http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/6079 Original work by students of Aerospace Engineering Search the Channel search http://smartech.gatech.edu/simple-search http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/24380 Title: Design and scheduling of chemical bath processing lines <br/> <br/>Authors: Li, Jun-Sheng http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/24251 Title: Jet propulsion experiments <br/> <br/>Authors: Harper, John Joseph http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/22689 Title: High Frequency Acoustic Wave Scattering From Turbulent Premixed Flames <br/> <br/>Authors: Narra, Venkateswarlu <br/> <br/>Abstract: This thesis describes an experimental investigation of high frequency acoustic wave scattering from turbulent premixed flames. The objective of this work was to characterize the scattered incoherent acoustic field and determine its parametric dependence on frequency, flame brush thickness, incident and measurement angles, mean velocity and flame speed. The experimental facility consists of a slot burner with a flat flame sheet that is approximately 15 cm wide and 12 cm tall. The baseline cold flow characteristics and flame sheet statistics were extensively characterized. Studies were performed over a wide range of frequencies (1-24 kHz) in order to characterize the role of the incident acoustic wave length. The spectrum of the scattered acoustic field showed distinct incoherent spectral sidebands on either side of the driving frequency. The scattered incoherent field was characterized in terms of the incoherent field strength and spectral bandwidth and related to the theoretical predictions. The role of the flame front wrinkling scale, i.e., flame brush thickness, was also studied. Flame brush thickness was varied independent of the mean velocity and flame speed by using a variable turbulence generator. Results are reported for five flame brush thickness cases, ranging from 1.2 mm to 5.2 mm. Some dependence of scattered field characteristics on flame brush thickness was observed, but the magnitude of the effect was much smaller than expected from theoretical considerations. The spatial dependence of the scattered field was investigated by measuring the scattered field at four measurement angles and exciting the flame at four incident angles. Theory predicts that these variations influence the spatial scale of the acoustic wave normal to the flame, a result confirmed by the measurements. Measurements were performed for multiple combinations of mean velocities and flame speeds. The scattered field was observed to depend strongly on the flame speed. Further analysis suggested that the change in orientation angle distribution with flame speed had a large influence on the scattered field. The scattered field characteristics did not show any appreciable change with mean velocity. This result was expected since flame brush thickness characteristics themselves exhibit a weak velocity dependence. http://smartech.gatech.edu/handle/1853/22685 Title: Experimental and numerical investigation of laminar flame speeds of H₂/CO/CO₂/N₂ mixtures <br/> <br/>Authors: Natarajan, Jayaprakash <br/> <br/>Abstract: Coal derived synthetic gas (syngas) fuel is a promising solution for today s increasing demand for clean and reliable power. Syngas fuels are primarily mixtures of H2 and CO, often with large amounts of diluents such as N2, CO2, and H2O. The specific composition depends upon the fuel source and gasification technique. This requires gas turbine designers to develop fuel flexible combustors capable of operating with high conversion efficiency while maintaining low emissions for a wide range of syngas fuel mixtures. Design tools often used in combustor development require data on various fundamental gas combustion properties. For example, laminar flame speed is often an input as it has a significant impact upon the size and static stability of the combustor. Moreover it serves as a good validation parameter for leading kinetic models used for detailed combustion simulations. Thus the primary objective of this thesis is measurement of laminar flame speeds of syngas fuel mixtures at conditions relevant to ground-power gas turbines. To accomplish this goal, two flame speed measurement approaches were developed: a Bunsen flame approach modified to use the reaction zone area in order to reduce the influence of flame curvature on the measured flame speed and a stagnation flame approach employing a rounded bluff body. The modified Bunsen flame approach was validated against stretch-corrected approaches over a range of fuels and test conditions; the agreement is very good (less than 10% difference). Using the two measurement approaches, extensive flame speed information were obtained for lean syngas mixtures at a range of conditions: 1) 5 to 100% H2 in the H2/CO fuel mixture; 2) 300-700 K preheat temperature; 3) 1 to 15 atm pressure, and 4) 0-70% dilution with CO2 or N2. The second objective of this thesis is to use the flame speed data to validate leading kinetic mechanisms for syngas combustion. Comparisons of the experimental flame speeds to those predicted using detailed numerical simulations of strained and unstrained laminar flames indicate that all the current kinetic mechanisms tend to over predict the increase in flame speed with preheat temperature for medium and high H2 content fuel mixtures. A sensitivity analysis that includes reported uncertainties in rate constants reveals that the errors in the rate constants of the reactions involving HO2 seem to be the most likely cause for the observed higher preheat temperature dependence of the flame speeds. To enhance the accuracy of the current models, a more detailed sensitivity analysis based on temperature dependent reaction rate parameters should be considered as the problem seems to be in the intermediate temperature range (~800-1200 K).