Parametric study on the fuel film breakup of a cold start PFI engine

In order to provide more insight on improving the cold start fuel atomization for reducing unburned hydrocarbon emissions, the liquid fuel film breakup phenomenon in the intake valve/port region was investigated in depth for port-fuel-injected engines. Experiments were conducted using high-speed high-resolution imaging techniques to visualize the liquid film atomization and airflow patterns in an axisymmetric steady flow apparatus. The impact of valve/port seat geometry, surface roughness, and fuel properties on airflow separation and fuel film breakup were determined through a parametric study. CFD simulations were also performed with FLUENT to help understand the airflow behavior inside the intake port and valve gap region and its potential impact on fuel film atomization.     

Special characteristics of the breakup of liquid drops with a high gas pressure

In a majority of power plants, the conversion of a liquid fuel into combustion products takes place at high pressure and with a high velocity of the motion of the gas. It is natural that in the choice of the working scheme of the process account must be taken of the effect of possible changes in the characteristics of the atomization process of a liquid fuel, connected with a change in the density of the gas. Of particular importance is the effect of perturbations of the pressure and the velocity on the behavior of liquid drops in a high-density gas flow. The number of communications in which such questions are discussed is very limited, since an overwhelming number of experiments were made at atmospheric pressure [1–7]. Only articles [8, 9] give qualitative concepts with respect to the effect of perturbations of the pressure on the breakup of drops with a gas pressure up to 30 atm. From the information given in [8, 9] it is difficult to form a judgment with respect to the change in the critical conditions and the time parameters of the process of the breakup of drops with a rise in the initial pressure (density) of the gas.     

Spray features in the near field of a flow-blurring injector investigated by high-speed visualization and time-resolved PIV

In a flow-blurring (FB) injector, atomizing air stagnates and bifurcates at the gap upstream of the injector orifice. A small portion of the air penetrates into the liquid supply line to create a turbulent two-phase flow. Pressure drop across the injector orifice causes air bubbles to expand and burst thereby disintegrating the surrounding liquid into a fine spray. In previous studies, we have demonstrated clean and stable combustion of alternative liquid fuels, such as biodiesel, straight vegetable oil and glycerol by using the FB injector without requiring fuel pre-processing or combustor hardware modification. In this study, high-speed visualization and time-resolved particle image velocimetry (PIV) techniques are employed to investigate the FB spray in the near field of the injector to delineate the underlying mechanisms of atomization. Experiments are performed using water as the liquid and air as the atomizing gas for air to liquid mass ratio of 2.0. Flow visualization at the injector exit focused on a field of view with physical dimensions of 2.3 mm × 1.4 mm at spatial resolution of 7.16 µm per pixel, exposure time of 1 µs, and image acquisition rate of 100 k frames per second. Image sequences illustrate mostly fine droplets indicating that the primary breakup by FB atomization likely occurs within the injector itself. A few larger droplets appearing mainly at the injector periphery undergo secondary breakup by Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities. Time-resolved PIV is applied to quantify the droplet dynamics in the injector near field. Plots of instantaneous, mean, and root-mean-square droplet velocities are presented to reveal the secondary breakup process. Results show that the secondary atomization to produce fine and stable spray is complete within a few diameters from the injector exit. These superior characteristics of the FB injector are attractive to achieve clean combustion of different fuels in practical systems.     

On the experimental investigation on primary atomization of liquid streams

The production of a liquid spray can be summarized as the succession of the following three steps; the liquid flow ejection, the primary breakup mechanism and the secondary breakup mechanism. The intermediate step—the primary breakup mechanism—covers the early liquid flow deformation down to the production of the first isolated liquid fragments. This step is very important and requires to be fully understood since it constitutes the link between the flow issuing from the atomizer and the final spray. This paper reviews the experimental investigations dedicated to this early atomization step. Several situations are considered: cylindrical liquid jets, flat liquid sheets, air-assisted cylindrical liquid jets and air-assisted flat liquid sheets. Each fluid stream adopts several atomization regimes according to the operating conditions. These regimes as well as the significant parameters they depend on are listed. The main instability mechanisms, which control primary breakup processes, are rather well described. This review points out the internal geometrical nozzle characteristics and internal flow details that influence the atomization mechanisms. The contributions of these characteristics, which require further investigations to be fully identified and quantified, are believed to be the main reason of experimental discrepancies and explain a lack of universal primary breakup regime categorizations.     

An Eulerian–Lagrangian hybrid model for the coarse-grid simulation of turbulent liquid jet breakup

In this paper we present a numerical model for the coarse-grid simulation of turbulent liquid jet breakup using an Eulerian–Lagrangian coupling. To picture the unresolved droplet formation near the liquid jet interface in the case of coarse grids we considered a theoretical model to describe the unresolved flow instabilities leading to turbulent breakup. These entrained droplets are then represented by an Eulerian–Lagrangian hybrid concept. On the one hand, we used a volume of fluid method (VOF) to characterize the global spreading and the initiation of droplet formation; one the other hand, Lagrangian droplets are released at the liquid–gas interface according to the theoretical model balancing consolidating and disruptive energies. Here, a numerical coupling was required between Eulerian liquid core and Lagrangian droplets using mass and momentum source terms. The presented methodology was tested for different liquid jets in Rayleigh, wind-induced and atomization regimes and validated against literature data. This comparison reveals fairly good qualitative agreement in the cases of jet spreading, jet instability and jet breakup as well as relatively accurate size distribution and Sauter mean diameter (SMD) of the droplets. Furthermore, the model was able to capture the regime transitions from Rayleigh instability to atomization appropriately. Finally, the presented sub-grid model predicts the effect of the gas-phase pressure on the droplet sizes very well.     

Efficient gasification of wet biomass residue to produce middle caloric gas

Various process residues represent a kind of biomass resource already concentrated but containing water as much as 60 wt.%.These materials are generally treated as waste or simply combusted directly to generate heat.Recently,we attempted to convert them into middle caloric gas to substitute for natural gas,as a chemical or a high-rank gaseous fuel for advanced combustion utilities.Such conversion is implemented through dual fluidized bed gasification (DFBG).Concerning the high water content of the fuels,DFBG was suggested to accomplish either with high-efficiency fuel drying in advance or direct decoupling of fuel drying/pyrolysis from char gasification and tar/hydrocarbon reforming.Along with fuel drying,calcium-based catalyst can be impregnated into the fuel,without much additional cost,to increase the fuel's gasification reactivity and to reduce tar formation.This article reports the Ca impregnation method and its resulting effects on gasification reactivity and tar suppression ability.Meanwhile,the principle of directly gasifying wet fuel with decoupled dual fluidized bed gasification (D-DFBG) is also highlighted.     

Atomization and spray characteristics of bioethanol and bioethanol blended gasoline fuel injected through a direct injection gasoline injector

The focus of this study was to investigate the spray characteristics and atomization performance of gasoline fuel (G100), bioethanol fuel (E100), and bioethanol blended gasoline fuel (E85) in a direct injection gasoline injector in a gasoline engine. The overall spray and atomization characteristics such as an axial spray tip penetration, spray width, and overall SMD were measured experimentally and predicted by using KIVA-3V code.The development process and the appearance timing of the vortices in the test fuels were very similar. In addition, the numerical results accurately described the experimentally observed spray development pattern and shape, the beginning position of the vortex, and the spray breakup on the spray surface. Moreover, the increased injection pressure induced the occurrence of a clear circular shape in the downstream spray and a uniform mixture between the injected spray droplets and ambient air. The axial spray tip penetrations of the test fuels were similar, while the spray width and spray cone angle of E100 were slightly larger than the other fuels. In terms of atomization performance, the E100 fuel among the tested fuels had the largest droplet size because E100 has a high kinematic viscosity and surface tension.     

Interpretation of atomization rates of the liquid film in gas-liquid annular flow

For vertical gas-liquid annular flow the fraction of the liquid in the gas is controlled by the rate of atomization of the liquid film flowing along the wall and the rate of deposition of droplets entrained in the gas. Measurements of the rate of atomization are interpreted by a Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism. Small wavelets on the liquid film are visualized to be entrained when wave-induced variations in the gas pressure cannot be counterbalanced by surface tension effects.     

Breakup of liquid jets from non-circular orifices

The purpose of this investigation is to study the effect of the orifice geometry on liquid breakup. In order to develop a better understanding of the liquid jet breakup, investigations were carried out in two steps—study of low-pressure liquid jet breakup and high-pressure fuel atomization. This paper presents the experimental investigations conducted to study the flow behavior of low-pressure water jets emanating from orifices with non-circular geometries, including rectangular, square, and triangular shapes and draws a comparison with the flow behavior of circular jets. The orifices had approximately same cross-sectional areas and were machined by electro-discharge machining process in stainless steel discs. The liquid jets were discharged in the vertical direction in atmospheric air at room temperature and pressure conditions. The analysis was carried out for gage pressures varying from 0 to 1,000 psi (absolute pressures from 0.10 to 6.99 MPa). The flow behavior was analyzed using high-speed visualization techniques. To draw a comparison between flow behavior from circular and non-circular orifices, jet breakup length and width were measured. The flow characteristics were analyzed from different directions, including looking at the flow from the straight edges of the orifices as well as their sharp corners. The non-circular geometric jets demonstrated enhanced instability as compared to the circular jets. This has been attributed to the axis-switching phenomenon exhibited by them. As a result, the non-circular jets yielded shorter breakup lengths as compared to the circular jets. In order to demonstrate the presence of axis-switching phenomenon in square and triangular jets, the jet widths were plotted along the axial direction. This technique clearly demonstrated the axis switching occurring in square and triangular jets, which was not clearly visible unlike the case of rectangular jets. To conclude, non-circular geometry induces greater instabilities in the liquid jets, thereby leading to faster disintegration. Thus, non-circular orifice geometries can provide a cheaper solution of improving liquid breakup and thus may enhance fuel atomization as compared to the precise manufacturing techniques of drilling smaller orifices or using costly elevated fuel injection pressure systems.     

Structures and stabilization of low calorific value gas turbulent partially premixed flames in a conical burner

Experiments are carried out on partially premixed turbulent flames stabilized in a conical burner. The investigated gaseous fuels are methane, methane diluted with nitrogen, and mixtures of CH₄, CO, CO₂, H₂ and N₂, simulating typical products from gasification of biomass, and co-firing of gasification gas with methane. The fuel and air are partially premixed in concentric tubes. Flame stabilization behavior is investigated and significantly different stabilization characteristics are observed in flames with and without the cone. Planar laser induced fluorescence (LIF) imaging of a fuel-tracer species, acetone, and OH radicals is carried out to characterize the flame structures. Large eddy simulations of the conical flames are carried out to gain further understanding of the flame/flow interaction in the cone. The data show that the flames with the cone are more stable than those without the cone. Without the cone (i.e. jet burner) the critical jet velocities for blowoff and liftoff of biomass derived gases are higher than that for methane/nitrogen mixture with the same heating values, indicating the enhanced flame stabilization by hydrogen in the mixture. With the cone the stability of flames is not sensitive to the compositions of the fuels, owing to the different flame stabilization mechanism in the conical flames than that in the jet flames. From the PLIF images it is shown that in the conical burner, the flame is stabilized by the cone at nearly the same position for different fuels. From large eddy simulations, the flames are shown to be controlled by the recirculation flows inside cone, which depends on the cone angle, but less sensitive to the fuel compositions and flow speed. The flames tend to be hold in the recirculation zones even at very high flow speed. Flame blowoff occurs when significant local extinction in the main body of the flame appears at high turbulence intensities.     

Numerical and experimental investigation on droplet dynamics and dispersion of a jet engine injector

In the case of turbine combustors operating with liquid fuel the combustion process is governed by the liquid fuel atomization and its dispersion in the combustion chamber. By highly unsteady flow field conditions the transient interaction between the liquid and the gaseous phase is of interest, because it results in a temporal variation of air–fuel ratio which leads to a fluctuating temperature distribution. The objective of this research was the investigation of transient flow field phenomena (e.g. large coherent structures) on droplet dynamics and dispersion of an isothermal flow (of inert water droplets) as a necessary first step towards a full analysis of spray combustion in real-life devices. The advanced injector system for lean jet engine combustors PERM (Partial Evaporated Rapid Mixing) was applied, generating a dilute polydispersed spray in a swirled flow field. Experiments were performed using Phase Doppler Anemometry (PDA) and a patternator to determine the droplet polydispersity, concentration maps, and velocity profiles in the flow. An important finding is the effect of large-scale coherent structures due mainly to the precessing of the vortex core (PVC) of the swirling air jet on the particle dispersion patterns. The experimental results then serve as reference data to assess the accuracy of the Eulerian–Lagrangian computations using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES), a Unsteady Reynolds-Average Navier–Stokes Simulation (URANS) and two simplified (steady-state) simulations. There, a simplified droplet injection model was used and the required boundary conditions of injected droplet sizes were obtained from measurements. Important transient effects of deterministic droplet separation observed during experiments, could be perfectly replicated with this injection model. It is convincingly shown, through extensive computations, that the resolution of instantaneous vortical structures is indeed crucial; hence the LES, or a reasonably-well resolved URANS are preferred over the steady-state solutions with additional, stochastic-type, turbulent dispersion models.     

Unsteadiness of the internal flow in an effervescent atomizer nozzle

Liquid atomization system has been extensively applied as the most significant process in many industrial fields. In the internal combustion engine, the combustion phenomenon is strongly influenced by the spray characteristics of the fuel given by the atomization process. In order to completely understand the whole atomization process, a detail investigation of relations between the liquid jet characteristics and the breakup phenomenon is required. In this study, a non-intrusive method called as laser tagging method by photochromic dye has been developed with aim to study the breakup process of liquid sheet in detail, covering from the behavior in film until disintegrated into ligament and droplets. The laser tagging method by photochromic dye is based on a shift in the absorption spectrum of photochromic dye molecules tagged by ultraviolet laser. The shift results a color change at the tagged region of liquid containing the dye. In this study, the motions of the dye traces were analyzed as the liquid surface velocity. As a result, liquid sheet was found to keep its velocity constantly in film before suddenly increase around broken point. However, it then decreased after broken into droplets. By forming a set of four points of dye traces on the liquid sheet, the change of relative position of the set enabled the measurement of deformation and rotational motion of the liquid sheet. As a result, the normal strain of the liquid sheet parallel to the flow direction depended on the flow behavior of ligament formation.     

Experimental study on the influence of liquid and air boundary conditions on a planar air-blasted liquid sheet,Part I: Liquid and air thicknesses

This experimental study is devoted to the influence of the air and liquid thicknesses on an air-blasted atomizer. The flow configuration corresponds to a planar liquid sheet sheared on both sides by two high velocity airflows. Using planar laser induced fluorescence, back lighting visualizations and light diffraction, flapping frequency, breakup length of the liquid sheet and droplet sizes resulting from the atomization process are measured. The results show that the influence of each fluid thickness depends on the investigated flow characteristic. Thus, breakup length is strongly correlated to liquid flow rate, whereas flapping frequency depends mainly on airflow conditions, characterized by the vorticity thickness. Concerning final droplet sizes, both previous parameters must be taken into account, leading to a correlation based on breakup length and oscillation frequency.     

Development of an efficient statistical volumes of fluid–Lagrangian particle tracking coupling method

The breakup of a liquid jet into irregular liquid structures and droplets leading to the formation of a dilute spray has been simulated numerically. To overcome the shortcomings of certain numerical methods in specific flow regimes, a combined approach has been chosen. The intact liquid core, its primary breakup and the dense spray regime are simulated using the volumes of fluid (VOF) method in combination with LES, whereas the Lagrangian particle tracking (LPT) approach in the LES context is applied to the dilute spray regime and the secondary breakup of droplets. A method has been developed to couple both simulation types on a statistical basis. This statistical coupling approach (SCA) reflects the dominating physical mechanisms of the two‐phase flow in each regime to a high degree. The main benefit of the SCA is computational efficiency as compared with the more straightforward approach where one follows each structure, denoted here as the direct coupling approach. The computational benefits stem from the reduction of computational time since the VOF simulation is run only until statistical convergence and not during the whole spray development. A second benefit using the SCA is the possibility to use the stochastic parcel method in the LPT simulation whereby a large number of droplets may be handled. The coupling approach is applied to the atomization of a fuel jet in a high pressure chamber, demonstrating the gain of efficiency of the SCA as compared with direct coupling approach. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Fluids published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Liquid fuel droplets entrained in the transient unidimensional gas flow in a pipe

Studies of fuel droplets entrained in air flow are deemed to be important in the understanding of fuel transportation and evaporation in the induction system of spark-ignition engines. So far the studies by other authors were restricted to steady air flow, however, the air flow in the induction system is pulsative unsteady air flow. This paper presents a theoretical model and the computational solution for the fuel liquid droplets entrained in the transient unidimensional air flow in a pipe.     

Investigation of bubble breakup and coalescence in a packed-bed reactor – Part 1: A comparative study of bubble breakup and coalescence models

In a packed-bed reactor a comparative study of bubble breakup and coalescence models has been investigated to study bubble size distributions as a function of the axial location. The bubble size distributions are obtained by solving population balance equations that describe gas–liquid interactions. Each combination of bubble breakup and coalescence models is examined under two inlet flow conditions: (1) predominant bubble breakup flow and (2) predominant bubble coalescence flow. The resulting bubble size distributions, breakup and coalescence rates estimated by individual models, are qualitatively compared to each other. The change of bubble size distributions along the axial direction is also described with medians. The medians resulting from CFD analyses are compared against the experimental data. Since the predictions estimated by CFD analyses with the existing bubble breakup and coalescence models do not agree with the experimental data, a new bubble breakup and coalescence model that takes account of the geometry effects is required to describe gas–liquid interactions in a packed-bed reactor.     

Simulations of two-phase flow distribution in communicating parallel channels for a PEM fuel cell

Numerical simulations utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) with a volume of fluid (VOF) method has been employed to investigate two-phase flow distribution in inter-connected parallel flow channels. The interconnections resemble gas and liquid communications in fuel cell flow fields due to the inherent or artificial structures of gas diffusion layers (GDLs). The simulation results showed that communication between parallel channels could have a great impact on the two-phase flow pattern, gas and water distribution and flow maldistribution. Wide communication channels provide a pathway for gas to short-circuit the liquid, leading to a worsened gas flow distribution. However, when the communication channels are narrow enough, they are helpful for mitigating the flow maldistribution by redistributing the liquid among the parallel flow channels through the communication channels. The simulation results were also verified by comparing the predicted and measured normalized pressure drop and the gas flow ratios at the entrance section of experimental parallel channels.     

Cold flow experiments in an entrained flow gasification reactor with a swirl-stabilized pulverized biofuel burner

Short particle residence time in entrained flow gasifiers demands the use of pulverized fuel particles to promote mass and heat transfer, resulting high fuel conversion rate. The pulverized biomass particles have a wide range of aspect ratios which can exhibit different dispersion behavior than that of spherical particles in hot product gas flows. This results in spatial and temporal variations in temperature distribution, the composition and the concentration of syngas and soot yield. One way to control the particle dispersion is to impart a swirling motion to the carrier gas phase. This paper investigates the dispersion behavior of biomass fuel particles in swirling flows. A two-phase particle image velocimetry technique was applied to simultaneously measure particle and gas phase velocities in turbulent isothermal flows. Post-processed PIV images showed that a poly-dispersed behavior of biomass particles with a range of particle size of 112–160 µm imposed a significant impact on the air flow pattern, causing air flow decelerated in a region of high particle concentration. Moreover, the velocity field, obtained from individually tracked biomass particles showed that the swirling motion of the carrier air flow gives arise a rapid spreading of the particles.     

Entrainment for horizontal annular gas-liquid flow

Measurements of entrainment are presented for air and water flowing in horizontal 2.54 and 5.08 cm pipelines. After the initiation of atomization, entrainment increases with the third power of the gas velocity. At very high gas velocities a fully entrained oendition in reached for which further increases in the gas velocity do not cause a decrease in the flow rate of the wall film. Gas density bas a small effect provided comparisons are made at the same gas velocity rather than at the same mass flowrate. The results are interpreted by asauming that the rate of deposition of droplets on the wall film varies linearly with the concentration of droplets and that the rate of atomization of the wall film varies linearly with its flow rate.     

Combustion of Low-Calorific Waste Biomass Syngas

The industrial combustion chamber designed for burning low-calorific syngas from gasification of waste biomass is presented. For two different gases derived from gasification of waste wood chips and turkey feathers the non-premixed turbulent combustion in the chamber is simulated. It follows from our computations that for stable process the initial temperature of these fuels must be at least 800 K, with comparable influx of air and fuel. The numerical simulations reveal existence of the characteristic frequency of the process which is later observed in high-speed camera recordings from the industrial gasification plant where the combustion chamber operates. The analysis of NO formation and emission shows a difference between wood-derived syngas combustion, where thermal path is prominent, and feathers-derived fuel. In the latter case thermal, prompt and N₂O paths of nitric oxides formation are marginal and the dominant source of NO is fuel-bound nitrogen.