12/26/2018 Heat Recuperator Efficiency Calculation - Projects - Skill-Lync

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Heat Recuperator Efficiency Calculation

N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307)

In this challenge, we are going to determine the efficiency of a Heat Recuperator device.

Problem Statement: -

A furnace is used to burn Methane and Air Mixture. A Recuperator is connected to this furnace to recover some energy. What is the
effect of preheating on the adiabatic flame temperature?

Change pre-heating temperature from 298K to 600K and explain the results.

Does preheating help with fuel saving? If yes, how does combustion efficiency go up as a function of pre-heating temperature? Assume
that the furnace exit temperature is 1700K assuming that the combustion products are CO2, H20, and N2. Plot the effect of pre-heat
temperature on combustion efficiency. Assume the LHV of combustion of Methane as 50 MJ/KG.

Solution: -

What is a Heat Recuperator?

Heat Recuperator is basically a heat exchanging device. It is positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of an air handling
system, in this case, a furnace. It takes the exhaust air which has high temperature and heats the inlet air.

In this part of the challenge, we will be determining the effect of pre-heating on the adiabatic flame temperature in a furnace which is
used to burn Methane and Air Mixture. We will be creating and simulating the furnace for burning Methane and Air mixture. We will be
observing the effect of the pre-heating temperature on the final AFT.

The code for the programs has been given in the following link: -

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1a15OnpwNrzpwKOsi4VS0iKThAaPkxeei

1) Effect of Pre-Heating Temperature on the Adiabatic Flame Temperature: -

For this problem, we are using the Quantity class method to create our product (Methane) and reactants (Oxygen, Nitrogen) and
creating a mixture to determine the Adiabatic Flame Temperature. As the pre-heating the air is done in the reactants side, we are
initializing the temperature of the reactants quantity with respect to the given pre-heating temperatures and the final Adiabatic Flame
Temperature is calculated. The effect can be seen in the following plot which was generated in the current program.

In the above plot, we observe that there is a linear function forming. This is because, pre-heating the air increases the temperature of
the products after the reaction. This way, the combustion becomes efficient as less amount of energy is used for the combustion in turn
decreasing the usage of the fuel. So yes, preheating does help with saving of the fuel. Pre-heating the reactants (Air) also
increases the rate of combustion as heating is not required.
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2) Effect of Pre-Heating Temperature on Combustion Efficiency: -

Combustion efficiency is a measurement of how well the fuel being burned is being utilized in the combustion process. It is calculated
as the ratio of Q specific to the LHV, where Q specific is the ratio of the work done Q to the mass of fuel.

Q = (Mass of Air*Enthalpy of Air) + (Mass of Fuel*Enthalpy of Fuel) - (Mass of Product*Enthalpy of Product)

Qsp = Q/Mass of Fuel

Qsp
Combustion Efficiency η =
LH V

where LHV is the Lower Heating Value and Qsp is the specific work done

In this section, we are again using the Quantity class to create our products, reactants and form them into mixtures. Here we are
including the Pre-heating Temperature and setting the exhaust temperature of 1700 Kelvin as per the problem statement. Then, the
combustion efficiency is calculated. The effect can be seen in the following plot which was generated in the current program.

In the above plot, we observe the same phenomenon when compared to the previous plot. This means that the Combustion Efficiency
is increasing as the Pre-Heating Temperature is increasing. There is a 10% increase of combustion efficiency from 0.34 to 0.44 for Pre-
Heating temperature from 298 Kelvin to 600 Kelvin. As we have discussed in the earlier results, Pre-Heating temperature does
increase the combustion efficiency. The above plot corroborates the statement.

But the pre-heating temperature depends on the exhaust temperature after the combustion and is less when compared to the Adiabatic
Flame temperature. If the exhaust temperature is too high, the excess temperature results in component failures of the heat
recuperator which directly reflects on the heat exchange efficiency. Very low exhaust temperature indicates temperature losses or
incomplete combustion process resulting in loss of efficiency.

As the exhaust temperature is supplied to the inlet, the inlet temperature increases. But, as the process keeps happening again and
again, the temperature keeps increasing. So, due to high temperatures, there may be component failures affecting the heat exchanger
efficiency. Due to this problem, a specific value of temperature should be set so that the furnace temperature doesn't exceed after a
certain value of exhaust temperature. So yes, it is right to assume a fixed furnace exit temperature.

Projects by N. S. Ujjwal Kanth

ODE Stability (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/ODE-Stability-68753)

N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-12-25 05:44:41

When does an ODE become unstable? Stability means that errors at any stage of the computation are not amplified
but are attenuated as the computation progresses. In terms of the solution of a differential equation, a function f(x) is
said to be stable if any other sol Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/ODE-Stability-68753)

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12/26/2018 Heat Recuperator Efficiency Calculation - Projects - Skill-Lync

Breaking Ice with Air cushion Vehicle - Find minimum pressure with Newton-Raphson
method (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Breaking-Ice-with-Air-cushion-Vehicle-Find-
minimum-pressure-with-Newton-Raphson-method-96139)
N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-12-24 18:15:24

Problem Statement: - In determining the minimum cushion pressure needed to break a given thickness of ice using
an air cushion vehicle, Muller (“Ice Breaking with an Air Cushion Vehicle”) in Mathematical Modeling: Classroom
Notes in Applied Mathematic Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Breaking-Ice-with-Air-cushion-Vehicle-
Find-minimum-pressure-with-Newton-Raphson-method-96139)

Compact Notation Derivation for a simple Mechanism (//projects.skill-

lync.com/projects/Compact-Notation-Derivation-for-a-simple-Mechanism-84883)
N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-12-15 16:10:15

In this challenge, we will be deriving the reaction rate ODEs of a simple reaction mechanism. We will be using
compact notation to determine the desired matrices. We have been given four reaction mechanisms which are
mentioned below CO + O2 → CO2 + O `O + H_2O Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Compact-
Notation-Derivation-for-a-simple-Mechanism-84883)

Constraint Minimization (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Constraint-Minimization-02443)

N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-12-13 21:24:03

In this challange, we will minimize a simple non-linear function by using Lagrange Multipliers. Given function: -
2 2
5 − (x − 2) Given constraint: - x + 4y = 3 Solution: - What are Lagrange Multipliers? In
− 2(y − 1)

mathematical optimization, the method o Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Constraint-Minimization-

02443)

Curve Fitting Using Python (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Curve-Fitting-Using-Python-

93398)
N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-12-13 00:26:01

What does popt and pcov mean? popt: - popt is a form an array. It returns the optimal values for the parameters so
that the sum of the squared residuals of the given function is minimized. pcov: - pcov is a form of a 2D array. It is a
covariance matrix where it is u Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Curve-Fitting-Using-Python-93398)

Air Standard Cycle (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Air-Standard-Cycle-57113)

N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-11-30 16:23:51

For this Challenge, we are going to write the code that can solve an Otto cycle and make plots for it. The
requirements for this challenge are: Create a PV diagram using python Determine the Thermal Efficiency of this
cycle. Otto cycle is an idealized thermodynam Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Air-Standard-Cycle-
57113)

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12/26/2018 Heat Recuperator Efficiency Calculation - Projects - Skill-Lync

Handling Mixtures with Cantera (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Handling-Mixtures-with-

Cantera-07415)
N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-11-27 18:31:12

For the following Challenge, we are going to handle mixtures using the Cantera module of Python, where we will be
using the Quantity class.For the problem statement, an incomplete program was given where we have to complete it
fulfilling the given parameters. Solution: Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Handling-Mixtures-with-
Cantera-07415)

2R Robotic Arm Simulator (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/2R-Robotic-Arm-Simulator-

22873)
N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-11-21 21:38:40

The following challange constitutes writing a Python program to simulate a 2R Robotic Arm. This simulation is also
Known as Forward Kinematics. The robotic arm has two linkages and a manipulator. So, we will calculate the position
of the link 1 and the link 2. This wil Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/2R-Robotic-Arm-Simulator-22873)

Determining Adiabatic Flame Temperature for Constant Pressure and Volume conditions
(//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Determining-Adiabatic-Flame-Temperature-for-
Constant-Pressure-and-Volume-conditions-77978)
N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-11-21 21:16:59

The following challenge constitutes calculating Adiabatic Flame Temperature that arises from a combustion process
using Python and Cantera. Two cases were presented for this challenge where in the first case, Methane is
constrained in a constant volume chamber and the e Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/Determining-
Adiabatic-Flame-Temperature-for-Constant-Pressure-and-Volume-conditions-77978)

Flow over a bicycle (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/a-new-title-03611)

N. S. Ujjwal Kanth (//projects.skill-lync.com/profiles/ujjwal-kanth-307) · 2018-11-14 09:15:44

In this Challenge, we are going to calculate the flow over a bicycle and we are going to incorporate functions plotting
Drag force vs Velocity and Drag force vs Drag Coefficient. The factors involved are Velocity,Drag coefficient,Frontal
Area,Density of air. In t Read more (//projects.skill-lync.com/projects/a-new-title-03611)

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