Reference Fluid Research Articles

Whole-channel acoustic energy and acoustophoretic efficiency frequency spectrum by the in-flow focusing method

The in-flow focusing method, introduced herein, enables rapid and straightforward measurements of the whole-channel acoustic energy of acoustic flow-through devices. The method is applied to assess the whole-channel acoustic energy and acoustophoretic efficiency frequency spectra of a bottom-actuated silicon-glass and a side-actuated glass chip. The input variables are the time-independent geometrical shape of the particle trajectories along the manipulation chamber, the channel cross-section geometry, the physical properties of the reference particles and fluid, and the volumetric flowrate. The outputs are the total acoustic energy, the acoustophoretic efficiency, as well as the acoustic energy density distribution along the channel, which provide a comprehensive overview of the performance of acoustically driven lab-on-a-chip setups. The acoustophoretic efficiency is an important parameter that relates the energy dissipation, and therefore the heat development in the device, to the useful acoustic energy in the channel. Unlike the current state-of-the-art methods such as particle image velocimetry, particle tracking velocimetry, and optical trapping, which are typically limited to small channel areas and are time-consuming, the in-flow focusing method can be applied to long channels and enables rapid measurements of the whole-channel acoustic energy. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Unified, Integral Approach to Modeling and Design of High-Pressure Pipelines: Assessment of Various Flow and Temperature Models for Supercritical Fluids

Abstract A unified one-dimensional, steady-state flow and heat transfer model is presented for the pipeline transport of fluids at high pressures, including the supercritical conditions. The model includes a generalized temperature equation, presented here for the first time, and accounts for all of the important effects, including the property variation, viscous dissipation, Joule-Thomson (J-T) cooling, and heat exchange with the surrounding. With appropriate approximations, this model can yield all isothermal and non-isothermal pipe flow solutions reported thus far. A generalized multi-zone integral method is developed which solves the two resulting algebraic equations for pressure and temperature in conjunction with a property database, such as the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) Reference Fluid Thermodynamic and Transport Properties (REFPROP). With appropriately selected number and size of the zones and using property values at the mean temperature and pressure within each zone, this integral method can accurately predict the complex effects of the governing parameters, such as the pipe diameter and length, inlet and exit pressures, mass flow rate, J-T cooling, and inlet and surrounding temperatures. Its accuracy for small-to-large diameter pipes has been ascertained by a comparison with the numerical solutions of the differential form of governing equations that requires a large number of small grids along the pipe and the values of mean properties within each grid. Indeed, this integral model can be used for the pipeline transport at both subcritical and supercritical pressures as long as the fluid does not encounter its anomalous states and the phase-change.

Optimizing working fluids for advancing industrial heating performance of compression-absorption cascade heat pump

Independent cascade hybrid heat pump (ICHHP) can bridge the large temperature gap between low-grade air sources and high-temperature industrial demands. However, the working fluids used in previous studies are just considered sufficient as long as they perform their functional role. They may not always be the most suitable choices in different situations, and the maximum efficiency of ICHHP has not been achieved. Ionic liquids (ILs) as alternative absorbents have shown the potential to enhance ICHHP performance with their unique ability to tailor thermal properties by freely combining anions and cations. However, the scarcity of IL thermodynamic properties data, underscored by limited vapor-liquid equilibrium experiments, has impeded the full exploitation of this inherent advantage. Obviously, the lack of dedicated research on screening optimal working fluids limits ICHHP performance. To address the identified limitations, the optimal fluid is recommended in this paper by comprehensively evaluating the performance among 100 fluid combinations under different working conditions. The results indicate that R161 is the best choice for the compression subloop. For the absorption subloop, the performance improvement is more sensitive to the anionic species, with the order of influence generally being [OAC]− > [Br]− > [OMS]− > [TFA]−. Specifically, H2O/[EMIM][OAC]—R161 stands out, with maximum improvements in coefficient of performance (COP) and exergy coefficient of performance of 9.4% and 5.6%, respectively, compared to other candidates. Furthermore, it doubles the COP relative to the reference fluid H2O/LiBr—R134a. Consequently, H2O/[EMIM][OAC]—R161 is the superior working fluid, significantly advancing industrial heating efficiency for ICHHP in large temperature lift conditions.

Geometric interpretation of Tensor-Vector-Scalar theory in a Kaluza–Klein reference fluid

Gravitational alternatives to dark matter require additional fields or assumptions beyond general relativity while continuing to agree with tight solar system constraints. Modified Newtonian Dynamics (MOND), for example, predicts the Tully–Fisher relation for galaxies more accurately than dark matter models while limiting to Newtonian gravity in the solar system. On the other hand, MOND does a poor job predicting larger scale observations such as the cosmic microwave background and Matter Power Spectra. Tensor-Vector-Scalar (TeVeS) theory is a relativistic generalization of MOND that accounts for these observations without dark matter. In this paper, a generalized TeVeS from Kaluza–Klein theory in one extra dimension is derived as a consequence of n = 0 Kaluza–Klein modes. In the KK theory, MOND is a special case of a slicing condition in the 5D Arnowitt–Deser–Misner formalism enforced by a reference fluid as in the Isham-Kuchař method which may arise from a broken displacement symmetry. This has two benefits: first is means that TeVeS is compatible with Kaluza–Klein dark matter theory, which is a strong candidate for Weakly Interacting Massive Particles, the other is that it provides an elegant mechanism for the scalar and vector fields. It constrains most of the freedom in the definition of TeVeS which does not have a field theoretic motivation. This is important because the Kaluza–Klein theory predicts that spin-2 tensor modes must propagate at the speed of light, in agreement with observation, from theoretical constraints while TeVeS has to match this observation empirically. Furthermore, it provides a symmetry breaking motivation for the interpolating function in MOND.

Modified 3ω conductivity technique for measurements of thermal conductivity in cryogenic fluids

An instrument based on a modification to the 3-omega thermal conductivity technique that allows precise measurement of thermal properties in fluids is presented. Existing hot-wire techniques have difficulty measuring thermal conductivity because of the effects of natural convection distorting the measurement, however the standard 3-omega technique has been used extensively in the measurement of the properties of solids with great success. To address the challenge posed by natural convection in fluids, we modify the boundary condition of the 3-omega device configuration to be finite in extent, thereby restricting fluid motion and enabling a direct high-precision measurement of a fluid’s thermal conductivity. This modified scenario also presents an opportunity for a simultaneous measurement of the thermal diffusivity of the fluid. The behavior of the device is described with the reformed boundary conditions to show how a simultaneous measurement is made. By applying a constant temperature finite boundary condition, the solution characteristic in the frequency domain gains features that allow for simultaneous measurements of the fluid thermal conductivity and diffusivity. Given the density of the fluid, measured separately, the specific heat of the fluid can be calculated. The effects of the thermal properties of the measurement wire influence the measurement characteristic, and only when the wire thermal properties are sufficiently small compared to those of the fluid can a simultaneous measurement be made. Due to limitations in the dynamic reserve of the measurement devices, a setup is described that allows the signal of interest to be extracted and a precise measurement to be made with minimal distortion. Initial data on the thermal conductivity of helium is presented in the 4-300K temperature range. Preliminary specific heat data is also presented. Limitations on the device’s thermal properties prevent a specific heat measurement above 70K. This data is compared with reference fluid properties databases to validate the device performance.

Thermodynamic Evaluation of Low-GWP and Environmentally Friendly Alternative Refrigerants

Refrigerant systems, crucial for modern life, are increasingly important due to their environmental impact and rising energy costs, with their advancement influenced by social life evolution and widespread use in homes and buildings. A systematic search using thermodynamic models identified 48 possible ternary mixtures and 5 pure refrigerants. These combinations, based on thermodynamics, could provide energy savings, paving the way for real-world testing and definitive conclusions, not yet studied in literature. REFPROP refers to the reference fluid properties program, developed by NIST version 9.0 for 2010, is a program for calculating the thermodynamic and transport properties of industrially important fluids and their mixtures. This program was used to evaluate the refrigerant properties in different mixing ratios. Then, using the MATLAB version of 2020 apparatus to arrange and solve all the variables to generate the results under set boundary conditions, all the characteristics were incorporated into thermodynamic equations. when compared to R134a, the results demonstrated that mixtures of natural refrigerants usually have acceptable thermal performance; these mixtures may be recommended as suitable replacements for refrigeration and air conditioning systems because they are environmentally harmless and have a low GWP.

Comparison of Performance Properties of Muds Formulated With Synthesized C14 and C16 Esters of Lauric Acid

Drilling muds have relied on a range of base fluids, with mineral oil-based formulations dominating the landscape for decades. However, mineral oil-based muds contain a plethora of toxic aromatic compounds which are persistent in the environment. Hence, the objective of the paper was to synthesize and compare the performance properties of drilling muds formulated with C14 and C16 esters of lauric acid using appropriate standard procedures. Benchmarking of the esters with a reference synthetic base fluid indicated that the esters have suitable physicochemical properties for application as synthetic base drilling fluid. Their kinematic viscosities are within the API recommended range, ethyl laurate (EL) has a lower cloud point relative to the reference, and the two base fluids have higher flash point and electrical stabilities relative to the reference. The results obtained from comparing the rheology of muds prepared with ester products and that prepared with the reference fluid indicate that the muds prepared with ethyl, and n-butyl laurate have higher electrical stability than the mud prepared with the reference base fluid. The results also show that the muds prepared with the esters synthesized in this work displayed better rheology profiles than the mud prepared with the reference synthetic base fluid. However, ethyl laurate (EL) formulated mud had better thermal stability than n-butyl laurate (BL) at the temperature range studied. Through the investigation of these ester-based drilling muds, we showcased the potential of these esters to enhance drilling efficiency, minimize environmental impact, and optimize operational performance.

Application of ultra-fine particles of potato as eco-friendly green additives for drilling a borehole: A filtration, rheological and morphological evaluation

Drilling fluid is crucial for oil and gas well drilling operations, serving key functions such as facilitating the removal of drill cuttings, maintaining borehole stability and controlling formation pressures. When the drilling fluid is lost into formations, it can alter the formation's integrity, contaminate groundwater and cause permeability damage. In addition, environmental concerns arise from the waste produced during drilling activities, particularly when discarded drilling fluids contain hazardous substances like heavy metals. This study explores the potential of integrating ultrafine potato powder (PP) into water-based drilling fluids (WBDFs) as environmentally friendly additives. Several analytical techniques including X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to comprehensively characterize the prepared PPs. The study included API and HPHT filtration test, permeability plugging test and rheological evaluations of drilling fluids, assessing parameters such as filter loss, filter cake, apparent viscosity, plastic viscosity, yield point and gel strength under varied conditions of different particle sizes of PP, concentrations of PP, and temperature and pressure measurements. The obtaining results emphasize PP's potential to enhance the wellbore stability and reduce the fluid loss, the filtration of water or oil into the permeable formation, achieving 43% reduction in the filtration rate and 70% reduction in the filter cake thickness. Adding 0.5 wt% ultrafine PP improved the maximum gel strength to 32.2 lb/100 ft2, while the same concentration and particle size raised the plastic viscosity from 3 to 6.8 cP, which subsequently dropped to 6 cP in high temperature conditions. PP performed better compared with the reference fluid in improving the thinning behavior of the drilling fluids. Moreover, permeability plugging tests confirm that adding PP effectively lowered the filtration rate, with higher concentrations achieving greater reductions over time. These findings suggest that PP holds promise as an effective additive for drilling fluids, contributing to enhanced drilling efficiency, improved wellbore stability and a reduced likelihood of instability and lost circulation. The characterization and rheological analysis of PP biodegradable drilling fluids provide valuable insights for optimizing fluid formulations, tailoring them to specific operational conditions, and achieving a balance between fluidity, wellbore stability, and cuttings transport. This research highlights the potential of PP as a sustainable and efficient solution in the realm of drilling fluid additives.

Utilization of a High-Pressure Vibrating Tube Densimeter for Liquids at Temperatures Down to 100 K

A high-pressure vibrating tube densimeter, specified by the manufacturer for temperatures from (263 to 473) K at pressures up to 140 MPa, was tested at temperatures down to 100 K and from vacuum to pressures up to 10 MPa. To verify the functionality and overall performance under these conditions, the densimeter was calibrated with measurements under vacuum as well as methane and propane as reference fluids. The calibration range is T = (120 to 200) K at pressures from (2.0 to 10.0) MPa. To evaluate the recorded data, two established calibration models were used to describe the dependence of the densimeter's oscillation period on the investigated reference fluids' temperature, pressure, and density. The experiments showed that the vibrating tube densimeter is operational even at temperatures down to 100 K, but exhibits a shift of its vacuum resonance when subjected to thermal cycling at temperatures below 180 K. Accordingly, the calibration models were modified with respect to how the vacuum resonance is considered. Then, the determined calibration parameters reproduce the densities of the reference fluids within ± 0.10 kg·m−3 for the calibration model that performed better for the present study. Measurements on pure ethane and argon validate the calibration of the densimeter. Here, the densities are within (− 0.47 to 0.16) kg·m−3 of values calculated with the respective reference equation of state. The estimated combined expanded uncertainty (k = 2) in density for the validation measurements ranges from (0.52 to 1.13) kg·m−3 or is less than 0.1 % for liquid densities.

Hybrid Coatings Based on Polyvinylpyrrolidone/Polyethylene Glycol Enriched with Collagen and Hydroxyapatite: Incubation Studies and Evaluation of Mechanical and Physiochemical Properties.

Coating materials offers an intriguing solution for imparting inert implants with additional bioactive characteristics without changing underlying parameters such as mechanical strength. Metallic implants like endoprostheses or polymeric implants can be coated with a thin layer of bioactive film capable of stimulating bone-forming cells to proliferate or release a drug. However, irrespective of the final implantation site of such a coating biomaterial, it is necessary to conduct detailed mechanical and physicochemical in vitro analyses to determine its likely behavior under biological conditions. In this study, polymeric and composite coatings with hydroxyapatite obtained under UV light underwent incubation tests in four different artificial biological fluids: simulated body fluid (SBF), artificial saliva, Ringer's fluid, and water (as the reference fluid). The potentiometric and conductometric properties, sorption capacity, and degradation rate of the coatings were examined. Furthermore, their hardness, modulus of elasticity, and deformation were determined. It was demonstrated that the coatings remained stable in SBF liquid at a pH value of around 7.4. In artificial saliva, the greatest degradation of the polymer matrix (ranging between 36.19% and 39.79%) and chipping of hydroxyapatite in the composite coatings were observed. Additionally, the effect of ceramics on sorption capacity was determined, with lower capacity noted with higher HA additions. Moreover, the evaluation of surface morphology supported by elemental microanalysis confirmed the appearance of new apatite layers on the surface as a result of incubation in SBF. Ceramics also influenced mechanical aspects, increasing hardness and modulus of elasticity. For the polymer coatings, the value was 11.48 ± 0.61, while for the composite coating with 15% ceramics, it increased more than eightfold to a value of 93.31 ± 11.18 N/mm2. Based on the conducted studies, the effect of ceramics on the physicochemical as well as mechanical properties of the materials was determined, and their behavior in various biological fluids was evaluated. However, further studies, especially cytotoxicity analyses, are required to determine the potential use of the coatings as biomaterials.

Polymer Imbibition Through Paper Strips.

Liquid wicking and imbibition through porous strips are fundamental to paper microfluidics. In this study, we outline these processes via capillary rise dynamics (CRD) experiments by employing deionized water as a reference fluid and comparing its dynamics with those of aqueous polymer solutions. Replacing the working fluid with polymer solutions led to the occurrence of an intermediate viscous-dominated regime, followed by the gravity-dominated regime at a long-time scale. This transition from viscous-dominated to gravity-dominated was found to be a function of the porous substrate pore diameter. The delay in CRD from the viscous-dominated to gravity-dominated regime is explained by the presence of the prewetting front (PWF). To address it, PWF dynamics has also been quantified, along with the characterization of its morphological differences.

Densities and excess molar volumes of thiophene + heptane and thiophene + octane at temperatures between (313 K and 363) K and pressures up to 25 MPa using three calibration methods

New compressed liquid densities (ρ) of thiophene + heptane and thiophene + octane are reported in the temperature range from (313 to 363) K, with pressure up to 25 MPa. The compositions are x(1) = 0.1049, 0.2471, 0.5097, 0.7494, and 0.8994 for thiophene (1) + heptane (2), and x(1) = 0.1042, 0.2530, 0.5037, 0.7516, and 0.8988 for thiophene (1) + octane (2). The experimental system uses a vibrating tube densimeter (VTD) and three calibration methods (the first uses hexane and water, the second uses nitrogen and water, and the third uses water and applying vacuum to the VTD as calibration reference fluids). The reported density data are determined using the third method, which notifies the lowest uncertainty and estimates a maximum relative expanded uncertainty (k=2) of 0.21 % in the temperature range from (313 to 363) K and pressures up to 25 MPa. The pure compound densities were calculated from previous density measurements represented by the Pimentel-Galicia model. This empirical correlation of the pure compounds was used before for the excess molar volume calculation. The experimental data of the mixtures reported in this work were modeled by the Pimentel-Galicia model at each composition with deviations not higher than 0.07 %. The combined standard uncertainty for composition (considering the purities of the samples) is ucx= 0.0026. Finally, the isothermal compressibility and isobaric thermal expansivity were evaluated from density data.

Evaluation the effect of wheat nano-biopolymers on the rheological and filtration properties of the drilling fluid: Towards sustainable drilling process

Drilling fluid plays a crucial role in the drilling operation of the oil and gas wells by serving various functions including controlling formation pressures, preserving borehole stability, and removing drill cuttings. However, the loss of the drilling fluid into formations can lead to the permeability damage, groundwater contamination, and altered formation integrity. In addition, the waste generated from drilling activities poses environmental issues, particularly when drilling fluids containing substances, such as heavy metals are discarded. Water-based drilling fluids (WBDFs) are preferred due to their eco-friendliness and cost-effectiveness. However, they suffer from inadequate rheological and filtration properties, prompting the introduction of additives. This study evaluates the use of wheat grain as nano-biodegradable additives in WBDFs, focusing on different sizes of wheat powder ranging from nano to course particle size. Nano-biopolymers (WNBPs) were prepared from breaking down into the nanosized structure using the ball mailing approach and characterized using XRF, FTIR, TGA, DLS, SEM and TEM. Several drilling fluids including the reference, modified, biodegradable and nano-biodegradable drilling fluids were prepared from API SPEC 13A standard, carboxymethyl starch (CMS), wheat powder (WP) at 75–600 µm and nano-biopolymer (WNBPs), respectively. The formulated drilling fluids were investigated by conducting different measurements, such as pH, rheology, filtration and modeling. The obtained results show that the nano-biodegradable exhibited alkaline pH above 10 that keeps the drillpipe and equipment from the corrosion. The developed WNBPs exhibited a significant role in improving the rheological properties of the reference drilling fluid but not effective as CMS. The maximum gel strength of 957.6 pa was obtained from adding 2 wt% WNBPs and increased 1100 pa when temperature increased to 70 °C. Meanwhile, the same wheat nanoparticles enabled increasing the plastic viscosity from 0.03 to 0.09 pa.s and decreased to 0.07 pa.s under the influence of high temperature. In terms of the thinning behavior, the prepared wheat powders exhibited a significant role in providing the thinning behavior of the developed drilling fluids compared with the reference drilling fluid and CMS-modified drilling fluid. Adding 2 wt% WNBPs to the reference drilling fluid decreased the fluid loss from 19.5 to 14 mL but fine WPs have a stronger effective on the filtration properties and lowered the filtration rate to 11.5 mL.

Anakinra Removal by Continuous Renal Replacement Therapy: An Ex Vivo Analysis.

Patients with sepsis are at significant risk for multiple organ dysfunction, including the lungs and kidneys. To manage the morbidity associated with kidney impairment, continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT) may be required. The extent of anakinra pharmacokinetics in CRRT remains unknown. The objectives of this study were to investigate the anakinra-circuit interaction and quantify the rate of removal from plasma. The anakinra-circuit interaction was evaluated using a closed-loop ex vivo CRRT circuit. CRRT was performed in three phases based on the method of solute removal: 1) hemofiltration, 2) hemodialysis, and 3) hemodiafiltration. Standard control samples of anakinra were included to assess drug degradation. University research laboratory. None. Anakinra was administered to the CRRT circuit and serial prefilter blood samples were collected along with time-matched control and hemofiltrate samples. Each circuit was run in triplicate to assess inter-run variability. Concentrations of anakinra in each reference fluid were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Transmembrane filter clearance was estimated by the product of the sieving coefficient/dialysate saturation constant and circuit flow rates. Removal of anakinra from plasma occurred within minutes for each CRRT modality. Average drug remaining (%) in plasma following anakinra administration was lowest with hemodiafiltration (34.9%). The average sieving coefficient was 0.34, 0.37, and 0.41 for hemodiafiltration, hemofiltration, and hemodialysis, respectively. Transmembrane clearance was fairly consistent across each modality with the highest during hemodialysis (5.53 mL/min), followed by hemodiafiltration (4.99 mL/min), and hemofiltration (3.94 mL/min). Percent drug remaining within the control samples (93.1%) remained consistent across each experiment, indicating negligible degradation within the blood. The results of this analysis are the first to demonstrate that large molecule therapeutic proteins such as anakinra, are removed from plasma with modern CRRT technology. Current dosing recommendations for patients with severe renal impairment may result in subtherapeutic anakinra concentrations in those receiving CRRT.

Microfluidic viscometer using capillary pressure sensing

Blood viscosity is considered as a vital determinant of the efficiency of blood flow in blood-vessel networks. The coflowing method is considered as a promising technique for measuring blood viscosity. However, it requires two precise syringe pumps to supply two fluids (i.e., the reference fluid and blood), calibration in advance, and long waiting time for securing steady blood flow. To solve these problems, a single syringe pump is adopted to supply blood into a microfluidic device without requiring a reference fluid. Two key parameters—fluidic resistance and compliance coefficient—are suggested and obtained by analyzing the fluid velocities in a microfluidic channel and calculating the air pressure in the air compliance unit. Using a discrete fluidic circuit model, the pressure difference is analytically derived and utilized as the nonlinear regression formula. The two key parameters are then obtained through nonlinear regression analysis. According to experimental results, the air cavity and flow rate contribute to increasing the compliance coefficient. The fluidic resistance increases significantly at higher concentrations of glycerin solution ranging from 20% to 50%. The proposed method underestimates the values by approximately 27.5% compared with the previous method. Finally, the proposed method is adopted to detect the effects of hematocrit and red blood cell sedimentation in the driving syringe based on two vital parameters. Regarding the fluidic resistance, the normalized difference between the proposed and previous methods is less than 10%. Therefore, two key parameters can be considered as effective for quantitatively monitoring the hematocrit variation in blood flow. In conclusion, from a biomechanical perspective, the proposed method is highly promising for quantifying blood flow in a microfluidic channel.

Salvia officinalis-Hydroxyapatite Nanocomposites with Antibacterial Properties.

In the present study, sage-coated zinc-doped hydroxyapatite was incorporated into a dextran matrix (7ZnHAp-SD), and its physico-chemical and antimicrobial activities were investigated. A 7ZnHAp-SD nanocomposite suspension was obtained using the co-precipitation method. The stability of the nanocomposite suspension was evaluated using ultrasound measurements. The stability parameter calculated relative to double-distilled water as a reference fluid highlights the very good stability of the 7ZnHAp-SD suspension. X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were performed to evaluate the characteristic diffraction peak of the hydroxyapatite phase. Valuable information regarding the morphology and chemical composition of 7ZnHAp-SD was obtained via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) measurements were performed on the 7ZnHAp-SD suspensions in order to evaluate the functional groups present in the sample. Preliminary studies on the antimicrobial activity of 7ZnHAp-SD suspensions against the standard strains of Staphylococcus aureus 25923 ATCC, Enterococcus faecalis 29212 ATCC, Escherichia coli 25922 ATCC, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 27853 ATCC were conducted. More than that, preliminary studies on the biocompatibility of 7ZnHAp-SD were conducted using human cervical adenocarcinoma (HeLa) cells, and their results emphasized that the 7ZnHAp-SD sample did not exhibit a toxic effect and did not induce any noticeable changes in the morphological characteristics of HeLa cells. These preliminary results showed that these nanoparticles could be possible candidates for biomedical/antimicrobial applications.

Comparative study of the cascade absorption heat pump running optimal ternary ionic liquid working pair

Novel working pairs are one of the significant measures to enhance the performance of the absorption heat pump. Ternary ionic liquid working pairs (Refrigerant-Salt-Ionic liquid) can alleviate the economic constraint of ionic liquids, but the influence of additional salt-absorbent on the performance of binary ionic liquid working pairs (Refrigerant-Ionic liquid) has not been evaluated. Furthermore, the number of candidates for ternary ionic liquid working fluids is still limited. To fill the above research gaps and advanced absorption technology, a novel ternary ionic liquid working pair is proposed in this work first, and its thermal properties are measured experimentally. Then taking the compression-absorption cascade heat pump as the subject, the differences in cooling performance between various ternary ionic liquid working pairs and binary reference fluids are simulated. The results show that the addition of salt-absorbent does not affect the applicable source temperature range of original ionic liquid working fluids, but it helps to improve the system efficiency and cooling capacity. In particular, the ternary ionic liquid working pair proposed in this work deserves priority recommendation, as it can achieve up to 12.59% higher maximum second law efficiency and 1.95% ∼ 87.87% higher cooling output than other candidates, as well as make cascade heat pump earlier freed from the assistance of compression sub-loop.

Second virial coefficient, Boyle temperature and equation of state of van Hove fluids with a downward concavity attractive parabolic-well

The second virial coefficient, the Boyle temperature and the equation of state of van Hove fluids with a relatively short ranged attractive parabolic-well of downward concavity are considered. The analytic second virial coefficient for this fluid is obtained explicitly and it is used to compute the Boyle temperature of the fluid as a function of the range of the potential. Further, an equation of state is derived using the second-order thermodynamic perturbation theory of Barker and Henderson in the macroscopic compressibility approximation, with the hard-sphere fluid being the reference fluid. For this latter we profit from the fully analytical expression of the radial distribution function, consistent with the Carnahan-Starling equation state, derived within the so-called rational function approximation method up to a range twice the size of the hard-core diameter. The results for the reduced pressure of the fluid as a function of the packing fraction and two values of the range of the potential well at different temperatures are compared with Monte Carlo simulation data. Estimates of the values of the critical temperature are also provided.

Semi-analytical modeling of sediment-laden open-channel flows with the effects of stratification, hindered settling, and eddy viscosities.

This study proposes semi-analytical models for simultaneous distribution of fluid velocity and suspended sediment concentration in an open-channel turbulent flow using three kinds of eddy viscosities. Apart from the classical parabolic eddy viscosity which is based on a log-law velocity profile, we consider two recently proposed eddy viscosities based on the concept of velocity and length scales. To deal with the flows with high sediment concentration, several turbulent features such as the hindered settling mechanism and the stratification effect are incorporated in the model. The governing system of highly nonlinear differential equations is solved using the homotopy analysis method (HAM), which produces solutions in the form of convergent series. Numerical and theoretical convergence analyses are provided for all three types of eddy viscosities. The effects of parameters on the derived models are discussed physically. Experimental data on both dilute and non-dilute flows are considered to verify the HAM-based solutions. The effects of the stratification correction factor (β) and the turbulent Schmidt number (α) reveal that they should be determined optimally for applicability of the proposed models in terms of accurate prediction with data. This optimal procedure required further investigation of these parameters, and, thus, an analysis of β and α is carried out, which linked them with the particle diameter through particle settling velocity, reference fluid velocity, and reference sediment concentration by proposing regression equations. Furthermore, using the optimal values of the parameters, the proposed models corresponding to the eddy viscosities based on the exponentially decreasing turbulent kinetic energy function and von Karman's similarity hypothesis are seen to be superior to the model corresponding to a parabolic eddy viscosity. Finally, a comment on the HAM is made where it is observed that the method can remove the numerical singularity of the governing equations at the water surface, which arises because of the consideration of vanishing eddy viscosity thereat.

Structure and thermodynamics of a short-range Lennard-Jones fluid reference

As an attempt to develop a ‘realistic’, and yet theoretically tractable reference fluid for the development of a perturbed molecular-base equation of state for non-associating fluids, a Lennard-Jones-like model with a short-range attractive part has been constructed and studied. Its phase diagram has been determined along with its structure and other thermodynamic properties along selected isotherms. The model reproduces the structure of the parent Lennard-Jones fluid and its critical point falls below the triple point of the Lennard-Jones fluid. Since the model is also amenable to a theoretical treatment, it may be considered as a suitable realistic reference model for Lennard-Jones type fluids for a wide range of thermodynamic conditions.