Experimental Investigation of Pulsating Heat Pipes and a Proposed Correlation

Pulsating heat pipes are complex heat transfer devices, and their optimum thermal performance is largely dependent on different parameters. In this paper, in order to investigate these parameters, first a closed-loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) was designed and manufactured. The CLPHP was made of copper tubes with internal diameters of 1.8 mm. The lengths of the evaporator, adiabatic, and condenser sections were 60, 150, and 60 mm, respectively. Afterward, the effect of various parameters, including the working fluid (water and ethanol), the volumetric filling ratio (30%, 40%, 50%, 70%, 80%), and the input heat power (5 to 70 W), on the thermal performance of the CLPHP was investigated experimentally. The results showed that the manufactured CLPHP has the best thermal performance for water and ethanol as working fluids when the corresponding filling ratios are 40% and 50%, respectively. Finally, with the available experimental data set of CLPHPs, a power-law correlation based on dimensionless groups was established to predict their input heat flux. Compared with the experimental data, the root-mean-square deviation of the correlation prediction was 19.7%, and 88.6% of the deviations were within ± 30%.     

Influences of assembly pressure and flow channel size on performances of proton exchange membrane fuel cells based on a multi-model

In this work, assembly pressure and flow channel size on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance are optimized by means of a multi-model. Based on stress-strain data of the SGL-22BB GDL obtained from its initial compression experiments, Young's modulus with different ranges of assembly pressure fits well through modeling. A mechanical model is established to analyze influences of assembly pressure on various gas diffusion layer parameters. Moreover, a CFD calculation model with different assembly pressures, channel width, and channel depth are established to calculate PEMFC performances. Furthermore, a BP neural network model is utilized to explore optimal combination of assembly pressure, channel width and channel depth. Finally, the CFD model is used to validate effect of size optimization on PEMFC performance. Results indicate that gap change of GDL below bipolar ribs is more remarkable than that below channels under action of the assembly pressure, making liquid water easily transported under high porosity, which is conducive to liquid water to the channels, reduces the accumulation of liquid water under the ribs, and enhances water removal in the PEMFC. Affected by the assembly force, change of GDL porosity affects its diffusion rate, permeability and other parameters, which is not conducive to mass transfer in GDL. Optimizing the depth and different dimensions through width of the flow field can effectively compensate for this effect. Therefore, the PEMFC performance can be enhanced through the comprehensive optimization of the assembly force, flow channel width and flow channel depth. The optimal parameter is obtained when assembly pressure, channel width and channel depth are set as 0.6 MPa, 0.8 mm, and 0.8 mm, respectively. The parameter optimization enhances the mass transfer, impedance, and electrochemical characteristics of PEMFC. Besides, it effectively enhances the quality transfer efficiency inside GDL, prevents flooding, and reduces concentration loss and ohmic loss.     

Compact cooler for electronics on the basis of a pulsating heat pipe

The paper presents the results of developing and investigating a compact cooler for electronics made on the basis of a closed loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP). The cooler is made of a copper tube 5.6 m long with OD of 2 mm and ID of 1.2 mm in the form a 3D spiral containing 17 turns. The device is equipped with a light copper radiator with a finning area of 1670 cm², which was blown by an axial fan located inside the spiral. The thermal interface of the cooler situated in the heating zone is made of a copper plate with a thermocontact surface measuring 40 × 35 mm, which was in thermal contact with all the turns of the device. The cooler overall dimensions are 105 × 100 × 60 mm, its mass is 350 g.The operation of the cooler has been investigated with water, methanol and R141b as working fluids at a uniform and concentrated supply of a heat load in different heating modes. A reliable operation of the device has been demonstrated in the range of heat loads from 5 to 250 W. A minimum thermal resistance “heat source–ambient air” equal to 0.32 °C/W was attained with water and methanol as working fluids at a uniform heat load of 250 W. With a heat load concentrated on a section of the thermal interface limited by an area of 1 cm², a minimum value of thermal resistance equal to 0.62 °C/W was attained at a heat load of 125 W when methanol was used as a working fluid.     

Optimization of block structure parameters of PEMFC novel block channels using artificial neural network

Flow channel design is critically important to the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) due to its great influence on liquid water removal and mass and heat transfer. Block flow channel shows good prospect to improve liquid water removal and mass transport, benefiting the PEMFC performance. In this study, the block structures, namely the length, width and height of the block, are optimized for a novel block channel using data-driven surrogate model based on the artificial neural network (ANN). The training/test datasets are obtained from a three-dimensional multi-phase model based on the volume of fluid (VOF) method, with the water removal time (T) and the maximum channel pressure drop (ΔP) taken as the output and optimization objectives. The results show that the ANN prediction agrees well with the physical model results, with the coefficient of determination (R²) of T and ΔP are 0.99598 and 0.99677, respectively. The block parameters are further optimized using the comprehensive scoring method considering both T and ΔP. The block parameters with the length of 0.8 mm, width of 0.375 mm and height of 0.75 mm are found to be the optimum in terms of the highest score. The optimum parameters obtained from the data-driven surrogate model are verified by the physical model, indicating that the ANN model is an effective and fast method to optimize block structure of block flow channel from the perspective of liquid water removal and channel pressure drop.     

Thermodynamic analysis and assessment of novel ORC- DEC integrated PEMFC system for liquid hydrogen fueled ship application

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and liquid hydrogen are gaining attention as a power generation system and alternative fuel of ship. This study proposes a novel PEMFC system, integrated with the organic Rankine cycle–direct expansion cycle (ORC-DEC), which exploits cold exergy from liquid hydrogen and low temperature waste heat generated by the PEMFC for application in a liquid hydrogen fueled ship. A thermodynamic model of each subsystem was established and analyzed from the economic, energy, and exergy viewpoints. Moreover, parametric analysis was performed to identify the effects of certain key parameters, such as the working fluid in the ORC, pressure exerted by the fuel pump, cooling water temperature of the PEMFC, and the stack current density on the system performance. The results showed that the proposed system could generate 221 kW of additional power. The overall system achieved an exergy and energy efficiency of 43.52 and 40.45%, respectively. The PEMFC system had the largest exergy destruction, followed by the cryogenic heat exchanger. Propane showed the best performance among the several investigated ORC working fluids and the system performance improved with the increase in the cooling water temperature of the PEMFC. The economic analysis showed that the average payback time of ORC-DEC was 11.2 years and the average net present value (NPV) was $295,268 at liquid hydrogen costing $3 to $7, showing the potential viability of the system.     

Experimental investigation on thermal performance of thermosyphon flat-plate solar water heater with a mantle heat exchanger

The thermal performance of thermosyphon flat-plate solar water heater with a mantle heat exchanger was investigated to show its applicability in China. The effect on the performance of the collector of using a heat exchanger between the collector and the tank was analyzed. A “heat exchanger penalty factor” for the system was determined and energy balance equation in the system was presented. Outdoor tests of thermal performance of the thermosyphon flat-plate solar water heater with a mantle heat exchanger were taken in Kunming, China. Experimental results show that mean daily efficiency of the thermosyphon flat plate solar water heater with a mantle heat exchanger with 10 mm gap can reach up to 50%, which is lower than that of a thermosyphon flat-plate solar water heater without heat exchanger, but higher than that of a all-glass evacuated tubular solar water heater.     

A unified model for multi-turn closed-loop pulsating heat pipe

Numerical modeling of  the multi-turn closed-loop pulsating heat pipe (CLPHP) in the bottom, horizontal, and top heat mode is presented in this paper, with water as working fluid. Modeling is carried out for 2-mm ID CLPHP having 5, 16, and 32 turns at different orientations for 10 different cases. Momentum and heat transfer variations with time are investigated by numerically solving the one-dimensional governing equations for vapor bubble and liquid plugs. Instead of considering all the vapor bubble at saturation temperature, vapor bubbles are allowed to remain in super-heated condition. Film thickness is found using a correlation. Two-phase heat transfer coefficient is calculated by considering conduction through the thin film at liquid–vapor interface. Liquid plug merging and splitting result in continuous variation in the number of liquid plugs and vapor bubble with time, which is also considered in the code. During the merging of liquid plugs, a time step-adaptive scheme is implemented and this minimum time step was found to be 10⁻⁷ s. Model results are compared with the experimental results from literature for heat transfer and the maximum variation in heat transfer for all these cases is below ±39%.     

Geometry optimization and performance analysis of a new tapered slope cathode flow field for PEMFC

In proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the cathode flow field structure affects the performance of PEMFC. In a previous study, we proposed a new tapered slope flow field (TSFF). In this study, Ansys Fluent software was used to simulate a PEMFC with a tapered slope cathode flow field structure. The results show that the performance of the TSFF is superior, the drainage efficiency is higher, and the oxygen mass fraction distribution is more uniform. Furthermore, comparing double-sided TSFF with different lengths, the PEMFC performance first increases and then decreases as the length of the tapered slope increases. In particular, the oxygen mass fraction and current density distributions are more uniform in the double-sided TSFF with L = 1.2 mm and the PEMFC performance is the best, and compared with the serpentine flow field, the maximum power density of PEMFC is increased by 5.89%. A detailed analysis of the geometric structure of the flow field can help us understand the reasons why the TSFF structure improves the performance of PEMFC and comprehensively evaluate the flow field performance. The TSFF enhances the flow rate of reactant diffusion to the CL and enhances the mass transfer downstream of the flow field. In particular, when L = 1.2 mm, the relative magnitude of the reactant flow resistance loss in the double-sided TSFF was 1.86% smaller than that of the serpentine flow field.     

Numerical study on heat transfer enhancement of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with the dimpled cooling channel

As the power density of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) increases, the problems of internal heat accumulation and non-uniform temperature distribution are becoming significant. In this paper, a novel cooling channel with dimple structures is designed and a three-dimensional PEMFC numerical model is established. When comparing to the conventional channels, the heat transfer performance of dimpled channel is 10% higher than the smooth one, and the pressure loss is almost 13% lower than that of wavy channel. In addition, the optimization of dimple structure parameters is investigated based on the index of uniformity temperature (IUT) and performance evaluation criteria (PEC) of heat transfer. It is found that a diameter-to-depth ratio of 4 is recommended when the dimple diameter is less than 0.80 mm. Furthermore, the clock-wise vortex observed inside the dimple is considered to be the main reason affecting heat exchange. This study will contribute to the design of cooling channels for high-power density PEMFCs in the future.     

A novel design of pulsating heat pipe with fewer turns applicable to all orientations

This study presents a novel pulsating heat pipe (PHP) concept that is functional even when PHP is with fewer turns and is operated horizontally. Two heat pipes were made of copper capillary tubes with an overall size of 122 mm × 57 mm × 5.5 mm is investigated, one had 16 parallel square channels having a uniform cross-section of 2 mm × 2 mm (uniform CLPHP), and the other had 16 alternative size of parallel square channels (non-uniform CLPHP; a cross-section 2 mm × 2 mm and a cross-section of 1 mm × 2 mm in alternating sequence). Test results showed that the performance of PHP rises with the inclination but the uniform channel CLPHP is not functional at horizontal configuration whereas the proposed non-uniform design is still functional even at horizontal arrangement. The thermal resistance for uniform PHP is relative insensitive to change of inclination when the inclination angle exceeds certain threshold value.     

Thermal performance and pressure drop of the helical-coil heat exchangers with and without helically crimped fins

In the present study, the thermal performance and pressure drop of the helical-coil heat exchanger with and without helical crimped fins are studied. The heat exchanger consists of a shell and helically coiled tube unit with two different coil diameters. Each coil is fabricated by bending a 9.50 mm diameter straight copper tube into a helical-coil tube of thirteen turns. Cold and hot water are used as working fluids in shell side and tube side, respectively. The experiments are done at the cold and hot water mass flow rates ranging between 0.10 and 0.22 kg/s, and between 0.02 and 0.12 kg/s, respectively. The inlet temperatures of cold and hot water are between 15 and 25 °C, and between 35 and 45 °C, respectively. The cold water entering the heat exchanger at the outer channel flows across the helical tube and flows out at the inner channel. The hot water enters the heat exchanger at the inner helical-coil tube and flows along the helical tube. The effects of the inlet conditions of both working fluids flowing through the test section on the heat transfer characteristics are discussed.     

Study on the performance and characteristics of fuel cell coupling cathode channel with cooling channel

Water flooding in the cathode channel of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), which reduce the current density output and affect fuel cell lifetime. Hence, to suppress water flooding, a novel channel is proposed in this study, that is to perforate hole between the cooling channel and cathode channel. A 3D numerical model is used to investigate the influence of the parameters including the hole's dimension, position, numbers, the operation conditions of the PEMFC and the slope angle (θ) of the incline cooling channel. The numerical results indicate that the optimal single hole parameters are 0.4 mm long, 0.5 mm wide and 20 mm position, which can maximum the current density output of the PEMFC. Increasing the hole numbers for novel channels can improve water removal. In addition, in comparison with the conventional channel with θ = 0.20° at 1.8 cathode stoichiometry, the H5 (novel channel with five holes) with θ = 0.20° decreases by 43.10% in the maximum water saturation of cathode channel, while increases by 12.54% in current density output. What's more, all the novel channel structure research hardly raises the pressure drop of channels.     

Phase change characteristics and their effect on the performance of hydrogen recirculation ejectors for PEMFC systems

The working fluid of the hydrogen recirculation ejector in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems is humid hydrogen containing water vapour. However, previous studies on the hydrogen recirculation ejector using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) were based on the single-phase flow model without considering the phase change of water vapour. In this study, the characteristics of the phase change and its effect on the ejector performance are analysed according to a two-phase CFD model. The model is established based on a non-equilibrium condensation phase change. The results show that the average deviation of the entrainment ratio predicted by a single-phase flow model is 25.8% compared with experiments involving a hydrogen recirculation ejector, which is higher than the 15.1% predicted by the two-phase flow model. It can be determined that droplet nucleation occurs at the junction of the primary and secondary flow, with the maximum nucleation rate reaching 4.0 × 10²⁰ m^?3s^?1 at a primary flow pressure of 5.0 bar. The higher temperature, lower velocity, and higher pressure of the gas phase can be found in the mixing region due to condensation, resulting in a lower entrainment performance. The nucleation rate, droplet number, and liquid mass fraction increase remarkably with an increasing primary flow pressure. This study provides a meaningful reference for understanding phase change characteristics and two-phase flow behaviour in hydrogen recirculation ejectors for PEMFC systems.     

Effect of coil-wire insert on heat transfer enhancement and pressure drop of the horizontal concentric tubes

In the present study, the heat transfer characteristics and the pressure drop of the horizontal double pipe with coil-wire insert are investigated. The inner and outer diameters of the inner tube are 8.92 and 9.52 mm, respectively. The coiled wire is fabricated by bending a 1 mm diameter of the iron wire into a coil with a coil diameter of 7.80 mm. Cold and hot water are used as working fluids in the shell side and tube side, respectively. The test runs are performed at the cold and hot water mass flow rates ranging between 0.01 and 0.07 kg/s, and between 0.04 and 0.08 kg/s, respectively. The inlet cold and hot water temperatures are between 15 and 20 °C, and between 40 and 45 °C, respectively. The effect of the coil pitch and relevant parameters on heat transfer characteristics and pressure drop are considered. Coil-wire insert has significant effect on the enhancement of heat transfer especially on laminar flow region. Non-isothermal correlations for the heat transfer coefficient and friction factor are proposed. There is reasonable agreement between the measured data and predicted results.     

Experimental investigation into the thermal-flow performance characteristics of an evaporative cooler

This study investigates the thermal-flow performance characteristics of an evaporative cooler. The derivation of the Poppe [1] and Merkel [2] analysis for evaporative coolers are presented and discussed. Performance tests were conducted on an evaporative cooler consisting of 15 tube rows with 38.1 mm outer diameter galvanized steel tubes arranged in a 76.2 mm triangular pattern. From the experimental results, correlations for the water film heat transfer coefficient, air–water mass transfer coefficient and air-side pressure drop are developed. The experimental tests show that the water film heat transfer coefficient is a function of the air mass velocity, deluge water mass velocity as well as the deluge water temperature, while the air–water mass transfer coefficient is a function of the air mass velocity and the deluge water mass velocity. It was found that the correlations obtained for the water film heat transfer coefficient and the air–water mass transfer coefficient compare well with the correlations given by Mizushina et al. [3]. Relatively little published information is available for predicting the air-side pressure drop across deluged tube bundles. The present study shows that the pressure drop across the bundle is a function of the air mass velocity and the deluge water mass velocity.     

Numerical model of a multi-turn Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe: Effects of the local pressure losses due to meanderings

A numerical code has been developed to investigate the thermal performances of Closed Loop Pulsating Heat Pipes (CLPHP). The model takes into account the effects of the local pressure losses due to the presence of turns which have always been neglected by previous models; it can simulate CLPHPs working with different fluids (ethanol, R123 and FC-72 are shown), different number of turns, various inclination angles as well as different input heat fluxes at the evaporator. Numerical results show that the local pressure losses influence the device behavior in particular for high input heat fluxes and when the CLPHP is working in the horizontal position. The trends of the total liquid momentum, maximum tube temperatures, and equivalent thermal resistances, reveal good qualitative and quantitative accordance with the experimental data available in literature. Further direct experimental validations are mandatory to confirm whether this model can be used as a preliminary CLPHP thermal design tool.     

Effect of copper surface wettability on the evaporation performance: Tests in a flat-plate heat pipe with visualization

The effects of copper surface wettability on the evaporation performance of a copper mesh wick were experimentally studied in an operating flat-plate heat pipe. Different degrees of wettability were obtained by varying the exposure times in air after the wicked plates were taken out of the sintering furnace. Three different working fluids: water, methanol and acetone, which possess different figures of merit, were investigated at the same volumetric liquid charge. The surface wettability was quantified by the static contact angle of sessile water drops on a flat copper surface. While the static contact angles of water drops varied from 10° to 40° for different degrees of wettability, the methanol and acetone drops still fully wetted the copper surface. A two-layer 100 + 200 mesh copper wick, 0.26 mm in thickness, was sintered on a 3 mm-thick copper base plate. A glass plate was adopted as the top wall of the heat pipe for visualization. Uniform heating was applied to the base plate near one end, and a cooling water jacket was connected at the other end. With increasing heat load, the evaporative resistance decreased with liquid film recession until a critical heat load showing the minimum evaporative resistance. Afterwards, partial dryout began from the front end of the evaporator. With decreasing wettability, the evaporating water film receded faster with increasing heat load and the critical heat loads were significantly reduced. In contrast, the critical heat loads for methanol and acetone seemed hardly affected by different wettability conditions. The minimum evaporative resistances, however, remained unaffected by surface wettability for all the three working fluids.     

Study on onset of nucleate boiling in bilaterally heated narrow annuli

Onset of nucleate boiling (ONB) experiments using deionized water as working fluid have been conducted in a range of pressure from 1 to 4 MPa, mass flow velocity from 56 to 145 kg/m² s and wall heat flux from 9 to 58 kW/m² for vertical narrow annuli with annular gap sizes of 0.95, 1.5 and 2 mm. We found that the ONB sometimes occurs only on outer annulus surface, sometimes occurs only on inner annulus surface and sometimes occurs on both annulus surfaces. The heat flux of the other side has great influence on the heat flux of the ONB and the latter will decrease with the increase of the heat flux of the other side. It is also found that the heat flux of the ONB increases with the increase of the pressure, the mass flux and wall superheat. However, the heat flux of the ONB will decrease as the gap size increases in narrow annuli. The heat flux of the ONB in narrow annuli is much lower than that calculated by correlations for conventional channels and a new correlation, which has good agreement with the experimental data, has been developed for predicting the heat flux of the ONB in narrow annuli.     

多通道并联回路型脉动热管运行特性的试验研究

针对回路型脉动热管进行了管路结构形式调整,制作了多通道并联回路型脉动热管并建立试验系统,选用丙酮和无水酒精作为工质,在相近热力工况下通过试验考察多通道并联回路型脉动热管和典型回路脉动热管在不同加热工况下的运行情况,并进行比较.结果表明:多通道并联回路型脉动热管与典型回路型脉动热管具有相似的启动特征,但其在运行中具有更好的稳定性,不易出现干烧现象;其传热效果也优于典型回路型脉动热管,具有较低的运行热阻,低充液率(34%)时的传热效果优于高充液率(51%、68%)时,具有较高的传热极限.     

Comprehensive influences measurement and analysis of power converter low frequency current ripple on PEM fuel cell

To deeply understand the influences of power converter's low frequency current ripple (LFCR) and harmonics on a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) in its power conditioning system (PCS), a comprehensive measurement and analysis of the influences of LFCR and harmonics on PEMFC's performance and durability is investigated in this paper. Based on an equivalent circuit model of PEMFC stack and a mechanism model for evaluating the LFCR effects on the PEMFC, this paper studies primarily and systematically the comprehensive influences of LFCR and harmonics on PEMFC performances and durability, such as (1) degrading the PEMFC performance, (2) shortening the lifetime of PEMFC, (3) reducing the stack output power, (4) lowing its availability efficiency, (5) producing more heat and raising the PEMFC temperature, (6) consuming more fuel, and (7) decreasing the fuel utilization. Finally, a Horizon 300 W PEMFC stack is implemented and tested.