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Window shading has always been an effective technique to control the access of solar radiation; however, inappropriate selection of the shading technique, location and optical properties may lead to an increase in energy consumed for cooling and artificial lighting. Venetian blinds (VBs) are a type of adjustable shading devices that can be installed to the interior, exterior or in between glass panes of a window and that can be easily implemented in both new and existing buildings. This study aims to investigate the impact of three VB parameters: slat angle, reflectivity and location on the overall energy consumption of a residential space with a south-facing facade under the hot arid desert climate of Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. For the purpose of globalizing the findings, the same investigations were applied for two other cities of similar climates: Cairo, Egypt, and Arizona, the USA.

A test room was modelled for energy simulation, with a 20% window-to-wall ratio. A VB was assigned with alternatives of being located to the indoor, outdoor or in between double glass panes. High, medium and low reflectivity values were applied at each location at slat angle alternatives of 15°, 30°, 45°, 60°, 75° and 90°.

Results showed VB performance across slat angles, where up to 20.1% energy savings were achieved by mid-pane high reflectivity VBs in Riyadh, while the value exceeded 30% in case of being externally located. A similar performance pattern occurred in the other two cities of hot arid desert climates: Cairo and Arizona.

The study is limited to VBs at a fixed position, with no upward movement for partial or full openness conditions. The effect of blind control and operation on performance, such as the amount and duration of openness/closure of the blind and changes in slat angle across time, in addition to VB automation, shall be investigated in a future study.

The better understanding of VB energy performance achieved would enhance a more rational selection of VBs, which would benefit the construction industry as it would assist designers, real estate developer companies, as well as end-users in the decision-making process and help to realize energy-efficient solutions in residential buildings. VB production entities would also benefit by manufacturing and promoting for energy-efficient products.

In this study, a matrix of combinations of three VB parameters was developed, and the effect of these combinations on the overall energy consumption of both artificial lighting and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems was evaluated and compared to identify the combinations of higher efficiency. The literature showed that these three parameters were hardly investigated in a combined form and hardly assessed by considering the overall energy consumed by both artificial lighting and HVAC.

The purpose of this paper is to study the corrosion inhibition performance of an eco-friendly drug clozapine on the corrosion of copper in 1.0 M nitric acid and 0.5 M sulfuric acid solutions.

The corrosion inhibition nature of inhibitor molecule was evaluated by weight loss, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and potentiodynamic polarization studies. An attempt was made to correlate the molecular properties of neutral and protonated forms of inhibitor molecule using quantum chemical calculations. The effect of temperature on the corrosion inhibition efficiency was also studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. The potential of zero charge was determined to explain the mechanism of corrosion inhibition.

The studies on corrosion inhibition performance of clozapine showed that it has good corrosion inhibition efficiency on the corrosion of copper in 1.0 M nitric acid and 0.5 M sulfuric acid solutions. The adsorption of clozapine molecules onto the copper surface obeyed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The value of free energy of adsorption calculated is very close to −40 kJmol⁻¹, indicating that the adsorption is through electrostatic coulombic attraction and chemisorption. The decrease in the value of energy of activation with the addition of inhibitor also shows the chemisorption of the inhibitor on the metal surface. The potential of zero charge and quantum chemical studies confirmed that the protonated molecules also get involved in the corrosion inhibition process through physisorption.

The present work indicates that clozapine can act as a good corrosion inhibitor for the corrosion of copper in acid media.