Wetness loss prediction for a low pressure steam turbine using computational fluid dynamics

Two-phase computational fluid dynamics modelling is used to investigate the magnitude of different contributions to the wet steam losses in a three-stage model low pressure steam turbine. The thermodynamic losses (due to irreversible heat transfer across a finite temperature difference) and the kinematic relaxation losses (due to the frictional drag of the drops) are evaluated directly from the computational fluid dynamics simulation using a concept based on entropy production rates. The braking losses (due to the impact of large drops on the rotor) are investigated by a separate numerical prediction. The simulations show that in the present case, the dominant effect is the thermodynamic loss that accounts for over 90% of the wetness losses and that both the thermodynamic and the kinematic relaxation losses depend on the droplet diameter. The numerical results are brought into context with the well-known Baumann correlation, and a comparison with available measurement data in the literature is given. The ability of the numerical approach to predict the main wetness losses is confirmed, which permits the use of computational fluid dynamics for further studies on wetness loss correlations. © IMechE 2013 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

Temperature measurements of the bluff body surface of a Swirl Burner using phosphor thermometry

Flames are often stabilised on bluff-bodies, yet their surface temperatures are rarely measured. This paper presents temperature measurements for the bluff body surface of the Cambridge/Sandia Stratified Swirl Burner. The flame is stabilized by a bluff body, designed to provide a series of turbulent premixed and stratified methane/air flames with a variable degree of swirl and stratification. Recently, modellers have raised concerns about the role of surface temperature on the resulting gas temperatures and the overall heat loss of the burner. Laser-induced phosphorescence is used to measure surface temperatures, with Mg4GeO6F:Mn as the excitation phosphor, creating a spatially resolved temperature map. Results show that the temperature of the bluff body is in the range 550-900 K for different operating conditions. The temperature distribution is strongly correlated with the degree of swirl and local equivalence ratio, reflecting the temperature distribution obtained in the gas phase. The overall heat loss represents only a small fraction (<0.5%) of the total heat load, yet the local surface temperature may affect the local heat transfer and gas temperatures. © 2014 The Combustion Institute.

Near infrared photoluminescence from Yb,Al Co-implanted SiO2 films on silicon

Intense room-temperature near infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (980 nm and 1032 nm) is observed from Yb,Al co-implanted SiO2 films on silicon. The optical transitions occur between the F-2(5/2) and F-2(7/2) levels of Yb3+ in SiO2. The additional Al-implantation into SiO2 films can effectively improve the concentration quenching effect of Yb3+ in SiO2. Photoluminescence exitation sprectroscopy shows that the NIR photoluminescence is due to the non-radiative energy transfer from Al-implantation-induced non-bridging oxygen hole defects in SiO2 to Yb3+ in the Yb-related luminescent complexes. It is believed that the defect-mediated luminscence of rare-earth ions in SiO2 is very effective.

热学微流控系统中瞬态相变传热研究

微尺度相变传热广泛存在于微反应器、微型燃料电池、微蒸发器、微冷凝器、微热管、微汽泡执行器等微流控器件中，研究微流控系统中的相变问题对于微流控器件的设计和运行具有重要的科学意义。本文针对三类典型的微尺度相变问题，即微尺度流动沸腾、微尺度流动凝结以及微加热器上的汽泡动力学进行了深入细致的研究，实验研究中所采用的实验件均为标准MEMS微加工工艺制作，克服了常规机械加工所造成的表面粗糙度的影响。 考虑到微流控系统中大量应用交叉型、弯曲型等复杂结构的微通道，在微尺度流动沸腾研究中，设计了一种具有交错微通道结构的微流控芯片，并以丙酮为工质，对该芯片内的流动沸腾进行了研究。发现了周期为毫秒量级微时间尺度的流型结构，整个周期包括单相液体充液、两相分层流以及部分蒸干的液膜流三个阶段；在单个微通道区域，由于蒸发动量力的作用，液膜沿流动方向呈非均匀分布，蒸干首先发生在上游；由于液相弗劳德数较小，导致微通道中依然存在分层流流型。由于毕渥数较小，芯片背面温度几乎与芯片内壁面温度保持同步变化。虽然红外热像仪的响应频率较低，但仍然可以鉴别出由于流型周期性转换导致的壁面温度脉动。 在微尺度流动凝结换热研究中，为便于获取凝结过程的动态流动特性，设计了一种低高宽比的单微通道，并以水为工质，对该微通道中的流动凝结换热进行了研究。实验中采取了空气自然对流冷却和 水强制对流冷却两种冷却强度。研究发现，该微通道中的凝结换热呈周期性，其周期在毫秒量级。在通道上游入口处，存在一个呈准静止状态的长汽弹，汽弹前端周期性脱离汽泡。增加冷却强度会使汽泡的脱离频率增大，脱离直径减小；长汽弹前端周期性脱离汽泡是由于汽液界面具有较大的韦伯数。汽泡在该微通道内的运动过程中直径基本不变是由于汽泡在通道内的滞留时间远小于汽泡完全冷凝所需的总时间。 为澄清并联通道的多通道效应对微尺度凝结换热的影响，作者设计了由三个矩形通道组成的并联微通道冷凝器。研究发现，通道中的流型结构与单通道凝结过程类似，均为上游呈准静止状态的长汽弹和下游周期性的汽泡脱离。在中间通道和侧通道中，总共发现了三种不同的汽泡脱离模式，即单汽丝断裂模式、双汽丝同步断裂模式以及双汽丝非同步断裂模式。多通道效应主要表现在由于硅基固体导热的影响，三个通道中具有不同的温度分布，中间通道的温度关于其中心线成对称分布，而两侧通道中的高温区域均靠向中间通道。虽然硅具有良好的导热性，整个硅基上的温差很小，但在微尺度下，小温差依然可以导致较大的温度梯度，造成中间通道的双汽丝关于其中心线成对称分布，并且总是发生同步断裂；侧通道中的双汽丝偏向中间通道，并且在靠近中间通道的一侧汽丝总是首先发生断裂。由于温度梯度引起的Maragnoni对流效应，侧通道中的汽泡脱离后便靠向高温侧。 在微汽泡动力学研究中，设计了一种尺寸为 的Pt薄膜微加热器，研究了脉冲控制参数对微加热器上汽泡动力学特性的影响。研究发现在该微加热器上发生汽泡核化时，核化温度均达到液体的过热极限，因此为均质核化过程。在不同的脉冲控制参数下，存在三类不同的汽泡动力学特性，即（1）汽泡爆炸性生长和冷凝以及汽泡二次生长；（2）汽泡爆炸性生长继而分裂、吸引并聚合；（3）汽泡振荡生长而后持续生长并最终达到稳定状态。在第（1）类中，汽泡二次生长是由于脉冲加热过程中在玻璃基片上储存了热量；在第（2）类中，汽泡冷凝过程中的Marangoni效应导致分裂后的汽泡互相吸引并最终聚合。在第（3）类中，汽泡尺寸最终达到稳定是由于汽泡内蒸汽的发生量与汽液界面上蒸汽的凝结量相等。 本文的研究将为微反应器、微型燃料电池、微换热器、微汽泡执行器等相变微流控系统的设计和运行提供科学指导。

种子汽泡传热原理与实验研究

两相流动不稳定性是在各种水力学直径通道内所遇到的复杂现象，这些不稳定性对热能系统可能造成有害影响。本文以丙酮为工质，在受热微通道入口处设置微汽泡发生器，采用脉冲电压激励产生可控微汽泡，并以微汽泡为种子尝试对热微通道内沸腾不稳定性及传热的控制。实验研究表明低频种子汽泡热控能够减轻各参数的脉动幅度；高频种子汽泡热控能彻底抑制沸腾不稳定性；种子汽泡技术的优点是能够在各发泡频率下抑制沸腾不稳定性，强化换热。本研究结果为解决微通道内沸腾不稳定性提供了一种崭新有效的手段，大大延长了待冷却芯片的使用寿命。

Effect of microwave on formation/decomposition of natural gas hydrate

Natural gas hydrate (NGH) reservoirs have been considered as a substantial future clean energy resource and how to recover gas from these reservoirs feasibly and economically is very important. Microwave heating will be taken as a promising method for gas production from gas hydrates for its advantages of fast heat transfer and flexible application. In this work, we investigate the formation/decomposition behavior of natural gas hydrate with different power of microwave (2450MHZ), preliminarily analyze the impact of microwave on phase equilibrium of gas hydrate,and make calculation based on van der Waals-Platteeuw model. It is found that microwave of a certain amount of power can reduce the induction time and sub-cooling degree of NGH formation, e.g., 20W microwave power can lead to a decrease of about 3A degrees C in sub-cooling degree and the shortening of induction time from 4.5 hours to 1.3 hours. Microwave can make rapid NGH decomposition, and water from NGH decomposition accelerates the decomposition of NGH with the decomposition of NGH. Under the same pressure, microwave can increase NGH phase equilibrium temperature. Different dielectric properties of each composition of NGH may cause a distinct difference in temperature in the process of NGH decomposition. Therefore, NGH decomposition by microwave can be affected by many factors.

Multi-channel effect of condensation flow in a micro triple-channel condenser

Multi-channel effect is important to understand transport phenomenon in phase change systems with parallel channels. In this paper, visualization studies were performed to study the multi-channel effect in a silicon triple-channel condenser with an aspect ratio of 0.04. Saturated water vapor was pumped into the microcondenser, which was horizontally positioned. The condenser was cooled by the air natural convention heat transfer in the air environment. Flow patterns are either the annular flow at high inlet vapor pressures, or a quasi-stable elongated bubble at the microchannel upstream followed by a detaching or detached miniature bubble at smaller inlet vapor pressures. The downstream miniature bubble was detached from the elongated bubble tip induced by the maximum Weber number there. It is observed that either a single vapor thread or dual vapor threads are at the front of the elongated bubble. A miniature bubble is fully formed by breaking up the vapor thread or threads. The transient vapor thread formation and breakup process is exactly symmetry against the centerline of the center channel. In side channels, the Marangoni effect induced by the small temperature variation over the channel width direction causes the vapor thread formation and breakup process deviating from the side channel centerline and approaching the center channel. The Marangoni effect further forces the detached bubble to rotate and approach the center channel, because the center channel always has higher temperatures, indicating the multi-channel effect. 

A three-dimensional analytical solution of the microheater temperature before bubble nucleation

A three-dimensional analytical solution of the microheater temperature based on heat diffusion equation is developed and compared with experimental results. Dimensionless parameters are introduced to analyze the temperature rise time and the distribution under steady state. To study the microheater temperatures before bubble nucleation, a set of working fluids and microheaters are considered. It is shown that the dimensionless time xi(-)(0) required for the temperature rise from room to 95% of the steady state temperature is about 75, not dependent on working fluids and microheaters. Heat transfer to the surrounding liquid is mainly caused by conduction, not by convection and radiation mechanisms. The microheater length affects the surface temperature uniformity, while its width influences the steady temperatures significantly, yielding the transition from heterogeneous to homogeneous nucleation mechanism from square microheaters to narrow line microheaters. 

Periodic bubble emission and appearance of an ordered bubble sequence (train) during condensation in a single microchannel

Condensation of steam in a single microchannel, silicon test section was investigated visually at low flow rates. The microchannel was rectangular in cross-section with a depth of 30 pm, a width of 800 mu m and a length of 5.0 mm, covered with a Pyrex glass to allow for visualization of the bubble formation process. By varying the cooling rate during condensation of the saturated water vapor, it was possible to control the shape, size and frequency of the bubbles formed. At low cooling rates using only natural air convection from the ambient environment, the flow pattern in the microchannel consisted of a nearly stable elongated bubble attached upstream (near the inlet) that pinched off into a train of elliptical bubbles downstream of the elongated bubble. It was observed that these elliptical bubbles were emitted periodically from the tip of the elongated bubble at a high frequency, with smaller size than the channel width. The shape of the emitted bubbles underwent modifications shortly after their generation until finally becoming a stable vertical ellipse, maintaining its shape and size as it flowed downstream at a constant speed. These periodically emitted elliptical bubbles thus formed an ordered bubble sequence (train). At higher cooling rates using chilled water in a copper heat sink attached to the test section, the bubble formation frequency increased significantly while the bubble size decreased, all the while forming a perfect bubble train flowing downstream of the microchannel. The emitted bubbles in this case immediately formed into a circular shape without any further modification after their separation from the elongated bubble upstream. The present study suggests that a method for controlling the size and generation frequency of microbubbles could be so developed, which may be of interest for microfluidic applications. The breakup of the elongated bubble is caused by the large Weber number at the tip of the elongated bubble induced by the maximum vapor velocity at the centerline of the microchannel inside the elongated bubble and the smaller surface tension force of water at the tip of the elongated bubble.

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths in parallel microchannels with oxygen gas bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions

Transient flow patterns and bubble slug lengths were investigated with oxygen gas (O-2) bubbles produced by catalytic chemical reactions using a high speed camera bonded with a microscope. The microreactor consists of an inlet liquid plenum, nine parallel rectangular microchannels followed by a micronozzle, using the MEMS fabrication technique. The etched surface was deposited by the thin platinum film, which is acted as the catalyst. Experiments were performed with the inlet mass concentration of the hydrogen peroxide from 50% to 90% and the pressure drop across the silicon chip from 2.5 to 20.0 kPa. The silicon chip is directly exposed in the environment thus the heat released via the catalytic chemical reactions is dissipated into the environment and the experiment was performed at the room temperature level. It is found that the two-phase flow with the catalytic chemical reactions display the cyclic behavior. A full cycle consists of a short fresh liquid refilling stage, a liquid decomposition stage followed by the bubble slug flow stage. At the beginning of the bubble slug flow stage, the liquid slug number reaches maximum, while at the end of the bubble slug flow stage the liquid slugs are quickly flushed out of the microchannels. Two or three large bubbles are observed in the inlet liquid plenum, affecting the two-phase distributions in microchannels. The bubble slug lengths, cycle periods as well as the mass flow rates are analyzed with different mass concentrations of hydrogen peroxide and pressure drops. The bubble slug length is helpful for the selection of the future microreactor length ensuring the complete hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Future studies on the temperature effect on the transient two-phase flow with chemical reactions are recommended.

Study on methane hydration process in a semi-continuous stirred tank reactor

The methane hydration process is investigated in a semi-continuous stirred tank reactor. Liquid temperatures and reaction rates without stirrer are compared with those occurring with stirrer, while at the same time better stirring conditions of the methane hydration process are given by the experiments. Some basic data of fluid mechanics, for example, stirring Reynolds number, Froucle number and stirrer power, are calculated during the methane hydration process, which can be applied to evaluate stirrer capacity and provide some basic data for a scaled up reactor. Based on experiment and calculations in this work, some conclusions are drawn. First, the stirrer has great influence on the methane hydration process. Batch stirring is helpful to improve the mass transfer and heat transfer performances of the methane hydration process. Second, induction time can be shortened effectively by use of the stirrer. Third, in this paper, the appropriate stirring velocity and stirring time were 320 rpm and 30 min, respectively, at 5.0 MPa, for which the storage capacity and reaction time were 159.1 V/V and 370 min, respectively. Under the condition of the on-flow state, the initial stirring Reynolds number of the fluid and the stirring power were 12,150 and 0.54 W, respectively. Fourth, some suggestions, for example, the use of another type of stirrer or some baffles, are proposed to accelerate the methane hydration process. Comparing with literature data, higher storage capacity and hydration rate are achieved in this work. Moreover, some fluid mechanics parameters are calculated, which can provide some references to engineering application.

Enhanced Thermal Shock Resistance of Ceramics through Biomimetically Inspired Nanofins

We propose here a new method to make ceramics insensitive to thermal shock up to their melting temperature. In this method the surface of ceramics was biomimetically roughened into nanofinned surface that creates a thin air layer enveloping the surface of the ceramics during quenching. This air layer increases the heat transfer resistance of the surface of the ceramics by about 10 000 times so that the strong thermal gradient and stresses produced by the steep temperature difference in thermal shock did not occur both on the actual surface and in the interior of the ceramics. This method effectively extends the applications of existing ceramics in the extreme thermal environments.

超临界压力下航空煤油水平管内对流换热特性数值研究

采用RNG(renormalization group)k-ε湍流模型和近壁区的Wolfstein一方程模型对超临界压力下大庆RP-3航空煤油在水平圆管内的流动和换热特性进行了数值研究.超临界压力下,由于航空煤油在拟临界点附近热物性的剧烈变化,浮升力将引起显著的二次流动.二次流动使得水平圆管的下表面湍流强度和对流换热增强,而上表面的湍流强度和对流换热减弱.最后分析了两种水平管内对流换热受浮升力影响判别标准在超临界流体中的适用性

超临界压力下航空煤油流动与传热特性试验

本文针对超燃冲压发动机再生冷却系统运行条件,实验研究了大庆RP-3煤油在超临界压力下的流动和传热特性,目的在于研究煤油在各种工况下的流动参数变化以及对流传热规律. 煤油通过二级煤油加热/输运系统加热,试验的煤油压力约2.6M~5.0MPa,油温约300~800 K. 相应的壁面热流密度为10~300 kW/m2. 通过油温与壁温的同步测量,结合非定常传热分析,获得了超临界压力下、亚/超临界温度范围内煤油的流动和传热物理参量的变化曲线