Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, we perform numerical simulations to investigate the thermal and flow characteristics of a parabolic trough solar collector equipped with a porous receiver tube and internal longitudinal fins. The heat transfer medium is a synthetic oil-Cu-Al2O3 hybrid nanofluid. We examine the thermal characteristics of the nanofluid in response to variations in several system parameters. We find that at Reynolds numbers between 5 × 103 and 5 × 105, increasing the volume fraction of Cu nanoparticles can increase the temperature gain at the exit of the receiver tube by 6.4%. Furthermore, the temperature gradient in the cross-section of the collector increases as the direct normal solar... 

Interesting properties of ionic liquids lead to their application as sub-component of membrane structures. Supported ionic liquid membranes (SILMs) are porous membranes whose pores are saturated with ionic liquids. Two ionic liquids, pr[mim]2[Tf2N]2 [1,3-di(3-methyl-imidazolium) propane bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide] and, h[mim]2 [Tf2N]2 [(1,6-di(3-methylimidazolium)hexane bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide)], were synthesized in our laboratory and stabilized on an alumina porous support. Permeability and permselectivity of carbon dioxide and methane using membranes containing these ionic liquids were then measured. The experiments were performed in the pressure range of 10-50kPa and... 

Nanofluid is the term applied to a suspension of solid, nanometer-sized particles in conventional fluids; the most prominent features of such fluids include enhanced heat characteristics, such as convective heat transfer coefficient, in comparison to the base fluid without considerable alterations in physical and chemical properties. In this study, nanofluids of aluminum oxide and copper oxide were prepared in ethylene glycol separately. The effect of forced convective heat transfer coefficient in turbulent flow was calculated using a double pipe and plate heat exchangers. Furthermore, we calculated the forced convective heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluids using theoretical... 

This paper presents solid-state ligand exchange of spin-coated colloidal lead sulfide quantum dot (PbS QD) films by methylammonium iodide (MAI) and integration of them in depleted heterojunction solar (DHS) devices having an antireflecting (AR) nanocone plastic structure. Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements determine a shorter lifetime of the charge carries on a semiconductor (TiO2) electron transfer layer for the MAI-passivated QD films as compared with those with long-chain aliphatic or short thiol ligands. Consequently, the DHS device yields improved power conversion efficiency (>125%) relative to oleic-acid-passivated PbS QD films. Using anodized aluminum oxide templates, an... 

In this research, the activity and selectivity of a platinum-based catalyst for H2 production through aqueous phase reforming (APR) in a fixed-bed reactor (FBR) as well as, a structured catalyst microreactor (MR) were investigated. In this venue, first, an in-house designed MR was fabricated and the catalytic material was deposited on the channel walls of this steel made reactor. After verification of the stability of the coated layer, the prepared reactor was employed to investigate the APR reaction. In this regard, APR of the ethylene glycol and glycerol over Pt/Al2O3 and Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 catalyst were conducted in an MR and FBR. Obtained results demonstrated that employing Pt/CeO2–Al2O3 as a... 

Parabolic trough solar collector (PTC) is one of the most mature and widely used type of solar energy harnessing devices. Therefore, investigation of the effect of various operational conditions on the overall efficiency of these devices has been topic of substantial interest in the recent decade. Moreover, utilization of nanoparticles as a useful additive to the working fluid should be examined thoroughly to optimize the collector's outputs. To do so, in the present study, energy and exergy efficiencies of a typical PTC as a function of several involving parameters are numerically calculated. These parameters are nanoparticle volume fraction (from 0 to 5 percent), environment wind speed... 

Aluminum reduction cells have benefited from point feeding technology for a long time, but there are still smelters which are using the old technology of center break and center feed system. Due to several factors this system is no longer approved and there have been a few attempts worldwide to upgrade these cells so as to implement the newer technology by applying mechanical and automation changes. In this paper we will present an attempt which was made in order to retrofit a so-called center break cell to point feeder cell. The results show that this project has decreased the energy consumption and anode effect frequency. Furthermore, there has been a significant increase in current... 

Alumina nanofluids are one of the most useful nanofluids. In order to evaluate the colloidal behavior of nanoparticles in alumina/water nanofluid, the influence of effective factors such as pH, ionic strength and surfactants, was studied. Zeta potential, particle size and turbidity change of each nanofluid was investigated. According to the results for 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mass% nanofluid, point of zero charge was obtained at pH values of 9.5, 10.2 and 10.5, respectively. The highest nanofluid stability occurred at pH 4 and its lowest was at pH 10. The anionic surfactant had a greater effect on the stability in compared with cationic and nonionic surfactants. By increasing in ionic strength,... 

This study shows the growth behavior of Co-Ni alloy nanowires in AAO template. Growth of nanowires consists of four different stages namely electronucleation, steady state growth, filling of pores, and coverage of filled nanowires and forming of a film on the template surface. TEM study of nanowires showed that the nanowires possess hemispherical head due to the preferable and more rapid growth phenomenon in central section of nanowires instead of edge sides. Studies on the relations between nanowires composition and ion concentration in solution showed that growth of nanowires is a diffusion-controlled process. The compositional, structural and magnetic properties of nanowires were... 

Alumina nanofluids are one of the most useful nanofluids, especially for increasing the thermal conductivity. Due to importance of porous media in the improvement of heat transfer, this study investigates the transport and retention of gamma alumina/water nanofluid in the water-saturated porous media. For this purpose, alumina nanofluids were introduced to the porous media consisting of water-saturated glass beads possessing various pH values (4, 7 and 10) and different ionic strengths (0.001 M of KCl, CaCl2, AlCl3, K2SO4, CaSO4, Al2(SO4)3, K2CO3 and CaCO3). Then the break through curve of each experiment was drawn and modeled by combining classical filtration theory with... 

As a low-cost method, hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs) and fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) coarse particles were used as assistant materials to improve the fluidity of Al2O3 and TiO2 hard-to-fluidize nanopowders. To decrease the strong electrostatic forces between the hydrophilic nanopowders, prepared samples were fluidized in the presence of methanol vapor. Results revealed that the amount of SiO2 NPs, increased from 5 to 50 wt. %, has a beneficial effect on the fluidization quality of the binary (hard-to-fluidize NPs + SiO2) and ternary (hard-to-fluidize NPs + SiO2 + FCC) mixtures. However, the amount of FCC particles when it varied from 15 to 30 wt. % in the ternary mixtures should... 

In this work, nanostructured aluminum titanate (Al2TiO5 or AT) was synthesized by the citrate sol gel method. Then, different volume fractions of this ceramic were blended with Al powder through different durations of the high-energy vibratory milling. The effect of mechanical milling on the thermal degradation of AT in exposure to Al and formation mechanism of in-situ Al2O3 and Al3Ti particles were explored in three conditions: (i) in the powder form; (ii) after annealing of green compact; and (iii) after hot extrusion. In the powder form, it was shown that the mechanical milling is able to significantly diminish the thermal stability of AT, so that the required temperature for the Al3Ti... 

Alumina nanofluids are one of the most useful nanofluids. In order to evaluate the colloidal behavior of nanoparticles in alumina/water nanofluid, the influence of effective factors such as pH, ionic strength and surfactants, was studied. Zeta potential, particle size and turbidity change of each nanofluid was investigated. According to the results for 0.05, 0.1 and 0.2 mass% nanofluid, point of zero charge was obtained at pH values of 9.5, 10.2 and 10.5, respectively. The highest nanofluid stability occurred at pH 4 and its lowest was at pH 10. The anionic surfactant had a greater effect on the stability in compared with cationic and nonionic surfactants. By increasing in ionic strength,... 

Thanks to a wide range of pore sizes by nano/macro composites of SiOC/Al2O3, such composites can serve as different layers of the structure of Packed Bed Reactor Membranes (PBRM). In the present study, the Polymer-Derived Ceramics method (PDC) has been used to synthesize nano/macro structures. Firstly, the effect of toluene as an extra carbon source on structure and microstructure of SiOC glass-ceramics was evaluated, such that, 4% (Vol) toluene was recognized as the proper amount to facilitate the synthesis of β-SiC at 1300 °C proved by XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and HR-TEM. Moreover, the presence of micro/meso-porosities was assessed by BET and TEM, indicating the capability of SiOC to serve... 

In this paper, a study is conducted to determine the influences of perforated anchors on heat transfer intensification of turbulence nanofluid flow in a pipe. Six different turbulence models are used, and the results obtained by these models are benchmarked with the existing theoretical data to select the best turbulence model. The outputs showed that the k–ε–RNG–scalable wall function model has higher accuracy and so it is selected to simulate this problem. The influences of various parameters including the addition of perforation on the anchors, the perforation diameter (in the range of 1–5 mm), the Re number (in the range of 5000–25,000), and the volumetric concentration of nanoparticles... 

Aqueous-phase reforming (APR) of oxygenated hydrocarbons for hydrogen production presents several advantages as feed molecules might be easily found in a wide range of biomass; there is no need for its vaporization and the process allows thorough exploitation of the environmental benefits of using hydrogen as an energy carrier. In this contribution, catalysts with active phase Ni supported on Al2O3-MgO were synthesized at different loadings (1, 3, 5, 7, and 10 wt%) through the co-precipitation technique and tested for the Glycerol APR reaction. Effects of the Ni loading on physicochemical characteristics of Ni/Al2O3-MgO catalysts were examined. Moreover, catalytic performance was... 

In this study, flooding of oil reservoir by implementing Nanoscale colloidal solutions as a working fluid is simulated. All oil reservoirs are heterogeneous porous media; therefore, in this investigation for more accurate prediction of the problem, the porous media is considered heterogeneous. The governing equations of this problem are solved by finite element method (FEM). Moreover two-phase equations of Darcy and mass transfer equations are used. In this paper, the effect of temperature and volume fractions of nanoparticles on the rate of oil recovery is investigated. The SiO2, Al2O3, and CuO nanoparticles are used in the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) process. Also, in order to solve the... 

This research studied the effect of adding TiO2 nanoparticles along with Al2O3 and Y2O3 additives on the physical and mechanical properties of a SiC-matrix composite. The samples were fabricated through a pressureless process at 1900 °C. The results showed that the addition of TiO2 nanoparticles up to 4.5 wt% inhibited the excessive growth of SiC grains. According to the investigations, the microstructure and final properties of composites were affected by density, synthesized phases as well as their distribution in the matrix, and grain size. The highest density, Young's modulus, hardness, indentation fracture resistance, and flexural strength, alongside with the lowest brittleness index... 

Yttria-stabilized tetragonal zirconia polycrystals (Y-TZP) have been widely applied in fixed partial prostheses as well as dental uses i.e. a substructure for crowns. However, Y-TZP has limited applications, which is due to the presence of defects in its microstructure introduced during the manufacturing process. Accordingly, due to Y-TZP limitations, the novel (X)Y-TZP- 20Al2O3-(80-X) SiO2 (X = 65, 70 and 75) ceramic nanocomposites were successfully fabricated via the powder metallurgy method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of commercial powders showed the stabilization of monoclinic zirconia (ZM) by increasing the silica content. In order to determine the fracture load and micro-bending... 

This study aimed to prepare nanoporous anodic alumina on AA3003-H14 aluminum alloy using a mild anodization process with minimal working voltage and treatment time. The microstructural features, mechanical properties, and tribocorrosion behavior of the coatings were assessed to determine the optimum conditions for the fabrication of nanoporous anodic alumina on AA3003-H14 alloy. The microstructural analysis showed both uniform and nonuniform pore nucleations during anodization in H2SO4/C2H2O4, H2SO4/H2CrO4, and EG/H2O/NH4F electrolytes, where the optimal nanoporous structure with an average thickness, porosity, pore diameter, and interpore distance of 382 nm, 19%, 16 nm, and 35 nm,...