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1. The Green’s Function-Based Thermal Analysis of a Spherical Geothermal Tank in a Semi-Infinite Domain

   https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4054568  

   Wang, Tengxiang; Wu, Chunlin; Zhang, Liangliang; Yin, Huiming (July 2022, Journal of Applied Mechanics)

   Abstract The Green’s function of a bimaterial infinite domain with a plane interface is applied to thermal analysis of a spherical underground heat storage tank. The heat transfer from a spherical source is derived from the integral of the Green’s function over the spherical domain. Because the thermal conductivity of the tank is generally different from soil, the Eshelby’s equivalent inclusion method (EIM) is used to simulate the thermal conductivity mismatch of the tank from the soil. For simplicity, the ground with an approximately uniform temperature on the surface is simulated by a bimaterial infinite domain, which is perfectly conductive above the ground. The heat conduction in the ground is investigated for two scenarios: First, a steady-state uniform heat flux from surface into the ground is considered, and the heat flux is disturbed by the existence of the tank due to the conductivity mismatch. A prescribed temperature gradient, or an eigen-temperature gradient, is introduced to investigate the local temperature field in the neighborhood of the tank. Second, when a temperature difference exists between the water in the tank and soil, the heat transfer between the tank and soil depends on the tank size, conductivity, and temperature difference, which provide a guideline for heat exchange design for the tank size. The modeling framework can be extended to two-dimensional cases, periodic, or transient heat transfer problems for geothermal well operations. The corresponding Green’s functions are provided for those applications. 

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2. Deep decoupling in subduction zones: Observations and temperature limits

   https://doi.org/10.1130/GES02278.1  

   Abers, Geoffrey A.; van Keken, Peter E.; Wilson, Cian R. (October 2020, Geosphere)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract The plate interface undergoes two transitions between seismogenic depths and subarc depths. A brittle-ductile transition at 20–50 km depth is followed by a transition to full viscous coupling to the overlying mantle wedge at ∼80 km depth. We review evidence for both transitions, focusing on heat-flow and seismic-attenuation constraints on the deeper transition. The intervening ductile shear zone likely weakens considerably as temperature increases, such that its rheology exerts a stronger control on subduction-zone thermal structure than does frictional shear heating. We evaluate its role through analytic approximations and two-dimensional finite-element models for both idealized subduction geometries and those resembling real subduction zones. We show that a temperature-buffering process exists in the shear zone that results in temperatures being tightly controlled by the rheological strength of that shear zone’s material for a wide range of shear-heating behaviors of the shallower brittle region. Higher temperatures result in weaker shear zones and hence less heat generation, so temperatures stop increasing and shear zones stop weakening. The net result for many rheologies are temperatures limited to ≤350–420 °C along the plate interface below the cold forearc of most subduction zones until the hot coupled mantle is approached. Very young incoming plates are the exception. This rheological buffering desensitizes subduction-zone thermal structure to many parameters and may help explain the global constancy of the 80 km coupling limit. We recalculate water fluxes to the forearc wedge and deep mantle and find that shear heating has little effect on global water circulation. 

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3. Heat transfer near a growing bubble during nucleate boiling using dual-tracer laser-induced fluorescence thermometry

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2023.125119  

   Ghazvini, Mahyar; Abraham, Abel; Hafez, Mazen; Kim, Myeongsub (May 2024, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer)

   Boiling heat transfer associated with bubble growth is perhaps one of the most efficient cooling methodologies due to its large latent heat during phase change. Despite the significant advancements, numerous questions remain regarding the fundamentals of bubble growth mechanisms, which is a major source of enhanced heat dissipation. This work aims to accurately measure three-dimensional (3D), space and time-resolved, local liquid temperature distributions surrounding a growing bubble to quantify the heat transfer in the superheated liquid layer during bubble growth. The dual tracer laser-induced fluorescence thermometry technique combined with high-speed imaging captures transient 2D temperature distributions, that will render 3D temperature distributions by combining multiple 2D layers, within a 0.3 °C accuracy at a 30 μm resolution. Two fluorescent dyes, fluorescein and sulforhodamine B, were used to measure transient temperatures, by account of their temperature-sensitive emissions. The results show that the temperature close to the heated surface and bubble interface exhibits an acute transient behavior at the time of bubble departure. The growing bubble works as a pump to remove heat from the surface with a peak temperature difference of up to 10 °C during its growth and departure. The experimental results were compared with previously reported studies to validate the accuracy of the technique. It was found that the heat transfer coefficient close to the bubble interface and heater is approximately 1.3 times higher than the heat transfer coefficient in the bulk liquid. 

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4. Dual-tracer laser-induced fluorescence thermometry for understanding bubble growth during nucleate boiling on oriented surfaces

   https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2024.125517  

   Ghazvini, Mahyar; Hafez, Mazen; Pena, Cristian; Mandin, Philippe; Inguanta, Rosalinda; Kim, Myeongsub (August 2024, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer)

   Nucleate boiling is perhaps one of the most efficient cooling methodologies due to its large heat flux with a relatively low superheat. Nucleate boiling often occurs on surfaces oriented at different angles; therefore, understanding the behavior of bubble growth on various surface orientations is of importance. Despite significant advancement, numerous questions remain regarding the fundamentals of bubble growth mechanisms on oriented surfaces, a major source of enhanced heat dissipation. This work aims to accurately measure three-dimensional (3D), space- and time-resolved, local liquid temperature distributions surrounding a growing bubble on oriented surfaces that quantify the heat transfer from the superheated liquid layer during bubble growth. The dual tracer laser-induced fluorescence thermometry technique combined with high-speed imaging captures transient 2D temperature distributions within a 0.3 ºC accuracy at a 30 μm resolution. The results show that the temperature close to the heated surface and bubble interface exhibits an acute transient behavior at the time of bubble departure, and the growing bubble works as a pump to remove heat from the surface with a temperature difference of up to 10 °C during its growth and departure. The experimental results are compared with data available in the literature to validate the accuracy of the technique. It was found that the heat transfer coefficient close to the bubble interface and heater is approximately 1.3 times higher than the heat transfer coefficient in the bulk liquid. 

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5. Thermal analysis of thermoelectric active cooling including external thermal resistances

   https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0176286  

   Marquez_Peraca, Nicolas; Zhu, Qing; Kono, Junichiro; Wehmeyer, Geoff (December 2023, Applied Physics Letters)

   Thermoelectric active cooling uses nontraditional thermoelectric materials with high thermal conductivity, high thermoelectric power factor, and relatively low figure of merit (ZT) to transfer large heat flows from a hot object to a cold heat sink. However, prior studies have not considered the influence of external thermal resistances associated with the heat sinks or contacts, making it difficult to design active cooling thermal systems or compare the use of low-ZT and high-ZT materials. Here, we perform a non-dimensionalized analysis of thermoelectric active cooling under forced heat flow boundary conditions, including arbitrary external thermal resistances. We identify the optimal electrical currents to minimize the heat source temperature and find the crossover heat flows at which low-ZT active cooling leads to lower source temperatures than high-ZT and even ZT→+∞ thermoelectric refrigeration. These optimal parameters are insensitive to the thermal resistance between the heat source and thermoelectric materials, but depend strongly on the heat sink thermal resistance. Finally, we map the boundaries where active cooling yields lower source temperatures than thermoelectric refrigeration. For currently considered active cooling materials, active cooling with ZT < 0.1 is advantageous compared to ZT→+∞ refrigeration for dimensionless heat sink thermal conductances larger than 15 and dimensionless source powers between 1 and 100. Thus, our results motivate further investigation of system-level thermoelectric active cooling for applications in electronics thermal management. 

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