemiluminescence imaging. Various fuel-lean operating conditions were tested to investigate the impact of flow velocity on heat release rate oscillation and spatial structure transition with fixed global equivalence ratio of about 0.65 and dump plane velocity of 2.9–18.3 m/s. In the study of combustion structure transition, the three-dimensional relative emissions of CH* were measured and taken as qualitative indicators of the heat release rate. This 3D measurement method utilizes CH* images from 8 directional as inputs combined with tomographic algorithms to compute the 3D distribution of CH* CL intensities. For all tested conditions, pronounced extension of inner recirculation zone (IRZ) along the nozzle is observed under the attached (V-shaped) swirl stabilized flames. During the increase of Reynolds number, the heat release zone changing obviously along the nozzle radial and axis direction, and the largest heat release plane moves downstream significantly. In addition, an intensified high-speed camera was adopted for the heat release dynamics study. Strong oscillations appeared in the flame zone that significantly affected the total heat release oscillations, and oscillation increases with the raise of Reynolds number.

Flame dynamics of azimuthal forced spinning and standing modes in an annular combustor

Azimuthal forcing has been applied to flames in a laboratory scale annular combustor in order to accurately control the azimuthal mode of excitation. A new forcing configuration permitted not only the pressure amplitude, but also the spin ratio and mode orientation to be accurately controlled, in order to generate standing modes and for the first time strong spinning modes in both a clockwise (CW) and anti-clockwise (ACW) direction. The phase averaged heat release dynamics of these modes was compared and a number of differences observed depending on the direction of pressure wave propagation, demonstrating characteristic ACW and CW heat release patterns. A new spin compensating averaging method was then introduced to analyse the flame dynamics, and it was shown that through the application of this method the dynamics of standing wave oscillations could be decomposed to recover the characteristic ACW and CW heat release responses. The global heat release response was also assessed during strongly spinning modes, and the magnitude of the response was shown to depend strongly on the direction of propagation, demonstrating the importance of the local swirl direction on the global heat release response, with important implications for the modelling of such flows.

G-equation modelling of thermoacoustic oscillations of partially premixed flames

Numerical simulations aid combustor design to avoid and reduce thermoacoustic oscillations. Non-linear heat release rate estimation and its modelling are essential for the prediction of saturation amplitudes of limit cycles. The heat release dynamics of flames can be approximated by a flame describing function. To calculate a flame describing function, a wide range of forcing amplitudes and frequencies needs to be considered. For this reason, we present a computationally inexpensive level-set approach, which accounts for equivalence ratio perturbations on flames with arbitrarily complex shapes. The influence of flame parameters and modelling approaches on flame describing functions and time delay coefficient distributions are discussed in detail. The numerically obtained flame describing functions are compared with experimental data and used in an acoustic network model for limit cycle prediction. A reasonable agreement of the heat release gain and limit cycle frequency is achieved even with a simplistic, analytical velocity fluctuation model. However, the phase decay is over-predicted. For sophisticated flame shapes, only the realistic modelling of large-scale flow structures allows the correct phase decay predictions of the heat release rate response.

Effect of axial diffusion on the response of diffusion flames to axial flow perturbations

This paper elucidates the behavior and dynamics of non-premixed flames responding to bulk fluctuations in flow velocity. It expands previous work on this problem by consistently incorporating finite Peclet number (▪) effects, and differentiating inflow boundary and dynamical effects on the flame dynamics. For analytical tractability, prior treatments of this problem generally prescribe the inflow boundary conditions into the domain. This paper shows, however, that prescribed inflow conditions, such as a step or constant local diffusive flux boundary condition, neglect axial diffusion effects in the region where their effects are most important; i.e., in the near-burner exit region where high transverse gradients and mass burning rates control the heat release dynamics. As the burning rate of non-premixed flames are controlled by mixture fraction gradients, the influence of axial diffusion substantively influences several burning rate characteristics of the flame. In addition, these effects cause the leading edge position of the flame front to oscillate, even for infinitely fast chemistry. Even in Pe≫1 flames, axial diffusion introduces several fundamentally new features to the problem, resulting in exponentially decaying, dispersive flame wrinkle propagation with downstream distance. Also investigated here are asymptotic results for the heat release dynamics. It is shown that axial diffusion introduces a triple-zone asymptotic structure into the unsteady heat release characteristics, resulting in O(1) flame transfer function trends for St≪1 (to which an n–τ model is developed), O(1/St1/2) for intermediate Strouhal numbers, and O(1/St) for high Strouhal numbers. Finally, it is shown that the phase of the heat release response is approximately half that of a premixed flame with the same length, due to the concentration of unsteady heat release near the burner outlet, where transverse gradients are largest.

Dynamics of harmonically excited, reacting bluff body wakes near the global hydrodynamic stability boundary

This paper describes linear and nonlinear interactions between forced axial acoustic oscillations and the global mode of the reacting wake. This work is motivated by the problem of combustion instabilities, where acoustic oscillations associated with natural combustor modes excite hydrodynamic instabilities of the flow that, in turn, induce heat release oscillations. Wake flows with density stratification can be globally stable or unstable at high Reynolds numbers, and so the density change across the flame has significant influence on the natural flame and flow dynamics. Measurements were obtained in a facility in which flame density ratio, lip velocity and forcing frequency are independently varied using 5 kHz particle image velocimetry and Mie scattering measurements. By varying the density ratio, the hydrodynamic global mode growth rate can be systematically varied. In addition, measurements and analyses were performed where the forcing frequency is varied relative to the global mode frequency. While axial forcing excites a varicose response of the shear layers, the sinuous mode is the most rapidly growing. As expected, forcing at a frequency near the wake’s global mode frequency leads to rapid growth in vortical disturbance amplitude, and the symmetric vortices quickly stagger as they convect downstream leading to a large scale, sinuous flapping of the wake and flame. A linear, local stability analysis, together with a nonlinear analysis, help elucidate the physics that govern the vortex staggering. The study concludes with an analysis of the heat release dynamics. Significantly, the study shows that the heat release exhibits quite different sensitivities than the fluid dynamics; e.g. axial forcing of the flow near its global mode frequency leads to a reduction in heat release oscillations. This is true even though this forcing frequency maximizes the local degree of vortically induced flame flapping. Thus, the results of this study show some phenomena that contradict conventional notions, namely that conditions which align the frequency of a hydrodynamic global mode with that of an acoustic mode may lead to diminished forced heat release oscillations in bluff body combustors.

Propagation, dissipation, and dispersion of disturbances on harmonically forced, non-premixed flames

This paper describes the dynamics of non-premixed flames responding to bulk velocity fluctuations, and compares the dynamics of the flame sheet position and spatially integrated heat release to a similarly excited premixed flame. Bulk axial or transverse excitation, in either case, leads to the excitation of wrinkles on the flame that propagate axially. Inclusion of axial diffusion in the non-premixed case, and burning velocity stretch sensitivity in the premixed case, cause wrinkle dissipation and dispersion. There are important differences in spatially integrated unsteady heat release dynamics between premixed and non-premixed flames. For general Strouhal numbers, mass burning rate fluctuations are the dominant contributor to non-premixed flame heat release fluctuations, while area fluctuations are the dominant contributor to premixed flame heat release fluctuations. Moreover, the heat release response of non-premixed flames rolls off much slower with frequency, O(St−1/2) compared to O(St−1) for premixed flames, and, hence, are more sensitive to flow perturbations than premixed flames at high Strouhal numbers. The asymptotic tendencies of the non-premixed flame, however, are largely controlled by the near burner exit region with high transverse gradients and, thus, are expected to be quite sensitive to burner exit details and finite chemistry effects.

Response of non-premixed flames to bulk flow perturbations

This paper describes the dynamics of non-premixed flames responding to bulk velocity fluctuations, and compares the dynamics of the flame sheet position and spatially integrated heat release to that of a premixed flame. The space–time dynamics of the non-premixed flame sheet in the fast chemistry limit is described by the stoichiometric mixture fraction surface, extracted from the solution of the ▪-equation. This procedure has some analogies to premixed flames, where the premixed flame sheet location is extracted from the G=0 surface of the solution of the G-equation. A key difference between the premixed and non-premixed flame dynamics, however, is the fact that the non-premixed flame sheet dynamics are a function of the disturbance field everywhere, and not just at the reaction sheet, as in the premixed flame problem. A second key difference is that the non-premixed flame does not propagate and so flame wrinkles are convected downstream at the axial flow velocity, while wrinkles in premixed flames convect downstream at a vector sum of the flame speed and axial velocity. With the exception of the flame wrinkle propagation speed, however, we show that that the solutions for the space–time dynamics of the premixed and non-premixed reaction sheets in high velocity axial flows are quite similar. In contrast, there are important differences in their spatially integrated unsteady heat release dynamics. Premixed flame heat release fluctuations are dominated by area fluctuations, while non-premixed flames are dominated by mass burning rate fluctuations. At low Strouhal numbers, the resultant sensitivity of both flames to flow disturbances is the same, but the non-premixed flame response rolls off slower with frequency. Hence, this analysis suggests that non-premixed flames are more sensitive to flow perturbations than premixed flames at O(1) Strouhal numbers.

Biomass torrefaction: Modeling of volatile and solid product evolution kinetics

The aim of this work is the development of a kinetics model for the evolution of the volatile and solid product composition during torrefaction conditions between 200 and 300°C. Coupled to an existing two step solid mass loss kinetics mechanism, this model describes the volatile release kinetics in terms of a set of identifiable chemical components, permitting the solid product composition to be estimated by mass conservation. Results show that most of the volatiles released during the first stage include highly oxygenated species such as water, acetic acid, and carbon dioxide, while volatiles released during the second step are composed primarily of lactic acid, methanol, and acetic acid. This kinetics model will be used in the development of a model to describe reaction energy balance and heat release dynamics.

Self-excited circumferential instabilities in a model annular gas turbine combustor: Global flame dynamics

In this paper the global flame dynamics of a model annular gas turbine combustor undergoing strong self-excited circumferential instabilities is presented. The combustor consisted of either 12, 15 or 18 turbulent premixed bluff-body flames arranged around an annulus of fixed circumference so that the effect of flame separation distance, S, on the global heat release dynamics could be investigated. Reducing S was found to produce both an increase in the resonant frequency and the limit-cycle amplitudes of pressure and heat release for the same equivalence ratio. The phase-averaged global heat release, obtained from high-speed OH∗ chemiluminescence imaging from above, showed that these changes are caused by large-scale modifications to the flame structure around the annulus. For the largest S studied (12 flame configuration) the azimuthal instability produced a helical-like global heat release structure for each flame. When S was decreased, large-scale merging or linking between adjacent flames occurred spanning approximately half of the annulus with the peak heat release concentrated at the outer annular wall. The circumferential nature of the instability was evident from both the pressure measurements and the phase-averaged OH∗ chemiluminescence showing the phase of the heat release on either side of the annulus to be ≈180° apart and spinning in the counter clockwise direction. Both spinning and standing modes were found but only spinning modes are considered in this paper. To the best of the authors knowledge, these are the first experiments to provide a phase-averaged picture of self-excited azimuthal instabilities in a laboratory-scale annular combustor relevant to gas turbines.

Premixed flame response to equivalence ratio perturbations

This paper studies the heat-release oscillation response of premixed flames to oscillations in reactant stream fuel/air ratio. Prior analyses have studied this problem in the linear regime and have shown that heat release dynamics are controlled by the superposition of three processes: flame speed, heat of reaction, and flame surface area oscillations. Each contribution has somewhat different dynamics, leading to complex frequency and mean fuel/air ratio dependencies. The present work extends these analyses to include stretch and non quasi-steady effects on the linear flame dynamics, as well as analysis of nonlinearities in flame response characteristics. Because the flame response is controlled by a superposition of multiple processes, each with a highly nonlinear dependence upon fuel/air ratio, the results are quite rich and the key nonlinearity mechanism varies with mean fuel/air ratio, frequency, and amplitude of excitation. In the quasi-steady framework, two key mechanisms leading to heat-release saturation have been identified. The first of these is the flame-kinematic mechanism, previously studied in the context of premixed flame response to flow oscillations and recently highlighted by Birbaud et al. (Combustion and Flame 154 (2008), 356–367). This mechanism arises due to fluctuations in flame position associated with the oscillations in flame speed. The second mechanism is due to the intrinsically nonlinear dependence of flame speed and mixture heat of reaction upon fuel/air ratio oscillations. This second mechanism is particularly dominant at perturbation amplitudes that cause the instantaneous stoichiometry to oscillate between lean and rich values, thereby causing non-monotonic variation of local flame speed and heat of reaction with equivalence ratio.