This paper presents a study of the thermal characteristics and entropy generation of a porous microchannel with thick walls featuring uneven thicknesses. Two sets of asymmetric boundary conditions are considered. The first includes constant temperatures at the surface of the outer walls, with the lower wall experiencing a higher temperature than the upper wall. The second case imposes a constant heat flux on the lower wall and a convection boundary condition on the upper wall. These set thermal models for microreactors featuring highly exothermic or endothermic reactions such as those encountered in fuel reforming processes. The porous system is considered to be under local thermal nonequilibrium (LTNE) condition. Analytical solutions are, primarily, developed for the temperature and local entropy fields and then are extended to the total entropy generation within the system. It is shown that the ratio of the solid to fluid effective thermal conductivity and the internal heat sources are the most influential parameters in the thermal and entropic behaviors of the system. In particular, the results demonstrate that the internal heat sources can affect the entropy generation in a nonmonotonic way and that the variation of the total entropy with internal heat sources may include extremum points.
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December 2017
Research-Article
Thermodynamics Analyses of Porous Microchannels With Asymmetric Thick Walls and Exothermicity: An Entropic Model of Microreactors
Alexander Elliott,
Alexander Elliott
School of Engineering,
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
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Mohsen Torabi,
Mohsen Torabi
The George W. Woodruff School
of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
e-mails: Torabi_mech@yahoo.com;
Mohsen.Torabi@my.cityu.edu.hk
of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
e-mails: Torabi_mech@yahoo.com;
Mohsen.Torabi@my.cityu.edu.hk
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Nader Karimi
Nader Karimi
Search for other works by this author on:
Alexander Elliott
School of Engineering,
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
University of Glasgow,
Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK
Mohsen Torabi
The George W. Woodruff School
of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
e-mails: Torabi_mech@yahoo.com;
Mohsen.Torabi@my.cityu.edu.hk
of Mechanical Engineering,
Georgia Institute of Technology,
Atlanta, GA 30332
e-mails: Torabi_mech@yahoo.com;
Mohsen.Torabi@my.cityu.edu.hk
Nader Karimi
1Corresponding authors.
Contributed by the Heat Transfer Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF THERMAL SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING APPLICATIONS. Manuscript received September 13, 2016; final manuscript received April 11, 2017; published online July 25, 2017. Assoc. Editor: Samuel Sami.
J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl. Dec 2017, 9(4): 041013 (11 pages)
Published Online: July 25, 2017
Article history
Received:
September 13, 2016
Revised:
April 11, 2017
Citation
Elliott, A., Torabi, M., and Karimi, N. (July 25, 2017). "Thermodynamics Analyses of Porous Microchannels With Asymmetric Thick Walls and Exothermicity: An Entropic Model of Microreactors." ASME. J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl. December 2017; 9(4): 041013. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4036802
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