Multiscale simulation of non-isothermal microchannel gas flows

AbstractThis paper describes the development and application of an efficient hybrid continuum-molecular approach for simulating non-isothermal, low-speed, internal rarefied gas flows, and its application to flows in Knudsen compressors. The method is an extension of the hybrid continuum-molecular approach presented by Patronis et al. (2013) [4], which is based on the framework originally proposed by Borg et al. (2013) [3] for the simulation of micro/nano flows of high aspect ratio. The extensions are: 1) the ability to simulate non-isothermal flows; 2) the ability to simulate low-speed flows by implementing a molecular description of the gas provided by the low-variance deviational simulation Monte Carlo (LVDSMC) method; and 3) the application to three-dimensional geometries. For the purposes of validation, the multiscale method is applied to rarefied gas flow through a periodic converging-diverging channel (driven by an external acceleration). For this flow problem it is computationally feasible to obtain a solution by the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method for comparison: very close agreement is observed.The efficiency of the multiscale method, allows the investigation of alternative Knudsen-compressor channel configurations to be undertaken. We characterise the effectiveness of the single-stage Knudsen-compressor channel by the pressure drop that can be achieved between two connected reservoirs, for a given temperature difference. Our multiscale simulations indicate that the efficiency is surprisingly robust to modifications in streamwise variations of both temperature and cross-sectional geometry

Microchannel fluid flow and heat transfer by lattice boltzmann method

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.Micro flow has become a popular field of interest due to the advent of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS). In this work, the lattice Boltzmann method, a particle-based approach, is applied to simulate the two-dimensional micro channel fluid flow. We simulated fluid flow and heat transfer inside microchannel, the prototype application of this study is micro-heat exchangers. The main incentive to look at fluidic behaviour at micron scale is that micro devices tend to behave much differently from the objects we are used to handling in daily life. The choice of using LBM for micro flow simulation is a good one owing to the fact that it is based on the Boltzmann equation which is valid for the whole range of the Knudsen number. Slip velocity and temperature jump boundary conditions are used for the microchannel simulations with Knudsen number values covering the slip flow. The lattice Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook single relaxation time approximation was used. The results found are compared with the Navier-Stokes analytical and numerical results available in the literature and good matches are observed

DSMC-LBM mapping scheme for rarefied and non-rarefied gas flows

We present the formulation of a kinetic mapping scheme between the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) and the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) which is at the basis of the hybrid model used to couple the two methods in view of efficiently and accurately simulate isothermal flows characterized by variable rarefaction effects. Owing to the kinetic nature of the LBM, the procedure we propose ensures to accurately couple DSMC and LBM at a larger Kn number than usually done in traditional hybrid DSMC-Navier-Stokes equation models. We show the main steps of the mapping algorithm and illustrate details of the implementation. Good agreement is found between the moments of the single particle distribution function as obtained from the mapping scheme and from independent LBM or DSMC simulations at the grid nodes where the coupling is imposed. We also show results on the application of the hybrid scheme based on a simpler mapping scheme for plane Poiseuille flow at finite Kn number. Potential gains in the computational efficiency assured by the application of the coupling scheme are estimated for the same flow.Comment: Submitted to Journal of Computational Scienc

Coupling heterogeneous continuum-particle fields to simulate non-isothermal microscale gas flows

This paper extends the hybrid computational method proposed by Docherty et al. (2014) for simulating non-isothermal rarefied gas flows at the microscale. Coupling a continuum fluid description to a direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) solver, the original methodology considered the transfer of heat only, with validation performed on 1D micro Fourier flow. Here, the coupling strategy is extended to consider the transport of mass, momentum, and heat, and validation in 1D is performed on the high-speed micro Couette flow problem. Sufficient micro resolution in the hybrid method enables good agreement with an equivalent pure DSMC simulation, but the method offers no computational speed-up for this 1D problem. However, considerable speed-up is achieved for a 2D problem: gas flowing through a microscale crack is modelled as a microchannel with a high-aspect-ratio cross-section. With a temperature difference imposed between the walls of the cross-section, the hybrid method predicts the velocity and temperature variation over the cross-section very accurately; an accurate mass flow rate prediction is also obtained

Advances and challenges in computational research of micro and nano flows

This paper presents an overview of past and current research in computational modelling of micro- and nanofluidic systems with particular focus on recent advances in multiscale modelling. Different mesoscale and hybrid molecular-continuum methods are presented. The contributions of these methods to a broad range of applications, as well as the physical and computational modelling challenges associated with the development of these methods, are also discussed

Heat Transfer and Thermal Energy Storage Enhancement by Foams and Nanoparticles

The use of innovative methods for the design of heating, cooling, and heat storage devices has been mainly oriented in the last decade toward the use of nanofluids, metal foams coupled with working fluids, or phase change materials (PCMs). A network of nine Italian universities achieved significant results and innovative ideas on these topics by developing a collaborative project in the last four years, where different approaches and investigation techniques were synergically employed. They evaluated the quantitative extent of the enhancement in the heat transfer and thermal performance of a heat exchanger or thermal energy storage system with the combined use of nanofluids, metal foams, and PCMs. The different facets of this broad research program are surveyed in this article. Special focus is given to the comparison between the mesoscopic to macroscopic modeling of heat transfer in metal foams and nanofluids, as well as to the experimental data collected and processed in the development of the research