Analysis of Multiphase Flow and Heat Transfer: Pressure Buildup in an Unsaturated Porous Slab Exposed to Hot Gas

This study develops a mathematical model for coupled heat and mass transfer in an unsaturated porous slab exposed to a flowing hot gas. Effects of the initial saturation conditions on associated variables, i.e., total pressure, temperature, moisture content, and multiphase flow, are studied. The Newton-Raphson method based on a finite volume technique is applied. This study emphasizes the influence of initial saturation level and gravitational effect in heat and multiphase flow phenomena associated with this system. Gravity enhances the downward flow of liquid within the porous slab. Pressure buildup occurs near the interface between the wet and the dry zone. However, it appears that the order of magnitude to the total pressure is small. This study explains the fundamental mechanism of multiphase flow that involves heat and mass transfer in a heated unsaturated porous slab.     

Analysis of Multiphase Flow and Heat Transfer: Pressure Buildup in an Unsaturated Porous Slab Exposed to Hot Gas

This study develops a mathematical model for coupled heat and mass transfer in an unsaturated porous slab exposed to a flowing hot gas. Effects of the initial saturation conditions on associated variables, i.e., total pressure, temperature, moisture content, and multiphase flow, are studied. The Newton-Raphson method based on a finite volume technique is applied. This study emphasizes the influence of initial saturation level and gravitational effect in heat and multiphase flow phenomena associated with this system. Gravity enhances the downward flow of liquid within the porous slab. Pressure buildup occurs near the interface between the wet and the dry zone. However, it appears that the order of magnitude to the total pressure is small. This study explains the fundamental mechanism of multiphase flow that involves heat and mass transfer in a heated unsaturated porous slab.     

Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Microwave Heating of Water and Oil Using a Rectangular Wave Guide: Influence of Sample Sizes, Positions, and Microwave Power

The heating process of water and oil using microwave oven with rectangular wave guide is investigated numerically and experimentally. The numerical model is validated with an experimental study. The transient Maxwell’s equations are solved by using the finite difference time domain method to describe the electromagnetic field in the wave guide and sample. The temperature profiles and velocity field within sample are determined by the solution of the momentum, energy, and Maxwell’s equations. In this study, the effects of physical parameters, e.g., microwave power, the position of sample in wave guide, size, and thickness of sample, are studied. The results of distribution of electric field, temperature profiles, and velocity field are presented in details. The results show that the mathematical models are in agreement with the experimental data. Conclusively, the mathematical model presented in this study correctly explains the phenomena of microwave heating within the liquid layer.     

Adaptation of CDMA Soft Handoff Thresholds Using Fuzzy Inference System

This paper proposes a new procedure to adjust soft handoff thresholds dynamically by using fuzzy inference system. This algorithm is compared with IS-95A and IS-95B/cdma2000 soft handoffs. The aims are to increase the thresholds at high traffic loads in order to release the traffic channel for supporting more carried traffic, and to decrease the thresholds at low traffic loads in order to give high quality of traffic channel. The inputs of the proposed algorithm are the number of remaining channels of each base station and the number of active pilots in active set of each mobile station. The output is the new soft handoff thresholds. In the fuzzy inference module, the triangular membership function, the max-min composition, and the weighted average formula defuzzification are selected. By comparison of all performance indicators among three algorithms, soft handoff using fuzzy inference tends to give higher performance than those of IS-95A and IS-95B/cdma2000 soft handoffs at high traffic loads and at lower soft handoff thresholds while the quality of traffic channel is still acceptable. Moreover, the wider soft handoff window size of the proposed algorithm gives high carried traffic and low blocking probability but lower quality of traffic channels. In addition, the adaptive soft handoff window size can give lower blocking probability while still keep acceptable quality of traffic channels.     

Effect of supplementation of garlic powder on rumen ecology and digestibility of nutrients in ruminants

BACKGROUND: The present study investigated the effect of garlic powder (GAP) supplementation on rumen fermentation pattern, nutrient digestibility and intake in ruminants fed on straw as a roughage source. RESULTS: Dry matter intake and apparent digestibility of nutrients were similar among treatments. The apparent digestibility of crude protein tended to be higher in cattle supplemented with GAP compared to those fed without GAP (P = 0.08). Ruminal populations of protozoa and bacteria were decreased, as influenced by GAP supplementation. Ruminal pH and NH₃‐N were similar among treatments, while blood urea nitrogen tended to be decreased (P < 0.05). Total volatile fatty acids (VFAs) were not affected by GAP supplementation but individual VFAs were significantly different (P < 0.05), especially C3; meanwhile, C2:C3 ratio was reduced by GAP supplementation (P < 0.05). In addition, N balances were significantly increased as level of GAP supplementation increased and was highest at 120 g d^?1 GAP. CONCLUSION: Results of this study suggest that feeding of GAP at 80 g d^?1 with urea‐treated rice straw could enhance ruminal propionate production and thus lower C2:C3 ratio, decreasing the protozoal population, as well as increasing N retention and absorption in ruminants. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of diameter ratio of adiabatic circular cylinder and tilt angle on natural convection from a square open tilted cavity

A numerical analysis is carried out to study the performance of natural convection inside a square open tilted cavity filled with air. An adiabatic circular solid cylinder is placed at the center of the cavity and the sidewall in front of the breathing space is heated by a constant heat flux. The top and bottom walls are kept at the ambient constant temperature. Two‐dimensional forms of Navier–Stokes equations along with the energy equations are solved using the Galerkin finite element method. Results are obtained for a range of Grashof numbers from 10³ to 10⁶ at Pr = 0.71 while the tilt angle varies from 0 to 45° and the diameter ratio of the cylinder is considered to be 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4 with constant physical properties. The parametric studies for a wide range of cylinder diameter ratios and cavity tilt angles show significant features of the present problem in terms of stream functions and temperature profiles. The computational results indicate that the heat transfer coefficient is strongly influenced by the above governing parameters. It is also found that the average Nusselt number decreases when the diameter ratio increases. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21001     

Numerical investigation of turbulent non-premixed combustion of a wood pyrolysis gas

A fully compressible database of turbulent non-premixed flames of a wood pyrolysis gas is developed by means of direct numerical simulation (DNS). A reduced kinetic mechanism is used to model the combustion of a pyrolysis gas-air mixture. The instantaneous flame surface density evolution equation based on the concept of a displacement speed is examined. The normal component of the displacement speed is nearly constant with respect to curvature, while the curvature-related component tries to restore the flame front to a planar shape. The strain-rate term is mainly a source as the flame is mostly extended. The normal displacement is responsible for both positive and negative contributions to the flame area. The displacement/curvature term is primarily a sink, since it is dominated by its curvature component. Effects of strain and curvature are analyzed by considering their correlations with reaction rates. Reaction rates are enhanced with increased positive strain rates owing to an increase in the flame surface area and to a decrease in curvature. The analyzed results aid in the development of turbulent combustion models. Finally, a new model for a mean variance of the scalar dissipation rate, based on a scale similarity approach, is proposed and examined. A comparison with DNS results shows that the proposed model provides a significant improvement over existing models. __________ Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 15–34, May–June, 2007.     

A die rotating system for moderations of extrusion load and pressure drop profiles for molten PP and wood/polypropylene composites in extrusion processes

A die‐rotating system was proposed in this work for moderations of extrusion forces and entrance pressure drop for molten polypropylene (PP) and wood/polypropylene (WPP) composites in a capillary rheometer and a single screw extruder. The effects of processing conditions and wood loading in PP were of our interests. The extrusion force and entrance pressure drop with and without the die rotating system were monitored in real‐time. This was the first time that the die‐rotating system was used for processing of highly viscous wood/polymer composite materials. It was found that the flow properties of the molten PP and WPP composites obeyed pseudoplastic non‐Newtonian behavior. The behavior was more obvious at wood contents of above 6 wt % and in the capillary rheometer. The rotation of the die could moderate the extrusion load by 60% and entrance pressure drop by 20% in the capillary rheometer, and the entrance pressure drop by 30% in the single screw extruder, especially at the conditions where the viscosities of the WPP and the extrusion rate were high. Greater fluctuations in entrance pressure drop caused by die rotation were observed in the single screw extruder. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 120:1006–1016, 2011     

Microwave heating of saturated packed bed using a rectangular waveguide (TE10 mode): Influence of particle size,sample dimension,frequency, and placement inside the guide

This paper presents the numerical and experimental analysis of microwave heating in a saturated packed bed by using a rectangular waveguide (TE₁₀ mode). A complete mathematical model is proposed, which uses comprehensive two-dimensional energy and momentum equations to describe unsteady temperature and flow fields, coupled with a complete solution of the transient Maxwell’s equations in time domain. The influences of particle size, sample dimension, placement inside the guide, and frequency on heat transfer and flow patter are studied. The simulation results are in good agreement with experimental data. Flow pattern strongly depends on the bead size and thermal efficiency of the sample changes with sample size and frequency. Furthermore, the middle placed inside the guide aids in uniform heating.     

An optimum virtual paths network-based atm network using the genetic algorithm

In this article, we propose the use of the Genetic Algorithm (GA) to optimize a Virtual Paths (VPs) network and describe a simple coding technique. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.