Showing papers on "Thermal efficiency published in 2009"

Prediction of performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine fueled with biodiesel produced from waste frying palm oil

Abstract: Biodiesel is receiving increasing attention each passing day because of its fuel properties and compatibility with the petroleum-based diesel fuel (PBDF). Therefore, in this study, the prediction of the engine performance and exhaust emissions is carried out for five different neural networks to define how the inputs affect the outputs using the biodiesel blends produced from waste frying palm oil. PBDF, B100, and biodiesel blends with PBDF, which are 50% (B50), 20% (B20) and 5% (B5), were used to measure the engine performance and exhaust emissions for different engine speeds at full load conditions. Using the artificial neural network (ANN) model, the performance and exhaust emissions of a diesel engine have been predicted for biodiesel blends. According to the results, the fifth network is sufficient for all the outputs. In the fifth network, fuel properties, engine speed, and environmental conditions are taken as the input parameters, while the values of flow rates, maximum injection pressure, emissions, engine load, maximum cylinder gas pressure, and thermal efficiency are used as the output parameters. For all the networks, the learning algorithm called back-propagation was applied for a single hidden layer. Scaled conjugate gradient (SCG) and Levenberg-Marquardt (LM) have been used for the variants of the algorithm, and the formulations for outputs obtained from the weights are given in this study. The fifth network has produced R^2 values of 0.99, and the mean % errors are smaller than five except for some emissions. Higher mean errors are obtained for the emissions such as CO, NO"x and UHC. The complexity of the burning process and the measurement errors in the experimental study can cause higher mean errors.

Fundamental Differences Between Conventional and Geared Turbofans

Abstract: The potential for improving the thermodynamic efficiency of aircraft engines is limited because the aerodynamic quality of the turbomachines has already achieved a very high level. While in the past increasing burner exit temperature did contribute to better cycle efficiency, this is no longer the case with today’s temperatures in the range of 1900...2000K. Increasing the cycle pressure ratio above 40 will yield only a small fuel consumption benefit. Therefore the only way to improve the fuel efficiency of aircraft engines significantly is to increase bypass ratio — which yields higher propulsive efficiency. A purely thermodynamic cycle study shows that specific fuel consumption decreases continuously with increasing bypass ratio. However, thermodynamics alone is a too simplistic view of the problem. A conventional direct drive turbofan of bypass ratio 6 looks very different to an engine with bypass ratio 10. Increasing bypass ratio above 10 makes it attractive to design an engine with a gearbox to separate the fan speed from the other low pressure components. Different rules apply for optimizing turbofans of conventional designs and those with a gearbox. This paper describes various criteria to be considered for optimizing the respective engines and their components. For illustrating the main differences between conventional and geared turbofans it is assumed that an existing core of medium pressure ratio with a two stage high pressure turbine is to be used. The design of the engines is done for takeoff rating because this is the mechanically most challenging condition. For each engine the flow annulus is examined and stress calculations for the disks are performed. The result of the integrated aero-thermodynamic and mechanical study allows a comparison of the fundamental differences between conventional and geared turbofans. At the same bypass ratio there will be no significant difference in specific fuel consumption between the alternative designs. The main difference is in the parts count which is much lower for the geared turbofan than for the conventional engine. However, these parts will be mechanically much more challenging than those of a conventional turbofan. If the bypass ratio is increased significantly above 10, then the geared turbofan becomes more and more attractive and the conventional turbofan design is no longer a real option. The maximum practical bypass ratio for ducted fans depends on the nacelle drag and how the installation problems can be solved.Copyright © 2009 by ASME

Exergy analysis of gas turbine trigeneration system for combined production of power heat and refrigeration

Abstract: A conceptual trigeneration system is proposed based on the conventional gas turbine cycle for the high temperature heat addition while adopting the heat recovery steam generator for process heat and vapor absorption refrigeration for the cold production. Combined first and second law approach is applied and computational analysis is performed to investigate the effects of overall pressure ratio, turbine inlet temperature, pressure drop in combustor and heat recovery steam generator, and evaporator temperature on the exergy destruction in each component, first law efficiency, electrical to thermal energy ratio, and second law efficiency of the system. Thermodynamic analysis indicates that exergy destruction in combustion chamber and HRSG is significantly affected by the pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature, and not at all affected by pressure drop and evaporator temperature. The process heat pressure and evaporator temperature causes significant exergy destruction in various components of vapor absorption refrigeration cycle and HRSG. It also indicates that maximum exergy is destroyed during the combustion and steam generation process; which represents over 80% of the total exergy destruction in the overall system. The first law efficiency, electrical to thermal energy ratio and second law efficiency of the trigeneration, cogeneration, and gas turbine cycle significantly varies with the change in overall pressure ratio and turbine inlet temperature, but the change in pressure drop, process heat pressure, and evaporator temperature shows small variations in these parameters. Decision makers should find the methodology contained in this paper useful in the comparison and selection of advanced heat recovery systems.

Performance of Photovoltaic Thermal Collector (PVT) With Different Absorbers Design

Abstract: Much effort has been spent on the development of hybrid PVT, in order to improve it efficiency of both, thermal and cell. The combination of thermal and cell efficiencies, which is commonly known as "total efficiency of the PVT", is influenced by many system design parameters and operating conditions. Due to that, seven new design configurations of absorber collectors are designed, investigated and compared. Simulations were performed to determine the best absorber design that gives the highest efficiency (total efficiency). In these simulations, the system is analyzed with various parameters, such as solar radiation, ambient temperature, and flow rate conditions. It is assumed that the collector is represented as a flat plate thermal collector with single glazing sheet. Based on these simulations, spiral flow design proved to be the best design with the highest thermal efficiency of 50.12% and corresponding cell efficiency of 11.98%.