A Review of Solar Photovoltaic Concentrators

Throughout the recent centuries, the limits of using energy resources due to the cost and environmental issues became one of the scientists’ concerns. Because of the huge amount of energy received by the Earth from the sun, the application of photovoltaic solar cells has become popular in the world. The photovoltaic (PV) efficiency can be increased by several factors; concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) system is one of the important tools for efficiency improvement and enables for a reduction in the cell area requirement. The limits of the PV area can reduce the amount of absorbing irradiation; CPV systems can concentrate a large amount of sunlight into a smaller one by applying lenses or curved and flat mirrors. However, the additional costs on concentrating optics and cooling systems made CPV less common than nonconcentrated photovoltaic. This paper reviews the different types of PV concentrators, their performance with advantages and disadvantages, concentration ratio, acceptance angle, brief comparison between their efficiencies, and appropriate cooling system

Overview of Ionic Liquids Used as Working Fluids in Absorption Cycles

The cycle performance of refrigeration cycles depends not only on their configuration, but also on thermodynamic properties of working pairs regularly composed of refrigerant and absorbent. The commonly used working pairs in absorption cycles are aqueous solutions of either lithium bromide water or ammonia water. However, corrosion, crystallization, high working pressure, and toxicity are their major disadvantages in industrial applications. Therefore, seeking more advantageous working pairs with good thermal stability, with minimum corrosion, and without crystallization has become the research focus in the past two decades. Ionic liquids (ILs) are room-temperature melting salts that can remain in the liquid state at near or below room temperature. ILs have attracted considerable attention due to their unique properties, such as negligible vapor pressure, nonflammability, thermal stability, good solubility, low melting points, and staying in the liquid state over a wide temperature range from room temperature to about 300°C. The previously mentioned highly favorable properties of ILs motivated us for carrying out the present research and reviewing the available ILs found in the literature as the working fluids of absorption cycles. Absorption cycles contain absorption heat pumps, absorption chillers, and absorption transformers

Computational analysis of thrombosis risk with variations in left ventricular assist device inflow cannula design in a multi-patient model

Background and Objectives: Left ventricular assist devices (LVADs) are mechanical pumps used to support patients with end-stage heart failure. The inflow cannula is a critical component of the LVAD as it connects the pump to the left ventricle, allowing blood to be drawn from the heart. However, the design of the cannula can significantly impact LV hemodynamics and cause complications, including thrombosis. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the numerical effects of left ventricle (LV) size on cannula design in order to enhance hemodynamic performance using post-operative left ventricular assist device (LVAD) models. Methods: A parametric design evaluation of two different inflow cannulas were carried out on left ventricles (LV) of varying sizes (ranging from 154 to 430 ml) constructed from computerized tomography (CT) data from VAD patients using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The study analyzed three key factors contributing to thrombosis formation: blood residence time, blood stagnation ratio, and wall shear stress. Results: Results showed higher blood residence time and stagnation ratio for larger left ventricular sizes. In addition, increasing the insertion length of the cannula reduced the average wall shear stress. Conclusion: Overall, the study's findings suggest that the optimal cannula shape for LVADs varies with left ventricular size.</p

Thermodynamic Analysis and Optimization of a High Temperature Triple Absorption Heat Transformer

First law of thermodynamics has been used to analyze and optimize inclusively the performance of a triple absorption heat transformer operating with LiBr/H2O as the working pair. A thermodynamic model was developed in EES (engineering equation solver) to estimate the performance of the system in terms of the most essential parameters. The assumed parameters are the temperature of the main components, weak and strong solutions, economizers’ efficiencies, and bypass ratios. The whole cycle is optimized by EES software from the viewpoint of maximizing the COP via applying the direct search method. The optimization results showed that the COP of 0.2491 is reachable by the proposed cycle

The impact of small movements with dual lumen cannulae during venovenous extracorporeal membrane oxygenation: A computational fluid dynamics analysis

Venovenous Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (VV ECMO) provides respiratory support to patients with severe lung disease failing conventional medical therapy. An essential component of the ECMO circuit are the cannulas, which drain and return blood into the body. Despite being anchored to the patient to prevent accidental removal, minor cannula movements are common during ECMO. The clinical and haemodynamic consequences of these small movements are currently unclear. This study investigated the risk of thrombosis and recirculation caused by small movements of a dual lumen cannula (DLC) in an adult using computational fluid dynamics. Methods: The 3D model of an AVALON Elite DLC (27 Fr) and a patient-specific vena cava and right atrium were generated for an adult patient on ECMO. The baseline cannula position was generated where the return jet enters the tricuspid valve. Alternative cannula positions were obtained by shifting the cannula 5 and 15 mm towards inferior (IVC) and superior (SVC) vena cava, respectively. ECMO settings of 4 L/min blood flow and pulsatile flow at SVC and IVC were applied. Recirculation was defined as a scalar value indicating the infused oxygenated blood inside the drainage lumen, while thrombosis risk was evaluated by shear stress, stagnation volume, washout, and turbulent kinetic energy. Results: Recirculation for all models was less than 3.1 %. DLC movements between -5 to 15 mm increased shear stress and turbulence kinetic energy up to 24.7 % and 11.8 %, respectively, compared to the baseline cannula position leading to a higher predicted thrombosis risk. All models obtained a complete washout after nine seconds except for when the cannula migrated 15 mm into the SVC, indicating persisting stasis and circulating zones. Conclusion: In conclusion, small DLC movements were not associated with an increased risk of recirculation. However, they may increase the risk of thrombosis due to increased shear rate, turbulence, and slower washout of blood. Developing effective cannula securement devices may reduce this risk.</p