Fuel-air mixing enhancement in axisymmetric jets using an array of synthetic jet actuators around the perimeter of the flows (primarily parallel to the flow axis) was investigated using planar laser-induced fluorescence of acetone. The synthetic jets are a promising new mixing control and enhancement technology with a wide range of capabilities. An image correction scheme that improved on current ones was applied to the images acquired to generate quantitative mixing measurements. Both a single jet and coaxial jets were tested, including different velocity ratios for the coaxial jets. The actuators run at a high frequency (~1.2 kHz), and were tested with all of them on and in other geometric patterns. In addition, amplitude modulation was imposed at a lower frequency (10-100 Hz).
The actuators generated small-scale structures in the outer (and inner, for the coaxial jets) mixing layers. These structures significantly enhanced the mixing in the near field (x/D less than 1) of the jets, which would be useful for correcting an off-design condition in a combustor. The amplitude modulation generated large-scale structures that became apparent farther downstream (x/D greater than 1). The impulse at the start of the duty cycle was responsible for creating the structures. The large structures contained broad regions of uniformly mixed fluid, and also entrained fluid significantly. In addition, highly asymmetric forcing geometries displayed the power of the actuators to control the spatial distribution of jet fluid. This spatial control is important for the correction of hot spots in the pattern factor.
In order to extend quantitative acetone PLIF to two-phase flows, the remaining unknown photophysical properties of acetone were identified. Tests showed that the technique could simultaneously capture acetone vapor and acetone droplets. A model of droplet fluorescence was developed, and applied to images acquired in a dilute spray. The sensitivity of the model to the value of the unknowns was evaluated, including a best and worst case. The results revealed that several liquid acetone photophysical properties must be measured for the further development of the technique, especially the phosphorescence yield. Quantitative two-phase acetone PLIF will provide a powerful new tool for studying spray flows.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:GATECH/oai:smartech.gatech.edu:1853/10536 |
| Date | 11 April 2006 |
| Creators | Ritchie, Brian Douglas |
| Publisher | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Source Sets | Georgia Tech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Archive |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | 7478366 bytes, application/pdf |
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