Design and performance of a permanent-magnet rotary refrigerator

In order to demonstrate the potential of magnetic refrigeration to provide useful cooling near room temperature, Astronautics Corporation of America constructed a rotary magnetic refrigerator (RMR) in 2001. The RMR uses the active magnetic regenerator (AMR) cycle with an aqueous heat transfer fluid. The required change in magnetic field is produced by the rotation of a wheel packed with porous beds of magnetocaloric material through a 1.5 T Nd₂Fe₁₄B permanent magnet with steel flux concentration poles. A pump, and valves mounted to the wheel, control heat transfer fluid flow through the magnetocaloric beds and heat exchangers. This rotary design allows quiet, reliable operation over a range of frequencies (0.5–4 Hz), heat transfer fluid flow rates and cooling power. The performance of the device using Gd and Gd alloy spherical particles is reported and analyzed. We also describe the performance effects of introducing layered beds and an La(Fe_1−xSi_x)₁₃H_y alloy with a first order magnetic transition.     

Performance optimisation of room temperature magnetic refrigerator with layered/multi-material microchannel regenerators

A hybrid numerical model of the magnetic refrigerator with multi-material microchannel regenerator has been developed. The magnetocaloric effect was implemented using instantaneous temperature rise/drop (discrete method). Two pipe-in-pipe heat exchangers at two ends of the regenerator were treated using ε-NTU method. The commercially available compounds of LaFe_13-x-yCo_xSi_y as well as hypothetical compounds of Gadolinium were considered as the magnetocaloric materials (MCMs) with different Curie temperatures. The predicted results of the present work for parallel-plate regenerators employing different compounds of LaFe_13-x-yCo_xSi_y were broadly in good agreement with the available experimental data. The cooling capacity increases as the number of MCMs increase. However, for a given length of regenerator, an optimum number of MCMs was seen yielding the maximum performance of the refrigerator. For a given number of MCMs, a smaller Curie temperature difference ΔT_Cu between the MCMs was found to give higher performance.     

On heat transfer to pulsatile flow of a viscoelastic fluid

Summary A study is made of a problem of heat transfer to pulsatile flow of a viscoelastic fluid between two parallel plates of which the upper one is at a temperature higher than the lower one. The solutions for the steady and the fluctuating temperature distributions are obtained. The rate of heat transfer at the plates is also calculated. Numerical solutions are discussed with graphical representations. It is shown that the elasticity of the fluid significantly increases the temperature in the boundary layers near the plates. The magnitude of heat transfer at the plates is also greatly affected by the elasticity of the fluid and the Eckert number.     

Critical parameters in design of active magnetocaloric regenerators for magnetic refrigeration applications

A new way to evaluate the performance of the active magnetocaloric regenerator (AMR) was developed based on a few critical parameters proposed in this study. The critical parameters were derived from the energy equations that have been used to describe the transient energy transfer processes in the AMR for both the magnetocaloric materials and the heat transfer fluid. Each parameter is corresponding to a specific energy transfer mechanism in the AMR and can be easily implemented to evaluate the contribution from each term, including axial conduction and remnant energy storage in the magnetocaloric materials, axial conduction, remnant energy storage and fluid dissipation in the heat transfer fluid, and internally regenerated energy. Parametric studies were carried out to explore the impact of geometric and operating parameters and to determine whether or not a certain heat transfer mechanism is significant to the overall system performance.     

Analysis of slip flow heat transfer between two unsymmetrically heated parallel plates with viscous dissipation

This paper presents an analytical investigation to study the heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics in the slip flow region for hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed flow between parallel plates. Both upper and lower plates are subjected to asymmetric heat flux boundary conditions. The effect of first order velocity slip, temperature jump, asymmetric heat flux ratio and viscous dissipation on the heat transfer performance is analyzed. Closed form expressions are obtained for the temperature distribution and Nusselt number. Present predictions are verified for the cases that neglect the viscous heating and microscale effects. The effect of asymmetric heat flux ratio with and without viscous dissipation on Nusselt number for both macroscale and microscale is highlighted. The heat transfer characteristics are found to depend on various modeling parameters, namely, modified Brinkman number, Knudsen number and heat flux ratio.     

磁制冷核心问题及高效利用新方式

旋转式磁制冷机是目前室温磁制冷机的主流技术方案,本文针对制约现有磁制冷机的关键因素,综述了磁回热器的高效传热、多组磁回热器的流路控制、多层磁工质复叠制冷及磁体、系统集成等核心问题的最新研究进展并提出了发展方向,深入总结了通过复合制冷的方式拓展磁制冷应用范围及制冷性能的途径及潜力,以助于明确未来磁制冷的研究方向,为研发高性能磁制冷机提供思路。     

磁流体的热力学特性和应用

介绍了磁流体的组成及其所具有的温度、磁热效应，热磙对流和蒸发等热物理性能，以及磁流体膜在强化传热和减小流阻的作用，并详述了磙流体在热力学领域的具体应用，如热管、磁热泵、太阳能系统等，以此来拓宽对磁流体热应用方面的研究和应用思路。     

Effects of tangential and radial velocity on fluid flow and heat transfer for flow through a pipe with twisted tape insert—laminar flow

The present study reports the numerical analysis of fluid flow and heat transfer in a pipe with full length twisted tape insert. The investigation is carried out for five different twist ratios of 4, 5, 6, 8 and 10 at 100 ≤ Re ≤ 1000. The velocity field in terms of streamwise, tangential and radial velocity and temperature field are studied as a function of Reynolds number and twist ratio. The variation of friction factor and Nusselt number with Reynolds number for different twist ratios is also presented. The heat transfer enhancement due to insertion of twisted tape mainly comes from the tangential and radial components of velocities, which are regarded as secondary fluid motion. It is evident from the results that with increase in Reynolds number the axial convection increases. However, with the decrease in the twist ratio, the tangential and radial convection increases, leading to increased heat transfer. The secondary flow affects the thermal boundary layer inside the tube and increases the cross-flow mixing, which increases the heat transfer. The correlations for prediction of friction factor and Nusselt number based on the numerical data are also proposed.     

多孔材料辐射-传热耦合性能的统计二阶双尺度计算

对多孔材料辐射-传热耦合计算的数学模型, 即Rosseland方程, 给出了一种统计的二阶双尺度分析方法, 并针对典型问题进行了数值模拟。建立了考虑辐射项的统计二阶双尺度计算公式, 给出了统计意义下热流密度极值的预测算法, 并通过与理论解的比较对算法进行了验证, 利用本文中方法研究了孔洞体分比和空间分布状态对陶瓷多孔材料热传导系数、 辐射传导系数和热流密度极值的影响。结果表明: 孔洞体积分数的增加将导致有效热传导系数下降; 热流密度极值随孔洞体积分数的增加而变大, 并且在高温时辐射的作用明显增大; 数值试验表明, 使用统计二阶双尺度方法及其有限元算法预测孔洞随机分布复合材料结构的热性能是有效的。     

强磁场作用下材料扩散型固态相变的微观机理

为探讨强磁场对物质原子尺度行为(电子运动、离子扩散)的影响,采用光学显微镜研究强磁场作用下Fe-0.12%C合金的扩散型固态相变;采用数字多用表测量强磁场作用下的纯铝板电阻研究其电子分布.结果表明:随磁感应强度增强,Fe-0.12%C合金室温显微组织中,铁素体晶粒平行于磁场方向伸长并呈链状排列的趋势增强,珠光体团的长轴方向平行于磁场方向伸长的程度也增强;纯铝板的电阻在平行于磁场方向放置时减小,垂直于磁场方向放置时电阻有增加趋势.这是由于组成金属晶体的自由电子和排列成晶格状的金属离子在磁场作用下受到洛伦兹力的作用,随磁感应强度增强,沿磁场方向的电子浓度、金属离子扩散有增强趋势,导致磁场作用下材料扩散型相变的室温组织出现形状各向异性.     

Numerical Modelling of Flow Boiling Heat Transfer in Horizontal Metal‐Foam Tubes

The flow boiling heat transfer performance in horizontal metal‐foam tubes is numerically investigated based on the flow pattern map retrieved from experimental investigations. The flow pattern and velocity profile are generally governed by vapour quality and mass flow rate of the fluid. The porous media non‐equilibrium heat transfer model is employed for modelling both vapour and liquid phase zones. The modelling predictions have been compared with experimental results. The effects of metal‐foam morphological parameters, heat flux and mass flux on heat transfer have been examined. The numerical predictions show that the overall heat transfer coefficient of the metal‐foam filled tube increases with the relative density (1‐porosity), pore density (ppi), mass and heat flux.     

Analysis of room temperature magnetic regenerative refrigeration

Results of a room temperature magnetic refrigeration test bed and an analysis using a computational model are presented. A detailed demonstration of the four sequential processes in the transient magnetocaloric regeneration process of a magnetic material is presented. The temperature profile during the transient approach to steady state operation was measured in detail. A 5 °C evolution of the difference of temperature between the hot end and the cold end of the magnetocaloric bed due to regeneration is reported. A model is developed for the heat transfer and fluid mechanics of the four sequential processes in each cycle of thermal wave propagation in the regenerative bed combined with the magnetocaloric effect. The basic equations that can be used in simulation of magnetic refrigeration systems are derived and the design parameters are discussed.     

Fundamental experiments for the development of high-performance cold plates in a feasability study on space solar power system

To realize a concept of solar power satellite with high power generation, it is a promising method to transfer the power by laser beam using active mirror type amplifiers where cooling of the laser material accepting highly condensed sunray is inevitable. To remove high heat flux density from a large area, a structure of cold plate consisted of two parallel plates is devised and the effective liquid supply directly to the bottom of flattened bubbles due to nucleate boiling is realized by the auxiliary liquid feeder. The critical heat flux is increased by more than 1.5 times from that without the additional liquid supply. The technology can be applied not only to space but widely to the development of high-performance cold plates employed on ground.     

竖直矩形通道内不凝性气体对凝结换热特性的影响

本文以去离子水为工质,实验研究了竖直矩形窄通道内少量残余不凝性气体对蒸汽凝结换热特性的影响。采用热阻分离法得到凝结侧换热表面传热系数,分析了不凝性气体的含量、冷却水质量流速、进口温度和热流密度对蒸汽凝结侧表面传热系数的影响。结果表明:当热流密度为1.668 kW/m~2,即蒸汽质量流速较小时,2%体积分数的不凝性气体使凝结侧表面传热系数下降了33%,但当热流密度为3.887 kW/m~2,蒸汽质量流速较大时,2%体积分数的不凝性气体仅使凝结侧表面传热系数降低了14%,此外,凝结换热表面传热系数随冷水质量流速和不凝性气体分数的增加而变小,随冷水进口温度和热流密度的增加而变大。     

Heat transfer in unsteady flow through a porous medium between two infinite parallel plates in relative motion

An approximate solution to the heat transfer in a flow of a viscous incompressible fluid through a porous medium bounded by two infinite parallel plates, the lower one stationary and the upper one oscillating in its own plane, is presented. Expressions for the mean temperature, the amplitude, and phase of the first and second harmonic of the rate of heat transfer and the mean rate of heat transfer are derived. The mean temperature is shown on graphs and the numerical values of the amplitudes and the phase are entered in a table. It is observed that the mean rate of heat transfer decreases with more ease of percolation but increases with increasing the frequency ω.     

Some peculiarities of the asymmetric Graetz problem

A numerical simulation and an analysis of the steady state forced convection heat transfer with plane laminar flow confined by two parallel plates that are kept at constant but different temperatures are presented. We name this heat transfer configuration shortly the asymmetric Graetz problem. The essential features of the asymmetric in comparison to the symmetric Graetz problem are the reversal of the heat flux and the jump of the Nusselt number from positive to negative region at the plate having the temperature closer to the fluid inlet temperature. These phenomena occur at different axial positions, which depend on the thermal asymmetry and the fluid inlet conditions. The numerical results agree excellently with an analytical solution obtained in terms of Kummer confluent hypergeometric function and Hermite polynomials.     

Numerical analysis of a near-room-temperature magnetic cooling system

In this study, for a near-room-temperature magnetic cooling system, a decoupled multi-physics numerical approach (Magnetism, Fluid Flow, and Heat Transfer) is developed using a commercial CFD solver, ANSYS-FLUENT, as a design tool. User defined functions are incorporated into the software in order to take into account the magnetocaloric effect. Magnetic flux density is assumed to be linear during the magnetization and demagnetization processes. Furthermore, the minimum and maximum magnetic flux densities (B_min and B_max) are defined as 0.27 and 0.98, respectively. Two different sets of analyses are conducted by assuming an insulated cold heat exchanger (CHEX) and by defining an artificial cooling load in the CHEX. As a validation case, experimental work from the literature is reproduced numerically, and the results show that the current methodology is fairly accurate. Moreover, parametric analyses are conducted to investigate the effect of the velocity of heat transfer fluid (HTF) and types of HTF on the performance of the magnetic cooling system. Also, the performance metrics of the magnetic cooling system are investigated with regards to the temperature span of the magnetic cooling unit, and the cooling load. It is concluded that reducing the cycle duration ensures reaching lower temperature values. Similarly, reducing the velocity of the HTF allows reducing the outlet temperature of the HTF. In the current system, the highest temperature spans are obtained numerically as around 6 K, 5.2 K and 4.1 K for the cycle durations of 4.2 s, 6.2 s and 8.2 s, respectively.     

Two-dimensional mathematical model of a reciprocating room-temperature Active Magnetic Regenerator

A time-dependent, two-dimensional mathematical model of a reciprocating Active Magnetic Regenerator (AMR) operating at room-temperature has been developed. The model geometry comprises a regenerator made of parallel plates separated by channels of a heat transfer fluid and a hot as well as a cold heat exchanger. The model simulates the different steps of the AMR refrigeration cycle and evaluates the performance in terms of refrigeration capacity and temperature span between the two heat exchangers. The model was used to perform an analysis of an AMR with a regenerator made of gadolinium and water as the heat transfer fluid. The results show that the AMR is able to obtain a no-load temperature span of 10.9 K in a 1 T magnetic field with a corresponding work input of 93.0 kJ m⁻³ of gadolinium per cycle. The model shows significant temperature differences between the regenerator and the heat transfer fluid during the AMR cycle. This indicates that it is necessary to use two-dimensional models when a parallel-plate regenerator geometry is used.     

超临界甲烷在印刷电路板换热器中加热过程模拟

印刷电路板换热器(Printed Circuit Heat Exchanger,PCHE)是一种新型微通道换热器,其换热的高效性和集成性非常适合用于LNG接收站的中间流体换热器(IFV)中。对超临界甲烷在PCHE中的对流换热进行数值模拟,研究了质量流量、入口压力、热通量及通道形状对微通道内甲烷换热系数的影响。结果表明,表面换热系数随温度的变化先增大再减小,并在假临界温度处达到最大值;PCHE半圆形通道内的换热特性高于普通圆形通道;其换热系数随流速的增加而增加;随热流密度的增加而增加;压力对换热特性的影响与介质所处的温度区间有关。