Development of sunlight-driven eutectic phase change material nanocomposite for applications in solar water heating

Organic phase change materials (PCMs) have been utilized as latent heat energy storage medium for effective thermal management. In this work, a PCM nanocomposite, consisting of a mixture of two organic PCMs (referred to as eutectic gel PCM) and minimal amount (0.5 wt%) of nanographite (NG) as a supporting material, was prepared. Differential scanning calorimeter was used to determine the melting temperature and latent heat of pristine PCM, paraffin (61.5 °C and 161.5 J/g), eutectic gel PCM (54 °C and 158 J/g) and eutectic gel PCM nanocomposite (53.5 °C and 155 J/g). The prepared PCM nanocomposites exhibited enhanced thermal conductivity and ultrafast thermal charging characteristics. The nanocomposites were employed for two different applications: (i) providing hot water using an indigenously fabricated solar water heating (SWH) system and (ii) solar rechargeable glove that can be rapidly warmed and used. Experimental results on SWH system show that the use of PCM nanocomposites helps to increase the charging rate of PCM while reducing the discharging rate of heat by PCM to water, thus enhancing the maximum utilization of solar energy and hence improving the efficiency of the SWH system. The experimental results on solar rechargeable glove revealed that the glove has the ability to retain the temperature up to 3 hours

Hydrocarbon class type distribution of crude oils by high performance liquid chromatography

172-177High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) provides a rapid analytical technique for chemical group type separation for evaluating crude oils. Seven crude oils of different origins and a technical blend of these crudes were taken up for this study. Crude oils were separated into total saturates and total aromatics on amino bonded silica column through HPLC system using UV and RI detectors. The quantitation of all class types were carried out by applying the response factors of separated concentrates from the technical blend of crude oils and calculating their response factors. The precision and the accuracy of the method was demonstrated by determining the standard deviation for the peak areas using pure compounds and comparison of HPLC procedure with their gravimetric data obtained by open column chromatography on technical blend of crude oils. The method is simple, accurate and provides compound class type analysis with microgram sample and is suitable for quick compositional surveys of crude oils. It uses a single solvent elution, requires minimum sample preparation and the time required for single analysis is less then an hour. Therefore, the method can be adapted for routine analysis of crude oils and streams from various processes. </span

Bulk heterojunction formation with induced concentration gradient from a bilayer structure of P3HT:CdSe/ZnS quantum dots using inter-diffusion process for developing high efficiency solar cell

10.1016/j.orgel.2012.01.014Organic Electronics: physics, materials, applications134710-714OERL

Production of needle coke-compositional aspects of feed stock

If has been recognized that feed-stocks having high aromatic context (>60% wt.), low sulphur content(<1% wt.) and a low CCR(<10% wt.) were suitable for th~ production of needLe coke. Needle coke manufacture was considered more of an art that science over a decade ago. Since then, extensive studies have clearly established that because of compositional differences, each feed-stock has an optimum carbonization temperature that leads to the formation of high quality needle coke.