The present review paper aims to document the latest developments on the applications of nanofluids as working fluid in parabolic trough collectors (PTCs). The influence of many factors such as nanoparticles and base fluid type as well as volume fraction and size of nanoparticles on the performance of PTCs has been investigated. The reviewed studies were mainly categorized into three different types of experimental, modeling (semi-analytical), and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The main focus was to evaluate the effect of nanofluids on thermal efficiency, entropy generation, heat transfer coefficient enhancement, as well as pressure drop in PTCs. It was revealed that nanofluids not only enhance (in most of the cases) the thermal efficiency, convection heat transfer coefficient, and exergy efficiency of the system but also can decrease the entropy generation of the system. The only drawback in application of nanofluids in PTCs was found to be pressure drop increase that can be controlled by optimization in nanoparticles volume fraction and mass flow rate.
Sediment and deposition are among the main problems in dam engineering and other related fields. Because of the numerous advantages of numerical modeling, effects of different geometries of reservoirs on the flow pattern and deposition of sediments are investigated using the finite volume based Flow-3D software package. In this study, three rectangular reservoirs with different dimensional ratios are simulated using the large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence model. To validate the numerical modeling, existing experimental data is used. Results indicate that Flow-3D can accurately simulate flow and sediment deposition in the reservoirs, and the numerical data are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results. Numerical efforts showed that the amount of deposition in reservoirs is significantly dependent on the geometry. Among the modeled reservoirs, the 6 × 4 m one has the best performance. Moreover, it can be said that changing the position of the flow’s inlet and outlet of the reservoir does not have a considerable effect on increasing its efficiency.
Experimental tests were carried out to investigate the effective scouring parameters downstream from stepped spillways with different flow rates and step sizes. The results indicated that the flow regime plays an important role in scour-hole dimensions such that the minimum scouring depth happens in the nappe flow regime. Moreover, step size and tailwater depth are essential parameters for maximum scouring depth. Increasing tailwater depth from 6.31 cm to 8.54 cm and then to 11.82 cm decreases the scouring depth by 18.56% and 11.42%, respectively. These alterations also decrease the scouring length by 31.43% and 16.55%, respectively. By increasing the flow rate, the particle Froude number will increase, and the increased momentum of the flow promotes scouring. In addition, the results show that scouring at the sidewalls is higher than in the middle of the cross-section. Finally, an empirical formula with root mean square error = 0.107 and R2 = 0.974 is proposed to predict the maximum scouring depth downstream from the stepped spillways. Comparisons were made between the proposed formula and experimental results. This comparison demonstrated that the formula can predict souring depth to within 3.86% and 9.31% relative and maximum errors, respectively.
This work summarizes the design and construction of the first Iranian 115 kJ Mather type plasma focus (PF) machine (IR-MPF-100). This machine consists of a 6.25 cm radius and 22 cm height brass made anode with a 50 mm height insulator which separates the anode and cathode electrodes. Twelve copper made 22 cm height rods play the role of cathode with 10.2 cm radius. Twenty four 6 lF capacitors were used with the maximum charging voltage of 40 kV (maximum energy of 115 kJ) as the capacitor bank and maximum theoretical current around 1.224 MA. The total inductance of the system is 120 nH. By using NE-102 plastic Scintillator, Rogowski coil, current and voltage probes, hard X-ray, current derivative, current and voltage signals of IR-MPF-100 were measured. The primary result of neutron detection by neutron activation counter represents approximately 10 9 neutrons per shot at 65 kJ discharge energy while using deuterium filling gas. Also IR-MPF-100 PF has been tested successfully at 90 kJ by using the argon gas.
A series of 2D model tests were conducted to assess the foundation stability of composite vertical breakwaters. In this paper, the results from the experimental study are presented conjointly with a formula to estimate the stability number of foundation, which is the most important parameter for evaluation of foundation stability of such structures. The influences of wave height, wave period and the berm width on the stability of composite breakwaters with different armor stone sizes were investigated. Forty-five tests were performed to cover the influences of these parameters. According to the present research, berm width is a significant parameter concerning erosion of armor foundation. As the berm width increases, the amount of berm erosion decreases. Comparisons are made between results of present study and the estimated stability number proposed by Kimura et al. (1994), which is extension of Tanimoto formula. Results show that the later formula underestimates the stability number. However, by applying an enhancement factor about 1.7 meters to Kimura et al. formula, results correlated with the present experimental results..
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