Vol 27, No 2 (2018)

Within the framework of a plane stationary statement of the problem the model is substantiated and the analytical solution describing the form of interface at evaporation front propagation in a superheated liquid is analyzed. The solution is compared with the experimental data in a wide range of parameters. Generalization of the solution of the plane problem to a case of a cylindrical heater is proposed.

The article presents results of an experimental study of the effect of gravitational orientation of the flow along its lower/upper solid boundaries on reduction of turbulent drag and void fraction profiles with injection of gas through a porous channel wall. The shear stress on the wall was measured in the Reynolds number range Re_x = (0.23–1.1) × 10⁷ by floating element transducers; the void fraction profile was determined using a fiber-optic sensor. The void fraction in the inner (near-wall) region of the boundary layer was shown to be a key parameter for turbulent drag reduction. The size of the inner region depends on the gas flow rate, the fluid velocity, the distance downstream of the gas generator, and the gravitational orientation of the wall.

The kinetics of dissociation of methane hydrate in air at an external pressure of 1 bar was experimentally studied. It is shown that to describe the mechanism of dissociation of gas clathrate, it is necessary to take into account not only the degree of deviation of temperature and pressure from equilibrium values, but also the diameter of granules. As the diameter decreases, the rate of decomposition of methane hydrate increases significantly. Change in the grain size affects formation of pores and dissociation. The experiment demonstrated a self-preservation mechanism for granule diameters of more than 1 mm. In the case of powder with an average diameter of less than 0.3 mm, there was no self-preservation. The rate of dissociation depends on the combined effect of diffusion, crystallization, and creep.

This paper presents a numerical solution for the steady mixed convection magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of an electrically conducting micropolar fluid over a porous shrinking sheet. The velocity of shrinking sheet and magnetic field are assumed to vary as power functions of the distance from the origin. A convective boundary condition is used rather than the customary conditions for temperature, i.e., constant surface temperature or constant heat flux. With the aid of similarity transformations, the governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, which are solved numerically, using the variational finite element method (FEM). The influence of various emerging thermophysical parameters, namely suction parameter, convective heat transfer parameter, magnetic parameter and power index on velocity, microrotation and temperature functions is studied extensively and is shown graphically. Additionally the skin friction and rate of heat transfer, which provide an estimate of the surface shear stress and the rate of cooling of the surface, respectively, have also been computed for these parameters. Under the limiting case an analytical solution of the flow velocity is compared with the present numerical results. An excellent agreement between the two sets of solutions is observed. Also, in order to check the convergence of numerical solution, the calculations are carried out by reducing the mesh size. The present study finds applications in materials processing and demonstrates excellent stability and convergence characteristics for the variational FEM code.

The effect of suppression of turbulence in a downward bubbly flow and its impact on the wall shear stress and heat transfer are discussed. Measurements were carried out for Reynolds numbers Re = 5000–10000, which were calculated from the velocity of the liquid phase and with the gas volumetric flow rate ratio β = 0–0.05. Data on the size of bubbles detaching from the edges of an array of capillaries in a liquid flow are given. The influence of the disperse phase dimensions on the wall shear stress and heat transfer is discussed. It is shown that change in the size of the dispersed phase can lead to both intensification and deterioration of heat transfer as compared with a single-phase flow at constant flow rates of liquid and gas at the channel inlet. The cause of the heat transfer deterioration is “laminarization” of the flow in the near-wall region. An analysis of the spectral power of signals is given.

Experimental investigation was done in unbaffled self-aerating stirred tanks using concave blade impeller to analyze the mass transfer, power number and vortex depth. Experiments were done with varied impeller diameter to tank diameter and impeller clearance. Scale-up criteria were developed for mass transfer rate for different impeller clearance with varied impeller to tank diameter. The prediction capability of the criteria is found to be satisfactory. The results show that the power number is dependent on the impeller to tank diameter ratio and impeller clearance as well. Scale-up criteria for relative vortex depth were also developed. Single- and multiphase modeling was done by employing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques to observe characteristics of flow pattern transition and a qualitative analysis of mass transfer rate, respectively.