Review on phase change materials for solar energy storage applications

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The energy storage application plays a vital role in the utilization of the solar energy technologies. There are various types of the energy storage...     

Numerical study of a building integrated photovoltaic-finned phase change material panel under Tunisian climatic conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Building-integrated photovoltaic systems’ electrical efficiency decreases when their operating temperature increases. To overcome this drawback,...     

Effects of climate change on surface-water photochemistry: a review

Information concerning the link between surface-water photochemistry and climate is presently very scarce as only a few studies have been dedicated to the subject. On the basis of the limited knowledge that is currently available, the present inferences can be made as follows: (1) Warming can cause enhanced leaching of ionic solutes from the catchments to surface waters, including cations and more biologically labile anions such as sulphate. Preferential sulphate biodegradation followed by removal as organic sulphides in sediment could increase alkalinity, favouring the generation of the carbonate radical, CO₃ ^·?. However, this phenomenon would be easily offset by fluctuations of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is strongly anticorrelated with CO₃ ^·?. Therefore, obtaining insight into DOC evolution is a key issue in understanding the link between photochemistry and climate. (2) Climate change could exacerbate water scarcity in the dry season in some regions. Fluctuations in the water column could deeply alter photochemistry that is usually favoured in shallower waters. However, the way water is lost would strongly affect the prevailing photoinduced processes. Water outflow without important changes in solute concentration would mostly favour reactions induced by the hydroxyl and carbonate radicals (·OH and CO₃ ^·?). In contrast, evaporative concentration would enhance reactions mediated by singlet oxygen (¹O₂) and by the triplet states of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (³CDOM*). (3) In a warmer climate, the summer stratification period of lakes would last longer, thereby enhancing photochemical reactions in the epilimnion but at the same time keeping the hypolimnion water in the dark for longer periods.     

Climate change and the adaptability of agriculture: a review

The assessment of climate change impacts on agriculture has emerged as a recognizable field of research over the past 15 years or so. In a relatively short period, this area of work has undergone a number of important conceptual and methodological developments. Among many questions that have been debated are the adaptability of agriculture to climate change and the importance of land management adjustments in reducing the adverse effects of climate change. In turn, this latter focus has spawned a discussion regarding the nature of adaptation and the ability of agriculture to respond to sudden and rapid climatic changes. In this paper we present an overview of this debate. It is argued that the first generation of climate change impact studies generally ignored the possibility that agriculturalists may adjust their farming practices in order to cope with climate change or to take advantage of new production opportunities. This conceptual oversight has been largely eliminated over the past five years or so. However, questions remain surrounding the likelihood that various adaptive strategies will actually be deployed in particular places. In this paper, we stress the importance of studying adaptation in the context of decision-making at the individual farm level and beyond.     

Recycling/reuse of plastic waste as construction material for sustainable development: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The exponential rise in the production of plastic and the consequential surge in plastic waste have led the scientists and researchers look out for...     

Heterogeneous water phase catalysis as an environmental application: a review

Catalytic water phase processes as an environmental application is a relatively novel subject with tremendous potential in the near future. This review of 120 references presents the wide scale of heterogeneous water phase applications studied mainly within past five years. Both oxidation and hydrogenation processes are included as well as TiO₂ assisted photocatalysis. According to the references, heterogeneous catalysis is developing rapidly. New bimetallic catalysts and supports with higher surface area have improved catalytic efficiency in both oxidation and hydrogenation processes. It also seems that study on use of some waste materials such as red mud as catalyst is a very progressive field. On the whole, the chemical aspects are pretty well known, but the catalyst durability, and in many cases activity as well, has to be improved.     

Experimental investigation on dish solar distiller with modified absorber and phase change material under various operating conditions

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The shortage of potable water is a global problem. One of the techniques used to participate solving this problem is the solar distiller. The main...     

Camphor wood,a potentially harmful museum storage material: an analytical study using instrumental methods

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Camphor wood is welcomed by museums due to its insect-repelling effect but the smell indicates a potential risk to the collections. In order to judge...     

Correction to: Potential revenue and breakeven of energy storage systems in PJM energy markets

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The original publication of this paper contains a mistake.     

Performance improvement and advancement studies of mixed-mode solar thermal dryers: a review

Solar thermal dryers are solar-operated gadgets utilized to dehumidify various products, especially food items and rubber sheets. This article provides detailed design, parametric studies, and an in-depth review of mixed-mode solar dryers (MMSD) with a case study of fish drying near coastal lines. Due to several advantages compared to open sun drying and prominent performance index compared to indirect and direct type solar dryers, mixed-mode solar dryers have large adaptability on the field. Moreover, mixed-mode solar thermal dryers with different augmentations are reviewed, for instance, mixed-mode solar dryers with evacuated tube collectors, phase change materials, ultraviolet rays stabilized housing, and dehumidifiers. The case study of fish drying near the coastal line of Gujarat, India has been carried out to study the present scenario of the drying activities. Hence, the objective of this review is to identify the capable mixed-mode solar dryer with heat recovery systems. Substantial reviews within the article suggest an essential need to implement the hybrid mixed-mode solar dryer cum distiller technology for small-scale enterprises that can simultaneously provide potable water near coastal lines along with drying of fishes from the solar dryer. Furthermore, future research demands such hybrid mixed-mode solar drying systems that strongly fulfill the requirements of local communities near coastal lines involved in fish drying activities.

     

Nanofluid heat transfer under mixed convection flow in a tube for solar thermal energy applications

The solar flat plate collector operating under different convective modes has low efficiency for energy conversion. The energy absorbed by the working fluid in the collector system and its heat transfer characteristics vary with solar insolation and mass flow rate. The performance of the system is improved by reducing the losses from the collector. Various passive methods have been devised to aid energy absorption by the working fluid. Also, working fluids are modified using nanoparticles to improve the thermal properties of the fluid. In the present work, simulation and experimental studies are undertaken for pipe flow at constant heat flux boundary condition in the mixed convection mode. The working fluid at low Reynolds number in the mixed laminar flow range is undertaken with water in thermosyphon mode for different inclination angles of the tube. Local and average coefficients are determined experimentally and compared with theoretical values for water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluids. The results show an enhancement in heat transfer in the experimental range with Rayleigh number at higher inclinations of the collector tube for water and nanofluids.     

A review of the main methods for composite adsorbents characterization

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Adsorption is a promising technology for removing several contaminants from aqueous matrices. In the last years, researchers worldwide have been...     

Performance assessment of single slope solar still by the incorporation of palm flower powder and micro phase change material for the augmentation of productivity

Water scarcity necessitates a cost-effective and productive solution. This study focused to enhance the productivity of single slope solar still by incorporating the better weight of palm flower powder (micro-sized) in the basin and micro phase change material heat storage bed under the basin. In this aspect, the different quantity of palm powder weights such as 10, 30, 50, 70, 100, 120 and 150 g in the basin was experimentally examined. The absorber basin containing 50 g of palm powder has better productivity of 37.25%, whereas for 10, 30, 70, 100, 120 and 150 g, they were 11.85, 24.78, 36.8, 33.05, 10.25 and ? 20.22% respectively. The influence of palm powder with different weight% impregnated in the paraffin wax was analysed. The maximum thermal conductivity of 0.33 W/m K was obtained in the sample containing palm flower powder of 20 wt%. The experimental investigation was carried out with 50 g of micro-sized palm powder in the basin and thermal storage bed under the basin containing 20 wt% of micro phase change material (PCMPFP-SS) and conventional solar still (CSS). The overall distillate output of PCMPFP-SS was 4670 and 4250 mL/m² on day 1 and day 2 respectively. On the other hand, the overall distillate output for CSS was 3030 and 2800 mL/m² on day 1 and day 2. From the economic analysis, it was found that the cost per litre (CPL) of PCMPFP-SS and CSS was $ 0.025 and $ 0.032 respectively. Moreover, the payback period of PCMPFP-SS was lowered from 5.1 to 4.1 months compared to CSS.

     

Generation of energy from salinity gradients using capacitive reverse electro dialysis: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Energy is one of the critical resources determining the overall socioeconomic development. Global warming and natural resource demand had made the...     

Upcycling of wastes for sustainable controlled low-strength material: A review on strength and excavatability

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In recent decades, the use of controlled low-strength material (CLSM) in densely populated cities has increased. CLSM is designed for future...     

Migration and transformation of heavy metals in hyperaccumulators during the thermal treatment: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The pollution of heavy metals (HMs) in the soil has become one of the important factors affecting the national environment and human health....     

A research on conventional and modern algorithms for maximum power extraction from wind energy conversion system: a review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - In the last few decades, wind energy has become a significant source of the renewable energy system, and it is essential to use wind energy for...     

Critical problems associated with climate change: a systematic review and meta-analysis of Philippine fisheries research

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This paper proposes to analyze the scientific production on climate change and fisheries in the Philippine context. This research theme was chosen...     

Compatibility analysis of material and energy recovery in a regional solid waste management system

The rising prices of raw materials and concerns about energy conservation have resulted in an increasing interest in the simultaneous recovery of materials and energy from waste streams. Compatibility exists for several economic, environmental, and managerial reasons. Installing an on-site or off-site presorting facility before an incinerator could be a feasible alternative to achieve both goals if household recycling programs cannot succeed in local communities. However, the regional impacts of presorting solid waste on a waste-to-energy facility remain unclear because of the inherent complexity of solid waste compositions and properties over different areas. This paper applies a system-based approach to assess the impact of installing a refuse-derived fuel (RDF) process before an incinerator. Such an RDF process, consisting of standard unit operations of shredding, magnetic separation, trommel screening, and air classification, might be useful for integrating the recycling and presorting efforts for a large-scale municipal incinerator from a regional sense. An optimization modeling analysis is performed to characterize such integration potential so that the optimal size of the RDF process and associated shipping patterns for flow control can be foreseen. It aims at exploring how the waste inflows with different rates of generation, physical and chemical compositions, and heating values collected from differing administrative districts can be processed by either a centralized presorting facility or an incinerator to meet both the energy recovery and throughput requirements. A case study conducted in Taipei County, which is one of the most densely populated metropolitan areas in Taiwan, further confirms the application potential of such a cost-benefit analysis.