Search results for "Thermal"
showing 10 items of 3576 documents
Theoretical efficiency limits for thermoradiative energy conversion
2015
Published version of an article in the journal: Journal of Applied Physics. Also available from the publisher at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4907392 A new method to produce electricity from heat called thermoradiative energy conversion is analyzed. The method is based on sustaining a difference in the chemical potential for electron populations above and below an energy gap and let this difference drive a current through an electric circuit. The difference in chemical potential originates from an imbalance in the excitation and de-excitation of electrons across the energy gap. The method has similarities to thermophotovoltaics and conventional photovoltaics. While photovoltaic cells absorb…
Towards an AMTEC-like device based on non-alkali metal for efficient, safe and reliable direct conversion of thermal to electric power
2018
Alkali Metal ThermoElectric Converters directly convert heat into electric energy and have promising applicability in the field of sustainable and renewable energy. The high theoretical efficiency, close to Carnot's cycle, the lack of moving parts, and the interesting operating temperature range drive the search for new materials able to ensure safe and reliable operation at competitive costs.The present work focuses on the design of a non-alkali metal based cell and on the fabrication of a testing device to validate the design work. The selection of a new operating fluid for the cell improves durability, reliability and safety of the device. Finally, we discuss possible applications to alr…
Optimization of the first wall for the DEMO water cooled lithium lead blanket
2015
The maximum heat load capacity of a DEMO First Wall (FW) of reasonable cost may impact the decision of the implementation of limiters in DEMO. An estimate of the engineering limit of the FW heat load capacity is an essential input for this decision. This paper describes the work performed to optimize the FW of the Water Cooled Lithium-Lead (WCLL) blanket concept for DEMO fusion reactor in order to increase its maximum heat load capacity. The optimization is based on the use of water at typical Pressurised Water Reactors conditions as coolant. The present WCLL FW with a waved plasma-faced surface and with circular channels was studied and the heat load limit has been predicted with FEM analy…
On the FE codes capability for tool temperature calculation in machining processes
2006
Abstract The applications of numerical simulation to machining processes have been more and more growing in the last years: today a quite effective predictive capability has been reached, at least as far as global cutting variables (for instance cutting forces) are concerned. On the other hand, the capability to predict local cutting variables (i.e. pressure on the tool, temperature distribution, residual stresses in the machined surface) has to be heavily improved and verified. At the same time, effective experimental procedures for validating numerical results have to be developed. In this work two different approaches were implemented for temperature measuring: a thermocouple based appro…
Resonant activation in polymer translocation: new insights into the escape dynamics of molecules driven by an oscillating field
2010
The translocation of molecules across cellular membranes or through synthetic nanopores is strongly affected by thermal fluctuations. In this work we study how the dynamics of a polymer in a noisy environment changes when the translocation process is driven by an oscillating electric field. An improved version of the Rouse model for a flexible polymer has been adopted to mimic the molecular dynamics, by taking into account the harmonic interactions between adjacent monomers and the excluded-volume effect by introducing a Lennard–Jones potential between all beads. A bending recoil torque has also been included in our model. The polymer dynamics is simulated in a two-dimensional domain by num…
Integro-differential equation modelling heat transfer in conducting, radiating and semitransparent materials
1998
In this work we analyse a model for radiative heat transfer in materials that are conductive, grey and semitransparent. Such materials are for example glass, silicon, water and several gases. The most important feature of the model is the non-local interaction due to exchange of radiation. This, together with non-linearity arising from the well-known Stefan-Boltzmann law, makes the resulting heat equation non-monotone. By analysing the terms related to heat radiation we prove that the operator defining the problem is pseudomonotone. Hence, we can prove the existence of weak solution in the cases where coercivity can be obtained. In the general case, we prove the solvability of the system us…
Contribution of mode coupling and phase-mixing of Alfv\'en waves to coronal heating
2017
This research has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No. 647214) and from the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. This work used the DiRAC Data Centric system at Durham University, operated by the Institute for Computational Cosmology on behalf of the STFC DiRAC HPC Facility (www.dirac.ac.uk. This equipment was funded by a BIS National E-infrastructure capital grant ST/K00042X/1, STFC capital grant ST/K00087X/1, DiRAC Operations grant ST/K003267/1 and Durham University. Context. Phase-mixing of Alfvén waves in the solar corona has been identified as one possible candid…
Thermal conductivity of disperse insulation materials and their mixtures
2017
Development of new, more efficient thermal insulation materials is a key to reduction of heat losses and contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. Two innovative materials developed at Thermeko LLC are Izoprok and Izopearl. This research is devoted to experimental study of thermal insulation properties of both materials as well as their mixture. Results show that mixture of 40% Izoprok and 60% of Izopearl has lower thermal conductivity than pure materials. In this work, material thermal conductivity dependence temperature is also measured. Novel modelling approach is used to model spatial distribution of disperse insulation material. Computational fluid dynamics approach is also used to est…
Grand-canonical approach to density functional theory of electrocatalytic systems: Thermodynamics of solid-liquid interfaces at constant ion and elec…
2018
Properties of solid-liquid interfaces are of immense importance for electrocatalytic and electrochemical systems, but modeling such interfaces at the atomic level presents a serious challenge and approaches beyond standard methodologies are needed. An atomistic computational scheme needs to treat at least part of the system quantum mechanically to describe adsorption and reactions, while the entire system is in thermal equilibrium. The experimentally relevant macroscopic control variables are temperature, electrode potential, and the choice of the solvent and ions, and these need to be explicitly included in the computational model as well; this calls for a thermodynamic ensemble with fixed…
Inverse prediction of local interface temperature during electromagnetic pulse welding via precipitate kinetics
2019
Abstract Interface temperature of electromagnetic pulse welding is difficult to measure by insitu methods. Here, the local temperature rise is investigated using the kinetics of precipitates and dispersoids (transformation or dissolution) at the interface zone (IZ) and affected zone (AZ) of three welds. This fine scale analysis allows estimating of local temperature range for AZ that reaches between 250 and 360 °C on both sides of narrow IZ, while the IZ itself experiences between 360 and 500 °C or even beyond 500 °C. The interface temperature increases with the increasing impact intensity. The current work estimated thermal field based on the precipitate transformations, which occur during…