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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2004

Chemical and Isotopic Study of Lab-formed Carbonates Under Cryogenic and Hydrothermal Conditions

Aqueous environments on early Mars were probably relatively short-lived and localized, as evidenced by the lack of abundant secondary minerals detected by the TES instrument. In order to better understand the aqueous history of early Mars we need to be able to interpret the evidence preserved in secondary minerals formed during these aqueous events. Carbonate minerals, in particular, are important secondary minerals for interpreting past aqueous environments as illustrated by the carbonates preserved in ALH84001. Carbonates formed in short-lived, dynamic aqueous events often preserve kinetic rather than equilibrium chemical and isotopic processes, and predicting the behavior of such systems is facilitated by empirical data.

Niles, P. B.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Automated Simplification of Full Chemical Mechanisms

A code has been developed to automatically simplify full chemical mechanisms. The method employed is based on the Intrinsic Low Dimensional Manifold (ILDM) method of Maas and Pope. The ILDM method is a dynamical systems approach to the simplification of large chemical kinetic mechanisms. By identifying low-dimensional attracting manifolds, the method allows complex full mechanisms to be parameterized by just a few variables; in effect, generating reduced chemical mechanisms by an automatic procedure. These resulting mechanisms however, still retain all the species used in the full mechanism. Full and skeletal mechanisms for various fuels are simplified to a two dimensional manifold, and the resulting mechanisms are found to compare well with the full mechanisms, and show significant improvement over global one step mechanisms, such as those by Westbrook and Dryer. In addition, by using an ILDM reaction mechanism in a CID code, a considerable improvement in turn-around time can be achieved.

Norris, A. T.↗
NASA NTRS1997

Application of Low Dimensional Manifolds in NO(x) Prediction

A new post-processing technique has been developed, based on the Intrinsic Low Dimensional Manifold (ILDM) method of Maas and Pope. The ILDM method is a dynamical systems approach to the simplification of large chemical kinetic mechanisms. By identifying low-dimensional attracting manifolds, the method allows complex full mechanisms to be parameterized by just a few variables: In effect, generating reduced chemical mechanisms by an automatic procedure. These resulting mechanisms however, still retain all the species used in the full mechanism. The NO(x) post-processor takes an ILDM reduced mechanism and attempts to map this mechanism to the results of a CFD calculation. This mapping allows the NO(x) concentrations at each grid node to be obtained from the ILDM reduced mechanism, as well as other trace species of interest. Because a mapping procedure is used, this method is very fast, being able to process one million node calculations in just a few minutes.

Norris, A. T.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Control-oriented modeling of combustion and flow processes in liquid propellant rocket engines

This paper presents a control-oriented model of the flow, reaction, and transport processes in liquid propellant rocket combustion chambers, based on the multicomponent conservation laws of gas dynamics. This model provides a framework for the inclusion of detailed chemical kinetic relations, viscous and other dissipative effects, a variety of actuators and sensors, as well as process and measurement disturbances. In addition to its potential usefulness to the designer in understanding the dynamical complexity of the system and the sources of model uncertainty, the model provides a rigorous basis for control system design. An appraisal of current and feasible actuators and sensors, and their mathematical representation are included.

Bentsman, Joseph↗
NASA NTRS1992

Analysis of thermo-chemical nonequilibrium models for carbon dioxide flows

The aerothermodynamics of thermochemical nonequilibrium carbon dioxide flows is studied. The chemical kinetics models of McKenzie and Park are implemented in separate three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics codes. The codes incorporate a five-species gas model characterized by a translational-rotational and a vibrational temperature. Solutions are obtained for flow over finite length elliptical and circular cylinders. The computed flowfields are then employed to calculate Mach-Zehnder interferograms for comparison with experimental data. The accuracy of the chemical kinetics models is determined through this comparison. Also, the methodology of the three-dimensional thermochemical nonequilibrium code is verified by the reproduction of the experiments.

Rock, Stacey G.↗
NASA NTRS1994

Radiative properties of molecular nitrogen ions produced by helium Penning ionization and argon effects

The development of hypersonic aerospace vehicles requires a better understanding on the thermal and chemical nonequilibrium kinetics of participating species in shock layers. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD) codes developed for such flowfields overestimate the radiation in the spectral region of 300 - 600 nm. A speculation for this overestimation is that inclusion of Ar, CO2, and H2O at the upper atmosphere flight region makes a significant impact on radiative kinetics of molecular nitrogen ions. To define the effects of minority species on the radiative kinetics of N2(+), an experimental setup was made by using the helium Penning ionization. The vibrational and rotational temperature were measured by mapping the vibrational and rotational distributions of N2(+) emission with high spectroscopic resolution and absolute intensity measurements. Measured vibrational temperatures were in the range from 18,000 to 36,000 K, and rotational temperatures were in the range from 300 to 370 K. The irradiance of 391.44 nm line and rotational and vibrational temperatures were analyzed to define argon and CO2 effects on the N2(+) emission. When Ar or CO2 is injected with N2, the rotational temperature did not change. The irradiances were reduced by 34 percent and 78 percent for the 50 percent of mixture of Ar and CO2, respectively. The vibrational temperatures were increased by 24.1 percent and 82.9 percent for the 50 percent of mixture of Ar and CO2, respectively. It appears that there are no significant effects from small concentrations of Ar and CO2 at the upper atmosphere flight region.

Miller, George, III↗
NASA NTRS1990

Stratosphere chemistry in a 2-D model with residual circulation

The objective of this research was to examine the effects of chemical perturbations on the stratosphere using models which can incorporate fully interactive radiative, chemical, and dynamical responses, in the context of a zonally averaged model. Model runs for the unperturbed, chlorine-perturbed and simultaneously chlorine-and CO2-perturbed cases were completed using the JPL-87 chemical kinetics data. The base case was analyzed and submitted for publication. The perturbed cases show substantial sensitivity of the predicted column ozone depletion to the perturbations affecting lower stratosphere temperature, but less to far dynamical perturbations. The column ozone distribution changed substantially when the kinetics data was changed. This implies a greater-than-expected uncertainty in predicted latitude distributions of ozone depletion, due to uncertainty about the accuracy and completeness of the chemical kinetics data set.

Guthrie, Paul D.↗
NASA NTRS1990

Theory of radiation from low velocity heated air

The application of hypersonic computational fluid dynamics models to low velocity vehicles is examined. Modeling aspects such as chemical kinetics, electronic excitation/deexcitation mechanisms, and existence of equilibrium versus nonequilibrium conditions in the flow were examined. Flowfield properties and in-band radiances in the wavelength region of .25 micron in the vicinity of the stagnation streamline are given for a three-inch hemisphere.

Levin, D. A.↗
NASA NTRS2007

Diffusion Flame Stabilization

Diffusion flames are commonly used for industrial burners in furnaces and flares. Oxygen/fuel burners are usually diffusion burners, primarily for safety reasons, to prevent flashback and explosion in a potentially dangerous system. Furthermore, in most fires, condensed materials pyrolyze, vaporize, and burn in air as diffusion flames. As a result of the interaction of a diffusion flame with burner or condensed-fuel surfaces, a quenched space is formed, thus leaving a diffusion flame edge, which plays an important role in flame holding in combustion systems and fire spread through condensed fuels. Despite a long history of jet diffusion flame studies, lifting/blowoff mechanisms have not yet been fully understood, compared to those of premixed flames. In this study, the structure and stability of diffusion flames of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels in coflowing air at normal earth gravity have been investigated experimentally and computationally. Measurements of the critical mean jet velocity (U(sub jc)) of methane, ethane, or propane at lifting or blowoff were made as a function of the coflowing air velocity (U(sub a)) using a tube burner (i.d.: 2.87 mm) (Fig. 1, left). By using a computational fluid dynamics code with 33 species and 112 elementary reaction steps, the internal chemical-kinetic structures of the stabilizing region of methane and propane flames were investigated (Fig. 1, right). A peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, is formed in the flame stabilizing region due to back-diffusion of heat and radical species against an oxygen-rich incoming flow, thus holding the trailing diffusion flame. The simulated flame base moved downstream under flow conditions close to the measured stability limit.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗
NASA NTRS2006

Diffusion Flame Stabilization

Diffusion flames are commonly used for industrial burners in furnaces and flares. Oxygen/fuel burners are usually diffusion burners, primarily for safety reasons, to prevent flashback and explosion in a potentially dangerous system. Furthermore, in most fires, condensed materials pyrolyze, vaporize, and burn in air as diffusion flames. As a result of the interaction of a diffusion flame with burner or condensed-fuel surfaces, a quenched space is formed, thus leaving a diffusion flame edge, which plays an important role in flame holding in combustion systems and fire spread through condensed fuels. Despite a long history of jet diffusion flame studies, lifting/blowoff mechanisms have not yet been fully understood, compared to those of premixed flames. In this study, the structure and stability of diffusion flames of gaseous hydrocarbon fuels in coflowing air at normal earth gravity have been investigated experimentally and computationally. Measurements of the critical mean jet velocity (U(sub jc)) of methane, ethane, or propane at lifting or blowoff were made as a function of the coflowing air velocity (U(sub a)) using a tube burner (i.d.: 2.87 mm). By using a computational fluid dynamics code with 33 species and 112 elementary reaction steps, the internal chemical-kinetic structures of the stabilizing region of methane and propane flames were investigated. A peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, is formed in the flame stabilizing region due to back-diffusion of heat and radical species against an oxygen-rich incoming flow, thus holding the trailing diffusion flame. The simulated flame base moved downstream under flow conditions close to the measured stability limit.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗
NASA NTRS1990

Computation of thermo-chemical nonequilibrium Martian atmospheric entry flows

The aerothermodynamics of a Martian atmospheric entry trajectory are studied. A chemical kinetics model for the CO2-N2 mixture found in the Martian atmosphere is implemented in a two-dimensional computational fluid dynamics method. The gas mixture is allowed to be in thermo-chemical nonequilibrium and to be composed of eight species characterized by two temperatures. The CO2 reaction model is validated by comparing computations to experimental results. Results for typical Martian entry conditions are presented and limitations of the current thermophysical model are discussed.

Candler, Graham V.↗
NASA NTRS2004

A Massively Parallel Hybrid Dusty-Gasdynamics and Kinetic Direct Simulation Monte Carlo Model for Planetary Applications

In order to understand the global structure, dynamics, and physical and chemical processes occurring in the upper atmospheres, exospheres, and ionospheres of the Earth, the other planets, comets and planetary satellites and their interactions with their outer particles and fields environs, it is often necessary to address the fundamentally non-equilibrium aspects of the physical environment. These are regions where complex chemistry, energetics, and electromagnetic field influences are important. Traditional approaches are based largely on hydrodynamic or magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) formulations and are very important and highly useful. However, these methods often have limitations in rarefied physical regimes where the molecular collision rates and ion gyrofrequencies are small and where interactions with ionospheres and upper neutral atmospheres are important. At the University of Michigan we have an established base of experience and expertise in numerical simulations based on particle codes which address these physical regimes. The Principal Investigator, Dr. Michael Combi, has over 20 years of experience in the development of particle-kinetic and hybrid kinetichydrodynamics models and their direct use in data analysis. He has also worked in ground-based and space-based remote observational work and on spacecraft instrument teams. His research has involved studies of cometary atmospheres and ionospheres and their interaction with the solar wind, the neutral gas clouds escaping from Jupiter s moon Io, the interaction of the atmospheres/ionospheres of Io and Europa with Jupiter s corotating magnetosphere, as well as Earth s ionosphere. This report describes our progress during the year. The contained in section 2 of this report will serve as the basis of a paper describing the method and its application to the cometary coma that will be continued under a research and analysis grant that supports various applications of theoretical comet models to understanding the inner comae of comets (grant NAGS- 13239 from the Planetary Atmospheres program).

Combi, Michael R.↗
NASA NTRS1992

Optimization and analysis of large chemical kinetic mechanisms using the solution mapping method - Combustion of methane

A method of systematic optimization, solution mapping, as applied to a large-scale dynamic model is presented. The basis of the technique is parameterization of model responses in terms of model parameters by simple algebraic expressions. These expressions are obtained by computer experiments arranged in a factorial design. The developed parameterized responses are then used in a joint multiparameter multidata-set optimization. A brief review of the mathematical background of the technique is given. The concept of active parameters is discussed. The technique is applied to determine an optimum set of parameters for a methane combustion mechanism. Five independent responses - comprising ignition delay times, pre-ignition methyl radical concentration profiles, and laminar premixed flame velocities - were optimized with respect to thirteen reaction rate parameters. The numerical predictions of the optimized model are compared to those computed with several recent literature mechanisms. The utility of the solution mapping technique in situations where the optimum is not unique is also demonstrated.

Frenklach, Michael↗
NASA NTRS2003

A Role of the Reaction Kernel in Propagation and Stabilization of Edge Diffusion Flames of C1-C3 Hydrocarbons

Diffusion flame stabilization is of essential importance in both Earth-bound combustion systems and spacecraft fire safety. Local extinction, re-ignition, and propagation processes may occur as a result of interactions between the flame zone and vortices or fire-extinguishing agents. By using a computational fluid dynamics code with a detailed chemistry model for methane combustion, the authors have revealed the chemical kinetic structure of the stabilizing region of both jet and flat-plate diffusion flames, predicted the flame stability limit, and proposed diffusion flame attachment and detachment mechanisms in normal and microgravity. Because of the unique geometry of the edge of diffusion flames, radical back-diffusion against the oxygen-rich entrainment dramatically enhanced chain reactions, thus forming a peak reactivity spot, i.e., reaction kernel, responsible for flame holding. The new results have been obtained for the edge diffusion flame propagation and attached flame structure using various C1-C3 hydrocarbons.

Takahashi, Fumiaki↗
NASA NTRS1990

Critical evaluation of Jet-A spray combustion using propane chemical kinetics in gas turbine combustion simulated by KIVA-2

Jet-A spray combustion has been evaluated in gas turbine combustion with the use of propane chemical kinetics as the first approximation for the chemical reactions. Here, the numerical solutions are obtained by using the KIVA-2 computer code. The KIVA-2 code is the most developed of the available multidimensional combustion computer programs for application of the in-cylinder combustion dynamics of internal combustion engines. The released version of KIVA-2 assumes that 12 chemical species are present; the code uses an Arrhenius kinetic-controlled combustion model governed by a four-step global chemical reaction and six equilibrium reactions. Researchers efforts involve the addition of Jet-A thermophysical properties and the implementation of detailed reaction mechanisms for propane oxidation. Three different detailed reaction mechanism models are considered. The first model consists of 131 reactions and 45 species. This is considered as the full mechanism which is developed through the study of chemical kinetics of propane combustion in an enclosed chamber. The full mechanism is evaluated by comparing calculated ignition delay times with available shock tube data. However, these detailed reactions occupy too much computer memory and CPU time for the computation. Therefore, it only serves as a benchmark case by which to evaluate other simplified models. Two possible simplified models were tested in the existing computer code KIVA-2 for the same conditions as used with the full mechanism. One model is obtained through a sensitivity analysis using LSENS, the general kinetics and sensitivity analysis program code of D. A. Bittker and K. Radhakrishnan. This model consists of 45 chemical reactions and 27 species. The other model is based on the work published by C. K. Westbrook and F. L. Dryer.

Nguyen, H. L.↗
NASA NTRS1992

NASA upper atmosphere research program: Research summaries, 1990 - 1991. Report to the Congress and the Environmental Protection Agency

The objectives, status, and accomplishments of the research tasks supported under the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Program (UARP) are presented. The topics covered include the following: balloon-borne in situ measurements; balloon-borne remote measurements; ground-based measurements; aircraft-borne measurements; rocket-borne measurements; instrument development; reaction kinetics and photochemistry; spectroscopy; stratospheric dynamics and related analysis; stratospheric chemistry, analysis, and related modeling; and global chemical modeling.

Source record↗
NASA NTRS2005

Dynamic Weakening (Extinction) of Simple Hydrocarbon-air Counterflow Diffusion Flames by Oscillatory Inflows

This study of laminar non-premixed HC-air flames used an Oscillatory-input Opposed Jet Burner (OOJB) system developed from a previously well-characterized 7.2-mm Pyrex-nozzle OJB system. Over 600 dynamic Flame Strength (FS) measurements were obtained on unanchored (free-floating) laminar Counterflow Diffusion Flames (CFDF's). Flames were stabilized using plug inflows having steady-plus-sinusoidal axial velocities of varied magnitude, frequency, f, up to 1600 Hz, and phase angle from 0 (most data) to 360 degrees. Dynamic FS is defined as the maximum average air input velocity (U(sub air), at nozzle exit) a CFDF can sustain before strain-induced extinction occurs due to prescribed oscillatory peak-to-peak velocity inputs superimposed on steady inputs. Initially, dynamic flame extinction data were obtained at low f, and were supported by 25-120 Hz Hot-Wire cold-flow velocity data at nozzle exits. Later, expanded extinction data were supported by 4-1600 Hz Probe Microphone (PM) pk/pk P data at nozzle exits. The PM data were first obtained without flows, and later with cold stagnating flows, which better represent speaker-diaphragm dynamics during runs. The PM approach enabled characterizations of Dynamic Flame Weakening (DFW) of CFDF's from 8 to 1600 Hz. DFW was defined as % decrease in FS per Pascal of pk/pk P oscillation, namely, DFW = - 100 d(U(sub air) / U(sub air),0Hz) / d(pkpk P). The linear normalization with respect to acoustic pressure magnitude (and steady state (SS) FS) led to a DFW unaffected by strong internal resonances. For the C2H4/N2-air system, from 8 to 20 Hz, DFW is constant at 8.52 plus or minus 0.20 (% weakening)/Pa. This reflects a quasi-steady flame response to an acoustically induced dU(sub air)/dP. Also, it is surprisingly independent of C2H4/N2 mole fraction due to normalization by SS FS. From 20 to approximately 150 Hz, the C2H4/N2 air-flames weakened progressively less, with an inflection at approximately 70 Hz, and became asymptotically insensitive (DFW approximately 0) at approximately 300 Hz, which continued to 1600 Hz. The DFW of CH4-air flames followed a similar pattern, but showed much greater weakening than C2H4/N2-air flames; i.e., the quasi-steady DFW (8 to approximately 15 Hz) was 44.3 %/Pa, or approximately 5x larger, even though the 0 Hz (SS) FS was only 3.0 x smaller. The quasi-steady DFW's of C3H8-air and C2H6-air were intermediate at 34.8 and 20.9 %Pa, respectively. The DFW profiles of all four fuels, at various frequencies, correlated well but non-linearly with respective SS FS's. Notably, the DFW profile for C3H8 air fell more rapidly in the range greater than 15 to 60 Hz, compared with the 1- and 2-carbon fuels. This may indicate a shift in chemical kinetics, and/or O2 transport to a flame that moved closer to the fuel-side. In conclusion, Dynamic Flame Weakening limits appear significant and unique for each fuel, and correlate closely, but non-linearly, with Steady-State Flame Strengths at any given frequency. For reasons unknown, the dynamic flames didn't weaken more at intermediate frequencies (e.g., at 20-50 Hz) than they did at low frequencies (less than 15 Hz), where quasi-steady weakening appears to dominate. Quasi-steady flame weakening ostensibly represents a transient input strain rate maximum that just exceeds the steady-state strain-rate-limited extinction limit for a few cycles. Clearly, further detailed mechanistic understanding is needed in the fall-off region.

Pellett, G.↗
NASA NTRS1993

Prediction of prompt NO(x) in hydrocarbon air flames

The gas turbine industry is directing particular attention to very low NOx combustors, whether for aircraft or land based CCGT systems. These low NOx combustors frequently use liquid fuels or natural gas burning under very lean premixed conditions with air or under rich-lean conditions, although only the first case is studied here. In land based systems, diluted steam or nitrogen are sometimes injected into the combustion chambers to reduce flame temperature. The NOx emissions from such systems are the product of three chemical mechanisms which are interrelated: the hydrocarbon prompt NO, the thermal NO (extended Zeldovich mechanism), and the nitrous oxide route to NO. Formation of NO2 from NO also occurs, as well as emission of carbon monoxide and unburnt hydrocarbons. When the fuel-oxidant proportion decreases towards leaner conditions, flame temperatures are lowered, resulting in the total NO being reduced and the thermal-NO contribution greatly diminished to the benefit of the remaining two mechanisms of NO formation. While knowledge of the elementary reactions and their chemical kinetics concerning methane and simple hydrocarbons combustion has existed for a number of years, its use for computer modeling is limited to simple flow dynamics configurations. Nevertheless, understanding of such combusting flows under a wide range of experimental conditions allows for analogies or speculations with more complex actual systems. Such understanding can be achieved by means of one dimensional laminar premixed flame modeling, with a full chemical mechanism which incorporates the three routes of NO formation. Complementary to this understanding is the modeling of the actual combustion system using a full description of the fluid dynamics coupled with a reduced chemical scheme, which is then compared against the first model. The objective of this investigation is to evaluate the relative importance of the three mechanisms of NO formation in lean premixed methane-air combustion with increasing pressure using the one dimensional plug flow package PREMIX, and to test the validity of a three dimensional model with a global chemical mechanism against the one dimensional model in the atmospheric pressure case. Methane is chosen because it is the only mechanism which is reasonably well known and is a good guide to the behavior of other hydrocarbons. The mixture ratio chosen is richer than that in lean gas turbines, but the combustion of this mixture with the low preheat gives realistic gas turbine final flame temperatures. Conditions of NO2 formation are also analyzed in the one dimensional model and results extrapolated to the case of gas turbines.

Valerie Dupont↗