Fluid dynamics

On August 5, 2010 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has designated the Center for Ocean Energy Technology (COET) at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) as a national center for ocean energy research and development of prototypes for open-ocean power generation. Maintenance on ocean-based machinery can be very costly. To avoid unnecessary maintenance it is necessary to monitor the condition of each machine in order to predict problems. This kind of prognostic health monitoring (PHM) requires a condition-based maintenance (CBM) system that supports diagnostic and prognostic analysis of large amounts of data. Research in this field led to the creation of ISO13374 and the development of a standard open-architecture for machine condition monitoring. This thesis explores an implementation of such a system for ocean-based machinery using this framework and current open-standard technologies.

The combustion process of a fuel is a challenging subject when it comes to analyze its performance and resultant emissions. The main task of this study is to optimize the selection of a hydrogen-rich fuel based on its performance and emissions. Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis is performed to test the combustion performance and emissions from the vortex trapped combustor when natural gas fuel (methane) is replaced with renewable and alternative fuels such as hydrogen and synthesis gas. Correlation graphs for the trapped vortex combustor performance and NOx, CO, and CO2 emissions for various types of fuels with different compositions and heat of combustion values were established. Methane, Hydrogen and 10 different syngas fuels were analyzed in this study using computational fluid dynamics numerical method. The trapped vortex combustor that represents an efficient and compact combustor for flame stability was investigated. The TVC consists of a fore body and two after body disks . These components are all encircled with a Pyrex tube. The purpose of the after body disks is to create the vortex wakes that will enhance the combustion process and minimize the NOx emissions. The TVC CFD model was validated by comparing the CFD model results using propane fuel with existing experimental results that were established in Rome, Italy. The static temperature distribution and NOx, CO emissions, combustor efficiency and total pressure drop results of the three dimensional CFD model were similar to the experimental data. Effects of H2/CO and H2/CH4 ratios and the mass fraction of each constituent of syngas fuels and Hydrogen-Methane fuel mixture on the TVC performance and emissions were investigated.

This thesis presents the development of a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) capable high bit rate acoustic modem operating at high frequencies. A MIMO channel estimation technique based on Least-Squares (LS) estimation is developed here. Channel deconvolution is completed using a Minimum Mean-Square Error (MMSE) Linear Equalizer (LE). An Interference Cancellation Linear Equalizer (ICLE) is used to provide the theoretical limit of the MIMO deconvolution process. The RMSE of the channel estimation process was 1.83 % and 6.1810 %, respectively for simulated and experimental data. Using experimental data, the RMSE before MIMO deconvolution process was 141.3 % and dropped down to 60.224 % and to 4.4545 %, respectively after LE and ICLE. At raw reception, the RMSE was 101.83 % and dropped down to 9.36 % and to 1.86 % using respectively LE and ICLE with simulated data.

The impingement of supersonic jets on surfaces is of interest because of its important application to jet blast deflectors (JBD), and short takeoff and vertical landing aircraft (STOVL) during hover. Typically, on an aircraft carrier deck, the impingement of the jet blast on the deflector generates impingement tones, and structural vibrations, not only on the JBD but also on the ship deck. Therefore, apart from direct transmission of jet noise to the gallery level, there is a component of noise transmitted due to the impingement of the jet on the JBD. The objectives of this work are to study the pressure spectra (i) on a flat plate, and separately on a cone due to axisymmetric impingement of a supersonic underexpanded cold jet issuing from a convergent-divergent nozzle and (ii) on a plane jet impinging on a finite plate and an adjoining ground plane due to the impingement of a planar jet on the plate. The characteristics of the surface pressure fluctuations are numerically investiga ted using WIND-US 2.0. The time-dependent, compressible Euler equations for perfect gas are employed for the present computations. The impingement distance between the jet nozzle and the deflector plate, and the plate inclination with respect to the incident jet are varied. The impingement zone stagnation bubble and a high-speed radial jet with several embedded structures (shocklets) were identified on the perpendicular plate. Flows involving cones reveal the presence of detached cone shocks, enclosing a recirculation zone. The location and magnitude of the peak pressure on the cone surface are a strong function of the cone apex angle. For the two-dimensional jet impingement on angled plate the peak value of pressure occurs at normal jet impingement. The pressure at the intersection point of the plate and the ground plane is sometimes higher than the peak pressure on the plate. Beyond this point there is a sharp decrease in pressure. As the flow accelerates, an oblique shock is

Marine current turbines are submerged structures and subjected to loading conditions from both the currents and wave effects. The associated phenomena posed significant challenge to the analyses of the loading response of the rotor blades and practical limitations in terms of device location and operational envelopes. The effect of waves on marine current turbines can contribute to the change of flow field and pressure field around the rotor and hence changes the fluid forces on the rotor. However, the effect of the waves on the rotor depends on the magnitude and direction of flow velocity that is induced by the waves. An analysis is presented for predicting the torque, thrust, and bending moments resulting from the wave-current interactions at the root of rotor blades in a horizontal axis marine current turbine using the blade element-momentum (BEM) theory combined with linear wave theory. Parametric studies are carried out to better understand the influence of important parameters , which include wave height, wave frequency, and tip-speed ratio on the performance of the rotor. The periodic loading on the blade due to the steady spatial variation of current speeds over the rotor swept area is determined by a limited number of parameters, including Reynolds number, lift and drag coefficients, thrust and torque coefficients, and power coefficient. The results established that the BEM theory combined with linear wave theory can be used to analyze the wavecurrent interactions in full-scale marine current turbine. The power and thrust coefficients can be analyzed effectively using the numerical BEM theory in conjunction with corrections to the tip loss coefficient and 3D effects.

This work seeks to understand water turbine noise generation and to make preliminary estimations of the noise levels. Any structure attached to a turbine upstream its blades will generate unsteady fluctuating loads on the blade's surface, which are proportional to the radiated acoustic pressure. The noise levels of a simplified turbine based on existing designs surpass the ambient noise levels of the ocean at low frequencies (< 20 Hz) by approximately 50 dB ref 1 μPa and stay under the ambient noise levels at higher frequencies for a blade-passing frequency of 0.83 Hz and point of observation (100 m, 45 degrees, 45 degrees) from the hub. Streamlining the cross-section of the upstream structure as well as reducing its width decrease the noise levels by approximately 40 dB ref 1 μPa, at low frequencies and moderately increase them at higher frequencies. Increasing the structure-rotor distance decreases the noise levels with increasing frequencies (> 30 Hz).

The principal objective of the proposed CFD analysis is to investigate the flow field around a horizontal axis wind turbine rotor and calculate the turbine's power. A full three dimensional computational fluid dynamics method based on Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes approach was used in this study. The wind turbine has three blades and a rotor diameter of six meters. One third of the wind turbine rotor was modeled by means of 120o periodicity in a moving reference frame system. The power coefficient curve obtained from the CFD results is compared with experimental data obtained by NREL Phase VI rotor experiment. The numerical result for the power coefficient curve shows close agreement with the experimental data. The simulation results include the velocity distribution, pressure distribution along the flow direction, turbulent wake behind the wind turbine, and the turbine's power. The discussion will also include the effect of wind speed on turbine's power.

Peatlands cover a total area of approximately 3 million square kilometers and are one of the largest natural sources of atmospheric methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Most traditional methods used to estimate biogenic gas dynamics are invasive and provide little or no information about lateral distribution of gas. In contrast, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is an emerging technique for non-invasive investigation of gas dynamics in peat soils. This thesis establishes a direct comparison between gas dynamics (i.e. build-up and release) of four different types of peat soil using GPR. Peat soil blocks were collected at peatlands with contrasting latitudes, including the Everglades, Maine and Minnesota. A unique two-antenna GPR setup was used to monitor biogenic gas buildup and ebullition events over a period of 4.5 months, constraining GPR data with surface deformation measurements and direct CH4 and CO2 concentration measurements. The effect of atmospheric pressure was also investigated. This study has implications for better understanding global gas dynamics and carbon cycling in peat soils and its role in climate change.

A composite 3 meter ocean current turbine blade has been designed and analyzed using Blade Element Theory (BET) and commercial Finite Element Modeling (FEM) code, ANSYS. It has been observed that using the numerical BET tool created, power production up to 141 kW is possible from a 3 bladed rotor in an ocean current of 2.5 m/s with the proposed blade design. The blade is of sandwich construction with carbon fiber skin and high density foam core. It also contains two webs made of S2-glass for added shear rigidity. Four design cases were analyzed, involving differences in hydrodynamic shape, material properties, and internal structure. Results from the linear static structural analysis revealed that the best design provides adequate stiffness and strength to produce the proposed power without any structural failure. An Eigenvalue Buckling analysis confirmed that the blade would not fail from buckling prior to overstressed laminate failure if the loading was to exceed the Safety Factor.

This thesis presents the analytically predicted position, motion, attitude, power output and forces on Florida Atlantic University's (FAU) first generation ocean current turbine for a wide range of operating conditions. These values are calculated using a 7- DOF dynamics simulation of the turbine and the cable that attaches it to the mooring system. The numerical simulation modifications and upgrades completed in this work include developing a wave model including the effects of waves into the simulation, upgrading the rotor model to specify the number of blades and upgrading the cable model to specify the number of cable elements. This enhanced simulation is used to quantify the turbine's performance in a wide range of currents, wave fields and when stopping and starting the rotor. For a uniform steady current this simulation predicts that when the rotor is fixed in 1.5 m/s current the drag on the turbine is 3.0 kN, the torque on the rotor is 384 N-m, the turbine roll and pitch are 2.4º and -1.2º . When the rotor is allowed to spin up to the rotational velocity where the turbine produces maximum power, the turbine drag increases to 7.3 kN, the torque increases to 1482 N-m, the shaft power is 5.8 kW, the turbine roll increases to 9º and the turbine pitch stays constant. Subsequently, a sensitivity analysis is done to evaluate changes in turbine performance caused by changes in turbine design and operation. This analysis show, among other things, that a non-axial flow on the turbine of up to 10º has a minimal effect on net power output and that the vertical stable position of the turbine varies linearly with the weight/buoyancy of the turbine with a maximum variation of 1.77 m for each increase or decrease of 1 kg at a current speed of 0.5 m/s.