The cost of microalgae harvesting constitutes a heavy burden on the commercialization of biofuel production. The present study addressed this problem through economic and parametric comparison of electrochemical harvesting using a sacrificial electrode (aluminum) and a nonsacrificial electrode (graphite). The harvesting efficiency, power consumption, and operation cost were collected as objective variables as a function of applied current and initial pH of the solution. The results indicated that high harvesting efficiency obtained by using aluminum anode is achieved in short electrolysis time. That harvesting efficiency can be enhanced by increasing the applied current or the electrolysis time for both electrode materials, where 98% of harvesting efficiency can be obtained. The results also demonstrated that the power consumption with the graphite anode is higher than that of aluminum. However, at 0.2 A the local cost of operation with graphite (0.036 US$/m3) is distinctly lower than that of aluminum (0.08 US$/m3). Furthermore, the harvesting efficiency reached its higher value at short electrolysis time at an initial pH of 6 for aluminum, and at an initial pH of 4 for graphite. Consequently, the power consumption of the harvesting process could be reduced at acid- nature conditions to around 0.46 kWh/kg for aluminum and 1.12 kWh/kg for graphite.
The unsteady state laminar mixed convection and radiation through inclined
cylindrical annulus is investigated numerically. The two heat transfer mechanisms of
convection and radiation are treated independently and simultaneously. The outer
cylinder was kept at a constant temperature while the inner cylinder was heated with
constant heat flux. The study involved numerical solution of the governing equations
which are continuity, momentum and energy equations using finite difference method
(FDM), where the body fitted coordinate system (BFC) was used to generate the grid
mesh for computational plane. A computer program (Fortran 90) was built to calculate
the bulk Nusselt number (Nub) after reaching steady state con
A ‘locking-bolt’ demountable shear connector (LBDSC) is proposed to facilitate the deconstruction and reuse of steel-concrete composite structures, in line with achieving a more sustainable construction design paradigm. The LBDSC is comprised of a grout-filled steel tube and a geometrically compatible partially threaded bolt. The latter has a geometry that ‘locks’ the bolt in compatible holes predrilled on the steel flange and eliminates initial slip and construction tolerance issues. The structural behaviour of the LBDSC is evaluated through nine pushout tests using a horizontal test setup. The effects of the tube thickness, strength of concrete slab, and strength of infilled grout on the shear resistance, initial stiffness, and du
... Show MoreA numerical investigation is adopted for two dimensional thermal analysis of rocket thrust chamber wall (RL10), employing finite difference model with iterative scheme (implemented under relaxation factor of 0.9 for convergence) to compute temperature distribution within thrust chamber wall (which is composed of Nickel and Copper layers). The analysis is conducted for different boundary conditions: only convection boundary conditions then combined radiation, convection boundary conditions also for different aspect ratio (AR) of cooling channel. The results show that Utilizing cooling channels of high aspect ratio leads to decrease in temperature variation across thrust chamber wall, while no effects on heat transferred to the
... Show MoreRainwater harvesting could be a possible solution to decrease the consequences of water scarcity and energy deficiency in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). This study aims to calculate the water and energy (electricity) saved by rainwater harvesting for rooftops and green areas in Sulaimani city, KR, Iraq. Various data were acquired from different formal entities in Sulaimani city. Moreover, Google Earth and ArcMap 10.4 software were used for digitizing and calculating the total rooftop and green areas. The results showed that for the used runoff coefficients (0.8 and 0.95), the harvested rainwater volumes were 2901563 and 12197131 m³ during the study period (2005 – 2006) and (2019-2020). Moreover, by compa
... Show MoreThe aim of this study was to propose and evaluate an eco-epidemiological model with Allee effect and nonlinear harvesting in predators. It was assumed that there is an SI-type of disease in prey, and only portion of the prey would be attacked by the predator due to the fleeing of the remainder of the prey to a safe area. It was also assumed that the predator consumed the prey according to modified Holling type-II functional response. All possible equilibrium points were determined, and the local and global stabilities were investigated. The possibility of occurrence of local bifurcation was also studied. Numerical simulation was used to further evaluate the global dynamics and the effects of varying parameters on the asymptotic behavior of
... Show MoreResearchers need to understand the differences between parametric and nonparametric regression models and how they work with available information about the relationship between response and explanatory variables and the distribution of random errors. This paper proposes a new nonparametric regression function for the kernel and employs it with the Nadaraya-Watson kernel estimator method and the Gaussian kernel function. The proposed kernel function (AMS) is then compared to the Gaussian kernel and the traditional parametric method, the ordinary least squares method (OLS). The objective of this study is to examine the effectiveness of nonparametric regression and identify the best-performing model when employing the Nadaraya-Watson
... Show MoreElectrochemical decolorization of direct black textile dye was studied in the presence of sodiumhydroxide (NaCl). Electrochemical cell occupy about 1 liter of working electrolyte supplied with graphiteelectrodes for both anode and cathode was constructed for this purpose. Decolorization percent, treatment time, power consumption, and pH were studied as a function of the applied voltage and salt concentration. Results show that decolorization increase with increasing salt concentration and applied voltage. Best decolorization of 86% can be achieved after 17 min at 7 volt and 5 g/l salt concentration. Further decolorization can be achieved but this will be accompanied with a sharp increase in power consumption. No significant decrease
... Show MoreRecently, wireless charging based RF harvesting has interfered our lives [1] significantly through the different applications including biomedical, military, IoT, RF energy harvesting, IT-care, and RFID technologies. Wirelessly powered low energy devices become significantly essential for a wide spectrum of sensing applications [1]. Such devices require for low energy resources from sunlight, mechanical vibration, thermal gradients, convection flows or other forms of harvestable energy [2]. One of the emerging power extraction resources based on passive devices is harvesting radio frequency (RF) signals powers [3]–[5]. Such applications need devices that can be organized in very large numbers, so, making separate node battery impractical.
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