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The impact of thermal insulation on cooling energy consumption and optimal insulation thickness for underground tunnel (2021)
Journal Article
Wang, Y., Wang, C., Gao, S., Zheng, X., & Darkwa, J. (2021). The impact of thermal insulation on cooling energy consumption and optimal insulation thickness for underground tunnel. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 47, Article 101495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2021.101495

The provision of mechanical cooling in deep mines comes with a significant energy cost as a significant amount of heat transfers from surrounding rock to the airflow. Thermal insulation can be applied to reduce such heat transfer, thereby cutting dow... Read More about The impact of thermal insulation on cooling energy consumption and optimal insulation thickness for underground tunnel.

A deep learning approach towards the detection and recognition of opening of windows for effective management of building ventilation heat losses and reducing space heating demand (2021)
Journal Article
Tien, P. W., Wei, S., Liu, T., Calautit, J., Darkwa, J., & Wood, C. (2021). A deep learning approach towards the detection and recognition of opening of windows for effective management of building ventilation heat losses and reducing space heating demand. Renewable Energy, 177, 603-625. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2021.05.155

Building ventilation accounts for up to 30% of the heat loss in commercial buildings and 25% in industrial buildings. To effectively aid the reduction of energy consumption in the building sector, the development of demand-driven control systems for... Read More about A deep learning approach towards the detection and recognition of opening of windows for effective management of building ventilation heat losses and reducing space heating demand.

Experimental investigation on performance improvement of thermoelectric generator based on phase change materials and heat transfer enhancement (2021)
Journal Article
Wang, Y., Peng, Y., Guo, K., Zheng, X., Darkwa, J., & Zhong, H. (2021). Experimental investigation on performance improvement of thermoelectric generator based on phase change materials and heat transfer enhancement. Energy, 229, Article 120676. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.120676

Thermoelectric application has been widely researched due to its various advantages. Its use has been limited to niche industrial applications and exploratory research development due to the poor economic viability. It is essential to achieve the opt... Read More about Experimental investigation on performance improvement of thermoelectric generator based on phase change materials and heat transfer enhancement.

Experimental Data on Water Vapour Adsorption on Silica Gel in Fully Packed and Z-Annulus Packed Beds (2021)
Journal Article
Yeboah, S. K., & Darkwa, J. (2021). Experimental Data on Water Vapour Adsorption on Silica Gel in Fully Packed and Z-Annulus Packed Beds. Data in Brief, 34, Article 106736. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2021.106736

Experimental data on water vapour adsorption on silica gel in four packed bed configurations namely fully packed bed (FPB), large annulus packed bed (LAPB), medium annulus packed bed (MAPB) and small annulus packed bed (SAPB) are presented. Raw tempe... Read More about Experimental Data on Water Vapour Adsorption on Silica Gel in Fully Packed and Z-Annulus Packed Beds.

Potential of Bioenergy in Rural Ghana (2021)
Journal Article
Nelson, N., Darkwa, J., Calautit, J., Worall, M., Mokaya, R., Adjei, E., …Ahiekpor, J. (2021). Potential of Bioenergy in Rural Ghana. Sustainability, 13(1), Article 381. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13010381

Crop residues are common in rural Ghana due to the predominant role agriculture plays in livelihood activities in these communities. In this paper we investigate the prospects of exploiting agricultural crop residues for rural development in Ghana th... Read More about Potential of Bioenergy in Rural Ghana.

Development of TiO2/RT–35HC based nanocomposite phase change materials (NCPCMs) for thermal management applications (2020)
Journal Article
Arshad, A., Jabbal, M., Shi, L., Darkwa, J., Weston, N. J., & Yan, Y. (2021). Development of TiO2/RT–35HC based nanocomposite phase change materials (NCPCMs) for thermal management applications. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 43, Article 100865. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2020.100865

This experimental study covers the development of novel nanocomposite phase change materials (NCPCMs) based on RT–35HC as a phase change material (PCM) and titanium oxide (TiO2) as thermal conductivity enhancement material, for thermal management app... Read More about Development of TiO2/RT–35HC based nanocomposite phase change materials (NCPCMs) for thermal management applications.

Experimental investigation into the integration of solid desiccant packed beds with oscillating heat pipes for energy efficient isothermal adsorption processes (2020)
Journal Article
Yeboah, S. K., & Darkwa, J. (2021). Experimental investigation into the integration of solid desiccant packed beds with oscillating heat pipes for energy efficient isothermal adsorption processes. Thermal Science and Engineering Progress, 21, Article 100791. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsep.2020.100791

The heat of adsorption released during physical adsorption of water vapour on solid desiccants increases its surface vapour pressure consequently decreasing its adsorption capacity. In packed beds, this raises the bed temperature subsequently increas... Read More about Experimental investigation into the integration of solid desiccant packed beds with oscillating heat pipes for energy efficient isothermal adsorption processes.

Implementation of Passive Radiative Cooling Technology in Buildings: A Review (2020)
Journal Article
Suhendri, S., Hu, M., Su, Y., Darkwa, J., & Riffat, S. (2020). Implementation of Passive Radiative Cooling Technology in Buildings: A Review. Buildings, 10(12), 1-28. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings10120215

Radiative cooling (RC) is attracting more interest from building engineers and architects. Using the sky as the heat sink, a radiative cooling material can be passively cooled by emitting heat to the sky. As a result of the development of material te... Read More about Implementation of Passive Radiative Cooling Technology in Buildings: A Review.

Experimental data on Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipe (HCOHP) design and thermal performance (2020)
Journal Article
Yeboah, S. K., & Darkwa, J. (2020). Experimental data on Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipe (HCOHP) design and thermal performance. Data in Brief, 33, Article 106505. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2020.106505

Experimental and derived data from three Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipes (HCOHPs) charged with ethanol, methanol and deionized water working fluids respectively are presented. The data was obtained from prototypes of the HCOHPs fabricated out... Read More about Experimental data on Helically Coiled Oscillating Heat Pipe (HCOHP) design and thermal performance.

Performance comparison of two solar cooking storage pots combined with wonderbag slow cookers for off-sunshine cooking (2020)
Journal Article
Mawire, A., Lentswe, K., Owusu, P., Shobo, A., Darkwa, J., Calautit, J., & Worall, M. (2020). Performance comparison of two solar cooking storage pots combined with wonderbag slow cookers for off-sunshine cooking. Solar Energy, 208, 1166-1180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2020.08.053

Two similar storage cooking pots are experimentally evaluated and compared during solar cooking and storage off-sunshine cooking periods. One storage pot has sunflower oil as the sensible heat storage material, while the other has erythritol as the p... Read More about Performance comparison of two solar cooking storage pots combined with wonderbag slow cookers for off-sunshine cooking.

Experimental study of thermal fracturing of Hot Dry Rock irradiated by moving laser beam: Temperature, efficiency and porosity (2020)
Journal Article
Wang, Y., Jiang, J., Darkwa, J., Xu, Z., Zheng, X., & Zhou, G. (2020). Experimental study of thermal fracturing of Hot Dry Rock irradiated by moving laser beam: Temperature, efficiency and porosity. Renewable Energy, 160, 803-816. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2020.06.138

A new laser irradiation fracturing method is employed to crack the Hot Dry Rock (HDR) and variations of rock temperature, specific energy (SE) and modified specific energy (MSE), thermal damages and open porosity of granite samples caused by moving l... Read More about Experimental study of thermal fracturing of Hot Dry Rock irradiated by moving laser beam: Temperature, efficiency and porosity.

Thermo-mechanical and moisture absorption properties of fly ash-based lightweight geopolymer concrete reinforced by polypropylene fibers (2020)
Journal Article
Wang, Y., Zheng, T., Zheng, X., Liu, Y., Darkwa, J., & Zhou, G. (2020). Thermo-mechanical and moisture absorption properties of fly ash-based lightweight geopolymer concrete reinforced by polypropylene fibers. Construction and Building Materials, 251, Article 118960. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118960

An experimental investigation on the thermo-mechanical and moisture absorption properties of lightweight geopolymer concrete prepared with fly ash, NaOH, sodium silicate and Polypropylene Fibers (PF) is presented in this study. The effects of dry den... Read More about Thermo-mechanical and moisture absorption properties of fly ash-based lightweight geopolymer concrete reinforced by polypropylene fibers.

Minimizing heat transmission loads and improving energy efficiency of building envelopes in sub-Saharan Africa using bio-based composite materials (2020)
Journal Article
Opoku, R., Obeng, G. Y., Darkwa, J., & Kwofie, S. (2020). Minimizing heat transmission loads and improving energy efficiency of building envelopes in sub-Saharan Africa using bio-based composite materials. Scientific African, 8, Article e00358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2020.e00358

Increasing effect of climate change coupled with global warming has necessitated the need for mechanical cooling in buildings to provide indoor thermal comfort. Many countries in tropical climates, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, use sandcrete bl... Read More about Minimizing heat transmission loads and improving energy efficiency of building envelopes in sub-Saharan Africa using bio-based composite materials.

Microencapsulation of Paraffin with Poly (Urea Methacrylate) Shell for Solar Water Heater (2019)
Journal Article
Su, W., Li, Y., Zhou, T., Darkwa, J., Kokogiannakis, G., & Li, Z. (2019). Microencapsulation of Paraffin with Poly (Urea Methacrylate) Shell for Solar Water Heater. Energies, 12(18), Article 3406. https://doi.org/10.3390/en12183406

Previous research has demonstred that microencapsulated phase change materials (MEPCMs) could significantly increase the energy storage density of solar thermal energy storage (TES) systems. Compared with traditional phase change materials (PCMs), ME... Read More about Microencapsulation of Paraffin with Poly (Urea Methacrylate) Shell for Solar Water Heater.

Numerical thermal evaluation of laminated binary microencapsulated phase change material drywall systems (2019)
Journal Article
Su, W., Darkwa, J., & Kokogiannakis, G. (2020). Numerical thermal evaluation of laminated binary microencapsulated phase change material drywall systems. Building Simulation, 13, 89-98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12273-019-0563-z

Microencapsulated phase change materials (MEPCMs) have the potential for energy storage applications in buildings. However, current MEPCMs are limited by their singular phase change transitional temperatures and are therefore unable to satisfy all ye... Read More about Numerical thermal evaluation of laminated binary microencapsulated phase change material drywall systems.

Phase Change Material Blind System for Double Skin Façade Integration: System Development and Thermal Performance Evaluation (2019)
Journal Article
Li, Y., Darkwa, J., Kokogiannakis, G., & Su, W. (2019). Phase Change Material Blind System for Double Skin Façade Integration: System Development and Thermal Performance Evaluation. Applied Energy, 252, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.113376

Double skin facades (DSFs) are often applied as energy reducing elements in modern buildings, but do experience overheating problems in warm seasons which may contribute to increase in cooling loads. There are currently various thermal management dev... Read More about Phase Change Material Blind System for Double Skin Façade Integration: System Development and Thermal Performance Evaluation.

The micro?/nano?PCMs for thermal energy storage systems: A state of art review (2019)
Journal Article
Arshad, A., Jabbal, M., Yan, Y., & Darkwa, J. (2019). The micro?/nano?PCMs for thermal energy storage systems: A state of art review. International Journal of Energy Research, 43(11), 5572-5620. https://doi.org/10.1002/er.4550

With advancement in technology, the nanotechnology, various thermal energy storage (TES) materials have been invented and modified with promising thermal transport properties. The solid–liquid phase change materials (PCMs) have been extensively used... Read More about The micro?/nano?PCMs for thermal energy storage systems: A state of art review.

A numerical and experimental analysis of an integrated TEG-PCM power enhancement system for photovoltaic cells (2019)
Journal Article
Darkwa, J., Calautit, J., Du, D., & Kokogianakis, G. (2019). A numerical and experimental analysis of an integrated TEG-PCM power enhancement system for photovoltaic cells. Applied Energy, 248, 688-701. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.04.147

Solar photovoltaic (PV) cells especially crystal silicon cells have witnessed a soaring installed capacity during past years. Research efforts have been made to increase the PV conversion efficiency and one direction is towards the cooling of PV syst... Read More about A numerical and experimental analysis of an integrated TEG-PCM power enhancement system for photovoltaic cells.

Effect of design parameters on thermal performance of integrated phase change material blind system for double skin façade buildings (2019)
Journal Article
Li, Y., Darkwa, J., Kokogiannakis, G., & Su, W. (2019). Effect of design parameters on thermal performance of integrated phase change material blind system for double skin façade buildings. International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies, 14(2), 286-293. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijlct/ctz010

Double skin facades (DSFs) have overheating problems in warm seasons which may increase the cooling loads in buildings. A previous study has developed an integrated phase change material (PCM) blind system and proved its capacity of mitigating the ov... Read More about Effect of design parameters on thermal performance of integrated phase change material blind system for double skin façade buildings.

Experimental comparison of green facades with outdoor test cells during a hot humid season (2019)
Journal Article
Kokogiannakis, G., Darkwa, J., Badeka, S., & Li, Y. (2019). Experimental comparison of green facades with outdoor test cells during a hot humid season. Energy and Buildings, 185, 196-209. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2018.12.038

We used outdoor test cells during a hot humid period to analyse the surface temperatures behind the following four types of green walls: a felt layer wall; a planter boxes wall; a direct climbing plants wall, and; an indirect climbing plants wall. We... Read More about Experimental comparison of green facades with outdoor test cells during a hot humid season.