scholarly journals Numerical study of flow inhomogeneity and heat transfer enhancement in structured packed beds

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (6 Part A) ◽  
pp. 3533-3542
Author(s):  
Jingyu Wang ◽  
Jian Yang ◽  
Bengt Sunden ◽  
Qiuwang Wang

Packed beds are widely used in engineering applications due to their high specific surface area and good heat transfer characteristics. A grille-sphere composite packed bed is proposed previously and has been proved to have higher overall heat transfer coefficient than the simple cubic packing structure. In the present paper, the flow inhomogeneities in both the grille-sphere composite packed bed and the simple cubic packing are studied and the relationship between the flow inhomogeneity and the heat transfer characteristics is revealed by numerical simulations. The simulations are performed on ANSYS FLUENT software. The turbulence flow is modelled by the renormalization group k- model. Both dispersion of the velocity distribution and the residence time distribution are employed to assess the flow maldistribution. When the inlet velocity equals 2.17 m/s, the variance of the residence time distribution of the composite packed bed is 5.91% smaller than that of the simple cubic packing while the Nusselt number is 10.64% higher. The results indicate that less flow maldistribution can lead to heat transfer enhancement.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaime Rios ◽  
Mehdi Kabirnajafi ◽  
Takele Gameda ◽  
Raid Mohammed ◽  
Jiajun Xu

The present study experimentally and numerically investigates the flow and heat transfer characteristics of a novel nanostructured heat transfer fluid, namely, ethanol/polyalphaolefin nanoemulsion, inside a conventionally manufactured minichannel of circular cross section and a microchannel heat exchanger of rectangular cross section manufactured additively using the Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) process. The experiments were conducted for single-phase flow of pure polyalphaolefin (PAO) and ethanol/PAO nanoemulsion fluids with two ethanol concentrations of 4 wt% and 8 wt% as well as for two-phase flow boiling of nanoemulsion fluids to study the effect of ethanol nanodroplets on the convective flow and heat transfer characteristics. Furthermore, the effects of flow regime of the working fluids on the heat transfer performance for both the minichannel and microchannel heat exchangers were examined within the laminar and transitional flow regimes. It was found that the ethanol/PAO nanoemulsion fluids can improve convective heat transfer compared to that of the pure PAO base fluid under both single- and two-phase flow regimes. While the concentration of nanoemulsion fluids did not reflect a remarkable distinction in single-phase heat transfer performance within the laminar regime, a significant heat transfer enhancement was observed using the nanoemulsion fluids upon entering the transitional flow regime. The heat transfer enhancement at higher concentrations of nanoemulsion within the transitional regime is mainly attributed to the enhanced interaction and interfacial thermal transport between ethanol nanodroplets and PAO base fluid. For two-phase flow boiling, heat transfer coefficients of ethanol/PAO nanoemulsion fluids were further enhanced when the ethanol nanodroplets underwent phase change. A comparative study on the flow and heat transfer characteristics was also implemented between the traditionally fabricated minichannel and additively manufactured microchannel of similar dimensions using the same working fluid of pure PAO and the same operating conditions. The results revealed that although the DMLS fabricated microchannel posed a higher pressure loss, a substantial heat transfer enhancement was achieved as compared to the minichannel heat exchanger tested under the same conditions. The non-post processed surface of the DMLS manufactured microchannel is likely to be the main contributor to the augmented heat transfer performance. Further studies are required to fully appreciate the possible mechanisms behind this phenomenon as well as the convective heat transfer properties of nanoemulsion fluids.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Karthikeyan Paramanandam ◽  
Venkatachalapathy S. ◽  
Balamurugan Srinivasan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the flow and heat transfer characteristics of microchannel heatsinks with ribs, cavities and secondary channels. The influence of length and width of the ribs on heat transfer enhancement, secondary flows, flow distribution and temperature distribution are examined at different Reynolds numbers. The effectiveness of each heatsink is evaluated using the performance factor. Design/methodology/approach A three-dimensional solid-fluid conjugate heat transfer numerical model is used to study the flow and heat transfer characteristics in microchannels. One symmetrical channel is adopted for the simulation to reduce the computational cost and time. Flow inside the channels is assumed to be single-phase and laminar. The governing equations are solved using finite volume method. Findings The numerical results are analyzed in terms of average Nusselt number ratio, average base temperature, friction factor ratio, pressure variation inside the channel, temperature distribution, velocity distribution inside the channel, mass flow rate distribution inside the secondary channels and performance factor of each microchannels. Results indicate that impact of rib width is higher in enhancing the heat transfer when compared with its length but with a penalty on the pressure drop. The combined effects of secondary channels, ribs and cavities helps to lower the temperature of the microchannel heat sink and enhances the heat transfer rate. Practical implications The fabrication of microchannels are complex, but recent advancements in the additive manufacturing techniques makes the fabrication of the design considered in this numerical study feasible. Originality/value The proposed microchannel heatsink can be used in practical applications to reduce the thermal resistance, and it augments the heat transfer rate when compared with the baseline design.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sananth H. Menon ◽  
G. Madhu ◽  
Jojo Mathew

This paper focuses on understanding the electrolyte flow characteristics in a typical packed-bed electrochemical reactor using Residence Time Distribution (RTD) studies. RTD behavior was critically analyzed using tracer studies at various flow rates, initially under nonelectrolyzing conditions. Validation of these results using available theoretical models was carried out. Significant disparity in RTD curves under electrolyzing conditions was examined and details are recorded. Finally, a suitable mathematical model (Modified Dispersed Plug Flow Model (MDPFM)) was developed for validating these results under electrolyzing conditions.


Author(s):  
Huimin Tang ◽  
Huiying Wu

In this paper, the silicon-based corrugated microchannels used for the heat transfer enhancement were fabricated by MEMS technology for the first time. Both the flow and convective heat transfer characteristics of the deionized water through these corrugated microchannels were investigated experimentally, and comparisons were performed between corrugated microchannels and straight microchannels with the same cross-sectional aspect ratio (height-to-width ratio) and same hydraulic diameter. Experimental results showed that both the flow friction and Nusselt number in corrugated microchannels increased considerably compared with those in straight microchannels, and this increase became enlarged with the increase in the Reynolds number. With the same pumping power, using corrugated microchannels instead of straight microchannels caused the reduction in the total thermal resistance. The heat transfer enhancement mechanism of the corrugated microchannels was discussed. The results presented in this paper help to design the high efficiency integrated chip cooling system.


Author(s):  
Mitsutoshi Tendo ◽  
Tetsuaki Takeda

There are several methods for heat transfer enhancement. For example, there are attaching various fins on the heat transfer surface, processing the surface roughly, inserting twisted tape, and so on. These methods increase heat transfer coefficient or area by manufacturing of the heat transfer surface. However, it has to take into consideration the deterioration of the structure strength by attaching the fins on the tube surface with the design of the heat exchanger. The objective of this study is to clarify characteristics of heat transfer and pressure drop in the channel inserted metallic wire with high porosity. A heat transfer experiment has been performed using a horizontal circular tube to obtain the heat transfer characteristics in the channel inserted copper wire. This paper describes the heat transfer and flow characteristics of a heat exchanger tube filled with a high porous material. Fine copper wire (diameter: 0.5 mm) was inserted in a circular tube dominated by thermal conduction and forced convection. Working fluid was air. Hydraulic equivalent diameter was cited as the characteristic length in Nusselt number and Reynolds number. From the results obtained in this experiment, it was found that an amount of heat transfer in the tube with the copper wire was larger than that without one. An effectiveness of heat transfer enhancement increased with the temperature of the heated wall. The amount of heat transfer in the circular tube inserted copper wire, which has 0.993–0.998 of porosity, increased about 15% comparing with the tube having a smooth wall surface under the condition of the constant heat flux and lower than 170°C of the wall temperature.


2015 ◽  
Vol 138 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Zheng ◽  
Yonghui Xie ◽  
Di Zhang ◽  
Haoning Shi

Passive flow control and heat transfer enhancement technique has become an attractive method for device internal cooling with low resistance penalty. In the present paper, the flow and heat transfer characteristics in the small scale rectangular channel with different groove–protrusions are investigated numerically. Furthermore, the combination effect with ribs is studied. The numerical results show that on the groove side, the flow separation mainly occurs at the leading edge, and the reattachment mainly occurs at the trailing edge in accordance with the local Nusselt number distribution. On the protrusion side, the separation mainly occurs at the protrusion back porch and enhances the heat transfer at the leading edge of the downstream adjacent groove. The rectangle case provides the highest dimensionless heat transfer enhancement coefficient Nu/Nu0, dimensionless resistance coefficient f/f0, and thermal performance (TP) with the highest sensitivity of Re. When ribs are employed, the separation bubble sizes prominently decrease, especially inside the second and third grooves. The Nu/Nu0 values significantly increase when ribs are arranged, and the one-row case provides the highest heat transfer enhancement by ribs. Besides, the two-row case provides the highest Nu/Nu0 value without ribs, and the three-row case shows the lowest Nu/Nu0 value whether ribs are arranged or not.


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