Condensation in two phase and desuperheating zone for R1234ze(E), R134a and R32 in horizontal smooth tubes

Condensation is usually assumed to begin when the bulk enthalpy reaches the saturated vapor enthalpy, which leads to discontinuity of heat transfer coefficient calculation in modeling. This paper addresses the discontinuity by showing the presence of condensation in desuperheating region when the wall temperature decreases below the saturation temperature at any operating condition. The experiments have been conducted with R134a, R1234ze(E) and R32 for mass fluxes of 100–300 kgm⁻² s⁻¹, saturation temperatures of 30^°C–50 °C and from x = 0.05 to superheat of 50 °C in a horizontal smooth tube with 6.1 mm inner diameter. R134a is observed to have approximately 10% higher and 20% lower HTC compared to R1234ze(E) and R32 respectively. Cavallini correlation predicted the data within an accuracy of 12% while Kondo-Hrnjak correlation predicted HTC for condensation in de-superheating zone within accuracy of 23%.     

Flow boiling of non-azeotropic mixture R32/R1234ze(E) in horizontal microfin tubes

Flow boiling of a potential refrigerant R32/R1234ze(E) in a horizontal microfin tube of 5.21 mm inner diameter is experimentally investigated. The heat transfer coefficient (HTC) and pressure drop are measured at a saturation temperature of 10 °C, heat fluxes of 10 and 15 kW m^?2, and mass velocities from 150 to 400 kg m^?2 s^?1. The HTC of R1234ze(E) is lower than that of R32. Degradation in the HTC of the R32/R1234ze(E) mixture is significant; the HTC is even lower than that of R1234ze(E). The HTC is minimized at the composition 0.2/0.8 by mass, where the temperature glide and the mass fraction distribution are maximized. A predicting correlation based on Momoki et al. (1995) associated with the correction methods of Thome (1981) to consider the mass transfer resistance and Stephan (1992) to consider the additionally required sensible heat is proposed and validated with the experimental results.     

Experimental results of flooding experiments in an inclined tube with liquid nitrogen and its vapor

Counter-current two-phase flow behaviors of saturated liquid nitrogen and its vapor at the onset of flooding are experimentally investigated. The experiments are carried out in a vacuum-insulated 20 mm i.d. transparent tube with the inclination angles of 30°, 45° and 60° corresponding to the horizontal. The common slug flow phenomenon happened with water–air is not observed with liquid nitrogen–vapor, instead, the big interfacial wave is found to be crushed to tiny droplets. The phenomenal difference is primarily attributed to the larger viscosity of water than liquid nitrogen. Correspondingly, the sharp rise of pressure drop with water–air is largely due to the blockage of gas flow by the formed slug, while it is primarily due to the tiny droplet entrainment for the liquid nitrogen–vapor pairs. The effects of inclination angles on the incipient flooding velocity are specially emphasized and investigated. A new correlation base on Ohnesorge number and modified Froude number are presented, and the results coincide with the experimental data of both room-temperature and cryogenic fluids with the uncertainty of 20%.     

Biomass-derived nitrogen-rich porous carbon composite for supercapacitor application

In this study, egg proteins are used as a nitrogen source for the synthesis of nitrogen-rich carbonaceous material through hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) for the electrochemical energy storage application. The composite of activated carbon with egg-derived protein (AC/EDP) is prepared by mixing untreated egg proteins in the aqueous dispersion of activated carbon, followed by HTC at 220 °C for 12 h in a Teflon-lined autoclave. The resultant composite is then directed to chemical activation with KOH and thermal activation at a temperature ranging from 500 to 700 °C. The nitrogen-doped activated carbon exhibited a microporous and mesoporous structure with a high specific surface area of 1660 m² g^?1, confirmed through BET analysis. The composite morphology was analyzed through scanning and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy indicates the presence of a considerable amount of pyrrolic, pyridinic, and quaternary nitrogen in AC/EDP, which improved the electrochemical performance. The composite activated at 700 °C exhibited the highest capacitance of 263 F g^?1 at a current density of 0.2 A g^?1. The highest energy density and power density values are 32 Wh kg^?1 and 7920 W kg^?1, respectively. The AC/EDP exhibited high cyclic stability, and the capacitance retention observed after 10,000 cycles is 98%.

     

Effect of test conditions on the bending strength of a geopolymer-reinforced composite

This paper presents the results obtained for the effects of the loading rate and of the testing temperature on the mechanical properties, particularly on the stiffness and on the ultimate tensile strength, of a geopolymer reinforced with glass or carbon fibres. HIGH-SILICA geopolymer powder from CLUZ- CYECH and two reinforcement fibres (glass fibres—type AR and carbon fibre - HTS 5631) were used. The displacement rate is varied from 0.02 until to 2 mm/s and the testing temperature is increased from the room temperature until the temperature of 300 °C. For the case of geopolymers reinforced with carbon fibres and glass fibres, the increase of the displacement rate from 0.002 to 2 mm/s led to an improvement on the ultimate flexure strength of about 33 and 31%, respectively. The same dependency was observed for the stiffness, with variations of loading rate of 39 and 53%, for carbon fibres and glass fibres, respectively. Increasing the room temperature until the temperature of 300 °C decreases significantly both the ultimate strength and the flexure stiffness for both reinforcements. However, a major drop on both the stiffness and the strength occurred up to 150 °C.     

Discussion on the validity of prediction tools for two-phase flow pressure drops from experimental data obtained at high saturation temperatures

In order to evaluate the validity of prediction tools for two-phase flow pressure drops for conditions of high saturation temperatures, this paper focuses on the comparison between new experimental results and theoretical results predicted with the commonly used methods. The original dataset was obtained in a horizontal 3.00 mm inner diameter during adiabatic flow with R-245fa as working fluid. The mass velocity ranges from 100 to 1500 kg m⁻² s⁻¹, the saturation temperature varies from 60 to 120 °C and the inlet vapor quality from 0 to 1. The database is composed of 249 data points covering four flow patterns: (i) intermittent flow, (ii) annular flow, (iii) dryout flow, and (iv) mist flow regimes. The dataset is compared against 23 well-known two-phase frictional pressure drop prediction methods. The effect of the saturation temperature and of the flow pattern on the ability of the methods to predict the frictional pressure drop was pointed out.     

Evaporation heat transfer and pressure drop of ammonia in a mixed configuration chevron plate heat exchanger

Ammonia is a naturally occurring environment friendly refrigerant with attractive thermo-physical properties. Experimental investigation of heat transfer and pressure drop during steady state evaporation of ammonia in a commercial plate heat exchanger has been carried out for an un-symmetric 30°/60° chevron plate configuration. Experiments were conducted for saturation temperatures ranging from −25 °C to −2 °C. The heat flux was varied between 21 kW m⁻² and 44 kW m⁻². Experimental results show significant effect of saturation temperature, heat flux and exit vapor quality on heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop. Current mixed plate configuration data are compared with previous studies on the same heat exchanger with symmetric plate configurations. This comparison highlighted importance of optimization in selection of the heat exchangers. Correlations for two phase Nusselt number and friction factor for each chevron plate configuration considered are developed. A Nusselt number correlation generalized for a range of chevron angles is also proposed.     

Ammonia evaporation in a mixed configuration chevron plate heat exchanger with and without miscible oil

An experimental study was conducted to determine the effects of miscible lubricant oil on evaporation of ammonia in a vertical chevron plate heat exchanger. The heat exchanger was configured in a U-type counter flow arrangement with mixed (30°/60°) chevron plate configuration. Experiments were carried out for four saturation temperatures ranging from −25 °C to −2 °C for a fixed ammonia mass flux rate of 6.5 kg m⁻² s⁻¹ and over a range of heat flux levels resulting in a vapor quality at the heat exchanger exit ranging between 0.5 and 0.9. For a given saturation temperature, experiments were performed for 0%, 3%, 6% and 9% oil concentrations, by volume in ammonia. The oil concentration, exit vapor quality, heat flux and saturation temperature were found to have significant effects on the heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop of ammonia. Based on the experimental data, correlations to estimate two phase Nusselt number and friction factor, generalized for the whole range of oil concentration have been presented.     

Kinetics of thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration of large-size carbon/carbon composites with vaporized kerosene

Large-size samples of carbon/carbon composites were prepared using thermal gradient chemical vapor infiltration with kerosene precursor at 950, 1020, 1100, 1180 and 1250 °C. The temperature gradient, kinetics and density distribution of these samples were studied and the microstructure of pyrolytic carbon was examined by polarized light microscopy. The results show that the initial infiltration rate increased from 5.81 to 21.32 g min^?1 by increasing deposition temperature from 950 to 1250 °C. The densification kinetics relied on deposition temperature and competition between reaction and diffusion, and the diffusion mechanism transformed from bulk to Knudsen diffusion regime. The calculated apparent activation energy is about 68.2 kJ mol^?1. The temperature range 1020–1100 °C is appropriate for fabricating composites with high final bulk density due to high degree of pore filling and the density of sample S3 infiltrated at 1100 °C is the highest among all investigated samples.     

Assessment of R-438A as a retrofit refrigerant for R-22 in direct expansion water chiller

The present work aims to evaluate the performance characteristics of a vapor compression refrigeration system using R-438A as a retrofit refrigerant for R-22. In order to achieve this objective, a test facility is developed and experiments are performed over a wide range of chilled water inlet temperature (11:20 °C), condenser water inlet temperature (25:35 °C) and condenser water mass flow rate (363:543 kg h⁻¹). Results showed that as the chilled water inlet temperature changes from 11.5 to 20.5 °C, system COP increases from 1.78 to 2.07 at constant condenser water inlet temperature of 25.5 °C. Cooling capacity and COP of the system using R-438A are lower than R-22 by 11% and 12.5%, respectively. However, compressor discharge temperature using R-438A is slightly lower than R-22 which confirms that R-438A can be used as a retrofit refrigerant for R-22 to complete the remaining life time of the existing plants.     

Estimation of the Enhancement Factor for Mercury in Air

A combination of classical thermodynamics and molecular theory was used to calculate the enhancement factor (ratio of vapor-phase partial pressure to saturated vapor pressure) for liquid mercury in equilibrium with air at standard atmospheric pressure at temperatures from 0 °C to 40 °C. The enhancement factors range from 1.0025 at 0 °C to 1.0016 at 40 °C. This enhancement is too small in magnitude, and in the wrong direction, to explain a difference that has been noted between equilibrium vapor concentrations implied by the vapor pressure of pure mercury and those assumed in some calibration procedures.     

Effect of a ductility layer on the tensile strength of TiAl-based multilayer composite sheets prepared by EB-PVD

TiAl/Nb and TiAl/NiCoCrAl laminate composite sheets with a thickness of 0.4–0.6 mm and dimensions of 150 mm × 100 mm were successfully fabricated by electron beam physical vapor deposition. The microstructures of the sheets were examined, and their mechanical properties were compared with those of TiAl monolithic sheet produced by electron beam physical vapor deposition. Tensile testing was performed at room temperature and 750 °C, and the fracture surfaces were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Among the three microlaminate sheets, the TiAl/NiCoCrAl micro-laminate sheet had the best comprehensive properties at room temperature, and the TiAl/Nb micro-laminate sheet showed the ideal high-temperature strength and plasticity at 750 °C. The result was discussed in terms of metal strengthening mechanism.     

Effect of pre‐processing annealing and ram speed on mechanical properties for low carbon steel processed by constrained groove pressing

Constrained groove pressing (CGP) has emerged for producing ultra‐fine‐grained materials with distinguished properties. Low carbon steel sheets were subjected to severe plastic deformation by constrained groove pressing process. The effect of pre‐processing annealing temperature, ram speed and number of passes on microstructure, mechanical properties and wear behaviour of the sheets were investigated. The 3 mm thick sheets were deformed by a constrained groove pressing die at ram speeds: 5 mm/min, 10 mm min^?1 and 20 mm min^?1. Furthermore, the as received sheets were annealed at 600 °C and 900 °C, then deformed at ram speed 20 mm min^?1. The annealing temperature 900 °C led to slightly coarser grains, lower strength and larger ductility compared to those obtained after annealing at 600 °C. With lowering the ram speed to 5 mm min^?1, the number of passes could be increased to 10 passes while increasing ram speed from 5 mm min^?1 to 20 mm min^?1 improved the mechanical properties; after 3 constrained groove pressing passes, the ultimate tensile strength increased from 420 MPa to 490 MPa, the hardness from 174 HV 1 to 190 HV 1 and the elongation from 7.6 % to 9.5 %. Finer grains were also obtained by increasing ram speed. Wear resistance was greatly enhanced by constrained groove pressing and by the increase in ram speed.     

Experimental investigation and correlation of two-phase frictional pressure drop of R410A–oil mixture flow boiling in a 5 mm microfin tube

This study presents experimental two-phase frictional data for R410A-oil mixture flow boiling in an internal spiral grooved microfin tube with outside diameter of 5 mm. Experimental parameters include the evaporation temperature of 5 °C, the mass flux from 200 to 400 kg m^?2 s^?1, the heat flux from 7.46 to 14.92 kW m^?2, the inlet vapor quality from 0.1 to 0.8, and nominal oil concentration from 0 to 5%. The test results show that the frictional pressure drop of R410A initially increases with vapor quality and then decreases, presenting a local maximum in the vapor quality range between 0.7 and 0.8; the frictional pressure drop of R410A–oil mixture increases with the mass flux, the presence of oil enhances two-phase frictional pressure drop, and the effect of oil on frictional pressure drop is more evident at higher vapor qualities where the local oil concentrations are higher. The enhanced factor is always larger than unity and increases with nominal oil concentration at a given vapor quality. The range of the enhanced factor is about 1.0–2.2 at present test conditions. A new correlation to predict the local frictional pressure drop of R410A-oil mixture flow boiling inside the internal spiral grooved microfin tube is developed based on local properties of refrigerant–oil mixture, and the measured local frictional pressure drop is well correlated with the empirical equation proposed by the authors.     

Friction force microscopy study of annealed diamond-like carbon film

In this paper we introduce mechanical and structural characteristics of diamond-like carbon (DLC) films which were prepared on silicon substrates by radio frequency (RF) plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) method using methane (CH₄) and hydrogen (H₂) gas. The films were annealed at various temperatures ranging from 300 to 900 °C in steps of 200 °C using rapid thermal processor (RTP) in nitrogen ambient. Tribological properties of the DLC films were investigated by atomic force microscopy (AFM) in friction force microscopy (FFM) mode. The structural properties of the films were obtained by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The wettability of the films was obtained using contact angle measurement. XPS analysis showed that the sp³ content is decreased from 75.2% to 24.1% while the sp² content is increased from 24.8% to 75.9% when the temperature is changed from 300 to 900 °C. The contact angles of DLC films were higher than 70°. The FFM measurement results show that the highest friction coefficient value was achieved at 900 °C annealing temperature.     

Research on Marangoni Condensation Modes for Water–ethanol Mixture Vapors

In this paper the condensation experiments for water–ethanol vapors were carried out at different vapor pressures over a wide range of ethanol concentration. The condensation modes were observed and quantitatively analyzed in order to clarify the condensation phenomenon and dropwise condensation mechanisms. The cycle time of dropwise condensation, affected by vapor-to-surface temperature difference, ethanol concentration and vapor pressure, was approximate 0.2 s to 2 s. The quantity proportion of drops with the diameter less than 1 mm was more than 70% in all drops for all mixture vapors. The peak values of the maximum departing diameters increased with the ethanol vapor concentration, and were weakly affected by the vapor pressure, and the values were about 1.5 mm to 5 mm. The rivulet condensation mode was usually observed as a transition state appeared when the drop mode changed to film mode. The maximum distance between rivulets was sensitive to the ethanol vapor concentrations and little dependent on the vapor-to-surface temperature difference.     

Experimental investigation on downward flow boiling heat transfer characteristics of propane in shell side of LNG spiral wound heat exchanger

For designing LNG spiral wound heat exchangers (SWHE), the boiling heat transfer mechanism of two-phase hydrocarbon refrigerant flowing downward in shell side should be known. In this study, an explosion-proof experimental rig was established for measuring heat transfer coefficients (HTC) and observing flow patterns. The test section contains three-layer tube bundles to emulate the actual structure and flow conditions of an SWHE. Propane as one main component of shell-side refrigerant is used as the tested fluid. The experimental conditions cover heat fluxes of 4~10 kW⋅m⁻², mass fluxes of 40~80 kg (m²⋅s)⁻¹ and vapor qualities of 0.2~1.0. The results indicate that HTC initially increases and then decreases with the increment of vapor quality, representing a maximum at a vapor quality of 0.8~0.9; the effect of heat flux on HTC increases with the increment of heat flux. A correlation of HTC was developed covering 98% of the experimental data within a deviation of ±20%.     

The New KRISS Low Frost-Point Humidity Generator

A new low frost-point humidity generator (LFPG) has been designed, and its performance has been tested, in order to extend the calibration capabilities to the low frost-point range at KRISS. The water vapor–gas mixture is generated by saturating air with water vapor over a surface of an ice-coated saturator under the conditions of constant temperature and pressure. This LFPG covers a range of frost point from  − 99 °C to  − 40 °C. The temperature of the saturator, which is controlled by thermoelectric devices and a two-stage mechanical refrigeration system, is stable within 5 mK, and the difference between the saturator temperature and the frost point generated at the saturator outlet is less than 20 mK. This stability is achieved by using oxygen-free high-conductivity copper materials as the saturator body, and applying a precision PID temperature control system. The performance of this new LFPG system is compared with the KRISS standard two-temperature generator in the frost-point range ( − 80 to  − 40) °C, and its performance is tested with a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), which was built at KRISS, to  − 91 °C.     

Thermophysical Properties of Aluminum 1060 Fabricated by Equal Channel Angular Pressing

Equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) has the advantage of enabling an ultrafine grain size. Aluminum 1060 is used as a power plant material because of its favorable electrical properties. However, the weak strength of aluminum limits its application. In this study, the thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity of Al 1060 made by ECAP was investigated. ECAP was conducted through the die having a channel angle of 90° and a corner angle of 20° at a temperature of 473 K with a strain rate of 2 mm · s⁻¹. The specimen was then processed with 1 to 8 passes by the route Bc method with 90° rotation. In the case of eight passes, the grain size was reduced to as small as 300 nm. As a result of the ECAP, the tensile strength was raised from 75 MPa to 134 MPa, while the electrical conductivity did not show a significant difference after eight passes. The thermal conductivity gradually decreased with ECAP passes, because of the decreased grain size by ECAP.     

Mechanical,Hygric, and Thermal Properties of Cement-Based Composite with Hybrid Fiber Reinforcement Subjected to High Temperatures

The tensile strength, bending strength, water vapor diffusion resistance factor, gas permeability, thermal conductivity, specific heat capacity, and linear thermal expansion coefficient of a cement-based composite with hybrid PVA-fiber reinforcement are determined as functions of thermal pre-treatment, the loading temperatures being 600 °C, 800 °C, and 1000 °C. The experimental results show that the most important changes in all studied parameters occur between the unloaded state and the loading temperature of 600 °C and then between 800 °C and 1000 °C. Although seemingly high, these changes are still small as compared to many other cement-based composites. The positive effect of using PVA fibers for the high-temperature behavior of the studied composite can be seen mainly in their ability to prevent thermal spalling which is a serious deterioration effect for cement-based composites.