EDITORIAL

The third issue of RETERM – Thermal Engineering consolidates the journal as an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM). The journal continues to be divided in two main sections: science and technology. The former is directed to publish complete articles that deal with fundamental advances in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, new physical insights, and novel experimental and analytical methods that have great appeal for the industry community, and the latter is designed to comprise informative articles that document modern engineering applications, or general advances in industry. Particularly, in this issue, the best articles written in English language, presented at the 9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences, ENCIT 2002, held in Caxambu, MG, from October 15th to 18th, 2002, were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. The idea is to increase the industrial and scientific impact of the research results presented in the Congress. The institutional support from the Brazilian Society of Industrial Machinery and Equipments (ABIMAQ), continues to strengthen our belief in the success of this enterprise. To open a perspective to the maintainance and continuity of RETERM, we invite the readers from the industrial community to contact our staff for subscriptions and publicity in RETERM. For the next issues we continue to welcome technical articles from both the scientific and the industrial communities to either section of RETERM, and contributions to the other sections of the journal, and suggestions for new sections as well. We also welcome response and comments from our readers that will certainlly help the success of RETERM

EDITORIAL

The first number of Thermal Engineering marks the fulfillment of a long term aspiration for the thermal science community in Brazil.The country has had a steady and solid industrial growth since the 1940's, reaching a development level which is comparable to the most developed countries in the world.However,the scientific and industrial communities have not interacted enough during this evolution process, mainly due to the lack of effective media between them.The purpose of this new journal is to become a publication "locus" where the scientific and industrial communities can interact technically.An applied section has been designed to comprise articles that document modern engineering applications, or general advances in industry. A scientific section was also created to publish articles that deal with fundamental advances in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, new physical insights, and novel experimental and analytical methods that have great appeal for the industry community. This way, the journal intends to explore problems and situations that are relevant to industrial engineer and academic professionals.Clearly, the articles will attract the interest of both communities, and will contribute to the establishment of a better link between the industry and the university.The institutional support from the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM), that for the past twenty five years has been unique in promoting the mechanical sciences in our country, and from the Brazilian Society of Industrial Machinery and Equipments (ABIMAQ), that for the last sixty years is engaged with our technological development, strengthens our belief in the complete success of this enterprise.This first issue brings together several articles from internationally recognized scientists in the scientific section, and several selected articles from the industry in the applied section. For the next numbers we welcome technical articles from both communities to either section.We also welcome response and comments from our readers which will eventually help the success of RETERM

EDITORIAL

RETERM – Thermal Engineering is an official publication of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM). In this fourth issue, the journal continues to be divided in two main sections: science and technology. The former is directed to publish complete articles that deal with fundamental advances in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, new physical insights, and novel experimental and analytical methods that have great appeal for the industry community, and the latter is designed to comprise informative articles that document modern engineering applications, or general advances in industry.In this issue, we continue to publish the best articles written in English language, presented at the 9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences, ENCIT 2002, held in Caxambu, MG, from October 15th to 18th, 2002, that were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. The idea is to increase the industrial and scientific impact of the research results presented in the Congress. Additional articles that have been submitted and reviewed in the regular RETERM publication process are also included in the current issue.The institutional support from the Brazilian Society of Industrial Machinery and Equipments (ABIMAQ), continues to strengthen our belief in the success of this enterprise. To open a perspective to the maintainance and continuity of RETERM, we invite the readers from the industrial community to contact our staff for subscriptions and publicity in RETERM. For the next issues we continue to welcome technical articles from both the scientific and the industrial communities to either section of RETERM, contributions to the other sections of the journal, and suggestions for new sections as well. We also welcome response and comments from our readers that will certainly help the success of RETERM

EDITORIAL

This special issue of RETERM – Thermal Engineering is the continuation of the brazilian thermal science community’s effort to bridge the gap between the scientific (academia) and industrial communities. For that, the journal continues to be divided in two main sections: science and technology. The former is directed to publish complete articles that deal with fundamental advances in heat transfer and fluid mechanics, new physical insights, and novel experimental and analytical methods that have great appeal for the industry community, and the latter is designed to comprise informative articles that document modern engineering applications, or general advances in industry. Particularly, in this special issue, the best articles written in English language, presented at the I Brazilian Congress of R&D in Oil and Gas, held in Natal, RN, between November 25th and 28th, 2001, were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. This way, RETERM specifically addresses the Oil and Natural Gas sector, that has been fomented by the existing great needs and by the existence of CTPETRO – Brazilian National Plan of Science and Technology for the Oil and Natural Gas Sector, that plays a role of crucial importance on fomenting scientific research in Brazil. The institutional support from the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences (ABCM), and from the Brazilian Society of Industrial Machinery and Equipments (ABIMAQ), continues to strengthen our belief in the success of this enterprise. To open a perspective to the maintainance and continuity of RETERM, we invite the readers from the industrial community to contact our staff for subscriptions and publicity in RETERM. For the next issues we continue to welcome technical articles from both the scientific and the industrial communities to either section of RETERM, and contributions to the other sections of the journal, and suggestions for new sections as well. We also welcome response and comments from our readers that will eventually help the success of RETERM

EDITORIAL

The global economy lives a period of great apprehension regarding energy issues for the near future. The developed countries continue to have a steady growth and the emerging countries increase their rates of economic growth, which causes a continuing increase in global energy demand. In that context, RETERM calls the attention of the readers to the growing need for the search of alternative energy sources to the current oil based global economy. This effort certainly involves focus and work of the energy related scientific community, field in which Thermal Engineering is part of. There are several alternatives currently under consideration. The Department of Energy of the United States of America is currently seriously focused on research and development of alternative energy sources, mainly aiming the independence of external suppliers, such as nuclear energy and the hydrogen economy. Therefore, it is vital to any nation the allocation of financial resources to the development and technological control of new processes that lead to self-sufficiency in energy generation for internal consumption and economic growth. The fuel cell systems will be of critical importance in the possible hydrogen economy scenery for the near future, and they are at the forefront of the emerging technologies for electric power generation for stationary, mobile and portable applications. The high energy conversion efficiencies, extremely low onsite environmental pollution and noise are among their major advantages in comparison to other systems. However, there are major technological and economic hurdles to be overcome prior to their large scale practical implementation. Similarly to nuclear technology, in fuel cell technology it is observed that each research group develops its own know-how independently and with little exchange of information.In this fifth number, we continue to publish the best articles written in English language, presented at the 9th Brazilian Congress of Thermal Engineering and Sciences, ENCIT 2002, held in Caxambu, MG, from October 15th to 18th, 2002, that were selected by the Associate Technical Editors of RETERM, according to the scientific criteria of the journal. The idea is to increase the industrial and scientific impact of the research results presented in the Congress. Additional articles that have been submitted and reviewed in the regular RETERM publication process are also included in the current issue

INFRARED IMAGING AND COMPUTERIZED TOMOGRAPHY IN BREAST CANCER: CASE STUDY

This work presents a case study of a 75-year-old woman breast withcancer. The investigation process used infrared image, mammography,computerized tomography (CT) and ultrasound guided biopsy toassess, stage and final diagnostic of the tumor. Each one of theseevaluations brings an isolated piece of information that results in thecorrect diagnostic, and treatment. As early diagnostic of breast cancergoes towards improvement in diagnostics and better therapeutics, it isreasonable to state that breast cancer diagnostics must be achieved asearly as possible. An association between infrared image abnormalitiesand computerized tomography is acknowledged and is assumed that acorrelation could exist. The technical literature demonstrated thattumor depth could be inferred from infrared images, but criticalinformation such as breast perfusion for accurate predictions are notavailable yet. Considering that a mathematical model could modelbreast perfusion, this study proposes that tumor morphology and depthin breast cancer could be adequately determined using mathematicalmodeling, infrared imaging, and computerized tomography incomplementary actions

Sustainable and renewable hydrogen production from recycled aluminum

The whole world has been suffering strong consequences related to climate change. The intense use of fossil fuels in the chemical and automotive industries have put the environment in jeopardy. Thus, the industry has achieved a point of no return and it is urgent the development of renewable and sustainable technologies. Hydrogen has been pointed as a key component of the new era in industry since it can be produced in a clean and sustainable way. Currently the development of hydrogen fuel cells technology has put the automotive sector ahead of the chemical industries in relation to studies regarding the hydrogen production. Chemical industries produce hydrogen with technologies reliant on fossil fuels while the automotive sector has been looking for renewable forms of hydrogen generation.  Trains powered by hydrogen fuel cells are a reality in Europe, for instance. Hydrogen generation technological advances must match the pace of the development of fuel cells electrical vehicles in order to the environmental goals and widespread application of fuel cell systems to be achieved.  The present study addresses the hydrogen generation from the spontaneous reaction between aluminum and aqueous solution of sodium hydroxide. Aluminum is a metal that presents high exergetic value and can be recycled several times without losing its thermo-mechanical properties. That makes the use of aluminum especially appealing. It will make hydrogen generation a cleaner and more affordable process.  Our findings demonstrate that it is possible to predict the kinetic behavior of the reaction using data obtained by the conductometric method. Graphs of electrical conductivity vs time show that is possible to verify the order of the reaction. We will present concepts of kinetic, thermodynamic and transport phenomena of the reaction between solid recycled aluminum and sodium hydroxide in an aqueous solution.  The knowledge acquired throughout this study will contribute to the development of a new reactor and as a consequence, a new renewable and sustainable industrial system of hydrogen generation

TURBULENT STRESS DISTRIBUTION IN THE TURBULENT BOUNDARY LAYER ON A PERMEABLE POROUS PLATE

In this paper the results of experimental tests on turbulent boundary layer on a plate with air blowing through permeable porous wall are presented. Tests were performed in an aerodynamic tunnel varying the blowing rate within the range of 0 to 2.5% of the air flow velocity in the tunnel, using thermoanemometers of constant temperature. It has been determined that the blowing increases the boundary layer thickness and strongly transforms the boundary layer inner part and turbulent nucleus, while the outer part remains not deformed. An increase in blowing causes an abrupt viscous stress decrease, also decreasing skin friction. Thick boundary layers (up to 120 mm) allowed a profound analysis of Reynolds' turbulent stresses. It has been found a general distribution of turbulent stress in the turbulent layer which is independent of blowing velocity. It has been established for the turbulent characteristics that the determining coordinate is the relative horizontal velocity, not the distance from the wall. With a turbulent stress database obtained from turbulent stresses direct measurements, it has been proposed a flow model for boundary layer on a permeable porous plate. It has also been demonstrated that in high blowing conditions the horizontal velocity profile in the boundary layer becomes equal to the velocity profile in a plane jet

EDITORIAL

The editorial of Engenharia Térmica of this issue continues the discussion on scientific research needs in vital areas in which thermal engineering has important participation. The main goal is to motivate the readers, within their specialties, to identify possible subjects for their future research.Global energy demands are on the rise, and the current technology used to generate, transmit, and distribute electricity will not be able to meet the growth due to the bottlenecks in densely populated areas and the inefficiencies throughout the electrical grid. Soon, new technologies will be required to relieve the constraints on the grid while being cost effective, reliable, and environmentally acceptable. High temperature superconducting technology (HTS), that admits critical temperatures above 30 K, and under development, has the means to provide ways to overcome the challenges faced by electric utility companies. Other applications including all-electric ships and aircrafts would also benefit greatly from the use of HTS power devices in meeting the increasing electrical power requirements at high power densities. Therefore, advanced thermal engineering will be highly required to design and produce superconducting power generation systems and transmission lines that are technically and economically viable.The mission of Engenharia Térmica is to document the scientific progress in areas related to thermal engineering (e.g., energy, oil and renewable fuels). We are confident that we will continue to receive articles’ submissions that contribute to the progress of science