Simultaneous measurement of thermal properties by thermal probe using stochastic approximation method

A novel thermal probe method is proposed for the simultaneous measurement of the thermal properties by the Monte Carlo stochastic approximation method. In this method, thermal capacity of probe and thermal contact resistance between probe and sample are considered. An experimental system is set up with the method to validate the measurement accuracy of the method. The thermal properties of several liquid samples as well as solid samples are measured. The results show that: (1) the thermal conductivity and the volumetric heat capacity can be measured with an error of less than 1.2% and 3% respectively, therefore, the measurement accuracy by the method is much higher than the conventional method and (2) the thermal contact resistance has a great effect on thermal conductivity for solid sample, while little influence on thermal conductivity for liquid sample and volumetric heat capacity.     

The determination temperature-dependent thermal conductivity as inverse steady heat conduction problem

The paper deals with the non-iterative inverse determination of the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in 2-D steady-state heat conduction problem. The thermal conductivity is modeled as a polynomial function of temperature with the unknown coefficients. The identification of the thermal conductivity is obtained by using the boundary data and additionally from the knowledge of temperature inside the domain. The method of fundamental solutions is used to solve the 2-D heat conduction problem. The golden section search is used to find the optimal place for pseudo-boundary on which are placed the singularities in the frame of method of fundamental solutions.     

Inverse determination of thermal conductivity by differential quadrature method

The differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to inverse determination of thermal conductivity in one-dimensional slab. Several examples including spatially dependent and temperature dependent thermal conductivities are solved to illustrate the accuracy and efficiency of the DQM. The advantages of this approach are that no a priori assumption is made on the functional form of the estimates, and that the estimated thermal conductivity can be obtained directly in the calculating process. Of interest are the effects of the number of the measurement points and magnitude of measurement errors on the accuracy of the estimations. Comparisons are made between the estimated thermal conductivities and exact forms, and the agreement is found out to be generally good. Numerical results demonstrate that the DQM is effective and stable in treating this type of problem.     

Non-iterative estimation of temperature-dependent thermal conductivity without internal measurements

In this work a direct integration method is proposed to estimate temperature-dependent thermal conductivity in a one-dimensional heat conduction domain without internal measurements. By approximating the spatial temperature distribution in the domain as a third-order polynomial of position and by integrating the heat conduction equation over the spatial and temporal domain, the present method estimates the thermal conductivity directly. Also, this method does not require any prior information on the functional form of the thermal conductivity. Some illustrative examples are examined to verify the proposed approach. The proposed approach may also be useful to make sufficiently accurate initial guesses for sophisticated algorithms usually based on iterative refinement scheme.     

北方地区岩土导热系数及换热量的测试研究

岩土导热系数是地源热泵地埋管换热器的重要设计参数;测井单位深度换热量是地埋管换热器系统的设计依据。掌握工程区域岩土的热物性及换热性能,是保证地源热泵系统高效、稳定运行的关键。文章建立了现场测试岩土导热系数及换热量的方法,并结合沈阳浑南高新技术产业开发区某地源热泵工程,测试分析了岩土导热系数和测井单位深度换热量。结果表明,该区域的岩土具有较好的导热能力,适合采用地埋管地源热泵系统;在特殊地理条件下设计地源热泵系统方案前,应对拟建区域的地质条件进行全面勘探,以优选工程区域,为岩土热响应测试结果的可靠性提供保障。     

Simple model for thermal conductivity of nanofluids using resistance model approach

In this work thermal conductivity of the suspension is modeled using resistance model approach. This model considers Brownian motion and interfacial layer as well as a new mechanism where proposed by considering nanoparticles as liquid-like particles. The model can be used for estimation of upper and lower limits of nanofluid thermal conductivity, without any adjustable parameter. Thermal conductivity data of CuO nanofluids are obtained experimentally and the results show that the model is consistent to data. This model has been used for determination of various mechanisms' portions on thermal conductivity of nanofluids. The results are consistent with our knowledge about nanofluids' thermal conductivity mechanism.     

Thermal conductivity enhancement in a latent heat storage system

Latent heat storage systems especially those employing organic materials have been reported to exhibit a rather slow thermal response. This is mainly due to the relatively low thermal conductivity of organic latent heat materials. In this study, experiments were carried out to investigate a method of enhancing the thermal conductivity of paraffin wax by embedding aluminum powder in it. The size of the aluminum powder particles was 80 μm. The tested mass fractions in the PCM-aluminum composite material were 0.1, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5 of aluminum. The used mass fraction in the experimental work was 0.5.The experiments were conducted by using a compact PCM solar collector. In this collector, the absorber-container unit performed the function of absorbing the solar energy and storing the phase change material (PCM). The solar energy was stored in the PCM and was discharged to cold water flowing in pipes located inside the PCM. Charging and discharging processes were carried out. The propagation of the melting and freezing fronts was studied during the charging and the discharging processes. The time wise temperatures of the PCM were recorded during the processes of charging and discharging. The solar intensity was recorded for the charging process. It was found that the charging time was reduced by approximately 60% by adding aluminum powder in the wax. In the discharging process, experiments were conducted for different water flow rates of 9-20.4 kg/h. It was found that the useful heat gained increased when adding aluminum powder in the wax as compared to the case of pure paraffin wax. The heat transfer characteristics were studied.     

Effect of a varying effective thermal conductivity term on heat conduction through a physical model of a hydride bed

This paper investigates the effect of implementing a varying effective thermal conductivity term on heat transfer simulations within a metal hydride (MH) reactor. The work presented utilises a 1D transient heat transfer analysis comparing simulations either with a fixed effective thermal conductivity or a varying effective thermal conductivity. This builds on previously published work in the literature that has investigated varying effective thermal conductivity for metal hydrides at a single point. The results of these simulations are compared to experimental work for validation.     

Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of some composites using the transient plane source technique

The recently developed transient plane source (TPS) technique has been applied for the simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of two composite materials namely, marble and magnesium oxychloride cement in the range of temperatures from 30 to 150°C. The experimental results of these samples show that there is very slight variation in thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of these materials in this range of temperature. An effort has been made to express this variation of thermal conductivity and diffusivity with temperature by a linear relation, in these materials.     

The thermal modeling of a matrix heat exchanger using a porous medium and the thermal non-equilibrium model

Heat transfer and fluid flow characteristics through a porous medium were investigated using numerical simulations and experiment. For the numerical simulations two models were created: a two-dimensional numerical model and a Fluent™ computational fluid dynamics (CFD) porous media model. The experimental investigation consisted of a flow channel with a porous medium section that was heated from below by a heat source. The results of the numerical models were compared to the experimental data in order to determine the accuracy of the models. The numerical model was then modified to better simulate a matrix heat exchanger. This numerical model then generated temperature profiles that were used to calculate the heat transfer coefficient of the matrix heat exchanger and develop a correlation between the Nusselt number and the Reynolds number.     

Simultaneous measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of insulators,fluids and conductors using the transient plane source (TPS) technique

Simultaneous measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of composite red-sand bricks, glycerine and mercury have been made at room temperature by the recently developed transient plane source (TPS) technique. This paper describes, in brief, the theory and the experimental conditions for the simultaneous measurements of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of insulators, fluids and metals. The source of heat is a hot disc made out of bifilar spirals. The disc also serves as a sensor of temperature increase in the sample. The measured values of the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of these samples are in agreement with the values reported earlier using other methods. The advantage of the TPS technique is the simplicity of the equipment, simultaneous information on thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity, and also the applicability of the technique to insulators, fluids and metals.     

Effects of temperature dependent thermal conductivity on Nu number behavior in micro-tubes

The numerical modeling of the conjugate heat transfer and fluid flow through the micro-tube was presented in the paper. Three different fluids with temperature dependent fluid properties are considered: water and two dielectric fluids, HFE-7600 and FC-70. The diameter ratio of the micro-tube was D_i/D_o = 0.1/03 mm with a tube length L = 70 mm, geometry used in [D. Lelea, Nishio S., Takano K., The experimental research on microtube heat transfer and fluid flow of distilled water, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 47 (2004) 2817–2830]. The laminar fluid flow regime is analyzed. Two different heat transfer conditions are considered: heating and cooling. The influence of the temperature dependent thermal conductivity on Nu number is analyzed for these two cases and compared with k = const.     

Improvement of thermal characteristics of latent heat thermal energy storage units using carbon-fiber brushes: experiments and modeling

Brushes made of carbon fibers with a high thermal conductivity are inserted on the shell side of a heat exchanger to enhance the conductive heat transfer rates in phase change materials. The experimental results show that the brushes essentially improve the heat exchange rate during the charge and discharge processes even when the volume fractions of the fibers are about one percent. A three-dimensional model describing the heat transfer in the heat exchanger is numerically solved. The model predicts well the experimental outlet fluid temperatures and the local temperatures in the composite.     

On-site experimental estimation of thermal conductivities and heat capacities in multilayer walls under arbitrary transient conditions using explicit and implicit finite difference schemes

It is often required to estimate the thermal properties of the layers of a multilayer wall, which is already part of an existing building. Such cases are encountered when an ex post check is required in order to find out if the design specifications have been followed, or if air conditioning loads have to be calculated in old buildings, the walls of which are composed of layers of unknown materials and thermal properties. In the present study, a method is proposed for estimating the thermal conductivities and heat capacities of the layers a multilayer wall is composed of. The method is based on explicit and implicit finite difference schemes and uses on-site temperature measurements at various locations within the wall. It is applicable to multilayer walls which are already parts of buildings. The outdoor and indoor conditions may be arbitrary, i.e. transient, nonperiodic, with solar radiation. The accuracy of the method, which has been verified by numerical and experimental applications, depends on the available number of temperature values in space. For example, in a 10-cm thick wall layer, measurement at five locations gives satisfactory accuracy, which is considerably improved by increasing the number of values in space using fourth-order polynomial interpolation.     

Estimation of thermophysical properties of fouling using inverse problem and its impact on heat transfer efficiency

At high temperature, the circulation of fluid in heat exchangers provides a tendency for fouling accumulation to take place on the internal surface of tubes. In brief, the deposits on heat exchanger tubes are caused by the presence of inorganic salts, of small quantities of organic materials and products of corrosion in the water. From thermophysical point of view, the deposited fouling has harmful effects on the heat exchanger efficiency. Indeed, it increases the thermal resistance which can raise the energy consumption. This study shows an experimental and a theoretical process of estimation of thermophysical properties of the fouling deposited on a section of a heat exchanger and its effects on the heat transfer efficiency. The estimation method is based on the Gauss-Newton algorithm that minimizes the ordinary least squares function comparing a measured temperature and a theoretical one. The temperature response is measured on the rear face of a bi-layer system composed of a section of a heat exchanger and the fouling deposited on during and after a finite width pulse heat flux on its front face. The theoretical temperature, that is a function of the unknown thermophysical properties of the bi-layer system, is calculated by the resolution of the one-dimensional linear inverse conduction problem, and by the use of the quadrupole formalism.The results of the estimation procedure show, on the one hand the efficiency and the stability of the optimization algorithm to estimate the thermophysical properties of the fouling. On the other hand they underline the necessity of the maintenance of fluid circulating tubes at high temperature.     

Analysis of microchannel heat sink performance using nanofluids

In this study, silicon microchannel heat sink performance using nanofluids as coolants was analyzed. The nanofluid was a mixture of pure water and nanoscale Cu particles with various volume fractions. The heat transfer and friction coefficients required in the analysis were based on theoretical models and experimental correlations. In the theoretical model, nanofluid was treated as a single-phase fluid. In the experimental correlation, thermal dispersion due to particle random motion was included. The microchannel heat sink performances for two specific geometries, one with W_ch = W_fin = 100 μm and L_ch = 300 μm, the other with W_ch = W_fin = 57 μm and L_ch = 365 μm, were examined. Because of the increased thermal conductivity and thermal dispersion effects, it was found that the performances were greatly improved for these two specific geometries when nanofluids were used as the coolants. In addition to heat transfer enhancement, the existence of nanoparticles in the fluid did not produce extra pressure drop because of small particle size and low particle volume fraction.     

The effect of functionalized group concentration on the stability and thermal conductivity of carbon nanotube fluid as heat transfer media

In this research, the pristine CNTs sample synthesized by the CCVD method contains catalytic particles and the carbonaceous impurities, and then the special purification procedure was done. By different methods CNT functionalized with various concentration of COOH was prepared. The carboxylated CNTs were analyzed by back titration method for determining the COOH concentrations on the surface of the oxidized CNTs. Thermal conductivity of difference carbon nanotube fluid has been measured under the stable condition by KD₂ prob. For the first time, we have compared the effect of difference COOH concentration as important parameter in stability and heat transfer behavior of nanofluid. The results show that increasing the functionalized group causes better stability and higher thermal conductivity if the surface of MWNT does not damage in functionalize process.     

Measurement and modelling of the thermal conductivity of dispersed aluminium composites

Measurements of the thermal conductivity of a model system (squat aluminium cylinders suspended in an aqueous carbohydrate polymer gel) have been performed for a range of compositions up to the packing factor limit of the aluminium (approximately 0.6). Of a variety of models considered, the Cheng–Vachon model provided the most accurate predictions of thermal conductivity, and it was argued that this would also be the case for suspensions of most metals in polymer matrices. A modified form of the Cheng–Vachon model was used to obtain an even closer fit to the experimental data.     

A new approach for thermal performance calculation of cross-flow heat exchangers

A new numerical methodology for thermal performance calculation in cross-flow heat exchangers is developed. Effectiveness-number of transfer units (ε-NTU) data for several standard and complex flow arrangements are obtained using this methodology. The results are validated through comparison with analytical solutions for one-pass cross-flow heat exchangers with one to four rows and with approximate series solution for an unmixed-unmixed heat exchanger, obtaining in all cases very small errors. New effectiveness data for some complex configurations are provided.