Iftekhar Khan

Ambient Temperature Rise Consequences for Power Generation in Australia

Scant information is available on the impact of rising ambient temperature on power generation capacity and efficiency, except for a handful of studies on nuclear power generation in Germany, France, and Switzerland. The objective of this chapter is to model the impact of ambient air temperature rise on fossil-fuel-based power generation in Australia because its power plants are located in varied climate conditions where ambient temperature varies notably. The study included ambient temperature effect on power generation over a period of 90 years (2010–2100). Current and future power generation capacities were included in the study. The study showed that the ambient temperature rise could potentially reduce fossil fuel power generation in Australia by over 4% by 2100.

Simulation of an electrowetting solar concentration cell

Electrowetting control of liquid lenses has emerged as a novel approach for solar tracking and concentration. Recent studies have demonstrated the concept of steering sunlight using thin electrowetting cells without the use of any bulky mechanical equipment. Effective application of this technique may facilitate designing thin and flat solar concentrators. Understanding the behavior of liquid-liquid and liquid-solid interface of the electrowetting cell through trial and error experimental processes is not efficient and is time consuming. In this paper, we present a simulation model to predict the liquid-liquid and liquid-solid interface behavior of electrowetting cell as a function of various parameters such as applied voltage, dielectric constant, cell size etc. We used Comsol Multiphysics simulations incorporating experimental data of different liquids. We have designed both two dimensional and three dimensional simulation models, which predict the shape of the liquid lenses. The model calculates the contact angle using the Young-Lippman equation and uses a moving mesh interface to solve the Navier-stokes equation with Navier slip wall boundary condition. Simulation of the electric field from the electrodes is coupled to the Young-Lippman equation. The model can also be used to determine operational characteristics of other MEMS electrowetting devices such as electrowetting display, optical switches, electronic paper, electrowetting Fresnel lens etc.