Flame dynamics of hydrogen/air mixture in a wavy micro-channel

The focus of this work is the numerical study of stable and pulsatory flame burst in an undulating geometry, using premixed hydrogen and air (with an equivalence ratio of φ = 1.0). This work extends other works in the literature by considering a linear temperature profile along the wall. This allows an analysis of the flow dynamics without forcing the location of the flame (as is the case with hyperbolic temperature profiles). The interaction between the flow dynamics and the combustion reaction is then analysed, leading to a better understanding of the physics in more general flows.Simulations were performed in OpenFoam using very detailed chemical reactions and different molecular diffusivities for each species. The results obtained show that at low inlet velocity (4 m/s) the flame became stable, and, at higher inlet velocities, the flame showed pulsatory burst dynamics. The interaction between the fluid dynamics and the combustion response proved to be important, especially because of the vortices that are formed due to the nonlinear geometry of the burner. As the inlet velocity increases, the heat release rate transmitted through the vortices decreases and a delay in ignition occurs, as evidenced by a decrease in the pulsatory burst frequency and an increase in the maximum value of the heat release rate (although not sufficient to increase the maximum temperature amplitude).In addition, we also carried out an analyses of the axial velocity and of the H₂ and OH mass fractions of the flame dynamics.     

Effect of developing flow and thermal regime on momentum and heat transfer in micro-scale heat sink

A developing micro-channel heat transfer and fluid flow has been investigated experimentally in rectangular micro-channels of D_h = 440 μm, having water as a working fluid. Infrared technique was used to design and built a micro-channel test section that incorporate internal fluid temperature measurements. The new method that provides information about the fluid temperature distribution inside the channel and provides validation for the methods used to determine the local and average Nusselt numbers. The experimental results have been compared with theoretical predictions from the literature and results obtained by numerical modeling of the present experiment. The experimental results of pressure drop and heat transfer confirm that including the entrance effects, the conventional theory is applicable for water flow through micro-channels.These results differ from the conclusions of several researches. It was shown that data presented by some researches can be due to entrance effects. The present results highlight the importance of accounting for common phenomena that are often negligible for standard flows such as accounting for profile of inlet velocity, axial heat conduction, effect of the design inlet and outlet manifolds.This paper, to the best of knowledge, is the first presentation on the method of the bulk fluid temperature measurements along micro-channel using IR technique, and calculation of the local heat transfer coefficient based on the local heat flux and the local temperature difference between the heated wall and the bulk fluid temperature.     

Single-phase and two-phase heat transfer characteristics of low temperature hybrid micro-channel/micro-jet impingement cooling module

This study examines the single-phase and two-phase cooling performance of a hybrid micro-channel/micro-jet impingement cooling scheme using HFE 7100 as working fluid. This scheme consists of supplying coolant from a series of jets that deposit liquid into the micro-channels. A single-phase numerical scheme that utilizes the k–ε turbulent model and a method for determining the extent of the laminarized wall layer shows very good predictions of measured wall temperatures. It is shown jet velocity has a profound influence on single-phase cooling performance. High jet velocities enable jet fluid to penetrate the axial micro-channel flow and produce a strong impingement effect at the wall. On the other hand, the influence of jets at low jet velocities is greatly compromised compared to the micro-channel flow. During nucleate boiling, vapor layer development along the micro-channel in the hybrid module is fundamentally different from that encountered in conventional micro-channels. Here, subcooled jet fluid produces repeated regions of bubble growth followed by bubble collapse, rather than the continuous growth common to conventional micro-channel flow. By reducing void fraction along the micro-channel, the hybrid scheme contributes greater wall temperature uniformity. Increasing subcooling and/or flow rate delay the onset of boiling to higher heat fluxes and higher wall temperatures, and also increase critical heat flux considerably. A nucleate boiling heat transfer coefficient correlation is developed that fits the present data with a mean absolute error of 6.10%.     

Flow instability of evaporative micro-channels

When boiling occurs in a micro-channel, the growing bubbles could be confined. They expand both upstream and downstream and cause flow instability in the form of flow fluctuations. The instability occurs frequently when the Bond number of the fluid in the micro-channel is less than unity. To reduce the flow instability, installation of an inlet orifice at the upstream or the micro-channel expanding at the downstream are found to be effective. A generalized instability model for micro-channels was established, which includes the effects of both inlet orifice and channel expansion. Experiments of evaporating water in 48 parallel micro-channels with 353 μm hydraulic diameter were conducted, and the generalized instability criterion was validated.     

Two-phase flow in high-heat-flux micro-channel heat sink for refrigeration cooling applications: Part I--pressure drop characteristics

Two-phase pressure drop was measured across a micro-channel heat sink that served as an evaporator in a refrigeration cycle. The micro-channels were formed by machining 231 μm wide × 713 μm deep grooves into the surface of a copper block. Experiments were performed with refrigerant R134a that spanned the following conditions: inlet pressure of P_in = 1.44-6.60 bar, mass velocity of G = 127-654 kg/m² s, inlet quality of x_e,in = 0.001-0.25, outlet quality of x_e,out = 0.49-superheat, and heat flux of q″ = 31.6-93.8 W/cm². Predictions of the homogeneous equilibrium flow model and prior separated flow models and correlations yielded relatively poor predictions of pressure drop. A new correlation scheme is suggested that incorporates the effect of liquid viscosity and surface tension in the separated flow model’s two-phase pressure drop multiplier. This scheme shows excellent agreement with the R134a data as well as previous micro-channel water data. An important practical finding from this study is that the throttling valve in a refrigeration cycle offers significant stiffening to the system, suppressing the large pressure oscillations common to micro-channel heat sinks.     

Numerical investigation of high-peclet-number mixing in periodically curved microchannel with strong curvature

Abstract

Liquid mixing in periodically curved microchannels with strong curvature is studied mainly using a random-walk particle-tracking method. The method uses a large number of particles to simulate fluid mixing. These particles are advected according to the velocity obtained by a grid-based method and undergo a random-walk to simulate the diffusion. For comparison purpose, the convective–diffusive equation for concentration is also solved by a grid-based method and a particle-tracking simulation with an approximate diffusion model (ADM). The present results show that the concentration distributions obtained by the random-walk particle-tracking method and the particle-tracking simulation with an ADM are in good agreement with each other. The details of concentration distribution at the exit of micromixers with strong curvature at higher Peclet numbers can be obtained by the present method. Multi-directional vortices due to large flow rate and strong curvature stretch and distort the interface between different species, and so improve fluid mixing effectively. The results reveal that the influence of channel curvature on fluid mixing increases with the increase of Reynolds number and higher mixing performance appears in the case with stronger curvature at higher Reynolds numbers.     

Response of partially premixed flames to acoustic velocity and equivalence ratio perturbations

This article describes an experimental investigation of the forced response of a swirl-stabilized partially premixed flame when it is subjected to acoustic velocity and equivalence ratio fluctuations. The flame’s response is analyzed using phase-resolved CH^* chemiluminescence images and flame transfer function (FTF) measurements, and compared with the response of a perfectly premixed flame under acoustic perturbations. The nonlinear response of the partially premixed flame is manifested by a partial extinction of the reaction zone, leading to rapid reduction of flame surface area. This nonlinearity, however, is observed only when the phase difference between the acoustic velocity and the equivalence ratio at the combustor inlet is close to zero. The condition, Δφ_Φ^′-V^′≈0°, indicates that reactant mixtures with high equivalence ratio impinge on the flame front with high velocity, inducing large fluctuations of the rate of heat release. It is found that the phase difference between the acoustic velocity and equivalence ratio nonuniformities is a key parameter governing the linear/nonlinear response of a partially premixed flame, and it is a function of modulation frequency, inlet velocity, fuel injection location, and fuel injector impedance. The results presented in this article will provide insight into the response of a partially premixed flame, which has not been well explored to date.     

Numerical investigation of the effect of equivalence ratio on the propagation characteristics and performance of rotating detonation engine

The equivalence ratio is one of the significant factors affecting the propagation characteristics and performance of the rotating detonation engine (RDE). Using the compressible reacting flow solver based on the OpenFOAM open-source platform, the effect of different equivalence ratios of premixed H₂/Air gases on the propagation characteristics and performance of RDE under different total inlet pressures (P₀) is investigated. The reactants are injected through the discrete inlet to mimic the spatial inhomogeneity of the reactants in the actual RDE combustor. The results indicate a Y-shaped flow field structure is formed behind the rotating detonation wave (RDW) using the discrete inlet. There is only one RDW in the flow field with the change of the equivalence ratio when the P₀ is 0.5 MPa, and the primary factors affecting the RDW propagation velocity differ under fuel-lean and fuel-rich conditions. The RDW propagation mode switches from single-wave to co-directional double-wave and double-wave collision with the change of the equivalence ratio when the P₀ is 1.2 MPa. The velocity deficit of RDW in the double-wave mode is larger than that in the single-wave mode. Additionally, in the single-wave mode, the specific impulse decreases as the equivalence ratio increases, but the specific thrust increases as the equivalence ratio increases. When the propagation mode changes, the specific impulse and specific thrust show different trends with the change of the equivalence ratio. It demonstrates that multiple co-directional RDWs have the effect of stabilizing the thrust.     

Experimental study on the turbulent premixed combustion characteristics of 70%H2/30%CO/air mixtures

To investigate the effect of equivalence ratio and turbulence intensity on the combustion characteristics of syngas/air mixtures, experiments involving premixed combustion of 70% H₂/30% CO/air mixtures at various equivalence ratios and turbulence intensities were conducted in a turbulent combustion bomb at atmospheric temperature and pressure. The turbulent burning velocity and flame curvature were used to study turbulent combustion characteristics. The results show that the turbulent burning velocity grew nonlinearly as the equivalence ratio increased, while the normalized turbulent burning velocity tended to decrease. When the equivalence ratio was relatively low, the turbulence intensity was a greater determinant of the burning velocity. The normalized turbulent burning velocity increased as the turbulence intensity increased. Re and Da were found to be directly and inversely proportional to u’/u_L, respectively. A linear relationship was observed between u_T/u_L and ln Re. As the turbulence intensity increased or equivalence ratio decreased, the wrinkle degree of the flame front increased, and the maximum and minimum values of flame front curvature increased and decreased, respectively. Meanwhile, the range of the flame front curvature increased gradually. The proportion of components with smaller absolute value of flame front curvature gradually decreases.     

Pressure influence on the flame front curvature of turbulent premixed flames: comparison between experiment and theory

In gas turbines, lean premixed combustion is executed in strongly turbulent flow fields and under high-pressure to allow large thermal loads within small-size combustors. Previous research on turbulent premixed flames has revealed the vital importance of flame-vortex interactions, but most of these investigations have been performed only at atmospheric pressure disregarding the large pressure dependency of the flame front dynamics. We report about spatially high-resolved laser-induced predissociation fluorescence imaging of OH (OH-LIPF) in premixed, high-pressure bluff-body stabilized methane/air flames. For each of the two measurement series with different equivalence ratio (φ = 0.7 and φ = 1.0), the planar flame topology at different pressures (0.1 to 1.1 MPa) but constant exit velocity was detected and stored for analysis. As the pressure was increased, the flame front contour of both equivalence ratios became strongly wrinkled with formation of highly curved flame front elements. For quantification of this phenomenon, the probability density function of flame curvature was evaluated with definition of the mean curvature radius as representative folding scale. To discuss different mechanisms of flame front disturbances according to their relevance, the flame curvature is compared with characteristic turbulence scales of the flow field and with the expected folding scale derived with Sivashinsky‘s formulation of linear flame instability theory. Significant changes become obvious especially if the pressure is increased up to 0.5 MPa. The mean curvature radius decreases distinctly and can be linked to the decreasing size of the Taylor length. Additionally, the formation of highly convoluted flame front elements is enforced by the increasing flame instability behavior. As the results show, the flame stoichiometry has a strong impact on the flame front topology at increasing pressures due to the differences of their flame dynamics.     

Single-phase hybrid micro-channel/micro-jet impingement cooling

A new hybrid cooling scheme is proposed for high-flux thermal management of electronic and power devices. This scheme combines the cooling benefits of micro-channel flow and micro-jet impingement with those of indirect refrigeration cooling. Experiments were performed to assess single-phase cooling performance using HFE 7100 as working fluid. Excellent predictions were achieved using the standard k–ε model. The proposed cooling scheme is shown to involve complex interactions of impinging jets with micro-channel flow. Increasing jet velocity allows jets to penetrate the micro-channel flow toward the heated surface, especially in shallow micro-channels, greatly decreasing wall temperature. Despite the relatively poor thermophysical properties of HFE 7100, the proposed cooling scheme facilitated the dissipation of 304.9 W/cm² without phase change; further improvement is possible by increasing jet velocity and/or decreasing coolant temperature. In addition to the numerical predictions, a superpositioning technique is introduced that partitions the heat transfer surface into zones that are each dominated by a different heat transfer mechanism, and assigning a different heat transfer coefficient value to each zone. Using this technique, a new correlation is developed that fits the data with a mean absolute error of 6.04%.     

Heat transfer of gas–liquid mixture in micro-channel heat sink

The main objective of the present investigation is to study heat transfer in parallel micro-channels of 0.1 mm in size. Comparison of the results of this study to the ones obtained for two-phase flow in “conventional” size channels provides information on the complex phenomena associated with heat transfer in micro-channel heat sinks. Two-phase flow in parallel micro-channels, feeding from a common manifold shows that different flow patterns occur simultaneously in the different micro-channels: liquid alone (or single-phase flow), bubbly flow, slug flow, and annular flow (gas core with a thin liquid film, and a gas core with a thick liquid film). Although the gas core may occupy almost the entire cross-section of the triangular channel, making the side walls partially dry, the liquid phase always remained continuous due to the liquid, which is drawn into the triangular corners by surface tension. With increasing superficial gas velocity, a gas core with a thin liquid film is observed. The visual observation showed that as the air velocity increased, the liquid droplets entrained in the gas core disappeared such that the flow became annular. The probability of appearance of different flow patterns should be taken into account for developing flow pattern maps. The dependence of the Nusselt number, on liquid and gas Reynolds numbers, based on liquid and gas superficial velocity, respectively, was determined in the range of Re_LS = 4–56 and Re_GS = 4.7–270. It was shown that an increase in the superficial liquid velocity involves an increase in heat transfer (Nu_L). This effect is reduced with increasing superficial gas velocity, in contrast to the results reported on two-phase heat transfer in “conventional size” channels.     

Flow condensation in parallel micro-channels – Part 2: Heat transfer results and correlation technique

This second part of a two-part study concerns heat transfer characteristics for FC-72 condensing along parallel, square micro-channels with a hydraulic diameter of 1 mm, which were formed in the top surface of a solid copper plate. Heat from the condensing flow was rejected to a counter flow of water through channels brazed to the underside of the copper plate. The FC-72 condensation heat transfer coefficient was highest near the channel inlet, where the annual liquid film is thinnest. The heat transfer coefficient decreased along the micro-channel because of the film thickening and eventual collapse of the annular regime. Notable heat transfer enhancement was observed for annular flow regions of the micro-channel associated with interfacial waves. Comparing the present data to predictions of previous annular condensation heat transfer correlations shows correlations intended for macro-channels generally provide better predictions than correlations intended specifically for mini/micro-channels. A new condensation heat transfer coefficient correlation is proposed for annular condensation heat transfer in mini/micro-channels. The new correlation shows excellent predictive capability based on both the present FC-72 data and a large database for mini/micro-channel flows amassed from eight previous sources.     

Critical heat flux for subcooled flow boiling in micro-channel heat sinks

Critical heat flux (CHF) was measured and examined with high-speed video for subcooled flow boiling in micro-channel heat sinks using HFE 7100 as working fluid. High subcooling was achieved by pre-cooling the working fluid using a secondary low-temperature refrigeration system. The high subcooling greatly reduced both bubble departure diameter and void fraction, and precluded flow pattern transitions beyond the bubbly regime. CHF was triggered by vapor blanket formation along the micro-channel walls despite the presence of abundant core liquid, which is consistent with the mechanism of Departure from Nucleate Boiling (DNB). CHF increased with increasing mass velocity and/or subcooling and decreasing hydraulic diameter for a given total mass flow rate. A pre-mature type of CHF was caused by vapor backflow into the heat sink’s inlet plenum at low mass velocities and small inlet subcoolings, and was associated with significant fluctuations in inlet and outlet pressure, as well as wall temperature. A systematic technique is developed to modify existing CHF correlations to more accurately account for features unique to micro-channel heat sinks, including rectangular cross-section, three-sided heating, and flow interaction between micro-channels. This technique is shown to be successful at correlating micro-channel heat sink data corresponding to different hydraulic diameters, mass velocities and inlet temperatures.     

Optimizing thermal performances and NOx emission in a premixed ammonia-hydrogen blended meso-scale combustor for thermophotovoltaic applications

As a carbon-free energy carrier, ammonia has attracted significant interest in the combustion field as a potential substitute for fossil fuels. However, the focus has been given to the application at meso-scale conditions, particularly with regard to thermal performance and NO_x emissions. Therefore, the present study numerically investigates a 3-dimensional time-domain premixed ammonia/oxygen meso-scale combustor to optimize its' thermal performance and NO_x emission for power generation applications. The numerical model is firstly validated by using experimental data available in the literature. Then, the effects of 1) the inlet pressure (P_in), 2) the equivalence ratio, and 3) the hydrogen blended ratio on the temperature uniformity, the combustor outer wall mean temperature (OWMT), NO emission, and exergy efficiency are examined. The results indicate that increasing P_in intensifies the mixing process of the mixture gases, thus reducing the residence time for the high-temperature flame in the combustion chamber. The optimized OWMT and NO emissions are up to 26% and 40.3% respectively, with only 9% compensation of the standard deviation achieved, when the inlet velocity is set to 0.5 m/s and P_in is 3.0 bar. Furthermore, varying the equivalence ratio in the range of 0.95–1.1 has a minor influence on improving thermal performances, but a significant impact on mitigating the NO_x emission performance. Additionally, blending less than 15% hydrogen has a significant reduction in the maximum NO_x emission (up to 53%); however, the influence on the OWMT can be neglected. Further exergy analysis reveals that elevating P_in results in a decrease in the exergy efficiency due to the increased inlet exergy. In general, this work provides a preliminary method for improving the thermal performance and NO_x emission of an ammonia/hydrogen-oxygen-fueled meso-scale combustor for power generation purpose.     

Numerical characterization of 3D nonreacting supersonic cavity combustor with inlet Mach number variation

A numerical investigation of a cavity-based supersonic combustor with non-reacting upstream hydrogen fuel injection is conducted to study the effects of inlet Mach number (Ma) on flow structure and fuel-air mixing. Three different freestream Mach number cases (1.5, 2.5 and 3.5) are investigated at a constant fuel flow rate, injected at the sonic condition by considering governing equations for compressible, turbulent flow using Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω model. The complex flow structure is investigated by identifying various flow features namely, upstream three-dimensional bow shock, compression waves, Mach reflection, vortex in the separated boundary layer and horseshoe vortices at the downstream of the injection port. Besides this, the flow physics involved in these complex flow features are unravelled. Moreover, the performance of the combustor is characterized quantitatively in terms of mixing efficiency, total pressure loss and coefficient of pressure. However, the mixing efficiency and total pressure loss for the operating condition of Ma = 1.5, exhibits better performance than that of the other Mach number cases (2.5, 3.5) due to decrease in inclination angle of reattachment shock from 47.6° to 29.9°. The present numerical investigation also demonstrates that the three-dimensional simulation is essential in the characterization of fuel-air mixing in supersonic cavity-based combustors.     

First and second thermodynamic-law analyses of hydrogen-air counter-flow diffusion combustion in various combustion modes

In this paper, from the viewpoints of both the first and the second law of thermodynamics, we conduct a comprehensive study on hydrogen-air counter-flow diffusion combustion in various modes. The effects of air inlet temperature (T_oxi) and effective equivalence ratio of fuel (φ) on the reaction zone structure and entropy generation of combustion are revealed over a wide range of T_oxi and φ. Through the present work, five interesting features of combustion of this kind, which are quite different from that reported in the literature, are presented. Especially, for the first time we divide various combustion modes in the φ − T_oxi map instead of the popular way used in previous studies. Such innovation can help judge the final combustion regime more straightforwardly for any given operative condition.     

Stability limits and NO emissions of premixed swirl ammonia-air flames enriched with hydrogen or methane at elevated pressures

This study reports measurements of stability limits and exhaust NO mole fractions of technically-premixed swirl ammonia-air flames enriched with either methane or hydrogen. Experiments were conducted at different pressures from atmospheric to 5 bar, representative of commercial micro gas turbines. The full range of ammonia fractions in the fuel blend, x_NH3, was considered, from 0 (pure methane or hydrogen) to 1 (pure ammonia), covering very lean (φ = 0.25) to rich (φ = 1.60) equivalence ratios. Results show that increasing pressure widens the range of stable equivalence ratios for pure ammonia-air flames. Regardless of pressure, there is a critical ammonia fraction above which the range of stable equivalence ratios suddenly widens. This is because flashback does not occur anymore when the equivalence ratio is progressively increased towards stoichiometric and rich blowout occurs instead. This critical ammonia fraction increases with pressure and is larger for ammonia-hydrogen than for ammonia-methane. Provided that enough hydrogen is blended with ammonia (x_NH3 < 0.9), flames with very lean equivalence ratios (φ < 0.7) can be stabilized and these yield competitively low NO emissions (<200 ppm), regardless of pressure. For this reason, very lean swirl ammonia-hydrogen-air flames are promising candidates for micro gas turbines. However, N₂O emissions have the potential to be unacceptably large for these operating conditions if heat loss is too large or residence time is too short. As a consequence, the post flame region must be considered carefully. Due to the lower reactivity of methane compared to that of hydrogen, very lean swirl ammonia-methane-air flames could not be stabilized and good NO performance is limited to rich equivalence ratios for ammonia-methane fuel blends. The equivalence ratio above which good NO performance depends on pressure and bulk velocity.     

Numerical analysis of the combustion characteristics of graphitic hydrogen-chlorine synthesis combustor with different intake strategies

This study investigates the effect of intake strategies on the combustion and flows characteristics of hydrogen-chlorine synthesis combustors via numerical methods. A crucial issue of hydrogen-chlorine synthesis combustor is to have a sufficiently low flame height and high conversion efficiency. In this study, the combustion performance of combustors equipped with the annular tube, plum nozzle, and porous-bullet nozzle has been thoroughly analyzed. The temperature distribution and gas flow are analyzed using the method of fluid-solid coupling, which indicates that the combustor with porous-bullet nozzle had the best gas distribution, the maximum HCl mole fraction at outlet is 97.24%, and the lowest flame height is 3.4 m, which is 27.15% lower than the combustor with the annular tube. Furthermore, the nozzle structure has a great influence on the fluid velocity in the recirculation zone of the combustor. Finally, the effect of hydrogen/chlorine equivalence ratio (?) and inlet volume flow rate were analyzed, and it can be concluded that with the increase of inlet volume flow, the high-temperature area inside the combustor gradually increases. As the equivalent ratio increases, the combustor outlet's mole fraction changes with a normal distribution trend. It is the most appropriate when the chlorine gas flow rate is 1,100 m³/h and ? = 1.05. The research can be applied to the field of high-purity hydrogen chlorine production, providing researchers with some solutions.     

Flow boiling heat transfer in two-phase micro-channel heat sinks--I. Experimental investigation and assessment of correlation methods

This paper is the first of a two-part study concerning measurement and prediction of saturated flow boiling heat transfer in a water-cooled micro-channel heat sink. In this paper, new experimental results are discussed which provide new physical insight into the unique nature of flow boiling in narrow rectangular micro-channels. The micro-channel heat sink contained 21 parallel channels having a m cross-section. Tests were performed with deionized water over a mass velocity range of 135-402 kg/m² s, inlet temperatures of 30 and 60 °C, and an outlet pressure of 1.17 bar. Results indicate an abrupt transition to annular flow near the point of zero thermodynamic equilibrium quality, and reveal the dominant heat transfer mechanism is forced convective boiling corresponding to annular flow. Contrary to macro-channel trends, the heat transfer coefficient is shown to decrease with increasing thermodynamic equilibrium quality. This unique trend is attributed to appreciable droplet entrainment at the onset of annular flow regime development, and the increase in mass flow rate of the annular film by droplet deposition downstream. Eleven previous empirical correlations are assessed and deemed unable to predict the correct trend of heat transfer coefficient with quality because of the unique nature of flow boiling in micro-channels, and the operating conditions of water-cooled micro-channel heat sinks falling outside the recommended application range for most correlations. Part II of this study will introduce a new annular flow model as an alternative approach to heat transfer coefficient prediction for micro-channels.