Project Details
Projekt
SFB 686: Model Based Control of Homogenised Low-temperature Combustion
Subject Area
Thermal Engineering/Process Engineering
Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering
Computer Science, Systems and Electrical Engineering
Term
from 2006 to 2015
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 13800198
The distribution of energy plays an important role, in the industry, traffic and transportation as well as in private life. In the foreseeable future, the availability and especially the effective use of fossil fuels will remain a prerequisite for this. Even some alternative concepts, the fuel cell for example, still rely on that. Especially in transportation the use of fluid hydrocarbons seems indispensable because of their high energy density.
But the combustion of hydrocarbons has an array of well-known disadvantages. These are, firstly, the emission of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and soot, which greatly add to air pollution;
secondly, the production of CO2, which, as a greenhouse gas, is held responsible for the rise in global temperature and the resulting change in climate.
Therefore, the decrease of such emissions is an important research objective in these areas. For instance, new combustion processes have been developed for stationary gas turbines over the last years, decreasing the emission of pollutants through homogenisation and avoidance of high peaks in temperature. However, thermo-acoustic instabilities occurred. Also with engines new combustion processes have been developed on a large scale, fulfilling the requirements of low emissions and simultaneous high efficiency. Similar to gas turbines, these processes use the principle of homogenisation and exhaust-gas recirculation to avoid the discharge of pollutants through a lowering of temperature. But also here instabilities in combustion arise.
As it cannot be expected to eliminate such instabilities through technical improvements in combustion alone, they are to be controlled by intervening in the way the process is conducted.
This demands an analysis based on the chemical and physical basics of the combustion process, in order to regulate it. The application of a regulation is to be carried out on the basis of findings from respective areas of application and the physical models developed for them; thus regulation will be model-based. The development of those models will be the medium-term goal of the Collaborative Research Centre. Later on, the models will be used in a reduced form as a basis for a detailed investigation of the combustion process, in order to find a cause for the mentioned instabilities.
But the combustion of hydrocarbons has an array of well-known disadvantages. These are, firstly, the emission of pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and soot, which greatly add to air pollution;
secondly, the production of CO2, which, as a greenhouse gas, is held responsible for the rise in global temperature and the resulting change in climate.
Therefore, the decrease of such emissions is an important research objective in these areas. For instance, new combustion processes have been developed for stationary gas turbines over the last years, decreasing the emission of pollutants through homogenisation and avoidance of high peaks in temperature. However, thermo-acoustic instabilities occurred. Also with engines new combustion processes have been developed on a large scale, fulfilling the requirements of low emissions and simultaneous high efficiency. Similar to gas turbines, these processes use the principle of homogenisation and exhaust-gas recirculation to avoid the discharge of pollutants through a lowering of temperature. But also here instabilities in combustion arise.
As it cannot be expected to eliminate such instabilities through technical improvements in combustion alone, they are to be controlled by intervening in the way the process is conducted.
This demands an analysis based on the chemical and physical basics of the combustion process, in order to regulate it. The application of a regulation is to be carried out on the basis of findings from respective areas of application and the physical models developed for them; thus regulation will be model-based. The development of those models will be the medium-term goal of the Collaborative Research Centre. Later on, the models will be used in a reduced form as a basis for a detailed investigation of the combustion process, in order to find a cause for the mentioned instabilities.
DFG Programme
Collaborative Research Centres
Completed projects
- A01 - Nonlinear model-based control for combustion processes (Project Head Abel, Dirk )
- A02 - Model-based multivariable control of combustion engines (Project Heads Abel, Dirk ; Albin, Thivaharan )
- A05 - Process control and stabilisation of highly dynamical combustion processes in combustion chambers over extendend operating ranges (Project Heads Abel, Dirk ; Albin, Thivaharan )
- A06 - Quantitative Analysis of Simulated and Experimental Process Data (Project Head Seidl, Thomas )
- B01 - Model reduction for low-temperature combustion using CFD simulations and multi-zone models (Project Head Pitsch, Heinz )
- B02 - Investigation of mixing processes in closed combustion chambers using holographic measurement methods (Project Heads Klaas, Michael ; Schröder, Wolfgang )
- B03 - Experimental investigation and kinetic modelling of instabilities in homogeneous lowtemperature combustion (Project Heads Kohse-Höinghaus, Katharina ; Peters, Norbert )
- B04 - Optical examination and numerical simulation of the influence of fuel-mixture generation at variable injection (Project Heads Cárdenas, Maria ; Kneer, Reinhold )
- B05 - Optical Investigation of Controlled Auto-Ignition in Internal Combustion (Project Heads Grünefeld, Gerd ; Koß, Hans-Jürgen )
- C01 - Numerical analysis of thermoacoustic instabilities using a hybrid fluid mechanics/aeroacoustics method (Project Heads Meinke, Matthias ; Schröder, Wolfgang )
- C02 - Numerische Simulation einer Brennkammer mit gekoppelter Regelung (Project Head Bohn, Dieter )
- C03 - Steuerung der Flammendynamik von Flächenbrennern für Gasturbinen zur Verbesserung der Brennerstabilität (Project Head Bohn, Dieter )
- C04 - Modeling of Combustion in Gasturbines for active control of turbulent flames under MILD combustion conditions (Project Head Pitsch, Heinz )
- C05 - Control of acoustic oscillating systems by chemiluminescence and laser spectroscopic methods (Project Head Brockhinke, Andreas )
- D01 - Numerical Simulation of Auto-Ignition by Exhaust Gas Recirculation (Project Head Pischinger, Stefan )
- D02 - Actuation of the Controlled Low Temperature Auto Ignition with a Variable Valve Train (Project Head Pischinger, Stefan )
- D03 - Optimization of part-homogenized diesel engine combustion by variable injection strategies (Project Head Pitsch, Heinz )
- Z01 - Zentrale Aufgaben des Sonderforschungsbereichs (Project Head Abel, Dirk )
Applicant Institution
Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen
Participating University
Universität Bielefeld
Spokesperson
Professor Dr.-Ing. Dirk Abel
