Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters
Environmental wind tunnels for high-speed trains play a significant role in their development. The cooling system of the wind tunnel poses a challenge as it requires lower temperatures and a higher cooling capacity during operation. The conventional approach to wind tunnel refrigeration uses evapora...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-09-01
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| Series: | Entropy |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/25/9/1312 |
| _version_ | 1797580195534733312 |
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| author | Junjun Zhuang Meng Liu Hao Wu Jun Wang |
| author_facet | Junjun Zhuang Meng Liu Hao Wu Jun Wang |
| author_sort | Junjun Zhuang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Environmental wind tunnels for high-speed trains play a significant role in their development. The cooling system of the wind tunnel poses a challenge as it requires lower temperatures and a higher cooling capacity during operation. The conventional approach to wind tunnel refrigeration uses evaporative cooling, which is less efficient at low temperatures and comes with environmental and safety risks. In this study, we propose an innovative air compression refrigeration method based on the Brayton cycle. This method converts high-pressure air into low-temperature air at atmospheric pressure for wind tunnel refrigeration. The new cooling system has reduced energy usage by 3.72 MW, leading to a 13.15% improvement. The return cooler of the system is modeled using the effective number of heat transfer units and the mean temperature difference design method. Additionally, the turbine within the system is analyzed using one-dimensional flow characteristic analysis and the principle of similarity. This method has been validated by comparing it to other published papers. Subsequently, we perform a thorough sensitivity analysis on the key design parameters of the system. We observe that with a sufficient heat transfer area of the recooler, the cooling efficiency of the system exhibits a gradual decline from 64% to 60% as the mass flow rate of the system rises. For a fixed turbine, the cooling efficiency of the system rises from 20% to 62% and subsequently declines to 37%, with an increase in the mass flow rate. As a result, we conclude that the design parameters of the turbine have a more significant influence on the cooling efficiency of the system than the recooler. Our study will establish a foundation for selecting parameters to optimize the refrigeration system in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:47:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-553d33e579aa4f1cad72db4b6f48afe1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1099-4300 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:47:14Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Entropy |
| spelling | doaj.art-553d33e579aa4f1cad72db4b6f48afe12023-11-19T10:35:51ZengMDPI AGEntropy1099-43002023-09-01259131210.3390/e25091312Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design ParametersJunjun Zhuang0Meng Liu1Hao Wu2Jun Wang3School of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, ChinaSchool of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, ChinaSchool of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, ChinaSchool of Aeronautic Science and Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100191, ChinaEnvironmental wind tunnels for high-speed trains play a significant role in their development. The cooling system of the wind tunnel poses a challenge as it requires lower temperatures and a higher cooling capacity during operation. The conventional approach to wind tunnel refrigeration uses evaporative cooling, which is less efficient at low temperatures and comes with environmental and safety risks. In this study, we propose an innovative air compression refrigeration method based on the Brayton cycle. This method converts high-pressure air into low-temperature air at atmospheric pressure for wind tunnel refrigeration. The new cooling system has reduced energy usage by 3.72 MW, leading to a 13.15% improvement. The return cooler of the system is modeled using the effective number of heat transfer units and the mean temperature difference design method. Additionally, the turbine within the system is analyzed using one-dimensional flow characteristic analysis and the principle of similarity. This method has been validated by comparing it to other published papers. Subsequently, we perform a thorough sensitivity analysis on the key design parameters of the system. We observe that with a sufficient heat transfer area of the recooler, the cooling efficiency of the system exhibits a gradual decline from 64% to 60% as the mass flow rate of the system rises. For a fixed turbine, the cooling efficiency of the system rises from 20% to 62% and subsequently declines to 37%, with an increase in the mass flow rate. As a result, we conclude that the design parameters of the turbine have a more significant influence on the cooling efficiency of the system than the recooler. Our study will establish a foundation for selecting parameters to optimize the refrigeration system in the future.https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/25/9/1312cooling systemone-dimensional analysis methodprinciple of similaritysensitivity analysis |
| spellingShingle | Junjun Zhuang Meng Liu Hao Wu Jun Wang Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters Entropy cooling system one-dimensional analysis method principle of similarity sensitivity analysis |
| title | Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters |
| title_full | Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters |
| title_fullStr | Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters |
| title_full_unstemmed | Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters |
| title_short | Designing an Environmental Wind Tunnel Cooling System for High-Speed Trains with Air Compression Cooling and a Sensitivity Analysis of Design Parameters |
| title_sort | designing an environmental wind tunnel cooling system for high speed trains with air compression cooling and a sensitivity analysis of design parameters |
| topic | cooling system one-dimensional analysis method principle of similarity sensitivity analysis |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/25/9/1312 |
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