Effect of Different Plenum-Chamber Coefficients on the Frosting of Air-Cooler

The performance of the air-cooler in refrigeration systems plays a key role in their energy efficiency. Here, the plenum-chamber coefficient was defined to investigate a possible way of enhancing the refrigeration coefficient that reflects the efficiency of the system. To investigate the influence of the plenum-chamber coefficient on the frosting and the cooling system of the air-cooler, three plenum-chamber coefficients (0.74, 0.97, 1.2) were studied under two different relative humidities. The temperature decreasing curve of the environmental chamber, the velocity distribution of the air-cooler, and the frost accumulation under and on the air-cooler were analyzed. We find that the homogeneity of the velocity distribution of the air-cooler and the frost accumulation increase with a growing plenum-chamber coefficient, while the frost accumulation on the fin will first increase and then decrease with the increase in the plenum-chamber coefficient. In general, frosting is more present when the plenum-chamber coefficient is 0.97.

A novel heat generation acquisition method of cylindrical battery based on core and surface temperature measurements

Heat generation measurements of the lithium-ion battery are crucial for the design of the battery thermal management system. Most previous work uses the accelerating rate calorimeter (ARC) to test heat generation of batteries. However, utilizing ARC can only obtain heat generation of the battery operating under the adiabatic condition, deviating from common operation scenarios with heat dissipation. Besides, using ARC is difficult to measure heat generation of the high-rate operating battery because the battery temperature easily exceeds the maximum safety limit. To address these problems, we propose a novel method to obtain heat generation of cylindrical battery based on core and surface temperature measurements and select the 21700 cylindrical battery as the research object. Based on the method, total heat generation at 1C discharge rate under the natural convection air cooling condition in the environmental chamber is about 3.2 kJ, and the average heat generation rate is about 0.9 W. While these two results measured by ARC are about 2.2 kJ and 0.6 W. This gap also reflects that different battery temperature histories have significant impacts on heat generation. In addition, using our approach, total heat generation at 2C discharge rate measured in the environmental chamber is about 5.0 kJ, with the average heat generation rate being about 2.8 W. Heat generation results obtained by our method are approximate to the actual battery operation and have advantages in future applications.

Mineral Additives to Enhance Early-Age Crack Resistance of Concrete under a Large-Temperature-Difference Environment

The large temperature difference condition in Northwest China threatens a myriad of concrete structures during construction, with the daily temperature varying by around 40 °C. To investigate the macro-mechanical properties and microstructural characteristics of concrete containing different amounts of mineral admixtures under such harsh conditions, this investigation used an environmental chamber to simulate a saline soil erosion environment with a large temperature difference. Four types of concrete containing different proportions of fly ash and slag were prepared and exposed in the environmental chamber with a daily temperature change of −5~40 °C to investigate their compressive strength, flexural strength, and fracture properties. Moreover, the X-ray diffraction (XRD) characteristics, microscopic morphological characteristics, pore structure characteristics, and post-erosion chloride ion distribution characteristics were also observed and recorded. Results showed that the mineral admixture could improve the early strength development of the concrete and effectively improve the fracture performance of the concrete. The average compressive strength growth rate of concrete from day 3 to day 14 was 83.25% higher than that of ordinary concrete (OC) when 15% fly ash and 15% slag were added. In addition, the fracture energy of the concrete was maximized when 15% fly ash and 20% slag were added, which was 50.67% higher than that of OC; furthermore, the internal compactness and pore structure were optimized, and the resistance to saline soil erosion was strong. This provides a basis for the practical application of compounded mineral admixture-modified concrete in an arid environment with a large temperature difference and saline soil erosion.