Flow Friction or Spontaneous Ignition?

Abstract A high accuracy of experimental correlations on the heat transfer and flow friction is always expected to calculate the unknown cases according to the limited experimental data from a heat exchanger experiment. However, certain errors will occur during the data processing by the traditional methods to obtain the experimental correlations for the heat transfer and friction. A dimensionless experimental correlation equation including angles is proposed to make the correlation have a wide range of applicability. Then, the artificial neural networks (ANNs) are used to predict the heat transfer and flow friction performances of a finned oval-tube heat exchanger under four different air inlet angles with limited experimental data. The comparison results of ANN prediction with experimental correlations show that the errors from the ANN prediction are smaller than those from the classical correlations. The data of the four air inlet angles fitted separately have higher precisions than those fitted together. It is demonstrated that the ANN approach is more useful than experimental correlations to predict the heat transfer and flow resistance characteristics for unknown cases of heat exchangers. The results can provide theoretical support for the application of the ANN used in the finned oval-tube heat exchanger performance prediction.

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Effect of wood biomass components on self-heating

Bioresources and Bioprocessing ◽

10.1186/s40643-021-00373-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Nozomi Miyawaki ◽

Takashi Fukushima ◽

Takafumi Mizuno ◽

Miyao Inoue ◽

Kenji Takisawa

Keyword(s):

Moisture Content ◽

Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽

Optical Emission ◽

Chemical Oxidation ◽

Spontaneous Ignition ◽

Emission Spectrometry ◽

Inductively Coupled ◽

Self Heating ◽

Inorganic Substances ◽

Before And After

AbstractBiomass may ignite due to biological oxidation and chemical oxidation. If this phenomenon (spontaneous ignition) is controlled, it would be possible to produce biochar at a lower cost without the need for an external heat resource. We investigated if self-heating could be controlled by using sawdust and bark chips. When sawdust and bark chips were used under controlled conditions, the bark chips temperature increased to the torrefaction temperature. The ash content of bark chips was ~ 2%d.b. higher than that of sawdust; consequently, the inorganic substances contained in the bark chips might affect the self-heating. Self-heating was suppressed when inorganic substances were removed by washing with water. Therefore, the inorganic substances in the biomass might have affected self-heating. The inorganic element contents of the bark chips were measured by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry before and after washing. The potassium content of the bark chips was reduced remarkably by washing, and there was a possible influence of potassium on self-heating. Finally, the effect of moisture content on self-heating was investigated to obtain stable reactivity. Thus, at a moisture content of 40%w.b., a steady self-heating behavior may be realized.

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