Speech title: Energy-efficient Evaporative Cooling Technologies for Agriculture
Abstract: For any nation, primary sources of energy consumption are involved in: heating, cooling, humidification, dehumidification, ventilation and/or air-conditioning (HVAC), which may be required for various applications. Currently, developing countries worldwide are facing extreme energy shortage, therefore, low-cost and energy-efficient HVAC systems are principally required. The low-cost HVAC systems are required not only for humans’ thermal comfort but also for various industrial as well as agricultural applications e.g. greenhouse air-conditioning, agricultural products’ (fruits and vegetables) storage, and animals’ (livestock) air-conditioning etc. In this regard, various innovative cooling and air-conditioning technologies have been introduced worldwide. Consequently, in this keynote speech, evaporative cooling and adsorption cooling based HVAC technologies are explored. These technologies are environmentally safe and can be simply operated by water or low-grade waste heat. The low-grade waste heat can be supplied economically by many ways e.g. solar thermal energy, natural coal, bio-gas and/or bio-mass etc. From the prospective of evaporative cooling, the speech focuses on Maisotsenko cycle (M-cycle) based evaporative cooling conception in comparison with conventional direct and indirect evaporative cooling. While adsorption cooling and desiccant air-conditioning systems are focused from the prospective of thermally driven systems. Importance of selection of refrigerant and adsorbent/desiccant is also highlighted. Based on geographic and climatic conditions of the developing countries, the role of temporal and spatial variation for the development of sustainable HVAC system is addressed.
Biography: Dr. Muhammad Sultan is an Associate Professor of Energy & Environmental Engineering at the Agricultural Engineering Department of Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan. He earned his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in Agricultural Engineering with distinction from the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Pakistan. Dr. Sultan completed his Ph.D. and Postdoctoral Research in Energy & Environmental Engineering at Kyushu University, Japan, where he was a recipient of the MEXT and JASSO fellowships. He furthered his expertise with Postdoctoral Research in Mechatronic Systems Engineering at Simon Fraser University, Canada, as a Canadian Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholar.
Dr. Sultan is a Research Fellow at the University of South Africa and INTI International University, Malaysia. His previous experience includes at WPI-I2CNER — International Institute for Carbon-Neutral Energy Research, Japan, and CORE, Canada.
Recognized as one of the World's Top 2% Scientists (2023, 2024) by Stanford University/ Elsevier, Dr. Sultan is also ranked #1 Scientist in Pakistan in the field of Agricultural Engineering according to the AD Scientific Index Ranking (2022 to 2025). Additionally, he is globally placed in the Top 0.3% of Scholars and #15th Scientist in Agricultural Engineering), as per the recent ScholarGPS Ranking 2024. He has also been honored with several awards in recognition of his outstanding research contributions.
Currently, Dr. Sultan is engaged in several research projects funded by the UK Research & Innovation, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, and the Pakistan Higher Education Commission. He has also completed several research projects in Agricultural and Energy Engineering. His supervision portfolio includes more than 20 M.Eng. and Ph.D. thesis. Dr. Sultan has authored 205 journal articles with a cumulative impact factor of ~1000, alongside 130 conference papers, 24 book chapters, and 20 books. His research has garnered 7300 citations, an h-index of 45, and an i10-index of 150.
He serves as an editor for 20 international journals, including npj Thermal Science and Engineering (Nature Portfolio Journal), AgriEngineering (IF 2.8), Energies (IF 3.2), Sustainability (IF 3.9), Environmental Research Communications (IF 2.9), Discover Sustainability (IF 2.6), Agriculture (IF 3.6), Agronomy (IF 3.7), Water (IF 3.4), Advances in Mechanical Engineering (IF 2.1), and Frontiers in Energy Research (IF 3.4).
His research primarily focuses on the energy aspects of various agricultural engineering technologies and applications, with keywords including evaporative cooling, desiccant air-conditioning, adsorption heat pumps, Maisotsenko cycles, adsorption desalination, atmospheric water harvesting, energy recovery ventilators, and wastewater treatment.
Speech title: Design Challenges for Environmentally Friendly and Sustainable Cities in Hot and Arid Areas
Abstract: Recent years have observed a major change in temperature, especially in arid and hot areas. This has forced researchers and urban planners to confront the challenges of significant change, such as creating environmentally friendly and sustainable cities. One of the most significant problems that designers focused on was how to deal with the challenges that affect arid and hot climates, specifically drought, desertification, and a lack of vegetative cover. Furthermore, urban areas in hot and dry regions, especially ancient and historical ones such as Baghdad, which dates back 1,260 years, are affected by air pollution caused by gases and fumes from manufacturing operations and transportation, emphasizing the urgent need to raise environmental and pollution awareness. This session will discuss the issues encountered when developing environmentally pleasant cities using ENVI-met software, a German application that specializes in designing sustainable and environmentally friendly cities. Among the design problems that will be discussed is the significance of afforestation strategies in reducing temperatures and enhancing thermal comfort using thermal comfort indicators such as PMV, PPD and TMRT. The role of the sky view factor in building engineering design, as well as its relationship to aspect ratio, which contributes to reducing the distance between buildings and reducing the effect of solar radiation on facades and corridors, thereby contributing to reducing heat emissions, will be discussed. Environmentally friendly materials that contribute to improving solar reflection will be looked at, as well as the significance of the albedo coefficient, which must be considered when reducing the amount of heat absorbed by surfaces and corridors.
Biography: Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering at Mustansiriyah University / Faculty of Engineering in Baghdad, Iraq. She earned a bachelor's and master's degree from Mustansiriyah University in Iraq, and she received a PhD from the University of Toulouse / INSA in France, in 2017. She is interested in designing environmentally friendly buildings and cities. She has authored numerous research papers on how to improve urban thermal comfort, particularly in hot and dry climates, as well as how to prioritize afforestation and green space development. She presented numerous research papers at international conferences and won more than one award for best research. She belongs to numerous international organizations and associations concerned with the environment and sustainable cities, such as: Hong Kong Chemical, Biological Environmental Engineering Society (HKCBEES) , Member NO.：202594. The World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology. International Research Conference Scientific. Lifetime member of the Scientific and Technical Research Association (STRA). Member of the Science and Engineering Institute (SCIEI). Member of the Innovative Science and Engineering Research Institute (ISERI). Editorial Board Members of "Journal of Advanced Research in Civil Engineering and Architecture (JARCEA)". Member of the International Academy of Science and Engineering for Development (IASED). She also participated as a member of the scientific and technical committee in many international conferences.