A new type of electrical storage heater that utilizes latent heat storage and flat micro-heat pipe arrays （FMHPAs） was developed. The thermal characteristics of the heater were tested through experimentation. The st...A new type of electrical storage heater that utilizes latent heat storage and flat micro-heat pipe arrays （FMHPAs） was developed. The thermal characteristics of the heater were tested through experimentation. The structure and operating principle of the storage heater were expounded. Three rows of FMHPAs were applied （three rows with five assemblies each） with a mass of 28 kg of phase change material （PCM） in the heat storage tank. Electric power was supplied to the PCM in the range of 0.2-2.04 kW, and air was used as heat transfer fluid, with the volume flow rate ranging from 40-120 m3/h. The inlet temperature was in the range of 15-24~C. The effects of heating power, air volume flow rate, and inlet temperature were investigated. The electrical storage heater exhibited efficiencies of 97% and 87% with 1.98 and 1.30 kW of power during charging and discharging, respectively. Application of the proposed storage heater can transfer electricity from peak periods to off-peak periods, and the excess energy generated by wind farms can be stored as heat and released when needed. Good economic and environmental benefits can be obtained.展开更多
Micro-thermal conductivity detector(μTCD)gas sensors work by detecting changes in the thermal conductivity of the surrounding medium and are used as detectors in many applications such as gas chromatography systems.C...Micro-thermal conductivity detector(μTCD)gas sensors work by detecting changes in the thermal conductivity of the surrounding medium and are used as detectors in many applications such as gas chromatography systems.Conventional TCDs use steady-state resistance(i.e.,temperature)measurements of a micro-heater.In this work,we developed a new measurement method and hardware configuration based on the processing of the transient response of a low thermal mass TCD to an electric current step.The method was implemented for a 100-μm-long and 1-μm-thick micro-fabricated bridge that consisted of doped polysilicon conductive film passivated with a 200-nm silicon nitride layer.Transient resistance variations of theμTCD in response to a square current pulse were studied in multiple mixtures of dilute gases in nitrogen.Simulations and experimental results are presented and compared for the time resolved and steady-state regime of the sensor response.Thermal analysis and simulation show that the sensor response is exponential in the transient state,that the time constant of this exponential variation was a linear function of the thermal conductivity of the gas ambient,and that the sensor was able to quantify the mixture composition.The level of detection in nitrogen was estimated to be from 25 ppm for helium to 178 ppm for carbon dioxide.With this novel approach,the sensor requires approximately 3.6 nJ for a single measurement and needs only 300μs of sampling time.This is less than the energy and time required for steady-state DC measurements.展开更多
文摘A new type of electrical storage heater that utilizes latent heat storage and flat micro-heat pipe arrays （FMHPAs） was developed. The thermal characteristics of the heater were tested through experimentation. The structure and operating principle of the storage heater were expounded. Three rows of FMHPAs were applied （three rows with five assemblies each） with a mass of 28 kg of phase change material （PCM） in the heat storage tank. Electric power was supplied to the PCM in the range of 0.2-2.04 kW, and air was used as heat transfer fluid, with the volume flow rate ranging from 40-120 m3/h. The inlet temperature was in the range of 15-24~C. The effects of heating power, air volume flow rate, and inlet temperature were investigated. The electrical storage heater exhibited efficiencies of 97% and 87% with 1.98 and 1.30 kW of power during charging and discharging, respectively. Application of the proposed storage heater can transfer electricity from peak periods to off-peak periods, and the excess energy generated by wind farms can be stored as heat and released when needed. Good economic and environmental benefits can be obtained.
基金The sensor that was tested in this work is based on the patents:No.7,911,010,No.8,426,932 and No.8,884,382.
文摘Micro-thermal conductivity detector(μTCD)gas sensors work by detecting changes in the thermal conductivity of the surrounding medium and are used as detectors in many applications such as gas chromatography systems.Conventional TCDs use steady-state resistance(i.e.,temperature)measurements of a micro-heater.In this work,we developed a new measurement method and hardware configuration based on the processing of the transient response of a low thermal mass TCD to an electric current step.The method was implemented for a 100-μm-long and 1-μm-thick micro-fabricated bridge that consisted of doped polysilicon conductive film passivated with a 200-nm silicon nitride layer.Transient resistance variations of theμTCD in response to a square current pulse were studied in multiple mixtures of dilute gases in nitrogen.Simulations and experimental results are presented and compared for the time resolved and steady-state regime of the sensor response.Thermal analysis and simulation show that the sensor response is exponential in the transient state,that the time constant of this exponential variation was a linear function of the thermal conductivity of the gas ambient,and that the sensor was able to quantify the mixture composition.The level of detection in nitrogen was estimated to be from 25 ppm for helium to 178 ppm for carbon dioxide.With this novel approach,the sensor requires approximately 3.6 nJ for a single measurement and needs only 300μs of sampling time.This is less than the energy and time required for steady-state DC measurements.
