Effective waste heat recovery from engine exhaust using fin prolonged heat exchanger with graphene oxide nanoparticles

Waste heat recovery is an important alternative to reduce the energy consumption in industrial processes. Heat Exchangers are used effectively for heat recovery. Thus, the role of heat exchangers for waste heat recovery system is crucial. The exclusive of heat transmission of a heat exchanger can be improved by many methods such as by modifying the geometries and using nano-additives of different concentration. In this continuation, a modified geometry of finned heat exchanger is developed with CFD analysis. Modified heat exchanger includes the fins in the internal pipe to improve heat transfer. Nanoparticles of graphene oxide with various concentrations are introduced in working fluid. A steady numerical study is performed by using ANSYS Fluent with k-omega turbulence model for exhaust flow. Variation at inlet velocities of exhaust gas and water, particles concentration and internal fin geometry are considered. The reduction in hot fluid temperature from 6 m/s to 2 m/s enhanced the effectiveness by approximately 33.3%. The decrease in hot fluid velocity to 2 m/s and 6 m/s can reduce its outlet temperature by 100 K and 14 K at 0.03 m/s cold fluid temperature. The inclusion of nanoparticles at 0.1% can enhance the effectiveness by maximum of 7%.     

Intensification of heat transfer in a liquid film evaporator

Influence of the heat exchanger shape on the heat transfer efficiency investigated. Heat transfer efficiency of two vertical pipe-in-pipe heat exchangers, one with a straight wall and the other with a twisted wall were compared. Both heat exchangers worked on the principle of liquid falling film. Electric transformer oil was used as the heated liquid and water vapor at atmospheric pressure was used as the heating agent. Oil was just heated, not evaporated during the experiments. Oil inlet and outlet temperature were measured at six different oil mass flows. Heat flux and heat flux density in the straight- and twisted-wall heat exchangers were compared. Mathematical model was built to verify the possibility of the oil outlet temperature prediction.     

Membrane-based Enthalpy Exchanger: material considerations and clarification of moisture resistance

The fundamental dimensionless groups for coupled heat and moisture transfer in a cross flow air-to-air enthalpy exchanger with hydrophilic membrane cores are derived and validated with experimental data. The thermal and moisture transfer mechanisms in membranes are studied. The finite difference numerical solutions of the model are used to study heat and moisture transfer in enthalpy exchangers. The variations of sensible, latent, and enthalpy effectiveness with various operating parameters are calculated for different types of material. Studies show that the sensible effectiveness is mainly determined by number of transfer units (NTU) of the exchanger, while the latent effectiveness is influenced by both the material and the operating conditions. Unlike thermal diffusive resistance, the moisture diffusive resistance in membrane is not a constant. It is co-determined by the slopes of sorption curves and the operating conditions. To account for these influences, a new dimensionless factor named the coefficient of moisture diffusive resistance (CMDR) is defined. With this coefficient, the performance of an enthalpy exchanger can be more easily predicted and clearly understood. By comparing the performances with different membrane materials, it is revealed that the membrane material with a linear sorption curve performs better than other materials under common conditions.     

Analysis of the first thermal response test in Algeria

Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) mean attractive heating and cooling systems. Optimum design of a borehole heat exchanger (BHE), as the outer part of a GSHP heating system, requires knowledge of the thermal properties of the soil. Those data, the effective thermal conductivity of the soil λ_eff and the average temperature of the soil T ₀ enable us to determine the necessary number and depth of boreholes. The determination of thermal conductivity of the soil in laboratory experiments does not usually coincidence with the data under in situ conditions. Therefore, an in situ method of experimental determination of these parameters, thermal response testing (TRT) is used primarily for in situ determination of design data for BHEs. In this study, which was the first TRT in Algeria (Tlemcen site), the purpose was to determine the effective ground thermal conductivity. Measured data were evaluated by the line source model. Used method and performed evaluation are presented for a borehole drilled in clay, silt, and sand. The resulting effective ground thermal conductivity was 1.364 W/m K and the borehole thermal resistance was 0.18 K/(W/m).     

Heat and moisture transfer in application scale parallel-plates enthalpy exchangers with novel membrane materials

Parallel-plates enthalpy exchangers are one of the most commonly encountered energy recovery devices that are used to simultaneously transfer both sensible heat and moisture between fresh air and exhaust ventilation air. For such equipments, the water vapor sorption properties of the plate materials have tremendous impacts on system performance. In this investigation, three different materials, namely, common paper, CA (cellulose acetate) membrane and a modified CA membrane) are selected as the plate materials for three enthalpy exchangers. Sorption curves and contact angles of these three materials are measured to reflect their hydrophilicity. The steady-state sensible and latent effectiveness of the three exchangers are tested in a special test rig, and the test results are compared with the model predictions. A heat and moisture transfer model for the enthalpy exchangers is proposed. The effects of the varying operating conditions like air flow rates, temperature, and humidity on the sensible and latent effectiveness are evaluated. Both the numerical and experimental results indicate that the moisture resistance through plates is co-determined by thickness, sorption slope, and sorption potential. Moisture diffusivity in various materials is in the same order. So when the plate thickness is fixed, the higher the sorption slopes are, the higher the latent performance is. Of the three exchangers, the exchanger with the modified CA membrane material has the highest performance due to small thickness, steep sorption slope, and large sorption potentials. The paper exchanger has a latent effectiveness of 0.4, while the membranes have latent effectiveness of greater than 0.7.     

Performance analysis of an integrated cooling system consisted of earth-to-air heat exchanger (EAHE) and water spray channel

This study evaluates the cooling performance of a new hybrid system composing of an earth-to-air heat exchanger (EAHE) and a water spray channel to provide thermal comfort in Tehran, Iran. The inlet air temperature passing through the EAHE dissipates its heat to the surrounding soil and become slightly colder. To reach thermal comfort, the pre-cooled air flows upward through a channel spraying water downward and enters the living space. Considering the evaporative thermal comfort zone, the results showed that this system can meet comfort conditions for summer season Tehran. Moreover, according to the results, the cooling effectiveness of the proposed hybrid system is more than 100%, which means that the integrated system is capable of decreasing the air dry-bulb temperature below the inlet ambient wet-bulb temperature. Employing ground as a reliable source of alternative energy, the proposed cooling system can be considered an eco-friendly and energy-efficient system. Therefore, the introduced cooling system can be utilized as an alternative to conventional evaporative coolers or mechanical vapor compression systems while it can be considered an eco-friendly and energy-efficient system.

     

Fabricating an experimental setup to investigate the performance of an automobile car radiator by using aluminum/water nanofluid

In this present work, effect of Al/water nanofluids on the rheological performance of an automobile car radiator has been investigated. Nanofluids were fabricated by two-step methods, i.e., dispersing of aluminum metal bases nanoparticles of size 75–135 nm in double-distilled water. Experiments were conducted on single-pass cross-flow compact heat exchanger by varying the various parameters such as inlet temperature, flow rate through the heat exchanger, concentration of nanoparticles and velocity of air employed for cooling purpose. It was concluded that the hot side Nusselt numbers are improved by 3.37 and 5.0877% for 0.2 and 0.3% concentrations of nanofluids, respectively, at 318.15 K inlet fluids temperature as compared to base fluids. Colburn factor was increased by 12.94 and 23.45% for 0.2 and 0.3% nanoparticles volume concentration of nanofluids, respectively, at 318.15 K inlet temperature with respect to double-distilled water. Hot fluid side friction factor was increased by 14.04 and 20.916% for 0.2 and 0.3% nanoparticles volume concentration of nanofluids with respect to base fluids, but this average value of friction factor was decreased by 2.29 and 9.1412% when temperature was increased from 318.15 to 323.15 K and 328.15 K, respectively.     

Measurement of the axial and radial temperature profiles of a chromatographic column. Influence of thermal insulation on column efficiency

The temperatures of the metal wall along a chromatographic column (longitudinal temperature gradients) and of the liquid phase across the outlet section of the column (radial temperature gradients) were measured at different flow rates with the same chromatographic column (250 mm x 4.6 mm). The column was packed with 5 microm C18-bonded silica particles. The measurements were carried out with surface and immersion thermocouples (all junction Type T, +/-0.1 K) that measure the local temperature. The column was either left in a still-air bath (ambient temperature, T(ext) = 295-296 K) or insulated in a packing foam to avoid air convection around its surface. The temperature profiles were measured at several values of the inlet pressure (approximately = 100, 200, 300 and 350 bar) and with two mobile phases, pure methanol and a 2.5:97.5 (v/v, %) methanol:water solution. The experimental results show that the longitudinal temperature gradients never exceeded 8 K for a pressure drop of 350 bars. In the presence of the insulating foam, the longitudinal temperature gradients become quasi-linear and the column temperature increases by +1 and +3 K with a water-rich (heat conductivity approximately = 0.6 W/m/K) and pure methanol (heat conductivity approximately = 0.2 W/m/K), respectively. The radial temperature gradients are maximum with methanol (+1.5 K at 290 bar inlet pressure) and minimum with water (+0.8 K at 290 bar), as predicted by the solution of the heat transfer balance in a chromatographic column. The profile remains parabolic all along the column. Combining the results of these measurements (determination of the boundary conditions on the wall, at column inlet and at column outlet) with calculations using a realistic model of heat dispersion in a porous medium, the temperature inside the column could be assessed for any radial and axial position.     

Numerical investigation of boiling heat transfer in a quenching process of jet impingement considering solid temperature distribution

Boiling jet impingements are being widely used in various industries. Hence, a quenching jet impingement is simulated numerically. A solver code based on volume of fluid method was modified to analyze the effects of conjugation and mass transfer, and validated against an experimental study. Then, optimized cooling factor (OCF) was defined to involve temperature uniformity of the block and the cooling rate simultaneously. Subsequently, in laminar two-jet configurations, the effects of velocity inlet function, jet-to-surface and jet-to-jet spacing on standard temperature uniformity index (STUI) and OCF in a highly heated block were investigated. Heaviside function of time for the inlet velocity and periods of pulse between 0 and 0.2 were considered. Some remarkable results are achieved by the proposed configurations. In all cases with pulsating jets, improvements in STUI and OCF relative to pulse-free ones were observed; when V?=?0.4 m s^?1, OCF peaked at 2 in P?=?0.06, which was almost eight times greater than OCF of pulse-free configuration (OCF?=?0.24). As velocity decreased, the temperature uniformity improved; however, OCF showed the highest value at higher velocities occurring for lower periods of pulses. This happens because of more uniform temperature distribution in both plate sides and continual destroying film boiling layers generated on the surface. Also, in a jet-to-jet spacing of about one-third of the block length, for all plate lengths, optimal temperature uniformity with maximum OCF was obtained, due to formation of two stagnation points having the highest heat transfer rate by positioning in an ideal distance from each other.

     

Synthesis of metal-based nanofluids and their thermo-hydraulic performance in compact heat exchanger with multi-louvered fins working under laminar conditions

Present experimental investigation incorporates characterization of Al nanopowder, synthesis of Al/water nanofluids, and effect of these nanofluids on thermal performance of compact heat exchanger. Al nanoparticles are characterized using TEM and XRD. Al/water nanofluid is prepared by dispersing metal basis aluminium nanoparticles of average 100 nm size into double distilled water at two different particle volume concentrations of 0.1 and 0.2%. The nanofluids are prepared by two-step method and cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide surfactant is used to stabilize the nanofluid. Thermo-physical properties of nanofluids at two different concentrations and their variation with fluid temperature are measured experimentally. It is examined that thermal conductivity, viscosity, and density of the nanofluid increased with the increase of volume concentrations. Furthermore, by increasing the fluid temperature, thermal conductivity is intensified, while the viscosity and density are decreased. Heat transfer parameters are strong functions of these thermo-physical properties. Therefore, comprehensive findings on heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, colburn factor, friction factor, and effectiveness are determined experimentally for prepared nanofluids passing under laminar conditions through single-pass cross-flow compact heat exchanger attached with multi-louvered fins.

     

A microfabricated amperometric moisture sensor

We describe a microfabricated moisture sensor with interdigitated Au or Pt electrodes on a silicon substrate. The sensor active area is covered with a spin-coated, baked-on layer of Nafion(R) perfluorosulfonate ionomer of submicron thickness. The sensor responds to moisture with a 10-90% rise time of 50-100 ms and a 90-10% fall time of 20-30 ms, faster than any other presently available sensor. The logarithm of the sensor current is related to the cube root of the moisture level at a given temperature. At 23 degrees C, the sensor easily measures relative humidities as low as 10%. The sensor response at a given absolute humidity level decreases exponentially with increasing temperature. The film is stable up to a temperature of 150 degrees C, permitting elevated temperature moisture measurement. Since sorbed water is actively decomposed electrolytically, the sensors exhibit negligible hysteresis. Response reproducibility of an individual sensor is <1%, that between identically made sensors is <5%, suggesting mass production techniques without individual calibration will be acceptable for all but the most demanding situation.     

Bead injection for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy: automated on-line monitoring of substrate generation and application in quantitative analysis

The technique of bead injection has been adapted for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) to substantially improve precision, long term stability and sensitivity of SERS detection in analytical chemistry. For this purpose a fully automated flow system comprising a dedicated flow-cell has been developed and tested. With the developed flow-cell, which contains two inlet and two outlet channels, it is possible to retain, perfuse and discharge minute amounts of polymer beads while monitoring all steps by Raman spectroscopy. First, beads carrying cation exchanger moieties were retained in the flow-cell and subsequently perfused with a silver nitrate and a hydroxylamine solution using one inlet of the flow cell. By this sequence homogeneous SERS active silver layers were formed on the beads. The uniformity of the achieved silver layer was studied by secondary electron microscopy. For measurement, the analyte was then introduced from the second inlet channel such that the interaction between the activated SERS beads and analyte occurred in close proximity and within the focus of the laser excitation beam. Due to the complete computer control of all experimental steps, including bead entrapment, SERS layer generation, sample introduction and final bead removal, highly reproducible conditions for SERS were achieved. The method was developed using 9-aminoacridine as a test molecule. Quantitative studies were carried out for 9-aminoacridine and acridine showing linear calibrations from 1-100 nmol l(-1) and 50-1,000 nmol l(-1), respectively, using a sample volume of 200 microl each. Typical relative standard deviations were 4.7% for 9-aminoacrine and 5.8% for acridine.     

Field Study on Mobility and Persistence of Linuron and Monolinuron in Agricultural Soil

Abstract

A field site equipped with suction cup lysimeters was installed at Treviglio (BG) to assess the migration capacity of the herbicides linuron and monolinuron from topsoil to groundwater and to verify the appearance of their relevant transformation products in soil and water samples. A constant hydraulic head was applied in order to develop water saturation conditions in the upper layers. KCl was used as a tracer to evaluate water infiltration velocity through the vertical soil profile. The constant hydraulic head accelerated infiltration rates, while herbicide concentrations reached maximum contamination because soil adsorption capacity was underdeveloped. The results indicated two main processes of pesticide transport: firstly transport due mainly to water infiltration through macropores; secondly the transport driven by matrix flow. Linuron was found to be the most mobile herbicide, while chloroanilines were found to be the major transformation products of the herbicides considered.     

Thermo-chemical characteristics of R134a flow boiling in helically coiled tubes at low mass flux and low pressure

The characteristics of R134a heat transfer coefficients and wall temperature distribution were investigated under low mass flux and low pressure conditions in a helically coiled tube with heated length of 7070 mm, outer diameter of 10 mm, inner diameter of 7.6 mm, coil diameter of 300 mm and helical pitch of 40 mm. System pressures, mass fluxes and inlet qualities range from 0.20 to 0.75 MPa, 50 to 260 kg/m² s and ?0.18 to 0.40, respectively. It was found that the wall temperatures in descending segments of coiled tube were higher than those of climbing ones, while the heat transfer coefficients varied inversely. Around the section circumference, the outside temperature was lower than the inside one; this is more apparent at very low mass flux and pressure conditions. The heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing mass flux, vapor quality and heat flux. However, the pressure has an indeterminate effect. New heat transfer coefficient correlations for current conditions were developed comparing with existing correlations.     

Adsorption of isobutane on H-TsVM zeolite

A procedure was developed for evaluating the adsorption of hydrocarbons on solids by monitoring the temperature of the gas over the sample layer and inside it, the heat conductivity of the gas at the inlet and outlet of the flow reactor, and the composition of the gas after the sample. The adsorption-desorption of isobutane accompanied by heat liberation or absorption (recorded as a temperature change in the zeolite layer) was studied using the H-TsVM zeolite as an example. The temperature effects during isobutane adsorption and desorption were compared. It was concluded that below ～90°C, some part of isobutane is significantly chemisorbed on H-TsVM. The highly adsorbed isobutane can be removed by keeping the sample in a nitrogen flow for a long time or by heating it above 90°C. Time dependence of isobutane desorption at constant temperature can be described by first order kinetic equation, making possible to estimate the activation energy of desorption of highly chemisorbed isobutane using the data on thermodesorption at linear temperature increase.     

Influence of the Presence of CO2 in the Feed of an Indirect Heating TSA Process for VOC Removal

This work deals with an experimental study of an indirect temperature swing adsorption process for VOC removal from air or for gas purification. A 1 m long and 70 mm diameter column with an internal heat exchanger has been filled with Ambersorb 600 carbonaceous adsorbent. This column is equipped with sensors to measure temperature at several points inside the bed, as well as the inlet and outlet gas concentration, pressure, temperature and mass flow. In a first step, CO₂ or ethane/dry nitrogen mixtures were used to simulate a single VOC in air, with different concentrations (350 ppm, 1% and 10%). As a first results very effective gas purification was obtained and an advantage of this process is the high pollutant concentration during the regeneration phase. Experiments were performed with various ethane/CO₂ mixtures. The influence of the presence of CO₂ on the ethane concentration breakthrough curves and on the ethane concentration during regeneration is reported. The IAS theory was used, as a first approach, to predict the adsorbed pollutants amount. Relatively good prediction is obtained with a maximum error in the order of 10%. An energy balance study is reported as well.     

Sensitivity analysis of a predictive model for the fire behaviour of a sandwich panel

A sensitivity analysis to assumptions and input variables is carried out for a predictive model previously developed [1] for the fire response of a glass-fibre/polyester panel and a glass-fibre/polyester-Vermiculux sandwich. It is an unsteady, one-dimensional model using the porous medium approximation and a constant gas pressure with two-step, finite rate kinetics for the thermal decomposition and combustion of the polymeric resin, moisture evaporation described by an Arrhenius rate law, heat and mass transfer by convection, heat conduction and radiation described by effective thermal conductivities, variation of the volumetric fractions of the polymeric resin and the moisture with the conversion degree, effective specific heats, external heat transfer resistances and surface ablation. The strongest impact on the model predictions is exerted by the imposed external heat flux with variations on the characteristic process times between 49 and 774%. An important role in sample heating/conversion is also played by surface ablation and/or external heat transfer resistance with variations up to 30-72% or, when ablation is disregarded, with temperatures along the core layer well below those of the degrading skin. These are also significantly affected by surface heat losses, with the assumption of adiabatic bottom surface leading to heterogeneous ignition of the lower skin, and evaporation of moisture with variations in the characteristic times up to 35%. The model for the effective thermal conductivity of the fibre-reinforced skin (the Parallel, the Maxwell-Eucken and the Effective Medium Theory models versus the Series model) is also important resulting in characteristic time variations up to 35%. The absence of local thermal equilibrium between the condensed and the gas/vapour phase and the kinetic details of the polymer reactions are comparatively less important (maximum diminution in the characteristic times of 16%). Moreover, although over-pressures, modelled by the Darcy law, become quite high especially during the moisture evaporation stage (up to ten times the atmospheric value), their effects on the thermal response of the structure are completely negligible when structural changes are not modelled. Finally, a sensitivity analysis is also carried out to input parameters.     

Effects of ultraviolet radiation, temperature and moisture on aging of coatings and sealants - A chemical and rheological study

Photodegradation of polymeric materials leads to significant modifications in both chemical properties and mechanical-rheological behaviors over time. Thus, it is important to characterize both properties to gain a better understanding of the durability of the materials. In this contribution, the chemorheological tools based upon Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) were used to study the effects of temperature and moisture on photodegradation of a model sealant/coating system based upon a styrene-butadiene-styrene triblock copolymer. Specimens were exposed coincidentally to ultraviolet-visible radiation between 295 nm and 600 nm, and one of four different combinations of temperature and relative humidity (RH), i.e., (a) 30 °C and <1% RH, (b) 30 °C and 80% RH, (c) 55 °C and <1% RH, and (d) 55 °C and 80% RH. The rate of photodegradation was examined in terms of formation of oxidation species and evolution of mechanical-rheological data, including glass transition temperatures, moduli, and the number of effective crosslinked butadiene chains per unit volume per exposure time. Environmental exposure resulted in similar degradation modes for all four environments but the rate of photodegradation was found to depend strongly on temperature. Conversely, the role of moisture on photodegradation was not significant. The study shows that chemical modification can be directly related to the corresponding rheological modifications. In addition, the relative stability of styrene and butadiene against photodegradation as a function of temperature and moisture was compared.     

ANSYS simulation study of a low volume fraction CuO–ZnO/water hybrid nanofluid in a shell and tube heat exchanger

For the first time, the heat transfer performance of a CuO–ZnO (80:20)/water hybrid has been studied experimentally and numerically in a shell and tube heat exchanger under turbulent flow conditions nanofluid (STHE). All experiments are carried out with 0.01 ​vol% CuO–ZnO (80:20)/water hybrid nanofluid at Reynolds numbers (N_Re) ranging from 1900 to 17,500. The stabilized hybrid nanofluids (30 ​°C-Tube side) are then used as a coolant to reduce the hot fluid (60 ​°C-shell side) temperature using a STHE, with the results for the convective heat transfer coefficient, Nusselt number, friction factor, and pressure drop reported. The primary goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of hybrid nanoparticle mixing ratio optimization on STHE heat transfer efficiency under various operating conditions. According to the findings, the CuO–ZnO (80:20)/water hybrid nanofluid improved the heat transfer performance of the STHE at all Reynolds numbers. When using nanofluid over water, the Nusselt number and pressure drop were improved by approximately 33% and 13%, respectively. The hybrid nanofluid's maximum thermal performance factor and thermal efficiency enhancement were 1.45 and 7%, respectively, at N_Re ​= ​17,500. According to the study, the thermal conductivity of nanofluid varies by only 5% after ten trials. Furthermore, the ANSYS Fluent program was used to predict the behavior of the hybrid nanofluid in STHE, and the simulation results fit the experimental values very well.     

Thermal response to fire of a fibre-reinforced sandwich panel: Model formulation, selection of intrinsic properties and experimental validation

A predictive model is formulated for the fire response of a glass reinforced plastic panel, consisting of two glass-fibre/polyester skins and Vermiculux sandwich material (core) in between. Polymer conversion takes place according to a first-order decomposition reaction and an n-order combustion reaction both with an Arrhenius-type dependence on temperature. Intrinsic kinetic parameters have been estimated by re-examination of thermogravimetric data at four heating rates, resulting in activation energies for the two steps of 128 and 150 kJ/mol, respectively. Physical processes are modelled by the unsteady, one-dimensional conservation equations taking into account heat transfer by convection and conduction, convective mass transfer, surface heat transfer, effective thermal conductivity, moisture evaporation, ablation of the heat-exposed surface at a critical temperature and property variation. Simulated process dynamics, using intrinsic values for all the model parameters, are highly influenced by the behaviour of the heat-exposed skin which shows three main regimes: I) very rapid conversion of a thin surface layer (fast heating regime), II) slowing down of the conversion processes following the formation of a thick insulating fibre glass layer (slow heating regime) and III) a new enhancement in the reaction rates as a consequence of surface collapse and ablation (ablation regime). Good agreement is obtained for the predicted and measured temperatures for both a single skin composite plate and a sandwich panel loaded with a hydrocarbon flame.