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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 325 records · Page 18

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NASA NTRS1987

Heat transfer and flow studies of the liquid droplet heat exchanger

This paper describes a lightweight, highly effective liquid droplet heat exchanger (LDHX) concept for thermal management in space. Heat is transferred by direct contact between fine droplets (100 to 300 micron diameter) of a low vapor pressure liquid and an inert working gas. Complete separation of the droplet and gas media in the microgravity environment is accomplished by configuring the LDHX as a vortex chamber. A quasi-one-dimensional, two-phase heat transfer model of the LDHX is developed and used to investigate the potential use of the LDHX for both heating and cooling the working gas in a 100-k W(e) Braytoan cycle. Experimental studies on a small scale LDHX chamber, using air and water as the two media, show excellent agreement with the theoretical model.

Bruckner, A. P.↗

NASA NTRS1987

Heat pipe radiators for solar dynamic space power system heat rejection

The paper presents the results of a concept development study of heat rejection systems for Space Station solar dynamic power systems. The thermal performance and weights of each of the heat rejection subsystems have been addressed in detail, and critical technologies which require development tests and evaluation for successful demonstration were assessed and identified. Baseline and several alternate heat rejection system configurations and optimum designs were developed for both Brayton and Rankine cycles. The thermal performance, mass properties, assembly requirements, reliability, maintenance requirements, and life cycle costs were determined for each of the system configurations. Trade studies were performed on each configuration with respect to the heat pipe wall thickness and the amount of redundancy to determine the effects on system reliability, maintenance requirements, and life cycle costs. An optimum design was then selected for each configuration.

Gustafson, Eric↗

NASA NTRS1989

A numerical analysis of the effects of conjugate heat transfer, vapor compressibility, and viscous dissipation in heat pipes

The effects of conjugate heat transfer, vapor compressibility, and viscous dissipation in heat pipes are discussed. The accuracy of the partially parabolic versus the elliptic presentation of the governing equations is also examined. The results show that the axial wall conduction has a tendency to make the temperature distribution more uniform for heat pipes with large ratios of pipe wall to effective liquid-wick thermal conductivity. The compressible and incompressible models show very close agreement for the total pressure drop, while the local pressure variations along the heat pipe are quite different for these two models when the radial Reynolds number at the interface is high.

Faghri, Amir↗

NASA NTRS1990

Heat transfer in a compact tubular heat exchanger with helium gas at 3.5 MPa

A compact heat exchanger was constructed consisting of circular tubes in parallel brazed to a grooved base plate. This tube specimen heat exchanger was tested in an apparatus which radiatively heated the specimen on one side at a heat flux of up to 54 W/sq cm, and cooled the specimen with helium gas at 3.5 MPa and Reynolds numbers of 3000 to 35,000. The measured friction factor of the tube specimen was lower than that of a circular tube with fully developed turbulent flow, although the uncertainty was high due to entrance and exit losses. The measured Nusselt number, when modified to account for differences in fluid properties between the wall and the cooling fluid, agreed with past correlations for fully developed turbulent flow in circular tubes.

Olson, Douglas A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Heat transfer in a compact heat exchanger containing rectangular channels and using helium gas

Development of a National Aerospace Plane (NASP), which will fly at hypersonic speeds, require novel cooling techniques to manage the anticipated high heat fluxes on various components. A compact heat exchanger was constructed consisting of 12 parallel, rectangular channels in a flat piece of commercially pure nickel. The channel specimen was radiatively heated on the top side at heat fluxes of up to 77 W/sq cm, insulated on the back side, and cooled with helium gas flowing in the channels at 3.5 to 7.0 MPa and Reynolds numbers of 1400 to 28,000. The measured friction factor was lower than that of the accepted correlation for fully developed turbulent flow, although the uncertainty was high due to uncertainty in the channel height and a high ratio of dynamic pressure to pressure drop. The measured Nusselt number, when modified to account for differences in fluid properties between the wall and the cooling fluid, agreed with past correlations for fully developed turbulent flow in channels. Flow nonuniformity from channel-to-channel was as high as 12 pct above and 19 pct below the mean flow.

Olson, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Heat transfer and pressure drop in a compact pin-fin heat exchanger with pin orientation at 18 deg to the flow direction

The heat transfer and pressure drop characteristics of a novel, compact heat exchanger in helium gas were measured at 3.5 MPa and Reynolds numbers of 450 to 12,000. The pin-fin specimen consisted of pins, 0.51 mm high and spaced 2.03 mm on centers, spanning a channel through which the helium flows; the angle of the row of pins to the flow direction was 18 deg. The specimen was radiatively heated on the top side at heat fluxes up to 74 W/sq cm and insulated on the back side. Correlations were developed for the friction factor and Nusselt number. The Nusselt number compares favorably to those of past studies of staggered pin-fins, when the measured temperatures are extrapolated to the temperature of the wall-fluid interface.

Olson, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS1992

Modular Heat Exchanger With Integral Heat Pipe

Modular heat exchanger with integral heat pipe transports heat from source to Stirling engine. Alternative to heat exchangers depending on integrities of thousands of brazed joints, contains only 40 brazed tubes.

Schreiber, Jeffrey G.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Heat Transfer from Radiatively Heated Material in a Low Reynolds Number Microgravity Environment

A mathematical model of the transient three-dimensional heat transfer between a slowly moving ambient gas stream and a thermally thick or thin flat surface heated by external radiation in a microgravity environment is presented. The problem is motivated in part by fire safety issues in spacecraft. The gas phase is represented by variable property convection-diffusion energy and mass conservation equations valid at low Reynolds numbers. The absence of gravity and low Reynolds number together permit the flow to be represented by a self-consistent velocity potential determined by the ambient velocity and the thermal expansion in the gas. The solid exchanges energy with the gas by conduction/convection and with the surroundings by surface absorption and re-emission of radiation. Heat conduction in the solid is assumed to be one dimensional at each point on the surface as a consequence of the limited times (of order of 10 seconds) of interest in these simulations. Despite the apparent simplicity of the model, the results show a complex thermally induced flow near the heated surface. The thermal exchange between the gas and solid produces an outward sourcelike flow upstream of the center of the irradiated area and a sinklike flow downstream. The responses of the temperature fields and the associated flows to changes in the intensity of the external radiation and the ambient velocity are discussed.

Yamashita, H.↗

NASA NTRS1948

Generalized Charts for Determination of Pressure Drop of a High-speed Compressible Fluid in Heat-exchanger Passages I : Air Heated in Smooth Passages of Constant Area with Constant Wall Temperature

In the present paper an analysis is made of the compressible-flow variations occurring in heat-exchanger passages. The results of the analysis describe the flow and heating characteristics for which specific flow passages can be treated as segments of generalized flow systems. The graphical representation of the flow variations in the generalized flow systems can then be utilized as working charts to determine directly the pressure changes occurring in any specific flow passage. On the basis of these results, working charts are constructed to handle the case of air heated at constant wall temperature under turbulent-flow conditions. A method is given of incorporating the effect on the heat-exchanger flow process of high temperature differential between passage wall and fluid as based on recent NACA experimental data. Good agreement is obtained between the experimental and the chart pressure-drop values for passage-wall average temperatures as high as 1752 degrees R (experimental limit) and for flow Mach numbers ranging from 0.32 to 1.00 (choke) at the passage exit.

Valerino, Michael F↗

NASA NTRS1950

Preliminary investigation of heat transfer to water flowing in an electrically heated Inconel tube

A heat-transfer investigation was conducted with water flowing in an electrically heated Inconel tube with an inside diameter of 0.204 inch and a length-diameter ratio of 50 for ranges of Reynolds number up to 100,000 and of entrance pressure up to 200 inches of mercury gage. Correlation of average heat-transfer coefficients was obtained by use of the familiar Nusselt relation, wherein the physical properties of water were evaluated at an average bulk temperature. For conditions in which no boiling occurred, the data gave a good correlation. Runs made in the nucleate-boiling region, however, gave higher values of heat-transfer coefficient than would be predicted by the Nusselt relation.

Kaufman, Samuel J↗

NASA NTRS1949

Heat transfer from high-temperature surfaces to fluids II : correlation of heat-transfer and friction data for air flowing in inconel tube with rounded entrance

A heat transfer investigation, which was an extension of a previously reported NACA investigation, was conducted with air flowing through an electrically heated inconel tube with a rounded entrance,an inside diameter of 0.402 inch, and a length of 24 inches over a range of conditions, which included Reynolds numbers up to 500,000, average surface temperatures up to 2050 degrees R, and heat-flux densities up to 150,000 Btu per hour per square foot. Conventional methods of correlating heat-transfer data wherein properties of the air were evaluated at the average bulk, film, and surface temperatures resulted in reductions of Nusselt number of about 38, 46, and 53 percent, respectively, for an increase in surface temperature from 605 degrees to 2050 degrees R at constant Reynolds number. A modified correlation method in which the properties of air were based on the surface temperature and the Reynolds number was modified by substituting the product of the density at the inside tube wall and the bulk velocity for the conventional mass flow per unit cross-sectional area, resulted in a satisfactory correlation of the data for the extended ranges of conditions investigated.

Lowdermilk, Warren H↗

NASA NTRS1958

Heat Transfer in the Turbulent Incompressible Boundary Layer: Arbitrary Wall Temperature and Heat Flux - 3

Superposition techniques are used to calculate the rate of heat transfer from a flat plate to a turbulent incompressible boundary layer for several cases of variable surface temperature. The predictions of a number of these calculations are compared with experimental heat-transfer rates, and good agreement is obtained. A simple computing procedure for determining the heat-transfer rates from surfaces with arbitrary wall-temperature distributions is presented and illustrated by two examples. The inverse problem of determining the temperature distribution from an arbitrarily prescribed heat flux is also treated, both experimentally and analytically.

Reynolds, W. C.↗

NASA NTRS1958

Heat Transfer in the Turbulent Incompressible Boundary Layer: Arbitrary Wall Temperature and Heat Flux - 3

Superposition techniques are used to calculate the rate of heat transfer from a flat plate to a turbulent incompressible boundary layer for several cases of variable surface temperature. The predictions of a number of these calculations are compared with experimental heat- transfer rates, and good agreement is obtained. A simple computing procedure for determining the heat-transfer rates from surfaces with arbitrary wall-temperature distributions is presented and illustrated by two examples. The inverse problem of determining the temperature distribution from an arbitrarily prescribed heat flux is also treated, both experimentally and analytically.

Reynolds, W. C.↗

NASA NTRS2004

Assessment of NASA Dual Microstructure Heat Treatment Method for Multiple Forging Batch Heat Treatment

NASA dual microstructure heat treatment technology previously demonstrated on single forging heat treat batches of a generic disk shape was successfully demonstrated on a multiple disk batch of a production shape component. A group of four Rolls-Royce Corporation 3rd Stage AE2100 forgings produced from alloy ME209 were successfully dual microstructure heat treated as a single heat treat batch. The forgings responded uniformly as evidenced by part-to-part consistent thermocouple recordings and resultant macrostructures, and from ultrasonic examination. Multiple disk DMHT processing offers a low cost alternative to other published dual microstructure processing techniques.

Gayda, John↗

NASA NTRS1996

Heat Capacity of Superfluid (sup 4)He in the Presence of a Heat Current Near T

The thermodynamic theory of superfluid helium in the presence of a heat current is presented. We show that there is a thermodynamic relation between the heat capacity and the expression ps(W), which describes the depression of the superfluid density with the counterflow velocity W. Using this relation we show that the heat capacity of superfluid super4He in the presence of a heat current diverges at a depressed lambda transition temperature, suggesting the possibility of a new second order phase transition where the superfluid wave function is not the order parameter.

superfluid helium thermodynamic↗

NASA NTRS2009

Heating Augmentation Due to Compression Pad Cavities on the Project Orion CEV Heat Shield

An experimental study has been conducted to assess the effects of compression pad cavities on the aeroheating environment of the Project Orion CEV heat-shield. Testing was conducted in Mach 6 and Mach 10 perfect-gas wind tunnels to obtain heating measurements in and around the compression pads cavities using global phosphor thermography. Data were obtained over a wide range of Reynolds numbers that produced laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow within and downstream of the cavities. The effects of cavity dimensions on boundary-layer transition and heating augmentation levels were studied. Correlations were developed for transition onset and for the average cavity-heating augmentation.

Hollis, Brian R.↗

NASA NTRS2011

Compression Pad Cavity Heating Augmentation on Orion Heat Shield

An experimental study has been conducted to assess the effects of compression pad cavities on the aeroheating environment of the Project Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle heat shield. Testing was conducted in Mach 6 and 10 perfect-gas wind tunnels to obtain heating measurements in and around the compression pads cavities using global phosphor thermography. Data were obtained over a wide range of Reynolds numbers that produced laminar, transitional, and turbulent flow within and downstream of the cavities. The effects of cavity dimensions on boundary-layer transition and heating augmentation levels were studied. Correlations were developed for transition onset and for the average cavity-heating augmentation.

Hollis, Brian R.↗

NASA NTRS2013

Variable Conductance Heat Pipe Cooling of Stirling Convertor and General Purpose Heat Source

In a Stirling Radioisotope Power System (RPS), heat must be continuously removed from the General Purpose Heat Source (GPHS) modules to maintain the modules and surrounding insulation at acceptable temperatures. The Stirling convertor normally provides this cooling. If the Stirling convertor stops in the current system, the insulation is designed to spoil, preventing damage to the GPHS at the cost of an early termination of the mission. An alkali-metal Variable Conductance Heat Pipe (VCHP) can be used to passively allow multiple stops and restarts of the Stirling convertor. In a previous NASA SBIR Program, Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) developed a series of sodium VCHPs as backup cooling systems for Stirling RPS. The operation of these VCHPs was demonstrated using Stirling heater head simulators and GPHS simulators. In the most recent effort, a sodium VCHP with a stainless steel envelope was designed, fabricated and tested at NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) with a Stirling convertor for two concepts; one for the Advanced Stirling Radioisotope Generator (ASRG) back up cooling system and one for the Long-lived Venus Lander thermal management system. The VCHP is designed to activate and remove heat from the stopped convertor at a 19 degC temperature increase from the nominal vapor temperature. The 19 degC temperature increase from nominal is low enough to avoid risking standard ASRG operation and spoiling of the Multi-Layer Insulation (MLI). In addition, the same backup cooling system can be applied to the Stirling convertor used for the refrigeration system of the Long-lived Venus Lander. The VCHP will allow the refrigeration system to: 1) rest during transit at a lower temperature than nominal; 2) pre-cool the modules to an even lower temperature before the entry in Venus atmosphere; 3) work at nominal temperature on Venus surface; 4) briefly stop multiple times on the Venus surface to allow scientific measurements. This paper presents the experimental results from integrating the VCHP with an operating Stirling convertor and describes the methodology used to achieve their successful combined operation.

Tarau, Calin↗