As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

 Prof. Miqdam T. Chaichan (lecturer in the Energy and Renewable Energies Technology Center-University of Technology) presented a lecture on Tuesday, 25/2/2020 at 11:30 entitled “Impact of Nanofluid and Nano-PCM on the Electrical Performance of Hybrid (Electro/Thermal) Collector”. The lecturer stated that solar energy is one of the largest types of renewable energy at the current time where it has become a strategic choice in providing electric energy or using it as an alternative energy to oil resources or natural gas since it is environmentally friendly (clean energy-free from pollution).

The process of converting solar radiation energy into electrical energy is carried out by using photovoltaic cells by which the amount of electrical energy produced from these cells depends on many designing and operational factors. In this lecture, the effect of ambient temperature on the performance of photovoltaic cells was discussed where experimental results showed that the increase of temperature affected negatively on the efficiency of electrical energy production. Therefore, the lecturer discussed through his practical experience in this field using an effective method to reduce this effect. This method was represented by the use of a cooling fluid containing nanomaterials that were recycled according to a system designed for this purpose. The experimental results showed that the surface temperature of photovoltaic cell decreased obviously, and thus the amount of electrical energy produced increased significantly when compared to the conventional system (without using the cooling system).

The lecturer recommended at the end of his lecture that scientific research is being continued in this field by looking for the other materials as cooling fluids or making appropriate

improvements in the designing or operating standards of the cooling system in order to obtain the optimum performance. 

As part of the cultural season of the Environmental Research Center

Mrs. Zahraa Zahraw Farhan-Assist. lecturer in the Department of Environmental Pollution-ERC presented a lecture online using the ZOOM platform on Tuesday, 21/4/2020 at 12:30 pm entitled “Digital Platforms”. The lecturer stated that electronic platforms can be defined as an interactive educational environment that depends on the nature of its work on the use of numerous technologies, allowing more participants to communicate and interact with each other. These platforms are characterized by many advantages such as their ability to combining the advantages of electronic content management systems with online communication networks and contributing to the dissemination of various educational activities and achieving a communication between the teacher and the student, which lead to facilitating the process of exchanging ideas and opinions and sharing scientific content between the two sides of communication. Thus, positively reflecting in the achievement of high-quality educational outcomes. The lecturer demonstrated there have been many of these platforms where each of them having characteristics and advantages in terms of the performance and the number of participants as well as the allowed period of time for communication.

Because of the current conditions in terms of the spread of coronavirus and the complete disruption of official working hours in educational institutions, the lecturer recommended that the electronic platforms should be used (easy tools and do not need special skills) to ensure the continuing process of education and academic communication.