Phase of acoustic impedance and performance of standing wave thermoacoustic coolers

Investigations on the relations between the phase angle of the acoustic impedance at the driver piston and the system performance of a standing wave thermoacoustic cooler were performed. The system performance measured at a fixed acoustic power showed that the coefficient of performance of the standing wave thermoacoustic cooler increases as the phase angle increases when the stack temperature span is relatively low. The results were consistent with the simulation results obtained from DELTAE, a computer code based on linear thermoacoustic theory. Analysis on the temperature profiles along the stack showed that the cooling efficiency (COP) of the system could be decreased or increased as the phase angle of the acoustic impedance at the driver piston changes depending on the stack temperature spans. This paper was recommended for publication in revised form by Associate Editor Yeon June Kang Insu Paek received the B.S. degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea, in 1997, the M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, USA, in 2000, and the Ph. D. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA, in 2005. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher in Purdue University and McGill University in 2006 and 2007. He is currently a faculty member in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea. His research interests include thermoacoustic cooling and power generation, solar heat driven absorption cooling., and wind power. Luc Mongeau received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Montreal, QC, Canada, in 1984 and 1986, respectively, and the Ph. D. degree in Acoustics from Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA, in 1990. He is currently a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada. He has published over 50 archival journal publications on various topics related to acoustics and noise control. His research activities are in the flow and turbomachinery noise areas, as well as in the areas of voice production, and thermoacoustic refrigeration. James E. Braun received the B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Massachusetts, USA, in 1976, and the M.S. and Ph. D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, USA, in 1980 and 1988, respectively. He is currently a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, USA. Professor Braun’s research combines the use of computer modeling, optimization, and experiments to study and improve the performance of thermal systems. He has published over 140 papers. Professor Braun is currently an associate editor for the international journal of HVAC&R Research. Shin You Kang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in the Department of Mechanical Design from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, in 1982, and 1986, respectively. He then received the Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the same university in 1992. Professor Kang is currently a professor in the Department of Mechatronics Engineering, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Korea. His research interests include mechanical structure design, crash analysis, optimal design, computational structure analysis and evaluation.     

热声制冷机板叠性能指标数值计算与遗传算法优化

板叠是驻波热声热机的重要部件,直接影响热声热机的效率。针对驻波热声制冷机,构造了一个板叠性能指标的数值计算方法及其优化设计方法。分析基于短板叠近似理论的计算方法的局限,构造迭代数值方法同时求解制冷量、压力、体积流率、平均温度分布以及温度梯度等参数,从而计算出板叠性能指标;基于该迭代方法探讨了热声板叠长度、宽度、位置、阻塞率以及温差等与板叠性能指标之间的关系;以板叠长度、宽度、位置、阻塞率为优化设计变量,板叠性能指标为优化目标,利用遗传算法,对驻波热声制冷机板叠进行了优化设计。与基于短板叠近似理论的方法相比,由于考虑了更多的实际因素,该方法数值计算结果更为准确,优化设计结果更容易被接受。     

Head design considerations for lower thermal pole tip recession and alumina overcoat protrusion

The magnetic/mechanical spacing between the transducer and the disk significantly decreases due to thermal expansion of pole tips at stressed high temperature and high humidity tests. The protruded pole tips and alumina overcoat result increased thermal asperities and can interfere with the higher disc asperities and be damaged due to high contact. The damage at the head-disk interface due to protruded pole tips and alumina overcoat may become a major roadblock in the drive mechanical performance when flying height is below 10 nm. In this study, the thermal PTR defined as change in PTR with temperature is measured using an optical profiler and an AFM for heads having stack design with single and dual layers of writer coil. The pole tips protrude above the ABS surface by 3–4 nm when the temperature of the head is raised by 50°C. Heads with single layer of writer coil exhibit significantly lower thermal PTR than those with dual layers of coils.     

Operating a triple stack microchannel plate-phosphor assembly for single particle counting in the 12-300 K temperature range

An assembly consisting of a stack of three microchannel plates (MCPs) and a phosphor screen anode has been operated over the temperature range from 300 to 12 K. We report on measurements at 6.4 kHz (using an alpha source) and with dark counts only (15 Hz). Without any particle source, the MCP bias current decreased by a factor of 2.1 x 10(3) when the temperature was lowered from 300 to 12 K. Using the alpha source, and a photomultiplier tube (PMT) to monitor the phosphor screen anode, we first observed an increase in the decay time of the phosphor from 12 to 45 mus when the temperature was decreased from 300 to 100 K while the decay time then decreased and reached a value of 5 mus at 12 K. The pulse height distribution from the PMT was measured between 300 and 12 K and shows a spectrum typical for a MCP phosphor setup at 300 K and 12 K but is strongly degraded for intermediate temperatures. We conclude that the present MCP-phosphor detector assembly is well suited for position-sensitive particle counting operation at temperatures down to at least 12 K even for count rates beyond 6 kHz. This result is crucial and an important part of ongoing developments of new instrumentation for investigations of, e.g., interactions involving complex molecular ions with internal quantum state control.     

耦合抽-灌井式埋地换热系统咸水层传热过程研究

基于多孔介质传热、传质控制方程与线热源理论,以耦合抽-灌井式埋管换热系统为研究对象,建立埋地换热器及咸水层水-热-盐运移耦合数学模型。选用有限元计算软件FEFLOW6.1针对不同运行模式下咸水层温度场演变规律与传热过程开展模拟研究。计算结果得到,单独使用埋管换热系统,运行8年后观测井2所在咸水层温度上升1.4℃;采用耦合式系统,相同观测点未出现升温趋势,有效避免"热堆积"发生。在抽-灌水量不变条件下,采用去离子水回灌时观测井1所在中粉砂咸水层达西流速高于原水回灌工况54%。研究表明,回灌溶液盐度降低是诱导地下水渗流速度上升,对流换热与热弥散效应增强的主要作用机制。     

Analysis of operating characteristics of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell coupled with an air supply system

Balance-of-plant components, especially the air supply system, have a critical impact on the operating condition, performance, and reliability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs). Thus, we investigated the performance and operating characteristics of a coupled system integrating a PEMFC and an air supply unit. The performance characteristics of the fuel cell stack were modeled using a semi-experimental correlation, and the operating characteristics of a shell-and-tube type membrane humidifier was modeled using heat and mass transfer principles. The models of both components were validated. A turbo-blower determined the condition of the air supplied to the humidifier and its characteristics were modeled using a performance map. A program was developed to simulate the operation of a PEMFC system consisting of the fuel cell stack and the air supply unit, and its operating characteristics at various conditions were investigated. In particular, the effects of operating conditions (ambient temperature and load) on the performance of both the humidifier and the fuel cell stack were examined, and the variations of critical operating parameters were analyzed.     

Differential membrane-based nanocalorimeter for high-resolution measurements of low-temperature specific heat

A differential, membrane-based nanocalorimeter for general specific heat studies of very small samples, ranging from 0.5 mg to sub-μg in mass, is described. The calorimeter operates over the temperature range from above room temperature down to 0.5 K. It consists of a pair of cells, each of which is a stack of heaters and thermometer in the center of a silicon nitride membrane, in total giving a background heat capacity less than 100 nJ/K at 300 K, decreasing to 10 pJ/K at 1 K. The device has several distinctive features: (i) The resistive thermometer, made of a Ge(1 - x)Au(x) alloy, displays a high dimensionless sensitivity ∣dlnR∕dlnT∣ ? 1 over the entire temperature range. (ii) The sample is placed in direct contact with the thermometer, which is allowed to self-heat. The thermometer can thus be operated at high dc current to increase the resolution. (iii) Data are acquired with a set of eight synchronized lock-in amplifiers measuring dc, 1st and 2nd harmonic signals of heaters and thermometer. This gives high resolution and allows continuous output adjustments without additional noise. (iv) Absolute accuracy is achieved via a variable-frequency-fixed-phase technique in which the measurement frequency is automatically adjusted during the measurements to account for the temperature variation of the sample heat capacity and the device thermal conductance. The performance of the calorimeter is illustrated by studying the heat capacity of a small Au sample and the specific heat of a 2.6?μg piece of superconducting Pb in various magnetic fields.     

冷藏集装箱内部温度场的试验研究

冷藏集装箱内部的温度场是影响食品储存质量的重要因素之一,本文对冷藏集装箱的内部温度场进行了试验研究,讨论了温度场分布以及货物堆码对冷藏集装箱温度场的影响,试验结果表明:货物堆码方式的变化会改变箱内流体的温度分布情况,进而影响到换热效果;四体式堆码方式优于其它2种堆码方式。试验得到了冷藏集装箱内截面上各点的温度随冷藏运输时间的变化趋势,进一步得出冷藏集装箱内流场的分布情况。研究结果为冷藏集装箱的优化设计提供了参考依据。     

Dynamic behavior modeling of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell power generation system

This paper presents models for simulating the operation of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system and the results of the dynamic simulations. The entire system included a PEMFC stack and balance-of-plant components such as an air supply blower, a membrane humidifier, a fuel supply unit, and a heat management unit. Mathematical modeling for the computation of power generation and heat transfer of the PEMFC stack, the heat and mass transfer of the humidifier, and the energy transfer of the cooling system was set up. Theoretical and experiential data such as the voltage-current density relationship of the cell stack and the performance maps of blowers and pumps, together with semi-theoretical heat and mass transfer equations, were used to represent the characteristics of all the components. The effect of the thermal inertia of solid parts was considered in the fuel cell stack, the membrane humidifier, and the radiator. System dynamic behaviors under various operating conditions due to changes in stack current and ambient temperature were predicted. The sudden abnormal operations of the cooling water circulation pump and the radiator fan were also simulated as an example of component malfunctions.     

Efficiency measurement and uncertainty discussion of an electric engine powered by a "self-breathing" and "self-humidified" proton exchange membrane fuel cell

The efficiency of an automotive engine based on a "self-breathing" and "self-humidified" proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack (PEM FC) connected to a dc brushless electrical motor was measured under variable power load conditions. Experiments have been carried out on a small scale 150 W engine model. After determining the fuel cell static polarization curve and the time response to power steps, the system was driven to copy on the test bench a "standard urban load cycle" and its instantaneous efficiencies were measured at an acquisition rate of 5 Hz. The integral system efficiency over the entire urban load cycle, comprising the losses of the unavoidable auxiliary components of the engine, was then calculated. The fuel cell stack was operated mainly in "partial" dead-end mode, with a periodic anode flow channel purging, and one test was carried out in "pure" dead-end mode, with no anode channel purging. An uncertainty analysis of the efficiencies was carried out, taking into account either type A and type B evaluation methods, strengthening the discussion about the outcomes obtained for a system based on this novel simplified FC type. For our small scale engine we measured over the standard urban cycle, on the basis of the H(2) high heating value (HHV), a tank-to-wheel integral efficiency of (18.2+/-0.8)%, when the fuel cell was operated with periodic flow channel purging, and of (21.5+/-1.3)% in complete dead-end operation mode.     

研究型20kW燃料电池发动机的设计及试验

为研究开发高性能燃料电池发动机,设计了一台研究型20 kW燃料电池发动机。在此发动机上研究了空气系统压力、流量、温度参数对燃料电池性能的影响,同时测试了氢气侧压力降。发现在一定氢气过量系数下燃料电池堆氢气侧压力降与输出电流成线性关系,对于间接判定燃料电池堆内液态水过多提供了依据。     

Influence of thermal management and integration with turbomachinery on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell systems

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have many good characteristics for small power sources such as low operating temperature and high power density. In this study, the effects of thermal management on the performance of PEMFC systems using natural gas fuel, and the effects of integrating PEMFC systems with turbomachines, were investigated. Firstly, performance of various system configurations differing in the thermal management of reforming and stack cooling processes was comparatively analyzed. Then, various integrated system combinations with turbomachines (compressors and turbines) were analyzed. We performed a parametric analysis of the influence of turbine inlet temperature and compressor pressure ratio on system performance, and a 10% difference in efficiency among four simple PEMFC systems was predicted. Pressurization of the PEMFC with adequate thermal management may improve system efficiency, while efficiency enhancement from corresponding simple PEMFC systems was hard to achieve in the ambient pressure integrated systems.     

Controlling FIB‐SBEM slice thickness by monitoring the transmitted ion beam

Serial block‐face electron microscopy with focused ion beam cutting suffers from cutting artefacts caused by changes in the relative position of beam and sample, which are, for example, inevitable when reconditioning the ion gun. The latter has to be done periodically, which limits the continuous stack‐acquisition time to several days. Here, we describe a method for controlling the ion‐beam position that is based on detecting that part of the ion beam that passes the sample (transmitted beam). We find that the transmitted‐beam current decreases monotonically as the beam approaches the sample and can be used to determine the relative position of beam and sample to an accuracy of around one nanometre. By controlling the beam approach using this current as the feedback parameter, it is possible to ion‐mill consecutive 5 nm slices without detectable variations in thickness even in the presence of substantial temperature fluctuations and to restart the acquisition of a stack seamlessly. In addition, the use of a silicon junction detector instead of the in‐column detector is explored.     

Issues related to the modeling of solid oxide fuel cell stacks

This work involves a method for modeling the flow distribution in the stack of a solid oxide fuel cell. Towards this end, a three dimensional modeling of the flow through a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) stack was carried out using the CFD analysis. This paper examines the efficacy of using cold flow analysis to describe the flow through a SOFC stack. It brings out the relative importance of temperature effect and the mass transfer effect on the SOFC manifold design. Another feature of this study is to utilize statistical tools to ascertain the extent of uniform flow through a stack. The results showed that the cold flow analysis of flow through SOFC might not lead to correct manifold designs. The results of the numerical calculations also indicated that the mass transfer across membrane was essential to correctly describe the cathode flow, while only temperature effects were sufficient to describe the anode flow in a SOFC.     

Calibrating and operating Coriolis flow meters with respect to process effects

The temperature, pressure and viscosity of produced oil from a reservoir can differ considerably from standard calibration laboratory conditions. The standard practice for calibrating flow meters for the oil & gas industry has been to match the fluid viscosity and, if possible, the fluid temperature and pressure. However, matching all parameters is seldom possible due to the limitations set by the calibration facilities. As such, the parameter that is most often matched is the fluid viscosity. A limitation of the above approach is that temperature and pressure variations are known to influence properties, other than fluid viscosity, that may also be critical to the overall measurement uncertainty.To address this, NEL have built and commissioned a fully accredited elevated pressure and temperature (EPAT) liquid flow facility. This facility has been used to investigate the performance of flow meters at elevated pressures and temperatures. It also allows for liquid flow calibrations to be completed close to service conditions. This work will provide traceable data on the performance of Coriolis flow meters when operated at elevated pressures and temperatures. This data can then be used to update the Coriolis ISO standard 10790. At present, the latest revision in 2015 includes little practical guidance for the operation of Coriolis meters at elevated pressures, temperatures and viscosities.Unfortunately, the methodology for calibrating and operating Coriolis meters at elevated conditions appears fragmented.The purpose of this paper will be to highlight the influence of elevated temperatures, pressures and viscosities and to provide the end user with the correct methodology for calibrating Coriolis meters for these conditions. The paper will also highlight the requirement for the ISO standard 10790 to be updated given the current knowledge level.     

一种新型大推力直线压电作动器

设计了一种新型大推力直线压电作动器,采用螺旋箝位的方式实现对压电叠堆微小位移的累积输出,实现了大推力和长行程。对该种作动器的驱动机理和作动器设计过程中的关键技术问题进行了详细的分析,包括力矩电机的转速设计、上下柔性联轴器的扭转刚度设计、螺母和丝杠之间相关机械参数的设计以及对所选压电叠堆进行性能测试并选择其最佳工作频段。原理样机长为140 mm,最大直径为45mm,重量为0.7 kg,行程为40 mm。在力矩电机转速为300 r／min,压电堆驱动频率为100 Hz时,作动器的最大输出力可达130 N。     

基于Ansys的封隔器密封胶筒性能优化

封隔器密封胶筒在井下实际应用中力学特性复杂,同时需要承受高温高压饱和水蒸汽的强腐蚀作用,故对胶筒材料性能的要求异常苛刻。为改善密封胶筒的结构稳定性及高温高压水耐腐性,以密封胶筒为研究对象开展有限元仿真分析,通过胶筒结构参数、界面摩擦性能和材料特性等因素对其力学特性及密封性能影响规律的比较,提出软硬质材料多层堆叠及环端面金属包覆结构以实现性能优化。仿真结果表明,优化后的结构改善了密封胶筒肩部的挤出现象,增大了接触区域的密封效果,同时阻挡了高温高压水对胶筒的腐蚀。     

Characteristics of the Berkeley multicusp ion source

The performance of a cubical permanent magnet generated line-cusp ion source has been investigated for use with neutral beam injectors. This source has been operated with discharge currents greater than 500 A and ion current densities higher than 400 mA/cm2 at the extraction grid. The uniformity of the density profile across the extraction area is found to be dependent on the gas pressure. By using a fast Langmuir probe sweeping circuit, the electron temperature and the plasma density and potential have been analyzed for different discharge powers and gas pressures. The heat load on the plasma grid when it is electrically floating or connected to the negative cathode has been compared calorimetrically. The use of lanthanum hexaboride and impregnated oxide cathodes have been investigated for the purpose of long pulse operation. The phenomenon of mode flipping is found to occur quite frequently during a discharge with these magnetic-field-free cathodes. Species composition as a function of discharge power and chamber length is measured by a mass spectrometer.     

一种紧凑型压电叠层直线电机驱动足的优化设计

在使用压电叠层时一般会设计防剪切机构，未设计防剪切机构时需要对驱动足结构进行仿真设计，减小压电叠层所受剪切力。为此，提出在无防剪切机构时电机驱动足的结构优化方法，并对一种紧凑型压电叠层直线压电电机驱动足进行仿真优化。通过优化把横向压电叠层输出端的旋转变形由1.333μm减小至0.061μm，纵向平移变形由1.911μm减小至0.749μm，机构的最大等效应力由253.35MPa减小至189.68MPa，显著改善了压电叠层的工作环境。提出一种并联S形弹簧机构，给出该结构的优化设计方法并进行仿真设计。仿真结果表明:该机构有较大的刚度范围，可以有效降低压电叠层所受剪切力；在相同刚度的情况下，具有弹簧宽度越大最大等效应力越小的特点。