Parametric Studies of Reciprocating-Flow Heat Transfer in a Reciprocating Loop Device

Authors

Majid Abdulmajeed AlmasFollow

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Mechanical Engineering

First Advisor's Name

Yiding Cao

First Advisor's Committee Title

committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Ibrahim Tansel

Second Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Cheng-Xian Lin

Third Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Berrin Tansel

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

committee member

Keywords

Mechanical engineering

Date of Defense

3-27-2020

Abstract

It is anticipated that clean vehicles such as Electric Vehicles (EVs) may dominate ground transportation in the future. Reliable and lower-cost batteries are essential to the growth of EV industries. A literature review reveals that if non-uniformity of battery operating temperature reaches about 9.0 ^oC, the capacity of the battery pack could drop by more than 30%, Also, If the operating temperature of the battery system exceeds 40 ^oC or is below 0 ^oC, the battery power could decrease dramatically and eventually to zero. However, excellent battery thermal-management systems that improve battery capacity and operational life have yet to be developed. Since the reciprocating-mechanism driven heat loop (RMDHL) systems have both the advantages of removing a large amount of heat while maintaining a rather uniform temperature, it could have great potential to become an advanced cooling system for EVs.

The primary objective of this research is to conduct numerical, experimental, and analytical studies on a bellows-type RMDHL system. Specific tasks include (1) Developing a novel numerical method to simulate the reciprocating flow in the RMDHL; (2) Design and fabricating a suitable heat-flux evaporator to achieve a higher heat flux level; (3) Conducting extensive experiments to quantify the effects of reciprocating amplitude, frequency, and cooling water temperature on the performance of the RMDHL system; and (4) Analytically studying the power consumption and the critical displacement volume of the reciprocating driver.

The numerical results of this study indicate that the novel numerical method using a dynamic mesh technique has successfully overcome the difficulties associated with conventional methods in handling the flow boundary conditions of reciprocating flow to produce accurate and verified simulation results. They also show that the RMDHL provides superior cooling performance compared to the conventional DPDHL cooling systems. The experimental studies have produced detailed results for heat transfer rate and temperature distribution as a function of reciprocating amplitude, frequency, cooling water temperature, and power consumption. The results are summarized in a semi-empirical correlation that provides a useful design tool for the thermal engineer community. Finally, the analytical studies have verified the derived analytical results for critical displacement volume and power consumption of the driver.

Identifier

FIDC008987

Previously Published In

Soleimanikutanaei, S., Almas, M., Popoola, OT., Cao, Y. (2019). Reciprocating liquid‐assisted system for electronic cooling applications. Heat Transfer Asian Research; 48, 286‐ 299.

Recommended Citation

Almas, Majid Abdulmajeed, "Parametric Studies of Reciprocating-Flow Heat Transfer in a Reciprocating Loop Device" (2020). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4533.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/4533