Numerical Investigation of Multi-Scale Mixing in Microchannel T-Junction With Wavy Structure

Mixing in chemical microreactors is a multi-scale processes as the transport mechanisms occur at different length scales. The small scale mixing depends mainly on molecular diffusion which causes conventional microchannel T-junction has poor mixing quality. To improve the quality, one can utilize secondary flow generated by wavy structure to enhance chaotic mixing. To gain better understanding of the interplay of transport mechanism, we develop numerical model for mixing in micro-channel T-junction with wavy structure. To ensure robust and accurate solutions, several discretization methods and mesh sizes were tested and compared. It is found that the solutions are sensitive to the Reynolds; huge amount of mesh (>107) is required to resolve small molecular diffusion and chaotic mixing especially at high Schmidt number, whilst relatively lesser mesh is found to be sufficient for conventional T-junction. Further, parallelization is found to be beneficial to expedite the computation, albeit the speed is not linear with the number of the processors. The mixing quality of T-junction with wavy structure is then compared with that of conventional T-junction counterpart. It is noted that up to 50% improvement of mixing quality is achieved with wavy structure which has potential for several applications.

Novel Turbine Endwall Contours for the Reduction of Heat Transfer Generated Using the Ice Formation Method

Three-dimensional contouring of vane endwalls has proven to be an efficient method for reducing aerodynamic losses or, respectively, endwall heat transfer by active manipulation of the complex vortical flow structures in the vane passage. The present study shows the application of the Ice Formation Method for endwall contouring of a guide vane row with the goal of reducing endwall heat transfer. Endwall contours for the guide vane row of a low pressure turbine are experimentally generated in form of ice contours and evaluated with respect to their heat transfer behavior. A comparison with the flat plate showed that average heat transfer is considerably reduced for the ice-contoured endwalls with reductions up to 42%. The generated endwall contours were also digitized and used in numerical simulations. The latter allowed for a comparison of endwall heat transfer for the novel contours with the heat transfer for a flat, uncontoured endwall. This showed that the new endwall contours also feature decreased average heat transfer compared to the flat endwall with the maximum obtained reduction being 12%.

Modeling Approaches to Accurately Predict Minimum Fluidization Characteristics of Gas-Solid Fluidized Beds

The hydrodynamics of fluidized beds involving gas and particle interactions are very complex and must be carefully considered when using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Modeling particle interactions are even more challenging for binary mixtures composed of varying particle characteristics such as diameter or density. One issue is the presence of dead-zones, regions of particles that do not fluidize and accumulate at the bottom, affecting uniform fluidization. In Eulerian-Eulerian modeling, the solid phase is assumed to behave like a fluid and the presence of dead zones are not typically captured in a simulation. Instead, the entire bed mass present in an experiment is modeled, which assumes full fluidization. The paper will present modeling approaches that account for only the fluidizing mass by adjusting the initial mass present in the bed using pressure drop and minimum fluidization velocity from experiments. In order to demonstrate the fidelity of the new modeling approach, different bed materials are examined. Binary mixture models are also validated for two types of mixtures consisting of glass-ceramic and ceramic-ceramic compositions. It will be shown that adjusting the mass in the modeling of fluidized beds best represents the measured quantities of an experiment for both single-phase and binary mixtures.

Periodic Forced Convection in a Darcy Metallic Foam: The LTNE Model

The present paper studies the thermal entrance region in a concentric annular duct filled by a fluid saturated porous metallic foam, with reference to steady forced convection and to a thermal boundary condition given by a wall temperature longitudinally varying with a sinusoidal law. The effect of viscous dissipation in the fluid is taken into account, and a two-temperature model is employed in order to evaluate separately the local fluid and solid matrix temperatures. The governing equations in the thermal entrance region are solved numerically by the method of lines. The Nusselt numer and its mean value in an axial period is evaluated, with reference both to the inner and the outer boundary.

A Numerical Study of the Effect of an Irradiated Slatted Top Down – Bottom Up Blind on the Convective Heat Transfer Rate From a Recessed Window to an Adjacent Room

Top Down – Bottom Up blinds have become quite popular in recent times. However the effects of such blind systems on the convective heat transfer from the window to the surrounding room have not been extensively studied and the effect of solar irradiation of the blind on the window heat transfer has not received significant attention. The purpose of the present work was therefore to numerically investigate the effect of solar irradiation of Top Down – Bottom Up slatted blinds on this convective heat transfer. An approximate model of the window-blind system has been adopted. The solar radiation falling on the blinds is assumed to produce a uniform rate of heat generation in the blind. The Boussinesq approximation has been used. Radiant heat transfer effects have been neglected. Conditions under which laminar, transitional and turbulent flows occur have been considered. The main emphasis is on the effect of the magnitude of the irradiation and of the size of the blind openings at the top and bottom of the window on the convective heat transfer rate from the window to the room.

A Fundamental View of the Flow Boiling Heat Transfer Characteristics of Nano-Refrigerants

Driven by higher energy efficiency targets and industrial needs of process intensification and miniaturization, nanofluids have been proposed in energy conversion, power generation, chemical, electronic cooling, biological, and environmental systems. In space conditioning and in cooling systems for high power density electronics, vapor compression cycles provide cooling. The working fluid is a refrigerant and oil mixture. A small amount of lubricating oil is needed to lubricate and to seal the sliding parts of the compressors. In heat exchangers the oil in excess penalizes the heat transfer and increases the flow losses: both effects are highly undesired but yet unavoidable. This paper studies the heat transfer characteristics of nanorefrigerants, a new class of nanofluids defined as refrigerant and lubricant mixtures in which nano-size particles are dispersed in the high-viscosity liquid phase. The heat transfer coefficient is strongly governed by the viscous film excess layer that resides at the wall surface. In the state-of-the-art knowledge, while nanoparticles in the refrigerant and lubricant mixtures were recently experimentally studied and yielded convective in-tube flow boiling heat transfer enhancements by as much as 101%, the interactions of nanoparticles with the mixture still pose several open questions. The model developed in this work suggested that the nanoparticles in this excess layer generate a micro-convective mass flux transverse to the flow direction that augments the thermal energy transport within the oil film in addition to the macroscopic heat conduction and fluid convection effects. The nanoparticles motion in the shearing-induced and non-uniform shear rate field is added to the motion of the nanoparticles due to their own Brownian diffusion. The augmentation of the liquid phase thermal conductivity was predicted by the developed model but alone it did not fully explain the intensification on the two-phase flow boiling heat transfer coefficient reported in previous work in the literature. Thus, additional nano- and micro-scale heat transfer intensification mechanisms were proposed.

Computational Analysis of Mixing in a Gas Turbine Combustor

This paper presents the computational analysis of the dilution process involved in gas turbines order to cool the combustion gases to the desired temperature before it enters the turbine. Here, it should be noted that in order to focus only on the dilution process, non-reacting flow conditions were simulated and the complete system was reduced to mixing of a primary (hot) stream and dilution (cold) stream of air. Four different schemes were investigated based on the layout of the dilution holes and use of a blunt body. A complete three dimensional analysis was carried out for each case in order to investigate its effectiveness to produce a more uniform temperature conditions at the exit of the combustor, so as to reduce the detrimental effect these temperature non-uniformities have on the turbine blades. For comparison of the proposed schemes, a parameter is defined in terms of the temperatures of the dilution and primary flow streams at the inlet and the exit plane, called the mixture fraction. Based on this parameter, it was found that the staggered dilution holes with the blunt body has the mixture fraction closest to the equilibrium mixture fraction (0.4), which implies that this scheme with the mixture fraction of 0.36, resulted in best mixing and produced the most uniform temperature distribution at the exit amongst the four proposed schemes.

Experimental Investigation of a Desiccant Wheel Cycle

In hot and humid regions, removal of moisture from the air represents a considerable portion of the air conditioning load. Conventionally, air conditioning systems have to lower the air temperature below its dew point to accomplish dehumidification. Desiccant air conditioners offer a solution to meet the humidity and temperature requirements of buildings via decoupling latent and sensible loads. In this work, the performance of a new desiccant material is investigated experimentally. This desiccant material can be regenerated using a low temperature heat source, as low as 45°C. It also has a unique S-shape isotherm. The effects of the process air stream’s temperature and humidity, the regeneration temperature, the ventilation mass flow rate, and the desiccant wheel’s rotational speed on the cycle performance are investigated. ARI-humid conditions are used as a baseline and the moisture mass balance is maintained within 5%. The results are presented in terms of the moisture removal rate and latent coefficient of performance (COPlat). The results show a desiccant wheel’s COPlat higher than unity when it is coupled with an enthalpy wheel.

Passive Heat Transfer in Porous Enclosures Using a Two-Energy Equation Model

This paper presents computations for natural convection within a porous cavity filled with a fluid saturated permeable medium. The finite volume method in a generalized coordinate system is applied. The walls are maintained at constant but different temperatures, while the horizontal walls are kept insulated. Governing equations are written in terms of primitive variables and are recast into a general form. Flow and heat transfer characteristics are investigated for two energy models and distinct solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratio.

Jet-to-Plate Distance Effect on Heat Transfer From a Flat Plate to an Impinging Jet at Various Reynolds Numbers

Local turbulent convective heat transfer from a flat plate to a circular impinging air jet is numerically investigated. The jet-to-plate distance (L/D) effect on local heat transfer is the main focus of this study. The eddy viscosity V2F turbulence model is used with a nonuniform structured mesh. Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS) and the energy equation are solved for axisymmetric, three-dimensional flow. The numerical solutions obtained are compared with published experimental data. Four jet-to-plate distances, (L/D = 2, 4, 6 and 10) and seven Reynolds numbers (Re = 7,000, 15,000, 23,000, 50,000, 70,000, 100,000 and 120,000) were parametrically studied. Local and average heat transfer results are analyzed and correlated with Reynolds number and the jet-to-plate distance. Results show that the numerical solutions matched experimental data best at low jet-to-plate distances and lower Reynolds numbers, decreasing in ability to accurately predict the heat transfer as jet-to-plate distance and Reynolds number was increased.