Effect of hydraulic oil compressibility on the volumetric efficiency of a diaphragm compressor for hydrogen refueling stations

The low volumetric efficiency of the diaphragm compressor under hydrogen refueling process, which hereby results in poor energy efficiency and high cost of hydrogen applications, should be paid attention to. This paper presents theoretical analysis and experimental investigation of the factors affecting the volumetric efficiency of the diaphragm compressor for hydrogen refueling process, focusing on the influence of hydraulic oil compressibility. A mathematical model was established to estimate the volumetric efficiency of diaphragm compressors, in which the effects of clearance volume, superheating of suction gas and pressure loss were taken into account and the emphasis was focused on the compressibility of hydraulic oil. A test rig was built to validate the theoretical model and further experimental investigations were carried out to identify the factors influencing the oil compressibility and hereby the volumetric efficiency. The volumetric efficiency was measured and compared under varied oil compressibility conditions by varying elastic modulus, oil overflow pressure and oil volume. The results indicated that the measured volumetric efficiency agrees well with the calculated value. The compression and expansion of hydraulic oil have a dominant influence on the volumetric efficiency, resulting in a loss of 37% of volumetric efficiency as compared to 2.4%, 18% and 1%, respectively for losses associated with clearance volume, superheating of suction gas and pressure loss, for a diagram compressor under refueling conditions with suction pressure of 30 MPa and discharge pressure of 90 MPa. The volumetric efficiency reduced rapidly with the increased oil overflow pressure, at a rate of 5% decrease with every 10 MPa rise in oil overflow pressure. As the oil volume increased by 100% of the stroke volume, the volumetric efficiency droped by 5.5%.     

Heat Transfer Enhancement in Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchangers Using Porous Media

A numerical simulation has been carried out to investigate the heat transfer enhancement in a shell-and-tube heat exchanger using a porous medium inside its shell and tubes, separately. A three-dimensional geometry with k-? turbulent model is used to predict the heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of the flow. The effects of porosity and dimensions of these media on the heat exchanger's thermal performance and pressure drop are analyzed. Inside the shell, the entire tube bundle is wrapped by the porous medium, whereas inside the tubes the porous media are located in two different ways: (1) at the center of the tubes, and (2) attached to the inner wall of the tubes. The results showed that this method can improve the heat transfer at the expense of higher pressure drop. Evaluating the method showed that using porous media inside the shell, with particular dimension and porosity can increase the heat transfer rate better than pressure drop. Using this method inside the tubes leads to two diverse results: In the first configuration, pressure loss prevails over the heat transfer augmentation and it causes energy loss, whereas in the second configuration a great performance enhancement is observed.     

Theoretical study of the dynamic characteristics of a self-commutating liquid piston hydrogen compressor

Hydrogen is being more and more widely deployed in various fields for its ‘clean’ character. For applications in automobiles where hydrogen has already been adopted for years, higher pressure means better mileage. To improve the pressure of the hydrogen compressor, a novel self-commutating liquid piston hydrogen compressor is proposed in the present study. A two-stage hydrogen booster is designed on both sides of the hydraulic cylinder piston, which is driven by a spool installed in the cylinder piston. The benefits of the novel hydrogen compressor are reducing the throttling loss and enhancing the response of the piston. Furthermore, the principle of the hydrogen compressor is illustrated, based on which a dynamic model is established while taking oil compressibility, leakage and flow force in the compression process into consideration. Moreover, system simulation model is established by applying the simulation software, verifying the feasibility and validity of the novel structure. Accordingly, the energy efficiency on the mechanical-hydraulic structure is improved.     

Transient flow performance and heat transfer characteristic in the cylinder of hydraulic driving piston hydrogen compressor during compression stroke

With the advantages of large flow capacity and high pressure, the use of hydraulic driving piston compressors in hydrogen refueling stations is becoming the development trend. Understanding transient flow and heat transfer characteristic is the key issue for the design and application of hydrogen compressors. The transient model of the hydraulic driving piston compressor is constructed by dynamic mesh and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) real hydrogen model, which accurately predicts flow field and heat transfer. Moreover, the effect of piston reciprocating cycle frequency on hydrogen parameters variation and heat transfer characteristic is investigated. Adiabatic compression theory is commonly applied in the design of reciprocating compressors. The results show that due to the heat transfer, the exhaust temperature predicted by the adiabatic compression theory is 6.29 K higher than the actual value. This study provides beneficial references for the design optimization and reliable operation of hydraulic driving piston hydrogen compressors.     

Liquid piston gas compression

A liquid piston concept is proposed to improve the efficiency of gas compression and expansion. Because a liquid can conform to an irregular chamber volume, the surface area to volume ratio in the gas chamber can be maximized using a liquid piston. This creates near-isothermal operation, which minimizes energy lost to heat generation. A liquid piston eliminates gas leakage and replaces sliding seal friction with viscous friction. The liquid can also be used as a medium to carry heat into and out of the compression chamber. A simulation is presented of the heat transfer and frictional forces for a reciprocating piston and a liquid piston. In the application of an air compressor, with a pressure ratio of 9.5:1 and a cycle frequency of 20 Hz, the liquid piston decreased the energy consumption by 19% over the reciprocating piston. The liquid piston and the reciprocating piston exhibited a total efficiency of 83% and 70% respectively. The liquid piston demonstrated significant improvements in the total compression efficiency in comparison to a conventional reciprocating piston. This gain in efficiency was accomplished through increasing the heat transfer during the gas compression by increasing the surface area to volume ratio in the compression chamber.     

Enhancing solar energy collection by using curved flow technology coupled with flow in porous media: an experimental study

In this study two solar energy collectors were designed and built. To enhance the heat transfer characteristics, flow in curved channel technology is used. Porous media (with 0.1453 porosity) composed of coarse aluminum chips fill the flow channels to provide for further increase in heat transfer performance and for extra energy storage capability.Measured data were recorded water flow rates that range between 50 and 400 l/h. The results show that the enhancement of heat transfer characteristics associated with the existence of porous media does not improve the calculated collector daily efficiency. The collector daily efficiency reduces during sunlight relative to that for that of clean collectors by approximately 1.0% and 2.0% at flow rates of 300 and 200 l/h, respectively. The daily efficiency at 300, 200 l/h flow rates are 60%, 56%, respectively, for the collector without porous media and 59%, 54%, respectively for the collector packed with porous media.It is noticed that using porous medium significantly decreases the rate of decline in water temperature to approximately half its value for the case without porous medium for flow rate of 300 l/h during the absence of sunlight. Also using porous medium will decrease the temperature rise across the collector during sunlight.The maximal outlet temperature reached was 73 °C for the collector without porous media at 70 l/h flow rate and 60 °C for the collector backed with porous medium at 50 l/h flow rate.     

Study on the dynamic characteristics of the free piston in the ionic liquid compressor for hydrogen refuelling stations by the fluid-structure interaction modelling

The ionic liquid compressor is promising for hydrogen refuelling stations, where the dynamic characteristics of the free piston are crucial for adjusting the compressor performance. This paper presents an investigation of the dynamic characteristics of the free piston in the ionic liquid compressor through a fluid-structure interaction modelling in three typical conditions. The results show that in the typical condition with no impact, phenomenons of buffering, oil charging, and oil overflow are observed in the oil pressure variation. Three features are found in the motion curve: asymmetric motion with a delay of reversal due to the buffering effect, variable location of the dead centre, and fluctuation in the piston velocity. When the impact occurs at the TDC, an opposite variation trend is observed in the gas and oil pressure curve. In the typical condition with impact at the BDC, the oil pressure drops below the atmospheric pressure.     

Porous media combustion for micro thermophotovoltaic system applications

The micro combustor is the key component of the micro TPV power generator. To obtain high power density and performance efficiency, it is important for a micro combustor to achieve a high and uniform temperature distribution along the wall. In this paper, we compare the performance of a micro cylindrical combustor with and without employing porous media. Results indicate that packing the combustor with porous media can significantly enhance the heat transfer between the high temperature combustion products and the emitter wall. The use of porous media increases the contact area thereby increasing the temperature along the wall of the micro combustor resulting in an increase in its radiation energy. The effects of some parameters on radiation energy of the micro combustor are also highlighted.     

Numerical analysis of two-stroke free piston engine operating on HCCI combustion

An opposed-piston hydraulic free piston engine operating with homogenous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion, has been proposed by State Key Laboratory of Engines as a means of significantly improving the IC engine’s cycle thermal efficiency and lowering exhaust emissions. Single and multi-zone Chemkin model with detailed chemical kinetics, and unique piston dynamics extracted from one dimensional gas dynamic model, have been used to analyze the combustion characteristics and engine performance. Intake heating, variable compression ratio and internal EGR are utilized to control the combustion phasing and duration in the cycle simulations, revealing the critical factors and possible limits of performance improvement relative to conventional crank engines. Furthermore, real engine effects such as heat transfer with air swirl, residual mass fraction, thermal stratification, and heat loss fraction between zones are considered in the sequential CFD/multi-zone method to approach the realistic engine performance at an acceptable knock level.     

The influences of thermophysical properties of porous media on superadiabatic combustion with reciprocating flow

The influences of thermophysical properties of porous media on superadiabatic combustion with reciprocating flow is numerically studied in order to improve the understanding of the complex heat transfer and optimum design of the combustor. The heat transfer performance of a porous media combustor strongly depends on the thermophysical properties of the porous material. In order to explore how the material properties influence reciprocating superadiabatic combustion of premixed gases in porous media (short for RSCP), a two‐dimensional mathematical model of a simplified RSCP combustor is developed based on the hypothesis of local thermal non‐equilibrium between the solid and the gas phases by solving separate energy equations for these two phases. The porous media is assumed to emit, absorb, and isotropically scatter radiation. The finite‐volume method is used for computing radiation heat transfer processes. The flow and temperature fields are calculated by solving the mass, moment, gas and solid energy, and species conservation equations with a finite difference/control volume approach. Since the mass fraction conservation equations are stiff, an operator splitting method is used to solve them. The results show that the volumetric convective heat transfer coefficient and extinction coefficient of the porous media obviously affect the temperature distributions of the combustion chamber and burning speed of the gases, but thermal conductivity does not have an obvious effect. It indicates that convective heat transfer and heat radiation are the dominating ways of heat transfer, while heat conduction is a little less important. The specific heat of the porous media also has a remarkable impact on temperature distribution of gases and heat release rate. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 35(5): 336–350, 2006; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20120     

Enhanced Evaporation in a Multilayer Porous Media Under Heat Localization: A Numerical Study

Evaporation and steam generation are two of the most vital processes in industry. A new method to advance the efficiency of evaporation involves localizing heat at the water surface where the vapor escapes into the air to minimize energy loss. In this research, we numerically investigate the improvement of a novel evaporation process via solar heat localization in a porous medium. A layer of carbon foam with a combination of interconnected and dead-end pores with a high hydrophilicity surface adjacent to a layer of expanded graphite with known porosity and properties were modeled numerically using a finite volume method. The hydrophilic porous media facilitates the capillary forces for better transportation of the bulk water through the porous media to the top surface of the porous media where the absorbed solar energy is delivered to the water inside the pores for evaporation. Continuity, momentum, heat and mass transfer equations were solved in this modeling effort. The modeling results were validated with the experimental data available in the literature. The findings in this numerical study can shed light on the complex interplay between the fluid dynamics and heat and mass transfer across the porous medium, which are important for efficient evaporation processes.     

Investigations of Heat Transfer Enhancement in a Channel with Staggered Porous Ribs by the Preconditioned Density-Based Algorithm

The preconditioned density-based algorithm and two-domain approach were used to investigate the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in a channel with staggered porous/solid ribs. In the porous zone, the momentum equations were formulated by the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer model; and the local thermal equilibrium (LTE) model was adopted for energy equation. At the porous/fluid interface, the stress–continuity interfacial condition was utilized. The governing equations are solved by the preconditioned density-based control-volume method, with preconditioning matrix for equations of porous domain adopted, aiming to eliminate the equation stiffness of the porous seepage flow. The effects of Reynolds number, geometry parameters of ribs (rib length and thickness), and physical property of porous media (permeability and porosity) on the flow pattern and heat transfer performance were analyzed. Results indicate that, compared with that of solid ribs, the recirculating bubble behind the porous ribs is completely detached from it because of the permeability of porous media, and the size of the recirculating bubble is suppressed. The parameters that would affect the mass flow of fluid penetrating the porous ribs, including permeability, Reynolds number, baffle length and thickness, have remarkable influence on the flow pattern. All the aforementioned parameters would affect the local heat transfer performance.     

用耦合分析法研究内燃机活塞环-气缸套传热润滑摩擦问题

在以往对活塞环-气缸套润滑摩擦性能的研究中,大都忽略了活塞组-气缸套间的导热,或者将导热过程简化,这与该摩擦副的实际润滑摩擦状况相去甚远.把柴油机缸内燃气、活塞、活塞环、润滑油膜、气缸套、冷却介质作为一个耦合体,考虑各部件间及相应物理场间的耦合关系,采用耦合分析法建立了活塞环-气缸套的三维非稳态热混合润滑摩擦模型.该模型以三维瞬态热传导模型、动压润滑模型和润滑油膜传热模型为基础,并考虑了润滑油的黏温变化、燃烧室燃气泄漏、表面粗糙度、油膜破裂位置以及气缸套圆周方向上的非轴对称性等影响因素.采用上述模型,对6110型柴油机活塞环-气缸套摩擦副进行了传热、润滑、摩擦耦合分析,得到了活塞组-气缸套的温度场,并用试验证实了耦合模型的正确性;与此同时,得出了润滑油膜的温度、黏度、最小油膜厚度和摩擦热随曲轴转角和活塞环周向高度的分布曲线.     

Effect of porous media on the performance of the double-pass flat plate solar air heater

The heat transfer characteristics and performance of the double-pass flat plate solar air heater with and without porous media are studied numerically. The mathematical models described the heat transfer characteristics of the double-pass flat plate solar air heater are derived from the energy conservation equations. The implicit method of finite-difference scheme is employed to solve these models. The effect of the thermal conductivity of the porous media on the heat transfer characteristics and performance is considered. The results obtained from the model are validated by comparison with experimental data of previous researchers. There is reasonable agreement between the present model and experiment.     

Experimental investigation of a new thermal energy storage system using thermo‐sensitive magnetic fluid and porous medium

In this paper, a novel thermal energy storage (TES) system based on a thermo‐sensitive magnetic fluid (MF) in a porous medium is proposed to store low‐temperature thermal energy. In order to have a better understanding about the fluid flow and heat‐transfer mechanism in the TES system, four different configurations, using ferrofluid as the basic fluid and either copper foam or porous carbon with different porosity (90 and 100 PPI, respectively) as the packed bed, are investigated experimentally. Furthermore, two thermal performance parameters are evaluated during the heat charging cycle, which are thermal storage velocity and thermal storage capacity of the materials under a range of magnetic field strength. It is shown that heat conduction is the primary heat‐transfer mechanism in copper foam TES system, while magnetic thermal convection of the magnetic fluid is the dominating heat‐transfer mechanism in the porous carbon TES. In practical applications in small‐scale systems, the 90‐PPI copper foam should be selected among the four porous materials because of its cost efficiency, while porous carbon should be used in industrial scale systems because of its sensitivity to magnetic field and cost efficiency.     

空气源热泵空调系统节能分析

节能的分析及优化已不仅仅是能的量的问题，而是能的质与量的综合评价的问题。采用yong分析方法得出空气源热泵空调系统的能耗分布，明确系统yong损失较大的环节。从yong分析得知：压缩机的yong损失占机组能耗的20．5％，冷凝器的yong损失接近总能耗的30％。由此提出了空气源热泵空调系统的节能措施，即应该选用高效率的压缩机，采用强化传热措施，提高传热系数，减小传热温差，同时还应注意改善热泵机组的周围环境，使系统yong损失最小，yong效率最大，实现空气源热泵空调系统的节能优化.     

余热驱动的有机朗肯循环-复叠式制冷系统?分析

针对余热的有效利用,建立了有机朗肯循环-复叠式制冷系统的热力学模型,其中:有机朗肯循环系统分别采用R123、R1234ze、R245fa、R600a、RC318、R141b等六种工质;复叠式制冷系统分别采用R22/R23、R404/R23、R290/R744、R717/R744等四种工质对。选择系统?效率作为性能评价指标,运用热力学第二定律研究系统运行参数对系统?效率的影响,分析了系统各部件的?损失,并指出了能量利用的薄弱环节,提出了有效提高系统性能的建议,为系统的优化提供参考。结果表明,对系统?效率而言,R141b和R717/R744是最佳工质。系统主要部件按?损失大小依次为凝汽器、膨胀机、高温级冷凝器、发生器、高温级压缩机、低温级蒸发器、蒸发冷凝器。尽可能提高压缩机的等熵效率,优化设计换热器的结构,减小传热温差,才能减少不可逆损失,提高换热器的?效率。     

Modeling of trickle flow liquid fuel combustion in inert porous medium

Present work is a numerical analysis of fuel oil combustion inside an inert porous medium where fuel oil flows through the porous medium under gravity wetting its solid wall with concurrent movement of liquid fuel and air under steady state conditions. A one-dimensional heat transfer model has been developed under steady state conditions using a single step global reaction mechanism. The effects of optical thickness, emissivity of medium, flame position and reaction enthalpy flux on radiation energy output efficiency as well as the temperature, position and thickness of vaporization zone have been presented using kerosene as fuel. Low values of optical thickness and emissivity of porous medium will ensure efficient combustion, maximize downstream radiative output with minimum upstream radiative loss.     

1.5Mt/a加氢裂化装置节能降耗措施与成效

金陵石化1.5Mt/a加氢裂化装置投用初期,能耗超过40kg标油/t原料,通过几次大的技术改造,能耗明显下降,2011年1～11月装置综合能耗为26.89kg标油/t原料.能耗划分显示,燃料气消耗占装置能耗的最大部分,所占比例达42.47％,其次为电能和蒸汽消耗,分别占总能耗的41.05％和12.76％.这3项能耗占到装置总能耗的96％以上.装置的节能降耗工作主要采取以下措施:优化换热网络,回收低温余热;新氢机增加无级气量调节系统,降低压缩机的无用功;脱硫溶剂采取溶剂在线清洗,提高溶剂质量,减少溶剂损耗,同时减缓溶剂系统腐蚀和塔盘结垢;分馏加热炉空气预热器改型以及火嘴改造;保证装置高负荷运行,提高循环氢压缩机、新氢压缩机、原料泵等设备的用能效率;利用变频技术,投用液力透平,实现节电目标;通过热料直供,减少作为溶剂再生塔底热源的1.0MPa蒸汽消耗.     

Combustion of liquid fuel inside inert porous media: an analytical approach

This paper presents a numerical analysis of combustion of liquid fuel droplets suspended in air inside an inert porous media. A one-dimensional heat transfer model has been developed assuming complete vaporization of oil droplets prior to their entry into the flame. The effects of absorption coefficient, emissivity of medium, flame position on radiative energy output efficiency and optimum oil droplet size at the entry, defined as the maximum size for complete vaporization before entering the combustion zone, have been presented. The inert porous medium with low absorption coefficient will produce high downstream radiative output with large oil droplet sizes.