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| Flame Extinguishment Experiment-2
(FLEX-2) |
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Image of Bi-component fuel
droplet |
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Image of burning droplet
subjected to convective flow |
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Color image of a burning
droplet |
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FLEX Chamber Insert Assembly
Apparatus |
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Flight Unit Avionics Package
installed on Ground Unit Optics Bench Simulator and Flight Unit
Chamber Insert Assembly. |
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Flight Unit Chamber Insert
Assembly |
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Flight Unit Avionics Package
installed on Ground Unit Optics Bench Simulator |
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Flight Unit Avionics Package
installed on Ground Unit Optics Bench Simulator |
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8th US National Combustion Meeting, May 19-22, 2013, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Papers:
• “Isolated alkane droplet combustion in microgravity: ”Cool Flames” T. Farouk and F.L. Dryer (Paper#1H17)
• Effect of varying the initial diameter of n-octane and n-decane droplets over a wide range on the spherically symmetric combustion process: International Space Station Experiments,” Y.C. Liu, K.N. Trenou, J. Rah, M.C. Hicks, C.T. Avedisian (paper# 2G11)
• “Methanol droplet combustion in oxygen-inert environments in microgravity,” V. Nayagam, D.L. Dietrich, M.C. Hicks, F.A. Williams (paper#2G10)
• “Computational modeling of the effects of support fibers on evaporation of fiber-supported droplets in reduced gravity,” N. Ghatta and B.D. Shaw (Paper#070HE-0020). |
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FLEX-2 Status
January 2011 - FLEX-2 hardware is being launched to
the International Space Station on various launch carriers. The
HTV-2 launch delivered fuel deployment needles and needle holders. The
upcoming STS-133/ULF-5 launch will deliver fiber arms, check gas bottles,
argon/helium bottles, igniter tip holders, a Fuel/Oxidizer Management
Assembly (FOMA) control unit, and a High Bit Depth/Multispectral (HiBMS)
imaging package. The FLEX-2 experiments will likely begin operation
around July 2011.
Description
The second in the FLEX series of experiments, the FLEX-2 investigation
uses fuels and environmental conditions that mimic real combustor
conditions. The investigation will extend and advance the research
into droplet combustion, studying the influence of sub-buoyant convective
flows on combustion rates, determining the influence of a second burning
droplet on a linear array, and beginning the study of practical fuels
by burning bi-component and surrogate fuels. As the research
extends into increasingly complex fuels, FLEX-2 data can help verify
models of real fuels used in transportation and industry. Results
of the FLEX-2 experimental data will help to develop verified detailed
and reduced-order models of droplet combustion, particularly with
flow-field and droplet-droplet interactions.
Objective
Extend the results of FLEX-1 to fuels and environmental conditions
that mimic real combustor conditions
- Investigate bi-component fuels – real fuels are multi-component
- Examine the influence of sub-buoyant convective flows – real
combustors involve gas/droplet relative motion
- Study practical fuels and fuel surrogates
- Study binary droplet arrays – real combustors have droplet-droplet
interactions
- Develop and validate detailed and reduced-order transport, chemistry
and soot models that are the foundation for real engine simulations
Relevance/Impact
The combustion of liquid fuels is the overwhelming energy source
in the transportation sector
- Design future combustors to minimize carbon footprint (maximize
fuel efficiency) and minimize pollutant emissions
- The development of surrogates (mixtures of pure fuels that simulate
the behavior of real fuels) will allow quantitative evaluation
of the performance of future fuels (e.g., oil shales, biofuels,
etc.) in combustors
- Prior droplet results helped validate jet engine models by engine
manufacturers
Development Approach
- Flight design leverages off previous flight design heritage
(MDCA/FLEX)
- Multi-user, re-usable apparatus minimizing up-mass/volume, costs,
and crew involvement
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