A new model for gas flow in pipe networks

We introduce a new model for gas dynamics in pipe networks by asymptotic analysis. The model is derived from the isothermal Euler equations. We present the derivation of the model as well as numerical results illustrating the validity and its properties. We compare the new model with existing models from the mathematical and engineering literature. We further give numerical results on a sample network. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling and analysis of variable geometry exhaust gas systems

This paper presents the modelling and analysis of variable geometry, exhaust gas systems. An automotive example is considered whereby the pulsating exhausts gas flow through an exhaust pipe and silencer are considered over a wide range of speeds. Analytical procedures are outlined enabling the general analysis and modelling of variable geometry, exhaust gas systems. Simulation results show the effect of pulsating gas streams through a vehicle exhaust and silencer confirming thereby the calculated results.     

Modeling and simulation of a gas distribution pipeline network

This research study focuses on the modeling and simulation of a gas distribution pipeline network with a special emphasis on gas ducts. Gas ducts are the most important components of such kind of systems since they define the major dynamic characteristics. Isothermal, unidirectional flow is usually assumed when modeling the gas flow through a gas duct. This paper presents two simplified models derived from the set of partial differential equations governing the dynamics of the process. These models include the inclination term, neglected in most related papers. Moreover, two numerical schemes are presented for the integration of such models. Also, it is shown how the pressure drop along the pipe has a strong dependency with the inclination term. To solve the system dynamics through the proposed numerical schemes a based MATLAB-Simulink library was built. With this library it is possible to simulate the behavior of a gas distribution network from the individual simulation of each component. Finally, the library is tested through three application examples, and results are compared with the existing ones in the literature.     

Capturing coalescence and break-up processes in vertical gas–liquid flows: Assessment of population balance methods

Gas–liquid flows are commonly encountered in industrial flow systems. Numerical studies have been performed to assess the performances of different population balance approaches – direct quadrature method of moments (DQMOMs), average bubble number density (ABND) model and homogeneous MUlti-SIze-Group (MUSIG) model – in tracking the changes of gas void fraction and bubble size distribution under complex flow conditions and to validate the model predictions against experimental measurements from medium- and large-sized vertical pipes. Subject to different gas injection method and flow conditions, bubble size evolution exhibited a coalescence dominant trend in the medium-sized pipe; while bubble break-up was found to be dominant in large-sized pipe. The two experiments were therefore strategically selected for carrying out a thorough examination of existing population balance models in capturing the complicated behaviour of bubble coalescence and break-up. In general, predictions of all the different population balance approaches were in reasonable agreement with experimental data. More importantly, encouraging results have been obtained in adequately capturing the dynamical changes of bubbles size due to bubble interactions and transition from wall peak to core peak gas void fraction profiles. As a compromise between numerical accuracy and computational time, DQMOM has performed rather well in capturing the essential two-phase flow structures within the medium- and large-sized vertical pipes when compared to those of ABND and homogeneous MUSIG models. From a practical perspective, the ABND model may still be considered as a more viable approach for industrial applications of gas–liquid flow systems.     

Simulation study on the effect of gas permeation on the hydrodynamic characteristics of membrane-assisted micro fluidized beds

Recent research has shown the potential of membrane-assisted fluidized bed reactors for various applications, and for ultra-pure hydrogen production in particular. Due to the excellent mass transfer characteristics of fluidized beds, concentration polarization (i.e. mass transfer limitation) can be overcome and the production capacity of membrane-assisted fluidized bed reactors could be further improved by maximizing the installed membrane area per unit volume, leading to the concept of a micro-structured membrane-assisted fluidized bed reactor. In this study, numerical simulations have been systematically carried out with a discrete particle model to investigate in detail the effects of gas addition and extraction through the confining porous membrane walls on the hydrodynamic characteristics of a single membrane-assisted micro fluidized bed compartment. In particular, the effect of the permeation ratio (amount of gas permeated through the membrane relative to the amount fed) and the installed membrane area on the hydrodynamics was investigated. Gas addition or extraction via the porous membrane walls confining the emulsion phase was simulated via inward or outward directed fluxes of the gas phase, which was found to have a very pronounced influence on the bed hydrodynamics. The effects of gas permeation on the solids circulation pattern, solids holdup distribution and porosity probability density function in membrane-assisted micro fluidized beds have been discussed in great detail. It has been found that gas permeation can have an adverse effect on the bed expansion caused by gas by-passing either through the bed center for the case of gas extraction or close to the membrane walls for the case of gas addition. In addition, the formation of densified zones (increased solids holdup) close to the membrane wall that was observed in case of gas extraction may increase the bed-to-membrane mass transfer resistance. These effects may strongly decrease the gas–solid contacting and the gas residence time, which may deteriorate the reactor performance. On the other hand, it is shown that these problems caused by gas permeation may be avoided by properly tuning the gas velocity through the membrane via membrane area and other design parameters and operating conditions.     

A mixed integer nonlinear optimization model for gas sale company

In this paper the authors propose an optimisation model, called OMoGaS (Optimisation Modelling for Gas Seller), to assist companies dealing with gas retail commercialisation. The model takes into account the limits on price imposed by law on small consumers as well as the gas company policies in order to explore the commercial consequences of different policies. The GAMS framework is used for the optimisation of the defined MINLP model where the profit function is based on the number of contracts with the final consumers, on the tipology of consumers and on the cost supported to meet the final demand while the constraints include information on a maximum daily gas consumption, on yearly maximum and minimum comsumption in order to avoid penalties and on consumption profiles. A case study is presented.     

CFD simulation of gas–solid flow with a cluster structure-dependent drag coefficient model in circulating fluidized beds

To model the effect of clusters on hydrodynamics of gas and particles phases in risers, the interfacial drag coefficient is taken into account in computational fluid dynamic simulations by means of a two-fluid model. The momentum and energy balances that characterize the clusters in the dense phase and dispersed particles in the dilute phase are described by the multi-scale resolution approach. The model of cluster structure-dependent (CSD) drag coefficient is proposed on the basis of the minimization of energy dissipation by heterogeneous drag (MEDHD) in the full range of Reynolds number. The model of CSD drag coefficient is then incorporated into the two-fluid model to simulate flow behavior of gas and particles in a riser. The distributions of volume fraction and velocity of particles are predicted. Simulated results are in agreement with experimental data published in the literature.     

Expansion of a Rarefied Gas Cloud in a Vacuum: Asymptotic Treatment

The unsteady expansion of a rarefied gas of finite mass in an unlimited space is studied. The long-time asymptotic behavior of the solution is examined at Knudsen numbers tending to zero. An asymptotic analysis shows that, in the limit of small Knudsen numbers, the behavior of the macroscopic parameters of the expanding gas cloud at long times (i.e., for small density values) has nothing to do with the free-molecular or continuum flow regimes. This conclusion is unexpected and not obvious, but follows from a uniformly suitable solution constructed by applying the method of outer and inner asymptotic expansions. In particular, the unusual temperature behavior is of interest as applied to remote sensing of rocket exhaust plumes.     

Applications of He’s principles to partial differential equations

This paper applies the variational iteration method (VIM) and semi-inverse variational principle to obtain solutions of linear and nonlinear partial differential equations. The nonlinear model is considered from gas dynamics, fluid dynamics and Burgers equation. The linear model is the heat transfer (diffusion) equation. Results show that variational iteration method is a powerful mathematical tool for solving linear and nonlinear partial differential equations, and therefore, can be widely applied to engineering problems.     

Bi-nonlinear vibration model of tubing string in oil & gas well and its experimental verification

Fluid-induced vibration (FIV) prediction is an important prerequisite work in wear and fatigue analysis of tubing string in oil & gas well. The finite element method, energy method and Hamiltonian principle are comprehensively used to establish a single nonlinear vibration model of pipe conveying fluid, taking into account the longitudinal/lateral coupled vibration. Based on the contact/impact theory of elastic/plastic body, the nonlinear contact-impact model of tubing-casing is established and introduced into the single nonlinear vibration model to form a bi-nonlinear vibration model of tubing string in oil & gas well. The bi-nonlinear model is numerically discretized by the finite element method, solved by Newmark− β method, and verified preliminarily by a classical contact/impact example in literature in which the influence of inflow is not taken into account temporarily. A similar experiment of tubing vibration is designed and completed to further test the validity of the bi-nonlinear vibration model by comparing the frequency-domain and time-domain responses of the experiment with those from the model. The analysis shows that the bi-nonlinear model has good calculation accuracy and the vibration response law is basically consistent with the experimental results, which can provide an effective theoretical analysis tool for FIV behavior of tubing string in oil & gas well.     

A mathematical model for unsteady mixed flows in closed water pipes

We present the formal derivation of a new unidirectional model for unsteady mixed flows in nonuniform closed water pipes.In the case of free surface incompressible flows,the FS-model is formally obtained,using formal asymptotic analysis,which is an extension to more classical shallow water models.In the same way,when the pipe is full,we propose the P-model,which describes the evolution of a compressible inviscid flow,close to gas dynamics equations in a nozzle.In order to cope with the transition between a free surface state and a pressured(i.e.,compressible) state,we propose a mixed model,the PFS-model,taking into account changes of section and slope variation.     

Optimization of the design of recuperative heat exchangers in the exhaust nozzle of an aero engine

Today the needs for safer, cleaner and more affordable civil aero engines are found to be of great importance. Five years ago, the EU initiated an action for the design and the construction of efficient and environmentally friendly aero engines (EEFAE). One of the major European gas turbine industries, MTU, has presented a new technology for an advanced aero engine design, which uses an alternative thermodynamic cycle. The basis of this cycle is the adoption of a recuperation part with the use of a system of heat exchangers, installed in the exhaust nozzle of the aircraft engine. Thermal energy in the turbine exhaust is used in the recuperator to pre-heat the compressor outlet air before combustion. The benefits of this technique are focused on reduced pollutants and decreased fuel consumption. In this work, the procedure of the optimization of this installation, by means of the imposed pressure drop downstream the aircraft engine and the balanced mass inflow to the heat exchangers is presented. The optimization is based on experimental measurements in laboratory conditions and preliminary 2D CFD modeling for the flow inside the exhaust duct and through the heat exchangers. It is shown that with a careful approach, a better arrangement of the heat exchangers can be achieved in order to have a minimum pressure drop in the exhaust nozzle which can positively affect the engine’s performance.     

Performance of turbulence models for flows through rough pipes

The Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations were solved along with turbulence models, namely k–ε, k–ω, Reynolds stress models (RSM), and filtered Navier–Stokes equations along with Large Eddy Simulation (LES) to study the fully-developed turbulent flows in circular pipes roughened by repeated square ribs with various spacings. Solutions of these flows were obtained using the commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software Fluent. The numerical results were validated against experimental measurements and other numerical data published in literature. The performance of the turbulence models was compared and discussed. All the RANS models and LES model were observed to perform equally well in predicting the time-averaged flow statistics. However no instantaneous information can be obtained from the RANS results. Therefore, when a rough overview of the flow process in a pipe roughened by repeated ribs is needed, any one of the RANS models can be of value. On the other hand, the instantaneous as well as time-averaged flows could be studied with more insight using LES, albeit at a cost of CPU effort at least one order higher.     

Efficient simulation of gas–liquid pipe flows using a generalized population balance equation coupled with the algebraic slip model

The inhomogeneous generalized population balance equation, which is discretized with the direct quadrature method of moment (DQMOM), is solved to predict the bubble size distribution (BSD) in a vertical pipe flow. The proposed model is compared with a more classical approach where bubbles are characterized with a constant mean size. The turbulent two-phase flow field, which is modeled using a Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equation approach, is assumed to be in local equilibrium, thus the relative gas and liquid (slip) velocities can be calculated with the algebraic slip model, thereby accounting for the drag, lift, and lubrication forces. The complex relationship between the bubble size distribution and the resulting forces is described accurately by the DQMOM. Each quadrature node and weight represents a class of bubbles with characteristic size and number density, which change dynamically in time and space to preserve the first moments of the BSD. The predictions obtained are validated against previously published experimental data, thereby demonstrating the advantages of this approach for large-scale systems as well as suggesting future extensions to long piping systems and more complex geometries.     

Mixed systems: ODEs – Balance laws

We prove the well posedness of mixed problems consisting of a system of ordinary differential equations coupled with systems of balance laws in domains with moving boundaries. The interfaces between the systems are provided by the boundary data and boundary positions. Various situations that fit into this framework are studied, both analytically and numerically. We consider a piston moving in a pipe full of fluid, a model for fluid-particle interaction and a traffic model. References to other examples in the literature are provided.     

Incorporating dust lift-off into a CFD model of a blast furnace gravity dust-catcher

A gravity dust-catcher separates a mixture of dusts from the spent top gas flow of a blast furnace. These dusts are predominantly made up of limestone, iron ore and coke/coal. As a result of the turbulent gas flow patterns within a dust-catcher, modelling of the flow pattern can be very complex, attributed to the turbulent vortices that can be formed within the main body of the structure. Using data from an experimental prototype test rig, a simple model to capture the lift-off characteristics of particle lift-off from dust pile surfaces is created and incorporated into a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the dust-catcher.The variation of particle separation performance over a typical blast furnace (BF) operational cycle is analysed. An attempt is made to explain the observed phenomena in terms of particle–fluid interaction. It is found that particle separation efficiency is largely unaffected by dust lift-off at low dust-catcher hopper fullness levels, but is significant at higher levels. It is found that the topography of the dust surface is important when predicting particle lift-off trends. It is concluded that this is due to the exposure experienced by a given particle when subjected to a surface velocity.     

基于SD-GM理论的城市交通拥堵收费模型研究

随着中国城市化建设步伐的不断加快,交通拥堵在不断地加剧。同时,因机动车污染物的排放,每年将产生大量的NO_x,从而又会引起严重的大气污染(如“雾霾”污染)。针对这些问题,本文从环境和社会的角度出发,采用系统动力学与灰色系统相结合的方法(SD-GM),构建了城市交通拥堵收费模型,并对模型中主要变量进行动态仿真和决策分析,以此来寻找缓解交通拥堵和减少机动车尾气排放的可行策略。通过现实性测试和敏感性测试,得到拥堵收费的范围不超过100元/天*辆。通过进一步的仿真和结果分析可得到以下结论:(1)在区间[25,40] 内,随着拥堵收费的提高,NO_x存量,机动车出行吸引度和交通拥堵程度都呈下降趋势,而车均道路面积呈上升趋势。(2)但并非拥堵收费越高越好, 超过40 元/天*辆,会产生相反的效果。最后,通过比较分析,得到NO_x存量,机动车出行量,机动车出行吸引度和交通拥堵程度分别下降了约33.76%,39.64%,43.26%,82.25%,而车均道路面积提高了大约65.68%,进而验证了模型的有效性和实用性。     

Modelling thermal front dynamics in microwave heating

The formation and propagation of thermal fronts in a cylindricalmedium that is undergoing microwave heating is studied in detail.The model consists of Maxwell's wave equation coupled to a temperaturediffusion equation containing a bistable nonlinear term. When the thermal diffusivity is sufficiently small the leading-ordertemperature solution of a singular perturbation analysis isused to reduce the system to a free boundary problem. This approximationis then used to derive predictions for the steady-state penetrationand profiles of the temperature and electric fields. These solutionsare valid for arbitrary values of the electric conductivity,and thus extend the previous (small conductivity) results foundin the literature. A quasi-static approximation for the electric field is thenused to obtain an ordinary differential equation for the relaxationdynamics to the steady state. This equation appears to accuratelydescribe the time scale of the electric field's evolution bothwith and without the presence of a strongly coupled temperaturefront, and may be of wider interest than the model for microwaveheating studied here.     

Hyperbolic Balance Laws with a Non Local Source

This paper is devoted to hyperbolic systems of balance laws with non local source terms. The existence, uniqueness and Lipschitz dependence proved here comprise previous results in the literature and can be applied to physical models, such as Euler system for a radiating gas and Rosenau regularization of the Chapman–Enskog expansion.     

Paid-incurred chain claims reserving method

We present a novel stochastic model for claims reserving that allows us to combine claims payments and incurred losses information. The main idea is to combine two claims reserving models (Hertig’s (1985) model and Gogol’s (1993) model ) leading to a log-normal paid-incurred chain (PIC) model. Using a Bayesian point of view for the parameter modelling we derive in this Bayesian PIC model the full predictive distribution of the outstanding loss liabilities. On the one hand, this allows for an analytical calculation of the claims reserves and the corresponding conditional mean square error of prediction. On the other hand, simulation algorithms provide any other statistics and risk measure on these claims reserves.