Andre Gonzaga, YSP Student, Framingham High SchoolDevan Tierney, YSP Student, Foxborough High SchoolOmid Askari, PhD Student, Northeastern University

Ali Moghaddas, PhD Student, Northeastern UniversityHameed Metghalchi, Mechanical Engineering, Northeastern

University

Fundamentals of Combustion Lab

• Study the fundamentals of combustion (basic burning properties) of fuel over a variety of equivalence ratios, temperatures, and pressures.

• Fuels include methane, JP-8, JP-10, decane, and bio-fuel.

• Determine the most energy-efficient gases and liquids and if they would function properly with different combustion mechanisms.

Background:

How it works:

• Gas Tanks

• Gas Manifold System

• Pump • Combustion Chamber

• Gas Chromatography System

• Shadowgraph System

• Excel Log File

• Difficult to create certain compositions of mixtures with exact proportions, even with the GC.

• Reducing the initial temperature of the vessel.

• Unwanted residual on the windows of glass on the vessel decreases the quality of the pictures.

• When fuel is being combusted, the noise and vibrations that are produced skew the pressure curve.

Challenges:

Laminar Flame Speed

• Fundamental property of a combustible mixture of gases and/or liquids.

• Speed at which an unstretched laminar flame propagates (spreads out and moves against) a mixture of unburned reactants.

• Depends on temperature, pressure, types of reactants, and the equivalence ratioo Equivalence ratio is the ratio of combustible fuel to air, measured in Phi

(Φ)

Combustion Research:

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Flame hits the spherical chamber

The end of combustion when all of the gas is burned

Time (ms)

Pres

sure

(psi

)

Initial pressure (14.7 psi)

CH₄ + Air, T = 298 K, P = 14.7 psi

• CH₄ + AirT = 298 KP = 14.7 psi

• Pressure vs. Time during flame propagation

First Project:

• Build the combustion chamber using SolidWorks.o 2-D and 3-D CAD Program

• The design can be easily modified, adjusted and tested on the computer.

• The design is a combination of the two cylindrical chambers that have already been constructed.

• Focus on main framework initially, then on the more difficult parts.o Electrodes, lever arm, bottom rod

Second Project:

• Build a cooling system for the combustion chamber.

• The chamber already has a heating system. • Starting temperature

can range from room temperature to high temperatures (500K.)

• The chamber needs to reach temperatures as low as 0 degrees Celsius to conduct additional research.

Option 1: Liquid Cooling System

• Glycol Chiller

• R134A Refrigerant

• Glycol Storage

• Temperature Control Device

• Cooling Pump

• Cooling Snake

• Flow Passageway

Option 2: Gas Cooling System

• Instead of using R134A as a refrigerant liquid, it can be used as a gas that can be easily manipulated.

• Gay-Lussac's lawP/T = k

• By lowering the pressure inside of the passageway, the temperature of the R134A decreases.

Mini-Project:

• Design a new layout for the lab in order to make the lab space more efficient.

• Move certain instruments, machines, and lines closer to each other and closer to the combustion table.

• Keep in mind how the machines work and how much space they take up.

Acknowledgements:

Center for STEM EducationYoung Scholars Program & Team Claire Duggan - DirectorKassi Stein, Jake Holstein, Chi Tse - YSP CoordinatorsHameed Metghalchi - Professor, Mechanical EngineeringOmid Askari, Ali Moghaddas – PhD Students

Any Questions?