Development of a hybrid multi-scale simulation approach for spray processes

This paper presents a multi-scale approach coupling a Eulerian interface-tracking method and a Lagrangian particle-tracking method to simulate liquid atomisation processes. This method aims to represent the complete spray atomisation process including the primary break-up process and the secondary break-up process, paving the way for high-fidelity simulations of spray atomisation in the dense spray zone and spray combustion in the dilute spray zone. The Eulerian method is based on the coupled level-set and volume-of-fluid method for interface tracking, which can accurately simulate the primary break-up process. For the coupling approach, the Eulerian method describes only large droplet and ligament structures, while small-scale droplet structures are removed from the resolved Eulerian description and transformed into Lagrangian point-source spherical droplets. The Lagrangian method is thus used to track smaller droplets. In this study, two-dimensional simulations of liquid jet atomisation are performed. We analysed Lagrangian droplet formation and motion using the multi-scale approach. The results indicate that the coupling method successfully achieves multi-scale simulations and accurately models droplet motion after the Eulerian–Lagrangian transition. Finally, the reverse Lagrangian–Eulerian transition is also considered to cope with interactions between Eulerian droplets and Lagrangian droplets.This work was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council of the UK (grant number EP/L000199/1)

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

Modeling temperature distribution inside an emulsion fuel droplet under convective heating: A key to predicting microexplosion and puffing

© 2016 by Begell House, Inc. Microexplosion/puffing is rapid disintegration of a water-in-oil emulsion droplet caused by explosive boiling of embedded superheated water sub-droplets. To predict microexplosion/puffing, modeling the temperature distribution inside an emulsion droplet under convective heating is a prerequisite, since the temperature field determines the location of nucleation (vapor bubble initiation from superheated water). In the first part of the present study, convective heating of water-in-oil emulsion droplets under typical combustor conditions is investigated using high-fidelity simulation in order to accurately model inner-droplet temperature distribution. The shear force due to the ambient air flow induces internal circulation inside a droplet. It has been found that for droplets under investigation in the present study, the liquid Peclet number PeL is in a transitional regime of 100 < PeL < 500. The temperature field is therefore somewhat distorted by the velocity field, but the distortion is not strong enough to form Hill's vortex for the temperature field. In the second part of the present study, a novel approach is proposed to model the temperature field distortion by introducing angular dependency of the thermal conductivity and eccentricity of the temperature field. The model can reproduce the main features of the temperature field inside an emulsion droplet, and can be used to predict the nucleation location, which is a key initial condition of microexplosion/puffing

GINA - A Polarized Neutron Reflectometer at the Budapest Neutron Centre

The setup, capabilities and operation parameters of the neutron reflectometer GINA, the recently installed "Grazing Incidence Neutron Apparatus" at the Budapest Neutron Centre, are introduced. GINA, a dance-floor-type, constant-energy, angle-dispersive reflectometer is equipped with a 2D position-sensitive detector to study specular and off-specular scattering. Wavelength options between 3.2 and 5.7 {\AA} are available for unpolarized and polarized neutrons. Spin polarization and analysis are achieved by magnetized transmission supermirrors and radio-frequency adiabatic spin flippers. As a result of vertical focusing by the five-element (pyrolytic graphite) monochromator the reflected intensity from a 20x20 mm sample has doubled. GINA is dedicated to studies of magnetic films and heterostructures, but unpolarized options for non-magnetic films, membranes and other surfaces are also provided. Shortly after its startup, reflectivity values as low as 3x10-5 have been measured on the instrument. The facility is now open for the international user community, but its development is continuing mainly to establish new sample environment options, the spin analysis of off-specularly scattered radiation and further decrease of the background

Microexplosion and Puffing of an Emulsion Fuel Droplet

Micro explosion is rapid disintegration of an emulsion droplet caused by explosive boiling of embedded liquid subdroplets with a lower boiling point. Micro explosion and puffing (partial microexplosion) are potentially beneficial to achieving enhanced secondary atomisation. These eruptive secondary atomisation mechanisms will help to meet conflicting requirements for an atomising fuel spray with regard to penetration achieved by large droplets and evaporation/mixing achieved by small droplets. Although with great interest, our understanding of micro explosion is still limited and therefore optimising and controlling micro explosion is not feasible yet. This paper reviews our recent research outcome on micro explosion and puffing of an emulsion fuel droplet from high-fidelity interface-capturing simulation study, which directly resolves the dynamics of boiling and evaporating liquid/gas interfaces, immiscible liquid/liquid interfaces with jump conditions for mass, momentum and heat transfer across a resolved interface. We first unveiled microexplosion and puffing dynamics of an emulsion fuel droplet in a quiescent ambient. Since convective heating has important effects on temperature distribution inside a fuel droplet in realistic engine conditions, which determines the initial nucleation location and thus the micro explosion outcome, a model has been proposed to approximate the temperature distribution inside a droplet, for which momentum and heat transport was found to be only moderately correlated under typical engine conditions. With this model in place that allows for saving considerable computational cost on setting up initial conditions for micro explosion simulation, puffing effects on fuel/air mixing is then investigated, which can be quantified by the scalar dissipation rate (SDR) of the primary fuel decane, the SDR of the secondary fuel ethanol and the cross SDR. We then further extended our simulation studies towards reacting conditions and investigate puffing effects on a droplet wake flame. The series of high-fidelity simulation studies is believed to have considerably improved our understanding of microexplosion dynamics and impact on local fuel/air mixing and combustion. Based on the improved knowledge, microexplosion induced secondary droplet breakup models can be developed and incorporated into hybrid highfidelity simulation of spray atomisation and combustion enhanced by microexplosion.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Counci

Puffing-enhanced fuel/air mixing of an evaporating n-decane/ethanol emulsion droplet and a droplet group under convective heating

Pu ng of a decane/ethanol emulsion droplet and a droplet group under convective heating and its e ects on fuel/air mixing are investigated by direct numerical simulation (DNS) that resolves all the liquid/gas and liquid/liquid interfaces. With distinct di erences in the boiling point between decane and ethanol, the embedded ethanol subdroplets can be superheated and boil explosively. Pu ng, i.e. ejection of ethanol vapour, occurs from inside the parent decane droplet, causing secondary breakup of the droplet. The ejected ethanol vapour mixes with the outer gas mixture composed of air and vapour of the primary fuel decane, and its e ects on fuel/air mixing can be characterised by the scalar dissipation rates (SDRs). For the primary fuel SDR, the cross-scalar di usion due to ethanol vapour pu ng plays a dominant role in enhancing the micromixing. When the vapour ejection direction is inclined toward the wake direction, the wake is elongated, but the shape of the stoichiometric mixture fraction iso-surface is not changed much, indicating a limited e ect on droplet grouping in a spray. On the other hand, when the ejection direction is inclined toward the transverse direction, the stoichiometric surface is pushed further away in the transverse direction and its topology is changed by the pu ng. The trajectories of ejected ethanol vapour pockets can be predicted by the correlation obtained for a jet in cross ow, and the vapour pockets may reach a few diameters away from the droplet. Therefore, in a multiple-droplet con guration, the transverse ethanol vapour ejection due to pu ng may transiently change the droplet grouping characteristics. In simulation cases with multiple droplets, the interaction changing the droplet grouping due to pu ng has been con rmed, especially for droplets in the mostupstream position in a spray. This implies that pu ng should be accurately included in the mixing and combustion modelling of such a biofuel-blended diesel spray process.Financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), grant No. EP/J018023/

Breakdown of a conservation law in incommensurate systems

We show that invariance properties of the Lagrangian of an incommensurate system, as described by the Frenkel Kontorova model, imply the existence of a generalized angular momentum which is an integral of motion if the system remains floating. The behavior of this quantity can therefore monitor the character of the system as floating (when it is conserved) or locked (when it is not). We find that, during the dynamics, the non-linear couplings of our model cause parametric phonon excitations which lead to the appearance of Umklapp terms and to a sudden deviation of the generalized momentum from a constant value, signalling a dynamical transition from a floating to a pinned state. We point out that this transition is related but does not coincide with the onset of sliding friction which can take place when the system is still floating.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, typed with RevTex, submitted to Phys. Rev. E Replaced 27-03-2001: changes to text, minor revision of figure

Controllable pi junction with magnetic nanostructures

We propose a novel Josephson device in which 0 and $\pi$ states are controlled by an electrical current. In this system, the $\pi$ state appears in a superconductor/normal metal/superconductor junction due to the non-local spin accumulation in the normal metal which is induced by spin injection from a ferromagnetic electrode. Our proposal offers not only new possibilities for application of superconducting spin-electronic devices but also the in-depth understanding of the spin-dependent phenomena in magnetic nanostructures.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Eigen electric moments of magnetic-dipolar modes in quasi-2D ferrite disk particles

A property associated with a vortex structure becomes evident from an analysis of confinement phenomena of magnetic oscillations in a quasi-2D ferrite disk with a dominating role of magnetic-dipolar (non-exchange-interaction) spectra. The vortices are guaranteed by the chiral edge states of magnetic-dipolar modes which result in appearance of eigen electric moments oriented normally to the disk plane. Due to the eigen-electric-moment properties, a ferrite disk placed in a microwave cavity is strongly affected by the cavity RF electric field with a clear evidence for multi-resonance oscillations. For different cavity parameters, one may observe the "resonance absorption" and "resonance repulsion" behaviors

Static and dynamic properties of frictional phenomena in a one-dimensional system with randomness

Static and dynamic frictional phenomena at the interface with random impurities are investigated in a two-chain model with incommensurate structure. Static frictional force is caused by the impurity pinning and/or by the pinning due to the regular potential, which is responsible for the breaking of analyticity transition for impurity-free cases. It is confirmed that the static frictional force is always finite in the presence of impurities, in contrast to the impurity-free system. The nature of impurity pinning is discussed in connection with that in density waves. The kinetic frictional force of a steady sliding state is also investigated numerically. The relationship between the sliding velocity dependence of the kinetic frictional force and the strength of impurity potential is discussed.Comment: RevTex, 14 pages, 6 PostScript figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.