Qudama Al-Yasiri

University of Misan · Department of Mechanical Engineering

Building envelope is a key element in providing adequate energy and thermal comfort performance to buildings. In this regard, improvement solutions are implemented in recent studies that focus on new techniques and methods. The main techniques adopted in this context are discussed to identify modern and effective methods with a particular focus on...

Cooling and airconditioning systems are the primary consumers of building energy in hot and mixed climate locations. The reliance on traditional systems, driven electrically, is the main reason behind the deterioration and ever-increasing demand for energy in buildings. This is also associated with a vast amount of CO 2 emissions and other environm...

The operational temperature highly influences the efficiency of the solar photovoltaic (PV) module, in which high temperature decreases the output power accordingly. In this work, a polycrystalline PV module is modified using a finned phase change material (PCM) panel attached to the rear as a thermal energy storage unit to decrease and regulate th...

Considering building envelope elements in hot locations, windows contribute to about one-third of the building’s total cooling load since heat is transferred effortlessly through transparent elements more than opaque ones. The present work experimentally explores the energy advancements of a phase change material (PCM) loaded in the air gap of a do...

Building design is a key aspect of attaining thermally effective buildings and noticeably contributes to decarbonizing the environment in hot locations. In this paper, the effect of window-to-wall ratio (WWR) and thermal insulation thickness on the building energy has been studied numerically through a validated room model by EnergyPlus. Five WWRs...

Nanofluids have gained attention in recent years as a practical solution for enhancing thermal system performance. However, conjoint enhancement methods, such as fins and baffles, have shown further improvement in overall efficiency of systems. This paper explores the advancements of heat characteristics of a circular heat exchanger pipe with conic...

Photovoltaic-thermal (PVT) concept is a novel methodology to lower the PV module temperature and consecutively produce thermal and electrical energies. This study assesses the thermal and electrical advancements of a PVT system using iron oxide (Fe2O3) single nanofluid and titanium oxide-iron oxide (TiO2-Fe2O3) hybrid nanofluid at 0.2 % and 0.3 % c...

Integrating phase change materials (PCMs) into building elements considerably reduces energy demand and improves indoor thermal comfort. However, PCM's low thermal conductivity limits thermal cycles and slows the melting/solidification rate. Literature studies reported various solutions to enhance PCM performance, including nanoparticle dispersion,...

Photovoltaic modules are impacted by overheating, which degrades their conversion efficiency and shortens their lifespan. This work attempts to study the cooling potential for a hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system by employing CuO and Fe 2 O 3 nanofluids with 0.2% and 0.3% volume fractions (φ), circulated in a heat exchanger attached at the r...

Integrating phase change material (PCM) and natural night ventilation (NNV) has notably improved building indoor thermal comfort in hot locations. The current study investigates the role of NNV through a window to improve the indoor temperature of a PCM room, considering the window orientation and window-to-wall ratio (WWR). The NNV was employed th...

Compacting phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy management in buildings is a promising method to reduce peak temperature and heat gain in hot climates. This experimental study analyses the hourly temperature reduction (HTR) and hourly heat gain reduction (HHGR) of building envelope-compacted PCM passively during a hot summer day. Two cu...

This research experimentally examines the thermal behaviour of concrete brick-based PCM layer/ capsules during severe hot summer days in southern Iraq. Three bricks were fabricated in which one brick was integrated with a PCM layer (BL) and another integrated with PCM capsules (BC), while the third was left bare without PCM (BR) for comparison. The...

Phase change materials (PCMs) have a great potential to enhance building thermal comfort and save energy towards energy-efficient buildings. The current study sheds light on employing PCM passively in a thin building envelope under a severely hot location using EnergyPlus software. The thermal contribution of PCM to indoor thermal comfort was evalu...

Combined phase change material (PCM) and thermal insulation is a crucial practical opportunity to improve thermal inertia and resistance for energy-effective and nearly-zero energy buildings. To this aim, the current paper quantitatively investigated the role of traditional expanded polystyrene (EPS) thermal insulation of different thicknesses to i...

Phase change materials (PCMs)-enhanced building envelope has received much attention in recent years as an effective solution to enhance building thermal performance. Nevertheless, minimal experimental studies considering PCM influential aspects in full envelope arrangement are found in the literature against many numerical studies. This paper aims...

Incorporating phase change material (PCM) into buildings in hot climates is an excellent strategy for better thermal comfort and energy-saving in future smart cities. Nevertheless, PCM elements suffer from adverse temperature behaviour at night due to the dissipation of stored diurnal heat. Night ventilation has been proposed as a promising solutio...

Applying phase change materials (PCMs) for thermal energy storage is a prosperous technology nowadays in different heat storage and temperature regulation applications. These materials proved high potential in the building sector towards a sustainable and efficient built environment. In this paper, PCM incorporated building roof and walls was inves...

Phase change materials (PCMs) can beneficially work as a successful thermal energy storage medium in different applications. PCMs have shown a remarkable enhancement in building energy-saving and thermal comfort in hot locations. In this paper, the thermal behaviour of a PCM-enhanced thermally-poor building envelope is studied experimentally. To th...

Cooling and airconditioning systems are responsible for the highest energy consumption in buildings located in hot areas. This high share does not only increase the building energy demand cost but also increases the environmental impact, the topmost awareness of the modern era. The development of traditional systems and reliance on renewable techno...

In this paper, the thermal performance of phase change material (PCM) incorporated concrete bricks is studied experimentally. Four concrete bricks (three with macroencapsulated PCM and one without PCM represented the reference) are fabricated, and their thermal performance is tested under hot climate conditions. The study considered the effect of P...

Phase change materials (PCMs) are successful thermal energy storage mediums in many thermal systems, including buildings. Identifying the best PCM candidate is a critical incorporation parameter that influences building thermal performance. This paper discusses the selection of potential PCM candidates that could be applied for building heating app...

In recent years, phase change materials (PCMs) have increasingly received attention in different thermal energy storage and management fields. In the building sector, paraffin as a phase change material (PPCM) has been introduced as an efficient PCM incorporated in a building envelope, which showed remarkable results. However, the poor thermal cond...

The roof plays a predominant role in residential buildings' energy efficiency in hot countries as it receives a significant amount of solar radiation during the summer months. Incorporating phase change material is considered a sustainable solution to improve building energy performance. In this paper, the energy-saving earned from incorporating se...

This article briefly discusses the global warming potential (GWP) by shedding light on the leading causes and consequences, providing basic knowledge to non-technical readers. Human activities have been introduced as the main cause of GWP and presented in the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation and tree-clearing, and agricultural and farming act...

This study presents the experimental results of concrete bricks based macroencapsulated phase change material (PCM) in different capsule designs (circular, square and rectangular cross-sections). Eight concrete bricks (including a reference brick without PCM) are fabricated, and their thermal performance is tested under hot summer conditions of Al...

Thermal comfort inside buildings is among the hot research topics worldwide for decades as it is associated with occupant’s daily life. The comfort level inside buildings can be reached by controlling the temperature and humidity level, usually maintained by heating, ventilating and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems. In the Middle East hot locations,...

This paper experimentally investigates the optimal position of a phase change material (PCM) incorporated composite roof under Iraq climatic conditions. The roof composed of Isogam (4 mm), concrete (50 mm) and gypsum board (8 mm) which is an Iraqi popular roof combination. Four models are installed and tested; one represented the reference roof (Mo...

The current study experimentally investigates the optimal thickness of a phase change material (PCM) layer incorporated composite roof under severe exterior temperatures. Three PCM thicknesses, namely 10, 15 and 20 mm, are embedded inside a popular roof combination for residential buildings in Iraq compared with the reference roof without PCM. The...

Phase change materials (PCMs) incorporated building envelope for thermal energy storage (TES) considerably enhances building thermal energy and improves indoor comfort. Amongst other methods, macroencapsulation provides a flexible and efficient PCM utilization among practical incorporation methods during a long time of service. Nevertheless, there...

The present paper discusses the main aspects of incorporation phase change materials (PCMs) for building envelope applications. A brief overview of PCM types, properties and desired characteristics for building applications are presented. Besides, the possible incorporation applications in practice are discussed for several building envelope elemen...

Phase change materials (PCMs) are increasingly investigated in the last years as successful in many thermal energy storage applications. In the building sector, PCMs are utilised to improve building efficiency by reducing cooling/heating loads and promoting renewable energy sources, such as solar energy. This paper shows the recent research works o...

Solar energy represents the best alternative for traditional energy sources used in many thermal energy systems. Among solar thermal systems, Flat Plate Solar Collectors (FPSCs) are the most utilized type implemented in low and medium-level thermal domestic applications. Recently, the usage of nanofluids (NFs) to enhance FPSCs is one of the newest...

The present work highlights the importance of using the Fresnel lens technique to enhance the productivity of a conventional solar still (CSS). In this regard, the effect of using Fresnel lenses to improve the productivity of a CSS is investigated experimentally under the climate conditions of Basra city (30.5258°N latitude and 47.7738°E longitude)...

The current paper proposes an augmentation of power output production of a single-phase grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system using dual-axis solar tracking (DAST). Solarius PV software was applied to design and predict the energy demand for a single-family house over one year under the climate condition of Basra city, Iraq. The performance of th...

Solar thermal system for domestic hot water (DHW) is one of the most common application for utilizing solar energy. Consumption profile of hot water has a significant impact on solar DHW sizing as it relates many uncertainties regarding human nature, which is difficult to predict, therefore. The size of the solar thermal system is roughly estimated...

In recent years, the summer season in Iraq has become longer and hotter than before, leading to high cooling loads inside buildings and increased demand for electrical energy. The use of sustainable energy and insulation techniques for building envelopes are reasonable solutions for overcoming harsh weather conditions and reaching acceptable therma...

Diversity of energy sources become an imperious need for the sustainable energy utilization and provision of alternative sources to fossil fuels. The rapid growth in renewable energy uses encouraged numerous to invest and research in different fields of renewable energy. Using of Photovoltaic (PV) technology to generate electricity was one of the m...

Building sector globally accounts more than 40 % of the energy use, consuming more than industrial or transport sector. Especially in hot climates cooling – air conditioning represents the highest share of the energy used in buildings. Decreasing the cooling load and utilization of solar energy are key factors in minimizing the dependency on the po...