Negative buoyant plume model for solar domestic hot water tank systems incorporating a vertical inlet

Thermal stratification in solar energy storage tanks plays an important role in enhancing the performance of solar domestic hot water systems. The mixing that occurs when hot fluid from the solar collector enters the top of the tank is detrimental to the stratification. Mathematical models that are used for system analysis must therefore be able to capture the effects of this inlet jet mixing in order to accurately predict system performance. This paper presents a computational study of the heat transfer and fluid flow in a thermal storage tank of a solar domestic hot water system with a vertical inlet under negative buoyant plume conditions. The effects of parameters such as the fluid inlet velocity and temperature as well as inlet pipe diameter on the thermal mixing were considered. The work culminated in the development of a one-dimensional empirical model capable of predicting the transient axial temperature distribution inside the thermal storage tank. Predictions from the new model were in good agreement with both experimental data and detailed computational fluid dynamics predictions.     

Energy and exergy analyses of an ice-on-coil thermal energy storage system

In this study, energy and exergy analyses are carried out for the charging period of an ice-on-coil thermal energy storage system. The present model is developed using a thermal resistance network technique. First, the time-dependent variations of the predicted total stored energy, mass of ice, and outlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid from a storage tank are compared with the experimental data. Afterward, performance of an ice-on-coil type latent heat thermal energy storage system is investigated for several working and design parameters. The results of a comparative study are presented in terms of the variations of the heat transfer rate, total stored energy, dimensionless energetic/exergetic effectiveness and energy/exergy efficiency. The results indicate that working and design parameters of the ice-on-coil thermal storage tank should be determined by considering both energetic and exergetic behavior of the system. For the current parameters, storage capacity and energy efficiency of the system increases with decreasing the inlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid and increasing the length of the tube. Besides, the exergy efficiency increases with increasing the inlet temperature of the heat transfer fluid and increasing the length of the tube.     

Effect of Operating Parameters on the Heat Transfer and Liquid Film Thickness of Revolving Heat Pipe

This paper presents a study on the effects of operating parameters on the liquid film thickness and heat transfer of revolving heat pipe. The effects of speed, radius of rotation, evaporator and condenser temperatures, and mass of the working fluid are considered. Also, the effects of these parameters on the maximum heat transfer and minimum mass of the working fluid supplied to the heat pipe are considered. A simplified theoretical model is presented to estimate the heat transfer and the liquid film thickness. The theoretical model is used to determine the driven forces on the control volume. The system of equations associated with the heat pipe model is solved using the fourth-order Runge–Kutta method through a numerical code written in MATLAB. The results show that the heat transfer increases by decreasing the mass of the working fluid and increasing the temperature difference through the heat pipe. They also show that the liquid film thickness increases with the decrease in temperature difference and with increase in the mass of fluid. The maximum heat transfer increases with the increase in the rotation speed. The minimum mass of the working fluid supplied to the heat pipe increases with the increase in temperature difference and with the decrease in the rotation speed.     

A three-dimensional thermal-fluid analysis of flat heat pipes

A detailed, three-dimensional model has been developed to analyze the thermal hydrodynamic behaviors of flat heat pipes without empirical correlations. The model accounts for the heat conduction in the wall, fluid flow in the vapor chambers and porous wicks, and the coupled heat and mass transfer at the liquid/vapor interface. The flat pipes with and without vertical wick columns in the vapor channel are intensively investigated in the model. Parametric effects, including evaporative heat input and size on the thermal and hydrodynamic behavior in the heat pipes, are investigated. The results show that, the vertical wick columns in the vapor core can improve the thermal and hydrodynamic performance of the heat pipes, including thermal resistance, capillary limit, wall temperature, pressure drop, and fluid velocities due to the enhancement of the fluid/heat mechanism form the bottom condenser to the top evaporator. The results predict that higher evaporative heat input improves the thermal and hydrodynamic performance of the heat pipe, and shortening the size of heat pipe degrades the thermal performance of the heat pipe.     

Numerical and experimental analysis of the flat plate solar water heater systems' thermal performance

In this paper, improving the thermal performance of flat plate solar water heater systems by inserting different tube configurations inside the riser pipes has been numerically and experimentally studied. This study is focused on increasing the moving of energy from riser pipes to the operating fluid within the riser pipes. To achieve that, the diameter of the riser pipes was increased along with the insertion of different tube configurations within them, namely, smooth, helical, and wavy tubes, keeping the same amount of the operating liquid. A comparison was performed to determine the best in terms of coefficient of heat transfer of the operating liquid, mass flow rate of the operating liquid, pressure drop, and water temperature in the storage tank, as a thermal performance indication of the system under study. The findings show the model consisting of a straight tube inside the riser pipe provides the best thermal performance. In terms of thermal performance, the straight model outperforms the conventional model by 12.3%. An experimental and numerical comparison between the optimum model (straight model) was conducted. The study proves that the average difference between numerical results and experimental findings is 7.2%.     

Thermal‐fluid transport phenomena in an axially rotating flow passage with twin concentric orifices of different radii

This paper investigates the thermal fluid‐flow transport phenomena in an axially rotating passage in which twin concentric orifices of different radii are installed. Emphasis is placed on the effects of pipe rotation and orifice configuration on the flow and thermal fields, i.e. both the formation of vena contracta and the heat‐transfer performance behind each orifice. The governing equations are discretized by means of a finite‐difference technique and numerically solved for the distributions of velocity vector and fluid temperature subject to constant wall temperature and uniform inlet velocity and fluid temperature. It is found that: (i) for a laminar flow through twin concentric orifices in a pipe, axial pipe rotation causes the vena contracta in the orifice to stretch, resulting in an amplification of heat‐transfer performance in the downstream region behind the rear orifice, (ii) simultaneously the heat transfer rate in the area between twin orifice is intensified by pipe rotation, (iii) the amplification of heat transfer performance is affected by the front and rear orifice heights. Results may find applications in automotive and rotating hydraulic transmission lines and in aircraft gas turbine engines. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Heat Transfer of Supercritical CO2 Flow in Natural Convection Circulation System

Measurements are reported of heat transfer to supercritical carbon dioxide (SCD) flow in a natural convection circulation system that consists of a closed-loop circular pipe. Systematic data of heat transfer coefficients are given for various pressures and pipe diameters. Heat transfer coefficients of SCD flow are confirmed to be very much higher than those of usually encountered fluid flow and are shown to be expressed by a nondimensional correlation equation proposed in this work. Numerical model calculations are also presented for the velocity and temperature distributions in SCD flow to elucidate the exceedingly high value of heat transfer coefficient. The heat transfer enhancement of SCD is concluded to result from the high-speed flow near the pipe wall. This strong flow is shown to have velocity and temperature gradients steep enough to cause the enhancement of the rate of heat transfer in the vicinity of the pipe wall.     

Transient modeling of micro-grooved heat pipe

One-dimensional transient model for fluid flow and heat transfer is presented for a micro-grooved heat pipe of any polygonal shape utilizing a macroscopic approach. The coupled non-linear governing equations for the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer are developed based on first principles and are solved simultaneously. The transient behavior for various parameters, e.g. substrate temperature, radius of curvature, liquid velocity, etc. are studied. The effects of the groove dimensions, heat input and Q-profiles on the studied parameters have been evaluated. The steady state profiles for substrate temperature, radius of curvature, liquid velocity etc. have also been generated. The model predicted steady state substrate temperature profile is successfully compared with the experimental results from the previous study. The general nature of the model and the associated parametric study ensure the wide applicability of the model.     

多孔介质中高温气体非稳态渗流传热数值计算

针对水平导管中填充颗粒物料层内的高温气体参流传热现象，考虑渗流与传热的相互作用并采用局部非平衡假设建立多孔介质中的瞬态渗流传热物理数学模型。研究不同情况下填充物料中的渗流速度和气固温度分布。计算结果表明，高温热气体对水平导管中移动颗粒料层的热渗透主要发生在渗流入口端区域，随着渗流时间延长，热渗透深度沿导管推进。增大入口渗流速度以及减小出料速度，将导致物料温度沿导管慢速下降，热渗透深度扩大，热渗透作用区域内的物料温度水平提高。在热渗透作用区域，孔隙率对流场和温度场有很大的影响。研究对于高温反应器的颗粒输运和给料器的设计与运行有一定的参考作用。     

Efficiency analysis of depressurization process and pressure control strategies for liquid hydrogen storage system in microgravity

In order to investigate dynamic characteristics of pressure fluctuation and thermal efficiency of a liquid hydrogen (LH₂) storage system during depressurization process under microgravity condition, a transient CFD model of LH₂ tank is established. Based on the assumption of lumped vapor, a UDF code is developed to solve phase change and heat transfer between liquid phase and vapor one. The thermal efficiency is provided for assessing the performance of different pressure control methods. Results show that raising the injection velocity and decreasing the temperature of the injection liquid can enhance the effect of fluid mixing and shorten the depressurization time. Increasing the pressure lower limit can also improve the efficiency of depressurization process. The model can predict the tendency of pressure changes in the tank, and provide theoretical guide to design LH₂ tank and optimize its parameters for space application.     

Simulated and experimental performance of a heat pipe assisted solar wall

Performance was evaluated for a passive solar space heating system utilizing heat pipes to transfer heat through an insulated wall from an absorber outside the building to a storage tank inside the building. The one-directional, thermal diode heat transfer effect of heat pipes make them ideal for passive solar applications. Gains by the heat pipe are not lost during cloud cover or periods of low irradiation. Simplified thermal resistance-based computer models were constructed to simulate the performance of direct gain, indirect gain, and integrated heat pipe passive solar systems in four different climates. The heat pipe system provided significantly higher solar fractions than the other passive options in all climates, but was particularly advantageous in cold and cloudy climates. Parametric sensitivity was evaluated for material and design features related to the collector cover, absorber plate, heat pipe, and water storage tank to determine a combination providing good thermal performance with diminishing returns for incremental parametric improvements. Important parameters included a high transmittance glazing, a high performance absorber surface and large thermal storage capacity.An experimental model of the heat pipe passive solar wall was also tested in a laboratory setting. Experimental variations included fluid fill levels, addition of insulation on the adiabatic section of the heat pipe, and fins on the outside of the condenser section. Filling the heat pipe to 120% of the volume of the evaporator section and insulating the adiabatic section achieved a system efficiency of 85%. Addition of fins on the condenser of the heat pipe did not significantly enhance overall performance.The computer model was validated by simulating the laboratory experiments and comparing experimental and simulated data. Temperatures across the system were matched by adjusting the model conductances, which resulted in good agreement with the experiment.     

Laminar heat transfer in a moving porous bed reactor simulated with a macroscopic two-energy equation model

This work investigates the influence of physical properties on heat transfer between the solid and fluid phases in a porous reactor, in which both the permeable bed and the working fluid move in the same direction with respect to fixed bounding walls. For simulating laminar flow and heat transfer, a two-energy equation model is applied in addition to a mechanical model. Transport equations are discretized using the control-volume method and the system of algebraic equations is relaxed via the SIMPLE algorithm. The effects of Reynolds number, solid-to-fluid velocity ratio, permeability, porosity, ratio of solid-to-fluid thermal capacity and ratio of solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity on flow and heat transport are analyzed. The laminar model is validated by means of an analytical solution. Results for concurrent laminar flow indicate that, when the speed of the solid approaches that of the fluid, the strong axial convection of the solid, as well as the reduction of the relative velocity, cause an increase in the axial length needed for thermal equilibrium between phases to occur. Longer thermal developing lengths are also found for higher permeabilities and higher porosities. For higher solid-to-fluid thermal capacities and higher solid-to-fluid thermal conductivity ratios, the temperature of the solid phase shows less axial variation regardless of its velocity in relation to the fluid phase.     

Thermal performance of flat-shaped heat pipes using nanofluids

Analytical models are utilized to investigate the thermal performance of rectangular and disk-shaped heat pipes using nanofluids. The liquid pressure, liquid velocity profile, temperature distribution of the heat pipe wall, temperature gradient along the heat pipe, thermal resistance and maximum heat load are obtained for the flat-shaped heat pipes utilizing a nanofluid as the working fluid. The flat-shaped heat pipe’s thermal performance using a nanofluid is substantially enhanced compared with one using a regular fluid. The nanoparticles presence within the working fluid results in a decrease in the thermal resistance and an increase in the maximum heat load capacity of the flat-shaped heat pipe. The existence of an optimum nanoparticle concentration level and wick thickness in maximizing the heat removal capability of the flat-shaped heat pipe was established.     

Fluid thermal stratification in a non-isothermal liquid hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation

To the safe space operation of cryogenic storage tank, it is significant to study fluid thermal stratification under external heat leaks. In the present paper, a numerical model is established to investigate the thermal performance in a cryogenic liquid hydrogen tank under sloshing excitation. The interface phase change and the external convection heat transfer are considered. To realize fluid sloshing, the dynamic mesh coupled the volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to predict the interface fluctuations. A sinusoidal excitation is implemented via customized user-defined function (UDF) and applied on tank wall. The grid sensitivity study and the experimental validation of the numerical mode are made. It turns out that the present numerical model can be used to simulate the unsteady process in a non-isothermal sloshing tank. Variations of tank pressure, liquid and vapor mass, fluid temperature and thermal stratification are numerically investigated respectively. The results show that the sinusoidal excitation has caused large influence on thermal performance in liquid hydrogen tank. Some valuable conclusions are arrived, which is important to the depth understanding of the non-isothermal performance in a sloshing liquid hydrogen tank and may supply some technique reference for the methods of sloshing suppression.     

Numerical investigation of the coupled heat transfer of liquefied gas storage tanks

It is a common situation that the liquefied gas tanks are always heated by the outer hot environments, which affecting the safety of the tanks. In this paper, numerical studies were conducted to reveal the heat transfer characteristics of this circumstance. The coupled heat transfer process among the thermal environment, the tank wall and the fluid in the tank was thoroughly investigated by simultaneously solving the temperature fields of both the solid region and the fluid region as well as the flow fields of both the liquid phase and the vapor phase inner the tank. The results showed that affected by the near wall flow and the wall boiling, the heat transfer presented different patterns in the stable thermal stratification stage and the de-stratification stage. In the stable stratification stage, the heat flux from the liquid phase wall to the medium distributed uniformly along the axial direction of the tank, while in the de-stratification stage, it differed a lot at the different positions.     

Experimental study on thermodynamic vent system with different influence factors

A ground experiment is established to investigate the pressure control performance of thermodynamic vent system (TVS) with HCFC123. Different influence factors, including tank pressure control bands, circulation volume flow rates, and heat loads, are investigated separately. The variations of tank pressure and fluid temperature are analyzed in different operation process. To compare the performance of TVS with that of direct venting, the tank heat leakage is solved with a quasi‐steady heat transfer model. With the actual penetration heat into tank determined, the performance comparison is made between direct venting and TVS. The results show that the increase rate of tank pressure rises with the heat load during the pressurization process. While the bulk fluid is still subcooled, great tank pressure control and fluid cooling could be obtained by increasing the circulation flow rate in the mixing injection process. With the cold capacity generated by the throttling process, both the vapor and liquid should be well cooled. For the case of No.3 to 4, as the refrigeration capacity of TVS could not eliminate the accumulated heat load timely, the fluid has a temperature increase in the early stage of throttling process. While for the case of No.6, with the fluid being cooled sufficiently, both the vapor and liquid have received great temperature control. Compared with the direct venting, the recovery ratio of venting gas loss generated by TVS ranges from 30% to 145%, which shows the TVS has a large advantage on exhaust saving.     

Heat and mass transfer within a vertical pipe with a surface heating element of variable size

Heat and mass transfer due to upstream fluid flow in a vertical pipe which is heated in some region due to an external heating element on the surface of the pipe is considered. Unlike most studied in the literature which consider heating uniformly over the entire pipe, we allow for the heater to act over a smaller sub-region of the pipe surface. We first derive a heat and mass transfer model to describe the velocity, pressure, and temperature evolution in a vertical pipe under the assumption of cylindrical symmetry. Using a finite element method we are able to obtain numerical simulations to this model. We compare solutions under a variety of different heater configurations, in order to understand how the size and placement of the heating element on the surface of the pipe will modify the thermal properties of the fluid. We find that a smaller heating element placed near the top of the pipe can still deliver sufficient heat so that the temperature of fluid exiting the top of the pipe has desirable thermal properties for a specific application, and in such cases it is not necessary to heat the entire length of the pipe. Such a configuration could be more efficient, as it requires less material for the heating element, while also requiring less energy for the heating. On the other hand, if the heating element is too small, or poorly placed along the pipe, then it may not be possible to obtain desirable thermal properties in the fluid that would have been possible with a heating element covering the entire pipe length.     

Experimental investigation on a combined sensible and latent heat storage system integrated with constant/varying (solar) heat sources

The objective of the present work is to investigate experimentally the thermal behavior of a packed bed of combined sensible and latent heat thermal energy storage (TES) unit. A TES unit is designed, constructed and integrated with constant temperature bath/solar collector to study the performance of the storage unit. The TES unit contains paraffin as phase change material (PCM) filled in spherical capsules, which are packed in an insulated cylindrical storage tank. The water used as heat transfer fluid (HTF) to transfer heat from the constant temperature bath/solar collector to the TES tank also acts as sensible heat storage (SHS) material. Charging experiments are carried out at constant and varying (solar energy) inlet fluid temperatures to examine the effects of inlet fluid temperature and flow rate of HTF on the performance of the storage unit. Discharging experiments are carried out by both continuous and batchwise processes to recover the stored heat. The significance of time wise variation of HTF and PCM temperatures during charging and discharging processes is discussed in detail and the performance parameters such as instantaneous heat stored and cumulative heat stored are also studied. The performance of the present system is compared with that of the conventional SHS system. It is found from the discharging experiments that the combined storage system employing batchwise discharging of hot water from the TES tank is best suited for applications where the requirement is intermittent.     

Prediction of the temperature field in flat plate heat pipes with micro-grooves – Experimental validation

A liquid and vapour flow model coupled to a thermal model is presented for a flat plate heat pipe with micro-grooves. This model allows the calculation of the liquid and vapour pressures and velocities, the meniscus curvature radius in the grooves and the temperature field in the heat pipe wall from the heat source to the heat sink. The meniscus curvature radius is introduced in the thermal model to take into account the heat transfer at the liquid–vapour interface. Experimental measurements of the meniscus curvature radius as well as temperature measurements along a grooved heat pipe are compared to the model results. Both comparisons show the good ability of the numerical model to predict the maximum heat transport capability and the temperature field in the heat pipe. The model is used to optimize the heat pipe dimensions in order to improve its thermal performances.     

An investigation of the thermal performance of cylindrical heat pipes using nanofluids

In this work, a two-dimensional analysis is used to study the thermal performance of a cylindrical heat pipe utilizing nanofluids. Three of the most common nanoparticles, namely Al₂O₃, CuO, and TiO₂ are considered as the working fluid. A substantial change in the heat pipe thermal resistance, temperature distribution, and maximum capillary heat transfer of the heat pipe is observed when using a nanofluid. The nanoparticles within the liquid enhance the thermal performance of the heat pipe by reducing the thermal resistance while enhancing the maximum heat load it can carry. The existence of an optimum mass concentration for nanoparticles in maximizing the heat transfer limit is established. The effect of particle size on the thermal performance of the heat pipe is also investigated. It is found that smaller particles have a more pronounced effect on the temperature gradient along the heat pipe.