Thermal Science and Engineering Progress最新文献

{"title":"Improved forecasting using a novel hybrid machine learning model for flow parameters in an advanced heat exchanger","authors":"Ahmad Aboul Khail ,&nbsp;Ali Karah Bash","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>With the rising demand for high-performance thermal management systems in critical industries such as aerospace, nuclear energy, and advanced manufacturing, optimizing the efficiency of heat exchangers is crucial. Plate heat exchangers (PHEs) are crucial for enabling efficient fluid heat transfer; however, predicting their thermo-hydraulic properties remains challenging due to the complex fluid-thermal interactions. This research presents a new integrated machine learning ML hybrid model, augmented with advanced analytics, to strengthen the prediction of thermo-hydraulic characteristics in advanced PHEs. A unique plate design, incorporating a hyperbolic tangent function for wavy structures and heat transfer with minimal frictional losses. By using the SST k-ω turbulence model, high-resolution simulations provide a detailed analysis of complex flow. The hybrid ML model undertaken in this study passes through four stages, within which the predictions that are being developed perform subsequent iterations through some classical models that include Coarse Gaussian SVMR (CG-SVMR), Matern Regression (MR), Quadratic SVMR (Q-SVMR), Rational Quadratic GPR (RQ-GPR), Robust Linear Regression (RLR), and Squared Exponential GPR (SE-GPR). The model’s adjustment is guided by performance indicators, including R², SI, NSE, MAE, and RMSE. Ultimately, the SE-GPR emerged as the best-performing model in the final stage, achieving the highest performance metrics with R² = 0.985, RMSE = 0.015, and NSE = 0.981. The current findings suggest that the model is capable of predicting the Nusselt number (Nu), friction factor (f), and performance (P). Additionally, findings confirmed that the proposed geometry enhances heat transfer by up to 28% while maintaining lower frictional losses than conventional chevron-type plates. The study further provides a strong framework for the optimization of PHE designs to satisfy industrial needs for higher efficiency and cost reduction. Integrating machine learning techniques in the design of thermal systems can pave the way for novel improvements in heat exchanger design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104565"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422140","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental study on the propagation dynamics of ammonia/hydrogen/air premixed flames in a two-stage pipe with sudden contraction","authors":"Bo Sun ,&nbsp;Sumei Zhang ,&nbsp;Xiaoping Wen ,&nbsp;Zhidong Guo ,&nbsp;Zhenghui Zhou ,&nbsp;Abiodun Oluwaleke Ojo ,&nbsp;Linyuan Zhou","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104560","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104560","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study experimentally investigates the flame propagation characteristics of ammonia/hydrogen/air in a two-stage pipe with sudden contraction by varying the equivalence ratio (<em>Φ</em>) and ammonia volume fraction (<span><math><msub><mi>γ</mi><mrow><mi>N</mi><msub><mi>H</mi><mn>3</mn></msub></mrow></msub></math></span>). The results reveal that the dynamic pressure history under this configuration exhibits a distinct “three-peak, two-valley” pattern. Notably, the pressure difference between the second and third peaks (ΔP) transitions from positive to negative and decreases continuously with increasing ammonia addition, indicating that the pipe’s influence on pressure development shifts from enhancement to suppression which intensifies with higher ammonia content. For a fixed ammonia proportion, ΔP also decreases as the equivalence ratio increases. Furthermore, the relative duration of flame propagation through the three pipe segments (head, middle, and tail) remains consistent across conditions. At <em>Φ</em> = 0.8, the time proportions are approximately 75%, 18%, and 7%, respectively. In addition, a notable spatial discrepancy is observed between the flame position corresponding to the pressure and the actual flame front, which is governed collectively by both ammonia fraction and equivalence ratio. This study provides key experimental insights and a theoretical foundation for safety assessment and efficient utilization of ammonia fuel in complex piping systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104560"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Numerical tracing of microbial particles in a compact thermal air sterilizer with recirculation","authors":"Amarendra Kumar Gupta,&nbsp;Sunil Kumar Thamida","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104558","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104558","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents the development and validation of a thermally regulated air sterilization system featuring adaptive temperature control and air recirculation, targeting airborne transmission of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and COVID-19. The device employs a tunable outlet air temperature to meet pathogen-specific inactivation requirements, enabling versatile microbial control. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations in COMSOL Multiphysics, emphasizing discrete phase particle tracking, were used to analyze thermal and air flow behaviour in three different prototypes: baseline normal, L-shaped and elliptical. The elliptical design demonstrated superior performance, yielding a 50% increase in average particle residence time (17.39 sec) and a 4.27-fold rise in recirculation frequency (15.81 cycles) relative to the basic design. Additionally, the elliptical model achieved 70% droplet passage through the 65°C inactivation zone, compared to 50% for alternative geometries. Prototype operation exhibited thermal steady state duration ranging from 25 min (closed-inlet) to 60 min (open-inlet), while maintaining a constant wall heat flux (4545 W/m²) and the inline blower static pressure head at 25 Pa. Experimental validation resulted in a less root mean square error of below 5°C between measured and simulated temperatures, confirming model fidelity. Microbial inactivation was further substantiated by low optical density (OD600) of nutrient medium exposed to treated air at 0.001 units which is markedly below the value of 2 units observed for untreated room air. The simulations establish that the elliptical shaped prototype is a better and effective design for robust, energy-efficient and reliable indoor air sterilization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104558"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The study of a novel topology-optimized heat sink for single-phase immersion cooling in data centers","authors":"Shengke Tang,&nbsp;Jiao Wang,&nbsp;Zilong Song,&nbsp;Weipeng Li,&nbsp;Junlin Cheng,&nbsp;Xiaojun Fan","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104550","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104550","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the performance demands of data centers continue to grow, the challenges associated with cooling and the energy required for thermal management have become increasingly significant. To address these issues, this study applies topology optimization to redesign the heat sink component of a single-phase immersion cooling (SPIC) system, aiming to enhance heat dissipation efficiency and thereby improve overall system performance. The topology-optimized heat sink is then compared with a conventional rectangular-fin heat sink under identical immersion cooling conditions. The results show that the optimized design reduces the average temperature of the central processing unit (CPU) by 19.02% and lowers the temperature standard deviation by 44.90%. Moreover, it requires less pumping power, leading to a 115.23% increase in the energy efficiency coefficient. These improvements are of great significance for future efforts to enhance cooling efficiency and reduce energy consumption in data centers. In addition, this study also discusses the impact of coolant inlet temperature, inlet velocity, CPU thermal design power (TDP), channel height, and different cooling media on the performance of the SPIC system under two different heat sink designs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104550"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Rayleigh waves in graded thermoelastic media with fractional heat conduction: A sensitivity-based approach","authors":"Maaz Ali Khan ,&nbsp;Adnan Jahangir ,&nbsp;Sana Ben Moussa ,&nbsp;Usman Riaz ,&nbsp;Muhammad Saqib","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104564","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104564","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The propagation of Rayleigh waves is critical for understanding and improving the resilience of engineering structures like earthquake-resistant foundations, nuclear reactor cooling systems, and high-speed aeronautical components. This study investigates the complex behavior of these surface waves in a rotating, functionally graded semiconductor half-space, a configuration common in advanced technologies but not yet fully understood under coupled thermal-mechanical constraints. A novel thermoelastic model is developed using the Caputo fractional derivative to generalize the three-phase-lag heat conduction theory, effectively capturing memory effects and anomalous thermal diffusion often absent in classical models. The material properties of the semiconductor medium are considered to vary continuously with depth, reflecting the nature of functionally graded materials. The governing equations are solved to derive a secular equation for Rayleigh waves. Key propagation characteristics including phase velocity, attenuation coefficient, specific heat loss, and penetration depth are analyzed numerically for silicon. A normalized local sensitivity analysis identifies the rotational frequency as the most influential parameter on wave dynamics. The results demonstrate that increasing the material gradation parameter and rotational frequency significantly enhances phase velocity and penetration depth while reducing wave attenuation and thermal dissipation. These findings provide fundamental insights into wave-thermoelastic interactions and offer practical guidelines for optimizing material properties in semiconductor device design, geophysical exploration, and thermal management systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104564"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422261","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Research on the combustion response behavior and reaction mechanism of Al/PTFE energetic material under laser ignition","authors":"Tianyi Wang,&nbsp;Yuan He,&nbsp;Zhenwei Zhang,&nbsp;Chuanting Wang,&nbsp;Lei Guo,&nbsp;Yong He","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104584","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104584","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a comprehensive experimental investigation and theoretical analysis of the entire laser ignition and combustion process of Al/PTFE (aluminum/polytetrafluoroethylene) energetic material. The combustion process is divided into three consecutive stages: laser ignition, flame front propagation, and self-sustained combustion (including deflagration). Special focus is placed on the intense deflagration phenomenon occurring during the self-sustained combustion stage. By combining high-speed camera, thermocouple temperature recording, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), the morphological evolution, light intensity signals, temperature profiles, and microstructural changes before and after combustion were captured. The results demonstrate that the self-sustained combustion stage exhibits pronounced deflagration characteristics, with abrupt changes in light intensity and temperature effectively characterizing the duration and intensity of deflagration. This work offers significant theoretical and experimental insights for further understanding the reaction mechanisms and combustion performance of Al/PTFE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104584"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422301","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimizing T-shaped fin designs for enhanced thermal management in photovoltaic-phase change material systems","authors":"Jinping Ren ,&nbsp;Chenxu Wang ,&nbsp;Qi Zhang ,&nbsp;Lanxia Zhang ,&nbsp;Xin Guo ,&nbsp;Kejian Chang","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104594","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104594","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To address the low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) and enhance heat absorption from photovoltaic (PV) panel surfaces, thereby extending PV panel service life, this study employs a two-dimensional numerical model. The total fin surface area was kept constant while varying the lengths of horizontal and vertical fins and the inclination angle between the fins and the PV wall to identify an optimal T-shaped fin design for improved thermal management. The results indicate that conventional rectangular fins, T-shaped fins, modifications to horizontal and vertical fin lengths, and adjustments to the inclination angle of the horizontal tin of T-shaped fins relative to the heated wall generally reduce the surface temperature of PV modules (except Case 4) and considerably shorten PCM melting time. Compared with the baseline unfinned system, conventional rectangular fins reduced melting time by 4.4%–5.7%, whereas T-shaped fins of various designs achieved reductions of 6.1%–19.0%, with Case 17 showing the optimal performance. Furthermore, all finned configurations extended the stable temperature-control period of the PV wall surface by approximately 25 min, except for Case 4, which exhibited a shorter duration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104594"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422257","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparative evaluation of the thermal performance of a new sustainable energy system implemented with flat plates","authors":"Omar Ghoulam ,&nbsp;Hind Talbi ,&nbsp;Kamal Amghar ,&nbsp;Hamza Faraji ,&nbsp;Ismael Driouch","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104555","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104555","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study focuses on enhancing the efficiency of heat exchangers by introducing new rib configurations periodically mounted on the inner walls of a channel. The objective is to optimize heat transfer while minimizing pressure losses simultaneously. Three rib shapes: trapezoidal, pentagonal, and triangular were studied, each installed at regular intervals with the same height. To further improve thermal performance, an optimization approach based on varying rib height was proposed, resulting in three innovative configurations. In the first configuration (Case 1), rib height increases linearly along the main flow direction; in the second (Case 2), it decreases linearly; and in the third (Case 3), it first decreases and then increases. Numerical simulations were conducted using the Navier-Stokes equations to model turbulent flow and heat transfer in a rectangular duct. The impact of several parameters, such as Reynolds number (5,000&lt;Re&lt;18,000), relative rib height (1&lt;e&lt;1.8), and rib arrangement, was analyzed. The results show that triangular ribs, particularly in the optimized configurations, provide superior thermal performance with an acceptable trade-off in pressure drop. The results indicate that variable-height triangular fins significantly improve heat transfer, with the optimal configuration providing a balanced compromise between thermal performance and flow resistance. Compared to cases 1 and 2, case 3 exhibits superior overall thermal efficiency, with an increase in the Performance Evaluation Criterion (PEC) ranging from 7.4% to a maximum of 22.88% at a Reynolds number of 5,000. These observations provide valuable insights for optimizing the geometry of heat exchange surfaces and demonstrate that strategic fin profiling can considerably increase the efficiency of flat-plate thermal systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104555"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Structural optimization and evaluation for air-cooled heat dissipation of power batteries","authors":"Zhenyang Dai,&nbsp;Bixiong Huang,&nbsp;Haiyu Liao,&nbsp;Xintian Liu,&nbsp;Jiahong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104541","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104541","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>If the power battery is used at a higher temperature for a long time, it will reduce its service life, so it is necessary for the battery box to have a good way of cooling, which can not only make the cell run in a safer environment, but also improve the temperature consistency of the cell. In order to effectively improve the service life of the battery and enhance the heat dissipation capacity of the battery box, this paper proposes a parallel cooling and ventilation scheme based on the improvement of the traditional air-cooled cooling scheme. By establishing a battery box model, the air temperature distribution and pressure distribution in the air duct are simulated and analyzed. The temperature distribution and heat dissipation effect of wedge-shaped baffles with different shapes were compared in the module. In order to reduce air resistance, the structure of the blocking block inside the box has been improved. By adopting a streamlined structure, air resistance has been reduced by about 3%, thereby achieving the effect of increasing air velocity. At the same time, in order to improve the heat dissipation efficiency of the battery box, the entrance between the core and the lower part of the module has been optimized to increase the wind speed. By improving the air duct, the maximum temperature change of a single battery has been reduced by about 12%. The results indicate that the use of concave diffuser plates can increase the air velocity at the rear end of the air duct, and combined with improved streamlined baffles and intake manifolds, can effectively improve the overall heat dissipation capacity and individual temperature consistency of the battery box.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104541"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422094","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optimization of LNG cold energy utilization for power Generation, ice-making and liquid air energy storage to Mitigate Supply-Demand imbalances","authors":"Xu Zheng,&nbsp;Ji Zhang,&nbsp;Yan Li,&nbsp;Han Yuan,&nbsp;Ning Mei","doi":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104554","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.tsep.2026.104554","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Liquefied natural gas (LNG) cold energy is often underutilized during regasification, leading to significant energy waste. While existing recovery systems have been proposed, they often struggle with the dynamic mismatch between energy supply and demand, lacking effective strategies for intelligent optimization under fluctuating conditions. This study introduces an integrated energy system that combines the LNG-Brayton cycle, Organic Rankine cycle, wastewater ice-making, and liquid air energy storage. The system effectively recovers LNG cold energy and exhaust gas, while addressing supply–demand imbalances through dynamic energy storage. Furthermore, a data-driven intelligent framework where a Long Short-Term Memory neural network is used for accurate load forecasting, the results of which are fed into a multi-objective optimization approach to synergistically improve system performance. Optimization results indicate that the system achieves an exergy efficiency of 52.1%, a net power output of 1371 kW, and a round-trip efficiency of 190.1%. The proposed system demonstrates a novel pathway for sustainable energy recovery by seamlessly combining multi-energy integration with intelligent dynamic control. Economic analysis confirms the system’s competitiveness under favorable conditions. This work provides a theoretical basis for the application of integrated energy systems in offshore and ocean engineering, where space and energy reliability are critical.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":23062,"journal":{"name":"Thermal Science and Engineering Progress","volume":"71 ","pages":"Article 104554"},"PeriodicalIF":5.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147422142","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}