Self-sustained biphasic catalytic particle turbulence.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 31350393.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-019-11221-w and PMC identifier 6659658.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Turbulence is known for its ability to vigorously mix fluid and transport heat. Despite over a century of research for enhancing heat transport, few have exceeded the inherent limits posed by turbulent-mixing. Here we have conceptualized a kind of "active particle" turbulence, which far exceeds the limits of classical thermal turbulence. By adding a minute concentration (ϕ<sub>v</sub> ∼ 1%) of a heavy liquid (hydrofluoroether) to a water-based turbulent convection system, a remarkably efficient biphasic dynamics is born, which supersedes turbulent heat transport by up to 500%. The system operates on a self-sustained dynamically equilibrated cycle of a "catalyst-like" species, and exploits several heat-carrier agents including pseudo-turbulence, latent heat and bidirectional wake capture. We find that the heat transfer enhancement is dominated by the kinematics of the active elements and their induced-agitation. The present finding opens the door towards the establishment of tunable, ultra-high efficiency heat transfer/mixing systems.