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.
An experimental of kinetics investigation of the solution free radical polymerization of isopropylacrylamide (IPAM) initiated with potassium persulfate (PPS) was conducted. The reactions were carried out at constant temperature of 60 °C in distilled water under unstirred and inert conditions. Using the well-known conversion vs. time technique, the effects of initiator and monomer concentration on the rate of polymerization (Rp) were investigated over a wide range. Under the conditions of our work, the orders 0.38 and 1.68 were found with respect to initiator and monomer, respectively. However, the rate of polymerization (Rp) is not straight forwardly corresponding monomer concentration. The value 46.11 kJ mol1 was determined as the o
... Show MoreAgInSe2 (AIS) thin films solar cell involving of n-type AgInSe2 and Si of p-type substrate by using thermal evaporation method. The influence of annealing of the preparation AgInSe2 were considered to find the best properties of solar device. Thin film AIS have been deposited under the vacuum of 1.5*10-6 Torr with (400) nm thickness at R.T and annealing temperatures (473,573) K. Polycrystalline tetragonal structure for AIS thin films from XRD and increasing of surface roughness from AFM, energy gap values decreasing with increasing annealing temperatures, all films were negative type, I-V characteristics show increasing of efficiency with increasing of annealing temperatures.
A numerical simulation is made on the thermal lensing effect in an laser diode end-pumped Nd:YAG laser rod. Based on finite element method (FEM), the laser rod temperature distribution is calculated and the focal length is deduced for a Gaussian and super-Gaussian pump beam profiles.
At the pump power of 20W, the highest temperature located at the center of end-pumped face was 345K, and the thermal lens focal length was 81.4mm along the x-z axis.
The results indicate that the thermal lensing effect sensitively depend on the pump power, waist radius of the pump beam and the pump distribution in a laser rod geometry.
The performance of composite prestressed concrete beam topped with reinforced concrete flange structures in fire depends upon several factors, including the change in properties of the two different materials due to fire exposure and temperature distribution within the composition of the composite members of the structure. The present experimental work included casting of 12 identical simply supported prestressed concrete beams grouped into 3 categories, depending on the strength of the top reinforced concrete deck slab (20, 30, and 40 MPa). They were connected together by using shear connector reinforcements. To simulate the real practical fire disasters, 3 composite prestressed concrete beams from each group were exposed to high t
... Show MoreBackground: Propolis has received great interest because of its wide range antimicrobial activity. Propolis also called (bee glue) due to its collection by (Apismellifera) honeybees from various plants resinous substance. The aim of this study was to determine the antibacterial effect of propolis extracts (aqueous and alcoholic) on anaerobic periodontal pathogen namely Aggregatibacteractinomycetemcomitans. Materials and Methods: Strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans wasisolated from pockets of systemically healthy patients aged between 35-55 years old suffering from chronic periodontitis with pocket depths of 5-6 mm, the bacteria cultured on special blood Agar plates solid media. Propolis was extracted by using water and alcohol.
... Show MoreAbstract Background: This study is aimed to assess the maxillary incisors’ root position, angulation, and buccal alveolar bone thickness in both genders and different classes of malocclusion using cone‑beam computed tomography (CBCT). Materials and Methods: Two hundred and six CBCT images were gathered and analyzed by three‑dimensional On‑Demand software to measure the variables of 803 maxillary central and lateral incisors. Genders and class difference was determined by unpaired t‑test, one‑way ANOVA, and Chi‑square tests. Results: Buccal root position of the maxillary incisors accounted for in the majority of the cases followed by the middle and palatal positions. The thickness of alveolar bone appears to have nearly the sam
... Show MoreThe effect of different Ti additions on the microstructure of Al-Ti alloy prepared by powder metallurgy was investigated. A certain amount of Ti (10wt%, 15wt%, and 20wt%) were added to aluminium and the tests like microhardness, density, scanning electron microscope (SEM), optical microscope (OM) and X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) were conducted to determine the influence of different Ti additives on the Al-Ti alloy properties and microstructure. The results show that the grains of α-Al changed from large grains to roughly spherical and then to small rounded grains with increasing Ti content, the micro-hardness of the alloy increases with increasing Ti, and XRD results confirm the formation of TiAl3 intermetallic co
... Show MoreThe increase globally fossil fuel consumption as it represents the main source of energy around the world, and the sources of heavy oil more than light, different techniques were used to reduce the viscosity and increase mobility of heavy crude oil. this study focusing on the experimental tests and modeling with Back Feed Forward Artificial Neural Network (BFF-ANN) of the dilution technique to reduce a heavy oil viscosity that was collected from the south- Iraq oil fields using organic solvents, organic diluents with different weight percentage (5, 10 and 20 wt.% ) of (n-heptane, toluene, and a mixture of different ratio
... Show MoreBackground: Molars and premolars are considered as the most vulnerable teeth of caries attack, which is related to the morphology of their occlusal surfaces along with the difficulty of plaque removal. different methods were used for early caries detection that provide sensitive, accurate preoperative diagnosis of caries depths to establish adequate preventive measures and avoid premature tooth treatment by restoration. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinical sensitivity and specificity rates of DIAGNOdent and visual inspection as opposed to the ICDAS for the detection of initial occlusal caries in noncavitated first permanent molars. Materials and Methods: This study examined 139 occlusal surface of the first permanent
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