Performance analysis of a basin-type solar still during harmattan

This study investigates the variational effect of climate factors on the productivity of a basin-type solar still during the harmattan season under the tropical savanna climate. The study was extended to examine the influences of selected climatic, operational, and design (COD) parameters on productivity. Additionally, the efficiency of solar still in removing water impurities during harmattan was also investigated. Explorative data and statistical analysis, and laboratory testing methods were used for these investigations. Results show that seasonal effects of harmattan can either increase or lower productivity. The effect of wind speed on productivity was not clearly defined during the harmattan season. Although high irradiation is essential for increased productivity, its effect is modified by other factors. Water temperature is the most significant to productivity amongst selected factors studied via the design of experiment (DOE). Moreover, the effect of harmattan on the water quality produced was not established. The main contribution of this work is the insights generated for both qualitative and quantitative reliability performance of a basin-type solar still under prevailing climate conditions.

The atomistic insights of chemical complexity effect on irradiation resistance of high entropy alloys

High irradiation tolerance is a key feature required for designing the nuclear structure materials for the next generation reactors, where high entropy alloys and equiatomic multicomponent single-phase alloys are good...

​Factors Affect to Stolon Formation and Tuberization in Potato: A Review

Potato tuber formation is a complex process that is induced by a mobile signal called tuberigen. It involves several genes such as AtBMI, St 14-3-3s, StBEL, StBELL11, StBELL29, StBMI1-1, StCDF1, StCEN, StCO, StFDL1, StFT, StGA2ox1, StGA3ox2, StMSI1, StSP6A. This article focuses on important factors such as genetic factors, low temperature, high irradiation, low nitrogen, abscisic acid, chlormequat chloride, auxin, Jasmonic acid, cytokinin and paclobutrazol that induce tuber formation while ethylene, drought, low irradiation, high-temperature that reduce or inhibit tuber initiation.

Solar E-Cooking with Low-Power Solar Home Systems for Sub-Saharan Africa

The e-cooking feasibility was evaluated for two of the main staple foods across rural Sub-Saharan Africa (rice and maize porridge) considering basic solar home systems (SHS) of 100–150 W and using inexpensive market available low-power DC cooking devices (rice cooker and slow cooker). The coverage of e-cooking necessities was spatially evaluated for the African continent considering households of two, five, and eight people. While households of two people were able to be covered >95% of the days, the increase in e-cooking necessities implied that only larger PV generators (150 W) located in high irradiation sites (>2400 kWh/m2/year) were able to fulfill e-cooking, even in scenarios of households of five and eight people. Furthermore, the economic cost and the greenhouse gases emission factor (GHG) of e-cooking via small SHS were evaluated and benchmarked against traditional technologies with wood and charcoal considering three-stone and improved stoves and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cookers. The GHG for e-cooking was 0.027–0.052 kgCO2eq/kg.meal, which was strikingly lower than the other technologies (0.502–2.42 kgCO2eq/kg.meal). The e-cooking cost was in the range of EUR 0.022–0.078 person/day, which was clearly lower than LPG and within the range of the cost of cooking with wood and charcoal (EUR 0.02–0.48 person/day). The results provided a novel insight regarding market available technologies with a potential of changing cooking conditions in this region.

Bioinspired micro/nanomotor with visible light energy–dependent forward, reverse, reciprocating, and spinning schooling motion

In nature, microorganisms could sense the intensity of the incident visible light and exhibit bidirectional (positive or negative) phototaxis. However, it is still challenging to achieve the similar biomimetic phototaxis for the artificial micro/nanomotor (MNM) counterparts with the size from a few nanometers to a few micrometers. In this work, we report a fuel-free carbon nitride (C3N4)/polypyrrole nanoparticle (PPyNP)-based smart MNM operating in water, whose behavior resembles that of the phototactic microorganism. The MNM moves toward the visible light source under low illumination and away from it under high irradiation, which relies on the competitive interplay between the light-induced self-diffusiophoresis and self-thermophoresis mechanisms concurrently integrated into the MNM. Interestingly, the competition between these two mechanisms leads to a collective bidirectional phototaxis of an ensemble of MNMs under uniform illuminations and a spinning schooling behavior under a nonuniform light, both of which can be finely controllable by visible light energy. Our results provide important insights into the design of the artificial counterpart of the phototactic microorganism with sophisticated motion behaviors for diverse applications.

The Combination of Increased Temperatures and High Irradiation Causes Changes in Photosynthetic Efficiency

Global warming and the associated climate change are imposing abiotic stress on plants. Abiotic factors are crucial for plant productivity, survival, and reproduction. Eight sunflower hybrids were tested in conditions of different water availability and with combinations of different temperatures and irradiation. The changes in the photosynthetic efficiency were measured in the morning (control conditions: 2013, 25.8 °C and 349.1 W m−2; 2014, 21.8 °C and 296.4 W m−2) and afternoon (the combination of increased temperatures and high irradiation: 2013, 34 °C and 837.9 W m−2; 2014, 29.4 °C and 888.9 W m−2) at a flowering stage in rainfed or irrigated conditions. The measurement time (morning and afternoon conditions) had a statistically significant effect on all the tested parameters. The performance index (PIABS) in 2013 and the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II (TR0/ABS) in 2014 are the only parameters significantly affected by the irrigation. As a result of the combined effect of increased temperatures and high irradiation, PIABS values decreased by 73–92% in rainfed conditions and by 63–87% in irrigated conditions in 2013, depending on the hybrid, while in 2014, the decrease varied between 70 and 86%. The TR0/ABS decrease was 7–17% in 2013, depending on the hybrid, and 6–12% in 2014, both in rainfed and irrigated conditions. The principal component analysis confirmed the effect of the combination of increased temperatures and high irradiation on hybrids, sorting them exclusively according to the time of measurement. All investigated parameters highly fluctuated between hybrids but without observable trends for the morning and afternoon conditions, as well as for irrigation. Plants’ reaction to the combination of increased temperatures and high irradiation manifested as a change in their photosynthetic efficiency, i.e., the photosynthetic apparatus’ functioning was impaired.

Hydrogen Atom and Molecule Adsorptions on FeCrAl (100) Surface: A First-Principle Study

FeCrAl alloys are promising accident-tolerant fuel (ATF) cladding materials for applications in light water reactors (LWRs). Despite the excellent mechanical and antioxidation properties, this series of iron-based alloys has poor hydrogen embrittlement (HE) resistance due to the strong hydrogen uptaking ability. The hydrogen embrittlement effect can cause the degradation and premature failure of the material, and this effect can be enhanced by the high-temperature/high-pressure/high-irradiation environment in reactors. So, the potential danger should be taken seriously. In this paper, we have studied the hydrogen atom and molecule adsorptions on both Fe (100) and FeCrAl (100) surfaces to discover how the hydrogen atom and molecule (H/H2) interact with the Fe and FeCrAl (100) surface in the first place. The results show that there are strong element effects on the FeCrAl surface. The Al atom itself has no interaction with hydrogen. When the Al atom is beside the Fe atom, this Fe atom has a slightly lower interaction with hydrogen. However, the Al atom beside the Cr atom will enhance the hydrogen interaction with this Cr atom. On the other hand, when the Cr atom is beside the Fe atom, these two atoms (Fe–Cr bridge site) can reduce the interactions with H. In addition, when two Cr and two Fe atoms together make a four-fold site (FF site), the two Cr atoms can increase the interaction of the two Fe atoms with H. The element effects discovered can be a good guide for making hydrogen prevention coatings.