Improving intermittent waste heat recovery with ORC systems by integrating thermal energy storage

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Thermal analysis of a plastic helical coil heat exchanger for a domestic water storage tank

In the present study, the heat transfer coefficients of helically coiled corrugated plastic tube heat exchanger inside of the solar boiler vessel were investigated experimentally. The metal coil of the conventional solar boiler for domestic usage was replaced by a plastic tube and the results were compared with the numerical simulation and the technical documentation of the initial solar boiler. All the required parameters like inlet and outlet temperatures of tubeside and stratified temperatures, flow rate of fluids, etc. were measured using appropriate instruments. The test runs were performed for different temperatures inside the tank ranging from 30-60°C and different flow rates from which the heat transfer coefficients were calculated

Development of a dynamic model for ice-on-coil external melt storage systems

Ice storage systems are commonly used to balance the intermittency of renewable energy and decrease the peak load by switching to off-peak hours. An adequate model is necessary to predict the behaviour of these systems. However, there is a scarce in detailed models available used to describe the performance of an ice storage evaporator and its use in a refrigeration cycle. Most existing models approximate the working principles with a steady analysis, not considering the sub cooling of ice and thickness distribution along the length. The developed model in this article uses a discretisation in length and radial direction together with an adapted thermal resistance matrix method to limit the calculation time. It has a great variability of boundary conditions and the ability to implement different types of refrigerants. The simulation results are in good agreement with the data of the manufacturer. The model shows that switching from R404A to R449A reduces the total electricity consumption

Entire domain basis function expansion of the differential surface admittance for efficient broadband characterization of lossy interconnects

This article presents a full-wave method to characterize lossy conductors in an interconnect setting. To this end, a novel and accurate differential surface admittance operator for cuboids based on entire domain basis functions is formulated. By combining this new operator with the augmented electric field integral equation, a comprehensive broadband characterization is obtained. Compared with the state of the art in differential surface admittance operator modeling, we prove the accuracy and improved speed of the novel formulation. Additional examples support these conclusions by comparing the results with commerical software tools and with measurements

Statistical models of diffusion and aggregation for coke formation in a catalyst pore

We simulated models of diffusion and aggregation in long pores of small widths in order to represent the basic mechanisms of coke deposition in catalysts' pores. Coke precursors are represented by particles injected at the pore entrance. Knudsen diffusion, which is usually expected inside the pores, is modeled by ballistic motion of those particles. The regime of molecular diffusion is also analyzed via models of lattice random walks biased along the pores. The aggregation at the surface or near previously aggregated particles was modeled by different probabilistic rules, accounting for the possibilities of more compact or more ramified deposits. In the model of Knudsen diffusion and in some cases of molecular diffusion, there is an initial regime of uniform deposition along the pore, after which the deposits acquire an approximately wedge shape, with the pore plugging near its entrance. After the regime of uniform deposition and before that of critical pore plugging, the average aggregation position slowly decreases with the number N of deposited particles approximately as N^{-0.25}. The apparently universal features of deposits generated by microscopic models are compared with those currently adopted in continuum models.Comment: 14 pages (figures included), to appear in Physica

Charging of a thermal battery composed of open-cell metal foam and phase change material for use in pharmaceuticals transport

Active coolers for pharmaceutical transport require maintenance significantly and present risks with movable parts. Passive coolers on the other hand have less components and do not require chilling units on board unlike their active counterparts. Phase change materials (PCM) have already been used in pharmaceutical logistics for the constant temperature provided thanks to the latent heat released during melting. However, before docking the gel packs require a significant amount of time for freezing due to their low thermal conductivities. In this study, the overall thermal conductivity of the enclosures of PCMs in a thermal battery is increased via combining them with open-cell metal foams. Experimental results on the thermal battery prototype show that the attempts for quickening the freezing process are promising for further research.Papers presented at the 13th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Portoroz, Slovenia on 17-19 July 2017 .International centre for heat and mass transfer.American society of thermal and fluids engineers

Dynamic and steady state performance model of fire tube boilers with different turn boxes

The market for fire tube boilers is increasingly demanding custom designs from the manufacturers. For these new designs, a comprehensive thermal model is needed. In this article, both a steady state and dynamic thermal model is developed based on the plug flow furnace model with general experimental correlations. The steady state model allows optimizing (i.e. safely downsizing) boiler designs. This model has been verified with measurement reports. The dynamic model is used to estimate the peak load capability of a boiler. In the presented case, the fire tube boiler can produce up to 2.5 times the nominal steam flow rate for a period of 10 min. Special attention has been paid to the turn boxes and their specific placement, which other models in literature neglect. The efficiency penalty of a non-submerged turn box can reach up to 12% but can be reduced significantly by insulation. Turn boxes also affect peak load capability. If the total length of the boiler is constant, submerging the turn box has a positive effect on the peak load capability. This effect is mostly attributed to the increased water volume. Finally, the article includes a comparison between the plug flow furnace model the ε-NTU method and the ε-NTU method with inclusion of radiation to model the tube passes. The ε-NTU method with inclusion of radiation allows to significantly reduce the necessary number of control volumes without reduction in the model accuracy