Computational Study of Conjugate Heat Transfer in T-Junctions

Thermal fatigue is a relevant problem in the context of life-time extension of nuclear power plants (NPP). In many piping systems in NPPs hot and cold water is mixed, which leads to high temperature fluctuations in the region close to the solid wall and resulting thermal loads on the pipe walls that can cause fatigue. One of the relevant geometric test cases for thermal fatigue is the mixing in T-junctions. In this study we apply large–eddy simulations (LES) to the mixing of hot and cold water in a T-junction. We perform a set of simulations by using different formulations of the LES subgrid scale model, i.e. standard Smagorinsky and dynamic procedure, to identify the influence of the modelled subgrid scales on the simulation results. The results exhibit a large difference between the models, which is caused by the use of turbulent viscosity wall–damping functions when applying the standard model.

A Meshless Finite Difference Method for Conjugate Heat Conduction Problems

In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in developing meshless methods for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) applications. In this paper, a meshless finite difference method is developed for solving conjugate heat transfer problems in complex geometries. Traditional finite difference methods (FDMs) have been restricted to an orthogonal or a body-fitted distribution of points. However, the Taylor series upon which the FDM is based is valid at any location in the neighborhood of the point about which the expansion is carried out. Exploiting this fact, and starting with an unstructured distribution of mesh points, derivatives are evaluated using a weighted least squares procedure. The system of equations that results from this discretization can be represented by a sparse matrix. This system is solved with an algebraic multigrid (AMG) solver. The implementation of Neumann, Dirichlet and mixed boundary conditions within this framework is described, as well as the handling of conjugate heat transfer. The method is verified through application to classical heat conduction problems with known analytical solutions. It is then applied to the solution of conjugate heat transfer problems in complex geometries, and the solutions so obtained are compared with more conventional unstructured finite volume methods. Metrics for accuracy are provided and future extensions are discussed.

Investigation of Airflow and Temperature Distribution in the Freezer Cabinet of a Domestic No-Frost Refrigerator

Uniformity of temperature distribution in a loaded freezer cabinet is one of the most important factors affecting energy consumption of a refrigerator. Present study focuses on the airflow behavior and the temperature distribution inside the freezer compartment of a domestic no-frost refrigerator. Energy consumption increases in a freezer cabinet if the temperature difference between the warmest load package and average of all packages is high. The objective is to reduce the energy consumption by providing a uniform temperature distribution and also to keep the food fresh for a longer time. In this study, the air flow and heat transfer during on-time and off-time periods inside the freezer compartment is modeled by considering turbulent and laminar flow conditions in 3D transient CFD analyses. The initial and boundary conditions are provided from temperature controlled room and PIV measurements. The CFD analyses obtained are verified by experimental measurements.

Numerical Simulation of Magneto-Convection in an Enclosure

Natural-convection flow in the presence of a magnetic field in an enclosure heated from bottom and cooled from top is considered. The fluid (molten sodium) properties are function of temperature. To solve the governing non-linear differential equations (mass, momentum and energy) a finite volume code based on PATANKAR’s SIMPLER method is utilized. The results for different Rayleigh and Hartmann numbers show that the strength of the magnetic field has significant effects on the flow and temperature fields. The convection becomes stronger as the Rayleigh number increases while the magnetic field suppresses the convective flow and the heat transfer rate. When the magnetic field is weak and the Rayleigh number is high, the convection is dominant.

A Numerical Investigation of Automobile Environment Through Cooling Period and Condensation

Understanding the fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics within a vehicle compartment is very important for controlling the effect of major design parameters. Also, adequate visibility through the vehicle windshield over the entire driving period is of paramount practical significance. The numerical solution was done by an operation friendly, fast and accurate CFD code — SC/Tetra with a full scale model of a SM3 car and turbulence was modeled by the standard k-ε equation. Numerical analysis of the three-dimensional model predicts a detailed description of fluid flow and temperature distribution in the passenger compartment and on the inside windshield screen. During the cooling period, the lowest temperature is observed in the lower part of the windshield and in the vicinity of the defroster griller. It was found that the temperature dropped down to a comfortable range almost linearly at the initial stage. The initial period to achieve this comfortable range is dependent on the inlet velocity. Experimental investigations are performed to determine the localized thermal comfort and further validation of the numerical results.

Transient Energy and Heat Transport in Metals

A recently developed Shastry formalism for energy transport is used to analyze the temporal behavior of the energy and heat transport in metals. Comparison with Cattaneo’s equation is performed. Both models show the transition between ballistic and diffusive regimes. Furthermore, because the new model considers the discrete character of the lattice, it highlights some new phenomena such as oscillations in the energy transport at very short time scales. The energy relaxation of the conduction band electrons in metals is considered to be governed by the electron-phonon scattering, and the scattering time is taken to be averaged over the Fermi surface. Using the new formalism, one can quantify the transfer from ballistic modes to diffusive ones as energy propagates in the material and it is transformed into heat. While the diffusive contribution shows an almost exponentially decaying behavior with time, the non-diffusive part shows a damped oscillating behavior. The origin of this oscillation will be discussed as well as the effect of temperature on the dynamics of the energy modes transport.

Total Temperature Measurements of Gaseous Flow at Micro-Tube Outlet

This paper presents experimental results on heat transfer characteristics of gaseous flow in a micro-tube with constant wall temperature. The experiment was performed for nitrogen gas flow through a micro-tube with 166 micro meters in diameter and 50mm in length. The wall temperature was maintained at 305K, 310K, 330K and 350K by circulating water around the micro-tube, respectively. The stagnation pressure is chosen in such a way that the exit Mach number ranges from 0.1 to 1.0. The outlet pressure was fixed at the atmospheric condition. The total temperature at the outlet, the inlet stagnation temperature, the mass flow rate, and the inlet pressure were measured. The numerical computations based on the Aribitary - Langrangian - Eulerian (ALE) method were also performed for the same cases of the experiment for validation of numerical computation. The both results are in excellent agreement. The total temperatures obtained by the present study are slightly higher than those of the incompressible flow. This is due to the additional heat transfer near the micro-tube outlet caused by the temperature decrease due to the energy conversion into the kinetic energy. A quantitative correlation for the prediction of the heat transfer rate of the gaseous flow in a micro-tube was proposed.

A Numerical Study of the Thermal Performance of Two Stationary Insert Designs in Internal Compressible Flows

Enhancement of the natural and forced convection heat transfer has been the subject of numerous academic and industrial studies. Air blenders, mechanical agitators, and static mixers have been developed to increase the forced convection heat transfer rate in compressible and incompressible flows. Stationary inserts can be efficiently employed as heat transfer enhancement devices in the natural convection systems. Generally, a stationary heat transfer enhancement insert consists of a number of equal motionless segments, placed inside of a pipe in order to control flowing fluid streams. These devices have low maintenance and operating costs, low space requirements and no moving parts. A range of designs exists for a wide range of specific applications. The shape of the elements determines the character of the fluid motion and thus determines thermal effectiveness of the insert. There are several key parameters that may be considered in the design procedure of a heat transfer enhancement insert, which lead to significant differences in the performance of various designs. An ideal insert, for natural conventional heat transfer in compressible flow applications, provides a higher rate of heat transfer and a thermally homogenous fluid with minimized pressure drop and required space. To choose an insert for a given application or in order to design a new insert, besides experimentation, it is possible to use Computational Fluid Dynamics to study the insert performance. This paper presents the outcomes of the numerical studies on industrial stationary heat transfer enhancement inserts and illustrates how a heat transfer enhancement insert can improve the heat transfer in buoyancy driven compressible flows. Using different measuring tools, thermal performance of two different inserts (twisted and helix) are studied. It is shown that the helix design leads to a higher rate of heat transfer, while causes a lower pressure drop in the flowfield, suggesting the insert effectiveness is higher for the helix design, compared to a twisted plate.

Forced Convection Between a Wire and an Upward Flow Slot Submerged Jet: Preliminary Results

Heat transfer from a platinum wire 0.2 mm. in dia., heated by Joule effect, to an impinging upward flow submerged slot jet of distilled water is studied in two–phase conditions. A new experimental apparatus is built for this experimental activity. Different geometrical configurations were investigated in order to find out which of them could maximize the heat transfer coefficient. Its dependence on some parameters as jet velocity, heat flux and distance between exit jet and wire is also examined. In the future the results of this paper will be compared with the previous ones presented in literature, referred to cylinders of one size order bigger than the platinum wire and the same slot, all parameters being equal.

Toward the Detailed Simulation of the Heat Transfer Processes in Unsaturated Porous Media

Trickle bed chemical reactors and equipment used to cool horticultural produce usually involve three phase porous media. The fluid dynamics and heat transfer processes that occur in such equipment are generally quantified by means of empirical relationships between dimensionless groups. The research reported in this paper is motivated by the possibility of using detailed numerical simulations of the phenomena that occur in beds of irrigated porous media to obviate the need for empirical correlations. Numerical predictions are obtained using a CFD code (FLUENT) for 2-D configurations of three cylinders. Local and mean heat transfer coefficients around these non-contacting horizontal cylinders are calculated numerically. The present results compare well with those available in the literature. The numerical results provide an insight into the cooling mechanisms within beds of unsaturated porous media.