Enhancement of heat transfer in forced convection by using dual low-high frequency ultrasound.

Combined sonication with dual-frequency ultrasound has been investigated to enhance heat transfer in forced convection. The test section used for this study consists of a channel with, on one hand, heating blocks normal to the water flow, equipped with thermocouples, and, on the other hand, two ultrasonic emitters. One is facing the heating blocks, thus the ultrasonic field is perpendicular, and the second ultrasonic field is collinear to the water flow. Two types of ultrasonic waves were used: low-frequency ultrasound (25 kHz) to generate mainly acoustic cavitation and high-frequency ultrasound (2 MHz) well-known to induce Eckart's acoustic streaming. A thermal approach was conducted to investigate heat transfer enhancement in the presence of ultrasound. This approach was completed with PIV measurements to assess the hydrodynamic behavior modifications under ultrasound. Sonochemiluminescence experiments were performed to account for the presence and the location of acoustic cavitation within the water flow. The results have shown a synergetic effect using combined low-and-high-frequency sonication. Enhancement of heat transfer is related to greater induced turbulence within the water flow by comparison with single-frequency sonication. However, the ultrasonically-induced turbulence is not homogeneously distributed within the water flow and the synergy effect on heat transfer enhancement depends mainly on the generation of turbulence along the heating wall. For the optimal configuration of dual-frequency sonication used in this work, a local heat transfer enhancement factor up to 366% was observed and Turbulent Kinetic Energy was enhanced by up to 84% when compared to silent regime.

Heat transfer enhancement using 2MHz ultrasound.

The present work focuses on possible heat transfer enhancement from a heating plate towards tap water in forced convection by means of 2MHz ultrasound. The thermal approach allows to observe the increase of local convective heat transfer coefficients in the presence of ultrasound and to deduce a correlation between ultrasound power and Nusselt number. Heat transfer coefficient under ultrasound remains constant while heat transfer coefficient under silent conditions increases with Reynolds number from 900 up to 5000. Therefore, heat transfer enhancement factor ranges from 25% up to 90% for the same energy conditions (supplied ultrasonic power=110W and supplied thermal power=450W). In the same time cavitational activity due to 2MHz ultrasound emission was characterized from mechanical and chemical viewpoints without significant results. At least, Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) measurements have been performed in order to investigate hydrodynamic modifications due to the presence of 2MHz ultrasound. It was therefore possible to propose a better understanding of heat transfer enhancement mechanism with high frequency ultrasound.

Experimental characterisation of the thermal behaviour of different materials submitted to ultrasound in an ultrasonic fountain.

The purpose of this study was to characterize the thermal behaviour of different materials subjected to an ultrasonic fountain created by an ultrasonic piezoelectric transducer. Tests were conducted with an infrared camera to determine the surface temperature of the material samples. The main conclusion is that the plastics when subjected to the ultrasonic fountain tend to heat up strongly and can reach temperatures up to 200 °C in few seconds. The temperature rise depends on the nature of the plastic material and the experimental conditions namely the height of liquid above the transducer and also the distance between the liquid surface and the sample. The comparison with an aluminium plate and a Pyrex plate gives a better understanding of the phenomenon that is related to three characteristics of the experiment: the transmission of the incident wave, the ability of the material to absorb this energy as heat and finally, the thermal and thermodynamic properties. These three parameters determine the behaviour of the plate when it is subjected to the ultrasonic fountain. In order to achieve a performing active control system, the choice of the material that faces an ultrasound fountain is very important to avoid any damage.