Thermo/fluids Facilities
The thermo/fluids laboratory is the newest lab in the School of ENCS and is still under development. This lab is currently the house of all the thermo/fluids research activities at WSU Vancouver. The lab is being developed with a dual-approach targeting both undergraduate and graduate research in Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, and Heat Transfer as presented below:
Thermodynamics:
Steam Power Plant Laboratory: The RankineCycler TM is a small scale, functional steam power plant designed by Turbine Technologies, Ltd. , which is applied to study basic thermodynamic principles. The entire system is instrumented with pressure, temperature, flowrate, and power sensors that are used to study the performance of each stage of the Rankine cycle, as well as the overall efficiency of the device. These results are compared with expected values from thermodynamic calculations, demonstrating the effectiveness and accuracy of the techniques.
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| Figure 1. Small scale functional steam power plant is applied to study basic thermodynamic principles. | |
Jet Engine Laboratory: The Minilab TM Gas Turbine Power System, designed by Turbine Technologies, Ltd. , is a scaled laboratory model of an actual jet engine. The engine has an array of sensors applied throughout the device, determining the pressure, temperature, flowrate, and power of individual engine components. Students examine the engine efficiency, thrust, and power output, and these results are compared to expectations from the thermodynamics course series.
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| Figure 2. Scaled laboratory model of an actual jet engine | |
Heating/Cooling Air Duct: As part of the thermodynamics course sequence, a specialized wind tunnel is used to study psychrometric principles. This includes the measurement of dry bulb, wet bulb, and dewpoint temperatures of air flowing through the duct, as shown below. The air duct is also used to test the performance of the air-liquid heat exchangers, which are designed and built by students. This system was designed, constructed, and tested by a group of senior students specifically for this laboratory.
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Figure 3. Heating/Cooling air duct, centrifugal fan at the duct entrance, and ASME air nozzle. |
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Fluid Mechanics:
The fluids lab includes some equipment that is mainly used for fluid experimentation, such as the flow over immersed bodies, flow in pipes and conjunctions, pumping systems, flow-meters calibration, Bourdon gauges and manometers.
Water Tunnel: This system, manufactured by Engineering Laboratory Design, Inc., is currently used for fluid flow visualization. This system will have the ability to measure lift and drag forces on the immersed bodies by adding a dynamometer that mounts on top of the test section. The size of test section is 6"W x 6"H x 18"L (152mm x 152mm x 457mm). The two/three-dimensional bodies with this size or less can be installed in the test section for fluid flow visualization and analysis. Different-color dyes are injected over or through the immersed bodies using a dye injector system.
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| Figure 4. Water tunnel for fluid visualization, NACA 4412 Airfoil, and streamline body immersed in the test section. |
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Piping System: This system, manufactured by TQ Education and Training Ltd., consists of several units to analyze pipe flow applications. Hydraulic Circuit is used to measure water head loss through several piping-system components, such as straight pipe, sharp bend (mitre), proprietary elbow, sudden expansion, sudden contraction, smooth bend with different diameters, and valves. Water is supplied to the apparatus by a Hydraulic Bench consisting of a centrifugal pump for circulating water, a weight tank to measure the flow rate, a control valve, and connecting hoses. This hydraulic bench is used for performing a number of experiments, such as the Pump Station and Flow-meter Calibration device. The pump station is a unit that is used to analyze the pump characteristics and performance. This unit consists of two similar multi-speed pumps that are connected by a pipe system. Each pump has a separate control panel and can be run on its own, or combined in series or parallel. The flow-meter calibration device is a unit that is used for measuring and calibrating water flow rate through different type flow-meters. This unit consists of a variable area flow-meter (rotameter) and fluidic flow-meter (frequency oscillation) which are installed in series. These two flow-rate measurement techniques can be calibrated and compared by a third method measuring the volume of water over time at the exit of the system.
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| Figure 5. Piping system; hydraulic circuit, hydraulic bench, flow-meters, and pump station. | ||
Pressure Gauges: Two separate units, manufactured by TQ Education and Training Ltd., are used to study pressure gauges. The first unit consists of a Bourdon Gauge Calibration device where some masses are provided to calibrate the pressure gauge, as shown in Figure 4. The second unit consists of Vertical and Inclined Manometers, and two Bourdon type vacuum and pressure gauges. A syringe and some tees and tubing are use to make various configurations for testing.
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| Figure 6. Pressure gauges, vertical and inclined manometers, and Bourdon gauge calibration device. | ||
Heat Transfer:
A heat transfer unit, manufactured by Armfield Ltd., is used for experimentation in conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer. The system consists of a main Computer-Controlled Service Unit (HT10XC) that can be connected to several heat transfer accessories. This unit supplies the required electrical power to the accessories and provides measurement facilities for investigating the different modes of heat transfer. A specific feature of this unit is that it can enable the heat transfer accessories to be controlled remotely from an external computer using a suitable interface and software.
Linear Heat Conduction (HT11): This accessory unit is connected to the service unit HT10XC to analyze the one-dimensional steady-state conduction using the Fourier heat equation. The system can be configured to conduct experiments with a plane wall of uniform material, composite plane walls of different materials, constant and variable cross-sectional areas. One side of the wall is heated by an electrical heater while the other side is cooled by the cooling water flowing through a flow-rate controlled pipe system. The wall temperature gradient can be measured directly using type-K thermocouples installed along the wall to determine the conductivity of the walls as well as the thin insulating materials in between the walls.
Radial Heat Conduction (HT12): This accessory unit is connected to the service unit HT10XC to analyze the steady-state radial conduction, such as the heat conduction through the wall of a tube. The unit consists of a metal disk with temperature measurements at different radii using type-K thermocouples installed along the radial direction. The center of disk is heated by an electrical heater while the periphery of the disk is cooled by the cooling water flowing through a flow-rate controlled pipe system. The radial temperature distribution as well as the conductivity of the metal disk can be investigated.
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Figure 7. Computer-controlled service unit, linear, and radial heat conduction accessory units. |
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Combined Convection and Radiation (HT14): This accessory unit is connected to the service unit HT10XC to analyze the combined effects of modes of convection and radiation heat transfer. A metallic cylinder, installed horizontally inside an air-duct, is heated uniformly using an electrical heater. A fan at the entrance of the air-duct provides a stream of moving air over the cylinder, so both natural and forced convection modes can be achieved depending on the fan's operation. The temperature measurement of the hot cylindrical surface and the electrical input power allow to analyze the combined effects of convection and radiation, and compare them with the theoretical values.
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| Figure 8. Combined effects of convection and radiation heat transfer, gate-controlled fan, and electrical heater. | ||
Electronics Cooling:
The latest course in the thermal/fluids sequence is electronics cooling, an elective course for undergraduate and graduate students interested in studying applied heat transfer and fluid mechanics.
Electronics Cooling Wind Tunnel: This is a low-speed, subsonic wind tunnel, developed by Engineering Laboratory Design, Inc. , is used for detailed flow and thermal measurements of electronics devices. The closed-loop tunnel can achieve uniform air velocities from approximately 0.7 to 18 m/s, and the air temperature can also be varied from room temperature up to approximately 150 degrees F. The 12"-long test section has a 12" x 12" cross-section, which is large enough to accommodate full-scale electronics boards and heat sinks for direct measurements. The tunnel can be instrumented with a variety of flow and thermal measurement diagnostics, including pitot probes, hot wires, pressure taps, smoke visualization, PIV, thermocouples, and infrared thermographic cameras.
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| Figure 9. Electronics Cooling Wind Tunnel | |