The predictive design of fuel injection hardware used for active combustion control is not well established in the gas turbine industry. The primary reason for this is that the underlying mechanisms governing the flow rate authority downstream of the nozzle are not well understood. A detailed investigation of two liquid fuel flow modulation configurations is performed in this thesis: a piston and a throttle-valve configuration. The two systems were successfully built with piezoelectric actuation to drive the prime movers proportionally up to 800 Hz. Discussed in this thesis are the important constituents of the fuel injection system that affect heat release authority: the method of fuel modulation, uncoupled dynamics of several components, and the compressibility of air trapped in the fuel line. Additionally, a novel technique to model these systems by way of one-dimensional, linear transmission line acoustic models was developed to successfully characterize the principle of operation of the two systems. Through these models, insight was gained on the modes through which modulation authority was dissipated and on methods through which successful amplitude scaling would be possible. At high amplitudes, it was found that the models were able to successfully predict the actual performance reasonably well for the piston device. A proportional phase shifting controller was used to test the authority on a 40-kW rig with natural longitudinal modes. Results show that, under limited operating conditions, the sound pressure level at the limit cycle frequency was reduced by about 26 dB and the broadband energy was reduced by 23 dB. Attenuation of the fuel pulse at several combustor settings was due to fluctuating vorticity and temporal droplet distribution effects. / Master of Science

Increasing concerns over the condition of our environment and its long term health have led to the development of greener combustion techniques for use in turbomachinery applications. Lean Direct Injection is an active area of research for how fuel is introduced and burned in the combustor section of a jet engine or land based liquid fuel turbine. Overall lean combustion results in lower NOx emmisions while direct injection insures shorter combustor lengths. Lean Direct Injection and other lean burning combustor designs are susceptible to thermoacoustic instabilities. The SARA or Synchronously Actuated Response Atomizer is a liquid fuel atomizer and supply system designed to allow for the active control of droplet size, cone angle, and mass flow rate. These three parameters have been shown to be important in controlling combustion quality and heat release. This research investigates the capabilities of the SARA design in a series of non-reacting tests. Static and Dynamic tests were performed on the SARA nozzle with a maximum actuation of 400 Hz. Also, a novel use of hot-film anemometry was developed to measure the dynamic flow rate fluctuations. / Master of Science

A detailed study of the effects of injectant physical properties on the break-up and atomization of a transverse liquid jet in a supersonic airstream was conducted. The tests were run at Mach 3 with ambient stagnation temperature and stagnation pressure of 2.4 atm. Viscosity and surface tension of the injectant along with the injector diameter and the ratio of the jet to freestream dynamic pressures were individually varied (µ= 1.0 - 59.8 centipoise, σ = 15, 33.5, 73.0 dyne/cm., d = 0.45, 0.96, 1.5 nm., q̅ = 1.20) and their effect on the structure and the atomization processes of the jet were established. The investigation employed a short exposure (9 x 10⁻⁹ sec.) photographic technique to establish the instantaneous structure of the jet in the crossflow. Relatively long exposure (10⁻³ sec.) photographs were obtained to study the time averaged behavior of the jet in the crossflow. Two multi-exposure photographic techniques were used to study the velocities of the surface waves that lead to jet break-up along the windward edge of the jet. By employing the Diffractively Scattered Light Method, the mean droplet diameter resulting from atomization at various transverse and axial locations in the spray plume was investigated. The important results are: 1) jet penetration in the crossflow initially increases with increasing viscosity and then decreases, 2) jet penetration is essentially independent of surface tension, 3) for the cases of moderate viscosity and surface tension (values approximately those of water) wave growth and cross fracture of the jet column of the jet is the main mechanism of breakup and atomization, 4) for high viscosity (µ > 40 centipose) ligament formation is the principal mechanism of atomization, 5) increasing viscosity reduces wave growth on the jet surface, 6) wave speed initially increases with increasing viscosity then decreases, 7) wave speed and liquid clump velocities increase with decreasing surface tension, 8) liquid clump velocity decreases with increasing viscosity and surface tension, 9) wave propagation speed is independent of q̅, 10) mean droplet diameter as the injector diameter decreases (D₃₂ = 14 at x/d = 207.7, y/d = 12, dⱼ= 0.45 mm.), 11) increasing viscosity increases droplet diameter (D₃₂ = 16 at x/d = 93.2, y/d = 12.4 µ = 1 .0 to D₃₂ = 21 at x/d = 93.2, y/d = 10.4, µ = 10.0), 12) decreasing surface tension decreases the droplet diameter (D₃₂ = 14, σ = 73.0 dyne/cm., D₃₂ = 5, σ = 15 dyne/cm.). / Ph. D.

The transient effects of the breakup and atomization of liquid jets in a crossflow on the size of droplets within the spray plume was experimentally determined. Water and water/methanol mixtures were injected normal to a high velocity air stream at Mach numbers of 0.48 and 3.0 with ambient stagnation temperature and respective stagnation pressures of 1.4 and 4.3 atm. The liquids were injected at liquid-to-gas momentum flux ratios ranging from 4 to 12. Droplet size distributions were obtained using a Fraunhofer diffraction technique at sampling rates of up to 9 kHz. Liquid mass flow rates were inferred from measurements of the extinction of a laser beam traversing the plume. The droplet sizes were found to fluctuate with frequencies of the order of 1 to 10 kHz. The fluctuations were characterized by a sudden and relatively brief increase in the mean diameter of the droplets caused by the passage of fractured clumps through the spray plume. Also evident in the droplet size distributions was the very small size of the droplets that had been sheared off the windward surfaces of the jet. The jet fracture frequency was related to the frequency of waves propagating along the initial jet column. The column waves are postulated to have been caused by jet perturbations created by vortices in the air flow around the jet column. / Ph. D.

In this diploma thesis, rubidium in plant material samples was determined by atomic absoption spectrometry. Determination of plant material rubidium was performed on two different atomic absorption spectrometers (GBC 933 AA and ContrAA 700) for comparison. The selection of a proper method of atomization was essential, therefore optimizations for the flame atomizer and electrothermal atomizer were performed. On the GBC 933 AA, flame atomization was tested. The flow rate of the acetylene-air, vertical and horizontal flame profile, spectral interval width was optimized for the instrument. On the ContrAA 700, the conditions for flame atomization were optimized as well as for electrothermal atomization. The optimized parameters included the acetylene-air flow rate and the vertical flame profile again. For the electrothermal atomization, the temperature dependence of pyrolysis and the temperature dependence of atomization were optimized. Under experimentally determined optimal conditions, the determination of rubidium in fruit and vegetable juice samples was performed by the method of calibration curve. Rubidium usually accompanies toher alkali metals. In the absence of essential biogenic elements iportant for plant growth, rubidium is able to help out and take on the role of potassium.

Fuel sprays play a major role in order to achieve the required combustion characteristics and pollutant emissions reduction on internal combustion engines, and thus, an accurate prediction of its behavior is required to perform reliable engine combustion and pollutant simulations. A great effort both on experimental and theoretical studies of spray atomization and dispersion has been performed in the latest years. As a result, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) calculations have become a standard tool not only for spray physics understanding but also for design and optimization of engine spray systems. However, spray modeling in its different uses in the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) context is still nowadays a challenging task due to the complex interrelated phenomena taking place, some of them still not fully understood. Primary atomization and secondary breakup, droplet collision, coalescence and vaporization, turbulent interactions between phases have to be solved under high Reynolds (so they are turbulent) and Weber numbers conditions due to the high speed (~500 m/s) and small nozzle diameter (~100 µm) imposed by current engine injection systems technologies. Moreover, Taylor numbers cover a wide range, according to the composition of the injected liquid. Those conditions make experimental observations quite challenging and probably insufficient, especially in the very near nozzle region, where primary atomization takes place. Most of the CFD spray models are currently based on the Discrete Droplet Method. The continuous liquid jet is discretized into 'blobs' or 'parcels', which consists in a number of droplets with the same characteristics. A Lagrangian method is applied to track the liquid phase parcels, which are subject to breakup according to atomization models mainly based on the linear instability theory proposed by Reitz and later extended by Huh and Gosman for liquid turbulence effects to be considered. This approach has been successfully applied b / Khuong ., AD. (2012). The Eulerian-Lagrangian Spray Atomization (ELSA) Model of the Jet Atomization in CFD Simulations: Evaluation and Validation [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/17237 / Palancia

This thesis aims at studying the breakup of swirling liquid sheets discharging from the outer orifice of gas centered swirl coaxial atomizers. Such atomizers are considered as propellant injection systems for semi-cryogenic liquid rocket engines. A gas centered swirl coaxial type atomizer discharges an annular swirling liquid sheet which is atomized by a gaseous jet issuing from the central orifice of the atomizer. The primary objectives of this work were to understand the fluid dynamic interaction process between the outer liquid sheet and the central gas jet and its role on the breakup process of the liquid sheet. Cold flow experiments were carried out by constructing custom made gas centered swirl coaxial atomizers. Two different atomizer configurations with varying swirl effect were studied. The jets were injected into ambient atmospheric air medium with tap water and air as experimental fluids. The flow conditions were described in terms of Weber number (Wel) and Reynolds number (Reg) for liquid sheet and the air jet respectively. Spray images were captured by employing an image acquisition system comprising a high resolution digital camera and a strobe lamp. The captured spray images at different combinations of Wel and Reg were analyzed to extract quantitative measurements of breakup length (Lb), spray cone angle (θs), spray width (SW) and two-dimensional surface profile of liquid sheets. Quantitative analysis of the variation of Lb with Reg with different values of Wel suggested that low inertia liquid sheets undergo an efficient breakup process. High inertia liquid sheets ignore the presence of central air jet at lower values of Reg however undergo air jet breakup at higher values of Reg. Qualitative analysis of experimental observations revealed that the entrainment process, established between the inner surface of the liquid sheet and the boundary of central jet, triggers the air assisted sheet breakup by drawing the liquid sheet closer to the spray axis. The entrainment process may be developing corrugations on the surface of liquid sheet which promotes the production of thick liquid ligaments from the sheet surface. The level of surface corrugations on the liquid sheet, quantified by means of tortuosity of liquid sheet profile, increases with increasing Reg. Limited studies on the effect of variation swirl intensity on the air assisted breakup process of liquid sheets did not show any significant influence for the atomizers examined in the present work.

Liquid fragmentation phenomenon is explored from both a fundamental (fully resolved) and an engineering (modeled) perspective. The dual objectives compliment each other by providing an avenue to gain further understanding into fundamental processes of atomization as well as to use the newly acquired knowledge to address practical concerns. A compressible five-equation interface model based on a Roe-type scheme for the simulation of material boundaries between immiscible fluids with arbitrary equation of state is developed and validated. The detailed simulation model accounts for surface-tension, viscous, and body-force effects, in addition to acoustic and convective transport. The material interfaces are considered as diffused zones and a mixture model is given for this transition region. The simulation methodology combines a high-resolution discontinuity capturing method with a low-dissipation central scheme resulting in a hybrid approach for the solution of time- and space-accurate interface problems. Several multi-dimensional test cases are considered over a wide range of physical situations involving capillary, viscosity, and gravity effects with simultaneous presence of large viscosity and density ratios. The model is shown to accurately capture interface dynamics as well as to deal with dynamic appearance and disappearance of material boundaries. Simulation of atomization processes and its interaction with the flow field in practical devices is the secondary objective of this study. Three modeling requirements are identified to perform Large-Eddy Simulation (LES) of spray combustion in engineering devices. In concurrence with these requirements, LES of an experimental liquid-fueled Lean Direct Injection (LDI) combustor is performed using a subgrid mixing and combustion model. This approach has no adjustable parameters and the entire flow-path through the inlet swirl vanes is resolved. The inclusion of the atomization aspects within LES eliminates the need to specify dispersed-phase size-velocity correlations at the inflow boundary. Kelvin-Helmholtz (or aerodynamic) breakup model by Reitz is adopted for the combustor simulation. Two simulations (with and without breakup) are performed and compared with measurements of Cai et al. Time-averaged velocity prediction comparison for both gas- and liquid-phase with available data show reasonable agreement. The major impact of breakup is on the fuel evaporation in the vicinity of the injector. Further downstream, a wide range of drop sizes are recovered by the breakup simulation and produces similar spray quality as in the no-breakup case.

EN The present diploma thesis is focused on optimization methods of titanium and phosphorus concentration for their use in the colloidal solution of TiO2 nanoparticles modified by bisphosphonates. For these analyses was used atomic absorption spectrometry with flame and electrothermal atomization. The characteristics of the two analytes were compared to two different spectrometers. Using the F-AAS technique on the GBC 933 AA spectrometer has been achieved a detection limit of 5,2 mg l-1 for titanium and a detection limit of 163 mg l-1 for the phosphorus. Using the ContrAA 700 spectrometer, F-AAS has been achieved an almost five times lower detection limit of 1,1 mg l-1 for titanium determination. For determination of phosphorus using this spectrometer, was obtained a similar value of 151 mg l-1 , as using the GBC 933 AA spectrometer. The determination of phosphorus by the ET-AAS technique using the ContrAA 700 spectrometer resulted in a detection limit of 1,23 mg l-1 , which is a significant difference compared to the flame system. It has been proved that optimized methods are consistent with the intention, which was confirmed by the analysis of real titanium and phosphorus samples in the colloidal solution of TiO2 nanoparticles modified bisphosphonates.

Os objetivos do estudo foram elaborar iogurtes com a cultura tradicional e a cultura probiótica de Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis, desidratar os produtos em spray dryer utilizando maltodextrina como carreador e caracterizar os pós obtidos, bem como determinar a resistência dos probióticos ao processo de atomização. O presente estudo avaliou três temperaturas de entrada do ar de secagem (130, 150 e 170°C) em iogurtes com duas diferentes concentrações de maltodextrina (10 e 20%), totalizando 6 tratamentos: T1 (10%malto/130°C), T2 (20%malto/130°C), T3 (10%malto/150°C), T4 (20%malto/150°C), T5 (10%malto/170°C) e T6 (20%malto/170°C). A secagem do iogurte foi realizada em spray dryer piloto e a enumeração das células viáveis de Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis foi realizada através de plaqueamento em profundidade. Os pós apresentaram baixos valores de umidade e elevada higroscopicidade. A atividade de água (Aw) dos pós variou de 0,09 a 0,19 e aumentou após 30 dias de armazenamento, comprovando o caráter higroscópico dos pós obtidos. Verificou-se que após a desidratação dos iogurtes, apesar deles apresentarem contagens inferiores que os produtos integrais, ainda apresentaram contagens acima de 106 UFC/g, ou seja, ainda estavam dentro do limite estabelecido pela legislação para um produto ser considerado probiótico. Os tratamentos que passaram por maiores temperaturas durante o processamento de secagem (T5 e T6) foram os que tiveram maiores perdas de micro-organismos probióticos, sugerindo que as altas temperaturas exerceram forte influência na viabilidade dos probióticos. O T1 obteve maiores contagens do micro-organismo analisado, com contagens acima de 106 UFC/g, com até 60 dias de armazenamento, indicando ser o melhor tratamento entre os estudados, em relação à obtenção de um iogurte caprino probiótico em pó com maior período de vida de prateleira. De maneira geral, conclui-se que o processo de atomização possibilitou a obtenção de iogurte de leite de cabra em pó estável do ponto de vista microbiológico. Além disso, obteve-se um produto que pode ser uma alternativa para incrementar o consumo de leite de cabra, bem como o de probióticos. / The aim of this study was to develop yogurts with the traditional culture and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis probiotic culture, dehydrate products in spray drying using maltodextrin as a carrier and characterize the powders, as well as determining the resistance of probiotics to atomization process. The present study evaluated three different inlet air temperatures of spray dryer (130, 150 and 170°C) in yoghurts with two different maltodextrin concentrations (10 and 20%), totaling six treatments: T1 (10%malto/130°C), T2 (20%malto/130°C), T3 (10%malto/150°C), T4 (20%malto/150°C), T5 (10%malto/170°C) e T6 (20%malto/170°C). The yogurt drying was performed in a pilot spray dryer and the viable cells of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis enumeration was performed by pour plate. The powders showed low levels of humidity and high hygroscopicity. The water activity (Aw) of the powders ranged from 0.09 to 0.19 and increased after 30 days of storage, showing the hygroscopic powders character. It was found that after yogurt dehydration, despite their counts were less than integral products, still had counts above 106 CFU/g, therefore were still within regulation limits for a product to be considered as probiotic. The treatments that have undergone higher temperatures during the drying process (T5 and T6) were those who had higher losses of probiotic microorganisms, suggesting that high temperatures had a strong influence on the viability of probiotics. The T1 (130°C/10%) obtained higher counts of the microorganism analyzed, with counts above 106 CFU/g, during 60 days of storage, indicating that is the best treatment among those studied in relation to obtaining a goat probiotic yoghurt powder with longer shelf life. In general, it is concluded that the atomization process allows the obtention of stable goat milk yogurt powder, in a microbiological point of view. Furthermore, it was obtained a product that can be an alternative for increasing the consumption of goat milk as well as probiotics.