Thermal analysis of annular fins with temperature-dependent thermal properties

The thermal analysis of the annular rectangular profile fins with variable thermal properties is investigated by using the homotopy analysis method （HAM）. The thermal conductivity and heat transfer coefficient are assumed to vary with a linear and power-law function of temperature, respectively. The effects of the thermal-geometric fin parameter and the thermal conductivity parameter variations on the temperature distribution and fin efficiency are investigated for different heat transfer modes. Results from the HAM are compared with numerical results of the finite difference method （FDM）. It can be seen that the variation of dimensionless parameters has a significant effect on the temperature distribution and fin efficiency.

Comparison of Thermal Performance between Annular Fins and Longitudinal Fins in Latent Heat Storage Unit

As a simple and effective method of heat transfer enhancement,fins are widely used in latent heat storage systems.However,the choice of annular fins and longitudinal fins has always been controversial.In this paper,the melting process of phase change material(PCM)in annular fins and longitudinal fins latent heat storage units with the same volume is numerically simulated.To ensure the same thermal penetration,three-dimensional spaces occupied with fins are specially controlled to be the same.Combined with finned structures,the effects of natural convection(NC),placement mode and heat transfer fluid(HTF)inlet direction on the melting process are studied.The results show that the melting time in annular finned structure is always 10%less than that in longitudinal finned structure,which demonstrates the superior of the annular fins in the latent heat storage unit.The melting time is the shortest in vertical unit with annular fins and HTF inlet at the bottom.Additionally,the correlation formulas of the liquid fraction are proposed in the vertical unit with HTF inlet at the bottom.

Parametric study of natural convection over horizontal annular finned tube

Natural convection heat transfer from annular finned tubes was studied numerically. Effects of fin spacing, temperature difference and tube diameter on flow pathlines and local heat transfer were also studied. It was shown that pathlines remain mostly circular for different geometries. Moreover, the contributions of fin periphery, fin side and bare tube to heat transfer were specified. It was shown that the heat transfer per unit area of fin periphery can be several times that of other parts. Moreover, in higher finspacing, the heat transfer from the bare tube can be more important than fin sides.

Heat transfer simulation of annular elliptical fin-and-tube heat exchanger by transition SST model

In this study,thermo-fluid characteristics of elliptical annular finned tube heat exchanger were numerically studied in detail.Transition SST model was utilized to simulate turbulent flow.Effects of air velocities,horizontal to vertical fin diameter ratios,and fin densities were examined in detail.The simulations indicate superior performance of elliptical fin layout.It was shown that pressure drop of annular elliptical fin can be only one half of that of a circular annular fin while containing comparable heat transfer performance.The vertical elliptical annular fin may even contain a higher heat transfer performance over circular fin.Correlations are proposed to estimate the Nu number and pressure drop based on the annular circular fin.The maximum deviations between the proposed correlations and simulations regarding pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient are 5.6%and 3.2%,respectively.For further elaboration of the superiority of the elliptical layout from the second law perspective,normalized entropy generation was also studied.In all cases,the entropy generation rate in circular fin was higher than that of an elliptical fin.

Green's function solution for transient heat conduction in annular fin during solidification of phase change material

The Green＇s function method is applied for the transient temperature of an annular fin when a phase change material （PCM） solidifies on it. The solidification of the PCMs takes place in a cylindrical shell storage. The thickness of the solid PCM on the fin varies with time and is obtained by the Megerlin method. The models are found with the Bessel equation to form an analytical solution. Three different kinds of boundary conditions are investigated. The comparison between analytical and numerical solutions is given. The results demonstrate that the significant accuracy is obtained for the temperature distribution for the fin in all cases.

Magnetohydrodynamic Effect on Free Convection of Three Dimensional Laminar Flow in Porous Annulus

A numerical study has been carried out to investigate heat transfer by free convection under the effect of MHD （magnetohydrodynamic） for steady state three-dimensional laminar flow in horizontal and vertical cylindrical annulus filled with saturated porous media （sand silica） with fins attached to the inner cylinder. A single electric coil placed around the inner cylinder to generate a magnetic field. The governing equations which used are continuity, momentum （using Darcy＇s law） and energy equations which are transformed to dimensionless equations. The finite difference approach is used to obtain all the computational results using Fortran 90 program. The parameters affected on the system are Rayleigh number ranging within （102 ~ Ra＊ 〈 104）, and MHD （Mn） （0 〈_ Mn 〈_ 100） and radius ratio Rr （0.225, 0.338 and 0.435）. The results obtained are presented graphically in the form of streamline and isotherm contour plots and the results show that heat transfer decrease with the increase of magnetohydrodynamic. It was found that the average Nusselt number increase with Ra＊ and decrease with H~ Mn and Rr. A correlation for the average Nusselt number in terms of Ra＊ and Mn, has been developed for the inner cylinder.

Numerical investigation for a hyperbolic annular fin with temperature dependent thermal conductivity

An annular fin of hyperbolic profile with temperature dependent thermal conductivity is studied by pseudospectral method.Graphs illustrating the effect of fin dimensions,surface convection characteristics and the thermal conductivity parameter on the thermal performance of the fin are presented and discussed.A comparison of the obtained numerical results is made with the closed form analytical solution available in the literature for the case of constant themal conductivity.This comparison confirms the high accuracy of numerical results.When the thermal conductivity increases with temperature,the effect is to elevate both the temperature distribution in the fin and the fin efficiency.The converse is true when the themal conductivity decreases with temperature.

Significance of thermal stress in a convectiveradiative annular fin with magnetic field and heat generation: application of DTM and MRPSM

The present paper explains the temperature attribute of a convective-radiative rectangular profiled annular fin with the impact of magnetic field.The effect of thermal radiation,convection,and magnetic field on thermal stress distribution is also studied in this investigation.The governing energy equation representing the steady-state heat conduction,convection,and radiation process is transformed into its dimensionless nonlinear ordinary differential equation(ODE)with corresponding boundary conditions using non-dimensional terms.The obtained ODE is then solved analytically by employing the Pade approximant-differential transform method(DTM)and modified residual power series method(MRPSM).Moreover,the important characteristics of the temperature field,the thermal stress,and the impact of some nondimensional parameters are inspected graphically,and a physical explanation is provided to aid in comprehension.The significant findings of the investigation reveal that temperature distribution enhances with an increase in the magnitude of the heat generation parameter and thermal conductivity parameter,but it gradually decreases with an increment of convectiveconductive parameter,Hartmann number,and radiative-conductive parameter.The thermal stress distribution of the fin varies considerably in the applied magnetic field effect.

Thermal performance of a metal hydride reactor for hydrogen storage with cooling/heating by natural convection

Metal hydride(MH)systems can be used for storage in stationary facilities of hydrogen with a high volume density at temperatures and pressures close to ambient ones.Recently,the possibility of using passive heating/cooling systems or regenerative heat exchangers has been studied to improve the energy efficiency of MH systems for hydrogen storage without the need for forced circulation of a heating/cooling fluid.Natural convection of air may be used to passively remove/add heat as required for proper operation of a MH reactor.Under these conditions,the MH reactor can operate at a constant ambient air temperature and be driven by a difference in pressure between the source and the consumer of hydrogen.Since operation of MH systems with natural convective heating/cooling has not been systematically investigated as yet,a tubular MH reactor based on this principle is examined in this paper.Two-thirds of the internal volume ofø25.4×1 mm tube is occupied by a composition of LaNi5 and aluminium foam(one linear metre contains 1.1 kg of LaNi5 with a hydrogen capacity of 153 NL H2).Annular fins are used to increase heat transfer to air.Detailed and simplified mathematical models of the systems of this class are proposed and validated.It is shown that acceptable hydrogen charging/discharging rates in such systems are achieved with proper selection of fining characteristics.Charging from a hydrogen source at a pressure of 10 atm and an ambient air temperature of 10 to 30℃ takes 15 min.A reactor with a length of 1 m can desorb almost all stored hydrogen at a minimum outlet pressure of 0.45 bar to feed 30-300 W fuel cells.