Developing functional textiles with thermal insulation and hydrophobic properties is of significant interest. This study successfully synthesizes K2Ti6O13 (potassium titanate, KTO) whiskers via the hydrothermal method and prepares KTO composite silica polyester fabric (KSP) through impregnation technology, exhibiting excellent thermal insulation and hydrophobic qualities. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis verifies the high purity and excellent crystallinity of KTO whiskers and SiO2 micro-powder. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images reveal that the KTO whiskers retain their original morphology and exhibit uniform size distribution, with an average length of around 1 μm and an aspect ratio of 40. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images further validate the planar growth properties of the whiskers. Raman spectroscopy research elucidates the vibrational modes of various chemical bonds in the KTO whiskers. The ultraviolet–visible–near-infrared spectrophotometer test results demonstrate that the KSP fabric reflects 43.5 % more light than standard polyester fabric and substantially lowers the temperature in the covered chamber under simulated sunlight exposure, achieving a maximum reduction of 7.4 °C. The KSP fabric has exceptional hydrophobic properties, completing a contact angle of 153.2° and maintaining reflectance stability, with a mere 5.92 % reduction after 20 days of outside exposure. This work offers substantial reference value for the advancement of practical textiles.

The contribution of Pawel Oclon has been funded by the EU project “Renewable energy system for residential building heating and electricity production–RESHeat”, Grant Agreement #956255. The work of Petar Varbanov has been funded by the Széchenyi István University in Hungary. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Sustainable energy systems are crucial for reducing carbon emissions because renewable energy sources leave a footprint. The petrochemical industry often suffers from inefficient heat exchange network (HEN) systems, leading to substantial energy wastage. In the current work, a real case study of the residue hydrogenation process was analyzed to identify potential energy savings. A new method combining Pinch Analysis and Thot–Tcold diagram analysis methods was proposed. This graphical analysis method plots the cold-flow temperature of each heat exchanger unit on the x-axis and the hot-flow temperature on the y-axis. By applying the Thot–Tcold diagram to a practical case of residue hydrogenation in Zhejiang, the existing process energy state was evaluated, and HEN was retrofitted to achieve energy savings and carbon emission reduction. Following optimization, the energy recovery amounted to 202.71 GJ/h with an energy recovery rate of 14.3 %. The proposed method saves approximately 4.058 × 10⁵ GJ/y compared to current operations, resulting in an annual cost saving of approximately $ 2.76 M/y, with an investment payback period of less than 0.36 y. This study offers a solution to the energy challenges of industrial residue hydrogenation by enhancing the economic and environmental sustainability of existing process flows.

Particle deposition on the leading edge was investigated in gas turbines numerically. The research investigated the effects of the inclination angle and blowing ratio on the deposition thickness, and cooling effectiveness of the leading edge. Particles were released from the main inlet of the computational domain. The deposition on the leading edge was judged using the double deposition model. The results show that the deposition thickness is inversely proportional to the blowing ratio. The deposition thicknesses for 0°, 20°, 40°, and 60° inclination angles decrease by 7.82 %, 6.84 %, 7.44 %, and 5.34 %, with the increase in the blowing ratio from 0.5 to 2.0 at 30 s. The deposition thicknesses with four inclination angles decrease by 6.79 %, 7.24 %, 6.79 %, and 5.34 % by increasing the blowing ratio from 0.5 to 2.0 at 60 s. A region with a deposition thickness coefficient below 0.3 is located on the side of the leading edge. The area of the region increases with the increases of the inclination angle and blowing ratio. Compared with the deposition thickness of 0°, 20°, and 40° inclination angles, the deposition thickness of 60° inclination angle is the least with the blowing ratios of 0.5,1.0 and 1.5. The difference in deposition thickness at 60° and 20° inclination angles is 0.3 % with the blowing ratio 2.0. The inclination angle has little effect on the deposition thickness under the blowing ratio of 2.0. The cooling effectiveness decreases with the increases in the blowing ratio and inclination angle. The deposition thickness at a 60° inclination angle is lower than that at a 40° inclination angle. The best combination of inclination angle and the blowing ratio is 60° and 2.0 compared with others.