Calculation of a combined high‐temperature phase‐change medium freezing outside of a two‐phase closed thermosyphon

A high‐efficiency coupled device, with a high‐temperature phase‐change medium used to store the heat energy, and a two‐phase closed thermosyphon used as the transfer part, could be widely used in the future. Based on a series of experiments, a combined heat transfer model considering natural convection with phase‐change heat transfer and two‐phase closed heat transfer is proposed. The position and shape of the freezing interface were numerically calculated. Good agreement between the numerical and experimental results shows that the model and numerical investigations are feasible. © 2000 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 30(1): 54–62, 2001     

A numerical study on the effect of flow distribution on reactor performance

A numerical study was conducted to analyse the effect of flow distribution of stirred part and plug flow part on combustion efficiency at the coal gasification process in an entrained bed coal reactor. The model of computation was based on gas‐phase Eulerian balance equations of momentum and mass. The solid phase was described by Lagrangian equations of motion. The k–ϵ model was used to calculate the turbulence flow and the eddy dissipation model was used to describe the gas‐phase reaction rate. The radiation was solved using a Monte‐Carlo method. A one‐step two parallel reaction model was employed for the devolatilization process of a high volatile bituminous Kideco coal. The computations agreed well with the experiments, but the flame front was closer to the burner than the measured one. The flow distribution of a stirred part and a plug flow part in a reactor was a function of the magnitude of recirculation zone resulting from the swirl. The combustion efficiency was enhanced with decreasing stirred part and the maximum value was found to be around S=1·2, having the minimum stirred part. The combustion efficiency resulted from not only the flow distribution but also from the particle residence time through the hot reaction zone of the stirred part, in particular for the weak swirl without IRZ (internal recirculation zone) and the long lifted flame. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical analysis of the manipulated high performance catalyst layer design for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

A two‐dimensional, multiphase, non‐isothermal numerical model was used to investigate the effect of the high performance catalyst layer (CL) design. Microstructure‐related parameters were studied on the basis of the agglomerate model assumption. A conventional CL design (uniform Pt/C composition, e.g., 40 wt%) was modified into two sub‐layers with two different Pt/C compositions (in this study, 40 and 80 wt%). The performance of sub‐layers with different CL designs is shown to be different. Simulation results show that substituting part of the Pt/C 40 wt% with Pt/C 80 wt% increases the cell performance. It was found that factors including proton conductivity, open circuit voltage, and sub‐layer thickness have a significant impact on overall cell performance. Different water distribution for different membrane electrode assembly designs was also observed in the simulation results. More liquid water accumulation inside the membrane electrode assembly is seen when the Pt/C 80 wt% sub‐layer is next to the gas diffusion layer. Finally, several key design parameters for the proposed high performance CL design including agglomerate radius, Nafion thin film thickness, and the Nafion volume fraction within the agglomerate in terms of CL fabrication were identified on the basis of our simulation results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical simulation of separated flow transition and heat transfer around a two‐dimensional rib

Numerical simulations of separated flow transition and heat transfer around a two‐dimensional rib mounted in a laminar boundary layer were performed. The separated shear layer becomes unstable due to the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability and generates a two‐dimensional vortex. This vortex becomes three‐dimensional and collapses in the downstream part of the separation bubble. As a result, transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs in the separated shear layer. Streamwise vortices exist downstream of the reattachment flow region. The low‐frequency flapping motion and transition of the separated shear layer are influenced by three‐dimensional dynamics upstream of the separation bubble. Large‐scale vortices around the reattachment flow region have substantial effects on heat transfer. Downstream of the reattachment point, the surface friction coefficient and Nusselt number are different from their profiles in the laminar boundary layer and approach the distributions seen in the turbulent boundary layer. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 36(8): 513–528, 2007; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20177     

A study of thin‐flame quasisteady sphericosymmetric combustion of multicomponent fuel droplets. Part I: modelling for droplet surface regression and non‐unity gas‐phase Lewis number

A model for sphericosymmetric thin‐flame combustion of multicomponent fuel droplets has been developed in the first part of this two‐part work. The model incorporates effects of droplet surface regression and gas‐phase Lewis number. It is observed that both these effects affect the results substantially. The study also reveals the transient nature of the combustion process. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of micro‐scale electricity generation cost using biomass‐derived synthetic gas through modeling

A promising renewable energy technology is electricity generated with biomass‐derived synthetic gas (syngas). The economic feasibility of using biomass gasification for generating electrical power is very much dependent on the cost of the power plant and the cost of its operation. A cost model was developed to analyze the Unit Cost (unit‐cost) of electricity generation from micro‐scale power facilities that used biomass gasification as its energy input. The costs considered in the model were capital cost and operating costs. The results from the modeling indicated that operating cost was a major part of the total annual production cost of electricity generation, and that labor was the largest part of the total annual production cost of operation, and it was during the time when the power facilities operated at lower generation capacity levels. One effective way of reducing the unit‐cost was to operate the facility at high capacity level. The study found that when the capacity level increased the total of annual cost was also increased, but the electricity unit‐cost decreased markedly. For a given level of generating capacity, the electricity unit‐cost of the facility operating at a two or three shifts operating mode was significantly lower than that of one shift operating mode. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation and modification of the Blade Element Momentum theory based on comparisons with actuator disc simulations

A comprehensive investigation of the Blade Element Momentum (BEM) model using detailed numerical simulations with an axis symmetric actuator disc (AD) model has been carried out. The present implementation of the BEM model is in a version where exactly the same input in the form of non‐dimensional axial and tangential load coefficients can be used for the BEM model as for the numerical AD model. At a rotor disc loading corresponding to maximum power coefficient, we found close correlation between the AD and BEM model as concerns the integral value of the power coefficient. However, locally along the blade radius, we found considerable deviations with the general tendency, that the BEM model underestimates the power coefficient on the inboard part of the rotor and overestimates the coefficient on the outboard part. A closer investigation of the deviations showed that underestimation of the power coefficient on the inboard part could be ascribed to the pressure variation in the rotating wake not taken into account in the BEM model. We further found that the overestimation of the power coefficient on the outboard part of the rotor is due to the expansion of the flow causing a non‐uniform induction although the loading is uniform. Based on the findings we derived two small engineering sub‐models to be included in the BEM model to account for the physical mechanisms causing the deviations. Finally, the influence of using the corrected BEM model, BEM_cor on two rotor designs is presented. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of foundation type and modelling on dynamic response and fatigue of offshore wind turbines

This paper presents dynamic response and fatigue analyses of several bottom‐mounted offshore wind turbine (OWT) models, simulated in the aero‐hydro‐servo‐elastic simulation tool FAST. The distinction between the models is the foundations, which are modelled with different methods, concepts, and dimensions. The US National Renewable Energy Laboratory has developed a 5‐MW reference turbine supported on a monopile, the NREL 5MW, which was used as a reference model in this paper. The paper presents the implementation and comparison of two different foundation modeling methods, referred to as the simplified apparent fixity method and the improved apparent fixity method. Furthermore, sensitivity analyses of different monopile dimensions were performed, followed by sensitivity analyses of suction caisson foundations of different dimensions. The final part of the paper presents fatigue analyses for the foundation models considered in this study subjected to 17 load cases. Fatigue damage, fatigue life, and damage equivalent loads were calculated, as well as the relative fatigue contribution from each load case.     

Free Convective Flow in an Open‐Ended Vertical Porous Wavy Channel with a Perfectly Conductive Thin Baffle

The problem of steady two‐dimensional free convective flow of a Walters fluid (model B ′) in a porous medium between a long vertical wavy wall and parallel flat wall in the presence of a heat source is discussed. The channel is divided into two passages by means of a thin, perfectly conductive plane baffle and each stream will have its own pressure gradient and hence the velocity will be individual in each stream. The governing equations of the fluid and the heat transfer have been solved subject to the relevant boundary conditions by assuming that the solution consists of two parts: a mean part and disturbance or perturbed part. Exact solutions are obtained for the mean part and the perturbed part is solved using long wave approximation. Results are presented graphically for the distribution of velocity and temperature fields for varying physical parameters such as Grashof number, wall temperature ratio, porous parameter, heat source/sink parameter, product of non‐dimensional wave number, and space‐coordinate and viscoelastic parameter at different positions of the baffle. The relevant flow and heat transfer characteristics, namely, skin friction and the rate of heat transfer at both walls, has been discussed in detail. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21118     

Investigating the impact of non‐linear geometrical effects on wind turbine blades—Part 1: Current status of design and test methods and future challenges in design optimization

This article is the first part of a three‐article series and it deals with full‐scale tests of a load‐carrying box girder. The two other articles present more details on smaller sub‐component levels as well as cap specimens (article 2) and shear webs (article 3). This article also links to the two other articles and brings the main results from them into relevance for a wind turbine blade designer. The investigated failure modes in all three articles relate to the Brazier effect, which is expected to be the key dominating failure mechanism in future wind turbine blade designs. The Brazier effect may also have a significant impact on present wind turbine blades. In this article, a 34 m long load‐carrying box girder has been tested in static flap‐wise bending, and it has been demonstrated that, for this design, the Brazier effect is a critical phenomenon of great relevance for the ultimate failure strength. The box girder has been evaluated with and without a cap (wire) reinforcement. The cap reinforcement is one out of seven inventions Risø DTU published in 2008, which are all intended to result in a lighter and more reliable blade design. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Modelling utility‐scale wind power plants. Part 2: Capacity credit

As the worldwide use of wind turbine generators in utility‐scale applications continues to increase, it will become increasingly important to assess the economic and reliability impact of these intermittent resources. Although the utility industry appears to be moving towards a restructured environment, basic economic and reliability issues will continue to be relevant to companies involved with electricity generation. This article is the second in a two‐part series that addresses modelling approaches and results that were obtained in several case studies and research projects at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This second article focuses on wind plant capacity credit as measured with power system reliability indices. Reliability‐based methods of measuring capacity credit are compared with wind plant capacity factor. The relationship between capacity credit and accurate wind forecasting is also explored. Published in 2000 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Maximization of heat transfer density from a vertical array of flat tubes in cross flow under fixed pressure drop using constructal design

The density of heat transfer rate from a vertical array of flat tubes in cross flow is maximized under fixed pressure drop using constructal design. With the constructal design, the tube arrangement is found such that the heat currents from the tubes to the coolant flow easily. The constraint in the present constructal design is the volume where the tubes are arranged inside it. The two degrees of freedom available inside the volume are the tube‐to‐tube spacing and the length of the flat part of the tubes (tube flatness). The tubes are heated with constant surface temperature. The equations of continuity, momentums, and energy for steady, two‐dimensional, and laminar forced convection are solved by means of a finite‐volume method. The ranges of the present study are Bejan number (dimensionless pressure drop) (10³ ≤ Be ≤ 10⁵) and tube flatness (dimensionless length of the tube flat part) (0 ≤ F ≤ 0.8). The coolant used is air with Prandtl number (Pr = 0.72). The results reveal that the maximum heat transfer density decreases when the tube flatness decreases at constant Bejan number. At constant tube flatness, the heat transfer density increases as the dimensionless pressure drop (Bejan number) increases. Also, the optimal tube‐to‐tube spacing is constant, irrespective of the tube flatness at constant Bejan number.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of seasonal solar‐energy storage in buildings

This paper presents seasonal‐energy storage of solar energy for the heating of buildings. We distinguish several types of seasonal storage, such as latent, sensible, and chemical storage, among which the thermochemical storage is used and analysed in this research. In the first part, a laboratory heat‐storage tank, which was made in the laboratory for heating, sanitary, and solar technology and air conditioning from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, was presented. The experimental model was tested for charging and discharging mode. Two types of numerical models for sorption thermal‐energy storage exist, which are microscale and macroscale (integral). For microscale analysis, the analysis system (ANSYS) model can be used to simulate the behaviour in the adsorption reactor. On macroscale or integral scale, TRaNsient SYStem (TRNSYS) model was used to perform the operation of the storages on the yearly basis. In the second part the simulation of the underfloor heating system operation with a built‐in storage tank was carried out for two locations, Ljubljana and Portoro?. Furthermore, the comparison between a thermochemical and sensible‐heat storage was performed with TRNSYS and Excel software. In this comparison, the focus was on the surface parameters of the SCs and volume of the thermal‐storage tank for the coverage of the energy demand for selected building. With this analysis, we would like to show the advantage of the thermochemical storage system, to provide greater coverage of the energy demand for the operation of the building, compared with the seasonal sensible‐heat storage (SSHS). Such a heat‐storage technology could, in the future, be a key contributor to the more environmentally friendly and more sustainable way of delivering energy needs for buildings.     

Stability study of Bi‐2212 conductor based on perturbation spectrum for hybrid superconducting magnet

A hybrid superconducting central solenoid employs Bi‐2212 high‐temperature superconductors and Nb3Sn low‐temperature superconductors under the design of the Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy Of Science for further upgrade to CFETR, namely, the China Fusion Engineering Testing Reactor. The conductor type of both parts is cable‐in‐conduit conductors. This paper mainly focuses on stability study of the inner high‐temperature superconductors part whose conductor works under a peak magnetic field of 16.79 T, and the maximum operating current of each turn is 50 kA. The simulation based on a 1‐D simplified model is performed using the code THEA (thermal hydraulic and electric analysis of superconducting cable). Firstly, a brief analysis of stability considering the AC loss during current ramp‐up is studied. Then, the stability margins in cases of different perturbations with varied lengths and durations are calculated, and a qualitative explanation of the result is proposed. Besides, the inlet pressure and pressure drop crucially influence the convection heat transfer between strands and helium; thus, the effect of these two factors on stability margin is discussed. All these results will provide important references for further optimization of this hybrid magnet. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Load reduction on a clipper liberty wind turbine with linear parameter‐varying individual blade pitch control

The increasing size of modern wind turbines also increases the structural loads caused by effects such as turbulence or asymmetries in the inflowing wind field. Consequently, the use of advanced control algorithms for active load reduction has become a relevant part of current wind turbine control systems. In this paper, an individual blade pitch control law is designed using multivariable linear parameter‐varying control techniques. It reduces the structural loads both on the rotating and non‐rotating parts of the turbine. Classical individual blade pitch control strategies rely on single‐control loops with low bandwidth. The proposed approach makes it possible to use a higher bandwidth since it accounts for coupling at higher frequencies. A controller is designed for the utility‐scale 2.5 MW Liberty research turbine operated by the University of Minnesota. Stability and performance are verified using the high‐fidelity nonlinear simulation and baseline controllers that were directly obtained from the manufacturer. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparison of CFD‐simulations and measurements of the temperature stratification in a mixing box of an air‐handling unit

This paper presents a comparison between CFD‐simulations and measurements of the temperature stratification in a mixing box of an air‐handling unit. We have used data from field measurements during a period of over a year for different outside temperatures. We performed two‐dimensional CFD‐simulations for four different outside temperatures with commercially available software. The measurements as well as the simulations show that the temperature difference between the upper part and the lower part of the duct downstream of the mixing box is considerable. It increases, as the outside temperature decreases. However, the discrepancies between the measurements and the simulations are large. The reasons for this are uncertain boundary conditions and modelling errors leading to an inaccurate simulation result. The stratification downstream of the mixing box implies large sensor errors and the use of the mixed air temperature for control and fault detection must therefore be questioned. Averaging sensors, which take a mean value over the duct section, can be used but do not consider differences in velocities and are therefore not accurate either. In order to, for example, use CFD as a tool to decide the optimal sensor location a more accurate model and more information regarding the boundary conditions is needed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental and computational analysis of stall cells on rectangular wings

The present paper is the second part of a combined (experimental and computational) study on stall cells (SCs) on a rectangular wing. In the first part, tuft data were used in order to geometrically characterize a stabilized SC resulting from a localized spanwise disturbance introduced by a zigzag tape. Here, pressure measurements on the model and in the wake and aerodynamic polars at midspan are reported. The wing model had an aspect ratio value of 2, the Reynolds number was 10⁶ and the range of angles of attack (α) was from ?6^° to 16^°. Experimental results confirm previous findings. Furthermore, two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional Reynolds Averaged Navier‐Stokes RANS simulations are used in order to better understand the structure of SCs. 3D simulations reproduce the experimental data with a 3° delay in α and permit a qualitative analysis. It is found that the SC vortices start normal to the wing surface and extend downstream in the wake; the evolution of the SC vortices in the wake is in strong interaction with the separation line vortex and the trailing edge line vortex; as the SC vortex develops downstream in the wake, its centreline is contracted towards the SC centre; the wing wake is pushed upstream at the centre of the SC and downstream at the sides by the SC vortices; spanwise lift and drag distributions always attain their minimum at the SC centre. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Technical and economic comparison of grid supportive vanadium redox flow batteries for primary control reserve and community electricity storage in Germany

Primary control reserve and maximising self‐consumption are currently two of the main applications for large‐scale battery storage systems. Although being currently the most profitable application for large‐scale batteries in Germany, storage systems applying primary control reserve have not been implemented in a grid supportive manner in distribution grids yet. Despite a current unfavourable regulatory framework and reimbursement scheme for community electricity storages in Germany, they are potentially more profitable than residential storages, which is mainly due to their economy of scale, and thus they may become the major large scale battery application in the future. The two applications: primary control reserve and maximising self‐consumption, are combined with a grid supportive behaviour by providing reactive power control and/or peak shaving and are fitted to a vanadium redox flow battery prototype, which is installed in a distribution grid in southern Germany. Based on measured data from the prototype, two battery models for two different time resolutions (1s, 1min) are presented in detail along with their respective operation models. The operation strategy model for primary control reserve comprises the so‐called degrees of freedom used to reduce the energy needed to recharge the battery. The operation strategy to maximise self‐consumption is based on a persistence forecast. The model for the operation strategy for a grid supportive primary control reserve was validated in a field test revealing a relative error of 2.5 % between the simulated and measured state of charge of the battery for a multi‐week time period. The technical assessment of both applications shows that the use of the degrees of freedom can reduce the energy to recharge the battery by 20 %; and in the case of self‐consumption, the curtailment losses can be kept under 1 %. The economic assessment, however, indicates that even for the most promising primary control reserve case, the investment costs of vanadium redox flow batteries must be reduced by at least 30 % in order to break even. Finally, the encouraging key finding is that the negative impact of a grid supportive behaviour, additionally to its primary purpose, is less than 1 % of the revenues. This may encourage distribution grid and battery operators to consider the integration of large scale batteries in distribution grids as part of the solution of a rising share of a decentralised renewable energy generation.     

Influence of wall oscillation modes on heat transfer enhancement

We numerically investigated the influence of the wall oscillation mode on the heat transfer characteristics of a two‐dimensional channel. In the present study, two channels with different wall oscillation modes were considered: a two‐dimensional channel bounded by a fixed wall and a transversely oscillating wall (channel A) and a two‐dimensional channel in which the upper and lower walls oscillate transversely in the same manner (channel B). The fully implicit finite difference method was used for the analysis of the conservation equations and the time‐dependent coordinate transformations were applied to solve the moving boundary problem. The calculated results are summarized as follows. (1) The wall oscillation has a significant effect on the heat transfer enhancement in the low‐Reynolds‐number region for each channel. (2) If increased pressure loss must be avoided, then channel B is more suitable than channel A. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20250     

A spatially advancing turbulent flow and heat transfer in a curved channel

Direct numerical simulation was performed for a spatially advancing turbulent flow and heat transfer in a two‐dimensional curved channel, where one wall was heated to a constant temperature and the other wall was cooled to a different constant temperature. In the simulation, fully developed flow and temperature from the straight‐channel driver was passed through the inlet of the curved‐channel domain. The frictional Reynolds number was assigned 150, and the Prandtl number was given 0.71. Since the flow field was examined in the previous paper, the thermal features are mainly targeted in this paper. The turbulent heat flux showed trends consistent with a growing process of large‐scale vortices. In the curved part, the wall‐normal component of the turbulent heat flux was twice as large as the counterpart in the straight part, suggesting active heat transport of large‐scale vortices. In the inner side of the same section, temperature fluctuation was abnormally large compared with the modest fluctuation of the wall‐normal velocity. This was caused by the combined effect of the large‐scale motion of the vortices and the wide variation of the mean temperature; in such a temperature distribution, large‐scale ejection of the hot fluid near the outer wall, which is transported into the near inner‐wall region, should have a large impact on the thermal boundary layer near the inner wall. Wave number decomposition was conducted for various statistics, which showed that the contribution of the large‐scale vortex to the total turbulent heat flux normal to the wall reached roughly 80% inside the channel 135^° downstream from the curved‐channel inlet. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.20275