Exergy Analysis of a Solar Vapor Compression Refrigeration System Using R1234ze(E)as an Environmentally Friendly Replacement of R134a

Refrigeration plays a significant role across various aspects of human life and consumes substantial amounts of electrical energy.The rapid advancement of green cooling technology presents numerous solar-powered refrigeration systems as viable alternatives to traditional refrigeration equipment.Exergy analysis is a key in identifying actual thermodynamic losses and improving the environmental and economic efficiency of refrigeration systems.In this study exergy analyze has been conducted for a solar-powered vapor compression refrigeration(SP-VCR)system in the region of Gharda颽(Southern Algeria)utilizing R1234ze(E)fluid as an eco-friendly substitute for R134a refrigerant.A MATLAB-based numerical model was developed to evaluate losses in different system components and the exergy efficiency of the SP-VCR system.Furthermore,a parametric study was carriedout to analyze the impact of various operating conditions on the system’s exergy destruction and efficiency.The obtained results revealed that,for both refrigerants,the compressor exhibited the highest exergy destruction,followed by the condenser,expansion valve,and evaporator.However,the system using R1234ze(E)demonstrated lower irreversibility compared to that using R134a refrigerant.The improvements made with R1234ze are 71.95%for the compressor,39.13%for the condenser,15.38%for the expansion valve,5%for the evaporator,and 54.76%for the overall system,which confirm the potential of R1234ze(E)as a promising alternative to R134a for cooling applications.

The Use of Aloe vera as Natural Coagulant in Algerian Drinking Water Treatment Plant

The purpose of this work is the study the ability of the plant material Aloe vera to act as natural coagulant using raw water obtained from a drinking water treatment plant(Mila,Algeria).Different solvents such as:NaCl;NaOH and HCl were used as chemical activators to extract the active components from the Aloe vera plant,and different coagulation-flocculation experiments were conducted in a jar test apparatus to evaluate the perfor-mance of the extracted coagulant.Also,the effect of coagulant dose on some water parameters such as turbidity,pH,total alkalinity and organic matter were investigated.The results showed that the use of coagulants obtained by using different solvents increases the coagulation efficiency compared to the coagulant obtained from the raw material,for example the maximum turbidity removal efficiency was 28.23,78.07,83.46 and 85.15%when using powdered Aloe vera(raw material),AV-NaCl(0.5 M),AV-NaOH(0.05 M)and AV-HCl(0.05 M),respectively.The results defined,that the residual turbidity obtained in this work,where the Aloe vera was used(after treat-ment by solvents)produced a turbidity lower than the Algerian standard(5 NTU)with initial turbidity(13 NTU).In this study,the infrared spectrum study and analysis has revealed the presence of different functional groups,which are responsible for the coagulation process.

Effect of Richardson Number on Unsteady Mixed Convection in a Square Cavity Partially Heated From Below

The objective of the present study is to analyze the laminar mixed convection in a square cavity with moving cooled vertical sidewalls.A constant flux heat source with relative length l is placed in the center of the lower wall while all the other horizontal sides of the cavity are considered adiabatic.The numerical method is based on a finite difference technique where the spatial partial derivatives appearing in the governing equations are discretized using a high order scheme,and time advance is dealt with by a fourth order Runge Kutta method.The Richardson number(Ri),which represents the relative importance of the natural and forced convection,is chosen as the bifurcation parameter.The effect of this non-dimensional number on the behavior of the fluid flow and the heat transfer is analyzed.Although the geometry and boundary conditions concerning the velocity and the temperature are symmetrical with respect to the vertical axis passing through the center of the cavity,the results show the existence of symmetric and asymmetric flow structures,varying according to the considered value of the Richardson number.

Melting/solidification of phase change material in a multi-tube heat exchanger in the presence of metal foam:effect of the geometrical configuration of tubes

One of the likely methods for enhancing heat transfer in a latent thermal energy storage system is the conception of a thermal unit.In this study,the orientation of oval tubes(horizontal,vertical,and oblique)in phase change material(PCM,C_(19)-C_(20))-based shell-tube heat exchanger was analyzed with respect to the metal foam(MF)type(graphite,copper,and nickel)in comparison to the case of pure PCM.For this purpose,a two-dimensional mathematical model was developed to investigate the thermal efficiency of the PCM-metal foam based composite energy storage unit.It was concluded that the orientation of the oval tubes(oblique,horizontal,and vertical)has a negligible impact on the performance of the thermal unit during the melting/solidification processes.Based on the liquid/solid fraction,total enthalpy and the average temperature in the annular space,the performance of a heat exchanger during fusion/solidification periods is in the order:copper-MF>graphite-MF>nickel-MF>pure PCM.Whatever the adopted MF or the geometry of tubes,the melting process is expedited compared to the solidification mechanism.