The goal of this work is to investigate the capabilities of two different commercial codes, OpenFOAM and ANSYS CFX, to predict forced convection heat transfer in low Prandtl number fluids and investigate the sensitivity of these predictions to the type of code and to several input parameters.The goal of the work is accomplished by predicting forced convection heat transfer in two different experimental setups with the codes OpenFOAM and ANSYS CFX using three different turbulence models and varying the input parameters in an extensive sensitivity analysis. The computational results are compared two the experimental data and analyzed for qualitative and quantitative parameters, such as shape of velocity and temperature profiles, thickness of the boundary layers and wall temperatures.The results show that predictions of the temperature and velocity field are generally sufficient to good, however, the sensitivity especially to the turbulent Prandtl number has to be taken into account when computing forced convection heat transfer in low Prandtl number fluids. The results also show that methods applied to OpenFOAM cannot directly be applied to ANSYS CFX. / <p>QC 20130531</p> / GENIUS

Stationary spiral inserts can effectively enhance heat transfer and temperature blending in the heat convection systems. In this paper, the impact of the segment length on the performance of a stationary insert is studied for flow Re numbers from ~80 to ~7900 through numerical simulation of heat transfer in streams of cold and hot gases flowing across it. The segment length to width ratio is from 1.11 to 2.33. The temperature of the studied gas is from 300 K to 1300 K. It is shown that the insert with variable segment length is more effective in temperature blending for two compressible streams compared with an insert with constant segment length, especially for low-Re-number turbulent flows.

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

A nanofluid is a new heat transfer fluid produced by mixing a base fluid and solid nano sized particles. This fluid has great potential in heat transfer applications, because of its increased thermal conductivity and even increased Nusselt number due to higher thermal conductivity, Brownian motion of nanoparticles, and other various effects on heat transfer phenomenon. In this work, the first aim is to predict convective heat transfer of nanofluids. A numerical code is created and run to obtain results in a pipe with two different boundary conditions, constant wall temperature and constant wall heat flux. The results for laminar flow for thermally developing region in a pipe are obtained for Al2O3/water nanofluid with different volumetric fraction and particle sizes with local temperature dependent conductivity approach. Various effects that influence nanofluid heat transfer enhancement are investigated. As a result, a better heat transfer performance is obtained for all cases, compared to pure water. The important parameters that have impact on nanofluid heat transfer are particle diameter of the nanoparticles, nanoparticle volumetric fraction, Peclet number, and viscous dissipation. Next, a heat transfer performance evaluation methodology is proposed considering increased pumping power of nanofluids. Two different criteria are selected for two boundary conditions at constant pumping power. These are heat transfer rate ratio of the nanofluid and the base fluid for constant wall temperature boundary condition and difference between wall temperature of the pipe at the exit and inlet mean temperature of the fluid ratio for constant wall heat flux case. Three important parameters that influence the heat transfer performance of nanofluids are extracted from a parametric study. Lastly, optimum particle size and volumetric fraction values are obtained depending on Graetz number, Nusselt number, heat transfer fluid temperature, and nanofluid type.

A nanofluid is a new heat transfer fluid produced by mixing a base fluid and solid nano sized particles. This fluid has great potential in heat transfer applications, because of its increased thermal conductivity and even increased Nusselt number due to higher thermal conductivity, Brownian motion of nanoparticles, and other various effects on heat transfer phenomenon. In this work, the first aim is to predict convective heat transfer of nanofluids. A numerical code is created and run to obtain results in a pipe with two different boundary conditions, constant wall temperature and constant wall heat flux. The results for laminar flow for thermally developing region in a pipe are obtained for Al2O3/water nanofluid with different volumetric fraction and particle sizes with local temperature dependent conductivity approach. Various effects that influence nanofluid heat transfer enhancement are investigated. As a result, a better heat transfer performance is obtained for all cases, compared to pure water. The important parameters that have impact on nanofluid heat transfer are particle diameter of the nanoparticles, nanoparticle volumetric fraction, Peclet number, and viscous dissipation. Next, a heat transfer performance evaluation methodology is proposed considering increased pumping power of nanofluids. Two different criteria are selected for two boundary conditions at constant pumping power. These are heat transfer rate ratio of the nanofluid and the base fluid for constant wall temperature boundary condition and difference between wall temperature of the pipe at the exit and inlet mean temperature of the fluid ratio for constant wall heat flux case. Three important parameters that influence the heat transfer performance of nanofluids are extracted from a parametric study. Lastly, optimum particle size and volumetric fraction values are obtained depending on Graetz number, Nusselt number, heat transfer fluid temperature, and nanofluid type.

The fundamental physics governing wildland fire spread are still largely misunderstood. This thesis was motivated by the need to better understand the role of radiative and convective heat transfer in the ignition and spread of wildland fires. The focus of this work incorporated the use of infrared thermographic imaging techniques to investigate fuel particle response from three different heating sources: convective dominated heating from an air torch, radiative dominated heating from a crib fire, and an advancing flame front in a laboratory wind tunnel test. The series of experiments demonstrated the uniqueness and valuable characteristics of infrared thermography to reveal the hidden nature of heat transfer and combustion aspects which are taking place in the condensed phase of wildland fuelbeds. In addition, infrared thermal image-based temperature history and ignition behavior of engineered cardboard fuel elements subjected to convective and radiative heating supported experimental findings that millimeter diameter pine needles cannot be ignited by radiation alone even under long duration fire generated radiant heating. Finally, fuel characterization using infrared thermography provided a better understanding of the condensed phase fuel pyrolysis and heat transfer mechanisms governing the response of wildland fuel particles to an advancing flame front.

La controverse concernant les mécanismes proposés pour l’intensification de la conductivité thermique et de la forte augmentation de la viscosité suggère que les expériences avec des nanofluides bien dispersés et correctement caractérisés seraient intéressantes. Par conséquent, nous nous sommes fixés comme objectif la caractérisation de la conductivité thermique et la viscosité de deux nanofluides “eau-oxyde de silice“ et “eau-titanium“. Il a été observé que la conductivité thermique des deux nanofluides considérés concorde bien avec la théorie du milieu effectif, à savoir, le modèle de Maxwell, et ne montre aucune amélioration par rapport aux effets associés aux mécanismes proposés de l’intensification du transfert du nanofluide tels que le mouvement brownien ou l’effet de stratification. Pour confirmer ce résultat, nous avons également mesuré la conductivité thermique du nanofluide eau contenant une suspension de nanotubes de carbone NTC. Nous constatons que la conductivité thermique de ce nanofluide NTC est également en bon accord avec le modèle de Maxwell. Les disparités et les incohérences publiées par les différents groupes sur les résultats et modèles de la conductivité thermique ainsi que la viscosité du nanofluide se trouvent être principalement dues à la qualité du nanofluide telles que la stabilité colloïdale, la taille des particules, la formation des agrégats, etc… Par ailleurs, l’influence des incertitudes en raison de l’adoption de différents modèles sur le transfert de chaleur par convection naturelle a été étudiée. Il a été observé que les incertitudes dans les modèles prédictifs peuvent conduire à des évaluations erronées du transfert convectif. / The controversy regarding the proposed mechanisms of the exceptionally enhanced thermal conductivity of nanofluids, as well as sharp increase of nanofluid viscosity suggest that systematic experiment with well dispersed and well characterized nanofluids are highly desired. Therefore, on the basis of this suggestion, thermal conductivity and viscosity of silica-water and titania-water nanofluids were measured. It was observed that the thermal conductivity of both nanofluids agrees well with the effective medium theory, i.e., Maxwell model, and does not show any enhancement due to effects associated with the proposed mechanisms of thermal energy transfer in nanofluids like Brownian motion or liquid layering. To support these results, the thermal conductivity of water based nanofluid containing carbon nanotubes was measured. It was found that that thermal conductivity of CNTs nanofluids agrees well with Maxwell model up to 1 vol.%. The inconsistencies in the reported thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity from different research groups are found to be mainly due to the characterization of the nanofluid, including determination of colloidal stability and particle size, (i.e, aggregates size) within nanofluid. The influence of uncertainties due to adopting various formulas for the dynamic viscosity on natural convection heat transfer was investigated. It was observed that uncertainties in the predictive models for the effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of nanofluids, leads to erroneous evaluation of the convective heat transfer with nanofluids, and this acts as a brake on research in the area.

The significant increase in energy requirements across the world, provides several opportunities for innovative methods to be developed to facilitate the storage and utilization of energy. The major energy demand is in the form of electrical energy for domestic as well as industrial sectors, a large part of which are the heating and cooling requirements. Appropriate utilization of thermal energy storage can effectively aid in reducing the electrical demand by storage and release of this thermal energy during peak hours. Thermal Energy Storage using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) is an attractive method of energy storage, with a wide variety of potential applications. Several configurations have been tested by researchers to develop energy storage devices with PCMs. The cycling of melting and solidification of PCMs results in storage and release of heat at a relatively small temperature difference. Design and deployment of these storage systems have certain challenges and considerations associated to them for instance, when used in buildings, PCMs should be non-toxic, non-corrosive, and others. In this thesis, we aim to provide models for designing Latent Thermal Energy Storage (LTES) devices with PCMs, based on their operating conditions, thermophysical properties of materials, and geometric parameters. The models are developed considering fluid dynamics and heat transfer involved in melting and solidification of PCMs. Parameters like inlet temperature and velocity, and volume of storage container are varied to determine the time taken for melting or solidification. For sizing and predicting performance of the storage devices we aim at presenting an analytical correlation, with time taken for melting as the variable defining the ‘charging/discharging time’ of storage device. Along with this, a transient model is developed to predict amount of PCM melted/solidified, along with rate of latent energy storage in defined time period intervals.

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The different technologies of passive cooling concepts have to rely on a good thermal coupling between a building's thermal mass and indoor air. In many cases, the ceiling is the only surface remaining for a good coupling. Further research is necessary to investigate discrepancies between existing correlations. Therefore, the overall aim of the work described in this thesis is the investigation of heat transfer at a heated ceiling in an experimental chamber. Acoustic baffles obstruct the surface of the ceiling and impede heat transfer. However, there is nearly no published data about the effect of such baffles on heat transfer. Available results from simulations should be verified with an experimental investigation. Consequently, one of the primary aims of this work was to experimentally determine the influence of such acoustic baffles. A suitable experimental chamber has been built at Biberach University of Applied Sciences. The thesis describes the experimental chamber, the experimental programme as well as results from five different test series. With a value of ±0.1Wm⁻²K⁻¹ for larger temperature differences, uncertainty in resulting convective heat transfer coefficients for natural convection is comparable to that of results from an existing recent experimental work often recommended for use. Additionally, total heat transfer (by convection and radiation) results are presented. Results are given for natural, forced and mixed convection conditions at an unobstructed heated ceiling. Furthermore, results for acoustic baffles in both an unventilated and a ventilated chamber are shown. Natural convection results show a very good agreement with existing correlations. Under mixed convection conditions, convective heat transfer at an unobstructed ceiling decreases to the limiting case described by natural convection. Installation of acoustic baffles leads to a reduction in total heat transfer (convection and radiation) between 20% and 30% when compared to the case of an unobstructed ceiling.