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The purpose of this paper is to design a sustainable development platform for water and energy peer-to-peer trading that is financially and economically feasible. Water and other resources are becoming scarcer every day, and developing countries are the neediest for an immediate intervention. Water, as a national need, is considered to be one of the most precious commodities, but it is also one of the main causes for conflicts in the 21st century. Rainwater harvesting and peer-to-peer trading of the harvested water is one of the most convenient, scalable and sustainable solutions but faces organization challenges such as the absence of suitable business models motivating normal users to sell their generated resources (such as water and energy), currency and financial settlement complexities and single utility markets.

This paper proposes a multi-utility trading platform based on the blockchain technology which can address the challenges faced by peer-to-peer trading for resources such as energy and water.

This paper presents a peer-to-peer multi-utility trading platform that solves the shortcomings of existing utility frameworks reported in the current literature.

This proposed platform meets the needs of developing countries as well as rural areas of developed countries. The open nature of the proposed design makes it suitable for adoption and use by various stakeholders.

Fire protection has several components: prevention, containment, detection, and suppression. While building codes and inspectors generally do not require special construction techniques or fire protection systems for computer rooms, economic and service factors may dictate that special protection be given such facilities. This article discusses emergency planning, the various types of fire detection and suppression systems, and future options, with particular attention given to halon and possiblehalon‐replacements.

This study aims to provide and illustrate the application of a framework for conducting techno-economic analyses (TEA) of early-stage designs for net-zero water and energy, single-family homes that meet affordable housing criteria in diverse locations.

The framework is developed and applied in a case example of a TEA of four designs for achieving net zero-water and energy in an affordable home in Saint Lucie County, Florida.

Homes built and sold at current market prices, using combinations of well versus rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems and grid-tied versus hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, can meet affordable housing criteria for moderate-income families, when 30-year fixed-rate mortgages are at 2%–3%. As rates rise to 6%, unless battery costs drop by 40% and 60%, respectively, homes using hybrid solar PV systems combined with well versus RWH systems cease to meet affordable housing criteria. For studied water and electricity usage and 6% interest rates, only well and grid-tied solar PV systems provide water and electricity at costs below current public supply prices.

This article provides a highly adaptable framework for conducting TEAs in diverse locations for designs of individual net-zero water and energy affordable homes and whole subdivisions of such homes. The framework includes a new technique for sizing storage tanks for residential RWH systems and provides a foundation for future research at the intersection of affordable housing development and residential net-zero water and energy systems design.

Heat exchangers (HEXs) are extensively used in many applications such as heating and cooling systems. To increase the thermal performance of HEXs, nano-sized particles could be added to the base working fluid which can improve the thermophysical properties of the fluid. In addition, further improvement in the thermal performance of nanofluids can be obtained by using two or more different nanoparticles which are known as hybrid nanofluids. This paper aims to improve the thermal efficiency of U-type tubular HEX (THEX) by using CuO-Al₂O₃/water hybrid nanofluid.

Numerical simulation has been used to model THEX with various configurations. Also, CuO-Al₂O₃/water hybrid nanofluid has been experimented in THEX in two various modes including parallel (PTHEX) and counter flow (CTHEX) regarding to the numerical findings. Hybrid nanofluids have been prepared in two particle concentrations and compared with CuO/water nanofluid at the same concentrations and also with water.

The numerical simulation results showed that adding fins and also using hybrid nanofluid can increase heat transfer rate in HEX. However, adding fins cannot be a good option in U-type THEX with lower diameter because it increases pressure drop notably. Experimental results of this work illustrated that using Al₂O₃-CuO/water hybrid nanofluid in the THEX improved thermal performance significantly. Maximum enhancement in overall heat transfer coefficient of THEX by using CuO-Al₂O₃/water nanofluid in 0.5% and 1% concentrations achieved as 9.5% and 12%, respectively.

The obtained findings of the study showed the positive effects of using hybrid type nanofluid in comparison with single type nanofluid. In this study, numerical and experimental analysis have been conducted to investigate the effect of using hybrid type nanofluid in U-type HEX. The obtained results exhibited successful utilization of CuO-Al₂O₃/water hybrid type nanofluid in HEX. Moreover, it was observed that thermal performance analysis of the nanofluids without any experiment can be done by using numerical method.

Due to the increasing size and complexity of construction projects, construction engineering and management involves the coordination of many complex and dynamic processes and relies on the analysis of uncertain, imprecise and incomplete information, including subjective and linguistically expressed information. Various modelling and computing techniques have been used by construction researchers and applied to practical construction problems in order to overcome these challenges, including fuzzy hybrid techniques. Fuzzy hybrid techniques combine the human-like reasoning capabilities of fuzzy logic with the capabilities of other techniques, such as optimization, machine learning, multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) and simulation, to capitalise on their strengths and overcome their limitations. Based on a review of construction literature, this chapter identifies the most common types of fuzzy hybrid techniques applied to construction problems and reviews selected papers in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique to illustrate their capabilities for addressing construction challenges. Finally, this chapter discusses areas for future development of fuzzy hybrid techniques that will increase their capabilities for solving construction-related problems. The contributions of this chapter are threefold: (1) the limitations of some standard techniques for solving construction problems are discussed, as are the ways that fuzzy methods have been hybridized with these techniques in order to address their limitations; (2) a review of existing applications of fuzzy hybrid techniques in construction is provided in order to illustrate the capabilities of these techniques for solving a variety of construction problems and (3) potential improvements in each category of fuzzy hybrid technique in construction are provided, as areas for future research.

Heat exchangers (HEs) which provide heat transfer and transfer energy through direct or indirect contact between fluids have an essential role in many processes as a part of various industries from pharmaceutical production to electronic devices. Using nanofluid as working fluid and integrating different types of turbulators could be used to upgrade the thermal effectiveness of HEs. Recently, to obtain more increment in thermal effectiveness, hybrid nanofluids are used that are prepared by mixing two or more various nanoparticles. The purpose of this experimental and numerical study is investigating different scenarios for improving the effectiveness of a concentric U-tube type HE.

In the numerical section of this study, different turbulator modifications, including circular and quarter circular rings, were modeled to determine the effect of adding turbulator on thermal performance. In addition, Al₂O₃/water and SiO₂/water single and Al₂O₃–SiO₂/water hybrid nanofluids were experimentally tested in an unmodified concentric U-tube HE in two different modes, including counter flow and parallel flow. Al₂O₃–SiO₂/water hybrid nanofluid was prepared at 2% (wt./wt.) particle ratio and compared with Al₂O₃/water and SiO₂/water single type nanofluids at same particle ratios and with distilled water.

Numerical modeling findings exhibited that integrating turbulators to the concentric tube type HE caused to raise in the effectiveness by improving heat transfer area. Also, experimental results indicated that using both hybrid and single type nanofluids notably upgraded the thermal performance of the concentric U-tube HE. Integrating turbulators cannot be an effective alternative in a concentric U-tube type HE with lower diameter because of raise in pressure drop. Numerically achieved findings exhibited that using quarter circular turbulators decreased pressure drop in comparison with circular turbulators. According to the experimental outcomes, using hybrid Al₂O₃–SiO₂/water nanofluid leads to obtain more thermal performance in comparison with single type nanofluids. The highest increment in overall heat transfer coefficient of HE by using Al₂O₃–SiO₂/water nanofluid achieved as 58.97% experimentally.

The overall outcomes of the current research exhibited the positive impacts of using hybrid nanofluid and integrating turbulators. In this empirical and numerical survey, numerical simulations were performed to specify the impact of applying different turbulators and hybrid nanofluid on the flow and thermal characteristics in a concentric U-tube HE. The achieved outcomes exhibited that using hybrid nanofluid can notably increase the thermal performance with negligible pressure drop in comparison with two different turbulator modifications.

Using suspended nanoparticles in the base fluid is known as one of the most efficient ways for heat transfer augmentation and improving the thermal efficiency of various heat exchangers. Different types of nanofluids are available and used in different applications. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of using hybrid nanofluid and number of plates on the performance of plate heat exchanger. In this study, TiO₂/water single nanofluid and TiO₂-Al₂O₃/water hybrid nanofluid with 1% particle weight ratio have been used to prepare hybrid nanofluid to use in plate type heat exchangers with three various number of plates including 8, 12 and 16.

The experiments have been conducted with the aim of examining the impact of plates number and used nanofluids on heat transfer enhancement. The performance tests have been done at 40°C, 45°C, 50°C and 55°C set outlet temperatures and in five various Reynolds numbers between 1,600 and 3,800. Also, numerical simulation has been applied to verify the heat and flow behavior inside the heat exchangers.

The results indicated that using both nanofluids raised the thermal performance of all tested exchangers which have a various number of plates. While the major outcomes of this study showed that TiO₂-Al₂O₃/water hybrid nanofluid has priority when compared to TiO₂/water single type nanofluid. Utilization of TiO₂-Al₂O₃/water nanofluid led to obtaining an average improvement of 7.5%, 9.6% and 12.3% in heat transfer of heat exchangers with 8, 12 and 16 plates, respectively.

In the present work, experimental and numerical analyzes have been conducted to investigate the influence of using TiO₂-Al₂O₃/water hybrid nanofluid in various plate heat exchangers. The attained findings showed successful utilization of TiO₂-Al₂O₃/water nanofluid. Based on the obtained results increasing the number of plates in the heat exchanger caused to obtain more increment by using both types of nanofluids.

This study comprehensively examines entropy generation and thermosolutal performance of a ternary hybrid nanofluid in a partially active porous cabinet. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the intricate phenomena of double diffusion by investigating the dispersion behavior of Al₂O₃, CuO, and Ag nanoparticles in water.

The cabinet design consists of two horizontal walls and two curved walls with the lower border divided into a heated and concentrated region of length b and the remaining sections are adiabatic. The vertical borders are cold and low concentration, while the upper border is adiabatic. Two cavity configurations such as convex and concave are considered. A uniform porous medium is taken within the ternary hybrid nanofluid. This has been characterized by the Brinkman-extended Darcy model. Thermosolutal phenomena are governed by the Navier-Stokes equations and are solved by adopting a higher-order compact scheme.

The present study focuses on exploring the influence of several well-defined parameters, including Rayleigh number, Darcy number, Lewis number, Buoyancy ratio number, nanoparticle volume concentration and heater size. The results indicate that the ternary hybrid nanofluid outperforms both the mono and hybrid nanofluids in all considered aspects.

This study brings forth a significant contribution by uncovering novel flow features that have previously remained unexplored. By addressing a well-defined problem, the work provides valuable insights into the enhancement of thermal transport, with direct implications for diverse engineering devices such as solar collectors, heat exchangers and microelectronics.

The purpose of this study is twofold: first, to derive a consistent model free-surface runup flow problems over deformable beds. The authors couple the nonlinear one-dimensional shallow water equations, including friction terms for the water free-surface and the two-dimensional second-order solid elastostatic equations for the bed deformation. Second, to develop a robust hybrid finite element/finite volume method for solving free-surface runup flow problems over deformable beds. The authors combine the finite volume for free-surface flows and the finite element method for bed elasticity.

The authors propose a new model for wave runup by static deformation on seabeds. The model consists of the depth-averaged shallow water system for the water free-surface coupled to the second-order elastostatic formulation for the bed deformation. At the interface between the water flow and the seabed, transfer conditions are implemented. Here, hydrostatic pressure and friction forces are considered for the elastostatic equations, whereas bathymetric forces are accounted for in the shallow water equations. As numerical solvers, the authors propose a well-balanced finite volume method for the flow system and a stabilized finite element method for elastostatics.

The developed coupled depth-averaged shallow water system and second-order solid elastostatic system is well suited for modeling wave runup by deformation on seabeds. The derived coupling conditions at the interface between the water flow and the bed topography resolve well the condition transfer between the two systems. The proposed hybrid finite volume element method is accurate and efficient for this class of models. The novel technique used for wet/dry treatment accurately captures the moving fronts in the computational domain without generating nonphysical oscillations. The presented numerical results demonstrate the high performance of the proposed methods.

Enhancing modeling and computations for wave runup problems is at an early stage in the literature, and it is a new and exciting area of research. To the best of our knowledge, solving wave runup problems by static deformation on seabeds using a hybrid finite volume element method is presented for the first time. The results of this research study, and the research methodologies, will have an important influence on a range of other scientists carrying out research in related fields.

This study aims to provide a new method for precisely sizing photovoltaic (PV) arrays for standalone, direct pumping PV Water Pumping (PVWP) systems for irrigation purposes.

The method uses historical weather data and considers daily variability in regional temperatures and rainfall, crop evapotranspiration rates and seasonality effects, all within a nonparametric bootstrapping approach to synthetically generate daily rainfall and crop irrigation needs. These needs define the required daily supply of pumped water to achieve a user-specified level of reliability, which provides the input to an intuitive approach for PV array sizing. An economic comparison of the costs for the PVWP versus a comparably powered diesel generator system is provided.

Pumping 22.8646 m³/day of water would meet the pasture crop irrigation needs on a one-acre (4046.78 m²) tract of land in South Florida, with 99.9% reliability. Given the specified assumptions, an 8.4834 m² PV array, having a peak power of 1.1877 (kW), could provide the 1.2347 (kWh/day) of hydraulic energy needed to supply this volume over a total head of 20 meters. The PVWP system is the low-cost option when diesel prices are above $0.90/liter and total installed PV array costs are fixed at $2.00/Watt peak power or total installed PV array costs are below $1.50/Watt peak power and diesel prices are fixed at $0.65/liter.

Because the approach is not dependent on the shapes of the sampling distributions for regional climate factors and can be adapted to consider different types of crops, it is highly portable and applicable for precisely determining array sizes for standalone, direct pumping PVWP systems for irrigating diverse crop types in diverse regions.