Effect of Integrating Metal Wire Mesh with Spray Injection for Liquid Piston Gas Compression

Barah Ahn, Vikram C. Patil and Paul I. Ro
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Barah Ahn: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA
Vikram C. Patil: XALT Energy, Auburn Hills, MI 48326, USA
Paul I. Ro: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Baylor University, Waco, TX 76798, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 13, 1-23

Abstract: Heat transfer enhancement techniques used in liquid piston gas compression can contribute to improving the efficiency of compressed air energy storage systems by achieving a near-isothermal compression process. This work examines the effectiveness of a simultaneous use of two proven heat transfer enhancement techniques, metal wire mesh inserts and spray injection methods, in liquid piston gas compression. By varying the dimension of the inserts and the pressure of the spray, a comparative study was performed to explore the plausibility of additional improvement. The addition of an insert can help abating the temperature rise when the insert does not take much space or when the spray flowrate is low. At higher pressure, however, the addition of spacious inserts can lead to less efficient temperature abatement. This is because inserts can distract the free-fall of droplets and hinder their speed. In order to analytically account for the compromised cooling effects of droplets, Reynolds number, Nusselt number, and heat transfer coefficients of droplets are estimated under the test conditions. Reynolds number of a free-falling droplet can be more than 1000 times that of a stationary droplet, which results in 3.95 to 4.22 times differences in heat transfer coefficients.

Keywords: compressed air energy storage; liquid piston; spray cooling; heat transfer enhancement; isothermal gas compression (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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