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.
This article showcases the development and utilization of a side-polished fiber optic sensor that can identify altered refractive index levels within a glucose solution through the investigation of the surface Plasmon resonance (SPR) effect. The aim was to enhance efficiency by means of the placement of a 50 nm-thick layer of gold at the D-shape fiber sensing area. The detector was fabricated by utilizing a silica optical fiber (SOF), which underwent a cladding stripping process that resulted in three distinct lengths, followed by a polishing method to remove a portion of the fiber diameter and produce a cross-sectional D-shape. During experimentation with glucose solution, the side-polished fiber optic sensor revealed an adept detection
... Show MoreA theoretical and protection study was conducted of the corrosion behavior of carbon steel surface with different concentrations of the derivative (Quinolin-2-one), namely 7-Ethyl-4-methyl-1-[(4-nitro-benzylidene)-amino]-1H-quinolin-2-one (EMNQ2O). Theoretically, Density Functional Theory (DFT) of B3LYP/ 6-311++G/ 2d, 2p level was carried out to calculate the geometrical structure, physical properties and chemical inhibition chemical parameters, with the local reactivity in order to predict both the reactive centers and to know the possible sites of nucleophilic and electrophilic attacks, in vacuum and two solvents (DMSO and H2O), all at the equilibrium geometry. Experimentally, the inhibition efficiencies (%IE) in (3.5% NaCl)
... Show MoreThe solar eclipse occurs at short time before the crescent birth moment when the moon near any one of moon orbit nodes It is important to determine the synchronic month which is used to find Higree date. The 'rules' of eclipses are:
Y= ± 0.997 of Earth radius , the solar eclipse is central and 0.997 < |Y| < 1.026 the umbra cone touch the surface of the Earth, where Y is the least distance from the axis of the moon's shadow to the center of the Earth in units of the equatorial radius of the Earth.
A new model have been designed, depend on the horizontal coordinates of the sun, moon, the distances Earth-Moon (rm), Earth-sun (rs) and |Y| to determine the date and times of total solar eclipse and the geogra
... Show MoreThe one-dimensional, cylindrical coordinate, non-linear partial differential equation of transient heat conduction through a hollow cylindrical thermal insulation material of a thermal conductivity temperature dependent property proposed by an available empirical
function is solved analytically using Kirchhoff’s transformation. It is assumed that this insulating material is initially at a uniform temperature. Then, it is suddenly subjected at its inner radius with a step change in temperature. Four thermal insulation materials were selected. An identical analytical solution was achieved when comparing the results of temperature distribution with available analytical solution for the same four case studies that assume a constant the
The one-dimensional, spherical coordinate, non-linear partial differential equation of transient heat conduction through a hollow spherical thermal insulation material of a thermal conductivity temperature dependent property proposed by an available empirical function is solved analytically using Kirchhoff’s transformation. It is assumed that this insulating material is initially at a uniform temperature. Then, it is suddenly subjected at its inner radius with a step change in temperature. Four thermal insulation materials were selected. An identical analytical solution was achieved when comparing the results of temperature distribution with available analytical solution for the same four case studies that assume a constant thermal con
... Show MoreHigh-resolution imaging of celestial bodies, especially the sun, is essential for understanding dynamic phenomena and surface details. However, the Earth's atmospheric turbulence distorts the incoming light wavefront, which poses a challenge for accurate solar imaging. Solar granulation, the formation of granules and intergranular lanes on the sun's surface, is important for studying solar activity. This paper investigates the impact of atmospheric turbulence-induced wavefront distortions on solar granule imaging and evaluates, both visually and statistically, the effectiveness of Zonal Adaptive Optics (AO) systems in correcting these distortions. Utilizing cellular automata for granulation modelling and Zonal AO correction methods,
... Show MoreNumerical simulations have been carried out on the solar chimney power plant systems. This paper gives the flow field analysis for a solar chimney power generation project located in Baghdad. The continuity, Naver-stockes, energy and radiation transfer equations have been solved and carried out by Fluent software. The governing equations are solved for incompressible, 3-D, steady state, turbulent is approximated by a standard k - model with Boussiuesq approximation to study and evaluate the performance of solar chimney power plant in Baghdad city of Iraq. The different geometric parameters of project are assumed such as collector diameter and chimney height at different working conditions of solar radiation intensity (300,450,600,750
... Show MoreThe present work aimed to examine the nature and degree of the cross-correlations among three different ionospheric indices: these are Optimum Working Frequency (OWF), Highest Probable Frequency (HPF), and Best Usable Frequency (BUF). VOCAP and ASASPS models were adopted to determine the datasets of the selected ionospheric indices. The determination was made for different transceiver stations that provide certain HF connection links during the minimum and maximum years of solar cycle 24, 2009 and 2014, respectively. Matlab program was implemented to produce the geodesic parameters for the selected transceiver stations. The determination was made for different path lengths (500, 1000, 1500, and 2000) Km and bearings (0o, 45
... Show MoreThe two-dimensional transient heat conduction through a thermal insulation of temperature dependent thermal properties is investigated numerically using the FVM. It is assumed that this insulating material is initially at a uniform temperature. Then, it is suddenly subjected at its inner surface with a step change in temperature and subjected at its outer surface with a natural convection boundary condition associated with a periodic change in ambient temperature and heat flux of solar radiation. Two thermal insulation materials were selected. The fully implicit time scheme is selected to represent the time discretization. The arithmetic mean thermal conductivity is chosen to be the value of the approximated thermal conductivity at the i
... Show MoreThe heat exchanger is a device used to transfer heat energy between two fluids, hot and cold. In this work, an output feedback adaptive sliding mode controller is designed to control the temperature of the outlet cold water for plate heat exchanger. The measurement of the outlet cold temperature is the only information required. Hence, a sliding mode differentiator was designed to estimate the time derivative of outlet hot water temperature, which it is needed for constructing a sliding variable. The discontinuous gain value of the sliding mode controller is adapted according to a certain adaptation law. Two constraints which imposed on the volumetric flow rate of outlet cold (control input) were considered within the rules of the proposed
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