Stability of liquid bridges subject to an eccentric rotation

A cylindrical liquid bridge supported between two circular-shaped disks in isorotation is considered. The effect of an offset between the rotation axis and the axis of the two supporting disks (eccentricity) on the stability of the static liquid bridge is investigated. A numerical method is used to find stable and unstable shapes and to determine the stability limit for different values of eccentricity. The calculated stability limits are compared with analytical results, recovering the same behavior. Numerical results have been also compared with the results of an experiment aboard TEXUS-23, recovering the stability limit and the equilibrium shapes

Stabilization of Tollmien-Schlichting Waves by Mode Interaction

Decreasing skin friction in boundary layers attached to aircraft wings can have an impact in both fuel consumption and pollutant production, which are becoming crucial to reduce operation costs and meet environmental regulations, respectively. Skin friction in turbulent boundary layers is about ten times that of laminar boundary layers. Thus, an obvious method to reduce friction drag is to delay transition to turbulence, which is a fairly involved process in real aircraft wings [J98]. Transition sis promoted either by Tollmien—Schlichting (TS) and Klebanov (K) modes [K94], with the former playing an essential role. Various methods (e.g., suction [SG00,ZLB04], wave cancellation [WAA01,LG06]) have been proposed to reduce TS modes in laminar boundary layers. Mode interaction methods have been successfully used in fluid systems to control related instabilities, such as the Rayleigh—Taylor instability [LMV01]. Here, we present some recent results on using these methods to control TS modes in a compressible, 2D boundary layer over a flat plate at zero incidence. A given unstable TS mode can be stabilized by coupling its spatial evolution with that of a second selected stable TS mode, in such a way that the stable mode takes energy from the unstable one and gives a stable coupled evolution of both modes. The coupling device is a wavetrain in the boundary layer, with appropriate wavenumber and frequency, which can be created by an array of oscillators on the wall, and promotes both (i) parametric coupling between the stable and unstable TS modes and (ii) a mean flow that is also stabilizing. Three differences with wave cancelation methods are relevant. Namely, (a) nonlinear terms play an essential role in the process; (b) the unstable TS mode is stabilized (its growth rate is decreased), not just canceled; and (c) stabilization does not depend on the phase of the incoming wave, which implies that active control is not necessary

Experimental assessment for instantaneous temperature and heat flux measurements under Diesel motored engine conditions

The main goal of this work is to validate an innovative experimental facility and to establish a methodology to evaluate the influence of some of the engine parameters on local engine heat transfer behaviour under motored steady-state conditions. Instantaneous temperature measurements have been performed in order to estimate heat fluxes on a modified Diesel single cylinder combustion chamber. This study was divided into two main parts. The first one was the design and setting on of an experimental bench to reproduce Diesel conditions and perform local-instantaneous temperature measurements along the walls of the combustion chamber by means of fast response thermocouples. The second one was the development of a procedure for temperature signal treatment and local heat flux calculation based on one-dimensional Fourier analysis. A thermodynamic diagnosis model has been employed to characterise the modified engine with the new designed chamber. As a result of the measured data coherent findings have been obtained in order to understand local behaviour of heat transfer in an internal combustion engine, and the influence of engine parameters on local instantaneous temperature and heat flux, have been analysed. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Torregrosa, AJ.; Bermúdez, V.; Olmeda González, PC.; Figueroa Garcia, OL. (2012). Experimental assessment for instantaneous temperature and heat flux measurements under Diesel motored engine conditions. Energy Conversion and Management. 54(1):57-66. doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2011.10.009S576654

Pre-DPF water injection technique for pressure drop control in loaded wall-flow diesel particulate filters

Wall-flow type diesel particulate filter (DPF) is a required aftertreatment system for particle emission abatement and standards fulfilment in Diesel engines. However, the DPF use involves an important flow restriction, especially as the substrate gets soot and ash loaded. It gives as a result the increase of the exhaust back-pressure and hence a fuel consumption penalty. The increasing damage of fuel consumption with DPF soot loading leads to the need of the regeneration process. Usually based on active strategies, this process involves an additional fuel penalty but prevents from excessive DPF pressure drop and ensures secure soot burnt out. Under this context, new solutions are required to improve the state of the art DPF soot loading to pressure drop ratio. This paper presents a novel technique based on pre-DPF water injection to reduce the DPF pressure drop under soot loading conditions by disrupting its dependence on soot/ash loading. It provides benefits to engine fuel economy and also higher flexibility for DPF regeneration and maintenance. The work covers a test campaign performed in a passenger car turbocharged Diesel engine equipped with a wall-flow DPF. The main objective is to describe the technique, to provide a figure of its potential for pressure drop control and fuel consumption reduction. The results of the experiments also confirm soot and ash loading capacity increase and demonstrate the lack of negative effects on filtration efficiency and active and passive regeneration.This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through Grant No. TRA2013-40853-R.Bermúdez Tamarit, VR.; Serrano Cruz, JR.; Piqueras Cabrera, P.; García Afonso, Ó. (2015). Pre-DPF water injection technique for pressure drop control in loaded wall-flow diesel particulate filters. Applied Energy. 140:234-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.12.003S23424514

Experimental and thermodynamic analysis of a bottoming Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) of gasoline engine using swash-plate expander

This paper deals with the experimental testing of an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) integrate in a 2 liter turbocharged gasoline engine using ethanol as working fluid. The main components of the cycle are a boiler, a condenser, a pump and a swash-plate expander. Five engine operating points have been tested, they correspond to a nominal heat input into the boiler of 5, 12, 20, 25 and 30 kW. With the available bill of material based on prototypes, power balances and cycles efficiencies were estimated, obtaining a maximum improvement in the ICE mechanical power and an expander shaft power of 3.7% and 1.83 kW respectively. A total of 28 steady-state operating points were measured to evaluate performance of the swash-plate expander prototype. Operating parameters of the expander, such as expander speed and expansion ratio, were shifted. The objective of the tests is to master the system and understand physical parameters influence. The importance of each parameter was analyzed by fixing all the parameters, changing each time one specific value. In these sensitivity studies, maximum ideal and real Rankine efficiency value of 19% and 6% were obtained respectively.This work is part of a research project called "Evaluation of bottoming cycles in IC engines to recover waste heat energies" funded by a National Project of the Spanish Government with reference TRA2013-46408-R.Galindo, J.; Ruiz Rosales, S.; Dolz Ruiz, V.; Royo Pascual, L.; Haller, R.; Nicolas, B.; Glavatskaya, Y. (2015). Experimental and thermodynamic analysis of a bottoming Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) of gasoline engine using swash-plate expander. Energy Conversion and Management. 103:519-532. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2015.06.085S51953210

Instability of the steady states of some Ginzburg–Landau-like equations with real coefficients

The instability of the steady states with nonconstant amplitude is analysed for a nonlocal Ginzburg–Landau equation with real coefficients and quasiperiodic boundary conditions. The results are obtained in terms of easily recognized, qualitative properties of the steady states. Some of the results are new, even for the standard (local) Ginzburg–Landau equation with real coefficients. A related Ginzburg–Landau equation coupled to a mean field is also considered that appears in the analyses of counter-propagating waves in extended systems, nonoscillatory instabilities with a conservation law, and viscous Faraday waves in large aspect ratio containers