Sharif Digital Repository

An optimal soft multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) detector is proposed with linear complexity for a general spatial multiplexing system with two transmitting symbols and NR 2 receiving antennas. The computational complexity of the proposed scheme is independent of the operating signal-to-noise ratio and grows linearly with the constellation order. It provides the soft maximum-likelihood solution using an efficient log-likelihood ratio calculation method, avoiding the exhaustive search on all the candidate nodes. Moreover, an efficient pipelined hardware implementation of the detection algorithm is proposed, which is fabricated and fully tested in a 130-nm CMOS technology. Operating at... 

In the present work, a micro combustor for thermophotovoltaic (TPV) devices is proposed which is included a U-shaped microtube in a box with a secondary fluid in space between U-shaped microtube and box walls. By utilizing the three-dimensional CFD model, combustion characteristics of the premixed lean hydrogen-air mixture in the present micro combustor are studied numerically with detailed chemistry and transport taking into account heat transfer through the wall. The results show that the establishment of secondary flows and better preheating in the curved tubes is caused the flammability limits to be at least four times in comparison with straight tubes. Combustion characteristics are... 

Although morphological disorder of nanotube structure is further down than the nanoparticular electrode, its density of traps are the hindering effects in the charge transport. In this study, crack-free TiO2 nanotube membranes, which obtained through a re-anodizing process, are fixed on transparent fluorine–tin-oxide glass by applying a few drops of Titanium Isopropoxide without needing the TiO2 powder paste. Front-side illuminated dye sensitized solar cells fabricated by undoped, N-doped and blue TiO2 nanotube membranes are investigated. The electrical characteristics of TiO2 nanotube based dye sensitized solar cells are followed by theoretical analysis using simple one-diode model.... 

In this paper, a comprehensive three-dimensional model of photovoltaic thermal system integrated with phase change material (PVT/PCM) is developed and simulated. The effect of some key parameters using parametric analysis on performance of PVT/PCM system with water as working fluid is investigated. Parameters considered in this study include the properties of PCM (i.e. melting temperature, enthalpy of fusion and thermal conductivity), solar radiation and mass flow rate. The parametric analysis ranges are selected according to the properties of the most of available PCMs on the market, which shows the practical application of the numerical research. Furthermore, a three-dimensional model of... 

Pt@Bi-TiO2 photocatalysts with different Bi (0–5 wt%) and Pt (0–2 wt%) contents were prepared by a two-step sol-gel and photo-deposition technique and were used in photo-reduction of CO2. The synthesized catalysts were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), UV–Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM), nitrogen sorption measurement (BET), Raman spectroscopy, Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). CO2 photo-reduction results revealed that the introduction of Bi into TiO2 structure and subsequent loading of Pt on its surface significantly increased the methane yield.... 

Water shortage issues are growing through the globe at higher rate than population growth. On the bright side, various methods are devised to capture energy from renewable energy or waste heat from different sectors. Among all inspected approaches, waste heat capturing through cooling process of the wind turbines' generators for desalination at small scale is paid less attention. However, in large wind farms, the scale of this dissipated thermal heat becomes appreciable which can drive several desalination units. Due to the above-pointed facts, the waste heat of a wind turbine with nominal capacity of 7358 kW and height of 24 m for desalinating seawater is inspected here, using a... 

Nowadays, energy supply is one of the most prominent demands of countries in the world. The enhancement in energy efficiency, flexibility for applications in various industrial processes, and the reduction in the environmental impacts of pollutant emissions can be accomplished by using sustainable energy sources. Alternative procedures for heat and electricity production have been developed in the commercial and industrial sectors and focusing on the cogeneration systems, and the contribution of nuclear energy has been increased for improving processes. Nuclear reactors play an essential role in nonelectric applications, and combined heat and energy at different operating temperatures can be... 

A multi-objective energy management strategy for a plus-zero energy building during a year, incorporating renewable resources, air to water heat pump, micro-CHP, ventilation, energy storage systems and thermal-cooling-electrical loads have been proposed in this paper. In this strategy, a novel technology of wind turbine that has been known as INVELOX has been investigated and collaborated in ZEB planning to reach efficient plus-ZEB at lower cost and pollution. As well the building can sell and buy power to/from the upstream network. The total cost and pollution of the building have been considered as objective functions. Also, the effect of objective function priority on the planning of the... 

H2S and CO2 are the main impurities in raw natural gas, which needs to be purified before use. However, the comprehensive utilization of H2S and CO2 has been ignored. Herein, we proposed a fully resource-based method to convert toxic gas H2S and greenhouse gas CO2 synchronously into CO and elemental S by using a novel electrochemical reactor. The special designs include that, in the anodic chamber, H2S was oxidized rapidly to S based on the I−/I3− cyclic redox system to avoid anode passivation. On the other hand, in the cathodic chamber, CO2 was rapidly and selectively reduced to CO based on a porous carbon gas diffusion electrode (GDE) modified with polytetrafluoroethylene and cobalt... 

Covalently functionalized carbon nanoplatelets and non-covalent functionalized metal oxides nanoparticles (surfactant-treated) have been used to synthesize water-based nanofluids in this paper. To prove nanofluid stability, ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy is used, and the results show that nanofluid is stable for sixty days for carbon and thirty days for metal oxides. The thermophysical properties are evaluated experimentally and validated with theoretical models. Thermal conductivities of f-GNPs, SiO2, and ZnO nanofluids are enhanced by 25.68%, 11.49%, and 15.42%, respectively. Lu-Li and Bruggeman's thermal conductivity models are correctly matched with the experimental data.... 

Covalently functionalized carbon nanoplatelets and non-covalent functionalized metal oxides nanoparticles (surfactant-treated) have been used to synthesize water-based nanofluids in this paper. To prove nanofluid stability, ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) spectroscopy is used, and the results show that nanofluid is stable for sixty days for carbon and thirty days for metal oxides. The thermophysical properties are evaluated experimentally and validated with theoretical models. Thermal conductivities of f-GNPs, SiO2, and ZnO nanofluids are enhanced by 25.68%, 11.49%, and 15.42%, respectively. Lu-Li and Bruggeman's thermal conductivity models are correctly matched with the experimental data.... 

The spatial sparsity of targets in the radar scene is widely used in multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar signal processing, either to improve the detection/estimation performance of the radar or to reduce the cost of the conventional MIMO radars (e.g., by reducing the number of antennas). While sparse target estimation is the main challenge in such an approach, here, we address the design of a compressive-sensing-based MIMO radar, which facilitates such estimations. In particular, we propose an efficient solution for the problem of joint power allocation and antenna placement based on minimizing the number of transmit antennas while constraining the coherence of the sensing matrix.... 

The power-to-liquid concept is a promising strategy to convert the power plants' flue gas to value-added liquid fuels using renewable energy. This technology could potentially reduce global greenhouse gases emissions and mitigate the environmental problems associated with the fossil fuels industry. In this regard, the main objective of the present study is to propose a novel power-to-liquid plant for the synthesis of formic acid and ammonia from power plants' flue gas, emphasizing the role of electrochemical technologies and renewable energy. The system's basis is developed by the integration of CO2 electroreduction cell, alkaline water electrolysis cell, and photovoltaic panel technologies.... 

In addition to meeting the real-time constraint, power/energy efficiency and high reliability are two vital objectives for real-time embedded systems. Recently, heterogeneous multicore systems have been considered an appropriate solution for achieving joint power/energy efficiency and high reliability. However, power/energy and reliability are two conflict requirements due to the inherent redundancy of fault-tolerance techniques. Also, because of the heterogeneity of the system, the execution of the tasks, especially real-time tasks, in the heterogeneous system is more complicated than the homogeneous system. The proposed method in this paper employs a passive primary/backup technique to... 

The present study conducts a comprehensive comparative techno-economic analysis of some near-term sensible thermal energy storage (TES) alternatives to the ‘standard’ two-tank molten salt system for concentrated solar power (CSP) plants. As such, we conducted detailed, relative annual transient simulations for single-medium thermocline (SMT), dual-media thermocline (DMT), and shell-and-tube (ST) systems. To be consistent with recent literature, the DMT and ST systems use concrete with a porosity of 0.2 (e.g. where concrete occupies 80% of the system) as their low cost filler material. The systems were integrated into a validated 19.9 MWe Gemasolar CSP model, which has a solar multiple of... 

CdS is conventionally used as the n-type buffer layer in chalcopyrite (CIG(S, Se)) and Kesterite (CZT(S, Se)) solar cells. CdS is toxic and there are wide attempts to find substitutes for it. Here, we suggest SnS2 as a possible alternative. SnS2 films were deposited by pulsed laser deposition (PLD), characterized to estimate carrier concentration and electron affinity values, and the obtained values were used to model a CZT(S, Se) solar cell. The experimental values of a benchmark CZT(S, Se) cell with efficiency of 12.3% were employed to obtain the density and energy position of defects in CZT(S, Se) and validating the model. We observed that SnS2 results in almost identical performance as... 

Excitation Controlled Synchronous Generator-based Wind Turbine (ECSG WT) is a recently proposed Wind Turbine (WT) scheme that has not been fully investigated in detail. This paper intends to analyze the performance of the ECSG WT scheme and compare it with those of two mainstream WT schemes based on electrically excited synchronous generator, i.e., VSC-based full converter WT and diode bridge rectifier-based WT equipped with boost converter on its Direct Current (DC) link. The objective of this comparison is to demonstrate great potentials of ECSG WT to be considered in the wind industry. To do so, two successful Wind Turbine (WT) schemes in the market that are structurally close to ECSG WT...