Flux Transfer Research Articles

Insights into the Mechanism of Efficient Cr(VI) Removal from Aqueous Solution by Iron-Rich Wheat Straw Hydrochar: Coupling DFT Calculation with Experiments.

Agricultural solid waste has become one of the raw materials for hydrothermal carbon production, promoting resource utilization. This study synthesized two types of ball-milling carbons (Fe-MHBC vs MHBC) with and without FeCl3 modification using wheat straw hydrochars. Cr(VI) adsorption on these two types of ball-milling carbons was investigated. According to Langmuir's maximum adsorption capacity analysis, Fe-MHBC had a capacity of 116.29 mg g-1. The thermodynamic analysis based on isothermal adsorption reveals the spontaneous process of the reaction between the two materials. The adsorption of Cr(VI) on Fe-MHBC exhibited excellent agreement with the pseudo-second-order kinetics model. Furthermore, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed that Fe(II) in the material reduced Cr(VI) when it participated in the reaction. The acidic conditions facilitate the elimination of Cr(VI). The Fe-MHBC has a higher zeta potential, which enhances the electrostatic attraction of Cr(VI) particles. Even with a starting pH of 10, the removal rate can be consistently maintained at over 64%. The adsorption of Cr(VI) was inhibited by various anions and higher ion concentrations. Density functional theory demonstrates that the presence of Fe enhances the adsorption capacity and electron transfer flux of Cr(VI). Fe-MHBC effectively eliminates Cr(VI) by the process of electrostatic adsorption, redox, and complexation reactions. This study demonstrated that hydrochar materials modified by FeCl3 through a ball-milling process show considerable potential as effective adsorbents in the treatment of Cr(VI) pollution, offering a viable and environmentally friendly solution for mitigating this prevalent environmental issue.

Influence of different Reynolds numbers and new geometries on water jacket cooling performance in a CI engine

Physical damage and emission increases that may occur in the engine due to uncontrolled temperature increases are prevented by cooling systems. In this study, the water jacket (WJ) of the F-Type F8Q706 engine was examined for different Reynolds numbers and geometries. With a combined examination approach, engine tests, 1D engine model, 3D in-cylinder combustion (ICC) model, and 3D WJ CFD studies are presented together, for the first time. Accordingly, a 3D WJ CFD model was developed using in-cylinder parameters calculated from 1D and 3D ICC which were verified by tests. Engine powers in 1D and 3D models, heat transfer, liner temperature, and heat flux in WJ models were compared. The engine powers at 2500 rpm with wide-open throttle are as follows: 1D (33.610 kW), 3D ICC (32.075 kW), engine catalog test (30.890 kW), and a literature test (29 kW). In the WJ model, instead of the Reynolds number 22,128.97, values of 18,440.81–15,367.34–12,806.11–1067.76–8893.14–7410.95–6175.79 were used. In this case, heat transfer decreased by 11.224%–20.844%–29.940%–38.168%–45.723%–52.874%–59.340%. Liner temperature increased by 3.962%–7.505%–10.879%–13.958%–16.800%–19.470%–21.822%. As the Reynolds number decreased, heat transfer decreased, and liner temperature increased. In the WJ, uncontrolled temperature increases were seen in areas farthest from the water inflow. Unlike studies using nanofluids, a new WJ geometry with 169 fins was developed for cooling performance. Nanoparticles cause damage to elastomeric system elements, clogging, and corrosion in lines. This geometry increased heat transfer by 42.01% and reduced liner surface temperatures by 48.28% for 22,128.966 Re. Repeated analyses showed that the fins increased heat transfer.

Spatiotemporal distribution and inter-media transfer of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Shanghai, China: Historical patterns and future trends

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) represent pervasive pollutants, posing health risks in urban environments. It is essential to comprehend the spatiotemporal distributions, composition profiles, and inter-media transfer processes of PAHs in various environmental compartments, influenced by both natural changes and anthropogenic activities. This study integrates historical and future spatiotemporally changing environmental parameters, including climate data, GDP, population data, land-use types, and hydrological variables, into the Multimedia Urban Model (MUM). This integration enables the simulation of spatiotemporal distributions and inter-media transfer fluxes of PAHs among six different media from the 2010s to the 2100s under two distinct Shared Socio-economic Pathways (SSP) scenarios in the megacity of Shanghai, China. The MUM model, featuring diverse gridded parameters, effectively captures PAH concentrations and movement across environmental compartments. Results indicate a decreasing trend in PAHs concentrations in the 2100s compared to the 2010s, with PAH concentrations in water, sediment, vegetation, and organic film covering impermeable surfaces under the SSP3–7.0 scenario higher than those of the SSP1–2.6 scenario. Low molecular weight PAHs dominate in the sediment, water, and air, whereas high molecular weight PAHs prevail in the organic film, vegetation, and soil. Sediment and soil serve as the predominant sinks for PAHs. The primary transport processes for PAH movement include air-film, air-soil, film-water, soil-air, and water-air. Almost all transfer fluxes exhibit a declining trend in future periods except for the air-film transport pathway. The principal input and removal routes for PAHs in Shanghai involve the advection of air and water. The study provides essential insights into the environmental behavior of PAHs and informs targeted pollution control in Shanghai. Additionally, it serves as a technical reference for similar pollution prediction research.

Thermally oscillatory flow inside an irregular channel through a porous medium with velocity and temperature slips

The purpose of this exploration is to scrutinize the heat transfer characteristics of oscillatory flow on the magnetized second-grade fluid within an asymmetric porous wavy channel with velocity slip and temperature jump conditions. Flow in porous space is characterized by modified Darcy's law. The use of a magnetized second-grade fluid in an asymmetric porous wavy channel could potentially enhance heat transfer within the fluid, leading to better control over drug release rates and spatial distribution. The fundamental flow equations are converted into ordinary differential equations (ODEs) utilizing suitable non-dimensional variables and then resolved analytically. The outcomes are graphically represented to illustrate the physical impacts of governing parameters on the temperature, and velocity profiles. Streamlines are also constructed for specific physical parameters to investigate trapping phenomena. In addition, variations on the coefficient of skin friction, mass flux, and heat transfer coefficients are illustrated with different values of pertinent parameters. The outcomes indicate that fluid velocity is enhanced by increasing the values of Darcy's number and Grashof's number. The fluid temperature decreases by increasing the values of the temperature jump parameter.

Geometrically Engineered Heating Arrays Enabled by Electric-Field-Driven 3D Printing for On-Demand Thermal Patterning

Arbitrary and high-precision thermal patterning has long been desired in the field of thermal functional materials. However, existing thermal patterning strategies have not been widely applied, either hampered by the difficulty in fabricating anisotropic metamaterials or limited by complex thermal manipulation. We propose an on-demand thermal patterning scheme that sandwiches geometrically engineered heating arrays between a substrate and an encapsulation layer to form composite structures and control the omnidirectional transfer of the heat flux generated by the heating arrays. These heating arrays are digitally assembled from multiple heater cells of varying widths and continuously printed using electric-field-driven 3D printing. A design strategy for thermal patterning with good uniformity within individual regions and high contrast between regions is proposed. The performance of the on-demand thermal patterning is verified via high-precision thermal printing. The proposed scheme provides a general and reproducible method for designing thermal functional materials, with potential applications in thermochromics, messaging, thermal camouflage, and illusions.

Kinetic Signatures, Dawn‐Dusk Asymmetries, and Flux Transfer Events Associated With Mercury's Dayside Magnetopause Reconnection From 3D MHD‐AEPIC Simulations

AbstractMercury possesses a miniature yet dynamic magnetosphere driven primarily by magnetic reconnection occurring regularly at the magnetopause and in the magnetotail. Using the newly developed Magnetohydrodynamics with Adaptively Embedded Particle‐in‐Cell (MHD‐AEPIC) model coupled with planetary interior, we have performed a series of global simulations with a range of upstream conditions to study in detail the kinetic signatures, asymmetries, and flux transfer events (FTEs) associated with Mercury's dayside magnetopause reconnection. By treating both ions and electrons kinetically, the embedded PIC model reveals crescent‐shaped phase‐space distributions near reconnection sites, counter‐streaming ion populations in the cusp region, and temperature anisotropies within FTEs. A novel metric and algorithm are developed to automatically identify reconnection X‐lines in our 3D simulations. The spatial distribution of reconnection sites as modeled by the PIC code exhibits notable dawn‐dusk asymmetries, likely due to such kinetic effects as X‐line spreading and Hall effects. Across all simulations, simulated FTEs occur quasi‐periodically every 4–9 s. The properties of simulated FTEs show clear dependencies on the upstream solar wind Alfvénic Mach number (MA) and the interplanetary magnetic field orientation, consistent with MESSENGER observations and previous Hall‐MHD simulations. FTEs formed in our MHD‐AEPIC model tend to carry a large amount of open flux, contributing ∼3%–36% of the total open flux generated at the dayside. Taken together, our MHD‐AEPIC simulations provide new insights into the kinetic processes associated with Mercury's magnetopause reconnection that should prove useful for interpreting spacecraft observations, such as those from MESSENGER and BepiColombo.

A Quantitative Analysis of the Uncertainties on Reconnection Electric Field Estimates Using Ionospheric Measurements

AbstractCalculating the magnetic flux transfer across the open‐closed boundary (OCB) per unit time and distance—the reconnection electric field—is an important means of remotely monitoring magnetospheric dynamics. Ground‐based measurements of plasma convection velocities together with velocities of the OCB are commonly used to infer reconnection rates. However, this approach is limited by spatial coverage and often lacks robust uncertainty quantification. In this paper, we assimilate Super Dual Auroral Radar Network convection measurements, ground magnetometer data, and estimates of the conductance derived from the Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration satellite imagers, using the Local mapping of polar ionospheric electrodynamics (Lompe) framework over a region in North America. We present a new method to assess various contributions to uncertainties in the derived reconnection electric fields, including a novel approach to estimate uncertainties in conductance from global auroral imaging. Our method is demonstrated on a substorm event with an associated pseudobreakup during a period of favorable observational coverage. In this case study, the uncertainties in the reconnection electric field are ∼5–10 mV/m at the peak of substorm expansion, roughly 15% of the peak reconnection electric field. We find that the main contributor to the reconnection electric field estimates after substorm onset is the OCB motion, whereas during the pseudobreakup the main contributor is ionospheric plasma convection.

Cross-media transfer of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the Naples metropolitan area, southern Italy

At present, an in-depth knowledge of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the multimedia system of the urban environment remains limited. Taking the Naples metropolitan area (NMA) for instance, we simulated the cross-media transfer of PAHs using a multimedia urban model, involving air, water, soil, sediment, vegetation, and impervious film. The results indicated that the predicted PAH values in 2015 match well with their corresponding in-situ monitoring data. The PAH emission inventory and the simulated mass in various media all showed a downward trend from 2015 to 2020 due to national energy conservation policies and Corona Virus Disease 2019. The simulated mass of PAHs in the soil and sediment phases was 896.8 and 232.7 kg in 2020, respectively, contributing together to 96.7% of PAHs in the NMA. And they were identified as the greatest sinks for PAHs, and exhibited the longest retention duration, with values of PAH persistence reaching approximately 548.8 – 2,0642.3 hours. The results of transfer fluxes indicated that local emissions and atmospheric advection were the primary routes affecting the distribution of PAHs. The sensitivity analysis indicated that atmospheric advection rate was the most critical parameter for air, soil, vegetation, and film, whereas water concentration and sediment degradation rate were vital for water and sediment, respectively. This study offered valuable insights into how human activity contributes to the status and fate of PAHs in the urban environment.

A Pressure Pulse‐Driven Transient Magnetospheric Event

AbstractBursty reconnection models predict that flux transfer events (FTEs) moving along the magnetopause launch fast mode compressional waves into the magnetosheath that push the bow shock outward. By contrast, increases in the solar wind density striking the bow shock should push that boundary inward and launch fast mode compressional waves that propagate across the magnetosheath, drive waves on the magnetopause, and generate transient events in the outer magnetosphere. Multipoint ACE, Wind, THEMIS, and GOES‐11/12 solar wind, bow shock, and magnetospheric observations on 14 October 2008 provide direct evidence for solar wind pressure pulses producing a large amplitude indentation with crater FTE‐like properties on the magnetopause.

Determination of the optimal total oxygen concentration and oxygen partitioning ratio based on the heat transfer characteristics of oxy-coal combustion in a swirl burner

Oxy-coal combustion is an attractive option for CO2 capture from coal-fired power plants due to high carbon capture efficiency and favorable economic performance. It is critical for the operation of the power plants to maintain similar heat transfer characteristics by rationalizing the partitioning strategy of the oxidant streams when retrofitting coal-fired power plants with oxy-fuel combustion technology. In the present work, the oxy-coal combustion characteristics under various total oxygen concentrations XO2,total of 21 %–32 % and oxygen partitioning ratio conditions in a 100 kW vertical swirl burner were numerically investigated by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models. And the effects of the XO2,total and oxygen partitioning ratio on the heat transfer characteristics of oxy-coal combustion were numerically simulated to quantitatively obtain the optimal oxygen supply partitioning strategy for the retrofitting of coal-fired power plants. Then the flame structure, heat transfer flux, and char burnout rate at different oxygen partitioning ratios between the primary and secondary streams were systematically analyzed to further determine the optimal oxygen partitioning ratio. The results showed that the maximum flue gas temperature Tmax increased by 220 K and the total heat transfer flux on the furnace wall increased by 42 % when the XO2,total was increased from 21 % to 32 %, respectively. Under oxy-coal combustion conditions, the Tmax at the XO2,total of 32.4 % was consistent with that under air combustion condition, while the total heat transfer flux at the XO2,total of 29.4 % matched with that under air combustion condition. Moreover, the total heat transfer flux and the flame length were increased by 17.3 % and 46.3 %, respectively, as the oxygen concentration of the primary stream XO2,Pri was increased from 6.5 % to 45 % at the XO2,total of 29 %. More importantly, the total heat transfer flux at the XO2,Pri of 31.9 % under oxy-coal combustion condition matched with that under air combustion condition. The optimal total oxygen concentration and oxygen partitioning ratio of oxy-coal combustion based on the heat transfer characteristics were quantitatively determined, which gave an important reference for the oxy-coal combustion retrofitting of traditional coal-fired power plants.

Determining obstructive or promoting effects of anions and DOM on phosphate transport combining with Donnan dialysis and selective electrodialysis

In recent, nutrient recovery from wastewater by selective electrodialysis has been getting more attention, especially for non-renewable elements like phosphorus. However, phosphates usually possess a slow transfer flux in the electrodialysis process. This study aimed to decipher the influence of competing anions and dissolved organic matters (DOM) on phosphate migration with and without electric field. Anions that do and do not participate in protonation-deprotonation reactions showed discrepant effects on competitive phosphate transport. Carbonates enhance the sorption of phosphates in the anion exchange membrane and their diffusion through the membrane. However, this advantage gradually reduced with the increasing voltage during the selective electrodialysis, caused by the development of water splitting and an increase of the carbonate charge in the membrane. DOM substances, especially humic and fulvic acids, delay the phosphate transfer by the formation of fouling and biofouling and substantially intensify water splitting. With the increase of electric field, fouling of humic and fulvic acids were enhanced, while the presence of DOM has little effect on phosphate in Donnan dialysis. These findings help the understanding of phosphorus transfer in the electrodialysis process, and providing insights into the underlying mechanisms of membrane selectivity in competitive ion transport.

Investigating the mechanism of Au(III) transport using a polymer inclusion membrane with dibutyl carbitol as a carrier

In this article, firstly, the separation and transfer of Au(III) from gold chloride solution was investigated using a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) system containing dibutyl carbitol (DBC) as carrier molecules, dioctyl phthalate (DOP), bis(2-ethyl hexyl) adipate (dioctyl adipate) (DOA) and tris (2-ethyl hexyl) phosphate (T2EHP) as plasticizers and high molecular weight polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as the base polymer. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used to identify PIMs. Kinetic studies featuring a two-step reaction, with the first step being reversible, were conducted across various sections to investigate the processes of extraction, stripping, and transport. The effects of different stripping agents such as water, HCl, thiourea, sodium thiosulfate, and oxalic acid was investigated, and the best results were obtained with thiourea. Also, the mechanisms of Au(III) extraction and transport were studied. Under the conditions of source solution, tetrachloroaurate anionic complex AuCl4− with protonated DBC (ROR2OHM+) was extracted by ion solvation mechanism. The validity of the proposed extraction mechanism was confirmed through the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) spectroscopy. In order to make the membrane with the best composition and the highest efficiency, the effect of weight percentage of the carrier and plasticizer was investigated. There was an optimal value for the weight percentage of plasticizer (10–20% by weight) and carrier (40%), in which the highest flux and permeability in the membrane occurred. The effect of the viscosity of different plasticizers (DOP, DOA, and T2EHP) on the Au(III) flux was also investigated. It was found that the flux increases linearly with the reduction of plasticizer viscosity. Effect of membrane thickness on the permeability, initial flux, and efficiency of Au(III) transfer, were conducted with thickness of 120, 80, 45, and 30 μm. By reducing the thickness of the membrane, the transfer flux, permeability and percent of Au(III) transport, were improved from 12.9 × 10−3mh−1, 45.3 × 10−7molm−2s−1 and 18.2% to 26.4 × 10−3mh−1, 83.5 × 10−7molm−2s−1 and 37.3%, respectively. According to the results, a membrane with a combination of PVC:DBC:D2EHP with a weight percentage ratio of 50:40:10 with a thickness of 30 μm was suggested. Optimized results with the proposed membrane were obtained to be: extraction rate constant of 1.43 h−1, extraction percent of 99.1%, stripping rate constant of 37.5 × 10−4h−1, stripping percent of 40.9%, and permeability of 27.0 × 10−3mh−1, initial flux of 82.1 × 10−7molm−2s−1.

Study on the flame radiative heat transfer and near-field radiation heat flux predictive model of vehicle fires in a tunnel

As a major form of heat transfer, flame thermal radiation has an important effect on the ignition of adjacent energy, fire spread and environmental damage. Forecasting the flame radiation heat flux can provide theoretical basis for fire hazard assessment, fire extinguishing and salvation. Meanwhile, the distinctive structure of the arc tunnel can result in significant variations in the local heat and mass transfer processes during tunnel fires compared to those in rectangular tunnels, leading to different fire characteristics parameters. In this study, experiments and theoretical analyses were conducted to investigate the flame length scale and near-field radiation heat flux on the lower surface of an arc-shaped ceiling induced by vehicle fires in a tunnel. The findings reveal that the flame length scale in the transverse direction beneath the arc-shaped ceiling decreases with an increasing burner aspect ratio and increases with the increasing heat release rate. A dimensionless model of the flame length scale under the arced ceiling with various burner aspect ratios was proposed based on the amount of remaining unburned fuel after flame impingement and the buoyancy component along the arc-shaped ceiling. Simultaneously, radiative heat fluxes on the lower surface also increase with rising heat release rate. The flame geometry beneath the arc-shaped ceiling is assumed to be a combination of a cuboid and an arc plate model based on the actual flame length scale. Subsequently, the view factor, radiative fraction, and flame surface area are analyzed to predict the radiative heat fluxes on the lower surface. The predictions of the cuboid and arc plate flame model show good agreement with the current experimental data. This work presents a dimensionless correlation of the flame length scale and calculates the view factor between the target and the arc plate to predict the near-field radiative heat flux more accurately. This approach also facilitates the understanding of flame spreading behavior and thermal hazards impacted by arced ceiling.

Membrane role in heat and mass transfer resistance distribution and performance of hollow fiber membrane contactor for SGMD desalination

Hollow fiber membrane contactor (HFMC) is the core device of heat mass exchange between seawater solution and sweeping air in sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) desalination. In order to reveal the distribution of heat and mass transfer resistance on feed solution side, porous membrane side and sweeping air side, a mathematical model considering the simultaneous heat mass transfer and water vapor diffusion mechanism in the membrane pores was established for the cross-flow HFMC. The simulation results of the model were compared with experimental results and literature results. Comparison shows that the deviation of simulation results of the model is less than 13.4 %, which verifies the accuracy and reliability of the simulation results. Influences of the main structural characteristics of porous membrane on the resistance distribution of heat and mass transfer, efficiency and membrane flux were explored. Air side dominates the heat transfer process, while the membrane side accounts for less than 39 % of the total heat transfer resistance for the main range of membrane microstructure parameters investigated. The mass transfer is controlled by the porous membrane except for thin membrane with a thickness of less than 100 μm. Membranes with porosity above 0.8 and as thin as possible can achieve better mass transfer efficiency and freshwater flux. Increasing mean pore diameter has a strong promotion effect on the increase of membrane flux before it reaches 150 nm, and beyond this critical value, the water vapor diffusion mechanism changes from Knudsen collision to molecular collision. Effects of different operating parameters and membrane microstructure parameters on air temperature distribution and humidity distribution were also analyzed.

Performance evaluation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells adopting rectangular-baffle and tapered flow channels with an equivalent average depth

ABSTRACT Optimizing the flow channel structures can improve the efficiency of proton exchange membrane fuel cells and promote the efficient utilization of clean energy. This study investigates the impacts of rectangular-baffle and tapered flow channels on electrical performance, temperature distribution and mass transfer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells, based on a 3D, multi-physical model. The equivalent average depth is adopted as the reference benchmark to mitigate the influence of channel depth. Results indicate that adopting variable-depth channels enhances convective mass transfer on the porous layer surface under higher voltage. The convective mass transfer of oxygen is dominant in the activation polarization region, while diffusion is dominant in the concentration polarization region. Variable-depth channels enhance heat and mass transfer in comparison to the straight channel. The tapered channel can improve the mass transfer flux in oxygen starvation region, and the drainage ability of the rectangular baffle channel is inferior to the tapered channel. The rectangular baffle channel demonstrates better convective heat transfer performance and temperature uniformity. A rectangular-baffle channel can increase net power by 4.31%, while a tapered channel can achieve a maximum increase of 9.27% when the pumping power is considered. Therefore, incorporating a tapered channel is an optimal strategy to boost cell efficiency.

Effect of micro-/nano-porous thin film surfaces prepared by a hybrid method of etching and electrochemical deposition on pool boiling heat transfer performance

Surfaces created using efficient and inexpensive methods are highly demanded in industrial applications of extremely high temperatures. In this study, Composite Nano-particle Coated Over CuO Filmed (CNCCF) surface is prepared through two processes, first through chemical etching to produce a thin film of CuO over bare Cu surface, and secondly deposition of Ni-Al2O3 composite nano-particle over CuO thin filmed copper surface by electrochemical deposition process. The completed CNCCF surface exhibits favorable characteristics for improved boiling heat transmission, such as wettability, roughness, porosity, etc. An experiment on pool boiling is conducted on the CNCCF and bare Cu surface. DI water at atmospheric pressure is used as the boiling fluid. Findings show that the CNCCF surface exhibits enhanced Critical Heat Flux (CHF) and Boiling heat Transfer Coefficient (BHTC) than bare Cu surface. The increased porosity, roughness, and other properties of the CNCCF surface are the cause of this improvement in CHF and BHTC. A high-speed camera is also used to monitor and analyze bubble behavior during boiling on all surfaces, including the Bare Cu. Further evidence for the enhancement of boiling heat transfer on the CNCCF surface comes from the nucleation site density, departure diameter, and frequency characteristics of bubbles.

Hybrid electromagnetic Halbach array for wireless power transfer (WPT) system using variable and uniform pitch coils

AbstractThe electromagnetic Halbach array (EHA) for wireless power transfer (WPT), designed to improve the transferred power and power transfer distance, has been proven to be effective and can be applied in various consumer applications. This paper presents a hybrid form of the EHA, aimed at improving the quality of power generated and transmitted. The expression for the determination of the magnetic field of a variable pitch flat coil for wireless power transfer and other uses has been derived. The average magnetic field, magnetic flux, and power transfer efficiency are investigated. The power transfer efficiency and the average magnetic field generated by four different design considerations were compared. The hybrid electromagnetic Halbach array wireless power transfer system (HEHA‐WPTS) has also been studied and results are compared with the conventional arrangements. Simulations and experiments were carried out to verify the analytical results obtained. According to the results obtained, the HEHA‐WPTS, with a base coil with variable pitches and uniform side coils, produces a more uniform average magnetic field and a better average power transfer efficiency over a longer power transfer distance.

Experimental study of pool boiling performance of Fe3O4 ferromagnetic nanofluid on a copper surface

Nanofluids significantly enhance the critical heat flux of boiling heat transfer. This paper experimentally investigates the pool boiling performance and the influence mechanism of Fe3O4 nanofluids. Compared with deionized water, the 0.001 vol% nanofluid increases a maximum enhancement in critical heat flux by 47.90%. During nanofluid boiling, Fe3O4 nanoparticles are deposited on the surfaces. The nanoparticle deposition surfaces are physically characterized to explain the influence mechanism of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on boiling heat transfer. Nanoparticle deposition modifies the surface micro-morphology, which increases roughness and improves wettability. The changes are essential factors for the enhancement of the critical heat flux. This paper further analyses the boiling results of deionized water on the nanoparticle deposition surfaces. Compared with a polished surface, the critical heat flux and heat transfer coefficient of the nanoparticle deposition surface show maximum increases of 52.39% and 56.19%. Due to the similar enhancement of critical heat flux using the Fe3O4 nanofluid and the nanoparticle deposition surface, it is found that the increased critical heat flux of the nanofluids is attributed to the improvement of surface wettability and roughness by nanoparticle deposition. This study analyzes the mechanism of Fe3O4 nanofluid for enhancing pool boiling heat transfer from the perspective of modifying boiling surface characteristics by nanoparticle deposition, especially in wettability and roughness, which advances the understanding of enhanced boiling heat transfer by nanofluids.

Unlocking dendrite-free zinc metal anodes through anti-corrosive and Zn-ion-regulating interlayer

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are a promising solution for large-scale energy storage due to their safety and cost-effectiveness. However, challenges like zinc dendrite growth and electrolyte corrosion hinder their practical use. Surface engineering methods have shown potential in stabilizing the zinc metal anode interface. In this study, we propose a successful approach by combining 2D g-C3N4 nanosheets with 3D ZIF8 nanoparticles to form a g-C3N4@ZIF8 artificial interface. The 3D ZIF8 support on the 2D g-C3N4 enables precise regulation of Zn2+ flux and efficient charge transfer, leading to improved electrochemical performance. Density functional theory confirms ZIF8's superior adsorption energy compared to g-C3N4. Strategically anchoring 3D ZIF8 nanoparticles within 2D g-C3N4 allows robust 3D diffusion of Zn2+, preventing dendrite formation and enabling dendrite-free Zn deposition. This structural design can enhance the performance of symmetric cells with an ultralong cycling lifespan of up to 6200 h at 0.25 mA cm−2/0.25 mA h cm−2 and superior rate capability, even at 40 mA cm−2. When combined with a V2O5 nanopaper cathode, our assembled AZIBs exhibit stable long-term performance. This research paves the way for more efficient and reliable AZIBs for large-scale energy storage.

Intensification of atmospheric freeze drying for thin food slices with impinging jet

Atmospheric freeze drying obviates the complexities and costs of maintaining a high vacuum for freeze drying. One of the main drawbacks of atmospheric freeze drying is the low sublimation rate, which is restricted by drying temperatures possible at ambient pressure to prevent food products from softening during dehydration. There is a strong need to intensify the process to reduce the total drying time. This study evaluated the feasibility of using impinging jets to enhance the mass transfer characteristics of the atmospheric freeze drying process. Atmospheric freeze drying experiments on thin lamb slices between −3 to −7 °C showed that the impinging jet configuration has a significant effect in improving the rate of mass transfer flux compared to the conventional cross-flow configuration. This was consistent across different thicknesses of the lamb slices, which would have presented different degrees of internal resistance to mass transfer. Given the amount of non-frozen water in the lamb slices at the drying temperature range evaluated, a scheduled switch from cold air atmospheric freeze drying to a mild hot air drying condition was explored. This strategy enhanced the removal of the remaining water content in the lamb slices, mainly the non-frozen water.