Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Performance of a tube bundle flow straightener on velocity profile asymmetry reduction in a wind tunnel facility
Submission Author:
Matheus Damacena , ES , Brazil
Co-Authors:
Matheus Damacena, Ligia Franco, Rogerio Ramos, Renato Siqueira
Presenter: Matheus Damacena
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0765
Abstract
Wind tunnels are equipment designed to establish flows under controlled and monitored conditions, promoting a known velocity profile. In this sense, a wind tunnel is installed with the aim of producing air flows for testing flow meters for flare gas applications. In this work, a unidirectional Laser Doppler Velocimetry is applied to measure velocity profiles in a wind tunnel with and without a flow straightener (FS) to evaluate the effects of the device in the development of the velocity field. The installation of the FS is performed at two distinct locations, 36 diameters (36D) upstream and 28 diameters (26D) downstream to the measurement section. Measurements are carried out at a Reynolds number of 2.4 × 105 in a position 36D downstream to the entrance of the wind tunnel. Asymmetry calculation is defined in this paper as the mean of the relative difference of axisymmetric measurement points relative to the tube’s centerline. For each position of the FS, the velocity profile is measured three times to allow the evaluation of the repeatability of the flow velocity field. Results show that the placement of the FS downstream to the measurement section decrease the asymmetry of the flow velocity field from 5.4% to 1.9%, whilst placing the device upstream to the meter have turned the velocity profile even more asymmetric, increasing the asymmetry from 5.4% to 12%. This highlights the importance of evaluating the device positioning effect on the development of velocity profile.
Keywords
flow straightener, velocity profile asymmetry, Wind Tunnel, laser doppler velocimetry
