Sateesh Gedupudi

In the present study, a one-dimensional model is proposed to estimate the pressure drop and heat transfer coefficient for flow boiling in a rectangular microchannel. The present work takes into account the pressure fluctuations caused due to the confined bubble growth and the effect of pressure fluctuations on the heat transfer characteristics. The heat transfer model considers five zones, namely, liquid slug, partially confined bubble, fully confined (elongated) bubble, partial dryout and full dryout. The model incorporates the thinning of liquid film due to shear stress at liquid-vapour interface in addition to evaporation. The transient fluctuations in pressure and heat transfer coefficient, along with the time-averaged ones, are verified with the experimental data available in the literature. Heat transfer characteristics with flow reversal caused by inlet compressibility are also presented.

While a body of literature on the spreading dynamics of surfactants and a few studies on the spreading dynamics of nanocolloids exist, to the best of the authors' knowledge, there are no reports on the effect of presence of surfactants on the spreading dynamics of nanocolloidal suspensions. For the first time the present study reports an extensive experimental and theoretical study on the effect of surfactant impregnated nanocolloidal complex fluids in modulating the spreading dynamics. A segregation analysis of the effect of surfactants alone, nanoparticle alone, and the combined effect of nanoparticle and surfactants in altering the spreading dynamics have been studied in detail. The spreading dynamics of nanocolloidal solutions alone and of the surfactant impregnated nanocolloidal solutions are found to be grossly different, and particle morphology is found to play a predominant role. For the first time the present study experimentally proves that the classical Tanner's law is disobeyed by the complex fluids in the case of particle alone and combined particle and surfactant case. We also discuss the role of imbibitions across the particle wedge in the precursor film in tuning spreading dynamics. We propose an analytical model to predict the nature of dependency of contact radius on time for the complex colloids. A detailed theoretical examination of the governing factors, the interacting forces at the three phase contact line, and the effects of interplay of surfactants and the nanoparticles at the precursor film in modulating the spreading dynamics has been presented for such complex colloids.

Abstract.: A systematically designed study has been conducted to understand and demarcate the degree of contribution by the constituting elements to the surface tension of nanocolloids. The effects of elements such as surfactants, particles and the combined effects of these on the surface tension of these complex fluids are studied employing the pendant drop shape analysis method by fitting the Young-Laplace equation. Only the particle has shown an increase in the surface tension with particle concentration in a polar medium like DI water, whereas only a marginal effect of particles on surface tension in weakly polar mediums like glycerol and ethylene glycol has been demonstrated. Such behaviour has been attributed to the enhanced desorption of particles to the interface and a theory has been presented to quantify this. The combined particle and surfactant effect on the surface tension of a complex nanofluid system showed a decreasing behaviour with respect to the particle and surfactant concentration with a considerably feeble effect of particle concentration. This combined colloidal system recorded a surface tension value below the surface tension of an aqueous surfactant system at the same concentration, which is a counterintuitive observation as only the particle results in an increase in the surface tension and only the surfactant results in a decrease in the surface tension. The possible physical mechanism behind such an anomaly happening at the complex fluid air interface has been explained. Detailed analyses based on thermodynamic, mechanical and chemical equilibrium of the constituents and their adsorption-desorption characteristics as extracted from the Gibbs adsorption analysis have been provided. The present paper conclusively explains several physical phenomena observed, yet hitherto unexplained, in the case of the surface tension of such complex fluids by segregating the individual contributions of each component of the colloidal system. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].

To elucidate the pure physics of evaporation which is free from surface effects, the pendant mode of evaporation is employed in the present study. The present study brings out the evaporation kinetics of a combined surfactant and nanoparticle colloidal system. We also segregate the contributing effects of surfactants alone, particle alone, and the combined effect of surfactant and particles in modulating the evaporation kinetics. It is observed that the rate of evaporation is a strong function of the particle concentration for nanocolloidal suspensions of particle alone and concentration of surfactant molecules up to the micellar concentration and thereafter insensitive to concentration for an aqueous surfactant solution. The combined colloidal system of nanoparticles and surfactant exhibited the maximum evaporation rate, and the rate is a strong function of the concentration of both the particle and surfactant. The theoretical classical diffusion-driven evaporation falls short of the experimentally observed evaporation rate in aqueous surfactant and colloidal solutions. Evidence of convective currents was observed in flow visualization studies in aqueous surfactant solutions, nanocolloidal solution of particle alone, and an oscillatory convective circulation in a combined surfactant-impregnated nanocolloidal solution. Thermal Marangoni and Rayleigh numbers are calculated from the theoretical examination and are found not potent enough to induce strong circulation currents in such systems from a stability map. Scaling analysis of solutal Marangoni is observed to be capable of inducing circulation from a stability map in all the systems and the enhanced thermophoretic drift and Brownian dynamics, and enhancement in the diffusion coefficient of the nanoparticles is also contributing to the enhanced evaporation rate for only nanocolloidal solutions. The oscillatory convective current arising out of two opposing driving potential enhances the evaporation rate of surfactant-impregnated nanocolloids. The present findings could reveal the effect of surfactants in tuning the evaporation rate of colloidal solutions.

The use of eco-friendly thermal insulations in the building envelope is one of the passive and also sustainable means of achieving indoor thermal comfort. There are possibilities for significant improvements in energy efficiency over the life of a building with the prospect of reduced use of energy intensive space-conditioning technologies. Straw, an agricultural residue, with potential for utilization as an insulation material, is the focus of the current work. Reliable transient analysis of straw based construction requires knowledge of its thermal transport properties – effective thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity. Variability in thermal conductivity owing to several factors and lack of thermal diffusivity values are the main takeaways from the comprehensive literature review undertaken and therefore, the current work attempts to address these issues. The measurements of these thermal transport properties of rice straw bale sample are carried out using transient plane source technique. The ranges of the influencing parameters considered are: temperature from 25 °C to 45 °C, packing density from around 50–90 kg m−3 for dry samples as well as samples conditioned at 40%, 60% and 80% RH. The experiments are performed for three different orientations with respect to heat flow: parallel, random and perpendicular. The effective thermal conductivity values obtained in the case of perpendicular/random orientation are approximately 1.7 times lower compared to parallel case. A significantly greater increase, as much as 130% and 60%, in thermal conductivity is found in parallel oriented case than perpendicular/random cases with increase in relative humidity and density, respectively. The thermal diffusivity values also show significant variation only in the parallel case. Correlations are proposed for both thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity for all orientations.

Experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of surface characteristics on flow boiling heat transfer and pressure drop in a microchannel using degasified and deionized water as the working fluid. Test section consists of a 40 mm long, 0.5 mm wide and 0.24 mm deep microchannel machined in copper. Experimental results are reported for three different surface characteristics – fresh machined surface (case-1), the same channel surface when aged after repeated experimentation (case-2) and the surface obtained after cleaning the same aged surface with 0.1 M hydrochloric acid (case-3). Parameters considered include inlet temperature 95 °C, mass flux from 1000 to 2220 kg/m2 s and heat flux from 400 to 1200 kW/m2. Single-phase experiments have been performed to estimate the heat loss from microchannel and also to validate the experimental setup. The results indicate that the boiling heat transfer performance of case-2 is lower than that of case-1 and the performance of case-3 is higher than that of case-1. The main reason behind the reduction of two-phase heat transfer coefficient for case-2 as compared to case-1 is attributed to the increased wettability due to the thermal oxidation of the heating surface caused by the repeated experimentation. The enhanced boiling performance of case-3 is attributed to the increased nucleation site density. However, the change in the two-phase pressure drop is relatively small. The experimental results were compared with the available correlations in the literature to check the predictability of the correlations for the three cases. The degree of agreement (or disagreement) varies depending on the correlation and the surface characteristic. The reasons for the deviations are discussed.

(Graph Presented) Even though there are quite large studies on wettability of aqueous surfactants and a few studies on effects of nanoparticles on wettability of colloids, to the best of authors' knowledge, there is no study reported on the combined effect of surfactant and nanoparticles in altering the wettability. The present study, for the first time, reports an extensive experimental and theoretical study on the combined effect of surfactants and nanoparticles on the wettability of complex fluids such as nanocolloids on different substrates, ranging from hydrophilic with a predominantly polar surface energy component (silicon wafer and glass) to near hydrophobic range with a predominantly dispersive component of surface energy (aluminum and copper substrates). Systematically planned experiments are carried out to segregate the contributing effects of surfactants, particles, and combined particle and surfactants in modulating the wettability. The mechanisms and the governing parameters behind the interactions of nanocolloids alone and of surfactant capped nanocolloids with different surfaces are found to be grossly different. The article, for the first time, also analyzes the interplay of the nature of surfaces, surfactant and particle concentrations on contact angle, and contact angle hysteresis (CAH) of particle and surfactant impregnated colloidal suspensions. In the case of nanoparticle suspensions, the contact angle is observed to decrease for the hydrophobic system and increase for the hydrophilic systems considered. On the contrary, the combined particle and surfactant colloidal system shows a quasi-unique wetting behavior of decreasing contact angle with particle concentration on all substrates. Also interestingly, the combined particle surfactant system at all particle concentrations shows a wetting angle much lower than that of the only-surfactant case at the same surfactant concentration. Such counterintuitive observations have been explained based on the near-surface interactivity of the particle, fluid, and surfactant molecules based on effective slip length considerations. The CAH analyses of colloidal suspensions at varying surfactant and particle concentrations reveal in-depth physical insight into contact line pinning, and a unique novel relationship is established between the contact angle and differential energy for distorting the instantaneous contact angle for a pinned sessile droplet. A detailed theoretical analysis of the governing parameters influencing the wettability has been presented invoking the principles of DLVO (Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek), surface energy and interaction parameters influencing at the molecular scale, and the theoretical framework is found to support the experimental observations.

The study of heat exchangers with both the hot and cold fluid sides driven by buoyancy forces is an area of considerable interest due to their inherent passivity and non-existence of moving parts. The current study aims to study such heat exchange devices employing the basic Coupled Natural Circulation Loop (CNCL) systems. A one dimensional (1-D) Fourier series based semi-analytical model of the basic CNCL system is proposed. A 3-D CFD validation is performed to validate the developed 1-D model. The non-dimensional numbers such as Grashof number, Fourier number, Stanton number and Reynolds number, which determine the system behavior are identified and a detailed parametric study is performed. Both vertical and horizontal CNCL systems are considered along with the parallel and counter flow configurations. The heater-cooler location greatly influences the behavior of CNCL system. The vertical CNCL always exhibits counter flow configuration whereas the horizontal CNCL system may exhibit parallel or counter flow arrangement depending on the heater-cooler location and initial flow conditions.

Combined micro-channel flow and jet impingement can be one of the methods to maximise the benefits of micro-channel heat sinks but very less research has been done in this direction. However, there are difficulties and limitations involved in implementing both the techniques together, for e.g., channel flow blockages or stagnations caused by multiple jets along the channel. In the present study, to overcome these limitations, multiple secondary inlets along the channel, besides the main inlet, are proposed such that the flow takes place in only one direction. This avoids flow blockage, and still exploits some benefits of jet impingement. Six different cases were modelled and studied using commercial CFD software ANSYS FLUENT to determine the effects of size and inclination of secondary inlets on the heat sink performance. The best performance is shown by the secondary inlets with 50% reduction in the successive diameters and inclined at 90° with the horizontal. The results show reduced heat sink wall temperature, increased uniformity in wall temperature and higher heat transfer coefficients, however, at the cost of higher pressure losses.

In the present study, an ammonia-water based combined refrigeration/power cycle, proposed previously, is assessed for the utilization of geothermal potential for variable refrigeration and power load. The work mainly focuses on the thermodynamic feasibility of usage of geothermal source for apple storage and power output at Manikaran, a small town in the Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in Himalayan region. Optimization of second law efficiency was done using a combined genetic and gradient based algorithm, for varying ambient conditions and refrigeration load requirements, considering the potential of geothermal heat source available in the area. The system demonstrates the advantage of variable refrigeration and power output ratio that makes the full utilization of a low temperature geothermal heat source all through the year.