THERMOHYDRAULIC DISTRIBUTION IN TWISTED MICRO HEAT EXCHANGERS MOUNTED IN ANNULAR CHANNELS

The design of twisted heat exchangers provides a possibility to compensate for temperature and mechanical stresses thus ensuring continuous and failsafe operation of the equipment. The authors use fins and multiturn pipe bundles to reduce the mass and size characteristics of the heat exchangers. Such design significantly complicates the calculating method. The main aspect of swirling flows is the presence of radial and axial pressure gradients. When vapor or gas flows swirl, the flow velocity near the walls is much higher than the average values, while at the axis the flow is significantly slower and in some cases its values can become negative. The liquid flowing near the axis has a notably lower pressure, which can cause it to boil. Considerable radial gradients of axial and rotational speed, as well as static pressure contribute to turbulent pulsations. Given that the working fluid flows along a helical line, the flow in the near-wall area is similar to the flow around curved surfaces. The study analyses how the pipe bundle geometry impacts hydraulic distribution and scrutinizes the main components of pressure loss in the twisted heat exchanger. The analysis allowed simplifying the method of hydraulic calculation of the multiturn twisted heat exchanger. Solving the outer heat transfer and hydrodynamics problem for the twisted heat exchanger allowed determining the effect of the main factors and the relationship between the parameters of the coolant and the working mass on the distribution values. The paper presents the equations for determining geometry of the pipes with different coiling diameters, as well as the equation for finding hydraulic distribution in individual pipes in the layers of the pipe bundle. The obtained results can help increase the accuracy of thermal calculation. The authors propose to use sectioning of twisted heat exchangers as a way to reduce hydraulic distribution. Bibl. 12, Fig. 1.

Movement of gas slug in annular channels with different diameter ratios

The motion of gas slugs in annular channels was studied experimentally. The outer tube diameter was 32 mm. The inner tube diameter varied from 4 to 25 mm. The gas slugs were produced by injecting air through a capillary tube. The shapes of gas slugs were studied by high-speed videos. The paper presents data on the rise velocity of gas slugs in the channels, and wall shear stress measurements, performed by electrodiffusional technique. The probes were mounted on both walls of the channel. The evolution of wall shear stress during slug passage was recorded.

Investigation of the influence of Taylor-Gortler vortexes on heat transfer of annular channel

This article is about the influence of Taylor-Gortler vortices on heat transfer in concentric annular channels with turbulent decaying swirling flows. The study shows that the occurrence and transformation of secondary vortex structures has a significant effect on the distribution of heat flux over the annular channel surface. An explicit is relationship between the radial velocity fluctuations and the heat flux density distribution. The highest intensity of heat transfer on the outer surface is observed in the areas of positive radial velocity values, while on the inner surface it is observed in the areas of negative radial velocity values.

Heat Transfer Enhancement of Different Channel Geometries Using Nanofluids and Porous Media

In this study, natural convection of heat transfer in various channel geometries with a constant surface area under laminar flow condition has been investigated numerically. Various hot surface temperatures (Th = 35-95°C) have been applied on the surfaces of the channels to investigate four different geometries of annular channels (Circular (C), Square (S), Elliptic (E) and Airfoil (F)) on the heat transfer rate. Once the optimum geometry was exhibited, the effect of three nanofluids (Al2O3/water, CuO/water and SiO2/water) is investigated in the analysis and compared to pure water to enhance the convective heat transfer of the base fluid. Moreover, with these nanofluids, analysis has been performed for three different volume concentrations of nanoparticles of Ø = 2%, 4% and 6% along with 0% (pure water). Porous foams (ε = 0.9 to 0.99) were used in addition to nanofluids to see if heat transfer could be improved. Results indicate that the heat transfer rate was greatly increased when the airfoil geometry was used, with a maximum and minimum increase in heat transfer coefficient of 60% and 46%, respectively. Also, higher nanoparticle of Al2O3 dispersion to the base fluid enhances the heat transfer rate by 15% compared to other nanofluids.

Temperature State of the Electrical Insulation Layer of a Superconducting DC Cable with Double-Sided Cooling

For the reliable operation of a high-voltage DC cable with high-temperature superconducting current-carrying conductors with a sufficiently high difference in electrical potentials, it is necessary to maintain a fixed temperature state not only of the conductors but also of other cable elements, including the electrical insulation layer. In this layer, despite the high electrical resistivity of its material, which can be polymer dielectrics, Joule heat is released. The purpose of this study was to build a mathematical model that describes the temperature state of an electrical insulation layer made in the form of a long hollow circular cylinder, on the surfaces of which a constant potential difference of the electric field is set. Within the study, we consider an alternative design of a cable with central and external annular channels for cooling liquid nitrogen. Using a mathematical model, we obtained integral relations that connect the parameters of the temperature state of this layer, the conditions of heat transfer on its surfaces, and the temperature-dependent coefficient of thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity of an electrical insulating material with a given difference in electrical potentials. A quantitative analysis of integral relations is carried out as applied to the layer of electrical insulation of the superconducting cable. The results of the analysis make it possible to assess the possibilities of using specific electrical insulating materials in cooled high-voltage DC cables under design, including superconducting cables cooled with liquid nitrogen

Numerical and Experimental Analysis of Gas Flow in a Coaxial Nozzle Applied to Directed Energy Deposition (DED)

create a melt pool on the substrate. A nozzle is used to carry metal powder within a gas flow until the melt pool, concentrating the flow at the same point. Coaxial nozzles usually have also a shield gas flow to prevent oxidation and an internal flow to protect the optical system. A right flow configuration must be selected to avoid high turbulence at the nozzle exit, leading to an efficient, inexpensive, and high-quality process. Due to the complexity of the process, CFD – Computer Fluid Dynamics are becoming necessary to understand the behaviour of those gas flows in DED processes. CFD can offer results close to reality and may allow an optimization of the whole nozzle designs, besides selecting the best gas flows for each application. The present work develops a CFD simulation of the gas flow behaviour in a coaxial nozzle with three internal annular channels (internal, carrier and shield). An initial set of gas flow was selected, based on previous experience of the manufacturer, and then improved. It searches for the low gas consumption, to form a focal point coinciding with the laser focus and a low velocity, which favours the deposition quality. To check the accuracy of the proposed CFD model, experimental measurements of gas velocity were performed and compared with simulated results.

Effect of Fin Inclination Angel on Heat Transfer Improvement in an Annular Space of a Rotor Stator

The present work deals with the numerical investigation of forced convection flow and heat transfer in a finned concentric annulus. The outer cylinder is axially finned while the rotating inner cylinder has a smooth surface. Our research focus on the impact of the fin inclination angle on heat transfer enhancement in rotating annular channels. Tests were carried out for different geometrical configurations using fins with inclined angle (α = 30°, 60°, 90° and 120°). Numerical study is based on effective Reynolds number and Taylor number. The results obtained using the code ANSYS-Fluent with SST k-ω turbulence model show a good agreement between the experimental and the numerical results. In the presence of rotational flow (Ta = 1.14 × 106), the results indicate that α =120° is the optimal case which improves significantly the heat and mass transfer inside the finned channel.