Predicting the airborne microbial transmission via human breath particles using a gated recurrent units neural network

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to devise a tool based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and machine learning (ML), for the assessment of potential airborne microbial transmission in enclosed spaces. A gated recurrent units neural network (GRU-NN) is presented to learn and predict the behaviour of droplets expelled through breaths via particle tracking data sets. Design/methodology/approach A computational methodology is used for investigating how infectious particles that originated in one location are transported by air and spread throughout a room. High-fidelity prediction of indoor airflow is obtained by means of an in-house parallel CFD solver, which uses a one equation Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model. Several flow scenarios are considered by varying different ventilation conditions and source locations. The CFD model is used for computing the trajectories of the particles emitted by human breath. The numerical results are used for the ML training. Findings In this work, it is shown that the developed ML model, based on the GRU-NN, can accurately predict the airborne particle movement across an indoor environment for different vent operation conditions and source locations. The numerical results in this paper prove that the presented methodology is able to provide accurate predictions of the time evolution of particle distribution at different locations of the enclosed space. Originality/value This study paves the way for the development of efficient and reliable tools for predicting virus airborne movement under different ventilation conditions and different human positions within an indoor environment, potentially leading to the new design. A parametric study is carried out to evaluate the impact of system settings on time variation particles emitted by human breath within the space considered.

Coupling of BGK lattice Boltzmann method and experimental rheological/thermal behavior of Al2O3–oil nanolubricant for modeling of a finned thermal storage

Purpose The purpose of the present work is to investigate the hydrodynamic and thermal performance of a thermal storage based on the numerical and experimental approaches using the lattice Boltzmann method and the experimental observation on the thermo-physical properties of the operating fluid. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, the Al2O3 nanoparticle is added to the lubricant with four nanoparticle concentrations, including 0.1, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6Vol.%. After preparing the nanolubricant samples, the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of nanolubricant are measured using thermal analyzer and viscometer, respectively. Finally, the extracted data are used in the numerical simulation using provided correlations. In the numerical process, the lattice Boltzmann equations based on Bhatnagar–Gross Krook model are used. Also, some modifications are applied to treat with the complex boundary conditions. In addition, the second law analysis is used based on the local and total views. Findings Different types of results are reported, including the flow structure, temperature distribution, contours of local entropy generation, value of average Nusselt number, value of entropy generation and value of Bejan number. Originality/value The originality of this work is combining a modern numerical methodology with experimental data to simulate the convective flow for an industrial application.

Heat transfer within linear Fresnel unit using parabolic reflector

Purpose This paper scrutinizes exergy loss and hydrothermal analysis of Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) unit by means of FLUENT. Several mirrors were used to guide the solar radiation inside the receiver, which has parabolic shape. Radiation model was used to simulate radiation mode. Design/methodology/approach Heat losses from receiver should be minimized to reach the optimized design. Outputs were summarized as contours of incident radiation, isotherm and streamline. Outputs were classified in terms of contours and plots to depict the influence of temperature of hot wall, wind velocity and configurations on performance of Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR) based on thermal and exergy treatment. Four arrangements for LFR units are considered and all of them have same height. Findings Greatest Nu and Ex can be obtained for case D due to the highest heat loss from hot wall. Share of radiative heat flux relative to total heat flux is about 94% for case D. In case D when Tr = 0.388, As hext rises from 5 to 20, Nutotal enhances about 11.42% when Tr = 0.388. By selecting case D instead of case A, Ex rises about 16.14% for lowest Tr. Nutotal and Ex of case D augment by 3.65 and 6.23 times with rise of Tr when hext = 5. To evaluate the thermal performance (ηth) of system, absorber pipe was inserted below the parabolic reflector and 12 mirrors were used above the ground. The outputs revealed that ηth decreases about 14.31% and 2.54% with augment of Tin and Q if other factors are minimum. Originality value This paper scrutinizes exergy loss and hydrothermal analysis of LFR unit by means of finite volume method. Several mirror used to guide the solar radiation inside the receiver, which has parabolic shape. DO model was used to simulate radiation mode. Heat losses from receiver should be minimized to reach the optimized design. Outputs were summarized as contours of incident radiation, isotherm and streamline.

On a reduced-order model-based optimization of rotor electro-thermal anti-icing systems

Purpose Responsible for lift generation, the helicopter rotor is an essential component to protect against ice accretion. As rotorcraft present a smaller wing cross-section and a lower available onboard power compared to aircraft, electro-thermal heating pads are favored as they conform to the blades’ slender profile and limited volume. Their optimization is carried out here taking into account, for the first time, the highly three-dimensional (3D) nature of the flow and ice accretion, in contrast to the current state-of-the-art that is limited to two-dimensional (2D) airfoils. Design/methodology/approach Conjugate heat transfer simulation results are provided by the truly 3D finite element Navier–Stokes analysis package-ICE code, embedded in a proprietary rotorcraft simulation toolkit, with reduced-order modeling providing a time-efficient evaluation of the objective and constraint functions at every iteration. The proposed methodology optimizes heating pads extent and power usage and is versatile enough to address in a computationally efficient manner a wide variety of optimization formulations. Findings Low-error reduced-order modeling strategies are introduced to make the tackling of complex 3D geometries feasible in todays’ computers, with the developed framework applied to four problem formulations, demonstrating marked reductions to power consumption along with improved aerodynamics. Originality/value The present paper proposes a 3D framework for the optimization of electro-thermal rotorcraft ice protection systems, in hover and forward flight. The current state-of-the-art is limited to 2D airfoils.

3rd and 11th orders of accuracy of ‘linear’ and ‘quadratic’ elements for Poisson equation with irregular interfaces on Cartesian meshes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is as follows: to significantly reduce the computation time (by a factor of 1,000 and more) compared to known numerical techniques for real-world problems with complex interfaces; and to simplify the solution by using trivial unfitted Cartesian meshes (no need in complicated mesh generators for complex geometry). Design/methodology/approach This study extends the recently developed optimal local truncation error method (OLTEM) for the Poisson equation with constant coefficients to a much more general case of discontinuous coefficients that can be applied to domains with different material properties (e.g. different inclusions, multi-material structural components, etc.). This study develops OLTEM using compact 9-point and 25-point stencils that are similar to those for linear and quadratic finite elements. In contrast to finite elements and other known numerical techniques for interface problems with conformed and unfitted meshes, OLTEM with 9-point and 25-point stencils and unfitted Cartesian meshes provides the 3-rd and 11-th order of accuracy for irregular interfaces, respectively; i.e. a huge increase in accuracy by eight orders for the new 'quadratic' elements compared to known techniques at similar computational costs. There are no unknowns on interfaces between different materials; the structure of the global discrete system is the same for homogeneous and heterogeneous materials (the difference in the values of the stencil coefficients). The calculation of the unknown stencil coefficients is based on the minimization of the local truncation error of the stencil equations and yields the optimal order of accuracy of OLTEM at a given stencil width. The numerical results with irregular interfaces show that at the same number of degrees of freedom, OLTEM with the 9-points stencils is even more accurate than the 4-th order finite elements; OLTEM with the 25-points stencils is much more accurate than the 7-th order finite elements with much wider stencils and conformed meshes. Findings The significant increase in accuracy for OLTEM by one order for 'linear' elements and by 8 orders for 'quadratic' elements compared to that for known techniques. This will lead to a huge reduction in the computation time for the problems with complex irregular interfaces. The use of trivial unfitted Cartesian meshes significantly simplifies the solution and reduces the time for the data preparation (no need in complicated mesh generators for complex geometry). Originality/value It has been never seen in the literature such a huge increase in accuracy for the proposed technique compared to existing methods. Due to a high accuracy, the proposed technique will allow the direct solution of multiscale problems without the scale separation.

Analysis of turbulent wall jet impingement onto a moving heated body

Purpose The purpose of this study is to make a numerical analysis of a wall jet with a moving wall attached with a heated body. The hot body is cooled via impinging wall jet. Thus, a jet cooling problem is modeled. The Reynolds number is taken in three different values between 5 × 103 ≤ Re ≤ 15 × 103. The h/H ratio for each value of the Re number was taken as 0.02, 0.04 and 0.0, respectively. Design/methodology/approach Two-dimensional impinged wall jet problem onto a moving body on a conveyor is numerically studied. The heated body is inserted onto an adiabatic moving wall, and it moves in +x direction with the wall. Governing equations for turbulent flow are solved by using the finite element method via analysis and system Fluent R2020. A dynamic mesh was produced to simulate the moving hot body. Findings The obtained results showed that the heat transfer (HT) is decreased with distance between the jet outlet and the jet inlet. The best HT occurred for the parameters of h/H = 0.02 and Re = 15 × 103. Also, HT can be controlled by changing the h/H ratio as a passive method. Originality/value Originality of this work is to make an analysis of turbulent flow and heat transfer for wall jet impinging onto a moving heated body.

Introduction of a novel electric field-based plate heat sink for heat transfer enhancement of thermal systems

Purpose The purpose of this study is to use an electric field technique to design novel heat sinks capable of rejecting as much heat as possible in a limited space. Configuration of electrodes in this study can be used for increasing the efficiency of heat sinks. Design/methodology/approach This study investigates a novel electrohydrodynamic (EHD)-based heat sink for thermal management of electronic devices and thermal systems. The significant part of designing an EHD heat sink is the arrangement of the electrodes. A numerical simulation is performed for a heat sink with two parallel plates to determine the optimum dimensional configuration of electrodes. The upper plate of this heat sink is the ground electrode with a constant atmosphere temperature, and the lower plate of it with flush-mounted high-voltage electrodes has uniform heat flux. Findings The results show that heat transfer changes by the size of the vortices and the number of them. These vortices are emerged by the electric field, and the number of them increases with increasing the number of electrodes. The interaction of vortices size and number leads to having the lowest average temperature in the optimum case by two high voltage electrodes with widths of 7.5 mm and a 17.5 mm gap between them. In comparison with the case without the electric field, with increasing the applied voltage to 30 kV, the efficiency of this EHD heat sink increases up to 37%. Originality/value Improvements in electrical equipment make them more compact with higher heat fluxes. Hence, the amount of heat to be dissipated per area increases and needs thermal management to operate at their design temperatures. Therefore, to improve the performance and life span of electronic components and increase their efficiency, it is necessary to design heat sinks to decrease their maximum (peak) temperature.

Enhancing turbulence: a potential strategy for drag reduction based on ground transportation systems (GTS) model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mechanism and performance of a potential strategy, which is to enhance turbulence to carry out drag reduction for heavy trucks. Design/methodology/approach Enhancing turbulence deflector (ETD) was placed on the roof surface of an ground transportation system (GTS) to investigate the drag reduction mechanism of enhancing turbulence. Transition shear-stress transport improved delay detach eddy simulation model was adopted to simulate the unsteady small-scale flow around the ETD. Findings By optimizing the three influencing factors, diameter, streamwise length and streamwise position, the optimized ETD has achieved a maximum drag reduction of 7.04%. The analysis of flow field results shows that enhancing turbulence can effectively suppress flow separation and reduce the negative pressure intensity in the wake region of GTS. Originality/value The present work provides another potential possibility for the improvement of the aerodynamic performance of heavy trucks.

Off-centered stagnation point flow of an experimental-based hybrid nanofluid impinging to a spinning disk with low to high non-alignments

Purpose The purpose of this study is to model and solve numerically the three-dimensional off-centered stagnation point flow and heat transfer of magnesium oxide–silver/water hybrid nanofluid impinging to a spinning disk. Design/methodology/approach The applied effective thermophysical properties of hybrid nanofluid including thermal conductivity and dynamics viscosity are according to the reported experimental relations that would be expanded by a mass-based algorithm. The single phase formulations coupled with experimental-based hybrid nanofluid model is implemented to derive the governing partial differential equations which are then transferred to a set of dimensionless ordinary differential equations (ODEs) with the use of the similarity transformation method. Afterward, the reduced ODEs are solved numerically by bvp4c function from MATLAB that is a trustworthy and efficient code according to three-stage Lobatto IIIa formula. Findings The effect of spinning parameter and nanoparticles masses (mMgO, mAg) on the hydrodynamics and thermal boundary layers behavior and also the quantities of engineering interest are presented in tabular and graphical forms. The recent work demonstrates that the analysis of flow and heat transfer becomes more complicated when there is a non-alignment between the impinging flow and the disk axes. From computational results demonstrate that, the radial and azimuthal velocities are, respectively, the increasing and decreasing functions of the disk spinning parameter. Further, for the greater values of the spinning parameter, an overshoot of the radial velocity owing to the centrifugal forces of the spinning disk is observed. Besides, the quantities of engineering interest gently enhance with first and second nanoparticle masses, while comparing their absolute values illustrates the fact that the effect of second nanoparticle mass (mAg) is greater. Further, it is inferred that the second nanoparticle’s mass enhancement results in the amplification of the heat transfer; although, the high skin friction and the relevant shear stress should be controlled. Originality/value The combination of experimental thermophysical properties with theoretical modeling of the problem can be the novelty of the present work. It is evident that the experimental relations of effective thermophysical properties can be trustable and flexible in the theoretical/mathematical modeling of hybrid nanofluids flows. Besides, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, no one has ever attempted to study the present problem through a mass-based model for hybrid nanofluid.

A study of a modified nonlinear dynamical system with fractal-fractional derivative

Purpose This paper aims to study the complex behavior of a dynamical system using fractional and fractal-fractional (FF) derivative operators. The non-classical derivatives are extremely useful for investigating the hidden behavior of the systems. The Atangana–Baleanu (AB) and Caputo–Fabrizio (CF) derivatives are considered for the fractional structure of the model. Further, to add more complexity, the authors have taken the system with a CF fractal-fractional derivative having an exponential kernel. The active control technique is also considered for chaos control. Design/methodology/approach The systems under consideration are solved numerically. The authors show the Adams-type predictor-corrector scheme for the AB model and the Adams–Bashforth scheme for the CF model. The convergence and stability results are given for the numerical scheme. A numerical scheme for the FF model is also presented. Further, an active control scheme is used for chaos control and synchronization of the systems. Findings Simulations of the obtained solutions are displayed via graphics. The proposed system exhibits a very complex phenomenon known as chaos. The importance of the fractional and fractal order can be seen in the presented graphics. Furthermore, chaos control and synchronization between two identical fractional-order systems are achieved. Originality/value This paper mentioned the complex behavior of a dynamical system with fractional and fractal-fractional operators. Chaos control and synchronization using active control are also described.