Laminar mixed convection heat and mass transfer in vertical rectangular ducts with film evaporation and condensation

The investigation of mixed convection heat and mass transfer in vertical ducts with film evaporation and condensation has been numerically examined in detail. This work is primarily focused on the effect of film evaporation and condensation along the wetted wall with constant temperature and concentration on the heat and mass transfer in rectangular vertical ducts. The numerical results, including the distributions of dimensionless axial velocity, temperature and concentration distributions, Nusselt number as well as Sherwood number are presented for moist air mixture system with different wall temperatures and aspect ratios of the rectangular ducts. The results show that the latent heat transport with film evaporation and condensation augments tremendously the heat transfer rate. Better heat transfer enhancement related with film evaporation is found for a system with a higher wall temperature.     

Numerical study of convective heat transfer to supercritical water in rectangular ducts

Numerical investigation has been performed to analyze forced convective heat transfer to supercritical water in horizontal rectangular ducts. Convective heat transfer near the critical region in the rectangular ducts is strongly influenced by large variations of thermodynamic and transport properties of supercritical fluid with gravity force, especially close to pseudocritical temperature. Fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics such as velocity, temperature, and local heat transfer coefficient with water properties distribution in the ducts are presented. Flow accelerates along the horizontal ducts because of decreased water density from heat transfer at the duct walls. Center of large flow recirculation in the duct section locates near the middle of vertical surface and additional secondary recirculation in clockwise direction appears with the increase of duct height. Local wall temperature severely varies along the inner surface of the duct section and its variation depends on aspect ratio of the duct. The heat transfer coefficient distributions along the ducts for various aspect ratios are compared with the proximity effect to the critical pressure.     

ANALYSIS OF COMBINED NATURAL AND FORCED CONVECTION IN VERTICAL SEMICIRCULAR DUCTS WITH RADIAL INTERNAL FINS

A numerical analysis of combined natural and forced convection is conducted for the fully developed laminar flow and heat transfer in a vertical semicircular duct with radial, internal longitudinal fins. Accurate solutions for heating upward flow are obtained by the finite difference method based on a fine grid, while the hydraulic and thermal conditions of the fins are ascertained. The results represent a range of Rayleigh numbers and various values of fin lengths and number of fins. The fully developed f Re and Nu values for pure forced convection in the finned semicircular duct are also documented. It is found that both the friction factor and the Nusselt number in the finned tube increase as the Rayleigh number increases. The effect of buoyancy is significant in semicircular ducts with short fins. By comparing the results of finless ducts with those of finned ducts, it was concluded that heat transfer in combined natural and forced convection in the semicircular duct is dramatically enhanced by using radial internal fins.     

Experimental Study on Heat Transfer in Ducts with Winglet Disturbances

Heat transfer and friction characteristics for a new type of enhanced rectangular duct with winglets have been investigated experimentally. The results indicate that, in the range of Reynolds number from 5 2 10 3 to 4.7 2 10 4 , heat transfer performance of the enhanced duct with winglets is superior to the enhanced duct with transverse disturbances. Comparisons under the identical pumping power condition reveal that the Nusselt number ratio Nu/Nu o of the winglet duct to the smooth duct varies from 1.7 to 3.5, while this ratio is usually less than 1.5 for the enhanced ducts with transverse disturbances. For condition of same mass flow, the ratio Nu/Nu o of the winglet duct to the smooth duct varies between 2.7 and 6.0.     

Mixed convection heat transfer enhancement through film evaporation in inclined square ducts

The investigation of mixed convection heat transfer enhancement through film evaporation in inclined square ducts has been numerically examined in detail. The main parameters discussed in this work include the inclined angle, the wetted wall temperature and the relative humidity of the moist air mixture. The numerical results of the local friction factor, Nusselt number and Sherwood number are presented for moist air mixture system. Attention was particular paid to the effects of latent heat transport on the heat transfer enhancement. Results show that the latent heat transport with film evaporation augments tremendously the heat transfer rate. The heat transfer rate can be enhanced to be 10 times of that without mass transfer, especially for a system with a lower temperature. Besides, better heat and mass transfer rates related with film evaporation are found for case with a higher wetted wall temperature. The increase in the relative humidity of moist air in the ambient causes the decrease in heat transfer enhancement.     

Effects of Non-Darcian and Inlet Conditions on the Forced Convection Along a Vertical Plate With Film Evaporation

The present study analyzes theoretically the non-Darcian effects and inlet conditions of forced convection flow with liquid film evaporation in a porous medium. The physical scheme includes a liquid–air streams combined system; the liquid film falls down along the plate and is exposed to a cocurrent forced moist air stream. The axial momentum, energy, and concentration equations for the air and water flows are developed based on the steady two-dimensional (2-D) laminar boundary layer model. The non-Darcian convective, boundary, and inertia effects are considered to describe the momentum characteristics of a porous medium. The paper clearly describes the temperature and mass concentration variations at the liquid–air interface and provides the heat and mass transfer distributions along the heated plate. Then, the paper further evaluates the non-Darcian effects and inlet conditions on the heat transfer and evaporating rate of liquid film evaporation. The numerical results show that latent heat transfer plays the dominant heat transfer role. Carrying out a parametric analysis indicates that higher air Reynolds number, higher wetted wall temperature, and lower moist air relative humidity will produce a better evaporating rate and heat transfer rate. In addition, a non-Darcy model should be adopted in the present study. The maximum error for predictions of heat and mass transfer performance will be 21% when the Darcy model is used.     

Experimental analysis on mixed convection in reactor cavity cooling system of HTGR for hydrogen production

To achieve the massive production of hydrogen, a thermo-chemical cycle coupled to a High Temperature Gas-cooled nuclear Reactor (HTGR) is considered as one of the systems exhibiting high application potential. The Reactor Cavity Cooling System is a key safety system that ensures the integrity of the HTGR during accident conditions; therefore, it is necessary to verify its performance for the safety of the HTGR as well as for the reliability of the coupled hydrogen production system. The RCCS performance depends on the heat transfer rate of riser ducts; however, the mixed convection that is likely to occur in the riser ducts can complicate the verification process. In this study, an experimental facility was constructed to investigate heat transfer experiment inside a riser duct and experiments with various heat flux and flow rate conditions were carried out. The experimental results demonstrated that the mixed convection occurred under certain experimental conditions in the riser duct, which resulted in heat transfer deterioration. The evaluated heat transfer coefficients from the experimental results were not consistent with those predicted by extant mixed convective heat transfer correlations which were derived from data obtained for different test section configurations. Therefore, a modified correlation was proposed to fit the experimental data for the RCCS riser duct with an average error of 6.06%. The correlation will contribute to the verification of RCCS performance and the credibility of the HTGR-coupled hydrogen production system.     

NUMERICAL PREDICTION OF LAMINAR FORCED CONVECTION IN TRIANGULAR DUCTS WITH UNSTRUCTURED TRIANGULAR GRID METHOD

The flow and heat transfer characteristics of smooth triangular ducts with different apex angles of 15, 30, 60, and 90 under the fully developed laminar flow condition were predicted numerically using a finite volume method. The SIMPLE-like algorithm was employed together with an unstructured triangular grid method, where the grid was generated by a Delaunay method. The triangular grid was adopted instead of the traditional rectangular grid to fit better into the triangular cross section of the duct. Two kinds of boundary condition (uniform wall temperature and uniform wall heat flux) were considered. Comparison of the predictions with previous computational results indicated a very good agreement. Both the friction factor and Nusselt number (Nu) showed a strong dependence on apex angle of the triangular duct. When the apex angle was 60, the duct provided the highest steady-state forced convection from its inner surface to the airflow under the laminar flow condition.     

Analysis of Laminar Mixed Convective Heat Transfer in Horizontal Triangular Ducts

Numerical simulations for fluid flow and heat transfer in triangular ducts are carried out. Flow is considered to be laminar, hydrodynamically, and thermally developing. Heat transfer by both forced and natural convection is taken into account. Simulations are carried out for constant wall temperature cases which are at a higher temperature than the inlet temperature of the fluid. The effect of Rayleigh number on bulk mean temperature and Nusselt number is studied. Isotherm and secondary velocity profile formed because of natural convection is shown at different locations with varying Rayleigh number. The effect of the apex angle of the triangular duct on Nusselt number and bulk mean temperature is studied. Results are compared with the cases of mixed convective heat transfer in a square duct.     

Effects of film evaporation on laminar mixed convection heat and mass transfer in a vertical channel

A numerical study of finite liquid film evaporation on laminar mixed convection heat and mass transfer in a vertical parallel plate channel is presented. The influences of the inlet liquid mass flow rate and the imposed wall heat flux on the film vaporization and the associated heat and mass transfer characteristics were examined for air-water and air-ethanol systems. Predicted results obtained by including transport in the liquid film are contrasted with those where liquid film transport is neglected, showing that the assumption of an extremely thin film made by Tsay and Yan (Wärme- und Stoffübertragung 26, 23–31 (1990)) is only valid for a system with a small liquid mass flow rate. Additionally, it is found that the heat transfer between the interface and gas stream is dominated by the transport of latent heat associated with film evaporation. The magnitude of the evaporative latent heat flux may be five times greater than that of sensible heat flux.     

Falling film evaporation of ternary mixture under three different modes of heating

This numerical study deals with heat and mass transfer by evaporation under mixed convection in three different configurations of a ternary liquid film in a vertical channel. The ternary liquid mixture water-methanol-benzene falls along the right plate of channel while the other plate is kept thermally insulated. In the first configuration, a heat flux density is applied to the wall carrying the trickle film, while in the other configurations this same amount of heat is used to preheat the liquid film or the air at the inlet of the channel. The implicit finite difference scheme is used to solve the system of equations in both liquid and vapor phases. According to this study, it was observed that the evaporation efficiency is high when the mass fraction of volatile components is high or in the preheating state of ternary film.     

Three-dimensional computational analysis of gas and heat transport phenomena in ducts relevant for anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells

Various transport phenomena occurring in an anode duct of medium temperature solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) have been simulated and analyzed by a fully three-dimensional calculation method. The considered composite duct consists of a thick porous layer, the gas flow duct and solid current interconnector. Unique fuel cell boundary and interfacial conditions, such as the combined thermal boundary conditions on solid walls, mass transfer associated with the electrochemical reaction and gas permeation across the interface, were applied in the analysis. Based on three characteristic ratios proposed in this study, gas flow and heat transfer were investigated and presented in terms of friction factors and Nusselt numbers. It was revealed that, among various parameters, the duct configuration and properties of the porous anode layer have significant effects on both gas flow and heat transfer of anode-supported SOFC ducts. The results from this study can be applied in fuel cell overall modeling methods, such as those considering unit/stack level modeling.     

EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON FLOW IN CONVERGENT AND DIVERGENT DUCTS OF RECTANGULAR CROSS SECTION

This paper describes the experimental examination of the pressure drop and heat transfer of the flow in convergent and divergent ducts of rectangular cross section. The aspect ratio based on the dimensions of the large end of the duct was 0⋅1. It has been found that at a given convergent or divergent angle pressure drop decreases while heat transfer increases with increasing Reynolds number. Along a given duct of small convergent angle, pressure drop increases while heat transfer decreases along the duct. However, heat transfer may increase near the downstream end of ducts of high convergent angle. At a given Reynolds number, both pressure drop and heat transfer increase with increasing convergent angle. As for flow in divergent ducts, the effects of Reynolds number on pressure drop and heat transfer are somewhat similar to those of flow in a convergent duct. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Analysis of chemical-reaction-coupled mass and heat transport phenomena in a methane reformer duct for PEMFCs

Mass, heat and momentum transport processes are coupled with catalytic chemical reactions in a methane steam reforming duct. It is often found that endothermic and exothermic reactions in the ducts are strongly integrated by heat transfer from adjacent catalytic combustion ducts. In this paper, a three-dimensional calculation method is developed to simulate and analyze reforming reactions of methane, and the effects on various transport processes in a steam reforming duct. The reformer conditions such as mass balances associated with the reforming reactions and gas permeation to/from the porous catalyst reforming layer are applied in the analysis. The predicted results are presented and discussed for a composite duct consisting of a porous catalyst reaction layer, the fuel gas flow duct and solid layers. Parametric studies are conducted to reveal the importance of reformer designs and operating conditions. The results show that the variables, such as porous layer configuration, temperature and catalyst loading, have significant effects on the transport processes and reformer performance.     

Capillary-assisted flow and evaporation inside circumferential rectangular micro groove

To introduce capillary-assisted evaporation from micro-size fields to normal-size fields, an inclined circumferential micro groove with rectangular cross sections is investigated analytically and a systematic mathematical model is developed. The model is composed of five sub-models: a natural convection model, a liquid axial flow model, a heat transfer model in and below the intrinsic meniscus, an evaporation thin film region model and an adsorbed region model. In this model, for the extended meniscuses formed at groove cross sections, both the intrinsic meniscus and evaporation thin film region are considered when calculating heat absorbing. Through solving the model, the influences of dynamic contact angle on the heat absorbing in the intrinsic meniscus and evaporation thin film region are investigated. Moreover, the factors affecting the whole-groove equivalent heat transfer coefficient have been investigated.     

Effects of ridged walls on the heat transfer in a heated square duct

Turbulent flows in rectangular cooling ducts of rocket engine thrust chambers are characterized by secondary motions of Prandtl’s first and second kinds. These secondary currents play a prominent part in heat transfer between the thrust chamber and the cooling gas conveyed in the duct. Previous numerical and experimental works reveal that attaching ridges on the walls of the duct causes the formation of new secondary flows of Prandtl’s second kind. These new structures are likely to increase the heat transfer. The present study has investigated numerically, through large eddy simulations, the effect of different forms of ridges on heat transfer in straight square duct flows.     

Further finite element analyses of fully developed laminar flow of power-law non-Newtonian fluid in rectangular ducts: Heat transfer predictions

Forced convection heat transfer to hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed laminar flow of power-law non-Newtonian fluid in rectangular ducts has been studied for the H1 and T thermal boundary conditions. The solutions for the velocity and temperature fields were obtained numerically using the finite element method with quartic triangular elements. From these solutions, very accurate Nusselt number values were determined. Computations were performed over a range of power-law indices and duct aspect ratios.     

Influence of Viscous Dissipation on Mixed Convection in a Non‐Darcy Porous Medium Saturated with a Nanofluid

In this study, the effects of viscous dissipation on mixed convection heat and mass transfer along a vertical plate embedded in a nanofluid‐saturated non‐Darcy porous medium have been investigated. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The new far‐field thermal boundary condition that has been recently developed is employed to properly account for the effect of viscous dissipation in mixed convective transport in a porous medium. The nonlinear governing equations and the associated boundary conditions are transformed to a set of nonsimilar ordinary differential equations and the resulting system of equations is then solved numerically by an improved implicit finite‐difference method. The effect of the physical parameters on the flow, heat transfer, and nanoparticle concentration characteristics of the model are presented through graphs and the salient features are discussed. As expected, a significant improvement in the heat transfer coefficient is noticed because of the consideration of the nanofluid in the porous medium. With the increase in the value of the viscous dissipation parameter, a reduction in the non‐dimensional heat transfer coefficient is noted while an increase in the nanoparticle mass transfer coefficient is seen. Further, an increase in the mixed convection parameter lowered both the heat and nanoparticle mass transfer rates. Moreover, the increase in the Brownian motion parameter enhanced the nanoparticle mass transfer rate but it reduced the heat transfer rate in the boundary layer. A similar trend is also found with the thermophoresis parameter. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 43(5): 397–411, 2014; Published online 3 October 2013 in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21083     

A new generalised model for liquid film cooling in rocket combustion chambers

A one dimensional analytical model of liquid film cooling in rocket combustion chambers operating at subcritical conditions is developed. The approach followed involves the selection of a control volume for mass and energy balance. The coolant evaporation rate per area is obtained from this energy balance. The present model incorporates mass transfer via entrainment by adapting suitable correlations from literature pertaining to annular flow conditions. The model predicted favourably with the experimental data available in open literature and produced superior results compared to all existing models. Results are presented for a mixed gas–water system under different conditions. Results indicate that convection dominates the heat transfer at the gas–liquid interface. Effects of gas Reynolds number, coolant inlet temperature, combustion chamber pressure, mass flow ratio of the liquid coolant to the free stream and the free stream turbulence on the liquid film length are presented in detail.     

On reaction coupled transport phenomenon in reformer ducts

In compact steam reformer the probability of component degradation and failure depends strongly on the local temperature gradients coupled by various transport processes and chemical reactions in multi-functional materials. In this paper, the modeling and analysis of coupled mass transport and heat transfer processes are conducted for compact design steam reformer duct, which consists of a porous layer for the reforming reactions of methane, the fuel gas flow duct and solid plate. A fully three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach is applied to calculate transport processes and effects of thermal conductivities of the involved multi-functional materials on reforming reaction rates and heat transfer/temperature distributions, in terms of surface temperatures/heat fluxes and Nusselt numbers. The steam reformer conditions such as mass balances associated with the chemical reactions and gas permeation to/from the porous layer are implemented in the calculation. The results reveal that a small thermal conductivity of the porous layer and solid plates promote high reforming reaction rates, and the convective heat transfer at the top interface varies more significantly along the main flow reformer duct.