Abstract. Durian rind cellulose reinforced poly(lactic acid) (PLA) biocomposites were prepared using Brabender internal mixer followed by hot compression molding technique. Cellulose was previously treated by 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane for improving the compatibility with PLA matrix. The silane-grafting of cellulose was confirmed via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) with the presence of Si-O-Si, Si-C, and Si-O-C bonds. The silane-treated cellulose was subsequently introduced into PLA matrix, and the effects of cellulose surface modification on mechanical, thermal and morphological properties, and water absorption of biocomposites were studied. It was found that silane-treated cellulose reinforced biocompositeshave superior mechanical properties compared with untreated cellulose reinforced biocomposites. The lowest crystallization temperature of silane-treated biocomposites was confirmed via Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigation also showed that adhesion of cellulose and PLA matrix was improved by modification of cellulosesurfaceusing3-aminopropyltriethoxysilanewhich can result in less water absorption into biocomposites.
In this paper, a numerical investigation had been performed to improve the melting process of phase change materials (PCM) by utilizing a trapezoidal channel. Different geometrical parameters of the trapezoidal channel were investigated. These parameters included: the height and pitch of the trapezoidal channel. Two-dimensional numerical models were developed with ANSYS (FLUENT) software. The unit is a horizontal channel that the heat transfer fluid (HTF) (hot water) passes through the channel to melt the PCM which contained at the top and bottom sides of the channel. The results showed that the trapezoidal channel with a longitudinal pitch of 6 mm and a height of 4 mm is the most suitable parameters for increasing the PCM melting process compared to other geometrical parameters. It was also concluded that the melting time is decreased by 27% at a height of 4 mm, and by 8% at a pitch of 2 mm.
The heat exchanger (HX) plays a key role for several industries, to reduce the energy consumption by rising heat transfer rate through heat exchanger. In this study, numerical simulation of shell and double tube heat exchanger without and with baffles is analyzed to evaluate the heat transfer and exergy analysis. A numerical simulation of 3D model with turbulent flow at the range (4000-12000) is performed with commercial computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software ANSYS (Fluent). The circular vents baffles model is used at the side of the shell. The simulation results show that the circular vents on the baffles of the heat exchanger have a significant impact on thermal- hydraulic performance and exergy analysis. Also, the results show that the heat exchanger effectiveness with baffles increases by 17% at high Reynolds number comparing with heat exchanger without baffles. Besides, the highest value of exergy loss reached to 42W with baffles presence. Finally, it is concluded that the heat exchanger with baffles gives better hydraulic and thermal performance than that of heat exchanger without baffles.
The present study investigates many parameters in the design of a residential building consisted of 6 floors with a construction area 240m2 located in Basra city. This study aims to reduce electric energy consumption utilized for cooling and heating of the building. The parameters which studied included: the effect of building façade, the exterior color of the external walls, the glazing distribution and the shape of the building. eQuest energy simulation program is used to simulate the annual building energy consumption, the program uses the hourly annual collected weather data. The results show that orientation the building façade toward the north direction is the best in the design of the building. The saving in annual electric energy consumption is about 11%. Moreover, the external color of the building has a strong effect on building cooling and heating energy consumption. By utilizing white exterior wall color, the annual electric energy consumption reduced by about 12%. The results also showed that by utilizing proper glazing distribution the electric energy consumption could be reduced by 3%. When all enhancements were combined an optimum building case were found. For the optimum case, the annual electric energy consumption was reduced by 35% compared to the base building case.
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