The Effects of Spraying Parameters on Spray Cooling Heat Transfer Performance in the Non-Boiling Regime

Experiments were conducted in a closed loop spray cooling system working with deionized water as a working fluid. This study was performed to investigate the effect of the spraying parameters, such as Sauter mean diameter (SMD), the droplet velocity, and the residual velocity on the spray cooling heat transfer in the non-boiling region. Thermal effects on plain and modified surfaces with circular grooves were examined under different operating conditions. The inlet pressure of the working fluid was varied from 78.6 kPa to 183.515kPa, and the inlet temperature was kept between 21–22 °C. The distance between the nozzle and the target surface 10 mm. The results showed that increasing the coolant inlet pressure increases the droplet velocity and the number of droplets produced while decreasing the droplet size. As a consequence of these changes, increasing inlet pressure improved the heat transfer characteristics of both surfaces.

A Numerical Study of Diffusion of Nanoparticles in a Viscous Medium During Solidification

In the field of additive manufacturing process, laser cladding is widely considered due to its cost effectiveness, small localized heat generation and full fusion to metals. Introducing nanoparticles with cladding metals produces metal matrix nanocomposites which in turn improves the material characteristics of the clad layer. The strength of the laser cladded reinforced metal matrix composite are dependent on the location and concentration of the nanoparticles infused in metals. The governing equations that control the fluid flow are standard incompressible Navier-Stokes and heat diffusion equation whereas the Euler-Lagrange approach has been considered for particle tracking. The mathematical formulation for solidification is adopted based on enthalpy porosity method. Liquid titanium has been considered as the initial condition where particle distribution has been assumed uniform throughout the geometry. During the solidification process of liquid titanium, particle flow and distribution has been observed until the entire geometry solidified. A numerical model implemented in a commercial software based on control volume method has been developed that allows to simulate the fluid flow during solidification as well as tracking nanoparticles during this process. The influence of the free surface of the melt pool has a high importance on the fluid flow as well as the influence of pure natural convection. Thus both buoyancy and Marangoni convection have been considered in terms of fluid flow in the molten region. A detailed parametric study has been conducted by changing the Marangoni number, convection heat transfer coefficient, constant temperature below the melting point of titanium and insulated boundary conditions to analyze the behavior of the nanoparticle movement. With the change in Marangoni number and solidification time, a significant change in particle distribution has been observed. The influence of increase in Marangoni number results in a higher concentration of nanoparticles in some portions of the geometry and lack of nanoparticles in rest of the geometry. The high concentration of nanoparticles decrease with a decrease in Marangoni number. Furthermore, an increase in the rate of solidification time limits the nanoparticle movement from its original position which results in different distribution patterns with respect to the solidification time.

Flow Resistance Characteristics of a Specific Fuel RP-3 in Helical Tubes at Supercritical Pressure With Uniform Heat Flux

The flow resistance characteristics of aviation kerosene RP-3 in horizontal helical tubes at the supercritical pressure under heating condition are investigated. Both pressure drop and friction factor were examined under uniform heat flux of 50kW/m2−300kW/m2, mass flux from 786kg/m2s to 1375kg/m2s, and helical diameter from 20mm to 40mm. The influence of viscous factors on the resistance is analyzed to explore flow characteristics in a helical tube and provide a reference for the design of heat exchangers. Friction factor decreases with the increase of heat flux at low inlet temperatures 323K and 423K. It is explained that the viscosity changes more dramatically than the density. When the fluid inlet temperature is 523K and the fluid mean temperature Tb is close to pseudo-critical temperature, frictional flow resistance becomes significantly larger Tpc due to huge variations in thermal properties in the radical direction. The effect of centrifugal force makes the friction factor decline slowly. The friction factor goes up with the enlargement of mass flux when Tb>0.81Tpc. This phenomenon is caused by the larger radial velocity gradient under the large mass flux. Different helical diameters play the leading roles for the bending flow in the tubes.

Micropolar Fluid Flow Between Two Inclined Parallel Plates

In this study, the hydrodynamic characteristics are investigated for magneto-micropolar fluid flow through an inclined channel of parallel plates with constant pressure gradient. The lower plate is maintained at constant temperature and upper plate at a constant heat flux. The governing equations which are continuity, momentum and energy are are solved numerically by Explicit Runge-Kutta. The effect of characteristic parameters is discussed on velocity and microrotation in different diagrams. The nonlinear parameter affected the velocity microrotation diagrams. An increase in the value of Hartmann number slows down the movement of the fluid in the channel. The application of the magnetic field induces resistive force acting in the opposite direction of the flow, thus causing its deceleration. Also the effect of pressure gradient is investigated on velocity and microrotation in different diagrams.

Study of Electrostatic-Induced Jumping Droplets on Superhydrophobic Surfaces

Condensation of water vapor is an important process utilized in energy/thermal/fluid systems. When droplets coalesce on the non-wetting surface, excess surface energy converts to kinetic energy leading to self-propelled jumping of merged droplets. This coalescing-jumping-droplet condensation can better enhance heat transfer compared to classical dropwise condensation and filmwise condensation. However, the resistance force can cause droplets to return to the surface. These returning droplets can either coalesce with neighboring droplets and jump again, or adhere to the surface. As time passes, these adhering droplets can become larger leading to progressive flooding on the surface, limiting heat transfer performance. However, an electric field is known to be one of the effective methods to prevent droplet return and to address the progressive flooding issue. Therefore, in this study, an experiment is set up to investigate the effects of applied electrical voltages between two parallel copper plates on the jumping height with respect to the droplet radius and to determine the average charge of coalescing-jumping-droplets. Moreover, the gravitational force, the drag force, the inertia force and the electrostatic force as a function of the droplet radius are also discussed. The gap width of 7.5 mm and the electrical voltages of 50 V, 100 V and 150 V are experimentally investigated. Droplet motions are captured with a high-speed camera and analyzed in sequential frames. The results of the study show that the applied electrical voltage between the two plates can reduce the resistance force due to the droplet’s inertia and can increase the effects of the electrostatic force. This results in greater jumping heights and the jumping phenomenon of some bigger-sized droplets. With the same droplet radius, the greater the applied electrical voltage, the higher the coalescing droplet can jump. This work can be utilized in several applications such as self-cleaning, thermal diodes, anti-icing and condensation heat transfer enhancement.

Condensation of Low-Surface-Tension Fluids on Microstructured Surfaces at Low Temperature

Filmwise condensation of a low surface tension fluid (i.e. refrigerant) on microstructured aluminum surfaces is studied to investigate the effect of the structures on condensation heat transfer at low temperature. The hypothesis is that the structures may cause thinning of the condensate film at micro-scales, thus resulting in an enhancement of condensation heat transfer. However, the structures may also decrease the mobility of the condensate near the surface due to increased friction, thus potentially leading to performance deterioration. The aim of this work is to investigate which of the two counteracting mechanisms dominate during filmwise condensation. Condensation experiments are carried out in a low-temperature vacuum chamber. Compared with the Nusselt model of condensation, the microstructured surfaces, either coated or uncoated, show similar performance, with potentially slight enhancement at low subcooling degree and slight deterioration at high subcooling degree. When the microstructured and silane-coated surface is infused with a non-volatile and very low-surface-tension lubricant oil, the lubricant is displaced by the condensate and there is almost no change in the condensation performance. Our results show that, unlike the case of dropwise condensation of high-surface tension fluids, microstructured and coated surfaces with/without infusing oil is not exciting to enhanced filmwise condensation of low-surface-tension fluids.

Heat Transfer Technology to Convert Plastic Trash to Oil

In modern society, plastic waste has become a serious environmental issue. The inability of most hydrocarbon based plastics to naturally decompose quickly causes concern. The material piles up in landfills, waterways, and along the side of the road. One way to combat this issue is the repurposing of the material. Plastic can be converted back into oil (called pyrolysis) and refined to produce fuels. To attempt this, a custom-built steel reactor is to be filled with waste plastic, and will be heated to the plastic’s boiling point in an inert (N2) environment. The resulting vapor will be recondensed in a specially designed heat exchanger, resulting in oil, wax, and gaseous byproducts. The oil and waxes are collected in one container, and the gases are collected in a separate container. The system will require the use of thermocouples and a feedback loop to properly control temperature. The results are expected to show a correlation between plastic type and resulting byproduct composition with Grade 1 plastics producing the most gas. In addition, faster heating rates, larger plastic particle size, and higher temperatures should increase gaseous products. This may aid in the creation of commercial/industrial sized pyrolysis systems.

Injection Angle Influence of Secondary Holes on the Enhancement of Film Cooling Effectiveness With Horn-Shaped or Cylindrical Primary Holes

Secondary holes to a main film cooling hole are used to improve film cooling performance by creating anti-kidney vortices. The effects of injection angle of the secondary holes on both film cooling effectiveness and surrounding thermal and flow fields are investigated in this numerical study. Two kinds of primary hole shapes are adopted. One is a cylindrical hole, the other is a horn-shaped hole which is designed from a cylindrical hole by expanding the hole in the transverse direction to double the hole size at the exit. Two smaller cylindrical holes, the secondary holes, are located symmetrically about the centerline and downstream of the primary hole. Three compound injection angles (α = 30°, 45° and 60°, β = 30°) of the secondary holes are analyzed while the injection angle of the primary hole is kept at 45°. Cases with various blowing ratios are computed. It is shown from the simulation that cooling effectiveness of secondary holes with a horn-shaped primary hole is better than that with a cylindrical primary hole, especially at high blowing ratios. With a cylindrical primary hole, increasing inclination angle of the secondary holes provides better cooling effectiveness because the anti-kidney vortices created by shallow secondary holes cannot counteract the kidney vortex pairs adequately, enhancing mixing of main flow and coolant. For secondary holes with a horn-shaped primary hole, large secondary hole inclination angles provide better cooling performance at low blowing ratios; but, at high blowing ratios, secondary holes with small inclination angles are more effective, as the film coverage becomes wider in the downstream area.

Experimental and Numerical Study of Water Distillation Performance of Small-Scale Direct Contact Membrane Distillation System

A small-scale Direct Contact Membrane Distillation (DCMD) system was built to investigate its water distillation performance for varying inlet temperatures and flow rates of feed and permeate streams, and salinity. A counterflow configuration between the feed and permeate streams was used to achieve an efficient heat exchange. A two-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was developed and validated using the experimental results. The numerical results were compared with the experiments and found to be in good agreement. From this study, the most desirable conditions for distilled water production were found to be a higher feed water temperature, lower permeate temperature, higher flow rate and less salinity. The feed water temperature had a greater impact on the water production than the permeate water temperature. The numerical simulation showed that the water mass flux was maximum at the inlet of the feed stream where the feed temperature was the highest and rapidly decreased as the feed temperature decreased.

Measurements and Numerical Simulations of Heat Transfer and Pressure Drop in a Duct With Smooth Walls

Accurate measurements of heat transfer and pressure drop play important roles in thermal designs in a variety of pipes and ducts. In this study, the convective heat transfer coefficient was measured with a semi-local surface average based on Newton’s Law of cooling. Flow and heat transfer data for different Reynolds numbers were collected and compared in a duct with smooth walls. Pressure drop was measured with a pressure transducer from OMEGA Engineering Inc. The experimental results were compared with numerical estimations generated in ANSYS Fluent. Fluent contains the broad physical modeling capabilities needed to model heat transfer and pressure drop in the duct. Thermal conduction and convection in the three-dimensional (3D) duct are simulated together. Special cares for selecting the viscosity models and the near-wall treatments are discussed. The goal of the paper is to find appropriate numerical models for simulating heat conduction, heat convection and pressure drop in the duct with different Reynolds numbers. The relationship between the heat transfer coefficient and Reynolds numbers is discussed. Heat flux and inlet temperature measured in the experiment are applied to the boundary conditions. The study provides the unique opportunity to verify the accuracy of numerical models on heat transfer and pressure drop in ANSYS Fluent.