A Twin Unidirectional Impulse Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion—Effect of Fluidic Diode on the Performance

As a system using a conventional unidirectional air turbine in oscillating water column (OWC) based on a wave energy plant, a twin unidirectional impulse turbine topology has been suggested in previous studies. However, the average efficiency of the suggested twin turbine is considerably lower than that of a conventional unidirectional turbine in this topology because reciprocating air flow can’t be rectified adequately by a unidirectional turbine. In order to improve the efficiency, using fluidic diode is discussed. In this study, two different fluidic diodes were discussed by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and a wind tunnel test. Further, its usefulness is discussed from a view point of the turbine efficiency. The fluidic diode was shown to improve rectification of the topology. However, it needs more improvement in regards to its energy loss in order to enhance the turbine efficiency.

Computational Analysis of Mixing Guide Vane Effects on Performance of the Supersonic Ejector-Diffuser System

The flow field in the ejector-diffuser system and its optimal operation condition are hardly complicated due to the complicated turbulent mixing, compressibility effects and even flow unsteadiness which are generated inside the ejector- diffuser system. This paper aims at the improvement in ejector-diffuser system by focusing attention on entrainment ratio and pressure recovery. Several mixing guide vanes were installed at the inlet of the secondary stream for the purpose of the performance improvement of the ejector system. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) method based on Fluent has been applied to simulate the supersonic flows and shock waves inside the ejector. A finite volume scheme and density-based solver with coupled scheme were applied in the computational process. Standard k-ω turbulent model, implicit formulations were used considering the accuracy and stability. Previous experimental results showed that more flow vortexes were generated and more vertical flow was introduced into the stream under a mixing guide vane influence. Besides these effects on the secondary stream, the mixing guide vane effects on the shock system of the primary stream were also investigated in this paper. Optimal analysis results of the mixing guide vane effects were also carried out in detail in terms of the positions, lengths and numbers to achieve the best operation condition. The comparison of ejector performance with and without the mixing guide vane was obtained. The ejector-diffuser system performance is discussed in terms of the entrainment ratio, pressure recovery as well as total pressure loss.

Effects of Supersonic Nozzle Geometry on Characteristics of Shock Wave Structure

Interaction between the normal shock wave and the turbulent boundary layer in a supersonic nozzle becomes complex with an increase of a Mach number just before the shock wave. When the shock wave is strong enough to separate the boundary layer, the shock wave is bifurcated, and the 2nd and 3rd shock waves are formed downstream of the shock wave. The effect of a series of shock waves thus formed, called shock train, is considered to be similar to the effect of one normal shock wave, and the shock train is called pseudo-shock wave. There are many researches on the configuration of the shock wave. However, so far, very few researches have been done on the asymmetric characteristics of the leading shock wave in supersonic nozzles. In the present study, the effect of nozzle geometry on asymmetric shock wave in supersonic nozzles has been investigated experimentally.

Heat Transfer Characteristics of Work Fluid Including Phase Change Material That Flow into Heating Surface from Narrow Path

Use of the low temperature (less than 100°C) energy contributes to effective use of heat resources. The cost recovery by power generation is difficult by using an existing system (the binary cycle or the thermoelectric conversion element), because the initial investment is large. The final purpose of this research is development of the low temperature difference drive engine supposing use in a hot-springs resort as a power source for electric power generation. In order that a traveler may look at and delight a motion of an engine, it is made to drive at low-speed number of rotations. An engine cycle of this study is aimed at the development of Stirling cycle engine which can maintain high efficiency in small size. This kind of engine has simple structure;it brings low cost, and it is easy to perform maintenance. However, it is difficult to obtain enough output by this type of engine, because of its low temperature difference. This paper deals with the heat transfer characteristic that the working fluid including a phase change material flows into the heating surface from the narrow path. In order to increase the amount of the heat transmission, Diethylether is added to the working fluid. Diethylether is selected as a phase change material (PCM) that has the boiling point which exists between the heat source of high temperature and low temperature. The parameters of the experiment are additive amount of PCM, rotational speed of the displacer piston and temperature of heat transfer surface. It is shown that it is possible to make exchange of heat amount increase by adding phase change material. The result of this research shows the optimal condition of the difference in temperature in heat processing, number of revolutions, and addition concentration of PCM.

Wells Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion —Improvement of the Performance by Means of Impulse Turbine for Bi-Directional Flow

Wells turbine has inherent disadvantages in comparison with conventional turbines: relative low efficiency at high flow coefficient and poor starting characteristics. To solve these problems, the authors propose Wells turbine with booster turbine for wave energy conversion, in order to improve the performance in this study. This turbine consists of three parts: a large Wells turbine, a small impulse turbine with fixed guide vanes for oscillating airflow, and a generator. It was conjectured that, by coupling the two axial flow turbines together, pneumatic energy from oscillating airflow is captured by Wells turbine at low flow coefficient and that the impulse turbine gets the energy at high flow coefficient. As the first step of this study on the proposed turbine topology, the performance of turbines under steady flow conditions has been investigated experimentally by model testings. Furthermore, we estimate mean efficiency of the turbine by quasi-steady analysis.

Numerical Study on Transonic Flow with Local Occurrence of Non-Equilibrium Condensation

Characteristics of transonic flow over an airfoil are determined by a shock wave standing on the suction surface. In this case, the shock wave/boundary layer interaction becomes complex because an adverse pressure gradient is imposed by the shock wave on the boundary layer. Several types of passive control techniques have been applied to shock wave/boundary layer interaction in the transonic flow. Furthermore, possibilities for the control of flow fields due to non-equilibrium condensation have been shown so far and in this flow field, non-equilibrium condensation occurs across the passage of the nozzle and it causes the total pressure loss in the flow field. However, local occurrence of non-equilibrium condensation in the flow field may change the characteristics of total pressure loss compared with that by non-equilibrium condensation across the passage of flow field and there are few for researches of locally occurred non-equilibrium condensation in a transonic flow field. The purpose of this study is to clarify the effect of locally occurred non-equilibrium condensation on the shock strength and total pressure loss on a transonic internal flow field with circular bump. As a result, it was found that shock strength in case with local occurrence of non-equilibrium condensation is reduced compared with that of no condensation. Further, the amount of increase in the total pressure loss in case with local occurrence of non-equilibrium condensation was also reduced compared with that by non-equilibrium condensation across the passage of flow field.

A Counter-Rotating Impulse Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

Wave energy can be converted to the electrical energy by using a wave energy converter. The wave energy converter with oscillating water column (OWC) is one of the most promising devices because of its simple structure and easy maintenance. In this device, an oscillating water column due to the wave motion is used to drive an air column. An air turbine is used to convert the pneumatic energy of this bi-directional airflow into the mechanical energy. The counter-rotating impulse turbine for wave energy conversion has been proposed and tested so far, and the average efficiency has been shown to about 0.3. On the contrary, in another offshore experiment, it has been reported that the power generation efficiency of this turbine is larger than Wells turbine in case of small waves. However, there is a scarcity of the detailed characteristics data of counter-rotating impulse turbine. In a previous study, the authors investigated the effect of rotor blade solidity and setting angle of guide vane on the performance of this turbine, and they clarified that the efficiency of this turbine is higher than impulse turbine with single rotor in the range of high flow coefficients. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of rotor blade profile on the turbine performance by using the computation fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis. The inner and outer angles of turbine rotor blade are changed in the range of 50° to 70°. The commercial CFD software of SCRYU/Tetra of Cradle Co. Ltd. was used in the present work. The Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations were used as the governing equations and the low Reynold’s number SST k-ω model was used to predict the turbulent stresses. As a result, it was found that the inner angle of γ = 70° and the outer angle of γ = 60° of the turbine rotor blades can give the best turbine efficiency and it shows the efficiency close to the impulse turbine with single rotor, even in the range of low flow coefficients.

Design of Half-Ducted Axial Flow Fan Considering Radial Inflow and Outflow

Half-ducted fan and ducted fan have been designed and numerically analyzed for investigating the radial flow effect on the overall performance and the three dimensional flow field in design. Based on quasi-three dimensional flow theory, the meridional flow was calculated by adopting the radial balance equations, while the calculation of the blade to blade flow was obtained by 2D cascade data with the correction by a potential flow theory. Two types of axial flow fan were designed. One is the full ducted case as if it was in the straight pipe and another is the half-ducted case with the radial inflow and outflow. The previous experimental results of authors were used to decide the inclinations of both the inflow and outflow. And the circular arc blade with equal thickness was adopted. The numerical results indicate that both of the designed fans can reach the specified efficiency and also the efficiency surpasses more than 11%. Furthermore, the static pressure characteristic of half-ducted fan is much better than that of ducted fan. In comparison of the three dimensional internal flow of these two fans, the improvement of the flow angle at inlet and outlet, the distributions of velocity in the flow field and the pressure distributions on the blade surfaces can be achieved more successfully in accordance with the design intension on consideration of flow angle in design. The conclusion that half-ducted design with considering radial inflow and outflow is feasible and valid in comparison with ducted design for axial flow fans has been obtained at the end of the paper.

Computational Study on Micro Shock Tube Flows with Gradual Diaphragm Rupture Process

Gas flows through micro shock tubes are widely used in many engineering applications such as micro engines, particle delivery devices etc. Recently, few studies have been carried out to explore the shock wave excursions through micro shock tubes at very low Reynolds number and at rarefied gas condition. But these studies assumed centered shock and expansion waves, which are generally produced by instantaneous diaphragm rupture process. But in real scenario, the diaphragm ruptures with a finite rupture time and this phenomenon will significantly alter the shock wave propagation characteristics. In the present research, numerical simulations have been carried out on a two dimensional micro shock tube model to simulate the effect of finite diaphragm rupture process on the wave characteristics. The rarefaction effect was simulated using Maxwell’s slip wall equations. The results show that shock wave attenuates rapidly in micro shock tubes compared to conventional macro shock tubes. Finite diaphragm rupture causes the formation of non-centered shock wave at some distance ahead of the diaphragm. The shock propagation distance is also drastically reduced by the rupture effects.

A Study on the Half-Ducted Axial Flow Fan Designed by a Diagonal Flow Fan Design Method

A study on the half-ducted axial flow fan designed by a diagonal flow fan design method was conducted. The rotor which has NACA65 blades was designed, calculated numerically, manufactured and tested experimentally. As a result of the design and CFD, the meridional streamline and three distributions of the meridional, tangential and radial velocity at inlet and outlet go well as designed values of the half ducted fan. On the other hand, the values of the meridional velocity and the tangential velocity are little smaller than the design values at the hub side of the radial distribution. The improvement of the design is prospected for this point, that is, the approach between the design value and the actual flow is prospected if the tangential velocity is assigned small at hub and is assigned large at the tip so as to accord the actual flow in the vortex design of the rotor blade. Then the designed half-ducted rotor with four NACA65 blades was fabricated by a three-dimensional printer and tested in the wind tunnel in order to validate the half-ducted design method. For the comparison between the design values and the experimental values at the design flow rate coefficient of φ = 0.264, the experimental values of the pressure rise coefficient ψ and the efficiency η are rather small than the design values, while the experimental value of the torque coefficient τ is almost the same as the design value. However, the experimental value of approximately 0.45 of the maximum efficiency is comparably large value considering for the limitation of the situation of half-ducted. For the comparison between the experimental values and the CFD values at φ = 0.264, the CFD values are almost the same values as the experimental values for all the values of ψ, τ and η. In addition, the tendencies of the CFD values when the flow rate coefficient changes are almost similar as the experimental tendencies, though the flow rate coefficient for the CFD values when ψ or η takes the peak value shifts toward larger flow rate. For the case at rotor outlet at φ = 0.264, two values of the meridional velocity and the tangential velocity are larger than the design values at the tip side of the radial distribution.

A Twin Unidirectional Impulse Turbine for Wave Energy Conversion

A twin unidirectional impulse turbine has been proposed in order to enhance the performance of wave energy plant. This turbine system uses two unidirectional impulse turbines and their flow direction is different each other. However, the effect of guide vane solidity on the turbine characteristics has not been clarified to date. The performances of a uni- directional impulse turbine under steady flow conditions were investigated experimentally by using a wind tunnel with large piston/cylinder in this study. Then, mean efficiency of the twin impulse turbine in bidirectional airflow has been estimated by a quasi-steady analysis using experimental results in order to investigate the effect of guide vane solidity on the performance.

Numerical Study on the Effect of Unsteady Downstream Conditions on Hydrogen Gas Flow through a Critical Nozzle

A critical nozzle (sonic nozzle) is used to measure the mass flow rate of gas. It is well known that the coefficient of discharge of the flow in the nozzle is a single function of Reynolds number. The purpose of the present study is to investigate the effect of unsteady downstream condition on hydrogen gas flow through a sonic nozzle, numerically. Navier-Stokes equations were solved numerically using 3rd-order MUSCL type TVD finite-difference scheme with a second-order fractional-step for time integration. A standard k-ε model was used as a turbulence model. The computational results showed that the discharge coefficients in case without pressure fluctuations were in good agreement with experimental results. Further, it was found that the pressure fluctuations tended to propagate upstream of nozzle throat with the decrease of Reynolds number and an increase of amplitude of pressure fluctuations.

Control of Transonic Shock Wave Oscillation over a Supercritical Airfoil

In the present study, a numerical investigation is carried out on the aerodynamic performance of a supercritical airfoil RAE 2822. Transonic flow fields are considered where self-excited shock wave oscillation prevails. To control the shock oscillation, a passive technique in the form of an open rectangular cavity is introduced on the upper surface of the airfoil where the shock wave oscillates. Reynolds Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations have been used to predict the aerodynamic behavior of the baseline airfoil and airfoil with cavity at Mach number of 0.729 and at angle of attack of 5°. The aerodynamic characteristics of the baseline airfoil are well validated with the available experimental data. It is observed that the introduction of a cavity around the airfoil upper surface can completely stop the self-excited shock wave oscillation and successively improve the aerodynamic characteristics.

Flow Fields with Vortex in a Small Semi-open Axial Fan

In order to clarify the effect of tip clearance (TC) size on fan performance and the flow field at rotor outlet in asmall semi-open axial fan, the experimental investigation was carried out. The tip diameter of test fan rotor was180mm and test TC sizes were lmm (TC=1mm) and 4mm (TC=4mm). Fan characteristics tests were carried outfor two cases of TC size and three-dimensional velocity fields at rotor outlet were measured using a single slanthot-wire probe at four flow-rate conditions. As a result, it was found that the pressure - flow-rate characteristicscurves for two cases showed almost the same tendency. However, the ensemble averaged velocity profiles alongradial measurement stations of TC=4mm largely changed compared with that of TC=lmm in cases of smallflow-rate condition. From the phase-locked averaging results, it was also found that the vortex existed in the rotoroutlet flow field of high flow-rate condition for each TC case. Compared with the vortices for TC=1mm andTC=4mm, the vortex for TC=4mm was stronger than that for TC=1mm.

A Parametric Study for High-Efficiency Gas-Liquid Separator Design

由于它的简单几何学和很少维护，一个煤气的液体离心分离器广泛地在工业被使用。这些隔板以紧缩的设计，更低的压力落下和更高的能力比过滤器，洗气器或催促的人有可观的优点。一个煤气的液体离心分离器是利用旋转运动引起由密度差别把液体与气体分开的离心力和低压力的一台设备。有效、可靠的分离为最佳操作被要求。这些隔板经常通过仔细与复杂流动现象包含了被联系的一根插头管子由于分开的液体的乘火车在不到山峰效率被操作。象一些分离空格，翼出口角度，到插头直径比率的入口，为分离效率的模型和象物理尺寸的一个函数的压力落下那样的设计参数不在文学是可得到的。这离开设计者与对很小除了已知的图案和试验，继续。现在的学习的目的是执行参量的研究为煤气液体的隔板得到更高的效率。参量的研究在 CFD 工具的帮助下被执行了由改变隔板空间的长度分析一个离心分离器的分离表演。最好的设计参数被分析在获得的结果之上基于，正切的速度，旋涡，全部的压力损失。从现在的学习，几次尝试被做改进常规离心分离器的表演。

A Computational Study of Thrust Vectoring Control Using Dual Throat Nozzle

Dual throat nozzle (DTN) is fast becoming a popular technique for thrust vectoring. The DTN is designed with two throats, an upstream minimum and a downstream minimum at the nozzle exit, with a cavity in between the upstream throat and exit. In the present study, a computational work has been carried out to analyze the performance of a dual throat nozzle at various mass flow rates of secondary flow and nozzle pressure ratios (NPR). Two-dimensional, steady, compressible Navier-Stokes equations were solved using a fully implicit finite volume scheme. The present computational results were validated with available experimental data. Based on the present results, the control effectiveness of thrust-vectoring is discussed in terms of the thrust coefficient and the coefficient of discharge.

Numerical Analysis of Chevron Nozzle Effects on Performance of the Supersonic Ejector-Diffuser System

The supersonic nozzle is the most important device of an ejector-diffuser system.The best operation condition and optimal structure of supersonic nozzle are hardly known due to the complicated turbulent mixing,compressibility effects and even flow unsteadiness which are generated around the nozzle extent.In the present study,the primary stream nozzle was redesigned using convergent nozzle to activate the shear actions between the primary and secondary streams,by means of longitudinal vortices generated between the Chevron lobes.Exactly same geometrical model of ejector-diffuser system was created to validate the results of experimental data.The operation characteristics of the ejector system were compared between Chevron nozzle and conventional convergent nozzle for the primary stream.A CFD method has been applied to simulate the supersonic flows and shock waves inside the ejector.It is observed that the flow structure and shock system were changed and primary numerical analysis results show that the Chevron nozzle achieve a positive effect on the supersonic ejector-diffuser system performance.The ejector with Chevron nozzle can entrain more secondary stream with less primary stream mass flow rate.

The Effect of Diffuser Angle on the Discharge Coefficient of a Miniature Critical Nozzle

Many researches on critical nozzles have been performed to accurately measure the mass flow rate of gas flow,and to standardize the performance as a flow meter.Recently,much interest is being paid on the measurement of very small mass flow rate in industry fields such as MEMS applications.However,the design and performance data of the critical nozzles obtained so far have been applied mainly to the critical nozzles with comparatively large diameters,and the works available on miniature critical nozzles are lacking.In the present study,a computational fluid dynamics method has been applied to investigate the influence of the diffuser angle on discharge coefficient of the miniature critical nozzles.In computations,the throat diameter of critical nozzle is varied from 0.2 mm to 5.0 mm and the diffuser angle is changed from 2 deg to 8 deg.The computational results are validated with some experimental data available.The results show that the present computational results predict appropriately the discharge coefficient of the gas flows through miniature critical nozzles.It is known that the discharge coefficient is considerably influenced by the diffuser angle,as the throat diameter of nozzle becomes small below a certain value.This implies that the miniature critical nozzles should be carefully designed.

Influence of Tip End-plate on Noise of Small Axial Fan

In this work, tip end-plate is used to improve the noise performance of small axial fans. Both numerical simulations and experimental methods were adopted to study the fluid flow and noise level of axial fans. Four modified models and the prototype are simulated. Influences of tip end-plate on static characteristics, internal flow field and noise of small axial fans are analyzed. The results show that on basis of the prototype, the model with the tip end-plate of 2 mm width and changed length achieved best noise performance. The overall sound pressure level of the model with the tip end-plate of 2 mm width and changed length is 2.4 dB less than that of the prototype at the monitoring point in specified far field. It is found that the mechanism of noise reduction is due to the decrease of vorticity variation on the surface of blades caused by the tip end-plate. Compared with the prototype, the static pressure of the model with the tip end-plate of 2 mm width and changed length at design flow rate decreases by 2 Pa and the efficiency decreases by 0.8%. It is concluded that the method of adding tip end-plate to impeller blades has a positive influence on reducing noise, but it may diminish the static characteristics of small axial fan to some extent.

Effect of Inlet Guide Vanes on the Performance of Small Axial Flow Fan

Effects of the inlet guide vanes on the static characteristics, aerodynamic noise and internal flow characteristics of a small axial flow fan are studied in this work. The inlet guide vanes with different outlet angle are designed,which are mounted on the casing and located at the upstream of the impeller of the prototype fan. Both steady and unsteady flow simulations are performed. The steady flow is simulated by the calculations of Navier-Stokes equations coupled with RNG k-epsilon turbulence model, while the unsteady flow is computed with large eddy simulation. According to the theoretical analysis, the inlet guide vanes with outlet angle of 60° are regarded as the optimal inlet guide vanes. The static characteristic experiment is carried out in a standard test rig and the aerodynamic noise is tested in a semi-anechoic room. Then, performances of the fan with optimal inlet guide vanes are compared with those of the prototype fan. The results show that there is reasonable agreement between the simulation results and the experimental data. It is found that the static characteristics of small axial flow fan is improved obviously after installing the optimal inlet guide vanes. Meanwhile, the optimal inlet guide vanes have effect on reducing noise at the near field, but have little effect on the noise at the far field.