Numerical simulation of structure and no formation of turbulent lean-premixed flames in gas turbine conditions

This study numerically investigates the detailed structure and NO formation in atmospheric and high-pressure lean-premixed flames. Parallel unstructured-grid finite-volume method (FVM) has been developed to maintain the geometric flexibility and computational efficiency for the solution of the physically and geometrically complex flows. In order to realistically represent the complex turbulence-chemistry interaction of high-pressure lean-premixed turbulent flames encountered in gas turbine combustors, a flamelet model based on the level-set approach has been adopted. Special emphasis is given to the effects of pressure and equivalence ratio on the flame front location and NO formation, as well as the dimensionless parameters including turbulent Reynolds number, Re, Damköhler number, Da, and Karlovitz number, Ka in the lean-premixed gas turbine-like situations. Numerical results obtained in this study suggest that the level-set approach in the context of parallel unstructured-grid FVM is capable of realistically simulating the detailed structure and NO formation in the atmospheric and high-pressure lean-premixed flames.     

Finite element simulation of crack propagation based on phase field theory

The finite element approach is applied to predict crack patterns in a single or composite material under loadings. Crack patterns are represented as variations of a field variable. These variations are determined from the solution of a coupled system of equations consisting of an Allen-Cahn or Ginzburg-Landau type field equation and elasticity equations based on phase field theory. This representation does not require tracking crack tips as in the conventional finite element approach for the modeling of crack propagation problems. For a numerical solution for the system, a finite element algorithm is proposed and implemented into the finite element program “FEAP”. Several numerical simulations are performed and analyzed to predict the crack patterns in 2D single or composite materials under the loadings.     

Local Behavior of Deposition Velocity onto a Flat Plate in Horizontal Airflow under the Influence of Thermophoresis

In this study, the Gaussian Diffusion Sphere Model (GDSM) and the Statistical Lagrangian Particle Tracking (SLPT) approach were employed and adjusted to calculate the local deposition velocity onto a flat plate in horizontal airflow. The GDSM and the SLPT approach were validated by comparing the predicted local deposition velocities with those determined by solving the equation of convective diffusion. Both the GDSM and the SLPT approach were found to be accurate in calculating the local deposition velocity onto a flat plate in horizontal airflow. In addition, the GDSM was much more efficient than the SLPT approach in terms of the calculation time. Finally, a parametric study on the local deposition velocity onto a flat plate exposed to horizontal airflow was performed using the GDSM with the consideration of the effects of the gravity, convection, diffusion, and thermophoresis.

Copyright 2015 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Optimum generation capacities of micro combined heat and power systems in apartment complexes with varying numbers of apartment units

A dynamic simulation of micro combined heat and power (micro-CHP) systems that includes the transient behavior of the system was developed by modeling the generation of electricity and recovery of heat separately. Residential load profiles were calculated based on statistical reports from a Korean government agency, and were used as input data to select the optimum capacities of micro-CHP systems based on the number of apartment units being served, focusing on both economic and energetic criteria. The capacity of internal combustion engine (ICE) based micro-CHP was assumed to be in the range 1–500 kW, and the dependence of the efficiency of the generator unit on the capacity was included. It was found that the configuration (i.e., the capacity and number of generator units) that maximized the annual savings also had favorable energetic performance. Additionally, the statistical mode calculated from the annual electrical load distribution was verified as a suitable indicator when deciding the optimum capacity of a micro-CHP system.     

Prediction of the frost formation on a cold flat surface

A mathematical model is presented to predict the behavior of frost formation by simultaneously considering the air flow and the frost layer. The present model is validated by comparing with several other analytical models and our experiments. It is found that most of the previous models cause considerable errors depending on the working conditions or the correlations used in predicting the frost thickness growth, whereas the model in this work estimates the thickness, density, and surface temperature of the frost layer more accurately within an error of 10% except the early stage of frosting in comparison with the experimental data. Numerical results are presented for the variations of heat and mass transfer during the frost formation and for the behavior of frost layer growth along the direction of air flow. Also, a correlation between the convective heat and mass transfer is obtained as Le⁽¹⁻ⁿ⁾=0.905±0.005 in this work.     

The effects of design and operating factors on the frost growth and thermal performance of a flat plate fin-tube heat exchanger under the frosting condition

An experimental study of the effects of various factors (fin pitch, fin arrangement, air temperature, air humidity, and air velocity) on the frost growth and thermal performance of a fin-tube heat exchanger has been conducted under the frosting condition. It is found that the thermal performance of a heat exchanger is closely related to the blockage ratio of the air flow passages due to the frost growth. The maximum allowable blockage ratio is used to determine the criteria for the optimal operating conditions of a fin-tube heat exchanger. It is also shown that heat transfer rate of heat exchanger with staggered fin arrangement increases about 17% and the time required for heat transfer rate to reach a maximum value becomes longer, compared with those of an inline fin-tube heat exchanger under the frosting condition. The energy transfer resistance between the air and coolant decreases with the increase of inlet air temperature and velocity and with decreasing inlet air humidity.     

Correlations and optimization of a heat exchanger with offset-strip fins

The thermo-flow characteristics of a heat exchanger with offset-strip fins are numerically investigated for various fin geometries and working fluids. Previous correlations underestimate f values in the laminar and turbulent regimes and overestimate j values in the laminar regime, as the blockage ratio increase. Therefore, new correlations, which apply to offset-strip fins with blockage ratios of greater than 20%, are presented. Even though the working fluid was changed, the f values did not vary. However, the j values differed according to the working fluid. New j correlations were suggested as functions of the Prandtl number. Design variables of the offset-strip fins in a fuel cooler were optimized by using the correlations and the design of experiment. As a result, the JF factor of the optimized offset-strip fin was enhanced by 24% compared with that of the reference offset-strip fin.     

Numerical investigation and optimization of the thermal performance of a brushless DC motor

A computational study of a brushless DC motor is presented to determine the thermo-flow characteristics in the windings and bearings under the effects of heat generation. The rotation of the rotor blades drives an influx of ambient air into the rotor inlet. The predicted inflow rates were higher at the front inlet than at the rear inlet due to non-uniform pressure distribution. A recirculation zone appeared in the tiny interfaces between windings. The poor cooling performance was caused by flow separation near the groove threshold by the inclination angle of the bearing groove and by a relatively slow velocity near the bearing and between windings. Based on these results, design parameters for the inlet location and geometry, and for the bearing groove geometry, were determined and optimized to enhance the cooling performance up to 24%.     

A model on the basis of analytics for computing maximum heat transfer in porous fins

This study presents an analytical work on the performance and optimum design analysis of porous fin of various profiles operating in convection environment. Straight fins of four different profiles, namely, rectangular, convex parabolic and two exponential types are considered for the present investigation. An analytical technique based on the Adomian decomposition method is proposed for the solution methodology as the governing energy equations of porous fins for all the profiles are non-linear. A comparative study has been carried out among the results obtained from the porous and solid fins, and an appreciable difference has been noticed for a range of design conditions. Finally, the result shows that the heat transfer rate in an exponential profile with negative power factor is much higher than the rectangular profile but slightly higher than the convex profile. On the other hand, the fin performance is observed to be better for exponential profiles with positive power factor than other three profiles. A significant increase in heat transfer through porous fins occurs for any geometric fin compared to that of solid fins for a low porosity and high flow parameter.     

Multidisciplinary optimization of a pin-fin radial heat sink for LED lighting applications

In this study, the cooling performance and mass of a pin-fin radial heat sink were optimized. A radial heat sink with pin fins was examined numerically to obtain a lighter heat sink while maintaining a similar cooling performance to that of a plate-fin heat sink investigated in a previous study. Both natural convection and radiation heat transfer were considered. Experiments were performed to validate the numerical model. The average temperature and mass of the heat sink for various types of fin arrays were compared to determine an appropriate reference configuration. The effects of various geometric parameters on the thermal resistance and mass of the heat sink were investigated; these indicated that the system was sensitive to the number of fin arrays, as well as the length of the long and middle fins. Multidisciplinary optimization was carried out using the three design variables to minimize the thermal resistance and mass simultaneously, and Pareto fronts were obtained with various weighting factors. A design for the optimum radial heat sink is proposed, which reduces the mass by more than 30% while maintaining a similar cooling performance to that of a plate-fin heat sink.