Numerical analysis of the vapor flow in an axially rotating heat pipe in drilling processes

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Two-phase flow modelling of liquid-feed direct methanol fuel cell

A two-phase flow model was developed for liquid-feed methanol fuel cells (DMFC) to evaluate the effects of various operating parameters on the DMFC performance. In this study, a general homogenous two-dimensional model is described in details for both porous layers and fluid channels. This two-dimensional general model accounts for fluid flow, electrochemical kinetics, current density distribution, hydrodynamics, multi-component transport, and methanol crossover. It starts from basic transport equations including mass conservation, momentum transport, energy balance, and species concentration conservation in different elements of the fuel cell sandwich, as well as the equations for the phase potential in the membrane and the catalyst layers. These governing equations are coupled with chemical reaction kinetics by introducing various source terms. It is found that all these equations are in a very similar form except the source terms. Based on this observation, all the governing equations can be solved using the same numerical formulation in the single domain without prescribing the boundary conditions at the various interfaces between the different elements of the fuel cell. The numerical simulation results, such as velocity field, local current density distribution, and species concentration variation along the flow channel, under various operation conditions are computed. The performance of the DMFC affected by various parameters such as temperature, pressure, and methanol concentration is investigated in this paper. The numerical results are further validated with available experimental data from the published literatures

Numerical analysis of the hydrodynamics of the flow in an axially rotating heat pipe

A numerical study is conducted on the vapor and liquid flow in a wick structure of an axially rotating heat pipe. For the vapor, the governing equations are the Navier-Stokes. For the liquid a space average of the Navier-Stokes equation is performed and a porous media model is introduced for the cross correlation that appears from the averaging process. A control volume approach on a staggered grid is used in the development of the computer program. Suction and blowing velocities are used as boundary conditions of the vapor and liquid, which are related to a local heat flux input in the evaporator section, and local heat flux output in the condenser section, respectively. The aim behind this study is the application of heat pipes in drilling applications. A triangular heat flux distribution is assumed in the evaporator due to the higher heat flux generated at the tip of the drill. A parametric study is conducted to analyze the effect of different parameters such as rotational speeds, saturation conditions, porosity, permeability and dimensions of the wick structure in the porous medium. These parameters significantly affect the pressure drop in the heat pipe and allow predicting failure conditions, which is critical in the design of heat pipes in drilling applications. The results of this study will be useful for the complete analysis of the heat pipe performance including the solution of the heat transfer on the solid wall as a conjugate problem

Turbulent heat transfer analysis of a three-dimensional array of perforated fins due to changes in perforation sizes

Turbulent heat transfer characteristics of three-dimensional and rectangular perforated fins, including perforation like channels along the length of the fins, are investigated. Both dimensions and numbers of perforations are changed at the highest porosity in the study of Shaeri and Yaghoubi [7] to determine the effects of perforation sizes on the heat transfer characteristics of the perforated fins. Results show that at a specific porosity, a fin with a higher number of perforations enhances the heat transfer rate more efficiently. Also, total drag is not only remarkably lower in perforated fins compared with a solid fin, but also becomes smaller by decreasing the number of perforations

Residual stress characterization from numerical analysis of the multi-particle impact behavior in cold spray

Abstract: In cold spray, bonding is created between a substrate and the particles and between particles through impact deformation at high strain rates. A prominent feature of the cold spray process is the compressive residual stress that arises during the deposition process. Compressive residual stress on the surface can be beneficial for fatigue resistance. As a post processing technique several applications require surface treatment processes that produce this state of stress on component surfaces such as shot peening, laser shock peening, ultrasonic impact treatment, low plasticity burnishing, etc. In all of these methods the compressive stress is produced through plastic deformation of the surface region. In a similar manner, the cold spray process induces compressive stress by high speed impact of the sprayed particles on the surface, causing a peening effect. The effects of these variations in the properties of the coatings are rarely reported. Moreover there are some applications which require minimal residual stresses in the components such as in optics. In this study, we have investigated the residual stress using numerical analysis of the multi-particle impact behavior in cold spray

Casting and Applications of Functionally Graded Metal Matrix Composites

This chapter discusses the concepts, casting techniques and applications of functionally graded materials metal matrix composites (FGMMCs). Considerations were given to bulk functionally graded aluminium matrix composites (FGAACs) production processes. Liquid-metal forging processes of FGAACs fabrication, such as infiltration process, squeeze casting, friction casting or compocasting, stir, and centrifugal casting were discussed. The chapter provides basic concepts of the processes and overview of their processing parameters, such as mould rotational speed; reinforcement particles size and volume; degassing method; melting and pouring temperatures; pressure; and stirrer. The study notes that functionally graded materials (FGMs) are commonly used in automotive, aircraft, aviation, chemical, medical, engineering, renewable energy, nuclear energy, and optics electronics industries

The effect of perforation sizes on laminar heat transfer characteristics of an array of perforated fins

Shaeri and Yaghoubi [25] reported the highest heat transfer rate in a laminar flow for a perforated fin with the most perforations (porosity), regardless of investigation on the effects of perforation sizes. In this study, the effects of size and number of perforations on laminar heat transfer characteristics of an array of perforated fins at the highest porosity of the study of Shaeri and Yaghoubi [25] have been numerically investigated. The Navier–Stokes and energy equations are solved by the finite volume procedure using the SIMPLE algorithm. Results show that at a specific porosity, the thermal entrance length of each perforation of a fin with a lower number of perforations is larger than that of each perforation of a fin with a higher number of perforations. Therefore, in a laminar flow and at a constant porosity, a fin with fewer perforations is more efficient to enhance the heat transfer rate compared with a fin with more perforations. Although perforated fins have higher friction drag and lower pressure drag with respect to solid fins, perforated fins do not affect total drag

Efficient Low-Cost Materials for Solar Energy Applications: Roles of Nanotechnology

The generation of energy to meet the increasing global demand should not compromise the environment and the future. Therefore, renewable energies have been identified as potential alternatives to fossil fuels that are associated with CO2 emissions. Subsequently, photovoltaic (PV) solar system is seen as the most versatile and the largest source of electricity for the future globally. Nanotechnology is a facilitating tool that offers a wide range of resources to resolve material challenges in different application areas. This studies X-rays, energy trilemma, potential nanotechnology-based materials for low-cost PV solar cell fabrication, and atomic layer deposition (ALD). In pursuance of improved performance, PV solar-cell technologies have revolutionized from first-generation PV solar cells to third-generation PV solar cells. The efficiency (19%) of second-generation PV cells is higher than the efficiency (15%) of first-generation cells. The second-generation PV cell technologies include a-Si, CdTe and Cu(In,Ga)Se2), Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) cells. The third-generation PV cells are organic-inorganic hybrid assemblies, nanostructured semiconductors, and molecular assemblies. This nanocomposite-based technology aims at developing low-cost high efficiency PV solar cells. The nanotechnology manufacturing technique, ALD, is seen as the future technology of PV solar cell production

Developing fluid flow and heat transfer in a channel partially filled with porous medium

A three-dimensional computational model is developed to analyze fluid flow in a channel partially filled with porous medium. In order to understand the developing fluid flow and heat transfer mechanisms inside the channel partially filled with porous medium, the conventional Navier–Stokes equations for gas channel, and volume-averaged Navier–Stokes equations for porous medium layer are adopted individually in this study. Conservation of mass, momentum and energy equations are solved numerically in a coupled gas and porous media domain along a channel using the vorticity–velocity method with power law scheme. Detailed development of axial velocity, secondary flow and temperature field at various axial positions in the entrance region are presented. The friction factor and Nusselt number are presented as a function of axial position, and the effects of the size of porous media inside the channel partially filled with porous medium are also analyzed in the present study