Poor Blade Curvature - A Contributor in the Loss of Performance in the Compressor Unit of Gas Turbine Systems

The relationship between the curvatures of the blade and the loss of performance of the compressor unit of the gas turbine system was studied. Three blade sets of three different blade curvatures 20o, 35o and 50o were fabricated for this investigation. The blades were tested in a manually fabricated wooden wind tunnel and points of flow separation and vortex height on the trailing edge of each blade set were recorded. The obtained results were then analyzed with respect to the blade velocity distribution effects, compressibility effects and blade loading effects. The analysis indicates that the larger the blade curvature the higher the possibility of poor performance of the system. Keywords: blade curvature, flow separation, vortex height, velocity, blade loading, stagnation, pressure, suction surface

Designing and fabrication of an installation PV solar modules tilting platform

The optimum tilt-angle of a fixed photovoltaic solar panel is very important during the installation, in order to best exploit the accessible output power efficiency of the panel. The output power effectiveness of a PV solar collector is profoundly affected by its tilt-angle to the horizontal and its orientation. This is because of the detail that the sun’s angle varies at every point of time and location. The solar photovoltaic tilting platform plays a dynamic role in the installation of the solar photovoltaic panel. From one perspective, it protects the solar panel from mechanical pressures that can arise from the wind movement and the hand; it provides means of adjustment for the solar panel. The proposed solar photovoltaic tilting platform was designed for an adjustable angle capacity oscillating from 0? to 40?; the materials used for the construction of the tilting platform are capable to withstand a load of 45kg and resist a temperature of -50? F to 150? F under a maximum wind force of 3.78N. The numerous mechanisms of the PV tilting platform prototype were tested, the stability, strength, easy titling, and overall performance of the PV tilting platform were declared as satisfactory

ES2008-54122 ELECTRICITY GENERATION FROM A COMPOUND PARABOLIC CONCENTRATOR COUPLED TO A THERMOELECTRIC MODULE

Abstract Generating electricity from the sun using a combination of a compound parabolic concentrator (CPC) and a thermoelectric module (TEM) has been studied. The system was modeled, analyzed and tested. The model equations and the methodology used for the demonstration are presented and experimentally validated. The experimental setup comprised a manually fabricated CPC placed on a commercially available TEM. The results showed that the combination can generate and sustain enough power for a small appliance. It was also shown that there is enough dissipated heat from the system which could be harnessed for additional uses. The cost is still high, about $35/Wp, but if credit is given for the thermal energy the initial cost goes down. Nomenclatur

Investigation of Parametric Performance of the Hybrid 3D CPC/TEM System Due to Thermoelectric Irreversibilities

The effects of the device performance parameter, denoted as ψ, due to thermoelectric irreversibilities on the hybrid compound parabolic concentrator and the thermoelectric module (3D CPC/TEM) system for power generation, have been investigated. The dependence of the behavior of the parameter on the thermoelectric irreversibilities is highlighted. The paper shows that when ψ is plotted against the collector thermal efficiency, a linearized plot is obtained. When plotted against the other system's output parameters, the resulting plots exponentially decay. The plots could be used for determining the desirable range for good performance of the system. The linearized plot could be useful in the determination of the values of the receiver plate temperature and the heat loss from the collector

Physical and Mechanical Properties of Pressed Palm Oil Fruit Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composite for Building Partition Panels

The density, water absorption, and mechanical properties of the pressed palm oil fruit fiber (PPOFF) epoxy composite were investigated. The fibers were matted randomly and laminated with epoxy resin and hardener using hand-lay-up method. The result of the analysis of the developed composite indicated that mass fraction of the PPOFF used in this study was less than the threshold to effect increase in the tensile properties of the resin. However, the properties increased with increase in the fiber content. Also, the density of the composite decreased while the water absorption increased as the fiber content increases. The XRD result indicated that the fibers has high crystallinity index indicating rich cellulose content but the scanning electron microscope (SEM) micrograph revealed weakly bonded fibers to the matrix due to the poor dispersion and wet-ability between the two phases. The developed composite can be useful in building partition panels

COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF MESH SIEVE PERFORMANCE OF A WET CEREAL SLURRY SIEVING MACHINE

This paper presents the design, construction and comparative performance evaluation a cereal slurry sieving machine. For the evaluation, wet slurries of maize, millet and sorghum were each sieved with three sieves of mesh sizes of 1.19 mm, 1.00 mm and 0.354 mm. The machine performed satisfactorily in the sieving of wet maize slurry, recording an efficiency of 85%. The output capacity was 22.07 kg/hr in comparison with 8.82 kg/hr achieved in the traditional manual method. The average sieving time for 1kg of maize slurry using the machine was about 2.5 times shorter than in manual sieving. The sieving capacity of the machine was about 2.4 times higher than that of the traditional manual method. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) carried out on the results showed that sieve 1 (mesh size of 1.19 mm) is suitable for maize, millet and sorghum slurries.  Sieves 2 and 3, with mesh sizes of 1.00mm and 0.354mm respectively, proved to be significantly better suited for processing of millet slurry

Process variability analysis in make-to-order production systems

Vehicle license number plate production in Nigeria faces high variability in terms of process times and inter-arrival times, resulting in poor production schedule reliability. This study aims to clarify the level of such variation and to provide process improvement strategies within plate production. The specific objectives herein include identifying assignable variables, estimating variability indices and minimizing variation by developing solutions to improve system performance. This study explores the variability pooling method in assessing potential cost-effective process improvements and a case study is conducted on four Nigerian vehicle license number plate production plants in order to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed technique. Structured questionnaires were circulated to plant workers and data collected from plant production records from 2012 to 2015 in seven production lines were analyzed. A preliminary study on the production lines revealed the coefficient of variation (CV) for the Awka, Gwagwalada, Lagos and Lagos State Plants, showing measured variability levels of 0.62, 0.67, 0.60 and 0.78, respectively. Comparatively, the results obtained after the variability pooling showed a significant improvement in performance characteristics, such as low CV levels, enabling a 68% increase in net annual income for each plant, as well as enhanced machine utilization

A Module For Thermal Pest Control In Stored Raw Materials Used In Feed Mills / Food Manufacturing Industries

Pests have continued to be problematic in warehouses of most feed mills and food manufacturing industres. Pests are heterogeneous both in space and time, creating gradients and patterns depending on the prevailing environmental variables. Pest control efforts have utilized manipulations of these variables. This project is ona module for thermal control of pests using the hitherto waste steam from the indusries. The module is an engineering contraption, which uses steam to raise temperature within it to insecticidal levels (above 45°C). This causes halt in development and proein denaturing (leading to mortality) of the pests (eggs, larvae and adults). This applied heat also toasts the material inside the module thereby improving its quality. The module consists of a rotary drum with steam passing through convoluted tube (without coming in contact withthe handledmaterial), with a capacity o 2 tons/hr o commodities. It accepts steam at 130°C and discharges it at 110°C. The steam pressure (permssible) is 2.7 bars. Steam velocity is 8m/s. The volume of the drum is 4 m3. A two- screw- 90 degrees-lead –counter screw-rotation typebaffle is installed to achieve even distribution of heat on the material within the drum. The moduleis efficient, effective and useful in any integrated pest management effort. Keywords: Module, Thermal Pest Control, Stored Raw Materials, Feed Mills, Food Manufacturing IndustriesAnimal Research International Vol. 3 (1) 2006 pp. 434-43