Reverse transition to hydrodynamic stability through the Schwarzschild line in a supercritical fluid layer

Thermoacoustic waves along the critical isochore

Near the liquid-gas critical point, thermal disturbances can generate sounds. We study the acoustic emission over four decades of reduced temperatures [defined as ɛ=(T-T(c))/T(c), with T(c) the critical temperature] along the critical isochore, under linear and nonlinear temperature perturbations, respectively. We identify various thermoacoustic behaviors by numerically solving the governing equations. It is shown that a homogeneous thermoacoustic-wave pattern dominates in the linear case, largely independent of ɛ; whereas under the nonlinear perturbation, variation in ɛ could lead to severe wavefront deformation. The strong nonlinear effect is found to be of a transient nature because, in due time, both cases tend to converge in terms of the energy yield of the adiabatic process.

Adiabatic heating and convection in a porous medium filled with a near-critical fluid

Dynamics and heat transfer in a porous medium filled with a fluid phase at parameters near the gas-liquid critical point are studied. A two-dimensional numerical solver based on the hydrodynamic model for a porous medium with a high compressible fluid phase including the van der Waals equation of state is used. In weightlessness, adiabatic heating of fluid phase under the step-temperature heat supply is investigated analytically and numerically. In terrestrial conditions, gravity-driven convection in vertical rectangular cells generated by lateral heating in unsteady and steady-state regimes is simulated. The effects of high compressibility of near-critical fluid phase on convection are studied. Convective motions and heat transfer in horizontal rectangular cells consisting of two porous layers at different porosity and permeability heated from below are simulated as well. Adiabatic heating subjected to hydrostatic compressibility effects, the onset and development of convection, and convective structures in a steady-state regime are analyzed.

Modeling heat transfer in supercritical fluid using the lattice Boltzmann method

A lattice Boltzmann model has been developed to simulate heat transfer in supercritical fluids. A supercritical viscous fluid layer between two plates heated from the bottom has been studied. It is demonstrated that the model can be used to study heat transfer near the critical point where the so-called piston effect speeds up the transfer of heat and results in homogeneous heating in the bulk of the layer. We have also studied the onset of convection in a Rayleigh-Bénard configuration. It is shown that our model can well predict qualitatively the onset of convection near the critical point, where there is a crossover between the Rayleigh and Schwarzschild criteria.

Thermoacoustic effects in supercritical fluids near the critical point: Resonance, piston effect, and acoustic emission and reflection

We present a general theory of thermoacoustic phenomena in one phase states of one-component fluids. Singular behavior is predicted in supercritical fluids near the critical point. In a one-dimensional geometry we start with linearized hydrodynamic equations taking into account the effects of heat conduction in the boundary walls and the bulk viscosity. We introduce a coefficient Z(omega) characterizing reflection of sound with frequency omega at the boundary in a rigid cell. As applications, we examine acoustic eigenmodes, response to time-dependent perturbations, and sound emission and reflection. Resonance and rapid adiabatic changes are noteworthy. In these processes, the role of the thermal diffusion layers is enhanced near the critical point because of the strong critical divergence of the thermal expansion.