S.Douglas Probert

Prospects for harnessing wind-power economically in the Sultanate of Oman

Wind power as a source of harnessible energy is assessed. Average data over the 10 year period, 1985-1994, have been compiled for 12 different widely spaced locations in Oman. It is concluded that the three most promising sites for the economic harnessing of wind-power are Thumrait (latitude 17.67°N and altitude 466.86 m above sea level), Masirah (latitude 20.67°N and altitude 18.80 m above sea level) and Sur (latitude 22.54°N, and altitude 13.7 m above sea level). These locations are situated in the Southwest monsoon region of influence. The largest wind speeds occur during the summer from June to August. The highest (i.e. ~10 m s-1) long-term (i.e. over 10 years) monthly mean wind speed is that for Thumrait and ensues during the month of July.

Waste heat utilization

A self-actuated exhaust fan is useful for removing waste heat from fluids, especially gases. The process is provided for extracting a first gas from a hot gas source. The first gas has a temperature above ambient temperature. Condensed working fluid is vaporized in an evaporator by extracting the first gas from the hot gas source and passing the first gas in contact with heat transfer surfaces of the evaporator by a first fan. The first fan is driven by an engine. The working fluid so-vaporized is allowed to enter the engine through an inlet port and exhaust through an exhaust port and thus operate the engine. The exhausted working fluid vapour is condensed in a condenser by passing cooler outside air in contact with heat transfer surfaces of the condenser by means of a second fan. The second fan is also driven by the engine. The condensed working fluid is transferred from the condenser to the evaporator by means of a feed pump which is driven by the engine. An advantage of the arrangement is that the working fluid is sealed within the system and normally requires no make-up and releases no fluid to the atmosphere.

Heat transfer in turbulent flow

This book reports on heat transfer and turbulent flow. The topics covered include fundamental research on turbulence in heat transfer processes, boundary layer flows, temperature turbulence spectrum, turbulence modeling, and applications to heat exchangers, gas turbines, and other engineering problems.