A New Approach to Delay or Prevent Frost Formation in Membranes

2018 ◽  
Vol 141 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pooya Navid ◽  
Shirin Niroomand ◽  
Carey J. Simonson

Saturation of the water vapor is essential to form frost inside a permeable membrane. The main goal of this paper is to develop a numerical model that can predict temperature and humidity inside a membrane in order to show the location and time of saturation. This numerical model for heat and mass transfer is developed to show that frost formation may be prevented or delayed by controlling the moisture transfer through the membrane, which is the new approach in this paper. The idea is to simultaneously dry and cool air to avoid saturation conditions and thereby eliminate condensation and frosting in the membrane. Results show that saturation usually occurs on side of the membrane with the highest temperature and humidity. The numerical model is verified with experimental data and used to show that moisture transfer through the membrane can delay or prevent frost formation.

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanju Yang ◽  
Zhan Liu ◽  
Bao Fu ◽  
Yu Chen

Frost formation degrades the performance of heat exchangers greatly, thus influencing the cryogenic refrigerator. Different from frost formation on the evaporator surface, the growth and migration of frost layer inside the heat exchanger is of low temperature and humidity. In addition to the constantly changing boundary conditions, the effective prediction is difficult. In the present study, a numerical model was proposed to analyze the frost formation in the cryogenic heat exchanger of a reverse Brayton air refrigerator. Under small amounts of moisture, the growing of frost layer was simulated through the numerical heat and mass transfer by adopting semiempirical correlations. The frost formation model was inserted into the transient model of refrigerator, and numerical calculations were performed on heat and mass transfer rates, and growth and migration of frost layers in forced convection conditions. Experiments were conducted under different air humidity to investigate the frost formation and verify the numerical model. Through the model, the influences of frosting on the refrigerator were evaluated under different moisture contents and running time. It can be used to predict the performance of air refrigerators with low humidity and provide a basis for improving the system operation and efficiency.


Author(s):  
Kwangkook Jeong ◽  
Harun Bilirgen ◽  
Edward Levy

Power plants release a large amount of water vapor into the atmosphere through the stack. The flue gas can be a potential source for obtaining much needed cooling water for a power plant. If a power plant could recover and reuse a portion of this moisture, it could reduce its total cooling water intake requirement. One of the most practical way to recover water from flue gas is to use a condensing heat exchanger. The power plant could also recover latent heat due to condensation as well as sensible heat due to lowering the flue gas exit temperature. Additionally, harmful acids released from the stack can be reduced in a condensing heat exchanger by acid condensation. Condensation of vapors in flue gas is a complicated phenomenon since heat and mass transfer of water vapor and various acids simultaneously occur in the presence of non-condensable gases such as nitrogen and oxygen. Design of a condenser depends on the knowledge and understanding of the heat and mass transfer processes. A computer program for numerical simulations of water (H2O) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) condensation in a flue gas condensing heat exchanger was developed using MATLAB. Governing equations based on mass and energy balances for the system were derived to predict variables such as flue gas exit temperature, cooling water outlet temperature, mole fraction and condensation rates of water and sulfuric acid vapors. The equations were solved using an iterative solution technique with calculations of heat and mass transfer coefficients and physical properties. An experimental study was carried out in order to yield data for validation of modeling results. Parametric studies for both modeling and experiments were performed to investigate the effects of parameters such as flue gas flow rate, cooling water flow rate, inlet cooling water temperature and tube configurations (bare and finned tubes) on condensation efficiency. Predicted results of water and sulfuric acid vapor condensation were compared with experimental data for model validation, and this showed agreement between experimental data and predictions to within a few percent. The most important parameters affecting performance of the condensing heat exchangers was the ratio of cooling water to flue gas flow rates, since this determines how much heat the cooling water can absorb. The computer program simultaneously calculates both water vapor condensation and sulfuric acid condensation in flue gas along downstream. Modeling results for prediction of sulfuric acid vapor concentration in the flue gas were compared with measured data obtained by the controlled condensation method. An analytical model of sulfuric acid condensation for oil-firing showed two trends — steep reduction within the high temperature heat exchanger and smooth reduction within lower temperature heat exchanger, which is in agreement with experimental data.


1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A. Miller ◽  
Majid Keyhani

Abstract Absorption chillers are gaining global acceptance as quality comfort cooling systems. These machines are the central chilling plants and the supply for comfort cooling for many large commercial buildings. Virtually all absorption chillers use lithium bromide (LiBr) and water as the absorption fluids. Water is the refrigerant. Research has shown LiBr to be one of the best absorption working fluids because it has a high affinity for water, releases water vapor at relatively low temperatures, and has a boiling point much higher than that of water. The heart of the chiller is the absorber, where a process of simultaneous heat and mass transfer occurs as the refrigerant water vapor is absorbed into a falling film of aqueous LiBr. The more water vapor absorbed into the falling film, the larger the chiller’s capacity for supporting comfort cooling. Improving the performance of the absorber leads directly to efficiency gains for the chiller. The design of an absorber is very empirical and requires experimental data. Yet design data and correlations are sparse in the open literature. The experimental data available to date have been derived at LiBr concentrations ranging from 0.30 to 0.60 mass fraction. No literature data are readily available for the design operating conditions of 0.62 and 0.64 mass fraction of LiBr and absorber pressures of 0.7 and 1.0 kPa. Experiments were conducted on an internally cooled smooth tube 0.01905 m in outside diameter and 1.53 m in length. Tests were conducted with no heat and mass transfer additive. The data, for testing at 0.62 and 0.64 mass fraction of LiBr, were scaled and correlated into both Nusselt (Nu) and Sherwood (Sh) formulations. The average absolute error in the Nusselt correlation is about ±3.5% of the Nu number reduced from the experimental data. The Sherwood correlation is about ±5% of the reduced Sh data. Data from the open literature were reduced to the authors’ Nu and Sh formulations and were within 5% of the correlations developed in the present study. Hence, this study provides correlations for the complex heat and mass transfer process that is validated against extensive experimental data. The study therefore contains useful information for the design of a vertical column absorber operating with no heat and mass transfer additive.


1982 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 766-775 ◽  
Author(s):  
Václav Kolář ◽  
Jan Červenka

The paper presents results obtained by processing a series of published experimental data on heat and mass transfer during evaporation of pure liquids from the free board of a liquid film into the turbulent gas phone. The data has been processed on the basis of the earlier theory of mechanism of heat and mass transfer. In spite of the fact that this process exhibits a strong Stefan's flow, the results indicate that with a proper definition of the driving forces the agreement between theory and experiment is very good.


Author(s):  
Виктор Григорьевич Чеверев ◽  
Евгений Викторович Сафронов ◽  
Алексей Александрович Коротков ◽  
Александр Сергеевич Чернятин

Существуют два основных подхода решения задачи тепломассопереноса при численном моделировании промерзания грунтов: 1) решение методом конечных разностей с учетом граничных условий (границей, например, является фронт промерзания); 2) решение методом конечных элементов без учета границ модели. Оба подхода имеют существенные недостатки, что оставляет проблему решения задачи для численной модели промерзания грунтов острой и актуальной. В данной работе представлена физическая постановка промерзания, которая позволяет создать численную модель, базирующуюся на решении методом конечных элементов, но при этом отражающую ход фронта промерзания - то есть модель, в которой объединены оба подхода к решению задачи промерзания грунтов. Для подтверждения корректности модели был проделан ряд экспериментов по физическому моделированию промерзания модельного грунта и выполнен сравнительный анализ полученных экспериментальных данных и результатов расчетов на базе представленной численной модели с такими же граничными условиями, как в экспериментах. There are two basic approaches to solving the problem of heat and mass transfer in the numerical modeling of soil freezing: 1) using the finite difference method taking into account boundary conditions (the boundary, for example, is the freezing front); 2) using the finite element method without consideration of model boundaries. Both approaches have significant drawbacks, which leaves the issue of solving the problem for the numerical model of soil freezing acute and up-to-date. This article provides the physical setting of freezing that allows us to create a numerical model based on the solution by the finite element method, but at the same time reflecting the route of the freezing front, i.e. the model that combines both approaches to solving the problem of soil freezing. In order to confirm the correctness of the model, a number of experiments on physical modeling of model soil freezing have been performed, and a comparative analysis of the experimental data obtained and the calculation results based on the provided numerical model with the same boundary conditions as in the experiments was performed.


1996 ◽  
Vol 118 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. A. Ameel ◽  
H. M. Habib ◽  
B. D. Wood

An analytical solution is presented for the effect of air (nonabsorbable gas) on the heat and mass transfer rates during the absorption of water vapor (absorbate) by a falling laminar film of aqueous lithium bromide (absorbent), an important process in a proposed open-cycle solar absorption cooling system. The analysis was restricted to the entrance region where an analytical solution is possible. The model consists of a falling film of aqueous lithium bromide flowing down a vertical wall which is kept at uniform temperature. The liquid film is in contact with a gas consisting of a mixture of water vapor and air. The gas phase is moving under the influence of the drag from the falling liquid film. The governing equations are written with a set of interfacial and boundary conditions and solved analytically for the two phases. Heat and mass transfer results are presented for a range of uniform inlet air concentrations. It was found that the concentration of the nonabsorbable gas increases sharply at the liquid gas interface. The absorption of the absorbate in the entrance region showed a continuous reduction with an increase in the amount of air.


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