Thermodynamic analysis of energy systems
Thermodynamic approaches of pinch technology and exergy (availability) analysis may reduce the cost of energy utilization. Furthermore, such approaches may be helpful in designing environmentally friendly systems and sustainable development.
Enhancement in heat transfer
We can enhance the heat transfer considerably from a heated plate to air flowing underneath by introducing packing into the air flow passage. Packing with an appropriate size and shape would increase the wall-to-air heat transfer coefficient two or three times, without an excessive pressure drop. One application of this study has been to design a packed solar air heater. Thermal efficiency of packed solar air heaters is comparable with those of solar water heaters. We can control the temperature of large spaces by using packed solar air heaters.
Renewable energy
Solar heat can be stored by a phase changing material (PCM), such as paraffin, or a hydrate with desired melting point and considerable latent heat. A system of packed bed solar air heater can provide heat to be stored by a PCM. The stored heat is utilized with a discharge flow to heat, for example, a green house.
Design and Simulation of Transport and Separation Systems
- Simulation and design by the Aspen plus and Hysys
- Retrofit of distillation columns
We can design or retrofit transport and separation processes leading to systems with relatively more efficient. Thermal and hydraulic analysis of column targeting tools of Aspen Plus can be used to assess an existing operations, suggest retrofits if necessary, and assess the effectiveness of the retrofits.
Coupled Transport and Rate Processes
- Linear non-equilibrium thermodynamics approach for coupled systems
- Modeling coupled transport and rate processes
Coupling refers that a flux occurs without its primary thermodynamic driving force, or against to the direction imposed by its primary driving force. Some of the publications refer to coupled partial differential equations of modeling equations only. In natural systems, such as biological, flows and thermodynamic forces may couple with each other, and for example, heat flow may induce and mass flow or vice versa. Considering the coupling effects would lead to more realistic description of systems especially in small structures, because the gradients (driving forces) may be large to induce coupling. The level of the thermodynamic forces (the distance from the global equilibrium) may affect the stability and evolution of processes.
