Heat transfer and friction factor of Therminol liquid phase heat transfer fluid in a ribbed tube

Experiments and simulations on flow and heat transfer behavior of Therminol-55 liquid phase heat transfer fluid have been conducted in a ribbed tube with the outer diameter and inner diameter 25.0 and 20.0 mm,pitch and rib height of 4.5 and 1.0 mm.respectively.Experimental results show that the heat transfer and thermal performance of Therminol-55 liquid phase heat transfer fluid in the ribbed tube are considerably improved compared to those of the smooth tube.The Nusselt number increase with the increase of Reynolds number.The increase in heat transfer rate of the ribbed tube has a mean value of 2.24 times.Also,the pressure drop results reveal that the average friction factor of the ribbed tube is in a range of 2.4 and 2.8 times over the smooth tube.Numerical simulations of three-dimensional flow behavior of Therminol-55 liquid phase heat transfer fluid are carried out using three different turbulence models in the ribbed tube.The numerical results show that the heat transfer of ribbed tube is improved because vortices are generated behind ribs,which produce some disruptions to fluid flow and enhance heat transfer compared with smooth tube.The numerical results prove that the ribbed tube can improve heat transfer and fluid flow performances of Therminol liquid phase heat transfer fluid.

A coal rib monitoring study in a room-and-pillar retreat mine

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health(NIOSH)conducted a comprehensive monitoring program in a room-and-pillar mine located in Southern Virginia.The deformation and the stress change in an instrumented pillar were monitored during the progress of pillar retreat mining at two sites of different geological conditions and depths of cover.The main objectives of the monitoring program were to better understand the stress transfer and load shedding on coal pillars and to quantify the rib deformation due to pillar retreat mining;and to examine the effect of rib geology and overburden depth on coal rib performance.The instrumentation at both sites included pull-out tests to measure the anchorage capacity of rib bolts,load cells mounted on rib bolts to monitor the induced loads in the bolts,borehole pressure cells(BPCs)installed at various depths in the study pillar to measure the change in vertical pressure within the pillar,and roof and rib extensometers installed to quantify the vertical displacement of the roof and the horizontal displacement of the rib that would occur during the retreat mining process.The outcome from the monitoring program provides insight into coal pillar rib support optimization at various depths and geological conditions.Also,this study contributes to the NIOSH rib support database in U.S coal mines and provides essential data for rib support design.