W1P001 EFFECTS of BURNING RENEWABLE FUELS in a VARIABLE GEOMETRY LOW SWIRL INJECTOR OPERATED in a BOILER ENVIRONMENT Vincent G

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

W1P001 EFFECTS of BURNING RENEWABLE FUELS in a VARIABLE GEOMETRY LOW SWIRL INJECTOR OPERATED in a BOILER ENVIRONMENT Vincent G W1P001 EFFECTS OF BURNING RENEWABLE FUELS IN A VARIABLE GEOMETRY LOW SWIRL INJECTOR OPERATED IN A BOILER ENVIRONMENT Vincent G. McDonell, Nathan Kirksey, University of California, Irvine, United States At the University of California, Irvine Combustion Laboratory a low swirl injector with a variable blockage is being used in a boiler to fire varying compositions of renewable fuels. The goal is to develop a relationship between the emissions and stability of the burner to the blockage and fuel composition. To change the geometry of the injector, or the swirl number, an adjustment is made to the blockage in the center of the injector. In order to determine how the flowfield or turbulence levels have changed with the different blockages a method of laser imaging called reactive particle image velocimetry is used. From the developed vector fields a wealth of information can be gathered, including: the turbulence intensity, the flame height, and the turbulent flame speed. Compiling all this information results in a turbulence level for each blockage, as well as, changing flame heights; in addition, the turbulent flame speeds for the differing fuel compositions can be determined as a by-product. Current research aims to investigate the improvements on stability of the flame resulting from adjustments to the blockage on the low swirl injector. The idea is that by using a larger blockage, which will lower the injector speed, it will bring a slower burning biogas fuel closer to the injector point thus improving stability. Another important tool used when determining stability is a fiber optic probe. The probe can measure the flame luminosity and fluctuations in real time to give feedback in regards to the stability. As a flame is leaned or moved closer to blowoff the flickering increases while the luminosity decreases this can be correlated to the stability of the flame through the use of the fiber optic probe. Emissions data is an essential part of the testing, as such; an emission analyzer tracks the changes in emissions due to the wide variety of blockages, fuels, and equivalence ratios present during the testing. Lastly, the current development is in developing a speed of sound gas composition sensor. This sensor was used to correctly identify binary hydrocarbon mixtures in the past; the future goal is to outfit the device with more sensors in order to identify almost any fuel composition for use as an indicator for industrial applications. Industrial boilers operating on landfill gas do not know the composition of the fuels they are burning during the majority of their operation; this sensor would be a low cost device to ensure proper tuning of the boiler for emissions and stability depending on the actual fuel composition. [email protected] W1P002 OXYGEN-ENRICHED CO-COMBUSTION OF BIOMASS FOR CCS APPLICATIONS William Nimmo, Mohamed Pourkashanian, Sam Pickard, Leeds University, United Kingdom Biomass combustion and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) individually represent significant options for decarbonising the power generation sector and when combined may permit a carbon-neutral or even carbon-negative process. Despite this potential, little research has been published that examines the combustion of biomass in atmospheres with application in CCS processes. This work reports on laboratory-scale and bench-scale testing of biomass and coal combustion in atmospheres enriched in O2 and CO2 which are relevant for retrofitting power stations for oxyfuel combustion. At bench-scale, thermogravimetric analysis shows substituting N2 as the combustion diluent with CO2 has little impact on the combustion properties of the fuels but that increasing the O2 concentration accelerates combustion of coal and biomass chars. Results from cofiring three biomasses with coal at 20kW scale suggest substitution of N2 with CO2 significantly reduces temperatures, carbon burnout and emissions of NO while combustion in O2-enriched conditions has the opposite effects. Emissions of NO and SO2 were found to reduce compared to air in combustion atmospheres enriched with O2 and CO2 while combustion temperatures and carbon burnout slightly increased. Comparing a typical oxyfuel combustion atmosphere (30% O2 in CO2) with combustion in air finds that the former is more reactive for all fuels during both the combustion of volatiles and char oxidation stages during Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) and that the elevated [O2] particularly accelerated the char-oxidation stage of the combustion process. Little difference was observed when N2 was replaced with CO2 as the diluent since at temperatures typical in TGA gasification reactions have little impact and the increased heat capacity of the atmosphere is negated by the TGA control system. Unstaged cofiring (15%th) of each of the biomasses at 20kW scale showed that the heat capacity of the fluid was important and temperatures in CO2-enriched combustion atmospheres were lower than those that were N2-based, delaying combustion and reducing NO emissions. O2-enrichment and biomass blending were both observed to improve carbon burnout with the former tending to increase NO emissions, while biomass blending tended to effect slight reductions compared to coal firing mainly due to changes to local [O2] and temperatures near the burner. Emissions of SO2 were reduced during cofiring and during combustion in atmospheres enriched with CO2 and O2 though a full sulphur balance could not be performed to suggest further reasons for this. SEM images of ash samples support the relative combustion efficiencies with a increasing tendency for smaller, spherical particles in the ash with increasingly efficient combustion observed during O2-enrichment. [email protected] W1P003 EFFECT OF CATALYTIC PRE-COMBUSTION ON FLAME STABILITY IN HIGHLY CONCENTRATED CO2 Toshinori Nagai, Takeshi Yokomori, Keio University, Japan Oxy-fuel combustion attracts attention as an effective solution of reducing CO2 emission. However, highly concentrated CO2 destabilizes the combustion. In this study, the catalytic pre-combustion was used for the improvement of the flame stability in highly concentrated CO2. The experiments and numerical calculation were performed to elucidate the influence of the catalytic pre-combustion on the flame stabilization. The burner consisted simply of a Pt catalyst pipe with 5 mm in diameter confined by a quartz tube with 40 mm in diameter. The CH4/O2/CO2 mixture was jetted out from the Pt catalyst pipe. The mixture inlet velocity V and equivalence ratio f were varied. For comparison, the CH4/O2/N2 mixture was also used. The volumetric ratio of O2 to CO2 (or N2) was 3:7. The O2/CO2 (or N2) mixture flowed at 0.2 m/s in the circumference of the jet. In the numerical calculation, a two-dimensional axisymmetric model was implemented into the CFD code ANSYS-Fluent 14.0. Gas phase and surface reaction mechanisms consisted of 57 reactions involving 18 species and 24 reactions involving 11 species, respectively. In addition, DO model was adopted as a radiation model and the emissivity of the gas phase was calculated with WSGG model. The thermal conduction of the catalyst was also taken into account. In the experiment, the blow off velocity of the flame stabilized at the downstream of the catalyst typically increased with increasing the equivalence ratio. The blow off velocity in the CH4/O2/CO2 mixture showed lower than that in the CH4/O2/N2 mixture even with and without the catalytic combustion. The blow off velocity with the catalytic combustion was lower than that without the catalytic combustion at the lower equivalence ratio. This is because the catalytic combustion consumed reactants, so that the reactants were insufficient to sustain the flame at the downstream side of the catalyst. On the other hand, the blow off velocity with the catalytic combustion is higher than that without the catalytic combustion at the higher equivalence ratio. This is because the high temperature mixture including the high reactivity intermediates such as CO and H2 generated by the catalytic combustion stabilized the gas phase reaction. These results show that the catalytic combustion can effectively act on the flame stabilization at the higher equivalence ratio. [email protected] W1P004 SIMPLE METHODOLOGY FOR CONSTRUCTING OVERALL REACTION MECHANISMS USING A MICRO FLOW REACTOR WITH A CONTROLLED TEMPERATURE PROFILE Shogo Onishi, Kaoru Maruta, Hisashi Nakamura, Takuya Tezuka, Susumu Hasegawa, Tohoku University, Japan Multi-dimensional combustion simulations play an important role in developing engines and combustors. However, the computational cost of simulation with chemical reactions is proportional to the cube of the number of species. Therefore, there is a demand for the construction of chemical reaction mechanisms which are able to obtain reasonable answer with small simulation cost. The objective of this study is to develop simple methodology for constructing overall reaction mechanisms of ethanol/air for the engineering-purpose combustion simulation of ethanol scramjet engines operated under reduced pressure conditions. The construction of overall reaction mechanisms was made by fitting for the dependence of inlet mean flow velocity on the weak flame location in the author's original flow reactor. Weak flame is characterized as the initiation of ignition while itself is observed as stable flames. This unique characteristic of the weak flames was employed for the construction of overall reaction mechanisms in this study. The dependence
Recommended publications
  • Copyrighted Material
    PART I METHODS COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL CHAPTER 1 Overview of Thermochemistry and Its Application to Reaction Kinetics ELKE GOOS Institute of Combustion Technology, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Stuttgart, Germany ALEXANDER BURCAT Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel 1.1 HISTORY OF THERMOCHEMISTRY Thermochemistry deals with energy and enthalpy changes accompanying chemical reactions and phase transformations and gives a first estimate of whether a given reaction can occur. To our knowledge, the field of thermochemistry started with the experiments done by Malhard and Le Chatelier [1] with gunpowder and explosives. The first of their two papers of 1883 starts with the sentence: “All combustion is accompanied by the release of heat that increases the temperature of the burned bodies.” In 1897, Berthelot [2], who also experimented with explosives, published his two-volume monograph Thermochimie in which he summed up 40 years of calori- metric studies. The first textbook, to our knowledge, that clearly explained the principles of thermochemical properties was authored by Lewis and Randall [3] in 1923. Thermochemical data, actually heats of formation, were gathered, evaluated, and published for the first time in the seven-volume book International Critical Tables of Numerical Data, Physics, Chemistry and Technology [4] during 1926–1930 (and the additional index in 1933). In 1932, the American Chemical Society (ACS) monograph No. 60 The Free Energy of Some Organic Compounds [5] appeared. Rate Constant Calculation for Thermal Reactions: Methods and Applications, Edited by Herbert DaCosta and Maohong Fan. Ó 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Published 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 3 4 OVERVIEW OF THERMOCHEMISTRY AND ITS APPLICATION TO REACTION KINETICS In 1936 was published The Thermochemistry of the Chemical Substances [6] where the authors Bichowsky and Rossini attempted to standardize the available data and published them at a common temperature of 18C (291K) and pressure of 1 atm.
    [Show full text]
  • Investigation of Various Novel Air-Breathing Propulsion Systems
    Investigation of Various Novel Air-Breathing Propulsion Systems A thesis submitted to the Graduate School of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in the Department of Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics of the College of Engineering and Applied Science 2016 by Jarred M. Wilhite B.S. Aerospace Engineering & Engineering Mechanics University of Cincinnati 2016 Committee Chair: Dr. Ephraim Gutmark Committee Members: Dr. Paul Orkwis & Dr. Mark Turner Abstract The current research investigates the operation and performance of various air-breathing propulsion systems, which are capable of utilizing different types of fuel. This study first focuses on a modular RDE configuration, which was mainly studied to determine which conditions yield stable, continuous rotating detonation for an ethylene-air mixture. The performance of this RDE was analyzed by studying various parameters such as mass flow rate, equivalence ratios, wave speed and cell size. For relatively low mass flow rates near stoichiometric conditions, a rotating detonation wave is observed for an ethylene-RDE, but at speeds less than an ideal detonation wave. The current research also involves investigating the newly designed, Twin Oxidizer Injection Capable (TOXIC) RDE. Mixtures of hydrogen and air were utilized for this configuration, resulting in sustained rotating detonation for various mass flow rates and equivalence ratios. A thrust stand was also developed to observe and further measure the performance of the TOXIC RDE. Further analysis was conducted to accurately model and simulate the response of thrust stand during operation of the RDE. Also included in this research are findings and analysis of a propulsion system capable of operating on the Inverse Brayton Cycle.
    [Show full text]
  • Review of Chemiluminescence As an Optical Diagnostic Tool for High Pressure Unstable Rockets Tristan Latimer Fuller Purdue University
    Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Open Access Theses Theses and Dissertations January 2015 Review of Chemiluminescence as an Optical Diagnostic Tool for High Pressure Unstable Rockets Tristan Latimer Fuller Purdue University Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses Recommended Citation Fuller, Tristan Latimer, "Review of Chemiluminescence as an Optical Diagnostic Tool for High Pressure Unstable Rockets" (2015). Open Access Theses. 1176. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/1176 This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. Graduate School Form 30 Updated 1/15/2015 PURDUE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL Thesis/Dissertation Acceptance This is to certify that the thesis/dissertation prepared By Tristan L. Fuller Entitled REVIEW OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE AS AN OPTICAL DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR HIGH PRESSURE UNSTABLE ROCKETS For the degree of Master of Science in Chemical Engineering Is approved by the final examining committee: William E. Anderson Chair Robert P. Lucht Stephen D. Heister Carson D. Slabaugh To the best of my knowledge and as understood by the student in the Thesis/Dissertation Agreement, Publication Delay, and Certification Disclaimer (Graduate School Form 32), this thesis/dissertation adheres to the provisions of Purdue University’s “Policy of Integrity in Research” and the use of copyright material. Approved by Major Professor(s): William E. Anderson Approved by: Weinong W. Chen 7/24/2015 Head of the Departmental Graduate Program Date REVIEW OF CHEMILUMINESCENCE AS AN OPTICAL DIAGNOSTIC TOOL IN HIGH PRESSURE UNSTABLE COMBUSTORS A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Purdue University by Tristan L.
    [Show full text]
  • Thermodynamic Cycle
    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL & SCIENCE EDUCATION 2016, VOL. 11, NO. 12, 5009-5019 OPEN ACCESS Detonation Jet Engine. Part 1 – Thermodynamic Cycle Pavel V. Bulata and Konstantin N. Volkovb aSaint Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics, Saint Petersburg, RUSSIA; bKingston University, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, London, UK ABSTRACT We present the most relevant works on jet engine design that utilize thermodynamic cycle of detonative combustion. The efficiency advantages of thermodynamic detonative combustion cycle over Humphrey combustion cycle at constant volume and Brayton combustion cycle at constant pressure were demonstrated. An ideal Ficket-Jacobs detonation cycle, and the thermodynamic cycle of real detonation engine that utilizes over compressed detonation were discussed. Main trends in development of detonation engines were described. Relevant for nearest time problems and directions of research were formulated. KEYWORDS ARTICLE HISTORY Detonation, detonation wave, detonation engine, Received 13 April 2016 rotational detonation engine, pulse detonation Revised 17 May 2016 engine Accepted 22 May 2016 Introduction Historically the most important investment into the development of detonative combustion was made by Soviet and then Russian scientists. Ya.B. Zeldovich (1940) was the first who proposed to utilize detonation in engines and energy devices. By examining problem of arbitrary discontinuity breakdown in reacting medium, G.M. Bam-Zelikovich (1949; 1952) has laid the theoretical foundation of pulse detonation engine. He also was the first to give a simple theoretical explanation of pulsation appearance during fuel mixture combustion in cylindrical channel. Later, works were carried out in laboratory of gas- dynamics at Central Institute of Aviation Motors, under the direction of L.I.
    [Show full text]
  • Comprehensive Thermodynamic Analysis of the Humphrey Cycle for Gas Turbines with Pressure Gain Combustion
    energies Article Comprehensive Thermodynamic Analysis of the Humphrey Cycle for Gas Turbines with Pressure Gain Combustion Panagiotis Stathopoulos Chair of Unsteady Thermodynamics in Gas Turbine Processes, Hermann Föttinger Institute, Technische Universität Berlin, Müller Breslau Str. 8, 10623 Berlin, Germany; [email protected]; Tel.: +49-30-314-29361 Received: 20 November 2018; Accepted: 11 December 2018; Published: 18 December 2018 Abstract: Conventional gas turbines are approaching their efficiency limits and performance gains are becoming increasingly difficult to achieve. Pressure Gain Combustion (PGC) has emerged as a very promising technology in this respect, due to the higher thermal efficiency of the respective ideal gas turbine thermodynamic cycles. Up to date, only very simplified models of open cycle gas turbines with pressure gain combustion have been considered. However, the integration of a fundamentally different combustion technology will be inherently connected with additional losses. Entropy generation in the combustion process, combustor inlet pressure loss (a central issue for pressure gain combustors), and the impact of PGC on the secondary air system (especially blade cooling) are all very important parameters that have been neglected. The current work uses the Humphrey cycle in an attempt to address all these issues in order to provide gas turbine component designers with benchmark efficiency values for individual components of gas turbines with PGC. The analysis concludes with some recommendations for the best strategy to integrate turbine expanders with PGC combustors. This is done from a purely thermodynamic point of view, again with the goal to deliver design benchmark values for a more realistic interpretation of the cycle. Keywords: pressure gain combustion; gas turbine; Humphrey cycle; thermodynamic analysis; turbine cooling; turbine integration 1.
    [Show full text]
  • An Alternative Architecture of the Humphrey Cycle and the Effect of Fuel Type on Its Efficiency
    Received: 24 January 2020 | Revised: 9 June 2020 | Accepted: 10 June 2020 DOI: 10.1002/ese3.776 RESEARCH ARTICLE An alternative architecture of the Humphrey cycle and the effect of fuel type on its efficiency Panagiotis Stathopoulos Chair of Unsteady Thermodynamics in Gas Turbine Processes, Technische Universität Abstract Berlin, Berlin, Germany Conventional gas turbines are a very mature technology, and performance improve- ments are becoming increasingly difficult and costly to achieve. Pressure-gain com- Correspondence Panagiotis Stathopoulos, Chair of Unsteady bustion (PGC) has emerged as a promising technology in this respect, due to the Thermodynamics in Gas Turbine Processes, higher thermal efficiency of the respective ideal gas turbine cycles. The current work Technische Universität Berlin, Müller analyzes two layouts of the Humphrey cycle for gas turbines with pressure-gain com- Breslau Str. 8, 10623 Berlin, Germany. Email: [email protected] bustion. One layout replicates the classical layout of gas turbine cycles, whereas an alternative one optimizes the use of pressure-gain combustion by ensuring the opera- Funding information tion of the combustor at stoichiometric conditions. In parallel, both cycle layouts are Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Grant/ Award Number: SFB 1028 - Turbin studied with two different fuels—hydrogen and dimethyl ether—to account for dif- ferences in combustion specific heat addition and its effect on cycle efficiency. The current work concludes with an attempt to benchmark the maximum losses of a ple- num to achieve efficiency parity with the Joule cycle, for a given pressure gain over a PGC combustor. It is found that the cycle layout with stoichiometric combustion results in an increase in thermal efficiency of up to 7 percentage points, compared to the classic cycle architecture.
    [Show full text]
  • Cranfield University Matthew Moxon Thermodynamic Analysis of The
    Cranfield University Matthew Moxon Thermodynamic analysis of the Brayton-cycle gas- turbine under equilibrium chemistry assumptions School of Engineering PhD Academic year: 2010/2011 Supervisor: Professor Riti Singh July 2011 © Cranfield University, 2011. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyright holder. ii ABSTRACT A design-point thermodynamic model of the Brayton-cycle gas-turbine under assumptions of perfect chemical equilibrium is described. This approach is novel to the best knowledge of the author. The model uniquely derives an optimum work balance between power turbine and nozzle as a function of flight conditions and propulsor efficiency. The model may easily be expanded to allow analysis and comparison of arbitrary cycles using any combination of fuel and oxidizer. The model allows the consideration of engines under a variety of conditions, from sea level/static to >20 km altitude and flight Mach numbers greater than 4. Isentropic or polytropic turbomachinery component efficiency standards may be used independently for compressor, gas generator turbine and power turbine. With a methodology based on the paper by M.V. Casey, “Accounting for losses” (2007), and using Bridgman’s partial differentials , the model uniquely describes the properties of a gas turbine solely by reference to the properties of the gas mixture passing through the engine. Turbine cooling is modelled using a method put forward by Kurzke. Turboshaft, turboprop, separate exhaust turbofan and turbojet engines may be modelled. Where applicable, optimisation of the power turbine and exhaust nozzle work split for flight conditions and component performances is automatically undertaken.
    [Show full text]
  • GENSETS Program Overview
    GENSETS Program Overview B. PROGRAM OVERVIEW 1. SUMMARY The GENSETS Program – GENerators for Small Electrical and Thermal Systems – seeks to fund the development of potentially disruptive generator technologies that will enable widespread deployment of residential Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems. Here, CHP is defined as the distributed generation of electricity from piped-in natural gas fuel at a residence or a commercial site complemented by use of exhaust heat for local heating and cooling. If adopted widely by U.S. residential and commercial sectors, GENSETS CHP systems could lead to annual primary energy savings of more than 5 quadrillion BTU (quads). GENSETS systems could also provide annual CO2 emissions reductions of more than 200 million metric tons, which is roughly 10% of the CO2 produced annually from U.S. electricity generation and 4% of total U.S. annual CO2 emissions. The GENSETS Program seeks transformative generators/engines with 1 kW of electrical output (kWe) that have high efficiency (40% fuel to electricity), long life (10 years), low cost ($3,000 per system), and low emissions. Heat engines and generators capable of achieving these targets may include internal and external combustion engines, turbines, and solid state devices such as thermophotovoltaics, thermionic emitters, and thermoelectrics. It is anticipated that the same technologies developed for 1-kWe engines in GENSETS could be adapted to build larger engines with even higher efficiencies for various commercial sectors of the U.S. 2. BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION 2.1 Opportunity and Impact of CHP In 2013, U.S. central-station power plants consumed 38.2 quads of primary energy to generate 12.4 quads of electricity with an average electricity generation efficiency of 33% when aggregated over all primary energy sources, including coal, natural gas, nuclear, hydro, and wind1.
    [Show full text]
  • Pulse Powered Turbine Engine Concept – Numerical Analysis of Influence of Different Valve Timing Concepts on Thermodynamic Performance
    BULLETIN OF THE POLISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES TECHNICAL SCIENCES, Vol. 66, No. 3, 2018 DOI: 10.24425/123444 Pulse powered turbine engine concept – numerical analysis of influence of different valve timing concepts on thermodynamic performance P. TARNAWSKI* and W. OSTAPSKI Institute of Machine Design Fundamentals, Warsaw University of Technology, 84 Narbutta St., 02-524 Warsaw, Poland Abstract. The present work is an attempt to create the concept of an engine that will combine the benefits of a pulse powered piston engine and continuously powered turbine engine. The paper focuses on the subject of pressure gain combustion (PGC). A turbine engine concept with stationary constant volume combustors, working according the Humphrey cycle, is presented. Its work has to be controlled by valve timing system. Four different valve timing concepts were analyzed. Their influence on thermodynamic performance of engine was evaluated. Different valve constructions were researched by means of 3D numerical computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. Key words: pressure gain combustion (PGC), constant volume combustion (CVC), turbine engine, CFD analysis, valve timing. 1. Introduction over a continuously powered one, with beneficial influence on overall engine efficiency. Internal combustion engines utilized as power supply can be A continuously powered turbine engine has significant ad- divided into the continuous powered and the pulse powered. vantage over a pulse powered piston engine regarding the ratio A classical turbine engine is powered continuously, while of engine power to engine mass. In the case of aviation, this a piston engine is an example of a pulse powered unit. Apart is an important aspect which contributes to reducing fuel con- from different conversion of mechanical work, the process of sumption.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Paper
    Proceedings of the 1st Global Power and Propulsion Forum GPPF 2017 Jan 16-18, 2017, Zurich, Switzerland www.pps.global GPPF-2017-0006 PRESSURE GAIN COMBUSTION ADVANTAGE IN LAND-BASED ELECTRIC POWER GENERATION S. Can Gülen Bechtel Infrastructure & Power Inc. [email protected] Reston, VA, USA ABSTRACT available units (i.e., GT 24/26 gas turbines with “sequential” or reheat combustion). The latter, which is the subject of this This paper evaluates the improvement in gas turbine paper, has been on the draft-board for more than half century combined cycle power plant efficiency and output via pressure for aircraft propulsion (pulsed detonation combustion, PDC) gain combustion (PGC). Ideal and real cycle calculations are [3]. The generic name for the practical devices approximating provided for a rigorous assessment of PGC variants (e.g., constant volume heat addition is “pressure gain combustor”. detonation and deflagration) in a realistic power plant The closest practical implementation of the process is the framework with advanced heavy-duty industrial gas explosive combustion inside the cylinder of a reciprocating turbines. It is shown that PGC is the single-most potent knob internal combustion engine (ICE). available to the designers for a quantum leap in combined The tremendous performance improvement potential of cycle performance. pressure gain combustion within the context of land-based gas INTRODUCTION turbines for electric power generation is investigated herein. Gas turbine combined cycle (GTCC) power plant is the Fundamental considerations and detailed heat and mass most efficient and least-polluting fossil fuel-based electric balances show that 65+% net thermal efficiency is readily power generation technology.
    [Show full text]
  • Main Performances of the Unsteady Constant Volume Combustion Thermodynamic Cycle
    DOI: 10.13009/EUCASS2019-776 Main Performances of the Unsteady Constant Volume Combustion Thermodynamic Cycle Roberto Andriani* and Antonella Ingenito** *Politecnico di Milano, Department of Energy, Via Lambruschini, 4, 20156 Milan, Italy **Università “La Sapienza”, Scuola di Ingegneria Aerospaziale, Via Salaria, 851, 00138 Rome, Italy Abstract Common gas turbine engine work following the constant pressure combustion Brayton thermodynamic cycle. In the Humphrey cycle, heat is instead introduced at constant volume, allowing the pressure rise without the need of the compressor. The reduction of the compressor work can rise the thermal efficiency, however the process unsteadiness can mitigate these benefits. By means of a thermodynamic numerical program, a comparison of the main features of the two cycle, in particular specific output work and thermal efficiency, is done, focusing on the main effects that the unsteady combustion and expansion can have on the performance, and on the problems that can arise when joining steady and unsteady intermittent flow components. Nomenclature T: temperature Qin : heat for unity of mass introduced at constant volume in the combustion chamber cp: constant pressure specific heat γ: specific heat ratio L: turbine work Lc: compressor work Lnet : output work m: mass ηth : cycle thermal efficiency τ: temperature ratio (T 3/T 1) βc: compressor pressure ratio CVC: Constant Volume Combustion 1. Introduction The continuous research of high efficiency and low emission gas turbine engines has brought the engineers to consider novel approaches for next future engines. In the years, the engine efficiency has been enhanced mainly rising the maximum DOI: 10.13009/EUCASS2019-776 R. Andriani and A.
    [Show full text]
  • WHAT INFLUENCE WOULD a CLOUD BASED SEMANTIC LABORATORY NOTEBOOK HAVE on the DIGITISATION and MANAGEMENT of SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH? by Samantha Kanza
    UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON Faculty of Physical Sciences and Engineering School of Electronics and Computer Science What Influence would a Cloud Based Semantic Laboratory Notebook have on the Digitisation and Management of Scientific Research? by Samantha Kanza Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 25th April 2018 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF PHYSICAL SCIENCES AND ENGINEERING SCHOOL OF ELECTRONICS AND COMPUTER SCIENCE Doctor of Philosophy WHAT INFLUENCE WOULD A CLOUD BASED SEMANTIC LABORATORY NOTEBOOK HAVE ON THE DIGITISATION AND MANAGEMENT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH? by Samantha Kanza Electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs) have been studied by the chemistry research community over the last two decades as a step towards a paper-free laboratory; sim- ilar work has also taken place in other laboratory science domains. However, despite the many available ELN platforms, their uptake in both the academic and commercial worlds remains limited. This thesis describes an investigation into the current ELN landscape, and its relationship with the requirements of laboratory scientists. Market and literature research was conducted around available ELN offerings to characterise their commonly incorporated features. Previous studies of laboratory scientists examined note-taking and record-keeping behaviours in laboratory environments; to complement and extend this, a series of user studies were conducted as part of this thesis, drawing upon the techniques of user-centred design, ethnography, and collaboration with domain experts. These user studies, combined with the characterisation of existing ELN features, in- formed the requirements and design of a proposed ELN environment which aims to bridge the gap between scientists' current practice using paper lab notebooks, and the necessity of publishing their results electronically, at any stage of the experiment life cycle.
    [Show full text]