Bagasse fiber from sugarcane waste is used with epoxy resin to make natural composites. The raw fibers are treated chemically to improve compatibility and adherence with the epoxy polymer. It’s anticipated that epoxy resin matrix composites reinforced with bagasse particles would work as a trustworthy replacement for conventional materials utilized in the building and automobile sectors. The amount and distribution of reinforcing particles inside the matrix are two factors that impact the composite’s strength. Furthermore, the precise proportion of reinforcing elements—roughly 20–30 weight percent—into the matrix plays a critical role in providing a noticeable boost in improving the properties of the composites. This research investigates the impact of reinforcing alkali-treated bagasse and untreated bagasse powder into an epoxy matrix on aspects of mechanical and morphological characteristics. The hand layup technique is used to create alkali-treated bagasse and untreated bagasse powder-reinforced epoxy composites. Composites are designed with six levels of reinforcement weight percentages (5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, and 30%). Microstructural analysis was performed using SEM and optical microscopes to assess the cohesion and dispersion of the reinforcing particles throughout the hybrid composites’ matrix phase. With reinforcement loading up to 20 wt%, the tensile strength, impact strength, and toughness of epoxy-alkali-treated bagasse and untreated bagasse powder-reinforced composites increased. In contrast, treated bagasse epoxy composites were superior to untreated epoxy composites in terms of efficacy. The results indicate that 20 wt% alkali bagasse powder provides better mechanical properties than other combinations.

This study investigates the performance assessment of methanol and water as working fluid in a solar-powered vapour absorption refrigeration system. This research clarifies the system’s performance across a spectrum of operating conditions. Furthermore, the HAP software was utilized to determine and scrutinize the cooling load, facilitating a comparative analysis between software-based results and theoretical calculations. To empirically substantiate the findings, this research investigates methanol-water as a superior refrigerant compared to traditional ammonia- water and LiBr-water systems. Through experimental analysis and its comparison with previous research, the methanol-water refrigeration system demonstrated higher cooling efficiency and better environmental compatibility. The system’s performance was evaluated under varying conditions, showing that methanol-water has a 1% higher coefficient of performance (COP) compared to ammonia-water systems, proving its superior effectiveness in solar-powered applications. This empirical model acts as a pivotal tool for understanding the dynamic relationship between methanol concentration (40%, 50%, 60%) and system performance. The results show that temperature of the evaporator (5–15 ℃), condenser (30 ℃–50 ℃), and absorber (25 ℃–50 ℃) are constant, the coefficient of performance (COP) increases with increase in generator temperature. Furthermore, increasing the evaporator temperature while keeping constant temperatures for the generator (70 ℃–100 ℃), condenser, and absorber improves the COP. The resulting data provides profound insights into optimizing refrigerant concentrations for improved efficiency.

In order to replace conventional materials in the existing composite world, there has been a focus on adopting coir fibres, which are lightweight, adaptable, efficient, and have great mechanical qualities. This study describes the creation of environmentally responsible bio-composites with good mechanical characteristics that employ coir powder as a reinforcement, which has good interfacial integrity with an epoxy matrix. And these epoxy-coir composites supplemented with coir particles are predicted to function as a reliable substitute for traditional materials used in industrial applications. Here, untreated and alkali-treated coir fibres powder were employed as reinforcement, with epoxy resin serving as a matrix. An experimental investigation has been carried out to study the effect of coir powder reinforcement at different weight percentages (5 wt%, 10 wt%, 15 wt%, 20 wt%, 25 wt%, and 30 wt%). The morphological study, followed by a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and an optical microscope (OM), demonstrated that the powder and matrix had the strongest adhesion at 20 wt% coir powder-reinforced composite, with no voids, bubbles, or cracks. Based on the entire investigation, the polymer composite with 20 wt% reinforcement exhibited better mechanical qualities than the other combinations.

In this paper, a solar tracking device that can continuously track the sun by adjusting the direction and angle of the solar panel in real time is designed and fabricated to improve the power generation efficiency of the solar cell panel. The mechanical parts as well as the automatic control part of the passive sun-tracking system are described, and the efficiency enhancement with the sun-tracking solar panel is characterized in comparison with the fixed panel system. The test results show that in the spring season in Qingdao city of eastern China, the sun-tracking system can improve the solar cell power generation efficiency by 28.5%–42.9% when comparing to the direction and elevation angle fixed system in sunny days. Even in partly cloudy days, the PV power output can increased by 37% with using the passive sun-tracking system. Economic analysis results show the cost-benefit period is about 10 years, which indicates that the passive sun tracking device can substantially contribute to the solar energy harvest practices.

Prefabricated decoration is an efficient construction mode in the current construction field, with the main purpose of quickly improving the efficiency and quality of decoration through the effective application of modular decoration technology. Therefore, there is a high demand for efficient prefabricated technical talents in various construction units or enterprises in the construction industry. How to cultivate efficient prefabricated technical talents is a problem that relevant professional teachers in universities must pay attention to at present. This paper mainly analyzes the research and practice of the training mode of prefabricated technical talents, summarizes the connotation of prefabricated building and the importance of prefabricated building talent training, analyzes the key points and requirements of prefabricated building teaching, summarizes the problems existing in the training process of prefabricated building talents and puts forward corresponding optimization countermeasures, so as to lay a solid foundation for the optimization of the training mode of prefabricated talents in the next stage and the promotion of talent training level.

This study focused on the topic of competences and challenges faced by university teachers in Ecuadorian higher education. The objective of this study was to identify the essential competences that university teachers must possess to confront the current challenges in the Ecuadorian educational field. A mixed research methodology was utilized. A concurrent triangulation design (DITRIAC) was applied. The data collection technique was through documentary study and focus groups. Eight experts in Ecuadorian higher education participated as key informants. Among the findings, there was a consensus on 7 key competences (disciplinary mastery, pedagogical competences, technological skills, research and continuous updating, critical thinking development, ethical and social commitment, flexibility and adaptability to change). It was concluded that Ecuadorian higher education requires teaching professionals who not only master their disciplines and possess advanced pedagogical and technological skills, but who are also leaders in research, promoters of critical thinking, and exemplify ethical commitment and adaptability.