Performance evaluation on an air-cooled heat exchanger for alumina nanofluid under laminar flow

This study analyzes the characteristics of alumina (Al2O3)/water nanofluid to determine the feasibility of its application in an air-cooled heat exchanger for heat dissipation for PEMFC or electronic chip cooling. The experimental sample was Al2O3/water nanofluid produced by the direct synthesis method at three different concentrations (0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 wt.%). The experiments in this study measured the thermal conductivity and viscosity of nanofluid with weight fractions and sample temperatures (20-60°C), and then used the nanofluid in an actual air-cooled heat exchanger to assess its heat exchange capacity and pressure drop under laminar flow. Experimental results show that the nanofluid has a higher heat exchange capacity than water, and a higher concentration of nanoparticles provides an even better ratio of the heat exchange. The maximum enhanced ratio of heat exchange and pressure drop for all the experimental parameters in this study was about 39% and 5.6%, respectively. In addition to nanoparticle concentration, the temperature and mass flow rates of the working fluid can affect the enhanced ratio of heat exchange and pressure drop of nanofluid. The cross-section aspect ratio of tube in the heat exchanger is another important factor to be taken into consideration

Optimization of hydrogen enrichment via palladium membrane in vacuum environments using Taguchi method and normalized regression analysis

In this study, the separation of hydrogen from gas mixtures using a palladium membrane coupled with a vacuum environment on the permeate side was studied experimentally. The gas mixtures composed of H2, N2, and CO2 were used as the feed. Hydrogen permeation fluxes were measured with membrane operating temperature in the range of 320–380 °C, pressures on the retentate side in the range of 2–5 atm, and vacuum pressures on the permeate side in the range of 15–51 kPa. The Taguchi method was used to design the operating conditions for the experiments based on an orthogonal array. Using the measured H2 permeation fluxes from the Taguchi approach, the stepwise regression analysis was also employed for establishing the prediction models of H2 permeation flux, followed by the analysis of variance (ANOVA) to identify the significance and suitability of operating conditions. Based on both the Taguchi approach and ANOVA, the H2 permeation flux was mostly affected by the gas mixture composition, followed by the retentate side pressure, the vacuum degree, and the membrane temperature. The predicted optimal operating conditions were the gas mixture with 75% H2 and 25% N2, the membrane temperature of 320 °C, the retentate side pressure of 5 atm, and the vacuum degree of 51 kPa. Under these conditions, the H2 permeation flux was 0.185 mol s−1 m−2. A second-order normalized regression model with a relative error of less than 7% was obtained based on the measured H2 permeation flux

Conversion of Biogas to Syngas via Catalytic Carbon Dioxide Reforming Reactions: An Overview of Thermodynamic Aspects, Catalytic Design, and Reaction Kinetics

International audienceBiogas production has continuously increased worldwide during the last decades. Nowadays, heat, electricity, and biomethane production are the main utilization of biogas at large-scale industrial processes. The research and development on biogas valorization is currently related to synthesis gas production via reforming process, since syngas allows obtaining various chemicals and fuels of high-added value. However, biogas reforming is a complex process, which implies various reactions in parallel, and needs high temperature (>800 °C) to obtain high methane conversion. The development of a highly-performing catalyst, which must be active, selective, thermally stable, and resistant to solid carbon formation on its surface, is crucial. This chapter is devoted to an update of the thermodynamic aspect of biogas reforming under different conditions. This chapter also reviews recent significant works related to catalyst design as well as kinetic and mechanistic studies of biogas reforming processes