Optimization of net power density in Reverse Electrodialysis

Abstract Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) extracts electrical energy from the salinity difference between two solutions using selective ion exchange membranes. In RED, conditions yielding a large net power density (NPD) are generally desired, due to the still large cost of the membranes. NPD depends on a large number of physical and geometric parameters. Some of these, for example the inlet concentrations of concentrate and diluate, can be regarded as “scenario” variables, imposed by external constraints (e.g., availability) or chosen by different criteria than NPD maximization. Others, namely the thicknesses HCONC, HDIL and the velocities UCONC, UDIL in the concentrate and diluate channels, c…

Induction Heating of Planar Aluminum Targets for Spray Cooling Research

Turbulence structure and budgets in curved pipes

Abstract Turbulent flow in curved pipes was investigated by Direct Numerical Simulation. Three curvatures δ (pipe radius a /curvature radius c ) were examined: δ  = 0 (straight pipe), simulated for validation and comparison purposes; δ  = 0.1; and δ  = 0.3. The friction velocity Reynolds number (based on the pipe radius a ) was 500 in all cases, yielding bulk Reynolds numbers of ∼17,000, ∼15,000 and ∼12,000 for δ  = 0, 0.1 and 0.3, respectively. The computational domain was ten pipe radii in length and was resolved by up to 20 × 10 6 hexahedral finite volumes. The time step was chosen equal to a wall time unit; 1 Large Eddy TurnOver Time (LETOT) was thus resolved by 500 time steps and simul…

Maximum Net Power Density Conditions in Reverse Electrodialysis Stacks

Reverse Electrodialysis (RED) harvests electrical energy from a salinity gradient. The maximum obtainable net power density (NPD) depends on many physical and geometric variables. Some have a monotonic (beneficial or detrimental) influence on NPD, and can be regarded as “scenario” variables chosen by criteria other than NPD maximization. Others, namely the thicknesses HCONC, HDIL and the velocities UCONC, UDIL in the concentrate and diluate channels, have contrasting effects, so that the NPD maximum is obtained for some intermediate values of these parameters. A 1-D model of a RED stack was coupled here with an optimization algorithm to determine the conditions of maximum NPD in the space o…

Direct numerical simulation of turbulent heat transfer in curved pipes

Fully developed turbulent convective heat transfer in curved pipes was investigated by Direct Numerical Simulation for a friction velocity Reynolds number of 500, yielding bulk Reynolds numbers between 12 630 and ~17 350 according to the curvature (pipe radius/curvature radius). Three different curvatures were compared, i.e. 0 (straight pipe), 0.1 and 0.3. The Prandtl number was 0.86. The computational domain was a tract of pipe 5 diameters in length. A finite volume method was used, with multiblock structured grids of ~5.3x10E6 hexahedral volumes. Simulations were typically protracted for 20 LETOT’s starting from coarse-grid results. Results were post-processed to compute first and second …

Modifiche del Codice RELAP5 per lo Studio delle Perdite di Carico in Generatori di Vapore a Tubi Elicoidali Interessati da Flussi Bifase

CFD study on the influence of water transpiration on flow and mass transfer in channels with bipolar membranes

The future energetic supply based on the massive use of renewable sources poses issues linked to fluctuations of power produced and consumed, thus requiring the use of energy storage systems.

On the influence of gravitational and centrifugal buoyancy on laminar flow and heat transfer in curved pipes and coils

Abstract The effects of gravitational and centrifugal buoyancy on laminar flow and heat transfer in curved and helical pipes were investigated by numerical simulation. Six dimensionless numbers characterizing the problem were identified, and an analysis was conducted on the possible combinations of signs of the gravitational and centrifugal buoyancy effects. Two distinct Richardson numbers were introduced in order to quantify the importance of the two types of buoyancy, and it was shown that, in the case of heating from the wall, a maximum realizable value of the centrifugal Richardson number exists which is a linear function of the curvature δ (ratio of pipe radius a to curvature radius c)…

TRACE input model for SPES3 facility

The Experimental Heat Transfer Curve in Spray Cooling as the Solution of a Minimum Problem

Studio sperimentale dello "Spray Cooling" di pareti calde – 6. Caratterizzazione idrodinamica degli spray. Quaderno No. 3/05, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare, Università degli Studi di Palermo

Fully developed laminar flow and heat transfer in serpentine pipes

Abstract A serpentine pipe is a sequence of parallel straight pipe segments connected by U-bends. Its geometry is fully characterized by pipe radius, a , bend curvature radius, c and length of the straight segments, l . The repeated curvature inversion forces the recirculation (secondary flow) pattern to switch between two specular configurations, which may enhance mixing and heat or mass transfer with respect to a constant-curvature pipe at the cost of an increase in pressure drop. In the present work, fully developed laminar flow and heat transfer in serpentine pipes were investigated by numerical simulation. The curvature δ  =  a / c was made to vary between 0.1 and 0.5 while the paramet…

Reciprocating Flow in a Plane Channel: Comparison of RANS Turbulence Models and Direct Numerical Simulation

Unsteady turbulence in plane channel flow

Abstract Direct numerical simulations were conducted for oscillating flow with zero time mean (reciprocating flow) in a plane channel subject to a harmonic forcing term of varying amplitude and frequency. The results confirmed the existence of four flow regimes (laminar, “disturbed laminar”, intermittently turbulent, and fully turbulent) depending on the above parameters. The flow behaviour was found to depend on the complex interplay of mean and turbulence quantities, as described by the closed loop formed by the streamwise Reynolds-averaged momentum equation in conjunction with the exact transport equations for the turbulent (Reynolds) stresses. A crucial role in this loop appeared to be …

An Experimental Investigation of the Spray Cooling of Hot Walls

The Nukiyama Curve in Water Spray Cooling: its Derivation from Temperature-Time Histories and its Dependence on the Quantities that Characterize Drop Impact

Abstract Heat transfer from hot aluminium walls to cold water sprays was investigated. The method used was the transient two-side symmetric cooling of a planar aluminium target, previously heated to temperatures of up to 750 K, by twin sprays issuing from full-cone swirl spray nozzles of various gauge. The target’s mid-plane temperature was recorded during the cooling transient by thin-foil K thermocouples and a high-frequency data acquisition system. In order to determine the wall temperature Tw, the wall heat flux q w ″ and the q w ″ - T w heat transfer (Nukiyama) curve, two different approaches were used: the first was based on the solution of an inverse heat conduction problem, the seco…

Turbulent heat transfer in spacer-filled channels: Experimental and computational study and selection of turbulence models

Abstract Heat transfer in spacer-filled channels of the kind used in Membrane Distillation was studied in the Reynolds number range 100–2000, encompassing both steady laminar and early-turbulent flow conditions. Experimental data, including distributions of the local heat transfer coefficient h, were obtained by Liquid Crystal Thermography and Digital Image Processing. Alternative turbulence models, both of first order (k-e, RNG k-e, k-ω, BSL k-ω, SST k-ω) and of second order (LRR RS, SSG RS, ω RS, BSL RS), were tested for their ability to predict measured distributions and mean values of h. The best agreement with the experimental results was provided by first-order ω-based models able to …

Transition to turbulence in serpentine pipes

Abstract The geometry considered in the present work (serpentine pipe) is a sequence of U-bends of alternate curvature. It is characterized by pipe diameter, d = 2a and bend diameter, D = 2c. The repeated curvature inversion forces the secondary flow pattern, typical of all flows in curved ducts, to switch between two mirror-like configurations. This causes (i) pressure drop and heat or mass transfer characteristics much different from those occurring either in a straight pipe or in a constant-curvature pipe, and (ii) an early loss of stability of the base steady-state flow. In the present work, four values of the curvature δ = a/c (0.2, 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5) were considered. For each value of …

A study of turbulent heat transfer in curved pipes by numerical simulation

Abstract Turbulent heat transfer in curved pipes was studied by numerical simulation. Two curvatures δ (pipe radius a/curvature radius c) were considered, 0.1 and 0.3; results were also obtained for a straight pipe (δ = 0) for comparison purposes. A tract of pipe 5 diameters in length was chosen as the computational domain and was discretized by finite volume multiblock-structured grids of ∼5.3 × 106 hexahedral cells. Fully developed conditions were assumed; the friction velocity Reynolds number was 500, corresponding to bulk Reynolds numbers between 12 630 and ∼17 350 according to the curvature, while the Prandtl number was 0.86 (representative of saturated liquid water at 58 bar). Simulat…

Numerical simulation of reciprocating turbulent flow in a plane channel

Direct numerical simulation results were obtained for oscillatory flow with zero time mean (reciprocating flow) in a plane channel using a finite volume method, Crank-Nicolson time stepping and central approximation of the advection terms. A pressure gradient varying co-sinusoidally in time was imposed as the forcing term, and its frequency and amplitude were made to vary so as to span a range of regimes from purely laminar to fully turbulent. For the limiting cases of reciprocating laminar flow and steady-state turbulent flow, numerical results were validated against analytical solutions and classic experimental literature data, respectively. For general reciprocating flows, predictions we…

An experimental study of the spray cooling of hot walls – 7. Final results. Quaderno N. 4/2007, Dipartimento di Ingegneria Nucleare, Università degli Studi di Palermo.

Unsteady Turbulence: Phenomena and Modelling

Steady, periodic, quasi-periodic and chaotic flow regimes in toroidal pipes

Incompressible flow in a toroidal pipe was investigated by direct numerical simulation. The curvature a/c (radius of the cross section / radius of the torus) was 0.3 or 0.1 and the bulk Reynolds number ranged between 3500 and 14 700. The study revealed a rich scenario of transition to turbulence. For the higher curvature a/c = 0.3, a supercritical transition from stationary to periodic flow (Hopf bifurcation) was observed at Re=4600. The periodic flow was characterized by a travelling wave which, in the whole periodic Re range, took the form of a varicose modulation of the twin Dean vortex rings, included 8 wavelengths along the axis of the torus, and exhibited instantaneous anti-symmetry a…

Direct Numerical Simulation of Pulsatile Turbulent Channel Flow

On the influence of curvature and torsion on turbulence in helically coiled pipes

Turbulent flow and heat transfer in helically coiled pipes at Retau=400 was investigated by DNS using finite volume grids with up to 2.36×10E7 nodes. Two curvatures (0.1 and 0.3) and two torsions (0 and 0.3) were considered. The flow was fully developed hydrodynamically and thermally. The central discretization scheme was adopted for diffusion and advection terms, and the second order backward Euler scheme for time advancement. The grid spacing in wall units was ~3 radially, 7.5 circumferentially and 20 axially. The time step was equal to one viscous wall unit and simulations were typically protracted for 8000 time steps, the last 4000 of which were used to compute statistics. The results s…