Preliminary Study of CST in Malaysia based on Field Optical Efficiency

Solar is one of the many sources of renewable energy, and Concentrating Solar Tower (CST) is one of the most potential technologies in extracting solar energy. Thermal efficiency of CST is high and suitable to be implemented in a tropical climate country such as Malaysia which is located between at 10 to 70 North latitude and 1000 to 1200 east longitude. Further, Malaysia's direct normal irradiation (DNI) in tropical climate is almost constant throughout a year with the irradiation around 1500 to 2000 kWh/m2. Therefore the aim of this paper is to mathematically calculate the CST field layout in Malaysia in term of thermal efficiency based on cosine efficiency, atmosphere efficiency and mirror efficiency. The preliminary result from this paper shows Malaysia is a suitable location to develop CST with average of atmospheric transmittance efficiency and cosine efficiency of 94% and 63% respectively and the overall optical field efficiency is 52%. In addition, the atmospheric transmittance and cosine efficiency has high value but the efficiency gradually decreases whenever the distance increases. Nevertheless further investigation in term of solar irradiation and raining pattern in Malaysia is needed

Design Of Engine Mounting For Single Seated Educational Racing Vehicle

The power train system for a single seated educational racing vehicle is consists of an engine and a transaxle. This power train unit is attached to the chassis frame of the vehicle. Therefore, it is desirable that both the engine and transaxle can be easily installed to the vehicle chassis frame. For a racing vehicle for educational competition, an adjustable engine mounting system is provided to allow for fine adjustment of the engine position and the transaxle. The alternative term for transaxle is called as the chain tension that includes a selective lock-out feature. This feature allows an operator to lock out the selected forward or reverse gears to alter the vehicle performance during racing. In this work, three design of engine mounts for the use of single-seated educational racing vehicle are proposed. The design process is carried out using CATIA V5 educational software. Once all the proposed designs of the engine mounts are completed, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is performed. Furthermore, a modal analysis using ANSYS Workbench Release 16.0 is also conducted to determine the natural frequency of the component. The results suggest that the best design of engine mount is Design 2. This selection is based on the low natural frequency of the component

The Effect Of Diesel And Bio-Diesel Fuel Deposit Layers On Heat Transfer

The adhesion of deposits on the combustion chamber wall surface affecting the heat transfer process in an engine that cause engine knock, increase NOx and increase soot generation during the combustion process. The effect will be more significant when utilizing bio-diesel fuel due to its higher density and viscosity. Thus, this study is intended to investigate the effect of diesel and bio-diesel fuels deposit layers on heat transfer. In this study, deposit layer of diesel fuel (DF) and 5% palm oil based bio-diesel fuel blends (B5) were prepared for surface temperature at 250°C and 357°C by using a hollow cylinder heater. Then, the hollow cylinder covered with deposit layer in its inner surface was inserted in a heat transfer chamber apparatus to investigate its effect on heat transfer to surrounding. Deposit layer for DF that was prepared at surface temperature of 357°C was able to act as insulator which prevents the heat from transferring to the surrounding compared to deposit layer formed at lower surface temperature. However, deposit layer of B5 prepared at surface temperature of 250°C have better insulator properties compared to DF at the same surface temperature

Characterization of polymer coating on palm kernel shell-reinforced polypropylene composites

Natural fibers are increasingly used in the polymer industry as bio-composites for a wide range of applications, such as the interior part of the automobile, interior material boards, decking panels, and many others. The presence of cellulose, which is hydrophilic in nature, lessens the mechanical properties of the bio-composites by increasing water uptake into the composites or also may affect the interfacial bonding between the polymer matrix and the fibers because the matrix is hydrophobic. The former may occur due to the surface of the bio-composites being highly exposed to water sources, e.g., high humidity in the air, rainwater, and many more. Thus, an additional layer on the surface of the bio-composites needs to be applied to protect the surface from water sources. The coating may be used for decorative, protective, or both purposes. This study aims to investigate the performance of polymer coating on a bio-composite substrate. The coating solution, chitosan-pectin-calcium chloride (CPC) solution was prepared, and the compatibility and wettability of the coating solution with the polymer-based bio-composites substrate were evaluated. The substrate was dipped into the coating solution for two minutes and hung to allow the excess coating solution to drop while drying the substrate. The performance of coating on the bio-composite substrate is evaluated by measuring the contact angle θ and average maximum bond strength σb of the sample with the different numbers of coating layers. It is found that the wettability of the contact angle indicates a lower contact angle for two-layer compared to one layer of the CPC coating due to the hydrophilicity of the coating materials