Week 4.2 - Combustion Efficiency Calculation after Preheating

 "Study of effect of Preheating through Recuperator on Adiabatic Flame temperature"

import cantera as ct 
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np

gas = ct.Solution('gri30.cti')

# Methane combustion reaction :CH4 + 2O2 + 7.52 N2 = CO2 + 2H2O + 7.52N2 

#Defining Fuel i.e. methane
Fuel = ct.Quantity(gas)
Fuel.TPX = 298.15,ct.one_atm, 'CH4 : 1'
Fuel.moles = 1

T_min = 298  #Preheat temperature
T_max = 600

#Defining Air cosntituents
Air = ct.Quantity(gas)
for T in range (T_min,T_max):
	Air.TPX = T,ct.one_atm,{'O2':0.21008403,'N2':0.78991597}
	Air.moles = 9.52

	A_F_mixture = Fuel+Air
	A_F_mixture.equilibrate('HP','auto')
	if (T%5==0):
		plt.plot(T,A_F_mixture.T,'.',color='black')

plt.xlabel('pre-heating temperature [k]')
plt.xlim = (300,350,400,450,500,550,600)
plt.ylabel('Adiabatic Flame Temperature [k]')
plt.title('Effect of Pre-heating on AFT')
plt.grid(True)
plt.show()

introduction
Recuperator is a type of heat exchanger that are often used in power engineering, to increase the overall efficiency of thermodynamic cycles that has separate flow paths for each fluid along their own passages and heat is transferred through the separating walls. The recuperator transfers some of the waste heat in the exhaust to the compressed air, thus preheating it before entering the combustion chamber. Many recuperators are designed as counter-flow heat exchangers.