Hybrid Effects of Thermal and Concentration Convection on Peristaltic Flow of Fourth Grade Nanofluids in an Inclined Tapered Channel: Applications of Double-Diffusivity

This article brings into focus the hybrid effects of thermal and concentration convection on peristaltic pumping of fourth grade nanofluids in an inclined tapered channel.First,the brief mathematical modelling of the fourth grade nanofluids is provided along with thermal and concentration convection.The Lubrication method is used to simplify the partial differential equations which are tremendously nonlinear.Further,analytical technique is applied to solve the differential equations that are strongly nonlinear in nature,and exact solutions of temperature,volume fraction of nanoparticles,and concentration are studied.Numerical and graphical findings manifest the influence of various physical flow-quantity parameters.It is observed that the nanoparticle fraction decreases because of the increasing values of Brownian motion parameter and Dufour parameter,whereas the behaviour of nanoparticle fraction is quite opposite for thermophoresis parameter.It is also noted that the temperature profile decreases with increasing Brownian motion parameter values and rises with Dufour parameter values.Moreover,the concentration profile ascends with increasing thermophoresis parameter and Soret parameter values.

Concentration and Temperature Dependence of Electrical Conductivity in Thermally Stable Chromium Polyacrylate

Electrical conductivity of chromium polyacrylate with dopant concentration 30, 40 and 50 wt-% of chromium has been measured over a broad range of temperatures (303 K to 383 K).The electrical conductivity shows dependence on temperature, as well as, level of doping. The conductivity is considered to be due to thermal hopping motion of localized charge carriers,which are believed to be polarons, in the temperature range 303 K to 323 K and for T>343 K,whereas. it is metal-like in the temperature range 323 K to 343 K

Optical analysis of a hybrid solar concentrating Photovoltaic /Thermal (CPV/T) system with beam splitting technique

A novel hybrid solar concentrating Photovoltaic/Thermal (CPV/T) system with beam splitting technique is presented. In this system, a beam splitter is used to separate the concentrated solar radiation into two parts: one for the PV power generation and the other for thermal utility. The solar concentrator is a flat Fresnel-type concentrator with glass mirror reflectors. It can concentrate solar radiation onto solar cells with high uniformity, which is beneficial to improving the efficiency of solar cells. The thermal receiver is separated to the solar cells, and therefore, the thermal fluid can be heated to a relatively high temperature and does not affect the performance of solar cells. A dimensionless model was developed for the performance analysis of the concentrating system. The effects of the main parameters on the performance of the concentrator were analyzed. The beam splitter with coating materials Nb2O3 /SiO2 was designed by using the needle optimization technique, which can reflect about 71% of the undesired radiation for silicon cell(1.1m < 3m) to the thermal receiver for thermal utility. The performance of this CPV/T system was also theoretically analyzed.

A review of concentrated photovoltaic-thermal(CPVT) hybrid solar systems with waste heat recovery(WHR)

In conventional photovoltaic(PV) systems, a large portion of solar energy is dissipated as waste heat since the generating efficiency is usually less than 30%. As the dissipated heat can be recovered for various applications, the wasted heat recovery concentrator PV/thermal(WHR CPVT) hybrid systems have been developed. They can provide both electricity and usable heat by combining thermal systems with concentrator PV(CPV) module, which dramatically improves the overall conversion efficiency of solar energy.This paper systematically and comprehensively reviews the research and development of WHR CPVT systems. WHR CPVT systems with innovative design configurations, different theoretical evaluation models and experimental test processes for several implementations are presented in an integrated manner. We aim to provide a global point of view on the research trends, market potential, technical obstacles, and the future work which is required in the development of WHR CPVT technology. Possibly, it will offer a generic guide to the investigators who are interested in the study of WHR CPVT systems.

Comprehensive Review of Line-Focus Concentrating Solar Thermal Technologies: Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) vs Linear Fresnel Reflector (LFR)

In the present review,parabolic trough collector(PTC)and linear Fresnel reflector(LFR)are comprehensively and comparatively reviewed in terms of historical background,technological features,recent advancement,economic analysis and application areas.It is found that although PTC and LFR are both classified as mainstream line-focus concentrating solar thermal(CST)technologies,they are now standing at different stages of development and facing their individual opportunities and challenges.For PTC,the development is commercially mature with steady and reliable performance;therefore,extension of application is the main future demand.For LFR,the development is still in rapid progress to commercial maturity,yet indicating very promising potentials with high flexibility in novel designs and remarkable reduction in capital and operational costs.The question,which has to be answered in order to estimate the future perspectives of these two line-focus CST technologies,becomes which of these characteristics carries more weight or how to reach an optimal trade-off between them.

Breaking efficiency limit of thermal concentrators by conductivity couplings

The concentrating efficiency of a thermal concentrator can be reflected in the ratio of its interior to exterior temperature gradients,which, however, has an upper limit in existing schemes. Here, we manage to break this upper limit by considering the couplings of thermal conductivities and improve the concentrating efficiency of thermal concentrators. For this purpose, we first discuss a monolayer scheme with an isotropic thermal conductivity, which can break the upper limit but is still restricted by its geometric configuration. To go further, we explore another degree of freedom by considering the monolayer scheme with an anisotropic thermal conductivity or by adding the second shell with an isotropic thermal conductivity, thereby making the concentrating efficiency completely free from the geometric configuration. Nevertheless, apparent negative thermal conductivities are required, and we resort to external heat sources realizing the same effect without violating the second law of thermodynamics. Finite-element simulations are performed to confirm the theoretical predictions, and experimental suggestions are also provided to improve feasibility. These results may have potential applications for thermal camouflage and provide guidance to other diffusive systems such as static magnetic fields and dc current fields for achieving similar behaviors.