G. Mageshwaran

Energy saving in an air conditioning system using modified HVAC unit as an energy reducer

ABSTRACT Nowadays, global warming, environment pollution, and limitations in energy resources have appeared as a serious global crisis. Therefore, energy efficiency and energy conservation are necessary in all energy-consuming devices, such as heating, ventilating, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The aims of this project are to evaluate the performance and energy conservation of a conventional air conditioning system and also compare its performance with the proposed HVAC system, which consists of a heat recovery unit to reduce the initial capital cost and electricity consumption of the system. Through hour-by-hour simulations, the annual energy consumptions of these two systems have to be calculated and analysed. A CO2-based demand controlled ventilation strategy offers a great opportunity to reduce additional energy consumption in the above HVAC systems, while providing the required ventilation.

Design of tracking system for helical-coiled receiver tube of parabolic trough collector

ABSTRACT In the present work a suitable tracking system is designed for helical-coiled receiver tube. In our previous work solar receiver geometry was varied from straight tube to helical tube and it was found that this replacement provided uniform circumferential temperature distribution and hence improved thermal stability, whereas the helical geometry decreases the concentration ratio which in turn decreases efficiency. To increase the efficiency solar tracking is provided. The amount of irradiation intercepted is directly proportional to the tilt factor Rb, which depends on the incident angle. The tilt factor increases with and reaches the maximum when is 0. A two-axis tracking system provides promising results where the incident angle is always zero but it is costlier. To keep the operation and initial cost economical a single-axis tracking system with ‘A plane is rotated about north–south axis horizontally with continuous adjustment to minimise the angle of incidence’ is selected.

Performance and Emission characteristics of cotton seed and neem oil biodiesel with CeO2 additives in a single-cylinder diesel engine

ABSTRACT Energy utilisation from renewable sources plays a vital role in meeting the demands of a clean environment. Commercialisation of biodiesel is comparatively less than that of other alternative sources due to its suitability and yield. This paper is focused on performance and emission characteristics of neem oil biodiesel and cotton seed oil biodiesel blended with cerium oxide as an additive. The blending proportion was B10, B20, B30, B40 and 100% diesel. The testing was performed in a single-cylinder diesel engine coupled with an exhaust gas analyser. The performance characteristics were obtained in between the brake power with specific fuel consumption and emission characteristics such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and other gases. It was observed that the combination of B20 proportion with CeO2 blend produces effect results with other blends in specific fuel consumption and reduced emission behaviour.

Optimisation of process parameters for electroless nickel plating on SS316L for refrigeration systems

ABSTRACT Nowadays, refrigeration systems are important for industrial and domestic applications. The coefficient of performance of a vapour compression refrigeration system can be improved if a reduction in the work of compression can be achieved by a suitable technique for a specified heat removal rate. The present study investigates the effect of material coating of electroless nickel (EN) plating. The friction and wear experiments were performed using a four-ball machine tribo tester. Controlling the EN plating parameters plays an important role in the quality of coating. It depends on the wear scar rate of the coated material. So it is necessary to optimise the process parameters of EN plating. The experimental studies have been conducted under varying pressure, load and time on quality characteristics. In this paper, optimisation of process parameters using response surface methodology technique for EN plating was discussed.

Experimental investigation and analysis of the hybrid solar collector

ABSTRACT Hybrid solar collector is a new and innovative technique to harness all the spectrum of sunlight and hence generate a system to harness sunlight. This project deals with the fabrication of a parabolic trough which suits the required design of the solar collector. This project deals with the study of heat transfer across the receiver tube and mode of heat transfer across the hybrid solar collector, to optimise the design, to minimise the losses and maximise the heat and photon transfer to the receiver and power generating unit. Our aim is to study the heat exchange process across tube and to prevent the heating of solar panels from the radiations emitted by the receiver tube when light is focused on it and direct the working of solar collector to a maximum efficient way. We consider the radiation spectrum of sun to be of different waves and utilising each component of it – that is, visible and UV (consisting most of photons) and infrared (consisting of heating radiation) – and try to segregate them with the help of a water jacket and bring the temperature of the PV panels to an optimum condition.

Heat sink elimination and optimisation by natural convection method

ABSTRACT All electrical and electronic components in a circuit generate a certain amount of heat when the circuit is energised by a power supply. The heat energy thus generated must be dissipated properly to maintain the surface temperature within the threshold limit to avoid early breakdown of the components. Due to miniaturisation the effective surface area for convective heat transfer gets reduced, to agitate the heat transfer rate power operated fan is required. In the present work, we have adopted a novel design of double side cross section, natural convection heat sink which has more efficiency, effectiveness and heat transfer rate compared to single side cross section of the heat sink for a given size.

Waste into Energy Conversion technologies and conversion of food wastes into the potential products: a review

One third of the food produced globally for human consumption is either lost or wasted every year. These food wastes, if not handled with care, lead to public health problems and environmental poll...

Influence of Diethyl Ether on Engine Performance and Emissions Characteristics of Blends of Butanol, Pentanol or Biodiesel (Neem Oil Methyl Ester) in a Single Cylinder Diesel Engine

ABSTRACTBiodiesel has become a promising alternative biofuel that exhibits problems like high cost of feedstock, poor atomisation due to high viscosity, stability issues, poor flow properties and h...

Computational investigation of flow parameters and efficiency of single and double inlet cyclone separators

ABSTRACT Cyclone separators are one of the device used in power plant for long time; so many developments have been made in geometry, orientation and entry angle. In the present work an attempt is made with replacement of single inlet with double inlet. Computational analysis is done with Fluent 6.3.26 with Gambit 2.4.6 mesh generation using Cooper meshing facility. Eulerian–Lagrangian approach is adopted in the simulation with air as a working fluid and assumed to have continuous properties (Continuum). The collection efficiency of single and double inlet separator is studied using Lapple model, and it is found that there is an increase of 13.2% in collection efficiency for cyclone separator with double inlet. It is also found that higher inlet velocities are possible with double inlet separator without wall erosion when compared to single inlet separator.

Energy saving in high-pressure reciprocating air compressor

ABSTRACT Air compressors account for a significant amount of electricity usage in Indian industries. The production of compressed air is one of the expensive processes practised in manufacturing industries. Our major aim in this project is to apply an energy recovery technique and on load reduction technique in high-pressure reciprocating air compressor. We applied our custom-designed energy recovery techniques and also analysed the limitation and the risks involved in the proposed technique. In the conventional method, the hot pressurised air coming out of the blow-moulding process is emitted into atmosphere, whereas in the proposed model the compressed air is recycled to the compressor receiver; also further energy reduction takes place due to reducing the operating pressure by introducing a pressure-reducing valve (PRV). The implementation of PRV reduces the loading time by 96 min/day, and energy consumption is reduced by 365.25 units/day.