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At least 307 records · Page 17

Methods for heat transfer and temperature field analysis of the insulated diesel

Work done during phase 1 of a three-year program aimed at developing a comprehensive heat transfer and thermal analysis methodology oriented specifically to the design requirements of insulated diesel engines is reported. The technology developed in this program makes possible a quantitative analysis of the low heat rejection concept. The program is comprehensive in that it addresses all the heat transfer issues that are critical to the successful development of the low heat rejection diesel engine: (1) in-cylinder convective and radiative heat transfer; (2) cyclic transient heat transfer in thin solid layers at component surfaces adjacent to the combustion chamber; and (3) steady-state heat conduction in the overall engine structure. The Integral Technologies, Inc. (ITI) program is comprised of a set of integrated analytical and experimental tasks. A detailed review of the ITI program approach is provided, including the technical issues which underlie it and a summay of the methods that were developed.

Morel, T.↗

The Effect of Core Configuration on Thermal Barrier Thermal Performance

Thermal barriers and seals are integral components in the thermal protection systems (TPS) of nearly all aerospace vehicles. They are used to minimize heat transfer through interfaces and gaps and protect underlying temperature-sensitive components. The core insulation has a significant impact on both the thermal and mechanical properties of compliant thermal barriers. Proper selection of an appropriate core configuration to mitigate conductive, convective and radiative heat transfer through the thermal barrier is challenging. Additionally, optimization of the thermal barrier for thermal performance may have counteracting effects on mechanical performance. Experimental evaluations have been conducted to better understand the effect of insulation density on permeability and leakage performance, which can significantly impact the resistance to convective heat transfer. The effect of core density on mechanical performance was also previously investigated and will be reviewed. Simple thermal models were also developed to determine the impact of various core parameters on downstream temperatures. An extended understanding of these factors can improve the ability to design and implement these critical TPS components.

flow tests↗

Validation of the SINDA/FLUINT code using several analytical solutions

The Systems Improved Numerical Differencing Analyzer and Fluid Integrator (SINDA/FLUINT) code has often been used to determine the transient and steady-state response of various thermal and fluid flow networks. While this code is an often used design and analysis tool, the validation of this program has been limited to a few simple studies. For the current study, the SINDA/FLUINT code was compared to four different analytical solutions. The thermal analyzer portion of the code (conduction and radiative heat transfer, SINDA portion) was first compared to two separate solutions. The first comparison examined a semi-infinite slab with a periodic surface temperature boundary condition. Next, a small, uniform temperature object (lumped capacitance) was allowed to radiate to a fixed temperature sink. The fluid portion of the code (FLUINT) was also compared to two different analytical solutions. The first study examined a tank filling process by an ideal gas in which there is both control volume work and heat transfer. The final comparison considered the flow in a pipe joining two infinite reservoirs of pressure. The results of all these studies showed that for the situations examined here, the SINDA/FLUINT code was able to match the results of the analytical solutions.

Keller, John R.↗

Temperature and Radiative Heat Flux Measurements in Microgravity Jet Diffusion Flames

The objective of this project is to provide detailed measurements and modeling analyses of local soot concentration, temperature and radiation heat flux distributions in laminar and turbulent jet diffusion flames under normal (1-g) and reduced gravity (0-g) conditions. Results published to date by these co-PI's and their co-workers include: 1. thermophoretic sampling and size and morphological analyses of soot aggregates in laminar flames under normal and reduced gravity conditions; 2. full-field absorption imaging for soot volume fraction maps in laminar and turbulent flames under normal and reduced gravity conditions; 3. an accurate solver module for detailed radiation heat transfer in nongray nonhomogeneous media; 4. a complete model to include flame structure, soot formation and an energy equation to couple with radiation solver.

Ku, Jerry C.↗

Heat Transfer in High Temperature Multilayer Insulation

High temperature multilayer insulations have been investigated as an effective component of thermal-protection systems for atmospheric re-entry of reusable launch vehicles. Heat transfer in multilayer insulations consisting of thin, gold-coated, ceramic reflective foils and Saffil(TradeMark) fibrous insulation spacers was studied both numerically and experimentally. A finite volume numerical thermal model using combined conduction (gaseous and solid) and radiation in porous media was developed. A two-flux model with anisotropic scattering was used for radiation heat transfer in the fibrous insulation spacers between the reflective foils. The thermal model was validated by comparison with effective thermal conductivity measurements in an apparatus based on ASTM standard C201. Measurements were performed at environmental pressures in the range from 1x10(exp -4) to 760 torr over the temperature range from 300 to 1300 K. Four multilayer samples with nominal densities of 48 kg/cu m were tested. The first sample was 13.3 mm thick and had four evenly spaced reflective foils. The other three samples were 26.6 mm thick and utilized either one, two, or four reflective foils, located near the hot boundary with nominal foil spacing of 1.7 mm. The validated thermal model was then used to study relevant design parameters, such as reflective foil spacing and location in the stack-up and coating of one or both sides of foils.

Daryabeigi, Kamran↗

Effects of radiative heat loss on extinction limits of counterflow premixed ammonia-air flames

The effect of radiative heat loss on counterflow premixed ammonia-air flames has been investigated as a function of equivalence ratio and system pressure. Non-adiabatic counterflow premixed flame simulations incorporating detailed chemistry, transport, and radiative heat transfer in the optically thin limit have been employed to elucidate important underlying physics and extinction characteristics. Similar to methane-air flame systems, non-adiabatic counterflow premixed computations show that the combined effects of positive flame stretch, sub-unity Lewis number, and radiative heat loss lead to the extension of the lean flammability limit for ammonia-air flames, revealing a C-shaped curve near the lean flammability limit that exhibits both radiation-induced and stretch-induced extinction states. Here, the computations compare favorably with the experimentally determined extinction stretch rate values for the stretch-induced extinction states over a wide range of equivalence ratios at different pressures up to 5 atm. A novel feature sensitivity analysis has also been developed to highlight important sensitive reactions for the stretch- and radiation-induced extinction states. Furthermore, the controlling chemistry at the dual-extinction states and at varying pressures are compared and discussed.

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS↗

A model to separate conduction and radiation in high temperature laser flash measurements for semi-transparent materials

Laser flash analysis (LFA) is a widely used technique in the scientific and industrial communities for measuring the thermal diffusivity and conductivity of materials. However, traditional fitting methods based solely on heat conduction do not account for radiation heat transfer in transparent and semi-transparent materials, which becomes significant at high temperatures. In this study, we have developed a coupled radiation-conduction model that considers the optical properties of materials to accurately extract thermal diffusivity from LFA measurements. We conducted LFA measurements on fused silica glass samples of varying thicknesses and within the temperature range of 25 to 1000 °C and fitted the data with the model. Since the coupled model requires optical properties as input parameters, which are often unavailable for new materials, we have also proposed a modified transparent model. Compared to the coupled model, results from the modified transparent model generally overestimate thermal conductivity, but the errors are acceptable in silica glass with small thickness. Here, we also investigated the applicability of the modified transparent model with materials of different optical properties.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Investigation of Point-Contact Strategies for CFD Simulations of Pebble-Bed Reactor Cores

This study numerically investigated the effects of various contact strategies on the thermal hydraulic behavior within a structured bed of 100 explicitly modeled pebbles. Four contact strategies and two thermal hydraulic conditions were considered. The strategies to avoid contact singularities include decreasing the pebble diameter, increasing the pebble diameter, bridging the pebble surfaces near the contact region, and capping the pebble surfaces near the contact region. One strategy, Strategy 3a, which involves bridging with a cylinder equal to 10% of the pebble diameter, was selected as the baseline strategy because it addressed the contact singularity while minimizing the geometric changes that affect the bed porosity. The two thermal hydraulic conditions were full-power operation (Case 1) and pressurized loss of forced cooling or PLOFC (Case 2). Simulations of the conjugate heat transfer within the structured bed were performed using the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes approach with the realizable k-ϵ turbulence model and two-layer all y + wall treatment. The thermal-fluid quantities of interest were compared between the contact strategies for each case. In Case 1, the hydraulic behavior was sensitive to the contact strategy, with large differences in the pressure drop (30%) and volume-average velocity (4%). The thermal behavior was not sensitive, with less than a 0.5% difference across the strategies. To better understand the separate effects of each heat transfer mode, Case 2 was divided into the following subcases: conduction (Case 2a); conduction/radiation (Case 2b); and conduction/radiation/convection (Case 2c). Case 2a represents an early phase of the PLOFC transient. Case 2b represents an intermediate phase of the PLOFC transient, with the pebble temperatures sufficiently high for the radiative heat transfer to be non-negligible. Case 2c represents a late phase of the PLOFC transient after the establishment of the natural circulation of the heat transfer fluid. For Case 2, large differences in the contact strategy were observed only in Case 2a with only conduction. The difference in the maximum pebble temperature was 23% in Case 2a, 2% in Case 2b, and 0.3% in Case 2c.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗

Importance of real gas effects in entry technology

Critical issues concerning real gas effects in hypervelocity flows where the thermochemical nonequilibrium effects are pronounced, are described. Emphasis is on the development and validation of benchmark analysis tools. Approaches to develop and/or enhance phenomenological models, including test techniques to acquire databases, and incorporate them into computational flow field simulation codes are described. The performance characteristics of shock tubes, ballistic ranges and arc heated wind tunnels, state of the art diagnostics are included. The following aerothermodynamic phenomena are discussed: aerodynamic parameters, viscous interactions, turbulent transition, forebody heating/heat transfer, radiative heating, Lee-Base flows and low density real gas.

Deiwert, George S.↗

Numerical Modeling of Conjugate Heat Transfer in Fluid Network

Fluid network modeling with conjugate heat transfer has many applications in Aerospace engineering. In modeling unsteady flow with heat transfer, it is important to know the variation of wall temperature in time and space to calculate heat transfer between solid to fluid. Since wall temperature is a function of flow, a coupled analysis of temperature of solid and fluid is necessary. In cryogenic applications, modeling of conjugate heat transfer is of great importance to correctly predict boil-off rate in propellant tanks and chill down of transfer lines. In TFAWS 2003, the present author delivered a paper to describe a general-purpose computer program, GFSSP (Generalized Fluid System Simulation Program). GFSSP calculates flow distribution in complex flow circuit for compressible/incompressible, with or without heat transfer or phase change in all real fluids or mixtures. The flow circuit constitutes of fluid nodes and branches. The mass, energy and specie conservation equations are solved at the nodes where as momentum conservation equations are solved at the branches. The proposed paper describes the extension of GFSSP to model conjugate heat transfer. The network also includes solid nodes and conductors in addition to fluid nodes and branches. The energy conservation equations for solid nodes solves to determine the temperatures of the solid nodes simultaneously with all conservation equations governing fluid flow. The numerical scheme accounts for conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer. The paper will also describe the applications of the code to predict chill down of cryogenic transfer line and boil-off rate of cryogenic propellant storage tank.

Majumdar, Alok↗

Studies on nonequilibrium phenomena in supersonic chemically reacting flows

This study deals with a systematic investigation of nonequilibrium processes in supersonic combustion. The two-dimensional, elliptic Navier-Stokes equations are used to investigate supersonic flows with nonequilibrium chemistry and thermodynamics, coupled with radiation, for hydrogen-air systems. The explicit, unsplit MacCormack finite-difference scheme is used to advance the governing equations in time, until convergence is achieved. For a basic understanding of the flow physics, premixed flows undergoing finite rate chemical reactions are investigated. Results obtained for specific conditions indicate that the radiative interactions vary substantially, depending on reactions involving HO2 and NO species, and that this can have a noticeable influence on the flowfield. The second part of this study deals with premixed reacting flows under thermal nonequilibrium conditions. Here, the critical problem is coupling of the vibrational relaxation process with the radiative heat transfer. The specific problem considered is a premixed expanding flow in a supersonic nozzle. Results indicate the presence of nonequilibrium conditions in the expansion region of the nozzle. This results in reduction of the radiative interactions in the flowfield. Next, the present study focuses on investigation of non-premixed flows under chemical nonequilibrium conditions. In this case, the main problem is the coupled turbulence-chemistry interaction. The resulting formulation is validated by comparison with experimental data on reacting supersonic coflowing jets. Results indicate that the effect of heat release is to lower the turbulent shear stress and the mean density. The last part of this study proposes a new theoretical formulation for the coupled turbulence-radiation interactions. Results obtained for the coflowing jets experiment indicate that the effect of turbulence is to enhance the radiative interactions.

Tiwari, S. N.↗

Computational analysis of Variable Thrust Engine (VTE) performance

The Variable Thrust Engine (VTE) of the Orbital Maneuvering Vehicle (OMV) uses a hypergolic propellant combination of Monomethyl Hydrazine (MMH) and Nitrogen Tetroxide (NTO) as fuel and oxidizer, respectively. The performance of the VTE depends on a number of complex interacting phenomena such as atomization, spray dynamics, vaporization, turbulent mixing, convective/radiative heat transfer, and hypergolic combustion. This study involved the development of a comprehensive numerical methodology to facilitate detailed analysis of the VTE. An existing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code was extensively modified to include the following models: a two-liquid, two-phase Eulerian-Lagrangian spray model; a chemical equilibrium model; and a discrete ordinate radiation heat transfer model. The modified code was used to conduct a series of simulations to assess the effects of various physical phenomena and boundary conditions on the VTE performance. The details of the models and the results of the simulations are presented.

Giridharan, M. G.↗

Multiphase Modeling in a Parallel Plate Fluidized Bed Receiver for Concentrating Solar Power

A novel high temperature particle solar receiver is developed by using a light trapping planar cavity configuration. As particles fall through the cavity, the concentrated solar radiation warms the boundaries of the receiver and in turn heats the particles. Particles flow through the system, forming a packed bed at the lower end, leaving the system from the bottom at a constant flow rate. Air is introduced to the system as the fluidizing medium to improve particle heat transfer and mixing. A laboratory scale cavity receiver is built and a near IR quartz lamp is used to provide flux to the vertical wall of the heat exchanger. The system is modeled using a continuum two-fluid method. The computational model matches the experimental system size and the particle size distribution is assumed monodisperse. A conduction model that accounts for the effects of solid concentration is implemented, and the heat flux boundary condition matches the experimental setup. Radiative heat transfer is estimated using a widely used correlation during the post-processing step to determine an overall heat transfer coefficient. The model is validated against testing data and achieves less than 30% discrepancy and a heat transfer coefficient greater than 1000 W/m2K.

CSP↗

CAE for thermal management of aerospace electronic boards using the BETAsoft program

Aerospace electronic boards require special attention to thermal management due to constraints such as their need to be light, small, and maintain high power densities. Also, cooling is mainly through conductive and radiative modes with minor or negligible convective cooling. Due to these particular requirements, thermal design has become an integrated part of the electronic design process in order to avoid expensive repeat prototyping and to ensure high reliability. To achieve high speed simulations, the BETAsoft code uses semi-empirical formulations and an advanced finite difference scheme that incorporates local adaptive grids. Detailed conduction, convection and radiation heat transfer is considered. Various benchmark verifications of the software simulation compared to infrared images typically prove to be within 10% of each other. The thermal analysis of a sample avionic card in a natural convection environment is shown. Then, the individual effects of attaching metal screws to the casing, increasing radiative emissivities of the casing, increasing the conductance of the wedge lock, adding an aluminum core to the board, adding metal strips in board layers, inserting conduction pads under components, and adding heat sinks to components are demonstrated.

Bobish, Kimberly↗

Anode power deposition in an applied-field segmented anode MPD thruster

Anode heat flux measurements of a water cooled segmented anode applied-field MPD thruster were made to investigate anode heat transfer phenomena. Pure argon and argon-hydrogen mixtures were used as propellants for a variety of thruster currents, propellant mass flow rates, and axial applied magnetic field strengths. The thruster was operated in two modes; with all four segments active, and with two of the segments floating. In addition, thrust and specific impulse were determined for each operating condition. The results show that the heat flux to the anode increases monotonically with axial magnetic field strength and thruster current. Between 50 and 75 percent of the anode heat flux is transported by the current carrying electrons. Convective and radiative heat transfer account for the remaining portion of the power deposited in the anode. The addition of hydrogen to the argon propellant results in the reduction of the fraction of anode power deposited by the anode fall to a level equivalent to that deposited by convection and radiation.

Myers, R. M.↗

Computational attributes of the integral form of the equation of transfer

Difficulties can arise in radiative and neutron transport calculations when a highly anisotropic scattering phase function is present. In the presence of anisotropy, currently used numerical solutions are based on the integro-differential form of the linearized Boltzmann transport equation. This paper, departs from classical thought and presents an alternative numerical approach based on application of the integral form of the transport equation. Use of the integral formalism facilitates the following steps: a reduction in dimensionality of the system prior to discretization, the use of symbolic manipulation to augment the computational procedure, and the direct determination of key physical quantities which are derivable through the various Legendre moments of the intensity. The approach is developed in the context of radiative heat transfer in a plane-parallel geometry, and results are presented and compared with existing benchmark solutions. Encouraging results are presented to illustrate the potential of the integral formalism for computation. The integral formalism appears to possess several computational attributes which are well-suited to radiative and neutron transport calculations.

Frankel, J. I.↗

Two-Fluid and Discrete Element Modeling of a Parallel Plate Fluidized Bed Heat Exchanger for Concentrating Solar Power

A novel high-temperature particle solar receiver is developed using a light trapping planar cavity configuration. As particles fall through the cavity, the concentrated solar radiation warms the boundaries of the receiver and in turn heats the particles. Particles flow through the system, forming a fluidized bed at the lower section, leaving the system from the bottom at a constant flowrate. Air is introduced to the system as the fluidizing medium to improve particle heat transfer and mixing. A laboratory scale cavity receiver is built by collaborators at the Colorado School of Mines and their data are used for model validation. In this experimental setup, near IR quartz lamp is used to provide flux to the vertical wall of the heat exchanger. The system is modeled using the discrete element method and a continuum two-fluid method. The computational model matches the experimental system size and the particle size distribution is assumed monodisperse. A new continuum conduction model that accounts for the effects of solid concentration is implemented, and the heat flux boundary condition matches the experimental setup. Radiative heat transfer is estimated using a widely used correlation during the post-processing step to determine an overall heat transfer coefficient. The model is validated against testing data and achieves less than 30% discrepancy and a heat transfer coefficient greater than 1000 W/m2 K.

concentrating solar power↗

Analysis of the Gas Particle Radiator (GPR)

The theoretical performance of a new space radiator concept, the gas particle radiator (GPR), is calculated. The GPR uses a gas containing emitting, submicron particles as the radiating media. A transparent window contains the gas particle mixture around the solid radiator emitting surface. A major advantage of the GPR is that large emissivity (e sub T is greater than or = 0.8) is achieved without the use of emissive coatings. A radiation heat transfer analysis shows that for a modest volume fraction (approx. 10(-4)) of submicron particles and gas thickness (approx. 1 cm) the emissivity, e sub T, is limited by the window transmittance. Besides determining the emissivity, the window is the critical element for making it possible for the GPR to have lower mass than a tube type radiator. The window acts as a bumper to provide meteoroid protection for the radiator wall. The GPR was compared to a proposed titanium wall, potassium heat pipe radiator. For both radiators operating at a power level of 1.01 MW at 775 K it was calculated that the GPR mass was 31 percent lower than the heat pipe radiator.

Chubb, D. L.↗