The objective of this thesis is to predict numerically the optimal spacing between parallel heat generating boards. The isothermal boards are stacked in a fixed volume of electronic package enclosed by insulated lateral walls, and they are cooled by laminar forced convection of air with prescribed pressure drop. Fixed pressure drop assumption is an acceptable model for installations in which several parallel boards in electronic equipment receive the coolant from the same source such as a fan. In the numerical algorithm, the equations that govern the process of forced convection for constant property incompressible flow through one rectangular channel are solved. Numerical results of the flow and temperature field in each rectangular channel yield the optimal board-to-board spacing by which maximum heat dissipation rate from the package to the air is achieved. After the results of the optimization procedure are given, the correlations for the determination of the maximum heat transfer rate from the package and optimal spacing between boards are, respectively, derived in terms of prescribed pressure difference, board length, and density and kinematic viscosity of air. In conclusion, the obtained correlations are compared and assessed with the available two-dimensional studies in literature for infinite parallel plates. Furthermore, existing two-dimensional results are extended to a more generalized three-dimensional case at the end of the thesis.

Building environmental conditions such as ventilation and contaminant concentrations are important factors that influence occupant health and comfort. The objective of the present work is to investigate how personal exposure to gaseous and particulate pollutants depends on indoor airflow, source characteristics, and occupant activity in commercial and residential environments. The study examines airflow and pollutant transport using experimental measurements in conjunction with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The results demonstrate that breathing has a measurable influence on the airflow in an occupant breathing zone, but it has very small impacts on the occupant thermal plume. The results also show that breathing can significantly affect inhaled particle concentrations, even though the influence varies with source position and particle size. Also, localized hand motions of a sitting manikin do not significantly disrupt the upward thermal plume. In typical US residences, forced convection driven mixing airflow or buoyancy driven stratified airflow occurs depending on the HVAC fan operation (fan on or fan off, respectively). The measured transition period between mixing flow (fan on) and stratified flow (fan off) is approximately one minute, implying that most airflow in the residence is either dominated by mixing or stratification. A high level of exposure to short-term pollutant sources, such as resuspension of particles from floor surfaces due to human activity, more likely occurs with stratified flow than with highly mixed airflow. This is due to the strong influence of the occupant thermal plume that transports the pollutants into the breathing zone. Furthermore, by transporting air containing ozone across the reactive occupant surface, the occupant thermal plume has a large effect on exposure to ozone reaction products. Due to the reaction of ozone with the skin oils and clothing surfaces, the occupant surface boundary layer becomes depleted of ozone and conversely enriched with ozone reaction products. The parameter ventilation effectiveness quantifies the effectiveness of airflow distribution and can be used for assessment of exposure to gaseous pollutants. Based on the study results, the usefulness of ventilation effectiveness as an indicator of exposure to particulate pollutants depends on the particle size. For small particles (~1 [mu]m), an increase of ventilation effectives caused a decrease in occupant exposure, while for large particles (~7 [mu]m), source location and airflow around the pollutant source are significant factors for the exposure, and the ventilation effectiveness has very little to no effect. / text

The effects of controlled environment strategies on the yield and quality of cherry tomato fruit production were studied between April, 2003 and September, 2004 at The University of Arizona Campus Agriculture Center; Tucson, AZ. Two cultivars of cherry tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill. var. cerasiforme) planted at 2.2 plants m-2 were grown hydroponically in coconut coir and drip fertigated with a low EC (2.4 dS m-1), high EC (4.5 dS m-1), mid day relief of high EC (2.4 dS m-1 or 4.5 dS m-1 over a 24 h period) or night time super high EC treatment (12 dS m-1). From April to October, 2003, the effects of mid day relief of high EC on cherry tomato fruit yield and quality were determined. From February through September, 2004 the effects of super high EC treatment, horizontal air flow (HAF) fan operation and/or delayed fertigation on cherry tomato fruit cracking were studied.

Air permeability (ka) is a viable alternative to water- and texture-based methods to rapidly map saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat). The ability to measure this important hydraulic property without the use of more cumbersome and time-consuming methods may provide a practical approach to generate more complete data to describe hydrologic conditions. This study presents the development of an air permeameter which is suitable for desert soils. The Soil Corer Air Permeameter (SCAP) is compatible with a standard soil corer and employs digital components to measure flowrates under low-pressure gradients to improve accuracy, ease of use, and portability. SCAP allows for the extraction of undisturbed soil samples for laboratory analysis, providing direct comparisons of ka with other soil physical and hydraulic properties. The applicability of a regression equation to estimate Ksat from field-measured ka using SCAP was examined in unburned and burned soils. Ex situ field ka and laboratory Ksat measurements were compared and air to water permeability (ka/kw) ratios were calculated to determine structural changes due to water saturation. The study also characterized changes in permeability due to fire in woodland-chaparral and coniferous soils. For soils that could be extracted with minimal structural changes, results show ka and Ksat measurements for unburned and burned soils were within the 95% confidence intervals of a ka-Ksat regression developed for agricultural soils. However, correlations for in situ ka measurements in some burned soils showed a decrease in accuracy and may be attributed to soil anisotropy. A three-dimensional steady-state finite element air flow model was developed using FEMLAB 3.0A to consider the effects of anisotropy on in situ ka measurements. Results show that anisotropic conditions can introduce an error as high as a factor of 2 especially for air permeameters with high diameter to height (D/H) ratios, however, the error is much smaller than the anisotropy ratio. If anisotropy is important to characterize, it was shown that paired measurements of in situ and ex situ ka can be used to infer the anisotropy ratio.

Sukamas javų kombaino kūlimo būgnas sukuria oro srautą tarpe tarp būgno ir pobūgnio. Dalis oro nukreipiama pro pobūgnio ardelius. Darbe atlikti oro srauto greičio tarpe tarp kūlimo būgno ir pobūgnio bei pobūgnio ardeliuose tyrimai. Laboratoriniai tyrimai atlikti stacionariu tangentiniu vienbūgniu kūlimo stendu, kurį sudarė 0,6 m skersmens ir 1,2 m pločio aštuonių spragilų tangentinis kūlimo būgnas, kurį 146º kampu gaubė ardelinis pobūgnis. Pateiktos oro srauto greičio tarpe tarp būgno ir pobūgnio bei pobūgnio ardeliuose priklausomybės nuo technologinių ir konstrukcinių kūlimo būgno parametrų. Laboratoriniais tyrimais nustatyta, jog kūlimo būgno konstrukciniai ir technologiniai parametrai sąlygoja būgno sukuriamą oro srautą. Oro srauto greitis didėja pobūgnio galo link. Būgną sukant 350 min-1 dažniu (spragilų linijinis greitis vs=11 m s-1), greičių skirtumas pirmojoje ir trečiojoje pobūgnio dalyse siekia 1 m s-1, o padidinus sukimosi dažnį iki 750 min-1 – apie 3 m s-1. Didinant kūlimo būgno sukimosi dažnį nuo 350 min-1 iki 750 min-1 oro srauto judėjimo greitis tarpe tarp būgno ir pobūgnio bei pobūgnio ardeliuose didėja, tačiau spragilų greičio nepasiekia. Būgno tarpspragiliuose pritvirtinus 8 balastus, oro srauto greitis tarpe tarp būgno ir pobūgnio sumažėjo 10%, o tarpspragilius uždengus dangalais – 37% lyginant su įprastos tarpspragilių konstrukcijos būgnu. Pobūgnio ardeliuose oro srauto greitis atitinkamai sumažėjo 9% ir 33%. Tolimesniais eksperimentiniais tyrimais... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The rotation of combine harvester threshing cylinder creates an air flow within threshing crescent, part of which is directed through the openings in the concave. The present work gives the air flow velocity trials within threshing crescent. Experimental studies were carried out with a stationary tangential threshing cylinder stand which consisted of 0.6 m diameter and 1.2 m wide eight rasp bars tangential threshing cylinder which is surrounded by concave with 146º. Air velocity was measured at 56 locations, distributed dependent on construction of concave. The air velocity was measured using a hot wire anemometer unit. The output data was recorded on PC using 10 bit ADC converter. Nine levels of cylinder peripheral speed (from 11.0 ms-1 to 23.6 ms-1) at cylinder-concave clearances of: 36 mm at front, 32 mm in middle, and 20 mm at rear part of concave were used in this experiment. The results of the experiment show that there were significant differences of air velocity among cylinder peripheral speeds and locations. The air velocity increased with increased cylinder peripheral speed and towards the rear of the concave. Air flow velocity within threshing crescent dependence on technological and constructional parameters of the threshing cylinder is presented. Threshing cylinder with mounted 8 ballast and cylinder with covered space between rasp bars creates an air flow, whom velocity was respectively 10% and 37% lower compared with the standard cylinder construction. Air... [to full text]

The main goal of this thesis project is to identify interesting concepts related to cooling of electrical motors and generators which could be evaluated using suitable computer simulation tools. As the project proceeded it was decided to focus on investigating how the air from a fan flows along the finned frame of a general purpose low voltage electrical machine, how the heat is transferred between the frame and the cooling air and what the temperature distribution looks like. It was also investigated if it is possible to make improvements in the effectiveness of the cooling without adding additional coolers. This investigation focused on varying the fin design and evaluating the resulting temperature distribution. Due to the complex nature of the simulations a segment, and not the full frame, was considered. Simulation model validation was performed through comparing air speed measurements that were performed on two different machines with the corresponding simulated air speed. The validation showed that good agreement between simulated and measured air speeds are obtained. The conclusion from the simulations is that slight modifications to the current fin design could increase the cooling effect of the finned surface. The air velocity measurements also indicate that the cooling of the machines surface could potentially be improved by small changes in the exterior of the frame. / Målet med detta examensarbete var att identifiera intressanta koncept relaterade till kylning av elektriska maskiner och generatorer, som kunde utvärderas med lämplig programvara för datorsimuleringar. Under projektets gång så bestämdes det att fokusera på hur luften från en fläkt flödar längs med en generell lågspänningsmaskin, hur värmen överförs från ramen till den omgivande luften och hur temperaturfördelningen ser ut. Det undersöktes även om det var möjligt att förbättra effektiviteten av kylningen utan att ansluta extra kylanordningar. Undersökningarna fokuserades på olika fendesigner och dess påverkan på värmefördelningen. På grund av simuleringarnas komplexitet så har simuleringarna endast utförts på ett segment istället för hela maskinen. Validering av simuleringarna utfördes genom att jämföra de simulerade lufthastigheterna med verklig lufthastighet som mättes på två maskiner i testmiljö. Valideringen visade att simuleringarna överensstämmer väl med de mätningar som utfördes. Slutsatsen utifrån simuleringarna är att mindre förändringar av fenornas nuvarande design kan förbättra fenornas kylningsförmåga. Mätningarna av lufthastigheten ger även indikationer på att kylningen av maskinens utsida eventuellt kan förbättras genom små förändringar av ramens exteriör.

A wooden, perforated, uniform cross-section duct was examined to determine the optimum levels of aperture ratio and fan speed with respect to uniformity of discharge. The optimum aperture ratio for the 8.54 m long duct was 1.0 with a uniformity coefficient of 90.28%. The fan speed had little effect on the uniformity of discharge. The friction factor was experimentally determined to be 0.048 for a non-perforated duct and this value was assumed to be the same for a perforated duct of similar construction. A kinetic energy correction factor was used to analyze the flow in the duct. Values for this correction factor were determined from experimental data. Values of the coefficient of discharge and the total duct energy were calculated. A mathematical model was proposed based on the conservation of momentum and the Bernoulli's equation. The model responded favourably and predicted the duct velocity nearly perfectly and slightly underestimated the total duct energy.

Air distribution ducts are used in the environmental control of livestock and poultry building as well as the conditioning of most agricultural produce. / In order to simplify the approach to the design of ventilation ducts, a mathematical equation has been derived to describe the average air velocity of a duct. / The primary objective of the research work was to test goodness of fit of an equation describing the average air velocity of perforated ventilation ducts, under balanced as well as unbalanced air distribution: $V = H sb{o}{X over L} + (V sb{L}-H sb{o}) {X sp2 over L sp2}$. / This equation was successfully tested using data measured from 14 ducts of constant cross-sectional area, built of wood or polyethylene with outlets of various shapes and aperture ratios. Results indicated that aperture ratio and distance along the duct are the two most significant factors influencing the average duct air velocity values, but material and outlet shape had little effect.

Bibliography: leaves 95-97 / iv, 97 leaves : ill ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Applied Mathematics, 1986

Thesis (M. S.)--Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008. / Committee Chair: Dr. Seyed M. Ghiaasiaan; Committee Member: Dr. Marc K. Smith; Committee Member: Dr. Sheldon M. Jeter