Intriguingly high convective heat transfer enhancement of nanofluid coolants in laminar flows

We reported on investigation of the convective heat transfer enhancement of nanofluids as coolants in laminar flows inside a circular copper tube with constant wall temperature. Nanofluids containing Al₂O₃, ZnO, TiO₂, and MgO nanoparticles were prepared with a mixture of 55 vol.% distilled water and 45 vol.% ethylene glycol as base fluid. It was found that the heat transfer behaviors of the nanofluids were highly depended on the volume fraction, average size, species of the suspended nanoparticles and the flow conditions. MgO, Al₂O₃, and ZnO nanofluids exhibited superior enhancements of heat transfer coefficient, with the highest enhancement up to 252% at a Reynolds number of 1000 for MgO nanofluid. Our results demonstrated that these oxide nanofluids might be promising alternatives for conventional coolants.     

On laminar-turbulent transition in nanofluid flows

The paper presents experimental data on the laminar-turbulent transition in the nanofluid flow in the pipe. The transition in the flows of such fluids is shown to have lower Reynolds numbers than in the base fluid. The degree of the flow destabilization increases with an increase in concentration of nanoparticles and a decrease in their size. On the other hand, in the turbulent flow regime, the presence of particles in the flow leads to the suppression of smallscale turbulent fluctuations. The correlation of the measured viscosity coefficient of considered nanofluids is presented.     

On gas-dynamics and heat exchange of flows in cylindrical channels in the presence of heat sources bounded along a longitudinal coordinate

The analysis of energy balance equation for viscous laminar flow of fluid or gas in the cylindrical channel in the area (zone) of warm-up bounded along the longitudinal coordinate is made. It was found that at laminar flow of fluid or gas in a round pipe, in each warm-up area bounded along the longitudinal coordinate there are the areas of direct and reverse flows separated by a plane that is a locus of points where temperature is maximal for each fixed value of radial coordinate r.     

Experimental and numerical investigation of heat transfer in a miniature heat sink utilizing silica nanofluid

In this paper, heat transfer characteristics of a miniature heat sink cooled by SiO₂–water nanofluids were investigated both experimentally and numerically. The heat sink was fabricated from aluminum and insulated by plexiglass cover plates. The heat sink consisted of an array of 4 mm diameter circular channels with a length of 40 mm. Tests were performed while inserting a 180 W/cm² heat flux to the bottom of heat sink and Reynolds numbers ranged from 400 to 2000. The three-dimensional heat transfer characteristics of the heat sink were analyzed numerically by solving conjugate heat transfer problem of thermally and hydrodynamically developing fluid flow. Experimental results showed that dispersing SiO₂ nanoparticles in water significantly increased the overall heat transfer coefficient while thermal resistance of heat sink was decreased up to 10%. Numerical results revealed that channel diameter, as well as heat sink height and number of channels in a heat sink have significant effects on the maximum temperature of heat sink. Finally, an artificial neural network (ANN) was used to simulate the heat sink performance based on these parameters. It was found that the results of ANN are in excellent agreement with the mathematical simulation and cover a wider range for evaluation of heat sink performance.     

Physics of accretion flows around compact objects

Several physical and astrophysical problems related to accretion onto black holes and neutron stars are briefly reviewed. I discuss the observed differences between these two types of compact objects in quiescent Soft X-ray Transients. Then I review the status of various non-standard objects suggested as an alternative to black holes. Finally, I present new results and a suggestion about the nature of the jet activity in Active Galactic Nuclei. To cite this article: J.-P. Lasota, C. R. Physique 8 (2007).     

On irreversible processes in quantum mechanics

The methods developed by Prigogine and his colleagues are applied to the study of quantum mechanical systems. The density matrix is divided into a slowly varying and an oscillatory part, and asymptotic equations are established for the elements of this matrix. In the representation in which the unperturbed hamiltonian is diagonal, these equations take a particularly simple form for weakly coupled systems: the matrix elements lying on diagonals parallel to the principal diagonal undergo separate transformations. A particular case is that of the diagonal elements themselves; for these the well-known Pauli equations are obtained. As an illustrative example the problem of the frictional forces on an oscillator immersed in a thermostat is considered in detail. The frictional forces introduced by Langevin and Lorentz are special cases of this.     

纳米流体介质导热机理初探

纳米流体导热行为具有许多奇异的特性，结合纳米流体的特点和微尺度传热学原理，研究了 热流在纳米颗粒内波动式及非限域的热传导特性、纳米颗粒在悬浮液内的布朗运动、颗粒- 液体界面上液膜层原子的有规则排列、以及纳米颗粒的团簇形成及移动等四方面因素对纳米 流体导热系数的影响. 关键词： 纳米流体 导热     

The mechanics of particle accumulation structures in thermocapillary flows

The motion of small particles suspended in a cylindrical thermocapillary liquid bridge is considered. Owing to geometry and surface stresses the streamlines gather near the cylindrical free surface and provoke particle–free-surface collisions. We show numerically that tracers which are perfect but of finite size can accumulate on closed trajectories. A simple model is proposed to explain the attraction of particles to the closed trajectory based on the flow topology in the vicinity of a closed streamline which comes sufficiently close to the free surface and on particle–free-surface collisions which transfer particles among different streamlines.     

Statistical mechanics of Fofonoff flows in an oceanic basin

We study the minimization of potential enstrophy at fixed circulation and energy in an oceanic basin with arbitrary topography. For illustration, we consider a rectangular basin and a linear topography h = by which represents either a real bottom topography or the β-effect appropriate to oceanic situations. Our minimum enstrophy principle is motivated by different arguments of statistical mechanics reviewed in the article. It leads to steady states of the quasigeostrophic (QG) equations characterized by a linear relationship between potential vorticity q and stream function ψ. For low values of the energy, we recover Fofonoff flows [J. Mar. Res. 13, 254 (1954)] that display a strong westward jet. For large values of the energy, we obtain geometry induced phase transitions between monopoles and dipoles similar to those found by Chavanis and Sommeria [J. Fluid Mech. 314, 267 (1996)] in the absence of topography. In the presence of topography, we recover and confirm the results obtained by Venaille and Bouchet [Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 104501 (2009)] using a different formalism. In addition, we introduce relaxation equations towards minimum potential enstrophy states and perform numerical simulations to illustrate the phase transitions in a rectangular oceanic basin with linear topography (or β-effect).     

Numerical modeling of nanofluid flow and heat transfer in a quartered gearwheel-shaped heat exchanger using FVM

The numerical modeling of natural convection fluid flow and heat transfer in a quarter of gearwheel-shaped heat exchanger is carried out. The heat exchanger is included with internal active square bodies. These bodies have hot and cold temperatures with different thermal arrangements. Three different thermal arrangements are considered and showed with Case A, Case B and Case C. The CuO-water nanofluid is selected as operating fluid. The Koo-Kleinstreuer-Li (KKL) correlation is utilized to estimate the dynamic viscosity and thermal conductivity. In addition, the shapes of nanoparticles are taken account in the analysis. The Rayleigh number, nanoparticle concentration and thermal arrangements of internal active bodies are the governing parameters. The impacts of these parameters on the fluid flow, heat transfer rate, local and total entropy generation and heatlines are studied, comprehensively. The results show that the heat transfer rate enhances with increasing of Rayleigh number and nanoparticle concentration. Moreover, the thermal arrangement of internal active bodies has considerable effect on the heat transfer between heat sources and heat sinks. On the other hand, the total entropy generation enhances and decreases with increasing of Rayleigh number and nanoparticle concentration, respectively.     

Physics of the amplification of vortex disturbances in shear flows

The physics of the linear mechanism of the amplification of vortex disturbances in shear flows, which is due to the nonorthogonality of the eigenfunctions of the problem in the linear dynamics, is described. To obtain the clearest and simplest picture, a parallel flow with a linear velocity shear is studied, and the vortex disturbances are represented in the form of plane waves — spatial Fourier harmonics. On this level our physical approach is consonant with the nonmodal mathematical analysis of linear processes in shear flows, which has been actively cultivated in the last few years. The physics presented explains the non-monotonic growth of vortex disturbances in time at the linear stage of evolution. Moreover, being universal, the “language” employed in this work can also be used to describe the amplification of potential (acoustic) disturbances. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 63, No. 7, 517–522 (10 April 1996)     

空调机组嵌入纳米流体热管传热特性的实验研究

将CuO纳米颗粒用于空调机组的嵌入式热管中,研究充液率,迎面风速及空气进口温度对显热效率的影响。研究表明,采用嵌入式热管的空调机组在其设计风速范围内,进口温度为34℃时,充液率为66%,其显热效率最高;迎面风速较低时,显热效率较高,随着CuO纳米颗粒体积浓度的从1%增加至3%时,显热效率逐渐升高;空气进口温度超过38℃,显热效率急剧降低。     

Modeling of complex flows and heat transfer

This paper presents the numerical modeling of complex flows and heat transfer. The Finite Analytic method is used to discretize the transport equations. The diagonal Cartesian method is proposed to model fluid flows and heat transfer over complex geometries. A three-dimensional channel flow with conjugate heat transfer is simulated. By the diagonal Cartesian method and 5-point Finite Analytic scheme, a grooved channel flow and flow in a casting bank at different Reynolds numbers are modeled. Simulations by both the diagonal Cartesian method and the traditional saw-tooth Cartesian method indicates the diagonal Cartesian method improves the modeling of flows, due to the more accurate approximation of complex boundaries. Heat transfer in two-dimensional finned compact heat exchanger is also studied. An improved heat exchanger is proposed based on the numerical prediction of heat transfer.     

Physics of fluctuation processes in downscaled silicon MOSFETs

Physical mechanics of fluctuation processes in advanced submicron and decananometer MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors) including the ultra-thin film SOI (siliconon-insulator) devices using strained silicon films are reviewed. The review is substantially based on the results obtained by the authors. It is shown that the following drastic changes occur in the nature and parameters of noise in such devices as a result of their downscaling when the gate oxide thickness and the channel length and width are decreased, the SOI substrates are used, the silicon film thickness is reduced, the film doping level is varied, the strained silicon films are employed, etc. Firstly, the Lorentzian components can appear in the current noise spectra. Those components are due to (i) electron tunneling from the valence band through the gate oxide in the SOI MOSFETs of a sufficiently thin gate oxide (LKE-Lorentzians); (ii) Nyquist fluctuations generated in the source and drain regions near the back Si/SiO₂ interface in the SOI MOSFETs (BGI Lorentzians); (iii) electron exchange between the channel and some single trap in the gate oxide of the transistors with sufficiently small length and width of the channel (RTS Lorentzians). Secondly, the 1/f-noise level can increase due to (i) the appearance of recombination processes near the Si/SiO₂ interface activated by the currents of electron tunneling from the valence band; (ii) an increase in the trap density in the gate oxide of the devices fabricated on the biaxially tensile-strained silicon films; (iii) the contribution of the 1/f fluctuations of the current flowing through the gate oxide as a result of electron tunneling from the conduction band. At the same time, the 1/f-noise level may decrease due to a decrease in the trap density in the gate oxide of the transistors fabricated on the uniaxially tensile-strained silicon films. Moreover, a 1/f ^1.7 component may appear in the noise spectra for the transistors of a sufficiently thin gate oxide, whose component is due to charge fluctuations on the defects located near the interface between the gate polysilicon and the gate oxide.     

Flow and heat transfer over a rotating porous disk in a nanofluid

The steady flow of an incompressible viscous fluid due to a rotating disk in a nanofluid is studied. The transformed boundary layer equations are solved numerically by a finite difference scheme, namely the Keller-box method. Numerical results for the flow and heat transfer characteristics are obtained for various values of the nanoparticle volume fraction parameter φ and suction/injection parameter h₀. Two models for the effective thermal conductivity of the nanofluid, namely the Maxwell-Garnett model and the Patel model, are considered. It is found that for the Patel model, the heat transfer rate at the surface increases for both suction and injection, whereas different behaviors are observed for the Maxwell-Garnett model, i.e. increasing the values of φ leads to a decrease in the heat transfer rate at the surface for suction, but increases for injection. The results of this study can be used in the design of an effective cooling system for electronic components to help ensure effective and safe operational conditions.     

Statistical mechanics of two-dimensional Euler flows and minimum enstrophy states

A simplified thermodynamic approach of the incompressible 2D Euler equation is considered based on the conservation of energy, circulation and microscopic enstrophy. Statistical equilibrium states are obtained by maximizing the Miller-Robert-Sommeria (MRS) entropy under these sole constraints. We assume that these constraints are selected by properties of forcing and dissipation. We find that the vorticity fluctuations are Gaussian while the mean flow is characterized by a linear [`(w)]-y\overline{\omega}-\psi relationship. Furthermore, we prove that the maximization of entropy at fixed energy, circulation and microscopic enstrophy is equivalent to the minimization of macroscopic enstrophy at fixed energy and circulation. This provides a justification of the minimum enstrophy principle from statistical mechanics when only the microscopic enstrophy is conserved among the infinite class of Casimir constraints. Relaxation equations towards the statistical equilibrium state are derived. These equations can serve as numerical algorithms to determine maximum entropy or minimum enstrophy states. We use these relaxation equations to study geometry induced phase transitions in rectangular domains. In particular, we illustrate with the relaxation equations the transition between monopoles and dipoles predicted by Chavanis and Sommeria [J. Fluid Mech. 314, 267 (1996)]. We take into account stable as well as metastable states and show that metastable states are robust and have negative specific heats. This is the first evidence of negative specific heats in that context. We also argue that saddle points of entropy can be long-lived and play a role in the dynamics because the system may not spontaneously generate the perturbations that destabilize them.