Study on the thermal energy conversion with the rarefied gas flows in micro-channels

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The methods of energy conversion, which make use of the rarefied gas flows in micro-channels, are investigated. Numerical and experimental studies are carried out on the pressure difference or the variation of the molar fraction of gas mixture induced by the temperature field. The main result of this research is the fundamental design of the gas separator of open fluid system, which makes use of the molecular exchange flows in micro-channels. Two experimental results of this research support it. (i) A multilayer mesh structure, which transforms a temperature difference into a gas flow through the mesh, is devised. A test system works at wide range of gaseous pressure, e.g., from 10000 Pa down to 10 Pa. (ii) The differences of molar fraction of the gas mixture between the two ends of the thermal edge pump are detected for various mixture of gases. This is the first evidence of the gas separation effect of the thermally driven pumps.