TY - JOUR
T1 - Discrete method for design of flow distribution in manifolds
AU - Wang, Junye
AU - Wang, Hualin
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 Elsevier Ltd.
PY - 2015/7/18
Y1 - 2015/7/18
N2 - Abstract Flow in manifold systems is encountered in designs of various industrial processes, such as fuel cells, microreactors, microchannels, plate heat exchanger, and radial flow reactors. The uniformity of flow distribution in manifold is a key indicator for performance of the process equipment. In this paper, a discrete method for a U-type arrangement was developed to evaluate the uniformity of the flow distribution and the pressure drop and then was used for direct comparisons between the U-type and the Z-type. The uniformity of the U-type is generally better than that of the Z-type in most of cases for small ζ and large M. The U-type and the Z-type approach each other as ζ increases or M decreases. However, the Z-type is more sensitive to structures than the U-type and approaches uniform flow distribution faster than the U-type as M decreases or ζ increases. This provides a simple yet powerful tool for the designers to evaluate and select a flow arrangement and offers practical measures for industrial applications.
AB - Abstract Flow in manifold systems is encountered in designs of various industrial processes, such as fuel cells, microreactors, microchannels, plate heat exchanger, and radial flow reactors. The uniformity of flow distribution in manifold is a key indicator for performance of the process equipment. In this paper, a discrete method for a U-type arrangement was developed to evaluate the uniformity of the flow distribution and the pressure drop and then was used for direct comparisons between the U-type and the Z-type. The uniformity of the U-type is generally better than that of the Z-type in most of cases for small ζ and large M. The U-type and the Z-type approach each other as ζ increases or M decreases. However, the Z-type is more sensitive to structures than the U-type and approaches uniform flow distribution faster than the U-type as M decreases or ζ increases. This provides a simple yet powerful tool for the designers to evaluate and select a flow arrangement and offers practical measures for industrial applications.
KW - Design
KW - Fluid mechanics
KW - Fuel cells
KW - Mathematical modelling
KW - Microreactor
KW - Plate heat exchanger
KW - Solar collector
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84937107210&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.06.069
DO - 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2015.06.069
M3 - Journal Article
AN - SCOPUS:84937107210
SN - 1359-4311
VL - 89
SP - 927
EP - 945
JO - Applied Thermal Engineering
JF - Applied Thermal Engineering
M1 - 6762
ER -