Abstract:
Development of devices with reduced pumping power is
gaining significant attraction recently. One of the examples are
Organic Rankine Cycles which prove to be an attractive
perspective for production of electricity and heat in the
distributed generation. Actually the pumping power in such
systems is very significant. In some cases it can reach up to
30% of generated power by the system. Hence reduction of
pumping power is very tempting. Such possibilities are offered
by application of the porous structures to aid the fluid motion.
In the paper is presented an experimental facility designed
for studies of the capillary effect in tubes made of porous media
together with the results of commissioning tests. Examined are
two fluids, namely ethanol and water, at three different fillings
and three different evaporator temperatures. The results in the
form of pressure distribution with time have been presented.
The potential application of such effect is for example in the
evaporator of the domestic micro CHP unit, where the
reduction of pumping power could be obtained. Preliminary
analysis of the results indicates water as having the best
potential for developing the capillary effect.
The net effect obtained in the facility was approximately
22hPa in pressure difference has been obtained for studied
porous material, namely the sintered tube from stainless steel
powder with the average pore-size of 3 micrometers.
Description:
Papers presented to the 12th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Costa de Sol, Spain on 11-13 July 2016.