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Title: EXPERIMENTS IN POOL BOILING HEAT TRANSFER AND NUCLEATIONDYNAMICS OF HIGH PRESSURE REFRIGERANTS.
Creator: Joo, Daniel, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A high pressure pool boiling experiment of pressurized R134a is designed and built, utilizing thermochromatic liquid crystal techniques. Liquid crystals thermo-chromatography uses encapsulated liquid crystals that are sensitive to temperature. When exposed to hot temperatures the crystal reflect a blue/violet color, and when exposed to cooler temperatures it reflects a red/orange color. The color value or hue is proportional to its temperature. Using this technique this experiment is capable...
Show moreA high pressure pool boiling experiment of pressurized R134a is designed and built, utilizing thermochromatic liquid crystal techniques. Liquid crystals thermo-chromatography uses encapsulated liquid crystals that are sensitive to temperature. When exposed to hot temperatures the crystal reflect a blue/violet color, and when exposed to cooler temperatures it reflects a red/orange color. The color value or hue is proportional to its temperature. Using this technique this experiment is capable of studying the physics and thermodynamics of refrigerants under nucleate pool boiling. The main objective of this experiment was the design of the experimental setup. Various designs were tested and validated, of which all incorporated a pressure resistant chamber constructed out of aluminum and glass viewing ports. Design parameters such as the heating element thickness were verified using a transient FEA thermal model. This model, which was developed in ANSYS, verified that this design would be able to capture the thermal response of the thermochromatic liquid crystals. This analysis concluded that a negligible error of 0.02°C is expected due to transient effects. Difficulties were encountered during early stages of development; most notable were imaging limitations such as low camera frame-rates and poor resolution. Since a TLC technique was used to measure the temperature of the boiling surface, a camera system fast enough to capture the thermal response was needed. At bubble frequencies of 30 nucleations per second, it was necessary for the camera to have much higher frame rates. Through the use of two synchronized cameras, the surface temperature, position, size and shape of the bubbles were recorded simultaneously. Two camera systems were designed and tested. The first system consisted of a high speed CMOS camera capable of capturing 1,000 frames per second, and an RBG CCD color camera capable of 30 Frames per second. However, this system was limited the slow frame rate and low resolution of the RBG camera. The second system used two high resolution and fast shutter speed cameras, which were able to capture fast bubble nucleations. This method required the assumption that under constant operating conditions, the path of one bubble was identical to the next. This method was tested utilizing the high speed camera, and was shown that there was less than a .04% deviation from the path any bubble to that of the next. Detailed analysis of nucleating surface temperatures using thermochromatic liquid crystal technique and temporal-temperature response under various heat flux and at 813.6kPa (118Psia) and 882.5kPa (128Psia) was performed. It is seen that temperature distribution is quite varied in each case. At high pressures the size of nucleation site decreases, giving rise to an increase in the surface temperature. Bubble growth is also analyzed through the use of high speed cameras and compared to temperature distributions. Simultaneous temperature and bubble size measurements provided a correlation between bubble growth and heat transfer. Boiling parameters such as bubble frequency, bubble size, and contact area are also analyzed. From the surface temperature plots, the local and average heat transfer coefficients were calculated as a function of time and bubble dynamics.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001489, ucf:47106
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001489

Title: LATTICE BOLTZMANN SIMULATION TO STUDY SINGLE AND MULTI BUBBLE DYNAMICS.
Creator: Gupta, Amit, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In recent years, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has emerged as a powerful tool that has replaced conventional macroscopic techniques like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in many applications. The LBM starts from meso- and microscopic Boltzmann's kinetic equation to determine macroscopic fluid dynamics. The origins of LBM can be drawn back to lattice gas cellular automata (LGCA); however it lacks Galilean invariance and creates statistical noise in the system. LBM on the other hand...
Show moreIn recent years, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has emerged as a powerful tool that has replaced conventional macroscopic techniques like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in many applications. The LBM starts from meso- and microscopic Boltzmann's kinetic equation to determine macroscopic fluid dynamics. The origins of LBM can be drawn back to lattice gas cellular automata (LGCA); however it lacks Galilean invariance and creates statistical noise in the system. LBM on the other hand does away from these drawbacks of LGCA, and is easy to implement in complex geometries and can be used to study microscopic flow behavior in complex fluids/fluid mixtures. In this work, the LBM is used as a tool to study isothermal bubble dynamics of single and multiple bubbles in heavier fluids. Some benchmark problems have been solved to prove the effectiveness of LBM over conventional solvers and results have been compared to analytical/existing solutions. Flow behavior at different flow parameters have been recorded and presented. Bubble shape regimes have been classified based on the important two-phase flow parameters, namely the Eotvos number, Morton number, Reynolds number and the Weber number. Single bubble simulations have been conducted in fairly large domains to capture terminal velocities, which have been compared to existing theoretical solutions, obtained using the potential flow theory. The terminal velocities so obtained have also been used for the estimation of drag and drag coefficient for a range of Eotvos and Reynolds numbers, and the drag coefficient so computed has been compared with those predicted by existing correlations and analytical expressions. Bubble dynamics and collision and coalescence for multiple bubbles rising under the influence of gravity in fully periodic domains have been simulated using LBM, and the flow behavior around such bubbles prior to and after coalescence have been studied and the results presented. The study of multiple bubble dynamics reveals the influence of the wake on the shape and collision of downstream bubbles, and yields valuable insights into the physics of intermediate stages when multiple bubbles collide and form an elongated/stretched bubble. The flow and bubble coalescence behavior predicted in this study compares very well with experimentally captured bubble dynamics and with data present in literature. Possible extensions of the present study have been highlighted for future research.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001728, ucf:47294
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001728

Title: HEAT TRANSFER IN MULTI-LAYER ENERGETIC NANOFILM ON COMPOSITES SUBSTRATE.
Creator: amini manesh, navid, Kumar , Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The main purpose of this work is the physical understanding and the numerical description of the reaction of the dense metastable intermolecular composition (MIC). Energy density of MIC is much higher than conventional energetic material; therefore, MIC finds more applications in the propellant and explosive system. The physical model includes the speed of propagation and rate of reaction, and the relationship between the layer thickness, heat rate, and length of the flame based on physical...
Show moreThe main purpose of this work is the physical understanding and the numerical description of the reaction of the dense metastable intermolecular composition (MIC). Energy density of MIC is much higher than conventional energetic material; therefore, MIC finds more applications in the propellant and explosive system. The physical model includes the speed of propagation and rate of reaction, and the relationship between the layer thickness, heat rate, and length of the flame based on physical model. In Part I of this thesis, a one-dimensional model based on Weihs was developed for 20 pairs of a multi-layer of aluminum and copper oxide. This problem was solved using an assumed value of constant atomic diffusion in Arrhenius' equation to obtain the velocity of self- propagation. Using the maximum and minimum measured velocities in a similar configuration, the activation energy was computed and was found to be significantly different. When the velocity was used to obtain a linear temperature profile, the margin of error was significant as well. Therefore, this method was seen to have severe shortcomings. In Part II of this thesis, adiabatic unit cell of one layer of aluminum and copper oxide in an ideal reaction was considered. Temperature profile based on chemical heat generation and phase transformation of reactants has been calculated. This model confirmed the highest possible temperature during reaction of 2920 C ± 5% obtained in the literature, however, the model was unable to provide other important flame characteristics. In Part III, a two-dimensional model was developed introducing the flame at the interface. A black box theory has been used to simplify some of the characteristics of the flame, ignoring diffusion characteristics. Using this model, the length of flame was calculated using the measured value of the speed of propagation of the flame. Measuring some of the characteristics of the flame was the main goal of Part III of this thesis. Controllable environment was created for the multilayer thin film of aluminum and copper oxide to eliminate the number of effective variables that affect the speed of propagation. Transformable heat of reaction was used to control the speed of propagation. In addition, a MIC sample was designed and fabricated to measure the speed of propagation with an accuracy of 0.1 m/s. This measurement technique was used to measure the speed of propagation on variable substrate up to 65 m/s. The flame length was also calculated for different speeds of propagation over different substrates. The temperature distribution on the substrate was calculated numerically. Significant improvements have been made in Part III; however, this model does not provide concentration profiles. For future work, a more complete two-dimensional physical model will be developed for self-propagation reaction of multilayer thin film of aluminum and copper oxide based on thermal transport and atomic diffusion. This two-dimensional model includes the reaction rate, speed of propagation and the temperature profile. Since this model relies on a number of physical variables that are as yet unknown, further work is warranted in this area to carry out a thorough computational study.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001775, ucf:47265
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001775

Title: LIQUID CRYSTAL THERMOGRAPHY STUDIES IN WATER POOL BOILING AT SUBATMOSPHERIC PRESSURES.
Creator: Talari, Kiran, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A pool boiling experimental facility has been designed and built to investigate nucleate pool boiling in water under sub atmospheric pressure. Liquid crystal thermography, a non intrusive technique, is used for the determination of surface temperature distributions. This technique uses encapsulated liquid crystals that reflect definite colors at specific temperatures and viewing angle. Design of the test section is important in this experimental study. Since a new TLC is required for every...
Show moreA pool boiling experimental facility has been designed and built to investigate nucleate pool boiling in water under sub atmospheric pressure. Liquid crystal thermography, a non intrusive technique, is used for the determination of surface temperature distributions. This technique uses encapsulated liquid crystals that reflect definite colors at specific temperatures and viewing angle. Design of the test section is important in this experimental study. Since a new TLC is required for every new set of test conditions, a permanently sealed test section is not an option. The real challenge is to design a leak proof test section which is flexible so that it can be taken apart easily. A plexiglass test section, including a top chamber with an internal volume of 60.9 x 60.9 x 66.4 mm and a bottom plate of 5.5mm thickness is designed and assembled together using quick grips. In the test section, water is boiled using 85.0mm x 16.0mm and 0.050mm thick Fecralloy® as the heating element. The TLC sheet is attached to the bottom plate and the heating element is placed on top of TLC so that the temperature distribution of the heating element during boiling can be interpreted from TLC. A camera system fast enough to capture the thermal response of the TLC and an arrangement to capture both hue of the TLC and growth of the bubble on the same frame has been designed and successfully used. This system allowed recording of position, size and shape of the bubble with synchronized surface temperature. In order to get hue vs. temperature relation, in-situ calibration of the TLC is performed for each test condition with the present experimental setup and lighting conditions. It is found that the calibration curve of the TLC at atmospheric pressure is different from the calibration curve of the same TLC at subatmospheric pressures. The maximum temperature difference between the two curves for the same hue is found to be only 0.6°C. The experiment is run at four different test conditions of subatmospheric pressure and low heat flux. It is run at system pressures of 6.2kPa (0.89Psi) and 8.0kPa (1.16Psi) with a constant heat flux of 1.88kW/m2 and 2.70kW/m2, and a constant heat flux of 2.70kW/m2, 3.662kW/m2 and 4.50 kW/m2 respectively. Analysis of nucleating surface temperatures using thermochromic liquid crystal technique is performed for these test conditions and the bubble dynamics is studied. The temperature distribution is quite varied in each case and the temperature is at its maximum value at the center of the bubble and it decreases radially from the center. The dry spot observed during the experiments indicates that the process of evaporation of the microlayer is dominant at subatmospheric pressures. It is observed that at very low pressure and heat flux the bubble growth is accompanied by the neck formation. Boiling parameters such as bubble frequency, bubble size and contact are also analyzed and a summary of these results for four different test conditions is presented and the relevant differences between the cases are discussed and the effect of increase in pressure and heat flux is noted.
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Date Issued: 2007
Identifier: CFE0001537, ucf:47150
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001537

Title: THE EFFECT OF COLLOIDAL STABILITY ON THE HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF NANOSILICA DISPERSED FLUIDS.
Creator: Venkataraman, Manoj, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Addition of nano particles to cooling fluids has shown marked improvement in the heat transfer capabilities. Nanofluids, liquids that contain dispersed nanoparticles, are an emerging class of fluids that have great potential in many applications. There is a need to understand the fundamental behavior of nano dispersed particles with respect to their agglomeration characteristics and how it relates to the heat transfer capability. Such an understanding is important for the development and...
Show moreAddition of nano particles to cooling fluids has shown marked improvement in the heat transfer capabilities. Nanofluids, liquids that contain dispersed nanoparticles, are an emerging class of fluids that have great potential in many applications. There is a need to understand the fundamental behavior of nano dispersed particles with respect to their agglomeration characteristics and how it relates to the heat transfer capability. Such an understanding is important for the development and commercialization of nanofluids. In this work, the stability of nano particles was studied by measuring the zeta potential of colloidal particles, particle concentration and size. Two different sizes of silica nano particles, 10 nm and 20 nm are used in this investigation at 0.2 vol. % and 0.5 vol. % concentrations. The measurements were made in deionized (DI) water, buffer solutions at various pH, DI water plus HCl acid solution (acidic pH) and DI water plus NaOH solution (basic pH). The stability or instability of silica dispersions in these solutions was related to the zeta potential of colloidal particles and confirmed by particle sizing measurements and independently by TEM observations. Low zeta potentials resulted in agglomeration as expected and the measured particle size was greater. The heat transfer characteristics of stable or unstable silica dispersions using the above solutions were experimentally determined by measuring heat flux as a function of temperature differential between a nichrome wire and the surrounding fluid. These experiments allowed the determination of the critical heat flux (CHF), which was then related to the dispersion characteristics of the nanosilica in various fluids described above. The thickness of the diffuse layer on nano particles was computed and experimentally confirmed in selected conditions for which there was no agglomeration. As the thickness of the diffuse layer decreased due to the increase in salt content or the ionic content, the electrostatic force of repulsion cease to exist and Van der Waal's force of agglomeration prevailed causing the particles to agglomerate affecting the CHF. The 10nm size silica particle dispersions showed better heat transfer characteristics compared to 20nm dispersion. It was also observed that at low zeta potential values, where agglomeration prevailed in the dispersion, the silica nano particles had a tendency to deposit on the nickel chromium wire used in CHF experiments. The thickness of the deposition was measured and the results show that with a very high deposition, CHF is enhanced due to the porosity on the wire. The 10nm size silica particles show higher CHF compared to 20nm silica particles. In addition, for both 10nm and 20nm silica particles, 0.5 vol. % concentration yielded higher heat transfer compared to 0.2 vol. % concentration. It is believed that although CHF is significantly increased with nano silica containing fluids compared to pure fluids, formation of particle clusters in unstable slurries will lead to detrimental long time performance, compared to that with stable silica dispersions.
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Date Issued: 2005
Identifier: CFE0000837, ucf:46676
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0000837

Title: LATTICE VIBRATION STUDY OF SILICA NANOPARTICLE IN SUSPENSION.
Creator: Sachdeva, Parveen, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In recent years considerable research has been done in the area of "nanofluids". Nanofluids are colloidal suspensions of nanometer size metallic or oxide particles in a base fluid such as water, ethylene glycol. Nanofluids show enhanced heat transfer characteristics compared to the base fluid. The thermal transport properties of nanofluids depend on various parameters e.g. interfacial resistance, Brownian motion of particles, liquid layering at the solid-liquid interface and clustering of...
Show moreIn recent years considerable research has been done in the area of "nanofluids". Nanofluids are colloidal suspensions of nanometer size metallic or oxide particles in a base fluid such as water, ethylene glycol. Nanofluids show enhanced heat transfer characteristics compared to the base fluid. The thermal transport properties of nanofluids depend on various parameters e.g. interfacial resistance, Brownian motion of particles, liquid layering at the solid-liquid interface and clustering of nanoparticles. In this work atomic scale simulation has been used to study possible mechanisms affecting the heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids. Molecular dynamics simulation for a single silica nanoparticle surrounded by water molecules has been performed. Periodic boundary condition has been used in all three directions. The effect of nanoparticle size and temperature of system on the thermal conductivity of nanofluids has been studied. It was found that as the size of nanoparticle decreases thermal conductivity of nanofluid increases. This is partially due to the fact that as the diameter of nanoparticle decreases from micrometer to nanometer its surface area to volume ratio increases by a factor of 103. Since heat transfer between the fluid and the nanoparticle takes place at the surface this enhanced surface area gives higher thermal conductivity for smaller particles. Thermal conductivity enhancement is also due to the accumulation of water molecules near the particle surface and the lattice vibration of the nanoparticle. The phonon transfer through the second layer allows the nanofluid thermal conductivity to increase by 23%-27% compared to the base fluid water for 2% concentration of nanosilica.
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Date Issued: 2006
Identifier: CFE0001278, ucf:46897
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001278

Title: PRODUCTION, CONTROL AND ACTUATION OF MICRON-SIZED PARTICLES IN AMICROFLUIDIC T-JUNCTION.
Creator: Wilson, James, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This research is directed towards understanding the mechanisms associated with the manufacture of solid microspheres less than 100 [micro]m, from liquid droplets with nanosuspensions in a microfluidic T-junction, which are heated downstream of the channel. Preliminary material characterization tests on colloidal suspensions of alumina and copper oxide demonstrate promising temperature dependent viscosity results indicating solidification in the temperature range of 40degC-50degC. The...
Show moreThis research is directed towards understanding the mechanisms associated with the manufacture of solid microspheres less than 100 [micro]m, from liquid droplets with nanosuspensions in a microfluidic T-junction, which are heated downstream of the channel. Preliminary material characterization tests on colloidal suspensions of alumina and copper oxide demonstrate promising temperature dependent viscosity results indicating solidification in the temperature range of 40degC-50degC. The solidification mechanism is referred to as Temperature Induced Forming and is described by polymeric bridges formed between nanoparticles in suspension at elevated temperatures, resulting in a solid structure. The polymer network results from the ionization of alumina at elevated temperatures whereby polymeric binders adhere to newly formed charged sites on the alumina particle. This study aims to investigate the aspects of manufacturing microstructures in microfluidic Tjunctions, droplet morphology, size and frequency of production. Preliminary low solid concentration experiments (1%-10% volume concentration of alumina in H2O) have indicated solidification and a regression in droplet diameter when heated near the saturation temperature of the water used to disperse the particles. The microstructures from this solidification process are uniform and are estimated to be 30 [micro]m in size.
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Date Issued: 2013
Identifier: CFH0004387, ucf:44996
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004387

Title: FLOW VISUALIZATION IN MICROFLUIDIC EXPANSION AND MIXING.
Creator: Yakhshi Tafti, Ehsan, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Micro particle image velocimetry (microPIV) is a non-intrusive tool for visualizing flow in micron-scale conduits. Using this investigative instrument, two experimental studies were performed to understand flow behaviors in microfluidic channels - a sudden expansion step flow and laminar velocity profile variation in diffusion driven mixing. First, flow in a backward facing step feature (1:5 expansion ratio) in a microchannel was taken as the subject of microPIV flow visualization. The onset...
Show moreMicro particle image velocimetry (microPIV) is a non-intrusive tool for visualizing flow in micron-scale conduits. Using this investigative instrument, two experimental studies were performed to understand flow behaviors in microfluidic channels - a sudden expansion step flow and laminar velocity profile variation in diffusion driven mixing. First, flow in a backward facing step feature (1:5 expansion ratio) in a microchannel was taken as the subject of microPIV flow visualization. The onset and development of a recirculation flow was studied as a function of flow rate. This flow pattern was further used to investigate two major parameters affecting microPIV measurements; the depth-of-focus and recording time-intervals between images in a microPIV image pair. The onset of recirculation was initiated at flow rates that correspond to Reynolds numbers, Re>95, which is well beyond the typical working range of microfluidic devices (Re=0.01-10). The recirculation flow has a 3D structure due to the dimensions of the microchannel and the effect of no slip condition on the walls. Ensemble cross-correlation was found not to be sensitive to variations of depth-of-focus and the output flow fields were similar as long as the overall optical focus remained within the upper and lower bounds of the microchannel. However, variations of time intervals between images in a microPIV pair, resulted in quantitatively and qualitatively different flow patterns for a given constant flow rate and depth-of-focus. In the second experiment, the effect of the laminar velocity profile and its variation on mixing phenomena at the reduced scale is studied. It is shown that the diffusive mass flux between two miscible streams, flowing in a laminar regime in a microchannel, is enhanced if the velocity at their diffusion interface is increased. Based on this idea, an in-plane passive micromixing concept is proposed and implemented in a working device (sigma micromixer). This mixer shows considerable mixing performance by periodically varying the flow velocity profile, such that the maximum of the profile coincides with the transversely progressing diffusion fronts repeatedly throughout the mixing channel. microPIV has been used to visualize the behavior of laminar flow inside the micromixer device and to confirm the periodic variation of the velocity profile through the mixing channel.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002826, ucf:48079
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002826

Title: EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE HYDROGEN SULFIDE ABSORTION PHENOMENA IN BRINE/OIL MIXTURES AS A FUNCTION OF SYSTEM PRESSURE AND H2S CONCENTRATION.
Creator: Zea, Luis, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In underground oil reservoirs, Hydrogen sulfide is usually found coexisting with the oil due to bacteria reduction over a long period of time. The amount of H2S in the oil varies from place to place around the globe. When the oil extraction process begins, the presence of Hydrogen sulfide becomes noticeable as drilling tools, piping and other equipment suffer from sulfide stress cracking, electrochemical corrosion and corrosion fatigue. For this reason, the oil industry invests millions of...
Show moreIn underground oil reservoirs, Hydrogen sulfide is usually found coexisting with the oil due to bacteria reduction over a long period of time. The amount of H2S in the oil varies from place to place around the globe. When the oil extraction process begins, the presence of Hydrogen sulfide becomes noticeable as drilling tools, piping and other equipment suffer from sulfide stress cracking, electrochemical corrosion and corrosion fatigue. For this reason, the oil industry invests millions of dollars per year trying to find better ways to reduce the amount of H2S in oil. An important part of the current investigations deals with brine (sea water)/oil mixtures. The reasons are two-fold: 1) one way of extracting the petroleum from the reservoir is by injecting brine into it and since it has a higher density than oil, the latter will be ejected up to the surface. Taking into account the complex fluid flow occurring within the reservoir it is easy to understand that some brine will also be present as part of the ejected fluid; 2) brine is already present in the reservoir, so independent of the extraction method used, there will be a brine/oil mixture in the ejected flow. When brine and oil have absorbed H2S under pressure in the reservoir and then suffer a decompression during the extraction process, a certain amount of H2S is released from the liquid phase. In order to have a better prediction of how much Hydrogen sulfide can be liberated a good understanding of H2S absorption by these liquids is necessary. The amount of gas a solvent absorbs is a function of pressure, original gas concentration and temperature as described by Henry's Law. The purpose of this thesis is to experimentally analyze how much of the corrosive gas is absorbed into different brine/oil mixtures, and brine and oil, separately. In order to find sufficient data for a thorough analysis, different reservoir simulation scenarios were created. The liquids were mixed from pure brine to pure oil, resulting in 33% and 66% water cuts. Data were obtained at 2 pressures of 20atm and 70atm at room temperature. H2S concentration was also a variable, changing the original gas concentration through different values: 50, 100, and 300ppm. These experiments were conducted in an autoclave system and will better explain the hydrostatic process that occurs inside the reservoir. It was found that throughout all the water cuts, the role that total pressure plays in the absorption phenomena is of less importance as the original H2S concentration is increased. In the same manner it was observed that the highest mass-absorption ratios are always found between 50 and 100ppm and the lowest at 300ppm, this is observed for all water cuts and total pressures. Another important finding was that the ability to absorb the corrosive gas decreases as the original H2S concentration increases and this proves to be true for all water cuts and system pressures. After conducting these different reservoir scenarios, tests were conducted to simulate 300m of the horizontal section of the pipe that connects the head of the well with the platform. This was done with a high pressure 300-meter long loop. It was found that the corrosive gas is absorbed at a higher rate when there is a flow, opposite to a hydrostatic case. Henry's Law constant was identified for each water cut and each pressure, however, the test procedure could not be validated since the gas being studied was not in its pure form. Understanding the absorption phenomena of Hydrogen sulfide in different water cuts will definitely be of great help to the oil industry to make better forecasts of H2S concentrations being ejected from each well.
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Date Issued: 2008
Identifier: CFE0002257, ucf:47824
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002257

Title: MEASUREMENTS IN AIR-WATER BUBBLY FLOW THROUGH A VERTICAL NARROW HIGH-ASPECT RATIO CHANNEL.
Creator: Patrick, Benjamin, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Two-Phase bubbly flows are encountered in a wide range of industrial applications, particularly where phase changes occur as seen in high performance heat exchangers and boiling reactors for power generation. These flows have been extensively studied in channels with circular geometries using air-water flows, though little data exists for flows through narrow rectangular channels. Measurements in thin geometries are particularly challenging since large bubbles bridge the gap, and it is...
Show moreTwo-Phase bubbly flows are encountered in a wide range of industrial applications, particularly where phase changes occur as seen in high performance heat exchangers and boiling reactors for power generation. These flows have been extensively studied in channels with circular geometries using air-water flows, though little data exists for flows through narrow rectangular channels. Measurements in thin geometries are particularly challenging since large bubbles bridge the gap, and it is difficult to compare point measurements with photographic techniques. The objective of this study is to explore the abilities of hot-film anemometry and high speed photography for taking measurements in a narrow vertical rectangular channel for a range of volume fractions, with particular attention on the narrow dimension. Hot-film anemometry (HFA) is a measurement technique originally developed for the measurement of fluid velocities, but has since been found to have applications for broader measurements in multiphase flow. With the sensor operating on the principle of heat loss, the method takes advantage of the differing abilities of the phases to transport heat, with each phase leaving its own signature in the signal response. The linchpin of this method lies in the ability to accurately distinguish between the two phases within the signal, and to execute this operation, various algorithms and techniques have been developed and used with some success for a wide range of flow conditions. This thesis is a study of the various methods of analysis such as amplitude threshold for triggering, and small slope threshold for finely tuning the edges of the bubble interactions, and demonstrates the capabilities of the hot-film sensor in a narrow rectangular vertical duct with a high aspect ratio. A vertical acrylic test section was fabricated for the purposes of this study, inset with a rectangular channel 38.1mm in width and 3.125mm in depth. Experiments were conducted for volume fractions ranging from 2% to 35%, which remained within the limits of the bubbly flow regime, but ranged from small uniform bubbles to larger bubbles coalescing into a transition regime. The hot-film signal was analyzed for void fraction, bubble speed, and bubble size. An in- depth study of the various methods of phase discrimination was performed and the effect of threshold selection was examined. High-speed video footage was taken in conjunction with the anemometer data for a detailed comparison between methods. The bubble speed was found to be in close agreement between the HFA and high-speed video, staying within 10% for volume fractions above 10%, but still remaining under a 30% difference for even as low as the 2% volume fraction, where measurements have been found to be historically difficult. The trends with volume fraction between the HFA and high-speed results were very similar. A correlation for narrow rectangular channels employing a simple drift flux model was found to compare with the void fraction data where appropriate. Good agreement was found between the methods using a hybrid phase discrimination technique for the HFA data for the void fraction and bubble speed results, with the high-speed video results showing a slight over-estimation in regards to the bubble size.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: CFE0004006, ucf:49185
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004006

Title: HEAT TRANSFER IN MULTI-LAYER ENERGETIC NANOFILM ON COMPOSITES SUBSTRATE.
Creator: aminimanesh, navid, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: ABSTRACT The main purpose of this work is to find a physical and numerical description related to the reaction of the multilayer nano energetic material (nEM) in dense film. Energy density of nEM is much higher than the conventional energetic material; therefore, nEM finds more applications in propulsions, thermal batteries, material synthesis, nano igniters, waste disposals, and power generations. The reaction model of a multilayer nEM in a dense film of aluminum and copper oxide deposits on...
Show moreABSTRACT The main purpose of this work is to find a physical and numerical description related to the reaction of the multilayer nano energetic material (nEM) in dense film. Energy density of nEM is much higher than the conventional energetic material; therefore, nEM finds more applications in propulsions, thermal batteries, material synthesis, nano igniters, waste disposals, and power generations. The reaction model of a multilayer nEM in a dense film of aluminum and copper oxide deposits on a composite substrate of silica/silicon is studied and solved in different stages. The two main interests in this study are propagation speed and maximum temperature of the reaction. In order to relate speed of reaction and maximum flame temperature a number of other variables such as heat loss, the product porosity, and the reaction length should be estimated. The main aim of this study is to introduce a numerical model which estimates and relates these values in multilayer nEM in a dense film. The following is a summary of the execution steps to achieve this goal. In Part I of this thesis, flame front speed and the reaction heat loss were the main targets. The time-of-flight technique has been developed to measure the speed of flame front with an accuracy of 0.1 m/s. This measurement technique was used to measure the speed of propagation on multilayer nEM over different substrate material up to 65 m/s. A controllable environment (composite silicon\silica) was created for a multilayer standard thin film of aluminum and copper oxide to control the reaction heat loss through the substrate. A number of experimental results show that as the thickness of silica decreases, the reaction is completely quenched. Reaction is not in self-sustaining mode if the silica thickness is less than 200 nm. It is also observed that by increasing silica's thickness in substrate, the quenching effect is progressively diminished. The speed of reaction seems to be constant at slightly more than 40 m/s for a silica layer with thickness greater than 500 nm. This would be the maximum heat penetration depth within the silica substrate, so the flame length was calculated based on the measured speed. In Part II, a numerical analysis of the thermal transport of the reacting film deposited on the substrate was combined with a hybrid approach in which a traditional two-dimensional black box theory was used, in conjunction with the sandwich model, to estimate the maximum flame temperature. The appropriate heat flux of the heat sources is responsible for the heat loss to the surroundings. A procedure to estimate this heat flux using stoichiometric calculations is based on the previous author's work. This work highlights two important findings. One, there is very little difference in the temperature profiles between a single substrate of silica and a composite substrate of silicon\silica. Secondly, by increasing the substrate thickness, the quenching effect is progressively diminished at given speed. These results also show that the average speed and quenching of flames depend on the thickness of the silica substrate and can be controlled by a careful choice of the substrate. In Part III, a numerical model was developed based on the moving heat source for multilayer thin film of aluminum and copper oxide over composite substrate of silicon\silica. The maximum combustion flame temperature corresponding to the speed of flame front is the main target of this model. Composite substrate was used as a mechanism to control the heat loss during the reaction. Thickness of the substrate, the length of flame front, and the density of the product were utilized for the standard multilayer thin film with 43 m/s flame front speed. The calculated heat penetration depth in this case was compared to the experimental result for the same flame front speed. Numerical model was also used to estimate three major variables for a range of 30-60 m/s. In fact, the maximum combustion flame temperature that corresponds to flame speed along with the length of the flame, density of the product behind the flame, and maximum penetration depth in steady reaction, were calculated. These studies will aid in the design of nEM multilayer thin film. As further numerical and experimental results are obtained for different nEM thicknesses, a unified model involving various parameters can be developed.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003551, ucf:48928
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003551

Title: THERMALLY-INDUCED MOTION OF DROPLETS ON A THIN LIQUID LAYER AND ITS APPLICATION TO DROPLET MANIPULATION PLATFORMS.
Creator: Yakhshi-Tafti, Ehsan, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In the recent years, there has been a growing interest in droplet-based (digital) microfluidic systems due to their ability to handle multiple discrete samples in a self-contained configuration compared to continuous flow systems. Various methods for droplet manipulation are currently available based on hydrodynamic, electrostatic, chemical, photonic and thermal interactions. High speed, controlled response and minimal thermal loading with least contamination are required in practical...
Show moreIn the recent years, there has been a growing interest in droplet-based (digital) microfluidic systems due to their ability to handle multiple discrete samples in a self-contained configuration compared to continuous flow systems. Various methods for droplet manipulation are currently available based on hydrodynamic, electrostatic, chemical, photonic and thermal interactions. High speed, controlled response and minimal thermal loading with least contamination are required in practical applications, especially in chemistry and biology. Although, thermal actuation of droplets has been recognized as an attractive choice due to a wide range of thermomechanical properties that can be exploited, the previous studies yielded limited success in addressing issues such as droplet evaporation, contamination, pinning, hysteresis and irreversibility that are associated with using solid substrate platforms In order to overcome shortcomings of traditional approaches, a novel thermally-actuated droplet manipulation platform based on using an inert liquid film was proposed and its working mechanisms were studied. Droplets at the air-liquid interface of immiscible liquids usually form partially-submerged lens shapes (e.g. water on oil). In the thermally-induced motion of droplets on the free surface of immiscible liquid films, lens-shaped droplets move from warm toward cooler regions. In addition to this structure, we showed that droplets released from critical heights above the target liquid can sustain the impact and at the end maintain a spherical ball-shape configuration above the surface, despite undergoing large deformation. It was discovered in this study that such spherical droplets migrate in the opposite direction to lens droplets when subject to a thermal gradient; i.e. direction of increasing temperatures. The existence of this metastable spherical state above the free surface and its transition into more stable lens configuration was investigated using optical diagnostic tools and theoretical analysis. Opposite direction of motion observed for droplets at the free surface of immiscible liquids was explained based on droplet shape at the interface and the dynamics of thin liquid films subject to lateral thermal gradients: mainly 1) deformation of the free surface and 2) development of an outward moving flow (hot to cold) at the free surface due to surface tension gradients caused by thermal gradients. A lens droplet moves due to the free surface flow caused by Marangoni convection which is from hot to cold. On the other hand, the spherical droplet moves towards the maximum depression on the free surface, occurring at the hottest region as a result of the balance between gravity and drag forces from the opposing free surface flow. The proposed theoretical models predict experimental observations of droplet motion due to thermal gradients satisfactorily. Opposite responses of thermally-induced motion of lens and spherical droplets on a thin liquid layer, were characterized experimentally and compared to theory by studying droplet motion in an exponentially-decaying temperature field maintained across the length of a shallow liquid layer. The effect of droplet size and magnitude of thermal gradient (slope) on drop velocity were investigated. The down-scaling effect is prominent, which shows that the proposed concept of droplet manipulation could be used favorably in miniaturized platforms. Based on the theoretical development and measurements obtained from meso-scale experiments, a silicon-based droplet transportation platform with embedded metal film micro heaters was developed. A thin layer of a chemically-inert and thermally stable liquid was chosen as the carrier liquid. Heaters were interfaced with control electronics and driven through a computer graphical user interface. By creating appropriate spatio-temporal thermal gradient maps, transport of droplets on predetermined pathways was demonstrated with a high level of controllability and speed.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003547, ucf:48908
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003547

Title: DROPLET FLOWS IN MICROCHANNELS USING LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD.
Creator: Gupta, Amit, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have widespread applications in medical, electronical and mechanical devices. These devices are characterized by the smallest dimension which is atleast one micrometer and utmost one millimeter. Rapid progress in the manufacture and utilization of these microdevices has been achieved in the last decade. Current manufacturing techniques of such devices and channels include surface silicon micromachining; bulk silicon micromachining; lithography;...
Show moreMicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) have widespread applications in medical, electronical and mechanical devices. These devices are characterized by the smallest dimension which is atleast one micrometer and utmost one millimeter. Rapid progress in the manufacture and utilization of these microdevices has been achieved in the last decade. Current manufacturing techniques of such devices and channels include surface silicon micromachining; bulk silicon micromachining; lithography; electrodeposition and plastic molding; and electrodischarge machining (EDM). In recent years, electrostatic, magnetic, electromagnetic and thermal actuators, valves, gears and diaphragms of dimensions of hundred microns or less have been fabricated successfully. Sensors have been manufactured that can detect pressure, temperature, flow rate and chemical composition in such channels. Physical effects such as electrokinetics, pressure gradient and capillarity become prominent for channels where the length scales are of the order of hundreds of micrometers. Also, at such length scales, the application of conventional numerical techniques that use macroscale equations to describe the phenomenon is questionable as the validity of the no-slip boundary condition depends on the ratio of the mean free path of the fluid molecules to the characteristic dimension of the problem (called the Knudsen number). Macroscale equations can only be applied if Knudsen number is of the order of 10¬¬-3 or less. In recent years, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) has emerged as a powerful tool that has replaced conventional macroscopic techniques like Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in many applications involving complex fluid flow. The LBM starts from meso- and microscopic Boltzmann's kinetic equation and can be used to determine macroscopic fluid dynamics. The origins of LBM can be drawn back to lattice gas cellular automata (LGCA) which lacked Galilean invariance and created statistical noise in the system. LBM on the other hand possesses none of these drawbacks of LGCA, and is easy to implement in complex geometries and can be used to study detailed microscopic flow behavior in complex fluids/fluid mixtures. Nor does it have any of the drawbacks of the Navier-Stokes solvers of implementing the slip boundary condition on the surface of a solid. It has also been found to be computationally fast and an alternative to Navier-Stokes equations. In this study, LBM is used to simulate two-fluid flows such as bubbles rising in a liquid, droplet impingement on a dry surface and creation of emulsions in microchannels. Simulation of disperse flows in a continuous medium using simple boundary condition methods lays the foundation of conducting complex simulations for the formation of droplets past a T-junction microchannel in the framework of this statistical method. Simulations in a T-junction illustrate the effect of the channel geometry, the viscosity of the liquids and the flow rates on the mechanism, volume and frequency of formation of these micron-sized droplets. Based on the interplay of viscous and surface tension forces, different shapes and sizes of droplets were found to form. The range of Capillary numbers simulated lies between 0.001Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002618, ucf:48279
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002618

Title: MOLECULAR DYNAMICS STUDY OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT OF WATER BASED NANOFLUIDS.
Creator: Sachdeva, Parveen, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: A systematic investigation using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation involving particle volume fraction, size, wettability and system temperature is performed and the effect of these parameters on the thermal conductivity of water based nanofluids is discussed. Nanofluids are a colloidal suspension of 10 -100 nm particles in base fluid. In the last decade, significant research has been done in nanofluids, and thermal conductivity increases in double digits were reported in the literature. This...
Show moreA systematic investigation using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation involving particle volume fraction, size, wettability and system temperature is performed and the effect of these parameters on the thermal conductivity of water based nanofluids is discussed. Nanofluids are a colloidal suspension of 10 -100 nm particles in base fluid. In the last decade, significant research has been done in nanofluids, and thermal conductivity increases in double digits were reported in the literature. This anomalous increase in thermal conductivity cannot be explained by classical theories like Maxwell's model and Hamilton-Crosser model for nanoparticle suspensions. Various mechanisms responsible for thermal conductivity enhancement in nanofluids have been proposed and later refuted. MD simulation allows one to predict the static and dynamic properties of solids and liquids, and observe the interactions between solid and liquid atoms. In this work MD simulation is used to calculate the thermal conductivity of water based nanofluid and explore possible mechanisms causing the enhancement. While most recent MD simulations have considered Lennard Jones (LJ) potential to model water molecule interactions, this work uses a flexible bipolar water molecule using the Flexible 3 Center (F3C) model. This model maintains the tetrahedral structure of the water molecule and allows the bond bending and bond stretching modes, thereby tracking the motion and interactions between real water molecules. The choice of the potential for solid nanoparticle reflects the need for economic but insightful analyses and reasonable accuracy. A simple two body LJ potential is used to model the solid nanoparticle. The cross interaction between the solid and liquid atoms is also modeled by LJ potential and the Lorentz-Berthelot mixing rule is used to calculate the potential parameters. The various atomic interactions show that there exist two regimes of thermal conductivity enhancement. It is also found that increasing particle size and decreasing particle wettability cause lower thermal conductivity enhancement. In contrast to the previous studies, it is observed that increasing system temperature does not enhance thermal conductivity significantly. Such enhancement with temperature is proportional to the conductivity enhancement of base fluid with temperature. This study demonstrates that the major cause of thermal conductivity enhancement is the formation of ordered liquid layer at the solid-liquid interface. The enhanced motion of the liquid molecules in the presence of solid particles is captured by comparing the mean square displacement (MSD) of liquid molecules in the nanofluid to that of the base fluid molecules. The thermal conductivity is decomposed into three modes that make up the microscopic heat flux vector, namely kinetic, potential and collision modes. It was observed by this decomposition analyses that most of the thermal conductivity enhancement is obtained from the collision mode and not from either the kinetic or potential mode. This finding also supports the observation made by comparing the MSD of liquid molecules with the base fluid that the interaction between solid and liquid molecules is important for the enhancement in thermal transport properties in nanofluids. These findings are important for the future research in nanofluids, because they suggest that if smaller, functional nanoparticles which have higher wettability compared to the base fluid can be produced, they will provide higher thermal conductivity compared to the regular nanoparticles.
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Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002944, ucf:47969
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002944

Title: STUDY OF THE HYDRODYNAMICS OF DROPLET IMPINGEMENT ON A DRY SURFACE USING LATTICE BOLTZMANN METHOD.
Creator: Gu, Xin, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: In this work, a two-phase lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) approach is implemented to investigate the hydrodynamic behavior of a single droplet impingement on a dry surface. LBM is a recently developed powerful technique to compute a wide range of fluid flow problems, especially in applications involving interfacial dynamics and complex geometries. Instead of solving the non-linear Navier-Stokes equations, which are complicated partial differential equations, LBM solves a set of discretized...
Show moreIn this work, a two-phase lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) approach is implemented to investigate the hydrodynamic behavior of a single droplet impingement on a dry surface. LBM is a recently developed powerful technique to compute a wide range of fluid flow problems, especially in applications involving interfacial dynamics and complex geometries. Instead of solving the non-linear Navier-Stokes equations, which are complicated partial differential equations, LBM solves a set of discretized linear equations, which are easy to implement and parallelize. The fundamental idea of LBM is to recover the macroscopic properties of the fluid which obeys Navier-Stokes equations, by using simplified kinetic equations that incorporate the essential physics at the microscopic level. Considering the numerical instability induced by large density difference between two phases during the LBM simulations, the particular LBM scheme used in this study has its benefits when dealing with high density ratios. All the simulations are conducted for density ratio up to 50 in a three-dimensional Cartesian coordinate system, and three important dimensionless numbers, namely Weber number, Reynolds number and Ohnesorge number, are used for this study. To validate this multiphase LBM approach, several benchmark tests are conducted. First, the angular frequency of an oscillating droplet is calculated and compared with the corresponding theoretical value. Errors are found to be within 6.1% for all the cases. Secondly, simulations of binary droplet collisions are conducted in the range of 20Show less
Date Issued: 2009
Identifier: CFE0002622, ucf:48190
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002622

Title: VAPORIZATION CHARACTERISTICS OF PURE AND BLENDED BIOFUEL DROPLET INJECTED INTO HOT STREAM OF AIR.
Creator: Saha, Abhishek, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The combustion dynamics and stability are dependent on the quality of mixing and vaporization of the liquid fuel in the pre-mixer. The vaporization characteristics of different blends of biofuel droplets injected into the air stream in the pre-mixer are modeled in this current study. The focus of this work is on the blended alternate fuels which are lately being considered for commercial use. Two major alternate fuels analyzed are ethanol and Rapeseed Methyl Esters (RME). Ethanol is being...
Show moreThe combustion dynamics and stability are dependent on the quality of mixing and vaporization of the liquid fuel in the pre-mixer. The vaporization characteristics of different blends of biofuel droplets injected into the air stream in the pre-mixer are modeled in this current study. The focus of this work is on the blended alternate fuels which are lately being considered for commercial use. Two major alternate fuels analyzed are ethanol and Rapeseed Methyl Esters (RME). Ethanol is being used as a substitute for gasoline, while RME is an alternative for diesel. In the current work, the vaporization characteristics of a single droplet in a simple pre-mixer has been studied for pure ethanol and RME in a hot air jet at a temperature of 800 K. In addition, the behavior of the fuels when they are mixed with conventional fuels like gasoline and diesel is also studied. Temperature gradients and vaporization efficiency for different blends of bio-conventional fuel mixture are compared with one another. The model was validated using an experiment involving convection heating of acoustically levitated fuel droplets and IR-thermography to visualize and quantify the vaporization characteristics of different biofuel blends downstream of the pre-mixer. Results show that the 20 μm droplets of ethanol-gasoline 50-50 blend is completely evaporated in 1.1 msec, while 400 μm droplets vaporized only 65% in 80 msec. In gasoline-ethanol blends, pure gasoline is more volatile than pure ethanol. In spite of having higher vapor pressure, ethanol vaporizes slowly compared to gasoline, due to the fact that latent heat of vaporization is higher for ethanol. For gasoline-ethanol blended fuels, ethanol component vaporizes faster. This is because in blended fuels gasoline and ethanol attain the same temperature and ethanol vapor pressure is higher than that for gasoline. In the case of RME-diesel blends, initially diesel vaporizes faster up to 550K, and above this temperature, vapor pressure of RME becomes dominant resulting in faster vaporization of RME. Current work also looks into the effect of non-volatile impurities present in biofuels. Depending on source and extraction process, fuels carry impurities which impact vaporization process. In this work these effects on ethanol blended fuel have been studied for different concentration of impurities. The presence of non-volatile impurities reduces the vaporization rate by reducing the mass fraction of the volatile component at the surface. However, impurities also increase the surface temperature of the droplet. Finally, the effects of hot and cold spots in the prevaporizer have been investigated. Due to inefficient design, prevaporizer may have local zones where the temperature of air increases or decreases very sharply. Droplets going through these abnormal temperature zones would vaporize at a different rate than others. Current study looks into these droplets to understand the vaporization pattern.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003253, ucf:48514
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003253

Title: EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS ON THE EFFECTS OF SUPERFICIAL LIQUID AND GAS VELOCITIES IN THE REMOVAL OF HYDROGEN SULFIDE FROM A BRINE/OIL MIXTURE.
Creator: Lee, Joshua, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a harmful gas produced during petroleum extraction that leads to corrosion of drilling tools and pipelines. However, a H2S-scavenging liquid compound, when added to pipelines, interacts with liquids that absorbed H2S to create a non-corrosive bi-product. The interaction is associated with the mixing of gases and liquids. This thesis is a study on the effect of superficial gas and liquid velocities on the scavengerÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â‚...
Show moreHydrogen Sulfide (H2S) is a harmful gas produced during petroleum extraction that leads to corrosion of drilling tools and pipelines. However, a H2S-scavenging liquid compound, when added to pipelines, interacts with liquids that absorbed H2S to create a non-corrosive bi-product. The interaction is associated with the mixing of gases and liquids. This thesis is a study on the effect of superficial gas and liquid velocities on the scavengerÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â‚ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â's efficiency. This study employs two experimental setups designed to simulate the mixing of gases and liquids within pipelines. A high pressure closed loop was designed and fabricated to determine the influence of gas, liquid velocities and liquid volume on the scavengerÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â‚ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â's efficiency. All experiments were conducted in this high pressure loop with a thousand feet of coiled tubing to simulate the horizontal section of the pipeline that runs along the ocean floor from the reservoir. This provided practical understanding to petroleum companies to make a better forecast of how the scavenger used in eliminating the H2S, is affected in the process of transporting the liquids and gases from the reservoir to the surface. For an adequate analysis, experiments on four liquid and four gas velocities ranging from 0.2m/s to 0.5m/s and 0.4m/s to 1.1m/s respectively were conducted. Results in this study indicated that increases in superficial gas velocity at low superficial liquid velocity decreases the scavenger efficiency while the opposite is seen at high superficial liquid velocity. In addition, the H2S mass absorption was not a function of liquid volume as would be seen in static reservoirs but more of a function of superficial liquid and gas velocities. With the scavenger interacting with the liquid absorbed H2S, it was expected that the efficiency would increase with the increase in volume but in this study this was not the case. The second experiment is a flow visualization loop which was designed to understand the flow regimes at high pressures. This was done by constructing four 25ft section hoses together with four foot long breaks for visualization. This provided a more fundamental study of the fluidÃƒÂƒÃ‚Â‚ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â's behavior inside the pipelines allowing for the creation of appropriate flow regime maps in air-water flow. A hundred experiments for two different pressures were conducted at the 25ft location. At high pressures, the flow regime map appeared to shift the transition zones.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003310, ucf:48490
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003310

Title: EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES OF THE HEAT TRANSFER CHARACTERISTICS OF SILICA NANOPARTICLE WATER-BASED DISPERSION IN POOL BOILING USING NICHROME FLAT RIBBONS AND WIRES.
Creator: Vazquez, Diane, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: This work deals with a study of enhanced critical heat flux (CHF) and burnout heat flux (BHF) in pool boiling of water with suspended silica nanoparticles using ribbon-type and wire heaters. Previously our group and other researchers have reported three-digit percentage increase in critical heat flux in silica nanofluids. This study investigates the effect of various heater surface dimensions and cross-sectional shapes on pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of water and water-based...
Show moreThis work deals with a study of enhanced critical heat flux (CHF) and burnout heat flux (BHF) in pool boiling of water with suspended silica nanoparticles using ribbon-type and wire heaters. Previously our group and other researchers have reported three-digit percentage increase in critical heat flux in silica nanofluids. This study investigates the effect of various heater surface dimensions and cross-sectional shapes on pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of water and water-based nanofluids. CHF and BHF were analyzed for circular and rectangular cross-section nichrome wires and ribbons of increasing sizes in the range of 0.32mm to 2.38mm width, approaching a flat-plate scenario. Experimental trends showed that the CHF and BHF in water pool boiling decrease as heater surface area increases, and for similar surface area, the wire had a 25% higher CHF than that of the ribbon. For concentrations from 0.1vol% to 2vol%, various properties such as viscosity, pH, and surface tension as well as silica deposition on surface and glowing length of ribbon were measured in order to study the possible factors in the heat transfer behavior of nanofluids. The deposition of the particles on the wire allows high heat transfer through inter-agglomerate pores, resulting in a nearly 3-fold increase in burnout heat flux at very low concentrations. Results have shown a maximum of up to 340% CHF enhancement for ribbon-type heaters, and the relationship of CHF with respect to nanoparticle concentration has been found to be non-monotonic with a peak around 0.2vol% to 0.4vol%. Visualization of boiling experiments aided with determination of relative bubble sizes, nucleation, and flow regimes. The surface morphology of the heater was investigated using SEM and EDS analyses, and it was inferred that the 2vol% concentration deposition coating had higher porosity and rate of deposition compared with 0.2vol% case.
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Date Issued: 2010
Identifier: CFE0003141, ucf:48635
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0003141

Title: Multiphase Flow Modeling of Molten Metal Atomization at High Gas Pressure.
Creator: Hanthanan Arachchilage, Kalpana, Kumar, Ranganathan, Sohn, Yongho, Kassab, Alain, Shivamoggi, Bhimsen, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: The high-pressure gas atomization is well known as one of the best powder manufacturing processes due to its controllability over powder size distribution. However, with the continuous improvement of new alloys, optimizing the operating parameters to maximize the yield is costly and time-consuming. Therefore, it is essential to understand the high-pressure gas atomization process and the effects of different operational parameters on the powder size distribution.Two-phase numerical...
Show moreThe high-pressure gas atomization is well known as one of the best powder manufacturing processes due to its controllability over powder size distribution. However, with the continuous improvement of new alloys, optimizing the operating parameters to maximize the yield is costly and time-consuming. Therefore, it is essential to understand the high-pressure gas atomization process and the effects of different operational parameters on the powder size distribution.Two-phase numerical simulations are performed to capture the interfacial dynamic during the atomization process and to obtain the effects of gas pressure, melt flow rate, and thermophysical properties of atomizing gas and the molten metal. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) model is used to capture the melt-gas interface, and in-house post-processing code is developed to obtain the droplet size distributions. Three-dimensional geometry of an annular-slit close-coupled gas atomizer is utilized to investigate the primary atomization process. The current grid resolution is sufficient forcapturing primary atomization and some characteristics of the secondary atomization, but it is not adequate to capture all the length scales in secondary atomization. Qualitative comparisons of the cumulative volume graphs indicate that this numerical approach is capable of capturing the trends in the atomization process as in the experiments. It is found that a combination of several interfacial instabilities governs the atomization process. Simulations corresponding to different gas pressures show that the atomizationcharacteristics remain unchanged irrespective of the gas pressure. However, it is found that the rate of the evolution and the effectiveness of the atomization process increases with the gas pressure. Three melts (aluminum, steel, and an artificial material with intermediate thermophysical properties) are used to investigate the effects of the molten metal properties and found that the rate of the atomization process decreases with increasing melt density, and the yield of the atomized powder is seen to increase. The flow characteristics remain unchanged for all three melts. The melt flow is strongly correlated with flow characteristics and interfacial instability.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007814, ucf:52342
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007814

Title: Semi-Analytical Solutions of Non-linear Differential Equations Arising in Science and Engineering.
Creator: Dewasurendra, Mangalagama, Vajravelu, Kuppalapalle, Mohapatra, Ram, Rollins, David, Kumar, Ranganathan, University of Central Florida
Abstract / Description: Systems of coupled non-linear differential equations arise in science and engineering are inherently nonlinear and difficult to find exact solutions. However, in the late nineties, Liao introduced Optimal Homotopy Analysis Method (OHAM), and it allows us to construct accurate approximations to the systems of coupled nonlinear differential equations.The drawback of OHAM is, we must first choose the proper auxiliary linear operator and then solve the linear higher-order deformation equation by...
Show moreSystems of coupled non-linear differential equations arise in science and engineering are inherently nonlinear and difficult to find exact solutions. However, in the late nineties, Liao introduced Optimal Homotopy Analysis Method (OHAM), and it allows us to construct accurate approximations to the systems of coupled nonlinear differential equations.The drawback of OHAM is, we must first choose the proper auxiliary linear operator and then solve the linear higher-order deformation equation by spending lots of CPU time. However, in the latest innovation of Liao's " Method of Directly Defining inverse Mapping (MDDiM)" which he introduced to solve a single nonlinear ordinary differential equation has great freedom to define the inverse linear map directly. In this way, one can solve higher order deformation equations quickly, and it is unnecessary to calculate an inverse linear operator.Our primary goal is to extend MDDiM to solve systems of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations. In the first chapter, we will introduce MDDiM and briefly discuss the advantages of MDDiM Over OHAM. In the second chapter, we will study a nonlinear coupled system using OHAM. Next three chapters, we will apply MDDiM to coupled non-linear systems arise in mechanical engineering to study fluid flow and heat transfer. In chapter six we will apply this novel method to study coupled non-linear systems in epidemiology to investigate how diseases spread throughout time. In the last chapter, we will discuss our conclusions and will propose some future work. Another main focus is to compare MDDiM with OHAM.
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Date Issued: 2019
Identifier: CFE0007624, ucf:52551
Format: Document (PDF)
PURL: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0007624

Microfluidics (3)	+ -
Nanofluid (3)	+ -
Acoustic Levitation (2)	+ -
Droplet (2)	+ -
Fluid flow (2)	+ -

Heat transfer (2)	+ -
Molecular Dynamics (2)	+ -
Nanoparticle (2)	+ -
NiTi (2)	+ -
ZrB2-SiC (2)	+ -
agglomeration (2)	+ -
concentration (2)	+ -
critical heat flux (2)	+ -
pool boiling (2)	+ -
AUV (1)	+ -
Acoustic Streaming (1)	+ -
Acoustically Levitated Droplet (1)	+ -
Advancing and receding wetting-lines (1)	+ -
Agglomeration (1)	+ -
Air-Water Flow (1)	+ -
Alumina (1)	+ -
Analytical method (1)	+ -
Atomic Scale Simulation (1)	+ -
Atomization (1)	+ -
Autorotation (1)	+ -
Biofluids (1)	+ -
Biofuel (1)	+ -
Biofuels (1)	+ -
Boiling (1)	+ -
Boltzmann (1)	+ -

ETD Collection (39)	+ -
Honors Collection (1)	+ -

University of Central Florida (40)	+ -
Kumar, Ranganathan (39)	+ -
Deng, Weiwei (7)	+ -
Chow, Louis (6)	+ -
Shivamoggi, Bhimsen (6)	+ -

Basu, Saptarshi (4)	+ -
Kapat, Jayanta (4)	+ -
Mansy, Hansen (4)	+ -
Das, Tuhin (3)	+ -
Kassab, Alain (3)	+ -
Castillo Orozco, Eduardo (2)	+ -
Chen, Ruey-Hung (2)	+ -
Gu, Xin (2)	+ -
Gupta, Amit (2)	+ -
Kar, Aravinda (2)	+ -
Lee, Joshua (2)	+ -
Nicholson, Douglas (2)	+ -
Orlovskaya, Nina (2)	+ -
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