Numerical simulation of the turbulent convective buoyant flow of sodium over a backward- facing step

A forced convective and a buoyancy-aided turbulent liquid sodium flow over a backward-facing step with a constant heat flux applied on the indented wall is simulated. Linear eddy viscosity models are used for the Reynolds stresses. Turbulent heat fluxes are modelled with a single gradient diffusion hypotheses with two different approaches to evaluate the turbulent Prandtl number. Moreover, the influence of turbulence on heat transfer to sodium is also assessed through simulations with zero turbulent thermal diffusivity. The results are compared with DNS data from literature. The velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles predicted by all models are in good agreement with the DNS data. The local Nusselt number trend is qualitatively well captured, however, its magnitude is underestimated by all models for the mixed convection case. For forced convection, the heat transfer is overestimated by all heat flux models. The simulation with neglected turbulent heat transfer shows the best overall agreement for the forced convection case. For the mixed convection best agreement is obtained using a correlation to locally evaluate the turbulent thermal diffusivity

Numerical simulation of the turbulent convective buoyant flow of sodium over a backward- facing step

A forced convective and a buoyancy-aided turbulent liquid sodium flow over a backward-facing step with a constant heat flux applied on the indented wall is simulated. Linear eddy viscosity models are used for the Reynolds stresses. Turbulent heat fluxes are modelled with a single gradient diffusion hypotheses with two different approaches to evaluate the turbulent Prandtl number. Moreover, the inuence of turbulence on heat transfer to sodium is also assessed through simulations with zero turbulent thermal diffusivity. The results are compared with DNS data from literature. The velocity and turbulent kinetic energy profiles predicted by all models are in good agreement with the DNS data. The local Nusselt number trend is qualitatively well captured, however, its magnitude is underestimated by all models for the mixed convection case. For forced convection, the heat transfer is overestimated by all heat flux models. The simulation with neglected turbulent heat transfer shows the best overall agreement for the forced convection case. For the mixed convection best agreement is obtained using a correlation to locally evaluate the turbulent thermal diffusivity

The Gaia Ultra-Cool Dwarf Sample -- II : Structure at the end of the main sequence

© 2019 The Author(s) Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Royal Astronomical Society.We identify and investigate known late M, L, and T dwarfs in the Gaia second data release. This sample is being used as a training set in the Gaia data processing chain of the ultracool dwarfs work package. We find 695 objects in the optical spectral range M8–T6 with accurate Gaia coordinates, proper motions, and parallaxes which we combine with published spectral types and photometry from large area optical and infrared sky surveys. We find that 100 objects are in 47 multiple systems, of which 27 systems are published and 20 are new. These will be useful benchmark systems and we discuss the requirements to produce a complete catalogue of multiple systems with an ultracool dwarf component. We examine the magnitudes in the Gaia passbands and find that the G BP magnitudes are unreliable and should not be used for these objects. We examine progressively redder colour–magnitude diagrams and see a notable increase in the main-sequence scatter and a bivariate main sequence for old and young objects. We provide an absolute magnitude – spectral subtype calibration for G and G RP passbands along with linear fits over the range M8–L8 for other passbands.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Modeling of Indirect Evaporative Cooling Systems: A Review

Air-to-air indirect evaporative cooling (IEC) systems are particular heat exchangers that use the latent heat of evaporation of water to cool down an air stream, without increasing its specific humidity, thus guaranteeing adequate thermohygrometric conditions in the refrigerated environment with low energy consumption. Dew-point indirect evaporative cooling (DIEC) systems are based on the IEC technology, but they recirculate a part of the air taken from the room to be refrigerated, in order to possibly achieve a lower air temperature. IEC and DIEC systems are becoming increasingly common these years, as they can ensure a good efficiency, minimizing the environmental impact of the air-conditioning system. Consequently, it has been necessary to develop models, both analytical and numerical, to quickly and accurately design this type of system and to predict their performance. This paper presents a review of the analytical and numerical models developed specifically for IEC and DIEC systems, highlighting their method, main innovations and advantages, and possible limitations. From this analysis, it emerged that analytical models have been developed since the late 1990s and only few of them are suitable for DIEC heat exchangers, while numerical models for both IEC and DIEC systems are gaining popularity in recent years. Almost all the analyzed models have been validated by comparison with numerical and/or experimental data, showing a maximum discrepancy within 10% in the majority of the cases. However, the validations were performed for a few specific cases, so in real applications it might be difficult to associate the model boundary conditions and the heat exchangers operating conditions, such as nozzles orientations, plates materials, water flow rates, and configurations. Another common limitation concerns the modeling of some properties, as wettability factor and air density, which might affect the accuracy of the results

Two new ultracool benchmark systems from WISE+2MASS

We have used the Two-Micron All-Sky Survey and the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer to look for ultracool dwarfs that are part of multiple systems containing main-sequence stars. We cross-matched L dwarf candidates from the surveys with Hipparcos and Gliese stars, finding two new systems. The first system, G255-34AB, is an L2 dwarf companion to a K8 star, at a distance of 36 pc. We estimate its bolometric luminosity as log L/L-circle dot = -3.78 +/- 0.045 and T-eff = 2080 +/- 260 K. The second system, GJ499ABC, is a triple, with an L5 dwarf as a companion to a binary with an M4 and K5 star. These two new systems bring the number of L dwarf plus main-sequence star multiple systems to 24, which we discuss. We consider the binary fraction for L dwarfs and main-sequence stars, and further assess possible unresolved multiplicity within the full companion sample. This analysis shows that some of the L dwarfs in this sample might actually be unresolved binaries themselves, since their M-J appears to be brighter than the expected for their spectral types.Peer reviewe

Large eddy simulation of liquid metal turbulent mixed convection in a vertical concentric annulus

In the present study, turbulent forced and mixed convection heat transfer to a liquid metal flowing upwards in a concentric annulus is numerically investigated by means of large eddy simulation (LES). The inner-to-outer radius ratio is 0.5. The Reynolds number based on bulk velocity and hydraulic diameter is 8900, while the Prandtl number is set to a value of 0.026. A uniform and equal heat flux is applied on both walls. LES has been chosen to provide sufficiently accurate results for validating Reynolds-averaged turbulence models. Moreover, with the thermal sublayer thickness of liquid metals being much larger than the viscous hydrodynamic one, liquid metals present a separation between the turbulent thermal and hydrodynamic scales. Thus, with the same grid resolution, it is possible to perform a LES for the flow field and a “thermal” direct numerical simulation (DNS) for the temperature field. Comparison of the forced convection results with available DNS simulations shows satisfying agreement. Results for mixed convection are analyzed and the differences with respect to forced convection at the same Reynolds number are thoroughly discussed. Moreover, where possible, a comparison with air is made.</jats:p

Experimental Characterization of the Wettability of Coated and Uncoated Plates for Indirect Evaporative Cooling Systems

Indirect Evaporative Cooling (IEC) is a very promising technology to substitute and/or integrate traditional air conditioning systems, due to its ability to provide cooling capacity with limited power consumption. Literature studies proved that a higher wettability of the IEC plates corresponds to better performance of the system. In this work, wettability of three different surfaces used for IEC systems plates—uncoated aluminum alloy (AL), standard epoxy coating (STD), and a hydrophilic lacquer (HPHI)—is studied and characterized in terms of static and dynamic contact angles. The static contact angle resulted to be the lowest for the HPHI surface (average 69°), intermediate for the STD surface (average 75°), and the highest for the AL surface (average 89°). The analysis of the dynamic contact angles showed that their transient behavior is similar for all the surfaces, and the advancing and receding contact angles obtained are consistent with the results of the static analysis. These results will be useful as input parameters in models aimed at predicting the IEC system performance, also using computational fluid dynamics