Finned Single-pass Solar Air Heaters with Wire Mesh as an Absorber Plate

Single-pass solar air heaters (SAHs) with two and six fins attached and packed with wire mesh layers were experimentally investigated. Wire mesh layers were used between the fins in the place of an absorber plate. The effects of air mass flow rate on the outlet temperature and thermal efficiency were studied. The results showed an increase in the thermal efficiency as the air mass flow rate was increased. The range of the mass flow rate used in this work was between 0.0121and 0.042 kg/s. It was found that for the same mass flow rate the SAH having six fins has higher efficiency compared to the system that has two fins. The maximum efficiencies for the SAHs were obtained at the mass flow rate of 0.042 kg/s. The maximum efficiencies for the six-finned and two-finned SAHs were 79.81% and 71.8%, respectively. In addition, the maximum temperature difference between the inlet and the outlet, ΔT, for the SAH with six fins exceeded the two-finned SAH for the same mass flow rates. The maximum ΔT was 51.1°C for the six-finned SAH and 44.2°C for the two-finned SAH. As expected, the maximum ΔT for each SAH was obtained at the lowest air mass flow rate (i.e., 0.0121 kg/s). A substantial enhancement in the thermal efficiency was achieved in comparison to the results of a single-flow packed bed collector with those of conventional collectors.     

Artificially roughened solar air heater: A comparative study

Artificially roughened solar air heater has been topic in research for the last 30 years. Prediction of heat transfer and fluid flow processes of an artificially roughened solar air heater can be obtained by three approaches: theoretical, experimental, and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This article provides a comprehensive review of the published literature on the investigations of artificially roughened solar air heater. In the present article, an attempt has been made to present holistic view of various roughness geometries used for creating artificial roughness in solar air heater for heat transfer enhancement. This extensive review reveals that quite a lot of work has been reported on design of artificially roughened solar air heater by experimental approach but only a few studies have been done by theoretical and CFD approaches. Finally this article presents a comparative study of thermo-hydraulic performance of 21 different types of artificial roughness geometries attached on the absorber plate of solar air heater in terms of thermo-hydraulic performance parameter. Heat transfer and friction factor correlations developed by various investigators for different types of artificially roughened solar air heaters have also been reported in this article.     

Experimental study of new solar air heater design

The suitable design is the most important key to a cost-effective solar air heater. Although there are many techniques that have been proposed to improve the solar air heaters’ performance by means of different turbulence promoters, they cannot ensure a compromise between the cost and the effectiveness. The aim of this study is to find simple and tolerable solution to get rid of the inconvenience resulting from the widely adopted heat-transfer-enhancement techniques by providing an optimized solar air heater design. The proposed design consists of a slightly curved smooth flow channel with an absorber plate of convex shape. A prototype of a curved solar air heater of 1.28 m² collector area was built and tested under summer outdoor conditions in Biskra (Algeria). The performance was evaluated in terms of thermal and effective efficiency for mass flow rates of 0.0172, 0.029, and 0.0472 kg/sm². It is observed that the overall efficiency of this solar air heater is considerably higher in comparison with the efficiency range of the conventional smooth flat plate heaters reported in the literature for similar operating conditions.     

Energy and exergy analysis of a combined Brayton/Brayton power cycle with humidification

ABSTRACT

First and second law approaches have been used to analyze the performance of a humidified Brayton/Brayton power cycle. The energy efficiency and exergy destruction rates consistently improved when the combustion temperature was increased. Both performance indicators improved, reached an optimum, and then deteriorated when the topping cycle pressure ratio increased, while their sensitivity to the bottoming cycle pressure ratio depended on the humidification rate used at the bottoming cycle. Upon increasing the mass flowrate of air through the bottoming cycle, the energy efficiency of the power cycle increased linearly, while the irreversibility generation had a non-monotonic variation. In all cases, a higher degree of humidification always resulted in greater first and second law performances.     

Exergy analysis of the transcritical N2O refrigeration cycle with a vortex tube

In this article, a comparative study is presented for the transcritical cycle with expansion valve (TCEV) and transcritical cycle with vortex tube (TCVT) mainly based on the second law of thermodynamics. Natural refrigerant nitrous oxide (N₂O) is used in both the cycles for analysis. The evaporator and gas cooler temperatures are varied from ?55°C to 5°C and 35°C to 60°C, respectively. The effects of various operating and design parameters on the optimum heat rejection pressure, coefficient of performance (COP), exergy loss (irreversibility), and the exergetic efficiency are studied. Exergy analysis of each component in TCEV and TCVT is performed to identify the amount and locations of irreversibility. It is observed that the use of the vortex tube in place of the expansion valve reduces the total exergy losses and increases the exergetic efficiency as well as COP. The exergetic efficiency and COP of the TCVT are on average 10–12% higher compared to TCEV for the considered operating conditions. The computed values of the exergetic efficiency for TCVT using refrigerant N₂O are the highest at an evaporator temperature of ?55°C, and the corresponding values of exergetic efficiency and exergy losses varies between 25.35% and 15.67% and between 74.65% and 84.33%, respectively. However, COP at the same evaporator temperature of ?55°C varies between 0.83 and 0.51. Furthermore, the optimum heat rejection pressure in TCVT is lower compared to that in TCEV. The results offer significant help for the optimum design and operating conditions of TCVT with refrigerant N₂O.     

Off-design performance analysis of a transcritical CO2 Rankine cycle with LNG as cold source

The transcritical CO₂ Rankine cycle with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as cold source is a promising power system to utilize mid- and low-temperature heat source. Most previous works focused on thermodynamic and thermoeconomic analysis or optimization for the system. In this article, an off-design performance analysis for the system is conducted. An off-design mathematical model for the system is established to examine the variation of system performance with the variations of heat source mass flow rate and temperature. A modified sliding pressure regulation control strategy, which regulates turbine inlet pressure to keep the temperature difference between heat source temperature and turbine inlet temperature constant, is applied to control the system when off-design conditions happen. The results show that when the mass flow rate or the temperature of heat source is less or lower than that of design condition, both the net power output of system and the system exergy efficiency decrease, whereas when they are more or higher than the values of design condition, the net power output of system increases but the system exergy efficiency still decreases. In addition, both CO₂ turbine and NG turbine could almost keep the designed efficiency values under the applied control strategy.     

Efficiency enhancement in solar air heaters by modification of absorber plate-a review

This paper outlines a complete review on modifications made on the absorber plate of solar air heaters in order to improve the turbulence and heat transfer rate, thereby efficiency. Corrugated sheets, fins, extended surfaces, wire mesh, porous medium, etc., are a few of the modifications used. Most of such alterations in the absorber plate resulted with an increase in efficiency but associated with drawback of increased pumping power due to raising friction factor. Pumping power is considered here as a predominant comparison parameters of various solar air heaters with different absorber plate in terms of effective efficiency.     

烟气循环流化床（CFB-FGD）干法脱硫优化调整

本文分析了烟气循环流化床工艺的运行调节原理,针对电厂自身的特点,对吸收塔进出口烟温差及床层压降参数进行调整,提高了烟气循环流化床系统运行的经济性.最后根据此实践提出了系统运行中优化调整的可行性.     

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of a Novel Hybrid Heat-Pipe Solar Collector

Abstract

This article describes a novel flat plate heat-pipe solar collector, namely, the hybrid heat-pipe solar collector. An analytical model has been developed to calculate the collector efficiency as well as simulate the heat transfer processes occurring in the collector. The effects of heat pipes/absorber, top cover, flue gas channel geometry, and flue gas temperature and flow rate, on the collector efficiency were investigated based on three modes of operation, i.e., solar only operation, solar/exhaust gas combined, and solar, exhaust gas and boiler combined. Experimental testing of the collector was also carried out for each of these modes of operation under real climatic conditions. The results were used to estimate the efficiency of the collector and determine the relation between the efficiency and general external parameter. The modeling and experimental results were compared and a correlation factor was used to modify the theoretical predictions. It was found that the efficiency of the collector was increased by about 20–30% compared to a conventional flat-plate heat pipe solar collector.     

Experimental investigation on effect of an absorber plate covered by a layer of sand on the efficiency of passive solar air collector

A passive flat-plate solar air collector was constructed in the laboratory of New and Renewable Energy in Arid Zones, Ouargla University, South East Algeria. The absorber of the passive flat-plate solar air collector was laminated with a thin layer of local sand. This acted as a thermal packed bed with a collecting area of 0.5 m² (1 m × 0.5 m). Three series of experiments were performed. The first consisted of choosing the best sand brought from three different places of the Algerian desert. The second consisted of studying the effect of the thickness of the sand layer on the daily efficacy of the collector. The influence of the sand diameter was investigated in the third series. The experimental results showed that: All collectors covered with sand had higher efficiency than those without. It was noticed that, for a fixed mass of sand (given thickness of the sand layer), the improvement of the collector was inversely proportional to the sand particle diameters. The maximum efficiency approximates 62.1% for a particle diameter 0.063 mm, compared to 41.71% for a diameter 0.250 mm.The efficiency of the collector for a fixed particle diameter increases with the increase in the thickness of the sand layer. The collector with thickness sand layer 0.84 mm gave the best efficiency of 46.14% compared to 27.8% for 0.28 mm of thickness sand layer.     

Comparison of several packings for CO2 chemical absorption in a packed column

CO₂ capture and storage has gained widespread attention as an option for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Chemical absorption and stripping of CO₂ with hot potassium carbonate (K₂CO₃) solutions has been used in the past, however potassium carbonate solutions have a low CO₂ absorption efficiency. Various techniques can be used to improve the absorption efficiency of this system with one option being the addition of promoters to the solvent and another option being an improvement in the mass transfer efficiency of the equipment. This study has focused on improving the efficiency of the packed column by replacing traditional packings with newer types of packing which have been shown to have enhanced mass transfer performance. Three different packings (Super Mini Rings (SMRs), Pall Rings and Mellapak) have been studied under atmospheric conditions in a laboratory scale column for CO₂ absorption using a 30 wt% K₂CO₃ solution. It was found that SMR packing resulted in a mass transfer coefficient approximately 20% and 30% higher than that of Mellapak and Pall Rings, respectively. Therefore, the height of packed column with SMR packing would be substantially lower than with Pall Rings or Mellapak. Meanwhile, the pressure drop using SMR was comparable to other packings while the gas flooding velocity was higher when the liquid load was above 25 kg m⁻² s⁻¹. Correlations for predicting flooding gas velocities and pressure drop were fitted to the experimental data, allowing the relevant parameters to be estimated for use in later design.     

Energy and exergy analysis of a solid-oxide fuel cell power generation system for an aerial vehicle (ISSA- 2015–139)

This paper presents the performance of the solid-oxide fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid power generation system with heat recovery waste unit based on the energy and exergy analyses. The effect of air inlet temperature and air/fuel ratio on exergy destruction and network output is determined. For the numerical calculations, air inlet temperature and air fuel ratio are increased from 273 to 373 K and from 40 to 60, respectively. The results of the numerical calculations bring out that total exergy destruction quantity increases with the increase of air inlet temperature and air/fuel ratio. Furthermore, the maximum system overall first and second law efficiencies are obtained in the cases of air inlet temperature and air/fuel ratio equal to 273 K and 60, respectively, and these values are 62.09% and 54.91%.     

Effect of pipes in heat pump system on electric vehicle energy saving

ABSTRACT

Refrigerant pressure drop and temperature change in pipes are normally ignored in the thermodynamic analysis of traditional vehicle air conditioning system, this will result in serious errors. In this Paper, pressure drop and temperature difference are simulated in different pipes of electric vehicle (EV) heat pump system to analysis the effects of pipes in the actual EV heat pump system. The results indicate that the greater the mass flow, the faster pressure drop increases, the temperature difference decreases. Pressure drop of saturated liquid refrigerant is smaller than that of saturated gas refrigerant at the same saturation pressure and mass flow rate. The higher the refrigerant pressure (no phase change), the slower pressure drop decreases, the faster the temperature difference decreases. Pressure drop decreases with the increment of bending angle of the pipe. For EV heat pump system, suitable valves and less branches are helpful for energy saving of the system. Shortening the pipe between compressor and condenser can reduce temperature change obviously. Pressure drop per unit length in the pipe between evaporator and compressor is large especially in heating mode because of lower refrigerant density. It even reaches to over 100 times of that in the pipe between condenser and throttle valve in heating mode and has negative effects on the performance of the system. If the evaporator is closer to the compressor and the number of branches is less, then pressure drop will decrease a lot, which will be advantageous for energy saving of the heat pump system.     

Exergoeconomic Environmental Optimization of Piston-Prop Aircraft Engines

In this study, exergy, exergoeconomic, exergoenvironmental analyses, and exergoeconomic environmental optimization are applied to a four-cylinder, spark ignition, naturally aspirated and air-cooled piston-prop aircraft engine in the cruise phase of flight for the first time to the best of the authors` knowledge. Here, three piston-prop aircraft engine parameters (altitude, air–fuel ratio (AF), and rated power setting (PS)) are selected for optimization purposes. All exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental values are calculated first. These values are then optimized to find the best results of all analyses. The best altitude, AF ratio, and PS values are finally found while the maximum exergy efficiency, the minimum product specific environmental impact, and the minimum average unit fuel exergy cost are obtained. The best results of optimization indicated that the maximum exergy efficiency varied between 19.54% and 19.80%, the minimum unit fuel exergy cost ranged from 126.30 $/GJ to 127.23 $/GJ, and the minimum specific environmental impact of production was in the range of 8.70–9.59 mPts/MJ. Based on the results obtained, for ensuring the optimum conditions, the low AF ratios and the low-altitude flight at high rated power settings have to be selected.     

活性炭纤维复合材料的脱硫性能

本实验以粘胶基活性炭纤维和酚醛树脂复合，制备出了一种可用于烟气脱硫的活性炭纤维复合材料（ACFM），考察了制备工艺条件对脱硫性能和比表面积的影响，测试其在填充床的压降。结果表明：粘结剂用量、炭化及活化条件对样品的脱硫性能和比表面积有较大的影响；与其他活性炭材料相比ACFM压降相对较低，只有活性炭纤维的1／20。     

Variation of reservoir fluid property during the high pressure air injection process

This research aimed at determining the variation of reservoir fluid property during the high-pressure air injection process. For this purpose, the forward multiple contact experiment was employed by pressure–volume–temperature (PVT) system to investigate the physical property variation of the crude oil and the complex oxidation reactions. The results show: under the relative low temperature and pressure condition, instead of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide dominates the products in the air phase. The gas/oil ratio and volume ratio increased due to the generated gas while the viscosity and density achieved a descending trend. The colloid and bitumen in the oil phase reduced by half but the amount of wax achieved a small increase. The low-temperature oxidation and pyrolysis reactions caused the fluctuated change of the different compounds. The amount of light compounds decreased at the beginning and then increased while that of heavy compounds showed the opposite trend. But at last, due to the H/C ratio, the light compounds increased to more than their initial value.     

Numerical parametric study of a new earth-air heat exchanger configuration designed for hot and arid climates

ABSTRACT

Thermal potential for cooling and heating can be achieved by new configuration of earth–air heat exchanger (EAHE). This paper presents a numerical investigation of thermal performance of a spiral-shaped configuration of EAHE intended for the summer cooling in hot and arid regions of Algeria. A commercial finite volume software (ANSYS FLUENT) has been used to carry out the transient three-dimensional simulations and the obtained results have been validated using the experimental and numerical data obtained from the literature. The agreement between our simulation results and those from literature is very satisfactory. A parametric analysis of the new geometry of (EAHE) has been performed to investigate the effect of pitch, depth, pipe length and of the flow velocity on the outlet air temperature and the EAHE’s mean efficiency as well as its coefficient of performance (COP). It has been shown that when the pitch space varies between 0.2 and 2 m the difference of outlet air temperature increases by 6 ^°C. When the air velocity increases from 2 to 5 m/s the mean efficiency decreases from 60 % to 33 % and the COP of the EAHE decreases from 2.84 to 0.46.     

Energy,exergy analysis,and sustainability assessment of different engine powers for helicopter engines

The rapid decrease of energy resources has accelerated studies on energy efficiency. Energy efficiency refers to the effective use of energy, in other words, completing a specific task to the required standard by using less energy. Exergy is an effective instrument to indicate the effective and sustainable use of energy in systems and processes. Transportation is an important part of human life. The studies on energy saving and the effective use of energy in different areas around the world have also increased for transportation systems and vehicles. With the more effective use of fuel, there will be potential benefits for the environment as well as a reduction in operating costs. This study includes energy and exergy analyses as well as a sustainability assessment by using C₈H₁₆ as a fuel at different engine powers (150–600 SHP (shaft horse power)), for the piston-prop helicopter engine. The maximum exergetic sustainability index was found at the power that provided the maximum energy and exergy efficiency. As a result of this index, the lowest waste exergy ratio, the lowest exergy destruction factor, and the lowest environmental impact factor were obtained. The highest exergy destruction and the highest exergy loss value were obtained at maximum power (600 SHP).     

Exergy and economic analysis of organic Rankine cycle hybrid system utilizing biogas and solar energy in rural area of China

Due to the existing huge biogas resource in the rural area of China, biogas is widely used for production and living. Cogeneration system provides an opportunity to realize the balanced utilization of the renewable energy such as biogas and solar energy. This article presented a numerical investigation of a hybrid energy-driven organic Rankine cycle (ORC) cogeneration system, involving a solar ORC and a biogas boiler. The biogas boiler with a module of solar parabolic trough collectors (PTCs) is employed to provide heat source to the ORC via two distinct intermediate pressurized circuits. The cogeneration supplied the power to the air-condition in summer condition and hot water, which is heated in the condenser, in winter condition. The system performance under the subcritical pressures has been assessed according to the energy–exergy and economic analysis with the organic working fluid R123. The effects of various parameters such as the evaporation and condensation temperatures on system performance were investigated. The net power generation efficiency of the cogeneration system is 11.17%, which is 25.8% higher than that of the base system at an evaporation temperature 110°C. The exergy efficiency of ORC system increases from 35.2% to 38.2%. Moreover, an economic analysis of the system is carried out. The results demonstrate that the profits generated from the reduction of biogas fuel and electricity consumption can lead to a significant saving, resulting in an approximate annual saving from $1,700 to $3,000. Finally, a case study based on the consideration of typical rural residence was performed, which needs a payback period of 7.8 years under the best case.     

Performance assessment of integrated energy systems for HVAC applications

In this article, energy and exergy analyses are conducted for two integrated systems which can be used in HVAC applications. These two systems are analyzed for the cases of single generation, cogeneration and trigeneration, and their performances are evaluated through energy and exergy efficiencies. The parametric studies are performed to investigate the effects of using cogeneration and extended to trigeneration on the system performance. To perform the comparisons between the systems for multiple options, the same amounts of outputs (in terms of electricity, heating, cooling) are produced for all systems. The energy analyses of systems 1 and 2 show a great benefit for moving from single generation to trigeneration, with the trigeneration efficiencies of 83.5% and 87.2%, respectively, and single generation efficiencies of 47% for both systems. However, the exergy analyses show that trigeneration may not always become more efficient than single generation, particularly for system 1, due to the fact that the trigeneration exergy efficiency is 38.7% and the corresponding single generation efficiency is 44.3%. For system 2, the trigeneration exergy efficiency is 52.7% while the single generation efficiency becomes 44.3%. Depending on the type of cogeneration or cogeneration design, the system can be more efficient.