Search results for: solar energy

Authors: Mahmoud Abdulhamid, Rifan Hardian, Prashant Bhatt, Shuvo Datta, Adrian Ramirez, Jorge Gascon, Mohamed Eddaoudi, Gyorgy Szekely

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Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is a high-performance polymer that exhibits high thermal and chemical stability. However, it suffers from low porosity and low fractional free volume, which hinder its application as separation material. Herein, we demonstrate the molecular engineering of gas separation materials by manipulating a PBI backbone possessing kinked moieties. PBI was selected as it contains NH groups which increase the affinity towards CO₂, increase sorption capacity, and favors CO₂ over other gasses. We have designed and synthesized an intrinsically microporous polybenzimidazole (iPBI) featuring a spirobisindane structure. Introducing a kinked moiety in conjunction with crosslinking enhanced the polymer properties, markedly increasing the gas separation performance. In particular, the BET surface area of PBI increased 30-fold by replacing a flat benzene ring with a kinked structure. iPBI displayed a good CO₂ uptake of 1.4 mmol g⁻¹ at 1 bar and 3.6 mmol g⁻¹ at 10 bar. Gas sorption uptake and breakthrough experiments were conducted using mixtures of CO₂/CH₄ (50%/50%) and CO₂/N₂ (50%/50%), which revealed the high selectivity of CO₂ over both CH₄ and N₂. The obtained CO₂/N₂ selectivity is attractive for power plant flue gas application requiring CO₂ capturing materials. Energy and process simulations of biogas CO₂ removal demonstrated that up to 70% of the capture energy could be saved when iPBI was used rather than the current amine technology (methyl diethanolamine [MDEA]). Similarly, the combination of iPBI and MDEA in a hybrid system exhibited the highest CO₂ capture yield (99%), resulting in nearly 50% energy saving. The concept of enhancing the porosity of PBI using kinked moieties provides new scope for designing highly porous polybenzimidazoles for various separation processes.

Keywords: polybenzimidazole (PBI), intrinsically microporous polybenzimidazole (iPBI), gas separation, pnergy and process simulations

Procedia PDF Downloads 92

Authors: Vera Marcantonio, Marcello De Falco, Mauro Capocelli, Álvaro Amado-Fierro, Teresa A. Centeno, Enrico Bocci

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Concerns about energy security, energy prices, and climate change led scientific research towards sustainable solutions to fossil fuel as renewable energy sources coupled with hydrogen as an energy vector and carbon capture and conversion technologies. Among the technologies investigated in the last decades, biomass gasification acquired great interest owing to the possibility of obtaining low-cost and CO₂ negative emission hydrogen production from a large variety of everywhere available organic wastes. Upstream and downstream treatment were then studied in order to maximize hydrogen yield, reduce the content of organic and inorganic contaminants under the admissible levels for the technologies which are coupled with, capture, and convert carbon dioxide. However, studies which analyse a whole process made of all those technologies are still missing. In order to fill this lack, the present paper investigated the coexistence of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), sorption enhance gasification (SEG), hot gas cleaning (HGC), and CO₂ conversion by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma reactor for H₂ production from biomass waste by means of Aspen Plus software. The proposed model aimed to identify and optimise the performance of the plant by varying operating parameters (such as temperature, CaO/biomass ratio, separation efficiency, etc.). The carbon footprint of the global plant is 2.3 kg CO₂/kg H₂, lower than the latest limit value imposed by the European Commission to consider hydrogen as “clean”, that was set to 3 kg CO₂/kg H₂. The hydrogen yield referred to the whole plant is 250 gH₂/kgBIOMASS.

Keywords: biomass gasification, hydrogen, aspen plus, sorption enhance gasification

Procedia PDF Downloads 78

Authors: Ayşin Sev, Meltem Ezel

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Sustainability, being the urgent issue of our time, is closely related with the innovations in technology. Nanotechnology (NT), although not a new science, can be regarded relatively a new science for buildings with brand new materials and applications. This paper tends to give a research review of current and near future applications of nanotechnology (NT) for achieving high-performance and healthy buildings for a sustainable future. In the introduction, the driving forces for the sustainability of construction industry are explained. Then, the term NT is defined, and significance of innovations in NT for a sustainable construction industry is revealed. After presenting the application areas of NT and nanomaterials for buildings with a number of cases, challenges in the adoption of this technology are put forward, and finally the impacts of nanoparticles and nanomaterials on human health and environment are discussed.

Keywords: nanomaterial, self-healing concrete, self cleaning sensor, nanosensor, steel, wood, aerogel, flexible solar panel

Procedia PDF Downloads 458

Authors: Mrityunjay Kumar Sinha, Mayank Srivastava

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The position of interface and temperature variation of phase change thermal energy storage system under constant heat injection and radiative heat injection is analysed during charging/discharging process by Heat balance integral method. The charging/discharging process is solely governed by conduction. Phase change material is kept inside a rectangular cavity. Time-dependent fixed temperature and radiative boundary condition applied on one wall, all other walls are thermally insulated. Interface location and temperature variation are analysed by using MATLAB.

Keywords: conduction, melting/solidification, phase change materials, Stefan’s number

Procedia PDF Downloads 392

Authors: Hsien-Te Lin

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The purpose of this paper is to introduce the BCFES (building carbon footprint evaluation system), which is a LCA (life cycle assessment) tool developed by the Low Carbon Building Alliance (LCBA) in Taiwan. A qualified BCFES for the building industry should fulfill the function of evaluating carbon footprint throughout all stages in the life cycle of building projects, including the production, transportation and manufacturing of materials, construction, daily energy usage, renovation and demolition. However, many existing BCFESs are too complicated and not very designer-friendly, creating obstacles in the implementation of carbon reduction policies. One of the greatest obstacle is the misapplication of the carbon footprint inventory standards of PAS2050 or ISO14067, which are designed for mass-produced goods rather than building projects. When these product-oriented rules are applied to building projects, one must compute a tremendous amount of data for raw materials and the transportation of construction equipment throughout the construction period based on purchasing lists and construction logs. This verification method is very cumbersome by nature and unhelpful to the promotion of low carbon design. With a view to provide an engineer-oriented BCFE with pre-diagnosis functions, a component input/output (I/O) database system and a scenario simulation method for building energy are proposed herein. Most existing BCFESs base their calculations on a product-oriented carbon database for raw materials like cement, steel, glass, and wood. However, data on raw materials is meaningless for the purpose of encouraging carbon reduction design without a feedback mechanism, because an engineering project is not designed based on raw materials but rather on building components, such as flooring, walls, roofs, ceilings, roads or cabinets. The LCBA Database has been composited from existing carbon footprint databases for raw materials and architectural graphic standards. Project designers can now use the LCBA Database to conduct low carbon design in a much more simple and efficient way. Daily energy usage throughout a building's life cycle, including air conditioning, lighting, and electric equipment, is very difficult for the building designer to predict. A good BCFES should provide a simplified and designer-friendly method to overcome this obstacle in predicting energy consumption. In this paper, the author has developed a simplified tool, the dynamic Energy Use Intensity (EUI) method, to accurately predict energy usage with simple multiplications and additions using EUI data and the designed efficiency levels for the building envelope, AC, lighting and electrical equipment. Remarkably simple to use, it can help designers pre-diagnose hotspots in building carbon footprint and further enhance low carbon designs. The BCFES-LCBA offers the advantages of an engineer-friendly component I/O database, simplified energy prediction methods, pre-diagnosis of carbon hotspots and sensitivity to good low carbon designs, making it an increasingly popular carbon management tool in Taiwan. To date, about thirty projects have been awarded BCFES-LCBA certification and the assessment has become mandatory in some cities.

Keywords: building carbon footprint, life cycle assessment, energy use intensity, building energy

Procedia PDF Downloads 139

Authors: Rajat Mittal, Harshal Raut, Jung Hee Seo

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Wave-assisted propulsion (WAP) systems convert wave energy into thrust using elastically mounted hydrofoils. We employ sharp-interface immersed boundary simulations to examine the effect of two key parameters on the flow physics, the fluid-structure interaction, as well as thrust performance of these systems - the stiffness of the torsional spring and the location of the rotational center. The variation in spring stiffness leads to different amplitude of pitch motion, phase difference with respect to heaving motion and thrust coefficient and we show the utility of ‘maps’ of energy exchange between the flow and the hydrofoil system, as a way to understand and predict this behavior. The Force Partitioning Method (FPM) is used to decompose the pressure forces into individual components and understand the mechanism behind increase in thrust. Next, a scaling law is presented for the thrust coefficient generated by heaving and pitching foil. The parameters within the scaling law are calculated based on direct-numerical simulations based parametric study utilized to generate the energy maps. The predictions of the proposed scaling law are then compared with those of a similar model from the literature, showing a noticeable improvement in the prediction of the thrust coefficient.

Keywords: propulsion, flapping foils, hydrodynamics, wave power

Procedia PDF Downloads 61

Authors: Babak Dizangian, Mohammad Reza Ghasemi, Akram Ghalandari

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Moment frames have considerable ductility against cyclic lateral loads and displacements; however, if this feature causes the relative displacement to exceed the permissible limit, it can impose unfavorable hysteretic behavior on the frame. Therefore, adding a bracing system with the capability of preserving the capacity of high energy absorption and controlling displacements without a considerable increase in the stiffness is quite important. This paper investigates the retrofitting of a single storey steel moment frame through a delayed wire-rope bracing system using a middle steel plate. In this model, the steel plate lies where the wire ropes meet, and the model geometry is such that the cables are continuously under tension so that they can take the most advantage of the inherent potential they have in tolerating tensile stress. Using the steel plate also reduces the system stiffness considerably compared to cross bracing systems and preserves the ductile frame’s energy absorption capacity. In this research, the software models of delayed wire-rope bracing system have been studied, validated, and compared with other researchers’ laboratory test results.

Keywords: cyclic loading, delayed wire rope bracing, ductile moment frame, energy absorption, hysteresis curve

Procedia PDF Downloads 291

Authors: Zichu Liu, Zhenhua Quan, Xin Liu, Yaohua Zhao

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Enhancing the heat transfer characteristics of the bobsleigh/skeleton ice track and reducing the energy consumption of the bobsleigh/skeleton ice track plays an important role in energy saving of the refrigeration systems. In this study, a track ice-making test rig was constructed to verify the accuracy of the established ice track heat transfer model. The different meteorological conditions on the variations in the heat transfer characteristics of the ice surface, ice temperature, and evaporation temperature with or without Terrain Weather Protection System (TWPS) were investigated, and the influence of the TWPS with and without low emissivity materials on these indexes was also compared. In addition, the influence of different pipe spacing and diameters of refrigeration pipe on the heat transfer resistance of the track is also analyzed. The results showed that compared with the ice track without sunshade facilities, TWPS could reduce the heat transfer between ice surface and air by 17.6% in the transition season, and TWPS with low emissivity material could reduce the heat transfer by 37%. The thermal resistance of the ice track decreased by 8.9×10⁻⁴ m²·°C/W, and the refrigerant evaporation temperature increased by 0.25 °C when the cooling pipes spacing decreased by every 10 mm. The thermal resistance decreased by 1.46×10⁻³ m²·°C/W, and the refrigerant evaporation temperature increased by 0.3 °C when the pipe diameter increased by one nominal diameter.

Keywords: bobsleigh/skeleton ice track, calculation model, heat transfer characteristics, refrigeration

Procedia PDF Downloads 110

Authors: Kobamelo Mashaba

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The molten slag has a high substantial temperatures range between 1723-1923, carrying a huge amount of useful energy for reducing energy consumption and CO₂ emissions under the heat recovery process. Therefore in this study, we investigated the performance of the modified crank Nicolson method for a delayed partial differential equation on the heat recovery of molten slag in the metallurgical mining environment. It was proved that the proposed method converges quickly compared to the classic method with the existence of a unique solution. It was inferred from numerical result that the proposed methodology is more viable and profitable for the mining industry.

Keywords: delayed partial differential equation, modified Crank-Nicolson Method, molten slag, heat recovery, parabolic equation

Procedia PDF Downloads 101

Authors: Stephen Eyije Abechi, Casimir Emmanuel Gimba, Zaharaddeen Nasiru Garba, Sani Shamsudeen, David Ebuka Authur

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The mechanisms of corrosion inhibition of mild steel in acid medium using Acalypha chamaedrifolia leaves extract as potential green inhibitor were investigated. Gravimetric (weight loss) technique was used for the corrosion studies. Mild steel coupons of 2cm × 1cm × 0.27 cm dimensions were exposed for varying durations of between 24 to 120 hours, in 1M HCl medium containing a varying concentrations of the leaves extract (0.25g/L, - 1.25g/L). The results show that corrosion rates dropped from a value of 0.49 mgcm-2hr-1 for the uninhibited medium to a value of 0.15 mgcm-2hr-1 for the inhibited medium of 1M HCl in 0.25 g/l of the extract. Values of corrosion inhibition efficiencies of 70.38-85.11% were observed as the concentration of the inhibitor were increased from 0.25g/L, - 1.25g/L. Corrosion Inhibition was found to increase with increase in immersion time and temperature. The magnitude of the Ea indicates that the interaction between the metal surface and the inhibitor was chemisorptions. The Adsorption process fit into the Langmuir isotherm model with a correlation coefficient of 0.97. Evidence from molecular dynamics model shows that Methyl stearate (Line 5) and (3Z, 13Z)-2-methyloctadeca-3,13-dien-1-ol (line 11) were found to have the highest binding energy of -197.69 ± 3.12 and-194.56 ± 10.04 in kcal/mol respectively. The binding energy of these compounds indicates that they would be a very good corrosion inhibitor for mild steel and other Fe related materials.

Keywords: binding energy, corrosion, inhibitor, Langmuir isotherm, mild steel.

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Bhavesh Dadhich, Fenil Bamnoliya, Akshita Swaminathan

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This project aims to design a system to generate energy from flowing wind due to the motion of a vehicle on the road or from the flow of wind in compact areas to utilize the wasteful energy into a useful one. It is envisaged through a design and aerodynamic performance improvement of a Savonius vertical axis wind turbine rotor and used in an integrated system with a Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG) that can generate a good amount of electrical energy. Aerodynamic calculations are performed numerically using Computational Fluid Dynamics software, and TENG's performance is evaluated analytically. The Turbine's coefficient of power is validated with published results for an inlet velocity of 7 m/s with a Tip Speed Ratio of 0.75 and found to reasonably agree with that of experiment results. The baseline design is modified with a new blade arc angle and rotor position angle based on the recommended parameter ranges suggested by previous researchers. Simulations have been performed for different T.S.R. values ranging from 0.25 to 1.5 with an interval of 0.25 with two applicable free stream velocities of 5 m/s and 7m/s. Finally, the newly designed VAWT CFD performance results are used as input for the analytical performance prediction of the triboelectric nanogenerator. The results show that this approach could be feasible and useful for small power source applications.

Keywords: savonius turbine, power, overlap ratio, tip speed ratio, TENG

Procedia PDF Downloads 122

Authors: Chungkuk Jin, Moo-Hyun Kim, HeonYong Kang

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A surface riding (SR) wave energy converter (WEC) is designed and its feasibility and performance are numerically simulated by the author-developed floater-mooring-magnet-electromagnetics fully-coupled dynamic analysis computer program. The biggest advantage of the SR-WEC is that the performance is equally effective even in low sea states and its structural robustness is greatly improved by simply riding along the wave surface compared to other existing WECs. By the numerical simulations and actuator testing, it is clearly demonstrated that the concept works and through the optimization process, its efficiency can be improved.

Keywords: computer simulation, electromagnetics fully-coupled dynamics, floater-mooring-magnet, optimization, performance evaluation, surface riding, WEC

Procedia PDF Downloads 145

Authors: Azeez Shaik, Yagnik Kalariya, Amit Salvi

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High-performance requirements and emission norms were forcing the automobile industry to opt for lightweight materials which improve the fuel efficiency and absorb energy during crash applications. In such scenario, the woven fabric composites are providing better energy absorption compared to metals. Woven fabric composites have a repetitive unit cell (RUC) and the mechanical properties of these materials are highly dependent on RUC. This work investigates the importance of detailed modelling of the RUC, the size effects associated and the mitigation techniques to avoid them using Finite element analysis approach.

Keywords: repetitive unit cell, representative volume element, size effects, cohesive zone, finite element analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 255

Authors: Mohammadreza Akbari, Pooya Soleimani Besheli, Reza khalili, Sara Akbari, Davood Domiri Ganji

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In this symposium, our aims are accuracy, capabilities and power at solving of the complicate non-linear differential at the reaction chemical in the catalyst reactor (heterogeneous reaction). Our purpose is to enhance the ability of solving the mentioned nonlinear differential equations at chemical engineering and similar issues with a simple and innovative approach which entitled ‘’Akbari-Ganji's Method’’ or ‘’AGM’’. In this paper we solve many examples of nonlinear differential equations of chemical reactions and its investigate. The chemical reactor with the energy changing (non-isotherm) in two reactors of mixed and plug are separately studied and the nonlinear differential equations obtained from the reaction behavior in these systems are solved by a new method. Practically, the reactions with the energy changing (heat or cold) have an important effect on designing and function of the reactors. This means that possibility of reaching the optimal conditions of operation for the maximum conversion depending on nonlinear nature of the reaction velocity toward temperature, results in the complexity of the operation in the reactor. In this case, the differential equation set which governs the reactors can be obtained simultaneous solution of mass equilibrium and energy and temperature changing at concentration.

Keywords: new method (AGM), nonlinear differential equation, tubular and mixed reactors, catalyst bed

Procedia PDF Downloads 383

Authors: Sofia N. Gonçalves, Duarte M. S. Albuquerque, José C. F. Pereira

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The energy transition is spurred by structural changes in energy demand, supply, and prices. Microwave technology was first proposed as a faster alternative for cooking food. It was found that food heated instantly when interacting with high-frequency electromagnetic waves. The dielectric properties account for a material’s ability to absorb electromagnetic energy and dissipate this energy in the form of heat. Many energy-intense industries could benefit from electromagnetic heating since many of the raw materials are dielectric at high temperatures. Limestone sedimentary rock is a dielectric material intensively used in the cement industry to produce unslaked lime. A numerical 3D model was implemented in COMSOL Multiphysics to study the limestone continuous processing under microwave heating. The model solves the two-way coupling between the Energy equation and Maxwell’s equations as well as the coupling between heat transfer and chemical interfaces. Complementary, a controller was implemented to optimize the overall heating efficiency and control the numerical model stability. This was done by continuously matching the cavity impedance and predicting the required energy for the system, avoiding energy inefficiencies. This controller was developed in MATLAB and successfully fulfilled all these goals. The limestone load influence on thermal decomposition and overall process efficiency was the main object of this study. The procedure considered the Verification and Validation of the chemical kinetics model separately from the coupled model. The chemical model was found to correctly describe the chosen kinetic equation, and the coupled model successfully solved the equations describing the numerical model. The interaction between flow of material and electric field Poynting vector revealed to influence limestone decomposition, as a result from the low dielectric properties of limestone. The numerical model considered this effect and took advantage from this interaction. The model was demonstrated to be highly unstable when solving non-linear temperature distributions. Limestone has a dielectric loss response that increases with temperature and has low thermal conductivity. For this reason, limestone is prone to produce thermal runaway under electromagnetic heating, as well as numerical model instabilities. Five different scenarios were tested by considering a material fill ratio of 30%, 50%, 65%, 80%, and 100%. Simulating the tube rotation for mixing enhancement was proven to be beneficial and crucial for all loads considered. When uniform temperature distribution is accomplished, the electromagnetic field and material interaction is facilitated. The results pointed out the inefficient development of the electric field within the bed for 30% fill ratio. The thermal efficiency showed the propensity to stabilize around 90%for loads higher than 50%. The process accomplished a maximum microwave efficiency of 75% for the 80% fill ratio, sustaining that the tube has an optimal fill of material. Electric field peak detachment was observed for the case with 100% fill ratio, justifying the lower efficiencies compared to 80%. Microwave technology has been demonstrated to be an important ally for the decarbonization of the cement industry.

Keywords: CFD numerical simulations, efficiency optimization, electromagnetic heating, impedance matching, limestone continuous processing

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Saroj Poudel, Joshua Mancini, Douglas Pike, Jennifer Timm, Alexei Tyryshkin, Vikas Nanda, Paul Falkowski

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On the early Earth, protein-metal complexes likely harvested energy from a reduced environment. These complexes would have been precursors to the metabolic enzymes of ancient organisms. Hydrogenase is an essential enzyme in most anaerobic organisms for the reduction and oxidation of hydrogen in the environment and is likely one of the earliest evolved enzymes. To attempt to reinvent a precursor to modern hydrogenase, we computationally designed a short thirteen amino acid peptide that binds the often-required catalytic transition metal Nickel in hydrogenase. This simple complex can achieve hundreds of hydrogen evolution cycles using light energy in a broad range of temperature and pH. Biophysical and structural investigations strongly indicate the peptide forms a di-nickel active site analogous to Acetyl-CoA synthase, an ancient protein central to carbon reduction in the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway and capable of hydrogen evolution. This work demonstrates that prior to the complex evolution of multidomain enzymes, early peptide-metal complexes could have catalyzed energy transfer from the environment on the early Earth and enabled the evolution of modern metabolism

Keywords: hydrogenase, prebiotic enzyme, metalloenzyme, computational design

Procedia PDF Downloads 216

Authors: Yeong-cheng Wang, Jin-Yinn Wang, Ming-Shan Lin, Jian-Li Dong

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To universalize the adoption of sustainable energy, the R.O.C. government encourages public buildings to introduce the PV power station on the building roof, whereas most old buildings did not include the considerations of photovoltaic (PV) power facilities in the design phase. Several factors affect the PV electricity output, the temperature is the key one, different PV technologies have different temperature coefficients. Other factors like PV panel azimuth, panel inclination from the horizontal plane, and row to row distance of PV arrays, mix up at the beginning of system design. The goal of this work is to maximize the annual energy output of a roof mount PV system. Tables to simplify the design work are developed; the results can be used for engineering project quote directly.

Keywords: optimal inclination, array azimuth, annual output

Procedia PDF Downloads 677

Authors: Ezequiel Garcia-Rodriguez, Lenin Hernandez-Ferreyra, Luis Ochoa-Franco

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The Sustainable Sewer Urban Systems (SSUS) are mechanisms integrated into the cities for manage rain water, reducing its runoff volume and velocity, enhancing the rain water quality and preventing flooding and other catastrophes associated to the rain, as well as improving the energy efficiency. The objective of SSUS is to mimic or to equal the runoff and infiltration natural conditions of the land before its urbanization, reducing runoff that may cause troubles within the houses, as well as flooding. At the same time, energy for warming homes and for pumping and treating water is reduced, contributing to the reduction of CO₂ emissions and therefore contributing to reduce the climate change. This paper contains an evaluation of the advantages that SSUS may offer within a zone of Morelia City, Mexico, applying support tools for decision making. The hydrological conditions prior to and after the urbanization of the study area were analyzed to propose the recommended SSUS. Different types of SSUS were proposed in this case study, assessing their effect on the rainwater flow behavior within the study area. SSUS usage in this case resulted, positively, in an important reduction of the magnitude and velocity of runoff, reducing therefore the risk of flooding. So that, it is recommended the implementation of SSUS in this case.

Keywords: energy efficiency, morelia, sustainablesewer, urban systems

Procedia PDF Downloads 63

Authors: Lukman O. Alimi, Vincent J. Smith, Leonard J. Barbour

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The thermosalient effect is an extremely rare propensity of certain crystalline solids for self-actuation by elastic deformation or a ballistic event1. Thermosalient compounds, colloquially known as ‘jumping crystals’ are promising materials for fabrication of actuators that are also being considered as materials for clean energy conversion because of their capabilities to convert thermal energy into mechanical motion directly. Herein, an organic aminonitrile and its derivatives have been probed by a combination of structural, microscopic and thermoanalytical techniques. Crystals of these compounds were analysed by means of single crystal XRD and hotstage microscopy in the temperature range of 100 to 298 K and found to exhibit the thermosalient effect. We also carried out differential scanning calorimetric analysis at the temperature corresponding to that at which the crystal jumps as observed under a hotstage microscope.

Keywords: aminonitrile, jumping crystal, self actuation, thermosalient effect

Procedia PDF Downloads 435

Authors: Fama Jallow, Melody Neaves, Professor Mcgregor

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The quest for sustainable energy sources has driven significant interest in hydrogen production as a clean and efficient fuel. Alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) has emerged as a prominent method for generating hydrogen, necessitating the development of advanced electrode designs with improved performance characteristics. Additive manufacturing (AM) by laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) method presents an opportunity to tailor electrode microstructures and properties, enhancing their performance. This research proposes investigating the AM of electrodes with different lattice structures to optimize hydrogen production. The primary objective is to employ advanced modeling techniques to identify and select two optimal lattice structures for electrode fabrication. LPBF will be used to fabricate electrodes with precise control over lattice geometry, pore size, and distribution. The performance evaluation will encompass energy consumption and porosity analysis. AWE will assess energy efficiency, aiming to identify lattice structures with enhanced hydrogen production rates and reduced power requirements. Computed tomography (CT) scanning will analyze porosity to determine material integrity and mass transport characteristics. The research aims to bridge the gap between AM and hydrogen production by investigating lattice structures potential in electrode design. By systematically exploring lattice structures and their impact on performance, this study aims to provide valuable insights into the design and fabrication of highly efficient and cost-effective electrodes for AWE. The outcomes hold promise for advancing hydrogen production through AM. The research will have a significant impact on the development of sustainable energy sources. The findings from this study will help to improve the efficiency of AWE, making it a more viable option for hydrogen production. This could lead to a reduction in our reliance on fossil fuels, which would have a positive impact on the environment. The research is also likely to have a commercial impact. The findings could be used to develop new electrode designs that are more efficient and cost-effective. This could lead to the development of new hydrogen production technologies, which could have a significant impact on the energy market.

Keywords: hydrogen production, electrode, lattice structure, Africa

Procedia PDF Downloads 69

Authors: Sukran Karatas

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Authentic energy network interrelations between the Creator and the creations as well as from creations to creations are the most important points for the worlds of physics and metaphysic to unite together and work in harmony, both within human beings, on the other hand, have the ability to choose their own life style voluntarily. However, it includes the automated involuntary spirit, soul and body working systems together with the voluntary actions, which involve personal, cultural and universal, rational or irrational variable values. Therefore, it is necessary for human beings to know the methods of existing authentic energy network connections to be able to communicate correlate and accommodate the physical and metaphysical entities as a proper functioning unity; this is essential for complete human psychological, biological and social well-being. Authentic knowledge is necessary for human beings to verify the position of self within self and with others to regulate conscious and voluntary actions accordingly in order to prevent oppressions and frictions within self and between self and others. Unfortunately, the absence of genuine individual and universal basic knowledge about how to establish an authentic energy network connection within self, with the deity and the environment is the most problematic issue even in the twenty-first century. The second most problematic issue is how to maintain freedom, equality and justice among human beings during these strictly interwoven network connections, which naturally involve physical, metaphysical and behavioral actions of the self and the others. The third and probably the most complicated problem is the scientific identification and the authentication of the deity. This not only provides the whole power and control over the choosers to set their life orders but also to establish perfect physical and metaphysical links as fully coordinated functional energy network. This thus indicates that choosing an authentic deity is the key-point that influences automated, emotional, and behavioral actions altogether, which shapes human perception, personal actions, and life orders. Therefore, we will be considering the existing ‘four types of energy wave end boundary behaviors’, comprising, free end, fixed end boundary behaviors, as well as boundary behaviors from denser medium to less dense medium and from less dense medium to denser medium. Consequently, this article aims to demonstrate that the authentication and the choice of deity has an important effect on individual psychological, biological and social health. It is hoped that it will encourage new researches in the field of authentic energy network connections to establish the best position and the most correct interrelation connections with self and others without violating the authorized orders and the borders of one another to live happier and healthier lives together. In addition, the book ‘Deity and Freedom, Equality, Justice in History, Philosophy, Science’ has more detailed information for those interested in this subject.

Keywords: deity, energy network, power, freedom, equality, justice, happiness, sadness, hope, fear, psychology, biology, sociology

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Authors: Mohammed Wadi, Bedri Kekezoglu, Mustafa Baysal, Mehmet Rida Tur, Abdulfetah Shobole

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This paper investigates the technical evaluation of the wind potential for present and future investments in Turkey taking into account the feasibility of sites, installments, operation, and maintenance. This evaluation based on the hourly measured wind speed data for the three years 2008–2010 at 30 m height for Çatalca district. These data were obtained from national meteorology station in Istanbul–Republic of Turkey are analyzed in order to evaluate the feasibility of wind power potential and to assure supreme assortment of wind turbines installing for the area of interest. Furthermore, the data are extrapolated and analyzed at 60 m and 80 m regarding the variability of roughness factor. Weibull bi-parameter probability function is used to approximate monthly and annually wind potential and power density based on three calculation methods namely, the approximated, the graphical and the energy pattern factor methods. The annual mean wind power densities were to be 400.31, 540.08 and 611.02 W/m² for 30, 60, and 80 m heights respectively. Simulation results prove that the analyzed area is an appropriate place for constructing large-scale wind farms.

Keywords: wind potential in Turkey, Weibull bi-parameter probability function, the approximated method, the graphical method, the energy pattern factor method, capacity factor

Procedia PDF Downloads 259

Authors: Suhadiyana Hanapi, Alhassan Salami Tijani, W. A. N Wan Mohamed

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In this paper, a prototype PEM fuel cell vehicle integrated with a 1 kW air-blowing proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack as a main power sources has been developed for a lightweight cruising vehicle. The test vehicle is equipped with a PEM fuel cell system that provides electric power to a brushed DC motor. This vehicle was designed to compete with industrial lightweight vehicle with the target of consuming least amount of energy and high performance. Individual variations in driving style have a significant impact on vehicle energy efficiency and it is well established from the literature. The primary aim of this study was to assesses the power and fuel consumption of a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle operating at three difference driving technique (i.e. 25 km/h constant speed, 22-28 km/h speed range, 20-30 km/h speed range). The goal is to develop the best driving strategy to maximize performance and minimize fuel consumption for the vehicle system. The relationship between power demand and hydrogen consumption has also been discussed. All the techniques can be evaluated and compared on broadly similar terms. Automatic intelligent controller for driving prototype fuel cell vehicle on different obstacle while maintaining all systems at maximum efficiency was used. The result showed that 25 km/h constant speed was identified for optimal driving with less fuel consumption.

Keywords: prototype fuel cell electric vehicles, energy efficient, control/driving technique, fuel economy

Procedia PDF Downloads 441

Authors: Vathna Suy, Ki-Il Song

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In order to store highly pressurized gas such as an isothermal compressed air energy storage, Lined Rock Caverns (LRC) are constructed underground and supported by layers of concrete, steel and rock masses. This study aims to numerically investigate the performance of rock masses which serve as a support of Lined Rock Cavern subjected to high cyclic pressure loadings. FLAC3D finite different software is used for the simulation since the software can effectively model the behavior of concrete lining and steel plate with its built-in structural elements. Cyclic pressure loadings are applied onto the inner surface of the cavern which then transmitted to concrete, steel and eventually to the surrounding rock masses. Changes of stress and strain are constantly monitored throughout all the process of loading operations. The results at various monitoring locations are then extracted and analyzed to assess the response of the rock masses, specifically on its ability to absorb energy during loadings induced by the changes of cyclic pressure loadings inside the cavern. By analyzing the obtained data of stress-strain relation and taking into account the behavior of materials under the effect of strain-dependency, conclusions on the performance of rock masses subjected to high cyclic loading conditions are drawn.

Keywords: cyclic loading, FLAC3D, lined rock cavern (LRC), strain-dependency

Procedia PDF Downloads 245

Authors: Jacob Wahl, Jane Zhang

Abstract:

This paper describes the development and characterization of a prototype IoT network for use with agricultural imaging and monitoring applications. The sensor and gateway nodes are designed using the ESP32 SoC with integrated Bluetooth Low Energy 4.2 and Wi-Fi. A development board, the Arducam IoTai ESP32, is used for prototyping, testing, and power measurements. Google’s Firebase is used as the cloud storage site for image data collected by the sensor. The sensor node captures images using the OV2640 2MP camera module and transmits the image data to the gateway via Bluetooth Low Energy. The gateway then uploads the collected images to Firebase via a known nearby Wi-Fi network connection. This image data can then be processed and analyzed by computer vision and machine learning pipelines to assess crop growth or other needs. The sensor node achieves a wireless transmission data throughput of 220kbps while consuming 150mA of current; the sensor sleeps at 162µA. The sensor node device lifetime is estimated to be 682 days on a 6600mAh LiPo battery while acquiring five images per day based on the development board power measurements. This network can be utilized by any application that requires high data rates, low power consumption, short-range communication, and large amounts of data to be transmitted at low-frequency intervals.

Keywords: Bluetooth low energy, ESP32, firebase cloud, IoT, smart farming

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Authors: Dhanya Nair, Nicholas Mirchandani

Abstract:

Musical haptic systems can enhance a listener’s musical experience while providing an alternative platform for the hearing impaired to experience music. Current music tactile technologies focus on representing tactile metronomes to synchronize performers or encoding musical notes into distinguishable (albeit distracting) tactile patterns. There is growing interest in the development of musical haptic systems to augment the auditory experience, although the haptic-music relationship is still not well understood. This paper represents a tactile music interface that provides vibrations to multiple fingertips in synchronicity with auditory music. Like an audio equalizer, different frequency bands are filtered out, and the power in each frequency band is computed and converted to a corresponding vibrational strength. These vibrations are felt on different fingertips, each corresponding to a different frequency band. Songs with music from different spectrums, as classified by their energy and valence, were used to test the effectiveness of the system and to understand the relationship between music and tactile sensations. Three participants were trained on one song categorized as sad (low energy and low valence score) and one song categorized as happy (high energy and high valence score). They were trained both with and without auditory feedback (listening to the song while experiencing the tactile music on their fingertips and then experiencing the vibrations alone without the music). The participants were then tested on three songs from both categories, without any auditory feedback, and were asked to classify the tactile vibrations they felt into either category. The participants were blinded to the songs being tested and were not provided any feedback on the accuracy of their classification. These participants were able to classify the music with 100% accuracy. Although the songs tested were on two opposite spectrums (sad/happy), the preliminary results show the potential of utilizing a vibrotactile equalizer, like the one presented, for augmenting musical experience while furthering the current understanding of music tactile relationship.

Keywords: haptic music relationship, tactile equalizer, tactile music, vibrations and mood

Procedia PDF Downloads 181

Authors: Daniel Y. Abebe, Jeonghyun Jang, Jaehyouk Choi

Abstract:

This study aims to evaluate the effective size, section and structural characteristics of circular hollow steel (CHS) damper. CHS damper is among steel dampers which are used widely for seismic energy dissipation because they are easy to install, maintain and are inexpensive. CHS damper dissipates seismic energy through metallic deformation due to the geometrical elasticity of circular shape and fatigue resistance around connection part. After calculating the effective size, which is found to be height to diameter ratio of √("3"), nonlinear FE analyses were carried out to evaluate the structural characteristics and effective section (diameter-to-ratio).

Keywords: circular hollow steel damper, structural characteristics, effective size, effective section, large deformation, FE analysis

Procedia PDF Downloads 361

Authors: Ahmed A. D. Sarhan, M. Sayuti, M. Hamdi

Abstract:

Due to rapid consumption of world's fossil fuel resources and impracticality of large-scale application and production of renewable energy, the significance of energy efficiency improvement of current available energy modes has been widely realized by both industry and academia. In the CNC machining field, the key solution for this issue is by increasing the effectiveness of the existing lubrication systems as it could reduce the power required to overcome the friction component in machining process. For more improvement, introducing the nanolubrication could produce much less power consumption as the rolling action of billions units of nanoparticle in the tool chip interface could reduce the cutting forces significantly. In this research, the possibility of using carbon onion nanolubrication with DLC cutting tool is investigated to reduce the machining power consumption. Carbon onion nanolubrication has been successfully developed with high tribology performance and mixed with ordinary mineral oil. The proper sonification method is used to provide a way to mix and suspend the particles thoroughly and efficiently. Furthermore, Diamond-Like Carbon (DLC) cutting tool is used and expected to play significant role in reducing friction and cutting forces and increasing abrasion resistance. The results showed significant reduction of the cutting force and the working power compared with the other conditions of using carbon black and normal lubrication systems.

Keywords: carbon onion, nanolubrication, machining power consumption, DLC cutting tool

Procedia PDF Downloads 432

Authors: Zerzouri Nora, Benalia Nadia, Bensiali Nadia

Abstract:

This paper presents a grid-connected wind power generation scheme using Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG). This can supply power at constant voltage and constant frequency with the rotor speed varying. This makes it suitable for variable speed wind energy application. The DFIG system consists of wind turbine, asynchronous wound rotor induction generator, and inverter with Space Vector Modulation (SVM) controller. In which the stator is connected directly to the grid and the rotor winding is in interface with rotor converter and grid converter. The use of back-to-back SVM converter in the rotor circuit results in low distortion current, reactive power control and operate at variable speed. Mathematical modeling of the DFIG is done in order to analyze the performance of the systems and they are simulated using MATLAB. The simulation results for the system are obtained and hence it shows that the system can operate at variable speed with low harmonic current distortion. The objective is to track and extract maximum power from the wind energy system and transfer it to the grid for useful work.

Keywords: Doubly Fed Induction Generator, Wind Energy Conversion Systems, Space Vector Modulation, distortion harmonics

Procedia PDF Downloads 484

Authors: Renata Konadu

Abstract:

In Ghana, electricity has become the main form of energy which all sectors of the economy rely on for their businesses. Therefore, as the economy grows, the demand and consumption of electricity also grow alongside due to the heavy dependence on it. However, since the supply of electricity has not increased to match the demand, there has been frequent power outages and load shedding affecting business performances. To solve this problem and advance policies to secure electricity in Ghana, it is imperative that those factors that cause consumption to increase be analysed by considering the three classes of consumers; residential, industrial and non-residential. The main argument, however, is that, export of electricity to other neighbouring countries should be included in the electricity consumption model and considered as one of the significant factors which can decrease or increase consumption. The author made use of multivariate time series data from 1980-2010 and econometric models such as Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Vector Error Correction Model. Findings show that GDP growth, urban population growth, electricity exports and industry value added to GDP were cointegrated. The results also showed that there is unidirectional causality from electricity export and GDP growth and Industry value added to GDP to electricity consumption in the long run. However, in the short run, there was found to be a directional causality among all the variables and electricity consumption. The results have useful implication for energy policy makers especially with regards to electricity consumption, demand, and supply.

Keywords: electricity consumption, energy policy, GDP growth, vector error correction model

Procedia PDF Downloads 437