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Aims and Scope
Editorial Board

1. Full factorial experimental design analysis of Rhodamine B removal from water using organozeolite from coal bottom ash

Raquel R. Alcântara, Rafael O. R. Muniz, Denise A. Fungaro

Chemical and Environmental Center, Nuclear and Energy Research Institute, Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract: Zeolitic material synthesized using coal bottom ash asraw materialwas modified by cationic surfactant. Raw bottom ash and zeolitic materials were characterized using various techniques to obtain its physical and chemical properties. Surfactant modified zeolite (SMZBA) was used as alternative low-cost adsorbent for removal of Rhodamine B (RB) dye from aqueous solution. Dye adsorption equilibrium was attained after 40 min of the contact time and adsorption kinetics were described by the pseudo second order kinetic model. Equilibrium adsorption data were adjusted using non-linear equations of the Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (D-R) models. Error analysis showed that D-R was the most appropriate for fitting the experimental data.The reuse of the remaining solution generated from the synthesis of zeolite was effective. To optimize the operating conditions, the temperature, pH, adsorbent dosage and initial concentration of the dye were investigated by full factorial experimental design method; adsorbent dosage, initial concentration and interaction of the two were found as the most significant factors with P = 0.02 lower than 95% confidence level. The results showed that SMZBA is a good adsorbent for the removal of RB from aqueous effluent.

Volume 7, Issue 5, 2016, pp.357-374.

2. Improving the productivity of solar still using evacuated tubes

Qays A.Rashak, Ala'a A. Jassim, Husam N. Khanfoos

Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Basrah University, Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Basrah, Iraq.

Abstract: The nature of life and population growth makes the rate of water consumption to be very high, also the operation costs of the conventional methods of the desalination process are very expensive and unfriendly to the environment; therefor it is very important to find new, cheap, clean and simple methods for producing drinkable water such as solar energy desalination systems. To improve the performance of solar still by using evacuated tubes. The effect of parameter variables such as solar intensity, wind velocity, the tilt angle and numbers of the evacuated tubes are studied and then discussed. It can be concluded that the maximum productivity of water has achieved when the tilt angle of the evacuated tubes was 15˚ on the horizone using four evacuated tubes.

3. Investigation on used oil and engine components of vehicles road test using twenty percent Fatty Acid Methyl Ester (B20)

Ihwan Haryono, Muhammad Ma’ruf, Hari Setiapraja

The Center for Thermodynamics, Engines and Propulsion System, PUSPIPTEK Area, Build. 230, Serpong, South Tangerang, Indonesia.

Abstract: The Indonesian government has mandated to utilize biodiesel at the Indonesian market with blend ratio of 20% biodiesel and 80% diesel fuel (B20). This policy bring car manufacturers concerning in using B20 effect on the engine life time. To evaluate the effect of using B20 on engine components, vehicles road test has been done along 40,000 KM. The test was using three brands of vehicles, in which each brand was composed of two identical vehicles fuelled by B20 FAME fuel and pure diesel fuel (B0) (solar). During the road test at certain intervals in accordance with the manufacturer's maintenance recommendations, the vehicles lubricating oil replacement and other routine maintenance were required. At the completion of the test all test vehicles to be dismantled and the engine components inspected. The test results show that the most parameter of used oil lubricants still in the limits. Likewise, the condition of the vehicles engine components did not show significant difference between using the pure diesel or B20.

4. Detached-Eddy Simulations (DES) of a complex swirl stabilized gas turbine model combustor

Ahlem Ben Sik Ali¹, Wassim Kriaa¹, Hatem Mhiri¹, Philippe Bournot²

¹ UTTPI, National Engineering School, Monastir, Tunisia.

² IUSTI, UMR CNRS 6595, 5 Rue Enrico Fermi, Technopôle de Château- Gombert, 13013 Marseille, France.

Abstract: The reacting flow in a double swirl gas turbine model combustor is studied by DES (Detached Eddy Simulation) and URANS (Unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes) methods. The computational domain matches the complex laboratory configuration of a 35 kW burner, developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), fed with methane and characterized by a 0.65 overall equivalence ratio. The three dimensional calculations are conducted using an unstructured grid and the commercial finite-volume solver ANSYS–FLUENT. In order to evaluate their quality, the modeling results were compared with the previous experimental data. It was found that the SST-DES model reproduces better physics and shows good quantitative comparisons with the experiments. The results show that simulations using the Shear Stress Transport (SST) k-ω turbulence model over-predict the temperature compared to those using the SST-DES model and experimental data. Moreover, the SST-DES model provides much detailed information about the instantaneous flow patterns than the SST k-ω turbulence model.

5. Four MATLAB-Simulink models ofphotovoltaic system

JawadRadhiMahmood¹, Nasir Hussein Selman²

¹Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Basrah University, Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Basrah, Iraq.

²Communication Engineering Department, Technical Engineering College/Najaf, Al-Furat Al-Awsat Technical University, Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research, Najaf, Iraq.

Abstract: This paper presents four different MATLAB models to simulate the output I-V and P-V characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) cells or systems. All of the models are implemented with Matlab-Simulink. Detailed modeling procedure for one-diode equivalent circuit model with all equations and numerical values is presented. The parameters required for the modeling have been taken from manufacturer's datasheet for 240W SOLIMPEKS solar panel. I-V and P-V characteristics of a typical 1.92 kW PV system have been simulated using the proposed models. The simulation took into account the sunlight insolation and temperature effect. Results of the models are validated with I-V and P-V curves provided by the manufacturer(s). The proposed models are very useful for those interested in working in the field of solar systems because they emulate and analyze the characteristics of all the solar systems easily.

6. Scale-up criterion of power consumption for a surface aerator used in wastewater treatment tank

Hayder M. Issa

College of Engineering, University of Salahaddin-Erbil, 44002 SUH, Kirkuk road, Erbil, Iraq.

Abstract: The major part of operation costs in surface aeration basins or tanks is because of power requirements. Therefore, it is always necessary to find a dependable criterion for the predictive scale-up of power consumption measurements obtained at laboratory-scale surface aeration tanks to industrial-scale wastewater treatment surface aeration systems. A scale-up approach was proposed in this work for volumetric power consumption between geometrically similar laboratory-scale and industrial full-scale surface aeration tanks at an invariant Froude number Fr. Scale-up order between the laboratory and industrial sizes was 7.4. A mathematical correlation has been developed to estimate the volumetric power consumption and then compared with a model that already was investigated experimentally. Scale-up criterion involved the evaluation of three similarities; the geometrical, kinematic and dynamics. The scale-up basis that developed in this work led us to achieve a suitable scale-up criterion for volumetric power consumption in aeration tanks at matched surface flow condition. At matched Froude number Fr for the laboratory and industrial scales and at low and moderate turbine rotation speeds for surface aeration than 0.8 rps, complete predictions of volumetric power consumption have been achieved. The prediction by the existing previous model showed higher results than the actual values.

7. Numerical validation of the thermal quadrupoles method for a flow in a microchannel

Sabrine Mejri¹, Olivier Fudym², Jalila Sghaier¹, Ahmed Bellagi¹

1 Research unit of heat and thermodynamics of industrial processes, National Engineering School of Monastir, Rue Ibn Al Jazzar 5000 Monastir, Tunisia.

2 Research Center of Albi in Process Engineering, Divided Solids, Energy and Environment Ecole des Mines d'Albi Campus Jarlard - Route de Teillet, 81013 Albi CT Cedex 09, France.

Abstract: The main objective of this work is to investigate and validate the thermal quadrupole method, used in this paper as a semi-analytical method to solve the equations of a falling film in a heated microchannel studied experimentally. In the experimental section, we created a temperature gradient within the liquid, while monitoring the temperature using an infrared camera. Then, a numerical model is established and solved by the thermal quadrupole method. Finally, we conclude with a comparison between the experiments and the numerical study.