Two series of experiments were performed to determine the flow characteristics and to quantify the heat transfer components from a propane diffusion flame impinging onto a ceiling. A 0.3 m square sand burner with propane as the fuel type provided a steady-state fire. In the first series of experiments, measurements of gas temperature and velocity were made at 76 mm vertical intervals above the burner up to the ceiling. Fire heat release rates (HRRs) of 50 kW and 90 kW with free flame length to ceiling height ratios, Lf/H, of 2, 1.5, 1, 0.8, 0.85 were used to determine their effects on the measured parameters. Gas temperatures within the continuous flaming region were relatively constant, and measured to be independent of ceiling height and HRR, while velocities increased with elevation and were independent of ceiling height yet weakly dependent on HRR. Within the intermittent region, gas temperature was weakly affected by the presence of the ceiling at various heights, while the effect on velocity was more pronounced. HRR had an effect on both temperature and velocity within the intermittent region of the fire plume. Comparisons with existing fire plume correlations showed that the unbounded correlations can be used to provide a good approximation of the gas temperature for the ceiling bounded case; while the correlations for the velocity can only be used for elevations up to approximately 60% of the ceiling height. Elevations above this cutoff were significantly affected by the presence of the ceiling. The second series of experiments investigated HRRs of 50 kW and 90 kW with free flame length to ceiling height ratios, Lf/H, of 2, 1.5, and 1. Heat flux and gas temperature at the stagnation point of the ceiling were measured using hybrid heat flux gauges and an aspirated Type K thermocouple. Four methods of calculating the convective heat transfer coefficient, h, were developed and adapted; two reference methods and two slope methods. The components of heat transfer at the impingement point were separated using these calculated h values. The reference method 2, and both slope methods only required the use of the non-cooled hybrid gauge measurements and were in overall good agreement with one another. The reference method 1 differed significantly, being up to 15.8 times lower than the others. The trends in the two groups were contradictory, with the h calculated using the reference method 1 increasing with ceiling height while the others showed no strong trend with ceiling height. The disagreements between the methods greatly affected the components of heat transfer, particularly at the lowest ceiling heights. Convection calculated using the h from reference method 1 contributed only 2-5% of the total exposure heat flux at the lowest ceiling heights, whereas with the other methods convection contributed 20-50% of the total exposure heat flux. The limitations of each method are discussed. Further investigation is required for all methods to determine their applicability within the flaming region of a fire. / Master of Science

Material erosion, melting, splashing, bubbling, and ejection during disruption events in future large tokamak reactors are of serious concern to component longevity. The majority of the heat flux during disruptions will be incident on the divertor, which will be made from tungsten in the future large tokamak ITER. Electrothermal plasma sources operating in the confined controlled arc discharge regime produce heat fluxes in the range expected for hard disruptions in future large tokamaks. The radiative heat flux produced inside of the capillary discharge channel is from the formed high density (10^23 - 10^27/m^3) plasma with heat fluxes of up to 125 GW/m^2 over a period of 100s of microseconds, making such sources excellent simulators for ablation studies of plasma-facing materials in tokamaks during hard disruptions. Experiments have been carried out with the PIPE device exposing tungsten to these high heat flux plasmas. SEM images have been taken of the tungsten surfaces, cross sections of tungsten surfaces, and ejected material. Melting and bubble/void formation has been observed on the tungsten surface. The tungsten surface shows evidence of melt-layer flow and the existence of voids and cracks in the exposed material. The ejected material does not show direct evidence of liquid material ejection which would lead to splashing. EDS analysis has been performed on the ejected material which demonstrates a lack of deposited solid tungsten particulates greater than micron size. / Master of Science

The experimental work involves calculation of radial distribution of heat transfer coefficient at the surface of a flat Aluminium plate being impinged by a turbulent flame jet. Heat transfer coefficient distribution at the surface is computed from the measured heat flux and temperature data using a reference method and a slope method. The heat transfer coefficient (h) has a nearly bell shaped radial distribution at the plate surface for H/d =3.3. The value of h drops by 37 % from r/d =0 to r/d= 2. Upon increasing the axial distance to H/d = 5, the stagnation point h decreased by 15%. Adiabatic surface temperature (AST) distribution at the plate surface was computed from the measured heat flux and temperature. AST values were found to be lower than the measured gas temperature values at the stagnation point. Radial distribution of gas temperature at the surface was estimated by least squares linear curve fitting through the convection dominated region of net heat flux data and was validated by experimental measurements with an aspirated thermocouple. For low axial distances (H/d =3.3), the gas temperature dropped by only 15 % from r/d = 0 to r/d = 2. Total heat flux distribution is separated into radiative and convective components with the use of calculated heat transfer coefficient and estimated gas temperatures. At H/d = 3.3, the radiation was found to be less than 25 % of the net heat flux for r/d ≤ 2. / Master of Science

Thermoelectric phenomenon describes the relationship between the flow of heat and electricity. Two main categories encompassed in thermoelectric theory are the Seebeck and Peltier effects. The Seebeck effect is the generation of a voltage in a device that consists of two different materials in the presence of a temperature gradient, while the Peltier effect is the generation of a temperature gradient across a device of two different materials in the presence of an electrical current. This project focuses on the first of these two phenomena, where the Seebeck effect is used in a novel heat flux sensor that is transverse in nature. Transverse thermoelectric devices are characterized by their anisotropy, meaning that a temperature gradient generated across a device will be perpendicular to the flow of electricity through the device. This orthogonal arrangement allows for the manipulation of material properties, device arrangement, and construction methods for device optimization. This project characterizes the heat flux sensing capabilities of an artificially anisotropic transverse thermoelectric device via experimental and theoretical methods. The device tested is constructed out of bismuth telluride and titanium grade 5. Bismuth telluride is a standard thermoelectric material, while the titanium is used because of its high melting point and good electrical conductivity. The device is constructed by alternating rectangular pieces of these two materials. These pieces are bonded together at a given angle to simulate anisotropy. Several devices are constructed in a range of angles from 59 to 88°. These devices are each tested in a vacuum chamber where a heater heats one side of the device. This heat flux into the device creates a temperature gradient across the device and the device generates a voltage perpendicular to this temperature gradient. Steady state data are collected for both the temperature difference between the two sides of the device and the voltage generated by the device. This procedure is repeated on each device for a range of heat fluxes from 0 to 2.6 W/cm². This range generates voltage signals up to 14341 µV for an angle of 59°. Data collected are then used to generate a linear trend line that describes the devices response to a given heat flux. These experimental results are compared to theoretical predictions using thermoelectric theory. The results indicate that the device does exhibit transverse thermoelectric characteristics and the experimental data follow the predicted trends. This thesis documents the process of constructing, testing, and analyzing this device. / Master of Science

While thermoelectric technology has developed steadily over the last 50 years, transverse thermoelectrics have generally been ignored in the industrial and commercial uses of thermoelectric devices to date. This project focuses on investigating transverse thermoelectric effects for localized cooling and heat flux sensing. Thermoelectric cooling devices are useful when their advantages (small size, solid state, active temperature control) outweigh their relatively poor efficiency. Transverse heat flux sensors, which generate an electric field in a direction orthogonal to the heat flow, have the advantage that the signal depends on the length of the device rather than the thickness. Thus, they can be made very thin for fast response times while maintaining a large signal. A prototype transverse device was built out of bulk samples of bismuth and bismuth telluride, which are common thermoelectric materials. The device was constructed of alternating layers of the constituent materials to simulate the effects of an intrinsically anisotropic material. The device was tested for its cooling and heat flux sensing capabilities, and the results of this testing were compared to predicted values. Although the device failed to demonstrate cooling, its heat flux sensing capabilities were promising. The device was tilted to several angles of inclination between 44° and 84° from horizontal, and the output voltage was recorded for several values of heat flux. The signal strength varied between 190.2 and 2321.6 ìV/(W/cm2), at inclination angles of 84° and 44°, respectively. The results followed the trend of the predicted values well, but the magnitude of the output voltage was significantly lower than expected. An uncertainty analysis was performed, and it was determined that the most likely source of error was the uncertainty in the amount of heat flux that went through the device during testing. This thesis outlines the process of building and testing the device, and the analysis of the results. Recommendations for future work are also given. / Master of Science

<p>The energy exchange in the soil-snow-vegetation-atmospheresystem was studied to improve the quantitative knowledge of thegoverning processes. The lack of such knowledge contributes tothe uncertainty in the applicability of many existing modelsindependent of the temporal or spatial scale. The theoreticalbackground and available methods for measurements and numericalsimulations were reviewed. Numerical simulation models andavailable data sets representing open land and boreal forestwere evaluated in both diurnal and seasonal time-scales.Surface heat fluxes, snow depth, soil temperatures andmeteorological conditions were measured at an agriculturalfield in central Sweden over two winters, 1997-1999. Twoone-dimensional simulation models of different complexity wereused to simulate the heat and water transfer in thesoil-snow-atmosphere system and compared with the measurements.Comparison of simulated and observed heat fluxes showed thatparameter values governing the upper boundary condition weremore important than the formulation of the internal mass andheat balance of the snow cover. The models were useful toevaluate the lack of energy balance closure in the observedsurface heat fluxes, which underlined the importance ofimproved accuracy in eddy correlation measurements of latentflow during winter conditions.</p><p>The representation of boreal forest in the land surfacescheme used within a weather forecast model was tested with athree-year data set from the NOPEX forest site in centralSweden. The formulation with separate energy balances forvegetation and the soil/snow beneath tree cover improvedsimulation of the seasonal and diurnal variations of latent andsensible heat flux compared with an older model version.Further improvements of simulated surface heat fluxes could beexpected if the variation of vegetation properties within andbetween years and a new formulation of the boundary conditionsfor heat flux into the soil is included.</p><p><strong>Keywords</strong>: Surface energy balance, Snow, Boreal forest,SVAT models, Eddy-correlation Measurements, Latent heat flux,Sensible heat flux, Net radiation, Soil temperature,Aerodynamic roughness, Surface resistance</p> / QC 20100614

This aim of task deals with study of heat dissipation mechanisms and the description of physical phenomena, which is accompanied by non-stationary measurement of thermal characteristics by the method "hot-wire method". In particular, we observe the coefficient of thermal conductivity and its dependence on various variables such as the temperature of the measured sample, its moisture state, the volume of the sample and its porosity. The above mentioned findings are used for the invention of the measuring device of a nonstationary gauge, which is based on regular heating and is dedicated to measuring the thermal conductivity coefficient and the heat capacity by the "hot-wire method" method. In the last part of the thesis is verified functionality of the proposed measuring device, the suitability of the created algorithm for the processing of the measured data and the evaluation of the results was verified. The reproducibility of the measurements was verified and the measured results were compared with the measurement methods, which are commonly used. the influence of humidity on the coefficient of thermal conductivity.

To understand and to predict the weather and climate, numerical models are important tools and it is crucial that the controlling processes are described correctly. Since 70% of the global surface is covered with water the description how the ocean and atmosphere communicates has a considerable impact. The ocean–atmosphere exchange occurs through transport of momentum (friction) and heat, governed by turbulent eddies. The sea surface is also an important source of turbulence in both directions. The scales of the turbulent eddies cannot be resolved in ocean and climate models. Therefore, the turbulent exchanges have to be related to mean variables, such as wind speed and temperature differences. By using measurements, new methods to describe the air–sea exchange during two specific processes were developed. These processes are the so-called UVCN-regime (Unstable Very Close to Neutral stratification) and swell, i.e. waves which are not produced by the local wind. These processes were included in an ocean model and in a regional atmospheric climate model and the impact was investigated. The UVCN-regime enhances the heat transport significantly during the autumn and winter months in the ocean model. This results in a shallower well-mixed surface layer in the ocean. Wind-following swell reduces the surface friction, which is very important for the atmosphere. Some secondary effects in the climate model are reduced low-level cloud cover and reduced precipitation by more than 10% over sea areas. Locally and for short periods the impact is large. It is important to include the UVCN-regime and the swell impact in models, to make simulations more reliable.

The present work was written as a cumulative dissertation based on peer-reviewed papers and is completed by yet unpublished results. The overall objective was to get a deeper insight into the role of the advective fluxes of sensible heat and latent heat in relation to the energy balance and its imbalance at the earth’s surface (typically the sum of the turbulent fluxes sensible and latent heat does not match the available energy). Data from two advection experiments at four coniferous sites across Europe served as the basis for the analysis. One was the advection experiment MORE II which took place in Tharandt (Germany) and the other advection experiment ADVEX was conducted at three different sites (Ritten/Renon, Italy; Wetzstein, Germany; Norunda, Sweden). An inspection of the available energy (AE) that is redistributed to the atmosphere by the sensible heat flux (H) and latent heat flux (LE) showed that the uncertainty of the available energy itself cannot explain the lack of energy balance closure for these four sites. The mean absolute uncertainty of the available energy was largest during midday and ranged from 41 W m-2 to 52 W m-2 (approx. 12 % of AE). During nighttime, the mean absolute uncertainty was smaller (20 W m-2 – 30 W m-2) but the relative uncertainty was much larger as AE itself is small. Among the investigated storage terms the heat storage change of the biomass was most important. The energy balance closure was improved for all investigated sites when storage terms were included. In principle, storage terms should not be neglected in energy balance studies. An investigation of the budget of sensible heat, not only including the vertical advection and the horizontal advection but also the horizontal turbulent flux divergence, was undertaken for the coniferous site at Tharandt. Inclusion of these fluxes resulted in an enlarged mean daily amplitude and suggests an improvement of the energy balance closure, at least during nighttime. The commonly determined budget (vertical turbulent flux plus storage change) was reduced by about 30 % when advective fluxes were included. Results suggest that the horizontal turbulent flux divergence is of minor importance but further studies are needed for an overall evaluation. First results for the inclusion of the advective fluxes of both sensible heat and latent heat indicate that the lack of energy balance closure is partly reduced but the imbalance still exists. Advective fluxes of sensible heat were also compared to advective fluxes of CO2. It became apparent that the advective fluxes of sensible heat and CO2 are, on average, of opposite sign during nighttime and both share large scatter. Both budgets (sensible heat and CO2) were considerably changed (although differently for different sites) when advective fluxes were included. Results further suggest that advective fluxes of H can be taken as an indicator concerning the presence and sign of advection of CO2. This points towards a coincident non-turbulent transport of heat and CO2. However, all investigated advective fluxes are site-specific. They are characterised by a large uncertainty due to uncertainties in the mean vertical velocity (vertical advection) and in the horizontal differences in scalar magnitude (horizontal advection). Obviously, they are influenced by the limitations of the experimental set-up (spatial resolution) and the local characteristics of the individual measurements. An overall evaluation of advective fluxes with respect to their representativeness and magnitude requires further studies / Die vorliegende Arbeit wurde als kumulative Dissertation verfasst, die auf begutachteten Publikationen beruht. Sie wird um bisher nicht veröffentlichte Daten zur Advektion latenter Wärme ergänzt. Ziel war es, vor allem die Rolle der advektiven Flüsse von sensibler und latenter Wärme in Bezug auf die Energiebilanz und das Problem der Energiebilanzschließung an der Erdoberfläche näher zu untersuchen. Unter der Energiebilanzschließungslücke wird im Allgemeinen das Phänomen verstanden, dass die Summe der gemessenen turbulenten Flüsse von sensibler und latenter Wärme zumeist nicht der gemessenen verfügbaren Energie entspricht. Als Datengrundlage für die Arbeiten dienten hierzu die Datensätze von zwei Advektionsexperimenten, die an vier verschiedenen Nadelwaldstandorten in Europa stattfanden. Das erste dieser Advektionsexperimente MORE II fand an der Ankerstation Tharandt (Deutschland) statt und das zweite (ADVEX) wurde an drei verschiedenen Standorten durchgeführt (Ritten/Renon, Italien; Wetzstein, Deutschland; Norunda, Schweden). Eine Untersuchung der verfügbaren Energie (AE), die über den sensiblen Wärmestrom (H) und den latenten Wärmestrom (LE) wieder an die Atmosphäre abgegeben wird, zeigte, dass die in der Bestimmung der verfügbaren Energie liegende Unsicherheit das Problem der Energiebilanzschließungslücke nicht ausreichend erklärt. Die mittlere absolute Unsicherheit der verfügbaren Energie war dabei mittags am größten (41 W m-2 – 52 W m-2; ca. 12 % der verfügbaren Energie). Nachts war diese kleiner (20 W m-2 – 30 W m-2). Jedoch waren dann die relativen Unsicherheiten deutlich größer, da die verfügbare Energie nachts klein ist. Von den betrachteten Speichertermen der Energiebilanz erwies sich die Speicheränderung von Wärme in der Biomasse als am wichtigsten. Für die vier untersuchten Standorte verbesserte sich die Energiebilanzschließung, wenn die Speicherterme mit einbezogen wurden. Grundsätzlich sollten alle Speicherterme bei der Bestimmung der Energiebilanz mit beachtet werden. Für den Nadelwaldstandort Tharandt wurde die Bilanz der sensiblen Wärme unter Beachtung der advektiven Flüsse und der horizontalen turbulenten Flussdivergenz erstellt. Die Einbeziehung der advektiven Flüsse und der horizontalen turbulenten Flussdivergenz führte zu einer Vergrößerung der Amplitude im mittleren Tagesgang und deutet auf eine Verbesserung der Energiebilanzschließung zumindest nachts hin. Im herkömmlichen Sinne wird die Bilanz für Energie oder Massenflüsse als Summe aus vertikalem turbulenten Fluss und Speicheränderung bestimmt. Die Gesamtsumme dieser Bilanz wurde um 30 % reduziert, wenn die advektiven Flüsse mit einbezogen wurden. Hinsichtlich der horizontalen turbulenten Flussdivergenz kann man noch keine abschließende Einschätzung geben. Die vorliegenden Ergebnisse deuten einen vernachlässigbaren Anteil an der Gesamtbilanz für diesen Term an. Erste Ergebnisse für die Bestimmung der Energiebilanz von Nadelwäldern unter Beachtung der advektiven Flüsse von sensibler und latenter Wärme zeigen eine teilweise Reduzierung der Energiebilanzschließungslücke, jedoch keine vollständige Schließung der Energiebilanz. Weiterhin wurden die advektiven Flüsse sensibler Wärme mit denen von CO2 verglichen. Die Bilanzen für den CO2-Fluss als auch für den Fluss sensibler Wärme änderten sich deutlich unter Einbeziehung der advektiven Flüsse, wenn auch unterschiedlich für verschiedene Standorte. Besonders nachts sind die advektiven Flüsse von sensibler Wärme und CO2 im Mittel durch gegensätzliche Vorzeichen gekennzeichnet. Diese Beziehung eröffnet die Möglichkeit, advektive Flüsse von CO2 auf der Basis von advektiven Flüssen sensibler Wärme hinsichtlich ihres Vorhandenseins und ihrer Richtung abzuschätzen. Dies deutet auf einen gleichzeitigen nicht-turbulenten Transport von Wärme und CO2 hin. Generell ist festzustellen, dass alle untersuchten advektiven Flüsse spezifisch für den jeweiligen Standort und durch eine große Unsicherheit gekennzeichnet sind. Diese ergibt sich zum einen aus der mittleren vertikalen Geschwindigkeit (vertikale Advektion) und zum anderen aus den horizontalen Differenzen (horizontale Advektion) der jeweiligen skalaren Größen. Die betrachteten advektiven Flüsse werden offensichtlich durch Einschränkungen, die sich aus dem experimentellen Aufbau ergeben (z.B. begrenzte räumliche Auflösung), in ähnlicher Weise beeinflusst. Eine abschließende Beurteilung der advektiven Flüsse hinsichtlich ihres Anteils an der Gesamtbilanz und ihrer Repräsentativität erfordert weitere Studien.

Divertors are in-vessel, plasma-facing, components in magnetic-confinement fusion reactors. Their main function is to remove the fusion reaction ash (α-particles), unburned fuel, and eroded particles from the reactor, which adversely affect the quality of the plasma. A significant fraction (~15 %) of the total fusion thermal power is removed by the divertor coolant and must, therefore, be recovered at elevated temperature in order to enhance the overall thermal efficiency. Helium is the leading coolant because of its high thermal conductivity, material compatibility, and suitability as a working fluid for power conversion systems using a closed high temperature Brayton cycle. Peak surface heat fluxes on the order of 10 MW/m^2 are anticipated with surface temperatures in the region of 1,200°C to 1,500°C. Recently, several helium-cooled divertor designs have been proposed, including a modular T-tube design and a modular finger configuration with jet impingement cooling from perforated end caps. Design calculations performed using the FLUENT® CFD software package have shown that these designs can accommodate a peak heat load of 10 MW/m^2. Extremely high heat transfer coefficients (~50,000 W/(m^2 K)) were predicted by these calculations. Since these values of heat transfer coefficient are considered to be outside of the experience base for gas-cooled systems, an experimental investigation has been undertaken to validate the results of the numerical simulations. Attention has been focused on the thermal performance of the T-tube and the finger divertor designs. Experimental and numerical investigations have been performed to support both divertor geometries. Excellent agreement has been obtained between the experimental data and model predictions, thereby confirming the predicted performance of the leading helium-cooled divertor designs for near- and long-term magnetic fusion reactor designs. The results of this investigation provide confidence in the ability of state-of-the-art CFD codes to model gas-cooled high heat flux plasma-facing components such as divertors.