Title: Second law analysis of compressible flow through a diffuser subjected to constant wall temperature

Authors: Mohammad Hasan Arshad, Ramazan Kahraman, Ahmet Z. Sahin, Rached Ben Mansour

Addresses: Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. ' Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Qatar University, P.O. Box 2713, Doha, Qatar. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, KFUPM Box 1461, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, KFUPM Box 1461, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

Abstract: This study presents the investigation of entropy generation in compressible turbulent flow of air through a diffuser. Constant temperature boundary condition is applied at the wall. Two-dimensional solution of velocity and temperature fields are obtained using the CFD code FLUENT. Regions of high entropy generation in the diffuser have been predicted. The desired inlet expansion angle corresponding to the minimum entropy generation at specified flow conditions is determined. The numerical analysis suggests that by successfully predicting the distribution of irreversibility in a thermal system, re-design efforts can be more carefully focused on specific regions with highest entropy generation.

Keywords: entropy generation; compressible flow; diffuser; CFD; constant wall temperature; computational fluid dynamics; turbulent flow; air flow; irreversibility; exergy analysis.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEX.2010.029618

International Journal of Exergy, 2010 Vol.7 No.1, pp.110 - 129

Received: 22 Oct 2008
Accepted: 30 Jan 2009
Published online: 30 Nov 2009 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article