PIV Measurements in the Condenser Region of a Gas-Loaded Thermosyphon

2008 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Cleary ◽  
Ronan Grimes ◽  
Marc Hodes ◽  
Mark T. North

Thermosyphons are passive devices used to transfer heat via a liquid-vapor phase change cycle. By adding a secondary non-condensable gas (NCG) to the vapor phase of the thermosyphon it is possible to provide some control over the evaporator temperature as heat load and or ambient temperature vary. The objective of this paper is to perform measurements on the vapor phase in the condenser region of a gas-loaded thermosyphon using particle image velocimetry (PIV). An optically-accessible water/air thermosyphon with a 34.5 mm diameter was designed, constructed and characterized for a range of fill ratios, heat loads, coolant temperatures and masses of NCG. Smoke particles, added with the NCG, were used to seed the flow. The flow field in the condenser was found to be unsteady except with low masses of NCG. It was found that there was no discernable vapor/NCG front present. A large amount of mixing of the vapor and NCG and recirculation of the NCG was observed. Due to the complex 3-dimensional non-axisymmetric nature of the flow it is very difficult to obtain useful quantitative measurements, however, PIV was found to be a very useful tool in visualizing the flow providing an insight in to the flow structures in the condenser.

2019 ◽  
Vol 141 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanchao Li ◽  
Huang Chen ◽  
David Tan ◽  
Joseph Katz

Abstract Effects of tip clearance size and flowrate on the flow around the tip of an axial turbomachine rotor are studied experimentally. Visualizations and stereo-particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements in a refractive index-matched facility compare the performance, leakage velocity, and the trajectory, growth rate, and strength of the tip leakage vortex (TLV) for gaps of 0.49% and 2.3% of the blade chord, and two flowrates. Enlarging the tip clearance delays the TLV breakup in the aft part of the rotor passage at high flowrates but causes earlier breakup under pre-stall conditions. It also reduces the entrainment of endwall boundary layer vorticity from the separation point where the leakage and passage flows meet. Reducing the flowrate or tip gap shifts the location of the TLV detachment from the blade suction side (SS) upstream to points where the leakage velocity is 70–80% of the tip speed. Once detached, the growth rates of the total shed circulation are similar for all cases, i.e., varying the gap or flowrate mostly shifts the detachment point. The TLV migration away from the SS decreases with an increasing gap but not with the flowrate. Two mechanisms dominate this migration: initially, the leakage jet pushes the TLV away from the blade at 50% of the leakage velocity. Further downstream, the TLV is driven by its image on the other side of the endwall. Differences in migration rate are caused by the smaller distance between the TLV and its image for the narrow gap, and the increase in initial TLV strength with decreasing flowrate and gap.


2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renqiang Xiong ◽  
J. N. Chung

Flow structures and pressure drops were investigated in rectangular serpentine micro-channels with miter bends which had hydraulic diameters of 0.209mm, 0.395mm and 0.549mm respectively. To evaluate the bend effect, the additional pressure drop due to the miter bend must be obtained. Three groups of micro-channels were fabricated to remove the inlet and outlet losses. A validated micro-particle image velocimetry (μPIV) system was used to achieve the flow structure in a serpentine micro-channel with hydraulic diameter of 0.173mm. The experimental results show the vortices around the outer and inner walls of the bend do not form when Re<100. Those vortices appear and continue to develop with the Re number when Re> 100-300, and the shape and size of the vortices almost remain constant when Re>1000. The bend loss coefficient Kb was observed to be related with the Re number when Re<100, with the Re number and channel size when Re>100. It almost keeps constant and changes in the range of ± 10% When Re is larger than some value in 1300-1500. And a size effect on Kb was also observed.


2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Foster ◽  
T. A. Shedd

A novel technique of microscopic Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is presented for two-phase annular, wavy-annular and stratified flow. Seeding of opaque particles in a water/dye flow allows the acquisition of instantaneous film velocity data in the film cross-section at the center of the tube in the form of digital image pairs. An image processing algorithm is also described that allows numerical velocities to be distilled from particle images by commercial PIV software. The approach yields promising results for stratified and wavy-annular flows, however highly bubbly flows remain difficult to image and post-process. Initial data images are presented in raw and processed form.


Author(s):  
Jianjun Feng ◽  
Friedrich-Karl Benra ◽  
Hans Josef Dohmen

The truly time-variant unsteady flow in a low specific speed radial diffuser pump stage has been investigated by time-resolved Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements. The measurements are conducted at the midspan of the blades for the design condition and also for some severe part-load conditions. The instantaneous flow fields among different impeller channels are analyzed and compared in detail, and more attention has been paid to flow separations at part-load conditions. The analysis of the measured results shows that the flow separations at two adjacent impeller channels are quite different at some part-load conditions. The separations generally exhibit a two-channel characteristic.


Author(s):  
Mathias Vermeulen ◽  
Cedric Van Holsbeke ◽  
Tom Claessens ◽  
Jan De Backer ◽  
Peter Van Ransbeeck ◽  
...  

An experimental and numerical platform was developed to investigate the fluidodynamics in human airways. A pre operative patient specific geometry was used to create an identical experimental and numerical model. The experimental results obtained from Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements were compared to Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations under stationary and pulsatile flow regimes. Together these results constitute the first step in predicting the clinical outcome of patients after lung surgeries such as Lung Volume Reduction.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document