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Understanding how intrinsically fast hydrogen-air premixed flames can be rendered much faster in turbulence is crucial for systematically developing hydrogen-based gas turbines and spark ignition engines. Here, we present fundamental insights into the variation of flame displacement speeds by investigating how the disrupted flame structure affects speed and vice-versa. Three DNS cases of lean hydrogen-air mixtures with $Le$ from 0.5 to 1 and $Ka$ from 100 to 1000 are analyzed. Suitable comparisons are made with the closest canonical laminar flame configurations at same mixture conditions and their suitability and limitations in expounding turbulent flame properties are elucidated. Since near zero-curvature surface locations are most probable and representative of the average flame geometry in such large $Ka$ flames, this study focuses on the statistical variation of flame displacement speed and the concomitant change in flame structure at those locations. Relevant flame properties are averaged normal to the zero-curvature isotherm regions to obtain the conditional mean flame structures. In the smallest $Le$ case, downstream of the most probable zero-curvature regions, the temperature exceeds that of the standard laminar flame, leading to enhanced local thermal gradient and flame speed. This is due to increased heat-release rate contribution by preferential diffusion in positive curvatures downstream of the zero-curvature locations. In addition, for all cases, the local flame structure is also broadened due to reversal in the direction of the flame speed gradient underpinned by ubiquitous, non-local, cylindrical self-interaction upstream of the zero-curvature regions, leading to localized scalar mixing within the flame structure. These non-local effects combine to define the most probable flame structure and the associated variation in local flame speed in turbulent premixed flames.

This work introduces ChemPlasKin, a freely accessible solver optimized for zero-dimensional (0D) simulations of chemical kinetics of neutral gas in non-equilibrium plasma environments. By integrating the electron Boltzmann equation solver, CppBOLOS, with the open-source combustion library, Cantera, at the source code level, ChemPlasKin computes time-resolved evolution of species concentration and gas temperature in a unified gas-plasma kinetics framework. The model allows high fidelity predictions of both chemical thermal effects and plasma-induced heating, including fast gas heating and slower vibrational-translational relaxation processes. Additionally, a new heat loss model is developed for nanosecond pulsed discharges, specifically within pin-pin electrode configurations. With its versatility, ChemPlasKin is well-suited for a wide range of applications, from plasma-assisted combustion (PAC) to fuel reforming. In this paper, the reliability, accuracy and efficiency of ChemPlasKin are validated through a number of test problems, demonstrating its utility in advancing gas-plasma kinetic studies., Comment: 20 pages, 11 figures

Given the need to develop zero-carbon combustors for power and aircraft engine applications, $S_d$ of a turbulent premixed flame, especially for H$_2$-air, is of immediate interest. The present study investigates 3D DNS cases of premixed H$_2$-air turbulent flames at varied pressures for different $Re_t$ and $Ka$ with detailed chemistry to theoretically model $S_d$ at negative curvatures. Prior studies at atmospheric pressure showed $\widetilde{S_d}$ to be enhanced significantly over $S_L$ at large negative $\kappa$ due to flame-flame interactions. 1D simulations of an imploding cylindrical H$_2$-air laminar premixed flame used to represent the local flame surfaces undergoing flame-flame interaction in a turbulent flame at the corresponding pressure conditions are performed to understand the interaction dynamics. These simulations emphasized the transient nature of the flame structure during flame-flame interactions and enabled analytical modeling of $\widetilde{S_d}$ at these regions of extreme negative $\kappa$ of the 3D DNS. The JPDF of $\widetilde{S_d}$ and $\kappa$ and the corresponding conditional averages from 3D DNS showed a negative correlation between $\widetilde{S_d}$ and $\kappa$. The model successfully predicts the variation of $\langle\widetilde{S_d}|_{\kappa}\rangle$ with $\kappa$ for the regions on the flame surface with $\kappa\delta_L \! \ll \! -1$ at all pressures, with good accuracy. This shows the aforementioned configuration to be fruitful in representing local flame-flame interaction in 3D turbulent flames. Moreover, at $\kappa=0$, on average $\widetilde{S_d}$ can deviate from $S_L$, manifested by the internal flame structure, controlled by turbulence transport in the large $Ka$ regime. Thus, the correlation of $\langle\widetilde{S_d}\rangle/S_L$ with $\langle|\widehat{\nabla c}|_{c_0}\rangle$ at $\kappa =0$ is explored.

When designing high-efficiency spark-ignition (SI) engines to operate at high compression ratios, one of the main issues that have to be addressed is detonation development from a pre-ignition front. In order to control this phenomenon, it is necessary to understand the mechanism by which the detonation is initiated. The development of a detonation from a pre-ignition front was analyzed by considering a one-dimensional constant-volume stoichiometric hydrogen/air reactor with detailed chemistry. A spatially linear initial temperature profile near the end-wall was employed, in order to account for the thermal stratification of the bulk mixture. A flame was initiated near the left wall and the effects of its propagation towards the cold end-wall were analyzed. Attention was given on the autoignition that is manifested within the cold-spot ahead of the flame and far from the end-wall, which is followed by detonation. Using CSP tools, the mechanism by which the generated pressure waves influence the autoignition within the cold-spot was investigated. It is found that the pressure oscillations induced by the reflected pressure waves and the pressure waves generated by the pre-ignition front tend to synchronize in the chamber, increasing the reactivity of the system in a periodic manner. The average of the oscillating temperature is greater in the cold-spot, compared to all other points ahead of the flame. As a result, the rate constants of the most important reactions are larger there, leading to a more reactive state that accelerates the dynamics of the cold-spot and to its autoignition., Comment: Part of this work was presented in the 37th International Symposium on Combustion, 29 July-3 August 2018, Dublin, Ireland

Comprehensive knowledge of local flame displacement speed, $S_d$, in turbulent premixed flames is crucial towards the design and development of hydrogen fuelled next-generation engines. Premixed hydrogen-air flames are characterized by significantly higher laminar flame speed compared to other conventional fuels. Furthermore, in the presence of turbulence, $S_d$ is enhanced much beyond its corresponding unstretched, planar laminar value $S_L$. In this study, the effect of high Karlovitz number ($Ka$) turbulence on density-weighted flame displacement speed, $\widetilde{S_d}$, in a H$_2$-air flame is investigated. Recently, it has been identified that flame-flame interactions in regions of large negative curvature govern large deviations of $\widetilde{S_d}$ from $S_L$, for moderately turbulent flames. An interaction model for the same has also been proposed. In this work, we seek to test the interaction model's applicability to intensely turbulent flames characterized by large $Ka$. To that end, we investigate the local flame structures: thermal, chemical structure, the effect of curvature, along the direction that is normal to the chosen isothermal surfaces. Furthermore, relative contributions of the transport and chemistry terms to $\widetilde{S_d}$ are also analyzed. It is found that, unlike the moderately turbulent premixed flames, where enhanced $\widetilde{S_d}$ is driven by interactions among complete flame structures, $\widetilde{S_d}$ enhancement in high $Re_t$ and high $Ka$ flame is predominantly governed by local interactions of the isotherms. It is found that enhancement in $\widetilde{S_d}$ in regions of large negative curvature occurs as a result of these interactions, evincing that the interaction model is useful for high $Ka$ turbulent premixed flames as well.

A novel approach for designing the next generation of vertex detectors foresees to employ wafer-scale sensors that can be bent to truly cylindrical geometries after thinning them to thicknesses of 20-40$\mu$m. To solidify this concept, the feasibility of operating bent MAPS was demonstrated using 1.5$\times$3cm ALPIDE chips. Already with their thickness of 50$\mu$m, they can be successfully bent to radii of about 2cm without any signs of mechanical or electrical damage. During a subsequent characterisation using a 5.4GeV electron beam, it was further confirmed that they preserve their full electrical functionality as well as particle detection performance. In this article, the bending procedure and the setup used for characterisation are detailed. Furthermore, the analysis of the beam test, including the measurement of the detection efficiency as a function of beam position and local inclination angle, is discussed. The results show that the sensors maintain their excellent performance after bending to radii of 2cm, with detection efficiencies above 99.9% at typical operating conditions, paving the way towards a new class of detectors with unprecedented low material budget and ideal geometrical properties.

In this paper, we verify the $L^2$-boundedness for the jump functions and variations of Calder\'on-Zygmund singular integral operators with the underlying kernels satisfying \begin{align*}\int_{\varepsilon\leq |x-y|\leq N} K(x,y)dy=\int_{\varepsilon\leq |x-y|\leq N}K(x,y)dx=0\; \forall 0<\varepsilon\leq N<\infty,\end{align*} in addition to some proper size and smooth conditions. This result should be the first general criteria for the variational inequalities for kernels not necessarily of convolution type. The $L^2$-boundedness assumption that we verified here is also the starting point of the related results on the (sharp) weighted norm inequalities appeared in many recent papers.

In high Reynolds number turbulent flows, energy dissipation refers to the process of energy transfer from kinetic energy to internal energy due to molecular viscosity. In large eddy simulation (LES) with one-equation turbulence models, the energy dissipation process is modeled by a rate term in the transport equation of the subgrid-scale (SGS) kinetic energy. Despite its important role in maintaining a proper energy balance between the resolved and SGS scales, modeling of the energy dissipation rate has received scarce attention. In this paper, a SGS model belonging to the dynamic structure family is developed based on findings from direct numerical simulation (DNS) studies of decaying isotropic turbulence. The model utilizes a Leonard-type term, a SGS viscosity, and a characteristic scaling term to predict the energy dissipation rate in LES. A posteriori tests of the model have been carried out under direct-injection gasoline and diesel engine-like conditions. Spray characteristics such as penetration rates and mixture fractions have been examined. It is found that the current SGS model accurately predicts vapor-phase penetrations across different mesh resolutions under both gasoline and diesel spray conditions, due to its correct scaling of SGS energy dissipation rate with the SGS kinetic energy and LES fitter width. In contrast, the classic model that is widely used in the literature predicts a scaling of energy dissipation rate upon mesh resolution, exhibiting a noticeable mesh dependence., Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures, Submitted to ILASS-Americas 30th Annual Conference on Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems, Tempe, AZ, May 2019

IV-VI semiconductor SnSe has been known as the material with record high thermoelectric performance.The multiple close-to-degenerate valence bands in the electronic band structure has been one of the key factors contributing to the high power factor and thus figure of merit in the SnSe single crystal. To date, there have been primarily theoretical calculations of this particular electronic band structure. In this paper, however, using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we perform a systematic investigation of the electronic structure of SnSe. We directly observe three predicted hole bands with small energy differences between their band tops and relatively small in-plane effective masses, in good agreement with the ab initio calculations and critical for the enhancement of the Seebeck coefficient while keeping high electrical conductivity. Our results reveal the complete band structure of SnSe and help to provide a deeper understanding of the electronic origin of the excellent thermoelectric performances in SnSe., Comment: 14 pages, 5 figures

The i-V curve describes the current drawn from a flame as a function of the voltage difference applied across the reaction zone. Since combustion diagnostics and flame control strategies based on electric fields depend on the amount of current drawn from flames, there is significant interest in modeling and understanding i-V curves. We implement and apply a detailed model for the simulation of the production and transport of ions and electrons in one dimensional premixed flames. An analytical reduced model is developed based on the detailed one, and analytical expressions are used to gain insight into the characteristics of the i-V curve for various flame configurations. In order for the reduced model to capture the spatial distribution of the electric field accurately, the concept of a dead zone region, where voltage is constant, is introduced, and a suitable closure for the spatial extent of the dead zone is proposed and validated. The results from the reduced modeling framework are found to be in good agreement with those from the detailed simulations. The saturation voltage is found to depend significantly on the flame location relative to the electrodes, and on the sign of the voltage difference applied. Furthermore, at sub-saturation conditions, the current is shown to increase linearly or quadratically with the applied voltage, depending on the flame location. These limiting behaviors exhibited by the reduced model elucidate the features of i-V curves observed experimentally. The reduced model relies on the existence of a thin layer where charges are produced, corresponding to the reaction zone of a flame. Consequently, the analytical model we propose is not limited to the study of premixed flames, and may be applied easily to others configurations, e.g. nonpremixed counterflow flames., Comment: Proc. Combust. Inst., 36, 2016

The flamelet approach offers a viable framework for combustion modeling of homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines under stratified mixture conditions. Scalar dissipation rate acts as a key parameter in flamelet-based combustion models which connects the physical mixing space to the reactive space. The aim of this paper is to gain fundamental insights into turbulent mixing in low temperature combustion (LTC) engines and investigate the modeling of scalar dissipation rate. Three direct numerical simulation (DNS) test cases of two-dimensional turbulent auto-ignition of a hydrogen-air mixture with different correlations of temperature and mixture fraction are considered, which are representative of different ignition regimes. The existing models of mean and conditional scalar dissipation rates, and probability density functions (PDFs) of mixture fraction and total enthalpy are a priori validated against the DNS data.

One of the roadblocks to continuously monitoring cloud properties is the tendency of clouds to become optically black at cloud optical depths (COD) of 6 or less. This constraint dramatically reduces the quantitative information content at night. A recent study found that because of their diffuse nature, ice clouds remain optically gray, to some extent, up to COD of 100 at certain wavelengths. Taking advantage of this weak dependency and the availability of COD retrievals from CloudSat, an artificial neural network algorithm was developed to estimate COD values up to 70 from common satellite imager infrared channels. The method was trained using matched 2007 CloudSat and Aqua MODIS data and is tested using similar data from 2008. The results show a significant improvement over the use of default values at night with high correlation. This paper summarizes the results and suggests paths for future improvement.

Supercritical water oxidation is being investigated as a method of treating spacecraft wastewater for recycle. In this process, oxidation is conducted in an aqueous phase maintained above the critical temperature (374 C) and pressure (215 bar) of water. Organic materials are oxidized with efficiencies greater than 99.99 percent in residence times of less than 1 minute. This paper presents preliminary results for urea destruction. Above 650 C, urea can be completely broken down to nitrogen gas, carbon dioxide and water by supercritical water oxidation, without the use of a specific catalyst.