Sneak analysis and its applications in thermal systems

Abstract

The traditional method of sneak analysis of a thermal system is based on mass flow and cannot reflect system functionality and overall characteristics. Therefore, this study presents a network tree topology model based on energy flow. The heat transfer process in the thermal system is described by introducing the concept of energy flow. According to the design function of the thermal system, hot and cold source of the system are defined as the beginning and end of path search, respectively. All possible paths of heat transfer for the thermal system are obtained. The method is applied in the central cooling system of a ship and compared with sneak analysis based on mass flow. Results of the comparison show that sneak analysis based on energy flow can find new sneak problems on the basis of sneak analysis based on mass flow. Thus, the new method is feasible and effective.