Control heat transfer devices

Equipment commonly employed for the diying of sohds is described both in this subsection in Sec. 12, where indirect heat transfer devices are discussed, and in Sec. 17 where fluidized beds are covered. Diyer control is discussed in Sec. 8. Excluding fluid beds this subsection contains mainly descriptions of direct-heat-transfer equipment. It also includes some indirect units e.g., vacuum diyers, furnaces, steam-tube diyers, and rotaiy calciners. 

Conventional heat pipes (Fig. 12) are convenient as heat transfer devices for sorption bed layer thermal control [15]. 

Passive two-phase heat transfer devices capable of transferring large quantities of heat with a minimal temperature drop were first introduced by Gaugler in 1944 [1]. These devices, however, received little attention until Grover et al. [2] published the results of an independent investigation and first applied the term heat pipe. Since that time, heat pipes have been employed in numerous applications ranging from temperature control of the permafrost layer under the Alaska pipeline to the thermal control of electronic components such as high-power semiconductor devices [3]. 

An increase of the circnlar flow rate (w = const = 130 smVs) in diffuser-confusor devices leads to an increase of the heat transfer coefficient (Figure 2.44). The influence of the u> parameter on the efficiency of convective heat exchange is levelled out in a cylindrical device. As heat transfer coefficients are determined hy the smallest of the heat emission coefficients, there is an opportnnity of heat exchange intensification in a diffuser-confusor reactor by the increase of the cooling agent flow rate. This opportunity is another tool to control heat transfer processes. 

An industrial chemical reacdor is a complex device in which heat transfer, mass transfer, diffusion, and friction may occur along with chemical reaction, and it must be safe and controllable. In large vessels, questions of mixing of reactants, flow distribution, residence time distribution, and efficient utilization of the surface of porous catalysts also arise. A particular process can be dominated by one of these factors or by several of them for example, a reactor may on occasion be predominantly a heat exchanger or a mass-transfer device. A successful commercial unit is an economic balance of all these factors. 

We have designed, manufactured and tested a prototype that may be applied in thermal control of electronic devices. It was fabricated from a silicon substrate and a Pyrex cover, serving as both an insulator and a window through which flow patterns and boiling phenomena could be observed. A number of parallel triangular micro-channels were etched in the substrate. The heat transferred from the device was simulated by different types of electrical heaters that provided uniform and non-uniform heat fluxes, defined here respectively as constant and non-constant values... 

Contrary to RPBRs, in SDRs, intensified heat transfer presents the most important advantage. Liquid reactant(s) are fed on the surface of a fast rotating disk near its center and flow outward. Temperature control takes place via a cooling medium fed under the reaction surface. The rotating surface of the disc enables to generate a highly sheared liquid film. The film fiow over the surface is intrinsically unstable and an array of spiral ripples is formed. This provides an additional improvement in the mass and heat transfer performance of the device. 

Materials in a colloidal state are frequently preferred in industrial processing operations because their large surface areas per unit volume enhance chemical reactivity, adsorptive capacity, heat transfer rates, and so on. Therefore, one cannot overlook the importance of the flow behavior and properties of colloids since they exert a significant influence on the performance, efficiency, and economy of the process. Note that some examples of this (e.g., ceramic processing, electrophoretic display devices, and food colloids) were mentioned in the vignettes presented in Chapter 1. In addition, one often uses the flow properties and behavior of the products as measures of the microstructure (or, morphology ) of the products and as a means of quality control (e.g., printing inks, toners, paints, skin creams, blood substitutes,... 

There is no doubt that the ultimate development of process intensification leads to the novel field of microreaction technology (Figure 1) (7-9). Because of the small characteristic dimensions of microreaction devices, mass and heat transfer processes can be strongly enhanced, and, consequently, initial and boundary conditions as well as residence times can be precisely adjusted for optimizing yield and selectivity. Microreaction devices are evidently superior, due to their short response time, which simplifies the control of operation. In connection with the extremely small material holdup, nearly inherently safe plant concepts can be realized. Moreover, microreaction technology offers access to advanced approaches in plant design, like the concept of numbering-up instead of scale-up and, in particular, the possibility to utilize novel process routes not accessible with macroscopic devices. 

More than 100 micro structured devices are listed on the homepage of the pChemTec consortium [24]. The devices cover physical applications such as flow distribution, mixing, heat transfer, phase transfer, emulsification and suspension, as well as chemical applications such as chemical and biochemical processing. Some separation units such as membrane separation and capillary electrophoresis are also offered. Control devices such as valves, micro pumps for product analysis and mass flow controllers supplement the catalog. 

It should also be mentioned that the parallelization of reactors raises other problems such as the maldistribution of the reactants to the single units. While here usually passive devices such as flow restrictors are effectively applied, more severe problems are encountered if the process temperature should be controlled actively. One solution is to heat the whole micro reactor (assuming isothermal conditions due to large heat transfer coefficients) at a constant temperature controlled by the temperature of the flow at the reactor exit [13]. 

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