D. Missirlis

Modelling Operation of System of Recuperative Heat Exchangers for Aero Engine with Combined Use of Porosity Model and Thermo-Mechanical Model

Abstract The present work describes an effort to model the operation of a system of recuperative heat exchangers of an aero engine for real engine operating conditions. The modelling was performed with the combined use of a porous medium model and a thermo mechanical model. The porous medium model was taking into account the heat transfer and pressure loss behaviour of the heat exchangers while the thermo mechanical one was used for the calculation of the wall temperature distribution of the elliptic tubes of the heat exchangers. As it is presented, the combined use of these models can provide a useful tool which can help in the prediction of the macroscopic behaviour of the system of recuperative heat exchangers of the aero engine which can be used for optimization purposes and numerical studies.

MODELLING OF FLOW DISTRIBUTION DURING CATALYTIC CONVERTER LIGHT-OFF

The flow field non-uniformities at the inlet of catalytic converters are considered undesirable for their performance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) is a powerful tool for calculating the flow field inside the catalytic converter and optimising design concepts. However, the applicability of CFD for transient simulations is limited by the high CPU demands of this technique. The present study proposes an alternative computational method for the prediction of transient flow fields in axi-symmetric converters time-efficiently. The proposed flow resistance modelling (FRM) method is validated against the results of CFD predictions during a typical warm-up case. The FRM methodology is coupled with an already available transient model for heat transfer and chemical reactions in the catalyst. The effect of flow distribution on pollutant conversion and pressure drop is examined under warm-up and steady state operation.

Derivation of an Anisotropic Model for the Pressure-Loss Through a Heat Exchanger for Aero Engine Applications

We present an effort to model the pressure loss together with the heat transfer mechanism, in a heat exchanger designed for an integrated recuperative aero engine. The operation of the heat exchanger is focusing on the exploitation of the thermal energy of the turbine exhaust gas to pre-heat the compressor outlet air before combustion and to decrease fuel consumption and pollutant emissions. Two basic parameters characterize the operation of the heat exchanger, the pressure loss and the heat transfer. The derivation of the pressure loss model is based on experimental measurements that have been carried-out on a heat exchanger model. The presence of the heat exchanger is modeled using the concept of a porous medium, in order to facilitate the computational modeling by means of CFD. As a result, inside the integrated aero engine, the operation of the heat exchanger can be sufficiently modeled as long as a generalized and accurate pressure drop and heat transfer model is developed. Hence, the porosity model formulation should be capable of properly describing the overall macroscopic hydraulic and thermal behavior of the heat exchanger. The effect of the presence of the heat exchanger on the flow field is estimated from experimental measurements. For the derivation of the porous medium pressure loss model, an anisotropic formulation of a modified Darcy-Forchheimer pressure drop law is proposed in order to take into account the effects of the three-dimensional flow development through the heat exchanger. The heat transfer effects are taken also into account with the use of a heat transfer coefficient correlation. The porosity model is adopted by the CFD solver as an additional source term. The validation of the proposed model is performed through CFD computations, by comparing the predicted pressure drop and heat transfer with available experimental measurements carried-out on the heat exchanger model.© 2009 ASME

Modeling an Installation of Recuperative Heat Exchangers for an Aero Engine

This work presents the complete effort to model the presence of an integrated system of heat exchangers mounted in the exhaust nozzle of an aero engine which uses an alternative but more efficient thermodynamic cycle. The heat exchangers are operating as heat recuperators exploiting part of the thermal energy of the turbine exhaust gas to preheat the compressor outlet air before combustion and to reduce pollutants and fuel consumption. The presence of the heat exchangers enforces a significant pressure drop in the exhaust gas flow which can affect the overall efficiency of the thermodynamic cycle and the potential benefit of this technology. For this reason it is important to optimize the operation of the system of heat exchangers. The main target of this optimization effort is the minimization of the pressure losses for the same amount of heat transfer achieved. The optimization is performed with the combined use of experimental measurements and CFD methods. Since the CFD modeling is taking into consideration the overall geometry of the exhaust nozzle of the aero engine where the heat exchangers are mounted, the presence of the latter is unavoidably modeled with the use of a porosity model for practical reasons, having to do with CPU and memory requirements. The porosity model is taking into account the pressure drop and heat transfer behaviour of the heat exchangers and was developed and validated with the use of detailed experimental measurements. For the validation of the CFD model, isothermal experimental measurements carried out for laboratory conditions in a 1:1 model of a quarter of the exhaust nozzle of the aero engine, including four full-scale heat exchangers, were used. The CFD results were in good agreement with the experimental measurements and the same flow structures and problematic regions were detected. Thus, a complete 3-D CFD model of the overall exhaust nozzle of the aero engine was created and validated which at the next step formed the basis for the optimization of the overall aero engine installation for real engine operating conditions. The improved design of the aero engine installation presented decreased pressure losses in relation to the initial design and a more balanced mass flow distribution, showing the applicability of the overall methodology and its advantages for producing efficient engineering solutions for similar setups.Copyright

CFD Modelling and LDA Measurements for the Air-Flow in an Aero-Engine Front Bearing Chamber

The constant development of aero engines towards lighter but yet more compact designs, without decreasing their efficiency, has led to gradually increased demands of the lubrication systems, such as the bearing chambers of the aero engine. For this reason, it is of particular importance to increase our level of understanding of the flow field inside the bearing chambers in order to optimize its design and performance. The flow field in such cases is of a complicated nature since there is a strong interaction between air-flow and lubricant oil together with the geometrical configurations and the shaft rotational speed inside the bearing chamber. The behavior of this interaction must be investigated in order to understand the flow field development inside the aero engine bearing and, at a next step, optimize its performance in relation to the lubrication and heat transfer capabilities. Such an effort is presented in this work where an investigation of the air-flow field development inside the front bearing chamber of an aero engine is attempted. The front bearing chamber is divided in two separate smaller sections where the flow passes from the first section partially through the bearing and the holding structure, to the second one where the vent and the scavenge are placed. The investigation was performed with the combined use of experimental measurements and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) modeling. The experimental measurements were carried out with the use of a Laser Doppler Anemometry (LDA) system in an experimental rig modeling the front bearing chamber of an aero engine for real operating conditions taking into account both air-flow and lubricant oil-flow and for a varying number of shaft rotating speeds. The CFD modeling was performed with the use of a commercial CFD package. The air-flow inside the bearing was modeled with the adoption of a porous medium assumption. The experimental measurements and the CFD computations presented similar flow patterns and satisfactory quantitative agreement. At the same time the effect of the important parameters such as the air and oil mass flow together with the shaft rotation speed and the effect of the chamber inside geometry were identified. These conclusions can be exploited in future attempts in combination with the developed CFD model, in order to optimize the efficiency of the lubricant and cooling system. The latter forms the main target of this work which is the development of a useful engineering tool capable of predicting the flow field inside the aero engine bearing so as to be used for optimization efforts.Copyright

Computational fluid dynamics study on the decomposition of ammonia in a selective porous membrane

The development of alternative technologies for the removal of gas pollutants is an important aspect for the environmental friendliness of energy production. During coal gasification, N2 contained in coal is converted to NH3 and, as much as 50% of the ammonia in the fuel gas can be converted to nitrogen oxides (??x). At these conditions, decomposition seems to be the only applicable solution for the removal of NH3. The application of a high temperature catalytic membrane reactor process appears to offer an efficient and cost effective method of removing the NH3 from coal gasification gas streams.The present work examines the operation of such a selective membrane, used for the decomposition of NH3, under a 2-D axissymetric CFD approach where the flow field, the chemical reactions and the selective porous membrane behavior are being modeled and computed. The main target of this effort was to obtain a more detailed view of the flow field and to investigate the decomposition of ammonia in comparison with a simpler 1-D modeling approach and, thus, to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of each method.