Search results for: energy demand.

Authors: Victor Birikorang Danquah

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Ghana's primary energy supply is heavily reliant on petroleum, biomass, and hydropower. Currently, Ghana gets its energy from hydropower (Akosombo and Bui), thermal power plants powered by crude oil, natural gas, and diesel, solar power, and imports from La Cote d'Ivoire. Until the early 2000s, large hydroelectric dams dominated Ghana's electricity generation. Due to the unreliable weather patterns, Ghana increased its reliance on thermal power. Thermal power contributes the highest percentage in terms of electricity generation in Ghana and is predominantly supplied by Independent Power Producers (IPPs). Ghana's electricity industry operates the corporate utility model as its business model. This model is typically 'vertically integrated', with a single corporation selling the majority of power generated by its generation assets to its retail business, which then sells the electricity to retail market consumers. The corporate utility model has a straightforward value proposition that is based on increasing the number of energy units sold. The unit volume business model drives the entire energy value chain to increase throughput, locking system users into unsustainable practices. This report uses the qualitative research approach to explore the electricity industry in Ghana. There is the need for increasing renewable energy such as wind and solar in the electricity generation. The research recommends two critical business models for the penetration of renewable energy in Ghana's power sector. The first model is the peer-to-peer electricity trading model which relies on a software platform to connect consumers and generators in order for them to trade energy directly with one another. The second model is about encouraging local energy generation, incentivizing optimal time-of-use behaviour, and allow any financial gains to be shared among the community members.

Keywords: business model innovation, electricity generation, renewable energy, solar energy, sustainability, wind energy

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Authors: T. Aboumahboub, R. Brecha, H. B. Shrestha, U. F. Hutfilter, A. Geiges, W. Hare, M. Schaeffer, L. Welder, M. Gidden

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The proposed stringent mitigation targets require an immediate start for a drastic transformation of the whole energy system. The current Australian energy system is mainly centralized and fossil fuel-based in most states with coal and gas-fired plants dominating the total produced electricity over the recent past. On the other hand, the country is characterized by a huge, untapped renewable potential, where wind and solar energy could play a key role in the decarbonization of the Australia’s future energy system. However, integrating high shares of such variable renewable energy sources (VRES) challenges the power system considerably due to their temporal fluctuations and geographical dispersion. This raises the concerns about flexibility gap in the system to ensure the security of supply with increasing shares of such intermittent sources. One main flexibility dimension to facilitate system integration of high shares of VRES is to increase the cross-sectoral integration through coupling of electricity to other energy sectors alongside the decarbonization of the power sector and reinforcement of the transmission grid. This paper applies a multi-sectoral energy system optimization model for Australia. We investigate the cost-optimal configuration of a renewable-based Australian energy system and its transformation pathway in line with the ambitious range of proposed climate change mitigation targets. We particularly analyse the implications of linking the electricity and transport sectors in a prospective, highly renewable Australian energy system.

Keywords: Decarbonization, energy system modeling, sector coupling, variable renewable energies.

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Authors: Shehzad Ashraf Ch., Aftab Ahmed Khan, Zahid Mehmood, Muhammad Ahsan Habib, Qasim Mehmood

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Energy efficiency is the key requirement in wireless sensor network as sensors are small, cheap and are deployed in very large number in a large geographical area, so there is no question of replacing the batteries of the sensors once deployed. Different ways can be used for efficient energy transmission including Multi-Hop algorithms, collaborative communication, cooperativecommunication, Beam- forming, routing algorithm, phase, frequency and time synchronization. The paper reviews the need for time synchronization and proposed a BFS based synchronization algorithm to achieve energy efficiency. The efficiency of our protocol has been tested and verified by simulation

Keywords: time synchronization, sensor networks, energy efficiency, breadth first search

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Authors: M. Azadbakht, N. Tajari, R. Alimoradzade

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Knowing pea pods mechanical resistance against dynamic forces are important for design of combine harvester. In pea combine harvesters, threshing is accomplished by two mechanical actions of impact and friction forces. In this research, the effects of initial moisture content and needed impact and friction energy on threshing of pea pods were studied. An impact device was built based on pendulum mechanism. The experiments were done at three initial moisture content levels of 12.1, 23.5 and 39.5 (%w.b.) for both impact and friction methods. Three energy levels of 0.088, 0.126 and 0.202 J were used for impact method and for friction method three energy levels of 0.784, 0.930 and 1.351 J. The threshing percentage was measured in each method. By using a frictional device, kinetic friction coefficients at above moisture contents were measured 0.257, 0.303 and 0.336, respectively. The results of variance analysis of the two methods showed that moisture content and energy have significant effects on the threshing percentage.

Keywords: Pea pod, Energy, Friction, Impact, Initial moisture content, Threshing.

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Authors: Apichit Svang-Ariyaskul, Thanapat Chaireongsirikul, Pawit Tangviroon

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Distillation consumes enormous quantity of energy. This work proposed a process to recover the energy from exit streams during the distillation process of three consecutive columns. There are several novel techniques to recover the heat with the distillation system; however, a complex control system is required. This work proposed a simpler technique by exchanging the heat between streams without interrupting the internal distillation process that might cause a serious control problem. The proposed process is executed by using heat exchanger network with pinch analysis to maximize the process heat recovery. The test model is the distillation of butane, pentane, hexane, and heptanes, which is a common mixture in the petroleum refinery. This proposed process saved the energy consumption for hot and cold utilities of 29 and 27%, which is considered significant. Therefore, the recovery of heat from exit streams from distillation process is proved to be effective for energy saving.

Keywords: Distillation, Heat Exchanger, Network Pinch Analysis.

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Authors: Gun Yung Go, Man Young Kim

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Worldwide interests for the renewable energy are increasing due to environmental and climate changes from traditional petroleum related energy sources. To account for these social needs, ligneous biomass energy is considered as one of the environmentally friend energy solutions. The wood torrefaction process is a feasible method to improve the properties of the biomass fuel and makes the wood have low moisture, lower smoke emission and increased heating value. In this work, therefore, the moisture evaporation model which largely affects energy efficiency of ligneous biomass through moisture contents and heating value relative to its weight is studied with numerical modeling approach by analyzing the effects of torrefaction furnace temperature. The results show that the temperature and moisture fraction of wood decrease by increasing the furnace temperature. When the torrefaction temperature is lower than 423K, there were little changes of the moisture fraction in the wood. Also, it can be found that charcoal is produced more slowly when the torrefaction temperature is lower than 573K.

Keywords: Modeling, Torrefaction, Biomass, Moisture Fraction, Charcoal.

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Authors: M. Raciti Castelli, M. Cescon, E. Benini

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Nuclear energy sources have been widely used in the past decades in order to power spacecraft subsystems. Nevertheless, their use has attracted controversy because of the risk of harmful material released into the atmosphere if an accident were to occur during the launch phase of the mission, leading to the general adoption of photovoltaic systems. As compared to solar cells, wind turbines have a great advantage on Mars, as they can continuously produce power both during dust storms and at night-time: this paper focuses on the potential of a wind energy conversion system (WECS) considering the atmospheric conditions on Mars. Wind potential on Martian surface has been estimated, as well as the average energy requirements of a Martian probe or surface rover. Finally, the expected daily energy output of the WECS has been computed on the basis of both the swept area of the rotor and the equivalent wind speed at the landing site.

Keywords: Wind turbine, wind potential, Mars, probe, surface rover.

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Authors: Ghoname Abdullah, Hidekazu Nishimura

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Dust accumulation on the photovoltaic module's surface results in appreciable loss and negatively affects the generated power. Hence, in this paper, the design of a photovoltaic array cleaning system is presented. The cleaning system utilizes one drive motor, two guide rails, and four sweepers during the cleaning process. The cleaning system was experimentally implemented for one month to investigate its efficiency on PV array energy output. The energy capture over a month for PV array cleaned using the proposed cleaning system is compared with that of the energy capture using soiled PV array. The results show a 15% increase in energy generation from PV array with cleaning. From the results, investigating the optimal scheduling of the PV array cleaning could be an interesting research topic.

Keywords: Cleaning system, dust accumulation, PV array, PV module, soiling.

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Authors: M. Nassereddine, J. Rizk, M. Nagrial

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Green house effect has becomes a serious concern in many countries due to the increase consumption of the fossil fuel. There have been many studies to find an alternative power source. Wind energy found to be one of the most useful solutions to help in overcoming the air pollution and global. There is no agreed solution to conversion of wind energy to electrical energy. In this paper, the advantages of using a Switched Reluctance Generator (SRG) for wind energy applications. The theoretical study of the self excitation of a SRG and the determination of the variable parameters in a SRG design are discussed. The design parameters for the maximum power output of the SRG are computed using Matlab simulation. The designs of the circuit to control the variable parameters in a SRG to provide the maximum power output are also discussed.

Keywords: Switched Reluctance Generator, Wind Power, Electrical Machines.

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Authors: A. Rajagopal, S. Somasundaram, B. Sowmya, T. Suguna

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Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) enable new applications and need non-conventional paradigms for the protocol because of energy and bandwidth constraints, In WSN, sensor node’s life is a critical parameter. Research on life extension is based on Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH) scheme, which rotates Cluster Head (CH) among sensor nodes to distribute energy consumption over all network nodes. CH selection in WSN affects network energy efficiency greatly. This study proposes an improved CH selection for efficient data aggregation in sensor networks. This new algorithm is based on Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO) incorporated in LEACH.

Keywords: Bacterial Foraging Optimization (BFO), Cluster Head (CH), Data-aggregation protocols, Low-Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy (LEACH).

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Authors: Pawel Sowa, Joachim Bargiel

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This paper presents modern solutions of distributed generation in rural communities aiming at the improvement of energy and environmental security, as well as power supply reliability to important customers (e.g. health care, sensitive consumer required continuity). Distributed sources are mainly gas and biogas cogeneration units, as well as wind and photovoltaic sources. Some examples of their applications in a selected Silesian community are given.

Keywords: Energy security, power supply reliability, power engineering, mini energy centers.

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Authors: Mohamed Watfa, William Daher, Hisham Al Azar

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The main idea behind in network aggregation is that, rather than sending individual data items from sensors to sinks, multiple data items are aggregated as they are forwarded by the sensor network. Existing sensor network data aggregation techniques assume that the nodes are preprogrammed and send data to a central sink for offline querying and analysis. This approach faces two major drawbacks. First, the system behavior is preprogrammed and cannot be modified on the fly. Second, the increased energy wastage due to the communication overhead will result in decreasing the overall system lifetime. Thus, energy conservation is of prime consideration in sensor network protocols in order to maximize the network-s operational lifetime. In this paper, we give an energy efficient approach to query processing by implementing new optimization techniques applied to in-network aggregation. We first discuss earlier approaches in sensors data management and highlight their disadvantages. We then present our approach “Energy Efficient Indexed Aggregation" (EEIA) and evaluate it through several simulations to prove its efficiency, competence and effectiveness.

Keywords: Sensor Networks, Data Base, Data Fusion, Aggregation, Indexing, Energy Efficiency

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Authors: J. Zagorskas, I. Veteikyte

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Physical urban form is recognized to be the media for human transactions. It directly influences the travel demand of people in a specific urban area and the amount of energy used for transportation. Distorted, sprawling form often creates sustainability problems in urban areas. It is declared in EU strategic planning documents that compact urban form and mixed land use pattern must be given the main focus to achieve better sustainability in urban areas, but the methods to measure and compare these characteristics are still not clear. This paper presents the simple methods to measure the spatial characteristics of urban form by analyzing the location and distribution of objects in an urban environment. The extended CA (cellular automata) model is used to simulate urban development scenarios.

Keywords: Cellular automata (CA), Mixed used planning, Spatial analysis, Urban compactness, Geographic information systems (GIS).

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Authors: Ángel de J. López-Pérez, Sonia E. Ruiz, Vanessa A. Segovia

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Buildings vulnerability due to seismic activity has been highly studied since the middle of last century. As a solution to the structural and non-structural damage caused by intense ground motions, several seismic energy dissipating devices, such as buckling-restrained braces (BRB), have been proposed. BRB have shown to be effective in concentrating a large portion of the energy transmitted to the structure by the seismic ground motion. A design approach for buildings with BRB elements, which is based on a seismic Displacement-Based formulation, has recently been proposed by the coauthors in this paper. It is a practical and easy design method which simplifies the work of structural engineers. The method is used here for the design of the structure-BRB damper system. The objective of the present study is to extend and apply a methodology to find the best combination of design parameters on multiple-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) structural frame – BRB systems, taking into account simultaneously: 1) initial costs and 2) an adequate engineering demand parameter. The design parameters considered here are: the stiffness ratio (α = K_frame/K_total), and the strength ratio (γ = V_damper/V_total); where K represents structural stiffness and V structural strength; and the subscripts "frame", "damper" and "total" represent: the structure without dampers, the BRB dampers and the total frame-damper system, respectively. The selection of the best combination of design parameters α and γ is based on an initial costs analysis and on the structural dynamic response of the structural frame-damper system. The methodology is applied to a 12-story 5-bay steel building with BRB, which is located on the intermediate soil of Mexico City. It is found the best combination of design parameters α and γ for the building with BRB under study.

Keywords: Best combination of design parameters, BRB, buildings with energy dissipating devices, buckling-restrained braces, initial costs.

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Authors: Pravesh Chandra Shukla, Kunal Ghosh

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Over 90% of the world trade is carried by the international shipping industry. As most of the countries are developing, seaborne trade continues to expand to bring benefits for consumers across the world. Studies show that world trade will increase 70-80% through shipping in the next 15-20 years. Present global fleet of 70000 commercial ships consumes approximately 200 million tonnes of diesel fuel a year and it is expected that it will be around 350 million tonnes a year by 2020. It will increase the demand for fuel and also increase the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere. So, it-s essential to control this massive fuel consumption and CO2 emission. The idea is to utilize a diesel-wind hybrid system for ship propulsion. Use of wind energy by installing modern wing-sails in ships can drastically reduce the consumption of diesel fuel. A huge amount of wind energy is available in oceans. Whenever wind is available the wing-sails would be deployed and the diesel engine would be throttled down and still the same forward speed would be maintained. Wind direction in a particular shipping route is not same throughout; it changes depending upon the global wind pattern which depends on the latitude. So, the wing-sail orientation should be such that it optimizes the use of wind energy. We have made a computer programme in which by feeding the data regarding wind velocity, wind direction, ship-motion direction; we can find out the best wing-sail position and fuel saving for commercial ships. We have calculated net fuel saving in certain international shipping routes, for instance, from Mumbai in India to Durban in South Africa. Our estimates show that about 8.3% diesel fuel can be saved by utilizing the wind. We are also developing an experimental model of the ship employing airfoils (small scale wingsail) and going to test it in National Wind Tunnel Facility in IIT Kanpur in order to develop a control mechanism for a system of airfoils.

Keywords: Commercial ships, Wind diesel hybrid system, Wing-sail, Wind direction, Wind velocity.

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Authors: Bahar Hazal Yalçınkaya, Bayram Yılmaz, Mustafa Özilgen

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Brain information transmission in the neuronal network occurs in the form of electrical signals. Neural work transmits information between the neurons or neurons and target cells by moving charged particles in a voltage field; a fraction of the energy utilized in this process is dissipated via entropy generation. Exergy loss and entropy generation models demonstrate the inefficiencies of the communication along the dendritic trees. In this study, neurons of 4 different animals were analyzed with one dimensional cable model with N=6 identical dendritic trees and M=3 order of symmetrical branching. Each branch symmetrically bifurcates in accordance with the 3/2 power law in an infinitely long cylinder with the usual core conductor assumptions, where membrane potential is conserved in the core conductor at all branching points. In the model, exergy loss and entropy generation rates are calculated for each branch of equivalent cylinders of electrotonic length (L) ranging from 0.1 to 1.5 for four different dendritic branches, input branch (BI), and sister branch (BS) and two cousin branches (BC-1 & BC-2). Thermodynamic analysis with the data coming from two different cat motoneuron studies show that in both experiments nearly the same amount of exergy is lost while generating nearly the same amount of entropy. Guinea pig vagal motoneuron loses twofold more exergy compared to the cat models and the squid exergy loss and entropy generation were nearly tenfold compared to the guinea pig vagal motoneuron model. Thermodynamic analysis show that the dissipated energy in the dendritic tress is directly proportional with the electrotonic length, exergy loss and entropy generation. Entropy generation and exergy loss show variability not only between the vertebrate and invertebrates but also within the same class. Concurrently, single action potential Na⁺ ion load, metabolic energy utilization and its thermodynamic aspect contributed for squid giant axon and mammalian motoneuron model. Energy demand is supplied to the neurons in the form of Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Exergy destruction and entropy generation upon ATP hydrolysis are calculated. ATP utilization, exergy destruction and entropy generation showed differences in each model depending on the variations in the ion transport along the channels.

Keywords: ATP utilization, entropy generation, exergy loss, neuronal information transmittance.

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Authors: Ebru Kavak Akpinar, Seda Toraman

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In the present work, the effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy were calculated using an infinite series solution of Fick-s diffusion equation. The results showed that increasing drying temperature accelerated the drying process. All drying experiments had only falling rate period. The average effective moisture diffusivity values varied from 2.807x10-10 to 6.977x10-10m2 s_1 over the temperature and velocity range. The temperature dependence of the effective moisture diffusivity for the thin layer drying of the ginger slices was satisfactorily described by an Arrhenius-type relationship with activation energy values of 19.313- 22.722 kJ.mol-1 within 40–70 °C and 0.8-3 ms-1 temperature range.

Keywords: Ginger, Drying, Activation energy, Moisture diffusivity.

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Authors: Xuguang Leng

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The theory of tectonic plate asteroid driver provides that comet and asteroid collisions have ample energy to fracture, move, and deform tectonic plate. The enormous kinetic energy of an asteroid collision is dissipated through the fracture and violent movement of the tectonic plates, and stored in the plate deformations. The stored energy will be released in the future through plate slow movement. The reflection of plate edge upwards upon collision impact causes the plate to sit on top of adjacent plate and creates the subduction plate. Higher probability and higher energy of asteroid collision in the equator area provides the net energy to drive heavier land plates to higher latitudes, offsetting the tidal and self spin forces, creating a more random land plates distribution. The trend of asteroid collisions is less frequency and intensity as loose objects are merging into the planets and Jupiter is taking ever larger shares of collisions. As overall energy input from asteroid collision decreases, plate movement is slowing down and eventually land plates will congregate towards equator area. The current trajectory of plate movements is the cumulative effect of past asteroid collisions, and can be altered, new plates be created, by future collisions.

Keywords: Tectonic plate, Earth, asteroid, comet.

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Authors: Kayode A. Olaniyi, Adeola A. Ogunleye, Tola M. Osifeko

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Electric Vehicles (EV) appear to be gaining increasing patronage as a feasible alternative to Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles (ICEVs) for having low emission and high operation efficiency. The EV energy storage systems are required to handle high energy and power density capacity constrained by limited space, operating temperature, weight and cost. The choice of strategies for energy storage evaluation, monitoring and control remains a challenging task. This paper presents review of various energy storage technologies and recent researches in battery evaluation techniques used in EV applications. It also underscores strategies for the hybrid energy storage management and control schemes for the improvement of EV stability and reliability. The study reveals that despite the advances recorded in battery technologies there is still no cell which possess both the optimum power and energy densities among other requirements, for EV application. However combination of two or more energy storages as hybrid and allowing the advantageous attributes from each device to be utilized is a promising solution. The review also reveals that State-of-Charge (SoC) is the most crucial method for battery estimation. The conventional method of SoC measurement is however questioned in the literature and adaptive algorithms that include all model of disturbances are being proposed. The review further suggests that heuristic-based approach is commonly adopted in the development of strategies for hybrid energy storage system management. The alternative approach which is optimization-based is found to be more accurate but is memory and computational intensive and as such not recommended in most real-time applications.

Keywords: Hybrid electric vehicle, hybrid energy storage, battery state estimation, ate of charge, state of health.

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Authors: Z. Salehi Dehyagani, A. L. Yusoff

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BEAMnrc was used to calculate the spectrum and HVL for X-ray Beam during low energy X-ray radiation using tube model: SRO 33/100 /ROT 350 Philips. The results of BEAMnrc simulation and measurements were compared to the IPEM report number 78 and SpekCalc software. Three energies 127, 103 and 84 Kv were used. In these simulation a tungsten anode with 1.2 mm for Be window were used as source. HVLs were calculated from BEAMnrc spectrum with air Kerma method for four different filters. For BEAMnrc one billion particles were used as original particles for all simulations. The results show that for 127 kV, there was maximum 5.2 % difference between BEAMnrc and Measurements and minimum was 0.7% .the maximum 9.1% difference between BEAMnrc and IPEM and minimum was 2.3% .The maximum difference was 3.2% between BEAMnrc and SpekCal and minimum was 2.8%. The result show BEAMnrc was able to satisfactory predict the quantities of Low energy Beam as well as high energy X-ray radiation.

Keywords: BEAMnr , Monte Carlo , HVL

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Authors: Pakorn Uttayopas, Chawalit Kittichaikarn

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This paper presents an experimental investigation for the characteristics of an energy harvesting device exploiting flow-induced vibration in a wind tunnel. A stationary bluff body is connected with a downstream tip body via an aluminium cantilever beam. Various lengths of aluminium cantilever beam and different shapes of downstream tip body are considered. The results show that the characteristics of the energy harvester’s vibration depend on both the length of the aluminium cantilever beam and the shape of the downstream tip body. The highest ratio between vibration amplitude and bluff body diameter was found to be 1.39 for an energy harvester with a symmetrical triangular tip body and L/D₁ = 5 at 9.8 m/s of flow speed (Re = 20077). Using this configuration, the electrical energy was extracted with a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) piezoelectric beam with different load resistances, of which the optimal value could be found on each Reynolds number. The highest power output was found to be 3.19 µW, at 9.8 m/s of flow speed (Re = 20077) and 27 MΩ of load resistance.

Keywords: Downstream structures, energy harvesting, flow-induced vibration, piezoelectric material, wind tunnel.

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Authors: F. Di Pillo, G. Capece, L. Cricelli, N. Levialdi

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The liberalization and privatization processes have forced public utility companies to face new competitive challenges, implementing strategies to gain market share and, at the same time, keep the old customers. To this end, many companies have carried out mergers, acquisitions and conglomerations in order to diversify their business. This paper focuses on companies operating in the free energy market in Italy. In the last decade, this sector has undergone profound changes that have radically changed the competitive scenario and have led companies to implement diversification strategies of the business. Our work aims to evaluate the economic and financial performances obtained by energy companies, following the beginning of the liberalization process, verifying the possible relationship with the implemented diversification strategies.

Keywords: Business diversification strategies, M&A, the Italian energy market liberalization, economic and financial performances.

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Authors: Hongjoong Sin, Jangsoo Lee, Sungju Lee, Seunghwan Yoo, Sanghyuck Lee, Jaesik Lee, Yongjun Lee, Sungchun Kim

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Wireless sensor networks are consisted of hundreds or thousands of small sensors that have limited resources. Energy-efficient techniques are the main issue of wireless sensor networks. This paper proposes an energy efficient agent-based framework in wireless sensor networks. We adopt biologically inspired approaches for wireless sensor networks. Agent operates automatically with their behavior policies as a gene. Agent aggregates other agents to reduce communication and gives high priority to nodes that have enough energy to communicate. Agent behavior policies are optimized by genetic operation at the base station. Simulation results show that our proposed framework increases the lifetime of each node. Each agent selects a next-hop node with neighbor information and behavior policies. Our proposed framework provides self-healing, self-configuration, self-optimization properties to sensor nodes.

Keywords: Agent, Energy Efficiency, Genetic algorithm, Wireless Sensor Networks.

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Authors: Josiane R. Pires, Marco A. S. González, Bruna L. Brenner, Luciana S. Roos

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The concern with sustainability brought the need for optimization of the buildings to reduce consumption of natural resources. Almost 1/3 of energy demanded by Brazilian housings is used to provide thermal solutions. AEC sector may contribute applying bioclimatic strategies on building design. The aim of this research is to investigate the viability of applying some alternative solutions in residential buildings. The research was developed with computational simulation on single family social housing, examining envelope type, absorptance, and insolation. The analysis of the thermal performance applied both Brazilian standard NBR 15575 and degree-hour method, in the scenery of Porto Alegre, a southern Brazilian city. We used BIM modeling through Revit/Autodesk and used Energy Plus to thermal simulation. The payback of the investment was calculated comparing energy savings and building costs, in a period of 50 years. The results shown that with the increment of envelope’s insulation there is thermal comfort improvement and energy economy, with a pay-back period of 24 to 36 years, in some cases.

Keywords: Civil construction, design, thermal performance, energy, economic analysis.

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Authors: J. B. Qin, X. H. Jiang, Y. T. Ge

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The growing awareness of global warming potential has internationally aroused interest and demand in reducing greenhouse gas emissions produced by human activity. Much national energy in the UK had been consumed in the residential sector mainly for space heating and domestic hot water production. Currently, gas boilers are mostly applied in the domestic water heating which contribute significantly to excessive CO₂ emissions and consumption of primary energy resources. The issues can be solved by popularizing heat pump systems that are attributable to higher performance efficiency than those of traditional gas boilers. Even so, the heat pump system performance can be further enhanced if the dissolved gases in its hot water circuit can be efficiently discharged.  To achieve this target, the bubble behaviors in the heat pump water heating system need to be extensively investigated. In this paper, by varying different experimental conditions, the effects of various heat pump hot water side parameters on gas microbubble diameters were measured and analyzed. Correspondingly, the effect of each parameter has been investigated. These include varied system pressures, water flow rates, saturation ratios and heat outputs. The results measurement showed that the water flow rate is the most significant parameter to influence on gas microbubble productions. The research outcomes can significantly contribute to the understanding of gas bubble behaviors at domestic heat pump water heating systems and thus the efficient way for the discharging of the associated dissolved gases.  

Keywords: Dissolved gases in water, heat pump, domestic water heating system, microbubble formation.

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Authors: S.T. El Sheltawy, A. A. Refaat

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Until recently, energy security and climate change were considered separate issues to be dealt with by policymakers. The two issues are now converging, challenging the security and climate communities to develop a better understanding of how to deal with both issues simultaneously. Although Egypt is not a major contributor to the world's total GHG emissions, it is particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of global climate change such as rising sea levels and changed patterns of rainfall in the Nile Basin. Climate change is a major threat to sustainable growth and development in Egypt, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. Egypt-s capacity to respond to the challenges of climate instability will be expanded by improving overall resilience, integrating climate change goals into sustainable development strategies, increasing the use of modern energy systems with reduced carbon intensity, and strengthening international initiatives. This study seeks to establish a framework for considering the complex and evolving links between energy security and climate change, applicable to Egypt.

Keywords: climate change, climate policy, cnergy policy, energy security, sustainable development

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Authors: Clement M. Matasane, Mohamed T. Kahn

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Biomass resources such as animal waste, agricultural and acro-industrial residues, forestry and woodland waste, and industrial and municipal solid wastes provide alternative means to utilize its untapped potential for biomass/biofuel renewable energy systems. In addition, crop residues (i.e., grain, starch, and energy crops) are commonly available in the district and play an essential role in community farming activities. The remote sensing technology (mappings) and geographic information systems tool will be used to determine the biomass potential in the Vhembe District Municipality. The detailed assessment, estimation, and modeling in quantifying their distribution, abundance, and quality yield an effective and efficient use of their potential. This paper aims to examine the potential and prospects of deploying bioenergy systems in small or micro-systems in the district for community use and applications. This deployment of the biofuels/biomass systems will help communities for sustainable energy supply from their traditional energy use into innovative and suitable methods that improve their livelihood. The study demonstrates the potential applications of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in spatial mapping analysis, evaluation, modeling, and decision support for easy access to renewable energy systems.

Keywords: Agricultural crops, waste materials, biomass potentials, bioenergy potentials, GIS mappings, environmental data, renewable energy deployment, sustainable energy supply.

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Authors: Jefrey Pilusa, Tumisang Seodigeng

Abstract:

This research discusses a South African case study for the potential of utilizing refuse-derived fuel (RDF) obtained from non-burn treatment of health care risk waste (HCRW) as potential feedstock for green energy production. This specific waste stream can be destroyed via non-burn treatment technology involving high-speed mechanical shredding followed by steam or chemical injection to disinfect the final product. The RDF obtained from this process is characterised by a low moisture, low ash, and high calorific value which means it can be potentially used as high-value solid fuel. Due to the raw feed of this RDF being classified as hazardous, the final RDF has been reported to be non-infectious and can blend with other combustible wastes such as rubber and plastic for waste to energy applications. This study evaluated non-burn treatment technology as a possible solution for on-site destruction of HCRW in South African private and public health care centres. Waste generation quantities were estimated based on the number of registered patient beds, theoretical bed occupancy. Time and motion study was conducted to evaluate the logistics viability of on-site treatment. Non-burn treatment technology for HCRW is a promising option for South Africa, and successful implementation of this method depends upon the initial capital investment, operational cost and environmental permitting of such technology; there are other influencing factors such as the size of the waste stream, product off-take price as well as product demand.

Keywords: Autoclave, disposal, fuel, incineration, medical waste.

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Authors: Piotr Vasiljev, Regimantas Bareikis, Sergejus Borodinas, Arunas Struckas, Jurate Kasperoviciene

Abstract:

Nowadays for algae cell ultrasonication the longitudinal ultrasonic piezosystems are used. In this paper a possibility of creating unique ultrasonic piezoelectric system, which would allow reducing energy losses and concentrating this energy to a small closed volume are proposed. The current vibrating systems whose ultrasonic energy is concentrated inside of hollow cylinder in which water-algae mixture is flowing. Two, three or multiply ultrasonic composite systems to concentrate total energy into a hollow cylinder to creating strong algae cell ultrasonication are used. The experiments and numerical FEM analysis results using diskshaped transducer and the first biological test results on algae cell disruption by ultrasonication are presented as well.

Keywords: Algae, piezomechanical system, ultrasonication.

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Authors: M. H. Abedi, A. Jalilvand

Abstract:

The economic development benefits of wind energy may be the most tangible basis for the local and state officials’ interests. In addition to the direct salaries associated with building and operating wind projects, the wind energy industry provides indirect jobs and benefits. The optimal planning of a wind farm is one most important topic in renewable energy technology. Many methods have been implemented to optimize the cost and output benefit of wind farms, but the contribution of this paper is mentioning different types of service providers and also time of installation of wind turbines during planning horizon years. Genetic algorithm (GA) is used to optimize the problem. It is observed that an appropriate layout of wind farm can cause to minimize the different types of cost.

Keywords: Renewable energy, wind farm, optimization, planning.

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