High-power Heating Research Articles

Experimental investigation of thermal micro-environments and local thermal sensations in enclosed and semi-enclosed localized heating systems

Traditional building heating warms entire rooms, often leaving some dissatisfied with uneven warmth. Recently, the personalized heating system has addressed this by providing targeted warmth, enhancing comfort and satisfaction. The personalized heating system in this study is a new enclosed personalized heating system consisting of a semi-enclosed heating box and an insulated chair covered with a thick blanket. The study compares the heating effects of semi-enclosed and enclosed localized heating systems on the body and examined changes in subjects’ thermal sensations. Due to the lower heat loss of the enclosed personalized heating system compared to the semi-enclosed version, it created thermal micro-environments with higher ambient temperatures. The maximum air temperature increase within the enclosed system was twice that of the semi-enclosed system, with the heating film surface temperature rising by up to 6.87 ℃. Additionally, the temperature of the skin could increase by as much as 6.19 ℃, allowing individuals to maintain thermal neutrality even when the room temperature dropped as low as 8 ℃. A two-factor repeated measures analysis of variance revealed differences in temperature sensitivity across various body regions, with the thighs showing a notably higher response under high-power heating conditions. The corrective energy and power requirements of the enclosed personalized heating system also made it more energy-efficient than other personalized heating systems, with a minimum value reaching 6.07 W/K.

Unlocking the Trade-off Between Intrinsic and Interfacial Thermal Transport of Boron Nitride Nanosheets by Surface Functionalization for Advanced Thermal Interface Materials.

The increasing computing power of AI presents a major challenge for high-power chip solution and heat dissipation. Boron nitride nanosheet-based thermal interface materials (BNNS-based TIMs) exhibit excellent electrical insulation property, ensuring the secure and stable operation of chips. However, the efficiency of micro/nano interfacial thermal transport is limited, impeding further enhancements in the thermal conductivity (TC) of BNNS-based TIMs. Here, a strategy of surface functionalization is reported to unlock the trade-off between the intrinsic and interfacial thermal transport of BNNS within TIMs. These results suggest that the surface functionalization maintains the intrinsic high TC of BNNS while significantly increasing binding energy between micro/nano interfaces in BNNS-based TIMs, effectively reducing interfacial thermal resistance of BNNS joint interfaces and interfaces between BNNSs and the matrix by 50% and 26.1%, respectively. The BNNS-based TIMs exhibit excellent TC (≈21-25W/(m·K)) and ultralow Young's modulus, which can promote the development of flexible high-performance chip cooling technology in the AI industry.

Effect of microwave heating on rock damage and energy evolution

Rock fragmentation efficiency can be increased by microwave heating. The mechanical properties and energy evolution characteristics of coarse sandstone specimens under different microwave heating conditions are compared in this paper. The effects of microwave heating time and power on coarse sandstone specimens of peak stress, elastic modulus, brittleness index, damage variable, and impact energy index are analyzed. The results indicate that the microwave heating power and microwave heating time are inversely proportional to peak stress and elastic modulus and directly proportional to peak strain. With the increase of microwave heating power and microwave heating time, the brittleness index and damage variable of rock specimens increase, the impact energy index decreases. The microwave heating power and microwave heating time increase the rock brittleness index. The energy absorption rate of rock specimens decreases with the increase of microwave heating time. The impact energy index is inversely proportional to microwave heating power and microwave heating time. High-power and long-time microwave heating can reduce the possibility of rockbursts and the intensity of potential dynamic disasters. The research conclusion can provide the theoretical and technical basis for breaking rock by microwave heating.

Manipulating density pedestal structure to improve core–edge integration towards low collisionality

Abstract DIII-D experiments have achieved promising core–edge integrated plasma scenarios which combine a high-temperature low-collisionality pedestal (pedestal top temperature Te ,ped > 0.8 keV and collisionality ν*ped < 1) with a partially detached divertor by leveraging the benefits of a low-density-gradient pedestal in a closed divertor. It is found that with a closed divertor and high heating power, strong gas puffing to achieve detachment moves the peak density gradient outward with respect to the maximum gradient of electron temperature and reduces the density gradient at the pedestal region, which correlates with shallow pedestal fuelling due to the closed divertor geometry. In high-current plasmas in particular, the pedestal top density is found to change little with gas puffing while the separatrix, density increases to allow access for divertor detachment. The separation between density and temperature pedestals results in a high- ηe well above the electron-temperature-gradient stability threshold. Electron turbulence is found to be enhanced in the pedestal and correlated with high ηe resulting from the pedestal shift. The pedestal is wider than the EPED scaling. A revised empirical width scaling is derived based on the combination of EPED scaling with ηe and highlights the important role of additional turbulence on the pedestal structure. The wide temperature pedestal facilitates the achievement of a high-temperature, low-collisionality pedestal and high global performance. Simultaneously, the outward shift of the density pedestal facilitates access to detached divertor conditions with low temperature and heat flux towards the target plate. This approach may be promising for closing the core–edge integration gap for future fusion reactors, which may have a weak-gradient density pedestal due to the highly opaque boundary plasmas.

Radiative heat transfer to enhance the performance of liquid metal-based phase change heat sink under natural convection condition

Liquid metal phase change materials have the advantages of high thermal conductivity and high volumetric latent heat, which are expected to address the growing challenges of thermal management of advanced electronics. In previous studies, the effect of radiative heat transfer from fins of a phase change heat sink on thermal management performance has rarely been considered. In this study, radiative coating materials with high emissivity were prepared and coated on the fins of the liquid metal phase change heat sink. The effect of radiative heat transfer on the performance of liquid metal phase change heat sink was investigated. The experimental results of continuous heating under natural convection conditions show that the introduction of the radiative coating with an emissivity of 0.9298 can extend the time for the surface temperature of the heat source to reach 100 °C by 9.4%, while shortening the recovery time of the phase change heat sink by 14.9%. The results of high-power cyclic heating indicate that the high emissivity coating can reduce the peak temperature by 16.6 °C in the tenth working cycle. A simplified numerical model was subsequently developed and validated to determine the specific effects of phase change and radiative heat transfer on the overall thermal control performance. The radiation-enhanced liquid metal phase change heat sink proposed in this study is simple and maintenance-free. It is expected to address the thermal management issues of electronic devices that cannot use active cooling or operate in thin-air environments.

Experimental study on the thermal performance of a novel vapor chamber manufactured by 3D-printing technology

Vapor chamber holds great application potential in the field of heat dissipation for high-power electronic devices. This study developed a novel vapor chamber using 3D-printing technology to enhance heat dissipation for compact electronic devices. The vapor chamber was constructed from aluminum alloy with a structural dimension of 60×60×30mm3. In this work, the extended condensation structure of the vapor chamber was combined with an external cooling structure, resulting in a 729 % increase in the external heat dissipation area compared to the evaporation area in a limited space. Extensive experiments were conducted using deionized water as the working fluid under various cooling conditions and heat loads. The results showed that the vapor chamber was capable of maintaining a low thermal resistance at high power and high heat flux conditions, with a minimum thermal resistance of 0.087 °C/W when the heat load was 1000 W. At a cooling water flow rate of 0.1 L/s, the vapor chamber demonstrated the capacity to withstand a critical heat load of up to 1600 W, with the heat flux of 326 W/cm2. Compared to conventional vapor chambers, this novel vapor chamber is better able to achieve stable and efficient heat dissipation under high power and high heat flux conditions, especially in a limited space.

Two-phase closed thermosiphon with grooved the evaporator section applied for low-grade energy recovery: Thermo-hydrodynamic performance and potentials

High thermal conductivity and simple structure of two-phase closed thermosyphons (TPCTs) facilitate it extensively applied in low-grade thermal recovery, such like geothermal and solar energy exploitation. In present work, by incorporating threaded grooves into the evaporator section of the TPCTs, heat transfer performance could be significantly enhanced. Thermal transport mechanism of thermosyphons with various threaded groove structures was comprehensively investigated, and corresponding thermo-hydrodynamic performance was modelled through CFD/VOF simulations. Numerical procedures were validated well after comparison with experimental ones felled within 5.0 %. Under various heating power levels and filling ratios, heat transfer performance of thermosyphons with threaded grooves evidently surpassed that of smooth thermosyphons. Depending on delicate numerical results, critical point at 33 % filling ratio and 90 W heating power were confirmed that total thermal resistance of the grooved thermosyphon decreased almost close to 4.6 %. Furthermore, deviating from that critical point, higher heating power and lower filling ratio instead confined heat transfer performance of the threaded TPCT, which was primarily due to the rate of bubble generation and growth being significantly was slower than its detachment rate from the wall. In addition, heat and mass transfer performance of thermosyphons with threaded grooves of various pitches and apex angles were further analyzed under various conditions. Our results indicated that, when the groove apex angle turned to 90°, overall thermal transportation capability of the TPCT achieved optimal, with a decline in thermal resistance of up to 6.5 % compared to thermosyphons with smaller apex angles. Apex angle primarily affected the number of nucleation sites and the bubble detachment rate. Additionally, as the screw pitch decreased, boiling heat transfer enhancement, leading to more robust boiling heat transfer of TPCTs. Under high heating power, thermosyphons with larger screw pitch exhibited superior heat transfer performance. Overall, this innovative TPCTs with threaded grooves could be well applied in low-grade energy exploitation, particularly like as geothermal and solar energy fields.

Recent progress of JT-60SA project toward plasma operation

Abstract Superconducting tokamak JT-60SA plays an essential role in fusion research and development by supporting and complementing ITER project, providing directions to the DEMO design activity and fostering next generation scientists and engineers. Since the incident of the Equilibrium Field coil #1 during the Integrated Commissioning (IC) in March 2021, both EU and JA Implementing agencies (IAs) have examined how to ensure safety operation of JT-60SA by mitigating the risk of possible discharge occurrence inside the cryostat. Based on the experience of the Global Paschen tests, the IAs have established a strategy of risk mitigation measures, which is a combination of (i) reinforcement of insulation, (ii) avoiding unnecessary voltage application to the coil systems and (iii) immediate de-energization of the coils when deteriorated vacuum condition is detected. Thanks to the considerable efforts of the Integrated Project Team (IPT) members, the IC restarted in May 2023. After the confirmation of superconducting state of coil systems (TF, EF and CS), the coil energization test and the plasma operation (OP-1) starts. The first plasma was successfully achieved on 23 October 2023 with a limited value of applied voltage and current to the coils. The plasma configuration control will be also confirmed with low plasma current and low auxiliary heating power conditions. Based on the IO-F4E-QST collaboration, activities of JT-60SA have been shared with the IO and provided an important lesson learned for ITER assembly and commissioning, and will provide an outstanding contribution to fusion research at large. After OP-1, Maintenance & Enhancement phase 1 (M/E-1) starts from January 2024, in which in-vessel components are installed, and heating system and diagnostic system are extensively upgraded to allow high power heating experiment planned in OP-2. In order to make the best use of JT-60SA, newly organized JT-60SA experiment team will refine the research plan in the future high heating power operation phase.

Flexible and efficient direct-insertion microwave heating with a dielectric wedge

Traditional microwave heating requires the heated object to be placed in a metal cavity, which limits its flexibility. Moreover, the microwave heating efficiency is affected by the shape, size, and permittivity of the load. This paper proposes a direct-insertion microwave heating device based on a dielectric wedge. It offers flexible and efficient heating for different loads. Firstly, a dielectric wedge with a gradient refractive index was designed, which can convert electromagnetic waves into surface waves propagating along the dielectric. Secondly, efficient heating of materials with permittivity ranging from 10 to 80, regardless of their shape, is achieved by inserting the dielectric wedge into the load. Microwave heating efficiencies above 90 % were consistently observed in heating tests with beverages, mashed potatoes, and minced fish of varying shapes. Finally, A high-power continuous flow heating scheme was introduced, utilizing the device as a heating module and scaling up by adding more modules to boost microwave power. Multi-physics simulations confirmed the device's efficiency and versatility in microwave continuous flow heating, with minimal energy interference between microwave sources.

Assessments of the key plasma parameters with different scenarios on HIT-PSI using EMC3-EIRENE

Linear plasma devices offer an effective way to conduct plasma-wall interaction studies and contribute to a basic understanding of edge plasma physics. A new platform at Harbin Institute of Technology for Plasma Surface Interaction experiments (HIT-PSI) is a newly-built linear device at the stage of commissioning that is capable of simulating high heat power deposition on divertor targets similar to tokamak conditions. Therefore, numerical simulations to evaluate the plasma characteristics are essential for designing and guiding the experimental conditions in HIT-PSI. In this work, the three-dimensional edge transport code EMC3-EIRENE has been used to investigate the plasma parameter distributions in HIT-PSI with the puffing and pumping systems involved. The effects of the heating power and target position on the distribution of electron density, electron temperature, and particle and heat fluxes have been investigated by EMC3-EIRENE. Particularly, the reduction in the electron density with the puffing fluxes has also been studied by analyzing individual atomic and molecular processes. Finally, the influence of varying pumping speeds on plasma parameters has been investigated in detail by adjusting the recycling coefficients at the two pumping ports.

Investigations on the Performance of a Downhole Electric Heater with Different Parameters Used in Oil Shale In Situ Conversion.

In situ conversion is the most potential technology for efficient and clean development of oil shale, and a downhole electric heater is key equipment for clean, efficient, and low-carbon in situ conversion. Three electric heating rods with different diameters are used to explore their influence on heater performances. The simulation results indicate that increasing the diameter of the heating rod helps to increase the minimum and maximum velocity of shell-side air, and the maximum velocity of H110-24 is 16.34 m/s, which is 1.25 and 1.13 times those of H110-16 and H110-20, respectively. In addition, the location of the local high temperature zone coincides with the area with low air flow velocity, and increasing the diameter of the heating rod can effectively reduce the heating rod surface temperature during high-power heating. Moreover, at the same heat flux, the heat transfer coefficients of H110-24 and H110-20 are 44.82-48.49% and 87.52-95.48% higher than those of H110-16, respectively. With the same heating power, the heat transfer coefficients of heaters have the same trend, indicating that the heat transfer coefficient of the heating rod can be effectively improved by increasing the diameter of the heating rod. Finally, the newly defined comprehensive performance is used to evaluate the heaters with different heating parameters. Increasing the heating power can improve the comprehensive performance of the heater, but the most effective way is to increase the diameter of the heating rod. With the same heating power, the new comprehensive performance of H110-24 and H110-20 is 48.38-52.34% and 87.29-95.19% higher than that of H110-16, respectively, and the electric heating rod with the diameter of 20 mm has the best performance.

Research on melon cascade drying technology to improve food safety

Abstract The aim of the study is to study the process of cascade drying of melons. The prospects for the implementation of the melon drying process using IR convective heat supply are substantiated. Intensification of moisture transfer occurs due to pre-pulse IR treatment of high density power heat flow. The effect of heat flux emitted by IR lamps on the object of study was studied. Analyses have shown that in the proposed method, under the influence of IR rays, there is an intensive removal of moisture from the entire volume of the material. A decrease in air temperature leads to an increase in the duration of the drying process. And an increase in the density of the heat flux leads to overheating of the surface of the material layer.

Decoupling beam power and beam energy on ASDEX Upgrade NBI with an in-situ variable extraction gap system

In early 2022 one source of ASDEX Upgrade’s (AUG) neutral beam injector 2 was equipped with a first-of-its-kind beam extraction grid system with in-situ variable extraction/acceleration gap that allows one to choose beam energy and beam power independently in a wide operational space, greatly enhancing experimental flexibility. The gap can be changed from one AUG discharge to the next. The extended operational space makes it possible to reduce beam energy and shine through while maintaining high heating power, or to reduce NBI power at high beam energy, e.g. to stay in L mode. Furthermore, the feature opens the door for advanced control of heat and torque deposition, such as to change torque and ion-to-electron heating ratio at constant power. The prototype system was successfully tested in 2022 and already found first applications in AUG’s physics programme. The remaining three sources of the same injector will also be equipped with variable gaps during the 2022–24 opening of AUG and installation of this new system on all sources of NBI 1 is also under discussion in order to exploit the full potential of the new feature.

Composite liquids under high-power heating: superheat of water in micro-explosion of water-in-fuel droplets

Abstract The article analyses the degree of water superheating with respect to the liquid-vapour equilibrium line in experiments on the micro-explosion of a composite droplet comprised of two immiscible liquids. The analyses were carried out for water-in-fuel drops under conditions of high-power heating. This degree is compared with the mechanical effect of droplet decay, involving the formation of daughter droplets. Our attention was drawn to the smallness of the degree of superheating preceding the decay. A model of the boiling up of such a droplet is constructed taking into account the sources of premature boiling up of water inherent in micro-explosive experiments. The dependencies of the boiling up temperature of water on the heating rate obtained in the model turned out to be in accordance with the experimental data across a wide range of heating rates. A hypothesis about the local superheating of the transition layer, which is not detected in the experiment, is formulated. Thus, a step has been taken to clarify the essence of the mismatch of the degree of superheating of water recorded by macroscopic equipment along with a completely satisfactory generation of daughter droplets serving as the basis for advanced fuel technology.

Silicon-based microscale-oscillating heat pipes for high power and high heat flux operation

Microscale-oscillating heat pipes (micro-OHPs) have recently drawn interest for electronic cooling applications due to their compact size and passive operating mechanism. The occurrence of dryout in OHPs, however, at which the working liquid no longer wets the evaporator, limits the maximum operating cooling power, preventing their integration for direct cooling of high heat flux semiconductor chips. Here, we report on high power and high flux operation of silicon-based OHPs by using microchannels with hydraulic diameters of ∼200 μm. Particularly, a micro-OHP with 100 μm channel height is shown to effectively operate at 210 W using a dielectric working fluid, corresponding to an unprecedented cooling power density of 145 W/cm2, without dryout. A distinctive oscillating mode with highly periodic bulk circulations occurs at high heating power and can provide efficient heat dissipation. The flow speed of the liquid under this bulk circulation mode can be as high as 10 m/s. The empirical relationships between the heat transfer rate, oscillating frequency, and device temperatures are studied.

Ion heating characteristics of merging spherical tokamak plasmas for burning high-beta plasma formation

High-power ion heating of merging spherical tokamak (ST) plasma has been investigated using TS-3U, TS-4, and UTST at the University of Tokyo for future direct access to burning high-beta ST plasma without using any additional heating. We developed a two-fluid/kinetic interpretation of the promising scaling of ion heating energy that increases with the square of reconnecting magnetic field B rec ∼ poloidal magnetic field B p. We find that reconnection heating creates interesting high-beta ST plasmas with hollow currents and broad/hollow T i profiles. These high-beta ST plasmas often have reversed-shear or absolute minimum-B profiles, depending on their reconnection heating power and q-values.

Liquid plug characteristics and heat transfer performance of a silicon-based ultra-thin flat heat pipe at different incline angles

Silicon-based ultra-thin flat heat pipes (UFHPs) that can be integrated with semiconductor devices provide an opportunity for electronic thermal management. To meet the requirements of various operation states, the impacts of gravity on the liquid plug characteristics and heat transfer performance of an UFHP are investigated by a visualization experiment conducted at different incline angles. Condensate flows back through microgrooves under the capillary pressure and gravity under a low heating power (capillary flow stage), and then excess condensate flows back along the edges of the UFHP under a higher heating power (gravitational flow stage). Over a certain heating power (Q ≥ 14 W), liquid plug fluctuations caused by vapor entrainment are observed with periodic dry-out at the evaporator under large incline angles (α ≥ 60°), corresponding to temperature fluctuations. Intense fluctuations of the liquid plug enhance sensible heat transfer, although the liquid plug occupies the condenser area and impedes the vapor flow. Meanwhile, evaporation at the evaporator benefits from corner-film evaporation until a large area of dry-out occurs. Due to the increased gravity and buoyancy, a larger incline angle is conducive to thermal performance enhancement, but this effect becomes restricted as the heating power rises. At a cooling-water temperature of 20 ℃ and an incline angle of 90°, the lowest thermal resistances of the UFHP yield a value of 1.14 ℃/W at 4 W in the steady stage and a value of 1.22 ℃/W at 18 W in the fluctuation stage, respectively. The heat transfer limit of UFHP with overfilling reaches 24 W, compared with the theoretical heat transfer capacity of 8.9 W at an incline angle of 90°. Additionally, a higher cooling-water temperature is beneficial for the thermal performance in the capillary flow stage, but not in the gravitational flow stage and fluctuation stage. This study provides guidance for the operational design of silicon-based UFHP for electronic thermal management.

Spatial Structure of Plasma Density Disturbances in the Topside Ionosphere Caused by High-Power HF Heating of the F2 Layer

Spatial Structure of Plasma Density Disturbances in the Topside Ionosphere Caused by High-Power HF Heating of the F2 Layer

Oven Design for In‐Situ Thermal Extraction of Volatiles From Lunar Regolith

AbstractExtracting volatiles from lunar regolith for analysis or utilization is one of the most important aspects of future lunar exploration. However, the low thermal conductivity of lunar regolith poses a challenge. Here, we conduct simulations to analyze the heat and mass transfer processes within the sample inside the oven. We identify three main factors affecting oven heat‐up rate: water ice content (WIC) in the regolith, oven diameter, and power supply. Taking these factors into account, we devise an oven design and apply it to three case studies: (a) assessing water ice and isotopic composition in Permanently Shadowed Regions, akin to Chang'e‐7 mini‐fly probe missions; (b) measuring noble gases, as Chang'e‐7 and Luna‐27 landers; and (c) large‐scale in‐situ resources utilization (ISRU). The simulation results indicate that water ice can be extracted using sufficiently high heating power without issues. However, the complete extraction of noble gases is challenging and may require alternative heating methods. For ISRU purposes, large ovens can be subdivided into smaller ones by adding internal structures, for example, honeycomb, to improve the heat‐up rate by at least 1.5 times. Additionally, we find that the oven can serve as a scientific payload for WIC measurement using the heating curve. A flowchart of this new WIC measurement method is provided, offering an alternative method to mass spectrometry or spectroscopy measurements.

Investigation of a hybrid two-layered channel-jet heat sink for air cooling

With the miniaturization and deep integration of electronics, the challenges associated with high-power heat dissipation technology have increased. Combining the features of jet cooling technology and microchannel cooling technology, a hybrid two-layered channel-jet heat sink is designed for general consumer CPUs. The heat sink performance is investigated experimentally. Since the CPU generation power is 120 W, the heat sink can control the CPU excess temperature below 60 °C with an air volume less than 20 m3/h and a pressure drop less than 20 Pa. The different geometric parameters of the heat sink are numerically calculated. Increasing the channel width and reducing the channel height and slot length can enhance the heat transfer but also increase the pressure drop. Orthogonal tests are employed to optimize the design by evaluating the performance of various heat sink structures. The performance evaluation criterion (PEC) is selected as the evaluation index. Under standard conditions with a cross-sectional airflow velocity of 1.5 m/s, the optimal structure is a 2 mm channel width, 12 mm channel height and 50 mm slot length.