Radiative bioconvection nanofluid squeezing flow between rotating circular plates: Semi-numerical study with the DTM-Padé approach

Modern biomedical and tribological systems are increasingly deploying combinations of nanofluids and bioconvecting microorganisms which enable improved control of thermal management. Motivated by these developments, in this study, a new mathematical model is developed for the combined nanofluid bioconvection axisymmetric squeezing flow between rotating circular plates (an important configuration in, for example, rotating bioreactors and lubrication systems). The Buongiorno two-component nanoscale model is deployed, and swimming gyrotactic microorganisms are considered which do not interact with the nanoparticles. Thermal radiation is also included, and a Rosseland diffusion flux approximation is utilized. Appropriate similarity transformations are implemented to transform the nonlinear, coupled partial differential conservation equations for mass, momentum, energy, nanoparticle species and motile microorganism species under suitable boundary conditions from a cylindrical coordinate system into a dimensionless nonlinear ordinary differential boundary value problem. An efficient scheme known as differential transform method (DTM) combined with Padé-approximations is then applied to solve the emerging nonlinear similarity equations. The impact of different non-dimensional parameters i.e. squeezing Reynolds number, rotational Reynolds number, Prandtl number, thermophoresis parameter, Brownian dynamics parameter, thermal radiation parameter, Schmidt number, bioconvection number and Péclet number on velocity, temperature, nanoparticle concentration and motile gyrotactic microorganism density number distributions is computed and visualized graphically. The torque effects on both plates, i.e. the lower and the upper plate, are also determined. From the graphical results, it is seen that momentum in the squeezing regime is suppressed clearly as the upper disk approaches the lower disk. This inhibits the axial flow and produces axial flow retardation. Similarly, by enhancing the value of squeezing Reynolds number, the tangential velocity distribution also decreases. More rigorous squeezing clearly therefore also inhibits tangential momentum development in the regime and leads to tangential flow deceleration. Tables are also provided for multiple values of flow parameters. The numerical values obtained by DTM-Padé computation show very good agreement with shooting quadrature. DTM-Padé is shown to be a precise and stable semi-numerical methodology for studying rotating multi-physical flow problems. Radiative heat transfer has an important influence on the transport characteristics. When radiation is neglected, different results are obtained. It is important therefore to include radiative flux in models of rotating bioreactors and squeezing lubrication dual disk damper technologies since high temperatures associated with radiative flux can impact significantly on combined nanofluid bioconvection which enables more accurate prediction of actual thermofluidic characteristics. Corrosion and surface degradation effects may therefore be mitigated in designs.

A Linear Hybrid Concentrated Photovoltaic Solar Collector: A Methodology Proposal of Optical and Thermal Analysis

The photovoltaic cell surface in linear hybrid concentrated solar collectors receives non-uniform radiative flux, causing additional thermal stress due to hot spots and reducing its electrical performance and durability. The current study proposes a parametric methodology to determine the optimal receiver displacement required in a linear Cassegrain-type hybrid solar collector. The aim was to achieve a minimal non-uniformity distribution and a high radiative flux over the photovoltaic cells, considering optical errors close to real environment conditions and analyzing the heat transfer to determine the electrical and thermal efficiencies. The developed methodology was applied to analyze a case study with a receiver width of 0.125 m and rim angle of 80° and using a commercial silicon photovoltaic cell that supports up to 7000 W/m2. After applying the methodology, a hybrid solar collector with a concentration ratio of 13.0 and receiver displacement of 0.14 m is recommended. As a result, 5728 W/m2 of average radiative flux with non-uniformity lower than 4% was achieved. Thus, thanks to the proposed configuration, a low non-uniformity and high radiative flux were achieved, benefiting the photovoltaic cells’ life while improving their operation.

Significance of heat conduction in binary reactive flow of Walter’s B fluid with radiative flux and activation energy

The prime objective of binary chemical reaction (BCR) is concentrated on the study and optimization of chemical reaction to accomplish finest reactor design and performance, which elaborated the interfaces of flow phenomena, reaction kinetics and heat and mass transport. The reactor performance is likely to be linked to the reaction operating constraints and feed composition through the aforementioned factors. The applications of BCR are generally in the petroleum and petrochemical regions, but with the help of chemical engineering and reaction chemistry concepts, it could be used in different areas, like waste treatment, chemical pharmaceuticals, nanoparticles in advanced materials, microelectronics, enzyme technology, biochemical engineering, living systems, renewable energy systems, sustainable development, environment/pollution prevention, as well as to optimize a different reaction framework via simulation and modeling methodology. Owing such physical applications in mind, this research deals with the binary chemical reactive flow of non-Newtonian fluid (Walter’s B) subject to activation energy. Stagnation point is accounted. Radiative flux and ohmic heating effects are considered in the development of energy expression. Concentration and microorganism equations are considered. The governing system is altered to ordinary one through the important similarity variables. Results are obtained through bvp4c technique. All results are discussed graphically. Furthermore, surface drag force (skin friction) and heat and mass transfer (Nusselt and Sherwood) rates are calculated and displayed graphically. Significant results are listed in conclusion.

Computation of longwave radiative flux and vertical heating rate with 4A-Flux v1.0 as integral part of the radiative transfer code 4A/OP v1.5

Based on advanced spectroscopic databases, line-by-line and layer-by-layer radiative transfer codes numerically solve the radiative transfer equation with a very high accuracy. Taking advantage of its pre-calculated optical depth look-up table, the fast and accurate radiative transfer model Automatized Atmospheric Absorption Atlas OPerational (4A/OP) calculates the transmission and radiance spectra for a user defined layered atmospheric model. Here we present a module, called 4A-Flux, developed and implemented into 4A/OP in order to include the calculation of the clear-sky longwave radiative flux profiles and heating rate profiles at a very high spectral resolution. Calculations are performed under the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium, plane-parallel atmosphere and specular reflection on the surface. The computation takes advantage of pre-tabulated exponential integral functions that are used instead of a classic angular quadrature. Furthermore, the sublayer variation of the Planck function is implemented to better represent the emission of layers with a high optical depth. Thanks to the implementation of 4A-Flux, 4A/OP model have participated in the Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project (RFMIP-IRF) along with other state-of-the-art radiative transfer models. 4A/OP hemispheric flux profiles are compared to other models over the 1800 representative atmospheric situations of RFMIP, yielding an Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) mean difference between 4A/OP and other models of −0.148 W .m−2 and a mean standard deviation of 0.218 W .m−2, showing a good agreement between 4A/OP and other models. 4A/OP is applied to the Thermodynamic Initial Guess Retrieval (TIGR) atmospheric database to analyze the response of the OLR and vertical heating rate to several perturbations of temperature or gas concentration. This work shows that 4A/OP with 4A-Flux module can successfully be used to simulate accurate flux and heating rate profiles and provide useful sensitivity studies including sensitivities to minor trace gases such as HFC134a, HCFC22 and CFC113. We also highlight the interest for the modeling community to extend intercomparison between models to comparisons between spectroscopic databases and modelling to improve the confidence in model simulations.

Radiative Energy Flux Variation from 2001–2020

Radiative energy flux data, downloaded from CERES, are evaluated with respect to their variations from 2001 to 2020. We found the declining outgoing shortwave radiation to be the most important contributor for a positive TOA (top of the atmosphere) net flux of 0.8 W/m2 in this time frame. We compare clear sky with cloudy areas and find that changes in the cloud structure should be the root cause for the shortwave trend. The radiative flux data are compared with ocean heat content data and analyzed in the context of a longer-term climate system enthalpy estimation going back to the year 1750. We also report differences in the trends for the Northern and Southern hemisphere. The radiative data indicate more variability in the North and higher stability in the South. The drop of cloudiness around the millennium by about 1.5% has certainly fostered the positive net radiative flux. The declining TOA SW (out) is the major heating cause (+1.42 W/m2 from 2001 to 2020). It is almost compensated by the growing chilling TOA LW (out) (−1.1 W/m2). This leads together with a reduced incoming solar of −0.17 W/m2 to a small growth of imbalance of 0.15 W/m2. We further present surface flux data which support the strong influence of the cloud cover on the radiative budget.

Top-of-atmosphere albedo bias from neglecting three-dimensional cloud radiative effects

Clouds cover on average nearly 70% of Earth’s surface and regulate the global albedo. The magnitude of the shortwave reflection by clouds depends on their location, optical properties, and three-dimensional (3D) structure. Due to computational limitations, Earth system models are unable to perform 3D radiative transfer calculations. Instead they make assumptions, including the independent column approximation (ICA), that neglect effects of 3D cloud morphology on albedo. We show how the resulting radiative flux bias (ICA-3D) depends on cloud morphology and solar zenith angle. We use high-resolution (20–100 m horizontal resolution) large-eddy simulations to produce realistic 3D cloud fields covering three dominant regimes of low-latitude clouds: shallow cumulus, marine stratocumulus, and deep convective cumulonimbus. A Monte Carlo code is used to run 3D and ICA broadband radiative transfer calculations; we calculate the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflected flux and surface irradiance biases as functions of solar zenith angle for these three cloud regimes. Finally, we use satellite observations of cloud water path (CWP) climatology, and the robust correlation between CWP and TOA flux bias in our LES sample, to roughly estimate the impact of neglecting 3D cloud radiative effects on a global scale. We find that the flux bias is largest at small zenith angles and for deeper clouds, while the albedo bias is most prominent for large zenith angles. In the tropics, the annual-mean shortwave radiative flux bias is estimated to be 3.1±1.6 W m−2, reaching as much as 6.5 W m−2 locally.

A Theory for Analysis of Pulse Electromagnetic Radiation

A theory for analyzing the radiative and reactive energies for pulse radiators in free space is presented. With the proposed definition of reactive energies and radiative energies, power balance at arbitrarily chosen observation surfaces are established, which intuitively shows that the Poynting vector contains not only the power flux density associated with the radiative energies, but also the influence of the fluctuation of the reactive energies dragging by the sources. A new vector is defined for the radiative power flux density. The radiative energies passing through observation surfaces enclosing the radiator are accurately calculated. Numerical results verifies that the proposed radiative flux density is more proper for expressing the radiative power flux density than the Poynting vector.

Simulation of Earth’s Outward Radiative Flux and Its Radiance in Moon-Based View

To study the Earth’s energy balance and to extend exoplanet research, the Earth’s outward radiative flux and its radiance in the Moon-based view were simulated according to the Earth–Sun–Moon geometry model, with the help of ERA5. A framework was developed to identify the angular distribution model (ADM) of Earth’s surface and its scene types, according to the surface and atmospheric data from ERA5. Our simulation shows that the specific viewing geometry controls the periodical variations in the Moon-based view radiative flux and its radiance, which reflect the orbital period of the Moon. The seasonal variations in shortwave and longwave radiative flux follow the energy balance in general, which is probably influenced by the Earth albedo. The derived global ADM would help to identify the anisotropic factor of observations at DSCOVR. Our simulations prove that Moon-based observation is a valuable source for Earth observation and that the orbital information of exoplanets could be derived from the radiance observation.

A Theory for Analysis of Pulse Electromagnetic Radiation

A theory for analyzing the radiative and reactive energies for pulse radiators in free space is presented. With the proposed definition of reactive energies and radiative energies, power balance at arbitrarily chosen observation surfaces are established, which intuitively shows that the Poynting vector contains not only the power flux density associated with the radiative energies, but also the influence of the fluctuation of the reactive energies dragging by the sources. A new vector is defined for the radiative power flux density. The radiative energies passing through observation surfaces enclosing the radiator are accurately calculated. Numerical results verifies that the proposed radiative flux density is more proper for expressing the radiative power flux density than the Poynting vector.