Towards a General Analytical Model of Aerodynamic and Phase Instabilities in Advanced Fluid Machinery

先进流体机械中空气动力学和相位不稳定性的通用分析模型

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-06562
• 负责人: Brinkerhoff, Joshua
• 金额: $ 1.68万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=614222
• 关键词: Towards; General; Analytical; Model; Aerodynamic

Natural gas is a promising resource for Canada's economic growth and energy sustainability. According to the 2014 BC Jobs Plan, more than 100,000 jobs can be created in British Columbia alone through the extraction, liquefaction, and export of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Natural gas has been identified as an environmentally superior alternative to gasoline or diesel for green transportation, and several Canadian companies are already market leaders in systems for natural gas fueled vehicles. To strengthen Canada’s position as a world leader in the extraction and utilization of natural gas, a program of research is needed with a specific focus on improving the efficiency and reliability of the pumps, turbines, and other fluid machinery used in natural gas systems. Designing fluid machinery for the natural gas industry poses significant challenges due to the presence of aerodynamic and phase instabilities in the fluids flowing through the equipment. Aerodynamic instabilities can trigger transition of the flow from an orderly, laminar state to turbulence, which significantly affects equipment efficiency. Aerodynamic instabilities can also trigger phase instabilities in LNG flows resulting in cavitation, a process in which vapour bubbles form in the flow and then rapidly collapse, causing damage to the machine. To ensure the safety, reliability, and efficiency of new fluid machinery designs, engineers need robust and accurate models to predict the onset and growth of instabilities in the flow. Current predictive models lack a solid grounding in the physical processes occurring in the flow, require extensive tuning, and overlook the interaction between aerodynamic and phase instabilities. The proposed research program aims to provide Canadian industry much-needed analytical models capable of predicting transition to turbulence and cavitation in fluid machinery. The research methodology will consist primarily of high-fidelity numerical simulations. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) will be used to simulate the aerodynamic instability modes by which a flow transitions to turbulence. The mutual interaction of aerodynamic and phase instabilities will be studied by incorporating realistic fluid properties and multiphase algorithms into the simulations. The analytical models will be developed on the basis of the improved physical understanding provided by the numerical simulations and will be integrated into modern computational engineering software for quick adoption by industry. The research program will train engineers who are specialized in numerical simulation of fluid flows and possess a broad understanding of fluid machinery in the natural gas industry, positioning them as strong contributors to this rapidly-growing area of Canada’s economy.

天然气是加拿大经济增长和能源可持续性的希望资源。根据2014年公元前工作计划，仅在不列颠哥伦比亚省就可以通过提取，液化和出口液化天然气（LNG）创造100,000多个工作岗位。天然气已被确定为绿色运输中汽油或柴油的一种环保替代品，加拿大几家公司已经是天然气燃料车辆系统的市场领导者。为了加强加拿大在开采和利用天然气方面作为世界领导者的地位，需要进行一项研究计划，特别着眼于提高天然气系统中使用的泵，涡轮机和其他流体机械的效率和可靠性。 设计用于天然气行业的液体机械对流动的流体和相位不稳定性的存在，这引起了巨大的挑战。空气动力学不稳定性可以触发从有序的层流状态到湍流的流动过渡，从而显着影响设备效率。空气动力学不稳定性还可以触发液化天然气流中的相位不稳定性，导致气腔，该过程中的真空气泡在流动中形成，然后迅速塌陷，从而造成机器的损坏。为了确保新的流体机械设计的安全性，可靠性和效率，工程师需要强大而准确的模型来预测流量中不稳定性的发作和增长。当前的预测模型在流动中发生的物理过程中缺乏坚实的基础，需要进行广泛的调整，并忽略了空气动力学和相位不稳定性之间的相互作用。 拟议的研究计划旨在为加拿大行业提供急需的分析模型，能够预测流体机械中的湍流和空化的过渡。研究方法将主要由高保真数值模拟组成。计算流体动力学（CFD）将用于模拟流动不稳定模式，通过该模式，流动转变向湍流。空气动力学和相位不稳定性的相互作用将通过将逼真的流体特性和多相算法纳入模拟中。分析模型将基于数值模拟提供的改进的物理理解，并将集成到现代计算工程软件中，以供行业快速采用。该研究计划将培训专门研究流体流量数值的工程师，并对天然气行业中的流体机制有广泛的了解，从而将它们定位为加拿大经济快速发展的地区的强大贡献者。