The effects of using aqueous nanofluids containing covalently functionalized graphene nanoplatelets with triethanolamine (TEA-GNPs) as novel working fluids on the thermal performance of a flat-plate solar collector (FPSC) have been investigated. Water-based nanofluids with weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1% of TEA-GNPs with specific surface areas of 300, 500, and 750 m2/g were prepared. An experimental setup was designed and built and a simulation program using MATLAB was developed. Experimental tests were performed using inlet fluid temperatures of 30, 40, and 50 °C; flow rates of 0.6, 1.0, and 1.4 kg/min; and heat flux intensities of 600, 800, and 1000 W/m2. The FPSC’s efficiency increased as the flow rate and heat flux intensity increased, and decreased as inlet fluid temperature increased. When using nanofluids in the FPSC, the measured temperatures of absorber plate and tube wall decreased down to 3.35% and 3.51%, respectively, with the increase in weight concentration and specific surface area, while the efficiency increased up to 10.53% for 0.1- wt% TEA-GNPs nanofluid with specific surface area of 750 m2/g, in comparison with water. When using water as heat transfer fluid, very good agreement was obtained between the experimental and predicted values of absorber plate temperature, tube wall temperature, and collector’s efficiency with maximum differences of 3.02%, 3.19%, and 3.26%, respectively. While, when using nanofluids, higher differences were found, up to 4.74%, 4.7%, and 13.47% for TEA-GNPs nanofluid with specific surface area of 750 m2/g, respectively. Accordingly, the MATLAB code was capable of simulating the thermal performance of FPSCs utilizing nanofluids as their heat transfer fluids with acceptable accuracy. Values of performance index were all greater than 1, and increased as weight concentration increased up to 1.104 for 0.1- wt% TEA-GNPs nanofluid with specific surface area of 750 m2/g, implying higher positive effects on efficiency than negative effects on pressure drop. Accordingly, the investigated nanofluids can efficiently be used in FPSCs for enhanced energy efficiency, and the 0.1- wt% water-based TEA-GNPs nanofluid with specific surface area of 750 m2/g was comparatively the superior one.
The Electric Discharge (EDM) method is a novel thermoelectric manufacturing technique in which materials are removed by a controlled spark erosion process between two electrodes immersed in a dielectric medium. Because of the difficulties of EDM, determining the optimum cutting parameters to improve cutting performance is extremely tough. As a result, optimizing operating parameters is a critical processing step, particularly for non-traditional machining process like EDM. Adequate selection of processing parameters for the EDM process does not provide ideal conditions, due to the unpredictable processing time required for a given function. Models of Multiple Regression and Genetic Algorithm are considered as effective methods for determ
... Show MoreThe effect of the concentration of the colloidal nanomaterial on their optical limiting behavior is reported in this paper. The colloids of sliver nanoparticles in deionized water were chemically prepared for the two concentrations (31 ppm and 11ppm). Two cw lasers (473 nm Blue DPSS laser and 532 nm Nd:YAG laser) are used to compare the optical limiting performance for the samples. UV–visible spectrophotometer, transmission electron microscope (TEM) and Fourier Transformation Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR) were used to obtain the characteristics of the sample. The nonlinear refractive index was calculated to be in the order of 10-9 cm2/W. The results demonstrate that the observed limiting response is significant for 532nm. In addition, t
... Show MoreThe production of power using the process of pressure–retarded osmosis (PRO) has been studied both experimentally and theoretically for simulated sea water vs. river water and deionized water under two cases: the first is for simulated real conditions of sea water and river water and second under low brine solution concentration to examine the full profile of the power- pressure. The influence of concentration polarization (CP) on water flux has been examined as well.
In this research project, a tip-tilting angle of a photovoltaic solar cell was developed to increase generated electrical power output. An active, accurate, and simple dual-axis tracking system was designed by using an Arduino Uno microprocessor. The system consisted of two sections: software and apparatus (hardware). It was modified by using a group of light-dependent resistor sensors, and two DC servo motors were utilized to rotate the solar panel to a location with maximum sunlight. These components were arranged in a mechanical configuration with the gearbox. The three locations of the solar cell were chosen according to the tilt angle values, at zero angles, which included an optimal 33-degree angle for the Baghdad location and
... Show MoreThe present work aimed to study the efficiency of thermal osmosis process for recovery of water from organic wastewater solution and study the factors affecting the performance of the osmosis cell. The driving force in the thermo osmosis cell is provided by a difference in temperature across the membrane sides between the draw and feed solution. In this research used a cellulose triacetate (CTA), as flat sheet membranes for treatment of organic wastewater under orientation membrane of active layer facing feed solution (FS) and draw solution (DS) is placed against the support layer. The organic materials were phenol, toluene, xylene and BTX (benzene, toluene, and xylene) used as feed solution. The osmotic agent in draw solution was
... Show MoreThe efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICE) is usually about thirty percent of the total energy of the fuel. The residual energy is lost in the exhaust gas, the lubrication, and the cooling water in the radiators. Recently much of the researcher’s efforts have focused on taking advantage of wasted energy of the exhaust gas. Using a thermoelectric generator (TEG) is one of the promising ways. However, TEG depends entirely on the temperature difference, which may be offered by the exhaust muffler. An experimental test has been conducted to study the thermal performance of a different muffler internal design. The researchers resort to the use of lost energy in an ICE using TEG, which is one of the ways to take adv
... Show MoreThe railways network is one of the huge infrastructure projects. Therefore, dealing with these projects such as analyzing and developing should be done using appropriate tools, i.e. GIS tools. Because, traditional methods will consume resources, time, money and the results maybe not accurate. In this research, the train stations in all of Iraq’s provinces were studied and analyzed using network analysis, which is one of the most powerful techniques within GIS. A free trial copy of ArcGIS®10.2 software was used in this research in order to achieve the aim of this study. The analysis of current train stations has been done depending on the road network, because people used roads to reach those train stations. The data layers for this st
... Show MoreThe lethality of inorganic arsenic (As) and the threat it poses have made the development of efficient As detection systems a vital necessity. This research work demonstrates a sensing layer made of hydrous ferric oxide (Fe2H2O4) to detect As(III) and As(V) ions in a surface plasmon resonance system. The sensor conceptualizes on the strength of Fe2H2O4 to absorb As ions and the interaction of plasmon resonance towards the changes occurring on the sensing layer. Detection sensitivity values for As(III) and As(V) were 1.083 °·ppb−1 and 0.922 °·ppb
An experimental and computational study is conducted to analyze the thermal performance of heat sinks and to pick up more profound information in this imperative field in the electronic cooling. One important approach to improve the heat transfer on the air-side of the heat exchanger is to adjust the fin geometry. Experiments are conducted to explore the impact of the changing of diverse operational and geometrical parameters on the heat sink thermal
performance. The working fluid used is air. Operational parameters includes: air Reynolds number (from 23597 to 3848.9) and heat flux (from 3954 to 38357 W/m
2 ). Conformational parameters includes: change the direction of air flow and the area of conduct