Solar thermal energy storage improves the practicality and efficiency of solar systems for space heating by addressing the intermittent nature of solar radiation, leading to enhanced energy utilization, cost reduction, and a more sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to meeting heating needs in residential, commercial, and industrial settings. In this study, an indoor experimental setup was employed to investigate the impact of a water-based Al₂O₃ nanofluid on the storage capacity of a flat plate solar collector under varying flow rates of the heat transfer fluid. The nanofluid, introduced at specific concentrations, was incorporated into a water-contained storage tank through which the hot heat transfer fluid circulated within a heat exchanger. This process resulted in the storage of thermal energy for future applications. The research identified that the optimal flow rate of the heat transfer fluid, corresponding to the maximum storage temperature, was 15 L per hour, and the ideal nanofluid concentration, associated with the maximum specific heat capacity of the storage medium, was 0.6%. Furthermore, the introduction of nanoparticles into the storage tank led to a significant increase in the specific heat of the water, reaching a maximum of 19% from 4.18 to 5.65 kJ/(kg·°C).

In this research, two identical solar stills were designed and constructed to investigate the effect of adding copper and aluminum oxide nanoparticles on the quantity of water produced by solar desalination. The two solar stills were installed side by side, and measurements were recorded simultaneously from both stills. The nanoparticles were added to one still, each at one time but with different concentrations, while the other contained only water. Data acquisition and a weather station were used to record the glass, water, and ambient temperatures in addition to the hourly solar radiation. It was found that the addition of nanoparticles increases the amount of condensate. The most efficient concentrations were found to be 0.4% of Al₂O₃ and 0.6% of CuO. At these concentrations, an increase in the efficiency of the still equals 7.8%, and 9.62% was recorded. Furthermore, it was found that CuO has a more pronounced effect on the condensate than Al₂O₃ at all concentrations except at 0.4% concentration.

This paper investigates the inhibition of oil shale and olive cake dust explosions when they are used as an alternative source of fuel. Special emphasis was given to the effect of particle size of the same material on the maximum permissible oxygen concentration to prevent dust explosion for different concentrations using nitrogen as the diluent gas. It was found that olive cake is ignited more easily than oil shale all over the range of particle sizes and dust concentration. Tests on different particle sizes were carried out, and it was found that the maximum permissible oxygen concentration for a given dust concentration increases with increasing the particle size for both oil shale and olive cake. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Unlike conventional fresh water producing systems, from saline or brackish water, the innovative solar water producing systems are efficient and effective. Experiments were conducted on two identical roof-type solar stills and simultaneously tested under the same weather conditions. One of these...

The efficiency of PV (photovoltaic) modules is highly dependent on the operating temperature. The objective of this work is to enhance the performance of PV by passive cooling using aluminum fins that have been nanocoated (like those on an automobile radiator). A rise in the cell temperature of the module PV leads to a decrease in its performance. As a result, an effective cooling mechanism is required. In this work, the performance of the PV module has been improved using natural convection, which was achieved by placing three similar PV modules next to each other in order to test them simultaneously. The first panel will be the base panel and will be used for comparison purposes. An automotive radiator (with aluminum fins) was firmly fixed onto the rear of the other two PV modules, and the fins of the third PV panel had titanium oxide (TiO₂) water-based nanofluid applied to them. The power produced by the PV modules, as well as their rear side temperatures, were recorded every 30 min over four months. A temperature reduction of 4.0 °C was attained when TiO₂ water-based nanofluid was sprayed onto the panel’s finned rear side. This was followed by the scenario where the rear side was only finned, with a temperature drop of 1.0 °C. As a result of the temperature reduction, the percentage of power produced by the coated-finned PV and the finned PV increased by 5.8 and 1.5 percent, respectively. This caused an increase in PV efficiency of 1.1 percent for coated-finned panels and 0.4 percent for finned PV.