Cooling of liquid in a tube under rotation

• Main Author: Antonius, Lucia
• Other Authors: Martin Skote
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2015
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/64060
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This study analyses the velocity and temperature fields of the fluid within PCR tube under rotating frame environment. Temperature homogenization and efficient cooling process is desirable throughout the polymerase chain reaction process. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) helps to observe the development of the flow. As stated in 2006, by Martensson et al. that rotating reference frame introduce a unique feature to the flow of the fluid. This study focus on comparing the results between 2 rotating reference frames, constant rotation rate and varying rotation rate. Detailed analysis is desired to study the effect of coriolis force which greatly affect the annealing phase. The simulation is thoroughly transient, although some of the change occurs later in the process. A fleeting alternating pattern can be observed in the beginning of the simulation, and is consistent regardless of rotation rate applied. The subsequent pattern, however, differ slightly depending on the rotation rate applied. Accordingly, the temperature patterns differ slightly, due to difference in the coriolis force at work. As increasing the rotation rate results in the same pattern of velocity and temperature fields, a possible way to demote the stratification that occurs due to the uneven cooling is by introducing a minimum turbulence in the system. Hypothetically, turbulence can help to mix the hot fluid in the central region with the cold fluid near by the wall of the tube, and in turn help to achieve a homogenous temperature throughout the fluid body. This subject has not been explored due to time constraint.