COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT) and North Dakota State University (NDSU), Fargo, ND, USA have entered into a two-year collaborative research project entitled "A Hybrid Solar Water Heating System Using CO2 as Working Fluid," says a press release issued here on Tuesday.
The project once completed and launched, will prove to be of immense importance to the society. The system is being developed for the areas of Gilgit-Baltistan region which will work in both temperature extremities. It will provide space heating/cooling, hot/cold air, hot/cold water in winters and summers.
The system will be ecologically safe as it will not produce any environmental side effects, such as global warming or ozone depletion. It will also help in preserving local forestry by providing alternative source of energy for heating/cooling. The project will increase research and development capabilities as a result of close collaboration between Pakistani and US researchers. Participation of local female students will also help in overcoming gender barriers. Pakistanis will be able to experience first-hand the effectiveness of the project because of its field testing being carried out in the Gilgit-Baltistan region.
The principal investigators for the project are Sumathy Krishnan and Samee U. Khan, from NDSU and Nasrullah Khan and Waqar H. Bokhari, from CIIT. This people to people collaboration is made possible through the grants worth $296,000 made available by the US Department of State and Higher Education Commission of Pakistan under the Pakistan-US Science and Technology Co-operation Programme.-PR