Physics of puffing and microexplosion of emulsion fuel droplets

The physics of water-in-oil emulsion droplet microexplosion/puffing has been investigated using high-fidelity interface-capturing simulation. Varying the dispersed-phase (water) sub-droplet size/location and the initiation location of explosive boiling (bubble formation), the droplet breakup processes have been well revealed. The bubble growth leads to local and partial breakup of the parent oil droplet, i.e., puffing. The water sub-droplet size and location determine the after-puffing dynamics. The boiling surface of the water sub-droplet is unstable and evolves further. Finally, the sub-droplet is wrapped by boiled water vapor and detaches itself from the parent oil droplet. When the water sub-droplet is small, the detachment is quick, and the oil droplet breakup is limited. When it is large and initially located toward the parent droplet center, the droplet breakup is more extensive. For microexplosion triggered by the simultaneous growth of multiple separate bubbles, each explosion is local and independent initially, but their mutual interactions occur at a later stage. The degree of breakup can be larger due to interactions among multiple explosions. These findings suggest that controlling microexplosion/puffing is possible in a fuel spray, if the emulsion-fuel blend and the ambient flow conditions such as heating are properly designed. The current study also gives us an insight into modeling the puffing and microexplosion of emulsion droplets and sprays.This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

Dryout and Rewetting in the Pool Boiling Experiment Flown on STS-72 (PBE-2 B) and STS-77 (PBE-2 A)

Experiments were conducted in the microgravity of space in which a pool of liquid (R-113), initially at a precisely defined pressure and temperature, is subjected to a step imposed heat flux from a semi-transparent thin-film heater forming part of one wall of the container such that boiling is initiated and maintained for a defined period of time at a constant pressure level. A total of nine tests were conducted at three levels of heat flux and three levels of subcooling in each of the two space experiments in a GAS canister on the STS-77, -72, respectively. Three (3) modes of propagation of boiling across the heater surface and subsequent vapor bubble growths were observed, in addition to the two (2) modes observed in the previous microgravity pool boiling space flights on STS-47, -57, and -60. Of particular interest were the extremely dynamic or "explosive" growths, which were determined to be the consequence of the large increase in the liquid-vapor interface area associated with the appearance of a corrugated or rough interface. Predictions of circumstances for its onset have been carried out. Assumptions were necessary regarding the character of disturbances necessary for the instabilities to grow. Also, a new vapor bubble phenomena was observed in which small vapor bubbles migrated toward a larger bubble, eventually coalescing with this larger bubble. The heat transfer was enhanced approximately 30% as a result of these migrating bubbles, which is believed to be a vapor bubble manifestation of Marangoni convection and/or molecular momentum effects, sometimes referred to as vapor recoil. The circumstances of heat flux and liquid subcooling necessary to produce heater surface dryout for an initially stagnant liquid subjected to an imposed heat flux have been more closely identified

Review of numerical studies of boiling two-phase flow in smooth tubes

The rapid and continuous depletion in the available energy resources nowadays has resulted in the quest for alternative sources of energy and more energy efficient processes. This review article present a broad and critical review of past researches on flow boiling and condensation, basically to provide a comprehensive understanding of both boiling and condensation heat transfer (HT) process as they are important phenomena that find application in various areas in the thermal science field and industry which includes; power generation, refrigeration and air conditioning, nuclear reactors, chemical engineering, high-power electronics component cooling and so on. An in-depth understanding of this phenomenon will help to know how to attain very high heat transfer rates with small variations in the surface temperature. Consequentially, this results in better energy efficient process with huge reduction in system size, volume and energy consumption, hence significant fall in the heat energy required to undertake the process. Fundamental parameters affecting these phenomena such as the classification of channel and their applications based on their properties and advantages, flow patterns and heat transfer mechanisms, heat transfer coefficient and critical heat flux are fully discussed. Finally, recommendation are made to provide clue for future researches in this area.Papers presented at the 13th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Portoroz, Slovenia on 17-19 July 2017 .International centre for heat and mass transfer.American society of thermal and fluids engineers

Direct Numerical Simulations of Flows with Phase Change

AbstractDirect Numerical Simulations (DNS) of multiphase flows, where every continuum length and time scale are fully resolved, currently allow us to simulate flows of considerable complexity, such as the motion of several hundred bubbles or drops in turbulent flows, for sufficiently long time so that meaningful statistical quantities can be obtained. Additional physical processes such as heat transfer and phase change have also been included, although only for relatively small systems so far. After reviewing briefly recent studies of bubbles in turbulent channel flows, we discuss simulations of flows with phase change, focusing on bubble generation by boiling. The addition of new physics often results in new length and time scales that are shorter and faster than the dominant flow scales. Similarly, very small features such as thin films, filaments, and drops can also arise during coalescence and breakup of fluid blobs. The geometry of these features is usually simple, since surface tension effects are strong and inertia effects are relatively small and in isolation these features are often well described by analytical or semi-analytical models. Recent efforts to embed analytical and semi-analytical models to capture such features, in combination with direct numerical simulations of the rest of the flow, are discussed. We conclude by a short discussion of the use of DNS data for closure laws for model equations for the large scale flow

Theoretical and numerical analysis of the evaporation of mono and multicomponent single fuel droplets

Single fuel droplet vaporization, with special attention to the case of ethanol, is considered in this study. First, we showed, using an order-of-magnitude analysis and detailed unsteady simulations, that the commonly used quasi-steady assumption is not suitable for an accurate description of the liquid phase during the evaporation process. Second, we demonstrated that an increase in the relative importance of radiation explains the departures of the evaporation rate from the d2-law observed experimentally when sufficiently large droplets – initial radius above 0.25 mm – evaporated in ambient temperatures around 800 K. The multicomponent formulation included here, in which the physical properties of both liquid and gas phases depend on the concentration of the different species involved, was validated by comparing our numerical results with experimental data of ethanol, n-heptane, ethanol–water and n-dodecane–n-hexadecane droplets available in the literature. Because of its technological relevance, we dedicated special attention to the effect of the droplet water content and ambient humidity on the evaporation time of ethanol droplets. Our computations showed higher vaporization rates with increasing ambient humidity as a consequence of the extra heat generated during the condensation of moisture on the droplet surface.The authors express their gratitude to Professor F. Williams in the conception and guidance of this work, in particular, and all the ongoing work on ethanol droplet vaporization and combustion. This work was supported by the project ENE2015-65852-C2-1-R (MINECO/FEDER,UE). The authors are grateful for the comments and suggestions offered by an anonymous referee during the revision of the paper

Boiling heat transfer modelling a review and future prospectus

This paper reviews the current status of boiling heat transfer modelling, discusses the need for its improvement due to unresolved intriguing experimental findings and emergence of novel technical applications and outlines the directions for an advanced modelling approach. The state-of-the-art of computational boiling heat transfer studies is given for: macro-scale boiling models applied in two-fluid liquid-vapour interpenetrating media approach, micro-, meso-scale boiling computations by interface capturing methods, and nano-scale boiling simulations by molecular dynamics tools. Advantages, limitations and shortcomings of each approach, which originate from its grounding formulations, are discussed and illustrated on results obtained by the boiling model developed in our research group. Based on these issues, we stress the importance of adaptation of a multi-scale approach for development of an advanced boiling predictive methodology. A general road-map is outlined for achieving this challenging goal, which should include: improvement of existing methods for computation of boiling on different scales and development of conceptually new algorithms for linking of individual scale methods. As dramatically different time steps of integration for different boiling scales hinder the application of full multi-scale methodology on boiling problems of practical significance, we emphasise the importance of development of another algorithm for the determination of sub-domains within a macro-scale boiling region, which are relevant for conductance of small-scale simulations

Hydrogen Research for Spaceport and Space-Based Applications: Hydrogen Production, Storage, and Transport

The activities presented are a broad based approach to advancing key hydrogen related technologies in areas such as fuel cells, hydrogen production, and distributed sensors for hydrogen-leak detection, laser instrumentation for hydrogen-leak detection, and cryogenic transport and storage. Presented are the results from research projects, education and outreach activities, system and trade studies. The work will aid in advancing the state-of-the-art for several critical technologies related to the implementation of a hydrogen infrastructure. Activities conducted are relevant to a number of propulsion and power systems for terrestrial, aeronautics and aerospace applications. Hydrogen storage and in-space hydrogen transport research focused on developing and verifying design concepts for efficient, safe, lightweight liquid hydrogen cryogenic storage systems. Research into hydrogen production had a specific goal of further advancing proton conducting membrane technology in the laboratory at a larger scale. System and process trade studies evaluated the proton conducting membrane technology, specifically, scale-up issues

Boiling heat transfer modelling a review and future prospectus

This paper reviews the current status of boiling heat transfer modelling, discusses the need for its improvement due to unresolved intriguing experimental findings and emergence of novel technical applications and outlines the directions for an advanced modelling approach. The state-of-the-art of computational boiling heat transfer studies is given for: macro-scale boiling models applied in two-fluid liquid-vapour interpenetrating media approach, micro-, meso-scale boiling computations by interface capturing methods, and nano-scale boiling simulations by molecular dynamics tools. Advantages, limitations and shortcomings of each approach, which originate from its grounding formulations, are discussed and illustrated on results obtained by the boiling model developed in our research group. Based on these issues, we stress the importance of adaptation of a multi-scale approach for development of an advanced boiling predictive methodology. A general road-map is outlined for achieving this challenging goal, which should include: improvement of existing methods for computation of boiling on different scales and development of conceptually new algorithms for linking of individual scale methods. As dramatically different time steps of integration for different boiling scales hinder the application of full multi-scale methodology on boiling problems of practical significance, we emphasise the importance of development of another algorithm for the determination of sub-domains within a macro-scale boiling region, which are relevant for conductance of small-scale simulations

Technology for the Future: In-Space Technology Experiments Program, part 2

The purpose of the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST) In-Space Technology Experiments Program In-STEP 1988 Workshop was to identify and prioritize technologies that are critical for future national space programs and require validation in the space environment, and review current NASA (In-Reach) and industry/ university (Out-Reach) experiments. A prioritized list of the critical technology needs was developed for the following eight disciplines: structures; environmental effects; power systems and thermal management; fluid management and propulsion systems; automation and robotics; sensors and information systems; in-space systems; and humans in space. This is part two of two parts and contains the critical technology presentations for the eight theme elements and a summary listing of critical space technology needs for each theme