Heat and mass transfer in a quasi-counter flow membrane-based total heat exchanger

Membrane-based total heat exchangers (or energy recovery ventilators) are the key equipments to fresh air ventilation, which is helpful for the control of respiratory diseases like Swine flu and SARs. Cross flow has been the predominant flow arrangement for these equipments. However performances are limited with this arrangement. A counter flow arrangement is the best. In this research, a quasi-counter flow parallel-plates total heat exchanger is constructed and investigated. A detailed mathematical modeling is conducted and the model is experimentally verified. The temperature and humidity values on membrane surfaces, and in the fluids are solved as a conjugate problem. The fluid flow, heat and mass transport equations in the entry regions are solved directly. The mean Nusselt and Sherwood numbers, and the sensible and latent effectiveness of the exchanger are calculated. It is found that the effectiveness of the current arrangement lie between those for cross flow and those for counter flow arrangements. The results also found that the flow can be divided distinctly into three zones: two cross-like zones and a pure-counter flow zone. The less the cross-like zones are, the larger the pure-counter flow zone is, and the greater the effectiveness is. The study also provides a solution of modeling mass transfer with FLUENT software from heat mass analogy.     

Heat and mass transfer in a square microchannel with asymmetric heating

This paper describes the heat and mass transfer in a square microchannel that is heated from one side. This microchannel represents a reaction channel in a microreactor that is used to study the kinetics of the catalytic partial oxidation of methane. The microchannel is contained in a silicon wafer and is covered by a thin silicon sheet. At the top side of this sheet, heating elements are present which mimic the heat that is produced as a result of the exothermic chemical reaction. Correlations for Nusselt and Sherwood numbers as a function of the Graetz number are derived for laminar and plug flow conditions. These correlations describe the heat and mass transport at the covering top sheet of the microchannel as well as at its side and bottom walls. By means of computational fluid dynamic simulations, the laminar flow is studied. To determine an approximate laminar flow Nusselt correlation, the heat transport was solved analytically for plug flow conditions to describe the influence of changes in the thermal boundaries of the system. The laminar flow case is experimentally validated by measuring the actual temperature distribution in a 500 μm square, 3 cm long, microchannel that is covered by a 1 μm and by a 1.9 μm thick silicon sheet with heating elements and temperature sensors on top. The Nusselt and Sherwood correlations can be used to readily quantify the heat and mass transport to support kinetic studies of catalytic reactions in this type of microreactor.     

Coupled heat and mass transfer by natural convection adjacent to a permeable horizontal cylinder in a saturated porous medium

The heat and mass transfer characteristics of free convection about a permeable horizontal cylinder embedded in porous media under the coupled effects of thermal and mass diffusion are numerically analyzed. The surface of the horizontal cylinder is maintained at a uniform wall temperature and uniform wall concentration. The transformed governing equations are obtained and solved by Keller box method. Numerical results for the dimensionless temperature profiles, the dimensionless concentration profiles, the Nusselt number and the Sherwood number are presented. Increasing the buoyancy ratio N and the transpiration parameter f_w increases the Nusselt number and the Sherwood number. For thermally assisting flow, when Lewis number Le increases, the Nusselt (Sherwood) number decreases (increases). Whereas, for thermally opposing flow, both the Nusselt number and the Sherwood number increase with increasing the Lewis number.     

Fluid flow and heat mass transfer in membrane parallel-plates channels used for liquid desiccant air dehumidification

Fluid flow and convective heat mass transfer in membrane-formed parallel-plates channels are investigated. The membrane-formed channels are used for liquid desiccant air dehumidification. The liquid desiccant and the air stream are separated by the semi-permeable membrane to prevent liquid droplets from crossing over. The two streams, in a cross-flow arrangement, exchange heat and moisture through the membrane, which only selectively permits the transport of water vapor and heat. The two flows are assumed hydrodynamically fully developed while developing thermally and in concentration. Different from traditional method of assuming a uniform temperature (concentration) or a uniform heat flux (mass flux) boundary condition, the real boundary conditions on membrane surfaces are numerically obtained by simultaneous solution of momentum, energy and concentration equations for the two fluids. Equations are then coupled on membrane surfaces. The naturally formed boundary conditions are then used to calculate the local and mean Nusselt and Sherwood numbers along the channels. Experimental work is performed to validate the results. The different features of the channels in comparison to traditional metal-formed parallel-plates channels are disclosed.     

Numerical simulation of laminar flow development with heat and mass transfer in PEM fuel cell flow channels having oxygen and hydrogen suction at one channel wall

Numerical simulation has been carried out of the fluid flow, heat and mass transfer for the developing laminar flow in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell cathode and anode flow channels, respectively. Each flow channel is considered to be composed of two parallel walls, one porous (simulating electrode surface) and one non‐porous, or impermeable, wall (simulating bipolar plate surface). Various flow situations have been analyzed, and the local and the averaged friction coefficient, Nusselt number for heat transfer and Sherwood number for mass transfer are determined for various flow conditions corresponding to different stoichiometries, operating current densities and operating pressures of the cell. The effect of suction or injection (blowing) wall boundary condition has also been investigated, corresponding to the oxygen consumption in the cathode and hydrogen consumption in the anode. Correlations for the averaged friction coefficient, Nusselt and Sherwood numbers are developed, which can be useful for PEM fuel cell modeling and design calculations. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Local Non－Similarity Solution of Coupled Heat－Mass Transfer of a Flat Plate with Uniform Heat Flux in a Laminar Parallel Flow

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Local non-similarity solution of coupled heat—Mass transfer of a flat plate with uniform heat flux in a laminar parallel flow

The coupled heat and mass transfer problem of gas flow over a UHF flat plate with its wall coated with sublimable substance has been solved by local non-similarity method. Considerations have been given also to the effect of non-saturation of the sublimable substance in the oncoming flow and the normal injection velocity at the surface. Analytical results are given for local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers at the various locations.     

Thermally developing turbulent flow of pseudoplastic fluids within circular tubes

Heat transfer in turbulent forced convection of pseudoplastic fluids is analytically studied, in thermally developing flow within circular tubes subjected to a prescribed wall heat flux. A splitting-up procedure, in conjunction with the so-called sign-count method for numerical solution of the associated eigenvalue problem, are employed to obtain the temperature distributions and consequently, the local Nusselt numbers along the thermal entry and fully developed regions, for different Reynolds and Prandtl numbers and power-law indices.     

Conjugate heat and mass transfer in a cross-flow hollow fiber membrane contactor for liquid desiccant air dehumidification

The fluid flow and conjugate heat and mass transfer in a cross-flow hollow fiber membrane contactor are investigated. The shell-and-tube like contactor is used for liquid desiccant air dehumidification, where numerous fibers are packed into the shell and air flows across the fiber bank. To overcome the difficulties in the direct modeling of the whole contactor, a representative cell, which comprises of a single fiber, a liquid solution inside the fiber, and an air stream across the fiber, is selected as the calculation domain. The air stream in the cell is surrounded by an assumed outer free surface. The equations governing the fluid flow and heat and mass transfer in the two cross-flow streams are solved together with the heat and mass diffusion equations in the membrane. The friction factor and the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers on the air and stream sides are then calculated and experimentally validated.     

Passive heat and moisture removal from a natural vented enclosure with a massive wall

Simultaneous transport of heat and moisture by conjugate natural convection in a partial enclosure with a solid wall is investigated numerically. Moist air motions are driven by the external temperature and concentration differences imposed across enclosures with different ambient moisture conditions. The Prandtl number and Schmidt number used are 0.7 and 0.6, respectively. The fluid, heat and moisture transports through the cavity and solid wall are, respectively, analyzed using the streamlines, heatlines and masslines, and the heat and mass transfer potentials are also explained by the variations of overall Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. The numerical simulations presented here span a wide range of the main parameters (heat and mass diffusion coefficient ratios, solid wall thickness and thermal Rayleigh numbers) in the domain of aiding and opposing buoyancy-driven flows. It is shown that the heat transfer potential, mass transfer potential, and volume flow rate can be promoted or inhibited, depending strongly on the wall materials and size, thermal and moisture Rayleigh numbers.     

A numerical solution for cooling and dehumidification of air by a falling desiccant film in parallel flow

The heat and mass transfer process between falling liquid desiccant film and air in parallel flow heat exchanger is investigated numerically. The governing equations with appropriate boundary and interfacial conditions describing the physical problem are derived. The control volume approach is used to predict the outlet conditions for both the air and the desiccant solution. The effect of inlet conditions, mass flow rates and channel geometry on the air cooling and dehumidification processes is also predicted. The average Nusselt and Sherwood numbers for air flow are correlated in terms of Prandtl number, Schmidt number and channel geometry. Typical numerical experiments showed good agreement of the present results with the available data in literature. Moreover, a parametric study is conducted to illustrate the general effects of various variables on heat and mass transfer processes in cooling and dehumidification of air.     

Natural convection heat and mass transfer of non-Newtonian power law fluids with yield stress in porous media from a vertical plate with variable wall heat and mass fluxes

This work studies the heat and mass transfer by natural convection from a vertical plate with variable wall heat and mass fluxes in a porous medium saturated with a non-Newtonian power law fluid with yield stress for the general case of power law variations in wall heat and mass fluxes. The governing equations are transformed into a dimensionless form by the similarity transformation and then solved by a cubic spline collocation method. Results are presented for velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles, as well as the Nusselt and Sherwood numbers for various parameters of the power law fluid with yield stress in porous media. The existence of threshold pressure gradient in the power law fluids tends to decrease the fluid velocity and the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers. An increase in the power law exponent increases the local Nusselt and Sherwood numbers.     

Heat transfer and flow field in a pipe with sinusoidal wavy surface—I. Numerical investigation

The majority of publications in the field of convective transport enhancement in conduits with wavy walls have provided the distribution of the mean Sherwood or Nusselt number per wavelength. The mechanisms, however, driving the increase in heat and mass transfer have not been clearly understood so far. This paper presents the results of a detailed numerical investigation of local heat and mass transfer enhancement in a pipe with sinusoidally varying diameter, covering a wide range of Reynolds numbers from laminar to turbulent flow. The discussion is focused on the predicted flow field and the turbulence structure, allowing a better understanding of the calculated Sherwood and Nusselt numbers. Part II of this paper deals with the experimental validation of the numerically achieved results.     

Conjugate heat and mass transfer in a hollow fiber membrane module for liquid desiccant air dehumidification: A free surface model approach

Conjugate heat and mass transfer in a hollow fiber membrane module used for liquid desiccant air dehumidification is investigated. The module is like a shell-and-tube heat exchanger where the liquid desiccant stream flows in the tube side, while the air stream flows in the shell side in a counter flow arrangement. Due to the numerous fibers in the shell, a direct modeling of the whole module is difficult. This research takes a new approach. A representative cell comprising of a single fiber, the liquid desiccant flowing inside the fiber and the air stream flowing outside the fiber, is considered. The air stream outside the fiber has an outer free surface (Happel’s free surface model). Further, the equations governing the fluid flow and heat and mass transfer in the two streams are combined together with the heat and mass diffusion equations in membranes. The conjugate problem is then solved to obtain the velocity, temperature and concentration distributions in the two fluids and in the membrane. The local and mean Nusselt and Sherwood numbers in the cell are then obtained and experimentally validated.     

Buoyancy effects on laminar heat transfer in the thermal entrance region of horizontal rectangular channels with uniform wall heat flux for large prandtl number fluid

The Graetz problem for fully developed laminar flow in horizontal rectangular channels with uniform wall heat flux is extended by including buoyancy effects in the analysis for the case of large Prandtl number fluid. A general formulation valid for all Prandtl numbers is presented and the limiting case of large Prandtl number is approached by a numerical method. The typical developments of temperature profile, wall temperature and secondary flow in the thermal entrance region are presented for the case of square channel γ = 1. Local Nusselt number variations are presented for the aspect ratios γ = 0.2, 0.5, 1, 2 and 5 with Rayleigh number as parameter. Due to entry and secondary flow effects, a minimum Nusselt number occurs at some distance from the entrance, depending on the magnitude of Rayleigh number. This behavior is similar to that observed in the thermal entrance region where the transition from laminar to turbulent flow occurs. The effect of Rayleigh number is seen to decrease the thermal entrance length, and the Graetz solution, neglecting buoyancy effects, is found to be applicable only when Rayleigh number is less than about 10³. A study of the practical implications of large Prandtl number on heat transfer results for hydrodynamically and thermally fully developed case reveals that the present heat transfer results are valid for Prandtl number ranging from order 10 to infinity.     

Measurement and Analysis of Laminar Heat Transfer Coefficients in Micro and Mini-Scale Ducts and Channels

Heat transfer in micro- and miniscale ducts and channels is considered. In particular, issues of thermal performance are considered in systems with constant wall temperature at low to moderate Reynolds numbers or small dimensional scales that lead to conditions characteristic of thermally fully developed flows or within the transition region leading to thermally fully developed flows. An analysis of two approaches to representing experimental data is given: one using the traditional Nusselt number, and the other using the dimensionless mean wall flux. Both approaches offer a number of advantages and disadvantages. In particular, it is shown that while good data can be obtained that agree with predicted heat transfer rates, the same data can be problematic if one desires a Nusselt number. Other issues such as boundary conditions pertaining to measuring thermally developing and fully developed flow Nusselt numbers are also discussed in detail.     

Laminar flow and heat transfer in plate-fin triangular ducts in thermally developing entry region

Laminar forced flow and heat transfer in plate-fin isosceles triangular ducts encountered in compact heat exchangers is investigated. The flow is hydrodynamically fully developed, but developing thermally under uniform temperature conditions. Heat conduction in the fin of finite conductance and convection in the fluid are analyzed simultaneously as a conjugate problem. The study covers a wide range of apex angles from 30° to 120°, and fin conductance parameters from 0 to infinitely large. Nusselt numbers in the developing and fully developed regions for various apex angles and fin conductance parameters are obtained, which can be used in estimation of heat transfer characteristics in plate-fin compact heat exchangers with fins of various conductivities and thickness.     

Heat and mass transfer in plate-fin sinusoidal passages with vapor-permeable wall materials

Laminar forced flow and heat mass transfer in sinusoidal plate-fin small passages encountered in compact heat mass exchangers are investigated. The duct is similar to a traditional plate-fin heat exchanger, but vapor-permeable materials like polymer membranes, paper, and ceramics can be used as the duct materials so both sensible heat and moisture can be exchanged simultaneously. Heat conduction and mass diffusion in the fins and heat and moisture convection in the fluid are analyzed simultaneously as a conjugate problem. Their fully developed Nusselt and Sherwood numbers under various aspect ratios and fin conductance parameters are calculated. The results found that though fins extend the heat transfer area, they are less effective compared to a traditional compact heat exchanger with metal foils. Most unfortunately, fin efficiencies for moisture transfer are even much smaller than those for heat transfer due to the low fin mass conductance parameters. For such heat mass exchangers, the use of fins can be regarded mostly as supporting materials, rather than as mass intensification techniques.     

Laminar Forced Flow and Heat Transfer in Cross-Corrugated Triangular Ducts

The fluid flow and heat transfer characteristics in a cross-corrugated triangular channel are studied under laminar forced flow and uniform wall temperature conditions. Both the local and the periodic mean values of friction factor and wall Nusselt numbers in the hydro and thermally developing entrance region are investigated. It is found that at higher Reynolds numbers, recirculations in the lower wall valleys are a dominant factor for flow and heat transfer, while at lower Reynolds numbers, parallel flows in the upper wall corrugation are the predominant factor. Compared with a parallel flat plates duct, the Nusselt numbers in a cross-corrugated triangular duct can be enhanced, and can be even higher at higher Reynolds numbers. The growth of steady recirculations and the concomitant periodic disruption and thinning of the boundary layer promote enhanced transport of heat as well as momentum. Effects of heat transfer enhancement are more obvious under higher Reynolds numbers. Two correlations are proposed to predict the periodic mean values of Nusselt numbers and friction factors for Reynolds numbers from 10 to 2000.     

Heat transfer enhancement by recirculating flow within liquid plugs in microchannels

Plug flow can significantly enhance heat transfer in microchannels as compared to single phase flow. Using an analytical model of flow field, heat transfer in plug flow is investigated. The constant-surface-temperature boundary condition is considered. Three stages of the heat transfer in plugs are identified: (i) development of thermal boundary layer; (ii) advection of heated/fresh fluid in the plug; and (iii) thermally fully developed flow. Due to the transport of heated fluid and fresh fluid within the plug by the recirculating flow, oscillations of the Nusselt number at high Peclet numbers are observed and explained. The effects of the Peclet number and the plug length on the heat transfer process are evaluated. The results show that short plugs are preferable to long plugs since short plugs result in high Nusselt numbers and high heat transfer indices.