Controllable layer-by-layer assembly based on brucite and alginates with the assistance of spray drying and flame retardancy influenced by gradients of alginates

With the aim of tailoring and controlling surface assembly, multifunctional flame retardants (FRs) were obtained based on depositing alginates and silane coupling agents on brucite via the spray-drying-assisted layer-by-layer assembly technique. The assembly was controllable in both structure and gradient mass. Two series of FRs were named CuFR1-3 and NiFR1-3 based on the assembly content of metal alginates. With the assistance of spray drying, good compatibility between FRs and ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) was obtained, resulting in better mechanical properties. Meanwhile, the FRs improved flame retardancy and smoke suppression when used in EVA composites. With 55 wt % loading, composites with CuFR3 and NiFR1 passed UL 94 V-0 rating, while those with brucite were not rated. The peak of heat release rate decreased by 51.7 and 49.3% while the residue increased by 9.8 and 11.9%, respectively. The FRs also reduced the smoke and CO production rates. For the two series of FRs, the relationship between FR efficiency and alginate contents is different. The CuFRs assembled more copper alginates and exerted better flame retardancy caused by lower catalytic graphitization. NiFRs exerted a higher catalyzing efficiency at low assembly content. However, at high assembly content, the catalytic graphitization effect would decrease by thermally oxidized degradation leading to excess nickel alginates. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 47570.     

Two-dimensional modeling for physical processes in direct flame fuel cells

Commercial direct flame fuel cells (DFFC) need larger cell surface area for higher power output. In such cases, multi-dimensional effects play significant roles on cell performances. In this work, a two-dimensional numerical model is developed to illustrate physical behaviors associated with the multi-dimensional effects in DFFCs. It is revealed that DFFCs suffer from the negative consequences of non-uniform distributions of temperature, species and voltage in radial direction. Non-uniform distributions of temperature and species results in the decrease of current density at edge regions of DFFCs, owing to lower ionic conductivities and fuel species concentration. And the non-uniform voltage distribution in radial direction causes the decreases of current density at center regions of DFFCs due to the lower over-potential there. Therefore, current density distributions in electrolytes are likely to be M-shaped. The multi-dimensional effects become progressively important with increasing the size of solid oxide fuel cells. Comparing with the DFFC with a SOFC with small cell radius (6.5 mm), a DFFC with a SOFC with large cell radius (33.75 mm) has 25–30% lower maximum power density. We also reveal that cross-over electronic currents in samaria-doped-ceria electrolytes and fuel species starvation due to the secondary oxidation are dominant factors on the cell performance loss at high cell temperatures (∼1000 K).     

Experimental investigation on the self-acceleration of 10%H2/90%CO/air turbulent expanding premixed flame

The self-acceleration characteristics of a syngas/air mixture turbulent premixed flame were experimentally evaluated using a 10% H₂/90% CO/air mixture turbulent premixed flame by varying the turbulence intensity and equivalence ratio at atmospheric pressure and temperature. The propagation characteristics of the turbulent premixed flame including the variation in the flame propagation speed and turbulent burning velocity of the syngas/air mixture turbulent premixed flame were evaluated. In addition, the effect of the self-acceleration characteristics of the turbulent premixed flame was also evaluated. The results show that turbulence gradually changes the radius of the premixed flame from linear growth to nonlinear growth. With the increase of turbulence intensity, the formation of a cellular structure of the flame front accelerated, increasing the flame propagation speed and burning speed. In the transition stage, the acceleration exponent and fractal excess of the turbulent premixed flame decreased with increasing equivalence ratio and increased with increasing turbulence intensity at an equivalence ratio of 0.6. The acceleration exponent was always greater than 1.5.     

Experimental studies on characteristics of fire whirl in a vertical shaft

An internal fire whirl can be generated readily in a tall shaft model with appropriate gap width at one corner. Experimental study was carried out to investigate the relationship between the characteristics of an IFW and the corner gap width in a 9‐m‐tall vertical shaft model. The vertical shaft had a 2.1 m by 2.1 m square section with gasoline pool fire of different diameters burning inside. The gap width was varied to investigate its impact on fire whirl characteristics, such as flame development, swirling intensity, flame height, flame temperature, and heat release rate of the gasoline pool fire. Vigorous flame swirling motions were generated when the ratio of the gap width to the shaft section perimeter was within the range 0.16 to 0.21. From the flame streamline angle, it was observed that the swirling component was much stronger than buoyancy component near the bottom of burning region. The swirling component decreased and became roughly the same as buoyancy near the middle. Finally, it diminished to being much weaker than buoyancy near the top of the fire. These observations suggest that the Froude number Fr decreased from a large number to 1, and then continued to decrease to 0.     

A numerical investigation of hydrogen injection into noble gas working fluids

The thermodynamic efficiency of internal combustion engines is primarily dependent on the compression ratio and specific heat ratio of the working fluid. Due to a higher specific heat ratio, using a noble gas and oxygen instead of air can increase the thermal efficiency. The lack of nitrogen in the working fluid also eliminates NOx formation. In this study, the three-dimensional turbulent injection of hydrogen into a constant volume combustion chamber has been modeled and compared to mixtures of oxygen with nitrogen, argon, and xenon at different injection velocities. The results indicate that the hydrogen jet has a longer penetration length in nitrogen compared to argon and xenon. However, smaller penetration lengths lead to more complex jet shapes and larger cone angles. Combustion in a noble gas environment results in higher temperatures and OH radical concentrations, due in part to lower specific heats and the jet characteristics. Furthermore, mixedness is investigated using mean spatial variation and mean scalar dissipation. Hydrogen in argon shows a better mixing rate compared to nitrogen and xenon due to the higher diffusivity. The results indicate that reduction in mean spatial variation can lead to a shorter ignition delay.     

Study on flame propagation of premixed N2O–NH3/N2O–NH3–C3H8 in cylindrical vessels

The flame propagation behavior of premixed N₂O–NH₃/N₂O–NH₃–C₃H₈ was experimentally investigated in elongated vented cylindrical vessels with central ignition. The effect of vessel diameter and propane concentration ([C₃H₈] = 1.96–7.41 wt.%) on the process of flame acceleration was studied and discussed. The results revealed that the maximum value of flame acceleration rate was found in the cylindrical vessel with an inner diameter of 7 mm, followed by 5 mm, 10 mm, and 15 mm. At a constant vessel diameter, the rate of flame acceleration was noticeably improved by adding propane ([C₃H₈] = 1.96–3.85 wt.%) to the premixed N₂O–NH₃. However, a further increase in the propane fraction up to 5.66%, caused a decline in the flame acceleration rate, probably as a consequence of a combined effect between the reduction of oxygen and greater dilution of the ammonia in the total concentration.     

基于火箭遥测的地面站接收信号情况预估方法

火箭尾焰造成的信号衰减是地面测量点位选择重点考虑的问题,通常采用传统β角确定火箭尾焰对遥测地面站接收信号的影响程度。针对新型固体火箭发射中β角分析法对遥测地面站接收信号情况预测不准确的问题,文中在分析影响遥测地面站信号接收因素的基础上,提出了一种采用信号衰减方向性预估遥测地面站接收信号情况的模型。通过分析火箭遥测实测飞行姿态、位置以及地面遥测设备实际跟踪信号情况确定了模型参数,并通过实例计算证明了该方法优的优越性。     

WSGG models for radiative heat transfer calculations in hydrogen and hydrogen-mixture flames at various pressures

Radiative heat transfer strongly influences pollutant emission prediction in combustion systems. In this work, the weighted sum of gray gas (WSGG) models have been developed for calculating radiative heat transfer in hydrogen and hydrogen-mixture flames. The total pressure effect on cut-off width of the Lorentz line profile is analyzed and properly considered in the line by line (LBL) calculations. Based on the LBL benchmark results, two sets of WSGG model correlations have been proposed for H₂O and its mixture with CO₂ at a molar ratio (Mr) of 3, representing the typical combustion products of the hydrogen and a hydrogen-rich mixture (e.g., 50% hydrogen and 50% methane). The WSGG models are applicable and accurate with a total pressure ranging from 1 to 60 atm. Partial pressure is explicitly applied as an independent variable in the model coefficients to account for its nonlinear effect on gas emissivity, which is particularly important for a participating gas medium with a large amount of H₂O at a total pressure below 5 atm. Detailed studies are carried out to solve radiative heat transfer in non-isothermal and non-homogeneous gas media at different conditions. Results show improvement over the existing WSGG models at the atmospheric pressure and have good agreement with LBL solutions under various conditions.     

Experimental investigation of unconfined spherical and cylindrical flame propagation in hydrogen-air mixtures

This paper presents results of experimental investigations on spherical and cylindrical flame propagation in pre-mixed H₂/air-mixtures in unconfined and semi-confined geometries. The experiments were performed in a facility consisting of two transparent solid walls with 1 m² area and four weak side walls made from thin plastic film. The gap size between the solid walls was varied stepwise from thin layer geometry (6 mm) to cube geometry (1 m). A wide range of H₂/air-mixtures with volumetric hydrogen concentrations from 10% to 45% H₂ was ignited between the transparent solid walls. The propagating flame front and its structure was observed with a large scale high speed shadow system. Results of spherical and cylindrical flame propagation up to a radius of 0.5 m were analyzed. The presented spherical burning velocity model is used to discuss the self-acceleration phenomena in unconfined and unobstructed pre-mixed H₂/air flames.