Thesis (M.S.)--Ohio University, March, 1999. / Title from PDF t.p.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri, School of Mines and Metallurgy, 1958. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Typescript. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed June 14, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 40-41).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--McMaster University, 2001 / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 242-250). Also available via World Wide Web.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. / This research presents the results of a combined numerical and experimental study of heat transfer and pressure drop behavior in a compact heat exchanger (CHE) designed with drop-shaped pin fins. A numerical study using ANSYS was first conducted to select the optimum pin shape and configuration for the CHE. This was followed by an experimental study to validate the numerical model. The results indicate that the drop shaped pin fins yield a considerable improvement in heat transfer compared to circular pin fins for the same pressure drop characteristics. This improvement is mainly due to the increased wetted surface area of the drop pins, and the delay in the flow separation as it passes the more streamlined drop shaped pin fins. The data and conclusions of this study can be used in heat exchanger design for large heat flux cooling applications as in gas turbine blades, and high-power electronics. / Lieutenant Junior Grade, Tunisian Navy

The performance of membrane heat exchangers for HVAC total energy recovery systems was evaluated through experimentation and detailed system modelling. The operating principle of the membrane heat exchanger (enthalpy heat exchanger) is based on passing ambient hot and humid supply air over one side of a porous membrane heat exchanger surface and cold and less humid room exhaust air on the other side of the transfer surface. Due to the gradient in temperature and vapour pressure, both heat and moisture are transferred across the membrane surface causing a decrease in temperature and humidity of the supply air before it enters the evaporator unit of the conventional air conditioner. Hence both sensible and latent energy are recovered. In this study, both experimental and numerical investigations were undertaken and mathematical models were developed to predict the performance of the latent heat recovery heat exchangers for use with conventional air conditioning systems. The membrane moisture transfer resistance was determined by a laboratory-scale permeability measurements. It was found that the membrane heat exchanger performance is significantly influenced by the heat exchanger flow profile and shape, heat and moisture transfer material characteristics, air velocity and air moisture content. Improvement of membrane heat exchanger performance requires an in depth study on flow, temperature and moisture distribution in the heat exchanger flow paths. Thus, a commercial CFD package FLUENT is used to model the membrane heat exchanger. However, software of this type cannot model moisture diffusion through the porous transfer boundary. Therefore, two user defined function codes have been introduced to model the moisture transfer in latent energy heat exchangers. The annual energy consumption of an air conditioner coupled with a membrane heat exchanger is also studied and compared with a conventional air conditioning cycle using the HPRate software. Energy analysis shows that in hot and humid climates where the latent load is high, an air conditioning system coupled with a membrane heat exchanger consumes less energy than a conventional air conditioning system. The membrane heat exchanger dehumidifies the air before it enters the air conditioning system, resulting in a decrease in energy consumption in comparison with conventional air conditioning system.

Thermal contact resistance or, its reciprocal, thermal contact conductance is an important parameter in a wide range of thermal phenomena. It plays a significant role in heat transfer applications such as electronic packaging and nuclear reactors. This parameter also appears in fin-tube heat exchangers; however, it is often neglected in the performance calculations of heat exchangers. This thesis project explores the means by which the heat transfer performance of a finned tube heat exchanger may be enhanced. It includes experimental studies and finite element analysis investigating the effects of expansion bullets and coatings on the thermal contact conductance. An apparatus has been designed and fabricated for the experimental part of the work. A finite element model established the fintube configuration to be used in the design and manufacture of the apparatus. The apparatus was specially made for measuring thermal contact conductance directly in a finned-tube heat exchanger both in vacuum and in gaseous environment. The experiments were done on hexagon shaped specimens with a single fin connecting seven tubes. Sixteen type-T thermocouples have been used to measure temperatures at several locations on the specimen. A full-scale quarter-fin model was chosen for a second finite element analysis. The model simulates the actual specimen and predicts the temperatures. The finite element analyses have been used to validate the experimental results. The experimental results from the bare contact specimens, assembled with different sizes of expansion bullet, show that while higher expansions enhance the thermal contact conductance, the effect of interstitial gas such as nitrogen is beneficial for all specimens expanded with the 9.42 mm size bullet. Applying a coating material with high thermal conductivity is also an effective way to enhance the thermal contact conductance. The results show that the highly conductive plating materials, such as zinc, tin, silver and gold, enhance the thermal contact conductance. The presence of interstitial gas such as nitrogen also results in higher heat transfer rates and higher thermal contact conductance compared to those obtained in vacuum.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Missouri--Rolla, 2007. / Vita. The entire thesis text is included in file. Title from title screen of thesis/dissertation PDF file (viewed November 29, 2007) Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-94).

Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute, 1952. / Typewritten. Bibliography: leaf 56. Also bibliographical footnotes. Also available via the Internet.

University of Macau / Faculty of Science and Technology / Department of Electromechanical Engineering

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 515-522). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.