• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.8-16
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• 1999

In this study, a new type of laser-induced ignition using a conical cavity has been developed to utilize all the available incident laser energy. In the method, it is possibile to ignite combustible methane/air mixtures by directing a laser beam of a constant small diameter into a small conical cavity, without focusing the laser beam. Shadow graphs for the early stage of combustion process show that a hot gas jet is ejected from the cavity, especially with lean mixture. After a very show time, the hot gas jet finishes issuing and the flame behavior is quite similar to flame propagation initiated by a conventional spark ignition. The combustion process using the new method exhibits more rapid pressure increase and a higher maximum pressure rise than that of the center ignition using laser-induced spark, with significant decrease in the combustion time. Also, the new ignition method is numerically modeled to simulate the flame kernel development and subsequent combustion process using the KIVA-IIcode. The calculated results show satisfactory agreement with experimental results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.1-7
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• 2001

In order to elucidate the turbulent burning velocity of the two-component fuel mixtures, the lean and rich two-component fuel mixtures, where methane, propane and hydrogen were used as fuels, were prepared keeping the laminar burning velocity nearly the same value. Clear difference in the measured turbulent burning velocity at the same turbulence intensity can be seen among the two-component fuel mixtures with different addition rate of fuel, even under nearly the same laminar burning velocity. The burning velocities of lean mixtures change almost monotonously as changing addition rate, those of rich mixtures, however, do not show such a monotony. These phenomena can be explained qualitatively from the local burning velocities, estimated by considering the preferential diffusion effect for each fuel component. In addition, a prediction expression of turbulent burning velocity proposed for the one-component fuel mixtures can be applied to the two-component fuel mixtures by using the estimated local burning velocity of each fuel mixture.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.26-34
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• 2011

The present work addresses structural characteristics of natural gas flames in a lean premixed swirl-stabilized combustor with an attention focused on the effect of the formation of recirculation zones on the combustion instability. It is known that the recirculation zone plays an important role in stabilizing a turbulent, premixed natural gas flames by providing a source of heat or radicals to the incoming premixed fuel and air. To improve our understanding of the role of recirculation zones, the flame structure was investigated for various mixture velocities, equivalence ratios and swirl numbers. The optically accessible combustor allowed for the application of laser diagnostics, and Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) measurements was used to characterize the flame structure under both cold flow conditions and hot flow conditions. Dynamic pressures were also measured to investigate characteristics of combustion at the same time. The results indicates that the formation of recirculation zone is strongly related to the occurrence of thermo-acoustic instabilities.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.19-26
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• 2000

This paper presents the effects of initial pressure of mixture on CO, $CO_2$ and NOx emissions in constant volume combustion chamber. The CO, $CO_2,O_2,N_2$ concentrations in the chamber are determined by thermal conductivity detection (Gas-chromatograph) wile the NOx concentration is measured by chemiluminescent detection (NOx Analyser). Methane-air mixture is used as premixed fuel and the measurements are taken with equivalence ratios($\phi$) varing from 0.6 to 1.3, and initial pressures of methane-air mixture varing from 0.1MPa to 0.8MPa in constant volume combustion chamber. The NOx concentration steadily increases with increasing equivalence ratio, peaks in lean flame ($\phi$=0.85~0.9), and then rapidly decreases. However, as the initial pressure of mixture is increased, the equivalence ratio corresponding to the point of peak [NOx] shifts towards leaner conditions. This is caused by a similar shift in the peak [CH], which is caused by the variation with pressure and equivalence ratio of the rate of CH production from $CH_2$ and OH. The maximum combustion pressure peaks at $\phi$ =1.05 and the $CO_2$ concentration peaks at $\phi$=0.95~1.0 while the CO concentration rises sharply at the condition of fuel-rich mixtures. This is caused by complete combustion at $\phi$=0.95.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.445-452
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• 2011

The present work addresses structural characteristics of natural gas flames in a lean premixed swirl-stabilized combustor with an attention focused on the effect of the formation of recirculation zones on the combustion instability. It is known that the recirculation zone plays an important role in stabilizing a turbulent, premixed natural gas flames by providing a source of heat or radicals to the incoming premixed fuel and air. To improve our understanding of the role of recirculation zones, the flame structure was investigated for various mixture velocities, equivalence ratios and swirl numbers. The optically accessible combustor allowed for the application of laser diagnostics, and Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) measurements was used to characterize the flame structure under both cold flow conditions and hot flow conditions. Dynamic pressures were also measured to investigate characteristics of combustion at the same time. The results indicates that the formation of recirculation zone is strongly related to the occurrence of thermo-acoustic instabilities.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Automotive Engineers
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2004

A flywheel-driven rapid compression and expansion machine is developed and utilized for experimental study of homogeneous charge compression ignition combustion. Compression ignition of homogeneous charge in IC engines offers possibilities of realizing ultra-lean engine operation with greatly reduced NOx and particulate formation. Fundamental investigations are carried out in order to better understand this ideal engine combustion mechanism. Perfectly premixed propane-air mixtures of various equivalence ratio are compression-ignited in the rapid compression and expansion machine, and the characteristics of the auto-ignition and the following combustion process are analyzed.

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.12a
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• pp.307-313
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• 2002

In the paper, the prototype development of a 75kW class microturbine for the distributed generation market is partly presented which has continued with the government funding. In the introduction, an overview of the development of microturbines in the world is presented. A series of development procedures are shown with design, manufacture and self-sustaining tests. During the first year, aerodynamic and structural design/analysis, mechanical design are performed for the compressor, the turbine and the combustor. A premixed lean burn combustor technology is used fur the low emission requirements. Foil air bearings and high-speed motors are employed for higher reliability. The self-sustaining conditions have been successfully achieved with the prototype manufactured engine as a preceding operation.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.70-76
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• 1992

Ignition of hydrogen-air premixed gas in the vicinity of a hot surface has been investigated. Especially multistep reaction model was compared with a single reaction model. It was found that the multistep model with 48 step elementary chemical reactions produced a phenomenologically reasonable trend in ignition delays. The ignition d(2lays increase as the mixture becomes either fuel-rich or fuel-lean with a minimum near the stoichiometric value. The minimum surface temperature has been deduced by extrapolating predicted ignition delays. It was in quite good agreement with the experimental data.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.1710-1718
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• 2002

The effect of fuel concentration gradient on the propagation characteristics of tribrachial (or triple) flames has been investigated experimentally in both two-dimensional and axisymmetric counterflows. The gradient at the stoichiometric location was controlled by the equivalence ratios at the two nozzles; one of which is maintained rich, while the other lean. Results show that the displacement speed of tribrachial flames in the two-dimensional counterflow decreases with fuel concentration gradient and has much larger speed than the maximum speed predicted previously in two-dimensional mixing layers. From an analogy with premixed flame propagation, this excessively large displacement speed can be attributed to the flame propagation with respect to burnt gas. Corresponding maximum speed in the limit of small mixture fraction gradient was estimated and the curvefit of the experimental data substantiates this limiting speed. As mixture fraction gradient approaches zero, a transition occurs, such that the propagation speed of tribrachial flame approaches stoichiometric laminar burning velocity with respect to burnt gas. Similar results have been obtained for tribrachial flames propagating in axisymmetric counterflow.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Combustion
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.29-35
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• 2001

Unsteady numerical study has been conducted on combustion dynamics of a lean-premixed swirl-stabilized gas turbine swirl injector. A three-dimensional computation method utilizing the message passing interface (MPI) parallel architecture, large eddy simulation(LES), and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) technique was applied. The unsteady turbulent flame dynamics are simulated so that the turbulent flame structure can be characterized in detail. It was observed that some fuel lumps escape from the primary combustion zone, and move downstream and consequently produce hot spots. Those flame dynamics coincides with experimental data. In addition, basis modes of the unsteady turbulent flame are characterized using proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) analysis. The flame structure based on odd basis modes is apparently larger than that of even ones. The flame structure can be extracted from the summation of the basis modes and eigenvectors at any moment.