Investigation on forced convective heat transfer of molten salts in circular tubes

In this paper, experiments are carried out to obtain convective heat transfer coefficients of turbulent flow and transition flow of molten Hitec salts in a circular tube. The present experimental data together with experimental data of four kinds of molten salts from the existing literature are correlated for transitional and turbulent convective flow respectively. In addition, the Prandtl number dependence of convective heat transfer with different working fluids is examined. It is shown that the present experimental data are in good agreement with existing correlations.     

Numerical simulation of forced convective heat transfer of molten salt in tubes

熔融盐作为太阳能热发电中的重要的传热蓄热介质,其强制对流传热特性对如何强化对流传热和设计以熔融盐作为工质的换热器具有很重要的指导意义。建立了熔融盐-油套管式换热器内不同种类的熔融盐在不同工况下的强制对流传热模型,数值模拟并理论研究了管内熔融盐强制对流传热特性,提出数值模拟的熔融盐对流传热关联式;并将数值模拟结果与实验结果进行了对比。在此基础上分析了流速对管内熔融盐对流传热系数和热流密度的影响规律。结果表明在Re处于10000～60000的范围内数值模拟和实验结果具有较好的一致性。     

Heat transfer enhancement and performance of the molten salt receiver of a solar power tower

This paper investigates the interaction between the heat transfer performance and the thermal efficiency of a molten salt receiver used in the solar power tower plant. A test-bed is built, and a series of experiments of heat transfer enhancement for two types of molten salt receiver tubes, including smooth and spiral tubes, have been carried out under the high temperature and the high heat flux conditions. The experimental results show that the Nusselt numbers of spiral tube with heat transfer enhancement are in the range of 400–1200, which is about 3 times than that of the smooth one on average. The wall temperature of the spiral tube is decreased by about 30 °C comparing with that of the smooth tube under the identical heat transfer conditions. The results of the experiment show that, by using the spiral tube as the heat transfer tube, the heat transfer performance of the molten salt receiver is obviously improved, and the radiation and convection losses are significantly reduced. The results will be helpful for the design of the molten salt receiver.     

Bounds on natural convective heat transfer in a porous layer with fixed heat flux

Using the background field variational method, bounds on natural convective heat transfer in a porous layer heated from below with fixed heat flux are derived from the primitive equations. The enhancement of heat transfer beyond the minimal conduction value (the Nusselt number Nu) is bounded in terms of the non-dimensional forcing scale set by the ‘effective’ Rayleigh number (Rˆ) according to Nu ≤ 0.354Rˆ^1/2 and in terms of the conventional Rayleigh number (Ra) defined by the temperature drop across the layer according to Nu ≤ 0.125Ra. It is presented that fixing the heat flux at the boundaries does not change the linear dependence between Nusselt number and Rayleigh number at high Rayleigh number region.     

Numerical simulation of mixed convective heat transfer of a molten salt in a square tube with a thermally conductive wall

熔盐因具有传热能力强、工作温度高、使用温度广、系统压力低、经济适用等优点,成为太阳能热发电系统蓄热工质的理想选择。熔盐在实际应用中会因加热过程的非均匀性产生存在于固体表面和流体间的温差,造成流体工质中的密度梯度,因此出现重力导致的浮升力效应,其叠加到主流流动方向上即形成混合对流。管壁导热会对熔盐混合对流传热过程产生一定的影响。本文对熔盐在水平方管内非均匀加热条件下的单面加热的混合对流过程进行了数值模拟研究,在考虑壁厚的情况下研究了方管单面加热熔盐混合对流传热特性,分析了无量纲参数间的变化关系,并将结果与流型判定图和经典关联式进行对比。结果表明,非均匀加热时,浮升力效应会造成随流动距离增加主流核心区域的形状发生改变,且更加靠近加热壁面。Nu数随Re数、Ri数的增大而增大,局部Nu_x数随流动距离的深入先减小后增大。与忽略管壁导热数值模拟结果相比,主流核心区形状更加均匀,局部Nu_x更高且回升位置更加提前,流动特性和传热特性基本保持一致。     

Comparison of molten salt heat recovery options in the Cu-Cl cycle of hydrogen production

This paper presents a comparative review of different options for recovering heat from molten CuCl in the Cu-Cl cycle of hydrogen production. Various technologies exist for recovering heat from the molten CuCl in the cycle, but each has its advantages and challenges. In this paper, different parameters such as heat transfer rate, additional materials in the cycle, energy efficiency, temperature retention, economics, material issues, and design feasibility are considered in the evaluation of methods. It is shown that casting/extrusion, atomization methods, with a separate vessel using water as a coolant and rotary/spinning atomization using air as a coolant, can be considered as the most efficient and reliable methods for heat recovery from molten CuCl.     

An experimental and numerical study on heat transfer enhancement for gas heat exchangers fitted with porous media

The present experimental and numerical work investigates the effect of metallic porous materials, inserted in a pipe, on the rate of heat transfer. The pipe is subjected to a constant and uniform heat flux. The effects of porosity, porous material diameter and thermal conductivity as well as Reynolds number on the heat transfer rate and pressure drop are investigated. The results are compared with the clear flow case where no porous material was used. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that higher heat transfer rates can be achieved using porous inserts at the expense of a reasonable pressure drop. Also, it is shown that for an accurate simulation of heat transfer when a porous insert is employed its effective thermal conductivity should be carefully evaluated.     

Development of a heat storage demonstration unit on the basis of Mg2FeH6 as heat storage material and molten salt as heat transfer media

The development and preliminary tests of a 5 kg Mg₂FeH₆ heat storage system which is useable for short and long-term storage applications at temperatures around 500 °C are described. The heat transfer for the heat storage process (dehydrogenation of the hydride Mg₂FeH₆) and heat release (hydrogenation of the hydride precursor 2Mg-Fe) is done by the flow of molten salt in appropriate heat exchangers serving as heat source or heat sink. The construction of the tube bundle reactor as a heat storage tank is presented. 1.6 kWh of heat could be released and 1.5 kWh of heat could be stored during the first experimental tests. Difficulties, which occured during the preliminary tests, are described.     

Analysis of local convective heat transfer in a spark ignition engine

A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) code is applied to simulate fluid flow, heat transfer and combustion in a four-stroke single cylinder engine with pent roof combustion chamber geometry, having two inlet valves and two exhaust valves. Heat flux and heat transfer coefficient on the cylinder head, cylinder wall, piston, intake and exhaust valves are determined with respect to crank angle position. Results for a certain condition are compared for total heat transfer coefficient of the cylinder engine with available correlation proposed by experimental measurement in the literature and close agreement are observed. It was found that the local value of heat transfer coefficient varies considerably in different parts of the cylinder, but they have equivalent trend with crank angle. Based on the results, new correlations are suggested to predict maximum and minimum convective heat transfer coefficient in the combustion chamber of a SI engine.     

Mixed convective heat transfer of water in a pipe under supercritical pressure

Because of the rapid properties variation of fluid under supercritical pressure, there is a violent secondary flow in a heated pipe, which will certainly complicate the heat transfer of fluid in a pipe under supercritical pressure. In this paper, a numerical study is conducted for the laminar developing mixed convective heat transfer of water under supercritical pressure. The velocity field and temperature field are given, and the influence of different parameters on flow and heat transfer is investigated in detail. The results show that secondary flow has a great influence on velocity and temperature distributions and thus affects the friction factor and the Nusselt number remarkably. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 34(8): 608–619, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20079     

Three dimensional numerical and experimental study of forced convection heat transfer on solar collector surface

In this study, experimental and three dimensional numerical work was carried out to determine the average heat transfer coefficients for forced convection air flow over a rectangular flat plate. Three dimensional numerical simulations were obtained using a commercial finite volume based fluid dynamics code called Fluent 6.3. The experiments were performed for mass transfer using the naphthalene sublimation technique. The results were presented in terms of heat transfer parameters using the analogy between heat and mass transfer. All the experimental results are correlated within an accuracy of ± 12%.     

Turbulent flow heat transfer and pressure loss in a double pipe heat exchanger with louvered strip inserts

In the present work, heat transfer and friction characteristics were experimentally investigated, employing louvered strips inserted in a concentric tube heat exchanger. The louvered strip was inserted into the tube to generate turbulent flow which helped to increase the heat transfer rate of the tube. The flow rate of the tube was in a range of Reynolds number between 6000 and 42,000. The turbulent flow devices were consisted of (1) the louvered strips with forward or backward arrangements, and (2) the louvered strip with various inclined angles (θ = 15°, 25° and 30°), inserted in the inner tube of the heat exchanger. In the experiment, hot water was flowed through the inner tube whereas cold water was flowed in the annulus. The experimental data obtained were compared with those from plain tubes of published data. Experimental results confirmed that the use of louvered strips leads to a higher heat transfer rate over the plain tube. The increases in average Nusselt number and friction loss for the inclined forward louvered strip were 284% and 413% while those for the backward louvered strip were 263% and 233% over the plain tube, respectively. In addition, the use of the louvered strip with backward arrangement leads to better overall enhancement ratio than that with forward arrangement around 9% to 24%.     

Sensible heat storage in a single tank using molten salt and associated natural convection heat transfer

熔融盐双罐显热储热技术已较为成熟,但储热成本较高。为了降低储热成本,本文提出在储热罐内布置浸没式换热器实现熔盐单罐储热和释热新方法,分析了熔融盐单罐储热基本原理,在此基础上模拟分析了垂直布置交错排列两根水平圆柱表面熔融盐自然对流传热的规律。研究发现,为了增强管排表面自然对流传热,两根圆柱的垂直间距不宜过小,而水平间距不宜过大,这些研究结果为熔融盐单罐储热设计提供理论基础。     

Convection heat transfer from tube banks in crossflow: Analytical approach

The main objective of this analytical study is to investigate heat transfer from tube banks in crossflow under isothermal boundary condition. For this purpose, a control volume is selected from the fourth row of a tube as a typical cell to study the heat transfer from an in-line or staggered arrangement. An integral method of boundary layer analysis is employed to derive closed form expressions for the calculation of average heat transfer from the tubes of a bank, that can be used for a wide range of parameters including longitudinal pitch, transverse pitch, Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. The models for in-line and staggered arrangements are applicable for use over a wide range of parameters when determining heat transfer from tube banks.     

Solar linear Fresnel collector using molten nitrates as heat transfer fluid

The use of molten nitrates as heat transfer fluid in a solar Fresnel Linear Concentrator is proposed. A system specifically designed to work with molten nitrates is presented, with an analysis of its optical and thermal properties and the discussion of advantages and disadvantages with respect to existing systems.     

Natural convective heat transfer in uniformly heated vertical pipe annuli

Natural convective heat transfer in vertical concentric pipe annuli is investigated both numerically and experimentally for a fluid having a Prandtl number of 0.7. Numerical calculations for three cases of different heating conditions for pipes (heated inner pipe, heated outer pipe, both pipes heated) are made of laminar flows for different inner‐to‐outer‐pipe diameter ratios d_i/d_o from 0.2 to 0.8. For each case, the thermal entrance length x/b at the modified Grashof numbers Gr^*=10² to 5 × 10⁵ is well correlated with Grashof number Gr^* and annulus length to clearance ratio L/b. Local Nusselt numbers Nu_i and Nu_o in the thermally fully developed region have certain constant values dependent on the diameter ratio d_i/d_o, regardless of Gr^* and L/b. Average Nusselt numbers Nu_i and Nu_o in the thermal entrance region are also independent of Gr^* and L/b. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 30(8): 676–688, 2001     

Two-dimensional laminar fluid flow and heat transfer in a channel with a built-in heated square cylinder

A numerical investigation was conducted to analyze the unsteady flow field and heat transfer characteristics in a horizontal channel with a built-in heated square cylinder. Hydrodynamic behavior and heat transfer results are obtained by the solution of the complete Navier–Stokes and energy equations using a control volume finite element method (CVFEM) adapted to the staggered grid. The Computation was made for two channel blockage ratios (β=1/4 and 1/8), different Reynolds and Richardson numbers ranging from 62 to 200 and from 0 to 0.1 respectively at Pr=0.71. The flow is found to be unstable when the Richardson number crosses the critical value of 0.13. The results are presented to show the effects of the blockage ratio, the Reynolds and the Richardson numbers on the flow pattern and the heat transfer from the square cylinder. Heat transfer correlation are obtained through forced and mixed convection.     

A transient analysis of three-dimensional heat and mass transfer in a molten carbonate fuel cell at start-up

In this paper, we investigate the time-dependent heat and mass transfer in a molten carbonate fuel cell at start-up. Thus, a three-dimensional, transient mathematical model is presented through a comprehensive inclusion of various physical, chemical and electrochemical processes that occur within the different components of molten carbonate fuel cells. The model is proposed as a predictive tool to provide a three-dimensional demonstration of variable variations at system start-up. The local distribution of field variables and quantities are showcased. It reveals that the electrochemical reaction rate is dominated by the over-potential, not by the reactants' molar fraction. Reversible heat generation and consumption mechanisms of the cathode and anode are dominant in the first 10 s while the heat conduction from the solid materials to the gas phase is negligible. Meanwhile, activation and ohmic heating have nearly the same impact within the anode and cathode. Based on these findings, the importance of heat conduction and its main features are finally assessed.     

Transient natural convective heat transfer in porous medium with solidification of binary mixture

In this paper an enthalpy porosity method associated with finite control volume scheme and SIMPLE iteration was employed to solve Navier–Stokes equation coupled with energy equation through Ergun equation and Boussinesq approximation for studying the effect of two-dimensional transient natural convective heat transfer from a closed region of porous medium with the different porosity on solidification in carbon–iron system. As shown in the results, it is fund that the thickness of solidification layer is increased with time due to thermal coupled flow induced by natural convection; and the wall temperature is faster changed in porous medium with larger porosity, which corresponds to slow the growth of the solidification layer in binary system.     

A numerical method for natural convection and heat conduction around and in a horizontal circular pipe

Natural convection around a horizontal circular pipe coupled with heat conduction in the solid structure is numerically investigated using a preconditioning method for solving incompressible and compressible Navier–Stokes equations. In this method, fundamental equations are completely reduced to an equation of heat conduction when the flow field is static (zero velocity). Therefore, not only compressible flows but also very slow flows such as natural convection in a flow field and heat conduction in a static field can be simultaneously calculated using the same computational algorithm. In this study, we first calculated the compressible flow around a NACA0012 airfoil with conduction in the airfoil and then simulated natural convections around a horizontal circular pipe with a different heat conductivity. Finally, we numerically investigated the effect of heat conductivity of the pipe on natural convection.