Durante um acidente em uma usina nuclear, a integridade do vaso pressurizado deve ser assegurada. Em resposta a um possível derretimento do combustível nuclear, a atual geração de usinas possui um sistema para a injeção de água potável na cavidade do vaso pressurizado com intuito de resfriar sua parede, prevenindo danos a sua estrutura e evitando o vazamento de material radioativo. Esse estudo considerou o uso de água marinha como refrigerante para inundar a cavidade do vaso pressurizado combinado com a fixação de um estrutura porosa em forma de grade em sua parede externa como meio de aprimorar a margem de segurança durante a contenção de acidentes. Experimentos de longa duração para a ebulição em piscina de água marinha artificial foram conduzidos em uma superfície circular de cobre plana com 30 mm de diâmetro. Foi encontrado um fluxo de calor crítico de 1; 6 MW/m2 sob pressão atmosférica. Esse valor é significantemente maior que aquele obtido (1; 0 MW/m2) nas mesmas condições experimentais. Foi verificado que os depósitos de sais marinhos podem aumentar a molhabilidade e a capilaridade da superfície de teste, aprimorando assim o fluxo crítico. Combinando a água marinha e a fixação da estrutura porosa sobre a superfície de teste, verificou-se um melhora no coeficiente de transmissão de calor e no fluxo de calor crítico de até 110 % (2; 1 MW/m2), quando comparado a água destilada na superfície limpa, sem a instalação da estrutura. Após os experimentos, foi identificado que muitos dos poros presentes nas superfícies da estrutura porosa encontravam-se bloqueados devido ao aglutinamento de sais marinhos. Isso levou a conclusão que o aumento no valor do fluxo crítico observado para a água marinha artificial ocorreu devido, principalmente, a separação das fases líquida e gasosa do fluido na região próxima a superfície de teste, efeito proporcionado pela forma de grade da estrutura porosa, e ao aumento da molhabilidade e capilaridade da superfície devido a formação dos depósitos marinhos. / During a severe nuclear power plant accident, the integrity of the reactor pressure vessel must be assured. In response to a possible fuel meltdown, operators of the current generation of nuclear power plants are likely to inject water into the reactor pressure vessel to cool down the reactor vessel wall, preserving its integrity and avoiding leakage of radioactive material. This study considers the use of seawater to flood a reactor pressure vessel combined with the attachment of a honeycomb porous plate (HPP) on the vessel outer wall as a way to improve the safety margins for in-vessel retention of fuel. In long-duration experiments, saturated pool boiling of artificial seawater was performed with an upward-facing plain copper heated surface 30 mm in diameter. The resulting value for critical heat flux (CHF) was 1; 6 MW/m2 at atmospheric pressure, a value significantly higher than the CHF obtained when the working fluid was distilled water (1; 0 MW/m2). It was verified that sea-salt deposits could greatly improve surface wettability and capillarity, enhancing the CHF. The combination of artificial seawater and an HPP attached to the heated surface improved the boiling heat transfer coefficient and increased the CHF up to 110% (2; 1 MW/m2) as compared to distilled water on a bare surface. After the artificial seawater experiments, most of the wall micropores of the HPP were clogged because of sea-salt aggregation on the HPP top and bottom surfaces. Thus, the CHF enhancement observed in this case was attributed mainly to the separation of liquid and vapor phases provided by the HPP channel structure and improvement of surface wettability and capillarity by sea-salt deposition.

A velocidade de queima laminar adiabática de reações de combustão é um parâmetro chave, relacionado à cinética química do combustível, a qual define características importantes como a forma e a faixa de estabilidade de uma chama. Nos últimos anos, um grande esforço vem sendo direcionado para a determinação precisa desse parâmetro para diferentes combustíveis, porém a grande diversidade de técnicas e metodologias de medição existente acarreta em uma grande dispersão entre os resultados encontrados na literatura. Dentre as várias técnicas disponíveis, o método do fluxo de calor destaca-se por fornecer medidas de velocidade de chama adiabática com boa precisão. O método, diferentemente dos demais existentes, não depende de extrapolações e é capaz de obter chamas aproximadamente adiabáticas. Neste estudo, foi construída uma bancada de trabalho baseada no método do fluxo de calor com a finalidade de medir a velocidade de chama plana laminar adiabática de diferentes misturas entre combustível e comburente. Foram realizadas medições para pré-misturas metano/ar e gás natural/ar em diferentes razões de equivalência (0,65 a 1,5) para a temperatura de 298 K e pressão atmosférica. Uma análise das possíveis fontes de erro é apresentada utilizando-se 95 % de intervalo de confiança, resultando em uma incerteza de 2,8 % para a pré mistura estequiométrica metano/ar para a qual a velocidade de chama encontrada foi de 35,4 cm/s. Nas mesmas condições, para a mistura gás natural/ar foi obtido o resultando de 34,8 cm/s, para a proporção estequiométrica com uma incerteza de 3,1 %. O experimento apresenta incertezas de medição tanto maiores quanto mais afastadas da condição estequiométrica a chama se apresenta, chegando a 20 % para chamas ricas com razão de equivalência 1,5. As medições obtidas para diferentes razões de equivalência mostram-se de acordo com os resultados encontrados na literatura, apresentando valor absoluto e de incertezas dentro dos padrões do método. / The adiabatic laminar burning velocity of a fuel/oxidant mixture is a key parameter in combustion. It defines important flame characteristics like its shape and stability range. In the last years, a great effort has been employed on the precise determination of this parameter for different fuels. The diversity of techniques and extrapolation methods for achieving adiabatic flame data results in the large scatter found in literature. Among various techniques available, the heat flux method is known to provide adiabatic burning velocity measurements with good accuracy. The method does not depend on extrapolations and is able to produce flames that closely reach the adiabatic condition. In this study, a workbench was built based on the heat flux method aiming at measuring the adiabatic laminar flame velocity of different fuel and oxidant mixtures. Data were obtained for methane/air and natural gas/air mixtures for different equivalence ratios (0.65 to 1.5) at 298 K and 1 atm. An analysis of possible error sources is also presented using 95% of confidence interval. For a soichiometric methane/air mixture the flame speed was found to be 35.4 cm/s with 2.8% of uncertainty. Under the same conditions, for a stoichiometric natural gas/air mixture the value obtained was 34.8 cm/s with an uncertainty of 3.1%. The experiment shows that the uncertainties increase as the premixture deviates from the stoichiometric condition, reaching 20% for an equivalence ratio of 1.5. The measurements obtained for different equivalence ratios are consistent with results found in the literature and with acceptable uncertainties for the method.

<p>Despite worldwide interest in a number of applications involving cryogenic fluids that are crucial to future space exploration, there is presently a lack of a large, reliable cryogenic pool boiling critical heat flux (CHF) database that can be used for assessment of accuracy of available predictive tools - model and correlations – or development of new tools. This shortcoming is a primary motivation for the present study, prompting compilation of a new consolidated cryogenic pool boiling CHF database from world literature. The database is used to assess accuracy of previous models and correlations, which are segregated according to ability to predict key operating parameters, such as pressure, surface orientation, and subcooling. A new correlation is constructed which shows very good predictive accuracy, evidenced by a mean absolute error of 16.95%, based on Earth gravity data which comprise a large fraction of the consolidated database. Using a limited subset of datapoints for three cryogens and a reduced gravity range of 0 to 0.7466, the new correlation is further modified with a reduced gravity multiplier to tackle reduced gravity conditions. The modified correlation has a mean absolute error of 17.47%, slightly higher than for Earth gravity alone. Overall, the new correlations are proven far more accurate than all prior models and correlations and therefore constitute new powerful tools for design of cryogenic space systems. It is shown CHF is very sensitive to pressure, increasing with increasing pressure up to maximum before decreasing appreciably toward critical pressure. CHF is also shown to be strongly influenced by surface orientation, being highest for horizontal surfaces and decreasing monotonically with increasing orientation angle, and increasing fairly linearly with increased subcooling.</p><p>Additionally, CHF models and correlations are assessed using amassed quenching CHF data that showed overpredictions of data. A new correlation is formulated which includes the effects of surface material and heater thickness to achieve high predictive accuracy for complied quenching CHF database. The new correlation has a mean absolute error and root mean square error of 10.79% and 16.12%, respectively, based on a compiled database. Analysis of complied quenching data showed that CHF is sensitive to the surface material, increasing with increasing thermal conductivity but, the influence of surface material becomes weak with increasing thermal conductivity. CHF is also strongly influenced by heater thickness, increasing with increased heater thickness till it reaches the asymptotic thickness. </p>

In urban areas with limited space, deep borehole heat exchangers (DBHE) are coupled with ground source heat pump systems (GSHPS) to extract geothermal energy for building heating purposes. They can exploit more heat than common shallow systems. In this thesis, the open source software OpenGeoSys (OGS) has been utilized to analyse the long-term behavior and temperature evolution in and around single and multiple DBHEs. Moreover, an analysis to reduce the computation time has been applied. This way, the simulation time could be shortened by almost 75% by adjusting the tolerance of the non-linear solver and using an automatic time stepping in a first step. With larger element sizes, which still provide a sufficient result precision, the required duration could be shortened to less than 2% compared to the first method. Especially between the top and the bottom a layer size of 100 m is sufficient. The thickness around the top and bottom, however, should be small to avoid numerical inaccuracies. In the first years of operation most of the energy is extracted by the lower parts of the DBHE. Throughout the years, the contribution along the depth becomes more homogeneous and more soil is influenced. In summer, the top approximately 900 m are not contributing to the heat extraction but instead losing heat to the soil because of a low energy demand, which leads to high inflow temperatures. Considering the results of the in- and outflow temperature evolution, a single DBHE should be preferred over multiple systems. Nonetheless, those can multiply the extractable heat in a certain area and could be more economical.:List of Figures . . . v List of Tables . . . vii 1 Introduction . . . 1 2 Theoretical Background . . . 4 2.1 BHE equations . . . 5 2.2 Thermal Resistance . . . 6 2.3 Exchange Area . . . 10 2.4 Coefficient of Performance . . . 10 2.5 OpenGeoSys Pipe Network Feature . . . 12 3 Modeling Scenarios . . . 14 3.1 Model Setups . . . 15 3.2 Model Verification . . . 16 3.3 Model Environment . . . 20 3.4 Initial and Boundary Conditions . . . 22 3.5 Investigation on Computation Time Influences . . . 24 4 Results and Discussion . . . 30 4.1 In- and Outflow Temperature Evolution . . . 30 4.2 Energy Distribution . . . 34 4.3 Soil Heat Flux . . . 40 4.3.1 Winter in 2nd year . . . 41 4.3.2 Summer in 2nd year . . . 44 4.3.3 Winter in 30th year . . . 47 4.3.4 Summer in 30th year . . . 49 4.4 DBHE Heat Flux . . . 51 4.5 Soil Heat Flux in the Multiple DBHE Case . . . 55 4.5.1 Line Setup . . . 56 4.5.2 Square Setup . . . 61 4.6 Numerical Inaccuracies . . . 65 5 Conclusion . . . 68

<div>The results of two experimental studies are presented in this document. The first is an investigation on the transient response of plain orifice liquid injectors to transverse detonation waves at elevated pressures of 414, 690, and 1,030 kPa (60, 100, and 150 psia). Detonations were produced using a predetonator which utilized hydrogen and</div><div>oxygen or ethylene and oxygen as reactants. For injectors of identical diameter, an increase in length correlated with a decrease in the maximum back-flow distance. A preliminary study using an injector of larger diameter suggested that for injectors of the same length under the same pressure drop, the larger injector was more resistant to back-flow. Refill time of the injectors was found to be inversely-proportional to detonation pressure ratio and injector stiffness, and a curve fit was produced to relate the three parameters.</div><div><br></div><div>The second experimental campaign was the hotfire testing of an RP-2-GOX rotating detonation engine. Total engine mass flow rates ranged from 0.8 to 3.5 kg/s (1.7 to 7.7 lbm/s) and static chamber pressures between 316 and 1,780 kPa (46 and 258 psia) were produced. In a majority of tests, between four and six co-rotating detonation waves were observed. Using an array of 36 embedded thermocouple probes, chamber outer wall heat fluxes between 2.8 and 8.3 MW/m² were estimated using an inverse heat transfer method of calculation. Performance of the RP-2 injector was assessed by relating to the information obtained in the prior injector response study.</div>

Numerical experiments assuming land-use distributions of different heterogeneity of wet and dry surfaces were performed on a cloudy day in spring with a calm wind to examine their influences on the domain-averaged fluxes as well as on the distribution of the fluxes within the domain. The results substantiate that, for ]arge heterogeneity, i.e., small patches, the distribution of the patches plays no role in the magnitude of the atmospheric fluxes. For !arger patches, however, the domain-averaged latent heat-fluxes depend appreciably on both the heterogeneity as well as on the fractional coverage by the land-use types. On the average, for heterogeneous conditions, the prevailing land-use type governs the fluxes. Nevertheless, no exact linearity between the fractionally coverage of the two land-use types and the resulting fluxes exists. Discontinuities in the fluxes which lead to the non-linear behaviour of the domain-averaged fluxes occur at the border between two !arger areas of extremely different characteristics, namely, grass (wet, cool) and sand (dry, warm). Three different patterns of behaviour are found for the temporal development of the differences in the domain-averaged fluxes which depend on both the heterogeneity and the pattern of the land use. / Numerische Experimente, bei denen unterschiedlich heterogene Landnutzungsverteilungen trockener und feuchte Flächen angenommen werden, wurden für einen wolkigen Schwachwindtag im Frühjahr durchgeführt. Die Ergebnisse belegen, daß bei großer Heterogenität, d.h. kleinen Flächen, deren Anordnung keine Rolle spielt. Bei großen Flächen jedoch hängen die Gebietsmittelwerte der latenten Wärmeflüsse merklich sowohl von der Heterogenität als auch von dem Flächenanteil der Landnutzung ab. Im Mittel beherrscht der vorherrschende Landnutzungstyp die Flüsse. Dennoch ist kein exaktes lineares Verhalten zwischen dem Flächenanteil der Landnutzung und den resultierenden Flüssen vorhanden. Diskontinuitäten in der Verteilung der Flüsse, die letztendlich zu der Nichtlinearität der Gebietsmittelwerte der Flüsse führen, treten an den Grenzen der größeren Flächen unterschiedlicher Oberflächencharakteristika auf, in dieser Studie Gras (feucht, kühl) und Sand (trocken, warm). Drei unterschiedliche Verhaltensweisen im zeitlichen Verlauf der Differenzen der Gebietsmittelwerte der Flüsse wurden gefunden, die vom Muster und der Heterogenität der Landnutzung abhängen.

<p>Heat sinks have the capability of increasing operating heat flux limits for improved thermal management in the immersion cooling of electronics using dielectric fluids. However, even for arrays of simple, straight fins, the generation of vapor between and along fins during pool boiling lead to performance effects that are not well understood. Further investigation of the heat-flux-dependent variation of boiling modes that can manifest along the fin height is required. Although methods for the prediction of fin boiling heat transfer exist that incorporate a variable heat transfer coefficient determined from a flat surface, they have been developed and assessed for single, isolated fins under the assumption that the sides of the fin at any location behave like that of a flat surface. As a result, when applied to fin arrays, these methods may not always be accurate for the full range of heat flux operation along boiling curve up to the critical heat flux, due to the fins interfering with each other when arranged in arrays of differing spacing and height. To establish when the fins in an array can be described as isolated and having the flat surface boiling behavior, pool boiling experiments are performed using copper heat sinks in two fluids with vastly different properties: HFE-7100 and water. The spacing and height of the longitudinal fins are varied across a range from much larger to less than half of the scale of the capillary length scale of both fluids, <em>L</em>_<em>b</em>. High-speed visualizations enable the identification of different boiling regimes to identify correspondence between flow observations and the boiling performance, such as when there is bubble confinement from fin interference. Trends in the pool boiling data are also compared, noting changes in superheat at various heat fluxes to establish when fin height or spacing affects boiling behavior. The experimental boiling performance is compared to predictions developed assuming isolated fins so as to identify the spacings and heights for which the fin arrays follow this behavior. Overall, the data from both fluids strongly support a hypothesis that <em>L</em>_<em>b</em> is the key length scale. Heat transfer from fin array heat sinks with heights and spacings above <em>L</em>_<em>b</em> are shown to be accurately predicted in both fluids. However, spacings smaller than <em>L</em>_<em>b</em> lead to bubble confinement which affects the superheat, particularly at low heat fluxes, while heights shorter than <em>L</em>_<em>b</em> are unable to support multiple boiling regimes along the fin sidewall. This work identifies the capillary length as the key length scale at which confinement and height effects need to be considered for accurate predictions of immersion cooling applications.</p>

Die Surface Renewal Analysis wurde zur Bestimmung sensibler Wärmeflußdichten im bodennahen Bereich der atmosphärischen Grenzschicht genutzt und mit der Eddy - Korrelations - Methode verglichen. Dazu wurden beide Berechnungsmethoden auf Temperatur - und Vertikalwinddaten angewandt, die unter Verwendung von Strukturfunktionen simuliert wurden. Zur Überprüfung der Resultate wurden über zwei verschiedenen Unterlagen (Wiese und Düne) hochfrequente Zeitreihen von Temperatur und Vertikalwind gemessen und mit der Surface Renewal Analysis und der Eddy - Korrelations - Methode analysiert. / The Surface Renewal Analysis was used to estimate the sensible heat flux density in the ground near area of the boundary layer. The results were compared with eddy correlation method. For it both methods were used to analyse temperature- and vertical velocity-data, which were simulated by the application of structure functions. Time series of high frequency temperature- and vertical velocity-data over two different canopies (meadow and dune) were measured to examine the results. The data were analysed with surface renewal analysis and eddy correlation.

In nuclear power plants, during operation at high temperatures, there can occur a steam build-up around the fuel rods at an increasing rate. This inhibits the water’s effectivity in removing heat from the rods. When this occurs and reaches a critical point, the temperature in the fuel rods surges, which can lead to them being damaged. This is called critical heat flux (CHF). During operation, the reactor always keeps a safety margin to the point where CHF can occur. The margin to CHF is one of the factors that limits the nuclear power plant’s ability to produce electricity. With the help of the tests that Westinghouse runs, the safety margin to the CHF can be more accurately determined, so that the reactor can safely be closer to the critical point.Westinghouse uses rods that are heated with electricity instead of nuclear fuel. In Westinghouse’s test facility, a problem has been identified, where the uppermost part of the rod has a risk of breaking due to the high temperatures. The temperatures are so high due to the rod being unable to conduct the large amount of current (max. 300kW) through the grid plate, situated at the top. The rod has a tapered end and is hammered into the grid plate’s tapered holes during assembly. The rod’s end is hollow and is attached from above using screws.To find a solution, two theoretical concepts have been developed and an eventual change of rod material has been evaluated. The purpose of the concepts is to limit the risk of problems occurring due to heat increase during operation. Both concepts have reduced hole size and length, to avoid hollow areas around the warmest part of the construction. For concept evaluation, Pugh’s concept selection method has been used. The most appropriate concept has been evaluated to be a reduced hole width, and a deeper hole with a thread insert.

High-cycle thermal fatigue arising from turbulent mixing of non-isothermal flows is a key issue associated with the life management and extension of nuclear power plants. The induced thermal loads and damage are not fully understood yet. With the aim of acquiring extensive data sets for the validation of codes modeling thermal mixing at reactor conditions, thermocouples recorded temperature time series at the inner surface of a vertical annular volume where turbulent mixing occurred. There, a stream at either 333 K or 423 K flowed upwards and mixed with two streams at 549 K. Pressure was set at 72E5 Pa. The annular volume was formed between two coaxial stainless-steel tubes. Since the thermocouples could only cover limited areas of the mixing region, the inner tube to which they were soldered was lifted, lowered, and rotated around its axis, to extend the measurement region both axially and azimuthally. Trends, which stemmed from the variation of the experimental boundary conditions over time, were subtracted from the inner-surface temperature time series collected. An estimator assessing intensity and inhomogeneity of the mixing process in the annulus was also computed. In addition, a frequency analysis of the detrended inner-surface temperature time series was performed. In the cases examined, frequencies between 0.03 Hz and 0.10 Hz were detected in the subregion where mixing inhomogeneity peaked. The uncertainty affecting such measurements was then estimated. Furthermore, a preliminary assessment of the radial heat flux at the inner surface was conducted. / <p>QC 20161116</p>