Heat Transfers and Related Effects in Supercritical Fluids (Fluid Mechanics and Its Applications Book 108)

This book investigates the unique hydrodynamics and heat transfer problems that are encountered in the vicinity of the critical point of fluids. Emphasis is given on weightlessness conditions, gravity effects and thermovibrational phenomena. Near their critical point, fluids indeed obey universal behavior and become very compressible and expandable. Their comportment, when gravity effects are suppressed, becomes quite unusual. The problems that are treated in this book are of interest to students and researchers interested in the original behavior of near-critical fluids as well as to engineers that have to manage supercritical fluids. A special chapter is dedicated to the present knowledge of critical point phenomena. Specific data for many fluids are provided, ranging from cryogenics (hydrogen) to high temperature (water). Basic information in statistical mechanics, mathematics and measurement techniques is also included. The basic concepts of fluid mechanics are given for the non-specialists to be able to read the parts he is interested in. Asymptotic theory of heat transfer by thermoacoustic processes is provided with enough details for PhD students or researchers and engineers to begin in the field. Key spaces are described in details, with many comparisons between theory and experiments to illustrate the topics. Front Matter....Pages i-xxi General Introduction to Near-Critical and Supercritical Fluids....Pages 1-48 Front Matter....Pages 49-49 Introduction to Thermomechanical Effects....Pages 51-52 Bridging Gas and Near-Critical Fluid Dynamics....Pages 53-65 Temperature and Density Equilibration....Pages 67-123 Heat Transfer....Pages 125-176 Front Matter....Pages 177-177 Introduction to Heat Transfer Experiments Performed in Weightless Conditions....Pages 179-181 Quick Overview of Some Test Cells....Pages 183-197 The Pancake Test Cell....Pages 199-211 Heat Transport by the Piston Effect: Experiments....Pages 213-239 Coexisting Liquid–Vapor Phases....Pages 241-260 Front Matter....Pages 261-261 Introduction to Effects of a Steady-State Acceleration Field....Pages 263-265 Interaction Between the Piston Effect and Gravitational Convection....Pages 267-283 Rayleigh–Bénard and Rayleigh–Taylor Instabilities....Pages 285-315 Experiments in a Weak Acceleration Field and on Earth....Pages 317-328 Front Matter....Pages 329-329 Introduction to Influence of Time-Dependent Acceleration Fields....Pages 331-332 Response to Low-Frequency Vibrations: Solid-Like Behavior....Pages 333-344 Thermovibrational Effect....Pages 345-364 Front Matter....Pages 365-365 Scaling Laws, Universality, and Renormalization Group Theory....Pages 367-369 The Ginzburg Criterion....Pages 371-372 Conventional Theory of Nucleation and Spinodal Decomposition....Pages 373-378 Front Matter....Pages 365-365 Basic Equation of Fluid Mechanics....Pages 379-411 Numerical Method....Pages 413-424 The Hardware....Pages 425-449 Back Matter....Pages 451-454 "This book investigates the unique hydrodynamics and heat transfer problems that are encountered in the vicinity of the critical point of fluids. Emphasis is given on weightlessness conditions, gravity effects and thermovibrational phenomena. Near their critical point, fluids indeed obey universal behavior and become very compressible and expandable. Their comportment, when gravity effects are suppressed, becomes quite unusual. The problems that are treated in this book are of interest to students and researchers interested in the original behavior of near-critical fluids as well as to engineers that have to manage supercritical fluids. A special chapter is dedicated to the present knowledge of critical point phenomena. Specific data for many fluids are provided, ranging from cryogenics (hydrogen) to high temperature (water). Basic information in statistical mechanics, mathematics and measurement techniques is also included. The basic concepts of fluid mechanics are given for the non-specialists to be able to read the parts he is interested in. Asymptotic theory of heat transfer by thermoacoustic processes is provided with enough details for PhD students or researchers and engineers to begin in the field. Key space are described in details, with many comparisons between theory and experiments to illustrate the topics."--Page 4 of cover