Analytical investigation of exergetic performance on jet impingement solar air heater with multiple arc protrusion obstacles

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this present work, an exergetic efficiency of the solar air heater (SAH) with jet impingement on multiple arc protrusion roughened absorber plate is...     

Experimental investigation on solar thermal air heater with a combination of roughness elements for heat transfer improvement

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This work attempts to determine the influence of the integration of a combination of roughness elements on the heat dissipation and frictional losses...     

Thermal performance evaluation of a solar air heater with and without thermal energy storage

This communication presents the experimental study and performance analysis of a solar air heater with and without phase change material (PCM) viz. paraffin wax and hytherm oil. There are three different arrangements viz. without PCM, with PCM and with hytherm oil to study the comparative performance of this experimental system. Inlet, outlet temperatures and radiation with respect to time have been recorded and found that the output temperature in case with thermal energy storage (TES) is higher than that of without TES, besides, the outlet temperature with paraffin wax is slightly greater than that of with hytherm oil. Also there is no energy gain in the evening in case of without TES but in case of with TES there is a heat gain for around 4 h in the evening which gives the backup for hot air for around four more hours which is the main advantage of this systems with TES. Based on the data, the efficiency of the system has been calculated and it is noted that the efficiency in the case of heat storage is higher than that of without TES, besides the efficiency in the case of the paraffin wax is slightly higher than that of the hytherm oil case.     

Energetic,exergetic and enviro-economic analysis of parallel pass jet plate solar air heater with artificial roughness

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this work, the thermal performance of single-pass double-duct jet plate solar air heater with various designs of artificial roughness is analyzed by...     

Experimental study of thermal performance and pressure drop on a solar air heater with different orientations of arc-shape rib roughness

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - An exhaustive experimental investigation was carried out for the thermal performance of artificially roughened solar air heaters (SAHs) under the...     

Performance analysis of a double-pass solar air heater system with asymmetric channel flow passages

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The present work seeks to address the forced convection heat transfer behaviour of a double-pass solar air heater system (DPSAHS) provided with...     

Exergetic performance evaluation of solar air heater having V-down perforated baffles on the absorber plate

Baffles serve as heat transfer augmentation features in solar air heaters; however, they increase pressure drop in flow channels. Perforated baffles are relatively good heat transfer augmentation features with superior performance over conventional smooth duct solar air heater and as a result find application in some solar air heaters. The exergy method is employed to in determining the roughness parameters, as second law-based exergy analysis is suitable for design of roughened solar air heaters. The exergetic efficiency of V down perforated baffled roughened duct solar air heater is studied analytically, and the results obtained compared with conventional system. Results indicate that high efficiency with optimum V down perforated baffle improves the heat absorption and dissipation potential of a solar air heater. Design plots are prepared to predict the optimum roughness parameter as a function of temperature rise parameter.     

Experimental thermodynamic analysis of a forced convection solar air heater using absorber plate with pin-fins

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This research paper deals with the experimental thermodynamic analysis of a forced convection solar air heater using pin-fin absorber plate and...     

Design approach of a density-driven solar water heater system

Energy conservation continues to play a crucial role in social and economic development. With the remarkable increase in oil prices and exploring solutions for the replacement of fossil fuels, an ecofriendly energy resource has become the priority among more and more people. Keeping the intension for reducing the global warming impact and looking for alternative clean source of energy, solar energy applications such as solar thermal systems, solar water heating and cooling are becoming energy-efficient designs. One of the widely used applications of solar energy is solar water heating systems. Low-cost solar water heaters can cover the domestic needs for water in the range of 100–200 l per day. Solar water heating systems are generally more efficient and advantageous in hot areas. However, the application of solar water heating is still a challenge in winter and sub-zero conditions, having low solar irradiance. In such conditions, solar water heating system cannot produce enough energy, which drives a need for evaluating system component design and improves its performance during low ambient conditions. In this study, detailed design methods for solar water heater components are discussed for cold regions like North Dakota, USA. The type of system chosen in this study is natural circulation-based solar water heating system. The study will also compare the experimental data with previously conducted numerical analysis.

     

Heat transfer and exergy analysis of solar air heater tube with helical corrugation and perforated circular disc inserts

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The effects of perforated circular disc swirl generator on heat transfer (HT) and flow fields in a solar air heater helical corrugated tube have been...     

Experimental investigation of solar water heater integrated with a nanocomposite phase change material

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The thermochemical behavior of cellulose, glucomannan, and xylan was investigated by pyrolysis–gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS)....     

Effects of thermal conductivity and geometry of materials on the temperature variation in packed bed solar air heater

The efficiency of energy collection of a flat plate type of solar air heater is low because of the large thermal losses and low heat transfer coefficient between the absorber plate and the air flowing in the duct. Packed beds have been successfully employed for the enhancement of the heat transfer coefficients in solar air heaters and such air heaters can be used for drying agricultural produce and space heating as well. This article deals with the theoretical investigation on the effects of thermal conductivity of material and geometry of a screen on the temperature variation in woven wire screen packed bed solar air heater. Theoretical results have been compared with the experimental results reported earlier by other researchers and found to match reasonably well with them. It has been found that the thermal performance depends upon a little on the thermal conductivity of screen material. Instead, it depends more on the geometry and an extinction coefficients of the matrix. A low value of extinction coefficient is desirable for maximum absorption of solar radiations and minimum thermal losses. The numerical method of analysis used here is based on finite difference approximation. The finite difference equations have been solved through a computer program in C⁺⁺.     

Improved performance in dye-sensitized solar cells employing TiO2 photoelectrodes coated with metal hydroxides

The performance of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) was compared before and after processing the TiO(2) electrodes by minute-order electrochemical reactions with metal nitrates, where the metals were Mg, Zn, Al, and La, in 2-propanol. An overcoating of metal hydroxide was formed without the need for a sintering process, and magnesium hydroxide was found to give the largest improvement in photovoltage, fill factor, and eventually overall conversion efficiency of the DSCs. To analyze the nature of the improvement, the diffusion coefficient (D) and electron lifetime (tau) were determined. While little influence of overcoating on D was seen, a correlation between the increase in tau and V(oc) was observed for the metals examined here. The remarkable improvement in the electron lifetime of the DSCs suggests that an overcoating with magnesium hydroxide species function as the blocking layers at the fluorine-doped tin oxide and TiO(2) interfaces, thus contributing to the suppression of electron leakage, i.e., recombination processes between unidirectional transporting electrons and poly-iodides such as tri-iodide in the processed TiO(2) photoelectrode systems. The increase in V(oc) can be explained by the increased electron density caused by the increase in electron lifetime.     

Monitoring metal ions present in the effluent discharged from a surface treatment plant: Analytical results

Precise data concerning the metals occurring in industrial discharge water from the surface treatment sector as well as their qualitative and quantitative fluctuations have to our knowledge never been reported. In the present study, we monitored 28 metals in the effluent from a surface treatment plant every week for about a year. The effluent studied was taken at the outlet of a depollution plant that removed a large proportion of the metals as insoluble forms. We report and discuss the analytical results obtained on a total of 49 samples. The results, expressed both as concentrations and as fluxes, showed high levels of polymetallic contamination of the effluent. Of the 28 metals tested for, 13 were detected and 6 (Co, Cr, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn) were systematically present at quantifiable levels. Our findings also indicated how Cr, Fe, Ni and Zn levels were strongly dependent on certain conditions prevailing at the inlet of the wastewater treatment unit. Even though the levels of each metal were under the regulatory limits when taken individually, overall pollution from metals was far from negligible, with a calculated total of 264 kg of metals being discharged each year.     

Effective enhancement of the performance of black dye based dye-sensitized solar cells by metal oxide surface modification of the TiO2 photoelectrode

Effective enhancement of the performance of black dye based dye-sensitized solar cells has been achieved by MgO or Al(2)O(3) surface modification of the TiO(2) photoelectrode. The conversion efficiency was improved from 10.4% to 10.8% due to the blocking effect of the thin overlayer at the TiO(2) surface.     

Formation and recovery of a cell sheet by a particle monolayer with the surface roughness

We studied the topographical effect of roughness displayed by a closely packed particle monolayer on formation of a cell monolayer (cell sheet). Particle monolayers were prepared by Langmuir-Blodgett deposition using particles, which were 527nm (SA053) and 1270nm (SA127) in diameter. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) were seeded at a high density (2.0 x10(5)cells/cm(2)) onto particle monolayers. It was found that cells gradually became into contact with adjacent cells on the SA053 monolayer and the formed cell sheet could be readily detached from the particle monolayer by gentle pipetting. On the other hand, cells adhering onto the tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) and the SA127 particle monolayer were difficult to peel off. At a low cell seeding density (5.0x10(4)cells/cm(2)), pre-coating with bovine plasma fibronectin (FN) allowed cell growth on an SA053 particle monolayer, and a confluent monolayer was able to be peeled as a cell sheet from the particle monolayer just by pipetting. By immunostaining of human fibronectin, we found that fibronectin was secreted and concentrated onto the substrate side of a cell sheet. The obtained cell sheet adhered and grew on the TCPS again within 20min.     

Capillary electrophoresis in a fused‐silica capillary with surface roughness gradient

The electro‐osmotic flow, a significant factor in capillary electrophoretic separations, is very sensitive to small changes in structure and surface roughness of the inner surface of fused silica capillary. Besides a number of negative effects, the electro‐osmotic flow can also have a positive effect on the separation. An example could be fused silica capillaries with homogenous surface roughness along their entire separation length as produced by etching with supercritical water. Different strains of methicillin‐resistant and methicillin‐susceptible Staphylococcus aureus were separated on that type of capillaries. In the present study, fused‐silica capillaries with a gradient of surface roughness were prepared and their basic behavior was studied in capillary zone electrophoresis with UV‐visible detection. First the influence of the electro‐osmotic flow on the peak shape of a marker of electro‐osmotic flow, thiourea, has been discussed. An antifungal agent, hydrophobic amphotericin B, and a protein marker, albumin, have been used as model analytes. A significant narrowing of the detected zones of the examined analytes was achieved in supercritical‐water‐treated capillaries as compared to the electrophoretic separation in smooth capillaries. Minimum detectable amounts of 5 ng/mL amphotericin B and 5 μg/mL albumin were reached with this method.     

Effect of dielectric roughness on performance of pentacene TFTs and restoration of performance with a polymeric smoothing layer

The morphology, structure, and transport properties of pentacene thin film transistors (TFTs) are reported showing the influence of the gate dielectric surface roughness. Upon roughening of the amorphous SiO2 gate dielectric prior to pentacene deposition, dramatic reductions in pentacene grain size and crystallinity were observed. The TFT performance of pentacene films deposited on roughened substrates showed reduced free carrier mobility, larger transport activation energies, and larger trap distribution widths. Spin coating roughened dielectrics with polystyrene produced surfaces with 2 A root-mean-square (rms) roughness. The pentacene films deposited on these coated surfaces had grain sizes, crystallinities, mobilities, and trap distributions that were comparable to the range of values observed for pentacene films deposited on thermally grown SiO2 (roughness also approximately 2 A rms).     

Second law of thermodynamics analysis for nanofluid turbulent flow inside a solar heater with the ribbed absorber plate

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - Employing rough surfaces and nanofluids in solar heater ducts are recognized as effective techniques to improve thermal performances of these devices....