Engineering topics

Schoegl, I.

Publications and source records attributed to Schoegl, I..

3 records

DOE OSTI2021

Temperature Effects on Droplet Oscillation Decay with Application to Fuel Property Measurement

Observation of oscillation decay in droplets has been shown to be an effective approach in determining physical properties such as viscosity and surface tension for emerging biofuels using μl quantities. Herein this work extends the approach to higher temperatures relevant to fuel injection conditions for internal combustion engines. Experiments are conducted that use high-resolution strobed imaging of moving, heated, μm-sized, fuel droplets to capture shape oscillation decay through image processing and analysis. Two fuels are investigated, iso-butanol and a primary reference fuel (PRF 84), which is a mixture of iso-octane and n-heptane. A piezoelectric droplet generator is used to generate a continuous train of single droplets, which are given an initial perturbation and subsequently undergo damped oscillations, captured using strobed imaging. Surface tension and viscosity calculated at four different temperatures ranging from 30°C-55°C using the frequency and decay time associated with the fundamental mode are found to be within ~ 10% of reference values obtained from the literature. Complementary numerical simulations are performed that utilize a volume-of-fluid approach to track transient droplet oscillation phenomena along with heat and mass transfer in a 2D axisymmetric domain. Simulations, where droplet size and temperature can be independently varied, capture an expected decrease in oscillation frequency and increase in decay time, with increase in fuel temperature. The simulations are further used to study the relative contribution to deviations in surface tension and viscosity predictions due to heat and mass transfer from the droplet, as well as viscous effects violating the inviscid flow assumption in the droplet oscillation theory. Mass loss effects are found to be negligible. Temperature change due to heat transfer is found to have the next highest sensitivity, particularly for the more volatile PRF 84, which has a lower viscosity and associated Ohnesorge number. For isobutanol, which has a higher viscosity and Ohnesorge number, viscous effects contribute the most to deviation in fuel property predictions.

09 BIOMASS FUELS↗

DOE OSTI2019

Ignition delay time and H 2 O measurements during methanol oxidation behind reflected shock waves

To improve detailed chemical kinetics models, the oxidation of methanol was investigated behind reflected shock waves in shock tubes. Ignition delay times of methanol–air mixtures, with Ar as diluent, were studied between 940 and 1540 K in a heated shock tube, for pressures up to 14.9 atm and for equivalence ratios of 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0. Water profiles were measured by utilizing a laser absorption technique in the 1350-to-1600-K temperature range, at an average pressure of 1.3 atm and for similar equivalence ratios. The present study shows here the ignition delay times of methanol to be in very good agreement with results from the literature (Fieweger et al., 1997), whereas the other conditions have never been investigated before. The ignition delay time data are also in good agreement with modern detailed kinetics mechanisms such as the AramcoMech 3.0 model. The water time-history profiles were modeled using well-known literature mechanisms. Discrepancies were observed between these kinetics mechanisms, and poor predictions were observed for the lower temperatures investigated. Sensitivity and rate-of-production analyses were performed using 3 literature mechanisms (namely, AramcoMech 3.0, Princeton, and JetSurfII). Discrepancies were found among the models when predicting important reactions dominating the oxidation of methanol as well as the rate-of-production of H 2 O.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2016

Small Volume Fuel Testers Report

Micro-liter fuel ignition testing (μ-FIT) is based on the premise that characteristics FREI (Flames with Repetitive Extinction and Ignition, i.e. cyclically occurring combustion events within heated capillaries), are linked to fuel properties. In early FY16, proof-of-concept measurements with primary reference fuel (PRF) mixtures, i.e. blends of n-heptane and iso-octane, yielded clear evidence for the feasibility of the approach. Our experiments showed that it is critical to accurately link observed flame positions to local temperatures, which provides information on ignition, extinction and flame propagation, all of which are known to be impacted by fuel properties. In FY16, one major hurdle was uncertainty of temperature calibration, which required significant efforts for corrective action that were not included in the original scope of work. Temperature calibrations are obtained by translating a thermocouple within the capillary in absence of a flame. While measurements have good repeatability when accounting for transient and insertion effects, results from nominally identical thermocouples reveal unacceptable uncertainty (up to ±50K), which is attributed to variations in thermocouple placement and manufacturing tolerances. This issue is currently being resolved by switching to non-intrusive optical temperature measurements. Updates are expected to yield uncertainties of less than ±10K, while also eliminating transient and insertion effects. The experimental work was complemented by computational efforts where it was shown that a simplified Lagrangian zero-D model with detailed kinetics yields fuelspecific differentiation of ignition temperatures for simple fuels that are consistent with experiments. Further, a 2D transient model was implemented in OpenFOAM to investigate combustion behavior of simple fuels at elevated pressure. In an upcoming visit to LLNL, more advanced simulations using LLNL’s computational tools (e.g. zero-RK) are planned, which will yield additional numerical insights on FREI behavior of more realistic spark ignited (SI) engine fuel surrogates. As there is a lag between DOE FY16 and the time frame of the LSU subcontract, it is anticipated that deliverables outlined in the scope of work will be met by the end of the subcontract (January 2017).

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗