Search results for: energy monitoring
Commenced in January 2007
Frequency: Monthly
Edition: International
Paper Count: 3715

Search results for: energy monitoring

2635 Practical Evaluation of High-Efficiency Si-Based Tandem Solar Cells

Authors: Sue-Yi Chen, Wei-Chun Hsu, Jon-Yiew Gan

Abstract:

Si-based double-junction tandem solar cells have become a popular research topic because of the advantages of low manufacturing cost and high energy conversion efficiency. However, there is no set of calculations to select the appropriate top cell materials. Therefore, this paper will propose a simple but practical selection method. First of all, we calculate the S-Q limit and explain the reasons for developing tandem solar cells. Secondly, we calculate the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of the double-junction tandem solar cells while combining the commercial monocrystalline Si and materials' practical efficiency to consider the actual situation. Finally, we conservatively conclude that if considering 75% performance of the theoretical energy conversion efficiency of the top cell, the suitable bandgap energy range will fall between 1.38 eV to 2.5 eV. Besides, we also briefly describe some improvements of several proper materials, CZTS, CdSe, Cu2O, ZnTe, and CdS, hoping that future research can select and manufacture high-efficiency Si-based tandem solar cells based on this paper successfully. Most importantly, our calculation method is not limited to silicon solely. If other materials’ performances match or surpass silicon's ability in the future, researchers can also apply this set of deduction processes.

Keywords: High-efficiency solar cells, material selection, Si-based double-junction solar cells, tandem solar cells, photovoltaics.

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2634 Modeling and Performance Evaluation of Three Power Generation and Refrigeration Energy Recovery Systems from Thermal Loss of a Diesel Engine in Different Driving Conditions

Authors: H. Golchoobian, M. H. Taheri, S. Saedodin, A. Sarafraz

Abstract:

This paper investigates the possibility of using three systems of organic Rankine auxiliary power generation, ejector refrigeration and absorption to recover energy from a diesel car. The analysis is done for both urban and suburban driving modes that vary from 60 to 120 km/h. Various refrigerants have also been used for organic Rankine and Ejector refrigeration cycles. The capacity was evaluated by Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) system in both urban and suburban conditions for cyclopentane and ammonia as refrigerants. Also, for these two driving plans, produced cooling by absorption refrigeration system under variable ambient temperature conditions and in ejector refrigeration system for R123, R134a and R141b refrigerants were investigated.

Keywords: Absorption system, diesel engine, ejector refrigeration, energy recovery, organic Rankine cycle.

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2633 A Study on the Power Control of Wind Energy Conversion System

Authors: Mehdi Nafar, Mohammad Reza Mansouri

Abstract:

The present research presents a direct active and reactive power control (DPC) of a wind energy conversion system (WECS) for the maximum power point tracking (MPPT) based on a doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) connected to electric power grid. The control strategy of the Rotor Side Converter (RSC) is targeted in extracting a maximum of power under fluctuating wind speed. A fuzzy logic speed controller (FLC) has been used to ensure the MPPT. The Grid Side Converter is directed in a way to ensure sinusoidal current in the grid side and a smooth DC voltage. To reduce fluctuations, rotor torque and voltage use of multilevel inverters is a good way to remove the rotor harmony.

Keywords: DFIG, power quality improvement, wind energy conversion system, WECS, fuzzy logic, RSC, GSC, inverter.

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2632 Techno-Economic Analysis of Motor-Generator Pair System and Virtual Synchronous Generator for Providing Inertia of Power System

Authors: Zhou Yingkun, Xu Guorui, Wei Siming, Huang Yongzhang

Abstract:

With the increasing of the penetration of renewable energy in power system, the whole inertia of the power system is declining, which will endanger the frequency stability of the power system. In order to enhance the inertia, virtual synchronous generator (VSG) has been proposed. In addition, the motor-generator pair (MGP) system is proposed to enhance grid inertia. Both of them need additional equipment to provide instantaneous energy, so the economic problem should be considered. In this paper, the basic working principle of MGP system and VSG are introduced firstly. Then, the technical characteristics and economic investment of MGP/VSG are compared by calculation and simulation. The results show that the MGP system can provide same inertia with less cost than VSG.

Keywords: High renewable energy penetration, inertia of power system, virtual synchronous generator, motor-generator pair system, techno-economic analysis.

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2631 A Real Time Development Study for Automated Centralized Remote Monitoring System at Royal Belum Forest

Authors: Amri Yusoff, Shahrizuan Shafiril, Ashardi Abas, Norma Che Yusoff

Abstract:

Nowadays, illegal logging has been causing many effects including flash flood, avalanche, global warming, and etc. The purpose of this study was to maintain the earth ecosystem by keeping and regulate Malaysia’s treasurable rainforest by utilizing a new technology that will assist in real-time alert and give faster response to the authority to act on these illegal activities. The methodology of this research consisted of design stages that have been conducted as well as the system model and system architecture of the prototype in addition to the proposed hardware and software that have been mainly used such as microcontroller, sensor with the implementation of GSM, and GPS integrated system. This prototype was deployed at Royal Belum forest in December 2014 for phase 1 and April 2015 for phase 2 at 21 pinpoint locations. The findings of this research were the capture of data in real-time such as temperature, humidity, gaseous, fire, and rain detection which indicate the current natural state and habitat in the forest. Besides, this device location can be detected via GPS of its current location and then transmitted by SMS via GSM system. All of its readings were sent in real-time for further analysis. The data that were compared to meteorological department showed that the precision of this device was about 95% and these findings proved that the system is acceptable and suitable to be used in the field.

Keywords: Remote monitoring system, forest data, GSM, GPS, wireless sensor.

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2630 Modification of the Conventional Power Flow Analysis for the Deployment of an HVDC Grid System in the Indian Subcontinent

Authors: Farhan Beg

Abstract:

The Indian subcontinent is facing a massive challenge with regards to the energy security in member countries, i.e. providing a reliable source of electricity to facilitate development across various sectors of the economy and thereby achieve the developmental targets it has set for itself. A highly precarious situation exists in the subcontinent which is observed in the series of system failures which most of the times leads to system collapses-blackouts. To mitigate the issues related with energy security as well as keep in check the increasing supply demand gap, a possible solution that stands in front of the subcontinent is the deployment of an interconnected electricity ‘Supergrid’ designed to carry huge quanta of power across the sub continent as well as provide the infra structure for RES integration. This paper assesses the need and conditions for a Supergrid deployment and consequently proposes a meshed topology based on VSC HVDC converters for the Supergrid modeling.

Keywords: Super grid, Wind and Solar Energy, HVDC, Electricity management, Load Flow Analysis.

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2629 Design of a Cost Effective Off-Grid Wind-Diesel Hybrid Power System in an Island of Bangladesh

Authors: Nahid-Al-Masood, Rifat Mirza, Jubaer Ahmed, Amina Hasan Abedin, S.R. Deeba, Faeza Hafiz, Mahmuda Begum, A. Hasib Chowdhury

Abstract:

Bangladesh is a developing country with large population. Demand of electrical energy is increasing day by day because of increasing population and industrialization. But due to limited resources, people here are suffering from power crisis problem which is considered as a major obstacle to the economic development. In most of the cases, it is extremely difficult to extend high tension transmission lines to some of the places that are separated from the mainland. Renewable energy is considered to be the right choice for providing clean energy to these remote settlements. This paper proposes a cost effective design of off-grid wind-diesel hybrid power system using combined heat and power (CHP) technology in a grid isolated island, Sandwip, Bangladesh. Design and simulation of the wind-diesel hybrid power system is performed considering different factors for the island Sandwip. Detailed economic analysis and comparison with solar PV system clearly reveals that wind-diesel hybrid power system can be a cost effective solution for the isolated island like Sandwip.

Keywords: renewable energy, off-grid, wind-diesel hybrid system, CHP technology, economic analysis

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2628 Enhanced Method of Conceptual Sizing of Aircraft Electro-Thermal De-icing System

Authors: Ahmed Shinkafi, Craig Lawson

Abstract:

There is a great advancement towards the All-Electric Aircraft (AEA) technology. The AEA concept assumes that all aircraft systems will be integrated into one electrical power source in the future. The principle of the electro-thermal system is to transfer the energy required for anti/de-icing to the protected areas in electrical form. However, powering a large aircraft anti-icing system electrically could be quite excessive in cost and system weight. Hence, maximising the anti/de-icing efficiency of the electro-thermal system in order to minimise its power demand has become crucial to electro-thermal de-icing system sizing. In this work, an enhanced methodology has been developed for conceptual sizing of aircraft electro-thermal de-icing System. The work factored those critical terms overlooked in previous studies which were critical to de-icing energy consumption. A case study of a typical large aircraft wing de-icing was used to test and validate the model. The model was used to optimise the system performance by a trade-off between the de-icing peak power and system energy consumption. The optimum melting surface temperatures and energy flux predicted enabled the reduction in the power required for de-icing. The weight penalty associated with electro-thermal anti-icing/de-icing method could be eliminated using this method without under estimating the de-icing power requirement.

Keywords: Aircraft de-icing system, electro-thermal, in-flight icing.

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2627 Numerical Analysis of Electrical Interaction between two Axisymmetric Spheroids

Authors: Kuan-Liang Liu, Eric Lee, Jung-Jyh Lee, Jyh-Ping Hsu

Abstract:

The electrical interaction between two axisymmetric spheroidal particles in an electrolyte solution is examined numerically. A Galerkin finite element method combined with a Newton-Raphson iteration scheme is proposed to evaluate the spatial variation in the electrical potential, and the result obtained used to estimate the interaction energy between two particles. We show that if the surface charge density is fixed, the potential gradient is larger at a point, which has a larger curvature, and if surface potential is fixed, surface charge density is proportional to the curvature. Also, if the total interaction energy against closest surface-to-surface curve exhibits a primary maximum, the maximum follows the order (oblate-oblate) > (sphere-sphere)>(oblate-prolate)>(prolate-prolate), and if the curve has a secondary minimum, the absolute value of the minimum follows the same order.

Keywords: interaction energy, interaction force, Poisson-Boltzmann equation, spheroid.

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2626 Energy Distribution of EEG Signals: EEG Signal Wavelet-Neural Network Classifier

Authors: I. Omerhodzic, S. Avdakovic, A. Nuhanovic, K. Dizdarevic

Abstract:

In this paper, a wavelet-based neural network (WNN) classifier for recognizing EEG signals is implemented and tested under three sets EEG signals (healthy subjects, patients with epilepsy and patients with epileptic syndrome during the seizure). First, the Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT) with the Multi-Resolution Analysis (MRA) is applied to decompose EEG signal at resolution levels of the components of the EEG signal (δ, θ, α, β and γ) and the Parseval-s theorem are employed to extract the percentage distribution of energy features of the EEG signal at different resolution levels. Second, the neural network (NN) classifies these extracted features to identify the EEGs type according to the percentage distribution of energy features. The performance of the proposed algorithm has been evaluated using in total 300 EEG signals. The results showed that the proposed classifier has the ability of recognizing and classifying EEG signals efficiently.

Keywords: Epilepsy, EEG, Wavelet transform, Energydistribution, Neural Network, Classification.

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2625 Diagnosis of the Abdominal Aorta Aneurysm in Magnetic Resonance Imaging Images

Authors: W. Kultangwattana, K. Somkantha, P. Phuangsuwan

Abstract:

This paper presents a technique for diagnosis of the abdominal aorta aneurysm in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images. First, our technique is designed to segment the aorta image in MRI images. This is a required step to determine the volume of aorta image which is the important step for diagnosis of the abdominal aorta aneurysm. Our proposed technique can detect the volume of aorta in MRI images using a new external energy for snakes model. The new external energy for snakes model is calculated from Law-s texture. The new external energy can increase the capture range of snakes model efficiently more than the old external energy of snakes models. Second, our technique is designed to diagnose the abdominal aorta aneurysm by Bayesian classifier which is classification models based on statistical theory. The feature for data classification of abdominal aorta aneurysm was derived from the contour of aorta images which was a result from segmenting of our snakes model, i.e., area, perimeter and compactness. We also compare the proposed technique with the traditional snakes model. In our experiment results, 30 images are trained, 20 images are tested and compared with expert opinion. The experimental results show that our technique is able to provide more accurate results than 95%.

Keywords: Adbominal Aorta Aneurysm, Bayesian Classifier, Snakes Model, Texture Feature.

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2624 Electric Field Impact on the Biomass Gasification and Combustion Dynamics

Authors: M. Zake, I. Barmina, A. Kolmickovs, R. Valdmanis

Abstract:

Experimental investigations of the DC electric field effect on thermal decomposition of biomass, formation of the axial flow of volatiles (CO, H2, CxHy), mixing of volatiles with swirling airflow at low swirl intensity (S ≈ 0.2-0.35), their ignition and on formation of combustion dynamics are carried out with the aim to understand the mechanism of electric field influence on biomass gasification, combustion of volatiles and heat energy production. The DC electric field effect on combustion dynamics was studied by varying the positive bias voltage of the central electrode from 0.6 kV to 3 kV, whereas the ion current was limited to 2 mA. The results of experimental investigations confirm the field-enhanced biomass gasification with enhanced release of volatiles and the development of endothermic processes at the primary stage of thermochemical conversion of biomass determining the field-enhanced heat energy consumption with the correlating decrease of the flame temperature and heat energy production at this stage of flame formation. Further, the field-enhanced radial expansion of the flame reaction zone correlates with a more complete combustion of volatiles increasing the combustion efficiency by 3% and decreasing the mass fraction of CO, H2 and CxHy in the products, whereas by 10% increases the average volume fraction of CO2 and the heat energy production downstream the combustor increases by 5-10% 

Keywords: Biomass, combustion, electrodynamic control, gasification.

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2623 An Analysis of Institutional Environments on Corporate Social Responsibility Practices in Nigerian Renewable Energy Firms

Authors: Bolanle Deborah Motilewa, E. K. Rowland Worlu, Gbenga Mayowa Agboola, Ayodele Maxwell Olokundun

Abstract:

Several studies have proposed a one-size fit all approach to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, such that CSR as it applies to developed countries is adapted to developing countries, ignoring the differing institutional environments (such as the regulative, economic, social and political environments), which affects the profitability and practices of businesses operating in them. CSR as it applies to filling institutional gaps in developing countries, was categorized into four themes: environmental protection, product and service innovation, social innovation and local cluster development. Based on the four themes, the study employed a qualitative research approach through the use of interviews and review of available publications to study the influence of institutional environments on CSR practices engaged in by three renewable energy firms operating in Nigeria. Over the course of three 60-minutes sessions with the top management and selected workers of the firms, four propositions were made: regulatory environment influences environmental protection practice of Nigerian renewable firms, economic environment influences product and service innovation practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms, the social environment impacts on social innovation in Nigerian renewable energy firms, and political environment affects local cluster development practice of Nigerian renewable energy firms. It was also observed that beyond institutional environments, the international exposure of an organization’s managers reflected in their approach to CSR. This finding on the influence of international exposure on CSR practices creates an area for further study. Insights from this paper are set to help policy makers in developing countries, CSR managers, and future researchers.

Keywords: Corporate social responsibility, institutional environment, renewable energy firms, developing countries, international exposure.

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2622 Measurement and Estimation of Evaporation from Water Surfaces: Application to Dams in Arid and Semi Arid Areas in Algeria

Authors: Malika Fekih, Mohamed Saighi

Abstract:

Many methods exist for either measuring or estimating evaporation from free water surfaces. Evaporation pans provide one of the simplest, inexpensive, and most widely used methods of estimating evaporative losses. In this study, the rate of evaporation starting from a water surface was calculated by modeling with application to dams in wet, arid and semi arid areas in Algeria. We calculate the evaporation rate from the pan using the energy budget equation, which offers the advantage of an ease of use, but our results do not agree completely with the measurements taken by the National Agency of areas carried out using dams located in areas of different climates. For that, we develop a mathematical model to simulate evaporation. This simulation uses an energy budget on the level of a vat of measurement and a Computational Fluid Dynamics (Fluent). Our calculation of evaporation rate is compared then by the two methods and with the measures of areas in situ.

Keywords: Evaporation, Energy budget, Surface water temperature, CFD, Dams

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2621 Study of Crashworthiness Behavior of Thin-Walled Tube under Axial Loading by Using Computational Mechanics

Authors: M. Kamal M. Shah, Noorhifiantylaily Ahmad, O. Irma Wani, J. Sahari

Abstract:

This paper presents the computationally mechanics analysis of energy absorption for cylindrical and square thin wall tubed structure by using ABAQUS/explicit. The crashworthiness behavior of AISI 1020 mild steel thin-walled tube under axial loading has been studied. The influence effects of different model’s cross-section, as well as model length on the crashworthiness behavior of thin-walled tube, are investigated. The model was placed on loading platform under axial loading with impact velocity of 5 m/s to obtain the deformation results of each model under quasi-static loading. The results showed that model undergoes different deformation mode exhibits different energy absorption performance.

Keywords: Axial loading, energy absorption performance, computational mechanics, crashworthiness behavior, deformation mode, thin-walled tubes.

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2620 Performance Analysis of Polycrystalline and Monocrystalline Solar Module in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Authors: N. J. Imu, N. Rabbani, Md E. Hossain

Abstract:

Achieving national climate goals requires transforming the energy system and increasing the use of renewable energy in Bangladesh as renewable energy offers an environmentally friendly energy supply. In view of this, Bangladesh has set a goal of 100% renewable power generation by 2050. Among all the renewable energy, solar is the most effective and popular source of renewable energy in Bangladesh. In order to build up on-grid and off-grid solar systems to increase energy transformation, monocrystalline type (highly efficient) solar module, and the polycrystalline type (low-efficient) solar module are commonly used. Due to their low price and availability, polycrystalline-type solar modules dominated the local market in the past years. However, in recent times the use of monocrystalline types modules has increased considerably owing to the significant decrease in price difference that existed between these two modules. Despite the deployment of both mono- and poly-crystalline modules in the market, the proliferation of low-quality solar panels are dominating the market resulting in reduced generation of solar electricity than expected. This situation is further aggravated by insufficient information regarding the effect of solar irradiation on solar module performance in relation to the quality of the materials used for the production of the module. This research aims to evaluate the efficiency of monocrystalline and polycrystalline solar modules that are available in Bangladesh by considering seasonal variations. Both types of solar modules have been tested for three different capacities 45W, 60W, and 100W in Dhaka regions to evaluate their power generation capability under Standard Test Conditions (STC). Module testing data were recorded twelve months in a full year from January to December. Data for solar irradiation were collected using HT304N while HT I-V400 multifunction instrument was used for testing voltage and current of photovoltaic (PV) systems and complete power quality analyzer. Results obtained in this study indicated differences between the efficiencies of polycrystalline and monocrystalline solar modules under the country’s solar irradiation. The average efficiencies of 45W, 60W, and 100W monocrystalline solar panels were recorded as 11.73%, 13.41%, and 15.37% respectively while for polycrystalline panels were 8.66%, 9.37%, and 12.34%. Monocrystalline solar panels, which offer greater working output than polycrystalline ones, are also represented by the Pearson Correlation value. The output of polycrystalline solar panels fluctuated highly with the changes in irradiation and temperature whereas monocrystalline panels were much stable.

Keywords: Solar energy, solar irradiation, efficiency, polycrystalline solar module, monocrystalline solar module, SPSS analysis.

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2619 Comparative Analysis of the Third Generation of Research Data for Evaluation of Solar Energy Potential

Authors: Claudineia Brazil, Elison Eduardo Jardim Bierhals, Luciane Teresa Salvi, Rafael Haag

Abstract:

Renewable energy sources are dependent on climatic variability, so for adequate energy planning, observations of the meteorological variables are required, preferably representing long-period series. Despite the scientific and technological advances that meteorological measurement systems have undergone in the last decades, there is still a considerable lack of meteorological observations that form series of long periods. The reanalysis is a system of assimilation of data prepared using general atmospheric circulation models, based on the combination of data collected at surface stations, ocean buoys, satellites and radiosondes, allowing the production of long period data, for a wide gamma. The third generation of reanalysis data emerged in 2010, among them is the Climate Forecast System Reanalysis (CFSR) developed by the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), these data have a spatial resolution of 0.50 x 0.50. In order to overcome these difficulties, it aims to evaluate the performance of solar radiation estimation through alternative data bases, such as data from Reanalysis and from meteorological satellites that satisfactorily meet the absence of observations of solar radiation at global and/or regional level. The results of the analysis of the solar radiation data indicated that the reanalysis data of the CFSR model presented a good performance in relation to the observed data, with determination coefficient around 0.90. Therefore, it is concluded that these data have the potential to be used as an alternative source in locations with no seasons or long series of solar radiation, important for the evaluation of solar energy potential.

Keywords: Climate, reanalysis, renewable energy, solar radiation.

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2618 Two-Channels Thermal Energy Storage Tank: Experiments and Short-Cut Modelling

Authors: M. Capocelli, A. Caputo, M. De Falco, D. Mazzei, V. Piemonte

Abstract:

This paper presents the experimental results and the related modeling of a thermal energy storage (TES) facility, ideated and realized by ENEA and realizing the thermocline with an innovative geometry. Firstly, the thermal energy exchange model of an equivalent shell & tube heat exchanger is described and tested to reproduce the performance of the spiral exchanger installed in the TES. Through the regression of the experimental data, a first-order thermocline model was also validated to provide an analytical function of the thermocline, useful for the performance evaluation and the comparison with other systems and implementation in simulations of integrated systems (e.g. power plants). The experimental data obtained from the plant start-up and the short-cut modeling of the system can be useful for the process analysis, for the scale-up of the thermal storage system and to investigate the feasibility of its implementation in actual case-studies.

Keywords: Thermocline, modelling, heat exchange, spiral, shell, tube.

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2617 The Automated Soil Erosion Monitoring System (ASEMS)

Authors: George N. Zaimes, Valasia Iakovoglou, Paschalis Koutalakis, Konstantinos Ioannou, Ioannis Kosmadakis, Panagiotis Tsardaklis, Theodoros Laopoulos

Abstract:

The advancements in technology allow the development of a new system that can continuously measure surface soil erosion. Continuous soil erosion measurements are required in order to comprehend the erosional processes and propose effective and efficient conservation measures to mitigate surface erosion. Mitigating soil erosion, especially in Mediterranean countries such as Greece, is essential in order to maintain environmental and agricultural sustainability. In this paper, we present the Automated Soil Erosion Monitoring System (ASEMS) that measures surface soil erosion along with other factors that impact erosional process. Specifically, this system measures ground level changes (surface soil erosion), rainfall, air temperature, soil temperature, and soil moisture. Another important innovation is that the data will be collected by remote communication. In addition, stakeholder’s awareness is a key factor to help reduce any environmental problem. The different dissemination activities that were utilized are described. The overall outcomes were the development of a new innovative system that can measure erosion very accurately. These data from the system help study the process of erosion and find the best possible methods to reduce erosion. The dissemination activities enhance the stakeholders and public's awareness on surface soil erosion problems and will lead to the adoption of more effective soil erosion conservation practices in Greece.

Keywords: Soil management, climate change, new technologies, conservation practices.

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2616 Experimental Analysis of the Influence of Water Mass Flow Rate on the Performance of a CO2 Direct-Expansion Solar Assisted Heat Pump

Authors: Sabrina N. Rabelo, Tiago de F. Paulino, Willian M. Duarte, Samer Sawalha, Luiz Machado

Abstract:

Energy use is one of the main indicators for the economic and social development of a country, reflecting directly in the quality of life of the population. The expansion of energy use together with the depletion of fossil resources and the poor efficiency of energy systems have led many countries in recent years to invest in renewable energy sources. In this context, solar-assisted heat pump has become very important in energy industry, since it can transfer heat energy from the sun to water or another absorbing source. The direct-expansion solar assisted heat pump (DX-SAHP) water heater system operates by receiving solar energy incident in a solar collector, which serves as an evaporator in a refrigeration cycle, and the energy reject by the condenser is used for water heating. In this paper, a DX-SAHP using carbon dioxide as refrigerant (R744) was assembled, and the influence of the variation of the water mass flow rate in the system was analyzed. The parameters such as high pressure, water outlet temperature, gas cooler outlet temperature, evaporator temperature, and the coefficient of performance were studied. The mainly components used to assemble the heat pump were a reciprocating compressor, a gas cooler which is a countercurrent concentric tube heat exchanger, a needle-valve, and an evaporator that is a copper bare flat plate solar collector designed to capture direct and diffuse radiation. Routines were developed in the LabVIEW and CoolProp through MATLAB software’s, respectively, to collect data and calculate the thermodynamics properties. The range of coefficient of performance measured was from 3.2 to 5.34. It was noticed that, with the higher water mass flow rate, the water outlet temperature decreased, and consequently, the coefficient of performance of the system increases since the heat transfer in the gas cooler is higher. In addition, the high pressure of the system and the CO2 gas cooler outlet temperature decreased. The heat pump using carbon dioxide as a refrigerant, especially operating with solar radiation has been proven to be a renewable source in an efficient system for heating residential water compared to electrical heaters reaching temperatures between 40 °C and 80 °C.

Keywords: Water mass flow rate, R-744, heat pump, solar evaporator, water heater.

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2615 Experimental Study for the Development of a Wireless Communication System in a Solar Central Tower Facility

Authors: Victor H. Benitez, Ramon V. Armas-Flores, Jesus H. Pacheco-Ramirez

Abstract:

Systems transforming solar energy into electrical power have emerged as a viable source of clean, renewable energy. Solar power tower technology is a good example of this type of system, which consists of several mobile mirrors, called heliostats, which reflect the sun's radiation to the same point, located on top of a tower at the center of heliostat field, for collection or transformation into another type of energy. The so-called Hermosillo’s Solar Platform (Plataforma Solar de Hermosillo, PSH, in Spanish) is a facility constituted with several heliostats, its aim and scope is for research purposes. In this paper, the implementation of a wireless communication system based on intelligent nodes is proposed in order to allow the communication and control of the heliostats in PSH. Intelligent nodes transmit information from one point to another, and can perform other actions that allow them to adapt to the conditions and limitations of a field of heliostats, thus achieving effective communication system. After deployment of the nodes in the heliostats, tests were conducted to measure the effectiveness of the communication, and determine the feasibility of using the proposed technologies. The test results were always positive, exceeding expectations held for its operation in the field of heliostats. Therefore, it was possible to validate the efficiency of the wireless communication system to be implemented in PSH, allowing communication and control of the heliostats.

Keywords: Solar energy, heliostat, wireless communication, intelligent node.

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2614 Tri-Axis Receiver for Wireless Micro-Power Transmission

Authors: Nan-Chyuan Tsai, Sheng-Liang Hsu

Abstract:

An innovative tri-axes micro-power receiver is proposed. The tri-axes micro-power receiver consists of two sets 3-D micro-solenoids and one set planar micro-coils in which iron core is embedded. The three sets of micro-coils are designed to be orthogonal to each other. Therefore, no matter which direction the flux is present along, the magnetic energy can be harvested and transformed into electric power. Not only dead space of receiving power is mostly reduced, but also transformation efficiency of electromagnetic energy to electric power can be efficiently raised. By employing commercial software, Ansoft Maxwell, the preliminary simulation results verify that the proposed micro-power receiver can efficiently pick up the energy transmitted by magnetic power source. As to the fabrication process, the isotropic etching technique is employed to micro-machine the inverse-trapezoid fillister so that the copper wire can be successfully electroplated. The adhesion between micro-coils and fillister is much enhanced.

Keywords: Wireless Power Transmission, Magnetic Flux, Tri-axes Micro-power Receiver

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2613 Application of Biogas Technology in Turkey

Authors: B. Demirel, T.T. Onay, O. Yenigün

Abstract:

The potential, opportunities and drawbacks of biogas technology use in Turkey are evaluated in this paper. Turkey is dependent on foreign sources of energy. Therefore, use of biogas technology would provide a safe way of waste disposal and recovery of renewable energy, particularly from a sustainable domestic source, which is less unlikely to be influenced by international price or political fluctuations. Use of biogas technology would especially meet the cooking, heating and electricity demand in rural areas and protect the environment, additionally creating new job opportunities and improving social-economical conditions.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, agricultural biogas plant, biogas, biomass, methane, waste

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2612 Interaction of Low-Energy Positrons with Mg Atoms: Elastic Scattering, Bound States, and Annihilation

Authors: Mahasen M. Abdel-Mageed, H. S. Zaghloul

Abstract:

Annihilations, phase shifts, scattering lengths and elastic cross sections of low energy positrons scattering from magnesium atoms were studied using the least-squares variational method (LSVM). The possibility of positron binding to the magnesium atoms is investigated. A trial wave function is suggested to represent e+-Mg elastic scattering and scattering parameters were derived to estimate the binding energy and annihilation rates. The trial function is taken to depend on several adjustable parameters, and is improved iteratively by increasing the number of terms. The present results have the same behavior as reported semi-empirical, theoretical and experimental results. Especially, the estimated positive scattering length supports the possibility of positronmagnesium bound state system that was confirmed in previous experimental and theoretical work.

Keywords: Bound wave function, Positron Annihilation, scattering phase shift, scattering length.

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2611 On the use of Ionic Liquids for CO2 Capturing

Authors: Emad Ali, Inas Alnashef, Abdelhamid Ajbar, Mohamed HadjKali, Sarwono Mulyono

Abstract:

In this work, ionic liquids (ILs) for CO2 capturing in typical absorption/stripper process are considered. The use of ionic liquids is considered to be cost-effective because it requires less energy for solvent recovery compared to other conventional processes. A mathematical model is developed for the process based on Peng-Robinson (PR) equation of state (EoS) which is validated with experimental data for various solutions involving CO2. The model is utilized to study the sorbent and energy demand for three types of ILs at specific CO2 capturing rates. The energy demand is manifested by the vapor-liquid equilibrium temperature necessary to remove the captured CO2 from the used solvent in the regeneration step. It is found that higher recovery temperature is required for solvents with higher solubility coefficient. For all ILs, the temperature requirement is less than that required by the typical monoethanolamine (MEA) solvent. The effect of the CO2 loading in the sorbent stream on the process performance is also examined.

Keywords: Ionic liquid, CO2 capturing, CO2 solubility, Vaporliquid equilibrium.

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2610 Simulation Study on Vehicle Drag Reduction by Surface Dimples

Authors: S. F. Wong, S. S. Dol

Abstract:

Automotive designers have been trying to use dimples to reduce drag in vehicles. In this work, a car model has been applied with dimple surface with a parameter called dimple ratio DR, the ratio between the depths of the half dimple over the print diameter of the dimple, has been introduced and numerically simulated via k-ε turbulence model to study the aerodynamics performance with the increasing depth of the dimples The Ahmed body car model with 25 degree slant angle is simulated with the DR of 0.05, 0.2, 0.3 0.4 and 0.5 at Reynolds number of 176387 based on the frontal area of the car model. The geometry of dimple changes the kinematics and dynamics of flow. Complex interaction between the turbulent fluctuating flow and the mean flow escalates the turbulence quantities. The maximum level of turbulent kinetic energy occurs at DR = 0.4. It can be concluded that the dimples have generated extra turbulence energy at the surface and as a result, the application of dimples manages to reduce the drag coefficient of the car model compared to the model with smooth surface.

Keywords: Aerodynamics, Boundary Layer, Dimple, Drag, Kinetic Energy, Turbulence.

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2609 Interstate Comparison of Environmental Performance using Stochastic Frontier Analysis: The United States Case Study

Authors: Alexander Y. Vaninsky

Abstract:

Environmental performance of the U.S. States is investigated for the period of 1990 – 2007 using Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). The SFA accounts for both efficiency measure and stochastic noise affecting a frontier. The frontier is formed using indicators of GDP, energy consumption, population, and CO2 emissions. For comparability, all indicators are expressed as ratios to total. Statistical information of the Energy Information Agency of the United States is used. Obtained results reveal the bell - shaped dynamics of environmental efficiency scores. The average efficiency scores rise from 97.6% in 1990 to 99.6% in 1999, and then fall to 98.4% in 2007. The main factor is insufficient decrease in the rate of growth of CO2 emissions with regards to the growth of GDP, population and energy consumption. Data for 2008 following the research period allow for an assumption that the environmental performance of the U.S. States has improved in the last years.

Keywords: Stochastic frontier analysis, environmental performance, interstate comparisons.

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2608 Submicron Size of Alumina/Titania Tubes for CO2-CH4 Conversion

Authors: Chien-Wan Hun, Shao-Fu Chang, Jheng-En Yang, Chien-Chon Chen, Wern-Dare Jheng

Abstract:

This research provides a systematic way to study and better understand double nano-tubular structure of alunina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2). The TiO2 NT was prepared by immersing Al2O3 template in 0.02 M titanium fluoride (TiF4) solution (pH=3) at 25 °C for 120 min, followed by annealing at 450 °C for 1 h to obtain anatase TiO2 NT in the Al2O3 template. Large-scale development of film for nanotube-based CO2 capture and conversion can potentially result in more efficient energy harvesting. In addition, the production process will be relatively environmentally friendly. The knowledge generated by this research will significantly advance research in the area of Al2O3, TiO2, CaO, and Ca2O3 nano-structure film fabrication and applications for CO2 capture and conversion. This green energy source will potentially reduce reliance on carbon-based energy resources and increase interest in science and engineering careers.

Keywords: Alumina, titania, nano-tubular, film, CO2.

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2607 Experimental Testing of Composite Tubes with Different Corrugation Profile Subjected to Lateral Compression Load

Authors: Elfetori F. Abdewi

Abstract:

This paper presents the effect of corrugation profile geometry on the crushing behavior, energy absorption, failure mechanism, and failure mode of woven roving glass fibre/epoxy laminated composite tube. Experimental investigations were carried out on composite tubes with three different profile shapes: sinusoidal, triangular and trapezoidal. The tubes were subjected to lateral compressive loading. On the addition to a radial corrugated composite tube, cylindrical composite tube, were fabricated and tested under the same condition in order to know the effect of corrugation geometry. Typical histories of their deformation are presented. Behavior of tubes as regards the peak crushing load, energy absorbed and mode of crushing has been discussed. The results show that the behavior of the tube under lateral compression load is influenced by the geometry of the tube itself.

Keywords: Corrugated composite specimens, Energy absorption, Lateral crushing.

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2606 The Study of Chain Initiation Effect on the Direct Initiation of Detonation

Authors: Masoud Afrand, Saeid Farahat, Mehdi Alamkar

Abstract:

In this research, effect of combustion reaction mechanism on direct initiation of detonation has been studied numerically. For this purpose, reaction mechanism has been simulated by using a three-step chemical kinetics model. The reaction scheme consists sequentially of a chain-initiation and chainbranching step, followed by a temperature -independent chaintermination. In a previous research, the effect of chain-branching on the direct initiation of detonation is studied. In this research effect of chain-initiation on direct initiation of detonation is investigated. For the investigation, first a characteristic time (τ) for each step of mechanism, which includes effect of different kinetics parameters, is defined. Then the effect of characteristic time of chain-initiation (τI) on critical initiation energy is studied. It is seen that increasing τI, causes critical initiation energy to be increased. Drawing detonation's shock pressure diagrams for different cases, shows that in small value of τI , kinetics has more important effect on the behavior of the wave.

Keywords: Detonation initiation, Initiation energy, Reaction rate, Characteristic time.

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