Uniform and non-uniform inlet temperature of a vertical hot water jet injected into a rectangular tank
In most of real-world applications, such as the case of heat stores, inlet is not kept at a constant temperature but it may vary with time during charging process. In this paper, a vertical water jet injected into a rectangular storage tank is measured experimentally and simulated numerically. Two cases of study are considered; one is a hot water jet with uniform inlet temperature (UIT) injected into a cold water tank, and the other is a cold water jet with non-uniform inlet temperature (NUIT) injected into a hot water tank. Three different temperature differences and three different flow rates are studied for the hot water jet with UIT which is injected into a cold water tank. Also, three different initial temperatures with constant flow rate as well as three different flow rates with constant initial temperature are considered for the cold jet with NUIT which is injected into a hot water tank. Turbulence intensity at the inlet as well as Reynolds number for the NUIT cases are therefore functions of inlet temperature and time. Both experimental measurements and numerical calculations are carried out for the same measured flow and thermal conditions. The realizable k-ε model is used for modeling the turbulent flow. Numerical solutions are obtained for unsteady flow while pressure, velocity, temperature and turbulence distributions inside the water tank are analyzed. The simulated results are compared to the measured results, and they show a good agreement at low temperatures.
Numerical study of flow and heat transfer characteristics in hot water stores
Abstract The flow and heat transfer characteristics in a cylindrical hot water store during the charging process under adiabatic thermal boundary conditions were studied numerically in the present paper. The charging efficiency was used to evaluate the thermal stratification. The emphasis was put on the effects of charging temperature differences, charging velocities, charging flow rates and length to diameter ratios on the charging efficiency. The results were summarized both in dimensional and dimensionless forms. They indicate that the charging efficiency depends mainly on the modified Richardson number RiH,f and Peclet number PeH,f, which present the combined effects of charging temperature difference and charging velocity on the charging efficiency. If RiH,f is larger than 0.25, the charging efficiency is above 97%. At a given Richardson number the increase of Peclet number leads to a higher charging efficiency. For H/D less than 4, the increase of the height to diameter ratio H/D can improve the charging efficiency as well. The effect of the Fourier number (or charging flow rate) on the charging efficiency, however, is relatively small. A correlation of the numerical results was obtained for the design of effective hot water stores.
Euthanasia — again: “Letting die” is not in the patient's best interests: a case for active euthanasia
Recent discussions in the Journal on the subject of euthanasia have relied on intuitive appeals to distinctions traditionally considered to be morally relevant, such as the distinction between acts and omissions (or killing and letting die), or ordinary and extraordinary means of treatment. These discussions remained inconclusive. However, the question of euthanasia no longer remains inconclusive if one adopts the perspective suggested by the United States President's Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine and Biomedical and Behavioral Research and by the World Medical Assembly – that a doctor should act in his or her patient's best interests. From this vantage point, it is argued, there will be instances when active euthanasia is the proper cause of action.