Dielectrophoresis flow control in microchannels

The control of flow in microscale is one of the most important problems in microfluidic devices, which in particular, are used as micro heat exchangers. The use of electric field is one of the efficient methods of control of dielectric liquid flow in microscale. The electric field influences liquid flow by the EHD force which affects liquid behaviour in terms of the flow rate and pressure.The EHD force consists of three components: the first is the electrostatic force due to free charges present in the liquid, the next one is the force due to the gradient of permittivity of material, and the third one is caused by the change in the electric field intensity.The EHD force is used also in many commercial devices, for example EHD pumps or dielectrophoretic separators. An own approach to apply the EHD force to control the liquid flow rate is presented in this paper. Authors paid a close attention to the dielectrophoresis effect. Dielectric liquid in a non-uniform electric field tends to drift/migrate towards the region of high electric field intensity. With decreasing the electrode dimensions, the dielectrophoresis force becomes relatively stronger. For the dimensions under 400 μm the dielectrophoresis phenomenon can be used for control and actuation of the liquid flow in microchannels. The originally developed design of such flow controller is presented in this paper. The experimental investigations covered flow rate measurement of 2-propanol in microchannel flow controller with application of AC field. It was showed that the dielectrophoresis phenomenon could effectively control the flow. The results for distilled water are also comparatively discussed in the paper.     

Numerical simulation of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) atomization

The objective of the present work was to use a commercial Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) code to simulate the electrohydrodynamic (EHD) atomization process. Although the physics of the atomization and cone formation has been discussed in numerous publications, a comprehensive theory has not been presented. Some of the previous approaches are discussed below. A CFD model can give a unique capability to describe and simulate the liquid cone formation and atomization. The approach in this work was to simultaneously solve the coupled (EHD) and electrostatic equations. The heat conduction equation, solved by the CFD solver, has been modified to solve the electrostatic field equations. From the electrostatic field, the electric body forces have been determined and included in the Navier–Stokes equations. The model does not include any current. The key liquid property for the coupling is the permittivity. The predicted velocity fields for heptane and ethanol and the operating window of heptane were found to be consistent with published results. The model does not include a droplet break-up model. If the jet is cylindrical, the droplet size can be calculated from the jet diameter. The droplet size of ethanol was predicted and compared well with experiments.     

R11/R134a混合工质管束外沸腾传热的EHD强化试验研究

采用EHD强化技术对R11/R134a混合工质进行管束外沸腾传热的试验研究,以试验所获得的大量数据为基础,分析了电场电压、热流密度与换热系数、强化系数之间的关系,并重点分析了不同工质组分对EHD强化效果的影响,为探索EHD强化沸腾换热的机理以及将其推广到工程应用提供了一定依据。     

均匀高压电场强化R123池沸腾传热实验研究

利用EHD技术进行了工质R123的池内平板沸腾强化传热实验研究.在该实验中,换热面为一平板并接地作为0电极,高压电极为平行于换热面的网状电极.实验结果表明,正电压的强化效果较好,电压越高,强化效果越好.低热流密度下,EHD对沸腾换热的强化效果比高热流密度的强化效果好.起沸点随着电压的增加而增加,同不加电压时相比,在20 kV时,起沸点提高了4倍.     

Thermal modeling and performance analysis of a thermoacoustic refrigerator

A heat-driven thermoacoustic refrigerator has been designed and tested. A detailed thermal model of the device is presented. Energy balances within the system are discussed using external, heat exchanger, and stack control volumes in order to clarify the relationships of work and heat fluxes below and above onset. Thermal modeling is discussed as a tool for performance analysis as well as for determining system heat losses and finding input heat flows required by a thermoacoustic code. A method of using the control volume balance equations to find stack work and device efficiencies is presented. Experimental measurements are compared to DELTAE thermoacoustic modeling predictions. Modeling results show that viscous losses within the system have a significant impact on the device performance as well as on the ability of DELTAE to accurately predict performance. Modeling has led to an understanding of system performance and highlighted loss sources that are areas for improvement in a redesign.     

反传热问题及其在深冷处理传热分析中的应用

深冷处理作为一种新的材料处理工艺,越来越受到人们的关注,目前深冷处理使材料性能提高的机理尤其是与升降温过程的耦合关系等还尚未完全清楚,需开展更深入的研究,而传热分析是此方面研究的基础。反传热分析方法是研究深冷处理传热问题的一种可行方法。较为详细地叙述了反传热问题的定义及其求解方法,介绍了反传热在深冷处理传热分析中的初步应用,并对深冷处理中应用反传热方法存在的问题进行了探讨。     

Heat transport in low-dimensional systems

Recent results on theoretical studies of heat conduction in low-dimensional systems are presented. These studies are on simple, yet non-trivial, models. Most of these are classical systems, but some quantum-mechanical work is also reported. Much of the work has been on lattice models corresponding to phononic systems, and some on hard-particle and hard-disc systems. A recently developed approach, using generalized Langevin equations and phonon Green's functions, is explained and several applications to harmonic systems are given. For interacting systems, various analytic approaches based on the Green–Kubo formula are described, and their predictions are compared with the latest results from simulation. These results indicate that for momentum-conserving systems, transport is anomalous in one and two dimensions, and the thermal conductivity κ diverges with system size L as κ ～ L ^α. For one-dimensional interacting systems there is strong numerical evidence for a universal exponent α = 1/3, but there is no exact proof for this so far. A brief discussion of some of the experiments on heat conduction in nanowires and nanotubes is also given.     

Selection of alloys and their influence on the operational characteristics of a two-stage metal hydride heat transformer

A heat transformer can upgrade heat to a higher temperature. A two-stage heat transformer has a greater temperature upgrading potential than a single-stage heat transformer, e.g. heat can be upgraded from a level of about 130–140°C to temperatures of about 200°C. A practical method to select suitable hydrides to be used in a two-stage heat transformer is presented. The example discussed shows that the selected alloys result in a reasonable operation of the two-stage heat transformer. Three different evaluation criteria viz. coefficient of performance, alloy output and temperature output, are introduced to compare the operational characteristics of heat transformers with different alloys; the influence of some metal hydride properties on the operational characteristics is also discussed.     

Heat pipe research and development in the Americas

The purpose of this paper is to present a review of the recent heat pipe research and development efforts in the Americas. After discussing the research and development of high performance monogroove, tapered artery, trapezoidally grooved, dual-slot, double wall artery, ceramic and other specially designed heat pipes, the transient modeling and testing efforts are reviewed for a variety of heat pipes that also includes variable conductance heat pipes and thermosyphons. The application of heat pipes to terrestrial systems is discussed for the heat recovery systems, Rankine and solar systems, fusion reactor core cooling and the thermal control of electronic equipment. The application of heat pipes to space systems includes the thermal control of space station and satellites, and the radiator design of large space power systems. Although many advances have been made in the past few years in the development of high heat transfer performance heat pipes, the heat pipe modeling efforts are not in step with the technological requirements.     

EHD强化水平管外沸腾传热的试验研究

本研究对水平管外沸腾换热的ＥＨＤ强化进行了试验,得出了沸腾换热系数与外加电场的电压、管壁热流密度等相关参数的关系,并对试验现象和外加电场的功耗进行了分析,为探索ＥＨＤ强化沸腾传热的机理和理论以及它的工程应用提供了一定的依据．     

竖直微槽道内EHD强化饱和沸腾传热研究

针对微槽内饱和沸腾汽泡建立了简化模型,并利用COMSOL Mu ltiphysics软件对电场中汽泡动力学特性进行了数值模拟,分析了微槽道内EHD(electrohydro dynam ics)强化沸腾传热机理。实验以去离子水为工质,研究了外加直流电场下两种规格的矩形微细槽道内饱和沸腾传热强化特性,电压在0~28kV内,EHD技术对微细槽道内的饱和沸腾传热有明显的强化效果。     

Theoretical performance of an absorption heat pump using ammonia-water-potassium hydroxide solution

A new absorption heat pump, using a mixture of three elements (ammonia-water-potassium hydroxide), is presented in this paper. The principal aim of the proposed machine is to solve practical problems which represent the most critical points of a traditional heat pump using ammonia-water system, i.e. high pressure and rectification of ammonia. For this new system, the general working scheme, the thermodynamic design data, its performance as a heat pump machine and a comparison with the ammonia-water absorption heat pump are presented. The research activity concerning this work has been supported by ENEA (Italy).     

Accelerating hybrid stochastic algorithm for spin models

The problem of critical slowing down in simulations of statistical mechanics systems is discussed in the context of hybrid stochastic differential equations. By modifying the kinetic energy part of the system's molecular dynamics lagrangian, new algorithms are presented which evolve the system's infra-red modes as rapidly as their ultraviolet ones. These improved (“accelerated”) algorithms should yield accurate measurements of the critical behavior of models of magnets, glasses, etc. which have not been practical in the past.     

NUCLEATE POOL BOILING UNDER DC ELECTRIC FIELD

This article deals with an experimental study of the influence of a DC uniform electric field on the nucleate boiling heat transfer. Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) effects on heat transfer coefficients for dielectric liquids are quantitatively investigated by performing experiments on various liquids with different properties. In these experiments, n-pentane, R-113, and R-123 are used as working fluids and the boiling phenomenon takes place on a horizontal plane copper surface. The experimental results have shown: (1) a threefold increase of nucleate pool boiling heat transfer coefficients, (2) a threefold increase of the critical heat flux (CHF), and (3) the disappearance of the hysteresis phenomenon. For nucleate pool boiling and CHF regimes, heat transfer laws based on dimensionless numbers are proposed. The results obtained by the proposed EHD model are in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Electrohydrodynamic flow and particle collection efficiency of a spike-plate type electrostatic precipitator

In this work, the results of electrohydrodynamic (EHD) secondary flow and particle collection efficiency measurements in a spike-plate type electrostatic precipitator (ESP) are presented. The EHD secondary flow was measured using 2- and 3-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV) method under the negative DC voltage. The PIV measurements were carried out in several cross-sectional planes along and across the ESP duct. The results show a complex and turbulent flow structure in the ESP. The EHD secondary flow significantly depends on applied voltage and measuring cross-sectional plane position in respect to the spike tip. The partial collection efficiency of the ESP was measured for negative and positive DC voltage. The particle concentration with and without discharge was measured at the ESP exit using an optical aerosol spectrometer.     

Discrete variational principle and first integrals for Lagrange--Maxwell mechanico-electrical systems

This paper presents a discrete variational principle and a method to build first-integrals for finite dimensional Lagrange--Maxwell mechanico-electrical systems with nonconservative forces and a dissipation function. The discrete variational principle and the corresponding Euler--Lagrange equations are derived from a discrete action associated to these systems. The first-integrals are obtained by introducing the infinitesimal transformation with respect to the generalized coordinates and electric quantities of the systems. This work also extends discrete Noether symmetries to mechanico-electrical dynamical systems. A practical example is presented to illustrate the results.     

Problems of cryogenic cooling of superconductor and semiconductor receivers in the range 0.1–1 THz

We present the theoretical fundamentals and features of development of cryogenic cooling systems for receivers in the range 0.1–1 THz. The results of development of cryogenic systems for sustaining the temperatures in the range from 150 to 0.3 K are considered. The systems are based on a wide class of cryogenic devices employing various principles and thermodynamic cycles. The described developments are based on the unity of the thermal and radiophysical complexes of the cooled receiver and the cryosystem. The discussed cryosystems are specifically used to cool receivers with the mixers based on Schottky-barrier diodes and superconductor-insulator-superconductor structures, as well as on various bolometers. The problems of heat insulation against the surrounding medium and heat transfer from the receiver to the cryogenic liquid, the features of the input/output of signals in a wide frequency range and of mechanical vacuum-tight thermo-decoupled inputs to the cryostat, and the control systems for cryoelectronic complexes are considered in detail. The presented results can be used for both laboratory experiments and practical applications in radio astronomy, atmosphere spectroscopy, and other fields.     

Current progress on heat conduction in one-dimensional gas channels

We give a brief review of the past development of model studies on one-dimensional heat conduction. Particularly, we describe recent achievements on the study of heat conduction in one-dimensional gas models including the hard-point gas model and billiard gas channel. For a one-dimensional gas of elastically colliding particles of unequal masses, heat conduction is anomalous due to momentum conservation, and the divergence exponent of heat conductivity is estimated as α≈0.33 in k ∼ L ^α . Moreover, in billiard gas models, it is found that exponent instability is not necessary for normal heat conduction. The connection between heat conductivity and diffusion is investigated. Some new progress is reported. A recently proposed model with a quantized degree of freedom to study the heat transport in quasi-one dimensional systems is illustrated in which three distinct temperature regimes of heat conductivity are manifested. The establishment of local thermal equilibrium (LTE) in homogeneous and heterogeneous systems is also discussed. Finally, we give a summary with an outlook for further study about the problem of heat conduction.     

Thermodynamics of relation-based systems with applications in econophysics,sociophysics, and music

A methodology was developed to analyze relation-based systems evolving in time by using the fundamental concepts of thermodynamics. The behavior of such systems can be tracked from the scattering matrix which is actually a network of directed vectors (or pathways) connecting subsequent values, which characterize an event, such as the index values in stock markets. A system behaves in a rigid (elastic) way to an external effect and resists permanent deformation, or it behaves in a viscous (or soft) way and deforms in an irreversible way. It was shown in the past that a formula derived using the slope of paths gives a measure about the extent of viscoelastic behavior of relation-based systems Gündüz (2009) [5] Gündüz and Gündüz (2010) [6]. In this research the ‘work’ associated with ‘elastic’ component, and ‘heat’ associated with ‘viscous’ component were discussed and elaborated. In a simple two subsequent pathway system in a scattering diagram the first vector represents ‘the cause’ and the second ‘the effect’. By using work and heat energy relations that involve force and also storage and loss modulus terms, respectively, one can calculate the energy involved in relation-based systems. The modulus values can be found from the parallel and vertical components of the second vector with respect to the first vector. Once work-like and heat-like terms were determined the internal energy is also easily found from their summation. The parallel and vertical components can also be used to calculate the magnitude of torque and torque energy in the system. Three cases, (i) the behavior of the NASDAQ-100 index, (ii) a social revolt, and (iii) the structure of a melody were analyzed for their ‘work-like’, ‘heat-like’, and ‘torque-like’ energies in the course of their evolution. NASDAQ-100 exhibits highly dissipative behavior, and its work terms are very small but heat terms are of large magnitude. Its internal energy highly fluctuates in time. In the social revolt studied work and heat terms are of comparable magnitude. The melody depicts highly organized structure, and usually has larger work terms than heat terms, but at some intervals heat terms burst out and attain very large magnitudes. Torque terms reach high values when the system is recovering from a minimum value.     

Resedential space conditioning with solid sorption technology

Approximately 50% of residential energy use in the U.S. is for space heating and cooling. The most popular type of system installed in U.S. houses is a central air-circulating system combining a natural-gas-fired direct-air-heating furnace and an electric-driven vapor compression cooling system. Natural-gas-driven heat pump technology offers considerable benefits over these existing technologies including a reduction in energy use, improved environmental impact, and reduced investment in electric power plant construction. However, over the past 30 years, more than 100 major natural-gas-driven heat pump development projects have been undertaken without a currently successful product. These past projects have focused on engine-driven vapor compression refrigeration cycles and liquid sorption refrigeration cycles. New solid sorption technology offers significant advantages over these engine and liquid sorption technologies. The fundamental advantages of solid sorption refrigeration technology in natural gas residential heat pumps are presented and the societal benefits over existing residential systems discussed.