One of the biggest problems in the world that we live in nowadays is the environmental pollution caused by an overconsumption of energy. When fossil fuels are burned to generate energy, it emits CO2, which is a leading cause of air pollution. Solar energy has the potential to replace fossil fuels as an alternative source of renewable energy. A photovoltaic solar system is one type of solar system that can convert the sun's light into electrical energy. One of the issues with PV panel is the high temperature of PV cells, especially in summer season when the ambient temperature can rise up to 50℃. As the temperature of solar modules increases, both the output power and the efficiency of PV panel decrease. To improve overall performance while extending the solar module's lifespan, this study proposes lowering photovoltaic cell temperature by using water cooling chamber installed at the back side of the PV panel. The proposed solar panel was developed and designed through both experimental study and ANSYS Fluent simulation. The photovoltaic module that was designed has a water-cooling chamber for the purpose of providing cooling under the condition of Erbil city. The rear side of the photovoltaic panel is cooled using water cooling chamber. The water-cooling chamber can absorb heat dissipation from the photovoltaic panel. The proposed cooling system for the solar panel is a closed cycle, and the cooling water is in contact with the back of the PV panel at different flow rates. According to experimental setup, the maximum water flow rate of 3.5 l/min gives the optimal heat transfer rate. Finally, results demonstrated an improvement in electrical efficiency by the following percentages: 10.42%, 11.87%, 13.77%, 18.09%, and 19.72% when the water volume flow rates of 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, and 3.5 l/min, respectively, were applied. Meanwhile, the thermal efficiency of the PV system is 49.7% with a water flow rate of 1.5 l/min. and, the thermal efficiency recorded 79.2% when the system operated at a flow rate of 3.5 l/min.
On 21/5/2023, Mr. Prof. Dr. Jawdat Khattab, Assistant President of Erbil Polytechnic University for Administrative and Financial Affairs, visited the Administrative Technical Institute in Erbil, where Mr. Dr. Barzo Dizayee, Dean of the Institute, and Mr. Bahzad Akrai, Associate Dean, received him, and they visited the examination halls to look at the progress of the exams and listened To the opinions of students and teachers about the conduct of the exams and wished everyone success.
On Tuesday, the 30th of May 2023, in the presence of the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Aram Mohammed Qadir, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Prof. Dr. Abdulfattah Abdulrazzaq, the Rector of Erbil Polytechnic University Prof. Dr. Edrees Muhamad Tahir Harki,; the General Director of the Ministry’s Diwan Dr. Tawana Najaf, the Head of Aso Regional Committee Mr. Hazhar Osman, and members of the University Council placed the foundation stone of the laboratory building project in the Erbil Technology College.
At the beginning of the ceremony, the University Rector delivered a speech in which he said: “In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful, I warmly welcome you on behalf of the university Council I express my sincere gratitude towards the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Dr. Aram Mohammed Qadir, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Prof. Dr. Abdulfattah Abdulrazzaq, the General Director of the Ministry’s Diwan Dr. Tawana Najaf, the Head of Aso Regional Committee Mr. Hazhar Osman for being present in such a delightful day.
Dear ladies and gentlemen, the reason for announcing this project was to create a suitable environment for students to complete their studies. What was available in the Erbil Polytechnic University, especially in this camp, were several halls and laboratories that date back to the 1980s which was not built specifically for study. So, we thought that these laboratories and halls should be replaced with new and modern halls to expand the university.
Dear, what is recently observed, worldwide, is the direction of science students from all over the world towards polytechnic universities because these universities in general around the world can easily adapt to the labor market. Due to this, polytechnic universities constantly need to get expanded especially in the Kurdistan Region, this is why, we call on the Ministry of Higher Education and the Kurdistan Regional Government to pay more attention to polytechnic universities.
I highly express my appreciation to the Ministry of Higher Education for focusing on technical and vocational education in all their meetings with foreign delegations.
What is important to mention is that we have a strategic plan to develop and expand all colleges and institutes affiliated to our university. The construction of this building is part of the plan that consists of three floors, 22 classrooms, 39 administrative rooms and teachers’ offices After reorganizing and reviewing the revenue and reducing the expenditures of the university, we were able to provide this project within a year. In addition to this project, many projects We have done other things on the university’s revenue and we hope to work on it to provide a favorable environment for students in the Erbil Polytechnic University and further develop our university. Thank you very much and welcome again.”
Then, Dr. Aram Mohammed Qadir the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research delivered his statement. “First of all, I would like to thank my brother Prof. Dr. Edrees Harki, the President of the Erbil Polytechnic University, the university council, teachers, employees and students of this university. Today I am happy that the policy of inclusion and not wasting the little revenue available to our universities is blooming here. What we are seeing today is the product of the hard work of the teachers, the council and the policy of the Rector of the university to put the income we have at the service of developing capabilities and campuses and developing laboratory infrastructure.
It is obvious to everyone how the economic situation in the Kurdistan Region is. During the three years of the ninth cabinet, we faced many crises and challenges. Some people did not think that the Ministry of Higher Education and its universities, teachers and employees can get out of the crisis and difficult challenges, so it is appropriate to thank all teachers, employees, councils and presidents of universities Let’s get through the processes and now we have a clearer prospect.
In general, polytechnic universities play an important role in the reform agenda of the Ministry of Higher Education. Polytechnic universities are largely responsible for providing the learning environment, educational opportunities and dormitories. We are pleased that the quality of education in these universities is very good and they can gradually meet the needs of the labor market in the gaps in the labor market in creating the skills that the labor market in Kurdistan needs.
We have always said and repeat again that the ministry, in addition to its academic duties, skills and expertise, has a greater duty to build national intimacy, because our country needs all of us to work faithfully for our youth He spent himself in education to get a job and not be unemployed because of work.
I once again thank my dear brother Prof. Dr. Edrees Harki, the Erbil Polytechnic University Rector, the university council, and the teachers respectively. At the end of my speech, I want to shed light on two effective points:
First point: Recently, the Journal of Erbil Polytechnic University gave me great pleasure that it went to Elsevier, which is one of the biggest goals of our ministry to provide a healthy environment for our research and for our researchers. At Elsevier, most of the evaluators are external. They are excluded from any complaints about the quality of our research. This is a point of pride and praise for the Erbil Polytechnic University. I hope other universities can look at you in this direction. It is with this high level of quality that they provide the right opportunities, environment and conditions for research and journals.
The second point is to bloom this plant, the key fact of our presence here which is the product of securing and reducing expenses. The Erbil Polytechnic University will open 22 scientific halls and laboratories for students that is considered a great achievement. I can say it is a great initiative. I hope other universities will look at this university rewardingly. Once again, I thank this university, its administrative and academic staff, and students. Our ministry will continue to support this university, thank you very much and congratulations to the Erbil Polytechnic University.”
Then the foundation stone of the project was placed by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Minister Deputy, the Rector, and the Diwan General Director of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.
It is worth mentioning that this project consists of three floors, 22 classrooms, laboratories, 39 administrative rooms, teachers’ offices and a large seminar hall. On the revenue of Erbil Polytechnic University at a cost of (947.000.000) Iraqi dinars the projects of the university presidency that have been designed by the engineers of the Engineering and Projects Department of the university presidency and the staff of the department supervised its construction.
High-strength concrete is used to reduce the size of the beams in addition to enhancing the strength,
this leads to overestimated cost in comparison with normal-strength concrete while using normal-strength concrete leads to the overestimated amount of concrete (layer size) of the beam section. For
balancing the condition between the cost and size of beams, the benefit of both materials is used, by
using beams in two layers, high-strength concrete in the compression zone (top layer), which is more
beneficial for beam strength, and normal strength concrete in tension zone (bottom layer), which is no
need using high strength concrete the in-tension zone. This study investigates the flexural and shear
behavior of reinforced concrete beams consisting of two layers with different concrete strengths
(grades), for beams with and without shear reinforcement (stirrups), considering the effect of shear-span ratio, layer thickness, layer compressive strength, and the overlap time casting of the two layers.
The experimental program consists of a total of nineteen reinforced concrete beams of dimension (125
mm x 250 mm) with a total length of 1200 mm, the beams are reinforced with longitudinal
reinforcement (4Ø12mm) and using (Ø8mm) bar as transverse reinforcement (stirrups). The
experimental results show that the crack pattern of the two-layer reinforced concrete is closer to the
crack of the control beam with one layer. Increasing the compressive strength of the concrete of the
top layer, the ultimate failure load increased by (8.35%, 15.6%, and 18.85%), with respect to the
(control beam) with the full depth of normal concrete. By increasing the high-strength layer thickness,
the value of shear strength (Vc) and ultimate shear strength (Vu) increased linearly. The casting overlap
time of up to (60 min) can be used for casting two-layered reinforced concrete beams, which is
recommended, beyond this time the strength of the shear strength (Vc) and, ultimate shear strength
(Vu) decreases. With increasing the shear span ratio (a/d) from (1 to 1.5 and 2) the ultimate load
failure decreased by (33% and 50%). The shear strength capacity decreases with increasing stirrup
spacing.
Key Words: Two-layer RC beams, HSC beams, NSC beams, Shear strength, Ultimate shear
strength.
