Mean Gas Temperature Research Articles

Combustion and emission characteristics of a spray guided direct-injection spark-ignition engine fueled with natural gas-hydrogen blends

Combustion and emission characteristics of a spray guided direct-injection spark-ignition engine fueled with natural gas-hydrogen blends were investigated. Results show that the brake thermal efficiency increases with the increase of hydrogen fraction and it shows an increasing and then decreasing trend with advancing fuel-injection timing. For later injection timings, the beginning of heat release is advanced with increasing hydrogen fraction, while the beginning of heat release is advanced and then retarded with the increase of hydrogen fraction at earlier injection timings. The flame development duration, rapid combustion duration and total combustion duration decrease with increasing hydrogen fraction. Maximum cylinder gas pressure, maximum mean gas temperature, maximum rate of pressure rise and maximum heat release rate show an increasing and then decreasing trend with the increase of hydrogen fraction. Brake NOx emission is increased and then decreased, while brake HC, CO and CO 2 emissions decrease with the increase of hydrogen fraction.

Sunyaev-Zel’dovich observation of the Bullet-like cluster Abell 2146 with the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager★

We present 13.9-18.2 GHz observations of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich (SZ) effect towards Abell 2146 using the Arcminute Microkelvin Imager (AMI). The cluster is detected with a peak SNR ratio of 13 sigma in the radio source subtracted map. Comparison of the SZ and X-ray images suggests that they both have extended regions which lie approximately perpendicular to one another, with their emission peaks significantly displaced. These features indicate non-uniformities in the distributions of the gas temperature and pressure, indicative of a cluster merger. We use a Bayesian cluster analysis to explore the high-dimensional parameter space of the cluster-plus-sources model to obtain cluster parameter estimates in the presence of radio point sources, receiver noise and primordial CMB anisotropy; the probability of SZ + CMB primordial structure + radio sources + receiver noise to CMB + radio sources + receiver noise is 3 x 10^{6}:1. We compare the results from three different cluster models. Our preferred model exploits the observation that the gas fractions do not appear to vary greatly between clusters. Given the relative masses of the two merging systems in Abell 2146, the mean gas temperature can be deduced from the virial theorem (assuming all of the kinetic energy is in the form of internal gas energy) without being affected significantly by the merger event, provided the primary cluster was virialized before the merger. In this model we fit a simple spherical isothermal beta-model, despite the inadequacy of this model for a merging system like Abell 2146, and assume the cluster follows the mass-temperature relation of a virialized, singular, isothermal sphere. We note that this model avoids inferring large-scale cluster parameters internal to r_200 under the widely used assumption of hydrostatic equilibrium. We find that at r_200 M_T= 4.1 \pm 0.5 x 10^{14} h^{-1}M_sun and T=4.5 \pm 0.5 keV.

Sprays in containment: Final results of the SARNET spray benchmark

The influence of containment sprays on atmosphere behaviour, a sub-task of the Work Package WP12-2 CAM (Containment Atmosphere Mixing), has been investigated through benchmark exercises based on TOSQAN (IRSN) and MISTRA (CEA) experiments. These tests are being simulated with lumped-parameter (LP) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes. Both atmosphere depressurization and mixing are being studied in two phases: a ‘thermalhydraulic part’, which deals with depressurization by sprays (TOSQAN 101 and MISTRA MASPn), and a ‘dynamic part’, dealing with light gas stratification break-up by spray (TOSQAN 113 and MISTRA MARC2b). In the thermalhydraulic part of the benchmark, participants have found the appropriate modelling to obtain good global results in terms of experimental pressure and mean gas temperature, for both TOSQAN and MISTRA tests. It can thus be considered that code users have a good knowledge of their spray modelling parameters. On a local level, for the TOSQAN test, single droplet behaviour is found to be well estimated by some calculations, but the global modelling of multiple droplets, i.e. of the spray, specifically for the spray dilution, is questionable in some CFD calculations. It can lead to some discrepancies localized in the spray region and can thus have a high impact on the global results, since most of the heat and mass transfers occur inside this region. In the MISTRA tests, wall condensation mass flow rates and local temperatures were used for code-experiment comparison and show that improvement of the local modelling, including initial conditions determination, is needed. In this dynamic part, a general result, in both tests, is that calculations do not recover the same kinetics of the mixing. Furthermore, concerning global mixing, LP contributions seem not suitable here. For the TOSQAN benchmark, the one-phase CFD calculations recover partially the phenomena involved during the mixing, whereas the two-phase flow CFD contributions generally recover the phenomena. Moreover, one important result is also that none of the contributions finds the exact amount of helium remaining in the dome above the spray nozzle in the TOSQAN 113. Discrepancies are rather high (above 5%vol of helium). Results are thus encouraging, but the level of validation should be improved. The same kind of conclusions can be drawn for the MISTRA MARC2B tests. As a conclusion of this SARNET spray benchmark, the level of validation obtained here is encouraging for the use of spray modelling for risk analysis. However, some more detailed investigations are needed to improve model parameters and decrease the uncertainty for containment applications as well as to increase the predictability of the phenomena within the containment analyses. Further activities are well encouraged on this topic, such as numerical benchmarks on analytical separate-effect experiments.

The effects of X-ray and UV background radiation on the low-mass slope of the galaxy mass function

Even though the dark-matter power spectrum in the absence of biasing predicts a number density of halos n(M) ~ M^-2 (i.e. a Schechter alpha value of -2) at the low-mass end (M < 10^10 M_solar), hydrodynamic simulations have typically produced values for stellar systems in good agreement with the observed value alpha ~ -1. We explain this with a simple physical argument and show that an efficient external gas-heating mechanism (such as the UV background included in all hydro codes) will produce a critical halo mass below which halos cannot retain their gas and form stars. We test this conclusion with GADGET-2-based simulations using various UV backgrounds, and for the first time we also investigate the effect of an X-ray background. We show that at the present epoch alpha is depends primarily on the mean gas temperature at the star-formation epoch for low-mass systems (z <~ 3): with no background we find alpha ~ -1.5, with UV only alpha ~ -1.0, and with UV and X-rays alpha ~ -0.75. We find the critical final halo mass for star formation to be ~4x10^8 M_solar with a UV background and ~7x10^8 M_solar with UV and X-rays.

Combustion and emission characteristics of HCNG in a constant volume chamber

Finding an alternative fuel and reducing environmental pollution are the main goals for future internal combustion engines. Hydrogenmethane (HCNG) is now considered an alternative fuel due to its low emission and high burning rate. An experimental study was carried out to obtain fundamental data for the combustion and emission characteristics of pre-mixed hydrogen and methane in a constant volume chamber (CVC) with various fractions of hydrogen-methane blends. A pre-mixed chamber was used to obtain a good mixture of these gases. Exhaust emissions were measured using a Horiba exhaust gas analyzer for various fractions of hydrogen-methane blends. The results showed that the rapid combustion duration was shortened, and the rate of heat release elevated as the hydrogen fraction in the fuel blend was increased. Moreover, the maximum mean gas temperature and the maximum rate of pressure rise also increased. These phenomena were attributed to the burning velocity, which increased exponentially with the increased hydrogen fraction in the fuel blend. Exhaust HC and CO2 concentrations decreased, while NOX emission increased with an increase in the hydrogen fraction in the fuel blend. Our results could facilitate the application of hydrogen and methane as a fuel in the current fossil hydrocarbon-based economy and the strict emission regulations in internal combustion engines.

Gas/particle flow and combustion characteristics and NOx emissions of a new swirl coal burner

Abstract Due to the limits of reserves and price for the high rank coal, the low rank coal has been employed as fuel for power generation in China and will be eventually employed in the world. To burn low rank coal, centrally fuel-rich swirl coal combustion burner has been studied in Harbin Institute of Technology. This paper reviews and analyzes the major research results. The work has included both experiments and numerical simulation. The experiments were conducted using small-scale single-phase experimental equipment, a gas/particle two-phase test facility and 200- and 300-MWe wall-fired utility boilers. For the burner, the primary air and glass beads partially penetrate the central recirculation zone and are then deflected radially. At the center of the central recirculation zone, there is high particle volume flux and large particle size. For the burners the local mean CO concentrations, gas temperatures and temperature gradient are higher, and the mean concentrations of O2 and NOx in the jet flow direction in the burner region are lower. Moreover, the mean O2 concentration is higher and the gas temperature and mean CO concentration are lower in the side wall region. Centrally fuel-rich burners have been successfully used in 200- and 300-MWe wall-fired pulverized coal utility boilers.

10.2478/s11814-009-0321-5

The hydrodynamics and heat transfer of a gas-solid fluidized bed chamber was investigated by computational fluid dynamic (CFD) techniques. A multifluid Eulerian model incorporating the kinetic theory for solid particles was applied to simulate the unsteady state behavior of this chamber. For momentum exchange coefficients, Syamlal-O’Brien drag functions were used. A suitable numerical method that employed finite volume method was applied to discretize the equations. The simulation results also indicated that small bubbles were produced at the bottom of the bed. These bubbles collided with each other as they moved upwards forming larger bubbles. Also, the solid particle temperature effect on heat transfer and hydrodynamics was studied. Simulation results were compared with the experimental data in order to validate the CFD model. Pressure drops and mean gas temperature predicted by the simulations at different positions in the chamber were in good agreement with experimental measurements at gas velocities higher than the minimum fluidization velocity. Furthermore, this comparison showed that the model could predict hydrodynamics and heat transfer behaviors of gas solid fluidized bed reasonably well.

Heating effects of a non-equilibrium RF corona discharge in atmospheric air

Electrical and thermal properties of a single electrode configuration corona discharge generated under radiofrequency high voltage inside an open air gap at pressures above 1 bar is investigated. Time-resolved imaging of the discharge shows a four-step development of the discharge at atmospheric pressure starting by streamers' inception and propagation, evolving in heating waves and stabilizing in a stationary regime until the power supply is switched off. The mean gas temperature reaches about 1700 K in tens of microseconds with electrical energy release around tens of millijoules. Heating has been attributed to ion collisions and excited species relaxation, promoted by the successive time periods of the power supply. At higher pressures, beyond 3 bar, this behaviour changes and heating occurs at the same time as the discharge propagates. It leads to hot channels which constrict near the electrode as long as the voltage pulse is applied. Temperature gets higher and saturates at 2600 K whatever the voltage and the pressure. Considering the change in the electrical energy density released within the plasma channels with pressure and voltage, temperature saturation seems to be an effect of heat confining within the channels due to pressure. The large and non-thermal plasma generated by the RF corona discharge is a very good candidate for car engine lean mixtures ignition issues.

Theoretical and experimental investigations on the performance of dual fuel diesel engine with hydrogen and LPG as secondary fuels

The mathematical models to predict pressure, net heat release rate, mean gas temperature, and brake thermal efficiency for dual fuel diesel engine operated on hydrogen, LPG and mixture of LPG and hydrogen as secondary fuels are developed. In these models emphasis have been given on spray mixing characteristics, flame propagation, equilibrium combustion products and in-cylinder processes, which were computed using empirical equations and compared with experimental results. This combustion model predicts results which are in close agreement with the results of experiments conducted on a multi cylinder turbocharged, intercooled gen-set diesel engine. The predictions are also in close agreement with the results on single cylinder diesel engine obtained by other researchers. A reasonable agreement between the predicted and experimental results reveals that the presented model gives quantitatively and qualitatively realistic prediction of in-cylinder processes and engine performances during combustion.

Ash deposition during the co-firing of bituminous coal with pine sawdust and olive stones in a laboratory furnace

This article describes an experimental study on ash deposition during the co-firing of bituminous coal with pine sawdust and olive stones in a laboratory furnace. The main objective of this study was to relate the ash deposit rates with the type of biomass burned and its thermal percentage in the blend. The thermal percentage of biomass in the blend was varied between 10% and 50% for both sawdust and olive stones. For comparison purposes, tests have also been performed using only coal or only biomass. During the tests, deposits were collected with the aid of an air-cooled deposition probe placed far from the flame region, where the mean gas temperature was around 640 °C. A number of deposit samples were subsequently analyzed on a scanning electron microscope equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray detector. Results indicate that blending sawdust with coal decreases the deposition rate as compared with the firing of unblended coal due to both the sawdust low ash content and its low alkalis content. The co-firing of coal and sawdust yields deposits with high levels of silicon and aluminium which indicates the presence of ashes with high fusion temperature and, thus, with less capacity to adhere to the surfaces. In contrast, in the co-firing of coal with olive stones the deposition rate increases as compared with the firing of unblended coal and the deposits produced present high levels of potassium, which tend to increase their stickiness.

Numerical and experimental investigation of a fluidized bed chamber hydrodynamics with heat transfer

The hydrodynamics and heat transfer of a gas-solid fluidized bed chamber was investigated by computational fluid dynamic (CFD) techniques. A multifluid Eulerian model incorporating the kinetic theory for solid particles was applied to simulate the unsteady state behavior of this chamber. For momentum exchange coefficients, Syamlal-O’Brien drag functions were used. A suitable numerical method that employed finite volume method was applied to discretize the equations. The simulation results also indicated that small bubbles were produced at the bottom of the bed. These bubbles collided with each other as they moved upwards forming larger bubbles. Also, the solid particle temperature effect on heat transfer and hydrodynamics was studied. Simulation results were compared with the experimental data in order to validate the CFD model. Pressure drops and mean gas temperature predicted by the simulations at different positions in the chamber were in good agreement with experimental measurements at gas velocities higher than the minimum fluidization velocity. Furthermore, this comparison showed that the model could predict hydrodynamics and heat transfer behaviors of gas solid fluidized bed reasonably well.

Effect of direct in-cylinder CO2 injection on HCCI combustion and emission characteristics

Fuel injection during negative valve overlap period was used to realize diesel homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion. In order to control the combustion, CO2 in-cylinder injection was used to simulate external EGR. Effects of CO2 injection parameters (injection timing, quantity, pressure) on HCCI combustion and emission characteristics were investigated. Experimental results revealed that CO2 in-cylinder injection can control the start of combustion and effectively reduce NOx emission. Either advancing CO2 injection timing or increasing CO2 injection quantity can reduce peak cylinder pressure and mean gas temperature, delay the starts of low temperature reaction (LTR) and high temperature reaction (HTR), and lower pressure rise rate; NOx emission was reduced, while smoke, HC, and CO emissions increased. Since the combustion phase was improved, the indicated thermal efficiency was also improved. Injection pressure determines the amount of disturbance introduced into the cylinder. Generally, with the same injection quantity, higher injection pressure results in higher momentum flux and total momentum. Larger momentum flux and momentum has a stronger disturbance to air-fuel mixture, resulting in a more homogeneous mixture; therefore, larger injection pressure leads to lower NOx and smoke emissions.

Numerical Investigation of Fuel Dilution Effects on the Performance of the Conventional and the Highly Preheated and Diluted Air Combustion Furnaces

This numerical study investigates the effects of using a diluted fuel (50% natural gas and 50% N 2) in an industrial furnace under several cases of conventional combustion (air with 21% O 2 at 300 and 1273 K) and the highly preheated and diluted air (1273 K with 10% O 2 and 90% N 2) combustion (HPDAC) conditions using an in-house computer program. It was found that by applying a combined diluted fuel and oxidant instead of their uncombined and/or undiluted states, the best condition is obtained for the establishment of HPDAC's main unique features. These features are low mean and maximum gas temperature and high radiation/total heat transfer to gas and tubes; as well as more uniformity of theirs distributions which results in decrease in NO x pollutant formation and increase in furnace efficiency or energy saving. Moreover, a variety of chemical flame shape, the process fluid and tubes walls temperatures profiles, the required regenerator efficiency and finally the concentration and velocity patterns have been also qualitatively/quantitatively studied.

NONEQUILIBRIUM ELECTRONS AND THE SUNYAEV-ZEL'DOVICH EFFECT OF GALAXY CLUSTERS

We present high-resolution cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of three galaxy clusters employing a two-temperature model for the intracluster medium. We show that electron temperatures in cluster outskirts are significantly lower than the mean gas temperature, because Coulomb collisions are insufficient to keep electrons and ions in thermal equilibrium. This deviation is larger in more massive and less relaxed systems, ranging from 5% in relaxed clusters to 30% for clusters undergoing major mergers. The presence of nonequilibrium electrons leads to significant suppression of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect (SZE) signal at large cluster-centric radius. The suppression of the electron pressure also leads to an underestimate of the hydrostatic mass. Merger-driven, internal shocks may also generate significant populations of nonequilibrium electrons in the cluster core, leading to a 5% bias on the integrated SZ mass proxy during cluster mergers.

On the Rate of Heat Release for High-Boost, Low-Temperature Combustion Schemes: Accounting for Compressibility Effects

A methodology has been developed to account for compressibility effects (i.e., non-ideal-gas behavior) in the analysis of heat release rates. These effects may be important for advanced, high-boost, low-temperature combustion schemes currently under investigation, as the high pressure and overall lower temperatures can lead to compressibility factors (Z = Pυ/RT) that are significantly greater than 1.0. The rate of heat release (ROHR) formulation developed here uses a generalized energy conservation equation where the cylinder is segregated into three distinct regions (i.e., fresh, burned, and mixed); an arbitrary equation of state can be applied to these zones. Crevice/ringpack flows, which can be substantial under high-boost/high-compression ratio (CR) operation, are taken into account using a source/sink term. The new methodology is demonstrated using pressure-volume traces for six different engine cycles; these traces have been generated using a real gas engine simulator where the heat release is prescribed by a Wiebe-type function. Results are presented using the Redlich-Kwong-Soave equation of state, with comparisons made between the new formulation and conventional ideal gas ROHR results and computed mean gas temperatures. Noticeable differences in ROHR values are seen for cases where Z becomes greater than 1.05; however, computationally significant differences appear important only for very high or extreme CR operation. A real gas equation of state should be used to estimate the mean charge temperature for all boosted LTC operation as the ideal gas temperature can be off by ∼ 70–300 K under the cases investigated here.

Simulation of streamer-induced pulsed discharges in atmospheric-pressure air

Dynamics of the controlled streamer-to-spark transition in atmospheric-pressure air is simulated. Results of calculation show that at proper selection of the parameters (the feeding capacitor, the ballast resistor) of power-supply electric circuit it is possible to produce non-thermal plasma filaments of radii about 10 −2 cm, the mean gas temperature inside the filament being about 2000-3000 K and the electron number density being 10 13 –10 14 cm −3 .

EVOLUTION OF THE Lyα HALOS AROUND HIGH-REDSHIFT RADIO GALAXIES

We have obtained the first constraints on extended Ly-alpha emission at z ~ 1 in a sample of five radio galaxies. We detect Ly-alpha emission from four of the five galaxies. The Ly-alpha luminosities range from 0.1 - 4 times 10^43 erg/s and are much smaller than those observed for halos around higher redshift radio galaxies. If the z ~ 1 radio galaxies are the descendents the z >~ 2 radio galaxies, then their Ly-alpha luminosities evolve strongly with redshift as ~(1+z)^5. There do not appear to be strong correlations between other parameters, such as radio power, suggesting that this observed evolution is real and not an observational artifact or secondary correlation. We speculate that this evolution of luminous halos may be due to gas depletion (as gas cools, settles, and forms stars) accompanied by an overall rise in the mean gas temperature and a decrease in specific star-formation rate in and around these massive galaxies.

Combustion and performance of heavy-duty diesel engines fuelled with dimethyl ether

This experimental study was conducted with a heavy-duty diesel engine fuelled with dimethyl ether (DME). The combustion and emission characteristics of DME engine were investigated. The results show that the peaks of in-cylinder pressure, heat release rate (HRR), pressure rise rate (PRR), and mean gas temperature of the DME engine are lower than those of diesel engines. For DME engines, with increase in the engine load, the diagram of HRR varies from two peaks to a single peak. With increasing engine speed under the same mean effective pressure, the ignition timing is delayed, and the heat release centroid gradually moves away from the top death centre (TDC). The DME engine with an injector of six holes and a plunger of larger diameter exhibits a good performance owing to a faster diffusion combustion. With increase in fuel delivery advance angle at rated power, the ignition timing advances, and the centroid of the HRR is near the TDC. However, the peak of the HRR is at the same level. The results also show that higher torque and power can be achieved with DME than with diesel fuel operation at full load. At full load, the fuel consumption at low engine speeds with DME is lower than with diesel fuel, and nitrogen oxide emissions of the DME engine decrease markedly. Hydrocarbon emissions reduce while carbon monoxide emission slightly increases. The combustion of the DME engine is free of smoke throughout all the operating points. As DME is an oxygenated fuel, its combustion produces less carbon dioxide than that from diesel combustion. European stationary cycle emission test results show that the emissions from the DME engine are below the limits of the Euro 3 regulations.

Effect of ignition timing and hydrogen fraction on combustion and emission characteristics of natural gas direct-injection engine

An experimental study on the combustion and emission characteristics of a direct-injection spark-ignited engine fueled with natural gas/hydrogen blends under various ignition timings was conducted. The results show that ignition timing has a significant influence on engine performance, combustion and emissions. The interval between the end of fuel injection and ignition timing is a very important parameter for direct-injection natural gas engines. The turbulent flow in the combustion chamber generated by the fuel jet remains high and relative strong mixture stratification is introduced when decreasing the angle interval between the end of fuel injection and ignition timing giving fast burning rates and high thermal efficiencies. The maximum cylinder gas pressure, maximum mean gas temperature, maximum rate of pressure rise and maximum heat release rate increase with the advancing of ignition timing. However, these parameters do not vary much with hydrogen addition under specific ignition timing indicating that a small hydrogen fraction addition of less than 20% in the present experiment has little influence on combustion parameters under specific ignition timing. The exhaust HC emission decreases while the exhaust CO2 concentration increases with the advancing of ignition timing. In the lean combustion condition, the exhaust CO does not vary much with ignition timing. At the same ignition timing, the exhaust HC decreases with hydrogen addition while the exhaust CO and CO2 do not vary much with hydrogen addition. The exhaust NOx increases with the advancing of ignition timing and the behavior tends to be more obvious at large ignition advance angle. The brake mean effective pressure and the effective thermal efficiency of natural gas/hydrogen mixture combustion increase compared with those of natural gas combustion when the hydrogen fraction is over 10%.

Experimental Study on the Combustion Characteristics and Emissions of Biodiesel Fueled Compression Ignition Engines with Premixed Dimethoxymethane

In the present study, the combustion characteristics and emissions of biodiesel fueled direct injection engines with premixed dimethoxymethane (DMM) by port injection were investigated on a single-cylinder diesel engine. The experimental results show that, for a fixed equivalence ratio of biodiesel, the ignition timing and the center point of heat release advance, while the end point of heat release delays with the introduction of premixed DMM. For a constant equivalence ratio of premixed DMM, the ignition timing delays and the end point of heat release advances with the decrease of biodiesel quantity. Furthermore, the maximum gas pressure, the mean gas temperature, and the maximum pressure rise rate increase smoothly with the increase of premixed ratio. Meanwhile, when the premixed ratio reaches to a certain value, the maximum gas pressure and pressure rising rate increase remarkably. Regarding to the regulated emissions, CO and HC emissions are much higher than that of neat biodiesel fuel and increase up to the largest levels at a certain premixed ratio. After that, both the CO and HC emissions begin to decrease substantially. Smoke opacity decreases up to 35–55% at different equivalence ratios with the premixed DMM. At last, it is very interesting to find that the NOx emission decreases about 35% under overall operating conditions with up to 20% premixed DMM.