Investigation of Potential Benefits of Using Bricks of High Thermal Capacity and Conductivity in a Rotating Calcining Kiln

Author(s):  
Lei Zhao ◽  
Ting Wang

Petroleum coke is processed into calcined coke in a rotary kiln, where the temperature profiles of flue gas and coke bed are highly nonuniform due to different flow and combustion mechanisms. Motivated by saving energy costs, the effect of refractory brick’s thermal properties on potential energy savings is investigated. This study focuses on investigating potential energy savings by replacing inner one-third of existing bricks with higher thermal capacity (Cp) and/or higher thermal-conductivity (k) bricks. This paper investigates the postulation: the bricks with higher thermal capacity could store more thermal energy during the period in contact with the hot gas and would release more heat to the cock bed when the bricks rotate to the position in contact with the coke bed. A rotational transient marching conduction numerical simulation is conducted using the commercial software FLUENT. The impact of brick heat capacity and thermal conductivity on transporting thermal energy to the coke bed is analyzed. The results show the following: (a) Increasing the heat capacity of brick layer reduces brick temperature, which helps increase the heat transfer between the hot gas and brick. In other words, it does help brick to store more heat from the hot gas, but heat transfer between brick and coke is reduced, which is opposite to the original postulation. (b) Higher brick thermal conductivity decreases brick temperature, thus increases heat transfer between hot gas and the brick layer. The heat transfer from brick to coke bed is also increased but not significantly. (c) Since usually a brick with a higher Cp value also has a higher k-value, simulation of a brick layer with both four times higher Cp and k-values actually shows a reduction in the brick temperature, and hence a degradation of the heat transfer between the brick and coke bed. Therefore, replacing the existing brick layer with a high Cp- and/or high k-value brick is not recommended.

Author(s):  
Lei Zhao ◽  
Ting Wang

Petroleum coke is processed into calcined coke in a rotary kiln, where the temperature profiles of flue gas and coke bed are highly nonuniform due to different flow and combustion mechanisms. Motivated by saving energy costs, the effect of refractory brick’s thermal properties on potential energy savings is investigated. This study focuses on investigating potential energy savings by replacing inner one third of existing bricks with higher thermal capacity (Cp) and/or higher thermal conductivity (k) bricks. This investigation is motivated by postulating that the bricks with higher thermal capacity can store more thermal energy during the period of contacting with the hot gas and release more heat to the cock bed when the bricks rotate to below and in contact with the coke bed. A rotational, transient marching conduction numerical simulation is conducted using the commercial software FLUENT. The impact of brick heat capacity and thermal conductivity on transporting thermal energy to the coke bed is analyzed. The results show: (a) Increasing the heat capacity of brick layer reduces brick temperature which helps increase the heat transfer between the hot gas and brick, in other words it does help brick store more heat from the hot gas, but, heat transfer between brick and coke is reduced, which is opposite to the original postulation. (b) Higher brick thermal conductivity decreases brick temperature thus increases heat transfer between hot gas and the brick layer. The heat transfer from brick to coke bed is also increased, but not significantly. (c) Usually a brick with a higher Cp value also has a higher k-value. Simulation of a brick layer with both four times higher Cp and k values actually show appreciable heat is transported from the brick to the coke bed for one rotation for both lower and higher Cp and k bricks. The difference is not significant.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 233-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nainaru Tarakaramu ◽  
P.V. Satya Narayana ◽  
Bhumarapu Venkateswarlu

AbstractThe present investigation deals with the steady three-dimensional flow and heat transfer of nanofluids due to stretching sheet in the presence of magnetic field and heat source. Three types of water based nanoparticles namely, copper (Cu), aluminium oxide (Al2O3), and titanium dioxide (TiO2) are considered in this study. The temperature dependent variable thermal conductivity and thermal radiation has been introduced in the energy equation. Using suitable similarity transformations the dimensional non-linear expressions are converted into dimensionless system and are then solved numerically by Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg scheme along with well-known shooting technique. The impact of various flow parameters on axial and transverse velocities, temperature, surface frictional coefficients and rate of heat transfer coefficients are visualized both in qualitative and quantitative manners in the vicinity of stretching sheet. The results reviled that the temperature and velocity of the fluid rise with increasing values of variable thermal conductivity parameter. Also, the temperature and normal velocity of the fluid in case of Cu-water nanoparticles is more than that of Al2O3- water nanofluid. On the other hand, the axial velocity of the fluid in case of Al2O3- water nanofluid is more than that of TiO2nanoparticles. In addition, the current outcomes are matched with the previously published consequences and initiate to be a good contract as a limiting sense.


1980 ◽  
Vol 102 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Parsons ◽  
J. C. Mulligan

A study of the onset of transient natural convection from a suddenly heated, horizontal cylinder of finite diameter is presented. The termination of the initial conductive and “locally” conuectiue heat transfer regime which precedes the onset of global natural convection is treated as a thermal stability phenomenon. An analysis is presented wherein the effects of finite cylinder diameter, cylinder heat capacity, and cylinder thermal conductivity are included in calculations of the convective delay time. A simple experimental apparatus is described and data presented. The thermal stability analysis is confirmed experimentally and data is presented which indicates localized natural convection prior to global motion.


2019 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 02001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maatouk Khoukhi ◽  
Ahmed Hassan ◽  
Shaimaa Abdelbaqi

This paper illustrates the impact of embedding an insulation layer of variable thermal conductivity in a typical building wall on the cooling effect and energy performance. The evaluation was performed by applying a conjugate heat transfer model, which was tested in extremely hot conditions of Al Ain (UAE). The thermal performance of a building incorporating insulation layers of variable thermal conductivity (k-value) was compared to a non-variable thermal conductivity system by quantifying the additional heat transferred due to the k-relationship with time. The results show that, when the k-value is a function of operating temperature, its effects on the temperature profile through the wall assembly during daytime is significant compared with that obtained when a constant k-value for the polystyrene (EPS) insulation is adopted. A similar trend in the evolution of temperatures during the day and across the wall section was observed when EPS material with different moisture content was evaluated. For the polyurethane insulation, the inner surface temperature reached 44 °C when constant k-value was adopted, increasing to 48.5 °C when the k-value was allowed to vary under the same ambient conditions.


Author(s):  
D. Zhou ◽  
C. Y. Zhao

Phase change materials (PCMs) have been widely used for thermal energy storage systems due to their capability of storing and releasing large amounts of energy with a small volume and a moderate temperature variation. Most PCMs suffer the common problem of low thermal conductivity, being around 0.2 and 0.5 for paraffin and inorganic salts, respectively, which prolongs the charging and discharging period. In an attempt to improve the thermal conductivity of phase change materials, the graphite or metallic matrix is often embedded within PCMs to enhance the heat transfer. This paper presents an experimental study on heat transfer characteristics of PCMs embedded with open-celled metal foams. In this study both paraffin wax and calcium chloride hexahydrate are employed as the heat storage media. The transient heat transfer behavior is measured. Compared to the results of pure PCMs samples, the investigation shows that the additions of metal foams can double the overall heat transfer rate during the melting process. The results of calcium chloride hexahydrate are also compared with those of paraffin wax.


2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Simpson ◽  
Austin Schelfhout ◽  
Chris Golden ◽  
Saeid Vafaei

Due to the more powerful and miniaturized nature of modern devices, conventional heat-transfer working fluids are not capable of meeting the cooling needs of these systems. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the heat-transfer abilities of commonly used cooling fluids. Recently, nanoparticles with different characteristics have been introduced to base liquids to enhance the overall thermal conductivity. This paper studies the influence of various parameters, including base liquid, temperature, nanoparticle concentration, nanoparticle size, nanoparticle shape, nanoparticle material, and the addition of surfactant, on nanofluid thermal conductivity. The mechanisms of thermal conductivity enhancement by different parameters are discussed. The impact of nanoparticles on the enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids is clearly shown through plotting the thermal conductivities of nanofluids as a function of temperature and/or nanoparticle concentration on the same graphs as their respective base liquids. Additionally, the thermal conductivity of hybrid nanofluids, and the effects of the addition of carbon nanotubes on nanofluid thermal conductivity, are studied. Finally, modeling of nanofluid thermal conductivity is briefly reviewed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Arunachalam

Energy storage helps in waste management, environmental protection, saving of fossil fuels, cost effectiveness, and sustainable growth. Phase change material (PCM) is a substance which undergoes simultaneous melting and solidification at certain temperature and pressure and can thereby absorb and release thermal energy. Phase change materials are also called thermal batteries which have the ability to store large amount of heat at fixed temperature. Effective integration of the latent heat thermal energy storage system with solar thermal collectors depends on heat storage materials and heat exchangers. The practical limitation of the latent heat thermal energy system for successful implementation in various applications is mainly from its low thermal conductivity. Low thermal conductivity leads to low heat transfer coefficient, and thereby, the phase change process is prolonged which signifies the requirement of heat transfer enhancement techniques. Typically, for salt hydrates and organic PCMs, the thermal conductivity range varies between 0.4–0.7 W/m K and 0.15–0.3 W/m K which increases the thermal resistance within phase change materials during operation, seriously affecting efficiency and thermal response. This paper reviews the different geometry of commercial heat exchangers that can be used to address the problem of low thermal conductivity, like use of fins, additives with high thermal conductivity materials like metal strips, microencapsulated PCM, composite PCM, porous metals, porous metal foam matrix, carbon nanofibers and nanotubes, etc. Finally, different solar thermal applications and potential PCMs for low-temperature thermal energy storage were also discussed.


Author(s):  
Aditya Kuchibhotla ◽  
Debjyoti Banerjee

Stable homogeneous colloidal suspensions of nanoparticles in a liquid solvents are termed as nanofluids. In this review the results for the forced convection heat transfer of nanofluids are gleaned from the literature reports. This study attempts to evaluate the experimental data in the literature for the efficacy of employing nanofluids as heat transfer fluids (HTF) and for Thermal Energy Storage (TES). The efficacy of nanofluids for improving the performance of compact heat exchangers were also explored. In addition to thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity the rheological behavior of nanofluids also play a significant role for various applications. The material properties of nanofluids are highly sensitive to small variations in synthesis protocols. Hence the scope of this review encompassed various sub-topics including: synthesis protocols for nanofluids, materials characterization, thermo-physical properties (thermal conductivity, viscosity, specific heat capacity), pressure drop and heat transfer coefficients under forced convection conditions. The measured values of heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluids varies with testing configuration i.e. flow regime, boundary condition and geometry. Furthermore, a review of the reported results on the effects of particle concentration, size, temperature is presented in this study. A brief discussion on the pros and cons of various models in the literature is also performed — especially pertaining to the reports on the anomalous enhancement in heat transfer coefficient of nanofluids. Furthermore, the experimental data in the literature indicate that the enhancement observed in heat transfer coefficient is incongruous compared to the level of thermal conductivity enhancement obtained in these studies. Plausible explanations for this incongruous behavior is explored in this review. A brief discussion on the applicability of conventional single phase convection correlations based on Newtonian rheological models for predicting the heat transfer characteristics of the nanofluids is also explored in this review (especially considering that nanofluids often display non-Newtonian rheology). Validity of various correlations reported in the literature that were developed from experiments, is also explored in this review. These comparisons were performed as a function of various parameters, such as, for the same mass flow rate, Reynolds number, mass averaged velocity and pumping power.


2014 ◽  
Vol 354 ◽  
pp. 227-235
Author(s):  
Marcelo J.S. de Lemos

This article presents a thermo-mechanical approach to investigate heat transfer between solid and fluid phases in a model gasifier. A two-temperature equation approach is applied in addition to a macroscopic model for laminar flow through a porous moving bed. Transport equations are discretized using the control-volume method and the system of algebraic equations is relaxed via the SIMPLE algorithm. The effects on inter-phase heat transfer due to variation of medium permeability, thermal conductivity and thermal capacity are analyzed. Results indicate that for smaller medium permeabilities, as well as for higher solid-to-fluid thermal capacity and thermal conductivity ratios, enhancement of heat transfer between phases is observed.


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