The Piston Effect inside a microchannel with Carbon Dioxide near Critical conditions

Heat transfer near the critical condition of Carbon Dioxide due to thermo-acoustic waves in a 100-µm high microchannel was numerically studied. The temperature at a point farthest away from the heated surface was compared between computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models and a pure conduction model. The comparison revealed that the CFD model predicted a temperature increase furthest from the surface much faster than the time constant required for such increase purely by conduction. It is believed that another heat transfer process, termed the piston effect (PE), which is associated with pressure waves in the fluid, was responsible for this increase. Explicit unsteady methodology in the fluid model indicated that propagation of pressure waves due to a rapid expansion of the boundary layer and the associate change in the fluid density distribution resulted in this temperature raise. It was confirmed that natural convection wasn’t responsible for the temperature increase under quiescent conditions. In addition, it was discovered that the PE is significant for certain forced convection conditions.

VALIDATION OF FILTRATION EQUIPMENT FOR AIR DEDUSTING IN SUBWAYS

Subways, as the places where a large number of people are present, are put under under stringent standards of high microlimate and air quality, namely, the content of air-borne dust. In order to maintain dust concentration within the permissible limits, it is suggested to install air filters at ventilation connections at subway stations, which are affected by the piston effect. Using the earlier experimental results, the nonstationary air flow parameters under the piston effect and the structure of air flow at the ventilation connections at subway stations are determined in two-dimensional layout, which allows selection of filtration equipment for removal of dust from subway air, and enables determination of the equipment location at ventilation connections. In order to validate the filtration equipment selection, the review and analysis of the geometry, design and performance of the available facilities are carried out. The most suitable filtration equipment for air dedusting is suggested.

Heat transfer mode shift to adiabatic thermalization in near-critical carbon dioxide under terrestrial conditions

Heat transfer via acoustic waves is referred to as adiabatic thermalization or the piston effect. Until now, adiabatic thermalization was believed to be a secondary effect that mostly occurs under microgravity conditions and is readily overpowered by mixing due to gravitational forces. However, this work revealed that in microsystems, adiabatic thermalization is a dominant heat transfer mechanism. A substantial shift in thermalization modes from vaporization to acoustic waves was observed through critical opalescence temperature measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2). The contribution of the piston’s effect increased from 4.3–77.6% when the reduced pressure increased from 0.86 to 0.99. The findings are used to explain the observed heat transfer enhancement that occurred concurrently with the reduction in the void fraction. Revealing the nature of the piston effect to enhance heat transfer will advance copious technological fields like space exploration, fusion reactors, data centers, electronic devices, and sensing technology.

Mitigating the Piston Effect in High-Speed Hyperloop Transportation: A Study on the Use of Aerofoils

The Hyperloop is a concept for the high-speed ground transportation of passengers traveling in pods at transonic speeds in a partially evacuated tube. It consists of a low-pressure tube with capsules traveling at both low and high speeds throughout the length of the tube. When a high-speed system travels through a low-pressure tube with a constrained diameter such as in the case of the Hyperloop, it becomes an aerodynamically challenging problem. Airflow tends to get choked at the constrained areas around the pod, creating a high-pressure region at the front of the pod, a phenomenon referred to as the “piston effect.” Papers exploring potential solutions for the piston effect are scarce. In this study, using the Reynolds-Average Navier–Stokes (RANS) technique for three-dimensional computational analysis, the aerodynamic performance of a Hyperloop pod inside a vacuum tube is studied. Further, aerofoil-shaped fins are added to the aeroshell as a potential way to mitigate the piston effect. The results show that the addition of fins helps in reducing the drag and eddy currents while providing a positive lift to the pod. Further, these fins are found to be effective in reducing the pressure build-up at the front of the pod.