Abstract-This paper investigates the thermal performance of a unique box type solar oven whose five sides are exposed to ambient and provisions are also provided to install the reflectors to enhance the intensity of incident solar radiation on the oven. Experiments were performed where temperatures attained inside the box cavity are recorded on different days and times of the day corresponding to various intensities of available solar radiation. A steady sate heat transfer numerical model of the solar oven without reflectors is also developed based on six individual thermal resistance networks which account for the heat losses through each flat-side of the oven box and a good agreement with the experimental data is achieved. A parametric study based on numerical calculations and experiments is then carried out to study the effects of various parameters on oven's thermal performance, e.g. number of glazings, distance between glazings and box, type of absorber coating, etc. Higher box temperature is attained using double glazing than single glazing. As compared to black paint, selective surface coating results in significantly higher oven temperatures (up to 40 o C). Plate spacing of 20-30 mm is found to be optimum distance between oven box and glass covers.Index Terms-Solar oven, oven box temperature, reflectors, overall heat transfer coefficient.
The three-dimensional passenger macroscopic fundamental diagram (pMFD) describes the relation of the network accumulation of public transport and private vehicles, and the passenger production. It allows for modeling the multi-modal traffic dynamics in urban networks and deriving innovative performance indicators. This paper integrates this concept into a multi-modal transport system design framework formulated as a simulation-based optimization problem. In doing so, we consider the competition for limited road space and the operational characteristics, such as congestion occurrences, at the strategic design level. We evaluate the proposed framework in a case study for the Sioux Falls network. Thereby, we deliver a proof of concept, and show that the proposed methodology indeed designs a transport system which benefits the overall system's performance. This paper further advances the integration of sequential model-based optimization techniques, macroscopic traffic flow concepts, and traffic simulation to design multi-modal transport systems. This supports transport planners and local authorities in composing efficient and robust transport networks.
This study investigates the impact of market orientation on brand loyalty, primarily through variables pertaining to the purchase intention and brand image. In order to achieve this aim, this study have resorted to testing the relationships between customer-defined market orientation and purchase intention, and the brand image, leading to brand loyalty. In this regard, the study is quantitative in nature, and uses the cross-sectional design. For this purpose, the primary data were collected from gold jewelry customers (n = 413) from Karachi, Pakistan. Three key findings emerged from the structural model testing. The first finding revealed that the customer, competitor and interventional orientation are positively associated with the purchase intention, brand image and loyalty of gold jewelry customers. Secondly, in simple mediation, the purchase intentions and brand image tend to fully mediate the impact of customer orientation, and competitor orientation on the brand loyalty of gold jewelry customers, while partially mediating the association between the interfunctional coordination and brand loyalty. The third finding revealed that, in parallel to the mediation effect, the impact of customer, competitor and interfunctional orientation on brand loyalty is fully mediated by the purchase intention and brand image. This research is useful for gold jewelry businesses and business owners, since on a comparative level, less research has been conducted in the domestic industry of Pakistan.
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