Artículos de investigación PDI
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- ItemEnhancing the Thermal Performance of a Stearate Phase Change Material with Graphene Nanoplatelets and MgO Nanoparticles(ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 2020-08-17) Jose I. Prado, Luis LugoThe effectiveness of dispersed nanomaterials to improve the thermal performance of phase change materials (PCMs) is well-proven in the literature. The proposal of new engineered nanoenhanced phase change materials (NePCMs) with customized characteristics may lead to more efficient thermal energy storage (TES) systems. This work is focused on the development of new NePCMs based on dispersions of graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs) or MgO nanoparticles in a stearate PCM. The new proposed materials were developed using the two-step method and acetic acid was selected as surfactant to improve the stability of the dispersions. An extensive characterization of the constitutive materials and the developed dispersions through different spectroscopy techniques is reported. Also, the GnPs nanopowder was explored by using the XPS technique with the aim to characterized the used carbon nanomaterial. The obtained spectra were discussed in terms of the chemical bonds related to the found peaks. The thermophysical profile (density, thermal conductivity, isobaric heat capacity and thermal diffusivity) was experimentally determined once the main components of the NePCMs were characterized and dispersions were designed and developed. The differentiated and distinguished effect of the dispersed GnPs and MgO in the properties of the NePCMs have focused the discussion. A comprehensive analysis of the measurements to elucidate the mechanism that promoted higher improvements using GnPs instead of MgO was performed.
- ItemExperimental study on thermophysical properties of alumina nanoparticle enhanced ionic liquids(Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2019-07-07) Elena Ionela Cherecheş, Jose I. Prado, Marius Cherecheş, Alina Adriana Minea, Luis LugoIn this experimental study, several alumina Nanoparticle Enhanced Ionic Liquids were prepared and studied in regard to their stability, pH, density and thermal conductivity. These new fluids were manufactured by dispersing aluminium oxide nanoparticles in different mixtures based on water and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate ionic liquid. Furthermore, thermophysical properties (density, thermal conductivity) of pure and binary mixtures with water and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium methanesulfonate were studied in order to select and propose base fluids to design new advanced heat transfer fluids. The pH of the dispersions was determined as around 8.0 - 8.5. In regard to density, the overall [C2mim][CH3SO3] density is higher by 25% than that of water and the influence of ionic liquid density over the mixtures was found to be much higher than that of water, while for the alumina Nanoparticle Enhanced Ionic Liquids the density respects classical equations. Evaluation of thermal conductivity revealed an increase of up to 13% in thermal conductivity when nanoparticles are added to the base fluids and new correlations based on mass fraction and temperature were proposed.
- ItemDevelopment of paraffinic phase change material nanoemulsions for thermal energy storage and transport in low–temperature applications(Applied Thermal Engineering, 2019-05-27) David Cabaleiro, Filippo Agresti, Simona Barison, Marco A. Marcos, Jose I. Prado, Stefano Rossi, Sergio Bobbo, Laura FedeleIn this study, new phase change material nanoemulsions (PCMEs) were designed and characterized as possible storage and heat transfer media for low–temperature thermal uses. Water– and (ethylene glycol+water)–based emulsions with fine droplets of n–heptadecane and RT21HC commercial paraffin were produced by a solvent–assisted emulsification method. No phase separation or significant growth in PCM drops were observed for the prepared emulsions through storage, after freeze–thaw cycles and under mechanical shear. Phase change transitions were characterized and a significant sub–cooling was observed, with solidification temperatures up to 13 K below the melting point. One pure alkane and two commercial paraffin waxes with higher melting points were considered as nucleating agents to reduce sub–cooling effect. Although the emulsions exhibited diminutions in thermal conductivity up to 9% with respect to the carrier fluids used as base fluid, enhancements in energy storage capacity (considering an operational temperature interval equal to the sub–cooling) reached 26% in the case of RT21HC nanoemulsion based on the (ethylene glycol+water) mixture that contained 10% in mass of paraffin. In addition, the thermal reliability of the nanoemulsions was verified analyzing the changes in latent heat after storage and throughout 1000 thermal cycles.
- ItemWideband Hybrid Precoding using Time Modulated Arrays(IEEE, 2020) GONZÁLEZ-COMA, José P.; CASTEDO, LuisHybrid digital-analog precoding is a cost effective solution for transmitting over the large bandwidths and huge antenna arrays available in the millimeter wave frequency bands. In this work we focus on the transmission of wideband signals over hybrid precoders that utilize Time-Modulated Arrays in the analog domain. We consider analog precoders constructed with Single-Pole-Double-Throw switches which are both flexible and efficient. We pose two Orthogonal Frequency-Division Multiplexing symbol configurations to cope with the harmonic interference introduced by the Time-Modulated Array. One does not take advantage of the wireless channel frequency diversity and the other does. We optimize digital and analog precoders to maximize the achievable rate in both symbol configurations. Optimization takes into account the switching devices efficiency and the inherent losses of this antenna technique. Finally, we show the excellent performance obtained with the proposed approach, in terms of achievable rate, compared to that of conventional phased arrays.
- ItemPower Efficient Scheduling and Hybrid Precoding for Time Modulated Arrays(IEEE, 2020) GONZÁLEZ-COMA, José P.; CASTEDO, LuisWe consider power efficient scheduling and precoding solutions for multiantenna hybrid digital-analog transmission systems that use Time-Modulated Arrays (TMAs) in the analog domain. TMAs perform beamforming with switches instead of conventional Phase Shifters (PSs). The extremely low insertion losses of switches, together with their reduced power consumption and cost make TMAs attractive in emerging technologies like massive Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) and millimeter wave (mmWave) systems. We propose a novel analog processing network based on TMAs and provide an angular scheduling algorithm that overcomes the limitations of conventional approaches. Next, we pose a convex optimization problem to determine the analog precoder. This formulation allows us to account for the Sideband Radiation (SR) effect inherent to TMAs, and achieve remarkable power efficiencies with a very low impact on performance. Computer experiments results show that the proposed design, while presenting a significantly better power efficiency, achieves a throughput similar to that obtained with other strategies based on angular selection for conventional architectures.