An improved Metal Solar Wall (MSW) with integrated thermal energy storage is presented in this research. The proposed MSW makes use of two, combined, enhanced heat transfer methods. One of the methods is characterized by filling the tested ducts with a commercially available copper Wired Inserts (WI), while the other one uses dimpled or sinusoidal shaped duct walls instead of plane walls. Ducts having square or semi-circular cross sectional areas are tested in this work.
A developed numerical model for simulating the transported thermal energy in MSW is solved by finite difference method. The model is described by system of three governing energy equations. An experimental test rig has been built and six new duct configurations have been fabricated and tested. Air is passed through the six ducts with Reynolds numbers from 1825 to 7300.
Six, new, correlations for Nusselt number and friction factor are developed to assess the benefits that are gained from using the WI and the dimpled and sine-wave duct walls. It is found that higher heat transfer rates are achieved using the Dimpled, semi–circular duct with Wired Inserts (DCWI). Also, it is found that Nusselt number and the pressure drop in the DCWI are respectively
(44.2% -100%) and (101.27% - 172.8%) greater than those of the flat duct with WI. The improvement in Nusselt number for flat duct with WI is found to be (1.4 – 2) times the values for flat duct with no WI. The results demonstrated that DCWI provides enhancements efficiency value that is higher than those obtained from other types of ducts. The developed MSW ducts have added to local knowledge a better understanding of the compound heat transfer enhancement.
In this work, the effect of the addition of bright nickel plating and silver carried out by the electroplating method has been studied, on the coating of copper nanoparticles on the copper base metal via the process of thermal evaporation. The improvement of the solar absorber using CuNP in combination with the bright nickel and silver was obtained to be better than copper nanoparticles individually. A bright nickel enhanced the absorbed thermal stability. Also, other optical properties, absorptions, and emissivity slightly decreased from (93% to 87%), while the existence of silver had a slight impact on absorption of about (86.50%). On the other hand, thermal conductivity was evaluated using hot disk analyzer. The results showed a good
... Show MoreDust and bird residue are problems impeding the operation of solar street lighting systems, especially in semi-desert areas, such as Iraq. The system in this paper was designed and developed locally using simple and inexpensive materials. The system runs automatically. It Connects to solar panels used in solar street lighting, and gets the required electricity from the same solar system. Solar panels are washed with dripping water in less than half a minute by this system. The cleaning period can also be controlled. It can also control, sensing the amount of dust the system operates. The impact of different types of falling dust on panels has also been studied. This was collected from different winds and studied their impact o
... Show MoreThe performance of a solar assisted desiccant cooling system for a meeting-hall located in the College of Engineering/University of Baghdad was evaluated theoretically. The system was composed of four components; a solar air heater, a desiccant dehumidifier, a heat exchanger and an evaporative cooler. A computer simulation was developed by using MATLAB to assess the effect of various design and operating conditions on the performance of the system and its components. The actual weather data on recommended days were used to assess the load variation and the system performance during those days. The radiant time series method (RTS) was used to evaluate the hourly variation of the cooling load. Four operation modes were employed for perform
... Show MoreIn this work, the effect of vortex shedding on the solar collector performance of the parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC) was estimated experimentally. The effect of structure oscillations due to wind vortex shedding on solar collector performance degradation was estimated. The performance of PTSC is evaluated by using the useful heat gain and the thermal instantaneous efficiency. Experimental work to simulate the vortex shedding excitation was done. The useful heat gain and the thermal efficiency of the parabolic trough collector were calculated from experimental measurements with and without vortex loading. The prototype of the collector was fabricated for this purpose. The effect of vortex shedding at different operation condition
... Show MoreCarbon nanoparticles are prepared by sonication using carbon black powder. The surface morphology of carbon black (CB) and carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) is investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The particles size ranges from 100 nm to 400 nm for CB and from 10 nm to 100 nm for CNPs. CNPs and CB are mixed with silicon glue of different ratios of 0.025, 0.2, 0.05, and 0.1 to synthesis films. The optical properties of the prepared films are investigated through reflectance and absorbance analyses. The ratio of 0.05 for CNPs and CB is the best for solar paint because of its higher solar water heater efficiency and is then added to the silicon glue . Temperature of cold water and temperature of hot water in storage tank were ta
... 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 MoreIn this study, the effect of fire flame on the punching shear strength of steel fiber reinforced concrete flat plates was experimentally investigated using nine half-scale specimens with dimensions of 1500×1500 mm and a total thickness of 100 mm. The main investigated variables comprised the steel fiber volume fraction 0, 1, and 1.5% and the burning steady state temperature 500 and 600 °C. The specimens were divided into three groups, each group consists of three specimens. The specimens in the first group were tested with no fire effect to be the reference specimens, while the others of the second and third groups were tested after being exposed to fire-flame effect. The adopted characteristics of the fire test were; (one hour) b
... Show MoreThe 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 trackin
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