Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / As part of an initial baseline survey of the inlet flow-field into a transonic compressor rotor, a five-hole probe was calibrated and used to determine the Mach number and inlet pitch angle distributions. The data for Mach number were compared to data obtained with a three-hole probe. A numerical investigation of the flow in the inlet ducting to the rotor was also initiated using the commercial code CFX marketed by ANSYS. Comparisons were also made between the numerical predictions and the experimental measurements. The purpose of the study was to more accurately determine the characteristics of the flow to the rotor of the compressor prior to steam-ingestion experiments to quantify effects on compressor stability.

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / The concept of a fan-wing aircraft configuration for the purpose of vertical takeoff and landing has drawn much attention. Recently, more investigations revealed that a cross-flow fan (CFF) was capable of providing the propulsion. Several characteristics of the off-design performance of a CFF were experimentally measured, but insufficient numerical predictions were obtained. In the present study, the commercial CFD software ANSYS CFX was employed to calculate the unsteady flow through a CFF with a sliding mesh incorporated. The results of the CFD showed the necessity to re-investigate the cross-flow fan with 12-inch diameter, 1/5-inch span and 30 blades, and additional measurement locations were implemented to carry out a more accurate experiment. A new digital sensor array was used to record the pressures within the experiment, which contributed to the high fidelity of the present data. Successful comparisons wre made between the predicted and measured performance at various rotational speeds from an open throttle position to a setting at stall. Visualization of the computed flow field showed where stall occurred, both within the rotor and in the exhaust duct.

Approved for public release, distribution unlimited / ry at simulated flight conditions, including supersonic cruising conditions. The spiral lines initiator demonstrated a lower total pressure loss with compared to the geometry with rings, and thus was the preferred initiator configuraiton. Experimental values for the turbulence were found to be significantly lower than the computed values at similar conditions when using the k-e model. Finally, successful ignitions of the JP-10/Air initiator at frequencies of up to 20 Hz were experimentally demonstrated. / Funded by: N0001406WR20161.

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1950 J35 / Master of Science

Syngas production and hydrogen separation technologies are very mature, and also extremely important for energy and chemical industries. Furthermore, these processes are the most expensive elements for many applications such as hydrogen production from renewable sources. Enhancing or intensifying these very mature technologies is very challenging, but would have tremendous impact on the performance and economics of many processes. Traditional Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) for syngas production need to include a carbon capture process in order to regulate their carbon dioxide emission as more and more countries and regions have implemented carbon tax policy. Integration of this process with Pd membrane has long been considered a key component to make it more feasible. With these two technologies combined together, we can produce high purity hydrogen while capturing carbon dioxide and toxic gases from the syngas product. Besides, although manufacturing the membrane reactor is expensive, after considering the carbon tax factor, it actually is more economically preferable compare with the traditional Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) process. Most research on Pd membrane technology has been conducted at lab scale; nonetheless, the contribution of a palladium membrane technology to economic and societal development requires its commercialization, diffusion and utilization. To generate enough incentives for commercialization, it is necessary to demonstrate the scalability and robustness of the membranes in industrial settings. Consequently, a multitube membrane module suitable for IGCC system was designed and manufactured and sent to National Carbon Capture Center (NCCC) for testing. This work developed a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model for the module and validated the model utilizing the pilot-scale experimental data generated under industrial conditions. The model was then up-scaled and used to determine the intrinsic phenomena of palladium membrane scale up. This study reveals the technical/engineering requirements for the effective design of large-scale multitube membrane modules. Mass transfer limitations and concentration polarization effects were studied quantitatively with the developed model. Methods for diminishing the concentration polarization effect were proposed and tested through the simulations such as i) increasing convective forces and ii) designing baffles to create gas recirculation. For scaled-up membrane modules, mass transfer limitation is an important parameter to consider as large modules showed severe concentration polarization effects. IGCC systems produce H2 from coal combustion; other ways of H2 production include steam-reforming processes, using natural gas or bio-ethanol as the reactant. The product contains a mixture of H2, CH4, CO, CO2 and steam. Thus, steam-reforming processes are often followed by a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit in order to obtain pure hydrogen. Palladium membrane, on the other hand, can be integrated with steam-reforming processes and achieve the simultaneous production and purification of H2 in a single unit by reaching process intensification. Higher H2 production rate can be reached by process intensification as one of the products H2 is constantly being removed. Temperature control is a very important topic in steam reforming processes, as the reaction is overall highly endothermic; although implementing an in-unit membrane improves H2 production rate, it also makes the temperature control more difficult as the reaction equilibrium is altered by the removal of one of the products H2. Hereby, an experimental study of catalytic membrane reactor (CMR) was carried out along with both isothermal and non-isothermal CFD simulations that are validated by the experimental data in order to visualize the temperature distribution inside the reactor and understand the influence of the operating conditions including temperature, pressure and the sweep gas flow patter on the permeate side.

In this work we will consider the steady and two-dimensional potential flow of an incompressible fluid past a body without friction. Contrary to common experience, we will show that it is possible to calculate the Lie point symmetries that will leave the boundary value problem invariant. We are able to do this by solving the determining equation for the Lie point symmetries subject to a side condition. The side condition is a consequence of the boundary condition that occurs in the boundary value problem. We will show that solutions of the boundary value problem that were obtained previously using the method of conformal transformations are also group invariant solutions of the boundary value problem. We will also show that every group invariant solution of the boundary value problem can be used to generate new group invariant solutions of the same boundary value problem.

When two fluid drops come close enough together to touch, surface tension quickly pulls the drops together into one larger drop. This is an example of a singular fluid flow, as the topology of the interface changes at the moment of contact. Similarly, when a pair of bubbles touch, the surface topology changes and a singular flow begins. Since the stress from surface tension depends on the surface curvature, these singularities are often characterised by divergent fluid velocities. Experimental observation or numerical simulation of these flows is therefore difficult due to the high velocities and small lengthscales. In this thesis, I will find multi-scale theoretical solutions for the singular flows during the initial stages of the coalescence of bubbles and drops, solving for the velocity field in the fluid and the rate of coalescence. Each solution has several lengthscales, and on each lengthscale, we must solve some form of the Navier--Stokes equations. I will employ a variety of analytical and numerical techniques to solve for the flow on each scale. These asymptotic solutions are valid at early times; future numerical simulations of the subsequent flow could be initialised with these solutions, rather than the actual singularity. In the course of solving for these singular flows, I will also describe the solution for the motion of a stretched fluid edge, the retraction of a narrow fluid wedge, the capillary flow around a parabola, and the effect of a time-dependent force on a fluid half-space. These fundamental flows have applications outside of coalescence, which I will outline throughout the thesis.

Reconnection of wingtip vortices behind aircrafts is thought to be a cause of wake turbulence, detrimental to air traffic control. We observe the reconnection process for three initial vortex tube set-ups; anti-parallel, orthogonal and anti-parallel with axial flow. From these we are able to identify each of the different reconnection processes observed and discussed for the magnetic reconnection case but not necessarily the vortex reconnection case; of both 2D and 3D reconnection. We use a finite different method to solve the Navier-Stokes equation for a large array of points. We analyse the results of the first two scenarios for a range of Reynolds numbers to observe how the viscous term of Navier-Stokes affects the reconnection process. We were able to show that for an increase in $Re$ we would see an increase in the reconnection rate due to the formation of thinner and stronger vortex sheets which are necessary for a faster reconnection. For higher values of $Re$ we observed a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability within the vortex sheets and the formation of additional vortex rings during the reconnection process. We simulate a range of axial flow values to observe how kinetic helicity and twist evolve with reconnection. We were able to identify the loss of twist in the vortex tubes due to 3D reconnection known as 'slipping'. In these and the orthogonal runs we observed the generation of null pairs and the formation of a separator between them. We utilised the plots of both vorticity isosurfaces and vorticity fieldlines to observe and analyse the reconnection process where isosurfaces have been the norm for vortex reconnection observations in previous work. The vorticity fieldlines allow us to observe the orientation of vorticity during reconnection and allow us to observe both the 'threads' and 'bridges' and their evolution together.

Finally, we discuss some open problems closely related to the results obtained in this thesis and give some perspectives. / First, we study global subsonic and subsonic-sonic potential flows through a general infinitely long two dimensional or three dimensional axially symmetric nozzle. It is proved that there exists a critical value for the incoming mass flux so that a global uniformly subsonic flow exists in the nozzle as long as the incoming mass flux is less than the critical value. Furthermore, we establish some uniform estimates for the deflection angles and the minimum speed of the subsonic flows by combining the hodograph transformation and the comparison principle for elliptic equations. With the help of these properties and a compensated compactness framework, we prove the existence of a global subsonic-sonic flow solution in the case of the critical incoming mass flux. / Second, global existence of steady subsonic Euler flows through infinitely long nozzles is established when the variation of Bernoulli's constant in the upstream is sufficiently small and mass flux is in a suitable regime with an upper critical value. One of the main difficulties lies in that the full steady Euler system is a hyperbolic-elliptic coupled system in a subsonic region. A key point is to use stream function formulation for compressible Euler equations. By this formulation, Euler equations are equivalent to a quasilinear second order equation for stream function. We obtain existence of solution to the boundary value problem for stream function with the help of estimate for elliptic equation of two variables. Asymptotic behavior for the stream function is obtained via a blow up argument and energy estimate. This asymptotic behavior, together with some refined estimates on the stream function, yields the consistency of the stream function formulation and the original Euler equations. / Xie, Chunjing. / "August 2007." / Adviser: Zhouping Xin. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: B, page: 1075. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-140). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstract in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.

In addition, the vanishing viscousity limit of the solutions for viscous lake equations with the Navier type boundary conditions is obtained for both the smooth and non-smooth initial data. / The aim of the thesis is to understand the dynamics and interactions between the Ekman layer and thermal layer which are very important issues in the studies of geophysical flows. We obtain some new results on the primitive equations of the atmosphere and the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with rotating terms. We study the asymptotic limits of the solutions to the initial boundary value problem for the three dimensional primitive equations. We have constructed the asymptotic ansatz which is uniformly valid up to the boundary to derive the quasi-geostrophic equations and the corresponding boundary layer systems. These equations are also important and widely studied in the geophysical flows. The uniform convergence to the solutions for quasi-geostrophic equations is obtained rigorously. / Niu Dongjuan. / "June 2006." / Adviser: Zhouping Xin. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-03, Section: B, page: 1675. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 96-106). / Electronic reproduction. Hong Kong : Chinese University of Hong Kong, [2012] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Electronic reproduction. [Ann Arbor, MI] : ProQuest Information and Learning, [200-] System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Available via World Wide Web. / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / School code: 1307.