HEC funded Projects

Principle Investigator: Dr. Muzaffar Ali

1 - Technology Development Fund (TDF03-337)

Title: “Development of a solar assisted, desiccant-based indirect evaporative air conditioner”

Approved Amount: PkR 10.00 Million

Duration: 2019-20

Project Digest:

In this proposal an efficient, eco-friendly and cost effective air conditioning system has been proposed. The team involved in this project has already developed the prototype of the proposed air conditioning solution in the lab, each member of the team done PhD from technically advanced countries and has relevant experience of more than a decade.

The proposed air conditioning system is based on established principles of science and engineering. Such systems can be sized for industrial and residential applications. We propose a viable/marketable product development. The operating cost of the system is around 30-50% to that of conventional air conditioning system. Moreover, the system does not involves CFC and HCFC which are harmful for the environment and most of the materials required in the constructed can be sourced nationally.  Using solar-integration, the system can operate at almost no cost during day i.e. peak cooling demand time. Whereas to run this system without solar integration or during night, a cost-effective solution in terms of component operation using auxiliary energy source will be the part of overall system. Additionally, the proposed system is aimed to accomplish air temperature as well as its humidification.

The proposal is submitted in collaboration is KoldKraft (PVT.) Limited, the company specializes in the marketing, designing, manufacturing, installation, service of domestic, industrial and commercial Refrigeration and air conditioning systems since 1985.

2 - National Research Program for Universities (NRPU-10483)

Title: Investigating the thermal effectiveness of metallic oxide nano-fluids in a closed loop thermo­siphon compound parabolic trough solar collector.

Approved Amount: PkR 6.5 Million

Duration: 2019-21

Project Digest:

Energy demand has increased remarkably in last few decades, especially in building and industrial sectors. The key use of energy in these sectors involves specific processes and space heating and cooling. Therefore, there is need to focus on renewable energy resources in view of depleting conventional resources which also causes severe environmental issues, specifically in solar enriched developing countries like Pakistan.

Compound parabolic collector (CPC) solar systems can be the evident solution to overcome the increasing energy demand in different sectors. However, the performance of such system strongly dependent on system’s geometry and working fluids in a specific climate zone. The current study will analyze the performance of CPC system with variable concentration ratio as a geometric parameters and use of nano particles under the climate condition of Pakistan. The outcomes of this study will provide innovative solution based on solar energy source to different building and industrial heating applications.

In these projects following PhD and MSc scholarship positions for students are available.