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

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

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.**