A substantial share of the building sector in global energy demand has attracted scholars to focus on the energy efficiency of the building sector. The building’s energy consumption has been projected to increase due to mass urbanization, high living comfort standards, and, more importantly, climate change. While climate change has potential impacts on the rate of energy consumption in buildings, several studies have shown that these impacts differ from one region to another. In response, this paper aimed to investigate the impact of climate change on the heating and cooling energy demands of buildings as influential variables in building energy consumption in the city of Poznan, Poland. In this sense, through the statistical downscaling method and considering the most recent Typical Meteorological Year (2004−2018) as the baseline, the future weather data for 2050 and 2080 of the city of Poznan were produced according to the HadCM3 and A2 GHG scenario. These generated files were then u... [more]

In this paper, we consider the problem of state-of-charge estimation for rechargeable batteries. Coulomb counting is a well-known method for estimating the state of charge, and it is regarded as accurate as long as the battery capacity and the beginning state of charge are known. The Coulomb counting approach, on the other hand, is prone to inaccuracies from a variety of sources, and the magnitude of these errors has not been explored in the literature. We formally construct and quantify the state-of-charge estimate error during Coulomb counting due to four types of error sources: (1) current measurement error; (2) current integration approximation error; (3) battery capacity uncertainty; and (4) timing oscillator error/drift. It is demonstrated that the state-of-charge error produced can be either time-cumulative or state-of-charge-proportional. Time-cumulative errors accumulate over time and have the potential to render the state-of-charge estimation utterly invalid in the long term.... [more]

The efficiency of solar photovoltaic (PV) panels is greatly reduced by panel soiling and high temperatures. A mechanism for eliminating both of these sources of inefficiencies is presented by integrating solar PV generation with a compressed air system. High-pressure air can be stored and used to blow over the surface of PV panels, removing present dust and cooling the panels, increasing output power. A full-system mathematical model of the proposed system is presented, comprised of compressed air generation and storage, panel temperature, panel cleaning, and PV power generation. Simulation results indicate the benefit of employing compressed air for cleaning and cooling solar PV panels. For a fixed volume of compressed air, it is advantageous to blow air over the panels early in the day if the panel is soiled or when solar radiation is most abundant with the highest achievable flow rate if the panel is clean. These strategies have been shown to achieve the greatest energy captures for... [more]

As a highly nonlinear system, the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is controlled by various parameters. If the effects of all parameters are considered during the performance optimization, low working efficiency and waste of resources will be caused. The development of sensitivity analysis for parameters can not only exclude the parameters which have slight effects on the system, but also provide the reasonable setting ranges of boundary values for simulation of performance optimization. Therefore, sensitivity analysis of parameters is considered as one of the methods to optimize the fuel cell performance. According to the actual operating conditions of PEMFC, the fluctuation ranges of seven sets of parameters affecting the output performance of PEMFC are determined, namely cell operating temperature, anode/cathode temperature, anode/cathode pressure, and anode/cathode mass flow rate. Then, the control variable method is used to qualitatively analyze the sensit... [more]

This paper provides evidence on how the variability of the power produced by a wind farm and its revenue are affected by implementing a ramp-rate limitation strategy and by adding a storage device to the system. The wind farm receives penalties whenever the ramp-rate limitations are not respected and may be supported by batteries to avoid this scenario. In this paper, we model the battery usage as a discrete time homogeneous Markov chain with rewards thanks to which it is possible to simulate the state of the charge of the battery and to calculate the amount of penalties suffered by the wind farm during any period. An application is performed considering the power produced by a hypothetical wind turbine located in Sardinia (Italy) using real wind speed data and electricity prices from a period of 10 years. We applied the concept of ramp-rate limitation on our hourly dataset, studying several limitation scenarios and battery capacities.

The combustion characteristics of a staged combustion cycle engine with an oxidizer-rich preburner were experimentally studied at different momentum ratios of multi-element injectors. Propellants were simultaneously supplied as a liquid−liquid−liquid system, and an injector was designed in which a swirl coaxial jet is sprayed. The injector burned the propellants in the inner chamber which had a temperature greater than 2000 K. To cool the combustion gas, a liquid oxidizer was supplied to the cooling channel outside the injector. To prevent the turbine blades from melting, the temperature of the combustion gas was maintained below 700 K. To confirm the combustion characteristics at different momentum ratios of the high-temperature combustion gas inside the injector and the low-temperature liquid oxidizer outside the injector, three types of injectors were designed and manufactured with different momentum ratios: MR 3.0, MR 3.3, and MR 3.7. In this study, the results of the combustion te... [more]

Investor emotional heterogeneity and oil dual attributes are the key factors that cause the asymmetry of risks in the international crude oil market. This paper uses the monthly data from April 2003 to October 2020 to identify the dynamic characteristics of oil’s commodity attribute and financial attribute, and this paper also analyzes the asymmetric characteristics of risk evolution and risk degree in the international crude oil market under the condition of oil returns heterogeneity. The empirical results show that: first, there is heterogeneity in the influence of oil attributes on the risk evolution and risk degree of the international crude oil market; second, the alternation of oil dual attributes has a significant asymmetric impact on the risk evolution of international crude oil market; third, the sudden change of international crude oil market risk caused by oil attributes is asymmetric under different oil returns trends. Based on the empirical conclusion, this paper puts forw... [more]

Durability is the most pressing issue preventing the efficient commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stationary and transportation applications. A big barrier to overcoming the durability limitations is gaining a better understanding of failure modes for user profiles. In addition, durability test protocols for determining the lifetime of PEMFCs are important factors in the development of the technology. These methods are designed to gather enough data about the cell/stack to understand its efficiency and durability without causing it to fail. They also provide some indication of the cell/stack’s age in terms of changes in performance over time. Based on a study of the literature, the fundamental factors influencing PEMFC long-term durability and the durability test protocols for both PEMFC stationary and transportation applications were discussed and outlined in depth in this review. This brief analysis should provide engineers and researchers with a fast... [more]

This article discusses the work that resulted in the development of two battery-powered self-propelled electric mining machines intended for operation in the conditions of a Polish copper ore mine. Currently, the global mining industry is seeing a growing interest in battery-powered electric machines, which are replacing solutions powered by internal combustion engines. The cooperation of Mine Master, Łukasiewicz Research Network—Institute of Innovative Technologies EMAG and AGH University of Science and Technology allowed carrying out a number of works that resulted in the production of two completely new machines. In order to develop the requirements and assumptions for the designed battery-powered propulsion systems, underground tests of the existing combustion machines were carried out. Based on the results of these tests, power supply systems and control algorithms were developed and verified in a virtual environment. Next, a laboratory test stand for validating power supply syste... [more]

In Canada, more than 80% of energy in the residential sector is used for space heating and domestic hot water (DHW) production. This study aimed to model and compare the performance of four different systems, using solar energy as a renewable energy source for DHW production. A novel microchannel (MC) solar thermal collector and a microchannel-based hybrid photovoltaic/thermal collector (PVT) were fabricated (utilizing a microchannel heat exchanger in both cases), mathematical models were created, and performance was simulated in TRNSYS software. A water-to-water heat pump (HP) was integrated with these two collector-based solar systems, namely MCPVT-HP and MCST-HP, to improve the total solar fraction. System performance was then compared with that of a conventional solar-thermal-collector-based system and that of a PV-resistance (PV-R) system, using a monocrystalline PV collector. The heat pump was added to the systems to improve the systems’ efficiency and provide the required DHW te... [more]

A serious issue relative to the construction of electronic devices is proper power source selection. This problem is of particular importance when we are dealing with portable devices operating in varying environmental conditions, such as military equipment. A serious problem in the construction of electronic devices is the correct selection of the power source. In these types of devices, lithium-ion batteries are commonly used nowadays, and in particular their variety—lithium iron phosphate battery—LiFePO4. Apart from the many advantages of this type of battery offers, such as high power and energy density, a high number of charge and discharge cycles, and low self-discharge. They also have a major drawback—a risk of damage due to excessive discharge or overcharge. This article studies the process of charging and discharging a battery pack composed of cells with different initial charge levels. An attempt was made to determine the risk of damage to the cells relative to the difference... [more]

Hygrothermal modelling is increasingly used to inform building envelope design. A key input for these calculations is the material’s vapour diffusion properties. Respecting a growing international concern, this research has questioned the appropriateness of the current test method to establish construction material for vapour diffusion properties. This article reports on the empirical measurement of the vapour diffusion properties of two vapour-permeable building membranes commonly used in Australia residential systems when subjected to variable relative humidity conditions. The method involved completing dry cup and wet cup standard tests as specified in ISO 12572, (23 °C and 50% relative humidity RH). Further tests were then conducted as temperature remained at 23 °C but the relative humidity changed to 35%, 65% and 80%, respectively, in order to know if the diffusion properties are the same or change with varying relative humidity. The results from the wet cup and dry cup tests unde... [more]

When the shale gas reservoir is fractured, stress shadows can cause reorientation of hydraulic fractures and affect the complexity. To reveal the variation of stress shadow with perforation spacing, the numerical model between different perforation spacing was simulated by the extended finite element method (XFEM). The variation of stress shadows was analyzed from the stress of two perforation centers, the fracture path, and the ratio of fracture length to spacing. The simulations showed that the reservoir rock at the two perforation centers is always in a state of compressive stress, and the smaller the perforation spacing, the higher the maximum compressive stress. Moreover, the compressive stress value can directly reflect the size of the stress shadow effect, which changes with the fracture propagation. When the fracture length extends to 2.5 times the perforation spacing, the stress shadow effect is the strongest. In addition, small perforation spacing leads to backward-spreading... [more]

The module technology proposed in this paper is used to fabricate a wire embedded ethyl vinyl acetate (EVA) sheet module by applying a cell/module integrated process in which the cell and wire are bonded during the lamination process. A wire-embedded EVA sheet module was fabricated using a busbarless cell and SnBiAg wire. As a result of the module characteristics corresponding to the lamination process temperature, the highest efficiency of 19.55% was observed at 170 °C. The lowest contact resistivity between the wire and the finger electrode was shown under a temperature condition of 170 °C, which was confirmed to increase the efficiency owing to an improvement of the fill factor with an excellent electrical contact.

Among the alternative fuels existing for spark-ignition engines, ethanol is considered worldwide as an important renewable fuel when mixed with pure gasoline because of its favorable physicochemical properties. An in-depth and updated investigation on the issue of CO and HC engine out emissions related to use of ethanol/gasoline fuels in spark-ignition engines is therefore necessary. Starting from our experimental studies on engine out emissions of a last generation spark-ignition engine fueled with ethanol/gasoline fuels, the aim of this new investigation is to offer a complete literature review on the present state of ethanol combustion in last generation spark-ignition engines under real working conditions to clarify the possible change in CO and HC emissions. In the first section of this paper, a comparison between physicochemical properties of ethanol and gasoline is examined to assess the practicability of using ethanol as an alternative fuel for spark-ignition engines and to inv... [more]

The interest in the seismic performance of nuclear power plants has increased worldwide since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant incident. In Korea, interest in the seismic safety of nuclear power plants has increased since the earthquake events in Gyeongju (2016) and Pohang (2017). In Korea, studies have been conducted to apply seismic isolation systems to ensure seismic safety while minimizing the design changes to nuclear power plants. Nuclear power plants with seismic isolation systems may have a higher seismic risk due to the failure of the piping system in the structure after a relatively large displacement. Therefore, it is essential to secure the seismic safety of pipes for the safe operation of nuclear power plants. The seismic safety of pipes is determined by seismic fragility analysis. Seismic fragility analysis requires many seismic response analyses because it is a statistical approach to various random variables. Typical numerical conditions affecting the seismic r... [more]

Exploitation of lignite in continuous surface mines requires removing masses of overburden, which are hauled to a dumpsite. There are some technological arrangements where the overburden is transported several dozen meters down to a spreader operating on a lower located dumping level. Depending on an angle of a declined transportation route, there is a possibility to convert the potential gravitational energy of conveyed down overburden masses into electric energy. To recover the maximum percentage of stored energy, an energy-effective and fully loaded belt conveyor should work in a generator mode. Due to the implementation of such a solution, a lignite continuous surface mine, which is a great electric energy consumer, can obtain the status of an electricity prosumer and reduce its environmental impact, in particular demonstrating significant savings in primary energy consumption. Though lignite surface mining is phasing out in Europe, the recuperative, overburden conveyors for downhi... [more]

Hydrogen is an explosive gas, which could create extremely hazardous conditions when released into an enclosure. Full-scale experiments of hydrogen release and dispersion in the confined space were conducted. The experiments were performed for hydrogen release outflow of 63 × 10−3 m3/s through a single nozzle and multi-point release way optionally. It was found that the hydrogen dispersion in an enclosure strongly depends on the gas release way. Significantly higher hydrogen stratification is observed in a single nozzle release than in the case of the multi-point release when the gas concentration becomes more uniform in the entire enclosure volume. The experimental results were confirmed on the basis of Froud number analysis. The CFD simulations realized with the FDS code by NIST allowed visualization of the experimental hydrogen dispersion phenomenon and confirmed that the varied distribution of hydrogen did not affect the effectiveness of the accidental mechanical ventilation system... [more]

Lift force is an important parameter for the performance evaluation of an H-Darrieus wind turbine. The rotational direction of the streamlined force is effective on the performance of the wind turbine. In order to analyze the flow characteristics around the turbine blades in real-time, a numerical analysis using three-dimensional unsteady Reynold-averaged Navier−Stokes equations has been introduced. Experimental data were obtained from a field test facility constructed on an island in South Korea and was introduced to compare the numerical simulation results with measured data. The optimum tip speed ratio (TSR) was investigated via a multi-variable optimization approach and was determined to be 3.5 for the NACA 0015 blade profile. The turbine displays better performance with the maximum power coefficient at the optimum TSR. It is due to the delay in the flow separation from the blade surface and the relatively lower strength of the tip vortices. Furthermore, the ratio between lift and... [more]

The main objective of the study is to assess the similarity between the time series of energy commodity prices and the time series of daily COVID-19 cases. The COVID-19 pandemic affects all aspects of the global economy. Although this impact is multifaceted, we assess the connections between the number of COVID-19 cases and the energy commodities sector. We analyse these connections by using the Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) method. On this basis, we calculate the similarity measure—the DTW distance between the time series—and use it to group the energy commodities according to their price change. Our analysis also includes finding the time shifts between daily COVID-19 cases and commodity prices in subperiods according to the chronology of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings are that commodities such as ULSD, heating oil, crude oil, and gasoline are weakly associated with COVID-19. On the other hand, natural gas, palm oil, CO2 allowances, and ethanol are strongly associated with the deve... [more]

The growth in global electricity demand has expanded the search for new energy resources. Renewable sources such as photovoltaic (PV) systems have proven to be major alternatives. PV generators connected to distribution grids have exhibited significant growth in the last decade, so it is essential to analyse the impacts resulting from this increase. This work investigated the influence of high PV system penetration in distribution grids in terms of harmonic levels. In particular, this study addressed the distortions in voltage and current waveforms in the presence and absence of PV generators connected to a distribution grid. Additionally, the total harmonic content and the individual harmonic frequencies of voltage and current were analysed. This study was performed with an IEEE 37 bus distribution system and the Open Distribution System Simulator software (OpenDSS). The results show that the voltage limits of some phases far away from a substation can exceed the limits. Furthermore,... [more]

In order to provide a theoretical basis for the thermal design of the neutron production target, flow and heat transfer characteristics are studied by using numerical simulations and experiments. A rectangular mini-channel experimental model consistent with the geometric shape of the heat dissipation structure of neutron production target was established, in which the aspect ratio and gap thickness of the test channel were 53.8:1 and 1.3 mm, respectively. The experimental results indicate that the critical Re of the mini-channel is between 3500 and 4000, and when Re reaches 21,000, Nu can reach 160. The simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental data, and the numerical simulation method can be used for the variable structure optimization design of the target in the later stage. The relationship between the flow pressure drop of the target mini-channel and the aspect ratio and Re is obtained by numerical simulation. The maximum deviation between the correlation and t... [more]

This paper addresses the problem of conveyor transfer station design in harsh operating conditions, aiming to identify and eliminate a failure phenomenon which interrupts aggregate supply. The analyzed transfer station is located in a Polish granite quarry. The study employs laser scanning and reverse engineering methods to map the existing transfer station and its geometry. Next, a discrete element method (DEM) model of granite aggregate has been created and used for simulating current operating conditions. The arch formation has been identified as the main reason for breakdowns. Alternative design solutions for transfer stations were tested in DEM simulations. The most uncomplicated design for manufacturing incorporated an impact plate, and a straight chute has been selected as the best solution. The study also involved identifying areas of the new station most exposed to wear phenomena. A new transfer point was implemented in the quarry and resolved the problem of blockages.

The real-time linearization of a photovoltaic (PV) cell has been implemented well by the proposition of two maximum power point (MPP) linear models (MPP Thevenin cell model and MPP Norton cell model). However, there is no work to specially analyze the circuit parameter range (CPR) to correctly use them, which seriously impedes the development of the linear control theory involving them. To deal with this problem, in this paper, PV systems with three usual outputs are analyzed and the expressions of their CPR are proposed under ideal conditions. Meanwhile, these expressions are improved to match the practical application. They disclose the relationships between load (or bus voltage) and model parameters of the MPP Thevenin cell model (MPP-TCM) when the MPP of PV system always exists. They also reveal the constraints of load (or bus voltage) when the MPP-TCM is always available. Finally, by some simulation experiments, the accuracy of the expressions of the CPR is verified, the regular p... [more]

Ash fouling has been an important factor in reducing the heat transfer efficiency and safety of the coal-fired power plant boilers. Scientific and accurate prediction of ash fouling of heat transfer surfaces is the basis of formulating a reasonable soot blowing strategy to improve energy efficiency. This study presented a comprehensive approach of dynamic prediction of the ash fouling of heat transfer surfaces in coal-fired power plant boilers. At first, the cleanliness factor is used to reflect the fouling level of the heat transfer surfaces. Then, a dynamic model is proposed to predict ash deposits in the coal-fired boilers by combining complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN) and nonlinear autoregressive neural networks (NARNN). To construct a reasonable network model, the minimum information criterion and trial-and-error method are used to determine the delay orders and hidden layers. Finally, the experimental object is established on the 300 MV... [more]