Ionic Mass Transfer at Point Electrodes Located at Cathode Support Plate in an Electrorefining Cell in Presence of Rectangular Turbulent Promoters

Current density plays a major role in deciding the plant size, current efficiency, and energy consumption in electrorefining cells. In general, operating current density will be 40% of the limiting current density. Forced circulation of the electrolyte in the presence of promoters improves the mass transfer coefficient. In the present study, rectangular turbulence promoters are fitted at the bottom side of the cell to improve the mass transfer coefficient at the cathode support plate. The limiting current density technique is used to measure the mass transfer coefficient. The variables covered in the present study are the effects of flow rate, promoter height, and spacing among the promoters. The electrolyte consists of copper sulfate and sulphuric acid. At a regulated flow rate, the electrolyte is pumped from the recirculation tank to the cell through an intermediate overhead tank. The limiting current density increased with an increasing flow rate in the presence of promoters, and thus the overall mass transfer coefficient on the cathode support plate also improved. With an increase in the flow rate of the electrolyte from 6.67 × 10−6 to 153.33 m3/s, limiting current density increased from 356.8 to 488.8 A/m2 for spacing of 0.30 m, with a promoter height of 0.01 m. However, it is noteworthy that when the promoter height is increased from 0.01 to 0.07 m, the overall mass transfer coefficient is found to increase up to 60%, but with the further increase in the promoter height to 0.30 m the mass transfer coefficient starts to decrease. Therefore, the optimized cell parameters are established in this work. The current sustainable concept of employing rectangular turbulence promoters will bring benefits to any precious metal refining or electrowinning tank house electrolytes.

Improving The Efficiency of Photovoltaic Cells by Using the Distilled Water Immersion Method

Photovoltaic panels can convert solar irradiance into (electrical and thermal) energy. The (PV / T) system was developed, created, and its performance tested in this experimental analysis. The main objective of this study was to design, manufacture and evaluate the work of the PV/T system as a thermal collector to enhance heat transfer, by using distilled water as a working fluid used to cool (PV/T) system. The experiment was performed with flow rate of water from (1 L / min to 5 L / min) on the PV / T collector channel. A theoretical and practical study was conducted on the effect of cooling the panels by immersing (PV) from (upper and lower) in a distilled water parallel flow forced circulation. Numerical result obtained by using Comsol Multiphysics program have been used as a computational fluid dynamic (CFD). The numerical study was conducted to determine the optimal depth of immersion of the panel to experiment with it, simulation results showed that the optimum depth of immersion is (5mm). The experimental results were conducted at the Technical Engineering College of Najaf with indoor test conditions that were controlled, Tin=20 °C, h=5mm. The results have been shown that the electrical efficiency of traditional photovolatic panel without cooling varied between (10.5-11.6) %, while the electrical efficiency of PV/T system varied between (14.6-14.7) %.

Qualitative assessment of air pollution in the working area of energy-intensive materials production by nanoscale aerosols with a solid dispersed phase

The presence of grinding, mixing, and fractionation of solid components of formulations leads to the formation of aerosols in the air of the working area with a wide range of dispersion of the solid phase - all this characterizes the organization of technological processes for the production of energy-intensive materials. The study aims to give a qualitative assessment of possible air pollution of the working area of energy-intensive materials production by nanoscale aerosols with a solid dispersed phase. The researchers carried out the sampling of the working area air and flushes from solid horizontal surfaces to produce energy-intensive materials. We carried out the sampling by forced circulation of the test air through the absorption devices of Polezhaev. Scientists used Triton TX-114 solution with a mass concentration of 2.0 mg/dm3 as an absorption medium. The researchers performed flushing from surfaces using cloth tampons moistened with Triton TX-114 solution with a mass concentration of 2.0 mg/dm3. We determined the particle sizes in the samples using NanotracULTRA (Microtrac). Scientists found aluminum and nitrocellulose particles with sizes from 36 to 102 nm in the air of the working area and flushes from horizontal surfaces. The study of the fractional composition of RDX and aluminum powders of the ASD-1 brand showed the presence of nanoscale particles in them. Nanoscale dust particles pollute the air of the working area and solid horizontal surfaces at certain stages of the production of energy-intensive materials. There are nanoscale particles in the composition of powders of some standard components of formulations. Flushes from solid horizontal surfaces are an adequate qualitative indicator of the presence of nanoaerosols in the air of the working area.

Physical and technical aspects of the technology of energysaving drying of wood in chambers with natural circulation of the agent

The problems of energy saving are one of the most urgent problems of modern industry and timber processing is no exception in this. In all wood processing, wood drying stands out for its energy consumption. A possible direction for significantly reducing the energy intensity of wood drying is the use of modes based on the phenomenon of thermal and moisture conductivity in chambers with a natural circulation of the drying agent. The theoretical and experimental studies carried out by the authors made it possible to create a wood drying technology that reduces the energy consumption of the process by 40-45% with a certain (15-17 %) loss in the productivity of drying equipment compared to chambers operating with forced circulation of the drying agent.

Modelling and Optimization of Photovoltaic Serpentine Type Thermal Solar Collector With Thermal Energy Storage System For Hot Water and Electricity Generation For Single Residential Building

Increasing surface temperature significantly affects the electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV) panels. A closed-loop forced circulation serpentine tube design of cooling water system is used to effectively manage the surface temperature of PV panels. A real-time experiment was first carried out with a PV panel with a cooling system at HTF flow rates of 60 kg h-1, 120 kg h-1, and 180 kg h-1. Based on the experimentation, a correlation for a nominal operating cell temperature (NOCT) and thermal efficiency for collector was developed for experimental validation of useful energy gained, cell temperature and electric power generation. The developed corrections are validated with electrical power and useful energy gained in photovoltaic serpentine thermal solar collector (PV/STSC) and fit into experimental results with a deviation of 1% and 2.5 % respectively. Further, with the help of developed correlations, a system was developed in the TRNSYS tool through which an optimization study was performed based on electric and hot water demand. The findings indicate that an optimal system with an 8 m2 PV/STSC area, a HTF flow rate of 60 kg h-1, and TES system having a volume and height of 280 l and 0.8 m could meet 91 % and 33 % of the hot water demand for Ac loads and 78 % or DC loads, respectively.

Study on the DLOFC accident of the GEMINI+ conceptual design of HTGR reactor with MELCOR and SPECTRA

The work presented in this paper was performed within the Euratom Horizon 2020 GEMINI Plus project. Behavior of the HTGR reactor under severe accident conditions was investigated and the maximum fuel temperature was observed. Due to application of the TRISO particles and SiC layers in the fuel element, no damage of the fuel is expected up to 1600°C. Under the cooperation in the project between Nuclear Research Group (NRG) and National Centre for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) a code-to-code calculations were carried out between the SPECTRA and MELCOR codes. SPECTRA code, developed by the NRG is a thermal hydraulic analysis code and MELCOR 2.1.6342 used by NCBJ developed by SANDIA National Laboratory is fast running severe accident code. Both codes have already HTGR specific models build in. The following accident was analyzed and will be presented: Depressurized Loss of Forced Circulation (DLOFC) with 65 mm break at the top of reactor vessel. The scenario was calculated applying following sets of assumptions: best estimate and conservative. Plant behavior was analyzed including primary and secondary side of the reactor. As the results of applying conservative assumptions, it was found that fuel temperature excides the acceptable limit of 1620°C. Therefore, changes in the core design were proposed by project participants. Analyses of the new core showed acceptable temperatures. In the paper the results of code-to-code comparison are presented. Both codes have shown a good agreement of presented following characteristics on maximum fuel temperature, relative power and Reactor Cavity Cooling System power, primary pressure and break flow.

Research of efficiency of solar coating in the heat supply system

According to the energy development strategy of Ukraine, implementation of energy efficient buildings is needed, in which external protections are converters of solar energy into heat. The article presents studies of solar coating with direct coolant supply. Studies of the average value of the heat loss coefficient of the solar coating were also carried out. As a result, the efficiency of the solar coating under the mode of forced circulation of the coolant is 0.67, at natural circulation of the coolant – 0.57 and at its direct supply is 0.71. Experimental researches of thermal and physical parameters of a solar covering and system of heat supply on its basis showed in the corresponding dependences influence on its thermal characteristics of dynamic modes of the heat carrier, energy, kinetic characteristics of the environment.