Search results for " heat transfer"
showing 10 items of 63 documents
Numerical prediction of turbulent flow and heat transfer in helically coiled pipes
2010
Abstract Computational results were obtained for turbulent flow and heat transfer in curved pipes, representative of helically coiled heat exchangers. Following a grid refinement study, grid independent predictions from alternative turbulence models ( k – ɛ , SST k – ω and RSM– ω ) were compared with DNS results and experimental pressure drop and heat transfer data. Using the SST k – ω and RSM– ω models, pressure drop results were in excellent agreement with literature data and the Ito correlation. For heat transfer, the literature is not comparably complete or accurate, but a satisfactory agreement was obtained in the range of available data. Unsatisfactory results, both for pressure drop …
A mesh less approch based upon Radial basis function Hermite collocation method for predicting the cooling and the freezing times of foods
2005
This work presents a meshless numerical scheme for the solution of time dependent non linear heat transfer problems in terms of a radial basis function Hermite collocation approach. The proposed scheme is applied to foodstuff's samples during freezing process; evaluation of the time evolution of the temperature profile along the sample, as well as at the core, is carried out. The moving phase-change zone is identified in the domain and plotted at several timesteps. The robustness of the proposed scheme is tested by a comparison of the obtained numerical results with those found using a Finite Volume Method and with experimental results.
CFD parametrical study of the spacer geometry for Membrane Distillation
Membrane Distillation (MD) is a thermal process that separates water from aqueous solutions containing non-volatile components such as salt. Water vapor from the hot feed channel permeates through a hydrophobic membrane thanks to a partial pressure gradient, and condenses in the cool channel. One of the main advantages of MD is the easy coupling with renewable resources, as the solar thermal energy. In the various MD configurations developed, net spacers are used in order to support the membrane, thus creating the channels; moreover, they can counteract the side effects of temperature polarization by promoting mixing. However, the presence of the spacer involves an increase of pressure drop…
Temperature distribution analysis in spacer filled channels for membrane distillation
2012
A Thermochromic Liquid Crystals Image Analysis technique to investigate temperature polarization in spacer-filled channels for Membrane Distillation
2013
The analysis of flow fields and temperature distributions is of paramount importance in the development and optimization of new spacer-filled channel geometries for Membrane Distillation modules. The literature reports only few studies on the experimental characterization of such channels and, to the authors’ knowledge, none of them presents local information concerning the temperature distribution on the membrane surface. In the present work, a non-intrusive experimental technique named TLC-IA-TP is presented: it is based on the use of Thermochromic Liquid Crystals (TLCs) and digital Image Analysis (IA) and it is applied here for the first time to the analysis of Temperature Polarization (…
On some issues in the computational modelling of spacer-filled channels for membrane distillation
2017
Abstract This study addresses issues which arise in the computational and experimental modelling of flow and heat/mass transfer in membrane distillation and other processes adopting spacer-filled channels (either planar or spiral wound), but have not been sufficiently clarified in the literature so far. Most of the argumentations presented are based on original computational results obtained by the authors by finite volume simulations; some literature results are also considered. The questions addressed regard the choice of scales for the reduction of data and the definition of dimensionless numbers ( Re , f , Nu , Sh ); the definition of average heat or mass transfer coefficients; the comb…
Mass transfer in channels in the presence of wall transpiration
Mass transfer to or from transpiring walls is studied. Examples from different fields of engineering, notably involving membrane processes, are illustrated, and analogies or differences with respect to heat transfer problems are discussed. With special reference to plane channel flow, suitable dimensionless parameters are introduced, and the dependence of the Sherwood number upon these parameters is computed by a number of approaches of different complexity, from two-dimensional CFD to simple algebraic correlations.
Investigation of heat transfer in spacer-filled channels by experiments and direct numerical simulations
2016
Abstract The analysis of flow fields and heat or mass transfer phenomena is of great importance in the optimum design of spacer-filled channel geometries for a variety of membrane-based processes. In the present work, models of spacer-filled channels often adopted in Membrane Distillation are simultaneously investigated by experiments and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Experiments rely on a non-intrusive technique, based on the use of Thermochromic Liquid Crystals (TLC) and digital image processing, and provide the local distribution of the convective heat transfer coefficient on a thermally active wall. CFD relies on steady-state (laminar flow) simulations in the lower end of the Reyn…
Application of computational fluid dynamics technique in membrane distillation processes
2022
This Chapter illustrates the application of CFD to spacer-filled channels for membrane distillation. The topics discussed cover finite volume grids and grid independence, the unit-cell treatment of spatially periodic net spacers, and the dependence of flow and thermal fields and overall performance parameters (pressure drop and mean heat transfer coefficients) upon geometry and operating conditions (Reynolds number, flow attack angle, pitch-to-height ratio, spacer thermal conductivity, thermal boundary conditions, and one-side vs. two-side heat transfer).
Numerical simulations supporting process models of chemical engineering: applications for membrane systems
2019
This work presents computational fluid dynamics simulations aimed at characterizing flow and mass/heat transport mechanisms in spacer-filled channels for membrane processes, with particular reference to (reverse) electrodyalisis and membrane distillation.