In this report, a new CO2 refrigeration system is introduced, which can achieve a refrigeration capability below the CO2 triple point of -56.6 C. The proposed CO2 refrigeration system consists of two thermodynamic cycles arranged in cascade, where one is a CO2 trans-critical cycle and another is a trans-triple-point cycle. An experimental set-up is constructed and tested in order to obtain a basic knowledge about this CO2 system. Based on the measured data, it is concluded that the built CO2 refrigeration system can operate continuously and stably, although dry ice particles exist in the closed CO2 loops. An average COP (a ratio of cooling energy to the compressor power consumption) is measured at 2.45 in the present experiment range for the low-pressure system of the experimental set-up. In addition, the influence of the condensation temperature on the refrigeration cycle is investigated and more studies are needed for the future optimization work.

A solar energy powered Rankine cycle using supercritical CO2 for combined production of electricity and thermal energy is proposed. The proposed system consists of evacuated solar collectors, power generating turbine, high-temperature heat recovery system, low-temperature heat recovery system, and feed pump. The system utilizes evacuated solar collectors to convert CO2 into high-temperature supercritical state, used to drive a turbine and thereby produce mechanical energy and hence electricity. The system also recovers heat (high-temperature heat and low-temperature heat), which could be used for refrigeration, air conditioning, hot water supply, etc. in domestic or commercial buildings. An experimental prototype has been designed and constructed. The prototype system has been tested under typical summer conditions in Kyoto, Japan; It was found that CO2 is efficiently converted into high-temperature supercritical state, of while electricity and hot water can be generated. The experimental results show that the solar energy powered Rankine cycle using CO2 works stably in a trans-critical region. The estimated power generation efficiency is 0. 25 and heat recovery efficiency is 0. 65. This study shows the potential of the application of the solar-powered Rankine cycle using supercritical CO2.

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to investigate flow behavior of electrorheological (ER) fluid in a closed piston-cylinder system. Design/methodology/approach -A basic study of flow characteristics of ER fluid in a damper model is conducted experimentally and numerically. The electric field is applied between inner wall of the cylinder and outer wall of the piston, and the pressure difference between upper and lower chamber of the cylinder is measured. A numerical prediction of ER fluid flow in the damper model system is performed in order to study the ER fluid flow characteristics. Visualization experiment isalso made and used to qualitatively verify the numerical formulation. Findings -The agreement between the numerical predictions and experimental results is encouraging, and the ER fluid flow patterns under different piston aspect ratios, movement speeds and applied electric field strengths are presented. The results show that the piston aspect ratio has much smaller influence on the ER flow pattern than other influencing factors. Increasing piston movement speed or reducing the electric field applied is helpful to reduce the pressure response time period, which is an important indicator showing sensitiveness of the damper. It is also seen that the pressure difference between the upper and lower chamber of the cylinder increases with the electric field strength and the piston movement speed. Originality/value -First time the detailed investigation into the hydrodynamics behavior in such working models of neering applications for ER fluid.

Experiment and numerical study were conducted to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of a thermo-sensitive magnetic fluid (TSMF) filled in a cubic container with a heat generating square cylinder stick inside and under a uniform magnetic field. The experimental results show that, regardless of the heat generating object sizes, the heat transfer characteristic of the TSMF is enhanced when the magnetic field is applied to the TSMF. However, the heat transfer of the TSMF becomes poor as the size of the inside heat generating object increases because the space where the fluids go through becomes narrower and the flow is obstructed when the heat generating object size becomes bigger. Numerical simulation based on the Lattice Boltzmann method confirmed the experimental findings, and disclosed more flow details of the natural convection of the TSMF inside cavity.

A numerical study of a thermodynamic cycle is described: solar energy powered Rankine cycle using supercritical carbon dioxide as the working fluid for combined power and heat production. A model is developed to predict the cycle performance. Experimental data is used to verify the numerical formulation. Of interest in the present study is the thermodynamic cycle of 0.3-1. 0kW power generation and 1.0-3. 0kW heat output. The effects of the governing parameters on the performance are investigated numerically. The results show that the cycle has a power generation efficiency of somewhat above 20.0% and heat recovery efficiency of 68.0%, respectively. It is seen that the cycle performance is strongly dependent on the governing parameters and they can be optimized to provide maximum power, maximum heat recovery or a combination of both. The power generation and heat recovery are found to be increased with solar collector efficient area. The power generation is also increased with water temperature of the heat recovery system, but decreased with heat exchanging area. It is also seen that the effect of the water flow rate in the heat recovery system on the cycle performance is negligible.

Theoretical analysis of a solar energy-powered Rankine thermodynamic cycle utilizing an innovative new concept, which uses supercritical carbon dioxide as a working fluid, is presented. In this system, a truly 'natural' working fluid, carbon dioxide, is utilized to generate firstly electricity power and secondly high-grade heat power and low-grade heat power. The uniqueness of the system is in the way in which both solar energy and carbon dioxide, available in abundant quantities in all parts of the world, are simultaneously used to build up a thermodynamic cycle and has the potential to reduce energy shortage and greatly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and global warming, offering environmental and personal safety simultaneously. The system consists of an evacuated solar collector system, a power-generating turbine, a high-grade heat recovery system, a low-grade heat recovery system and a feed pump. The performances of this CO2-based Rankine cycle were theoretically investigated and the effects of various design conditions, namely, solar radiation, solar collector area and CO2 flow rate, were studied. Numerical simulations show that the proposed system may have electricity power efficiency and heat power efficiency as high as 11.4% and 36.2%, respectively. It is also found that the cycle performances strongly depend on climate conditions. Also the electricity power and heat power outputs increase with the collector area and CO2 flow rate. The estimated COPpower and COPheat increase with the CO2 flow rate, but decrease with the collector area. The CO2-based cycle can be optimized to provide maximum power, maximum heat recovery or a combination of both. The results suggest the potential of this new concept for applications to electricity power and heat power generation.

In this article, natural convections of a magnetic fluid in a cubic cavity under a uniform magnetic field are investigated experimentally and numerically. Results obtained from experiments and numerical simulations reveal that the magnetic field and magnetization are influenced by temperature. There exist relative larger magnetization and magnetic forces in the regions near the upper wall and center inside the cavity than in the region near the bottom and side walls. A weak flow roll occurs inside cavity under the magnetic force, and it brings the low temperature fluid downward in the center region, and streams the high temperature fluid upward along the regions near the sidewalls. With the magnetic field imposed, the heat transfer inside the cavity is enhanced significantly compared to that without the magnetic field, and increasing the strength of the magnetic field the heat transfer is increased further.

A new power generation system using electro-conductive polymer and its mixture with magnetic fluid is introduced. The system using non-poison electro-conductive polymer and its mixture with magnetic fluid and operating at room temperature is proposed in the present paper. The system could be used as a micro-distributed energy supply system for domestic use in the future. An experimental set-up is designed and established to investigate the performance of the power generation with an aid of a theoretical analysis of the power generation. It is found that the theoretical results are in good agreement with the measured data. Based on the obtained results, the electric output increases with Reynolds number, size of the test channel, magnetic strength and electric conductivity. It is understood that in order to obtain a practical power generation, priority should be put on increasing fluid flow velocity and magnetic field strength.

An experimental study is carried out to investigate the performance of a solar Rankine system using supercritical CO2 as a working fluid. The testing machine of the solar Rankine system consists of an evacuated solar collector, a pressure relief valve, heat exchangers and CO2 feed pump, etc. The solar energy powered system can provide electricity output as well as heat supply/refrigeration, etc. The system performance is evaluated based on daily, monthly and yearly experiment data. The results obtained show that heat collection efficiency for the CO2-based solar collector is measured at 65.0-70.0%. The power generation efficiency is found at 8.78-9.45%, which is higher than the value 8.20% of a solar cell. The result presents a potential future for the solar powered CO2 Rankine system to be used as distributed energy supply system for buildings or others.

A solar collector using supercritical CO2 as working fluid is proposed in this paper. In order to investigate and estimate the CO2-based solar collector, an experimental set-up was constructed. Of particular interest of this paper are the basic collector characteristics, such as CO2 temperature and pressure in the collector, CO2 flow rate, and collector performances. The collector has been tested under various weather conditions. The results show that the CO2 temperature, CO2 pressure and mass flow rate increase with the solar radiation, which is different from those of traditional solar collector using liquid as working fluid. The solar radiation has influence on the CO2 states, being liquid, liquid-gas or supercritical state in the test, furthermore, affects the CO2 mass flow rate. The annually-averaged collector efficiency is found to be above 60. 0% in the case of supercritical CO2 as working fluid, which is much higher than that of water-based solar collector. This study shows the potential of the supercritical CO2-based solar collector in the field of solar thermal utilization.