ME525 Spring 2013 Practice Problems for Final Examination (Partial Solutions 4/23/2013)

(1) A stream of methane ( CH 4 ) with very fine well mixed drops of liquid water (stream 1) burns in a stream of air with very fine well mixed drops of liquid water (stream 2). The reactants are all admitted at a temperature of T = 300 K with pressure of P = 1 atm . The chemical reaction used to describe this process is given by the following (Only the major product species for conditions of interest are shown here for brevity):

CH 4 + xwF H 2O ( l ) + a ( O2 + 3.76 N 2 ) + axwa H 2O ( l ) 3.76aN 2 + bCH 4 + cH 2O ( l ) + hO2 + dH 2O ( g ) + eCO2 + fCO + gH 2

xwF represents the moles of water added per mole of methane to the fuel stream and xwa
represents the moles of water added per mole of oxygen to the air stream. Liquid water may be present in the products for high values of either xwF and/or high values of xwa for relatively low temperatures. a. Limiting the product species to those shown above and further assuming that the liquid water and the water vapor in the products exist in phase equilibrium and that the ratio of moles of CO2 times the moles of H2 divided by the moles of CO times the moles of H2O obey the equilibrium of the water gas shift reaction, find the product temperature and the product species concentrations for an overall equivalence ratio of = 1.2. b. If stream 1 enters the cylindrical tubular combustor of diameter D and length L through a central fuel injector port of diameter d at the bottom and stream 2 enters through the annular region with inner diameter d+2t and outer diameter D and the products of combustion leave the exhaust port of diameter D, at the downstream end of the combustor, write two dimensional conservation of mass, momentum, energy and species equations and boundary conditions assuming insulated walls, negligible kinetic and potential energy changes, and negligible radiation heat transfer. c. For a methane flow rate of 100 mg/s with 10 mg/s of liquid water sprayed into the fuel tube and for an overall combustor equivalence ratio of = 1.2 with xwa = 1, define the boundary conditions quantitatively assuming uniform velocity across the inlet and exit flow areas if d = 6 mm, t =1mm, and D = 12 mm.

(2) Estimate the burning rate (kg/s) of a carbon particle of 50 m diameter in air with 23% O2 and P=1 atm. Assume the particle temperature is 1500 K and the kinetic rate
constant kc=1.9 m/s and the mean molecular weight of the gas at the particle surface= 30 kg/kmol. Estimate the diffusion coefficient using the values for CO2 and N2 given in text book Appendix Table D.1 being sure to correct for temperature. Which combustion regime prevails? If the burning rate were constant independent of the particle diameter, how long would it take to completely burn the particle? Assume the density of the particle is 2300 kg/m3.

(3) A turbulent premixed flame from a jet torch is used to heat treat a metal plate. The plate is located 0.05 m from the torch exit. Estimate the turbulence intensity required
to close the flame cone before the flame strikes the surface. The torch has an exit diameter of 10 mm and fires a preheated (600 K) mixture of propane and air with an equivalence ratio of 0.8 at 1 atm. The firing rate is 20 kW.

(4) A time series of mixture fraction at a point in a turbulent non-premixed methane/air flame is given in the following table. It is experimentally observed that the time
series repeats itself in a stationary manner. Time, ms Mixture fraction Temperature, Reaction rate K of N2+O2=2NO 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 10.0 0.1 0.05 0.07 0.08 0.04 0.15 0.2 0.06 0.1 0.05 Temperature fluctuation from the mean Reaction rate fluctuation from the mean

Consider a temperature state relationship represented by a peak temperature of 2200 at the stoichiometric mixture fraction and linear decrease with increasing and decreasing mixture fractions on the lean and rich sides respectively to fuel inlet temperature of 300 K and air inlet temperature of 600 K. (A) Calculate and enter in the above table the temperature and the reaction rate of the Zeldovich NO production reaction for the ten realizations. (B) Calculate the average and the RMS temperature and the average and the RMS Zeldovich NO production rate. (C) Calculate and enter into the above table the fluctuating components of the temperature and the NO production rate.