Search results for: solar energy system

Authors: Koray Altintas, Ozalp Vayvay

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Increased global issues such as depletion of sources, environmental problems and social inequality triggered public awareness towards finding sustainable solutions in order to ensure the well-being of the current as well as future generations. Since energy plays a significant role in improved social and economic well-being and is imperative on both industrial and commercial wealth creation, it is a must to develop a standardized set of metrics which makes it possible to indicate the present condition relative to conditions in the past and to develop any perspective which is required to frame actions for the future. This is not an easy task by considering the complexity of the issue which requires integrating economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable energy. Multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) can be considered as a form of integrated sustainability evaluation and a decision support approach that can be used to solve complex problems featuring; conflicting objectives, different forms of data and information, multi-interests and perspectives. On that matter, MCDM methods are useful for providing solutions to complex energy management problems. The aim of this study is to review MCDM approaches that can be used for examining sustainable energy management. This study presents an insight into MCDM techniques and methods that can be useful for engineers, researchers and policy makers working in the energy sector.

Keywords: sustainable energy, sustainability criteria, multi-criteria decision making, sustainability dimensions

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Authors: Claire Far, Sara Wilkinson, Deborah Ascher Barnstone

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Energy issues have been a growing concern in current decades. Limited energy resources and increasing energy consumption from one side and environmental pollution and waste of resources from the other side have substantially affected the future of human life. Around 40 percent of total energy consumption of Australian buildings goes to heating and cooling due to the low thermal performance of the buildings. Thermal performance of buildings determines the amount of energy used for heating and cooling of the buildings which profoundly influences energy efficiency. Therefore, employing sustainable design principles and effective use of construction materials for building envelope can play crucial role in the improvement of energy efficiency of existing dwellings and enhancement of thermal comfort of the occupants. The energy consumption for heating and cooling normally is determined by the quality of the building envelope. Building envelope is the part of building which separates the habitable areas from exterior environment. Building envelope consists of external walls, external doors, windows, roof, ground and the internal walls that separate conditioned spaces from non-condition spaces. The energy loss from the building envelope is the key factor. Heat loss through conduction, convection and radiation from building envelope. Thermal performance of the building envelope can be improved by using different methods of retrofitting depending on the climate conditions and construction materials. Based on the available studies, the importance of employing sustainable design principles has been highlighted among the Australian building professionals. However, the residential building sector still suffers from a lack of having the best practice examples and experience for effective use of construction materials for building envelope. As a result, this study investigates the effectiveness of different energy retrofitting techniques and examines the impact of employing those methods on energy consumption of existing dwellings in Sydney, the most populated city in Australia. Based on the research findings, the best thermal retrofitting methods for increasing thermal comfort and energy efficiency of existing residential dwellings as well as reducing their environmental impact and footprint have been identified and proposed.

Keywords: thermal comfort, energy consumption, residential dwellings, sustainable design principles, thermal retrofit

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Authors: Amal A. Hassan, Faten H. Fahmy, Abd El-Shafy A. Nafeh, Hosam K. M. Youssef

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Due to the growing penetration of wind energy into the power grid, it is very important to study its interactions with the power system and to provide good control technique in order to deliver high quality power. In this paper, an intelligent control methodology is proposed for optimizing the controllers’ parameters of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) based wind turbine generation system (WTGS). The genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are employed and compared for the parameters adaptive tuning of the proposed proportional integral (PI) multiple controllers of the back to back converters of the DFIG based WTGS. For this purpose, the dynamic model of WTGS with DFIG and its associated controllers is presented. Furthermore, the simulation of the system is performed using MATLAB/SIMULINK and SIMPOWERSYSTEM toolbox to illustrate the performance of the optimized controllers. Finally, this work is validated to 33-bus test radial system to show the interaction between wind distributed generation (DG) systems and the distribution network.

Keywords: DFIG wind turine, intelligent control, distributed generation, particle swarm optimization, genetic algorithm

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Authors: Yoshio Kurosawa

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The applications of soundproof materials for reduction of high frequency automobile interior noise have been researched. This paper presents a sound pressure prediction technique including wind noise by Hybrid Statistical Energy Analysis (HSEA) in order to reduce weight of acoustic insulations. HSEA uses both analytical SEA and experimental SEA. As a result of chassis dynamo test and road test, the validity of SEA modeling was shown, and utility of the method was confirmed.

Keywords: vibration, noise, road noise, statistical energy analysis

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Authors: Youssef Wardeh, Elias Kinab, Pierre Rahme, Gilles Escadeillas, Stephane Ginestet

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Urban heat islands designate a local phenomenon that appears in high density cities. This results in a rise ofambient temperature in the urban area compared to the neighboring rural area. Solar radiation plays an important role in this phenomenon since it is partially absorbed by the materials, especially roads and parking lots. Cool pavements constitute an innovative and promising technique to mitigate urban heat islands. The cool pavements studied in this work allow to limit the increase of the surface temperature, thanks to evaporation of the water conducted through capillary pores, from the humidified base to the surface exposed to solar radiation. However, the performance or the cooling capacity of a pavement sometimes remained difficult to characterize. In this work, a new definition of the cooling capacity of a pavement is presented, and a correlation between the latter and the hydrothermal properties of cool pavements is revealed. Firstly, several porous concrete pavements were characterized through their hydrothermal properties, which can be related to the cooling effect, such as albedo, thermal conductivity, water absorption, etc. Secondly, these pavements initially saturated and continuously supplied with water through their bases, were exposed to external solar radiation during three sunny summer days, and their surface temperatures were measured. For draining pavements, a strong second-degreepolynomial correlation(R² = 0.945) was found between the cooling capacity and the term, which reflects the interconnection of capillary water to the surface. Moreover, it was noticed that the cooling capacity reaches its maximum for an optimal range of capillary pores for which the capillary rise is stronger than gravity. For non-draining pavements, a good negative linear correlation (R² = 0.828) was obtained between the cooling capacity and the term, which expresses the ability to heat the capillary water by the energystored far from the surface, and, therefore, the dominance of the evaporation process by diffusion. The latest tests showed that this process is, however, likely to be disturbed by the material resistance to the water vapor diffusion.

Keywords: urban heat islands, cool pavement, cooling capacity, hydrothermal properties, evaporation

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Authors: Sonu Khanal, Mandira Shrestha

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Snow and Glaciers are the largest dependable reserved sources of water for the river system originating from the Himalayas so an accurate estimate of the volume of water contained in the snowpack and the rate of release of water from snow and glaciers are, therefore, needed for efficient management of the water resources. This research assess the fusion of energy exchanges between the snowpack, air above and soil below according to mass and energy balance which makes it apposite than the models using simple temperature index for the snow and glacier melt computation. UEBGrid a Distributed energy based model is used to calculate the melt which is then routed by Geo-SFM. The model robustness is maintained by incorporating the albedo generated from the Landsat-7 ETM images on a seasonal basis for the year 2002-2003 and substrate map derived from TM. The Substrate file includes predominantly the 4 major thematic layers viz Snow, clean ice, Glaciers and Barren land. This approach makes use of CPC RFE-2 and MERRA gridded data sets as the source of precipitation and climatic variables. The subsequent model run for the year between 2002-2008 shows a total annual melt of 17.15 meter is generate from the Marshyangdi Basin of which 71% is contributed by the glaciers , 18% by the rain and rest being from the snow melt. The albedo file is decisive in governing the melt dynamics as 30% increase in the generated surface albedo results in the 10% decrease in the simulated discharge. The melt routed with the land cover and soil variables using Geo-SFM shows Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency of 0.60 with observed discharge for the study period.

Keywords: Glacier, Glacier melt, Snowmelt, Energy balance

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Authors: Rebeca Ramirez Acosta, Sebastian Lenhoff

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Decision makers worldwide need to determine if the implementation of a new market mechanism will contribute to the sustainability and resilience of the power system. Due to smart grid technologies, new products in the distribution and transmission system can be traded; however, the impact of changing a market rule will differ between several regions. To test systematically those impacts, a market categorization has been compiled and organized in a smart grid market testing toolbox. This toolbox maps all actual energy products and sets the basis for running a co-simulation test with the new rule to be implemented. It will help to measure the impact of the new rule, based on the sustainable and resilience indicators.

Keywords: co-simulation, electricity market, smart grid market, market testing

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Authors: R. A. Deshpande, P. Chandhra Sekhar, V. Sankar

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In this paper, we discussed the basic reliability evaluation techniques needed to evaluate the reliability of distribution systems which are applied in distribution system planning and operation. Basically, the reliability study can also help to predict the reliability performance of the system after quantifying the impact of adding new components to the system. The number and locations of new components needed to improve the reliability indices to certain limits are identified and studied.

Keywords: distribution system, reliability indices, urban feeder, rural feeder

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Authors: Prami Sengupta, Randall A. Cantrell, Tracy Johns

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A typical US household consumes more energy than households in other countries and is directly responsible for a considerable proportion of the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases. This makes U.S. household a vital target group for energy conservation studies. Positive household behavior is central to residential energy conservation. However, for individuals to conserve energy they must not only know how to conserve energy but be also willing to do so. That is, a positive attitude towards residential conservation and an intention to conserve energy are two of the most important psychological determinants for energy conservation behavior. Most social science studies, to date, have studied the relationships between attitude, intention, and behavior by building upon socio-psychological theories of behavior. However, these frameworks, including the widely used Theory of Planned Behavior and Social Cognitive Theory, lack a spatial component. That is, these studies fail to capture the impact of the geographical locations of homeowners’ residences on their residential energy consumption and conservation practices. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore geospatial relationships between homeowners’ residential energy conservation-attitudes, conservation-intentions, and consumption behavior. The study analyzes residential conservation-attitudes and conservation-intentions of homeowners across 63 counties in Florida and compares it with quantifiable measures of residential energy consumption. Empirical findings revealed that the spatial distribution of high and/or low values of homeowners’ mean-score values of conservation-attitudes and conservation-intentions are more spatially clustered than would be expected if the underlying spatial processes were random. On the contrary, the spatial distribution of high and/or low values of households’ carbon footprints was found to be more spatially dispersed than assumed if the underlying spatial process were random. The study also examined the influence of potential spatial variables, such as urban or rural setting and presence of educational institutions and/or extension program, on the conservation-attitudes, intentions, and behaviors of homeowners.

Keywords: conservation-attitude, conservation-intention, geospatial analysis, residential energy consumption, spatial autocorrelation

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Authors: I. C. Cho, W. H. Wen, H. Y. Tsai, T. C. Chao, C. J. Tung

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Tissue-equivalent proportional counter (TEPC) is a useful instrument used to measure radiation single-event energy depositions in a subcellular target volume. The quantity of measurements is the microdosimetric lineal energy, which determines the relative biological effectiveness, RBE, for radiation therapy or the radiation-weighting factor, WR, for radiation protection. TEPC is generally used in a mixed radiation field, where each component radiation has its own RBE or WR value. To reduce the pile-up effect during radiotherapy measurements, a miniature TEPC (mini TEPC) with cavity size in the order of 1 mm may be required. In the present work, a homemade mini TEPC with a cylindrical cavity of 1 mm in both the diameter and the height was constructed to measure the lineal energy spectrum of a mixed radiation field with high- and low-LET radiations. Instead of using external radiation beams to penetrate the detector wall, mixed radiation fields were produced by the interactions of neutrons with TEPC walls that contained small plugs of different materials, i.e. Li, B, A150, Cd and N. In all measurements, mini TEPC was placed at the beam port of the Tsing Hua Open-pool Reactor (THOR). Measurements were performed using the propane-based tissue-equivalent gas mixture, i.e. 55% C3H8, 39.6% CO2 and 5.4% N2 by partial pressures. The gas pressure of 422 torr was applied for the simulation of a 1 m diameter biological site. The calibration of mini TEPC was performed using two marking points in the lineal energy spectrum, i.e. proton edge and electron edge. Measured spectra revealed high lineal energy (> 100 keV/m) peaks due to neutron-capture products, medium lineal energy (10 – 100 keV/m) peaks from hydrogen-recoil protons, and low lineal energy (< 10 keV/m) peaks of reactor photons. For cases of Li and B plugs, the high lineal energy peaks were quite prominent. The medium lineal energy peaks were in the decreasing order of Li, Cd, N, A150, and B. The low lineal energy peaks were smaller compared to other peaks. This study demonstrated that internally produced mixed radiations from the interactions of neutrons with different plugs in the TEPC wall provided a useful approach for TEPC measurements of lineal energies.

Keywords: TEPC, lineal energy, microdosimetry, radiation quality

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Authors: Henry Kiptum Yatich, Ronald Chepkilot, Aquilars Mutuku Kalio

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Studies on energy management have focused on environmental conservation, reduction in production and operation expenses. However, transferring gains of energy management practices to competitive advantage is importance to manufacturers in Kenya. Success in managing competitive advantage arises out of a firm’s ability in identifying and implementing actions that can give the company an edge over its rivals. Manufacturing firms in Kenya are the highest consumers of both electricity and petroleum products. In this regard, the study posits that transfer of the gains of energy management practices to competitive advantage is imperative. The study was carried in Nairobi and its environs, which hosts the largest number of manufacturers. The study objectives were; to determine the level of implementing energy management regulations on sustaining competitive advantage, to determine the level of implementing company energy management policy on competitive advantage, to examine the level of implementing energy efficient technology on sustaining competitive advantage, and to assess the percentage energy expenditure on sustaining competitive advantage among manufacturing firms. The study adopted a survey research design, with a study population of 145,987. A sample of 384 respondents was selected randomly from 21 proportionately selected firms. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (correlation, regression, and T-test). Data is presented using tables and diagrams. The study found that Energy Management Regulations, Company Energy Management Policies, and Energy Expenses are significant predictors of Competitive Advantage (CA). However, Energy Efficient Technology as a component of Energy Management Practices did not have a significant relationship with Competitive Advantage. The study revealed that the level of awareness in the sector stood at 49.3%. Energy Expenses in the sector stood at an average of 10.53% of the firm’s total revenue. The study showed that gains from energy efficiency practices can be transferred to competitive strategies so as to improve firm competitiveness. The study recommends that manufacturing firms should consider energy management practices as part of its strategic agenda in assessing and reviewing their energy management practices as possible strategies for sustaining competitiveness. The government agencies such as Energy Regulatory Commission, the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, and Kenya Association of Manufacturers should enforce the energy management regulations 2012, and with enhanced stakeholder involvement and sensitization so as promote sustenance of firm competitiveness. Government support in providing incentives and rebates for acquisition of energy efficient technologies should be pursued. From the study limitation, future experimental and longitudinal studies need to be carried out. It should be noted that energy management practices yield enormous benefits to all stakeholders and that the practice should not be considered a competitive tool but rather as a universal practice.

Keywords: energy, efficiency, management, guidelines, policy, technology, competitive advantage

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Authors: N. Boudinar, A. Djekoun, A. Otmani, B. Bouzabata, J. M. Greneche

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High-energy ball milling is a solid-state powder processing technique that allows synthesizing a variety of equilibrium and non-equilibrium alloy phases starting from elemental powders. The advantage of this process technology is that the powder can be produced in large quantities and the processing parameters can be easily controlled, thus it is a suitable method for commercial applications. It can also be used to produce amorphous and nanocrystalline materials in commercially relevant amounts and is also amenable to the production of a variety of alloy compositions. Mechanical alloying (high-energy ball milling) provides an inter-dispersion of elements through a repeated cold welding and fracture of free powder particles; the grain size decreases to nano metric scale and the element mix together. Progressively, the concentration gradients disappear and eventually the elements are mixed at the atomic scale. The end products depend on many parameters such as the milling conditions and the thermodynamic properties of the milled system. Here, the mechanical alloying technique has been used to prepare nano crystalline Fe_50 and Fe_64 wt.% Ni alloys from powder mixtures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive, X-ray analyses and Mössbauer spectroscopy were used to study the mixing at nanometric scale. The Mössbauer Spectroscopy confirmed the ferromagnetic ordering and was use to calculate the distribution of hyperfin field. The Mössbauer spectrum for both alloys shows the existence of a ferromagnetic phase attributed to γ-Fe-Ni solid solution.

Keywords: nanocrystalline, mechanical alloying, X-ray diffraction, Mössbauer spectroscopy, phase transformations

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Authors: Zheng Sun, Weiwei Cui, Xiaodong Ma, Hongxin Jin, Dongpao Hong, Jinsong Yang, Jingyi Sun

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With the improvement of the performance and complexity of modern equipment, automatic test system (ATS) becomes widely used for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis. However, the conventional ATS mainly works in a serial mode, and lacks the ability of testing several equipments at the same time. That leads to low test efficiency and ATS redundancy. Especially for a large majority of equipment under test, the conventional ATS cannot meet the requirement of efficient testing. To reduce the support resource and increase test efficiency, we propose a method of design for the parallel test based on the embedded system in this paper. Firstly, we put forward the general framework of the parallel test system, and the system contains a central management system (CMS) and several distributed test subsystems (DTS). Then we give a detailed design of the system. For the hardware of the system, we use embedded architecture to design DTS. For the software of the system, we use test program set to improve the test adaption. By deploying the parallel test system, the time to test five devices is now equal to the time to test one device in the past. Compared with the conventional test system, the proposed test system reduces the size and improves testing efficiency. This is of great significance for equipment to be put into operation swiftly. Finally, we take an industrial control system as an example to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The result shows that the method is reasonable, and the efficiency is improved up to 500%.

Keywords: parallel test, embedded system, automatic test system, automatic test system (ATS), central management system, central management system (CMS), distributed test subsystems, distributed test subsystems (DTS)

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Authors: Kyoung Hoon Kim

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This work presents an exergetical performance analysis of regenerative organic Rankine cycle (ORC) using turbine bleeding based on the second law of thermodynamics for recovery of finite thermal energy. Effects of system parameters such as turbine bleeding pressure and turbine bleeding fraction are theoretically investigated on the exergy destructions (anergies) at various components of the system as well as the exergy and the second-law efficiencies. Under the conditions of the critical fraction of turbine bleeding, the simulation results show that the exergy efficiency decreases monotonically with respect to the bleeding pressure, however, the second-law efficiency has a peak with respect to the turbine bleeding pressure.

Keywords: organic Rankine cycle, ORC, regeneration, turbine bleeding, exergy, second-law efficiency

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Authors: R. Rezaeipour, A. R. Mehrabi

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Recent increase of the DGs and microgrids in distribution systems, disturbs the tradition structure of the system. Coordination between protection devices in such a system becomes the concern of the network operators. This paper presents a new method for fault location detection in the active distribution networks, independent of the fault type or its resistance. The method uses synchronized voltage and current measurements at the interconnection of DG units and is able to adapt to changes in the topology of the system. The method has been tested on a 38-bus distribution system, with very encouraging results.

Keywords: fault location detection, active distribution system, micro grids, network operators

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Authors: R. Chakib, A. Essadki, M. Cherkaoui

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This paper proposes the study of a robust control of the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) used in a wind energy production. The proposed control is based on the linear active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) and it is applied to the control currents rotor of the DFIG, the DC bus voltage and active and reactive power exchanged between the DFIG and the network. The system under study and the proposed control are simulated using MATLAB/SIMULINK.

Keywords: doubly fed induction generator (DFIG), active disturbance rejection control (ADRC), vector control, MPPT, extended state observer, back-to-back converter, wind turbine

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Authors: Miyeon Yoo, Sewon Kim, Changyeop Lee

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It is important to measure the internal temperature or temperature distribution precisely in combustion system to increase energy efficiency and reduce the pollutants. Especially in case of large combustion systems such as power plant boiler and reheating furnace of steel making process, it is very difficult to measure those physical properties in detail. Tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy measurement and analysis can be attractive method to overcome the difficulty. In this paper, TDLAS methods are used to measure the oxygen concentration and temperature distribution in various experimental conditions.

Keywords: tunable diode laser absorption Spectroscopy, temperature distribution, gas concentration

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Authors: Taehyun Kim

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As a result of rapid urbanization, energy demands for lighting, heating and cooling of households have been concentrated in metropolitan areas. The energy resources for housing in urban areas are dominantly fossil fuel whose uses contribute to increase cost of living and carbon dioxide (CO2) emission. To achieve environmentally and economically sustainable residential development, it is important to know how energy use and cost of living can be reduced by planning and design. The purpose of this study is to examine which type of building requires less energy for housing. To do so, carbon footprint (CF) quiz survey was employed which estimates the amount of carbon dioxide required to support households’ consumption of energy uses for housing. The housing carbon footprints (HCF) of 500 households of Seoul, Korea in summer and winter were estimated and compared in three major types of housing: single-family (detached), row-house and apartment. In addition, its differences of HCF were estimated between tower and flat type of apartment. The results of T-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) provide statistical evidence that housing type is related to housing energy use. Average HCF of detached house was higher than other housing types. Between two types of apartment, tower type shows higher HCF than flat type in winter. These findings may provide new perspectives on CF application in sustainable architecture and urban design.

Keywords: analysis of variance, carbon footprint, energy use, housing type

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Authors: Aiswarya C. L, Swatantra Pratap Singh

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In recent years, most desalination plants have been powered by fossil fuels, and to a lesser extent, by green energy. Greenhouse gases emitted by fossil-fuelled plants significantly impact the global climate. So scientists are forced to develop a powerful energy source to protect the environment with greater sustainability due to climate change issues. Nuclear energy can supply much more fresh water than what is currently available. Furthermore, it is more affordable and does not emit any greenhouse gases. This review compares conventional desalination plants with nuclear-powered desalination plants in terms of cost, energy consumption, water recovery, and environmental issues. On the basis of the review conducted, nuclear desalination has been demonstrated to be technically feasible and economically competitive with a variety of fossil fuels, renewable energy sources, and waste heat sources. Nuclear sources have been criticized due to their lack of safety. But studies show, if we were able to handle the issue with care, the problems could be eliminated. Here we're looking at the Seawater Reverse Osmosis Plant (SWROP) at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in Tamil Nadu, India and review the further possibility of implementing nuclear desalination technology in other states of India.

Keywords: energy consumption, environmental impacts, nuclear desalination, water recovery

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Authors: Abdelali Laid, Abid Hamza, Zeroukhi Houari, Sayah Naimi

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This work relates to the study of the energy levels and the optimization of the Parameter intrinsic (a number of wells and their widths, width of barrier of potential, index of refraction etc.) and extrinsic (temperature, pressure) in the Structure laser diode containing the structure GaInP. The methods of calculation used; - method of the empirical pseudo potential to determine the electronic structures of bands, - graphic method for optimization. The found results are in concord with those of the experiment and the theory.

Keywords: semi-conductor, GaInP/AlGaInP, pseudopotential, energy, alliages

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Authors: Ahlam Elkilani, Bayan Elsheikh Ali, Rasha Abu Romman, Amjed Al-mousa, Belal Sababha

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The amount of energy the world uses doubles every 20 years. Green homes play an important role in reducing the residential energy demand. This paper presents a platform that is intended to learn the behavior of home residents and build a profile about their habits and actions. The proposed resident aware home controller intervenes in the operation of home appliances in order to save energy without compromising the convenience of the residents. The presented platform can be used to simulate the actions and movements happening inside a home. The paper includes several optimization techniques that are meant to save energy in the home. In addition, several test scenarios are presented that show how the controller works. Moreover, this paper shows the computed actual savings when each of the presented techniques is implemented in a typical home. The test scenarios have validated that the techniques developed are capable of effectively saving energy at homes.

Keywords: green home, resident aware, resident profile, activity learning, machine learning

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Authors: Sepulveda Juan

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This article explains the elements and considerations taken into account when implementing and applying patent evaluation and scientometric study in the identifications of technology trends, and the tools that led to the implementation of a software application for patent revision. Univariate analysis helped recognize the technological leaders in the field of energy, and steered the way for a multivariate analysis of this sample, which allowed for a graphical description of the techniques of mature technologies, as well as the detection of emerging technologies. This article ends with a validation of the methodology as applied to the case of fuel cells.

Keywords: patents, scientometric, renewable energy, technology maps

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Authors: Nuray Güy, Mahmut Özacar

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Semiconductor nanoparticles such as TiO₂ and ZnO as photocatalysts are very efficient catalysts for wastewater treatment by the chemical utilization of light energy, which is capable of converting the toxic and nonbiodegradable organic compounds into carbon dioxide and mineral acids. ZnO semiconductor has a wide bandgap energy of 3.37 eV and a relatively large exciton binding Energy (60 meV), thus can absorb only UV light with the wavelength equal to or less than 385 nm. It exhibits low efficiency under visible light illumination due to its wide band gap energy. In order to improve photocatalytic activity of ZnO under visible light, band gap of ZnO may be narrowed by doping such as N, C, S nonmetal ions and coupled two separate semiconductors possessing different energy levels for their corresponding conduction and valence bands. ZnS has a wider band gap (Eg=3.7 eV) than ZnO and generates electron–hole pairs by photoexcitation rapidly. In the present work, N doped ZnO/ZnS nano photocatalysts with visible-light response were synthesized by microwave-hydrothermal method using thiourea as N source. The prepared photocatalysts were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and UV–visible (UV–vis). The photocatalytic activities samples and undoped ZnO have been studied for the degradation of dye, and have also been compared with together.

Keywords: photocatalyst, synthesis, visible light, ZnO/ZnS

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Authors: Umit Cali

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The integration of intermittent energy sources like wind farms into the electricity grid has become an important challenge for the utilization and control of electric power systems, because of the fluctuating behaviour of wind power generation. Wind power predictions improve the economic and technical integration of large amounts of wind energy into the existing electricity grid. Trading, balancing, grid operation, controllability and safety issues increase the importance of predicting power output from wind power operators. Therefore, wind power forecasting systems have to be integrated into the monitoring and control systems of the transmission system operator (TSO) and wind farm operators/traders. The wind forecasts are relatively precise for the time period of only a few hours, and, therefore, relevant with regard to Spot and Intraday markets. In this work predictive data mining techniques are applied to identify a statistical and neural network model or set of models that can be used to predict wind power output of large onshore and offshore wind farms. These advanced data analytic methods helps us to amalgamate the information in very large meteorological, oceanographic and SCADA data sets into useful information and manageable systems. Accurate wind power forecasts are beneficial for wind plant operators, utility operators, and utility customers. An accurate forecast allows grid operators to schedule economically efficient generation to meet the demand of electrical customers. This study is also dedicated to an in-depth consideration of issues such as the comparison of day ahead and the short-term wind power forecasting results, determination of the accuracy of the wind power prediction and the evaluation of the energy economic and technical benefits of wind power forecasting.

Keywords: renewable energy sources, wind power, forecasting, data mining, big data, artificial intelligence, energy economics, power trading, power grids

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Authors: Insaf Mehani, Bachir Bouchekima

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The necessary reduction and progressive consumption of fossil fuels, whose scarcity is inevitable, involves mobilizing a set of alternatives.Renewable energy, including bio energy are an alternative to fossil fuel depletion and a way to fight against the harmful effects of climate change. It is possible to develop common dates of low commercial value, and put on the local and international market a new generation of products with high added values such as bio ethanol. Besides its use in chemical synthesis, bio ethanol can be blended with gasoline to produce a clean fuel while improving the octane.

Keywords: bioenergy, dates, bioethanol, renewable energy, south Algeria

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Authors: Ebrahim Farahmand, Ali Mahani

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Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) can facilitate continuous monitoring of patients and increase early detection of emergency conditions and diseases. High density WSNs helps us to accurately monitor a remote environment by intelligently combining the data from the individual nodes. Due to energy capacity limitation of sensors, enhancing the lifetime and the reliability of WSNs are important factors in designing of these networks. The clustering strategies are verified as effective and practical algorithms for reducing energy consumption in WSNs and can tackle WSNs limitations. In this paper, an Energy-efficient weight-based Clustering Protocol (EWCP) is presented. Artificial retina is selected as a case study of WSNs applied in body sensors. Cluster heads’ (CHs) selection is equipped with energy efficient parameters. Moreover, cluster members are selected based on their distance to the selected CHs. Comparing with the other benchmark protocols, the lifetime of EWCP is improved significantly.

Keywords: WSN, healthcare monitoring, weighted based clustering, lifetime

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Authors: John Gaber, Youssef Ahmed, Hossam A.Gabbar, Jing Ren

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Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) operators have a large responsibility on their shoulders. They must allow the plant to generate a high amount of energy while inspecting and maintaining the safety of the plant. This type of occupation comes with high amounts of mental fatigue, and a small mistake can have grave consequences. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a method of gathering the electromagnetic waves emitted by a human brain. We propose a safety system by monitoring brainwaves for signs of mental fatigue. This requires an analysis of the tasks and mental models of the NPP operator, as well as risk factors on mental fatigue and attention that NPP operators face when performing their tasks. The brain waves generated from experiencing mental fatigue can then be monitored for. These factors are analyzed, developing an EEG-based monitoring system, which aims to alert NPP operators when levels of mental fatigue and attention start affecting their performance in task completion.

Keywords: EEG, power plant operator, psychology, task analysis

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Authors: Bin Su

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The draft Auckland Unitary Plan outlines the future land used for new housing and businesses with Auckland population growth over the next thirty years. According to Auckland Unitary Plan, over the next 30 years, the population of Auckland is projected to increase by one million, and up to 70% of total new dwellings occur within the existing urban area. Intensification will not only increase the number of median or higher density houses such as terrace house, apartment building, etc. within the existing urban area but also change mean housing design data that can impact building thermal performance under the local climate. Based on mean energy consumption and building design data, and their relationships of a number of Auckland sample houses, this study is to estimate the future mean housing energy consumption associated with the change of mean housing design data and evaluate housing energy efficiency with the Auckland Unitary Plan.

Keywords: Auckland Unitary Plan, building thermal design, housing design, housing energy efficiency

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Authors: Gaurav Kumar Sinha

Abstract:

The oil refining industry, significant in its energy consumption and carbon emissions, faces increasing pressure to reduce its environmental footprint. This article explores the application of energy efficiency and sustainability analytics as crucial tools for reducing carbon emissions in oil refineries. Through a comprehensive review of current practices and technologies, this study highlights innovative analytical approaches that can significantly enhance energy efficiency. We focus on the integration of advanced data analytics, including machine learning and predictive modeling, to optimize process controls and energy use. These technologies are examined for their potential to not only lower energy consumption but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, the article discusses the implementation of sustainability analytics to monitor and improve environmental performance across various operational facets of oil refineries. We explore case studies where predictive analytics have successfully identified opportunities for reducing energy use and emissions, providing a template for industry-wide application. The challenges associated with deploying these analytics, such as data integration and the need for skilled personnel, are also addressed. The paper concludes with strategic recommendations for oil refineries aiming to enhance their sustainability practices through the adoption of targeted analytics. By implementing these measures, refineries can achieve significant reductions in carbon emissions, aligning with global environmental goals and regulatory requirements.

Keywords: energy efficiency, sustainability analytics, carbon emissions, oil refineries, data analytics, machine learning, predictive modeling, process optimization, greenhouse gas reduction, environmental performance

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Authors: Atefeh Kalantari

Abstract:

The increase in population and energy consumption has caused environmental crises such as the energy crisis, increased pollution, and climate change, all of which have resulted in a decline in the quality of life, especially in urban environments. Iran is one of the developing countries which faces several challenges concerning energy use and environmental sustainability such as air pollution, climate change, and energy security. On the other hand, due to its favorable geographic characteristics, Iran has diverse and accessible renewable sources, which provide appropriate substitutes to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Sustainable development programs and post-carbon cities rely on implementing energy policies in different sectors of society, particularly, the built environment sector is one of the main ones responsible for energy consumption and carbon emissions for cities. Because of this, several advancements and programs are being implemented to promote energy efficiency for urban planning, and city experts, like others, are looking for solutions to deal with these problems. Among the solutions provided for this purpose, low-carbon design can be mentioned. Among the different scales, the neighborhood can be mentioned as a suitable scale for applying the principles and solutions of low-carbon urban design; Because the neighborhood as a "building unit of the city" includes elements and flows that all affect the number of CO2 emissions. The article aims to provide criteria for designing a low-carbon and carbon-free neighborhood through descriptive methods and secondary data analysis. The ultimate goal is to promote energy efficiency and create a more resilient and livable environment for local residents.

Keywords: climate change, low-carbon urban design, carbon-free neighborhood, resilience

Procedia PDF Downloads 63