SEN Analysis of Stratified Hot Water Heat Stores With Respect to Axial Position and Number of Charging-Discharging Equipments

Author(s):  
Varghese Panthalookaran

SEN analysis [Solar Energy, 2007, Vol. 81, pp. 1043–1054] is a robust characterization method for stratified thermal energy stores (TES). It integrates the concerns of the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics into single efficiency index. The First Law concern is incorporated into the definition of SEN efficiency index through energy response factor (ER) and the Second Law concern through entropy generation ratio (REG). SEN analysis thus estimates the ability of a TES to store energy and exergy. In the current paper SEN analysis is utilized to characterize hot water heat stores (HWHS) with respect to the axial position and number of charging/discharging equipments they possess. Diffusers or flow-guides are used as charging-discharging equipments in view of reducing turbulent mixing within the HWHS, especially in the entrance and exit ports. For HWHS charging-discharging equipments are commonly positioned in the top-most and bottom-most regions of the HWHS in order to avoid development of dead volume, i.e., volume that does not take part in the charging-discharging process. Axially placed conical diffusers are observed to circumvent the issue of dead volumes. However, the effect of their axial position on the entropy generation is not yet studied. Further, one may use intermediate charging-discharging equipment in association with the original pair in order to feed or withdraw the working fluid into/from the HWHS at different heights. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the position and number of axially placed conical diffusers with zero diffuser angles inside a cylindrical HWHS. The thermal field information obtained from a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analysis is subjected to the SEN analysis to achieve required design insights.

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (6 Part B) ◽  
pp. 4005-4022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Trancossi ◽  
Jose Pascoa

In a recent paper, Liversage and Trancossi have defined a new formulation of drag as a function of the dimensionless Bejan and Reynolds numbers. Further analysis of this hypothesis has permitted to obtain a new dimensionless formulation of the fundamental equations of fluid dynamics in their integral form. The resulting equations have been deeply discussed for the thermodynamic definition of Bejan number evidencing that the proposed formulation allows solving fluid dynamic problems in terms of entropy generation, allowing an effective optimization of design in terms of the Second law of thermodynamics. Some samples are discussed evidencing how the new formulation can support the generation of an optimized configuration of fluidic devices and that the optimized configurations allow minimizing the entropy generation.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. T. Nitsas ◽  
I. P. Koronaki ◽  
L. Prentza

The utilization of solar energy in thermal energy systems was and always be one of the most effective alternative to conventional energy resources. Energy efficiency is widely used as one of the most important parameters in order to evaluate and compare thermal systems including solar collectors. Nevertheless, the first law of thermodynamics is not solely capable of describing the quantitative and qualitative performance of such systems and thus exergy efficiency is used so as to introduce the systems’ quality. In this work, the performance of a flat plate solar collector using water based nanofluids of different nanoparticle types as a working fluid is analyzed theoretically under the climatic conditions in Greece based on the First and Second Law of Thermodynamics. A mathematical model is built and the model equations are solved iteratively in a MATLAB code. The energy and exergy efficiencies as well as the collector losses coefficient for various parameters such as the inlet temperature, the particles concentration and type are determined. Moreover, a dynamic model is built so as to determine the performance of a flat plate collector working with nanofluids and the useful energy that can be stored in a water tank. The exergy destruction and exergy leakage are determined for a typical day in summer during which high temperatures and solar intensity values are common for the Greek climate.


2013 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 1079-1092 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahyar Kargaran ◽  
A. Arabkoohsar ◽  
S.J. Hagighat-Hosini ◽  
V. Farzaneh-Kord ◽  
Mahmood Farzaneh-Gord

Vortex tube is a simple device without a moving part which is capable of separating hot and cold gas streams from a higher pressure inlet gas stream. The mechanism of energy separation has been investigated by several scientists and second law approach has emerged as an important tool for optimizing the vortex tube performance. Here, a thermodynamic model has been used to investigate vortex tube energy separation. Further, a method has been proposed for optimizing the vortex tube based on the rate of entropy generation obtained from experiments. Also, an experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effects of the hot tube length and cold orifice diameter on entropy generation within a vortex tube with natural gas as working fluid. A comparison has been made between air and natural gas as working fluids. The results show that the longest tube generates lowest entropy for NG. For air, it is middle tube which generates lowest entropy. Integration of entropy generation for all available cold mass fractions unveiled that an optimized value for hot tube length and cold orifice diameter is exist.


Entropy ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giedrė Streckienė ◽  
Vytautas Martinaitis ◽  
Juozas Bielskus

The continuous energy transformation processes in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems of buildings are responsible for 36% of global final energy consumption. Tighter thermal insulation requirements for buildings have significantly reduced heat transfer losses. Unfortunately, this has little effect on energy demand for ventilation. On the basis of the First and the Second Law of Thermodynamics, the concepts of entropy and exergy are applied to the analysis of ventilation air handling unit (AHU) with a heat pump, in this paper. This study aims to develop a consistent approach for this purpose, taking into account the variations of reference temperature and temperatures of working fluids. An analytical investigation on entropy generation and exergy analysis are used, when exergy is determined by calculating coenthalpies and evaluating exergy flows and their directions. The results show that each component of the AHU has its individual character of generated entropy, destroyed exergy, and exergy efficiency variation. However, the evaporator of the heat pump and fans have unabated quantities of exergy destruction. The exergy efficiency of AHU decreases from 45–55% to 12–15% when outdoor air temperature is within the range of −30 to +10 °C, respectively. This helps to determine the conditions and components of improving the exergy efficiency of the AHU at variable real-world local climate conditions. The presented methodological approach could be used in the dynamic modelling software and contribute to a wider application of the Second Law of Thermodynamics in practice.


Author(s):  
Anahita Imanian ◽  
Mohammad Modarres

Cumulative hazard and cumulative damage are important models for reliability and structural integrity assessment. This article reviews a previously developed thermodynamic entropy–based damage model and derives and demonstrates an equivalent reliability function. As such, a thermodynamically inspired approach to developing new definitions of cumulative hazard, cumulative damage, and life models of structures and components based on the second law of thermodynamics is presented. The article defines a new unified measure of damage in terms of energy dissipation associated with multiple interacting irreversible processes that represent the underlying failure mechanisms that cause damage and failure. Since energy dissipation leads to entropy generation in materials, it has been shown and experimentally demonstrated that the use of the total entropy generated in any degradation process is measurable and can ultimately be used to represent the time of failure of structures and components. This description therefore connects the second law of thermodynamics to the conventional models of reliability used in life assessment. Any variability in the entropic endurance to failure and uncertainties about the parameters of the entropic-based damage model lead to the time-to-failure distribution. In comparison with the conventional probabilistic reliability methods, deriving the reliability function in terms of the entropy generation can offer a general and more fundamental approach to representation of reliability. The entropic-based theory of damage and the equivalent reliability approach are demonstrated and confirmed experimentally by applying the complex interactive corrosion-fatigue degradation mechanism to samples of aluminum materials.


1972 ◽  
Vol 94 (4) ◽  
pp. 818-823 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Mahan ◽  
C. J. Cremers

Normally the energy conversion efficiency of a confined-discharge plasma generator is inversely related to the mean enthalpy of the effluent plasma jet. The present paper describes a technique for increasing both the energy conversion efficiency, defined as the net fraction of the electrical power input transferred to the working fluid, and the mean enthalpy, defined as the net energy transferred to the working fluid per unit mass. A portion of the working fluid is introduced to the discharge through a narrow circumferential slit in the confining duct wall. Heat transfer and fluid dynamic effects associated with this high velocity inflow of cold gas cause the local discharge column to become highly constricted. Concomitant with this local fluid constriction (LFC) is a sharp increase in the local power density, resulting in enhanced energy transfer to the cold gas. Experimental results suggest that for optimum operation the gas injection slit should be located slightly upstream of the axial position where the discharge becomes thermally fully developed.


Author(s):  
Wassim M. Haddad ◽  
Sergey G. Nersesov

This chapter describes the thermodynamic modeling of discrete-time large-scale dynamical systems. In particular, it develops nonlinear discrete-time compartmental models that are consistent with thermodynamic principles. Since thermodynamic models are concerned with energy flow among subsystems, the chapter constructs a nonlinear compartmental dynamical system model characterized by conservation of energy and the first law of thermodynamics. It then provides a deterministic definition of entropy for a large-scale dynamical system that is consistent with the classical thermodynamic definition of entropy and shows that it satisfies a Clausius-type inequality leading to the law of entropy nonconservation. The chapter also considers nonconservation of entropy and the second law of thermodynamics, nonconservation of ectropy, semistability of discrete-time thermodynamic models, entropy increase and the second law of thermodynamics, and thermodynamic models with linear energy exchange.


Author(s):  
Alberto Gianinetti

A useful definition of entropy is “a function of the system equilibration, stability, and inertness”, and the tendency to an overall increase of entropy, which is set forth by the second law of thermodynamics, should be meant as “the tendency to the most probable state”, that is, to a state having the highest equilibration, stability, and inertness that the system can reach. The tendency to entropy increase is driven by the probabilistic distributions of matter and energy and it is actualized by particle motion.


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