Four-Objective Optimization of an Irreversible Magnetohydrodynamic Cycle

Based on the existing model of an irreversible magnetohydrodynamic cycle, this paper uses finite time thermodynamic theory and multi-objective genetic algorithm (NSGA-II), introduces heat exchanger thermal conductance distribution and isentropic temperature ratio of working fluid as optimization variables, and takes power output, efficiency, ecological function, and power density as objective functions to carry out multi-objective optimization with different objective function combinations, and contrast optimization results with three decision-making approaches of LINMAP, TOPSIS, and Shannon Entropy. The results indicate that in the condition of constant gas velocity, deviation indexes are 0.1764 acquired by LINMAP and TOPSIS approaches when four-objective optimization is performed, which is less than that (0.1940) of the Shannon Entropy approach and those (0.3560, 0.7693, 0.2599, 0.1940) for four single-objective optimizations of maximum power output, efficiency, ecological function, and power density, respectively. In the condition of constant Mach number, deviation indexes are 0.1767 acquired by LINMAP and TOPSIS when four-objective optimization is performed, which is less than that (0.1950) of the Shannon Entropy approach and those (0.3600, 0.7630, 0.2637, 0.1949) for four single-objective optimizations, respectively. This indicates that the multi-objective optimization result is preferable to any single-objective optimization result.

Numerical study on gas–liquid two-phase flow and mass transfer in a microchannel

A numerical study of the gas–liquid two-phase flow and mass transfer in a square microchannel with a T-junction is carried out in this work. Through numerical simulation methods, the flow patterns of bubble flow, slug flow and annular flow are determined. By proposing a new flow pattern conversion relationship with different media and different speeds, 100 sets of CO2-water flow patterns and 100 sets of CO2-ethanol flow patterns are obtained. The effects of surface tension on flow pattern, bubble length and liquid plug length are studied. The pressure distribution and pressure drop are analyzed, and mass transfer is obtained through slug flow simulation, and the influencing factors of gas–liquid mass transfer are studied. The results show that the effect of surface tension on the length of the bubble and the length of the liquid plug is completely opposite, the pressure distribution is stepped, and the pressure drop increases with the increase of the gas–liquid velocity. In addition, it was found that the volumetric mass transfer coefficients of the bubble cap and the liquid film gradually decreased with time, and eventually stabilized. The increase in bubble velocity accelerates the mass transfer rate, while the increase in unit cell length slows the mass transfer rate. However, the influence of film thickness and liquid film length on mass transfer varies with time.