In the vicinity of the pseudocritical point, supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) undergoes a steep change in properties from “liquid-like” to “gas-like” as it is heated at a constant pressure. At the same time, there is a large spike in specific heat which can yield high heat transfer coefficients and heat...
Boiling heat transfer is studied for its ability to dissipate high fluxes and achieve heat transfer coefficients two orders of magnitude greater than single-phase heat transfer systems. Heater surface enhancement with increased surface area, varied geometry, wettability contrast and micro/nano-structures can further enhance boiling heat transfer performance through bubble nucleation...
The metal-organic–framework MOF-5 is used as an adsorbent in advanced systems for vehicular hydrogen storage that are currently under development. Presently, these systems are limited by poor thermal conductivity of the adsorption bed, and thus our research addresses how the interfaces between grains of MOF-5 can be engineered to improve...
The Direct Reactor Auxiliary Cooling System (DRACS) is a passive safety system capable of removing decay heat directly from the reactor core. Its modularity makes it scalable for use in reactors with various power levels. Work has previously been completed to support inclusion of the DRACS in liquid metal reactors...
The purpose of this study is to measure and compare radiation emissions from flames burning large hydrocarbon fuels to assist in understanding how the molecular composition changes radiation emissions. Radiative heat transfer is significant because it is a primary mode of heat transfer for many combustion devices. This study also...
The Boltzmann transport equation derived in the Self-Adjoint Angular Flux (SAAF) formulation is applied to simulate phonon transport. The neutron transport code Rattlesnake is leveraged in this fashion, slightly modi ed to accept input from variables consistent with phonon transport simulations. Several benchmark problems are modeled to assess the potential...
The United States (US) Department of Energy (DOE) has identified the pebble-bed reactor as a high priority for US research with the end goal of licensing a pebble-bed reactor (PBR) for operation in the United States. Before this can be accomplished significant research must be done regarding the safety of...
The OSU MASLWR Test facility is a scaled integral systems LOCA and proof-of-concept test facility for the Multi-Application Small Light Water Reactor design concept. A unique feature of this design is to utilize a small high pressure containment vessel to provide the safety containment function for an integral reactor pressure...
This thesis discusses the design of several microchannel solar receiver devices for use in CSP (concentrated solar power) using CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. The goal is to demonstrate that, by taking advantage of the higher heat transfer coefficienct of microchannels, solar receivers can achieve higher efficiency than current receiver...
The expansion of a gas within a piston-cylinder arrangement is studied in order to obtain a better understanding of the heat transfer which occurs during this process. While the situation of heat transfer during the expansion of a gas has received considerable attention, the process is still not very well...