Abdelfattah El Mansouri

University Ibn Zohr - Agadir · Physics

A two-dimensional numerical study is conducted to investigate quantitatively and qualitatively the thermal characteristics of a small-scale salt gradient solar pond (SGSP) operating under semi-arid climate (Marrakesh-Morocco). A realistic model was formulated based on the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy and salt transport equations. This dev...

A two-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the behavior of a salt gradient solar pond (SGSP) of 1 × 1 × 1 m3. The numerical code takes into consideration double-diffusive convection in the pond, solar radiation absorption through the horizontal fluid layers, and allows an appropriate treatment of the boundary conditions at the water...

This paper deals with transient modelling of a large-scale salt gradient solar pond (SGSP – 50000 m2) located in a semi-arid climate region. Precisely, the pond was exposed to meteorological data of the Agafay site (located 30 km south of Marrakesh-Morocco) covering the period from January 2015 to May 2017. We considered three different heat extrac...

Two-dimensional numerical simulations are conducted to study natural convection flows and heat transfer characteristics in a square cavity confining conducting solid blocks. The initial solid block, of rhombus shape, is placed at the center of the cavity and subdivided following the mathematical formulae N = 4^l (l = 0, 1, 2 and 3). The solid block...

Solar desalination is emerging as a sustainable solution for water shortage in countries having limited access to conventional energy resources. This paper proposes an autonomous desalination system fully powered by solar energy. This system mainly consists of a salt gradient solar pond coupled to an organic Rankine cycle that drives the pumps of a...

This study explored an air-based hybrid photovoltaic/thermal collector that integrates a standard PV panel with a thermal cooling device. This study focuses on comparing the electrical and thermal behavior of a PVT operating under distinct meteorological conditions in Morocco represented by the cities of Tetouan and Chichaoua, whose climates...

In this paper, a novel thermal lattice Boltzmann approach is proposed for the implementation of the thermal boundary conditions at the fluid-solid interface. The numerical code, developed on the basis of the new approach, was validated against reliable numerical data from the literature in the cases of both square and circular conducting blocks. An...

This paper presents 2D simulations of Direct Carbon Fuel Cells (DCFC) performance. The impact of the operating parameters, such as porosity of the cathode and gas inlet concentration (dioxygen), on the latter performance is investigated. The in-house numerical code based on the Lattice-Boltzmann technic with the Multiple Relaxation Time (MRT) schem...

Lattice Boltzmann simulations of double-diffusive convection in a rectangular cavity differentially heated and salted are conducted in the presence of internal heat generation and Dufour and Soret effects. The study is performed for an aspect ratio A = 2, an external Rayleigh number RaE = 10^5, a Lewis number Le = 2, a buoyancy ratio N =-1, and a P...

Natural convection induced in an inclined heat sink assimilated to an open square cavity provided with a thin adiabatic partition is studied numerically using the multi-relaxation time (MRT) scheme of the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). The cavity is isothermally heated through a wall facing the opening. The parameters governing the problem are the...

The study focuses on the effect of adding a conductive coating material to a micro-pin fin heat sink on the rate of thermal energy evacuation using the Multiple-Relaxation-Time lattice Boltzmann method. The effect of the governing parameters such as Rayleigh number, Ra (104 ≤ Ra ≤ 106), relative thermal conductivity, kr (kr = 8.8 − 167.2) and thick...

This paper aims to investigate the effect of the water channel location, vis-à-vis of the PV module in a flat-plate photovoltaic thermal system (PV/T), on heat evacuation by means of mixed convection. Numerical simulations were performed for a two-dimensional inclined channel at an angle of 35°. The cold water enters with a constant temperature an...

The use of naturally extracted compounds as dye sensitizers is a very promising alternative for the manufacture of low-cost solar cells. These directly convert solar energy to electricity. In the present study, Aloe Latex Solid (ALS), which is an orange-yellow solid compound extracted from Aloe Vera leaves, was deposited on a TiO2 thin film (TiO2/A...

A special case that stands out in thermosolutal convection is that for which the thermal and solutal convection forces are equal and generate opposite effects (N = −1). This antagonistic effect between the two buoyancy forces is expected to generate unpredictable and unique behaviors when combined with thermodiffusion and internal heating phenomena...

A 2D numerical unit cell mode of Direct Carbon Fuel Cell (DCFC) was developed to simulate the effect of the operating conditions on the performance of the latter considering the electrochemical reaction mechanism and mass transfer. The problem is solved numerically using the Lattice Boltzmann method with MRT scheme to simulate the gas flow inside t...

In the present study, the enthalpy-based lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) with multidistribution function model is used to investigate the melting process engendered by a thin heater placed in the horizontal median plane of the cavity. The latter is cooled from its vertical walls by maintaining their temperature constant at TC, lower than the constan...

The present study is a 2D numerical model of direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC), conducted to study the effect of the operating temperature on the DCFC performance. The electrochemical reaction mechanisms and mass transfer are considered and the problem is tackled numerically using the Lattice-Boltzmann method with the MRT scheme to simulate the gas fl...

Heat transfer induced by combined surface radiation and laminar natural convection in an open square cavity heated by three identical isothermal heat sources is studied numerically by using the multirelaxation time scheme of the lattice Boltzmann method. The working fluid is air. The heat sources, separated by adiabatic segments, are mounted on a v...

The present work deals with transient simulation of hydrodynamics and mass transfer in a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) using a hybrid Lattice Boltzmann and finite volume approach. A 2D mathematical model was developed to describe the transport phenomena in the different components of the direct carbon fuel cell (feed channels, anode, cathode and e...

The present study deals with numerical simulations of natural convection heat transfer and fluid flow in open square cavities partially heated with three discrete sources from the left vertical wall facing the one were an aperture is centrally located. The governing equations where solved based on a mesoscopic approach using the Multiple-Relaxation...

This work deals with transient modelling of a large-scale salt gradient solar pond (SGSP - 50000 m²) located in a semi-arid climate region. Three heat extraction methods (HEM) were considered. The first method is a reference one (Ref-HEM) that limits the heat draw to the heat storage zone using horizontal tubes. The second (VT-HEM) and third (HT-HE...

A two-dimensional numerical model is developed to simulate the behavior of a salt gradient solar pond (SGSP) of 1×1×1 m 3. The transient evolution of the SGSP covers the first 5 days of July 2011 under the weather conditions of Marrakesh-Morocco. The study aims to investigate the stability of the intermediate non-convective zone (NCZ) of the pond u...

The present work deals with transient simulation of the direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) using a hybrid Lattice Boltzmann and finite volume approach. The numerical model was first validated against available experimental data. Then, a parametric study was carried out to investigate the effect of the specific surface area (SSA) of the carbon fuel on t...

Thermosolutal natural convection heat and mass transfer in a 2D square cavity is studied numerically in the presence of Soret effect and uniform volumetric heat generation. A hybrid scheme with simple relaxation time lattice Boltzmann method (SRT-LBM) is used to obtain the velocity field while the temperature and concentration fields are deduced fr...

Thermosolutal convection under combined effects of thermodiffusion and internal heat generation has not been studied in the past despite its presence in many practical problems [1]. The present numerical study deals with natural convection induced in a square cavity heated/cooled from above/below with internal heat generation (that plays a destabil...

In the present study, the simulation of the direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) using a hybrid Lattice Boltzmann and finite volume approach is performed. The numerical model was first validated against available experimental data. Parametric studies were carried out to investigate the effect of the microstructure of the carbon fuel on the DCFC performan...

The coupling between mixed convection and surface radiation in a square cavity, with a vertical wall heated and driven, and the opposite one subjected to a non-uniform temperature that exhibits a sinusoidal spatial variation is studied numerically using the lattice Boltzmann method. The working fluid is air. The inner surfaces of the cavity, in con...

The present study reports numerical results of natural convection with surface radiation in an inclined square cavity filled with air, using the Multi-Relaxation Time (MRT) scheme of the Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM). The cavity is heated from one side with a constant temperature and submitted from the opposite side to a temperature that varies li...

Thermosolutal natural convection heat and mass transfer in a 2D square cavity are studied numerically in the presence of Soret effect and uniform volumetric heat generation. A hybrid scheme with simple relaxation time lattice Boltzmann method (SRT-LBM) is used to obtain the velocity field while the temperature and concentration fields are deduced f...

The present work deals with numerical modeling of mixed convection flow in a two-sided lid driven inclined square enclosure filled with water-Al2O3 nanofluid. The limiting cases of a cavity heated from below and cooled from above and the one differentially heated are recovered respectively for inclination angles 0° and 90°. The moving walls of the...

A two-dimensional modeling is performed to study natural convection coupled with radiation in a square cavity partially heated from one vertical side and cooled from above. The simulation of flow and heat transfer is achieved by adopting the MRT scheme of the Lattice-Boltzmann method. In this work we focus on qualitative and quantitative effects en...

A two-dimensional numerical simulation is conducted to study natural convection flow and heat transfer characteristics in a square cavity filled with a micropolar fluid. The lower and upper walls of the cavity are respectively subject to isothermal heating and cooling while the temperatures of both vertical sides decrease linearly in the upwards di...

A two-dimensional numerical study is conducted to investigate quantitatively and qualitatively the thermal characteristics of a small-scale salt gradient solar pond (SGSP) operating under real climate weather. A realistic model was formulated based on the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy and salt transport equations. The developed model ensur...

In the present work, the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to analyze the natural convection flow and heat transfer generated in a square cavity with an inside thin isothermal heater maintained at Th. The vertical walls of the cavity are considered adiabatic, while its horizontal ones are assumed isothermal at the temperature Tc (Tc < Th)....

Mixed convection in a square lid-driven cavity with a sinusoidal boundary condition has been analyzed numerically by the Lattice-Boltzmann method. The governing parameters are the Prandtl number, Pr=0.71, and Richardson number (Ri=0.01,1 and 100) while the Reynolds number is fixed at Re=100. It is found that Richardson number has a considerable eff...

In this paper, the effect of natural convection flow in a square cavity heated from one vertical side with a constant temperature and insulated from the horizontal walls is analyzed using the Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM). The imposed temperature on the left vertical side is provided with a sinusoid spatial distribution. The results, obtained for...

A two-dimensional numerical simulation is conducted to study natural convection flow and heat transfer in a square cavity filled with a micropolar fluid. The considered Rayleigh-Bénard configuration is isothermally heated from below and cooled from above. The sidewalls' temperature is considered linearly variable along the vertical direction. The g...