Low Cost Cooling Device for High Power LED Lamps

The modern world progressively demands more energy; according to forecasts energy consumption will grow at an average annual rate of 3 percent. Therefore, it is necessary to purchase products or devices that are efficient and environmentally friendly. Technology in LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting is presented as an alternative to energy saving, since LEDs have proven to be extremely efficient, have a long service life and their cost-effective ratio is very good. However, the heat emitted by the LED chip must be dissipated effectively, since the overheating of the chip reduces the efficiency and lifetime of the lamp. Therefore, heat sinks that are reliable, efficient and inexpensive should be designed and built. The present work proposes new designs for heat sinks in LED lamps, some of the models in the design of the fins refer to the Fibonacci series. The models proposed in the present work that have a significant advantage are the Type 1E Model (5.2% mass savings and better thermal efficiency of 8.33%), GR Type 1 Model (3.12% lighter and 3.33% more efficient) and the GRL Type Model (4. 51% mass savings and 5.55% thermally more efficient) compared to the Type 2 Reference Model proposed by Jang et al. [12].

Influence of Cu-Water and CNT-Water Nanofluid on Natural Convection Heat Transfer in a Triangular Solar Collector

A numerical study on natural convection heat transfer in a right triangular solar collector filled with CNT-water and Cuwater nanofluids has been conducted. The inclined wall and the bottom wall of the cavity are maintained at a relatively lower temperature (Tc), and higher temperature (Th), respectively, whereas the vertical wall, is kept adiabatic. The governing non-dimensional partial differential equations are solved by using the Galerkin weighted residual finite element method. The Rayleigh number (Ra) and the solid volume-fraction of nanoparticles (ϕ) are varied in the range of 103 ≤ Ra ≤ 106, and 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ 0.1, respectively, to carry out the parametric simulations within the laminar region. Corresponding thermal and flow fields are presented via isotherms and streamlines. Variations of average Nusselt number as a function of Rayleigh number have been examined for different solid volume-fraction of nanoparticles. It has been found that the natural convection heat transfer becomes stronger with the increment of solid volume fraction and Rayleigh number, but the strength of circulation reduces with increasing nanoparticles’ concentration at low Ra. Conduction mode dominates for lower Ra up to a certain limit of 104. It is also observed that when the solid volume fraction is increased from 0 to 0.1 for a particular Rayleigh number, the average Nusselt number is increased to a great extent, but surprisingly, the rate of increment is more pronounced at lower Ra. Moreover, it is seen that Cu-water nanofluid offers slightly better performance compared to CNT-water but the difference is very little, especially at lower Ra.

Thermal Conductance of Nanoparticles: A Study of Phonon Transport in Functionalized Nanodiamond Suspensions

Nanoparticle additives, with their anomalous thermal conductivity, have attracted attention in research and industry as a novel mode of enhancing the heat transfer mediums. Most studies conducted on nanoparticle suspensions in liquids, pastes, or composites at present have relied on constitutive relations using properties of the bulk substance and of the nanoparticle to explain the effective thermal conductivity. In order to utilize nanoparticles in real world engineering applications, chemical functionalization of the surface of the nanoparticle is frequently employed, either to suspend in liquid applications or to stabilize in arrays. In this study, we have sought to explain the underlying mechanisms of thermal conductivity enhancement taking into consideration the nanoscale effects, such as phonon transport in the nanoparticle coupled with vibrational modes of the surface functional molecules, in order to tailor the functional groups not only for suspension stability but also for minimizing Kapitza resistance at the surface of the nanoparticle. Density functional theory simulations in SIESTA and equilibrium transport theory analysis via GOLLUM2 were used in tandem to evaluate the thermal transport at the nanoparticle to surface ligand junction. By treating the nanoparticle surface and the polymer or acid coating as distinct homogeneous substrates, a model for thermal conductivity becomes more tractable.

Analytical Modeling of Outward Solidification With Convective Boundary in Cylindrical Coordinates

Solidification consists of three stages at macroscale: subcooling, freezing and cooling. Classical two-phase Stefan problems describe freezing (or melting) phenomenon initially not at the fusion temperature. Since these problems only define subcooling and freezing stages, an extension to characterize the cooling stage is required to complete solidification. However, the moving boundary in solid-liquid interface is highly nonlinear, and thus exact solution is restricted to certain domains and boundary conditions. It is therefore vital to develop approximate analytical solutions based on physically tangible assumptions, like a small Stefan number. This paper proposes an asymptotic solution for a Stefan-like problem subject to a convective boundary for outward solidification in a hollow cylinder. By assuming a small Stefan number, three temporal regimes and four spatial layers are considered in the asymptotic analysis. The results are compared with numerical method. Further, effects of Biot numbers are also investigated regarding interface motion and temperature profile.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Natural Convection Heat Transfer From Horizontal Rectangular Plate Fin Pin Fin Arrays

Fins are commonly employed for cooling of electronic equipment, compressors, Internal Combustion engines and for heat exchange in various heat exchangers. In short fin (length to height ratio, L/H = 5) arrays used for natural convection cooling, a stagnation zone forms at the central portion and that portion is not effective for carrying away heat. An attempt is made to modify plate fin heat sink geometry (PFHS) by inserting pin fins in the channels formed between plate fins and a plate fin pin fin heat sink (PFPFHS) is constructed to address this issue. An experimental setup is developed to validate numerical model of PFPFHS. The three-dimensional elliptic governing equations were solved using a finite volume based computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code. Fluent 6.3.26, a finite volume flow solver is used for solving the set of governing equations for the present geometry. Cell count based on grid independence and extended domain is used to obtain numerical results. Initially, the numerical model is validated for PFHS cases reported in the literature. After obtaining a good agreement with results from the literature, the numerical model for PFHS is modified for PFPFHS and used to carry out systematic parametric study of PFPFHS to analyze the effects of parameters like fin spacing, fin height, pin fin diameter, number of pin fins and temperature difference between fin array and surroundings on natural convection heat transfer from PFPFHS. It is observed that it is impossible to obtain optimum performance in terms of overall heat transfer by only concentrating on one or two parameters. The interactions among all the design parameters must be considered. This thesis presents Experimental and Numerical study of natural convection heat transfer from horizontal rectangular plate fin and plate fin pin fin arrays. The parameters of study are fin spacing, temperature difference between the fin surface and ambient air, fin height, pin fin diameter, number of pin fins and method of positioning pin fins in the fin channel. Experimental set up is validated with horizontal plate standard correlations. Results are generated in the form of variation in average heat transfer coefficient (ha), base heat transfer coefficient (hb), average Nusselt number (Nua) and base Nusselt number (Nub). Total 512 cases are studied numerically and finally an attempt is made to correlate the Nusselt Number (Nu), Rayleigh Number (Ra), increase in percentage by inserting pin fins (% Area), ratios like spacing to height (S/H) and L/H obtained in the present study.

Experimental Study of Multiple Air Jets Impinging a Moving Flat Plate

The motion of the target plate is important in some industrial applications which apply multiple jet impingement, such as reflow soldering, drying and food processing. Multiple jet impingement is widely used due to its ability to generate high heat transfer rates over large and complex areas. This convective process is characterized by several flow interactions essentially due to adjacent jets mixing prior the impingement, wall jets collision after the impingement, as well as crossflow interactions induced by the motion of the wall jets that flow through the exits of the domain. These interactions lead to strong flow recirculation, pressure gradients and boundary layer development. However, the complexity of the flow interactions is increased with the surface motion in confined space, due to the generation of strong shear regions. These interactions can induce problems and product defects due to complicated thermal behavior and non-uniform heating or cooling, being important to fully understand the process in order to reduce time and costs. This work addresses the experimental analysis of multiple air jets impinging on a moving flat plate. The experiments are conducted on a purpose-built test facility which has been commissioned, using a 2D-PIV system. Through this technique, the flow structure and velocity profiles will be analyzed in detail. The effects of the impinging plate motion on the resulting global and local velocity profile is compared with a static flat plate. The multiple jet configuration consists on air flowing through 14 circular nozzles, at a Reynolds number of 690 and 1,380. The experiments are conducted for a nozzle-to-plate distance of 8 and a jet-to-jet spacing of 2. The target plate motion remains constant throughout the experiments and equal to 0.03 m/s. The results are compared for both stationary and moving flat plates cases and express the increased complexity of the flow due to strong interaction between jets and the target surface, which affects the heat transfer performance. The results obtained experimentally are important to clearly define this complex flow and these data can be used in future works for numerical model validation.

Determination of the Thermal Properties of a PCB by Coupled Numerical and Experimental Approach

Increasing demand for usage of electronics intensely in narrow enclosures necessitates accurate thermal analyses to be performed. Conduction based FEM (Finite Element Method) is a common and practical way to examine the thermal behavior of an electronic system. First step to perform a numerical analysis for any system is to set up the correct analysis model. In this paper, a method for obtaining the coefficient of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of a PCB which has generally a complex composite layup structure composed of conductive layers, and dielectric layers. In the study, above mentioned properties are obtained performing a simple nondestructive experiment and a numerical analysis. In the method, a small portion of PCB is sandwiched from one side at certain pressure by jaws. A couple of linear temperature profiles are applied to the jaws successively. Unknown values are tuned in the analysis model until the results of FEM analysis and experiment match. The values for the coefficient of thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity which the experiment and numerical analysis results match can be said to be the actual values. From this point on, the PCB whose thermal properties are determined can be analyzed numerically for any desired geometry and boundary condition.

Modeling Vapor Transport in a Hollow Fiber Membrane Humidifier Using ε-NTU Approach

In a fuel cell vehicle, the water content of the gas supply within certain ranges plays a key role in improving the performance of a proton exchange membrane. The lower limit of water content in the air supply is to avoid the problem of drying-out, while the upper prevents flooding. Water management can be accomplished by a membrane humidifier which allows water vapor to permeate the mixture from the side having the higher water concentration, moving to the other side of the membrane. In this study, the variation in water content collected at the outlet of a membrane humidifier is investigated with a one-dimensional mass exchanger model and various operating variables. The vapor concentration of outlet flows is affected by operating temperature and relative humidity of the membrane humidifier. Relative humidity of the dry side at the point of outlet flow, to be supplied to the fuel cell module, is the key characteristic. The analogy of the effectiveness-NTU approach for heat transfer is used to analyze the characteristics of the mass exchanger. Mass flux through the membranes is estimated with an overall mass transfer coefficient which represents vapor transport characteristics moving through the membrane module. This coefficient has a similar role to the overall heat transfer coefficient in heat exchanger analysis. This parametric study is conducted to understand the effects of different variables. The Effectiveness-NTU methodology of mass transfer uses the overall mass transfer coefficient and the mass transfer rate, as evaluated experimentally. Simulink software is then employed to deliver outcomes of the model for different operating conditions.

Effect of Freeze Pipe Eccentricity in Artificial Ground Freezing Applications

Building concentric tubes is one of biggest practical challenges in the construction of freeze-pipes of artificial ground freezing (AGF) applications for deep underground mines. In this study, the influence of tubes eccentricity on phase-front expansion (i.e., expansion of the frozen body) and energy consumption of AGF systems is analyzed. A 1+1D semi-conjugate model that solves two-phase transient energy conservation equation is derived. The model is firstly validated against experimental data and then verified with a fully-conjugate model from the literature. After that, the model is extended to a field scale of typical deep underground mines to study freeze-pipe eccentricity. The results show that an eccentric freeze pipe can reduce the phase-front expansion by around 25%, as compared with a concentric one. Also, the geometrical profile of the phase-front is significantly influenced by the freeze-pipe eccentricity. Furthermore, in the passive zone, where AGF coolants are isolated from the ground to reduce energy consumption, freeze pipe eccentricity can increase the coolant heat gain by 10%. This percentage can increase up to 200% if radiation heat transfer is minimized.

Prediction of Surface Profile in Friction Stir Welding Using Coupled Eulerian and Lagrangian Method

Friction stir welding (FSW) is widely accepted by industry because of multiple advantages such as low-temperature process, green technology, and capable of producing good quality weld joints. Extensive research has been conducted to understand the physical process and material flow during FSW. The published works mainly discussed the effects of various process parameters on temperature distribution and microstructure formation. There are few works on the prediction of defect formation from a physics-based model. However, these models ignore chip formation or surface morphology and material loss during the FSW process. In the present work, a fully coupled 3D thermo-mechanical model is developed to predict the chip formation and surface morphology during welding. The effects of various process parameters on surface morphology are also studied using the current model. Coupled Eulerian-Lagrangian (CEL) technique is used to model the FSW process using a commercial software ABAQUS. The model is validated by comparing the results in published literature. The current model is capable of predicting the material flow out of the workpiece and thus enables the visualization of the chip formation. The developed model can extensively be used to predict the surface quality of the friction stir welded joints.