A new mechanistic model of critical heat flux in forced-convection subcooled boiling

Because of its practical importance and various industrial applications, the process of subcooled flow boiling has attracted a lot of attention in the research community in the past. However, the existing models are primarily phenomenological and are based on correlating experimental data rather than on a first-principle analysis of the governing physical phenomena. Even though the mechanisms leading to critical heat flux (CHF) are very complex, the recent progress in the understanding of local phenomena of multiphase flow and heat transfer, combined with the development of mathematical models and advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods, makes analytical predictions of CHF quite feasible. Various mechanisms leading to CHF in subcooled boiling have been investigated. A new model for the predictions of the onset of CHF has been developed. This new model has been coupled with the overall boiling channel model, numerically implemented in the CFX 4 computer code, tested and validated against the experimental data of Hino and Ueda. The predicted critical heat flux for various channel operating conditions shows good agreement with the measurements using the aforementioned closure laws for the various local phenomena governing nucleation and bubble departure from the wall. The observed differences are consistent with typical uncertainties associated with CHF data

Ocrelizumab versus Interferon Beta-1a in Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

Supported by F. Hoffmann–La Roche

Mechanistic modeling of CHF in forced-convection subcooled boiling

Because of the complexity of phenomena governing boiling heat transfer, the approach to solve practical problems has traditionally been based on experimental correlations rather than mechanistic models. The recent progress in computational fluid dynamics (CFD), combined with improved experimental techniques in two-phase flow and heat transfer, makes the use of rigorous physically-based models a realistic alternative to the current simplistic phenomenological approach. The objective of this paper is to present a new CFD model for critical heat flux (CHF) in low quality (in particular, in subcooled boiling) forced-convection flows in heated channels

Coupled simulations of nozzle flow, primary fuel jet breakup, and spray formation

Presented are two approaches for coupled simulations of the injector flow with spray formation. In the first approach the two-fluid model is used within the injector for the cavitating flow. A primary breakup model is then applied at the nozzle orifice where it is coupled with the standard discrete droplet model. In the second approach the Eulerian multi-fluid model is applied for both the nozzle and spray regions. The developed primary breakup model, used in both approaches, is based on locally resolved properties of the cavitating nozzle flow across the orifice cross section. The model provides the initial droplet size and velocity distribution for the droplet parcels released from the surface of a coherent liquid core. The major feature of the predictions obtained with the model is a remarkable asymmetry of the spray. This asymmetry is in agreement with the recent observations at Chalmers University where they performed experiments using a transparent model scaled-up injector. The described model has been implemented into AVL FIRE computational fluid dynamics code which was used to obtain all the presented results. Copyrigh

Patients with bicuspid and tricuspid aortic valve exhibit distinct regional microrna signatures in mildly dilated ascending aorta

MicroRNAs are able to modulate gene expression in a range of diseases. We focused on microRNAs as potential contributors to the pathogenesis of ascending aorta (AA) dilatation in patients with stenotic tricuspid (TAV) or bicuspid aortic valve (BAV). Aortic specimens were collected from the ‘concavity’ and the ‘convexity’ of mildly dilated AAs and of normal AAs from heart transplant donors. Aortic RNA was analyzed through PCR arrays, profiling the expression of 84 microRNAs involved in cardiovascular disease. An in silico analysis identified the potential microRNA–mRNA interactions and the enriched KEGG pathways potentially affected by microRNA changes in dilated AAs. Distinct signatures of differentially expressed microRNAs are evident in TAV and BAV patients vs. donors, as well as differences between aortic concavity and convexity in patients only. MicroRNA changes suggest a switch of SMC phenotype, with particular reference to TAV concavity. MicroRNA changes potentially affecting mechanotransduction pathways exhibit a higher prevalence in BAV convexity and in TAV concavity, with particular reference to TGF-β1, Hippo, and PI3K/Akt/FoxO pathways. Actin cytoskeleton emerges as potentially affected by microRNA changes in BAV convexity only. MicroRNAs could play distinct roles in BAV and TAV aortopathy, with possible implications in diagnosis and therapy