Heat management in high thermal-density systems such as CPU chips, nuclear reactors and compact heat exchangers is confronting rising challenges due to ever more miniaturized and intensified processes. While searching for heat transfer enhancement, micro-channel flow boiling and the usage of high thermal potential fluids such as nanofluids are found to be efficient heat removal approaches. However, the limited understanding of micro-scale multiphase flows impedes wider applications of these techniques. In this thesis work, liquid-vapour phase change and multiphase flow heat transfer in micro-channels were experimentally investigated. Included are studies on the single phase friction, vapour dynamics, liquid meniscus evaporation, two-phase flow instabilities and heat transfer. An experimental system was built. Rectangular microchannels with different hydraulic diameters (571 μm, 762 μm and 1454 μm) and crosssectional aspect ratios were selected. Transparent heating was utilised by coating the micro-channels with a layer of tantalum on the outer surfaces. FC-72, n-pentane, ethanol, and ethanol-based Al2O3 nanofluids were used as working fluids. Pressures and temperatures at micro-channel inlet and outlet were acquired. Simultaneous visualisation and thermographic profiles were monitored. Single phase friction of pure liquids and nanofluids mostly showed good agreement with the conventional theory. The discrepancies were associated with hydrodynamic developing flow and the early transition to turbulent flow, but nanoparticle concentration showed minor impact. After boiling incipient, the single vapour bubble growth and flow regimes were investigated, exploring the influences of flow and thermal conditions as well as the micro-channel geometry on vapour dynamics. In addition, liquid meniscus evaporation as the main heat transfer approach at thin liquid films in micro-channels was studied particularly. Nanoparticles largely enhanced meniscus stability. Besides, flow instabilities were analyzed based on the pressure drop and channel surface temperature fluctuations as well as the synchronous visualization results. Moreover, study on flow boiling heat transfer was undertaken, the corresponding heat transfer characteristics were presented and the heat transfer mechanisms were elucidated. Furthermore, ten existing heat transfer correlations were assessed. A modified heat transfer correlation for high aspect ratio micro-channel flow boiling was proposed. The crucial role of liquid property and microchannel aspect-ratio on flow boiling heat transfer was highlighted.

Kyoto University (京都大学) / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第15371号 / 工博第3250号 / 新制||工||1489(附属図書館) / 27849 / 京都大学大学院工学研究科機械理工学専攻 / (主査)教授 中部 主敬, 教授 小寺 秀俊, 教授 田畑 修 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当

For ammonia-water absorption refrigeration technology it is suggested to use bubble type absorbers because the higher contact surface area provides a higher mass transfer rate. Furthermore, dispersion of bubbles in the bulk of liquid phase also exhibits better heat transfer characteristics that facilitate the recovery of dissipated heat of the exothermic absorption.In this context, plate heat exchangers are believed to be an option to be employed as absorber in some applications. Commercial plate heat exchangers have only one inlet and outlet for a working fluid and as a result, gas and liquid should be mixed before supplied to a gap between the two adjacent plates. The consequence is the high risk of bubble mergence to form a bigger bubble and to follow the shortest flow paths in vertical direction so that not all the heat transfer surface can be effectively used. Furthermore this feature makes plate heat exchangers sensitive to the angle of plate relative to the vertical which would be worst when it is laid to its side on a horizontal plane.Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) develops an efficient Bubble Plate Absorber for applications in high-pressure absorption systems and this work tries to investigate design possibility of this Bubble Plate Absorber based on a plate heat exchanger equipped with microchannels between plates.Two sets of seven parallel microchannels same in shape and dimension were tested. The first set had a continuous wall which means fluids could flow independently along the microchannels; whereas, the other set was benefiting from some linkages between channels that fluids could cross from one microchannel to another one. Ammonia vapour was injected via one and two-holed distributors.It was found that microchannels with continuous wall deliver higher concentration and less unabsorbed bubbles at the microchannels outlet. In visual analysis by high-speed camera, changing the vapour distributors from single-hole to double-hole had no significant effect on the bubble distribution quality in lower flowrates; however, double-hole vapour distributor showed better performance in higher vapours flowrates.

No description available.

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have emerged as a strong and promising candidate to replace internal combustion engines (ICE) due their high efficiency, high power density and near-zero hazardous emissions. However, their commercialization waits for solutions to bring about significant cost-reductions and significant durability for given power densities. Bipolar plate (BPP) with its multi-faceted functions is one of the essential components of the PEMFC stacks. Stainless steel alloys are considered promising materials of choice for bipolar plate (BPP) applications in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) due to their relatively low cost and commercial availability in thin sheets. Stainless steel materials build a protective passive metal oxide layer on their surface against corrosion attack. This passive layer does not demonstrate good electrical conductivity and increases interfacial electric contact resistance (ICR) between BPP and gas diffusion layer GDL in PEMFC. Lower ICR values are desired to reduce parasitic power losses and increase current density in order to improve efficiency and power density of PEMFC. This study aimed to bring about a broader understanding of manufacturing effects on the BPP contact resistance. In first stage, BPP samples manufactured with stamping and hydroforming under different process conditions were tested for their electrical contact resistance characteristics to reveal the effect of manufacturing type and conditions. As a general conclusion, stamped BPPs showed higher contact conductivity than the hydroformed BPPs. Moreover, pressure in hydroforming and geometry had significant effects on the contact resistance behavior of BPPs. Short term corrosion exposure was found to decrease the contact resistance of bipolar plates. Results also indicated that contact resistance values of uncoated stainless steel BPPs are significantly higher than the respective target set by U.S. Department of Energy. Proper coating or surface treatments were found to be necessary to satisfy the requirements. In the second stage, physical vapor deposition technique was used to coat bipolar plates with CrN, TiN and ZrN coatings at 0.1, 0.5 and 1 μm coating thicknesses. Effects of different coatings and coating thickness parameters were studied as manufactured BPPs. Interfacial contact resistance tests indicated that CrN coating increased the contact resistance of the samples. 1 µm TiN coated samples showed the best performance in terms of low ICR; however, ICR increased dramatically after short term exposure to corrosion under PEMFC working conditions. ZrN coating also improved conductivity of the SS316L BPP samples. It was found that the effect of coating material and coating thickness was significant whereas the manufacturing method and BPP channel size slightly affected the ICR of the metallic BPP samples. Finally, effect of process sequence on coated BPPs was investigated. In terms of ICR, BPP samples which were coated prior to forming exhibited similar or even better performance than coated after forming samples. Thus, continuous coating of unformed stripes, then, applying forming process seemed to be favorable and worth further investigation in the quest of making cost effective BPPs for mass production of PEMFC.

En raison du développement croissant des MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems), l'étude des écoulements de liquide ou de gaz et des transferts thermiques dans des conduites, chauffées ou non, dont le diamètre hydraulique est de l'ordre de quelques microns, a suscité un nombre considérable de travaux au cours des vingt dernières années. À cette échelle, le nombre de Knudsen peut être important (Kn>0,01), ce qui donne naissance à des phénomènes de glissement, de saut de température et de pompage thermique qui s'ajoutent aux effets de compressibilité, telles que la puissance due aux forces de pression et à la puissance des contraintes visqueuses et aux variations des propriétés du fluide avec la température. Dans les modélisations de la littérature, ces phénomènes sont rarement pris en compte simultanément et sont souvent partiellement négligés, sans justification. Notre démarche consiste à proposer une modélisation des micro-écoulements gazeux se rapprochant au mieux de la réalité en prenant en compte tous les phénomènes et à étudier les effets de chacun d'entre eux. L'étude est, en premier lieu, menée en utilisant un code commercial, résolvant les équations de conservation par la méthode des volumes finis et adapté par le biais de sous-programmes développés au cours de cette thèse. Des validations ont été effectuées pour des problèmes allant des plus simples (incompressibles, non glissants) aux plus complexes (compressibles, glissants). Cette étude a permis de mettre en évidence les problèmes liés à la modélisation quand les nombres de Péclet des écoulements sont inférieurs à l'unité (Pe < 1). Dans ce cas, les effets de diffusion inverse sont dominants et l'utilisation d'extensions à l'amont de la conduite devient incontournable. Les effets de compressibilité qui se traduisent par des détentes du gaz près de la sortie de la conduite (accélération + refroidissement) ont été analysés. Enfin, des comparaisons ont été effectuées avec des solutions analytiques d'écoulements compressibles et glissants, supposés isothermes en imposant de faibles variations de pression. Nous avons pu montrer que ces solutions restent valables, même lorsque les variations de pression sont importantes parce que les détentes ne sont localisées que près de la sortie de la conduite et n'influencent donc pas les propriétés globales de l'écoulement. La suite du travail a été réalisée à l'aide d'un code de calcul développé au laboratoire et validé pour les écoulements à grandes échelles. Des conditions aux limites de glissement ont été introduites afin de l'adapter à la problématique de ce travail de thèse. Compte-tenu de ses performances (précision et rapidité des calculs en particulier), ce code a permis de réaliser une étude paramétrique sur une large gamme de pressions d'entrée et de sortie, de telle sorte à balayer tous les types d'écoulements : de peu à très compressibles et de peu à très glissants. Les résultats sont d'abord présentés pour des écoulements quasi-isothermes puis comparés aux solutions analytiques afin de tester ces dernières sur une plus large gamme de pression. Enfin, de nouveaux résultats ont été obtenus pour des écoulements chauffés. Des corrélations, en fonction des paramètres adimensionnels caractéristiques de ces écoulements, ont été obtenues pour les modèles complets à l'aide d'un logiciel de statistiques et de plans d'expériences. Des comparaisons à des modèles simplifiés ont été effectuées pour évaluer les erreurs commises lorsque certains termes sont négligés / These phenomena are rarely taken into account all at once, at least one of them is neglected and often without justification. Our approach is to get as close as possible to reality by taking into account all the phenomena that appear at once and then to study the effect of the phenomena most often overlooked. First, the study is conducted using a commercial code for solving the conservation equations by the finite volume method. Validations were performed for problems ranging from the simplest (incompressible, non-slip flow) to the more complex (compressible, slip flow). This study highlighted the problems associated with simulations when the flows Peclet numbers are less than unity (Pe <1). In this case, the inverse diffusion effects are dominant and the use of extensions at the upstream becomes unavoidable. In addition, compressibility effects were identified; they have resulted in expansions of the gas near the exit of the pipe (acceleration + cooling). Finally, comparisons were made with analytical solutions of compressible slip flows assumed isothermal by imposing small variations of pressure. We showed that these solutions remain valid even if the pressure variations are important because the detents are located only near the exit of the pipe. In this case, they do not affect the properties of the flow. Further works were carried out using an in-house computer code, previously developed and validated in the laboratory for flows with large scales and for which slipping limits conditions have been added so that it can properly resolve slip flows. In view of its accuracy and performances in terms of CPU-time, the code allowed us to achieve a parametric study on a wide range of input and output pressures, so as to sweep all runoff from few to very compressible and few to very slip flow. The results were first presented for quasi-isothermal flow, which subsequently were compared to analytical solutions to test these ones on a wider range of pressure. Finally, the results were made for heated flows. Correlations have been obtained for a complete model using a statistical based software and design of experiments. Comparisons to simplified models were performed to assess the inaccuracies linked to the omission of terms often overlooked in the literature

The ever-increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions has led to the scientific community starting to explore the viability of electrical aircraft system, with the most prominent research and product development for hybrid electric system, which forms the transition phase from combustion to fully electric aircrafts. The primary objective of this thesis is to find solutions towards thermal management of the electrical components of a hybrid electric aircraft propulsion system, which generate a significant amount of heat while operating at heavy load conditions required to propel an aircraft. In view of these objectives a micro channel cold plate liquid cooling system, has been dynamically modelled using a combination of lumped parameter and thermal resistance methods of heat transfer analysis. The study investigates the prospects of using Mobil Jet Oil II, typically used as an aircraft lubricant as a coolant for the thermal management system. The primary components of this model are lithium ion battery, DC-AC inverter, permanent magnet motor, cross flow finned micro channel heat exchanger, centrifugal pump and ducts. The electrical components have been dimensioned according to energy storage and load requirements considering their efficiencies and gravimetric power/energy. The system has been simulated and analyzed under different scenarios considering the coolant inlet temperature, air temperature across the heat exchanger and on two-time horizons. Analysis has been done to study the dynamic trends of the component temperature and the coolant at different stages of the system. The scope of the study includes an evaluation of the added weight of the thermal management system under different time horizons and their comparison with results from a reference study. From the simulation results it can be concluded that Mobil Jet Oil II is a promising option as a coolant and therefore its use as a common fluid for gas turbine lubrication and as coolant, will benefit the aircraft as now no extra coolant reservoir is required, allowing reduction in weight carried by the aircraft.

No description available.

No description available.

The Magnetospheric Multiscale mission led by NASA has been designed to study the micro-physics of Magnetic Reconnection in Earth's magnetosphere by using four identical spacecrafts with instruments with high temporal and spatial resolutions. Among these instruments are the Dual Ion Spectrometers (DIS) engineered to measure the 3D distribution of ion flux in space. The detector assembly of the DIS consists of Micro-Channel Plates (MCP) mounted in Chevron configuration. Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements (CESR), Toulouse is responsible for the provision and testing of all fifty MCP pairs for this mission. The goal of the work was to participate in the testing and characterization of the first prototype of the MCPs. It was achieved by understanding the working and characteristics of the MCPs in general and getting familiar with the detector assembly of the DIS i.e. the MCP pair and the detector circuit board in particular. To perform the testing, it was necessary to understand the testing system as well. These topics are described in this report along with the testing procedure and the data analysis. The testing procedure was developed eventually after facing several problems during the testing. MCP pair characteristics like pulse height distributions, gain, resistance and the MCP operating voltages for the mission were determined on analyzing the data. Crosstalk was found in the circuit board of the detector assembly and has also been discussed. / Validerat; 20101217 (root)