Reprint of : Three-terminal heat engine and refrigerator based on superlattices

We propose a three-terminal heat engine based on semiconductor superlattices for energy harvesting. The periodicity of the superlattice structure creates an energy miniband, giving an energy window for allowed electron transport. We find that this device delivers a large power, nearly twice than the heat engine based on quantum wells, with a small reduction of efficiency. This engine also works as a refrigerator in a different regime of the system's parameters. The thermoelectric performance of the refrigerator is analyzed, including the cooling power and coefficient of performance in the optimized condition. We also calculate phonon heat current through the system and explore the reduction of phonon heat current compared to the bulk material. The direct phonon heat current is negligible at low temperatures, but dominates over the electronic at room temperature and we discuss ways to reduce it.     

In situ deposition behavior of silica-based layers and its effect on thermal degradation of IN713 turbine blades during operation of a micro-gas turbine

This study examined the in situ deposition behavior of silica-based layers on IN713 turbine blades during the operation of a 13 kgf-class gas turbine at a rotation speed of 20,000/min as well as its effect on the degradation of the metallic substrate. Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) was mixed with the fuel (liquid petroleum gas, LPG) and burned to generate silica-based coating precursors for deposition from the flame. Two deposition conditions were adopted. For condition 1 (C1), the silicon-to-carbon ratio in the mixed fuel was set at 0.1 mol% for the first 5 min and at zero mol% for the final 95 min in a 100-min operation. For condition 2 (C2), the ratio was set at 0.005 mol% during the entire 100 min operation. The total TEOS feed was the same under both conditions. C1 resulted in a rather uniform and thicker (5-10 μm on the pressure side) porous silica-based coating on the blade than C2. The in situ deposited layer of C1 was well preserved on the blade and protected the underlying metallic substrate from oxidation during the entire 100 min operation. The layer on the C2 blades was ∼5 μm thick at the region near to root, but was too thin in the other areas on the blade to be protective. The early build-up of a porous layer to an effective thickness on the blades produced a thermal barrier toward the substrate as well as a diffusion barrier toward the oxidizing elements during operation.     

Enhanced multi‐objective optimization of a dimpled channel through evolutionary algorithms and multiple surrogate methods

Using a multi‐objective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) and enhanced surrogate approximations, the present study demonstrates the numerical analysis and optimization of staggered‐dimple channels. Two surrogates, the response surface approximation (RSA) model and the Kriging (KRG) model, are applied in light of the surrogate fidelity of the approximate analysis. An enhanced Pareto‐optimal front is obtained by performing local resampling of the Pareto‐optimal front, which provides relatively more accurate Pareto‐optimal solutions in the design space for each surrogate model. Three dimensionless design variables are selected, which are related to geometric parameters, namely, the channel height, dimple print diameter, dimple spacing, and dimple depth. Two objective functions are selected that are related to the heat transfer and pressure loss, respectively. The objective‐function values are numerically evaluated through Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes analysis at the design points that are selected through the Latin hypercube sampling method. Using these numerical simulations two surrogates, viz, the RSA and Kriging models, are constructed for each objective function and a hybrid MOEA is applied to obtain the Pareto‐optimal front. For the particular implementation of surrogate models, it is observed that Pareto‐optimal predictions of the RSA model are better than those of the KRG model, whereas the KRG model predicts equally well at the off‐Pareto‐region (region away from the Pareto‐optimal solutions), which is not the case with the RSA model. The local resampling of the Pareto‐optimal front increases the fidelity of the approximate solutions near the Pareto‐optimal region. The ratios of the channel height to the dimple print diameter and of the dimple print diameter to the dimple pitch are found to be more sensitive along the Pareto‐optimal front than the ratio of the dimple depth to the print diameter. The decrease of the ratio of the channel height to the dimple diameter and the increase of the ratio of the dimple print diameter to the pitch lead to greater heat transfer at the expense of the pressure loss, whereas the ratio of the dimple depth to the print diameter is rather insensitive to Pareto‐optimal solutions. Pareto‐optimal solutions at higher values of the Nusselt number are associated with higher values of the pressure loss due to the increased recirculation, mixing of fluid and vorticity generation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Quantitative, dynamic fuel distribution measurements in combustion-related devices using laser-induced fluorescence imaging of biacetyl in iso-octane

Knowledge of in-situ fuel distributions in practical combustion devices, such as internal combustion engines, is crucial for research and devlopment purposes. Numerous imaging techniques, mostly based on laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), have been developed and yield high levels of 2-D spatial information, but generally lack the temporal resolution (frame rates) necessary to resolve important timescales at sub-millisecond levels for sustained times. A planar LIF technique for quantitatively visualizing fuel distribution is presented which gives not only high spatial resolution, but also high temporal resolution. Using a high-speed CMOS camera, a lens-coupled image intensifier, and frequency-tripled diode-pumped Nd:YAG laser allows for capturing LIF images of biacetyl that is used as a fluorescence tracer at 12 kHz (one crank-angle resolution at 2000 RPM) for hundreds of consecutive engine cycles. The LIF signal strength of biacetyl doped in iso-octane is shown to vary substantially over a wide range of temperatures and pressures. The low absorption coefficient at 355 nm and a longpass filter in the detection path exclude bias errors due to laser beam attenuation and fluorescence trapping. An intensifier gate time of 350 ns is shown to suppress the detection of phosphorescence signals under practical conditions. An example for a quantitative high-speed measurement of fuel concentration at varying pressure and temperature conditions is presented. Quantitative equivalence ratio maps are shown for the fuel injection event within a single cycle in a spark-ignition direct-injected engine, showing the ability of the technique to not only reveal static fuel concentration maps, but also the motion of the fuel cloud along with very steep gradients. Spray velocities determined from the moving fuel cloud are in agreement with previous particle image velocimetry measurements.     

零排放燃气轮机的空气动力学特性

本文对采用二氧化碳作为基本工作流体的半闭环燃气轮机循环的空气动力学特性进行了详尽的分析.结果表明,不同工作流体的比热比值对压气机的压比、等熵效率及临界堵塞质量流量影响很大,并详细阐述了一种比热比对透平机械性能影响的修正方法,进而提出了一种零排放发动机的设计新思路,揭示了最初为空气工质而设计的压气机可以直接用于CO2零排放发动机中.     

非设计工况下1＋1／2对转涡轮性能研究

为了研究和改善1 1/2对转涡轮性能,本文对1 1/2对转涡轮两种转速下不同落压比共16种工况进行了数值研究,并与实验结果进行了对照.结果表明近设计工况下计算结果和实验值吻合较好.1 1/2对转涡轮出口背压对高压转子性能影响较小,对低压转子性能影响较大,这导致变工况下1 1/2对转涡轮高低压轴出功比变化较大.通过对某典型非设计工况和设计工况下的流场结构的分析发现非设计工况下1 1/2对转涡轮高压动叶中发生了明显的流动分离.高低压动叶不能很好地匹配,需要采取合理的流动控制措施去改善已有1 1/2对转涡轮的变工况性能.     

Numerical investigation of the effect of inlet condition on self‐excited oscillation of wet steam flow in a supersonic turbine cascade

Self‐excited oscillation can be induced due to the interaction between condensation process and local transonic condition in condensing flow, which is an important problem in wet steam turbine. With an Eulerian/Eulerian numerical model, the self‐excited oscillation of wet steam flow is investigated in a supersonic turbine cascade. Owing to supercritical heat addition to the subsonic flow in the convergent part of the cascade, the oscillation frequency decreases with increased inlet supercooling. Mass flow rate increases in the oscillating flow due to the greater supersaturation in condensation process, while the increase will be suppressed with the flow oscillation. Higher inlet supercooling leads to the fact that the condensation process moves upstream and the loss increases. Moreover, some predictions of oscillation effects on outflow angle and aerodynamic force are also presented. Finally, heterogeneous condensations with inlet wetness and periodic inlet conditions, as a result of the interference between stator and rotor, are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

凹槽叶顶冷气射流对涡轮叶尖泄漏流动的影响

涡轮叶尖泄漏流动对涡轮通道内流动损失有着显著影响,叶顶冷气射流对控制叶尖泄漏流动和改善涡轮叶尖气热性能有重要意义。本文利用数值模拟方法,研究了叶顶冷气喷射位置和喷射流量对高压涡轮凹槽叶顶间隙泄漏流动控制的影响。文中重点分析了泄漏流动结构及涡轮气动效率的变化,探讨了冷气对刮削涡这一间隙内主控流动结构演化的影响。研究表明,冷气孔位置的变化对间隙内刮削涡的演化造成了一定影响,但并未造成涡轮整体效率的较大变化;而冷气喷射流量不仅影响到刮削涡结构演化,而且导致了涡轮级效率近0.5%的变化。     

Charged torus-like black holes as heat engines

We investigate the thermodynamical properties of charged torus-like black holes and take it as the working substance to study the heat engines. In the extended phase space, by interpreting the cosmological constant as the thermodynamic pressure, we derive the thermodynamical quantities by the first law of black hole thermodynamics and obtain the equation of state. Then, we calculate the efficiency of the heat engine in the Carnot cycle as well as the rectangular cycle,and investigate how the efficiency changes with respect to volume. In addition, to avoid a negative temperature, we emphasize that the charge of this black hole cannot be arbitrary. Last,we check the calculation accuracy of a benchmark scheme and discuss the upper bound and lower bound for charged torus-like black hole in the scheme.