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 sorption of Cu2+ ions from synthetic wastewater using crushed concrete demolition waste (CCDW) which collected from a demolition site was investigated in a batch sorption system. Factors influencing on sorption process such as shaking time (0-300min), the initial concentration of contaminant (100-750mg/L), shaking speed (0-250 rpm), and adsorbent dosage (0.05-3 g/ml) have been studied. Batch experiments confirmed that the best values of these parameters were (180 min, 100 mg/l, 250 rpm, 0.7 g CCDW/100 ml) respectively where the achieved removal efficiency is equal to 100%. Sorption data were described using four isotherm models (Langmuir, Freundlich, Redlich-Peterson, and Radke-Prausnitz). Results proved that the pure ads
... Show MoreStereolithography (SLA) has become an essential photocuring 3D printing process for producing parts of complex shapes from photosensitive resin exposed to UV light. The selection of the best printing parameters for good accuracy and surface quality can be further complicated by the geometric complexity of the models. This work introduces multiobjective optimization of SLA printing of 3D dental bridges based on simple CAD objects. The effect of the best combination of a low-cost resin 3D printer’s machine parameter settings, namely normal exposure time, bottom exposure time and bottom layers for less dimensional deviation and surface roughness, was studied. A multiobjective optimization method was utilized, combining the Taguchi me
... Show MoreThis study aims to determine the prevalence of Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar and
Entamoeba moshkovskii by three methods of diagnosis (microscopic examination, cultivation and PCR) that
were compared to obtain an accurate diagnosis of Entamoeba spp. during amoebiasis. Total (n=150) stool
samples related to patients were (n = 100) and healthy controls (n= 50). Clinically diagnosed stool samples
(n=100) were collected from patients attending the consultant clinics of different hospitals in Basrah during
the period from January 2018 to January 2019. The results showed that 60% of collected samples were
positive in a direct microscopic examination. All samples were cultivated on different media; the Bra
One of the most important virulence factors in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is biofilm formation, as it works as a barrier for entering antibiotics into the bacterial cell. Different environmental and nutritional conditions were used to optimize biofilm formation using microtitre plate assay by P. aeruginosa. The low nutrient level of the medium represented by tryptic soy broth (TSB) was better in biofilm formation than the high nutrient level of the medium with Luria Broth (LB). The optimized condition for biofilm production at room temperature (25 °C) is better than at host temperature (37 °C). Moreover, the staining with 0.1% crystal violet and reading the biofilm with wavelength 360 are considered essential factors in
... Show MoreThe present study explores the solar-induced photocatalytic degradation of reactive red (RR) and reactive turquoise (RT) dyes in a single system using TiO2 immobilized in xanthan gum (TiO2/XG), synthesized using the sol–gel dip-coating technique for direct precipitation. SEM-EDX, XRD, FTIR, and UV–Vis were used to assess the characteristics of the resulting catalyst. Moreover, the effects of different operating parameters, specifically pH, dye concentration, TiO2/XG concentration, H2O2 concentration, and contact time, were also investigated in a batch photocatalytic reactor. The immobilized TiO2/XG catalyst showed a slight adsorption degradation efficiency and then improved the RR and RT dye degradation activity (92.5 and 90.8%
... Show MoreThe thermal and electrical performance of different designs of air based hybrid photovoltaic/thermal collectors is investigated experimentally and theoretically. The circulating air is used to cool PV panels and to collect the absorbed energy to improve their performance. Four different collectors have been designed, manufactured and instrumented namely; double PV panels without cooling (model I), single duct double pass collector (model II), double duct single pass (model III), and single duct single pass (model IV) . Each collector consists of: channel duct, glass cover, axial fan to circulate air and two PV panel in parallel connection. The temperature of the upper and lower surfaces of PV panels, air temper
... Show More