Matching of a DC motor to a photovoltaic generator using a step-upconverter with a current-locked loop

A photovoltaic (PV) generator is a nonlinear device having insolation-dependent volt-ampere characteristics. Because of its relatively high cost, the system designer is interested in optimum matching of the motor and its mechanical load to the PV generator so that maximum power is obtained during the entire operating period. However, since the maximum-power point varies with solar insolation, it is difficult to achieve an optimum matching that is valid for all insolation levels. In this paper it is shown that for maximum power, the generator current must be directly proportional to insolation. This remarkable property is utilized to achieve insolation-independent optimum matching. A shunt DC motor driving a centrifugal water pump is supplied from a PV generator via a step-up converter whose duty ratio is controlled using a current-locked feedback loop     

Natural convection of a non-Newtonian fluid about a horizontal cylinder and a sphere in a porous medium

The problem of natural convection of a non-Newtonian fluid about a horizontal isothermal cylinder and an isothermal sphere in the porous medium is considered. The present study is based on the boundary layer approximation and only suitable for a high Rayleigh number. Similarity solutions are obtained by using the fourth order Runge-Kutta method. The effects of the wall temperature T_W and the new power-law index n on the characteristics of heat transfer are discussed.     

Exploration of heat transfer effect in a magnetohydrodynamics flow of a micropolar fluid between a porous and a nonporous disk

An analysis is carried out for the flow characteristics of a conducting micropolar fluid. The fluid was passed in between two parallel disks of infinite radii. The novelty of the study is to consider one of the disks as porous and the other one as nonporous, and the external magnetic field is applied along the transverse direction of the flow. The flow phenomena for the polar fluid characterized by the magnetic effect in conjunction with the temperature equation reduce to a set of coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations using the requisite transformations and nondimensionalization. An analytical approach such as the variation parameter method is employed to tackle the system efficiently. To emphasize the effect of various physical parameters contributing to the flow phenomena, that is, non-zero tangential slip, Reynolds number, Prandtl number, magnetic parameter, and material parameter on the flow profiles of axial and radial velocities, the microrotation and temperature profiles are presented graphically. To validate the simulated results, a comparison with established results is made, and it is concluded that both are in good correlation.     

Evaporating characteristics of a microlayer under a bubble

Using the Hallinan‐Ervin model, the flow and evaporation in a bubble microlayer were theoretically analyzed, and the dryout characteristics and Staub's criterion were discussed in detail. It was revealed that the critical dryout radius is associated with the wettability of the heated surface, and that the dominant role for microlayer evaporation is disjoining pressure, not surface tension gradient. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 31(6): 456–462, 2002; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/htj.10052     

Solidification of a liquid about a cylindrical pipe

The temperature distribution and the rate of removal of heat by a coolant are predicted for the process of solidification of a liquid about a cold, isothermal pipe. The heat balance integral method incorporating spacial sub-division is used. It is found that acceptable results can be obtained by using only a small number of sub-divisions together with a piece-wise, linear profile. Furthermore, the results illustrate that the sensitivity which is normally associated with the heat balance integral method is overcome.     

Stability of a multi-machine system incorporating a superconductingalternator

A preliminary study on the transient behavior of a superconducting turbo-alternator in a typical multimachine system is described. The study covers the effect of conventional controllers, power-system stabilizers and phase advance networks. The open-loop response of the system is compared to the response when the superconducting alternator is replaced by its conventional counterpart     

Bioconvection in a squeezing flow of a micropolar fluid in a horizontal channel

The bioconvection flow of an incompressible micropolar fluid containing microorganisms between two infinite stretchable parallel plates is considered. A mathematical model, with a fully coupled nonlinear system of equations describing the total mass, momentum, thermal energy, mass diffusion, and microorganisms is presented. The governing equations are reduced to a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations with the help of suitable transformations. The resulting nonlinear ordinary differential equations are linearized using successive linearization method, and the resulting system of linear equations is solved using the Chebyshev collocation method. The detailed analysis illustrating the influences of various physical parameters, such as the micropolar coupling number, squeezing parameter, the bioconvection Schmidt number, Prandtl numbers, Lewis number, and bioconvection Peclet number on the velocity, microrotation, temperature, concentration and motile microorganism distributions, skin friction coefficient, Nusselt number, Sherwood number, and density number of motile microorganism, is examined. The influence of the squeezing parameter is to increase the dimensionless velocities and temperature and to decrease the local Nusselt number and local Sherwood number. The density number of motile microorganism is decreasing with squeezing parameter, bioconvection Lewis number, bioconvection Peclet number, and bioconvection Schmidt number.     

Hydrothermal Behavior of a Ferrofluid in a Corrugated Channel in the Presence of a Magnetic Field

In this paper, results of applying a non‐uniform magnetic field on a dilute ferrofluid (water and 3% vol. Fe₃O₄) flow in a corrugated channel under a constant heat flux boundary condition have been reported. The thermal behavior of the flow is investigated numerically using a two‐phase mixture model and control volume technique. It is concluded that using a magnetic field with a negative gradient on a nanofluid flow in corrugated channels can be proposed as a suitable method to achieve higher heat transfer performance and augment the heat transfer coefficient and also reduces the wall temperature. This method can lead to the design of more compact heat exchangers. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Heat Trans Asian Res, 43(1): 80–92, 2014; Published online in Wiley Online Library ( wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/htj ). DOI 10.1002/htj.21060     

The limiting characteristics of a cascade photoconverter of a new type based on a homogeneous semiconductor

A homogeneous planar photoconverter (PC) of a new type based on a multi-junction n-p-p ⁺-n-p-p ⁺-...-n-p-p ⁺ semiconductor structure was proposed. This semiconductor structure is a cascade PC consisting of several exposed PCs connected in series, with the light passing through the previous semiconductor layers. A theory was worked out, and the limiting values of photoelectric and energy characteristics of high-voltage devices that convert monochromatic and solar light were developed. These values include optimum values of the thickness and the number of the PCs applied onto the base PC, spectral selectivity, voltage-current characteristics, and performance. The no-load voltage rises practically in a linear fashion when the number of cells in the cascade increases. With an optimum number of cells, the peak performance values reach their peaks and considerably exceed the performance of the base PC, especially at a low carrier collection coefficient in the base PC.     

Analysis of a combined photovoltaic-thermal system consisting of a linear solar concentrator and a tubular absorber

An analysis of an actively cooled combined photovoltaic-thermal system consisting of a linear solar concentrator and a tubular absorber has been presented. Expressions for determining the overall electrical and thermal power outputs, as well as that of the coolant outlet temperature, for an observer of a given length, and diameter have been derived. Results of some typical numerical calculations are presented graphically and discussed.     

Comparative analysis of a Sisko nanofluid over a stretching cylinder through a porous medium

The present article examines the Sisko nanofluid flow and heat transfer through a porous medium due to a stretching cylinder using Buongiorno's model for nanofluids. Suitable similarity transformations are used to transform the governing boundary layer equations of fluid flow into nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The finite difference method is used to solve coupled nonlinear differential equations with MATLAB software. The impact of different parameters viz., the Sisko material parameter, porosity parameter, curvature parameter, thermophoresis parameter, and Brownian diffusion parameter on the velocity and temperature distribution are presented graphically. Moreover, the effect of the involved parameters on the heat transfer rate is also studied and presented through table values. It is noticed from the numerical values that the porosity parameter reduces the velocity while enhancing the temperature. The curvature parameter enhances the velocity throughout the fluid regime and reduces the temperature near the surface while enhancing the temperature far away from the surface. The study reveals that the thermophoresis and Brownian diffusion parameters that characterize the nanofluid flow reduce the wall heat transfer rate, while the curvature parameter enhances it. This investigation of wall heating/cooling has essential applications in solar porous water absorber systems, chemical engineering, metallurgy, material processing, and so forth.     

Development of a system model for a hydrogen production process on a solar tower

An attractive path to the production of hydrogen from water is a two-step thermo chemical cycle powered by concentrated sunlight from a solar tower system. In the first process step the redox system, a ferrite coated on a monolithic honeycomb absorber, is present in its reduced form while the concentrated solar energy hits the ceramic absorber. When water vapour is fed to the honeycomb at 800 °C, oxygen is abstracted from the water molecules, bond in the redox system and hydrogen is produced. When the metal oxide system is completely oxidised it is heated up for regeneration at 1100–1200 °C in an oxygen-lean atmosphere. Under those conditions and in the second process step, oxygen is set free from the redox system, so the metal oxide is being reduced and after completion of the reaction again capable for water splitting.Since the overall process consists of two core reaction steps, which need to be carried out sequentially in a reactor unit at two different temperature steps, a special process and plant concept had to be developed enabling the continuous supply of product regardless of the alternating nature of the solar reactor operation. The challenge of the process control is to keep the two core reaction temperatures constant and to ensure regular temperature switches after completion of the individual process steps, independent of the weather conditions, like DNI fluctuation, clouds and wind speed. Also start-up, the fast switching after completion of half-cycles and the shutdown must be controlled. State of the art is the manual switching of heliostats to fulfil those control tasks.This paper describes the development and use of a system model of this process. The model consists of three main parts: the simulation of the solar flux distribution at the receiver aperture, the simulation of the temperatures in the reactor modules and the simulation of the hydrogen generation. It can be used for the analysis of the operational behaviour. The model is intended to be used in the future for the control of the whole process.     

Natural convection of a Darcian fluid about a cone

The problem of natural convection about a cone embedded in a porous medium at high Rayleigh numbers is analyzed based on the boundary layer approximation and the Darcy's law. Local similarity solutions are obtained for a truncated cone with the prescribed wall temperature or surface heat flux being a power function of distance from the leading edge. It is shown that at a location near the leading edge, the solution behaves like that of an inclined plate. At a location far downstream of the truncated cone, the solution approaches that of a full cone where similarity solutions exist.     

Mass-transfer to a channel wall downstream of a cylinder

The electrochemical method is used to measure the mass-transfer to a channel wall downstream of a cylinder. For Reynolds numbers based on cylinder diameter Re > 50, the flow is unsteady, and the mass-transfer rate is a function of time. When 50 < Re < 200, the mass-transfer rate is periodic with a frequency in the range of 1–3 Hz. When the ratio of cylinder diameter d to channel height h is 0.25, the Strouhal number is measured to be 0.27±0.02, and when d/h = 0.51, the Strouhal number is 0.49±0.01. The average mass-transfer rate at various positions downstream of the cylinder is reported. Experiments are compared to two-dimensional numerical simulations. The simulated and experimental variations of Nusselt number with position and Re contain similar features, but exact agreement is not found.     

Transient cooling of a room with a chilled ceiling

Using passive systems or solar energy for space cooling is highly conditional upon the heat transfer potential between the building components and the interior space. This paper presents a simplified theoretical model that describes the evolution of temperature in a room that is cooled by a chilled ceiling in the presence of a heat source on the floor. Using arguments of dynamic similarity, the theoretical model is confirmed with scale-model experiments run in a rectangular tank. The scale model uses a metallic heat exchanger to simulate the chilled ceiling and an electric heater as the heat source. The greatest heat transfer from the fluid towards the ceiling occurs immediately with the simultaneous activation of the heater and the chilled ceiling. As time elapses and the heat transfer decreases, the room cools more slowly and its temperature tends asymptotically towards equilibrium. This is achieved when the heat loss through the ceiling equals the heat supply from the heat source. The theoretical model can predict when a chilled ceiling, acting as transient a heat sink, will achieve a comfortable temperature in a room with an internal heat source.     

Adsorption of a nonionic surfactant onto a silica surface

Chemical flooding is technically feasible to increase oil recovery from depleted sandstone reservoirs with low pressure. Polymer-surfactant flooding is a potential process in the chemical flooding methods for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) in sandstone porous media. However, chemical additive cost and surfactant loss due to adsorption on the reservoir rock are the main concerns in this type of EOR processes. This paper presents adsorption equilibrium of a natural surfactant, Zyziphus spina-christi, onto a real sandstone reservoir. Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to figure out the impacts of adsorbent dose on adsorption performance. The equilibrium adsorption data were analyzed with two common adsorption models and it was found that the Freundlich model is a pretty good fit for adsorption equilibrium of Z. spina-christi based on the value of determination coefficient (R²). Results from this study are instructive for appropriate selection of surfactants in design of EOR processes and reservoir stimulation plans for sandstone reservoirs.     

Investigation of a compound concentrator with a quasi-parabolic guide

A compound concentrator guide has been investigated that provides uniform energy distribution over the receiver. The values of the focal parameters of the parabolas that form the quasi-parabolic guide curve have been determined. The parametric equations of the curve along which the parabolas foci travel have been set up. Arrangement variants of the guide curve branches have been considered, and the compound concentrators have been assessed.