Airflow Management in a Contained Cold Aisle Using Active Fan Tiles for Energy Efficient Data-Center Operation

Generally, passive perforated tiles are used in a data center and the supplied airflow rate is underprovisioned; thus, the balance of the server air requirement is met by the hot air in the room, resulting in higher server inlet temperatures. Full provisioning of the supplied airflow rate and containing the cold aisle is expected to minimize the hot air leakage in the cold aisle, resulting in uniform and lower server inlet temperatures. Thus, the supply air temperature can be raised, resulting in energy savings at the chiller plant. Supplying extra air can be achieved using active perforated tiles, having multiple fans installed on them. In this paper, the underprovisioned case using passive tiles and the fully provisioned case using active tiles are investigated for both open and contained aisle conditions. Thermal field measurements suggest lower and uniform server inlet temperatures for the case with contained aisle as compared to open aisle and for the fully provisioned case using active tiles as compared to the underprovisioned case using passive tiles. System-level energy calculations suggests that containing the cold aisle results in lower (improved) power usage effectiveness (PUE); however, use of active tiles does not seem to improve the PUE.     

Epoxidation of karanja (Pongamia glabra) oil catalysed by acidic ion exchange resin

Karanja oil with an iodine value of 89 g/100 g was epoxidised in situ with aqueous hydrogen peroxide and acetic acid in the presence of Amberlite IR‐120 acidic ion exchange resin as catalyst. The effect of the operating variables on the oxirane oxygen content, as well as on the oxirane ring stability and the iodine value of the epoxidised karanja oil, were determined. The variables studied were stirring speed, hydrogen peroxide‐to‐ethylenic unsaturation molar ratio, acetic acid‐to‐ethylenic unsaturation molar ratio, temperature, and catalyst loading. The effects of these parameters on the conversion to the epoxidised oil were studied and the optimum conditions for the maximum oxirane content were established. The proposed kinetic model takes into consideration the two side reactions, namely, epoxy ring opening involving the formation of hydroxy acetate and hydroxyl groups, and the reaction between the peroxyacid and the epoxy group. The kinetic and adsorption constants of the rate equations were estimated by the best fit using Marquardt's algorithm. Good agreement between experimental and predicted data validates the proposed kinetic model. From the estimated kinetic constants, the apparent activation energy for the epoxidation reaction was found to be 11 kcal/mol.     

Flame characteristics of hydrogen-enriched methane–air premixed swirling flames

The effect of hydrogen addition in methane–air premixed flames has been examined from a swirl-stabilized combustor under unconfined flame conditions. Different swirlers have been examined to investigate the effect of swirl intensity on enriching methane–air flame with hydrogen in a laboratory-scale premixed combustor operated at 5.81 kW. The hydrogen-enriched methane fuel and air were mixed in a pre-mixer and introduced into the burner having swirlers of different swirl vane angles that provided different swirl strengths. The combustion characteristics of hydrogen-enriched methane–air flames at fixed thermal load but different swirl strengths were examined using particle image velocimetry (PIV), OH chemiluminescence, gas analyzers, and micro-thermocouple diagnostics to provide information on flow field, combustion generated OH radical and gas species concentration, and temperature distribution, respectively. The results show that higher combustibility of hydrogen assists to promote faster chemical reaction, raises temperature in the reaction zone and reduces the recirculation flow in the reaction zone. The upstream of flame region is more dependent on the swirl strength than the effect of hydrogen addition to methane fuel. At lower swirl strength condition the NO concentration in the reaction zone reduces with increase in hydrogen content in the fuel mixture. Higher combustibility of hydrogen accelerates the flow to reduce the residence time of hot product gases in the high temperature reaction zone. At higher swirl strength the NO concentration increases with increase in hydrogen content in the fuel mixture. The effect of dynamic expansion of the gases with hydrogen addition appears to be more dominant to reduce the recirculation of relatively cooler gases into the reaction zone. NO concentration also increases with decrease in the swirl strength.     

Thermo-chemical conversion of waste rubber seed shell to produce fuel and value-added chemicals

Rubber seed shell (RSS), comprises of 96.67 wt% organic content and 38.6% crystallinity index, was used for the production of biofuel and value-added chemicals through semi-batch pyrolysis. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of RSS at heating rate of 20 °C/min showed R50 value as 12.72%/min at 376.5 °C. The gaseous product evolved during the decomposition of RSS were analyzed through inline Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) coupled with TGA instrument. The effects of pyrolysis temperatures (350°C-600 °C) and heating rates (10°C/min–40 °C/min) on the product distribution (liquid, gas and bio-char) were investigated. The maximum yield of liquid product (46.14 wt%) and the carbon-rich bio-char (31.92 wt%) were obtained at 550 °C temperature for heating rate of 30 °C/min. The fuel characteristics of produced bio-char such as higher calorific value (34.5 MJ/kg), higher fixed carbon (79.74 wt%), lower ash (1.87 wt%) and lower moisture content (2.11 wt%) suggested its potential to be used as solid fuel. Value-added organic compounds such as acetic acid, phenolic compounds, creosol, pilocarpine, benzene and levoglucosan were identified in the liquid product using gas chromatography. The pH values of liquid products (2.55–3.0) support the presence of organic acids and phenolic fraction. The presence of various functional groups was also identified using FT-IR spectroscopy. In depth analysis of physico-chemical-thermal properties of RSS and obtained products (liquid and bio-char) suggested that RSS can be considered as a suitable feedstock for the production of value added chemicals including fuel.     

Hydrogen addition effects on methane-air colorless distributed combustion flames

In this investigation the role of hydrogen addition in a reverse flow configuration, consisting of both non-premixed and premixed combustion modes, have been examined for the CDC flames. In the non-premixed configuration the air injection port is positioned at combustor exit end while the fuel injection port is positioned on the side so that the fuel is injected in cross-flow with respect to air injection. The thermal intensity of the flames investigated is 85 MW/m³ atm to simulate high thermal intensity gas turbine combustion conditions. The results are presented on the global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, and radical emissions using experiments and flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra low NO_x emissions are found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes. Addition of hydrogen to methane fuel resulted in only a slight increase of NO emission, significant decrease of CO emission and extended the lean operational limit of the combustor.     

Investigation of reverse flow distributed combustion for gas turbine application

In this paper reverse flow modes of colorless distributed combustion (CDC) have been investigated for application to gas turbine combustors. Rapid mixing between the injected fuel and hot oxidizer has been carefully explored for spontaneous ignition of the mixture to achieve distributed combustion reactions. Distributed reactions can be achieved in premixed, partially premixed or non-premixed modes of combustor operation with sufficient entrainment of burned gases and faster turbulent mixing between the reactants. In the present investigation reverse flow modes consisting of three configurations at thermal intensity of 28 MW/m³-atm and five configurations at thermal intensity of 57 MW/m³-atm have been investigated and these high thermal loadings represent characteristic gas turbine combustion conditions. In all the configurations the air injection port is positioned at the combustor exit end, whereas the location of fuel injection ports is changed to give different configurations. The results are presented on the exhaust emissions and radical emissions using experiments, and evaluation of flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra-low NO_x emissions were found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes investigated here. Cross-flow configuration, wherein the fuel is injected at high velocity cross stream to the air jet resulted in characteristics closest to premixed combustion mode. Change in fuel injection location resulted in changing the combustion characteristics from closer to diffusion mode to distributed regime. This feature is beneficial for part load operation where higher stability limit is desirable.     

Perturbation of a laminar boundary layer by a synthetic jet for heat transfer enhancement

An experimental investigation of a cross-flow interaction between a synthetic jet and a flat plate laminar boundary layer is reported. The synthetic jet uses a piezo-actuator for displacing the diaphragm, thus enabling flow control in terms of the excitation amplitude and the modulation frequency. The role of these parameters on heat transfer enhancement from the flat plate is investigated. Measurements are carried out using hotwire anemometry for the flow field while the heat transfer coefficient and jet spreading are imaged respectively by liquid crystal thermography and the laser schlieren technique.Results show that the average heat transfer coefficient increases with excitation amplitude and a maximum of 44% enhancement is observed. Amplitude modulation at low frequencies also increases the heat transfer coefficient. Overall, the study indicates the efficacy of a synthetic jet actuator for heat transfer enhancement with excitation amplitude and modulation frequency as control parameters.Visualization using liquid crystal thermography shows dual streaks over the flat surface indicating the footprint of vortical structures from the synthetic jet inside the laminar boundary layer. The role played by amplitude modulation in enhancing heat transfer is clearly demonstrated by schlieren visualization and further confirmed by hotwire measurements. The synthetic jet also increases the average turbulence content inside the boundary layer. Power spectra show an overall increase in the amplitude of the low frequency fluctuations arising from synthetic jet actuation. The time-averaged velocity profile behind the synthetic jet shows similarity to the wake profile behind a surface-mounted obstacle. Analogous to physical obstacles such as ribs, these results show that a synthetic jet can also be used as a device for heat transfer enhancement in a boundary layer.     

Investigation of forward flow distributed combustion for gas turbine application

New innovative advanced combustion design methodology for gas turbine applications is presented that is focused on the quest towards zero emissions. The new design methodology is called colorless distributed combustion (CDC) and is significantly different from the currently used methodology. In this paper forward flow modes of CDC have been investigated for application to gas turbine combustors. The CDC provides significant improvement in pattern factor, reduced NO_x emission and uniform thermal field in the entire combustion zone for it to be called as an isothermal reactor. Basic requirement for CDC is carefully tailored mixture preparation through good mixing between the combustion air and product gases prior to rapid mixing with fuel so that the reactants are at much higher temperature to result in hot and diluted oxidant stream at temperatures that are high enough to autoignite the fuel and oxidant mixture. With desirable conditions one can achieve spontaneous ignition of the fuel with distributed combustion reactions. Distributed reactions can also be achieved in premixed mode of operation with sufficient entrainment of burned gases and faster turbulent mixing between the reactants. In the present investigation forward flow modes consisting of two non-premixed combustion modes and one premixed combustion mode have been examined that provide potential for CDC. In all the configurations the air injection port is positioned at the opposite side of the combustor exit, whereas the location of fuel injection ports is changed to give different configurations. Two combustion geometries resulting in thermal intensity of 5 MW/m³-atm and 28 MW/m³-atm are investigated. Increase in thermal intensity (lower combustion volume) presents many challenges, such as, lower residence time, lower recirculation of gases and effect of confinement on jet characteristics. The results are presented on the global flame signatures, exhaust emissions, and radical emissions using experiments and flowfield using numerical simulations. Ultra-low NO_x emissions are found for both the premixed and non-premixed combustion modes at the two thermal intensities investigated here. Almost colorless flames (no visible flame signatures) have been observed for the premixed combustion mode. The reaction zone is observed to be significantly different in the two non-premixed modes. Higher thermal intensity case resulted in lower recirculation of gases within the combustion chamber and higher CO levels, possibly due to lower associated residence time. The characteristics at the two thermal intensity combustors investigated here were found to be similar.