Modelling and simulation of gas dynamics in an exhaust pipe

The gas dynamics in an exhaust pipe is studied. In particular we focus on the warm up of the catalytic converter in very short times after the engine start. This is done by combustion a small unburnt part of the exhaust gas. This process is classically modelled by gas dynamic equations. Compared to the existing literature we improve the (one-dimensional) modelling approach using a small Mach number technique and a network ansatz for the full exhaust pipe. The final simplified model on one hand still describes the main features and on the other hand it is computationally a few orders of magnitude faster than the original model. Performing numerical simulations we compare the new model to the (classical) full model and to experimental results in the literature.     

GasTurbnLab: a multidisciplinary problem solving environment for gas turbine engine design on a network of nonhomogeneous machines

Gas turbine engines are very complex (with 20–40,000 parts) and have extreme operating conditions. The important physical phenomena take place on scales from 10–100 microns to meters. A complete and accurate dynamic simulation of an entire engine is enormously demanding. Designing a complex system, like a gas turbine engine, will require fast, accurate simulations of computational models from multiple engineering disciplines along with sophisticated optimization techniques to help guide the design process. In this paper, we describe the architecture of an agent-based software framework for the simulation of various aspects of a gas turbine engine, utilizing a “network” of collaborating numerical objects through a set of interfaces among the engine parts. Moreover, we present its implementation using the Grasshopper agent middleware and provide simulation results that show the feasibility of the computational paradigm implemented.     

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.     

Simulation of Premixed Turbulent Combustion in a Gas Engine using the Immersed Boundary Method and a Level Set Flame Model

An efficient simulation approach for turbulent flame brush propagation is a level set formulation closed by the turbulent flame speed. A formulation of the level set equation with the corresponding treatment of the turbulent mass burning rate that is compatible with standard Finite Volume discretization schemes available in computational fluid dynamics codes is employed. In order to simplify and to speed up the meshing process in complicated geometries (here in gas engines) the immersed boundary method in a continuous formulation, where the forces replacing the boundaries are introduced in the momentum conservation equations before discretization, is employed. In our contribution, aspects of the numerical implementation of the level set flame model combined with the immersed boundary formulation in OpenFOAM are presented. First representative simulation results of a homogeneous methane/air mixture combustion in a simplified engine geometry are shown. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the modeling and simulation of boundary flow through partially open pipe ends

The determination of boundary conditions for the Euler equations of gas dynamics in a pipe with partially open pipe ends is considered. The boundary problem is formulated in terms of the exact solution of the Riemann problem and of the St. Venant equation for quasi-steady flow so that a pressure-driven calculation of boundary conditions is defined. The resulting set of equations is solved by a Newton scheme. The proposed algorithm is able to solve for all inflow and outflow situations including choked and supersonic flow.Received: August 7, 2002; revised: November 11, 2002     

A multiwave approximate Riemann solver for ideal MHD based on relaxation. I: theoretical framework

We present a relaxation system for ideal magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) that is an extension of the Suliciu relaxation system for the Euler equations of gas dynamics. From it one can derive approximate Riemann solvers with three or seven waves, that generalize the HLLC solver for gas dynamics. Under some subcharacteristic conditions, the solvers satisfy discrete entropy inequalities, and preserve positivity of density and internal energy. The subcharacteristic conditions are nonlinear constraints on the relaxation parameters relating them to the initial states and the intermediate states of the approximate Riemann solver itself. The 7-wave version of the solver is able to resolve exactly all material and Alfven isolated contact discontinuities. Practical considerations and numerical results will be provided in another paper.     

On the discrepancy principle for iterative and parametric methods to solve linear ill-posed equations

Summary. For the numerical solution of (non-necessarily well-posed) linear equations in Banach spaces we consider a class of iterative methods which contains well-known methods like the Richardson iteration, if the associated resolvent operator fulfils a condition with respect to a sector. It is the purpose of this paper to show that for given noisy right-hand side the discrepancy principle (being a stopping rule for the iteration methods belonging to the mentioned class) defines a regularization method, and convergence rates are proved under additional smoothness conditions on the initial error. This extends similar results obtained for positive semidefinite problems in Hilbert spaces. Then we consider a class of parametric methods which under the same resolvent condition contains the method of the abstract Cauchy problem, and (under a weaker resolvent condition) the iterated method of Lavrentiev. A modified discrepancy principle is formulated for them, and finally numerical illustrations are presented. Received August 29, 1994 / Revised version received September 19, 1995     

BiCGStab,VPAStab and an adaptation to mildly nonlinear systems

The key equations of BiCGStab are summarised to show its connections with Padé and vector-Padé approximation. These considerations lead naturally to stabilised vector-Padé approximation of a vector-valued function (VPAStab), and an algorithm for the acceleration of convergence of a linearly generated sequence of vectors. A generalisation of this algorithm for the acceleration of convergence of a nonlinearly generated system is proposed here, and comparative numerical results are given.     

Preconditioned conjugate gradient methods for large-scale fluid flow applications

The simulation of large-scale fluid flow applications often requires the efficient solution of extremely large nonsymmetric linear and nonlinear sparse systems of equations arising from the discretization of systems of partial differential equations. While preconditioned conjugate gradient methods work well for symmetric, positive-definite matrices, other methods are necessary to treat large, nonsymmetric matrices. The applications may also involve highly localized phenomena which can be addressed via local and adaptive grid refinement techniques. These local refinement methods usually cause non-standard grid connections which destroy the bandedness of the matrices and the associated ease of solution and vectorization of the algorithms. The use of preconditioned conjugate gradient or conjugate-gradient-like iterative methods in large-scale reservoir simulation applications is briefly surveyed. Then, some block preconditioning methods for adaptive grid refinement via domain decomposition techniques are presented and compared. These techniques are being used efficiently in existing large-scale simulation codes.     

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.     

Coupled CFD analysis of hot gas and coolant flow in effusion-cooled combustion chambers

Three different coupled CFD analyses of the hot gas and the coolant flow in effusion-cooled combustion chambers are shown. The common feature of these CFD analyses are the following principles: • solution of the Navier Stokes equations • multi species analysis including hot gas (steam) and coolant (hydrogen) • compressible flow • ideal gas • distributed resistance according to Forchheimer in the combustion chamber wall The differences between these models are given in the following table:

     

Unsteady Flows in Deformable Pipes: The Energy Conservation Law

We derive a quasi-one-dimensional energy equation that corresponds to the flow of a compressible viscous fluid in a deformable pipeline. To describe the flow of such a fluid in a pipeline, we couple this equation with the previously derived continuity and momentum equations as well as with the equations of state for the internal energies of the fluid, the pipe deformations, pressure, and the cross-sectional area of the pipe. The derivation of the equations is based on averaging over the pipeline cross section. The equations obtained are designed for numerical simulations of long-distance transportation of a compressible fluid.     

A mollification method for ill-posed problems

Summary. A mollification method for a class of ill-posed problems is suggested. The idea of the method is very simple and natural: if the data are given inexactly then we try to find a sequence of ``mollification operators" which map the improper data into well-posedness classes of the problem (mollify the improper data). Within these mollified data our problem becomes well-posed. And when these facts are in hand we try to obtain error estimates and optimal or ``quasi-optimal" mollification parameters. The method is working not only for problems in Hilbert spaces, but also for problems in Banach spaces. Applications of the method to concrete problems, like numerical differentiation, parabolic equations backwards in time, the Cauchy problem for the Laplace equation, one- and multidimensional non-characteristic Cauchy problems for parabolic equations (in infinite or finite domains),... give us very sharp stability estimates of H\"older continuous type. In these cases the method is optimal in the sense that it gives the same order of H\"older continuous dependence on the data as for the regularized problems. Furthermore, the method may be implemented numerically using fast Fourier transforms. For the first time a uniform stability estimate of H\"older continuous type of the solution of the heat equation backwards in time in the space for all could be established by our mollification method. A new simple sharp pointwise estimate of H\"older type for the weak solution of a non-characteristic Cauchy problem for parabolic equations in a finite domain is established. Received June 25, 1993 / Revised version received February 18, 1994     

Numerical simulation of two-stage combustion in SI engine with prechamber

Burning lean mixture in spark ignition (SI) engine leads to decrease in temperature of combustion process and is one of the methods of limiting nitric oxide emission and increasing the engine efficiency. The two-stage combustion system of stratified mixture (engine with prechamber) can be an effective method of lean mixture combustion. The paper presents the results of three-dimensional modeling of fuel mixture preparation and combustion in SI engine with sectional combustion chamber powered by liquefied fuel. Three dimensional modeling was performed in KIVA-3V code. The modeling results were compared with results obtained from the analysis of experimental measurements of two-stage combustion test engine operating at the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Control Engineering (Czestochowa University of Technology). The performed simulations of the combustion process provided data concerning the spatial and temporal distributions of turbulent kinetic energy, pressure, temperature and nitric oxides concentration in the combustion chambers of the engine. The engine model with two-stage combustion system properly represents the real processes which occur in the combustion chambers of the test engine. Pressure and temperature courses in function of CA obtained from the experiment and modeling were in good qualitative and quantitative consistence. Comparison of modeled and measured nitric oxide emissions revealed relatively significant discrepancies. In case of λ = 1.4, the measured values of NO_x concentration were 1.75 times higher than the modeled values. In case of λ = 2.0, the modeled and measured values were close to each other and were within the range of measurement error.     

An equivalent pipe network model for free surface flow in porous media

Free surface flow analysis in porous media is challenging in many practical applications with strong non-linearity. An equivalent pipe network model is proposed for the simulation and evaluation of free surface flow in porous media. On the basis of representative elementary volume with homogeneous pore-scale patterns, the pore space of the homogeneous isotropic porous media is conceptualized as a collection of capillary tubes. According to Hagen-Poiseulle's law and flux equivalence principle, equivalent hydraulic parameters and unified governing formulations for the pipe network model are deduced. The two-dimensional free surface flow problem is reduced to a one-dimensional problem of pipe networks and a one-dimensional procedure based on the finite element method is then developed by introducing a continuous penalized Heaviside function. The proposed equivalent pipe network model is verified with results from numerical solutions and laboratory-measured data available in the literature, and good agreements are obtained. The proposed equivalent pipe network model is shown to be effective in analyzing the free surface flow in porous media. The numerical results also indicate that the proposed equivalent pipe network model has weak sensitivity of the mesh size and penalty parameters.     

Stability of a Runge-Kutta method for the Navier-Stokes equation

We investigate the linear stability properties of a Runge-Kutta method for the Navier-Stokes equations. The theoretical stability limit is compared with that encountered in numerical simulations of an initial-boundary value problem. Numerical results from simulation in 3D are presented.     

Global existence of weak solutions for a viscous two-phase model

The purpose of this paper is to explore a viscous two-phase liquid-gas model relevant for well and pipe flow. Our approach relies on applying suitable modifications of techniques previously used for studying the single-phase isothermal Navier-Stokes equations. A main issue is the introduction of a novel two-phase variant of the potential energy function needed for obtaining fundamental a priori estimates. We derive an existence result for weak solutions in a setting where transition to single-phase flow is guaranteed not to occur when the initial state is a true mixture of both phases. Some numerical examples are also included in order to demonstrate characteristic behavior of solutions. In particular, we illustrate how two-phase flow is genuinely different compared to single-phase flow concerning the behavior of an initial mass discontinuity.     

Un algoritmo de contacto mortar aplicable a problemas tridimensionales

In this paper we propose a mortar algorithm for the study of contact mechanics in three dimensional elasticity problems. The projection surface used for integrating the equations is selected through a local cartesiana base defined in each contact element. In this way, some difficulties in the algorithm implementation as well as in the linearization of the equations are avoided. The proposed examples show that the algorithm satisfies the patch tests. Finally, we use the algorithm in an industrial application, the contact of an internal combustion engine valve with its seat.     

Adaptive linearized models for optimization of gas networks

We are interested in simulation and optimization of gas networks. Usually, a gas network consists of various components like compressors and valves connected by pipes. The aim is to run the network cost efficiently whereas demands of consumers have to be satisfied. This results in a complex nonlinear mixed integer problem. We address this task with methods provided by discrete optimization. Therefore, the gas dynamics in all pipes and at compressors must be described by piecewise linear constraints. We introduce an adaptive approach for the linearization process to handle the complexity on the one hand and the aimed accuracy on the other and present numerical simulation and optimization results based on our model. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)