Applied Thermal Engineering最新文献

{"title":"Application of biomass–derived composite aerogel for suppressing battery thermal propagation in thermal runaway surrogate platform","authors":"Lulu Qiao,&nbsp;Zexin Liu,&nbsp;Jingjing Li,&nbsp;Qinglong Li,&nbsp;Chaowei Sun,&nbsp;Danfeng Du,&nbsp;Xiurong Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133036","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133036","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Thermal runaway propagation (TRP) in lithium batteries is a critical safety concern for onboard batteries and energy storage systems. Aerogels, serving as thermal insulation and flame–retardancy (TIFR) materials, can effectively alleviate this issue and improve thermal safety. In this study, a biomass material, chitosan (CS), with intrinsic flame retardancy is innovatively introduced to fabricate a high–performance polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), aluminum salt (AlCl₃·6H₂O), and CS composite aerogel (PAC aerogel) via freeze–drying technology. Orthogonal optimization experiments determined the optimal composition of each component in the PAC aerogel, achieving the dual requirements of low density and high thermal insulation. Microscopic morphology and energy–dispersive spectroscopy revealed that CS and AlCl₃ participated in the construction of the PAC aerogel and remained within the system, forming a stable interconnected polymer network inside the aerogel, which fully demonstrates good compatibility between the organic and inorganic components. TIFR tests found that the PAC aerogel achieved a minimum thermal conductivity of 0.031 W/(m·K) and a maximum limiting oxygen index (LOI) of 36.1%. During vertical combustion, no droplets or open flames were generated, achieving a <em>V</em>–0 rating, and a dense carbon layer formed on the surface after combustion. The PAC aerogel possesses excellent thermal insulation and flame–retardant properties, which are urgently needed for thermal runaway propagation inhibition. The battery thermal-runaway surrogate platform experiments demonstrate that the PAC aerogels effectively inhibit the runaway propagation, under both middle position triggering and end position triggering. With the PAC aerogel's thickness of 8 mm, the maximum temperature of heating block 2 remains below 100 °C under end position triggering, while heating block 3 stays within the ambient range. During the charge–discharge tests, the temperature rise of the PAC aerogels group does not exceed 1.1 °C, the minimum charge capacity reaches 47.37 Ah, and the maximum discharge capacity is 47.86 Ah. The incorporation of the PAC aerogels can ensure the consistency of the temperature and capacity of the practical battery module in the short-term charge discharge performance. This study introduces biomass–derived elements to develop a novel TIFR aerogel, expanding the application boundaries of biomass in the fields of aerogels and high–temperature insulation, and provides novel insights into the thermal protection of onboard power batteries and energy storage systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 133036"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953857","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low-temperature performance screening of commercial thermoelectric modules","authors":"Frédéric J. Lesage,&nbsp;Eric V. Sempels","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132864","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132864","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Commercial thermoelectric modules are attractive for low-grade heat recovery and energy-harvesting applications, but their selection is often limited by incomplete or non-comparable manufacturer data. This work evaluates a reduced current–voltage screening protocol for comparing commercial modules under controlled low-temperature-difference conditions.</div><div>Twenty-two modules from seven suppliers were tested at a cold-side temperature of 18 °C and an imposed temperature difference of 40 K. Open-circuit voltage, extrapolated short-circuit current, effective internal resistance, and predicted maximum power were obtained from two steady-state electrical operating points and validated against full steady-state power-curve measurements.</div><div>The reduced protocol predicted maximum power with an average deviation of 0.55% and a maximum deviation of 1.8%. It reduced the number of steady-state load conditions from ten to two, supporting its use as a rapid module-level screening tool when current–voltage linearity is verified.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 132864"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953860","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modelling analysis of partial evaporation Organic Rankine Cycle with volumetric expander","authors":"Saverio Ottaviano,&nbsp;Chiara Poletto,&nbsp;Lisa Branchini,&nbsp;Andrea De Pascale","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Partially Evaporated Organic Rankine Cycles (PE-ORCs) can improve thermal matching with low-grade sensible heat sources by reducing the isothermal evaporation zone and the associated exergy losses. However, two-phase conditions at the expander inlet require volumetric expanders and modelling approaches that go beyond black-box isentropic-efficiency assumptions. This paper presents a semi-empirical, lumped-parameter model of a micro-scale PE-ORC equipped with a reciprocating piston expander. The expander sub-model integrates an Interface Exchange Model (IEM) to describe non-equilibrium flash evaporation during two-phase expansion. Heat exchangers are modelled using a moving-boundary formulation coupled with the ε-NTU approach, while the feed pump is represented through experimentally derived characteristic curves. The sub-model parameters are calibrated against 27 steady-state operating points from a kW-scale test bench operating with R134a. Validation against an independent experimental dataset covering heat source temperatures from 40 °C to 75 °C and expander inlet vapour qualities from 0.2 to 1 yields Relative Root Mean Squared Errors (RRMSE) below 10% for all primary output variables – including working fluid mass flow rate (RRMSE = 2.6%), expander power output (6.5%), and evaporator thermal power (5.1%). The largest deviations are associated with expander rotational speed, highlighting residual uncertainty in leakage, recompression, and mechanical-loss modelling. A parametric analysis reveals that the most favourable operation occurs at high expander-inlet vapour qualities, between 0.7 and 0.9. The maximum expander power is about 1500 W, while pump consumption can reach up to 1200 W at low vapour quality. Expander efficiency, gross second-law efficiency, and net second-law efficiency reach approximately 25%, 18%, and 8%, respectively. These results indicate that PE-ORC operation is a controllable strategy, but the attainable performance is mainly constrained by expander and pump efficiencies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 133004"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Two-basis semi-empirical heat-generation model for high-speed cylindrical roller bearings: viscous–inertia decomposition and identifiability analysis","authors":"Jisu Park,&nbsp;Young-Jun Park","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132904","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132904","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accurate prediction of heat generation in high-speed cylindrical roller bearings governs the sizing of aero-engine lubrication and thermal-management systems, yet the heat arises from several hydrodynamic mechanisms whose individual contributions are difficult to separate. Empirical friction-torque formulations do not resolve individual loss mechanisms, while source-resolved models are too costly for design use. This paper proposes a semi-empirical model, designated SE-1, that compresses the four hydrodynamic losses, namely drag, churning, cage land friction, and cage pocket friction, into a viscous shear term and an oil-acceleration inertia term. Its two scaling coefficients were calibrated by nonlinear least squares against 113 operating points on two bearings up to 2.1 × 10⁶ DN (bore diameter in millimeters times shaft speed in revolutions per minute), with the rotating inner-ring temperature measured directly by wireless telemetry. The model reaches a coefficient of determination of 0.914 and a root mean square error of 0.45 kW, outperforming a parameter-free theoretical model and a classical friction-torque formulation under both the Akaike and Bayesian information criteria. Beyond fit quality, identifiability is diagnosed geometrically as the angle between basis vectors obtained from eigendecomposition of the Gram matrix: the two proposed bases are separated by 46.8 degrees and are robustly identifiable, whereas those of the theoretical model are almost parallel at 2.2 degrees. Within SE-1, viscous shear and inertia account for 65% and 35% of the total heat, and a 20-point test matrix reproduces the coefficients obtained from all 113 points.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 132904"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and CFD analysis of a CRMC steam ejector for geothermal heat-powered cooling using non-equilibrium wet steam modelling","authors":"Hamid Kazemi Moghadam,&nbsp;Adriano Milazzo,&nbsp;Guglielmo Vaccaro,&nbsp;Lorenzo Talluri","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132666","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132666","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Geothermal steam is an abundant but impure heat source, carrying dissolved salts and particulates. Steam ejectors, which use the motive fluid directly in a simple supersonic nozzle, are uniquely suited to this application and represent the core technology of the EU-funded Geosyn geothermal cooling project. This study presents a novel integrated design framework for a geothermal heat-powered ejector chiller delivering 20 kW of cooling. The Constant Rate of Momentum Change (CRMC) design procedure is combined with parametric Bézier curve profiles to obtain a continuous curve aimed at minimizing irreversibility. The numerical framework employs the SST k-omega turbulence model and a non-equilibrium wet steam model accounting for spontaneous nucleation, droplet growth, and latent heat release within the motive nozzle. The CFD model is validated against an experimental dataset available in the literature, establishing confidence in its predictive capability for condensing supersonic flows. A parametric CFD study varying nozzle throat diameter, area ratio, nozzle exit position, and body diameter identifies two seasonal configurations sharing a common 62 mm ejector body, allowing seasonal adaptation solely by nozzle substitution. The summer design achieves an entrainment ratio of 0.40, a secondary mass flow of 8.65 g/s and a critical condenser pressure of 5.2 kPa, meeting the design target. The winter design achieves an entrainment ratio of 0.412 at 7.79 g/s with reduced motive consumption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 132666"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and investigation of a topology-optimized liquid cold plate integrated with metal-skeleton-enhanced phase change material for transient heat shock mitigation","authors":"Zhijie Liu,&nbsp;Baichen Liu,&nbsp;Cong Wang,&nbsp;Zekuan Liu,&nbsp;Lei Lang,&nbsp;Jiachun Liu,&nbsp;Shuai Zhang,&nbsp;Jiang Qin,&nbsp;Penghao Duan","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133012","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133012","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>High-power-density energy system components are subjected to coupled steady heat loads and short-duration heat shocks, for which conventional liquid cold plates provide limited transient buffering. In this study, an integrated parallel phase change material (PCM) cold plate with a topology-optimized channel (IPCP) was proposed by incorporating inter-channel metal-skeleton-enhanced PCM (MSE-PCM) for transient heat shock mitigation. A dual-objective topology optimization strategy was used to design the liquid cooling channel with balanced heat transfer enhancement and flow resistance reduction. A topology-optimized cold plate without PCM (TOCP) and a series PCM cold plate (SPCP) were used as references. A three-dimensional transient conjugate heat transfer model with phase change was established and experimentally validated. The IPCP showed only a small steady-state temperature penalty relative to the TOCP, while markedly improving heat shock resistance. Under 1500–2100 W heat shocks, the IPCP reduced the peak temperature by approximately 50–67 K relative to the TOCP and by 21–47 K relative to the SPCP. At 2100 W, the safety delay time below 353.15 K reached 20.9 s, about 2.2 times that of the SPCP. Mechanism analysis revealed that the advantage of the IPCP arises from sustained parallel energy partition between continuous liquid cooling and gradual latent heat utilization, which delays PCM depletion and stabilizes thermal resistance. Sensitivity analysis showed stronger dependence on MSE-PCM effective thermal conductivity and latent heat than on specific heat capacity. Repeated heat shock experiments further demonstrated stable thermal and hydraulic performance over 30 cycles without visible PCM leakage.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 133012"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953887","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Energy and performance analysis of a novel tri-hybrid solar refrigeration system integrating an ejector assisted transcritical CO2 cycle, PCM-based thermal storage, and thermoelectric energy recovery","authors":"Mbarek Marzougui,&nbsp;Ridha Chargui,&nbsp;Manahil Hassan balal","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133017","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133017","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a comprehensive numerical investigation of a novel tri-hybrid solar refrigeration system integrating a parabolic trough collector (PTC), a thermal energy storage (TES) unit with phase change material (PCM), thermoelectric generators (TEGs), and a transcritical CO₂ refrigeration cycle. The proposed configuration aims to maximize energetic and exergetic performance while mitigating grid electricity dependency. A detailed mathematical model is developed and rigorously validated against experimental data from the literature, yielding deviations below 3% for all primary performance indicators. The analysis evaluates the thermal behavior of the PTC, the dynamic response of the storage tank, and the electrical power generation of the TEG modules under realistic transient conditions. Results demonstrate that PCM integration enhances the exergetic density of the thermal storage by minimizing thermal irreversibilities during phase transition. Furthermore, the TEG array enables the recovery of low grade thermal exergy as auxiliary electrical power, further reducing the compressor's net energy demand. A system level exergy analysis highlights the synergistic interactions between the subsystems. Multi-objective optimization based on the Coefficient of Performance (COP), exergetic efficiency, and total annualized cost (TAC) was performed using a Pareto front approach. The optimized hybrid configuration achieves a COP of 3.05 and an exergetic efficiency of 45%, representing enhancements of approximately 45% and 60%, respectively, compared to a conventional vapor compression system. These findings confirm the significant potential of the proposed tri-hybrid system for sustainable, high-efficiency solar driven refrigeration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 133017"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953888","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Corrigendum to “Improving low-load regulation rates of a coal-fired power plant using VPH-LSTM predictive control considering thermal stress constraints” [Appl. Therm. Eng. 304 (2026) 132603]","authors":"Peng Wang,&nbsp;Chaoyang Wang,&nbsp;Ming Liu,&nbsp;Hui Yan","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132849","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132849","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 132849"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953918","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Failure mode investigations of printed circuit heat exchanger for high-temperature helium-cooled reactors","authors":"Shengyu Shen,&nbsp;Yang Yang,&nbsp;Guofeng Fan,&nbsp;Jun Liu,&nbsp;Chunhui Dai,&nbsp;Shaohong Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132490","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.132490","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In high-temperature helium-cooled reactors, printed circuit heat exchangers (PCHEs) are critical with their structural integrity under extreme conditions. Some thermal-hydraulic and mechanical characteristics of PCHEs have been studied in recent years, while seldom have been conducted concerning the failure modes under the combined thermal loads, internal pressure, and diffusion-bonding material degradation. In this study, a coupled thermal-mechanical analysis on experimental and numerical investigations is conducted to elucidate the PCHE failure mechanism. Based on the similarity principle, an alternative thermal-hydraulic experiment with air is first carried out to capture the dimensionless characteristics of helium. New correlations for the Nusselt number and friction factors are developed to predict the temperature distribution. Regarding Inconel 617, mechanical experiments provide insights into the microstructure of the diffusion-bonded interface, and the reduction factors of material properties are determined. Incorporating the internal pressure effect, a dual-scale modeling method is proposed to homogenize four feature regions of the PCHE core. At the mesoscale and macroscale, the orthotropic temperature and stress distributions are predicted within the PCHE. The numerical results indicate that the region near the header weld exhibits significant stress relaxation, with the maximum mechanical stress exceeding 77.5 MPa. Across two scales, six risk regions with corresponding failure modes are identified, providing a practical reference for PCHE engineering design and maintenance in nuclear applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 132490"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953427","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A coupled model for the performance prediction of a PEM fuel cell with the consideration of non-uniform assembly pressure","authors":"Yuxi Tong,&nbsp;Min Wang,&nbsp;Quanquan Gan,&nbsp;Qi Wu,&nbsp;Wenfeng Liu,&nbsp;Liangfei Xu,&nbsp;Jianqiu Li","doi":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133045","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2026.133045","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are significantly affected by assembly pressure non-uniformity. In this study, the realistic pressure distribution in a commercial stack assembly is obtained, and the experimental correlation between contact pressure and gas diffusion layer (GDL) properties is established, including porosity, permeability, and effective contact resistance, which consists of GDL/bipolar plate interfacial contact resistance as well as GDL bulk resistivity. A large-scale PEMFC performance prediction model incorporating realistic assembly is developed by simulations. Model validation demonstrates that considering non-uniform assembly pressure markedly improves the prediction accuracy. The maximum relative error of oxygen distribution is reduced from 9.8% to 8.6%. For current density distribution, the maximum error in inlet distribution zone drops sharply from 57% to 9.7%, while it decreases from 33% to 8.8% in parallel channel zone. Performance evaluation reveals a slight overall voltage reduction when assembly pressure is considered, with significant degradation under high current densities. However, the liquid water saturation in the cathode GDL and channel is increased by 0.005 to 0.013, respectively, indicating the impacts of pressure on water management. In summary, this study developed a model that accurately reflects the influence of non-uniform assembly pressure on performance and in-plane distribution, with significantly higher validation accuracy than previous models, providing critical theoretical support for optimizing assembly processes in commercial fuel cell stacks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8201,"journal":{"name":"Applied Thermal Engineering","volume":"305 ","pages":"Article 133045"},"PeriodicalIF":7.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148953859","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}