Natural convective characteristics of a heat source module at different angles in the closed and ventilated cabinets

A numerical analysis is performed to study the characteristics of heat transfer from a block heat source module at different angles in two-dimensional cabinets. Great efforts are carried out to conduct the effects of thermal interaction between the air steams inside and outside the cabinet on the conjugate conduction–natural convection phenomena. Moreover, the enhancement of cooling performance of the heat source module through the construction of air vents on cabinet wall is rigorously examined. The computation domain covers the cabinet and the surrounding area, and the temperature and velocity fields of the cabinet and surrounding area are solved simultaneously. Comparing the results for cases with and without the consideration of thermal interaction between the air streams, the difference in hot spot temperature of module can be up to 26% for Pr = 0.7, K_bf = K_wf = 100, 0 ≦ K_pf ≦ 100, 10⁵ ≦ Ra ≦ 10⁷ and φ = 0°, 90°, 270°. The maximum reduction in hot spot temperature is about 41% when two air vents are constructed on the cabinet wall. The variation of module angle results in the maximum difference of the hot spot temperature is 17% for closed cabinet, and 10% for ventilated cabinet. In addition, the hot spot temperatures for cases with K_pf = 10 are about two times of that for K_pf = 100.     

Thermal performance of high brightness LED array package on PCB

This paper presents a thermal analysis and experimental validation of natural convective air cooling of a high brightness 3 × 3 LED array package on a printed circuit board (PCB) during operation from 0 to 180° inclinations. Temperature distribution and heat flow of the LED package are assessed by thermal profile measurement using an IR camera and thermocouples. In addition, a design study on the thermal performance of the packaging structure is also performed. The analysis results reveal that the effect of position and inclination plays an important role in the heat dissipation of the LED package. The heat transfer process of the LED PCB package in natural convection is also modelled and simulated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method. The proposed thermal analytical study provides a detailed understanding of the thermal response of an open or enclosed LED array PCB unit under various operating conditions. The results provide criteria for setting up a LED array system and for adopting design features that would be beneficial to effective thermal management.     

Thermoelectric water-cooling device applied to electronic equipment

This article investigates the thermal performance of a thermoelectric water-cooling device for electronic equipment. The influences of heat load and the thermoelectric cooler's current on the cooling performance of the thermoelectric device are experimentally and theoretically determined. This study develops a novel analytical model of thermal analogy network to predict the thermal capability of the thermoelectric device. The model's prediction agrees well with the experimental data. The experimental result shows that when heat load increases from 20 W to 100 W, the lowest overall thermal indicator increases from − 0.75 KW^− 1 to 0.62 KW^− 1 at the optimal electric current of 7 A. Besides, this study verifies that the thermal performance of the conventional water-cooling device can be effectively enhanced by integrating it with the thermoelectric cooler when the heat load is below 57 W.     

Combined free and forced convection in an inclined channel with discrete heat sources

Mixed convection is studied in an inclined rectangular channel with three discrete heat sources placed on the bottom surface. The Reynolds and Grashof numbers and the channel inclination are respectively: 1 ≤ Re ≤ 1000, 10³ ≤ Gr ≤ 10⁵, and 0° ≤ γ ≤ 90°. The governing equations are solved using the finite element method, the Penalty and Petrov–Galerkin techniques. The inclination has a stronger influence on the flow and heat transfer for low Reynolds numbers. In general, cases which show the lowest temperature distributions on the modules are those where the inclination angles are 45° and 90°.     

Numerical predictions of natural convection with liquid fluids contained in an inclined arc-shaped enclosure

In the present paper a numerical study has been performed of the flow behavior and natural convection heat transfer characteristics of liquid fluids contained in an inclined arc-shaped enclosure. The governing equations are discretized using the finite-volume method and curvilinear coordinates. The Prandtl number (Pr) of the liquid fluids is assigned to be 4.0 and the Grashof number (Gr) is ranged within the regime 1 × 10⁵ ≦ ≦ 4 × 10⁶. On the other hand, the inclination angle (θ) of the enclosure is varied within 0° ≦ θ ≦ 360°. Of major concern are the effects of the inclination and the buoyancy force on the flow and the thermal fields, and based on the numerical data of the thermal field the local and overall Nusselt numbers are calculated. Results show that the arc-shaped enclosure for Pr = 4.0 at Gr = 4 × 10⁶ and θ = 90° exhibits the best heat transfer performance. The poor heat transfer performance for Pr = 4.0 fixed at Gr = 1 × 10⁵ and θ = 180° exhibits the arc-shaped enclosure, respectively. As the value of Grashof number is elevated from 10⁵ to 4 × 10⁶, at θ = 90°, the magnitude of Nu is elevated from 13.946 to 25.3 (81.4% increase); however, at θ = 180°, the magnitude is elevated from 11.655 to 13.475 (15.6% increase) only.     

A simple method for the estimation of thermal insulation thickness

Selection and determination of optimum thickness of insulation is of prime interest for many engineering applications. In this study, a simple method is developed to estimate the thickness of thermal insulation required to arrive at a desired heat flow or surface temperature for flat surfaces, ducts and pipes. The proposed simple method covers the temperature difference between ambient and outside temperatures up to 250 °C and the temperature drop through insulation up to 1000 °C. The proposed correlation calculates the thermal thickness up to 250 mm for flat surfaces and estimates the thermal thickness for ducts and pipes with outside diameters up to 2400 mm. The accuracy of the proposed method was found to be in excellent agreement with the reported data for wide range of conditions where the average absolute deviation between reported data and the proposed method is around 3.25%. The method is based on basic fundamentals of heat transfer and reliable data. Therefore the formulated simple-to-use expression is justified and applicable to any industrial application.     

Novel heat dissipation design incorporating heat pipes for DC combiner boxes of a PV system

In a Photovoltaic (PV) system, heat is generated by an operating diode. Because DC combiner boxes are waterproof, dustproof, air tight and made of heat-insulating material, thermal energy is easily accumulated, affecting the performance and safety of power cables and other electronic components near the diodes in the DC combiner box. This study utilizes a heat pipe as a channel for heat dissipation to conduct the heat out of a DC combiner box without destroying the air-tightness of the box. An existing DC combiner box was improved upon using this method of heat dissipation. The measured heat flow and temperature demonstrate that the proposed method is feasible. The influence of the condensation section temperature on the maximum heat transfer of the heat pipe was also investigated by experiment. The maximum heat transfer rate of the heat pipe was found to increase with the condensation section temperature of the heat pipe. When the condensation temperature was 20 °C, 30 °C and 40 °C, the maximum heat transfer rate of the heat pipe was 21.6 W, 29.6 W and 39.7 W, respectively.     

Experimental study of condensation heat transfer of R-134a flow in corrugated tubes with different inclinations

This experimental study is performed to investigate condensation heat transfer coefficient of R-134a flow inside corrugated tube with different inclinations. Different inclinations of test condenser ranging from − 90^° to + 90^° and various flow mass velocities in the range of 87 to 253 [kg/m²s] are considered in this study. Data analysis showed that change in the tube inclination had a significant effect on condensation heat transfer behavior. At low mass velocities, and low vapor qualities, the highest condensation heat transfer coefficient was obtained for α = + 30^° which was 1.41 times greater than the least one obtained for α = − 90^°. The results also showed that at all mass velocities, the highest average heat transfer coefficients were achieved for α = + 30^°. Based on the experimental results, a new empirical correlation is proposed to predict the condensation heat transfer coefficient of R134a flow in corrugated tubes with different inclinations.     

Heat dissipation performance of silicon solar cells by direct dielectric liquid immersion under intensified illuminations

A novel cooling method for the solar cells under concentrated solar flux is proposed where the surplus heat is removed from both the front and back surfaces of the module by directly immersing the cells in a dielectric liquid. The direct-contact heat transfer and comparatively larger heat dissipation surface area can achieve a fairly low cell temperature which results in higher sunlight conversion efficiencies. Heat dissipation performance of the modules of both simulation sheets and solar cells were studied under the conditions of an irradiance of 50 and 70 kW/m². In these studies a long-arc xenon lamp was used as the illumination source and dimethyl-silicon oil was used as the dielectric fluid. Experimental results show that in turbulent flow, the temperature distribution of the module along the flow direction is quite uniform, resulting in a rise of about 3 °C. The cell temperature can be cooled to about 30 °C and the corresponding heat transfer coefficient is around 1000 W/(m² °C). The liquid inlet temperature does not significantly change the distribution of the module temperature, but it has a linear relationship with the average module temperature. After liquid immersion, the open-circuit voltages of the modules have small changes but large drops are in the short circuit currents. The electrical performance of the modules immersed in the liquid fits reasonably well with the relationships with the operating temperatures and thermal loads, but clearly with some degradation. The main reason for these is because the usage of common silicon cells under concentrations.     

Thermal property measurement and heat transfer analysis of acetamide and acetamide/expanded graphite composite phase change material for solar heat storage

As a phase change material (PCM), acetamide (AC) can be a potential candidate for energy storage application in the active solar systems. Its utilization is however hampered by poor thermal conductivity. In this work, AC/expanded graphite (EG) composite PCM with 10 wt% (mass fraction) EG as the effective heat transfer promoter was prepared; its thermal properties were studied and compared with those of pure AC. Transient hot-wire tests showed that the addition of 10 wt% EG led to about five-fold increase in thermal conductivity. Investigations using a differential scanning calorimeter revealed that the melting/freezing points shifted from 66.95/42.46 °C for pure AC to 65.91/65.52 °C for AC/EG composite, and the latent heat decreased from 194.92 to 163.71 kJ kg⁻¹. In addition, heat storage and retrieval tests in a latent thermal energy storage unit showed that the heat storage and retrieval durations were reduced by 45% and 78%, respectively. Further numerical investigations demonstrated that the less improvement in heat transfer rate during the storage process could be attributed to the weakened natural convection in liquid (melted) AC because of the presence of EG.     

Evaluation of phase change materials for thermal regulation enhancement of building integrated photovoltaics

Regulating the temperature of building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) using phase change materials (PCMs) reduces the loss of temperature dependent photovoltaic (PV) efficiency. Five PCMs were selected for evaluation all with melting temperatures ∼25 ± 4 °C and heat of fusion between 140 and 213 kJ/kg. Experiments were conducted at three insolation intensities to evaluate the performance of each PCM in four different PV/PCM systems. The effect on thermal regulation of PV was determined by changing the (i) mass of PCM and (ii) thermal conductivities of the PCM and PV/PCM system. A maximum temperature reduction of 18 °C was achieved for 30 min while 10 °C temperature reduction was maintained for 5 h at −1000 W/m² insolation.     

Experimental investigation of heat transfer and turbulent flow friction in a tube fitted with perforated conical-rings

Perforated conical-ring (PCR) is one of the turbulence-promoter/turbulator devices for enhancing the heat transfer rate in a heat exchanger system. In the present paper, the influences of the PCR on the turbulent convective heat transfer (Nu), friction factor (f) and thermal performance factor (η) characteristics have been investigated experimentally. The perforated conical-rings (PCRs) used are of three different pitch ratios (PR = p/D = 4, 6 and 12) and three different numbers of perforated holes (N = 4, 6 and 8 holes). The experiment conducted in the range of Reynolds number between 4000 and 20,000, under uniform wall heat flux condition and using air as the testing fluid. The experimental results obtained by using the plain tube and the tube equipped with the typical conical-ring (CR) are also reported for comparison. It is found that the PCR considerably diminishes the development of thermal boundary layer, leading to the heat transfer rate up to about 137% over that in the plain tube. Evidently, the PCRs can enhance heat transfer more efficient than the typical CR on the basis of thermal performance factor of around 0.92 at the same pumping power. Over the range investigated, the maximum thermal performance factor of around 0.92 is found at PR = 4 and N = 8 holes with Reynolds number of 4000.     

Thermal visualization on surface with transverse perforated ribs

This paper presents the heat transfer and flow characteristics in a channel with different types of transverse perforated ribs. The effects of perforation/hole inclination angle (θ = 0°, 15° and 30°) and a location of hole on the rib (h = 0.2H, 0.5H and 0.8H), have been examined. The investigation was performed at constant Reynolds number (Re) of 60,000. The experimental heat transfer results via Thermochromic liquid crystal sheet are reported along with the numerical flow characteristics. The results reveal that due to jet-like flows impinging on the surface, the inclined perforated rib considerably improve the heat transfer immediately downstream from the ribs, compared to straight perforated and solid ones, resulting in superior overall heat transfer performance.     

Thermal performance of an oscillating heat pipe with Al2O3–water nanofluids

An experimental investigation was performed on the thermal performance of an oscillating heat pipe (OHP) charged with base water and spherical Al₂O₃ particles of 56 nm in diameter. The effects of filling ratios, mass fractions of alumina particles, and power inputs on the total thermal resistance of the OHP were investigated. Experimental results showed that the alumina nanofluids significantly improved the thermal performance of the OHP, with an optimal mass fraction of 0.9 wt.% for maximal heat transfer enhancement. Compared with pure water, the maximal thermal resistance was decreased by 0.14 °C/W (or 32.5%) when the power input was 58.8 W at 70% filling ratio and 0.9% mass fraction. By examining the inner wall samples, it was found that the nanoparticle settlement mainly took place at the evaporator. The change of surface condition at the evaporator due to nanoparticle settlement was found to be the major reason for the enhanced thermal performance of the alumina nanofluid-charged OHP.     

A micro-solid oxide fuel cell system as battery replacement

The concept and the design of a micro-solid oxide fuel cell system is described and discussed. The system in this study is called the ONEBAT system and consists of the fuel cell PEN (positive electrode – electrolyte – negative electrode) element, a gas processing unit, and a thermal system. PEN elements of free-standing multi-layer membranes are fabricated on Foturan^® and on Si substrates using thin film deposition and microfabrication techniques. Open circuit voltages of up to 1.06 V and power of 150 mW cm⁻² are achieved at 550 °C. The membranes are stable up to 600 °C. The gas processing unit allows butane conversion of 95% and hydrogen selectivity of 83% at 550 °C in the reformer and efficient after-burning of hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and lower hydrocarbons in the post-combustor. Thermal system simulations prove that a large thermal gradient of more than 500 °C between the hot module and its exterior are feasible. The correlation between electrical power output – system size and thermal conductivity – heat-transfer coefficient of the thermal insulation material are shown. The system design studies show that the single sub-systems can be integrated into a complete system and that the requirements for portable electronic devices can be achieved with a base unit of 2.5 W and a modular approach.     

Local turbulent opposing mixed convection heat transfer in inclined flat channel for unstably stratified airflow

Local turbulent mixed convection heat transfer in inclined (from ? = 0° (horizontal position) till ? = 90° (vertical position)) flat channels for opposing flows was investigated for the case when only bottom wall is heated (unstably stratified flow conditions). Wide ranges of airflow parameters are covered: Re = 4 × 10³-6.6 × 10⁴, Gr_q = 4.7 × 10⁷-6.3 × 10¹⁰, pressure p = 0.1; 0.2; 0.4; 0.7; 1.0 MPa. Correlation for calculation of heat transfer in inclined flat channels was suggested for the region without buoyancy instabilities. The experimental data were compared with the recent experimental data for inclined flat channels when upper wall is heated (stably stratified flow conditions).     

Thermal performance evaluation of heat exchangers fitted with twisted-ring turbulators

Heat transfer, friction factor and thermal performance characteristics in a tube equipped with twisted-rings (TRs) are experimentally investigated. The experiments were conducted using TRs with three different width ratios (W/D = 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15) and three pitch ratios of (p/D = 1, 1.5 and 2) for Reynolds numbers ranging from 6000 to 20,000 using air as a test fluid. The typical circular rings (CRs) were also tested for an assessment. The experimental results reveal that most TRs yield lower Nusselt numbers and friction factor than CRs, except at the largest width ratio (W/D = 0.15) and the smallest pitch ratio (p/D = 1.0). In addition, Nusselt number and friction factor increase as width ratio increases and pitch ratio decreases. However, a maximum thermal performance factor is associated by TRs with the smallest width ratio and pitch ratio. The empirical correlations of the heat transfer (Nu) and friction factor (f) are also included in this paper.     

Numerical analysis on the thermal characteristics of photovoltaic module with ambient temperature variation

A silicon photovoltaic module converts sunlight energy into electricity applying the photovoltaic effect of the semiconductor. But the performance of PV module is affected by ambient temperature. It is well known that the power and efficiency of PV module usually falls at a rate of ∼0.5%/°C and ∼0.05%/°C, respectively as increase of ambient temperature. In this study, the thermal characteristics of a PV module by change of ambient temperature from −25 °C in minimum to 50 °C in maximum is investigated through a thermal analysis simulation program. In the end, a simulation method to attach fins to the backside of PV module is discussed. This work shows the comparison of the thermal characteristics between a PV module with and without fins.     

Experimental and numerical study on heat transfer enhancement in a channel with Z-shaped baffles

The influence of baffle turbulators on heat transfer augmentation in a rectangular channel has been investigated experimentally and numerically. In the experiment, the baffles are placed in a zigzag shape (Z-shaped baffle) aligned in series on the isothermal-fluxed top wall, similar to the absorber plate of a solar air heater channel. The aim at using the Z-baffles is to create co-rotating vortex flows having a significant influence on the flow turbulence intensity leading to higher heat transfer enhancement in the tested channel. Effects of the Z-baffle height and pitch spacing length are examined to find the optimum thermal performance for the Reynolds number from 4400 to 20,400. The Z-baffles inclined to 45° relative to the main flow direction are characterized at three baffle- to channel-height ratios (e/H = 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3) and baffle pitch ratios (P/H = 1.5, 2 and 3). The experimental results show a significant effect of the presence of the Z-baffle on the heat transfer rate and friction loss over the smooth channel with no baffle. The Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal performance enhancement factor for the in-phase 45° Z-baffles are found to be considerably higher than those for the out-phase 45° Z-baffle at a similar operating condition. The in-phase 45° Z-baffle with larger e/H provides higher heat transfer and friction loss than the one with smaller e/H while the shorter pitch length yields the higher Nu, f and TEF than the larger one. The numerical work is also conducted to investigate the flow friction and heat transfer behaviors in the channel mounted with the 45° Z-baffles, and the numerical results are found in good agreement with experimental data.     

Heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics in a circular tube fitted with and without V-cut twisted tape insert

The effect of V-cut twisted tape insert on heat transfer, friction factor and thermal performance factor characteristics in a circular tube were investigated for three twist ratios (y = 2.0, 4.4 and 6.0) and three different combinations of depth and width ratios (DR = 0.34 and WR = 0.43, DR = 0.34 and WR = 0.34, DR = 0.43 and WR = 0.34). The obtained results show that the mean Nusselt number and the mean friction factor in the tube with V-cut twisted tape (VTT) increase with decreasing twist ratios (y), width ratios (WR) and increasing depth ratios (DR). Subsequently an empirical correlation also was formulated to match with experimental results with ± 6% variation for the Nusselt number and ± 10% for the friction factor.