Sharif Digital Repository

Convective heat transfer plays a significant role in numerous industrial cooling and heating applications. This method of heat transfer can be passively improved by reconfiguring flow passage, fluid thermophysical properties, or boundary conditions. The broader scope of nanotechnology introduced several studies of thermal engineering and heat transfer. Nano-fluids are one of such technology which can be thought of engineered colloidal fluids with nano-sized particles. In the present study, turbulent forced convection heat transfer to nanofluids in an axisymmetric abrupt expansion heat exchanger was investigated experimentally. During heat transfer investigation, the functionalized... 

Deposition of asphaltenes upon precipitation is a main flow assurance concern, which propelled the development of various experimental and modeling techniques to accurately predict its occurrence. This work develops an integrated approach combining thermodynamic and deposition modules with a multiphase flow simulator to simultaneously model asphaltenes precipitation and deposition in wellbores. The Peng-Robinson equation of state and the modified Miller-Flory-Huggins theory are used to calculate the thermodynamic properties of the oil and asphaltenes precipitation, respectively. The deposition module is based on conservation laws for asphaltenes transport and is linked to the flow simulator... 

Phase equilibrium data are required to estimate the capacity of a geological formation to sequester CO2. In this paper, a comprehensive study, including both thermodynamic and neural network modeling, is performed on CO2 solubility in brine. Brine is approximated by a NaCl solution. The Redlich-Kwong equation of state and Pitzer expansion are used to develop the thermodynamic model. The equation of state constants are adjusted by genetic algorithm optimization. A novel approach based on a neural network model is utilized as well. The temperature range in which the presented model is valid is 283-383K, and for pressure is 0-600bar, covering the temperature and pressure... 

Nitrogen has been appeared as a competitive gas injection alternative for gas-based enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes. Minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) is the most important parameter to successfully design N2 flooding, which is traditionally measured through time consuming, expensive and cumbersome experiments. In this communication, genetic programming (GP) and constrained multivariable search methods have been combined to create a simple correlation for accurate determination of the MMP of N2-crude oil, based on the explicit functionality of reservoir temperature as well as thermodynamic properties of crude oil and injection gas. The parameters of the developed... 

Influences of rare earth (RE) elements addition on thermal fatigue behaviors of AZ91 alloy were studied. Repeated heating and cooling cycles were applied on the samples at 170 and 210 °C to develop thermal fatigue cracks. Crack growth mechanisms and microstructural influences were investigated by optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) as well as energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Thermal fatigue behaviors were observed to improve successively by addition of the RE up to 2wt.%. This improvement was attributed to the consummation of aluminum in melt by precipitation of the needle shaped Al11RE3 phases. This process was attributed to the reduction of Mg17Al12 phase volume... 

In the present study a comprehensive thermoeconomic modelling of a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) for a typical 4MW class gas turbine is performed. Usually, the thermoeconomic analyses involve a thermodynamic model of the HRSG and an economic model dedicated to assess the cost. In this study, different configurations of single and dual pressure level HRSGs are optimized and afterward compared to find the economical design. For these configurations thermodynamic model calculates the performance and the energy balance of systems at the optimal operating conditions which are derived from optimization model, and economic model estimates total cost per unit of produced energy. Finally,... 

In this study, we simulate the flow and heat transfer during hot-wire anemometry and investigate its thermal behavior and physics using the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool. In this regard, we use the finite-volume method and solve the compressible Navier-Stokes equations numerically in slightly non-continuum flow fields. We do not use any slip flow model to include the transitional flow physics in our simulations. Using the CFD method, we simulate the flow over hot-wire and evaluate the uncertainty of CFD in thermal simulation of hot-wire in low transitional flow regimes. The domain sizes and the mesh distributions are carefully chosen to avoid boundary condition error appearances.... 

Because of its unique properties, graphene has attracted the attentions of many academic research groups and recently, the industry. One of the promising applications of the graphene is in micro/nano-sensors, e.g. using it as a pressure sensor. To use it in mechanical-based nano-sensors, it is very important to investigate the mechanical behavior of the nano-sized graphene sheet and its sensitivity to the medium changes applied on its faces. In this work, we use the molecular dynamics MD method and simulate the behavior of graphene sheet under differential water pressure influences. In this regard, a square straight monolayer graphene sheet is placed as a separator diaphragm between two... 

In this work, we numerically study the effects of turbulence intensity at the fuel and oxidizer stream inlets on the soot aerosol nano-particles formation in a kerosene fuel-based combustor. In this regard, we study the turbulence intensity effects specifically on the thermal performance and nanoparticulate soot aerosol emissions. To construct our computer model, we simulate the soot formation and oxidation using the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs-inception and the hydroxyl concept, respectively. Additionally, the soot nucleation process is described using the phenyl route, in which the soot inception is described based on the formations of tworinged and three-ringed aromatics from... 

As the use of MEMS-based devices and systems are continuously increasing, the understanding of their correct characteristics becomes so serious for the related researches. In this study, the supersonic rarefied gas flow over microscale hotwires is investigated using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Indeed, the DSMC has been accepted as a powerful method to study the rarefied gas flow especially in transitional regime. Therefore, it can be considered as a reliable method to investigate the rarefied supersonic flow over microscale objects including the microscale hotwires. In this work, we study the effective parameters, which affect the performance of these sensors at constant... 

Pulsating heat pipes are cooling devices that are partially filled with working fluid. Working fluid thermophysical properties affect the thermal performance of pulsating heat pipes. In this research, the effect of adding a Triton X-100 surfactant to pure water and using the mixture as a working fluid is investigated experimentally. The results indicate that adding surfactant leads to improvement in the thermal performance of the pulsating heat pipe. In particular, the maximum of the thermal resistance improvement is about 61%, which is attributed to 0.01% surfactant concentration. Higher heat transfer ability is attributed to lower surface tension and the contact angle of the mixture... 

The effects of incorporating the ester functional group (-C=OO-) into the side chain of the 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium cation ([C1COOCnC1im]+, n = 1, 2, 4) paired with [Br]-, [NO3]-, [BF4]-, [PF6]-, [TfO]-, and [Tf2N]- anions on the various thermodynamic properties and interaction energies of these biodegradable ionic liquids (ILs) were investigated by means of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations combined with ab initio calculations in the temperature range of 298-550 K. Excluding the simulated density, the highest values of the volumetric properties such as molar volume, isobaric expansion coefficient, and isothermal compressibility coefficient can be attributed to the largest cation... 

The effect of anharmonicity on the adsorption of CO molecules on the Ni(111) surface has been investigated. The DFT calculations are used to obtain the effective adsorption potential of the CO molecule on the Ni(111) surface. First, using an appropriate slab model, the geometry of adsorption system corresponding to hep, fcc, bridge, and on-top sites with p(2 × 2) arrangement and coverage of 0.25 ML is optimized by the DFT calculations using a plane wave basis set and ultrasoft pseudopotentials; this gives the hep site as the most stable site with De = 185 kJ/mol, for which the equilibrium distance of CO from the surface and C-O bond length on the surface are found to be 1.31 and 1.192 Å,... 

There are different thermodynamic models that have been applied for modelling of asphaltene precipitation caused by various reasons, such as solvent/CO2 injection and pressure depletion. In this work, two computer codes based on two different asphaltene precipitation thermodynamic models-the first being the thermodynamic micellization model with a different characterization approach and the second being the solid model-have been developed and used for predicting asphaltene precipitation data reported in the literature as well as in the obtained data for Sarvak reservoir crude, which is one of the most potentially problematic Iranian heavy oil reserves under gas injection conditions. For the... 

In this study, polypropylene/carbon nanotube nanocomposites were prepared via in situ polymerization using a bi-supported Ziegler-Natta catalytic system. In this system, magnesium ethoxide and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are jointly used as catalyst supports. SEM images reveal the distribution and quite good dispersion of MWCNTs throughout the polypropylene (PP) matrix. The thermal properties of the samples were examined using DSC and TGA tests. The results show that the crystallization temperature of the nanocomposites significantly increases while the melting point is not markedly affected. In addition, the thermal stability is improved. The melt rheological properties of PP/MWCNT... 

We study the thermal properties of ultra-narrow silicon nanowires (NW) with diameters from 3 nm to 12 nm. We use the modified valence-force-field method for computation of phononic dispersion and the Boltzmann transport equation for calculation of phonon transport. Phonon dispersion in ultra-narrow 1D structures differs from dispersion in the bulk and dispersion in thicker NWs, which leads to different thermal properties. We show that as the diameter of the NW is reduced the density of long-wavelength phonons per cross section area increases, which increases their relative importance in carrying heat compared with the rest of the phonon spectrum. This effect, together with the fact that... 

The increasing incidence of flow assurance problems caused by asphaltene deposition during oil production has motivated the development of numerous theoretical models and experimental methods to analyze this complex phenomenon. Even more challenging are the prediction of the occurrence and the magnitude of asphaltene deposition. It is well accepted that precipitation of asphaltene is a necessary condition for deposition. Hence, a significant amount of work has been devoted to the understanding of the conditions at which asphaltene precipitate from the crude oil. Although, several models seem to work well for correlating available data of onsets of asphaltene precipitation, they usually lack... 

The present study examines Alternating Current (AC) electroosmotic flows in a parallel plate microchannel subject to constant wall temperature. Numerical method consists of a central finite difference scheme for spatial terms and a forward difference scheme for the temporal term. Asymmetric boundary conditions are assumed for Poison-Boltzmann equation for determining the electric double layer (EDL) potential distribution. The potential distribution is then used to evaluate the velocity distribution. The velocity distribution is obtained by applying slip boundary conditions on the walls which accounts for probable hydrophobicity of surfaces. After determining the velocity distribution... 

Purpose - In this paper, the flow of multiphase fluids in a one-dimensional homogeneous porous media involving the gravity effects is numerically studied using the dominant wave method. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach - The numerical scheme used for solving the pressure equations, obtained for the black-oil model, is a backward Euler scheme while the hyperbolic mass conservation equations, derived for both black-oil and Buckley-Leverett models, are solved using the dominant wave method. Higher-order schemes are achieved using either variable derivatives along with the minmod limiter or a MUSCL type interface construction scheme using the Fromm's limiter.... 

In the context of stationary power generation, fuel cell based systems are being predicted as a valuable option to tabernacle the thermodynamic cycle based power plants. In this paper, multi objective optimization approach is used to optimize the planer solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stacks performance using genetic algorithm technique. Multi objective optimization generates the most attractive operating conditions of a SOFC system. This allows performing the optimization of the system regarding to two different objectives. Two pairs of different objectives are considered in this paper as distinguished strategies. In the first strategy, minimization of the breakeven per-unit energy cost...