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Optimization of the performance of absorption systems during transient operations such as start-up and shut-down is particularly important for small-capacity chillers and heat pumps to minimize lifecycle costs. Dynamic models in the literature have been used to study responses to step changes in a single parameter, but more complex processes such as system start-up have not been studied in detail. A robust system-level model for simulating the transient behavior of an absorption chiller is developed here. Individual heat and mass exchangers are modeled using detailed segmental models. The UA-values and thermal masses of heat exchangers used in the model are representative of a practical operational chiller. Thermal masses of the heat exchangers and energy storage in the heat exchanging fluids are accounted for to achieve realistic transient simulation of the heat transfer processes in the chiller. The pressure drop due to fluid flow across the heat exchangers is considered negligible in comparison to the pressure difference between the high- and low-side components (~ 1.5 MPa). In components with significant mass transfer effects, reduced-order models are employed to decrease computational costs while also maintaining accurate system response. Mass and species storage in the cycle are modeled using storage devices. The storage devices account for expansion and contraction of the refrigerant and solution in the cycle as the system goes through start-up, shut-down, and other transient events. A counterflow falling film desorber model is employed to account for the heat and mass transfer interactions between the liquid and vapor phases, inside the desorber. The liquid film flows down counter to the rising vapor, thereby exchanging heat with the counterflowing heated coupling fluid. A segmented model is used to account for these processes, and a solver is developed for performing rapid iteration and quick estimation of unknown vapor and liquid states at the outlet of each segment of the desorber. Other components such as the rectifier, expansion valves and solution pump are modeled as quasi-steady devices. System start-up is simulated from ambient conditions, and the coupling fluid temperatures are assumed to start up to their steady-state values within the first 90 s of simulation. It is observed that the system attains steady-state in approximately 550 s. The evaporator cooling duty and COP of the chiller during steady-state are observed to be 3.41 kW and 0.60, respectively. Steady-state parameters such as flow rates, heat transfer rates and concentrations are found to match closely with results from simulations using corresponding steady-state models. Several control responses are investigated using this dynamic simulation model. System responses to step changes in the desorber coupling fluid temperature and flow rate, solution pumping rate, and valve setting are used to study the effects of several control strategies on system behavior. Results from this analysis can be used to optimize start-up and steady state performances. The model can also be used for devising and testing control strategies in commercial applications.

Thesis (M.Eng. (Chemical Engineering)) -- Universiteit van Pretoria, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MScEng (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / This study evaluates the performance characteristics of a power plant incorporating a steam turbine and a direct air-cooled dry/wet condenser operating at different ambient temperatures. The proposed cooling system uses existing A-frame air-cooled condenser (ACC) technology and through the introduction of a hybrid (dry/wet) dephiegmator achieves measurable enhancement in cooling performance when temperatures are high. In order to determine the thermal-flow performance characteristics of the wet section of the dephlegmator, tests are conducted on an evaporative cooler. From the experimental results, correlations for the water film heat transfer coefficient, air-water mass transfer coefficient and the air-side pressure drop over a deluged tube bundle are developed. During periods of high ambient temperatures the hybrid (dry/wet) condenser operating in a wet mode can achieve the same increased turbine performance as an oversized air-cooled condenser or an air-cooled condenser rith adiabatic cooling (spray cooling) of the inlet air at a considerably lower cost. For the same turbine power output the water consumed by an air-cooled condenser incorporating a hybrid (dry/wet) dephlegmator is at least 20% less than an air- cooled condenser with adiabatic cooling of the inlet air. / Sponsored by the Centre for Renewable and Sustainable Energy Studies, Stellenbosch University

The rapid growth of population and climate change has subjected our civil infrastructures to high load demands and fast aging or degradation over time. Temperature plays a key role in the performance of the aging infrastructure in form of thermal stress and cracking, temperature-induced material aging and degradation, temperature-dependent deformation, and softening. Thus, the importance of predicting the consequent behavior of the infrastructures under environmental conditions becomes imperative. This research characterizes three infrastructure surface materials, namely asphalt pavement, solar panels, and phase change materials (PCM), models the efficacy of modifiers and novel methods to improve their performance and uses these materials in the design and testing of thermal management systems for different applications. The connection between these materials is the thermal management in pavement overlays, which can be extended to other infrastructure surfaces. Asphalt pavement modified with recycled crumb rubber (CR) is a sustainable way to reuse the millions of tires that used to end in landfills. However, the ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun have been shown to adversely affect the asphalt’s performance in the long run. The severe photo-oxidation can cause changes in the volatile components of the asphalt and result in hardening, aging, and thermal cracks in it. The effect of UV rays on the rubber-modified asphalt may be even more complex due to the presence of crumb rubber particles and their chemical/physical incompatibility and changes in the glass transition. In order to examine these effects, a PG 64-22 is modified with two percentages of 16.6 wt.% and 20.0 wt.% crumb rubber. Results show the specific heat capacities increase with UV aging with 16.6% having the highest value. The addition of the rubber particles does not change the chemical composition of the binder as confirmed by the elemental analysis. However, after UV exposure, peaks associated with carbonyl and sulfoxide are observed, proving that the rubber-modified binder is subject to photo-oxidation as well. The 16.6. wt.% shows the best performance against aging with the lowest sulfoxide index and the highest aliphatic index. Another advantage of adding crumb rubber particles is the formation of a matrix due to the crosslinking of the rubber particles with the binder after being heated, as approved by microscopic images. The carbon nanotubes (CNT) are used to modify the asphalt binder to improve its rheological characteristics while also enhancing the thermal conductivity of the mixture to facilitate the transfer of heat to the surface. In this study, two samples of 3% and 6% multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are prepared using a foaming technology. Foaming the asphalt via water lowers its viscosity and temperature resulting in the saving of the base material and consumed energy while increasing the coating of the aggregates. The results show the CNTs can improve the thermal conductivity of the foamed binder by almost 2X while not negatively affect its rheology. For the other end of the thermal management system, a new hydronic system is introduced for the building integrated photovoltaics and thermal (BIPVT) silicon module that acts for the dual objectives of collecting heat to be used for the thermal management of the pavement and controlling the surface temperature of the solar module itself for the optimal efficiency under different operating conditions. The BIPVT panel with different flow rates of 100 to 600 ml/min were tested for the effectiveness of the cooling design. The results from experiments and simulations show that at 200 ml/min, an optimal balance for the performance of the panel is achieved to not only reduce the temperature of the panel from 88°C to 65°C, but also generate a partially heated water outlet of 37°C (compared with the 23°C inlet) that can be used for the hot water system of the building, or as the inlet feed to the hydronic cooling/heating pavement system. In addition, the BIPVT design proves to restore the power of the solar module by 24.6% at a 200 ml/min flow rate, as confirmed from the I-V curves. Finally, the feasibility study of converting the waste animal fat to a phase change material (PCM) is explored. In PCMs, the high latent heat characteristics are used to store or release energy during the phase change. The use of PCMs can significantly lower the temperature variation of buildings and the consequent energy use. While most common PCMs are paraffin-based and too expensive for large scale applications, a bio-based and more economic alternative could be the key to its vast use in infrastructure systems. However, more research is needed to achieve an animal fat PCM with high latent heat values. In this study, characterizing the raw fat shows a ~20% saturated content. After hydrolysis, the saturated portion has been increased to 65%, but the improvement in the latent is not significant. However, after separation of the fatty acids by use of crystallization, the resulting fully saturated fatty acids (palmitic and stearic acids) show a 3.5X increase in the value of the latent heat, increasing it from ~55 J/g for free fatty acids to ~195 J/g for saturated fatty acids. The promising results of the high latent heat values make the current bio-based PCM a good alternative that needs to be further explored in the future to be used for applications in buildings and BIPVT panels. Overall, the results of this PhD study provide a comprehensive understanding of materials and systems for thermal management of asphalt pavements and enable the design and development of durable self-heated pavements, which can be immediately extended to other infrastructure applications such as wall panels, net-zero buildings, and solar panels.

This study aimed to investigate performance of ARM-based computer clusters using two-phase immersion cooling approach, and demonstrate its potential benefits over the air-based natural and forced convection approaches. ARM-based clusters were created using Raspberry Pi model 2 and 3, a commodity-level, single-board computer. Immersion cooling mode utilized two types of dielectric liquids, HFE-7000 and HFE-7100. Experiments involved running benchmarking tests Sysbench high performance linpack (HPL), and the combination of both in order to quantify the key parameters of device junction temperature, frequency, execution time, computing performance, and energy consumption. Results indicated that the device core temperature has direct effects on the computing performance and energy consumption. In the reference, natural convection cooling mode, as the temperature raised, the cluster started to decease its operating frequency to save the internal cores from damage. This resulted in decline of computing performance and increase of execution time, further leading to increase of energy consumption. In more extreme cases, performance of the cluster dropped by 4X, while the energy consumption increased by 220%. This study therefore demonstrated that two-phase immersion cooling method with its near-isothermal, high heat transfer capability would enable fast, energy efficient, and reliable operation, particularly benefiting high performance computing applications where conventional air-based cooling methods would fail.

Two-phase spray cooling has been an emerging thermal management technique offering high heat transfer coefficients and critical heat flux levels, near-uniform surface temperatures, and efficient coolant usage that enables to design of compact and lightweight systems. Due to these capabilities, spray cooling is a promising approach for high heat flux applications in computing, power electronics, and optics. Two-phase spray cooling inherently depends on saturation temperature-pressure relationships of the working fluid to take advantage of high heat transfer rates associated with liquid-vapor phase change. When a certain application requires strict temperature and/or pressure conditions, thermo-physical properties of the working fluid play a critical role in attaining proper efficiency, reliability, or packaging structure. However, some of the commonly used single-component working fluids have relatively poor properties and heat transfer performance. For example, water is the best coolant in terms of properties, yet in certain applications where the system operates at low temperature ambient, it cannot be implemented due to freezing risk. The common solution for this problem is to use the antifreeze mixtures (binary mixtures of water and alcohol) to reduce the freezing point. In such cases, utilizing binary mixtures to tune working fluid properties becomes an alternative approach. This study has two main objectives; (1) to experimentally investigate the two-phase spray cooling performance of water/2-propanol binary mixture, and (2) to numerically investigate the performance of an advanced heat spreader featuring high and directional thermal conductivity materials for high heat flux focal sources. The first part of the study involves experimental characterization of heat transfer performance. Tests are conducted on a small-scale, closed loop spray cooling system featuring a pressure atomized spray nozzle. The test section, made of copper, measures 10 mm x 10 mm x 2 mm with a plain, smooth surface. A cylindrical copper block, with a matching size square protrusion attached onto the back side of the test section, generates heat using cartridge heaters and simulates high heat flux source. Embedded thermocouples are used to determine the spray surface temperature. The working fluid, water/alcohol mixture, has various concentration levels of 2-propanol by mass fraction 0.0 (pure water), 0.25, 0.50, 0.879 (azeotrope) and 1.0 (pure alcohol)), representing both non-azeotropic and azeotropic cases. Spray cooling tests are performed with a constant flow rate of 5.6 ml/cm².s at subcooled temperatures (~20oC) and atmospheric pressure. Experimental procedure involves controlling the heat flux in increasing steps, and recording the corresponding steady-state temperatures to obtain cooling curves in the form of surface superheat vs. heat flux. The second part of the study investigates an advanced heat spreader design for thermal management of a high heat flux focal source. The heat spreader comprises of three layers: a copper layer that interfaces with the heat source, a high and directional thermal conductivity material (such as CVD diamond and Pyrolytic graphite) layer, and another copper layer that is exposed to two-phase spray cooling. The analysis applies various heat fluxes on the heat source side and the experimentally obtained heat transfer coefficients on the spray side of the spreader design to determine the temperature and heat flux distributions, and examine the potential capabilities of this configuration.

Even with all the knowledge and wisdom we can acquire, combined with the best of collective intentions, it will always be the case, that ultimately we have to balance what’s desirable with what’s possible. But what’s possible always proceeds us, like a carrot in front of our nose. Yet yesterday's dreams, could have been today’s reality... and perhaps todays dreams, can become real tomorrow. “Too often budget restrictions are used as the reason why good design is not possible, but the vernacular demonstrates over and over that fine, low-budget, small-scale design is possible if the designer [builder and inhabitant] cares.” [Wayne Attoe: The Architecture of Ricardo Legorreta] In this case, the project is a new rural family residence for a couple and their son, with an adjacent cottage for their aging parents. With a collective desire to design, build and live in the most ecologically responsible manner possible, the challenge is to integrate as many environmentally beneficial principles as logistics and budget constraints will allow. The result is a collaborative choreography of site, structure, materials selection, and sequence. The appropriate criteria by which a given structural system or material should be specified, is relative to the total system performance and longevity. Optimized performance is achieved through the correct interrelationship of elements, to maximize the greatest cumulative benefit. For example, the high embodied energy and pollution from the manufacture of extruded polystyrene [XPS] insulation is undesirable. However, because of its high R-value, moisture resistance, compressive strength, and dimensional stability, it is currently the best insulation available for below grade applications. Its use makes a living sod roof practical, which may have an enormous overall positive impact, but otherwise might not even be possible. "The most elegant design solutions... those that reduce complexity while solving multiple problems... won't be found by considering each item in isolation." [Alex Wilson and Nadav Malin: Environmental Building News, 10.95] In keeping with the principles and intentions cited earlier, the decision was made to build a [passive solar / straw bale and heavy timber / living roof] home. / Master of Architecture