Measurements of in-cylinder heat transfer with inflow-produced turbulence

Heat transfer in cylinder spaces is important to the performance of many reciprocating energy conversion machines, such as gas compressors and Stirling machines. Work over the past 10 years has shown that heat transfer driven by oscillating pressure differs from steady state heat transfer in magnitude and in phase; in-cylinder heat transfer under this oscillating condition can be out of phase with the temperature difference. For studies with closed piston-cylinder gas springs, this heat transfer phase shift has been successfully predicted with the use of a complex Nusselt number; since a complex number has both a magnitude and a phase, a complex Nusselt number can describe the phase shift between temperature and heat transfer. Quasi-steady heat transfer models, such as Newton's Law of Cooling, do not predict this phase shift. This project studied the problem of in-cylinder heat transfer with inflow-produced turbulence. Initial tests were conducted without the generated turbulence; this enabled the researchers to compare the results of this apparatus to previous work. Then, an orifice plate was added to the apparatus to generate simulated inflow-produced turbulence. The tests from this configuration were compared to the previous set, without the turbulence, to see how inflow-produced turbulence affected heat transfer and the heat transfer related cyclic lost work. The complex Nusselt number, which had been used in previous studies to model non-turbulent in-cylinder heat transfer, was applied to the turbulent data as well. The tests conducted without generated turbulence (one space experiments) matched previous results and also extended their range to lower volume ratios and higher oscillating speeds. These tests also demonstrated that an analytical heat transfer model based on low volume ratios (approaching 1.0) was valid over the range from 1 to 2. The tests conducted with the generated turbulence (two space experiments) were compared against the results from the one space experiments. These results indicated that the in-cylinder heat transfer was increased due to the generated turbulence. The magnitude of the complex Nusselt number compared favorably to an analytical model of in-cylinder heat transfer with inflow-produced turbulence.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical Engineering

Department dc:contributor.department

Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Virginia Tech

Year dc:date.issued

1994

Author dc:creator

• Kafka, Bryan C.

Chair dc:contributor.committeechair

• Kornhauser, Alan A.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Diller, Thomas E.
• Dancey, Clinton L.

Statement dc:rights

• In Copyright

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Dc Identifier Other

etd-04072009-040934

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/41948