Transient Momentum and Enthalpy Transfer in Packed Beds at High Reynolds Numbers

An experimental study for transient temperature response and pressure drop in a randomly packed bed at high Reynolds numbers is presented.The packed bed is used as a compact heat exchanger along with a solid-propellant gas generator, to generate room-temperature gases for use in control actuation, air bottle pressurization, etc. Packed beds of lengths 200 and 300 mm were characterized for packing-sphere-based Reynolds numbers ranging from 0.8 x 10(4) to 8.5 x 10(4).The solid packing used in the bed consisted of phi 9.5 mm steel spheres. The bed-to-particle diameter ratio was with the average packed-bed porosity around 0.43. The inlet flow temperature was unsteady and a mesh of spheres was used at either end to eliminate flow entrance and exit effects. Gas temperature and pressure were measured at the entry, exit,and at three axial locations along centerline in the packed beds. The solid packing temperature was measured at three axial locations in the packed bed. A correlation based on the ratio of pressure drop and inlet-flow momentum (Euler number) exhibited an asymptotically decreasing trend with increasing Reynolds number. Axial conduction across the packed bed was found to he negligible in the investigated Reynolds number range. The enthalpy absorption rate to solid packing from hot gases is plotted as a function of a nondimensional time constant for different Reynolds numbers. A longer packed bed had high enthalpy absorption rate at Reynolds number similar to 10(4), which decreased at Reynolds number similar to 10(5). The enthalpy absorption plots can be used for estimating enthalpy drop across packed bed with different material, but for a geometrically similar packing.

Experiments on thermal response of low aspect ratio packed beds at high Reynolds numbers with varying inflow temperature

An experimental study for transient temperature response of low aspect ratio packed beds at high Reynolds numbers for a free stream with varying inlet temperature is presented. The packed bed is used as a compact heat exchanger along with a solid propellant gas-generator, to generate room temperature gases for use in applications such as control actuation and air bottle pressurization. Packed beds of lengths similar to 200 mm and 300 mm were characterized for packing diameter based Reynolds numbers, Re-d ranging from 0.6 x 10(4) to 8.5 x 10(4). The solid packing used in the bed consisted of circle divide 9.5 mm and circle divide 5 mm steel spheres with suitable arrangements to eliminate flow entrance and exit effects. The ratios of packed bed diameter to packing diameter for 9.5 mm and 5 mm sphere packing were similar to 9.5 and 18 respectively, with the average packed bed porosities around 0.4. Gas temperatures were measured at the entry, exit and at three axial locations along centre-line in the packed beds. The solid packing temperature was measured at three axial locations in the packed bed. An average Nusselt number correlation of the form Nu(d) = 3.91Re(d)(05) for Re-d range of 10(4) is proposed. For engineering applications of packed beds such as pebble bed heaters, thermal storage systems, and compact heat exchangers a simple procedure is suggested for calculating unsteady gas temperature at packed bed exit for packing Biot number Bi-d < 0.1. (C) 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High pressure studies on the electrical resistivity of Ge-Te-Tl glasses

The variation of electrical resistivity in the system of glasses Ge17Te83-xTlx, with (1 <= x <= 13), has been studied as a function of high pressure for pressures up to 10 GPa. It is found that the normalized electrical resistivity decreases continuously with the increase in pressure and shows a sudden drop at a particular pressure (transition pressure), indicating the presence of a transition from semiconductor to near-metallic at these pressures which are in the range 3.0-5.0 GPa. This transition pressure is seen to decrease with the increase in the percentage content of thallium due to increasing metallicity of the thallium. The transition is reversible under application of pressure and X-ray diffraction of samples recovered after pressurization show that they remain amorphous after undergoing a pressurization decompression cycle.

Peristaltic pump-based low range pressure sensor calibration system

Peristaltic pumps were normally used to pump liquids in several chemical and biological applications. In the present study, a peristaltic pump was used to pressurize the chamber (positive as well negative pressures) using atmospheric air. In the present paper, we discuss the development and performance study of an automatic pressurization system to calibrate low range (millibar) pressure sensors. The system includes a peristaltic pump, calibrated pressure sensor (master sensor), pressure chamber, and the control electronics. An in-house developed peristaltic pump was used to pressurize the chamber. A closed loop control system has been developed to detect and adjust the pressure leaks in the chamber. The complete system has been integrated into a portable product. The system performance has been studied for a step response and steady state errors. The system is portable, free from oil contaminants, and consumes less power compared to existing pressure calibration systems. The veracity of the system was verified by calibrating an unknown diaphragm based pressure sensor and the results obtained were satisfactory. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.