Heat generation in a Couette-Taylor flow multicylinder system

Abstract

The paper presents the results of an experimental study of energy production in the Couette-Taylor heat generator with independent rotation of cylinders: the system is applied to solving the problem of direct conversion of wind energy into thermal energy. The system consists of two nested multicylinder rotors. The regimes for two counter-rotating rotors are studied. The study is focused on the rotor drag torque and the heat power of the generator as a function of the relative angular velocity of two rotors at a fixed viscosity of the working liquid or as a function of the working liquid viscosity at a steady relative angular velocity of two rotors. Representing of this multicylinder design of the heat generator to a form of a single equivalent annular channel between two rotating cylinders allows generalization of experimental data for the law of the drag torque and specific heat power as a function of the Reynolds number. This generalization offers a possibility of developing engineering methods for calculating the thermal parameters of various systems for fluid heating.