Projects

Twisted tape inserts are widely used for decades for enhancing the thermal performance of heat exchangers. Easiness in manufacturing and implementation makes this one of the most prominent methods. This study primarily focuses on comparing the thermal performance of plain twisted tape and twisted tape with vortex generators in a horizontal circular tube through an experimental study. A thermal imaging camera is used to capture a two-dimensional wall temperature distribution of the test section at constant heat flux applied at the walls of the test section. The study is carried out for 2.5, 3.5, and 4.5 twist ratio (pitch over diameter) of the twisted tapes with working fluid as both air and water. The Reynolds number is varied from 500 to 20,000. The experimental rig is validated with the well-known correlations for laminar as well as turbulent regime with a mean absolute deviation of 3%. The performance of the twisted tape with vortex generator is found to be superior to ordinary twisted tape because of the formation of vortices in the flow which enhances the mixing prominently with an increase in the pumping power. The empirical correlations are developed for Nusselt number and friction factor for both the inserts with a mean absolute deviation of 4%.

Solar thermal energy is a vital source of non-consumable source for producing power. Heat absorptive paints or coatings are used to maximize the efficiency of the solar thermal powerplant. These paints should have emissivity values close to one, which can absorb most of the solar radiation. An experimental setup is designed and fabricated to test the emissivity of such paints or coatings.

In this project, the analysis on shell and tube heat exchanger (with and without fins) is done. The shell side of the heat exchanger has cold fluid and the tube bundle has hot air passing through it. First the analysis is carried out on simple shell and tube (without fin) heat exchanger, to know the effectiveness ($\epsilon$), overall heat transfer coefficient (U), temperature distribution, pressure drop along the length of the tube bundle. Then the similar analysis is carried out on shell and tube heat exchanger (with finned tubes). All the analysis is done by using Fluid Flow (Fluent). Finally, the comparison between the obtained results is done using plots.

In this project a dynamic model of water-to-water co-current heat exchanger is developed by applying finite-difference method to the governing heat equation in MATLAB.

Several plain carbon steel grades are used for valves, flanges, fittings, and other pressure containing parts intended primarily for low temperature services. There is the influence of various heat treatment parameters, micro-constituents present in low carbon steel over the impact toughness values intended primarily for low temperature service. In the present investigation wrought grade carbon steel is used and an attempt has been made to investigate effect of various heat treatment parameters and subsequent phases present in low carbon steel over impact toughness value. By performing various heat treatment combinations and performing impact tests at lower temperatures and by analysing the microstructures, it has been found that micro-constituents like widmanstätten ferrite influence low temperature impact toughness values. A More extensive study has to be carried out to relate heat treatment parameters, micro-constituents with impact toughness value for cast grade steels which are intended for low temperature services.

Before the introduction of automation in bottle filling industry, the task was carried out manually by labourers. It was a time-consuming process and also involved considerable labour cost. The accuracy achieved in the process was dependent upon the worker’s experience which made the process highly unreliable. But with the development of sophisticated electronic sensors and electronic equipment, all the above-mentioned disadvantages have been eliminated. Many industries including beverage, medicine, edible oil, etc. have opted to adopt automation in bottle filling sector. In the project, we have prepared a model of automatic bottle filling station with capping mechanism and programmed it using Arduino board (UNO).