STR-849: FROM EXPERIMENTAL WIND TUNNEL TO WIND-STRUCTURE INTERACTION SIMULATIONS OF A SHELL STRUCTURE

This paper studies the transition from downscaled wind tunnel testing to prototype scale numerical simulations. The study is performed using OpenFOAM as fluid solver, EMPIRE as coupling tool, and Carat++ as the structure solver. The current work aims at finding sufficient settings for wind-structure interaction simulations. Also, the efficiency of the software chain to simulate natural wind flow is approved. For this purpose, different flow conditions such as uniform, atmospheric boundary layer (ABL), and flow behind a cube (structure is positioned in the wake region behind a cube) are simulated. These complicated, unsteady, and recirculating flows are simulated to study the aeroelastic effects on light weight shell structures. Wind-structure interaction simulations are performed where the dynamics of the structure play a crucial role in the wind effects. An Aluminum shell structure was tested in the wind tunnel to have an experimental benchmark for aeroelasticity. Throughout spectral analysis of structure vibrations and statistical evaluation of forces, the modeling approach shows a very good agreement with the experimental results. Finally, scaling issues represent a great challenge to wind tunnel testing especially when it comes to light-weight structures. While significantly, numerical simulations are shown to be an efficient tool for the prediction of wind loading on structure under different wind conditions

Productive and Sustainable H₂ Production from Waste Aluminum Using Copper Oxides-Based Graphene Nanocatalysts: A Techno-Economic Analysis

Hydrogen has universally been considered a reliable source of future clean energy. Its energy conversion, processing, transportation, and storage are techno-economically promising for sustainable energy. This study attempts to maximize the production of H2 energy using nanocatalysts from waste aluminum chips, an abundant metal that is considered a potential storage tank of H2 energy with high energy density. The present study indicates that the use of waste aluminum chips in the production of H2 gas will be free of cost since the reaction by-product, Al2O3, is denser and can be sold at a higher price than the raw materials, which makes the production cost more efficient and feasible. The current framework investigates seven different copper oxide-based graphene nanocomposites that are synthesized by utilizing green methods and that are well-characterized in terms of their structural, morphological, and surface properties. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and multi-layer graphene (MLG) are used as graphene substrates for CuO and Cu2O NPs, respectively. These graphene materials exhibited extraordinary catalytic activity, while their copper oxide composites exhibited a complete reaction with feasible techno-economic production. The results revealed that the H2 production yield and rates increased twofold with the use of these nanocatalysts. The present study recommends the optimum reactor design considerations and reaction parameters that minimize water vaporization in the reaction and suggests practical solutions to quantify and separate it. Furthermore, the present study affords an economic feasibility approach to producing H2 gas that is competitive and efficient. The cost of producing 1 kg of H2 gas from waste aluminum chips is USD 6.70, which is both economically feasible and technically applicable. The unit cost of H2 gas can be steeply reduced by building large-scale plants offering mass production. Finally, the predicted approach is applicable in large, medium, and small cities that can collect industrial waste aluminum in bulk to generate large-scale energy units

Productive and Sustainable H2 Production from Waste Aluminum Using Copper Oxides-Based Graphene Nanocatalysts: A Techno-Economic Analysis

Hydrogen has universally been considered a reliable source of future clean energy. Its energy conversion, processing, transportation, and storage are techno-economically promising for sustainable energy. This study attempts to maximize the production of H2 energy using nanocatalysts from waste aluminum chips, an abundant metal that is considered a potential storage tank of H2 energy with high energy density. The present study indicates that the use of waste aluminum chips in the production of H2 gas will be free of cost since the reaction by-product, Al2O3, is denser and can be sold at a higher price than the raw materials, which makes the production cost more efficient and feasible. The current framework investigates seven different copper oxide-based graphene nanocomposites that are synthesized by utilizing green methods and that are well-characterized in terms of their structural, morphological, and surface properties. Reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and multi-layer graphene (MLG) are used as graphene substrates for CuO and Cu2O NPs, respectively. These graphene materials exhibited extraordinary catalytic activity, while their copper oxide composites exhibited a complete reaction with feasible techno-economic production. The results revealed that the H2 production yield and rates increased twofold with the use of these nanocatalysts. The present study recommends the optimum reactor design considerations and reaction parameters that minimize water vaporization in the reaction and suggests practical solutions to quantify and separate it. Furthermore, the present study affords an economic feasibility approach to producing H2 gas that is competitive and efficient. The cost of producing 1 kg of H2 gas from waste aluminum chips is USD 6.70, which is both economically feasible and technically applicable. The unit cost of H2 gas can be steeply reduced by building large-scale plants offering mass production. Finally, the predicted approach is applicable in large, medium, and small cities that can collect industrial waste aluminum in bulk to generate large-scale energy units