Numerical Simulation on Melting and Solidification of a Phase-Change Material in an Aluminum Plate-Fin Thermal Storage

The numerical simulation on melting and solidification process of a phase-change material (PCM) in an aluminum plate-fin thermal storage was performed in this paper. The phase-change material-naphthalene was stored in the stacked passages with fins while water flew along other adjacent passages with fins as the heat transfer fluid (HTF). The PCM stored or released a large amount of heat during melting or solidification. A three-dimensional numerical model was performed to investigate the effect of flow parameters (inlet temperature and flow velocity of HTF) on the melting and solidification time. The results indicated that the rate of phase change was strongly dependent on the inlet temperature and flow velocity of HTF during storing or releasing heat. And the detail description of solidification process were discussed and presented.

Direct Numerical Simulation of EHD-Enhanced Film Boiling

In applications involving boiling in micro-devices or under microgravity conditions it is extremely desirable to enhance the heat transfer rate to increase the efficiency of these systems. Here, a possible mechanism is to increase the convective effects by application of an electric field on the bulk of the fluid. While the enhancement of heat and mass transfer by electric field has been known for decades, a fundamental understanding of the problem is still lacking, primarily due to the difficulties in conduct of experimental studies. Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) opens up enormous possibilities for detailed understanding of EHD-enhanced film boiling. Such simulations can make it possible to capture the dynamics of the boiling flows. Here, we present a front tracking/finite difference algorithm, in conjunction with a leaky-dielectric electrohydrodynamic (EHD) model, to study EHD-enhanced film boiling on horizontal surfaces. According to this study, the bubble shape and its frequency of release are highly dependent on the dielectric properties of fluid, and electric field strength. Our results show an improvement of about 50% in the Nu number over that of the regular boiling in the range of parameters that are explored here.

Dependence of Heat Transfer Coefficient on Porous Structure in Porous Media

Detailed heat transfer characteristics of particle-sintered porous media and metal foams are evaluated to specify the important structural parameters suitable for high heat removal. The porous media used in this experiment are particle-sintered porous media made of bronze and SUS316L, and metal foams made of copper and nickel. Cooling water flows into the porous medium opposite to heat flux input loaded by a plasma arcjet. The result indicates that the bronze-particle porous medium of 100μm in pore size shows the highest performance and achieves heat transfer coefficient of 0.035MW/m2K at inlet heat flux 4.6MW/m2. Compared with the heat transfer performance of copper fiber-sintered porous media, the bronze particlesintered ones give lower heat transfer coefficient. However, the stable cooling conditions that the heat transfer coefficient does not depend on the flow velocity, were confirmed even at heat flux of 4.6MW/m2 in case of the bronze particle-sintered media, while not in the case of the copper-fiber sintered media. This signifies the possibility that the bronze-particle sintered media enable much higher heat flux removal of over 10MW/m2, which could be caused by higher permeability of the particle-sintered pore structures. Porous media with high permeability provide high performance of vapor evacuation, which leads to more stable heat removal even under extremely high heat flux. On the other hand, the heat transfer coefficient of the metal foams becomes lower because of the lower capillary and fin effects caused by too high porosity and low effective thermal conductivity. It is concluded that the pore structure having high performance of vapor evacuation as well as the high capillary and high fin effects is appropriate for extremely high heat flux removal of over 10MW/m2.

Pin-Fin Heat Sink With Horizontal Base and Blocked Edges

In the present work, horizontal-base pin fin heat sinks exposed to free convection in air are studied. They are made of aluminum, and there is no contact resistance between the base and the fins. For the same base dimensions the fin height and pitch vary. The fins have a constant square cross-section. The edges of the sink are blocked: the surrounding insulation is flush with the fin tips. The effect of fin height and pitch on the performance of the sink is studied experimentally and numerically. In the experiments, the heat sinks are heated using foil electrical heaters. The heat input is set, and temperatures of the base and fins are measured. In the corresponding numerical study, the sinks and their environment are modeled using the Fluent 6 software. The results show that heat transfer enhancement due to the fins is not monotonic. The differences between sparsely and densely populated sinks are analyzed for various fin heights. Also assessed are effects of the blocked edges as compared to the previously studied cases where the sink edges were exposed to the surroundings.

Heat Transfer Enhancement in Triangular Fin

Fins are widely utilized in many industrial applications for example, fins are used in air cooled finned tube heat exchangers like car radiators, heat rejection devices, refrigeration systems and in condensing central heat exchangers. In this paper, heat transfer inside the fin system composed of a primary rectangular fin with a number of rectangular fins (secondary fins), which are attached on its surface, is modeled and analyzed numerically. The length of the secondary fins decreases linearly from the base of the primary fin to its tip. This modified triangular fin is a kind of improved tree fin networks. The effectiveness of the modified triangular fin is compared with the effectiveness of triangular fin which is calculated analytically. The results show that adding secondary fins increases the effectiveness of triangular fin significantly. Also, it is found that increasing the number of secondary fins in a constant length of primary fin will increase the effectiveness. In addition, by comparing the results it can be concluded that by shortening the length of the primary fin in modified triangular fin, the effectiveness will increase significantly to the contrary of the triangular fin, so smaller heat exchangers can be built by using the modified triangular fin. It is found that in a constant length of primary fin, there is an optimum thickness of secondary fins which maximize the effectiveness of the fin.

Large Eddy Simulation of the Heat Transfer Due to Swirling and Non-Swirling Jet Impingement

Turbulent impinging jet is a complex flow phenomenon involving free jet, impingement and subsequent wall jet development zones; this makes it a difficult test case for the evaluation of new turbulence models. The complexity of the jet impingement can be further amplified by the addition of the swirl. In this paper, results of Large Eddy Simulations (LES) of swirling and non-swirling impinging jet are presented. The Reynolds number of the jet based on bulk axial velocity is 23000 and target-to-wall distance (H/D) is two. The Swirl numbers (S) of the jet are 0,0.2, 0.47. In swirling jets, the heat transfer at the geometric stagnation zone deteriorates due to the formation of conical recirculation zone. It is found numerically that the addition of swirl does not give any improvement for the over all heat transfer at the target wall. The LES predictions are validated by available experimental data.

Phenomenon Identification and Ranking Exercise and a Review of Large-Scale Spray Modeling Technology

We are engaged in efforts to model spray phenomena. Applications of principal interest include the high-speed impact of large vessels of fuel and the subsequent fire, fire suppression, solid propellant fires, pressurized pipe or tank rupture, and fire propagation for cascading liquid fuels. To help guide research and development efforts geared towards designing an appropriate spray modeling capability, a Phenomenon Identification and Ranking exercise was conducted. The summarized results of the exercise in tabular format, a Phenomenon Identification and Ranking Table (PIRT), are presented. The table forms the context for a textual literature review of the existing state of knowledge for modeling applications of interest. This exercise highlights some of the shortcomings in existing tools and knowledge, and suggests productive research activities that can help advance the modeling capabilities for the desired applications. Notable needs exist for research in high Weber number particle-surface impacts, particle collisions, multi-physics couplings, and low void fraction multi-phase coupling.

Investigation of Loop Heat Pipe Startup Using Liquid Core Visualization

In this investigation, a Loop Heat Pipe (LHP) evaporator has been studied using a borescope inserted through the compensation chamber into the liquid core. This minimally intrusive technique allows liquid/vapor interactions to be observed throughout the liquid core and compensation chamber. A low conductivity ceramic was used for the wick and ammonia as the working fluid. Results indicate that buoyancy driven flows, both two-phase and single-phase, play essential roles in evacuating excess heat from the core, which explains the several differences in performance between horizontal and vertical orientations of the evaporator. This study also found no discernable effect of the pre-start fill level of the compensation chamber on thermal performance during startup at moderate and high heat loads.

Two-Phase Friction Factor Obtained From Various Void Fraction Models During Condensation of R134A in Vertical Downward Flow at High Mass Flux

Void fractions are determined in vertical downward annular two-phase flow of R134a inside 8.1 mm i.d. smooth tube. The experiments are done at average saturated condensing temperatures of 40 and 50°C. The average qualities are between 0.84–0.94. The mass fluxes are around 515 kg m−2s−1. The experimental setup is explained elaborately. Comparisons between the void fraction determined from 35 void fraction correlations are done. According to the use of various horizontal and vertical annular flow void fraction models together with the present experimental condensation heat transfer data, similar void fraction results were obtained mostly for the smooth tube. The experimental friction factors obtained from void fraction correlations are compared with the friction factors determined from graphical information provided by Bergelin et. al. Effect of void fraction alteration on the momentum pressure drop is also presented.

Three-Dimensional CFD Modelling and Analysis of the Thermal Entrainment in Open Refrigerated Display Cabinets

This study presents a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation of the air flow pattern and the temperature distribution in a refrigerated display cabinet. The thermal entrainment is evaluated by the variations of the mass flow rate and thermal power along and across the air curtain considering the numerical predictions of abovementioned properties. The evaluation on the ambient air velocity for the three-dimensional (3D) effects in the pattern of this type of turbulent air flow is obtained. Additionally, it is verified that the longitudinal air flow oscillations and the length extremity effects have a considerable influence in the overall thermal performance of the equipment. The non uniform distribution of the air temperature and velocity throughout the re-circulated air curtain determine the temperature differences in the linear display space and inside the food products, affecting the refrigeration power of display cabinets. The numerical predictions have been validated by comparison with experimental tests performed in accordance with the climatic class n.° 3 of EN 441 Standard (Tamb = 25 °C, φamb = 60%; νamb = 0,2 m s−1). These tests were conducted using the point measuring technique for the air temperature, air relative humidity and air velocity throughout the air curtain, the display area of conservation of food products and nearby the inlets/outlets of the air mass flow.