Potential flow | EPFL Graph Search

In fluid dynamics, potential flow (or ideal flow) describes the velocity field as the gradient of a scalar function: the velocity potential. As a result, a potential flow is characterized by an irrotational velocity field, which is a valid approximation for several applications. The irrotationality of a potential flow is due to the curl of the gradient of a scalar always being equal to zero. In the case of an incompressible flow the velocity potential satisfies Laplace's equation, and potential theory is applicable. However, potential flows also have been used to describe compressible flows. The potential flow approach occurs in the modeling of both stationary as well as nonstationary flows. Applications of potential flow include: the outer flow field for aerofoils, water waves, electroosmotic flow, and groundwater flow. For flows (or parts thereof) with strong vorticity effects, the potential flow approximation is not applicable. Characteristics and applications De

Mass transport of water vapor and ions from Å-scale graphene nanopores

Wan-Chi Lee

Hydrodynamics at the nanoscale involves both fundamental study and application of fluid and mass transport phenomena in nanometer-sized confinements. Nanopores in single-layer graphene can be highly attractive for exploring the molecular transport of gas and water molecules and hydrated ions at the ultimate scales of pore size and pore length. However, the experimental data is limited, and the state-of-the-art artificial nanopores still underperform compared to biological channels in cellular membranes. This dissertation focuses on developing ultimate graphene nanopore devices to study mass transport phenomena under controlled spatial confinement. We first investigated the kinetics of liquidâvapor transport from nanoscale confinements which is attractive for novel evaporation and separation applications; however, it is not explored at the ultimate confinement limit, i.e., at the atomic-thick and Ã-scale nanopore placed at the liquidâvapor interface. We show that the evaporation flux from such nanopores increases with decreasing pore size by up to one order of magnitude relative to the bare liquidâvapor interface. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that oxygen-functionalized nanopores render rapid rotational and translational dynamics to water molecules by reducing and shortening the lifetime of waterâwater hydrogen bonds. Graphene nanopores also enable the study of ion transport across sub-nanometer-scale 2D confinements. We produce tailor-made nanopores approaching the size of hydrated ions by decoupling the pore nucleation and expansion. Monovalent metal ions are efficiently sieved from divalent ions, with K+/Mg2+ selectivity up to 70 and Li+/Mg2+ selectivity up to 50, corresponding to a sieving resolution of 1 Ã. Mitigating the non-selective pore formation further enhance the ion-sieving performance, reaching K+/Mg2+ selectivity up to 350 and Li+/Mg2+ selectivity up to 260. The pore size and structure allow adjusting the diffusion of ions across the nanopores, suggesting that the sterically induced partial dehydration process may play an important role in the observed cation selectivities. These selectivities were realized from centimeter-scale suspended graphene membranes, prepared in crack-free fashion by using dual layer reinforcement strategy where the first layer is 200-nm-thick nanoporous carbon (NPC) film hosting 20 nm pores which ensures a conformal contact and reinforcement of the graphene film and the second (top) layer is Nafion.Finally, a dual layer reinforcement is also demonstrated for preparing crack-free centimeter-scale gas separation membranes to utilize the full potential of graphene nanopores for energy-efficient applications. The bottom layer of the composite film is NPC film while the top layer is made of a 500-nm thick multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWNT) film with a pore size ranging from 200 to 300 nm. The obtained selectivities from crack-free centimeter-scale graphene membranes for H2/CH4 and H2/CO2 are 11â23 and 5â8, respectively, which is significantly higher than the corresponding Knudsen selectivities. Overall, this dissertation presents a graphene nanopore toolkit for studying fluid mechanics at the ultimate scales. The findings of enhanced water evaporation rate and ion selectivity using the nanopore platform could enrich our understanding of mass transport under extreme confinement and open new opportunities for a range of separation applications.

EPFL2022

Study on the Performances of AlScN based SAW/BAW Hybrid Resonators A Parametric Analysis of Acoustic Wave Resonators with Large Figure of Merit

Guilain Lionel Germain Lang, Luis Guillermo Villanueva Torrijo, Soumya Yandrapalli

In this study, we analyze a 3rd type of FBAR's fundamental mode by finite element method. We show the importance of the substrate's wave velocity and conductivity on the electromechanical coupling efficiency. Then we demonstrate that etching traditional SAW sensors in between its electrodes is an effective solution to increase its performances. Finally, the finite device simulations of optimized geometries demonstrate the full potential of AlSc(0.4)N based SAW/BAW hybrid resonators: an impedance response free of spurious modes and large figure of merit (k(t)(FD, 1.35GHz)(2) = 2.48%).

IEEE2021

Experimental investigation of prechamber autoignition in a natural gas engine for cogeneration

Daniel Favrat, Stefan Heyne, Michael Meier

A novel ignition concept based on autoignition in an unscavanged prechamber is currently being developed at the Laboratory for Industrial Energy Systems (LENI). On a single cylinder test engine a series of experimental runs (CR=8.5-14, =1-1.6, RPM=1150/1500 min−1) have been realized with natural gas as fuel, comparing the new ignition concept to standard spark ignition. The comparison is based on fuel efficiency and exhaust emissions (CO, THC, NOx). The feasibility of operating the engine in auto-ignition mode has been demonstrated, and the potential of prechamber autoignition, in particular in the lean combustion regime, is indicated by the trends in fuel efficiency and emission concentration. The resistive heating of the prechamber walls has been shown to be an effective mean to trigger ignition. The prechamber could clearly be identified as primary ignition location. A reduction of the cycle-by-cycle variations - due to mixture fluctuations - is necessary to exploit the full potential of this engine concept.

2009

Mass transport of water vapor and ions from Å-scale graphene nanopores

Wan-Chi Lee

EPFL2022