The thermal performance of a flat-plate solar collector (FPSC) using novel heat transfer fluids of aqueous colloidal dispersions of covalently functionalized multi-walled carbon nanotubes with β-Alanine (Ala-MWCNTs) has been studied. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with outside diameters of (< 8 nm) and (20–30 nm) having specific surface areas (SSAs) of (500 m2/g) and (110 m2/g), respectively, were utilized. For each Ala-MWCNTs, waterbased nanofluids were synthesized using weight concentrations of 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.075%, and 0.1%. A MATLAB code was built and a test rig was designed and developed. Heat flux intensities of 600, 800, and 1000 W/m2; mass flow rates of 0.6, 1.0, and 1.4 kg/min; and inlet fluid temperatures of 30, 40, and 50°C were used to perform the test runs. Using water and nanofluids, the efficiency of the FPSC was found to increase with the increase in heat flux intensity and flow rate, and decrease with the increase in inlet fluid temperature. When applying nanofluids in the FPSC and as weight concentration and SSA increased, a reduction in the values of absorber plate temperature (AP) and tube wall temperature (TW) was observed down to 2.86% and 3.03%, respectively, while the FPSC’s efficiency increased up to 9.55% for 0.1-wt% Ala-MWCNTs < 8 nm at 1.4 kg/min, compared with water. Good agreement was obtained between the experimental values and MATLAB code predictions for AP, TW, and efficiency with maximum differences of 3.02%, 3.19%, and 3.26% for water, and 4.24%, 3.94%, and 12.64% for nanofluids, respectively. Consequently, the MATLAB code was judged suitable for modeling the nanofluid-based FPSC with suitable precision. It was proved that the positive effects of using nanofluids in the FPSC were higher their negative effects on pressure drop because all the calculated values of performance index (PI) were more than 1. As weight concentration and SSA increased, PI increased up to 1.095 for 0.1-wt% Ala-MWCNTs < 8 nm. Therefore, it was concluded that the nanofluids considered in this research can usefully be employed as working fluids in FPSCs for improved thermal performance, and the 0.1-wt% water-based Ala-MWCNTs < 8 nm nanofluid was fairly the distinguished one.
By using governing differential equation and the Rayleigh-Ritz method of minimizing the total potential energy of a thermoelastic structural system of isotropic thermoelastic thin plates, thermal buckling equations were established for rectangular plate with different fixing edge conditions and with different aspect ratio. The strain energy stored in a plate element due to bending, mid-plane thermal force and thermal bending was obtained. Three types of thermal distribution have been considered these are: uniform temperature, linear distribution and non-linear thermal distribution across thickness. It is observed that the buckling strength enhanced considerably by additional clamping of edges. Also, the thermal buckling temperatures and
... Show MoreThe aim of this paper, study the effect of carbon nanotubes on the electrical properties of polyvinylchloride. Samples of polyvinylchloride carbon nanotubes composite prepared by using hot press technique. The weight percentages of carbon nanotubes are 0,5,10 and 20wt.%. Results showed that the D.C electrical conductivity increases with increasing of the weight percentages of carbon nanotubes. Also, the D.C electrical conductivity changed with increase temperature for different concentrations of carbon nanotubes. The activation energy of D.C electrical conductivity is decreased with increasing of carbon nanotubes concentration.
Polyimide/MWCNTs nanocomposites have been fabricated by solution mixing process. In the present study, we have investigated electrical conductivity and dielectric properties of PI/MWCNT nanocomposites in frequency range of 1 kHz to 100 kHz at different MWCNTs concentrations from 0 wt.% to 15 wt.%. It has been observed that the electrical conductivity and dielectric constants are enhanced significantly by several orders of magnitude up to 15 wt.% of MWCNTs content. The electrical conductivity increases as the frequency is increased, which can be attributed to high dislocation density near the interface. The rapid increase in the dielectric constant at a high MWCNTs content can be explained by the form
Several schottky diodes were fabricated from polyaniline/ Carbon nanotube (single and multiwalled) composites. These composites were synthesized with different concentration and two carbon nanotubes types, Single and Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (SWCNT & MWCNT). Aluminum and silver paste were chosen as schottky and ohmic contact respectively. physical and electrical were used to studied these composite by using Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and electrical measurements. The Root Mean Square RMS surface roughness of the composite samples was found to be around 4nm. The currentvoltage characteristic were measurements for all samples in the bias range ±15V at room temperature. The results shows the increasing in carbon nanotubes concentration
... Show MoreAnumerical solutions is presented to investigate the effect of inclination angle (θ) , perforation ratio (m) and wall temperature of the plate (Tw) on the heat transfer in natural convection from isothermal square flat plate up surface heated (with and without concentrated hole). The flat plate with dimensions of (128 mm) length × (64 mm) width has been used five with square models of the flat plate that gave a rectangular perforation of (m=0.03, 0.06, 0.13, 0.25, 0.5). The values of angle of inclination were (0o, 15o 30o 45o 60o) from horizontal position and the values of wall temperature (50oC, 60 oC, 70 oC, 90 oC, 100o<
... Show MoreFabrication of solar cell prepared by thermal spray and vacuum thermal evaporation method on silicon wafer(n-type) and studying its efficiency. The film have been deposited on three layers(ZnO then CdS and CdTe) on Si and glass respectively.Direct energy gap was calculated and equal to (4.3,3.4,3)eV and indirect energy gap equal to (3.5,2.5,1.5)eV respectively . Efficiency was calculated for the cell of area 2cm2 it was equal to 0.14%.
This investigation integrates experimental and numerical approaches to study a novel solar air heater aimed at achieving an efficient design for a solar collector suitable for drying applications under the meteorological conditions of Iraq. The importance of this investigation stems from the lack of optimal exploitation of solar energy reaching the solar collector, primarily attributable to elevated thermal losses despite numerous designs employed in such solar systems. Consequently, enhancing the thermal performance of solar collectors, particularly those employed in crop drying applications, stands as a crucial focal point for researchers within this domain. Two identical double-pass solar air heaters were designed and constructed for
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