Engineering topics

Freeman, W. G.

Publications and source records attributed to Freeman, W. G..

3 records

NASA NTRS1990

Measurements in an annular combustor-diffuser system

Results of three-component Laser Doppler Velocimeter (LDV) measurements in an annular combustor-diffuser system are presented in this paper. The LDV measurements were made at several locations in the prediffuser and dump regions of the combustor-diffuser test rig for three different inlet velocity profiles. The prediffuser average inlet Mach number was maintained at 0.305 during these tests. The LDV data are compared with predictions obtained from a boundary-fitted, two-dimensional elliptic analytical model. The agreement between the LDV data and the predicted results is very good for mean velocities. However, measured turbulence intensities are higher than the predicted values in the region adjacent to the prediffuser walls.

Srinivasan, R.↗

NASA NTRS1990

Parametric evaluation of the aerodynamic performance of an annular combustor-diffuser system

This study experimentally determined the effects of dominant geometric and flow parameters on the aerodynamic performance of an annular combustor-diffuser system. For each parametric configuration, data were obtained at 13 different flow rates through the inner annulus, outer annulus, and combustor dome. The parametric effects investigated included the dump gap dimension, flow splits, prediffuser inlet velocity profile, and combustor channel height. During these measurements, the average prediffuser inlet Mach number was 0.305. The measured static pressure recovery coefficient and the total pressure loss coefficient in the prediffuser as well as the overall system are presented in this paper. The study found that the performance of the combustor-diffuser system improves with increasing dome flow rate or dump gap dimension.

Srinivasan, R.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Spontaneous ignition delay characteristics of hydrocarbon fuel-air mixtures

The influence of pressure on the autoignition characteristics of homogeneous mixtures of hydrocarbon fuels in air is examined. Autoignition delay times are measured for propane, ethylene, methane, and acetylene in a continuous flow apparatus featuring a multi-point fuel injector. Results are presented for mixture temperatures from 670K to 1020K, pressures from 1 to 10 atmospheres, equivalence ratios from 0.2 to 0.7, and velocities from 5 to 30 m/s. Delay time is related to pressure, temperature, and fuel concentration by global reaction theory. The results show variations in global activation energy from 25 to 38 kcal/kg-mol, pressure exponents from 0.66 to 1.21, and fuel concentration exponents from 0.19 to 0.75 for the fuels studied. These results are generally in good agreement with previous studies carried out under similar conditions.

Lefebvre, A. H.↗