Numerical simulation of turbulent heat transfer close to the critical point

In this paper we discuss the effect of sharp property variations on the turbulent heat transfer in fluids close the critical point. The governing equations for this flow regime are discussed, a short description of the numerical tools that have been developed to study these flows is given. Finally, some results for supercritical heat transfer in...

Effect of viscosity and density gradients on turbulent channel flows

We perform Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of a turbulent channel flow with temperature dependent density and viscosity. The Navier-Stokes equations are solved using their low Mach number formulation. In the simulations performed, the fluid is internally heated and the temperature at the walls is fixed. The friction Reynolds number based on...

Effect of viscosity and density gradients on turbulent channel flows

We perform Direct Numerical Simulations (DNS) of a turbulent channel flow with temperature dependent density and viscosity. The Navier-Stokes equations are solved using their low Mach number formulation. In the simulations performed, the fluid is internally heated and the temperature at the walls is fixed. The friction Reynolds number based on...

Semi-local scaling and turbulence modulation in variable property turbulent channel flows

We theoretically and numerically investigate the effect of temperature dependent density and viscosity on turbulence in channel flows. First, a mathematical framework is developed to support the validity of the semi-local scaling as proposed based on heuristic arguments by Huang, Coleman, and Bradshaw [“Compressible turbulent channel flows: DNS...

Turbulence attenuation in simultaneously heated and cooled annular flows at supercritical pressure

Heated or cooled fluids at supercritical pressure show large variations in thermophysical properties, such as the density, dynamic viscosity and molecular Prandtl number, which strongly influence turbulence characteristics. To investigate this, direct numerical simulations were performed of a turbulent flow at supercritical pressure (CO2 at 8...

Turbulence modulation by variable density and viscosity

We investigate the effectiveness of the semi-local Reynolds number Re τ to parametrize wall-bounded flows with strong density, ρ, and viscosity, µ, gradients. Several cases are considered, namely, volumetrically heated low-Mach-number turbulent channel flows, a simultaneously heated and cooled flow with CO2 at supercritical pressure, and heated and...

Characteristics of turbulent heat transfer in an annulus at supercritical pressure

Heat transfer to fluids at supercritical pressure is different from heat transfer at lower pressures due to strong variations of the thermophysical properties with the temperature. We present and analyze results of direct numerical simulations of heat transfer to turbulent CO2 at 8 MPa in an annulus. Periodic streamwise conditions are imposed so...

Machine learning for RANS turbulence modeling of variable property flows

This paper presents a machine learning methodology to improve the predictions of traditional RANS turbulence models in channel flows subject to strong variations in their thermophysical properties. The developed formulation contains several improvements over the existing Field Inversion Machine Learning (FIML) frameworks described in the...

Thermodynamic analysis and heat exchanger calculations of transcritical high-temperature heat pumps

Heating in industrial processes is responsible for approximately 13% of greenhouse gas emissions in Europe. Switching from fossil-fuel based boilers to heat pumps can help mitigate the effect of global warming. The present work proposes novel high-temperature transcritical heat pump cycles targeted at heating air with a mass flow rate of 10...