Simulation and Optimization of the Fluid Solidification Process in Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers

When a brazed plate heat exchanger is used as an evaporator,the working mass in the channel may undergo soli-dification,thereby hindering the refrigeration cycle.In this study the liquid solidification process and its optimi-zation in a brazed plate heat exchanger are investigated numerically for different inlet velocities;moreover,different levels of corrugation are considered.The results indicate that solidificationfirst occurs around the con-tacts,followed by the area behind the contacts.It is also shown that deadflow zones exist in the sharp areas and such areas are prone to liquid solidification.After optimization,the solidification area attains its smallest value when a corrugation spacingλ=4.2 mm is considered.

HYSYS Automation and Its Application on Evaluation of Plate Heat Exchanger

When simulating or designing plate heat exchangers for multicomponent mixtures, most designers are often perplexed with the question on how to choose or estimate the physical property param- eters and hope to have a reliable database that could be adopted. The commercial codes HYSYS supply the physical property package on over 1500 pure substances and over 16 000 binary coefficients for them. This work has briefly presented an efficient communication interface based on the Microsoft Component Object Model （COM） between inner plate heat exchanger simulation codes and the HYSYS package. The application of a custom-made HYSYS-COM interface has shown high efficiency, such as significant reduction of time needed for evaluating each process stream＇s properties. This automation method can be conveniently extended to further optimization study for any specific operation device such as heat transfers, columns, and other facilities.

Experiment investigation on visualization and operating characteristics of closed loop plate oscillating heat pipe with parallel channels

Using ethanol or acetone as the working fluid, visualization of oscillations in steady state was observed visually by high-speed cameras, and temperature oscillating and heat transfer characteristics of closed-loop plate oscillating heat pipe with parallel channels(POHP-PC) were experimentally investigated by varying liquid filled ratios(50%, 70%, 85%), section scales(1 mm×1 mm and 1 mm×1.5 mm), inclination angles, working fluids and heating inputs. It was found that during operating there was mixed flow consisting of plug flow and annular flow in channels of oscillating heat pipe at steady-state. There was an equilibrium position for working fluid of condenser during oscillating, and periodic oscillations occurred up and down in the vicinity of equilibrium position. With heat input increasing, equilibrium position rose slowly as a result of vapor pressure of evaporation.Evaporation temperature oscillating amplitude possessed a trend of small-large-small and frequency trend was of small-large during steady-state. It may be generally concluded that temperature, whether evaporator or condenser, fluctuated sharply or rose continuously when oscillating heat pipe coming to dry burning state. Simultaneously, it was found that temperature difference of cooling water possibly dropped with heat input rising during dry burning state. Thermal resistance of No. 2 with acetone was lower than that of No. 1 during experiments, but No. 2 achieving heat transfer limit was earlier than No. 1. However, with ethanol, thermal resistance of No. 1 and No. 2 were similar with the heating input less than 110-120 W and filling ratios of 50% and 70%. And with filling ratio of 85%, heating transfer performance of No. 2 was better compared to No. 1 during all the experiments.

Visual Study on Flow and Operational Characteristics of Flat Plate Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes

This paper presents an experimental study including visualization on a flat plate closed loop pulsating heat pipes.It consists of a total of 40 channels with square cross section(2 mm×2 mm,165 mm long) machined directly on an aluminum plate(180 mm×120 mm×3 mm) covered by a transparent plate.The working fluid employed is ethanol.As a result,various flow patterns and their transitions are observed and found to be related to the fluid fill ratio,input heat load and the device orientation.Also the operational characteristics and working mechanism are discussed.

Parametric Influence on Thermal Performance of Flat Plate Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes

This paper presents an experimental study on a flat plate closed loop pulsating heat pipes. It consisted of total 40 channels with square cross section （2 × 2 mm^2, 165 mm long） machined directly on an aluminum plate（180×120×3 nm^2）, which was covered by a transparent plate. The working fluid employed was ethanol. As the results, the influence parameters of thermal performance were investigated, such as filling ratio, heat load and operational orientations etc. Filling ratio was found to be a critical parameter, and its effect was rather complicated. According to its values the PHP plate could have four distinct working zones with different operational characteristics and heat transfer performance. The effect of heat load on thermal performance was found to be positive, and in general, iucrcasing the heat load would improve heat transfer performance. In order to analyze the effect of gravity on thermal performance, three different heat modes and total seven tilt angles were tested and compared. Successful operation at all orientations with respect to gravity was also achieved.

Heat Flux Characterization of DC Laminar-plasma Jets Impinging on a Flat Plate at Atmospheric Pressure

By using steady and transient methods, the total heat fluxes and the distributions of the heat flux were measured experimentally for an argon DC laminar plasma jet impinging normally on a flat plate at atmospheric pressure. Results show that the total heat fluxes measured with a steady method are a little bit higher than those with a transient method. Numerical simulation work was executed to compare with the experimental results.

NUMERICAL STUDY ON FLOW DISTRIBUTION IN PLATE-FIN HEAT EXCHANGERS

Objective To investigate the flow distribution in plate fin heat exchangers and optimize the design of header configuration for plate fin heat exchangers. Methods A mathematical model of header was proposed. The effects of the header configuration on the flow distribution in plate fin heat exchangers were investigated by CFD. The second header configuration with a two stage distributing structure was brought forward to improve the performance of flow distribution. Results It is found that the flow maldistribution is very serious in the direction of header length for the conventional header used in industry. The numerical predictions indicate that the improved header configurations can effectively improve the performance of flow distribution in plate fin heat exchangers. Conclusion The numerical simulation confirms that CFD should be a suitable tool for predicting the flow distribution. The method has a wide variety of applications in the design of plate fin heat exchangers.

Laminar Heat Transfer Modeling and Investigation of Thermal Dispersion in a Flat Plate Heat Exchanger： Estimating Heat Transfer Coefficient, Heat Flux and Nusselt Number

PHEs （plate heat exchangers） are among the most common thermal equipments in diverse industries particularly in oil and gas companies. This wide usage is obviously due to significant benefits of these heat exchangers over other types. In this article, a behavioral analysis of heat transfer in fiat plates of these heat exchangers in laminar flow situation through CFD （computational fluid dynamics） simulation using FLUENT 6.3.26 software is done. The study reveals results graphically based on fluid＇s behavior in co-current and counter current flows and discusses thermal indexes consisting of heat transfer coefficient, Nusslet and total heat flux in both conditions. Eventually, a comparison via the graphical results is presented between the two types of flow directions.

Heat Flux on EAST Divertor Plate in H-mode with LHCD/LHCD+NBI

Based on the surface temperature measured by the infrared camera on the experimental advanced superconducting tokamak （EAST）, the heat fluxes on the lower outer divertor target plate during H-mode with the lower-hybrid wave current drive （LHCD） only and with the LHCD combined with the neutral beam injection （NBI） are calculated by the DFLUX code and compared. The analyzed discharges are lower single null divertor configuration discharges. In the case with the LHCD only （Ip ~ 400kA, PLHCD ~ 2 MW）, ELM-free appears after L-H transition with the peak heat flux on the lower outer target plate less than 1 MW/m2. However, there is no ELM- free appearing after the L-H transition in the case with the LHCD＋NBI （Ip ~ 300 kA, PLHCD ＋ PNBI ~ 2 MW）. The results show that the peak heat fluxes on the lower outer target plate in the LHCD＋NBI H-mode cases are larger than those in the LHCD H-mode under the similar auxiliary heating power. This is because the heat flux profiles of the lower outer target plate as a function of plate location in ELMing with the LHCD＋NBI are narrower than those with the LHCD only. The results are consistent with the results in terms of the scrape-off layer width observed in the EAST.

Optimizing Grids Demand Reduction through Enhanced Heat Transfer in Low-Temperature Waste Heat Driven ORC Systems

With increasing awareness of energy conservation and environmental protection, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system has gained significant attention. This technology enables the recovery of industrial waste heat, waste incineration heat, and renewable energy sources such as geothermal heat, biomass energy, and solar energy at lower temperatures. However, the low-grade heat source utilized in ORC systems faces a challenge to achieving high power generation efficiency and output power. Therefore, enhancing the power generation capacity of ORC systems is a key research focus in this field. An entranced heat exchanger ORC system with the screw expander driven by the low-temperature heat source is established to investigate the relevant performance. Hot water temperature from 77°C to 132°C is adopted for performance analysis, while the environmental temperature is approximately 25°C. Refrigerant R245fa is selected as the working fluid, and the screw expander is employed for power generation. It is worth noting that the entranced heat exchanger ORC system has significant potential for low-temperature heat recovery. Experimental results indicate that the maximum power output is 12.83 kW, which is obtained at around 105°C hot water inlet temperature. Correspondingly, the average power output remains 11.75 kW, revealing the system’s high stability for power generation. The implementation of a plate heat exchanger for enhanced heat transfer has enabled a 50% reduction in system size compared to traditional shell-tube type ORC systems. Besides, economic calculations demonstrate substantial benefits associated with the ORC system. The calculations indicate an internal benefit of 560,000 RMB/year, accompanied by notable external benefits such as an energy saving and emission reduction potential of up to 784 t CO2 per year. Moreover, the payback period is 2.23 years. It shows a remarkable improvement in terms of performance and excellent economic benefits. As a result, the novel ORC presents a promising alternative for low-grade heat utilization as compared to conventional small-scale ORC systems.

Steady Natural Convection from a Vertical Hot Plate with Variable Radiation

The natural convection from a vertical hot plate with radiation and constant flux is studied numerically to know the velocity and temperature distribution characteristics over a vertical hot plate.The governing equations of the natural convection in two-dimension are solved with the implicit finite difference method,whereas the discretized equations are solved with the iterative relaxation method.The results show that the velocity and the temperature increase along the vertical wall.The influence of the radiation parameter in the boundary layer is significant in increasing the velocity and temperature profiles.The velocity profiles increase with the increase of the radiation parameter.The temperature profiles near the wall plate parallel each other due to the constant heat flux applied to the wall.The influence of the radiation parameter is significant either in velocity or temperature characteristics.At the same time,the effect of the Prandtl number greater than 0.71 is not sensitive to the velocity and temperature variations elsewhere.

Estimation of ground heat flux and its impact on the surface energy budget for a semi-arid grassland

Three approaches, i.e., the harmonic analysis （HA） technique, the thermal diffusion equation and correction （TDEC） method, and the calorimetric method used to estimate ground heat flux, are evaluated by using observations from the Semi-Arid Climate and Environment Observatory of Lanzhou University （SACOL） in July, 2008. The calorimetric method, which involves soil heat flux measurement with an HFP01SC self-calibrating heat flux plate buried at a depth of 5 cm and heat storage in the soil between the plate and the surface, is here called the ITHP approach. The results show good linear relationships between the soil heat fluxes measured with the HFP01SC heat flux plate and those calculated with the HA technique and the TDEC method, respectively, at a depth of 5 cm. The soil heat fluxes calculated with the latter two methods well follow the phase measured with the HFP01SC heat flux plate. The magnitudes of the soil heat flux calculated with the HA technique and the TDEC method are close to each other, and they are about 2 percent and 6 percent larger than the measured soil heat flux, respectively, which mainly occur during the nighttime. Moreover, the ground heat fluxes calculated with the TDEC method and the HA technique are highly correlated with each other （R2= 0.97）, and their difference is only about 1 percent. The TDEC-calculated ground heat flux also has a good linear relationship with the ITttP-calculated ground heat flux （R2 = 0.99）, but their difference is larger （about 9 percent）. Furthermore, compared to the HFP01SC direct measurements at a depth of 5 cm, the ground heat flux calculated with the HA technique, the TDEC method, and the ITHP approach can improve the surface energy budget closure by about 6 percent, 7 percent, and 6 percent at SACOL site, respectively. Therefore, the contribution of ground heat flux to the surface energy budget is very important for the semi-arid grassland over the Loess Plateau in China. Using turbulent heat fluxes with common corrections, soil heat storage between the surface and the heat flux plate can improve the surface energy budget closure by about 6 to 7 percent, resulting in a closure of 82 to 83 percent at the SACOL site.

Heat Transfer Performance of Microgroove Back Plate Heat Pipes with Working Fluid and Heating Power

Micro heat pipes(MHP) cooling is one of the most efficient solutions to radiate heat for high heat flux electronic components in data centers. It is necessary to improve heat transfer performance of microgroove back plate heat pipes. This paper discusses about influence on thermal resistance through experiments and numerical simulation with different working fluids, filling ratio and heat power. Thermal resistance of the CO2 filled heat pipe is 14.8% lower than the acetone filled heat pipe. In the meantime, at the best filling ratio of 40%, the CO2 filled heat pipe has the optimal heat transfer behavior with the smallest thermal resistance of 0.123 K/W. The thermal resistance continues to decline but the magnitude of decreases is going to be minor. In addition, this paper illustrates methods about how to enhance heat pipe performance from working fluids, filling ratio and heat power, which provides a theoretical basis for practical applications.

Analysis on optimal working fluid flowrate and unstable power generation for miniaturized ORC systems

For efficient utilization of a limited geothermal resource in practical projects,the cycle parameters were comprehensively analyzed by combining with the heat transfer performance of the plate heat exchanger,with a variation of flowrate of R245 fa.The influence of working fluid flowrate on a 500 W ORC system was investigated.Adjusting the working fluid flowrate to an optimal value results in the most efficient heat transfer and hence the optimal heat transfer parameters of the plate heat exchanger can be determined.Therefore,for the ORC systems,optimal working fluid flowrate should be controlled.Using different temperature hot water as the heat source,it is found that the optimal flowrate increases by 6-10 L/h with 5 ℃ increment of hot water inlet temperature.During experiment,lower degree of superheat of the working fluid at the outlet the plate heat exchanger may lead to unstable power generation.It is considered that the plate heat exchanger has a compact construction which makes its bulk so small that liquid mixture causes the unstable power generation.To avoid this phenomenon,the flow area of plate heat exchanger should be larger than the designed one.Alternatively,installing a small shell and tube heat exchanger between the outlet of plate heat exchanger and the inlet of expander can be another solution.

Cooling System Design and Thermal Analysis of Modular Stator Hybrid Excitation Synchronous Motor

Hybrid excitation synchronous motor has the advantages of uniform and adjustable electromagnetic field, wide speed range and high power density. It has broad application prospects in new energy electric vehicles, wind power generation and other fields. This paper introduces the basic structure of hybrid excitation motor with modular stator, and analyzes the operation principle of hybrid excitation motor. The cooling structure of the water-cooled plate is designed, and the effects of the thickness of the water-cooled plate and the number of water channels in the water-cooled plate on the heat dissipation capacity of the water-cooled plate are analyzed by theoretical and computational fluid dynamics methods. The effects of different water cooling plate structures on water velocity, pressure drop, water pump power consumption and heat dissipation capacity were compared and analyzed. The influence of different inlet flow velocity on the maximum temperature rise of each part of the motor is analyzed, and the temperature of each part of the motor under the optimal water flow is analyzed. The influence of the traditional spiral water jacket cooling structure and the water-cooled plate cooling structure on the maximum temperature rise of the motor components is compared and analyzed. The results show that the water-cooled plate cooling structure is more suitable for the modular stator motor studied in this paper. Based on the water-cooled plate cooling structure, the air-water composite cooling structure is designed, and the effects of the air-water composite cooling structure and the water-cooled plate cooling structure on the maximum temperature rise of each component of the motor are compared and analyzed. The results show that the maximum temperature rise of each component of the motor is reduced under the air-water composite cooling structure.

EXACT FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

In this paper, a new method, exact element method for constructing finite element, is presented. It can be applied to solve nonpositive definite or positive definite partial differential equation with arbitrary variable coefficient under arbitrary boundary condition. Its convergence is proved and its united formula for solving partial differential equation is given. By the present method, a noncompatible element can be obtained and the compatibility conditions between elements can be treated very easily. Comparing the exact element method with the general finite element method with the same degrees of freedom, the high convergence rate of the high order derivatives of solution can be obtained. Three numerical examples are given at the end of this paper, which indicate all results can converge to exact solution and have higher numerical precision.

Technological Perspectives for Propulsion on Nuclear Attack Submarines

This work aimed at proposing a new combination of technologies to improve military performances and reduce costs of nuclear attack submarines, without overlooking safety constraints. The last generation of nuclear attack submarines increased size to meet safety and operational requirements, imposing huge burden on costs side, reducing fleet size. The limitations of current Technologies employed were qualitatively discussed, explaining their limitations. There are new technologies (plate and shell heat exchangers) and architectural choices, like passive safety, and segregation of safety and normal systems, which may lead to reduction of costs and size of submarines. A qualitative analysis was provided on this combination of technologies, stressing their commercial nature and maturity, which reduced risks. The qualitative analysis showed the strong and weak points of this proposal, which adopted the concept of strength in numbers. Concluding, new Technologies enabled the existence of 3800 t nuclear attack submarines with powerful propulsion systems and good acoustic discretion.

SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF FLOW PATTERN IN CROSS-CORRUGATED PLATE HEAT EXCHANGERS

Using numerical methodology, the flow fields between two corrugated plates with different values of the corrugation inclination angle β were simulated. The simulation results directly indicate that β affects the flow pattern between corrugated plates, and the results are in good agreement with the experimental results reported by interrelated literature. The results show that the flow pattern between the two plates changes from ＂double cross-flow＂ to ＂zigzag flow＂ with the increase in β. The reason for the effect on the flow pattern between the two corrugated plates was discussed from the view of the variation of momentum in the direction of corrugation with the variation in β.

FLOW RESISTANCE AND HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF A NEW-TYPE PLATE HEAT EXCHANGER

A new-type corrugation Plate Heat Exchanger （PHE） was designed. Results from both numerical simulations and experiments showed that the flow resistance of the working fluid in this new corrugation PHE, compared with the traditional chevron-type one, was decreased by more than 50%, and corresponding heat transfer performance was decreased by about 25%. The flow field of the working fluid in the corrugation PHE was transformed and hence performance difference in both flow resistance and heat transfer was generated. Such a novel plate, consisting of longitudinal and transverse corrugations, can effectively avoid the problem of flow path blockage, which will help to extend the application of PHEs to the situation with unclean working fluids.

Experimental Study on the Start Up Performance of Flat Plate Pulsating Heat Pipe

An experimental system of flat plate pulsating heat pipe was established and experimental research was carried out in this system to know the mechanism of heat transfer, start-up and operating characteristics. The factors, such as filling rate, heating power, heating method etc, which have great influence on the thermal performance of the plate pulsating heat pipe were discussed. The results indicate that heating power and filling rate are the important factors for the start-up of the plate pulsating heat pipe. The different start-up power is needed with different filling rate, and the start-up of the heat pipe in case of bottom heated is much easier than that of top heated. Increasing the heating power and enlarging the heating area can make the start-up easier. Heating power can also affect the start-up time of heat pipe under the condition of bottom heated, while it does not have some influence to the heat pipe of top heated. The thermal resistance of plate pulsating heat pipe is related with the heating power, and the higher the heating power is, the smaller the thermal resistance is. But the best filling rate which the heat pipe needs is different with different heating methods, and the performance of the heat pipe in the case of bottom heated is better than the others.