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 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 MoreSoils that cause effective damages to engineer structures (such as pavement and foundation) are called problematic or difficult soils (include collapsible soil, expansive soil, etc.). These damages occur due to poor or unfavorited engineering properties, such as low shear strength, high compressibility, high volume changes, etc. In the case of expansive soil, the problem of the shrink-swell phenomenon, when the soil reacts with water, is more pronounced. To overcome such problems, soils can be treated or stabilized with many stabilization ways (mechanical, chemical, etc.). Such ways can amend the unfavorited soil properties. In this review, the pozzolanic materials have been selected to be presented and discussed as chem
... 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 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 MoreA mixture of algae biomass (Chrysophyta, Cyanophyta, and Chlorophyte) has been investigated for its possible adsorption removal of cationic dyes (methylene blue, MB). Effect of pH (1-8), biosorbent dosage (0.2-2 g/100ml), agitated speed (100-300), particle size (1304-89μm), temperature (20-40˚C), initial dye concentration (20-300 mg/L), and sorption–desorption were investigated to assess the algal-dye sorption mechanism. Different pre-treatments, alkali, protonation, and CaCl2 have been experienced in order to enhance the adsorption capacity as well as the stability of the algal biomass. Equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models. The maximum dye-sorption capacity was 26.65 mg/g at pH= 5, 25
... Show MoreAn investigation was conducted for the study of extraction of metal ions using aqueous biphasic systems. The extraction of iron, zinc and copper from aqueous sulphate media at different kinds of extractants SCN− , Cl- and I- , different values of pH of the feed solution, phase ratio, concentration of metals, concentration of extractant, concentration of polymer, and concentration of salt was investigated. Atomic absorption spectrophotometer was used to measure the concentration of iron, zinc and copper in the aqueous phase throughout the experiments. The results of the extraction experiments showed the use of SCN− as extractant, pH=2.5, phase ratio=1.5, concentration of metals 1g/l, concentration of extractant 0.06 %, concentration o
... Show MoreBackground:The demand for esthetic orthodontic appliances is increasing so that the esthetic orthodontic archwires were introduced. This in vitro study was designed to evaluate the surface roughness offiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRPC) archwires compared to coated nickel-titanium (NiTi) archwires immersed in artificial saliva. Materials and Methods:Three types of esthetic orthodontic archwires were used: FRPC (Dentaurum), Teflon coated NiTi (Dentaurum) and epoxy coated NiTi (Orthotechnology). They were round (0.018 inch) in cross section and cut into pieces of 15 mm in length.Forty pieces from each type were divided into four groups; one group was left at a dry condition and the other three groups were immersed in artificial saliva (
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