Optical Thickness (optical + thickness)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Thermal radiation effects of a high-temperature developing laminar flow in a tube

HEAT TRANSFER - ASIAN RESEARCH (FORMERLY HEAT TRANSFER-JAPANESE RESEARCH), Issue 5 2004
Xin-Lin Xia
Abstract The thermal radiation effects of a high-temperature developing laminar flow in a tube are investigated numerically. The two-dimensional steady flow and heat transfer are considered for an absorbing-emitting gray medium, whose density is dependent on the temperature. The governing equations of the coupled process are simultaneously solved by the discrete ordinate method combined with the control volume method. For a moderate optical thickness, the velocity distribution, the temperature distribution, and the radial heat flux distribution in the medium as well as the heat flux distribution on the tube wall are presented and discussed. The results show that the thermal radiation effects of a high-temperature medium are significant under a moderate optical thickness. The flow and convective heat transfer are weakened, and the development of temperature distribution is accelerated noticeably. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 33(5): 299,306, 2004; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/htj.20018 [source]


Monte Carlo model of UV-radiation interaction with TiO2 -coated spheres

AICHE JOURNAL, Issue 10 2007
Gustavo E. Imoberdorf
Abstract Photocatalysis is one of the advanced oxidation techniques that are being studied for the treatment of polluted air and water from different sources. From a kinetic point of view, photocatalytic reaction rates are strongly dependent not only on the reactant and product concentrations, but also on the rate of photon absorption. Unfortunately, the local rate of photon absorption is usually difficult to evaluate because of (i) the inherent complexity of the system and (ii) the lack of data concerning the photocatalyst optical properties. The final objective of this project is focused on the development of a complete model of the radiation field; the bed structure, and the flow pattern to describe the operation of a fixed bed photocatalytic reactor. In this article, the interaction between radiative energy and TiO2 -coated fused-silica sphere beds was studied. The proposed model was built applying the Monte Carlo method, taking into account the complex reflection/refraction/absorption interactions between radiation and the packed bed. To obtain experimental measurements, an ad hoc device was designed and built. This device allows us to validate the proposed radiation model, and to obtain the optical parameters of the composite photocatalyst, i.e., the refractive index and the surface rough index of the fused-silica spheres, as well as the refractive index and the optical thickness of the TiO2 films. © 2007 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 2007 [source]


Determination of Scattering and Absorption Coefficients for Plasma-Sprayed Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia Thermal Barrier Coatings

JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CERAMIC SOCIETY, Issue 5 2008
Jeffrey I. Eldridge
Prediction of radiative transport through translucent thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) can only be performed if the scattering and absorption coefficients and index of refraction of the TBC are known. To date, very limited information on these coefficients, which depend on both the coating composition and the microstructure, has been available for the very commonly utilized plasma-sprayed 8 wt% yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) TBCs. In this work, the scattering and absorption coefficients of freestanding plasma-sprayed 8YSZ coatings were determined from room-temperature normal-incidence directional-hemispherical reflectance and transmittance spectra over the wavelength range from 0.8 to 7.5 ,m. Spectra were collected over a wide range of coating thickness from 60 to almost 900 ,m. From the reflectance and transmittance spectra, the scattering and absorption coefficients as a function of wavelength were obtained by fitting the reflectance and transmittance values predicted by a four flux model to the experimentally measured values at all measured 8YSZ thicknesses. While the combined effects of absorption and scattering were shown in general to exhibit a nonexponential dependence of transmittance on specimen thickness, it was shown that for sufficiently high absorption and optical thickness, an exponential dependence becomes a good approximation. In addition, the implications of the wavelength dependence of the plasma-sprayed 8YSZ scattering and absorption coefficients on (1) obtaining accurate surface-temperature pyrometer measurements and on (2) applying mid-infrared reflectance to monitor TBC delamination are discussed. [source]


Solar Ultraviolet-B Radiation in Urban Environments: The Case of Baltimore, Maryland,,

PHOTOCHEMISTRY & PHOTOBIOLOGY, Issue 3 2004
Gordon M. Heisler
Ultraviolet-B radiation (UV-B, 280,320 nm) has important effects in urban areas, including those on human health. Broadband UV-B radiation is monitored in Baltimore, MD, as part of the Baltimore Ecosystem Study, a long-term ecological research program. We compare broadband UV-B irradiance in Baltimore with UV-B at two nearby locations: a more rural station 64 km southeast and a suburban station 42 km southwest. The monitoring station in Baltimore is on the roof of a 33-m-tall building; there are no significant obstructions to sky view. The U.S. Department of Agriculture UV-B Monitoring and Research Program provided all sensors, which were calibrated at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Central UV Calibration Facility. UV-B irradiances at the three sites generally were similar. Over all conditions, Baltimore and the suburban site measured 3.4% less irradiance than the rural site. This difference is within the anticipated ±3% calibration uncertainty of the pyranometers. On 59 days with cloud-free conditions at all three sites, average differences in measured UV-B among the three sites were even smaller; Baltimore measured 1.2% less irradiance than the rural site. High aerosol optical thickness strongly reduced daily UV-B dose, whereas [SO2] had no influence. Surface O3 increased with increasing UV-B dose when [NO2] exceeded 10 ppb. [source]


Helianthos: Roll-to-Roll Deposition of Flexible Solar Cell Modules

PLASMA PROCESSES AND POLYMERS, Issue 3 2007
Edward A. G. Hamers
Abstract In the development of the roll-to-roll deposition of amorphous silicon by means of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, a number of different plasma aspects have been of importance. First, the understanding of process windows in terms of a dust free plasma has led to the formulation of an empirical scaling law for the dust free to dust forming transition in terms of the crucial process parameters such as, e.g., power and gas flows. Second, the homogeneity of deposition on an effective width of 30 cm has been demonstrated to be better than 5%. Increasing the deposition rate might be achieved by increasing the power density, but it scales only as (power density)0.77. A last important issue in roll-to-roll processing of long runs is process stability and on-line quality control. The accurate measurement of self bias voltage and optical thickness of the deposited stacks have proven to be very useful in this context. [source]


On the radiative properties of cirrus cloud at solar and thermal wavelengths: A test of model consistency using high-resolution airborne radiance measurements

THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY, Issue 598 2004
A. J. Baran
Abstract Two models describing the single-scattering properties of cirrus cloud are tested for physical consistency at solar and thermal wavelengths using airborne high-resolution radiance data. The data were obtained from a case of semi-transparent cirrus cloud, which occurred north of Scotland during October 2000. The single-scattering models tested are randomly oriented hexagonal ice columns and randomly oriented ice aggregates. High-spectral resolution radiances were measured from above the cirrus at a number of wavelengths between 0.3 and 16.7 µm, thereby covering a large range of ice crystal size parameter space and complex refractive index. It is shown that consistency between retrieved optical thickness and ice crystal effective radius at both solar and infrared wavelengths could only be achieved if the ice aggregate model was assumed. Moreover, differences between the ice aggregate model and spectrally resolved brightness temperature measurements were generally well within ±1 K between the wavelengths of 3.3 and 16.0 µm in the clean atmospheric window regions. The paper shows that it is important to have simultaneous radiance measurements from both the solar and thermal spectral regions so that ice crystal scattering models and cirrus retrievals can be rigorously tested. © Crown copyright 2004. [source]