Volume 4 Issue 4
Authors: A. M. Muzathik
Abstract: The operating cell temperatures of photovoltaic (PV) modules directly affect the performance of the PV system. In this study, an effective new approach for estimating the operating temperature of a photovoltaic module is presented. The developed model is simple and does not need any complicated calculations. The proposed approach uses a simple formula to derive the PV cell temperature from the environmental variables such as ambient temperature, irradiance and wind speed. Effectiveness of the new temperature estimation procedure is investigated through some conducted simulations in MATLAB/Simulink environment and its validity is verified by experiment on a UNI-SOLAR US-64 solar photovoltaic modules. It was found that, in general, the model tends to give better results of temperature prediction. From the results, the predicted PV cell temperatures show a good correlation with the measured data. The MBE, NMBE, RMSE, NRMSE and correlation coefficient of predicted and measured PV cell temperatures are -0.3490 oC,-0.7328%, 1.3571 oC, 2.8492% and 0.9763, respectively. The statistical results show that the model can be used to predict the PV cell temperatures with an error of less than 3%. .
Keywords: Operating PV Cell Temperature; Photovoltaic Module; Linear Model; Temperature Prediction
Authors: Shuichi TORII; Ranipet Hafeez BASHA
Abstract: Moisture content of fuel in a thermal power plant plays a significant role in determining its efficiency, as the performance increases with decrease in moisture. In recent years techniques for drying the biomass based fuel have become predominant in order to make it a sustainable source of renewable energy. In this paper the parameter of moisture is developed and tested in the user interface based computer model and database management system. This program shall compute the thermal output of biomass composition as heat of combustion on conditions of 30%, 20% and 10% moisture content in the samples. It is observed that there is substantial change in the heat of combustion with change in the content of moisture which is presented in this work. Also there is no combustion if the moisture content in the sample exceeds 30% resulting in shut down of the boiler. The results are more compatible with practical possibilities and will be useful in configuring the computer model to process and produce more accurate outcomes to achieve the optimum composition with high efficiency, greater calorie and low cost of power generation. The outcome shall be verified by using commercial simulation software and later by physical experiment which would enable in fixing the errors of the computer model developed by ourselves in the laboratory.
Keywords: Biomass; Combustion; Moisture; Database System; Numerical Simulation
Authors: Shinya Suzuki; Masaru Miyayama; Shoichi Sugata
Abstract: Organic/inorganic composite membranes were prepared by dispersing m-sulfophenyl-group-modified layered tin phosphate hydrate particles (SnPP-SPP) or nanosheets (SnPNS-SPP) in sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES). The chemical stabilities, as evaluated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and water-uptake measurements, were improved by dispersion of SnPP-SPP or SnPNS-SPP into the SPES matrix. The proton-conducting properties of the composite membranes were improved by the sulfophenyl group modification; among the composite membranes, the membrane containing 10 vol% SnPNS-SPP showed the highest conduc-tivity of 8.0 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 150 °C under saturated water-vapor pressure.
Keywords: Organic/Inorganic Nanocomposite; Proton Conductors; Fuel Cell