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A 2-D Piston Effect Solution for the Relaxation in the MISTE CellWhen a large density stratification is no longer a problem in a microgravity environment, one would like to increase the sample size in order to increase the signal-to-noise ratio for a specific heat measurement. To reduce the equilibration time associated with the large sample size, we designed a cylindrical cell containing a stack of plates that separate the bulk fluid into 60 equally thin layers. To understand the thermal behavior of the whole cell, we analyzed the thermal behavior of a 2-D composite system of a cylindrical near-critical fluid layer in contact with a cylindrical copper plate. In this 2-D analysis, the circumference boundary of the two cylindrical layers is subjected to a step temperature change. The solution of this 2-D composite system includes the piston effect that speeds up the equilibration in the near-critical fluid layer and the pure diffusion in the copper plate. The results of this analysis indicate that the characteristic length for the equilibration of the stacked cell is determined by an effective thickness of a single fluid layer instead of the total height of the cylindrical cell.
Document ID
20050186715
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Weilert, Mark
(Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2003
Publication Information
Publication: Proceedings of the 2003 NASA/JPL Workshop on Fundamental Physics in Space
Subject Category
Fluid Mechanics And Thermodynamics
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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