Augmentation of boiling heat transfer from horizontal cylinder to liquid by movable particles

This paper presents a series of experimental results on a passive augmentation technique of boiling heat transfer by supplying solid particles in liquid. A cylindrical heater 0.88 mm in diameter is placed in saturated water, in which a lot of mobile particles exist, and the nucleate and film boiling heat transfer characteristics are measured. Particle materials used were alumina, glass, and porous alumina, and the diameter ranged from 0.3 mm to 2.5 mm. Particles are fluidized by the occurrence of boiling without any additive power, and the heat transfer is augmented. The maximum augmentation ratio obtained in this experiment reaches about ten times the heat transfer coefficient obtained in liquid alone. The augmentation ratio is mainly affected by the particle material, diameter, and the height of the particle bed set at no boiling condition. The augmentation mechanism is discussed on the basis of the experimental results. © 2001 Scripta Technica, Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(1): 28–41, 2002     

Breakdown characteristics of oil and paper insulation for a very fast transient voltage

This paper describes the dielectric breakdown characteristics of oil and oil‐impregnated paper for very fast transient (VFT) voltages. Blumlein circuits generate VFT voltages of 60 and 300 ns in a pulse width that simulates disconnecting switching surges in gas‐insulated switch gears. We measured the breakdown voltages of needle‐to‐plane, plane‐to‐plane oil gaps and several pieces of paper between plane electrodes for VFT and lightning impulse voltages. The measured data were formulated in V‐t characteristics and Weibull probability distributions. The inclination n of V‐t characteristics of insulating paper is 150, which is less than n = 13.7 of the plane‐to‐plane oil gap in the VFT time range. The shape parameters of Weibull distribution obtained in this study show that the scattering of breakdown voltages of paper is much less than that of oil. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 141(4): 16–24, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10043     

Phase diagrams calculated for Fe-rich Fe-Si-Co and Fe-Si-Al ordering alloy systems

Theoretical analysis based on the calculation of phase diagrams was employed for Fe-Si-Co and Fe-Si-Al ordering systems to clarify the necessity for the occurrence of phase separation in Fe-base ternary ordering systems. The free energy of Fe-base ternary ordering alloys where B2 and D0₃ ordered structures are formed is evaluated statistically using a pairwise interaction approximation up to second nearest neighbours, taking into account not only the atomic interaction but also the magnetic interaction, based on the Bragg-Williams-Gorsky model. The calculated phase diagrams are consistent with the experimentally obtained ones. The phase diagram calculation in this work is useful to predict the equilibrium states of the ternary ordering systems. The phase separation in ordering alloys is caused by the contribution of excess free energies due to ordering. The influences of ferromagnetism on the two-phase regions are also demonstrated.     

Heat transfer enhancement by Marangoni convection in the NH3–H2O absorption process

The objectives of this paper are to quantify the effect of Marangini convection on the absorption performance for the ammonia–water absorption process, and to visualize Marangoni convection that is induced by adding a heat transfer additive, n-octanol. A real-time single-wavelength holographic interferometer is used for the visualization using a He–Ne gas laser. The interface temperature is always the highest due to the absorption heat release near the interface. It was found that the thermal boundary layer (TBL) increased faster than the diffusion boundary layer (DBL), and the DBL thickness increased by adding the heat transfer additive. At 5 s after absorption started, the DBL thickness for 5 mass% NH₃ without and with the heat transfer additive was 3.0 and 4.5 mm, respectively. Marangoni convection was observed near the interface only in the cases with heat transfer additive. The Marangoni convection was very strong just after the absorption started and it weakened as time elapsed. It was concluded that the absorption performance could be improved by increasing the absorption driving potential (x_vb−x_vi) and by increasing the heat transfer additive concentration. The absorption heat transfer was enhanced as high as 3.0–4.6 times by adding the heat transfer additive that generated Marangoni convection.     

Improvement of levitation characteristics in a magnetic bearing system using HTSC‐permanent magnet hybrid structure

Magnetic bearing using pinning force of a permanent magnet and a high‐temperature superconductor has been developed. Additional permanent magnet is introduced to increase the levitation force of the magnetic bearing. In this hybrid magnetic bearing system, levitation force is mainly given by the repulsive force of the permanent magnets, and stability for the lateral direction is given by pinning force of the superconductor. The experimental device is developed. A ring‐type superconductor and a bulk one are examined. Levitation characteristics of the hybrid magnetic bearing are measured. The bulk superconductor shows better characteristics of both levitation and lateral stability than the ring one. Levitation force of the hybrid system becomes about twice as large as that of the nonhybrid one. Although, the repulsive force of the permanent magnet decreases the lateral stability of the system, its influence becomes small by choosing an adequate position of the permanent magnets and the superconductor. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 150(1): 71–77, 2005; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/eej.10350     

Effect of Pressure on Intermediate Valence States in Cerium Kondo Compounds

Electrical resistance, thermal expansion, lattice constants of the intermediate valence materials, α-Ce and CeBe13, were measured at high pressure. It is found that the Grttneisen parameters of Kondo temperature TK are 13 and 42 for α-Ce and CeBe13, respectively, and it decreases with increasing pressure. The magnetoresistance of α-Ce shows H^2 dependence and its coefficient increases with pressure below 1 GPa, but becomes nearly constant above 1 GPa. The results indicate that the intermediate valence states are enhanced at high pressure indicating the enhancement of hybridization between the 4f electron and conduction band.     

Sensors for the food industry

This article presents an overview of the results of a five-year research project on sensors for the food industry in Japan. This project was a government-sponsered research programme involving the food industry and the instrumentation industry, coordinated by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The programme focussed on 17 food processing operations and quality control tasks, where the need for an on-line (or rapid at-line) measurement had been established. The instrument development work employed biosensors pH and gas sensors, optical-imaging devices, as well as near-infrared, microwave, ultrasound and mechanical resonance techniques, together with robotics and advanced data-processing techniques.     

Superconductivity in W-containing diamond-like nanocomposite films

Superconductivity in a tungsten-containing carbon-oxide film was reported. The film with 500 nm thickness was deposited onto polycrystalline silicon oxides using chemical vapor deposition and the co-sputtering of a tungsten metal target. The bonding state of the carbon atoms and the macroscopic and microscopic crystal structure of the film were investigated by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy measurements. From the experimental results, we determined that this film essentially had an amorphous structure. The temperature dependence on resistivity was measured in the temperature range of 2–300 K. Resistive superconducting transition was observed at 3.8 K. The dc magnetizations were measured in the temperature range of 1.8–6.5 K. The diamagnetism resulting from a superconductive state was observed below 3.75 K, which is consistent with a resistive superconducting transition. It is thought that the finite sized clusters of the different superconductive transition temperatures cooperatively produce a macroscopic superconducting phenomenon.