The present work presents design and implementation of an automated two-axis solar tracking system using local materials with minimum cost, light weight and reliable structure. The tracking system consists of two parts, mechanical units (fixed and moving parts) and control units (four LDR sensors and Arduino UNO microcontroller to control two DC servomotors). The tracking system was fitted and assembled together with a parabolic trough solar concentrator (PTSC) system to move it according to information come from the sensors so as to keep the PTSC always perpendicular to sun rays. The experimental tests have been done on the PTSC system to investigate its thermal performance in two cases, with tracking system (case 1) and without tracking system (case 2). The experimental results showed that the average solar radiation falling on the PTSC prototype in the two cases during the same time was 854 and 701 watt/m2, respectively, which means an increase in the solar radiation about 21.8 % when using tracking system. It was found that the average useful heat gain output of solar collector was equal to (376.2, 252.6 watt) for the two cases, respectively, so there was an increase of about 48.9 % when using the tracking system. Also, the average thermal efficiency of the PTSC was found to be (20.7, 26.5 %) for the two cases, respectively, which means an increase in the average efficiency by 28% with use of tracking system compared to the fixed case.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge influence on human lives all around the world. The virus spread quickly and impacted millions of individuals, resulting in a large number of hospitalizations and fatalities. The pandemic has also impacted economics, education, and social connections, among other aspects of life. Coronavirus-generated Computed Tomography (CT) scans have Regions of Interest (ROIs). The use of a modified U-Net model structure to categorize the region of interest at the pixel level is a promising strategy that may increase the accuracy of detecting COVID-19-associated anomalies in CT images. The suggested method seeks to detect and isolate ROIs in CT scans that show the existence of ground-glass opacity, which is fre
... Show MoreThis research explores the use of solid polymer electrolytes (SPEs) as a conductive medium for sodium ions in sodium‐ion batteries, presenting a possible alternative to traditional lithium‐ion battery technology. The researchers prepare SPEs with varying molecular weight ratios of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF4) using a solution casting method with dimethyl formamide as the solvent. Through optical absorbance measurements, we identified the PAN:NaBF4 (80:20) SPE composition as having the lowest energy band gap value (4.48 eV). This composition also exhibits high thermal stability based on thermogravimetric analysis results.
This study investigates the feasibility of a mobile robot navigating and discovering its location in unknown environments, followed by the creation of maps of these navigated environments for future use. First, a real mobile robot named TurtleBot3 Burger was used to achieve the simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technique for a complex environment with 12 obstacles of different sizes based on the Rviz library, which is built on the robot operating system (ROS) booted in Linux. It is possible to control the robot and perform this process remotely by using an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance service. Then, the map to the Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) cloud was uploaded. This provides a database
... Show MoreObjectives To tailor composites of polyethylene–hydroxyapatite to function as a new intracanal post for the restoration of endodontically treated teeth (ETT). Methods Silanated hydroxyapatite (HA) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) filled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites were fabricated by a melt extrusion process and characterised using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The flexural strength and modulus were determined in dry state and post ageing in simulated body fluid and fractured surfaces analysed by SEM. The water uptake and radiographic appearance of the experimental composites were also measured and compared with a commercially known endodontic fibre
... Show MoreThe paper is devoted to solve nth order linear delay integro-differential equations of convolution type (DIDE's-CT) using collocation method with the aid of B-spline functions. A new algorithm with the aid of Matlab language is derived to treat numerically three types (retarded, neutral and mixed) of nth order linear DIDE's-CT using B-spline functions and Weddle rule for calculating the required integrals for these equations. Comparison between approximated and exact results has been given in test examples with suitable graphing for every example for solving three types of linear DIDE's-CT of different orders for conciliated the accuracy of the results of the proposed method.
This study uses an environmentally friendly and low-cost synthesis method to manufacture zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) by using zinc sulfate. Eucalyptus leaf extract is an effective chelating and capping agent for synthesizing ZnO NPs. The structure, morphology, thermal behavior, chemical composition, and optical properties of ZnO nanoparticles were studied utilizing FT-IR, FE-SEM, EDAX, AFM, and Zeta potential analysis. The FE-SEM pictures confirmed that the ZnO NPs with a size range of (22-37) nm were crystalline and spherical. Two methods were used to prepare ZnO NPs. The first method involved calcining the resulting ZnO NPs, while the second method did not. The prepared ZnO NPs were used as adsorbents for removing acid black 210
... Show MoreThe present study involves experimental analysis of the modified Closed Wet Cooling Tower (CWCT) based on first and second law of thermodynamics, to gain a deeper knowledge in this important field of engineering in Iraq. For this purpose, a prototype of CWCT optimized by added packing under a heat exchanger was designed, manufactured and tested for cooling capacity of 9 kW. Experiments are conducted to explore the effects of various operational and conformational parameters on the towers thermal performance. In the test section, spray water temperature and both dry bulb temperature and relative humidity of air measured at intermediate points of the heat exchanger and packing. Exergy of water and air were calculated by applying the exergy
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