Temperature control of electrohydrodynamic micro heat pipes

Active thermal control was achieved by using an electrohydrodynamically (EHD) assisted micro heat pipe array. A simulation model of temperature control of EHD micro heat pipes was established in a Matlab Sinulink environment. An experimental model was designed and fabricated to verify the model and identify the factors most influential to the thermal control via EHD micro heat pipe array. Good correspondence between simulations and experiments was achieved. Electric field intensity, set-point temperature and the gap between the upper and lower set-point temperatures were shown to have a dramatic influence on the temperature control.     

Heat transfer measurements and correlations for air–water flow of different flow patterns in a horizontal pipe

Heat transfer coefficients were measured and new correlations were developed for two-phase, two-component (air and water) heat transfer in a horizontal pipe for different flow patterns. Flow patterns were observed in a transparent circular pipe using an air–water mixture. Visual identification of the flow patterns was supplemented with photographic data, and the results were plotted on the flow regime map proposed by Taitel and Dukler and agreed quite well with each other. A two-phase heat transfer experimental setup was built for this study and a total of 150 two-phase heat transfer data with different flow patterns were obtained under a uniform wall heat flux boundary condition. For these data, the superficial Reynolds number ranged from 640 to 35,500 for the liquid and from 540 to 21,200 for the gas. Our previously developed robust two-phase heat transfer correlation for a vertical pipe with modified constants predicted the horizontal pipe air–water heat transfer experimental data with very good accuracy. Overall the proposed correlations predicted the data with a mean deviation of 1.0% and an rms deviation of 12%.     

Nonlinear MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz instability in a pipe

Nonlinear MHD Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability in a pipe is treated with the derivative expansion method in the present paper. The linear stability problem was discussed in the past by Chandrasekhar (1961)^[1] and Xu et al. (1981).^[6]Nagano (1979)^[3] discussed the nonlinear MHD K-H instability with infinite depth. He used the singular perturbation method and extrapolated the obtained second order modifier of amplitude vs. frequency to seek the nonlinear effect on the instability growth rate γ. However, in our view, such an extrapolation is inappropriate. Because when the instability sets in, the growth rates of higher order terms on the right hand side of equations will exceed the corresponding secular producing terms, so the expansion will still become meaningless even if the secular producing terms are eliminated. Mathematically speaking, it's impossible to derive formula (39) when γ ₀ ² is negative in Nagano's paper.^[3]Moreover, even as early as γ ₀ ² → O⁺, the expansion becomes invalid because the 2nd order modifier γ₂ (in his formula (56)) tends to infinity. This weakness is removed in this paper, and the result is extended to the case of a pipe with finite depth. Theproject is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.     

Vortex dynamics of a trapezoidal bluff body placed inside a circular pipe

The influence of Reynolds number and blockage ratio on the vortex dynamics of a trapezoidal bluff body placed inside a circular pipe is studied experimentally and numerically. Low aspect ratio, high blockage ratio, curved end conditions (junction of pipe and bluff body), axisymmetric upstream flow with shear and turbulence are some of the intrinsic features of this class of bluff body flows which have been scarcely addressed in the literature. A large range (200:200,000) of Reynolds number (Re_D) is covered in this study, encompassing all the three pipe flow regimes (laminar, transition and turbulent). Four different flow regimes are defined based on the distinct features of Strouhal number (St)–Re_D relation: steady, laminar irregular, transition and turbulent. The wake in the steady regime is stationary with no oscillations in the shear layer. The laminar regime is termed as irregular owing to irregular vortex shedding. The vortex shedding in this regime is observed to be symmetric. The emergence of separation bubble downstream of the bluff body on either side is another interesting feature of this regime, which is further observed to be symmetric. Two pairs of mean streamwise vortices are noticed in the near-wake regime, which are termed as reverse dipole-type wake topology. Beyond the irregular laminar regime, the Strouhal number falls gradually and vortex shedding becomes more periodic. This regime is named transition and occurs close to the Reynolds number at which transition to turbulence takes place in a fully developed pipe. The turbulent regime is characterised by a nearly constant Strouhal number. Typical Karman-type vortex shedding is noticed in this regime. The convection velocity, wake width formation length and irrecoverable pressure loss are quantified to highlight the influence of blockage ratio. These results will be useful to develop basic understanding of vortex dynamics of confined bluff body flow for several practical applications.     

小长径比垂直管气液两相流动特性分析

实验观察了小长径比垂直上流管内流型及特点,并对管入口处的压力波动特性和系统的压差波动特性进行了试验研究.结果表明:小长径比(L/D)垂直管内流型表现为泡状流、塞状流、乳沫状流、环状流和液束环状流;分别增加管线中的气量、液量,或者同时增加气液流量,均会造成垂直管入口处压力波动的均值和最大压力的增加;压力信号的概率密度(PDF)大部分呈双峰分布,也存在单峰和多峰分布;差压信号的概率密度符合正态分布,其功率谱密度同压力信号相比具有频率波动范围宽、幅值小的特点.     

Empirical Study of an Air-to-Air Heat Pipe Heat Exchanger in Tropical Climates

Abstract

This article presents the empirical study of a heat pipe heat exchanger that was directly experiencing the ambient tropical air in its evaporator section. The performance of the heat pipe heat exchanger was monitored during two weeks of operation to determine the performance curves. The temperature of return air was controlled at about 22°C as the representative temperature of inside air, and a face velocity of 2 m/s on the heat pipe heat exchanger coil was established for this purpose. It was found that for the present investigation, the heat pipe heat exchanger can pay for itself in 1.5 years.     

高炉冲渣水余热回收的可行性研究

根据高炉冲渣水的余热特点,提出了一个采用分离式热管换热器的余热回收的方案。文中对余热回收方案中换热设备的结构特点进行了描述。