Buoyancy driven flow in a hot water tank due to standby heat loss

Results of experimental and numerical investigations of thermal behavior in a vertical cylindrical hot water tank due to standby heat loss of the tank are presented. The effect of standby heat loss on temperature distribution in the tank is investigated experimentally on a slim 150 l tank with a height to diameter ratio of 5. A tank with uniform temperatures and with thermal stratification is studied. A detailed computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the tank is developed to calculate the natural convection flow in the tank. The distribution of the heat loss coefficient for the different parts of the tank is measured by experiments and used as input to the CFD model. Water temperatures at different levels of the tank are measured and compared to CFD calculated temperatures. The investigations focus on validation of the CFD model and on understanding of the CFD calculations.The results show that the CFD model predicts satisfactorily water temperatures at different levels of the tank during cooling by standby heat loss. It is elucidated how the downward buoyancy driven flow along the tank wall is established by the heat loss from the tank sides and how the natural convection flow is influenced by water temperatures in the tank. When the temperature gradient in the tank is smaller than 2 K/m, there is a downward fluid velocity of 0.003–0.015 m/s. With the presence of thermal stratification the buoyancy driven flow is significantly reduced. The dependence of the velocity magnitude of the downward flow on temperature gradient is not influenced by the tank volume and is only slightly influenced by the tank height to tank diameter ratio. Based on results of the CFD calculations, an equation is determined to calculate the magnitude of the buoyancy driven flow along the tank wall for a given temperature gradient in the tank.     

Utilization of phase change materials in solar domestic hot water systems

Thermal energy storage systems which keep warm and cold water separated by means of gravitational stratification have been found to be attractive in low and medium temperature thermal storage applications due to their simplicity and low cost. This effect is known as thermal stratification, and has been studied experimentally thoughtfully. This system stores sensible heat in water for short term applications. Adding PCM (phase change material) modules at the top of the water tank would give the system a higher storage density and compensate heat loss in the top layer because of the latent heat of PCM. Tests were performed under real operating conditions in a complete solar heating system that was constructed at the University of Lleida, Spain. In this work, new PCM-graphite compounds with optimized thermal properties were used, such as 80:20 weight percent ratio mixtures of paraffin and stearic acid (PS), paraffin and palmitic acid (PP), and stearic acid and myristic acid (SM). The solar domestic hot water (SDHW) tank used in the experiments had a 150 L water capacity. Three modules with a cylindrical geometry with an outer diameter of 0.176 m and a height of 0.315 m were used. In the cooling experiments, the average tank water temperature dropped below the PCM melting temperature range in about 6–12 h. During reheating experiments, the PCM could increase the temperature of 14–36 L of water at the upper part of the SDHW tank by 3–4 °C. This effect took place in 10–15 min. It can be concluded that PS gave the best results for thermal performance enhancement of the SDHW tank (74% efficiency).     

A numerical study of natural convection around a square,horizontal, heated cylinder placed in an enclosure

In this paper, natural convection around a tilted heated square cylinder kept in an enclosure has been studied in the range of 10³ ⩽ Ra ⩽ 10⁶. Streamfunction-vorticity formulation of the Navier–Stokes equation is solved numerically using finite-difference method in non-orthogonal body-fitted coordinate system. Detailed flow and heat transfer features for two different thermal boundary conditions are reported. Effects of the enclosure geometry has been assessed using three different aspect ratio placing the square cylinder at different heights from the bottom. The concept of heatfunction has been employed to trace the path of heat transport. It is found that the uniform wall temperature heating is quantitatively different from the uniform wall heat flux heating. Flow pattern and thermal stratification are modified, if aspect ratio is varied. Overall heat transfer also changes for different aspect ratio.     

Numerical analysis on transient thermal flow of the blast furnace hearth in tapping process through CFD

This paper aims to numerically simulate transient thermal flow due to sudden starting drainage of liquid iron from the blast furnace hearth with a sitting dead-man (coke packed structure) by solving the three-dimensional Reynolds averaged Navier–Stokes equation coupled with the transport equation of energy. With the effect of conjugate heat transfer, a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) was performed to generate the dynamic flow field and temperature distribution as function of time, evaluating shear stress on the wall in the hearth and heat flux in the refractories, respectively, during unsteady tapping process from a free convection as the initial stage (t = 0) to the turbulent mixed thermal flow as the final stage (t → ∞). It was found that the shear stress on the wall near the tape-hole is significantly raised with increasing tapping time, which corresponds to decrease temperature of the refractory around the tap-hole with tapping time shapely, when the liquid iron begins to flow out from the blast hearth. The obtained results can be used to optimize operating condition for a long campaigning life of blast furnace.     

Experimental analysis of a domestic electric hot water storage tank. Part II: dynamic mode of operation

In this paper, the experimental analysis of a full-scale Domestic Electric Hot Water Storage Tank (DEHWST) with a capacity of 150 l is reported. The tank is equipped with three different inlets and two different outlets of practical interest. The dynamic mode of operation of the tank has been experimentally analyzed taking into account the six possible inlet–outlet port arrangements and water draw-off flow rates of 5, 10 and 15 l/min. The analysis is based on the transient temperature distributions of the outlet and inlet water flow and on the transient temperature profiles of the water inside the tank measured by an appropriate data acquisition system. Performance parameters to evaluate the thermal stratification in the tank and the discharging energy and exergy efficiencies are defined and calculated from the experimental data. The characteristic performance of the tank with different inlet–outlet port configurations is analyzed and the best one is identified and proposed to use in practice.     

Single-phase heat transfer in the high temperature multiple porous insulation

An experimental study of steady state flow and heat transfer has been conducted for the multiple plate porous insulation used in the reactor pressure vessels of ‘Magnox’ nuclear power stations. The insulation pack studied, consisting of seven dimpled stainless steel sheets and six plane stainless steel sheets, was of the type installed in the Sizewell A plant. A large scale experimental test facility, based on the guarded hot plate method, was used for measuring the effective thermal conductivity of Magnox reactor pressure vessel insulation, which consists of alternate layers of plain steel foil and dimpled foil. The measurements were made both with the fluid within the insulation pack nominally stationary and with an imposed flow through it, simulating leakage through the insulation pack. The experimental conditions corresponded to a heat flux of 75–1000 W/m², fluid pressures of atmospheric to 5 bar gauge, pack orientations in range of 0°–45° relative to the horizontal, leakage velocities ranging from 0.05 m/s to 0.20 m/s and inlet air bulk temperatures ranging from 18 °C to 290 °C. Local values of effective thermal conductivity of 0.04–0.23 W/m K were obtained for the above experimental conditions. The heat transfer modes in the insulation pack were conduction through the contacting metallic foils, thermal radiation across the gas gaps, and conduction and convection in the air. The effective thermal conductivity of the porous insulation increased with increasing air pressure, inclination angle, and air velocity. Buoyancy effects increased with increasing inclination angle and air pressure.     

Thermal performance of a novel rooftop solar micro-concentrating collector

Concentrating solar thermal systems offer a promising method for large scale solar energy collection. Although concentrating collectors are generally thought of as large-scale stand-alone systems, there is a huge opportunity to use novel concentrating solar thermal systems for rooftop applications such as domestic hot water, industrial process heat and solar air conditioning for commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. This paper describes the thermal performance of a new low-cost solar thermal micro-concentrating collector (MCT), which uses linear Fresnel reflectors, and is designed to operate at temperatures up to 220 °C. The modules of this collector system are approximately 3 m long by 1 m wide and 0.3 m high. The objective of the study is to optimise the design to maximise the overall thermal efficiency. The absorber is contained in a sealed enclosure to minimise convective losses. The main heat losses are due to natural convection inside the enclosure and radiation heat transfer from the absorber tube. In this paper we present the results of a computational and experimental investigation of radiation and convection heat transfer in order to understand the heat loss mechanisms. A computational model for the prototype collector has been developed using ANSYS–CFX, a commercial computational fluid dynamics software package. The numerical results are compared to experimental measurements of the heat loss from the absorber, and flow visualisation within the cavity. This paper also presents new correlations for the Nusselt number as a function of Rayleigh number.     

Finite element simulation of heat and mass transfer in activated carbon hydrogen storage tank

A mathematical model of heat and mass transfer in activated carbon (AC) tank for hydrogen storage is proposed based on a set of partial differential equations (PDEs) controlling the balances or conservations of mass, momentum and energy in the tank. These PDEs are numerically solved by means of the finite element method using Comsol Multiphysics^TM. The objective of this paper is to establish a correct set of PDEs describing the physical system and appropriate parameters for simulating the hydrogen storage process. In this paper, we establish an axisymmetric model of hydrogen storage by adsorption on activated carbon, considering heat and mass transfer of hydrogen in storage tank during the charging process at room temperature (295 K) and the pressure of 10 MPa. To simulate the hydrogen storage process accurately, the heat capacity of adsorbed phase, the contact thermal resistance between the AC bed and the steel wall and the inertial resistance of high speed charging hydrogen gas are all taken into account in the model. The governing equations describing the hydrogen storage process by adsorption are solved to obtain the pressure changes, temperature distributions and adsorption dynamics in the storage tank. The pressure reaches a maximum value of 10 MPa at about 240 s. A small downward trend appears in the later stage of the charging process, which lasts 700 s. The temperature distribution is highest in the center of the tank. The temperature history exhibits a rapid increase initially, followed by a steady decline. A modified Dubinin–Astakhov (D–A) model is used to represent the hydrogen adsorption isotherms. The highest hydrogen uptake is 10 mol H₂/kg AC, at the entrance of hydrogen storage tank, where the temperature is lowest. The adsorption distribution at a given time is mainly determined by the temperature distribution, because the pressure is almost uniform in the tank. The adsorption history, however, is dominated by the pressure history because the pressure change is much larger than temperature change during the charging process of hydrogen storage.     

Conjugate heat transfer of mixed convection for viscoelastic fluid past a horizontal flat-plate fin

A conjugate mixed convection heat transfer problem of a second-grade viscoelastic fluid past a horizontal flat-plate fin has been studied. Governing equations include heat conduction equation of the fin, and continuity equation, momentum equation and energy equation of the fluid, have been analyzed by a combination of a series expansion method, the similarity transformation and a second-order accurate finite difference method. Solutions of a stagnation flow (β = 1.0) at the fin tip and a flat-plate flow (β = 0) on the fin surface were obtained by a generalized Falkner–Skan flow derivation. These solutions have been used to iterate with the heat conduction equation of the fin to obtain distributions of the local convective heat transfer coefficient and the fin temperature. Ranges of dimensionless parameters, the Prandtl number (Pr), the elastic number (E), the free convection parameter (G) and the conduction–convection coefficient (N_cc) are from 0.1 to 100, 0.001 to 0.01, 0 to 1.5 and 0.05 to 2.0, respectively. The elastic effect in the flow could increase the local heat transfer coefficient and enhance the heat transfer of a horizontal flat-plate fin. In addition, same as results from Newtonian fluid flow and conduction analysis of a horizontal flat-plate fin, a better heat transfer has been obtained with a larger N_cc, G and Pr.     

Transient analysis of modified cuboid solar integrated-collector-storage system

A novel solar water heating system, modified cuboid solar integrated-collector-storage (ICS) system with transparent insulation material (TIM) has been designed and developed, which combines collection and storage in a single unit and minimizes the nocturnal heat losses. A comprehensive study has been carried out to evaluate the heat transfer characteristics inside the enclosure of the system to enhance the collection and storage of solar energy. The transient behavior of the modified-cuboid solar integrated-collector-storage system is investigated numerically to evolve optimum configuration. The optimum design for the system is obtained by carrying out a numerical parametric study with different geometry parameters like the depth of the cuboid (d = 2, 5, 8, and 12 cm), and inclination angles (10°, 20°, 30°, and 50°). The inside heat transfer coefficient of the ICS system, stratification factor and water temperature distribution inside the enclosure have been predicted by numerical simulation. Average heat transfer coefficient at the bottom surface of absorber plate is 20% higher for depth of 12 cm as compared to the 2 cm depth of cuboid section, after 2 h of heating. The stratification factor also increases from 0.02 to 0.065 as depth of the system increases from 2 cm to 12 cm. There is a marginal effect of inclination angles of the system on the convection in the enclosure. As the inclination angle increases from 10° to 50°, the average heat transfer coefficient increases from 90 W/m² K to 115 W/m² K. But the stratification factor is comparatively high for lower inclination angles. With the optimum design parameters, a field experimental set-up was built and the numerical model was validated for efficient heat collection and storage in a modified cuboid ICS system. The model is in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Numerical investigation of pressure drop reduction without surrendering heat transfer enhancement in partially porous channel

The present study is to investigate the numerical simulation of steady laminar forced convection in a partially porous channel, with four dissimilar porous-blocks, attached to the strip heat sources at the bottom wall. The analysis is based on the Navier–Stokes equation in the fluid field, the Darcy–Brinkman–Forchheimer flow model in the porous field, and the energy equations for two thermal fields. The effects of variations of different parameters such as porous blocks Darcy numbers, arrangements of dissimilar blocks, Forchheimer coefficient, Reynolds number, thermal conductivity and Prandtl number are investigated and the velocity and temperature fields are presented and discussed. In the dissimilar partially porous channel, it is found that when the blocks sorted from the lowest to the highest Da in the flow direction, the total heat transfer enhancement is almost the same as in the similar porous channel (Nu/Nu_sim = 92%), while the total pressure drop is considerably lower (P/P_sim = 28%). In addition, reverse arrangement of porous blocks is suggested to prepare more uniform temperature gradient in all heat sources.     

The effects of geometrical parameters of a corrugated channel with in out-of-phase arrangement

Numerical investigations of forced turbulent convective flow and heat transfer in a corrugated channel of plate heat exchanger are carried out. The continuity, momentum and energy equations were solved by means of a finite volume method (FVM). The top and bottom walls of the corrugated channel are heated at constant heat flux boundary conditions. The effects of geometrical parameters of corrugated tilt angles, channel heights and wavy heights using water as a working fluid on the thermal and flow fields as well as on the performance of evaluation criterion are studied. The corrugated channel with three different corrugated tilt angles of 20°, 40° and 60° with different channel heights of 12.5, 15 and 17.5 mm and different wavy heights of 2.5, 3.5 and 4.5 mm are tested. This investigation covers Reynolds number and heat flux in the range of 8000–20,000 and 0.4–6 kW/m², respectively. The numerical results indicate that the wavy angle of 60° and wavy height of 2.5 mm with channel height of 17.5 mm are the optimum parameters and they have a significant effect on the heat transfer enhancement. It is found that using wavy channel is a suitable method to increase the thermal performance and getting higher compactness of the heat exchanger.     

Analysis of wind flow around a parabolic collector (2) heat transfer from receiver tube

Parabolic collectors of commercial solar thermal power plants are subject to variable convection heat transfer from the receiver tube. In the present study heat transfer from a receiver tube of the parabolic trough collector of the 250 kW solar power plants in Shiraz, Iran, is studied taking into account the effects of variation of collector angel of attack, wind velocity and its distribution with respect to height from the ground.The governing equations for the two-dimensional steady state wind flow include continuity, momentum and energy equations and RNG-based k–ε model for turbulence scheme. Finite volume discretization method is used to solve the governing equations with wall function boundary condition and the SIMPLE approach is employed to iterate for the pressure correction and convergence of the velocity field. The momentum equation contains buoyancy force when the buoyancy effect is high and force convection effect is low.Computation is carried out for various wind velocities and different collector orientations with respect to wind direction. For solution of the energy equation, temperature of the receiver tube is taken as 350 K and ambient temperature is assumed to be 300 K. Various recirculation and temperature fields were observed around the receiver tube for different flow conditions. Effect of collector orientation on the average Nu number for the receiver tube was found negligible when the wind speed is low (Re⩽4.5×10⁵ based on the collector aperture). But when the wind velocity is high (Re>4.5×10⁵), the collector effect on the variation of Nu around the glass cover of the absorber tube is considerable.     

Double-diffusive mixed convection in a vertical pipe: A thermal non-equilibrium approach

In this article, double-diffusive mixed convection in a vertical pipe under local thermal non-equilibrium state has been investigated. The non-Darcy Brinkman–Forchheimer-extended model has been used and solved numerically by spectral collocation method. Special attention is given to understand the effect of buoyancy ratio (N) and thermal non-equilibrium parameters: inter phase heat transfer coefficient (H) as well as porosity scaled thermal conductivity ratio (γ) on the flow profiles as well as on rates of heat and solute transfer. Judged from the influence of buoyancy ratio on velocity profile, when both the buoyancy forces: thermal as well as solutal are in favor of each other and for given any value of H considered in this study, it has been found that for N equal to 10 as well as 100, the basic velocity profile shows back flow for small subdomain of the domain of the flow. When two buoyancy forces are opposing to each other (Ra_T = ?1000), velocity profile possesses a kind of distortion, in which the number of zeroes increases on increasing N. Corresponding variation of heat transfer rate in the (N,  Nu_f)-plane shows a sinusoidal pattern. The flow separation on the flow profile dies out on increasing H for N = 0. It has been also found that for each N, when N < 0.7, there exists a minimum value of H such that the velocity profile becomes free from flow separation. Influence of H on the profiles of solid temperature as well as solute, in both situations are similar. Overall, the impact of LTNE parameters, specially γ, on heat transfer rate of double-diffusive convection is not straight forward.     

Experimental study on thermal characteristics of suspended platinum nanofilm sensors

In this paper, the thermal characteristics of suspended platinum (Pt) nanofilm sensors have been investigated experimentally. The Pt nanofilm sensors with the thickness of 28–40 nm, the width of 260–601 nm, and the length of 5.3–5.7 μm were fabricated by electron beam lithography, electron beam physical vapor deposition and isotropic/anisotropic etching processes. Based on the one-dimensional heat conduction model, the in-plane thermal conductivity of the nanofilm sensors was obtained from the linear relation of the volume-averaged temperature increase and the heating rate measured in vacuum. Furthermore, natural convection heat transfer coefficients of air around the suspended nanofilm sensors at the pressures ranging from 1 × 10⁻² Pa to 1 atm were also investigated. The experimental results show that the in-plane thermal conductivities of the nanofilm sensors are much lower than those of the bulk values, the natural convection heat transfer coefficients are, however, very high at the atmospheric pressure.     

Investigation of natural convection induced outer side heat transfer rate of coiled-tube heat exchangers

Natural convection induced heat transfer has been studied over the outer surface of helically coiled-tube heat exchangers. Several different geometrical configurations (curvature ratio δ ε [0.035, 0.082]) and a wide range of flow parameters (60 <= T_tank <= 90, T_in = 19 and 60 <= T_in <= 90, T_tank = 20, 4000 <= Re <= 45000) have been examined to broaden the validity of the results gained from this research. A fluid-to-fluid boundary condition has been applied in the numerical calculations to create the most realistic flow configurations. Validity of the numerical calculations has been tested by experiments available in the open literature. Calculated results of the inner side heat transfer rate have also been compared to existing empirical formulas and experimental results to test the validity of the numerical computation in an independent way from the outer side validation of common helical tube heat exchangers. Water has been chosen to the working fluid inside and outside of the coiled tube (3 < Pr < 7). Outer side heat transfer rate along the helical tube axis has been investigated to get information about the performance of the heat transport process at different location of the helical tube. It was found that the outer side heat transfer rate is slightly dependent on the inner flow rate of any helical tube in case of increasing temperature differences between the tank working fluid temperature and the coil inlet temperature. A stable thermal boundary layer has been found along the axial direction of the tube.In addition to this the qualitative behavior of the peripherally averaged Nusselt number versus the axial location along the helical tube function is strongly dependent on the direction of the heat flow (from the tube to the storage tank and the reversed direction). Inner side heat transfer rate of helical coils have also been investigated in case of fluid-to-fluid boundary conditions and the calculation results have been compared with different prediction formulas published in the last couples of decades.     

Investigation of a multiple piezoelectric–magnetic fan system embedded in a heat sink

Previous studies have investigated the thermal performance of embedding a single piezoelectric fan in a heat sink. Based on this work, a multiple piezoelectric–magnetic fan system (“MPMF”) has been successfully developed that exhibits lower fan power consumption, optimum fan pitch and an optimum fan gap between the fan tips and the heat sink. In this study, the cooling performance and heat convection improvement for the MPMF system embedded in a heat sink are evaluated at different fan tip locations. The results indicate that the fan tip location of the MPMF system at x/S_l = 0.5 and y/S_h = 0 is an optimum configuration, improving the thermal resistance by 53.2% over natural convection condition for the fan input power of 0.1 W. The MPMF system breaks the thermal boundary layer and causes fluctuations inside the fins of the heat sink to enhance the overall heat transfer coefficient. Moreover, the relationship between the convection improvement and the Reynolds number for the MPMF system has been investigated and transformed into a correlation line for nine different fan tip locations to provide a means of predicting the cooling performance for the MPMF system embedded in a heat sink.     

Investigation of thermal performance of microchannel heat sink with triangular ribs in the transverse microchambers

A numerical investigation is conducted to predict the thermal and hydraulic performances of the microchannel heat sink (MCHS) with different geometric parameters of triangular rib in the transverse microchamber. The parametric variables of width, length and height of the triangular rib are studied to find optimum design. The flow structure and characteristics of the interrupted MCHS are interpreted in details. The dimensionless ratios of average Nusselt number, friction factor and thermal enhancement factor are evaluated. It is found that the heat transfer rate is increasing with the increase of rib width and height, but decreasing with the increase of rib length. The boundary layer interruption and redevelopment effects introduced by the triangular rib are discussed. The results of thermal enhancement factor reveals an optimum geometrical parameters for the triangular rib with width = 100 μm, length = 400 μm and height = 120 μm for about Reynolds number of 500, yielding 43% enhancement relative to non-interrupted rectangular MCHS at equal pumping power. The results of mean Nusselt number ratio reveal an optimum enhancement of 56% relative to non-interrupted MCHS.     

Heat transfer in the evaporator section of moderate-speed rotating heat pipes

Experiments were performed to investigate the heat transfer mechanism in the evaporator section of non-stepped rotating heat pipes at moderate rotational speeds of 2000–4000 rpm or accelerations of 40g–180g, and evaporator heat fluxes up to 100 kW/m². The thermal resistance of the evaporator section as well as that of the condenser section was examined by measuring the axial temperature distributions of the flow in the core region of the heat pipe and along the wall of the heat pipe. The experimental results indicated that natural convection heat transfer occurred in the liquid layer of the evaporator section under these conditions. The heat transfer measurements were in reasonable agreement with the predictions from an existing rotating heat pipe model that took into account the effect of natural convection in the evaporator section.     

Optimum thermal design of triangular,trapezoidal and rectangular grooved microchannel heat sinks

A three-dimensional numerical simulation is conducted to investigate the effect of geometrical parameters on laminar water flow and forced convection heat transfer characteristics in grooved microchannel heat sink (GMCHS). Four geometry variables which are; the depth, tip length, pitch and orientation of the cavities are taken into account in order to optimize the aluminum heat sink design. These geometric parameters could change the cavity shape from triangular to trapezoidal and then to rectangular shape. The governing and energy equations are solved using the finite volume method (FVM). The performance of GMCHS is evaluated in terms of Nusselt number ratio, thermal/hydraulic performance (JF) and isotherm and streamlines contours. The results showed that the trapezoidal groove with groove tip length ratio of δ = 0.5, groove depth ratio β = 0.4, groove pitch ratio of ψ = 3.334, grooves orientation ratio of ζ = 0.00 and Re = 100 is the optimum thermal design for GMCHS with Nusselt number enhancement of 51.59% and friction factor improvement of 2.35%.