National Combustor Code (NCC)–new software from NASA

Based on contacts made during the UFTO visit last year to NASA Lewis, we received an early notice about this soon-to-be announced Technology Opportunity. NASA has developed a major new combustion modeling code, and is looking for new areas that it can be applied. Private companies can submit problems. Terms and scope of an agreement would then be negotiated, giving the company a one year head start in evaluating the merits of seeking a commercial license.

(I have a full color acrobat pdf file of the notice that I can send you on request.)
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April 15, 1998

Ed,

It was a pleasure speaking with you today and thank you for agreeing to send your utility clients a copy of the attached NASA Technology Opportunity sheet which describes the National Combustion Code (NCC).

Please have interested clients contact me prior to contacting Nan-Suey Liu (NASA Lewis Combustion Branch ph: 216-433-8722). Nan-Suey is the NASA Lewis contact who will discuss technical features of the NCC with interested parties.

Please give me a call if you have any questions and thank you for your cooperation!

Dan DeMiglio
Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center
(Div of Battelle Memorial Institute)
NASA Midwest Regional Technology Transfer Center
440-734-1209 demiglio@battelle.org

—- text of the notice ———————————
Technology Opportunity National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lewis Research Center Turbomachinery TOP3-00093

A new software program – the National Combustor Code (NCC) – has been developed for aerospace and non-aerospace engineers and designers to enhance their understanding of physical and chemical processes which occur during continuous combustion. The NCC provides insight – for the first time – to the entire combustion process using a versatile and comprehensive set of tools. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) seeks to transfer this multidisciplinary combustor design system to U.S. companies for advanced liquid and gaseous continuous combustion applications. The NCC utilizes computer-aided design (CAD) tools for geometry creation, advanced mesh generators for creating solid model representations, a common framework for fluid flow and structural analyses, and powerful tools for post and parallel processing. The National Combustion Code: A Multidisciplinary Combustor Design System

Potential Commercial Uses

• Evaluate the performance of current liquid and gas combustion systems leading to product improvement.

• Optimize the design of future liquid and gas combustion systems leading to increased performance and reliability.

• Examples of relevant liquid and gas combustion systems are:
– Aviation gas turbine engines
– Industrial/ground power gas turbines
– Industrial combustion devices involving continuous burning of liquids and gaseous fuels
– Hazardous waste incinerators
– Steel treating furnaces
– Domestic gas fired appliances

Benefits

• Product improvement for current combustion devices with respect to efficiency and durability
• Reduced time and costs for the design cycle of future combustion devices
• Optimized performance and reliability for future combustion devices

The Technology

The development of the National Combustion Code was pursued under a NASA/Department of Defense/ Department of Energy/U.S. industry partner-ship. Recent efforts have been focused on developing a computational combustion dynamics capability that meets combustor designer requirements for model accuracy and analysis turnaround time, incorporating both short–term and long–term technology goals. As a first step, a baseline solver for turbulent combustion flows was developed under a joint modeling and code development effort between the Aero-Industry and the NASA Lewis Research Center. This baseline solver is a Navier–Stokes flow solver based on an explicit four-stage Runge– Kutta scheme that uses unstructured meshes and runs on networked workstations. The solver can be linked to any computer-aided design system via the Patran file system. Turbulence closure is obtained via the standard k–e model with a high Reynolds number wall function. The following combustion models have been implemented into the code: finite– rate reduced kinetics for Jet–A and methane fuels, turbulence–chemistry interactions via an assumed probability density function for temperature fluctuations, and thermal emissions of nitrogen ox-ides. The solver can switch between a parallel virtual machine (PVM) interface and a message-passing interface (MPI) by using compiler flags. Its parallel performance on several platforms has been analyzed, and on the basis of the results, several improvements have been made. To date, the baseline solver has been used in the following applications: simulation of swirling flow experiments, computation of a generic swirling flow can combustor, computation of a multi-shear low NOx fuel nozzle and calculation of a multi-walled production fuel nozzle, and calculation of a flame holder/Cyclone 1-cup sector.

Options for Commercialization

The executables of the National Combustor Code, Beta Version 2.0, and the corresponding nonproprietary source code will be available for release to the non-aerospace industry by summer 1999. Beginning in the summer of 1998, NASA would be willing to demonstrate the accuracy and reliability of the NCC by applying it to a wide range of areas where it would be helpful to have accurate predictions of the combustor process.

Contact

Gynelle Steele, Technology Utilization Engineer
NASA Lewis Commercial Technology Office
NASA Lewis Research Center
Cleveland, OH 44135
Phone: (216) 433-8258 FAX: (216) 433-5012 Gsteele@lerc.nasa.gov

Dan DeMiglio, Client Services
Great Lakes Industrial Technology Center
Phone: (440) 734-1209 (440) 734-0686 demiglio@battelle.org

EMF Engineering Review Symposium, April 28-29, 1998

Reporting briefly from ORNL–a heads up about this upcoming conference on EMF.

The RAPID program is drawing to a close, but more critically, DOE may not continue with its own core EMF program. This conference may be an important forum for that issue to be raised. One implication-a void in the U.S. when and if standards are set internationally!

An excellent contact on EMF issues overall is Paul Gailey at Oak Ridge.
423-574-0419 pg7@ornl.gov

http://www.emf-data.org/symposium98.html

(Note this website as a resource on emf generally)

EMF Engineering Review Symposium
Status and Summary of EMF Engineering Research

April 28-29, 1998
Sheraton Charleston Hotel
Charleston, SC

Organized by the United States Department of Energy

Last updated: February 11, 1998
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BACKGROUND

The Electric and Magnetic Fields Research and Public Information Dissemination (EMFRAPID) Program was established by Congress in the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) are partners in the EMFRAPID Program’s effort to address the question of whether extremely low frequency electric and magnetic fields (EMF) produced by the generation, transmission, and use of electric energy pose a risk to human health, and if so, to determine the significance of the risk and to develop mitigation technologies.

ENGINEERING REVIEW SYMPOSIUM

Engineering results provide one of the foundations for understanding and characterizing EMF exposures in biological and epidemiological studies. DOE is convening a public symposium to assess the state of knowledge of EMF engineering issues and to present results of RAPID engineering studies conducted by DOE. These studies focus on exposure characterization and methodologies, exposure levels, and evaluation of strategies for field reduction.

Symposium presentations will address current knowledge of EMF exposure parameters, measurement technology, exposure systems, quality assurance, modeling, and exposure distribution. Participants will evaluate these results and discuss the potential social and economic implications. DOE will document the evaluations and conclusions of participants, together with summaries of each RAPID engineering study. Findings will be integrated into the risk evaluation process, which NIEHS is conducting.

Details and updates on the EMF Engineering Review Symposium will appear on this webpage.

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EMF Engineering Review Symposium

Status and Summary of
EMF Engineering Research

April 28-29, 1998
Sheraton Charleston Hotel
Charleston, SC

GOALS

1. To assess the state of knowledge of EMF engineering issues, and
2. to provide engineering input to the RAPID risk evaluation process.

PROGRAM

The symposium will allow all participants to attend all discussions (there will be no break-out groups). Both on-site discussions and written comments will be incorporated into the report. Proposed topics are listed below.

* Field Parameters
* Measurement Technologies
* Laboratory Exposure Systems
* Field Calculation Models
* Field Management
* Interaction with Biological Systems
* Exposure Assessment Methodologies
* Engineering Quality Assurance for EMF Studies
* Exposure Distribution Across Populations
* Implications of Imposing Field Limits

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Investigators and users of EMF source characterization, exposure assessment,
laboratory exposure systems, field management techniques, and field modeling
are invited to attend and participate in the discussions. This symposium
will be of interest to researchers in engineering, biological sciences, and
epidemiology, as well as electric utility personnel and regulators. The
meeting is open to the public.

Hotel

A block of rooms is being held through March 27, 1998 at the Sheraton
Charleston Hotel, 170 Lockwood Drive, Charleston, SC 29403, at the
government per diem rate ($89.00 plus 12% tax). For reservations, call
800-968-3569, or fax 803-723-6276. Be sure to state that you are attending
the DOE Engineering Symposium.

Travel Information

The Charleston International Airport services this area. Low Country
Limousine Service offers transportation to and from the airport. The one-way
fare is $15.00 per person. For reservations, call 800-222-4771. Taxis are
available at a slightly higher cost.

Registration

Advance registration is required in order to receive pre-conference
materials. The deadline for registration is March 27, 1998. To register,
please send the following information for each attendee:

* Name
* Name for badge
* Title/Position
* Company/Institution
* Address
* City/State/Zip
* Country
* E-mail address
* Telephone number
* Fax number

To:

W/L Associates
7519 Ridge Road
Frederick, MD 21702
Telephone: 301-663-1915
Fax: 301-371-8955
e-mail: 75230.1222@compuserve.com