Mixing of thermal and non-thermal waters in the Steamboat Hills area, Nevada, USA

Groundwater monitoring began in 1985 at two geothermal facilities in the Steamboat Hills area, Nevada. Wells representing non-thermal, thermal, and mixed waters are evaluated by assessing temporal variations in B and Cl concentrations, water levels, and temperature. The objective is to assess the hydrologic and geochemical connection between the fractured bedrock geothermal reservoir and the alluvial aquifer. Results suggest that fault-controlled groundwater flow between the geothermal system and the alluvial aquifer is the dominant hydrologic process. Temporal trends suggest that the thermal water component in the alluvial aquifer has increased in most areas but decreased in at least one area.     

Mixed convection heat transfer in horizontal rectangular ducts with radiation effects

The study of mixed convection heat transfer in horizontal ducts with radiation effects has been numerically examined in detail. This work is primarily focused on the interaction of the thermal radiation with mixed convection for a gray fluid in rectangular horizontal ducts. The vorticity–velocity method is employed to solve the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation simultaneously. The integro-differential radiative transfer equation was solved by the discrete ordinates method. The attention of the results is focused on the effects of thermal buoyancy and radiative transfer on the development of temperature, the friction factor and the Nusselt number. Results reveal that radiation effects have a considerable impact on the heat transfer and would reduce the thermal buoyancy effects. Besides, the development of temperature is accelerated by the radiation effects.     

Natural convection heat transfer of non-Newtonian fluids in porous media from a vertical cone under mixed thermal boundary conditions

This work studies the problem of the steady natural convection boundary layer flow over a downward-pointing vertical cone in porous media saturated with non-Newtonian power-law fluids under mixed thermal boundary conditions. A similarity analysis is performed, and the obtained similar equations are solved by cubic spline collocation method. The effects of the power-law viscosity index and the similarity exponent on the heat transfer characteristics under mixed thermal boundary conditions have been studied. Under mixed thermal boundary conditions, both the surface heat flux and the surface temperature are found to decrease when the power-law viscosity index of the non-Newtonian power-law fluid in porous media is increased. Moreover, an increase in the similarity exponent tends to increase the boundary layer thickness and thus decreases the surface heat flux under mixed thermal conditions. The generalized governing equations derived in this work can be applied to the cases of prescribed surface temperature and prescribed heat flux.     

Mixed convection heat transfer in inclined rectangular ducts with radiation effects

A numerical study was carried out to investigate the radiation effect on the characteristics of the mixed convection fluid flow and heat transfer in inclined ducts. The three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations and energy equation are solved simultaneously with the vorticity–velocity method. The integro-differential radiative transfer equation was solved by the discrete ordinates method. The effects of the thermal buoyancy and the radiative transfer on the distributions of the bulk fluid temperature, the friction factor and the Nusselt number are emphasized in detail. Results indicate that radiation effects have a considerable impact on the heat transfer and tend to reduce the thermal buoyancy effects. In addition, the development of the bulk fluid temperature is enhanced by the radiation effects.     

Performance analysis and parametric study of thermal energy storage in an aquifer coupled with a heat pump and solar collectors,for a residential complex in Tehran,Iran

Aquifers are underground porous formations containing water. Confined aquifers are the formations surrounded by two impermeable layers, called cap rocks and bed rocks. These aquifers are suitable for seasonal thermal energy storage.In the present study, a confined aquifer was considered to meet the cooling and heating energy needs of a residential complex located in Tehran, Iran. Three different alternatives were analyzed in this aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), including: using ATES for cooling alone, for cooling and heating, as a heat pump, and for heating alone, employing flat plate solar energy collectors. A numerical simulation, based on the finite difference method, was carried out for velocity and temperature distributions as well as the heat transfer in the aquifer. The thermal energy recovery factor and the annual coefficient of performance of the system were determined under various schemes of operation, revealing that the combination of the ATES with the heat pump, to meet both cooling and heating needs of the complex, is the best. The study was repeated for different aquifer properties.     

Adaptive-Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System Analysis to Predict the Temperature and Flow Fields in a Lid-Driven Cavity

Heat transfer behavior in a 2-D square lid-driven cavity has been studied for various pertinent Reynolds and Rayleigh numbers. The lattice Boltzmann method, a numerical tool based on the particle distribution function is applied to simulate a thermal fluid flow problem. Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) is combined with the double population thermal Lattice Boltzmann model to solve mixed convection in a square cavity. An adaptive-network-based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) method is trained and validated using BGK Lattice Boltzmann model results. The results show that the trained ANFIS model successfully predicts the temperature and flow fields in a few seconds with acceptable accuracy.     

建立余热回收中纳米工质的导热系数预测模型

采用两步法制备质量分数为1%的Cu/Al2O3-H2O/EG混合纳米流体。首先,研究其导热系数随温度和基液混合比的变化情况。然后,根据多项式回归理论建立Cu/Al2O3-H2O/EG混合纳米流体的导热系数预测模型。实验结果表明,纳米流体的稳定性随乙二醇含量的增大而增强,由于不同种类粒子间的分子吸附力不同,导致相同种类粒子容易结合形成团聚体,而Cu粒子与Al2O3粒子的团聚体则较少。导热系数随着温度的升高非线性升高,随基液中水含量的增大而下降。根据实验数据,拟合了导热系数与温度及基液混合比的多项式预测模型,回归系数R2达0. 998,精度较高可以很好地预测Cu/Al2O3-H2O/EG混合纳米流体的导热系数。该模型可以指导工程应用。     

Temperature front progression associated with a geothermal well doublet: a numerical study

The temperature front progression associated with a geothermal well doublet is studied using aquifer parameters which are appropriate for an area of west-central Alberta for which investigations of the temperature regime and formation properties have been under way at the University of Alberta. The distance from the injection well to which the injection fluid disturbs the ambient aquifer temperature as a function of time is investigated for different flow rates, aquifer thicknesses and separations between the wells. It is found that breakthrough time to the producing well depends on all these parameters, and for relatively small aquifer thicknesses or short distances between wells there is evidence of premature breakthrough by a “finger” of fluid. The results should prove to be an important guide for practical designs.     

Chemically reacting mixed convective Casson fluid flow in the presence of MHD and porous medium through group theoretical analysis

This paper explores the consequences of chemically reacting magnetohydrodynamic mixed convective fluid substances driven by the porous medium, slippery, incompressible, and laminar vertical channel flow. Casson fluid model in a vertical channel is strengthened with mixed convection flow. The effects of the heat source-sink parameter, the suction-injection parameter, slips on the slide wall, and thermal radiation are also considered. A Lie group method is taken into consideration and nonlinear partial differential equations are converted into nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODEs). The NDSolve command solves these ODEs and shows the action of the related parameters in the velocity, temperature, and concentration figures. The Casson fluid parameter increases the velocity profile but reduces the concentration profile. The parameter of suction-injection enhances the velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles. The variations in skin-friction coefficient in the heat and mass transfer rate are addressed in the diagrams. Moreover, streamlines are plotted for suction-injection parameter.     

Numerical analysis of transient mixed convection flow in storage tank: influence of fluid properties and aspect ratios on stratification

Sensible heat storage in fluids generates thermal stratification. In order to improve thermodynamic system efficiency, stratification should be promoted much more. To this scope, this article presents a numerical study of transient mixed convection. The study investigates the use of different fluids as a heat storage medium in cylindrical cavities with different aspect ratios. The effect of the fluids is made through the variation of physical properties represented through the Prandtl number. The system consists of a cavity with fluid injection at the top and fluid discharge at the bottom. Transient, two-dimensional, mixed convection flows in a thermal storage tank have been studied using finite volume method. The governing equations are the conservation equations for laminar natural convection flow based on the Boussinesq approximation. Forced convection flow is superimposed through the use of appropriate boundary conditions (inflow and outflow conditions). The study considers three representative fluids i.e. Torada oil, ethylene glycol and water. It considers also cavities with aspect ratios varying from 3 to 1/3. Flow analysis is made through typical transient temperature distributions for the three fluids and for different configurations. The performances of thermal energy storage using these fluids are analyzed through the transient thermal storage efficiency.     

Effects of variable thermophysical properties on mixed convection slip flow over a wedge

This paper reveals the characteristics of mixed convection slip flow of an electrically conducting fluid over a wedge subject to temperature dependent viscosity and thermal conductivity variations. The system of dimensionless nonsimilar governing equations has been solved by an implicit finite difference method. We also use stream‐function formulation to reduce the governing equations into a convenient form, which are valid for small and large time regimes. These are solved employing the perturbation method for small time and the asymptotic method for large time. Numerical solutions yield a good agreement with the series solutions. Because of the increase in the mixed convection parameter, the peak of the velocity profile increases whereas the maximum temperature decreases. In contrast, the local skin‐friction coefficient and local Nusselt number are found to increase with the mixed convection parameter. For higher values of the velocity slip and temperature jump conditions, the local skin‐friction coefficient and the local Nusselt number are found to increase. The viscosity parameter enhances the local skin friction and the local Nusselt number. But the converse characteristic is observed for the thermal conductivity parameter. The results could be used in microelectromechanical systems, fabrication, melting of polymers, polishing of artificial heart valves, etc.     

Effect of thermal radiation on unsteady mixed convection flow and heat transfer over a porous stretching surface in porous medium

An analysis is performed to investigate the effects of thermal radiation on unsteady boundary layer mixed convection heat transfer problem from a vertical porous stretching surface embedded in porous medium. The fluid is assumed to be viscous and incompressible. Numerical computations are carried out for different values of the parameters involved in this study and the analysis of the results obtained shows that the flow field is influenced appreciably by the unsteadiness parameter, mixed convection parameter, parameter of the porous medium and thermal radiation and suction at wall surface. With increasing values of the unsteadiness parameter, fluid velocity and temperature are found to decrease in both cases of porous and non-porous media. Fluid velocity decreases due to increasing values of the parameter of the porous medium resulting an increase in the temperature field in steady as well as unsteady case.     

Analysis of couple stress nanofluid flow under convective condition in the temperature-dependent fluid properties and Lorentz forces

In recent years, a great deal of interest has been generated in modern micro- and nanotechnologies for micro/nano-electronic devices. These technologies are increasingly utilizing sophisticated fluid media to enhance performance. Among the new trends is the simultaneous adoption of nanofluids and biological micro-organisms. Motivated by bio-nanofluid vertical channel oxygenators in medical engineering, in the current work, a mathematical model is developed to examine the flow of mixed convective couple-stress nanofluids in a vertical channel with a transverse magnetic field, fluid viscosity that changes with temperature, and thermal conductivity. The non-Newtonian model follows Brownian motion and heat spread by nanoparticles in a fluid under coupled stress. Highly linked, nonlinear regulating equations are translated into nondimensional equations using relevant variables. The governing equations are then turned into a form with no dimensions. The Keller-box technique, a second-order finite difference method for solving second-order equations, is used to solve them numerically. On the other hand, the effects of different non-Newtonian flow parameters, such as the couple stress fluid parameter, the magnetic parameter, the variable fluid viscosity, the variable thermal conductivity parameters, the Brinkman number, the nanofluid and buoyancy parameters, and the rate of chemical reaction parameter, are carefully studied. The velocity, temperature, and concentration fields are calculated over a wide range of possible values for the relevant parameters.     

Laminar conjugate mixed convection in a vertical channel with heat generating components

Conjugate mixed convection arising from protruding heat generating ribs attached to substrates (printed circuit boards) forming channel walls is numerically studied. The substrates with ribs form a series of vertical parallel plate channels. Assuming identical disposition and heat generation of the ribs on each board, a channel with periodic boundary conditions in the transverse direction is considered for analysis. The governing equations are discretised using a control volume approach on a staggered mesh and a pressure correction method is employed for the pressure–velocity coupling. The solid regions are considered as fluid regions with infinite viscosity and the thermal coupling between the solid and fluid regions is taken into account by the harmonic thermal conductivity method. Parametric studies are performed by varying the heat generation based Grashof number in the range 10⁴–10⁷ and the fan velocity based Reynolds number in the range 0–1500, with air as the working medium. Results are obtained for the velocity and temperature distributions, natural convection induced mass flow rate through the channel, the maximum temperatures in the heat sources and the local Nusselt numbers. The natural convection induced mass flow rate in mixed convection is correlated in terms of the Grashof and Reynolds numbers. In pure natural convection the induced mass flow rate varies as 0.44 power of Grashof number. The maximum dimensionless temperature is correlated in terms of pure natural convection and forced convection inlet velocity asymptotes. For the parameter values considered, the heat transferred to the working fluid via substrate heat conduction is found to account for 41–47% of the heat removal from the ribs.     

Second law analysis in radiative mixed convective squeezing flow of Casson fluid between parallel disks with Soret and Dufour effects

The present communication deals the entropy generation by cause of heat and mass transform in an unsteady mixed convective radiative squeezing flow of a Casson fluid confined between two parallel disks in the presence of diffusion‐thermo and thermal‐diffusion effects and temperature jump. The lower disk is taken to be porous and the upper one is impermeable. The governing PDE is converted as nonlinear ordinary differential equations (ODE) by using well‐established similarity transformations; then, the reduced nonlinear ODE are solved by shooting method with Runge‐Kutta fourth‐order approach. The influence of distinct nondimensional fluid and geometric‐related parameters on the velocity profiles, temperature, concentration, entropy generation number, and Bejan number are studied in detail and represented in the form of graphs. The entropy of the Casson fluid is increased with the Eckert number, whereas the concentration profile is decreased by squeezing Reynolds number. The current results are correlated with existing results for the viscous case and found to be in better agreement.     

Hydrogeochemistry and geothermometry of Changal thermal springs,Zagros region,Iran

This study addresses the hydrogeochemistry of thermal springs that emerge from the Asmari limestone in a gorge at Changal Anticline in the vicinity of the Salman-Farsi dam. The Changal thermal springs vary in temperature between 28 and 40 °C. Chemical and isotopic compositions of the thermal waters suggest two distinct hydrogeological systems: a deep, moderate-temperature (∼40 °C) geothermal system recharged by deeply circulating meteoric waters, and a shallow cold aquifer system related to local groundwater. The source geothermal fluid temperature was calculated using different geothermometers and mineral saturation indexes. Based on chemical and isotopic data, it is hypothesized that: (1) mixing occurs between the ascending geothermal water and shallow cold water; (2) the resulting thermal waters reaching surface are a mixture of 80% local, shallow meteoric water and 20% geothermal water; and (3) the circulation depth of the meteoric water is about 1500 m. The thermal reservoir temperature is estimated to be between 70 and 80 °C according to calculations using different geothermometers and computation of saturation indices for different solid phases.     

Exploration of thermal Péclet number,vortex viscosity,and Reynolds number on two-dimensional flow of micropolar fluid through a channel due to mixed convection

The present theoretical investigation is conducted on a micropolar fluid medium channel in the presence of mixed and nonlinear convection with the assumptions of thermal radiation and species reactive agents. The nonlinear governing equations, which describe the micropolar fluid flow and energy, are converted into ordinary differential equations using appropriate similarity variables. With the Runge–Kutta–Fehlberg method, the resultant equations are numerically solved. The physical characteristics of flow restrictions over velocity, microrotation, energy, and concentration profile are plotted and discussed. Further, the impact of several dimensionless parameters on Nusselt and Sherwood numbers is investigated and depicted graphically. In addition to observing flow patterns, contour plots of streamlines are plotted and discussed. It is demonstrated that the dimensionless velocity, temperature, and concentration of micropolar fluid have a maximum value at the center of the channel. However, the microrotation velocity of the micropolar fluid has both maxima and minima. The thermal and solutal properties of micropolar fluid influence heat and mass transport rates, that is, mixed convection and buoyancy parameter boost up the local heat transfer at the surface. Finally, Péclet number and chemically reactive parameters boost up the local mass transfer at the surface.     

Influence of water recharge on heat transfer in a semi-infinite aquifer

A simple model is proposed for the temperature field within an unconfined semi-infinite thick aquifer, with groundwater flowing parallel to the terrestrial heat flow in the recharge zone, and perpendicular to heat flow in the other parts of the aquifer. The results enable evaluation of the extent of the influence of the recharge zone, once the thermal and hydrological parameters are known. Beyond this zone, where thermal equilibrium between water and rock is reached, water temperature reaches the constant highest value, and water movement cannot be revealed by temperature measurements. Moreover, over,on the basis of the range of influence of the recharge zone, the regional water pore velocity can be inferred.     

Simulation Studies on Buoyancy-Aided Conjugate Mixed Convection With Radiation From a Vertical Plate With Multiple Nonidentical Heat Sources

This paper documents certain salient results of the simulation studies performed on conjugate mixed convection with surface radiation from a vertical electronic board equipped with multiple nonidentical flush-mounted discrete heat sources. Air that is assumed to be radiatively transparent with constant thermophysical properties subjected to the Boussinesq approximation is considered to be the cooling agent. The governing fluid flow and heat transfer equations without the boundary-layer approximations are initially transformed into vorticity-stream function form and are later appropriately normalized. The resulting equations, along with pertinent boundary conditions, are subsequently solved using a finite-volume-based finite-difference method coupled with Gauss–Seidel iterative technique. An extended computational domain has been used to capture the fluid flow and heat transfer adequately employing optimum combination of finer and coarser grids. A computer code is specifically written for the job. Effects of modified Richardson number, surface emissivity, and thermal conductivity on local temperature distribution, peak board temperature, and contributions of mixed convection and radiation in heat dissipation have been clearly elucidated. Two correlations that help in calculation of maximum and average nondimensional plate temperatures have also been developed.     

Hydrogeochemistry and geothermometry of thermal groundwaters from the Birdsville Track Ridge, Great Artesian Basin, South Australia

The hydrogeochemistry of thermal artesian groundwaters flowing from 12 stock bores along the Birdsville Track Ridge in northeast South Australia has been examined. The Na-HCO3-Cl type groundwater composition has provided a basis for the application of chemical geothermometers to estimating aquifer temperatures and has allowed comparisons of various silica and cation geothermometers. Aquifer and bore penetration depth decrease between Birdsville and Marree from 1220 m to 170 m. A corresponding decrease in measured emergence temperature is also observed (94–31 °C). Chalcedony geotemperature estimates ranging from 110 °C to 41 °C between Birdsville and Marree are considered the most accurate of the various geothermometers tested. Log(Q/K) versus T diagrams have also been evaluated to determine likely aquifer mineral assemblages and reservoir temperatures (111–39 °C). The Birdsville Track Ridge acts as a conduit for low salinity groundwater (total dissolved solids range from 640 mg/l at Birdsville to 1900 mg/l at Marree) in the Great Artesian Basin. Old, slowly migrating groundwater from the deeper basins on either side of the ridge is characterised by higher emergence temperature and higher total dissolved solids. This old groundwater is inferred to have mixed with the younger, lower temperature, lower salinity groundwater that is migrating relatively rapidly along the Birdsville Track Ridge axis. Since the various geothermometers provide distinct types of information, evidence for the mixing is provided by the interpretation of the different temperature estimates. Silica equilibration temperatures reflect aquifer temperatures along the ridge axis, whereas cation geotemperatures partly preserve higher temperatures from the deeper, flanking basins. This study demonstrates how the thermal regime and hydrodynamics of an area can be characterised using a sparse dataset, thus representing a novel and effective methodology for regions anomalous to this central Australian example.