Investigation on the flow characteristics of a novel multi-blade combined agitator by time-resolved particle image velocimetry and large eddy simulation

We investigated the flow characteristics in a tank of H/T = 1.5 stirred by a novel multi-blade combined agitator (MBC) by using time-resolved particle image velocimetry and large eddy simulation approach. The predictions were assessed by Y⁺ values, Taylor microscale and power spectrum analysis, as well as experimental validation of velocity distributions. Results demonstrate that the MBC agitator can load the energy into the system effectively with a power number of 12.5 in a turbulent regime, resulting in improved axial and radial mass exchange. The upper and lower short blades produce an axial down-flow in the top half and an axial up-flow in the bottom half, respectively. Part of axial flows change to radial flows by the radial pumping of the long blades, meanwhile, the impingement of two axial flows improves the axial mass exchange. These flow characteristics lead to an obvious improvement in the turbulent kinetic energy distribution uniformity with higher turbulent intensity.     

Phase behaviour modelling of Athabasca bitumen for in situ combustion applications

Phase behaviour modelling of reservoir fluid is a fundamental step for reservoir simulation. Furthermore, as the complexity of the recovery process increases, the fluid model plays a more important role in the reliability of the simulation outputs. Although the in situ combustion enhanced oil recovery method (ISC) is one of the most complex recovery techniques available in the petroleum engineering literature, for most of the simulation jobs related to this elaborate process only simple and rudimentary fluid characterization layouts are considered. In this work, the principal fluid properties of Athabasca bitumen with regard to the ISC process are recognized, extracted from the literature, validated for consistency, and used for the development of an inclusive and accurate fluid model. Then the fluid model is fully developed while considering the ISC reaction kinetics so that the model has both accuracy, indispensable for phase behaviour modelling, and consistency, essential for the reactions definitions.     

Thermo-economic analysis and optimization of a combined Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system with LNG cold energy and waste heat recovery of dual-fuel marine engine

A combined Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system with liquefied nature gas (LNG) cold energy and dual-fuel (DF) marine engine waste heat utilization was proposed. Engine exhaust gas and engine jacket cooling water were adopted as parallel heat sources. Thermo-economic analyses of the proposed system with 32 working fluids combinations were performed. Two objective functions covering thermal efficiencies and economic index were employed for performance evaluation. Afterward, the effects of operation pressure on the objective functions were investigated. Finally, the optimal conditions were obtained from the Pareto front with the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II) method. The results show that the proposed ORC system has better energy recovery performances than the parallel ORC system. R1150-R600a-R290, R1150-R601a-R600a, and R170-R601-R290 are determined as the three most promising working fluids combinations. Under optimized conditions, the output power range is 199.97 to 218.51 kW, the energy efficiency range is 13.64% to 15.62%, and the exergy efficiency range is 25.29% to 27.3%. The payback period ranges from 8.36 to 8.74 years. The working fluids selection helps to reduce the exergy destruction of intermediate heat exchanger, which could be up to 30.59%.     

Effect of free stream angle on mixing performance of hydrogen multi-jets in supersonic combustion chamber

The fuel mixing process within the combustion chamber is a critical procedure for advance of scramjet engine. In current study, the influence of free stream angle on the fuel mixing process of multi jets was thoroughly investigated. This research attempts to applied computational technique to disclose the structure of multi-fuel jets when the supersonic air stream is not normal to the jet direction. The effect of both positive and negative supersonic free stream on the diffusion and penetration of multi-hydrogen jets is fully described. The attention of this research is the flow structure of the multi jets and their interaction in the presence of different free stream angle. Our results indicate that the positive free stream angle expands the mixing zone in the downstream while the negative angle of free stream limited jet distribution inside the combustor. Our results show that mixing efficiency increase approximately 50% when the angle of free stream augments from +20° to −20°. According to our findings, mixing efficiency surges up to 17% when the jet spaces are increased from 4Dj to 10 Dj.     

Mass transport limitations in microchannel methanol-reforming reactors for hydrogen production

The potential of methanol reforming systems to greatly improve productivity in chemical reactors has been limited, due in part, to the effect of mass transfer limitations on the production of hydrogen. There is a need to determine whether or not a microchannel reforming reactor system is operated in a mass transfer-controlled regime, and provide the necessary criteria so that mass transfer limitations can be effectively eliminated in the reactor. Three-dimensional numerical simulations were carried out using computational fluid dynamics to investigate the essential characteristics of mass transport processes in a microchannel reforming reactor and to develop criteria for determining mass transfer limitations. The reactor was designed for thermochemically producing hydrogen from methanol by steam reforming. The mass transfer effects involved in the reforming process were evaluated, and the role of various design parameters was determined for the thermally integrated reactor. In order to simplify the mathematics of mass transport phenomena, use was made of dimensionless numbers or ratios of parameters that numerically describe the physical properties in the reactor without units. The results indicated that the performance of the reactor can be greatly improved by means of proper design of catalyst layer thickness and through adjusting feed composition to minimize or reduce mass transfer limitations in the reactor. There is not an effective method to reduce channel dimensions if the flow rate remains constant, or to reduce fluid velocities if the residence time is kept constant. The rate of the reforming reaction is limited by mass transfer near the entrance of the reactor and by kinetics further downstream, when the heat transfer in the autothermal system is efficient. Finally, the criteria that can be used to distinguish between different mass transport and kinetics regimes in the reactor with a first-order reforming reaction were presented.     

Design of a methanol reformer for on-board production of hydrogen as fuel for a 3 kW High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell power system

The method of Computational Fluid Dynamics is used to predict the process parameters and select the optimum operating regime of a methanol reformer for on-board production of hydrogen as fuel for a 3 kW High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell power system. The analysis uses a three reactions kinetics model for methanol steam reforming, water gas shift and methanol decomposition reactions on Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalyst. Numerical simulations are performed at single channel level for a range of reformer operating temperatures and values of the molar flow rate of methanol per weight of catalyst at the reformer inlet. Two operating regimes of the fuel processor are selected which offer high methanol conversion rate and high hydrogen production while simultaneously result in a small reformer size and a reformate gas composition that can be tolerated by phosphoric acid-doped high temperature membrane electrode assemblies for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Based on the results of the numerical simulations, the reactor is sized, and its design is optimized.     

Improved indoor environment through optimised ventilator and furniture positioning: A case of slum rehabilitation housing,Mumbai, India

This study optimized the ventilator and furniture location of a tenement unit in a low-income urban habitat to obtain maximum experiential indoor environmental quality (e-IEQ) over the breathing zone. Hypothetical interior layouts using a combination of the two design parameters of ventilator location and bed position were generated for optimizing the design layout. This layout could promote maximum indoor airflow and minimum indoor air temperature and contaminant concentration. In this study, an improved indoor environment is hypothesized to be attainable through improved natural ventilation and thermal performance in the occupied zones. A sequential methodology involving “parametric design modeling–computational simulation–multiobjective optimization–multicriteria decision making”-based framework was selected. Results exhibited that the currently designed tenement unit had a poor indoor environment, whereas the hypothesized iterated layout “optimized design layout, scenario 3 (ODL 3)” derived from the optimization and decision-making algorithm performed effectively in providing e-IEQ. An increase in experiential indoor air velocity by 0.2 m/s and a decrease in temperature by 2 °C were observed over the monitoring point in the ODL 3 considering the existing scenario. Therefore, this study can find a way toward the development of sustainable habitat design guidelines under upcoming slum redevelopment policies across the nation.     

高pH值完井液中钛合金管材的腐蚀行为研究

基于高温高压腐蚀速率和原位电化学测试,并结合分子动力学模拟和第一性原理计算,探讨了钛合金(TC4)管材在高pH值完井液中的腐蚀行为,以及钝化膜的热力学稳定性。结果表明:TC4钛合金在180℃的高pH值磷酸盐完井液中的腐蚀极为严重,其均匀腐蚀速率高达0.4429mm/a;在高pH值磷酸盐完井液中,TC4钛合金的腐蚀为阳极反应过程控制,随着温度的升高,其腐蚀电位、腐蚀产物膜的膜阻和极化电阻显著降低,腐蚀反应的热力学驱动力增大、动力学阻力降低,腐蚀电流密度显著升高;在碱性溶液中,TiO_2钝化膜的钛氧键发生不同程度断裂,并且随着温度升高、碱性增强,TiO_2与溶液的界面结合能逐渐增大,钝化膜的热力学稳定性明显降低;在碱性焦磷酸钾溶液中,TiO_2钝化膜均可与K_2HPO_4、K_3PO_4反应生成疏松多孔的KTiOPO_4腐蚀产物膜,但TiO_2与K_3PO_4反应的热力学倾向更大。     

Interaction of two in-line bubbles of equal size rising in viscous liquid

The interaction of bubbles is the key to understand gas–liquid bubbling flow. Two-dimensional axis-symmetry computational fluid dynamics simulations on the interactive bubbles were performed with VOF method,which was validated by experimental work. It is testified that several different bubble interactive behaviors could be acquired under different conditions. Firstly, for large bubbles(d: 4, 6, 8, 10 mm), the trailing bubble rising velocity and aspect ratio have negative correlations with liquid viscosity and surface tension. The influences of viscosity and surface tension on leading bubble are negligible. Secondly, for smaller bubbles(d: 1, 2 mm), the results are complicated. The two bubbles tend to move together due to the attractive force by the wake and the potential repulsive force. Especially for high viscous or high surface tension liquid, the bubble pairs undergo several times acceleration and deceleration. In addition, bubble deformation plays an important role during bubble interaction which cannot be neglected.     

Parametric optimization of packed bed for activated coal fly ash waste heat recovery using CFD techniques

Coal fly ash is an industrial solid waste generated from coal preparation during the processing and cleaning of coal for electric power generation. Comprehensive investigation on the reutilization of waste heat of activated coal fly ash is of great economic significance. The method of recovering the waste heat, proposed in this study,is the transfer of heat from activated coal fly ash to gas with the movement of air using the packed bed, providing valuable energy sources for preheating the raw coal fly ash to reduce the overall energy consumption. The investigation is carried on the heat transfer characteristics of gas–solid(activated coal fly ash) phases and air temperature fields of the packed bed under some key conditions via computational fluid dynamics. A two dimensional geometry is utilized to represent key parts of packed bed. The distribution mechanism of the temperature field for gas phase is analyzed based on the transient temperature contours at different times. The results show that the obtained rule of gas–solid heat transfer can effectively evaluate the influences of operating parameters on the air temperature in the packed bed. Simultaneously, it is found that no temperature differences exist in the hot air at the outlet of the packed bed. The investigation provides guidance for the design and optimization of other similar energy recovery apparatuses in industries.