AE612 Aerospace propulsion

Problems on combustion

1. Methane is burning with minimum amount of air to form the stable products. The premixed
methane-air mixture is filled in a leak-proof spherical vessel at an initial pressure of 1 bar and
298 K. The vessel is well insulated to avoid thermal energy interaction with the surroundings.
The combustible mixture is ignited at the centre of the vessel using an electrical spark. The
energy added to the mixture for ignition is negligible. During the combustion process, the
pressure of the combustion chamber increased due to the energy released by the fuel. Estimate
the peak pressure that is achieved inside the vessel at the end of complete combustion without
any dissociation of products. Both the reactants and products are in gas phase.
2. Methane is reacting with air in an adiabatic steady flow reactor at the following conditions:
(a) pressure = 1 bar, (b) initial temperature = 298 K, (c) equivalence ratio = 0.8 (d) Reaction
completes and no dissociation occurs. Estimate the final temperature according to first law of
thermodynamics.
3. Stoichiometric methane air mixture reacts in a combustor at isobaric condition. The pressure
of the combustor is maintained at 1 bar. The combustible mixture is preheated to 800 K. Find
the end temperature assuming complete combustion without any dissociation?
4. A small, low emission, stationary gas turbine engine operates at full load (3950 kW) at an
equivalence ratio of 0.286 with an air flow rate of 15.9 kg/s. The equivalent composition of
the fuel (Natural gas) is C1.16H4.32. Determine the fuel mass flow rate and the operating air-
fuel ratio for the engine?
5. A methane gas-fired industrial boiler operates with an oxygen mole fraction of 3% in the flue
gases. Determine the operating air-fuel ratio and the equivalence ratio?
6. A gas stream at 1 bar contains a mixture of CO, CO2 and N2 in which the CO mole fraction is
0.1 and the mole fraction of CO2 is 0.2. The gas stream temperature is 1200 K. Determine the
standardized enthalpy of the mixture on both a mole bases (kJ/kmol) and a mass basis (kJ/kg).
Also, determine the mass fractions of the three component gases.

Problems on Ideal Brayton cycle

7. Air enters the compressor of an ideal air-standard Brayton cycle at 100 kPa, 300 K, with a
volumetric flow rate of 5 m3/s. The compressor pressure ratio is 10. The turbine inlet
temperature is 1400 K. Determine (a) the thermal efficiency of the cycle,(b) the back work
ratio (ratio of rate work required by compressor to the rate work delivered by turbine, (c)the
net power developed, in kW.
8. Consider an ideal air-standard Brayton cycle with minimum and maximum temperatures of
300 K and 1500 K, respectively. The pressure ratio is that which maximizes the net work
developed by the cycle per unit mass of air flow. On a cold air-standard basis, calculate (a)
the compressor and turbine work per unit mass of air flow, each in kJ/kg. (b) the thermal
efficiency of the cycle.