Kinetic Modeling of Temperature Driven Flows in Short Microchannels

Abstract

The temperature driven gas flow in a two-dimensional finite length microchannel and a cylindrical tube are studied numerically with the goal of performance optimization of a nanomembrane-based Knudsen compressor. The numerical solutions are obtained using direct simulation Monte Carlo method and discrete ordinate method for BGK model kinetic equation in a wide range of Knudsen numbers from 0.05 to 50. The length-to-height ratios from 5 to 30 were examined. Three different wall temperature distributions were considered, namely, linear, step-wise, and a non-monotonic profile typical for a radiantly heated Knudsen compressor membrane. The short channel end effects are characterized, and the sensitivity of the mass flow rate to a non-monotonic temperature distribution is shown.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 2005
Accession Number
ADA435399

Entities

People

  • Alina A. Alexeenko
  • Andrew D. Ketsdever
  • E. P. Muntz
  • Sergey F. Gimelshein

Organizations

  • University of Southern California

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force Research Laboratories
  • Copyrights
  • Distribution Functions
  • Equations
  • Flow
  • Flow Rate
  • Gas Flow
  • Geometry
  • High Temperature
  • Knudsen Number
  • Mass
  • Mass Flow
  • Materials
  • Monte Carlo Method
  • Rarefied Gases
  • Temperature Gradients
  • Two Dimensional

Readers

  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Plasma Physics.