Recent progresses in the development of tubular segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cells:Experimental and numerical study

Solid oxide fuel cells(SOFCs)have attracted a great deal of interest because they have the highest efficiency without using any noble metal as catalysts among all the fuel cell technologies.However,traditional SOFCs suffer from having a higher volume,current leakage,complex connections,and difficulty in gas sealing.To solve these problems,Rolls-Royce has fabricated a simple design by stacking cells in series on an insulating porous support,resulting in the tubular segmented-in-series solid oxide fuel cells(SIS-SOFCs),which achieved higher output voltage.This work systematically reviews recent advances in the structures,preparation methods,perform-ances,and stability of tubular SIS-SOFCs in experimental and numerical studies.Finally,the challenges and future development of tubular SIS-SOFCs are also discussed.The findings of this work can help guide the direction and inspire innovation of future development in this field.

Cross Flow Characteristics and Heat Transfer of Staggered Tubes Bundle: A Numerical Study

This paper presents a numerical emulation study of heat transmission through tube banks in three-dimensions.Staggered configuration is displayed by fluid dynamics using computer programs(CFD)software(ANSYS fluent).The computer model is used to predict the values of the Nusselt number when changing the values of heat flux and longitudinal pitch.The longitudinal pitch(SL/D)of 1.3,1.8,and 2.4 mm.The transverse pitch(ST/D)of 1.5 mm,and also considered Reynolds numbers 10000,13000,17000,and 190000.The staggered configuration of the tube bundle is demonstrated to investigate the impact of this arrangement on the heat transmission rate from the tubes.The gotten results indicate that the rate of heat transmission increases with decreases in the longitudinal spacing(SL).As the longitudinal spacing(SL)increases to about 44%the Nusselt number is slightly decreased by about 9%.The coefficient of heat transmission,Nusselt number,and the heat transmission data obtained from(CFD)Compared to previous research results,there is a decent agreement originating after comparison.

Numerical study of forward smoldering combustionof polyurethane foam

A two-dimensional and two-phase numerical model is presented for the smolder propagation in a horizontal polyurethane foam. The chemical processes considered include endothermic pyrolysis and exotherrnic oxidation degradation of polyurethane foam and exothermic oxidation of char. The governing equations are discretized in space using the finite element method and solved by the software package FEMLAB. Predicted profiles of solid temperature as well as evolutions of solid compositions （including foam, char and ash） are presented at an airflow velocity of 0. 28 cm/s. The computed average smoldering velocity is 0. 021 4 cm/s, and the average maximum temperature is 644. 67 K. Based on the evolutions of solid compositions, the packed bed can be obviously divided into four zones： unreacted zone, fuel pyrolysis and oxidation zone, char oxidation zone and fuel burned-out zone. Simultaneously, the effects of inlet air velocity and fuel properties （including thermal conductivity, specific heat, density and pore diameter） are studied on the smoldering propagation. The results show that the smoldering velocity and temperature have a roughly linear increase with increasing inlet air velocity; the fuel density is the most important factor in determining smoldering propagation; radiation has a non-negligible role on the smoldering velocity for larger pore diameters of porous material. The computational results are compared with the experimental data and a general agreement is reached.

A numerical study on the impact of tidal waves on the storm surge in the north of Liaodong Bay

A storm surge is an abnormal sharp rise or fall in the seawater level produced by the strong wind and low pressure field of an approaching storm system.A storm tide is a water level rise or fall caused by the combined effect of the storm surge and an astronomical tide.The storm surge depends on many factors,such as the tracks of typhoon movement,the intensity of typhoon,the topography of sea area,the amplitude of tidal wave,the period during which the storm surge couples with the tidal wave.When coupling with different parts of a tidal wave,the storm surges caused by a typhoon vary widely.The variation of the storm surges is studied.An once-in-a-century storm surge was caused by Typhoon 7203 at Huludao Port in the north of the Liaodong Bay from July 26th to 27th,1972.The maximum storm surge is about 1.90 m.The wind field and pressure field used in numerical simulations in the research were derived from the historical data of the Typhoon 7203 from July 23rd to 28th,1972.DHI Mike21 is used as the software tools.The whole Bohai Sea is defined as the computational domain.The numerical simulation models are forced with sea levels at water boundaries,that is the tide along the Bohai Straits from July 18th to 29th（2012）.The tide wave and the storm tides caused by the wind field and pressure field mentioned above are calculated in the numerical simulations.The coupling processes of storm surges and tidal waves are simulated in the following way.The first simulation start date and time are 00：00 July 18th,2012; the second simulation start date and time are 03：00 July 18th,2012.There is a three-hour lag between the start date and time of the simulation and that of the former one,the last simulation start date and time are 00：00 July 25th,2012.All the simulations have a same duration of 5 days,which is same as the time length of typhoon data.With the first day and the second day simulation output,which is affected by the initial field,being ignored,only the 3rd to 5th day simulation results are used to study the rules of the storm surges in the north of the Liaodong Bay.In total,57 cases are calculated and analyzed,including the coupling effects between the storm surge and a tidal wave during different tidal durations and on different tidal levels.Based on the results of the 57 numerical examples,the following conclusions are obtained：For the same location,the maximum storm surges are determined by the primary vibration（the storm tide keeps rising quickly） duration and tidal duration.If the primary vibration duration is a part of the flood tidal duration,the maximum storm surge is lower（1.01,1.05 and 1.37 m at the Huludao Port,the Daling Estuary and the Liaohe Estuary respectively）.If the primary vibration duration is a part of the ebb tidal duration,the maximum storm surge is higher（1.92,2.05 and 2.80 m at the Huludao Port,the Daling Estuary and the Liaohe Estuary respectively）.In the mean time,the sea level restrains the growth of storm surges.The hour of the highest storm tide has a margin of error of plus or minus 80 min,comparing the high water hour of the astronomical tide,in the north of the Liaodong Bay.

Numerical study of effect of front cavity on hydrogen/air premixed combustion in a micro-combustion chamber

The micro-combustion chamber is the key component for micro-TPV systems. To improve the combustor wall temperature level and its uniformity and efficiency, an improved flat micro-combustor with a front cavity is built, and the combustion performance of the original and improved combustors of premixed H2/air flames under various inlet velocities and equivalence ratios is numerically investigated. The effects of the front cavity height and length on the outer wall temperature and efficiency are also discussed. The front cavity significantly improves the average outer wall temperature, outer wall temperature uniformity, and combustion efficiency of the micro-combustor, increases the area of the high temperature zone, and enhances the heat transfer between the burned blends and inner walls. The micro-combustor with the front cavity length of 2.0 mm and height of 0.5 mm is suitable for micro-TPV system application due to the relatively high outer wall temperature, combustion efficiency, and the most uniform outer wall temperature.

A Numerical Study of the Urban Intensity Effect on Fog Evolution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

The influence of urban intensity on fog evolution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region (China) is investigated numerically with the the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the urban canopy parameterization-building energy model (UCP- BEM) urban physics scheme. The experiments were designed with a focus on the influence of different urban intensities, which are represented by a different fractional coverage of natural land, buildings, and energy consumption inside buildings in an urban environment. The results of this study indicate that urban areas notably influence fog evolution when natural land is reduced to a small fraction (e.g., less than 10%). Developed land changes fog evolution through urban effects. Higher urban intensity (HUI) generally results in warmer temperatures and lower wind speeds throughout the day, while inhibiting morning specific humidity loss and afternoon specific humidity gain because of the HUI effect on surface heat flux, surface roughness, and surface moisture flux. HUI leads to later and weaker liquid water content formation, with a higher liquid water content base, primarily due to its effect on near surface temperatures. This finding implies that HUI may inhibit the conditions for fog formation. In addition, urban areas with equal natural and developed land coverage seem to greatly enhance the upward surface moisture flux, which is attributed to the combination of a relatively large potential evaporation on developed land and an ample moisture supply from natural land. As a result, the specific humidity increases in the afternoon.

Numerical study on three-dimensional flow field of continuously rotating detonation in a toroidal chamber

Gaseous detonation propagating in a toroidal chamber was numerically studied for hydrogen/oxygen/nitrogen mixtures. The numerical method used is based on the three-dimensional Euler equations with detailed finiterate chemistry. The results show that the calculated streak picture is in qualitative agreement with the picture recorded by a high speed streak camera from published literature. The three-dimensional flow field induced by a continuously rotating detonation was visualized and distinctive features of the rotating detonations were clearly depicted. Owing to the unconfined character of detonation wavelet, a deficit of detonation parameters was observed. Due to the effects of wall geometries, the strength of the outside detonation front is stronger than that of the inside portion. The detonation thus propagates with a constant circular velocity. Numerical simulation also shows three-dimensional rotating detonation structures, which display specific feature of the detonation- shock combined wave. Discrete burning gas pockets are formed due to instability of the discontinuity. It is believed that the present study could give an insight into the interest- ing properties of the continuously rotating detonation, and is thus beneficial to the design of continuous detonation propulsion systems.

Numerical Study of A Round Buoyant Jet Under the Effect of JONSWAP Random Waves

This paper presents a numerical study on the hydrodynamic behaviours of a round buoyant jet under the effect of JONSWAP random waves. A three-dimensional large eddy simulation （LES） model is developed to simulate the buoyant jet in a stagnant ambient and JONSWAP random waves. By comparison of velocity and concentration fields, it is found that the buoyant jet exhibits faster decay of centerline velocity, wider lateral spreading and larger initial dilution under the wave effect, indicating that wave dynamics improves the jet entrainment and mixing in the near field, and subsequently mitigate the jet impacts in the far field. The effect of buoyancy force on the jet behaviours in the random waves is also numerically investigated. The results show that the wave effect on the jet entrainment and mixing is considerably weakened under the existence of buoyancy force, resulting in a slower decay rate of centerline velocity and a narrower jet width for the jet with initial buoyancy.

A Numerical Study on the Effect of an Extratropical Cyclone on the Evolution of a Midlatitude Front

The extratropical transition （ET） of tropical cyclone （TC） Haima （2004） was simulated to understand the impact of TC on midlatitude frontal systems. Two experiments were conducted using the Advanced Research version of the Weather Research and Forecast （WRF） model. In the control run （CTL）, a vortex was extracted from the 24-hour pre-run output and then inserted into the National Centers for Environmental Prediction （NCEP） global final （FNL） analysis as an initial condition, while TC circulation was removed from the initial conditions in the sensitivity run （NOTC）. Comparisons of the experiments demonstrate that the midlatitude front has a wider meridional extent in the NOTC run than that in the CTL run. Furthermore, the CTL run produces convection suppression to the southern side of the front due to strong cold advection related to the TC circulation. The easterly flow north of the TC not only decelerates the eastward displacement of the front and contracts its zonal scale but also transports more moisture westward and lifts the air along equivalent potential temperature surfaces ahead of the front. As a result, the ascending motion and diabatic heating are enhanced in the northeastern edge of the front, and the anticyclonic outflow in the upper-level is intensified. The increased pressure gradient and divergent ftow aloft strengthen the upper-level jet and distort the trough axis in a northwest-southeast orientation. The thermal contrast between the two systems and the dynamic contribution related to the TC circulation can facilitate scalar and rotational frontogenesis to modulate the frontal structure.

Numerical Study of Fluid Dynamics and Heat Transfer Induced by Plasma Discharges

A numerical investigation is conducted to explore the evolution of a plasma discharge and its interaction with the fluid flow based on a self-consistent fluid model which couples the discharge dynamics with the fluid dynamics.The effects of the applied voltage on the distribution of velocity and temperature in initially static air are parainetrically studied.Furthermore,the spatial structure of plasma discharge and the resulting force contours in streamwise and normal directions are discussed in detail.The result shows that the plasma actuator produces a net force that should always be directed away from the exposed electrode,which results in an ionic wind pushing particles into a jet downstream of the actuator.When the energy added by the plasma is taken into account,the ambient air temperature is increased slightly around the electrode,but the velocity is almost not affected.Therefore it is unlikely that the induced flow is buoyancy driven.For the operating voltages considered in this paper,the maximum induced velocity is found to follow a power law,i.e.,it is proportional to the applied voltage to the 3.5 power.This promises an efficient application in the flow control with plasma actuators.

A Numerical Study on Forecasting the Henan Extraordinarily Heavy Rainfall Event in August 1975

This study is essentially an experiment on the control experiment in the August 1975 catastrophe which was the heaviest rainfall in China's Mainland with a maximum 24-h rainfall of 1060.3 mm, and it significantly demonstrates that the limited area model can still skillfully give reasonable results even only the conventional data are available. For such a heavy rainfall event, a grid length of 90 km is too large while 45 km seems acceptable. Under these two grid sizes, the cumulus parameterization scheme is evidently superior to the explicit scheme since it restricts instabilities such as CISK to limited extent. The high resolution scheme for the boundary treatment does not improve forecasts significantly.The experiments also revealed some interesting phenomena such as the forecast rainfall being too small while affecting synoptic system so deep as compared with observations. Another example is the severe deformation of synoptic systems both in initial conditions and forecast fields in the presence of complicated topography. Besides, the fixed boundary condition utilized in the experiments along with current domain coverage set some limitations to the model performances.

Numerical Study of Natural Convection in a Two-Dimensional Enclosure with a Sinusoidal Boundary Thermal Condition Utilizing Nanofluid

Nanofluids are considered to offer important advantages over conventional heat transfer fluids. A model is developed to analyze the behavior of nanofluids taking into account the solid fraction χ. The Navier-Stokes equations are solved numerically with Alternating Direct Implicit method (ADI method) for various Grashof numbers 104 and 105;we have an excellent agreement between our numerical code and previously published works. Copper-Water nanofluid is used with Pr = 6.2 and solid volume fraction χ is varied as 0%;5%;10%;15% and 20%. The problem considered is a two-dimensional heat transfer in a square cavity. The vertical walls are differentially heated, the left is maintained at hot con- dition (sinusoidal) when the right one is cold. The horizontal walls are assumed to be insulated, non conducting and impermeable to mass transfer. The nanofluid in the enclosure is Newtonian, incompressible and laminar. The nanopar- ticles are assumed to have a uniform shape and size. Moreover, it is assumed that both the fluid phase and nanoparticles are in thermal equilibrium state and they flow at the same velocity. The thermophysical properties of the nanofluid are assumed to be constant except for the density variation in the buoyancy force, which is based on the Boussinesq approximation. Different correlations are proposed for predicting heat transfer for uniform and sinusoidal boundary thermal conditions.

Numerical Study on the Drag Coefficients of Sphere and Double Spheres

Winds on the earth are commonly strong enough to erode transport and deposit sediment. The modes of sand transport by the wind are greatly different from those by water flow. On the other hand wind-blown sands are of a material circulation process of the earth surface. They affect wind-sand transport flux and sand ejection of a flux, the damage of grains formed cannot be neglected in engineering. Because of the complexity of windblown sand flux system, the understanding of its basic mechanics is not yet clear. The key forces in sand salutation mainly includes： the valid gravity, air drag force ＇Magnus force＇ Saffman force ＇Basset force＇ additional quality force and scatter force among grains. The most important force in sand salutation is the air drag force. Computation of the single sphere drag coefficient and double spheres drag coefficient is presented for the distance between two spheres being smaller than twelve times of the sphere diameter and the spheres being at different angular positions. The flow interference of two spheres was investigated for the distance s = 0.08 d to 12d, angular position 0 = 0 to 360 and Reynolds number 15≤Re≤1000.

Numerical study on residual current and its impact on mass transport in the Hangzhou Bay and the Changjiang Estuary Ⅱ. Residual current and its impact on mass transport in winter

Some observational characteristics of residual current and mass transport in the Hangzhou Bay and the Changjiang Estuary in winter are analyzed. The residual current and its impact on mass transport are simulated with a 3 - D joint model for the Hangzhou Bay and the Changjiang Estuary, in which the impacts of river flux, wind, baroclinic pressure gradient (BPG), background current in the East China Sea and tide (including M2, S2, K1 and O1) are taken into account. Based on there studies, further simulations are made to analyze the dynamical mechanisms of the observational characteristics.

Numerical Study on the Energy Extraction Performance of Coupled Tandem Flapping Hydrofoils

Tidal current energy is a promising renewable energy source for future electricity supply.The flapping hydrofoil is regarded as a useful tool to extract the tidal current energy in shallow water.A concept of coupled tandem flapping hydrofoils under semi-activated mode was proposed in the present study.A two-dimensional numerical model,based on the computational fluid dynamics software ANSYS-Fluent,was established to investigate the power extraction performance of the coupled tandem flapping hydrofoils.The effects of the reduced frequency,pitching amplitude,moment of inertia,damping coefficient,and longitudinal distance between hydrofoils were studied.The vortices,pressure distribution,and kinetic characteristics of hydrofoils under various conditions were analyzed to reveal the interaction between the shedding vortex and hydrofoils.The energy extraction mechanism and hydrodynamic performance were analyzed.The positive interactions for energy harvesting were identified for improvements of the further performance.The peak values of efficiency and power coefficient were achieved at 0.69 and 2.13,respectively.

Numerical Study for Characteristic Change of Asian Summer Monsoon Circulation and Its Influence Mechanism during the EI Nino Period

In this paper, the relation between Asian summer monsoon circulation and sea surface temperature anomalies over equatorial central-eastern Pacific is investigated by using a global spectral model. This model has nine layers in the vertical and the model variables are represented in the horizontal as truncated expansions of the surface spherical harmonics with rhomboidal truncation at wave number 15. The model involves comparatively complete physical processes and parameterizations with mountains.Using the above model, two experimental schemes are designed, namely control case and anomalous sea surface temperature case. The above two schemes are respectively integrated for forty days and the simulated results are obtained from the last 30-day averaged simulations.The simulations show that positive SST anomalies over equatorial central-eastern Pacific weakens Indian monsoon circulation,decreases precipitation in Indian sub-continent whereas it intensifies East Asian monsoon circulation and increases precipitation in East Asian area. All these results reflect the characteristics of Asian summer monsoon during the El Nino period. In this paper, SST anomalies over equatorial central-eastern Pacific have a direct influence on the intensity and position of subtropical high via the wave train over Northern Hemisphere, which is similar to that suggested by Nitta(1987) and the wave train over Southern Hemisphere has an influence on the intensity of Muscarene high and Australia high resulting in affecting cross equatorial flow. As a result, atmospheric interior heat sources and sinks are redistributed because of the change of cross equatorial flow. And the response of atmosphere to the new heat source and sink has a significant influence on Asian summer monsoon.

A NUMERICAL STUDY OF BINGHAM TURBULENT FLOW IN SUDDEN-EXPANSION STRAIGHT CIRCULAR PIPE

The control equations for the turbulent flow of Bingham fluid are established according to Bingham fluid constitution equation. Pressure field and velocity field are correlted by pressure-correction equation. The numerical computations are performed on Bingham fluid turbulent flow in sudden-expansion straight circular pipe, and the flow mechanisms are discussed.

Numerical study on the influences of preload factor on the properties of three-lobe journal bearing

The influences of preload factor on the characteristics of three-lobe journal bearing, such as dimensionless load capacity, attitude angle, stiffness coefficients and damping coefficients, were studied by using the numerical calculation. And the influences of eccentricity ratio and wide-to-diameter ratio on the characteristics of journal bearing were investigated as well. The results show that with the increasing of preload factor, eccentricity ratio and wide-to-diameter ratio, the dimensionless load capacity and damping coefficients increase; meanwhile, the absolute value of stiffness coefficients increases; and with the increasing of preload factor and eccentricity ratio and the decreasing of wide-to-diameter ratio, the attitude angle decreases. The study offers theoretical base for engineering application of three-lobe journal bearing.

A numerical study of the impact of SST anomaly in the warm pool area on atmospheric circulation in winter

In this paper the impacts of the anomalous SST in the warm pool area of the Western Equatorial Pacific on the winter time circulation and the East Asian monsoon are studied by using the NCAR CCM. It is found that the abnormal heating in the warm pool area will change the strength and the position of the Walker Cell in the Equatorial Pacific and the anti-Walker Cell in the equatorial Indian Ocean. Both the Walker and anti-Walker Cells are strengthened. The local Hadley Cells over two hemispheres near the warm pool are also strengthened. The subtropical highs in two hemispheres become stronger and move poleward slightly. The westerly jets in the extratropical regions have similar changes as the subtropical highs. The winter monsoon in South-East Asia is weakened by the abnormal heating in the warm pool. The experiment also show that there are wave trains emanating from surrounding areas of the warm pool to the high latitudes, causing various changes in circulations and local weather.

Numerical study of rapid cyclogenesis over sea

A five-layer primitive equation model was used in the study of rapid cyclogenesis over sea. The numerical simulations show that'the Tibetan Plateau, large-scale baroclinicity and heat flux from the sea surface are the three important agents to produce cyclonic vorticity along the east coast of China. The diagnostic computation of a 24 h control simulation indicates that the nonlinear vorticity advec-tion, baroclinicity and diabatic heating are also responsible for the development of the extratropical cyclones over seas.