4 research outputs found
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Optimization of high-temperature superconductor current leads
Methods to improve the performance of high-temperature superconducting current leads are analyzed. Designs are considered that are inherently safe from burnup, even if the lead enters the normal state. The effect of a tapered lead that takes advantage of the increase in critical current density with decreasing temperature will decrease helium boiloff by about a factor of two for an area ratio of four. A new concept, in which Ag powder is distributed in increasing concentration from the cold end to the hot end of the lead in sintered YBCO, is shown to have comparable performance to that of leads made with Ag-alloy sheaths. Performance of the best inherently safe designs is about one order of magnitude better than that of optimized nonsuperconducting leads. BSCCO leads with Ag-alloy sheaths show improved performance for Au fractions up to about 3%, after which increases in Au fraction yield negligible performance improvement
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A correlation for nucleate flow boiling in small channels
Compact heat exchangers are becoming more attractive for applications in which energy conservation, space saving, and cost are important considerations. Applications exist in the process industries where phase-change heat transfer realizes more compact designs and improved performance compared to single-phase heat transfer. However, there have been only a few studies in the literature reporting on phase-change heat transfer and two-phase flow in compact heat exchangers, and validated design correlations are lacking. Recent data from experiments on flow boiling of refrigerants in small channels have led researchers to conclude that nucleation is the dominant heat transfer mechanism over a broad range of heat flux and wall superheats. Local heat transfer coefficients and overall two-phase pressure drops were measured for three different refrigerants with circular and non-circular channels in a range of pressures. This data base supports the nucleate boiling mechanism, and it was used to develop a new correlation for heat transfer in nucleate flow boiling. The correlation is based on the Rohsenow boiling model, introducing a confinement number defined by Kew and Cornwell. The new correlation predicts the experimental data for nucleate flow boiling of three refrigerants within {+-}15%