Solar thermal modelling of a non-airconditioned building: Evaluation of overall heat flux

This paper presents an investigation of the thermal behaviour of a non-airconditioned building with walls/roof being exposed to periodic solar radiation and atmospheric air while the inside air temperature is controlled by an isothermal mass, window and door in the walls of the room. The effects of air ventilation and infiltration, the heat capacities of the isothermal storage mass inside air and walls/roof, heat loss into the ground, and the presence/absence of the window/door have been incorporated in the realistic time dependent periodic heat transfer analysis to evaluate the overall heat flux coming into the room and the inside air temperature. A numerical computer model using typical weather data for Delhi has been made to appreciate the analytical results quantitatively. It is found that the heat fluxes through different walls have different magnitudes and phase lags w.r.t. the corresponding solair temperatures. The overall heat flux coming into the room as well as the room air temperature are sensitive functions of the number of air changes per hour, closing/opening of the window and the door ventilation. The effects of the heat capacity of the isothermal mass and the basement ground are found to reduce the inside air temperature swing and the presence of a window is found to increase the inside air temperature even when the window area is much smaller than the wall/roof area. The model presented would be an aid to a building architect for good thermal design of non-airconditioned buildings.     

Synergetic effects of radiolytically degraded PTFE microparticles and organoclay in PTFE-reinforced ethylene vinyl acetate composites

This article reports exceptional synergistic effects observed in organic–inorganic dual filler containing ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) composites. Polytetrafluoroethylene microparticles (PTFEMP) were produced by mechanically grinding radiolytically degraded PTFE; composites of EVA containing PTFEMP and organoclay were prepared in different proportions by melt compounding and their mechanical, melt flow, morphological and crystallographic characteristics were examined. Mechanical properties of ternary composites demonstrated high synergy between fillers, leading to manifold increase in the modulus of dual filler filled composites in comparison to single filler systems. Nielsen model fitted well with EVA/PTFEMP system; however it predicted remarkably low values for EVA/PTFEMP/organoclay system, confirming exceptional synergy between two fillers. Melt viscosity of EVA increased substantially on the addition of either of the fillers. X-ray diffraction studies revealed around 10% intergallery expansion in organoclay, in the composites having high loading of PTFEMP; though the crystallinity of EVA did not change.     

Periodic heat transfer in sunlit moist ground: Evaluation of rates of moisture evaporation

This paper present an analysis of the periodic heat transfer in moist ground exposed to periodic solar radiation and atmospheric temperature. This analysis yields a novel method for the evaluation of daily/hourly moisture evaporation from the ground. It is found that in harsh climates a significant amount of moisture ( 4 lb/ft²/day) is evaporated from sunlit ground near the sea and in windy regions. The rate of moisture evaporation decreases with relative humidity and increases with wind speed.     

Thinning analysis for hot forming of single-piece hemispherical dish end using finite element simulation and its empirical modeling

Hot forming is an important forming method for production of small and medium sized single-piece pressure vessel dish ends. Thinning of the blank material with increased degree of forming is quite obvious. Present work shows finite element (FE) analysis of hot forming of single-piece hemispherical dish end (SPHDE) for predicting maximum thinning of blank during forming. Thinning analysis is performed for SPHDE of two different ferrous material grades SA-387 Gr22 and SA-516 as per ASME, Section II, Part A (2004). Percentage thinning results of FE analysis are verified with the practical material thinning data. Based on the thinning analysis, empirical relation for calculation of percentage thinning as a function of different dish ends′ geometry parameters is proposed. Empirically predicted percentage thinning is observed to be in good agreement with practical and FE simulation results. Thinning results obtained based on proposed FE simulation and empirical model can be helpful to design engineer in selecting thickness of developed blank considering thinning allowance for hot forming of SPHDE. Thinning analysis data can be used for optimizing the dish end geometrical parameters for minimum thinning during forming.     

Thermal resistance of nanoscopic liquid-liquid interfaces: dependence on chemistry and molecular architecture

Systems with nanoscopic features contain a high density of interfaces. Thermal transport in such systems can be governed by the resistance to heat transfer, the Kapitza resistance (RK), at the interface. Although soft interfaces, such as those between immiscible liquids or between a biomolecule and solvent, are ubiquitous, few studies of thermal transport at such interfaces have been reported. Here we characterize the interfacial conductance, 1/RK, of soft interfaces as a function of molecular architecture, chemistry, and the strength of cross-interfacial intermolecular interactions through detailed molecular dynamics simulations. The conductance of various interfaces studied here, for example, water-organic liquid, water-surfactant, surfactant-organic liquid, is relatively high (in the range of 65-370 MW/m2 K) compared to that for solid-liquid interfaces ( approximately 10 MW/m2 K). Interestingly, the dependence of interfacial conductance on the chemistry and molecular architecture cannot be explained solely in terms of either bulk property mismatch or the strength of intermolecular attraction between the two phases. The observed trends can be attributed to a combination of strong cross-interface intermolecular interactions and good thermal coupling via soft vibration modes present at liquid-liquid interfaces.     

Prediction of monthly-mean hourly relative humidity, ambient temperature, and wind velocity for India

This paper presents a procedure to predict monthly-mean hourly values of relative humidity, ambient temperature and wind velocity for an Indian location. Three maps, showing distribution of annual-average hourly values of humidity, temperature and wind velocities, are prepared from the analysis of available meteorological data of 205 Indian cities. An equation is obtained for annual-average temperature as a function of altitude of the location. Sets of equations are then developed to predict the said weather parameters by the least square regression analysis of the data of 14 cities, taken from different regions, out of 19 cities for which detailed weather data was available. A ratio of monthly-mean to the yearly-mean value of variable is correlated with month and then hourly to the monthly-mean value is correlated with day-hours. On comparison of the computed results with the measured data of the remaining 5 cities, yearly-average relative standard deviations are 14.6, 10.5 and 26.7% for monthly-mean hourly relative humidity, ambient temperature and wind velocities, respectively.     

Destruction of bacterial spores by phenomenally high efficiency non-contact ultrasonic transducers

Conventional wisdom stipulates that high power ultrasound without direct or indirect transducer contact with the medium to be treated is not possible. This seemingly correct notion is based upon two major hurdles: inefficient transmission of ultrasound from the piezoelectric material into air/gases and exorbitant attenuation of ultrasound by gases. The latter is a natural phenomenon about which nothing can be done, and the former requires an un-conventional approach to transducer design. After many years of R& D in this area, we have finally succeeded in producing transducers that generate immense acoustic pressure in air in the frequency range of ∼50 kHz→10 MHz. By using these transducers without any contact with the material, we demonstrate destruction of 99.9% of dried bacterial spore samples of a close relative of anthrax, Bacillus thuringiensis. Following further refinement of the transducers and the mechanism of their excitation, we anticipate that non-contact ultrasound will have numerous applications including inactivation of agents of bioterrorism and sterilization of medical and surgical equipment, food materials, and air-duct systems of buildings, airplanes, space stations, and others. Electronic Publication