EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF LAMINAR AND LOW TURBULENT FLOW DISTRIBUTIONS IN INLET DIVIDING HEADER OF SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER

Flow distribution headers play a major role in heat exchangers.The selection of header diameter,branch pipe diameter,branch pipe spacing etc.is based on the designer＇s experience and general guide lines.The proper selection of the header dimensions will yield uniform flow distribution in heat exchangers,which in turn will enhance the heat exchanger efficiency.In this work,the flow distribution in branch pipes and the pressure variation across the branch pipes in laminar and low turbulence region is studied with two models of the inlet dividing headers.When the numerical analysis has been applied,its inability to predict the no flow condition through the branch pipes is revealed.The results are presented in the form of flow rate ratio through branch pipes and nondimensional coefficients across branch pipes which are useful to apply the existing mathematical models for the present experimental setup.

Streamline similarity method for flow distributions and shock losses at the impeller inlet of the centrifugal pump

An analytical method is presented, which enables the non-uniform velocity and pressure distributions at the impeller inlet of a pump to be accurately computed. The analyses are based on the potential flow theory and the geometrical similarity of the streamline distribution along the leading edge of the impeller blades. The method is thus called streamline similarity method（SSM）. The obtained geometrical form of the flow distribution is then simply described by the geometrical variable G（s） and the first structural constant G_Ⅰ. As clearly demonstrated and also validated by experiments, both the flow velocity and the pressure distributions at the impeller inlet are usually highly non-uniform. This knowledge is indispensible for impeller blade designs to fulfill the shockless inlet flow condition. By introducing the second structural constant G_Ⅱ, the paper also presents the simple and accurate computation of the shock loss, which occurs at the impeller inlet. The introduction of two structural constants contributes immensely to the enhancement of the computational accuracies. As further indicated, all computations presented in this paper can also be well applied to the non-uniform exit flow out of an impeller of the Francis turbine for accurately computing the related mean values.

Numerical simulation study on multiphase flow pattern of hydrate slurry

The research on the multiphase flow characteristics of hydrate slurry is the key to implementing the risk prevention and control technology of hydrate slurry in deep-water oil and gas mixed transportation system.This paper established a geometric model based on the high-pressure hydrate slurry experimental loop.The model was used to carry out simulation research on the flow characteristics of gas-liquid-solid three-phase flow.The specific research is as follows:Firstly,the effects of factors such as slurry flow velocity,hydrate particle density,hydrate particle size,and hydrate volume fraction on the stratified smooth flow were specifically studied.Orthogonal test obtained particle size has the most influence on the particle concentration distribution.The slurry flow velocity is gradually increased based on stratified smooth flow.Various flow patterns were observed and their characteristics were analyzed.Secondly,increasing the slurry velocity to 2 m/s could achieve the slurry flow pattern of partial hydrate in the pipeline transition from stratified smooth flow to wavy flow.When the flow rate increases to 3 m/s,a violent wave forms throughout the entire loop.Based on wave flow,as the velocity increased to 4 m/s,and the flow pattern changed to slug flow.When the particle concentration was below 10%,the increase of the concentration would aggravate the slug flow trend;if the particle concentration was above 10%,the increase of the concentration would weaken the slug flow trend,the increase of particle density and liquid viscosity would weaken the tendency of slug flow.The relationship between the pressure drop gradients of several different flow patterns is:slug flow>wave flow>stratified smooth flow.

An Improved Hyperplane Assisted Multiobjective Optimization for Distributed Hybrid Flow Shop Scheduling Problem in Glass Manufacturing Systems

To solve the distributed hybrid flow shop scheduling problem(DHFS)in raw glass manufacturing systems,we investigated an improved hyperplane assisted evolutionary algorithm(IhpaEA).Two objectives are simultaneously considered,namely,the maximum completion time and the total energy consumptions.Firstly,each solution is encoded by a three-dimensional vector,i.e.,factory assignment,scheduling,and machine assignment.Subsequently,an efficient initialization strategy embeds two heuristics are developed,which can increase the diversity of the population.Then,to improve the global search abilities,a Pareto-based crossover operator is designed to take more advantage of non-dominated solutions.Furthermore,a local search heuristic based on three parts encoding is embedded to enhance the searching performance.To enhance the local search abilities,the cooperation of the search operator is designed to obtain better non-dominated solutions.Finally,the experimental results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm is more efficient than the other three state-of-the-art algorithms.The results show that the Pareto optimal solution set obtained by the improved algorithm is superior to that of the traditional multiobjective algorithm in terms of diversity and convergence of the solution.

Competitive and Cooperative-Based Strength Pareto Evolutionary Algorithm for Green Distributed Heterogeneous Flow Shop Scheduling

This work aims to resolve the distributed heterogeneous permutation flow shop scheduling problem(DHPFSP)with minimizing makespan and total energy consumption(TEC).To solve this NP-hard problem,this work proposed a competitive and cooperative-based strength Pareto evolutionary algorithm(CCSPEA)which contains the following features:1)An initialization based on three heuristic rules is developed to generate a population with great diversity and convergence.2)A comprehensive metric combining convergence and diversity metrics is used to better represent the heuristic information of a solution.3)A competitive selection is designed which divides the population into a winner and a loser swarms based on the comprehensive metric.4)A cooperative evolutionary schema is proposed for winner and loser swarms to accelerate the convergence of global search.5)Five local search strategies based on problem knowledge are designed to improve convergence.6)Aproblem-based energy-saving strategy is presented to reduce TEC.Finally,to evaluate the performance of CCSPEA,it is compared to four state-of-art and run on 22 instances based on the Taillard benchmark.The numerical experiment results demonstrate that 1)the proposed comprehensive metric can efficiently represent the heuristic information of each solution to help the later step divide the population.2)The global search based on the competitive and cooperative schema can accelerate loser solutions convergence and further improve the winner’s exploration.3)The problembased initialization,local search,and energy-saving strategies can efficiently reduce the makespan and TEC.4)The proposed CCSPEA is superior to the state-of-art for solving DHPFSP.

Optimum design of flow distribution in quenching tank for heat treatment of A357 aluminum alloy large complicated thin-wall workpieces by CFD simulation and ANN approach

Based on the computational fluid dynamics （CFD） method, a quenching tank with two agitator systems and two flow-equilibrating devices was selected to simulate flow distribution using Fluent software. A numerical example was used to testify the validity of the quenching tank model. In order to take tank parameters （agitation speed, position of directional flow baffle and coordinate position in quench zone） into account, an approach that combines the artificial neural network （ANN） with CFD method was developed to study the flow distribution in the quenching tank. The flow rate of the quenching medium shows a very good agreement between the ANN predicted results and the Fluent simulated data. Methods for the optimal design of the quenching tank can be used as technical support for industrial production.

CFD-supported optimization of flow distribution in quench tank for heat treatment of A357 alloy large complicated components

The flow distribution in quench tank for heat treatment of A357 alloy large complicated components was simulated using FLUENT computational fluid dynamics（CFD） software.The flow velocity and the uniformity of flow field in two types of quench tanks（with or without agitation system） were calculated.The results show that the flow field in the quench tank without agitation system has not evident regularity.While as for the quench tank with agitation system,the flow fields in different parameters have certain regularity.The agitation tanks have a distinct advantage over the system without agitation.Proper process parameters were also obtained.Finally,the tank model established in this work was testified by an example from publication.This model with high accuracy is able to optimize the tank structures and can be helpful for industrial production and theoretical investigation in the fields of heat treatment of large complicated components.

Mechanisms of fracture propagation from multi-cluster using a phase field based HMD coupling model in fractured reservoir

Natural fractures(NFs)are common in shale and tight reservoirs,where staged multi-cluster fracturing of horizontal wells is a prevalent technique for reservoir stimulation.While NFs and stress interference are recognized as significant factors affecting hydraulic fracture(HF)propagation,the combined influence of these factors remains poorly understood.To address this knowledge gap,a novel coupled hydromechanical-damage(HMD)model based on the phase field method is developed to investigate the propagation of multi-cluster HFs in fractured reservoirs.The comprehensive energy functional and control functions are established,while incorporating dynamic fluid distribution between multiple perforation clusters and refined changes in rock mechanical parameters during hydraulic fracturing.The HMD coupled multi-cluster HF propagation model investigates various scenarios,including single HF and single NF,reservoir heterogeneity,single HF and NF clusters,and multi-cluster HFs with NF clusters.The results show that the HMD coupling model can accurately capture the impact of approach angle(θ),stress difference and cementation strength on the interaction of HF and NF.The criterion of the open and cross zones is not fixed.The NF angle(a)is not a decisive parameter to discriminate the interaction.According to the relationship between approach angle(θ)and NF angle(a),the contact relationship of HF can be divided into three categories(θ=a,θ<a,andθ>a).The connected NF can increase the complexity of HF by inducing it to form branch fracture,resulting in a fractal dimension of HF as high as2.1280 at angles of±45°.Inter-fracture interference from the heel to the toe of HF shows the phenomenon of no,strong and weak interference.Interestingly,under the influence of NFs,distant HFs from the injection can become dominant fractures.However,as a gradually increases,inter-fracture stress interference becomes the primary factor influencing HF propagation,gradually superseding the dominance of NF induced fractures.

Study on the Flow Field around Two Parallel Moving Bubbles and Interaction Between Bubbles Rising in CMC Solutions by PIV

The flow fields surrounding two parallel moving bubbles rising from two identical orifices submerged in non-Newtonian fluid of carboxymethylcellulose （CMC） solution of three different mass concentration were measured experimentally by the use of particle image velocimetry （PIV）. The influences of gas flowrate, solution mass concentration, orifice interval and the angle between two bubble centers line and vertical direction on the flow field surrounding bubbles were discussed respectively by analyzing the velocity vector, velocity contours as well as individual velocity components. The results show that the liquid velocity both in front of two bubbles and behind increases with gas flowrate duo to shear-thinning effect of previous bubbles, whereas decreases with the increase of CMC concentration due to the increase of drag force acting on bubbles. The effect of the orifice interval on the flow field around two moving bubbles becomes gradually obvious as the interval becomes closer. Moreover, two adjacent side-by-side bubbles repulse each other during rising, leading to the practical interval between them increased somewhat above the orifice interval. When the distance between bubbles is less than the orifice interval 10 mm, the interaction between two neighboring bubbles changed from mutual repellence to attraction with the decrease of the angle of the line of linking two bubble centers to the vertical direction.

Experimental Research on Flow Maldistribution in Plate-Fin Heat Exchangers

The flow maldistribution and the effect of different inlet configuration on the flow distribution in platefin heat exchangers were studied experimentally. It is found that the flow maldistribution is serious because of the defects of inlet configurations, while the inlet configuration and Reynolds number are the main factors affecting the flow distribution. The improved inlet configurations, which are the header with a two-stage distributing configuration and the guide vane with a fluid complementary cavity were proposed and tested in this paper. The experimental results show that the improved inlet configurations can effectively improve the performance of flow distribution in heat exchangers.

Characteristics of turbulent flow distribution in branch piping system

Flow distribution in branch piping system is affected by flow characteristics and different geometric variations. Most of the flow distribution studies are performed with one-dimensional analysis to yield overall information only. However, detailed analysis is required to find effects of design parameters on the flow distribution. For this aspect, three-dimensional turbulent flow analysis was performed to assess turbulence model performance and effects of upstream pressure and branch pipe geometry. Three different turbulence models of standard k-e model, realizable k-e model and standard k-co yield similar results, indicating small effects of turbulence models on flow characteristics analysis. Geometric variations include area ratio of main and branch pipes, branch pipe diameter, and connection shape of main and branch pipes. Among these parameters, area ratio and branch diameter and shape show strong effect on flow distribution due to high friction and minor loss. Uniform flow distribution is one of common requirements in the branch piping system and this can be achieved with rather high total loss design.

A CFD study on optimal venting volume and air flow distribution in a special designed hood system for controlling dust flow

A novel hood structure has been designed for the dust control system in the foundry in order to improve the working environment. A composite strategy has been applied for comparative analysis of the optimal venting volume and the airflow distribution between the conventional hood and the novel one in this study. A Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) method is used to simulate the airflow fields and dust-polluted air moving paths. The CFD results show that a two-outlet hood, with one outlet located on the left of the hood, is better for improving dust-polluted air than the hood with one outlet only. It can be concluded that the number of the outlets as well as their location on the hood has a significant influence on the air flow pattern in the hood. The optimal venting volume is also a major consideration that is discussed in the study. The venting volume should be designed by considering both the effective level of air flow velocity around the dust source and the energy saving. The optimal airflow distribution may reduce the turbulence in the hood system.

An improved CFD model of gas flow and particle interception in a fiber material

An improved CFD model of gas flow and particle interception in a fiber material which fiber size is Y-shape was developed in this work. The porous medium model was used to build the model of the whole size of fiber filter medium. Mixture model was adopted. The algorithm of particle interception in the whole size of fiber filter medium was derived and UDF(User Defined Function) that described kinds of particle filtering mechanisms in filter fibrous media was added to the Fluent default conservation equation as source term for simulation. The inertial resistance of the filter was taken into consideration, which provided a more precise measurement of the smoke flow and the particle interception in the filter under higher smoke speed conditions. The commercial software, Fluent 6.3, was used to simulate the smoke flow and particle interception in the filter in a single suction. The velocity and pressure profiles of smoke or nicotine particle in the filter, as well as nicotine particle volume fraction profile were well simulated. Finally, the comparisons of nicotine particle filtration efficiency between Fluent simulation results in this work and experimental results, as well as the model prediction in the literature were made to validate the simulation model. The comparisons showed that the particle entrapment model from simulation results was in good agreement with that from the experimental results. In addition, the Fluent simulation results are closer to reality both at the beginning and the end of the smoke process comparing with the model predicted results in the literature.

Investigation on a vertical radial flow adsorber designed by a novel parallel connection method

Due to the increasing global demand for industrial gas, the development of large-scale cryogenic air separation systems has attracted considerable attention in recent years. Increasing the height of the adsorption bed in a vertical radial flow adsorber used in cryogenic air separation systems may efficiently increase the treatment capacity of the air in the adsorber. However, uniformity of the flow distribution of the air inside the adsorber would be deteriorated using the height-increasing method. In order to reduce the non-uniformity of the flow distribution caused by the excessive height of adsorption bed in a vertical radial flow adsorber, a novel parallel connection method is proposed in the present work. The experimental apparatus is designed and constructed; the Computational Fluid Dynamics(CFD) technique is used to develop a CFD-based model, which is used to analyze the flow distribution, the static pressure drop and the radial velocity in the newly designed adsorber. In addition, the geometric parameters of annular flow channels and the adsorption bed thickness of the upper unit in the parallelconnected vertical radial flow adsorber are optimized, so that the upper and lower adsorption units could be penetrated by air simultaneously. Comparisons are made between the height-increasing method and the parallel connection method with the same adsorber height. It is shown that using the parallel connection method could reduce the difference between the maximum and minimum radial static pressure drop by 86.2% and improve the uniformity by 80% compared with those of using the height-increasing method. The optimal thickness ratio of the upper and lower adsorption units is obtained as 0.966, in which case the upper and lower adsorption units could be penetrated by air simultaneously, so that the adsorbents in adsorption space could be used more efficiently.

Velocity distribution of the flow field in the cyclonic zone of cyclone-static micro-bubble flotation column

Laboratory experiments have been conducted to study the flow field in a cyclone static micro-bubble flotation column. The method of Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used. The flow field velocity distribution in both cross section and longitudinal section within cyclonic zone was studied for different circulating volumes. The cross sectional vortex was also analyzed. The results show that in cross section as the circulating volume increases from 0.187 to 0.350 m 3 /h, the flow velocity ranges from 0 to 0.68 m/s. The flow field is mainly a non-vortex potential flow that forms a free vortex without outside energy input. In the cyclonic region the vortex deviates from the center of the flotation column because a single tangential opening introduces circulating fluid into the column. The tangential component of the velocity plays a defining role in the cross section. In the longitudinal section the velocity ranges from 0 to 0.08 m/s. The flow velocity increases as does the circulating volume. Advantageous mineral separation conditions arise from the combined effects of cyclonic flow in cross and longitudinal section.

Energy flow problem solution based on state estimation approaches and smart meter data

Accurate electric energy(EE)measurements and billing estimations in a power system necessitate the development of an energy flow distribution model.This paper summarizes the results of investigations on a new problem related to the determination of EE flow in a power system over time intervals ranging from minutes to years.The problem is referred to as the energy flow problem(EFP).Generally,the grid state and topology may fluctuate over time.An attempt to use instantaneous(not integral)power values obtained from telemetry to solve classical electrical engineering equations leads to significant modeling errors,particularly with topology changes.A promoted EFP model may be suitable in the presence of such topological and state changes.Herein,EE flows are determined using state estimation approaches based on direct EE measurement data in Watt-hours(Volt-ampere reactive-hours)provided by electricity meters.The EFP solution is essential for a broad set of applications,including meter data validation,zero unbalance EE billing,and nontechnical EE loss check.

Studies on the flow and distribution of leukocytes in mesentery microcirculation of rats

AIM To study the effect of leukocyteendothelium interaction (LEI) on the flow anddistribution of leukocytes in microcirculationunder physiological condition.METHODS A microcirculation image multipleparameter computer analysis system (MIMPCAS)was used to study the flow and distribution ofleukocytes in mesentery microcirculation of ratsIn vivo.RESULTS The difference of visible leukocyteflux (VLF) was as high as 131 times in thearterioles and venules with similar diameter andblood velocity. The visible leukocytes rolledalong the blood vessel wall as a" jerky"movement. The frequency distribution of thevisible leukocyte velocity (VLV) showed a "twopeak" Curve. The low peak value was at 10 pm/ s-- 15 pm/ s while the high peak fell between25 pm/ s-- 30 pm/ s. With the increase of diameterof venules, VLF increased while the VLVremained at the same level. With the increase ofRBC velocity, VLV trends to elevate and VLF tofal I down.CONCLUSION The results herein might providea basic theory for the study on the mechanism ofLEI under physiological condition and novelmethods for the prevention and treatment of highLEI in many pathological

Flow pattern analysis of linear gradient flow distribution

This paper uses the Oseen transformation to solve the differential equations governing motion of the vertical linear gradient flow distribution close to a wall surface. The Navier-Stokes equations are used to consider the inertia term along the flow direction. A novel contour integral method is used to solve the complex Airy function. The boundary conditions of linear gradient flow distribution for finite problems are determined. The vorticity function, the pressure function, and the turbulent velocity profiles are provided, and the stability of particle trajectories is studied. An Lx-function form of the third derivative circulation is used to to simplify the solution. Theoretical results are compared with the experimental measurements with satisfactory agreement.

Computational analysis of the flow of pseudoplastic power-law fluids in a microchannel plate

The flow of pseudoplastic power-law fluids with different flow indexes at a microchannel plate was studied using computational fluid dynamic simulation.The velocity distribution along the microchannel plate and especially in the microchannel slits,flow pattern along the outlet arc and the pressure drop through the whole of microchannel plate were investigated at different power-law flow indexes.The results showed that the velocity profile in the microchannel slits for low flow index fluids was similar to the plug flow and had uniform pattern.Also the power-law fluids with lower flow indexes had lower stagnation zones near the outlet of the microchannel plate.The pressure drop through the microchannel plate showed huge differences between the fluids.The most interesting result was that the pressure drops for power-law fluids were very smaller than that of Newtonian fluids.In addition,the heat transfer of the fluids through the microchannel with different channel numbers in a wide range of Reynolds number was investigated.For power-law fluid with flow index(n=0.4),the Nusselt number increases continuously as the number of channels increases.The results highlight the potential use of using pseudoplastic fluids in the microheat exchangers which can lower the pressure drop and increase the heat transfer efficiency.

Effects of bubbly flow on bending moment acting on the shaft of a gas sparged vessel stirred by a Rushton turbine

The bending moment acting on the overhung shaft of a gas-sparged vessel stirred by a Rushton turbine,as one of the results of fluid and structure interactions in stirred vessels,was measured using a moment sensor equipped with digital telemetry.An analysis of the shaft bending moment amplitude shows that the amplitude distribution of the bending moment,which indicates the elasticity nature of shaft material against bending deformation,follows the Weibull distribution.The trends of amplitude mean,standard deviation and peak deviation characteristics manifest an "S" shape versus gas flow.The "S" trend of the relative mean bending moment over gas flow rate,depending on the flow regime in gas-liquid stirred vessels,resulted from the competition among the nonuniformity of bubbly flow around the impeller,the formation of gas cavities behind the blades,and the gas direct impact on the impeller when gas is introduced.A further analysis of the bending moment power spectral density shows that the rather low frequency and speed frequency are evident.The low-frequency contribution to bending moment fluctuation peaks in the complete dispersion regime.