Engineering Commons^™

Secondary Droplet Breakup In Periodic Aerodynamic Flows Using Computational Fluid Dynamics, Krystle Gallo

Honors Theses

Combustion instability is characterized by periodic fluctuations during the combustion process. Such instabilities can cause a reduction in engine performance and damage to engine components. In liquid fueled combustion, some types of combustion instability may be driven by changes in fuel droplet size distribution. The fuel droplet size distribution can be changed if the original or “primary” fuel droplets are broken apart by the flow. This is called secondary droplet breakup. The smaller drops that are created during breakup are consumed more rapidly and increase the energy release rate, which may act as a sustaining force of the instability. Currently, …

Development Of Oxidizer Flow Control For Use In Hybrid Rocket Motors Of The Scientific Sounding Rocket Scale, Luke Saindon

Honors College

To successfully build a rocket engine with variable thrust you must devise a reliable and robust oxidizer flow control system. The goal of this thesis is to contribute to the goal of building a variable thrust (throttled) hybrid rocket engine, which could eventually be used to power scientific sounding rockets. A variable thrust hybrid engine would increase reusability, flexibility, and capability of almost any small rocket.

Specifically, this thesis work regards the development of the closed loop oxidizer flow control system. To do this, a small test rig was built in the lab that consists of all the components in …

Numerical Study Of The Performance Of A Model Scramjet Engine, Ayad Alhumadi

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A computational parametric investigation was conducted to study the effect of variations to several geometric parameters on the performance of a two-dimensional model scramjet engine (square cross section area for 3-D model). Geometric parameters included backstep location, height, and angle and fuel injector angle, diameter, and location. Two- and three-dimensional geometries have been studied, using a finite-volume computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code (FLUENT) with structured grids with sizes between 50,000 and 90,000 cells for the two-dimensional geometry and with structured hexahedral grid sizes between 650,000 and 949,725 cells for the three-dimensional geometry. Otherwise, identical values of program inputs were utilized …

Combustion Simulations Using Graphic Processing Units, Mingjie Wang

Master's Theses

Graphic processing units (GPUs) are powerful graphics engines featuring high levels of parallelism and extreme memory bandwidth, which constitute a powerful computing platform to solve complex problems involving chemically reacting flows. In the present study, computer programs for combustion simulations with detailed chemical kinetic mechanisms were compiled in the Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) language for NVIDIA GPU architecture. Ignition processes were simulated under constant pressure and constant volume conditions using an explicit 4^th order Runge-Kutta algorithm for time integration. Sufficiently small time steps were identified with time scale analysis to ensure the integration stability. The program was validated …

State Of The Art / Novel Rotary-Turbo-Inflow Tech / Featured Development - Gearturbine Project - Atypical Motor Engine Type, Carlos Barrera

Carlos Barrera

GEARTURBINE PROJECT Atypical InFlow Thermodynamic Technology Proposal Submission Novel Fueled Motor Engine Type

*State of the art Innovative concept Top system Higher efficient percent. Have similar system of the Aeolipile Heron Steam device from Alexandria 10-70 AD. -New Form-Function Motor-Engine Device. Next Step, Epic Design Change, Broken-Seal Revelation. -Desirable Power-Plant Innovation.

YouTube; * Atypical New • GEARTURBINE / Retrodynamic = DextroRPM VS LevoInFlow + Ying Yang Thrust Way Type - Non Waste Looses

-This innovative concept consists of hull and core where are held all 8 bteps of the work-flow which make the concept functional. The core has several gears …

Energetic Nanoparticles As Fuel Additives For Enhanced Performance In Propulsion Systems, Srinibas Karmakar

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Biofuels are currently being explored as a carbon-neutral fuel alternative to petroleum-based fuels. However, biofuels such as ethanol has lower energy density (~27MJ/kg) relative to petroleum fuels (~ 45 MJ/kg). Adding high-energy density particles (such as boron with heating value of ~ 58.5 MJ/kg) to biofuels can generate fuel slurry with higher energy density than the base fuel, and represents a potential strategy toward making biofuels more viable. However, the combustion of boron is inhibited (specifically, the ignition is delayed) by the initial presence of an oxide layer, and its high evaporation and boiling temperatures. The present study investigates the …

Development Of The Control And Ignition Systems On A High Pressure Gas Turbine Combustor, Carlos Alejandro Valdez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The ignition and control systems of a laboratory scale high-pressure gas turbine combustor were developed in the present work. This work provides a detailed description of the design, development and testing of the remote control system developed for a High Pressure Gas Turbine Combustor (HPTC).

The combustor has the capability to operate at pressures up to 1.5 MPa and temperatures up to 2400 K. It is also designed for a maximum air and fuel flow rates of 81.93 g/s and 35.77 g/s respectively. The fuel used will be CH4 for the early experiments but it is designed to operate using …

The Effect Of Elevated Water Content On Ethanol Combustion, Baine Bernard Breaux

LSU Master's Theses

Ethanol is currently being considered as a potential alternative to traditional fuels. However, the fuel offers a low return in terms of energy output per dollar invested when compared to fossil fuels. More than 1/3 of the cost associated with bio-ethanol production is devoted to distillation and water removal. This study seeks to validate the use of hydrous ethanol as a practical fuel to be used in lieu of fossil fuels or anhydrous ethanol. Success would reduce the production cost associated with ethanol fuel. Hydrous ethanol was burned in a swirl-stabilized combustor, air is introduced at a constant flow rate …