Heat transfer model scale

The time constants characterizing heat transfer in convection or radiation dominated rotary kilns are readily developed using less general heat-transfer models than that presented herein. These time constants define simple scaling laws which can be used to estimate the effects of fill fraction, kiln diameter, moisture, and rotation rate on the temperatures of the soHds. Criteria can also be estabHshed for estimating the relative importance of radiation and convection. In the following analysis, the kiln wall temperature, and the kiln gas temperature, T, are considered constant. Separate analyses are conducted for dry and wet conditions. 

Comparisons of the complete heat-transfer model with pilot-scale rotary kiln data are shown iu Figure 5 (21) for moisture levels ranging from 0 to 20 wt %. The tremendous thermal impact of moisture is clearly visible iu the leveling of temperature profiles at 100°C. 

The use of integrated reactor and heat-transfer models is essential for scale-up. Figure 11.7 shows an early reactor design for the same chemistry that was developed without the use of integrated models. Other unoptimized designs with temperature spikes have also been reported [12,44]. Integrated models were used to... 

The batch scale rotative reactor was developed and used as a tool to validate the new heat transfer model [4, 6]. The batch reactor consists of a well insulated tank which contains molten salt and is equipped with heating elements in order to be able to heat the salt to the set point temperature. A second well insulated tank can be placed in the salt bath. The feedstock enters the reactor through the feedpipe. The same agitation blades as those found in the industrial reactor are used. The stirring mechanism transports and agitates the feedstock in a circular manner. The center of the reservoir is kept free of feedstock by a scraping mechanism. The diameter of the feedstock tank is 107 cm and the effective heat transfer area is 0.82 m [6]. 

The properties which determine heat transfer through a deposit layer of given thickness are thermal conductivity, emissivity, and absorptivity. These properties vary with deposit temperature, thermal history, and chemical composition. Parametric studies and calculations for existing boilers were carried out to show the sensitivity of overall furnace performance, local temperature, and heat flux distributions to these properties in large p.f. fired furnaces. The property values used cover the range of recent experimental studies. Calculations for actual boilers were carried out with a comprehensive 3-D Monte Carlo type heat transfer model. Some predictions are compared to full-scale boiler measurements. The calculations show that the effective conduction coefficient (k/As)eff of wall deposits strongly influences furnace exit temperatures. 

The results of these tests will be used to validate the heat transfer model. Once the heat transfer characteristics are understood, the model will be expanded to include the effects of using a fuel air combustion mixture to generate the hot gas to heat up the system. An overall start-up strategy will be defined that will achieve rapid start and transition to steady-state operation. The strategy will identify the necessary components, the hot gas flow specifications, and the heating sequence. These data will be incorporated into the design of a 5-kWe engineering-scale fuel processor that will demonstrate a start-up time of 2 minutes or less. 

The lumped thermal mass equation also describes the heating-up process of flat face or clamp flanges, where the failure mode is, however, the loss of tightness and consequent secondary leak and fire. It should be noted that when the limped thermal mass heat transfer model was used for the calculation of time-to-failure of flanges engulfed by fire, the results agreed well with the full scale tests in Ref 4. 

The use of a numerical heat transfer model and a design optimization procedure to simulate and synthesize the heater configuration in a laboratory-scale pultrusion die was developed and studied by Awa and West (1992). A two-dimensional steady-state conduction heat transfer model was developed to compute the temperature profile within the laboratory-scale die. 

In general, the desorptive behavior of contaminated soils and soHds is so variable that the requited thermal treatment conditions are difficult to specify without experimental measurements. Experiments are most easily performed in bench- and pilot-scale faciUties. Full-scale behavior can then be predicted using mathematical models of heat transfer, mass transfer, and chemical kinetics. 

The guarded hot-plate method can be modified to perform dry and wet heat transfer testing (sweating skin model). Some plates contain simulated sweat glands and use a pumping mechanism to deUver water to the plate surface. Thermal comfort properties that can be deterrnined from this test are do, permeabihty index (/ ), and comfort limits. PermeabiUty index indicates moisture—heat permeabiUty through the fabric on a scale of 0 (completely impermeable) to 1 (completely permeable). This parameter indicates the effect of skin moisture on heat loss. Comfort limits are the predicted metaboHc activity levels that may be sustained while maintaining body thermal comfort in the test environment. 

At present there is no small-scale test for predicting whether or how fast a fire will spread on a wall made of flammable or semiflammable (fire-retardant) material. The principal elements of the problem include pyrolysis of solids char-layer buildup buoyant, convective, tmbulent-boundary-layer heat transfer soot formation in the flame radiative emission from the sooty flame and the transient natme of the process (char buildup, fuel burnout, preheating of areas not yet ignited). Efforts are needed to develop computer models for these effects and to develop appropriate small-scale tests. 

Suppose now that a pilot-plant or full-scale reactor has been built and operated. How can its performance be used to confirm the kinetic and transport models and to improve future designs Reactor analysis begins with an operating reactor and seeks to understand several interrelated aspects of actual performance kinetics, flow patterns, mixing, mass transfer, and heat transfer. This chapter is concerned with the analysis of flow and mixing processes and their interactions with kinetics. It uses residence time theory as the major tool for the analysis. 

Four elements of microchannel scale-up models will be described pressure-drop design, heat-transfer design, reactor design, and mechanical and manufacturing designs. 

As described above, microchannel reactor scale-up requires integrated models, which include the reaction chemistry with heat transfer, pressure drop, flow distribution, and manufacturing tolerances. The culmination of scale-up models is their successful demonstration. 

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