Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers最新文献

{"title":"Hydrodynamic performance of an industrial scale conical spouted bed","authors":"Maider Bolaños ,&nbsp;Xabier Sukunza ,&nbsp;Mikel Tellabide ,&nbsp;Idoia Estiati ,&nbsp;Haritz Altzibar ,&nbsp;Miriam Arabiourrutia ,&nbsp;Martin Olazar","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106618","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106618","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background:</h3><div>To date, most of the studies concerning the scaling up of spouted beds suggest building units of multiple interconnected contactors instead of individual large contactors. In fact, large spouted beds have stability and operational problems, which can be partially overcome using a conical geometry. However, to our knowledge, the scaling up of conical spouted beds has not been approached in the literature.</div></div><div><h3>Methods:</h3><div>Therefore, a 1 m column diameter conical spouted bed has been built and its hydrodynamic behaviour has been studied based on characteristic curves. Different materials and configurations have been tested and the results have been compared with those obtained in a 0.36 m column diameter contactor.</div></div><div><h3>Findings:</h3><div>Results show that stable spouting regime is achieved in the large plant, even for <span><math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>D</mi></mrow><mrow><mn>0</mn></mrow></msub><mo>/</mo><msub><mrow><mi>d</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub><mo>≈</mo><mn>1200</mn></mrow></math></span>. In addition, <span><math><mrow><msub><mrow><mi>u</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>m</mi><mi>s</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>p</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>l</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>t</mi></mrow></msub><mo>/</mo><msub><mrow><mi>u</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>m</mi><mi>s</mi><mo>,</mo><mi>d</mi><mi>e</mi><mi>m</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>n</mi><mi>s</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>r</mi><mi>a</mi><mi>t</mi><mi>i</mi><mi>o</mi><mi>n</mi></mrow></msub></mrow></math></span> value gets closer to 1 as the particle diameter is decreased. Regarding operating pressure drop, values attained in demonstration plant are <span><math><mrow><mn>5</mn><mtext>–</mtext><mn>8</mn></mrow></math></span> times greater for low porosity beds and around 2 times greater for high porosity beds. Moreover, new regimes have been identified before and after spouting regime, especially for coarse particles. These findings evidence the good performance of large conical spouted beds, which will help developing industrial scale units.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106618"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145922696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Substrate quench–tempering and coating post-annealing for electroless Ni–P coated 4140 steel for enhanced interface-wear synergy","authors":"Serhatcan Berk Akçay ,&nbsp;Temel Varol ,&nbsp;Onur Güler ,&nbsp;Mücahit Kocaman ,&nbsp;Uğur Temel Yıldız ,&nbsp;Furkan Alptekin","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106636","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106636","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>AISI 4140 steel is widely used in the industries due to its high strength and toughness. However, this alloy suffers from limited surface hardness and wear resistance.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>In this study, the effects of pre-and post-heat treatments combined with electroless Ni–P coating on the microstructural evolution and tribological behavior of AISI 4140 steel were investigated. Microstructural characterization, surface roughness measurements, hardness testing, and dry sliding wear experiments were employed to evaluate coating performance.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings</h3><div>Microstructural analysis showed that heat-treated steel exhibited a finer and more uniform martensitic structure compared to the ferrite–pearlite structure of untreated steel. The untreated condition showed an average coating thickness of 17 µm and a surface roughness (Ra) of 1.456 µm. After pre- and post-deposition heat treatments at 450 °C, surface roughness decreased to 0.834 µm, indicating improved interfacial diffusion. Ni–P coatings on untreated steel exhibited poor adhesion, leading to delamination and abrasive wear. Pre-heat treatment increased substrate hardness, reducing wear by ∼45%. Post-coating heat treatment transformed the amorphous Ni–P layer into crystalline Ni₃P, increased hardness above 900 HV. Consequently, the specific wear rate decreased from 2.7 × 10⁻⁴ to 0.2 × 10⁻⁴ mm³/N·m.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106636"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145974254","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Study on the effects of dopamine-modified electroplating bath on the performance of copper plating on carbon fiber surfaces","authors":"Guodong Zhang ,&nbsp;Weizhuang Yang ,&nbsp;Yonglian Sun ,&nbsp;Shengzong Ci ,&nbsp;Mingyu Wang ,&nbsp;Kun Qiao","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106644","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106644","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Copper-plated carbon fibers integrate copper’s electrical conductivity and carbon fibers’ mechanical strength, offering significant potential in lightweight functional materials. However, electroplating-derived Cu coatings suffer from thickness non-uniformity and defects, restricting performance optimization.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study introduces a dopamine (DA)-mediated strategy to regulate electroplating baths for improved copper-plated carbon fibers properties.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings</h3><div>Experimental results show DA modification reduces copper-plated carbon fibers diameter distribution standard deviation by 27%, decreases coating mass loss after thermal shock by 75%, enhances single-filament tensile strength by 6.5%, and boosts interfacial adhesion and environmental stability. Combined with annealing, electrical conductivity reaches 1.42 × 10⁵ S/cm, a 3.12-fold increase over pristine samples. Theoretical analyses reveal protonated dopamine (DAH⁺) forms strong coordination with Cu²⁺, exhibiting a 315.1 kcal/mol binding energy on Cu(111) via parallel benzene ring adsorption, while weak interactions with carbon fibers (58.0 kcal/mol) enable selective regulation of Cu²⁺ electrodeposition. This preferential adsorption promotes uniform nucleation in exposed carbon fiber areas, addressing coating uniformity issues. This work provides a novel strategy to address the uniformity challenge of copper coatings on carbon fibers and establishes a theoretical foundation for the design and fabrication of high-performance conductive fiber materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106644"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146073961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Design and verification of a tunable ceramics metamaterial and measurement of its sensing performance","authors":"Kai Qian ,&nbsp;Zetian Dai ,&nbsp;Ge Huang","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106647","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106647","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Traditional sensors face challenges during applications, such as single functionality and environmental corrosion. Therefore, a metamaterial sensor based on an all-dielectric structure strategy is proposed and verified. The ceramic layer of this metamaterial can effectively prevent environmental corrosion. The resonance characteristics of the two functional ceramics provide the basis for the multi-sensing performance of this metamaterial. This metamaterial provides a foundation for the development of multifunctional optoelectronic devices.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>The samples of this metamaterial sensor are obtained by vacuum coating equipment and vapor deposition, and the absorption performance is obtained by <em>Bruker Optics Equinox</em>. Two sensing properties are obtained by the electric heating method and the thermal pulse method. These measurement methods mainly achieves sensing performance by applying external conditions to control the resonance behaviors of polarized charges on the ceramic surface.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings</h3><div>At room temperature, two absorption peaks (P1 and P2) are excited by the metamaterial samples. The P1 peak is based on the multi-mode hybrid resonance between ceramic arrays, which is different with many reported traditional metamaterials/metasurfaces. The P2 peak is based on the dual-mode coupled resonance at the edge of the ceramic array. Narrow bandwidth and high absorption intensity are achieved by this ceramic metamaterial. These measurement results verify the feasibility of preparing metamaterial devices based on decorative materials. In addition, two sensing properties are revealed by this metamaterial sample: In the electric heating experimental group, the sensitivities are: 0.752 THz/K and 0.221 THz/K. In the pump laser experimental group, the sensitivities are: 18.082 THz/W/cm² and 4.555 THz/W/cm². the active tunable \"temperature switch\" and \"light switch\" characteristics are achieved by this proposed metamaterial. Therefore, this metamaterial sensor possesses remarkable resonance performance: high absorption intensity, high sensing sensitivity, and high tunability. These measurement results imply that the metamaterial sample has the potential to be developed into a multifunctional sensors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106647"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146073964","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multivariate fault isolation by robust Mallows’Cp: A mixed integer nonlinear programming approach","authors":"Lang Liu ,&nbsp;Ying Zheng ,&nbsp;Zhiwei Wang ,&nbsp;David Shan-Hill Wong","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106583","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106583","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background:</h3><div>Fault isolation is a technique for diagnosing the variables responsible for faults, which plays a crucial role in the monitoring of industrial processes. However, the isolation performance varies significantly among different candidate variables due to their relationships to the fault, smearing effect and the presence of noises.</div></div><div><h3>Methods:</h3><div>This paper proposed a robust Mallows’<span><math><msub><mrow><mi>C</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> based fault isolation method. The robust Mallows’<span><math><msub><mrow><mi>C</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> with <span><math><mi>ϵ</mi></math></span>-insensitive loss function is designed to eliminate smearing effects and the effects of noise. However, pre-specification of the hyper-parameter that weighs the sparsity regularization penalty is not necessary. The MINLP problem is reformulated as several sub-problems solved efficiently via forward selection. Fault scores are constructed to evaluate the severity of each variable in the fault.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings:</h3><div>The method is validated through two case studies: a continuous stirred tank reactor process and a fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle system. Results show that the robust Mallows’<span><math><msub><mrow><mi>C</mi></mrow><mrow><mi>p</mi></mrow></msub></math></span> effectively removes the negative influence of smearing effect and noises, leading to high fault isolation accuracy for faulty variables and few false alarms for fault-free variables. The results are superior to some recent literature benchmarks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106583"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145974248","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Novel hybrid reactive extractive distillation processes design for efficient methyl ethyl carbonate synthesis","authors":"Xiaoran Li,&nbsp;Ning Li,&nbsp;Yanlei Zhu,&nbsp;Yong Liu,&nbsp;Rui Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106611","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106611","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) is a high-value-added green chemical with prominent advantages in lithium battery electrolytes. The presence of multiple azeotropes in the reactive distillation of dimethyl carbonate and methanol severely limits reaction conversion and selectivity while complicating the separation process. Reactive extractive distillation effectively addresses the azeotrope limitations of conventional reactive distillation by introducing an extractant, thereby enhancing both reaction and separation efficiency.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study proposes novel hybrid reactive extractive distillation processes for efficient EMC synthesis. Through molecular simulations and thermodynamic analysis, this study identified diethyl carbonate as the optimal extractant, demonstrating its effectiveness in enhancing both the physical separation and chemical reaction processes. The reactive extractive distillation column was developed, achieving 85 % single-pass DMC conversion rate and 100 % EMC selectivity. The reactive extractive distillation and the reactive extractive distillation coupling dividing wall distillation processes were proposed, optimized, and evaluated.</div></div><div><h3>Significant findings</h3><div>The reactive extractive distillation coupling dividing wall distillation process offers transformative <em>TAC</em> reduction, but at the expense of higher exergy losses. Specifically, the reactive extractive distillation process at <em>TAC</em> of 5.14 × 10^7 $/year, CO₂ emissions of 4.67 kg/s, and the total exergy destruction of 1.52 × 10^4 kW, while the reactive extractive distillation coupling dividing wall distillation process reduces <em>TAC</em> to 2.37 × 10^7 $/year, with CO₂ emissions of 4.95 kg/s, and total exergy destruction of 2.05 × 10^4 kW. This study provides fundamental research support for the development and industrial application of an efficient EMC synthesis process.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106611"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145922699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Generalized IMC-PD decoupled dual-loop control of delay-dominated chemical systems using stability-constrained crayfish optimization","authors":"Obaid Siddiqui ,&nbsp;G. Lloyds Raja ,&nbsp;Sudipta Chakraborty","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106563","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106563","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background:</h3><div>Chemical processes with delay are challenging to control due to the inherent phase lag, sluggish response, and stability issues. These challenges are further amplified when the process exhibits unstable or integrating dynamics, such as in the case of continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs). Conventional control techniques often struggle to achieve satisfactory performance and robust stability in such scenarios.</div></div><div><h3>Methods:</h3><div>To address these issues, this work proposes a generalized Internal Model Control (IMC)–based Proportional Derivative (PD) decoupled dual-loop control framework. The inner PD controller is designed using Routh–Hurwitz stability criteria to ensure closed-loop stability. The IMC filter parameter and PD controller gains are jointly fine-tuned through a stability-constrained Crayfish Optimization Algorithm, which is employed for the first time in this context. The optimization objective is to minimize the Integral Square Error (ISE), ensuring both performance and robustness.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings:</h3><div>The proposed control structure is validated using several benchmark chemical process models from the literature, demonstrating significant improvements in performance and robustness over existing methods. Furthermore, experimental validation is carried out to assess the practical applicability and effectiveness of the design in real-world conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106563"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145922700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Fabrication of TBO-PSPH/MXene composite membrane for high-efficiency Rhodamine B separation","authors":"Zhenying Li ,&nbsp;Yanze Yang ,&nbsp;Xu Chen ,&nbsp;Yulu Hu ,&nbsp;Xia Sun ,&nbsp;Jiliang Xie ,&nbsp;Tao Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106650","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106650","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Background:As a typical refractory cationic dyes, Rhodamine B (RhB), poses a significant challenge in aquatic environment. Methods:To address this issue, this study fabricated a novel TBO-PSPH/MXene composite membrane by covalently grafting the silane-based N-halamine poly[5,5-dimethyl-3-(3’-triethoxysilylpropyl)hydantoin](PSPH) onto the surface of MXene, followed by the intercalation of the polycyclic dye Toluidine Blue O (TBO) into MXene interlayers. The composite membrane was characterized by XRD, XPS, FT-IR, N₂ adsorption /desorption, AFM and FESEM. Signifiicant Findings:The results demonstrated that the intercalation of TBO significantly enhanced structural stability of the membrane as well as the incorporation of PSPH reduced the surface negative charges and improved hydrophilicity of the membrane. Separation experiments with a 15 mg/L RhB solution at pH 1 and room temperature (RT) demonstrated a high rejection of 97.3% and a water flux of 4.63 L/(m²·h·bar). Notably, the incorporation of 10% NaCl significantly enhanced membrane performance, elevating RhB rejection to 98.9% while increasing water flux to 6.29 L/(m²·h·bar). The separation mechanism is attributed to synergistic effects of electrostatic repulsion, size-sieving, steric hindrance, and adsorption. This work provides a promising strategy for developing high-performance MXene membranes for treating challenging dye wastewater under various conditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106650"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146073958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Trigger factor mediated folding and expression of human carbonic anhydrase in engineered Escherichia coli for CO2 sequestration","authors":"Hui-Chun Chen ,&nbsp;Sefli Sri Wahyu Effendi ,&nbsp;Wan-Wen Ting,&nbsp;Jiun-Jang Juo,&nbsp;I-Son Ng","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106639","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2026.106639","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Human carbonic anhydrase II (hCAII) is among the fastest biocatalysts in nature, and the demand for its recombinant production has been increasing. Trigger Factor (TF), a ribosome-associated chaperone, holds promise for enhancing both the quality and quantity of recombinant proteins but remains underexplored. This study represents the first attempt to employ TF in the production of hCAII, aiming to improve its application in CO₂ sequestration.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div><em>Escherichia coli</em> strain was engineered with either plasmid-based or chromosomal TF expression, combined with tunable levels of T7 RNA polymerase (T7RNAP). Culture parameters, including agitation speed, inducer, and cofactor supplementation, were optimized. TF–hCAII interactions were analyzed using <em>in vivo</em> assays, <em>in vitro</em> reconstitution, and molecular dynamics simulations. Whole-cell biocatalysts were immobilized in agar and polyacrylamide matrices to evaluate reusability.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings</h3><div>Chromosomal TF integration in the attenuated T7RNAP strain C43(DE3) (i.e., C43::TF) increased hCAII solubility by 139.8% and enzymatic activity by 39.8% compared to plasmid-based TF expression. Medium optimization with glycerol and tryptone (C3T formulation) yielded 0.210 g/L hCAII protein and reduced production cost by 57%. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that TF binding reduced the RMSD fluctuations of hCAII by ∼0.2 nm, thereby stabilizing the N-terminal helices and enhancing the structural stability of hCAII. Agar-immobilized whole-cell biocatalysts retained &gt;95% activity after five reuse cycles, outperforming polyacrylamide matrices, which retained only 29.8% activity. Overall, C43::TF provides a cost-effective chassis for producing robust hCAII biocatalysts for CO₂ capture and mineralization.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106639"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145974249","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"4E study for enhancing the performance of tubular solar still via different absorbers, various capillary fabrics, and thermal storage materials","authors":"Khaled Alnamasi ,&nbsp;Fadl A. Essa","doi":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106595","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jtice.2025.106595","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Background</h3><div>Enhancing the productivity of solar stills is crucial for sustainable freshwater production. While various enhancements exist, a holistic 4E (Energy, Exergy, Economic, Environmental) assessment of hybrid systems combining multiple techniques is lacking.</div></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><div>This study investigates a tubular solar still (TSS) enhanced through three synergistic strategies: absorber geometry optimization (flat, finned, corrugated), integration of capillary wicks (jute, cotton, silk), and addition of thermal storage materials (gravel, black sand, paraffin wax). The systems were experimentally evaluated and compared using a comprehensive 4E analysis framework.</div></div><div><h3>Significant Findings</h3><div>The corrugated absorber (CrTSS) outperformed other geometries, achieving a 43 % thermal efficiency. Integrating a jute wick further increased efficiency to 49%. The hybrid CrTSS-Jute-Paraffin Wax configuration yielded the highest performance: a daily production of 7650 mL/m² (131 % improvement over conventional TSS), 58 % thermal efficiency, and 3.0 % exergy efficiency. Economically, this hybrid system reduced water production cost by 88 % to $0.020/L. Environmentally, it achieved a high cumulative energy payback ratio of 27.0 and mitigated 11,920 kg of CO₂ over its lifespan. This study demonstrates that combining design modifications with a 4E evaluation framework leads to highly efficient, viable, and sustainable solar desalination systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":381,"journal":{"name":"Journal of the Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers","volume":"182 ","pages":"Article 106595"},"PeriodicalIF":6.3,"publicationDate":"2026-05-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145837752","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}