Thermo Fluids Engineering Laboratory

Thermo Fluids
Engineering Laboratory

Thermo Fluids
Engineering Laboratory
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE THERMO FLUIDS ENGINEERING LABORATORY
1. Full title of the laboratory Thermo Fluids Engineering (TFE)
2. Group leaders Prof.dr.ir. J.J.H. Brouwers
Prof.dr. L.P.H. de Goey
Prof.dr.ir. A.A. van Steenhoven
3. Short history
The laboratory was created during the successive appointments of Prof. Van Steenhoven (1990),
Prof. Brouwers (1999) and Prof. De Goey (2000). Van Steenhoven, who was in charge of Energy
Technology, started a series of scientific projects on heat transfer and fouling, transitional flows in gas
turbine systems, renewable energy technology and combustion. Brouwers, who before his present
position held a full-time chair at the University of Twente, and here in charge of Process Technology,
initiated the research areas of innovative process design, stochastic turbulence, separation
technology and phase transitional flow, the latter being an extension of existing research on twophase
flow. The combustion part of Energy Technology was split off and combined with the part-time
chair on combustion engines in 2001 after the appointment of De Goey as full professor Combustion
Technology. New areas of research on turbulent combustion and biomass were started. The
laboratory now consists of 3 full-time professors, 5 part-time professors, 4 associate professors,
10 assistant professors, 10 supporting staff members, 3 secretaries, 6 post-docs, 36 PhD students
and 102 MSc students.
4. Research area and mission
The research area of TFE is the field where thermodynamics, (turbulent) fluid dynamics, transport
processes and chemical reactions meet. The primary aim of the program is to generate and apply new
fundamental and experimentally validated knowledge, forming the basis of new developments in the
field of Thermo Fluids Engineering. To that end generic models are developed that can be used in
different fields of application, ensuring optimal flexibility in application. But equally important, our
fundamental insights are used to generate new ideas and concepts, which become incubators of
innovative technology. Our mission is put into practice by the realization and construction of test rigs
and prototypes, which reflect realistic apparatus and processes as found in industry. Established
application areas are: combustion engines, sustainable energy systems and biomass. In each of these
areas a part-time professor has been appointed to create optimal links to industry. Separation
technology has a further strong industry link. Research projects are funded by a variety of sources:
NWO, FOM, STW, EU, SenterNovem, EET, and a growing amount directly by industry.
75% of each group is embedded in the JM Burgerscentrum, the national research school on fluid
dynamics, and 25% of each group belongs to the OnderzoeksSchool Process Technology (OSPT).
The combined contributions of the three groups together give each group a strong position in these
schools, especially in the JM Burgerscentrum. This is reflected in the contribution to three PhD
courses: Combustion, Experimental Methods and Bio-Fluid Mechanics. The laboratory as a whole also
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actively participates in the two 3TU.Centres of Excellence/Centres of Competence for Fluid and Solid
Mechanics and Sustainable Energy Technologies, respectively.
5. Collaboration within the laboratory
At the moment the laboratory is well balanced with three equally large groups collaborating closely
together. The three sub-programs on Energy Technology, Process Technology and Combustion
Technology together offer good coverage of the scientific field of Thermo Fluids Engineering. Close
collaborations exist between the groups, such as in the area of Sustainable Energy Technologies.
An example is the biomass research area, in which all three groups are active. Two Master’s tracks are
at the heart of the laboratory: the Master’s track Thermo Fluids Engineering (with about 70 MSc
students) and the inter-departmental track Sustainable Energy Technology (with about 20 students),
which was initiated in the laboratory and is now embedded in the 3TU Master’s program on
Sustainable Energy Technology. The lab also contributes to the Master’s tracks on Micro- and Nano-
Engineering and Automotive Engineering Science within the Master’s program Mechanical
Engineering and in the 3TU Master’s program on Fluid and Solid Mechanics.
The most important element that indicates the synergy of the three groups combined in one
laboratory of Thermo Fluids Engineering is the fact that the same basic knowledge is needed in the
three fields, with identical numerical and experimental tools. Scientific tools that are used in the three
groups are numerical methods to solve heat and flow problems such as finite-elements and finitevolume
methods, direct numerical simulation, large-eddy simulation, Monte Carlo methods and
molecular dynamics. Also used in all three groups are experimental techniques to measure velocity,
temperature and concentration fields such as Particle-Image Velocimetry, Laser-Doppler Velocimetry,
Particle Tracking Velocimetry and Laser-Induced Fluorescence, but also conventional techniques such
as hot wires and thermocouples. In addition, much effort is put into the realization of an up-to-date
laboratory, in which the mechanical engineering students (at both MSc and PhD levels) can design
and construct innovative set-ups for analyzing industrial problems and prototyping new designs and
processes with high economic potential.
6. Joint contributions to the educational program of Mechanical Engineering students
The Thermo Fluids Engineering Laboratory shares a joint responsibility in the Bachelor’s and Master’s
phases for a broad set of courses involving thermodynamics, transport processes and chemical
reactions. The Bachelor’s course in Fluid Mechanics (year 2) is provided by the Applied Physics
department and links up perfectly with the courses provided by TFE.
Bachelor’s program
• Introduction to heat and flow (year 1)
• Installations in process industry (year 1)
• Engineering thermodynamics (year 2)
• Thermodynamics (BMT, year 2)
• Heat transfer (year 3)
• Thermo-chemical biomass conversion (year 3, elective course)
• Orientation micro- and nano-technology (year 3, elective course, together with CEM)
• Combustion technology (year 3)
Master’s program (elective courses)
• Application of finite element methods to heat and flow problems
• Design of process installations
• Energy conversion
• Energy from biomass
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Thermo Fluids Engineering Laboratory
• Fundamentals of the internal combustion engine
• Heat transfer in biological structures (BMT)
• Innovative process design
• Micro-heat transfer
• Modeling of physical phenomena
• Modeling of physical phenomena: stochastic systems
• Modern engine technology
• Fuels and lubricants
• Advanced combustion diagnostics using laser techniques
• Multi-phase flow with heat transfer
• Physical measuring methods
• Renewable energy sources
• Solar cells (together with lecturers from Applied Physics and Chemical Engineering)
• Turbomachinery
• Turbulent flow phenomena (together with lecturers from Applied Physics)
7. Joint laboratory
The following laboratories and computer hardware/software infrastructure are in use:
Central laboratory
In the central laboratory the following large-scale test rigs can be found:
• A steam boiler of 1 MW capacity
• A condensation test rig for newly developed industrial heat exchangers
• A turbine-compressor loop for research on compressor system instability
• An expansion tube for subsonic boundary layer transition and heat transfer measurements
• A test facility for the study of small autonomous and grid-connected photovoltaic systems on the
roof of the laboratory
• A test facility for the study of PVT-air combi-panel designs
• A loop for testing new separation designs
• A water loop for testing innovative water-jet pumps
• A prototype of a new small-scale (0.5 MW) steam cycle cogeneration unit
Laser laboratories
For the experimental research use can be made of several specially equipped laboratories.
Experiments are performed in the three laser labs using high-power lasers and sophisticated camera
and data-acquisition systems. The TFE lab possesses 3 continuous Ar-ion lasers (used for flow
visualization and LDV), 4 pulsed Nd:YAG lasers (single-pulse 10 Hz and 30 Hz, and two double-pulse
15 Hz for PIV) and 1 tunable dye-laser (for spectroscopic measurements like LIF). For data recording,
a number of camera’s are available, including a Princeton instruments ICCD-576 camera (for
spectroscopic techniques), an ultra-fast Phantom v7.1 (34.000 fps @ 192x256) camera, a PCO 1200HS
(625 fps @1600x1200) and five Kodak ES-1.0 camera’s (for 2D-PIV/PTV measurements and flow
visualization) and four Kodak ES-2020 camera’s (for 3D-PTV measurements). In combination with
several real-time data-acquisition systems (including a DVCR 5000 high-speed system for 3D-PTV)
and commercial software (Dantec Flowmap, Dantec BSA and PIVtec), non-commercial software (3D-
PTV algorithm developed at ETH, Switzerland) and software developed in-house for post-processing
of the measurement data, it is possible to calculate velocity, temperature, and/or concentration
fields. These facilities are used in the following dedicated test rigs:
• Heat-flux burner set-up for adiabatic burning velocities
• Transfer function set-up for flame-acoustic interaction
• Small scale (ceramic, turbulent low-swirl, Bunsen-type) burner set-ups
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• Calibration set-up for Mass-Flow Controllers
• Towing tank for flow instabilities behind heated objects
• Micro-PIV set-up for measuring fluid flows in micro-devices
• Benchmark set-up for combined 3D temperature/velocity measurements
• Water channel for boundary layer flows at high-turbulent intensities
• A turbulent pipe flow channel for measuring statistical properties of flows
• A test rig for bubble growth dynamics in boiler tubes
• A set-up for condensing turbulent steam jets
• A test rig for measuring turbulent flow in a mock-up in a hot gas dryer
Combustion laboratory
Small-scale combustion experiments are performed in the fully utilized combustion lab using a series
of workbenches for small-scale experiments. Current set-ups are:
• Flame transfer function set-up for flame-acoustic interaction
• Heat-flux burner systems for measuring adiabatic burning velocities
• Oxy-fuel burner set-up to study heat transfer to quartz
• Small scale (ceramic, turbulent low-swirl, Bunsen-type) burner set-ups
• Calibration set-up for Mass-Flow Controllers
Biomass laboratory
All kinds of experiments are carried out in the biomass lab for the joint research within the TFE lab on
biomass energy conversion. A fixed-bed biomass gasifier with a thermal power of 20 kW is available
to study the details of the processes involved in biomass gasification. The application of a partial
oxidator for tar cracking is another typical example of the processes studied in this lab. Analysis is
performed using a grid reactor and a tube reactor for pyrolysis and an FT-IR set-up for gas analysis.
Engine cells
Several specially equipped engine cells with respect to fuel supply, gas exhaust, noise control etc. are
used for investigations on combustion engines. For example, to study the combustion processes in
(mainly heavy-duty) diesel engines, advanced optically accessible engines and a unique highpressure
cell (EHPC) are positioned in one of these cells. Specially designed test engines can also be
found here to study new combustion concepts (one for HCCI and one optical engine for gaseous fuel
combustion). Experiments are performed in motored and non-motored engines and parts of them,
again using state-of-the-art laser-diagnostic measurement systems but also EU-compliant equipment
for exhaust gas analysis for soot (AVL Smoke meter) and major components, including NOx, UHC, CO
(Horiba).
Climate chamber
For specialized measurements in the area of heat transfer in humans, use can be made of a climate
chamber in which the temperature can be controlled between 15 and 40 °C and the relative humidity
between 10 and 90%. An infrared camera (temperature range from –20 to +350 °C and spectral range
from 7.5 to 13 µm) is available to measure human body temperatures.
Computer hardware
For very large numerical simulations use can be made of national supercomputer facilities in
Amsterdam. For development and testing purposes and for somewhat smaller simulations, a number
of fast computer systems are available. The fastest are: a Linux cluster consisting of 22 dual-dual core
Xeon 5130 processors at 2 GHz in a Infiniband network, a Linux-cluster consisting of 16 dual-CPU
nodes with AMD Opteron 246 processors, one SGI Origin 3800 with 8 R12K processors and two 4-CPU
SGI Origin 200 computers.
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Thermo Fluids Engineering Laboratory
Computer software
A large part of the simulation software has been developed in the laboratory, using modern numerical
methods. In some cases, especially for calculations in complex geometries, use is made of software
packages for Computational Fluid Dynamics. The laboratory currently uses SEPRAN, Fluent, ComSol
and Kiva3V for this purpose.
Machine shop
A new workshop has been created within the laboratory, with three technicians, in which new set-ups
and alterations of existing set-ups are realized. The workshop contains one 3D CNC machining center,
seven conventional machining apparatus and one CNC spark-erosion machine. The technicians all
work on a laboratory-wide basis, and have a range of expertise from precision engineering
(construction of strain gages and thermocouples) to construction of high-temperature (biomass
gasifier), high-pressure (combustion cell) set-ups and full-scale process equipment.
TFE also has a joint laboratory staff. In principle all of the 9 tenured laboratory staff members in the
laboratory belong to one group (each professor has 3 staff members), but the work in the different
disciplines of the laboratory is divided without boundaries between the separate groups. Together, all
the required disciplines and levels of assistance are available in the lab. We also have a joint
secretariat with 3 part-time secretaries, working closely together.
8. Joint activities
Each week a joint TFE seminar is organized and an informal joint meeting of all members is held, at
which relevant information regarding TFE is shared. Social events within the laboratory are also
encouraged to strengthen the team spirit. A joint coffee break for all members of the laboratory is
held weekly in the TFE social area “de Vuurplaats”. Parties are regularly organized in the laboratory to
celebrate special events, mostly by the TFE student organization “dQ”. The group has its own soccer
team ‘Vlammen Maar’, playing in the TU/e soccer league. The TFE Christmas “Cabaret Party” has
been a well-known event for a number of years, at which TFE members, students, alumni and retired
personnel meet.
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