Mist Lift Analysis Summary Report

Technical Report · Mon Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1980

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5112474· OSTI ID:5112474

Davenport, Roger L.

The mist flow open-cycle OTEC concept proposed by S.L. Ridgway has much promise, but the fluid mechanics of the mist flow are not well understood. The creation of the mist and the possibility of droplet growth leading to rainout (when the vapor can no longer support the mist) are particularly troublesome. This report summarizes preliminary results of a numerical analysis initiated at SERI in FY79 to study the mist-lift process. The analysis emphasizes the mass transfer and fluid mechanics of the steady-state mist flow and is based on one-dimensional models of the mist flow developed for SERI by Graham Wallis. One of Wallis's models describes a mist composed of a single size of drops and another considers several drop sizes. The latter model, further developed at SERI, considers a changing spectrum of discrete drop sizes and incorporates the mathematics describing collisions and growth of the droplets by coalescence. The analysis results show that under conditions leading to maximum lift in the single-drop-size model, the multigroup model predicts significantly reduced lift because of the growth of droplets by coalescence. The predicted lift height is sensitive to variations in the mass flow rate and inlet pressure. Inclusion of a coasting section, in which the drops would rise ballistically without change in temperature, may lead to increased lift within the existing range of operation.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 5112474
• Report Number(s): SERI/TR-631-627
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140800* -- Solar Energy-- Ocean Energy Systems
ANALYTICAL SOLUTION
COMPUTER CODES
CONVERSION
DIMENSIONS
DROPLETS
ENERGY CONVERSION
FLUID MECHANICS
HEIGHT
LIFT CYCLES
MASS TRANSFER
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MATHEMATICS
MECHANICS
MIST-LIFT CYCLES
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS
NUMERICAL SOLUTION
OCEAN THERMAL ENERGY CONVERSION
OCEAN THERMAL POWER PLANTS
OPEN-CYCLE SYSTEMS
PARTICLE SIZE
PARTICLES
POWER PLANTS
SIZE
SOLAR ENERGY CONVERSION
SOLAR POWER PLANTS
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
THERMODYNAMIC CYCLES
analytical solution
computer codes
conversion
dimensions
droplets
energy conversion
fluid mechanics
height
mass transfer
mathematical models
mist-lift cycles
numerical analysis
numerical solution
ocean thermal energy conversion
ocean thermal power plants
open-cycle systems
particle size
solar energy