A thermodynamic screening of 31 pure component working fluids for organic Rankine cycles (ORC) is given using BACKONE equation of state. The fluids are alkanes, fluorinated alkanes, ethers and fluorinated ethers. The ORC cycles operate between 100 and 30 1C typical for geothermal power plants at pressures mostly limited to 20 bar, but in some cases supercritical pressures are also considered. Thermal efficiencies Z th are presented for cycles of different types. In case of subcritical pressure processes one has to distinguish (1) whether the shape of the saturated vapour line in the T,s-diagram is bell-shaped or overhanging, and (2) whether the vapour entering the turbine is saturated or superheated. Moreover, in case that the vapour leaving the turbine is superheated, an internal heat exchanger (IHE) may be used. The highest Z th -values are obtained for the high boiling substances with overhanging saturated vapour line in subcritical processes with an IHE, e.g., for n-butane Z th ¼ 0.130. On the other hand, a pinch analysis for the heat transfer from the heat carrier with maximum temperature of 120 1C to the working fluid shows that the largest amount of heat can be transferred to a supercritical fluid and the least to a high-boiling subcritical fluid. r

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Lightweight composite materials have recently been recognized as appropriate materials have been adopted in many industrial applications because of their versatility. The present research recognizes the inclusion of ceramics such as Gr and B4C in manufacturing AMMCs through stir casting. Prepared composites were tested for hardness and wear behaviour. The tests’ findings revealed that the reinforced matrix was harder (60%) than the un-reinforced alloy because of the increased ceramic phase. The rising content of B4C and Gr particles led to continuous improvements in wear resistance. The microstructure and worn surface were observed through SEM (Scanning electron microscope) and revealed the formation of mechanically mixed layers of both B4C and Gr, which served as the effective insulation surface and protected the test sample surface from the steel disc. With the rise in the content of B4C and Gr, the weight loss declined, and significant wear resistance was achieved at 15 wt.% B4C and 10 wt.% Gr. A response surface analysis for the weight loss was carried out to obtain the optimal objective function. Artificial neural network methodology was adopted to identify the significance of the experimental results and the importance of the wear parameters. The error between the experimental and ANN results was found to be within 1%.

A lightweight, highly corrosive resistant, and high-strength wrought alloy in the alumi-num family is the Aluminium 8006 alloy. The AA8006 alloy can be formed, welded, and adhesively bonded. However, the recommended welding methods such as laser, TIG (Tungsten Inert Gas welding), and ultrasonic are more costly. This investigation aims to reduce the cost of welding with-out compromising joint quality by means of friction stir welding. The aluminum alloy-friendly re-inforcement agent zirconia is utilized as particles during the weld to improve the performance of the newly identified material AA8006 alloy in friction stir welding (FSW). The objectives of this research are to identify the level of process parameters for the friction stir welding of AA8006 to reduce the variability by the trial-and-error experimental method, thereby reducing the number of samples needing to be characterized to optimize the process parameters. To enhance the quality of the weld, the friction stir processing concept will be adapted with zirconia reinforcement during welding. The friction stir-processed samples were investigated regarding their mechanical proper-ties such as tensile strength and Vickers microhardness. The welded samples were included in the corrosion testing to ensure that no foreign corrosive elements were included during the welding. The quality of the weld was investigated in terms of its surface morphology, including aspects such as the dispersion of reinforced particles on the welded area, the incorporation of foreign elements during the weld, micro defects or damage, and other notable changes through scanning electron microscopy analysis. The process of 3D profilometry was employed to perform optical microscopy investigation on the specimens inspected to ensure their surface quality and finish. Based on the outcomes, the optimal process parameters are suggested. Future directions for further investigation are highlighted.

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