Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach is applied to investigate heavy gas dispersion in the atmosphere, under the action of wind. Because of the effect of buoyancy, steady double peaks of the heavy gas concentrations in the downstream area are observed from the numerical results. The double peaks of the concentrations are a special pattern of heavy gas dispersion, which cannot be found in the neutral gas dispersions. Four types of obstacles are placed behind the leakage source to study the influences of these obstacles to the heavy gas dispersions. The numerical results show the detailed shapes and other contents of the heavy clouds under the obstacles.

The experimental research, initiated at the Institute of Power Engineering and Turbomachinery of the Silesian University of Technology at the end of the last century, created an opportunity to supplement knowledge about the phenomenon of steam flow with condensation, tested by numerical fluid mechanics by IMiUE employees. In parallel with the numerical work, significant progress has been made in experimental studies on thflow of wet steam. Recently, measuring techniques based on recording the phenomenon of extinction of light have been elaborated or improved. The basic value determined in the final stage in the experimental way was the contentof the liquid phase defined as the wetness fraction. The methodology of tests and experimental investigations was presented, as well as the applied and developed measurement systems. Next, some developed designs of X probe and their modifications are described. Article present also some examples of applications of the developed measurement techniques in application to experimental research conducted on wet steam in the IMiUE. Examples of comparison between experimental and numerical tests are also provided.

In recent years, Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) technology has received growing interests, thanks to its high flexibility and to the capability to exploit energy sources at temperature levels difficult to be approached with conventional power cycles. These features allow exploiting renewable and renewable-equivalent energy sources, by either improving the energy conversion efficiency of existing plants or using waste heat from industrial process. As far as the expander is concerned, a high potential solution is represented by turbo-expanders, which allow reduction of plant clutter and complexity, so enhancing the potential impact on the diffusion of small power ORC-based plants. The present work concerns the design of a RadialInflow Turbine for a bottoming Organic Rankine Cycle in the tens of kW scale. Design boundary conditions are retrieved by a zero-dimensional model of a solar-assisted micro gas turbine in cogenerating mode. The design process is started by means of an in-house mean-line design code accounting for real gas properties. The code is used to carry out parametric analyses to investigate the design space for several working fluids encompassing different classes, namely refrigerants and siloxanes. The program is used to assess the effect of design variables and working fluid on the turbine performance and turbine design characteristics. Subsequently, the most promising design candidates are selected and three-dimensional first guess stator and rotor geometries are built on these preliminary designs. Stationary and rotating passages are then meshed and analyzed by means of RANS CFD based solution of the stator – rotor interaction.

A novel control technique is investigated for hypersonic aerial vehicles. The technique is based on the use of active shock bumps (SBs) as a form of control device. The SBs deflect to create shockwaves on–demand, at specific locations around the aerial vehicle. As a result, a force is applied on the aerial vehicle, which in turn is used to provide the necessary moment for pitch and roll manoeuvres. In this work, a preliminary aerodynamic analysis of the SB device technique is made by means of CFD. For this purpose, and taking the large corresponding Reynolds numbers of the flow into consideration, the two–dimensional Euler equations are solved. A parametric investigation is carried out, by examining the effect of key parameters, namely the Mach number (M) and device deflection angle (δSB) on the produced force acting on the vehicle, serving as a proof of concept. Using a specific interpolation method, the resultant force is presented as a function of the Mach number and the device deflection angle, on three–dimensional charts, where the effect of each parameter is shown (force–Mach–deflection maps). Furthermore, a preliminary feasibility study is performed, including a kinematic analysis and some key material considerations. Additionally, a kinetic analysis is also conducted to secure the dynamic rigidity of the actuating mechanism and provide an initial estimation concerning weight and basic geometrical parameters of the SB mechanism components.

Using electric energy in a potentially explosive atmosphere raises several problems that must be solved when designing, manufacturing and during the operation of electric equipment. Their approach requires special attention, considering the multiple technical, economical and labour safety aspects. The ingress protection for the electrical part of the valves is ensured by the capsulation assembly, comprising the protection measures applied for preventing the ignition of the surrounding atmosphere. The labyrinth seal through which the gas flow passes is designed so as to confine a potential ignition inside actuator’s flameproof enclosure. Numerical simulations were conducted for determining the combustion behaviour and the optimum width and geometry of the labyrinth canals.

Energy contributes significantly in almost all aspects of human life as well as economic activities and plays a crucial role in the infrastructural development of a county to alleviate poverty. Generating energy from a renewable source such as small hydropower through the application of pump operating as a turbine mode called Pump as Turbine is one of the best alternatives to provide clean and inexpensive energy. Using Pump as Turbine helps in generating reasonably priced hydroelectric power for communities in underdeveloped counties. This study investigates the effects of internal flow behaviour and performance of Pump as Turbine under different rotational speed and flow rate. The rotational speed is an essential physical parameter as it affects the Pump as Turbine operation. A model-specific speed centrifugal pump model with head 32 (m), flow rate of 12.5 (m3/h) and the rotational speed of 2900 rpm, has been selected for the study. Numerical simulations have been conducted using the k-ω turbulence model to solve three-dimensional (3D) equations. The pump mode experimental data were used to confirm the results for better analysis. The results predicted that vortex and turbulent kinetic energy increase per rotational speed increase. Also, at the higher rotational speed, very high recirculation of flow is detected at the blade suction chamber, although the pressure side has a smooth flow. This study provides beneficial information which will serve as a reference to help improve PAT performance along with selecting PAT for a small hydropower site. Future works will consider the impact of blade thickness and cavitation in Pump as Turbine.

A model of the pumping station lateral inflow forebay was established to explore the influence of different lateral bending angles of the pumping station lateral inflow. The lateral bending angles were set at 45° and 60°, and the two schemes were calculated separately. Analyzing the results of the numerical simulation showed that the flow patterns of the diversion passages of different schemes were good, but the advancing mainstream of the 1# inlet passage near the sidewall was seriously deviated after entering the forebay. Most of the water can flow smoothly into the inlet passage, while a small part of the water flowed into the sidewall and formed a backflow, resulting in a large-scale backflow zone near the left sidewall of the forebay. Moreover, the flow in the backflow zone was turbulent, which affected the water inlet conditions of the 1# water flow passage. Comparing the water inlet conditions of the water passage with the numerical simulation results of 45° and 60° bending angles showed that the larger the lateral bending angle of the forebay was, the worse the flow pattern of the water flow, and the more unfavorable the pump operation.

To better reveal the mechanism of the rotor-stator interference between the impeller and the guide vane and the evolution process of the stall vortex under the part-load conditions, numerical simulation is carried out based on the DDES turbulence model, which can better capture vortex structure. And the pressure pulsation and the radial velocity distribution of the centrifugal pump are studied. The vortex structure and pressure fluctuation of pump internal flow field under part-load condition of Q = 0.4 Qdes are mainly analyzed. The analysis results show that the stall vortex is formed at the inlet of the impeller and evolves to the outlet of the impeller, the front cover to the rear cover according to the fluid flow direction, and then disappears. Besides, under the part-load condition, the vorticity of the impeller outlet is always obviously less than that of the impeller inlet as the flow rate increases. Due to the asymmetric action of the volute, the radial velocity distribution law of flow channel C1 is different from other flow channels at different blade heights. By analyzing the radial velocity, the phenomenon that the jet-wake flow impacts the guide vane with the rotation of the impeller is the main reason for the rotor-stator interference. And large radial velocity gradients appear at the front and rear cover plates, which will cause high energy loss and reduce pump efficiency. Besides, the conclusion can be drawn that the region with the strongest rotor-stator interference is the inlet region of the guide vane suction surface. It also occurs near the volute tongue but is lower due to the effect of the guide vane. This research may serve as a reference for the safe operation of centrifugal pumps under part-load conditions.

The splitter blade can effectively optimize pump performance, but there is still insufficient research in blood pumps that cover both hydraulic and hemolysis performance. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of key factors related to splitter blade on the performance and flow field of axial flow blood pump. In this study, the number of splitter blades, the axial length, and the circumferential offset were chosen as three objects of study. An analysis of the flow field and performance of the pump by orthogonal array design using computational fluid mechanics was carried out. A set of hydraulic and particle image velocimetry experiments of the model pumps were performed. The result showed that the pump had greater hydraulic performance without sacrificing its hemolytic performance when it had two splitter blades, the axial length ratio was 0.6, and the circumferential offset was 15°. Based on these reference data, the splitter blade may contribute to greater hydraulic performance of the pump and cause no side effect on the velocity distribution of the flow field. This finding provides an effective method for the research, development, and application of structural improvement of the axial flow blood pump.

This article studies the flow trajectories and the wear law of sediment particles in a pump considering multiple variables, such as sediment concentration, particle size, and cavitation stage. In addition, the mechanism of joint effects of cavitation and sediment wear of the axial-flow pump is explored. In this work, the characteristics of cavitation and sediment wear in an axial-flow pump are investigated by the numerical simulation using shear stress transport k–ω turbulence model with experimental validation. The external characteristics of experimental results and numerical simulations are in agreement. The results show that the sediment concentration exerts a profound influence on the vacuole distribution in the pump, while the particle size has little effect on it. Cavitation can increase the volume fraction of the solid, accelerate the wear on the components, and affect the sediment distribution in the impeller. Cavitation and sediment wear are mutually worsening, and their joint effects will form a vicious circle. With the decrease in inlet pressure and the increase in sediment concentration and particle size, the maximum wear rate will gradually increase, which proves that cavitation, sediment concentration, and particle size are the main factors that influence the maximum wear rate.

Tip clearance between the runner blade tip and shroud in a Kaplan turbine is inevitable, and the tip leakage flow (TLF) and tip leakage vortex (TLV) induced by the tip clearance have a considerable effect on the flow behaviors. To reveal the effect of the tip clearance on the flow characteristics, based on the Reynolds time-averaged Navier-Stokes (N-S) equation and the shear stress transfer (SST) k-ω turbulence model, the three-dimensional turbulence flow in a Kaplan turbine is simulated using ANSYS CFX. Meanwhile, the flow laws in the tip clearance are emphatically analyzed and summarized. Results show with the increase of the tip clearance, the negative pressure region in the blade suction side (SS) middle, the SS near the blade tip and the blade tip becomes more and more obvious. In the meantime, the flow behaviors on the blade pressure side (PS) are relatively stable, and the flow separation on the SS near blade tip merges. The larger the tip clearance is, the more obvious the flow separation phenomenon displays. In addition, the TLV is a spatial three-dimensional spiral structure formed by the entrainment effect of the TLF and main flow, and as the tip clearance increases, the TLV becomes more obvious.

Abstract Background: The splitter blade is an improved structure effective in traditional pumps. However, applying splitter blades to blood pumps is a complex optimization problem with multiple parameters and objectives, because structural parameters, blood circulation dynamics, and blood damage need to be considered simultaneously. This study aims to obtain the performance impact of the splitter blade and make it well used in blood pumps through CFD and neural networks.Results: This study combines CFD and neural networks. And hydraulic experiments and PIV technology were used. In the optimization study, the number of blades, axial length, and circumferential offset are optimization parameters, and hydraulic performance and hemolytic prediction index are optimization targets. The study analyzes the influence of each parameter on performance and completes the optimization of the parameters. In the results, the optimal parameters of the number of blades, axial length ratio, and circumferential offset are 2, 6 °, and 0.41, respectively. Under optimized parameters, hydraulic performance can be significantly improved. And the results of hemolysis prediction and micro PIV experiments reflect that there is no increase in the risk of hemolytic damage.Conclusion: This study provides a method and ideas for improving the structure of the blood pump. The established optimization method can be effectively applied to the design and research of blood pumps with complex, high precision, and multiple parameters and targets.

The two-way counter-rotation technology is mainly applied to the tidal power station. In this paper, the hydrodynamic optimization of the two-way counter-rotating axial-flow pump turbine is carried out. Under the premise of realizing the forward and reverse power generation and the forward and negative pumping basic function, it has important engineering significance and academic value for improving the pump turbine performance of various working conditions. The main contents are as follows: hydraulic design of “S”-shaped blade for the two-way counter-rotating axial-flow pump turbine is conducted, and the influence of the gap between different impeller stages on the performance is calculated and analyzed, and the variation law of head and efficiency of the pump turbine under different inter-stage clearances is obtained. And the influence of the inter-stage gap on the unit is summarized from the vorticity distribution and the axial section pressure cloud diagram analysis, and the range of the best inter-stage gap of the unit performance is determined.

As an indirect noise source generated in the combustion chamber, entropy waves are widely prevalent in modern gas turbines and aero-engines. In the present work, the influence of entropy waves on the downstream flow field of a turbine guide vane is investigated. The work is mainly based on a well-known experimental configuration called LS89. Two different turbulence models are used in the simulations which are the standard k-ω model and the scale-adaptive simulation (SAS) model. In order to handle the potential transition issue, Menter’s ð-Reθ transition model is coupled with both models. The baseline cases are first simulated with the two different turbulence models without any incoming perturbation. Then one forced case with an entropy wave train set at the turbine inlet at a given frequency and amplitude is simulated. Results show that the downstream maximum Mach number is rising from 0.98 to 1.16, because the entropy waves increase the local temperature of the flow field; also, the torque of the vane varies as the entropy waves go through, the magnitude of the oscillation is 7% of the unforced case. For the wall (both suction and pressure side of the vane) heat transfer, the entropy waves make the maximum heat transfer coefficient nearly twice as the large at the leading edge, while the minimum heat transfer coefficient stays at a low level. As for the averaged normalized heat transfer coefficient, a maximum difference of 30% appears between the baseline case and the forced case. Besides, during the transmission process of entropy waves, the local pressure fluctuates with the wake vortex shedding. The oscillation magnitude of the pressure wave at the throat is found to be enhanced due to the inlet entropy wave by applying the dynamic mode decomposition (DMD) method. Moreover, the transmission coefficient of the entropy waves, and the reflection and transmission coefficients of acoustic waves are calculated.

The current study presents a low-fidelity, quasi-3D aerodynamic analysis method for Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) configurations. A tactical BWB UAV experimental prototype is used as a reference platform. The method utilizes 2D panel method analyses and theoretical aerodynamic calculations to rapidly compute lift and pitching moment coefficients. The philosophy and the underlying theoretical and semi-empirical equations of the proposed method are extensively described. Corrections related to control surfaces deflection and ground effect are also suggested, so that the BWB pitching stability and trimming calculations can be supported. The method is validated against low-fidelity 3D aerodynamic analysis methods and high-fidelity, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) results for various BWB configurations. The validation procedures show that the proposed method is considerably more accurate than existing low-fidelity ones, can provide predictions for both lift and pitching moment coefficients and requires far less computational resources and time when compared to CFD modeling. Hence, it can serve as a valuable aerodynamics and stability analysis tool for BWB UAV configurations.

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) is of great use in miniature power systems. It obtains the characteristics of high density and low viscosity, which makes it possible to build a compact structure for turbomachinery. For a turbine design, an important issue is to figure out the appropriate solidity of the rotor. The objective of this research is to present the aerodynamic performance and provide the design reference for SCO2 and air radial-inflow turbines considering different solidity structures. For the low solidity case of SCO2 turbine, new splitter structures are proposed to improve its performance. The automatic design and simulation process are established by batch modes in MATLAB. The numerical investigation is based on a 3D viscous compressible N-S equation and the actual fluid property of SCO2 and air. The distributions of flow parameters are first presented. Rotor blade load and aerodynamic force are then thoroughly analyzed and the aerodynamic performances of all cases are obtained. The SCO2 turbine has larger power capacity and higher efficiency while the performance of the air turbine is less affected by rotor solidity. For both SCO2 and air, small solidity can cause the unsatisfactory flow condition at the inlet and the shroud section of the rotor, while large solidity results in the aerodynamic loss at the trailing edge of rotor blade and the hub of rotor outlet. A suction side offset splitter can greatly improve the performance of the low solidity SCO2 turbine.

The development of low-noise pumps is essential to design quiet fluid delivery systems. Due to the complicated internal flow, the flow-induced noise characteristics of high-speed centrifugal pumps have not been well understood. Taking engine cooling pumps as an example model, experimental measurements are performed in a semi-anechoic room and a CFD/CFA calculation method is proposed to study the fluid-borne noise and radiated noise characteristics. In the speed range of 5000–6750 r/min, both the pump head and the dimensionless radiated noise characteristics conform to similar laws, and the highest efficiency point pump presents the lowest noise level. Consistent with the experimental results, the predicted radiated noise of the model pump presents dipole characteristics at the required flow rate condition. Moreover, the spectrum of fluid borne noise at pump outlet shows broadband characteristics but with obvious discrete peaks, which are not only related to the fluid pressure pulsation characteristics (6f0 and the multiple) at the low-frequency region, but also to the frequency of the structural mode (3000–6000 Hz region). Rotor-stator interaction of the pump flow field between the impeller and volute is the main reason of flow-induced noise; unstable flow also contributes to the broadband components in the noise spectrum.

The mixing, migration, and degradation of pollutants in sewers are the main causes for pipeline corrosion and the increased pollution scope. The clarification of the turbulent mixing characteristics in pipelines is critical for finding the source of pollution in a timely fashion and inspecting pipelines’ damaged locations. In this paper, numerical simulations and experiments were conducted to investigate the turbulent mixing characteristics in pipelines by studying a T-junction system, of which four variables (main pipe diameter φ, cross-flow flux Q, mixing ratio δ, the incident angle of T-junctions θ) were considered. The coefficient of variation (COV) of the salt solution was selected as the evaluation index and effective mixing length (LEML) was defined for quantitative analysis. The numerical results were found to be in good agreement with the experimental results. The results reveal that the values of LEML rise as Q or φ increase and decrease with the increase of δ, where the influence of φ is much greater than Q and δ, and there is no obvious regularity between LEML and θ. By dimensional analysis and multivariate nonlinear regression analysis, a dimensionless relationship equation in harmony with the dimensional analysis was fitted, and a simplified equation with the average error of 4.01% was obtained on the basis of correlation analysis.

When a pump-jet propeller rotates at high speeds, a tip vortex is usually generated in the tip clearance region. This vortex interacts with the main channel fluid flow leading to the main energy loss of the rotor system. Moreover, operating at a high rotational speed can cause cavitation near the blades which may jeopardize the propulsion efficiency and induce noise. In order to effectively improve the propulsion efficiency of the pump-jet propeller, it is mandatory to research more about the energy loss mechanism in the tip clearance area. Due to the complex turbulence characteristics of the blade tip vortex, the widely used Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) method may not be able to accurately predict the multi-scale turbulent flow in the tip clearance. In this paper, an unsteady numerical simulation was conducted on the three-dimensional full flow field of a pump-jet propeller based on the DES (detached-eddy-simulation) turbulence model and the Z-G-B (Zwart–Gerber–Belamri) cavitation model. The simulation yielded the vortex shape and dynamic characteristics of the vortex core and the surrounding flow field in the tip clearance area. After cavitation occurred, the influence of cavitation bubbles on tip vortices was also studied. The results revealed two kinds of vortices in the tip clearance area, namely tip leakage vortex (TLV) and tip separation vortex (TSV). Slight cavitation at J = 1.02 led to low-frequency and high-frequency pulsation in the TLV vortex core. This occurrence of cavitation promotes the expansion and contraction of the tip vortex. Further, when the advance ratio changes into J = 0.73, a third type of vortex located between TLV and TSV appeared at the trailing edge which runs through the entire rotational cycle. This study has presented the dynamic characteristics of tip vortex including the relationship between cavitation bubbles and TLV inside the pump-jet propeller, which may provide a reference for the optimal design of future pump-jet propellers.

Tandem blade technology has been developed for years due to its capacity to bear higher aerodynamics than conventional configurations. Even so, there is still the tough problem of how to design tandem blades effectively and further improve blade performance. This paper tries to further understand the flow characteristics of tandem blades in order to present a new method of designing them under subsonic inflow conditions. Firstly, efforts were made to reveal the aerodynamic interaction between the forward blade (FB) and the aft blade (AB). Secondly, considering this aerodynamic interaction, the design principles and the camber line modification method were put forward, with which typical controlled diffusion airfoil (CD airfoil) isentropic Mach number distributions can be achieved for both FB and AB. Lastly, the optimizations were conducted on a 2D tandem blade and a transonic compressor with a tandem blade, respectively. The computation fluid dynamic (CFD) results show that the optimized tandem blade achieves a significant improvement for both 2D blade performance and transonic compressor characteristics at low speeds.