ACERC
Abstracts - 1986-1988 |
ACERC
Abstracts - 1986-1988 |
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Thrust Area 7: Advanced Combustion Concepts |
Bartholomew, C.H.
Chemical Engineering Education,198-217, Fall, 1987. 4 pgs. Funded by
ACERC (National Science Foundation and Associates and Affiliates).
Our Nation's Basic and high technology industries are highly dependent on an adequate supply of energy, the production of which depends upon combustion technology. The future survival of these industries will hinge on the ability to utilize more efficiently, through advanced combustion technology, our nation's readily available, low-cost fuel resources. There are unfortunately several formidable roadblocks threatening the realization of these critically needed developments; (1) commitment of combustion-based industries to out-dated technologies, (2) environmental and operational problems in the utilization of low-cost, low-grade fuels, (3) insufficient understanding of combustion fundamentals, and (4) lack of communication, collaboration and cooperation among investigators in academic, industrial and governmental research and development communities.
To address the removal of these roadblocks, the Advanced Combustion Engineering Research Center (ACERC) was established in the summer and fall of 1985 as a cooperative effort among Brigham Young University (BYU), the University of Utah (U of U), two national laboratories (Sandia National Labs and Los Alamos National Labs), and 23 industrial/research organizations located throughout the United States. The departments of chemical engineering (BYU and U of U), chemistry (BYU and U of U), fuels engineering (U of U), and mechanical engineering (BYU) were involved in the formation of this new center. Headquarters were established at BYU. The organization of the new center consists of a Directorate, and Executive Advisory Council and Technical Review Committee. Members of the management team consist of the directorate and coordinators for research, education, and information dissemination.
In the fall of 1985, proposals were submitted to the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the State of Utah for funding. On May 1, 1986, BYU and the U of U were jointly awarded a $9.7 million 5-year grant from NSF as part of its Engineering Research Centers Program. This award was one of five selected from 102 proposals submitted by 74 institutions in fall 1985. Also receiving grant awards from NSF in the 1985-86 round were Carnegie-Mellon University, University of Illinois, Urbana, Leigh University and Ohio State University.
In addition to the funds from NSF, the Center will receive approximately $3.5 million from the two universities, $500,000 from the State of Utah, and over $500,000 from private industry, for a total of about $14 million for the five years. During the first year the total ACERC budget was $3.2 million.
Kramer, S.K.; Cannon, J.N.
and Smoot, L.D.
Western States Section, 1988, The Combustion Institute, Salt lake City,
UT. 16 pgs. Funded by US Department of Energy, Morgantown Energy Technology
Center and Brigham Young University.
Explosion limits and flame propagation rates for a low-rank coal have been determined in an explosion bomb and are being studied in a steady flame device. The Decker, Montana subbituminous coal was obtained at the mine and stored in a nitrogen atmosphere. Minimum ignition energy and minimum dust cloud auto-ignition temperature were significantly influenced by sample moisture and particle size. However, the minimum explosive concentration, which was less than half that of the reference Pittsburgh bituminous coal dust, was not strongly affected by size or moisture content. Maximum pressure rise rate increased over three times with decreasing particle size and moisture content while the maximum pressure rise varied by only 20%. Ageing of the coal through low temperature surface oxidation of the sample had little effect on any of the ignition or explosion parameters. When compared to the reference Pittsburgh bituminous coal dust through the use of standard explosion indices, the dry coal is much more explosive while the wet coal is roughly equivalent. A well-insulated, one-dimensional, steady flow facility has been designed and constructed to measure the premixed, laminar flame speed of the sample coal. Preliminary tests have been made with a methane-supported coal dust flame to demonstrate in-situ measurement of species, species concentration and temperature with the coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) system.
Cannon, J.N.
Western States Section, 1988, The Combustion Institute, Salt Lake City,
UT. 16 pgs. Funded by US Department of Energy, Electric Power Research Institute,
and Utah Power and Light Company.
One of the major irritants to the power industry has been their inability to utilize combustion research results in design and operation. Improved analysis of available research would help close this industry-research gap. This paper reviews the effects of pressure (P), temperature (T), equivalence ration (f), and minimum ignition strength (Emin) on flammability limits for a gaseous fuel. Known research is collected, organized, and presented to clarify the interacting influences of these parameters. These results are then applied to pulverized coal. The effects of flow conditions on ignition strength and influence of particle size on the combustion system are introduced. The influence of the noted variables on flame velocity is identified, and the operating lines for load change, emergency shutdowns, start-up or shutting down etc. These procedures permit comparison of the influences of a variety of emergency procedures along with the hazard each procedure incurs.
Incorporation of operating lines on the SL, T, f and Emin plots allows evaluation of standard operating procedures, suggests needed research areas, and helps define fire protection procedures like NFPA-85F and other ANSI standards. These analysis procedures permit the research results from the laboratory to be related to the field operation of burners, boilers, and pulverizers.
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