Mathematical model, which depicts on macroscopic scale the physical phenomena occurring during the decomposition of gas hydrate, was set up and applied to the spherical methane hydrate pellet decomposing into ice. Initially, porous hydrate pellet is at uniform temperature and pressure within hydrate stable region. The pressure starts to decrease at t=0 with a fixed rate down to the final pressure and is kept constant afterwards. The bounding surface of pellet is heated by convection. Governing equations are based on the conservation principles, the phase equilibrium relation, equation of gas state and phase change kinetics. The single-domain approach and volume average formulation are employed to take into account transient change of local pressure, volumetric liberation of latent enthalpy, and convective heat and mass transfer accompanied by the decomposed gas flow through hydrate/ice solid matrix. The algorithm called “enthalpy method” is extended to deal with non-equilibrium phase change and utilized to determine local phase volume fractions. Predicted results suggest that the present numerical implementation is capable of predicting essential features of heat and mass transfer during non-equilibrium decomposition of hydrate pellet.

Flameless combustion in a 48 kW pilot scale furnace fired with natural gas is studied experimentally and computationally. The burner geometry involved a tunnel furnace with two separate feed streams --- one for a high momentum air jet and the other for a low momentum fuel jet. This burner configuration, called a Strong-Jet/Weak-Jet (SJWJ) burner, together with the jetto- jet interactions generate the flameless combustion mode with relatively uniform furnace gas temperature distributions and low NOX emissions. Experiments were carried out under laboratory conditions for turbulent reactive mixing in order to obtain local temperature and gas concentrations. The experimental findings were used to test the performance of CFD numerical models for turbulence, mixing and chemical reactions. For the SJWJ furnace operated in flameless combustion mode, 32 different flow cases were examined to assess the effects of the three main parameters (fuel/air momentum flux ratio, fuel/air nozzle separation distance and fuel injection angle) on the furnace wall temperature profile. Three specific flow configurations were selected for detailed near-field temperature measurements. The gas temperature distribution inside the combustion chamber was found to be relatively uniform, a characteristic of flameless combustion. Four flow configurations were studied to examine the effect of the fuel jet injection angle (0 degrees or 10 degrees) and fuel/air momentum flux ratio (0.0300 and 0.0426) on the mixing, combustion performance and NOX emissions. Gas compositions were measured in the flue gas and within the furnace at selected locations to estimate the concentrations of CO2 CO, CH4, O2, NO and NOX. The NOX concentrations in the flue gas were quite low, ranging from 7 - 13 ppm, another characteristic of flameless combustion. The combusting flow CFD calculations were carried out using the k-ε turbulence model and the eddy-dissipation model for methane-air-2-step reactions to predict the temperature and concentration field. The numerical results for gas temperature and compositions of CH4, O2 and CO2 generally showed good agreement with the experimental data. The predicted CO concentration profiles followed expected trends but the experimental data were generally underpredicted. The NOX concentrations were estimated through post-processing and these results were significantly underpredicted. / Thesis (Ph.D, Mechanical and Materials Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2008-04-04 11:25:25.455

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One of the most common PET isotopes, 18F, is mainly produced in liquid targets. The production yield depends linearly on the proton beam current used. However, for a fixed proton-beam energy increasing the current of the proton beam results in depositing increasing amounts of heat into the enclosed water target chamber and eventually in its failure. Hence, understanding the thermodynamics of a water target chamber could lead to a target optimization, removing the maximum amount of heat to balance the pressure, increasing the yield and guaranteeing the stability and durability of the system. Work in modeling the thermodynamic processes in a liquid target has also been per-formed by other groups [1-3] and others such as Steinbach [4] have performed analytical analyses of thermal behavior.

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Numerical dam break analyses of Kirazlik&ouml / pr&uuml / Dam are performed under various hydraulic scenarios. Kirazlik&ouml / pr&uuml / Dam is located on the G&ouml / kirmak River near the city of Bartin. The objective of these analyses is to investigate adverse effects of such dam break failure on the regions downstream of the dam. The numerical model used in the simulations is FLDWAV, which is developed by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States. It appears that most adversely effected regions are those that are closest to the dam location. The results of these simulations can be used sufficiently to prepare emergency action plans in case of possible failures.

In the present study,transint flow analyses of a long oil pipeline are performed.

In Santa Barbara County, Santa Maria Pacific (an exploration and production company) is expanding their cyclic steam project in a diatomite reservoir. The hilly or mountainous topography and cut and fill restrictions have interfered with the company's ideal development plan. The steep hillsides prevent well pad development for about 22 vertical well locations in the 110 well expansion plan. Conventional production performs poorly in the area because the combination of relatively low permeability (1-10 md) and high viscosity (~220 cp) at the reservoir temperature. Cyclic steam injection has been widely used in diatomite reservoirs to take advantage of the diatomite rocks unique properties and lower the viscosity of the oil. Some companies used deviated wells for cyclic steam injection, but Santa Maria Pacific prefers the use only vertical wells for the expansion. Currently, the inability to create well pads above 22 vertical well target locations will result in an estimated $60,000,000 of lost revenue over a five year period. The target locations could be developed with unstimulated deviated or horizontal wells, but expected well rates and expenses have not been estimated. In this work, I use a thermal reservoir simulator to estimate production based on five potential development cases. The first case represents no development other than the cyclic wells. This case is used to calibrate the model based on the pilot program performance and serves as a reference point for the other cases. Two of the cases simulate a deviated well with and without artificial lift next to a cyclic well, and the final two cases simulate a horizontal well segment with and without artificial lift next to a cyclic well. The deviated well with artificial lift results in the highest NPV and profit after five years. The well experienced pressure support from the neighboring cyclic well and performed better with the cyclic well than without it. Adding 22 deviated wells with artificial lift will increase the project's net profit by an estimated $7,326,000 and NPV by $2,838,000 after five years.