A review on solar chimney systems

The increased utilization of solar energy has generated intensive interest in developing solar chimney (SC) technology in recent years. Many studies have been conducted in this area both experimentally and theoretically, whereas experimental studies are mainly focused on small-scale systems. This work provides a comprehensive and updated review that includes most of the experimental, analytical and simulational studies, the solar chimney applications, hybrid systems and geographical case studies based on extended references with different focuses in different sections. The technological gaps are identified and a summary of suggestions is given, including more experimental works on large-scale systems, and CFD analysis for optimization between geometrical parameters and output power. Further studies on some emerging applications of solar chimney technology including hybrid systems are also recommended

Convection Heat Transfer Modeling of Ag Nanofluid Using Different Viscosity Theories

ABSTRACT: In this paper, the effects of adding nanoparticles (including Ag) to a fluid media for improving free convection heat transfer were analysed. The free convective heat transfer was assumed to be in laminar flow regime, and the corresponding calculations and solutions were all done by the integral method. Water, as a Newtonian fluid, was considered as the base and all relevant thermo physical properties of the nanofluids were considered to be unvarying. The calculations performed and the graphs generated showed that, in general, the addition of nanoparticles to the fluid media resulted in an increment or improvement of its heat transfer coefficient. With increase in the concentration of the nanoparticles, the heat transfer rate of the fluid also increased. The increment in heat transfer is also dependent on the nanoparticles’ thermal conductivity and the viscosity theory which was utilized in the calculations. In this study, four different theories were used to calculate the viscosities of the nanofluids. The effects of viscosity on the nanofluids’ thermal conductivity were apparent from the calculations which were performed for nanoparticle concentrations of 4% or less.   ABSTRAK: Kajian ini menganalisis kesan penambahan nanopartikel Ag ke dalam media bendalir bagi tujuan pembaikkan pemindahan haba perolakan bebas. Perolakan bebas diandaikan berada di zon aliran laminar, di mana penyelesaian dan pengiraan telah dilakukan mengunakan kaedah kamilan. Air yang merupakan cecair Newtonian, dianggap sebagai asas dan sifat terma fizikal nanocecair dianggapkan tidak berubah. Mengikut pengiraan yang dilakukan dan graf yang diplotkan, umumnya penambahan nanopartikel kepada media bendalir menyebabkan peningkatan dan pengembangan pekali pemindahan haba. Kadar pemindahan haba meningkat dengan nanopartikel. Peningkatan pemindahan haba juga bergantung kepada pengalir haba nanopartikel dan teori kelikatan yang digunakan. Di dalam kajian ini, empat jenis teori telah digunakan bagi pengiraan kelikatan nanopartikel. Kesan kelikatan ke atas pengalir haba nanocecair sangat jelas kelihatan. Kesemua pengiraan telah dilakukan ke atas kepekatan kurang dari 4%. KEYWORDS: Ag nanofluid, heat transfer, natural convection

Performance Analysis of Solar Combined Ejector-Vapor Compression Cycle Using Environmental Friendly Refrigerants

In this study, a new model of a solar combined ejector-vapor compression refrigeration system has been considered. The system is equipped with an internal heat exchanger to enhance the performance of the cycle. The effects of working fluid and operating conditions on the system performance including COP, entrainment ratio (ω), compression ratio (rp) and exergy efficiency were investigated. Some working fluids suggested are: R114, R141b, R123, R245fa, R600a, R365mfc, R1234ze(e) and R1234ze(z). The results show that R114 and R1234ze(e) yield the highest COP and exergy efficiency followed by R123, R245fa, R365mfc, R141b, R152a and R600a. It is noticed that the COP value of the new solar ejector-vapor compression refrigeration cycle is higher than that of the conventional ejector cycle with R1234ze(e) for all operating conditions. This paper also demonstrates that R1234ze(e) will be a suitable refrigerant in the solar combined ejector-vapor compression refrigeration system, due to its environmental friendly properties and better performance.   ABSTRAK: Kajian ini menganalisa model baru sistem penyejukan mampatan gabungan ejektor-wap solar.Sistem ini dilengkapi dengan penukar haba dalaman untuk meningkatkan prestasi kitaran.Kesan bendalir bekerja dan keadaan operasi pada prestasi sistem termasuk COP, nisbah pemerangkapan (ω), nisbah mampatan (rp) dan kecekapan eksergi telah disiasat.Beberapa bendalir bekerja yang dicadangkan adalah: R114, R141b, R123, R245fa, R600a, R365mfc, R1234ze(e) dan R1234ze(z).Hasil kajian menunjukkan R114 dan R1234ze(e) menghasilkan COP dan kecekapan eksergi tertinggi diikuti oleh R123, R245fa, R365mfc, R141b, R152a dan R600a.Didapati nilai COP kitaran penyejukan mampatan bagi ejektor-wap solar baru adalah lebih tinggi daripada kitaran ejektor konvensional dengan R1234ze(e) bagi semua keadaan operasi.Kertas kerja ini juga menunjukkan bahawa R1234ze(e) boleh menjadi penyejuk yang sesuai dalam sistem penyejukan mampatan gabungan ejektor -wap solar, kerana ianya mempunyai prestasi yang lebih baik serta sifatnya yang lebih mesra alam sekitar.   KEYWORDS: environmental friendly refrigerants; solar combined ejector-vapor compression cycle; R1234ze(e

Addressing the Younger Age at Onset in Breast Cancer Patients in Asia: An Age-Period-Cohort Analysis of Fifty Years of Quality Data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer

There is an established fact that Asian breast cancer patients are, on average, younger than their European counterparts. This study aimed to utilize the data from the Cancer Incidence in Five Continents I through XIII (published by the International Agency for Research on Cancer) to examine what contributes to the younger age at onset in the Asian population. Material and Methods. Data (number of breast cancer cases and corresponding population figures) for 29 registries in Europe and 9 registries in Asia for the period of 1953–2002 was accessioned and pooled to form two distinct populations, Asia and Europe. The age specific rates were defined and analyzed cross-sectionally (period wise) and longitudinally (cohort wise). The magnitude and the pattern of age specific rates were analyzed using the age-period-cohort analysis. The constrained generalized linear model with a priority assumption of cohort effect as contributing factor to changing rates was used to analyze the data. Result. During the last 50 years, the rate of breast cancer increased for both populations with an estimated annual percent change of 1.03% (with 95% CI of 1.029, 1.031) for Asia and 1.016% (95% CI of 1.015, 1.017) for Europe. There were stronger cohort effects in the magnitude of rates among the Asian population compared to the European population. The cohort effects, expressed as the rate ratio with cohort born in 1970 as reference, ranged from 0.06 (95% CI 0.05, 0.08) to 0.94 (95% CI 0.93, 0.96) for Asians and 0.35 (95% CI 0.33, 0.36) to 1.03 (95% CI 1.02, 1.04) for Europeans. The estimated longitudinal age specific rates (adjusted for cohort and period effects) showed similar patterns between the two populations. Conclusion. It was concluded that a strong cohort effect contributes to the younger age at onset among Asian breast cancer patients

Effects of radioiodine therapy on fertility indicators among men with differentiated thyroid cancer: A cohort study

Background: Following thyroidectomy, radioiodine therapy is the standard management of differentiated thyroid cancer. The effects of such treatment on testicular function remained a concern for cases and clinicians. Objective: We aimed to observe changes in fertility indicators in men treated with ablation. Materials and Methods: In this prospective cohort study, 18 men with differentiated thyroid cancer from June to December 2020 underwent thyroidectomy plus radioiodine therapy. Participants were grouped based on iodine dose (8 men with 30 mCi vs. 10 men with ≥ 150 mCi). Baseline values (VB) of the follicular stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone, and sperm analyses were measured 3 wk before iodine ablation and repeated 3 (V3) and 12 (V12) months later. They were analyzed once as a whole and once based on their groups via ANOVA and Friedman’s tests where appropriate. Results: The mean age of participants was 35.61 ± 9.74 yr. Follicular stimulating hormone levels showed a significant trend among all participants (VB: 12.51 ± 1.72, V3: 13.54 ± 1.41, and V12: 13.10 ± 1.67 IU/mL; p < 0.001). Luteinizing hormone showed a similar pattern (VB: 4.98 ± 1.27, V3: 5.65 ± 1.29, and V12: 5.21 ± 0.95 IU/mL; p < 0.001). Testosterone levels did not differ significantly from baseline. Sperm count decreased at the first checkpoint and returned to normal after 12 months (VB: 38.22 ± 19.40, V3: 32.05 ± 17.96, and V12: 36.66 ± 18.81 million/mL; p < 0.001). Sperm motility and morphology did not change significantly. Conclusion: Our research showed that even less than 5 GBq irradiation could induce a transient testicular dysfunction in the first 3 months of therapy, but it was mostly reversible after 12 months. Key words: Follicle-stimulating hormone, Iodine-131, Male infertility, Semen analyses

Natural gas-fueled multigeneration for reducing environmental effects of brine and increasing product diversity: thermodynamic and economic analyses

Water scarcity threatens human life and it is likely to be a main concern in the next century. In this work, a novel multigeneration system (MGS) is introduced and assessed with energy, exergy, and economic analyses. This MGS includes a gas cycle, multieffect distillation, an absorption refrigeration cycle, a heat recovery steam generator, and electrodialysis. Electrodialysis is integrated into this configuration to produce sodium hydroxide and hydrogen chloride from brine to prevent its release to the environment with harmful impacts. The other products are electricity, cooling, and demineralized water. For the evaluation of the proposed system, one computer code is provided in engineering equation solver software. For physical properties calculation, the library of this software is used. The MGS produces 614.7 GWh of electrical energy, 87.44 GWh of cooling, 12.47 million m3 of demineralized water, and 0.092 and 0.084 billion kg of sodium hydroxide and hydrogen chloride over a year. Energy and exergy evaluations demonstrate that the MGS energy and exergy efficiencies are 31.3% and 18.7%, respectively. The highest and lowest value of exergy destruction rate is associated with the combustion chamber and pump, respectively. The economic evaluation indicates that the net present value of this proposed system is 3.8 billion US$, while the internal rate of return and payback period, respectively, are 0.49 and 2.1 years.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF LIQUID-COOLED PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM USING NUMERICAL METHOD

The purpose of present study is establishing a simulation model to consider the performance of a water photovoltaic thermal system (PV/T) via the computational fluid dynamics method (CFD). The proposed model includes a water riser tube and an absorber plate to consider the conduction and convection heat transfer mechanisms. The simulation process was carried out in the ANSYS FLUENT software. The effects of two different parameters on the efficiency and performance of the system were investigated numerically. The performance of the PV/T system versus the changes in the absorbed radiation on the plate and the fluid inlet temperature were analyzed. The temperature distribution of different sections of the system was obtained. For validation of the presented method, a comparison study was carried out with the experimental results in the literature; satisfactory convergences were found between the measured data and the experimental results

Solar collectors and photovoltaics as combined heat and power systems: A critical review

A main method to increase the solar energy utilization efficiency is to combine heat and power generation together. In this paper, a critical review of the literature on solar combined heat and power systems (CHP) is conducted, which includes solar photovoltaic/thermal systems, concentrated photovoltaic/thermal systems, and various combination with different solar collectors and applications. It shows that there are serious gaps in this field, which calls for more research. The modeling and analysis of the electrical parts of the CHP systems are not adequate, and there are limited studies on the economic and exergy assessments of the solar concentrating CHP systems. The solar collectors for combined CHP were focused on optimizing the performance of the maximum average useful power generation and minimum total heat transfer area, little environment impact analysis was conducted. Careful exergy, economic and environmental analysis on both electronic and thermal performance is suggested, especially for large CHP system. Also, further studies are recommend for investigating the hybrids of concentrating collectors with CHP, with considering the economic issues