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At least 199 records · Page 11

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DOE OSTI2023

Heat Exchanger Design for Waste Heat Recovery using Additive Manufacturing

With anticipated increases in global energy use and their associated emissions, there are many efforts to improve the emissions and efficiency of many industrial processes through waste heat recovery (WHR). To maximize improvements, the heat exchangers in WHR power cycles must be designed and optimized for a given heat source. Meanwhile, additive manufacturing (AM) is a single part manufacturing technique that provides the opportunity to develop unique and complex heat exchanger designs. Consequently, this work centers on the modeling, design, optimization, and testing of AM shell and tube heat exchangers for WHR. Specifically, a modified one-dimensional (1+1-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) heat exchanger models were developed and validated, with the 1+1-D model serving as the basis for design optimization. After modifications to the design to allow for AM, heat exchanger geometry optimizations were completed, targeting increased effectiveness across a range of physical parameters. Of the designs considered, nine were additively manufactured using Ti5553, and then tested using an external heat source and working fluid. Experimentally, the nineteen-tube, zero-baffle heat exchanger displayed the best overall performance, with the effects of dimensional accuracy, surface roughness, and baffles in the other designs also indicated. Next, the experimental results were used as inputs for the 1+1-D model. Although the original model was able to predict fluid outlet temperatures within 5% differences, larger variations in the heat exchanger performance parameters, temperature differences, and pressure drop necessitated optimizing the pressure drop and heat transfer calculations within the model. Thus, the resulting improved model was able to predict the heat transfer rates, heat source temperature difference, and effectiveness within 15% differences, while showing improvements in the pressure drops and working fluid temperature differences. The improved model serves as the foundation for future work to improve the design and performance of AM heat exchangers.

Spickler, Bailey Ann↗

NASA NTRS1974

Heat pipe manufacturing study

Heat pipe manufacturing methods are examined with the goal of establishing cost effective procedures that will ultimately result in cheaper more reliable heat pipes. Those methods which are commonly used by all heat pipe manufacturers have been considered, including: (1) envelope and wick cleaning, (2) end closure and welding, (3) mechanical verification, (4) evacuation and charging, (5) working fluid purity, and (6) charge tube pinch off. The study is limited to moderate temperature aluminum and stainless steel heat pipes with ammonia, Freon-21 and methanol working fluids. Review and evaluation of available manufacturers techniques and procedures together with the results of specific manufacturing oriented tests have yielded a set of recommended cost-effective specifications which can be used by all manufacturers.

Edelstein, F.↗

DOE OSTI2022

Modeling and Simulation of Air-Source CO2 Heat Pump Water Heater

Carbon dioxide (CO2) has been widely used as working fluid for the vapor-compression refrigeration systems in large marine device. Due to the potential energy efficiency and the favorable environmental properties of CO2 as a working fluid, CO2 heat pump water heater (HPWH) systems are regarded a promising technology for centralized domestic hot water (DHW) heating in residential and commercial buildings. However, there is still at the early stage of appropriately optimizing and improving the energy performance of CO2 HPWH. This requires CO2 HPWH simulation tools capable of capturing the accurate impact of the emerging compressor, throttle device, and heat exchanger technology on CO2 heat transfer and energy efficiency. In this study, high efficiency components (compressors, pumps, fans, heat exchangers) were identified and applied to the state-of-art CO2 HPWH designs and analyzed their performance by using numerical simulation. This was done by simulating the performance of CO2 HPWH using ACMODEL design model combined with the component models developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for orifice tube, map-based compressor, and tube-in-tube gas cooler. ACMODEL is an equipment design model for CO2-based air conditioners and heat pumps developed by Purdue University to account for the details of each component. The simulated CO2 HPWH performance was then compared with the heat pump water heater using conventional refrigerants.

Gao, Zhiming↗

DOE OSTI2022

Influence of gasoline fuel formulation on lean autoignition in a mixed-mode-combustion (deflagration/autoignition) engine

We report stoichiometric spark-ignition engines suffer efficiency penalties due to throttling losses at low loads, a low specific-heat ratio of the stoichiometric working fluid, and limits on compression ratio due to end-gas autoignition leading to undesirable knocking. Mixed-Mode Combustion (MMC) mitigates these shortcomings by using a lean working fluid where a spark-initiated pilot-stabilized deflagrative flame front is followed by controlled end-gas autoignition. This MMC study investigates the effects of initial conditions (intake air temperature, intake pressure, equivalence ratio, and intake oxygen fraction) on autoignition tendency of four gasoline-range fuels with varying properties and composition. The use of fuels with varying octane sensitivity (S) allowed exploring the importance of low-temperature heat release in triggering autoignition. Fuels with high S were less reactive for conditions that promote low-temperature chemistry (operation at high intake air pressure or without N2 dilution). Conversely, an Alkylate fuel with low S showed a greater autoignition resistance at operating conditions that were unfavorable for low-temperature chemistry. Next, the effect of residual gas composition on autoignition tendency of fuels was examined with a chemical-kinetics model. Among the various molecules in the residual gas, nitric oxide (NO) enhanced the low-temperature chemistry and increased the autoignition tendency most significantly. The fuels’ autoignition response to increasing NO amount corroborates the experimental observations. Next, the sequential autoignition of the end-gas was assessed to be less impacted by thermal stratification because of lean mixtures showing relatively less low-temperature chemistry, when compared to stoichiometric mixtures. Next, the effect of changing equivalence ratio on the autoignition was found to be similar for all fuels, regardless of their S. With changing intake air temperature, the response of fuels’ autoignition tendency depended on the dilution level used. At high dilution (i.e. low intake [O2]), fuels’ reactivity increased with increasing intake air temperature. In contrast, for operation without dilution, the autoignition tendency of the low-S Alkylate fuel decreased with increasing intake air temperature, while that of high-S High Cycloalkane fuel still increased with increasing intake air temperature. In conclusion, conventional octane metrics (RON and MON) have utility in assessing the autoignition tendency under lean MMC operation. Moreover, the fuel requirements for MMC align with that of stoichiometric operation: i.e., high RON and high S fuels are desirable for stable non-knocking operation.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

DOE OSTI2024

Searching for Suitable Binary Fluid for an Ejector Heat Pump for Domestic Water Heating

Water heating is a major source of energy consumption in the U.S. residential sector. Heat pumps can significantly increase the energy efficiency of water heating. An ejector heat pump (EHP) is a novel, thermally driven heat pump that uses an ejector as a thermocompressor. Choosing suitable working fluids is critical in developing high-performance EHPs. Therefore, this research screens binary fluid pairs (BFPs) for EHPs to produce domestic hot water at a high coefficient of performance (COP). The criteria for screening BFP candidates for EHP water heaters (EHPWHs) are established, and BFP candidates are shortlisted. This study identifies HFE7000, Novec649, HFE7100, HFE7200, and HFE7500 for the primary fluids and RE170, R600a, R600, and R1234ze(Z) for the secondary fluids. The thermodynamic model is employed to investigate the performance of EHPWHs using the shortlisted BFPs under various operating parameters, including the evaporation pressure of the primary working fluid in the high-temperature evaporator and the condensation temperature. In conclusion, the highest heating-cycle COP of 1.328 is achieved by an EHPWH operating with HFE7000/R600 at a condenser temperature of 50 °C and a pressure of 1.69 MPa in the high-temperature evaporator.

42 ENGINEERING↗

DOE OSTI2021

Oscillating heat pipe integrated thermal management system for power electronics

Disclosed is a thermal management system for removing heat from a power electronic heat source, the system comprising: a base plate having a plurality of fluid passages there through and extending between and inlet side of the base plate and an outlet side of the base plate; and a plurality of heat transfer pipe segments respectively attached to one or more of the plurality of fluid passages at the inlet side of the base plate and the outlet side of the base plate, the plurality of heat transfer pipe segments arranged adjacent one another, the plurality of heat transfer pipe segments containing a two-phase working fluid, and the plurality of heat transfer pipe segments forming a continuous flow path through and back into the base plate for the two-phase working fluid.

Wang, Jim↗

DOE OSTI2022

Simulation of natural circulation cartridge loop experiments and application to molten salt reactors

This work uses the TRAC/RELAP Advanced Computational Engine (TRACE) thermal hydraulics (TH) code to model natural circulation cartridge loop experiments previously conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) using water and compares the simulated and experimental results. TRACE is also used to characterize natural circulation in the cartridge loop vehicle using FLiNaK as the working fluid. The experimental vehicle is a buoyancy-aided, annular cartridge loop, referred to as a thermosyphon, and is designed to aid in qualifying liquid–fueled and/or liquid–cooled irradiation experiments for the Versatile Test Reactor (VTR), which is currently being designed in the United States. Out-of-pile water experiments have been conducted using the cartridge and the Thermosyphon Test Loop facility at ORNL, and future experiments are anticipated that would use other molten salt surrogates as the working fluid, followed by eventual insertion of a similar cartridge into VTR. Additionally, this work aims to determine how well TRACE can replicate the natural convection conditions that were observed experimentally; this serves as an initial step for validating the modeling tool for design and safety calculations to support future irradiation experiments in VTR. Initial predictions of potential experiments were made using FLiNaK as the natural circulation fluid to demonstrate the relevance of the cartridge design to molten salt reactors (MSRs). Results from this study indicate that TRACE can accurately capture natural convection phenomena in the thermosyphon and that several design changes to the current cartridge vehicle are necessary to achieve hydraulic conditions similar to those expected in MSRs.

21 SPECIFIC NUCLEAR REACTORS AND ASSOCIATED PLANTS↗

NASA NTRS1999

Ferroelectric Stirling-Cycle Refrigerator

A Stirling-cycle refrigerator has a three-pump configuration and pumping sequence, in which one pump serves as a compressor. one pump serves as an expander, and one pump serves as a displacer. The pumps are ferroelectrically actuated diaphragm pumps which are coordinated by synchronizing the ferroelectric-actuator voltages in such a way that the net effect of the displacer is to reduce the deleterious effect of dead space; that is, to circulate a greater fraction of the working fluid through the heat exchangers than would be possible by use of the compressor and expander alone. In addition. the displacer can be controlled separately to make the flow of working fluid in the heat exchangers turbulent (to increase the rate of transfer of heat at the cost of greater resistance to flow) or laminar (to decrease the resistance to flow at the cost of a lower heat-transfer rate).

Jalink, Antony, Jr.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Sandwich Core Heat-Pipe Radiator for Power and Propulsion Systems

Next-generation heat-pipe radiator technologies are being developed at the NASA Glenn Research Center to provide advancements in heat-rejection systems for space power and propulsion systems. All spacecraft power and propulsion systems require their waste heat to be rejected to space in order to function at their desired design conditions. The thermal efficiency of these heat-rejection systems, balanced with structural requirements, directly affect the total mass of the system. Terrestrially, this technology could be used for thermal control of structural systems. One potential use is radiant heating systems for residential and commercial applications. The thin cross section and efficient heat transportability could easily be applied to flooring and wall structures that could evenly heat large surface areas. Using this heat-pipe technology, the evaporator of the radiators could be heated using any household heat source (electric, gas, etc.), which would vaporize the internal working fluid and carry the heat to the condenser sections (walls and/or floors). The temperature could be easily controlled, providing a comfortable and affordable living environment. Investigating the appropriate materials and working fluids is needed to determine this application's potential success and usage.

Gibson, Marc↗

NASA NTRS1977

Estimates of Optimal Operating Conditions for Hydrogen-Oxygen Cesium-Seeded Magnetohydrodynamic Power Generator

The value of percent seed, oxygen to fuel ratio, combustion pressure, Mach number, and magnetic field strength which maximize either the electrical conductivity or power density at the entrance of an MHD power generator was obtained. The working fluid is the combustion product of H2 and O2 seeded with CsOH. The ideal theoretical segmented Faraday generator along with an empirical form found from correlating the data of many experimenters working with generators of different sizes, electrode configurations, and working fluids, are investigated. The conductivity and power densities optimize at a seed fraction of 3.5 mole percent and an oxygen to hydrogen weight ratio of 7.5. The optimum values of combustion pressure and Mach number depend on the operating magnetic field strength.

Smith, J. M.↗

NASA NTRS2008

Gas Foil Bearing Misalignment and Unbalance Effects

The effects of misalignment and unbalance on gas foil bearings are presented. The future of U.S. space exploration includes plans to conduct science missions aboard space vehicles, return humans to the Moon, and place humans on Mars. All of these endeavors are of long duration, and require high amounts of electrical power for propulsion, life support, mission operations, etc. One potential source of electrical power of sufficient magnitude and duration is a nuclear-fission-based system. The system architecture would consist of a nuclear reactor heat source with the resulting thermal energy converted to electrical energy through a dynamic power conversion and heat rejection system. Various types of power conversion systems can be utilized, but the Closed Brayton Cycle (CBC) turboalternator is one of the leading candidates. In the CBC, an inert gas heated by the reactor drives a turboalternator, rejects excess heat to space through a heat exchanger, and returns to the reactor in a closed loop configuration. The use of the CBC for space power and propulsion is described in more detail in the literature (Mason, 2003). In the CBC system just described, the process fluid is a high pressure inert gas such as argon, krypton, or a helium-xenon mixture. Due to the closed loop nature of the system and the associated potential for damage to components in the system, contamination of the working fluid is intolerable. Since a potential source of contamination is the lubricant used in conventional turbomachinery bearings, Gas Foil Bearings (GFB) have high potential for the rotor support system. GFBs are compliant, hydrodynamic journal and thrust bearings that use a gas, such as the CBC working fluid, as their lubricant. Thus, GFBs eliminate the possibility of contamination due to lubricant leaks into the closed loop system. Gas foil bearings are currently used in many commercial applications, both terrestrial and aerospace. Aircraft Air Cycle Machines (ACMs) and ground-based microturbines have demonstrated histories of successful long-term operation using GFBs (Heshmat et al., 2000). Small aircraft propulsion engines, helicopter gas turbines, and high-speed electric motors are potential future applications.

Howard, Samuel A.↗

NASA NTRS1995

User's Manual for HPTAM: a Two-Dimensional Heat Pipe Transient Analysis Model, Including the Startup from a Frozen State

This report describes the user's manual for 'HPTAM,' a two-dimensional Heat Pipe Transient Analysis Model. HPTAM is described in detail in the UNM-ISNPS-3-1995 report which accompanies the present manual. The model offers a menu that lists a number of working fluids and wall and wick materials from which the user can choose. HPTAM is capable of simulating the startup of heat pipes from either a fully-thawed or frozen condition of the working fluid in the wick structure. The manual includes instructions for installing and running HPTAM on either a UNIX, MS-DOS or VMS operating system. Samples for input and output files are also provided to help the user with the code.

Tournier, Jean-Michel↗

NASA NTRS1999

Atomic-Based-Combined-Cycle Analysis

Atomic-based-combined-cycle (ABCC) engine combines an air-breathing ramjet engine with an atomic reactor to increase the mission-averaged specific impulse and thereby increasing the dry-mass ratio. ABCC engine is similar to RBCC engine except that energy needed for the propulsive power is derived from nuclear reaction rather than chemical combustion used in the RBCC engine. The potential performance improvement of an ABCC engine over a RBCC engine comes from two factors. Firstly, the energy density of nuclear reaction is several order of magnitudes higher than the chemical combustion. Secondly, hydrogen can produce much higher nozzle exit velocity because of its small molecular weight. A one-dimensional, transient numerical model was used to analyze a generic RBCC engine and it is used as a baseline to evaluate an imaginary ABCC engine performance. A nuclear reactor is treated as a black box energy source that replaces the role of the primary rocket and the chemical combustion chamber in a RBCC engine. The performance of a generic ABCC engine along a flight path (q0 =10 (exp 3) lbf per square ft) shows that the mission averaged-specific impulse is about twice larger than RBCC engine and the dry mass-ratio is about 50% larger. Results of the present ABCC engine performance are based on the assumptions that the flow passage of working fluids is identical to that of RBCC engine and that a nuclear reactor is treated as an energy black box. Preliminary heat transfer calculation shows that the rate of heat transfer to the working fluids is within the limit of turbulent convective heat transfer regimes. The flow passage of realistic ABCC engine must be known for a better prediction of ABCC engine performance. Also, critical heat transfer calculations must be performed for the ejector mode and ramjet mode operations. This is possible only when the details of a reactor configuration are available.

Han, Samuel S.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Features and applications of the Groove Analysis Program (GAP)

An IBM Personal Computer (PC) version of the Groove Analysis program (GAP) was developed to predict the steady state heat transport capability of an axially grooved heat pipe for a specified groove geometry and working fluid. In the model, the capillary limit is determined by the numerical solution of the differential equation for momentum conservation with the appropriate boundary conditions. This governing equation accounts for the hydrodynamic losses due to friction in liquid and vapor flows and due to liquid/vapor shear interaction. Back-pumping in both 0-g and 1-g is accounted for in the boundary condition at the condenser end. Slug formation in 0-g and puddle flow in 1-g are also considered in the model. At the user's discretion, the code will perform the analysis for various fluid inventories (undercharge, nominal charge, overcharge, or a fixed fluid charge) and heat pipe elevations. GAP will also calculate the minimum required heat pipe wall thickness for pressure containment at design temperatures that are greater than or lower than the critical temperature of the working fluid. This paper discusses the theory behind the development of the GAP model. It also presents the many useful and powerful capabilities of the model. Furthermore, a correlation of flight test performance data and the predictions using GAP are presented and discussed.

Ku, Jentung↗

NASA NTRS1978

Experimental temperature distribution and heat load characteristics of rotating heat pipes

Experimental results show conclusively that the presence of a small quantity of a noncondensable gas (NCG) mixed with the working fluid has a considerable effect on the condensation process in a rotating heat pipe. The temperature distribution in the condenser shows the blanketing effect of the NCG and the ratio of the molecular weight of the working fluid to that of the NCG has a very definite effect on the shape of this distribution. Some of the effects are quite similar to the well-established data on stationary heat pipes.

Daniels, T. C.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Hostile environmental conditions facing candidate alloys for the automotive Stirling engine

The materials research program in support of the Automotive Stirling Engine Project focuses on the hot heater head of the engine including the heater head tubes, cylinders, and regenerator housings, which are considered to be the most critical components from a materials viewpoint. The specific areas of investigation in the program involve hydrogen permeability testing, doping of the hydrogen working fluid to reduce permeability rates, oxidation/corrosion studies, creep-rupture evaluation, and assessing effects of hydrogen environment on mechanical properties. Emphasis is placed on the materials challenges that result from the use of hydrogen as the working fluid. Previously announced in STAR as N81-26236

Stephens, J. R.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Fluid & Thermal Analysis of a Manifold Microchannel Heat Sink

A three-dimensional (3-D) numerical model has been developed to study the fluid flow and heat transfer through a manifold-microchannel (MMC) heat sink, a microfluidic cooling system designed as a heat dissipation solution for compact, high-powered electronic systems. An MMC consists of a 3-D manifold structure that distributes working fluid through alternating inlet and outlet manifold channels that guide the fluid to and from the microchannels, shortening the flow length and thereby, reducing the pressure drop across the system. Wide bandgap semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) are increasingly utilized due to their ability to enable smaller electronic devices and components to operate more efficiently at higher frequencies. These semiconductors can greatly benefit from the MMC, which can extract all the heat produced by compact, high-powered electronics, enabling them to achieve optimal performance. The MMC also utilizes an embedded cooling approach which allows for fabrication directly within SiC-based electronics, resulting in significant mass and weight savings and lower thermal resistance than conventional heat sink designs. This paper outlines the methods used to conduct fluid and thermal analysis of different MMC configurations for flow parameters such as flow rate and inlet flow conditions. This study involves both steady state and transient thermal analysis as a gradually increasing heat flux is applied to the system over time, which is representative of the heat dissipation from the electronics over a given period. Results from the analysis show that the MMC is capable of effectively dissipating heat flux of ~100 W/cm2 while maintaining considerably low pressure drop (< 1 kPa) and thermal resistance (< 1 K/W) for certain single-phase working fluids.

manifold microchannel↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Fluid & Thermal Analysis of a Manifold Microchannel Heat Sink

manifold microchannel↗