This paper presents a systematic mapping (SM) study with the aim to determine how Building Information Modeling (BIM) methodologies and technologies contribute to energy-related analyses over the course of the entire building life cycle. The method adopted in the study is based on a set of seven research questions. We used a mixed technique combining co-citation analysis and bibliographic coupling in order to analyze the publications’ datasets for the period 2010−2020. The main advantage and novelty of this study are that the joint dataset from the Scopus and Web of Science databases was used to develop the keyword map. The main findings of this study indicate that many BIM-based applications can be used to analyze the building energy performance at all stages of the building life cycle. However, the applications of BIM in conjunction with other information technologies are limited and are still in the initial stage. In the future, the main improvements should be focused on process, mo... [more]

The speed response of the interior permanent magnet synchronous motor (IPMSM) drive at low speeds was analyzed. To eliminate the effect of external disturbance or parameter uncertainty, a nonlinear speed control loop was designed based on the sliding-mode exponential reaching law, which reduces chatter, which is the major drawback of the constant reaching law sliding-mode control technique. The proposed nonlinear speed control eliminates speed ripples at low speed under load disturbance. The problem of speed convergence at low speed is caused by electromagnetic torque ripples, which cause shaft speed oscillations that affect drive performance. The main objective of the proposed method is to change the traditional IPMSM control design by compensating with an appropriate signal along the reference current and across the output of the speed control loop. To optimize the speed tracking performance during disturbances or parametric variations, a nonlinear speed control scheme is designed th... [more]

Energy generation has had several negative health impacts over the last few decades, mainly due to air pollution. One of the ways to decrease such impacts is to increase energy generation through renewable energy sources (RESs). These sources have important health co-benefits that need to be taken into consideration. This topic has been included in the literature, but research is scattered. The goal of this article is to show the status of the literature on this topic. We performed a systematic literature review on the health co-benefits of RES use, depicting the state of the art of this literature, some common findings, limitations, and lines for future research. It is clear from our analysis that this literature remains scarce. We found 28 studies fitting the inclusion criteria. Results can be summed as follows: (1) wind and solar power are the most studied RES sources; (2) most studies are for the United States and developing countries are largely understudied; and (3) health benefi... [more]

The paper discusses the method of identifying the technical condition of induction motors by classifying the energy data coming from the main common power bus. The work shows the simulation results of induction motor operation. The correlation between occurring defects and current diagrams is presented. The developed simulation model is demonstrated. The general algorithm for conducting experiments is described. Five different experiments to develop an algorithm for the classification are conducted: determination of the motors number in operation with different power; determination of the motors number in operation with equal power; determination of the mode and load of induction electric motor; determination of the fault and its magnitude with regard to operation and load of induction motor; determination of the fault and its magnitude with regard to operation and load of induction motor with regard to non-linear load in the flow. The article also presents an algorithm for preprocessi... [more]

This paper investigates the impact of tube wells on the discharge and water table of the Quetta Valley aquifer and conducts a financial analysis of the solar photovoltaic water pumping system (SPVWP) in comparison with a typical pumping system for the Water and Sanitation Agency of Quetta’s (WASA) tube wells. Quetta Valley is dependent on groundwater as surface resources are on decline and unpredictable. The population of this city has exponentially increased from 0.26 million in 1975 to 2.2 million in 2017 which has put a lot of pressure on the groundwater aquifer by installing more than 500 large capacity tube wells by WASA and Public Health Engineering (PHE) departments in addition to thousands of low-capacity private tube wells. The unprecedented running of these wells has resulted in drying of the historical Karez system, agricultural activities, and the sharp increase in power tariffs. There are 423 tube wells in operation installed by WASA in addition to PHE, Irrigation and Mili... [more]

The energy transition currently taking place in the mining regions of the European Union poses many challenges that need to be addressed with a view to 2030 and 2050, of which the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is the key one. Initial results of the research project entitled “Models of a transition to a climate-neutral, circular economy for mining regions under transformation process”, which is developed in parallel with the transition of mining town Brzeszcze, are presented. The challenges, in the context of energy transition, for both the EU and local governments were identified on the basis of EU policies and the experience of the project team from the cooperation with the commune of Brzeszcze. A “research by design” method was used to develop model solutions. In the context of local challenges, there was a discussion of the Green Deal objectives and “greenery” as a tool for transformation and achieving well-being. It was concluded that a comparison of the tangible (mining an... [more]

Mining-induced seismicity in the area of development works and proper mining operations is one of the major determinants of the rockburst hazard level in underground mines. Rockburst hazard assessment in Polish collieries is performed by a variety of mining and geophysical methods, including seismic and seismoacoustic techniques, borehole surveys, small diameter drilling, rock strata profiling and analyses of geomechanical properties of rocks, geological structure and geological mining conditions. In the case of zones particularly exposed to potential hazards, it is recommended that analytical or numerical forecasts of the state of stress in the vicinity of workings should be used already at the stage of planning of mining operations. This study summarises the comparative analysis of seismic test data and analytical forecasts of the state of stress in five selected headings in one of the burst-prone collieries within the Upper Silesia Coal Basin in Poland (USCB). As regards the seismic... [more]

A number of difficulties may be encountered in the final stages of oil field exploitation, including the formation of asphalt−resin−paraffin deposits (ARPDs). It is expedient to use complex technologies to remove the already formed deposits and prevent the formation of ARPDs. This paper focuses on the complex technology of oil field exploitation. This technology combines both the removal of organic deposits and the prevention of the formation of these deposits in the well bottomhole formation zone (BHFZ) system. The calculations for determining the process parameters of selling the ARPD inhibitor solution into the BHFZ are presented in this article. This complex technology includes the process of ARPD removal by flushing the well and the subsequent injection of the developed ARPD solvent into the BHFZ. In addition, the technology is complemented by a method of preventing the formation of these deposits. This method consists of squeezing the ARPD inhibitor and then pumping it by the sel... [more]

A de-loaded real power control strategy is proposed to decrease the real power output and increase the reactive power output of a grid-connected offshore wind farm in order to improve the voltage profile when the wind farm is subject to a grid fault. A simplified linear model of the wind farm is first derived and a fixed-gain proportional-integral (PI) real power controller is designed based on the pole-zero cancellation method. To improve the dynamic voltage response when the system is subject to a major disturbance such as a three-phase fault in the grid, a self-tuning controller based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) is proposed to adapt the PI controller gains based on the on-line measured system variables. Digital simulations using MATLAB/SIMULINK were performed on an offshore wind farm connected to the power grid in central Taiwan in order to validate the effectiveness of the proposed PSO controller. It is concluded from the simulation results that a better dynamic voltage re... [more]

In this study, collected samples of nine different wells from the Middle East are used for various geochemical analyses to determine the hydrocarbon generation potential. The determination is carried out following the grain density, specific surface area, XRD, and Rock−Eval pyrolysis analyses. Four different types of kerogen are plotted based on the Rock−Eval analysis result. Kerogen type I usually has high hydrogen index (e.g., HI > 700) and low oxygen index, which is considered oil-bearing. Kerogen Type II has hydrogen index between type I and type II and oxygen index higher than type I (e.g., 350 < HI < 700) and is also considered to have oil-bearing potential. Kerogen type III has a lower hydrogen index (e.g., HI < 350) and is considered to have a primarily gas-generating potential with terrigenous organic matter origination. Kerogen type IV has a very low hydrogen index and higher oxygen index (compared with other types of kerogen), which is considered the inert organic m... [more]

In this study, the characteristics of functional films were investigated according to the number of coatings and their heat treatment times. The functional coating films were deposited on glass substrates made of the same material as the cover glass of photovoltaic (PV) modules. Each film was coated once by brushing with a special silica-based solution, and each heat treatment was done using a hot-air fan for 2 min at 300 °C. The substrates were coated once, twice, and thrice, respectively, and were annealed once, twice, and thrice by drying and cooling alternately. The specimens were then analyzed for their anti-pollution properties, contact angles, light transmittance, and mechanical properties. The anti-pollution function was confirmed through a self-cleaning test, while the contact angle and light transmittance were examined using special equipment. Mechanical properties, including hardness and adhesion, were confirmed using the standard hardness testing method (ASTM D3363) such as... [more]

Runner and distributor blockages in hydraulic turbines occur due to the ingestion of external bodies such as rocks or logs. These obstructions can change the amplitude and uniformity of the pressure pulsations in the machine, creating large unbalanced forces that can lead to reduced efficiency, increased vibration and mechanical damage. In this paper, the effects of obstructions caused by ingested bodies in the runner and the distributor of a pump turbine on its internal pressure pulsation were investigated by means of computational fluid dynamics. A numerical model of an unobstructed pump turbine is presented and validated against experimental data. Several cases of runner or distributor blockage were studied, and their RSI pressure pulsations were recorded and analyzed at different locations. The results obtained allow us to characterize the effect of these blockages on the machine’s RSI, which can be helpful for the correct diagnosis of these types of damage.

Soiling severely reduces solar mirror performance, requiring dispendious water consumption for cleaning operations and causing an increase in the levelized cost of energy (LCOE). An emerging technology for facing this problem consists of developing transparent self-cleaning coatings, able to be washed with a small amount of water by virtue of the modulation of surficial wetting properties. Nevertheless, the beneficial effects of coatings decrease in the first year, and coated mirrors show even higher soiling than non-coated ones. Moreover, it is important that coating production processes are economically convenient, consistent with the intended reduction of overall costs. The aim of this work is the research and development of a cheap and scalable solution, compatible with mirror fabrication steps and, in such a sense, economically advantageous. It involves the substitution of the alumina last layer of solar mirrors with more hydrophobic, potentially auxetic aluminum compounds, such a... [more]

Electronic vehicle dynamics systems are expected to evolve in the future as more and more automobile manufacturers mark fully automated vehicles as their main path of development. State-of-the-art electronic stability control programs aim to limit the vehicle motion within the stable region of the vehicle dynamics, thereby preventing drifting. On the contrary, in this paper, the authors suggest its use as an optimal cornering technique in emergency situations and on certain road conditions. Achieving the automated initiation and stabilization of vehicle drift motion (also known as powerslide) on varying road surfaces means a high level of controllability over the vehicle. This article proposes a novel approach to realize automated vehicle drifting in multiple operation points on different road surfaces. A three-state nonlinear vehicle and tire model was selected for control-oriented purposes. Model predictive control (MPC) was chosen with an online updating strategy to initiate and mai... [more]

Many buildings have considerable thermal bridges at the junction of balcony slabs with walls. To achieve the new EU directive targets related to energy efficiency, greater attention should be paid to such design details. This study analyzes the efficiency of traditional balcony slab modernization methods, the use of modern insulation materials and a new alternative system: an added self-supporting light balcony system (LKBD) in retrofitted large-panel buildings. The main objective was to capture cost-effective renovation methods from both the heat loss reduction perspectives and risk of surface condensation. The analyses, carried out in four buildings, have shown that at current costs, the thermal modernization of balconies is not economically efficient (SPBT > 98.4 years). However, it is necessary because leaving the balcony slabs without insulation or only insulating them from the bottom carries the risk of surface condensation. The most cost-effective renovation method is to insulat... [more]

Energy use in homes and buildings represents an important part of the load of electrical systems [...]

Aiming at solving the problems of slow motion and positioning deviation caused by the change of the moment of inertia of the servo motor due to different loads, an identification method for the moment of inertia on the basis of the error gain factor model is introduced into the controller, so that the moment of inertia can be obtained accurately and quickly under dynamic conditions. First, the electromagnetic and motion equation of the permanent magnet synchronous motor is built, and the logical relationship between the moment of inertia, torque, speed and other physical quantities is derived, so that the moment of inertia can be dynamically acquired. Second, in order to increase the identification accuracy, an adaptive function is introduced in the inertia identification model to replace the fixed parameters as an error gain factor (EGF). Third, the accuracy parameter is defined, and the identification algorithm on the basis of the EGF model is compared with the accuracy parameters of... [more]

In this paper, a twelve-band hysteresis control is applied to a recent thirteen-level asymmetrical inverter topology by employing a robust proportional-integral (PI) controller whose parameters are decided online by genetic algorithm (GA). The asymmetrical inverter topology can generate thirteen levels of output voltage incorporating only ten switches and exhibits boosting capability. A 12-band hysteresis current control strategy is applied to ensure the satisfactory operation of the inverter. It is designed to provide a sinusoidal line current at the unity power factor. The tuning of the PI controller is achieved by a nature inspired GA. Comparative analysis of the results obtained after application of the GA and the conventional Ziegler−Nichols method is also performed. The efficacy of the proposed control on WE topology is substantiated in the MATLAB Simulink environment and was further validated through experimental/real-time implementation using DSC TMS320F28379D and Typhoon HIL r... [more]

To implement the non-contact detection of contamination on insulators, a contamination severity assessment methodology using the deep learning of the colored image information of insulators can be used. For the insulator images taken at the substation site, a mathematical morphology-improved optimal entropic threshold (OET) method is utilized to extract the insulator from the background. By performing feature calculations of insulator images in RGB and HSI color spaces, sixty-six color features are obtained. By fusing the features of the two color spaces using kernel principal component analysis (KPCA), fused features are obtained. The recognition of contamination grades is then accomplished with a deep belief network (DBN) that consists of a three-layered restricted Boltzmann machine. The experimental results of the images taken on-site show that the fused features obtained by the KPCA can fully reflect the contamination state of the insulators. Compared with the identification obtain... [more]

The article discusses the possibility of using blended biofuels from rapeseed oil (RO) as fuel for a diesel engine. RO blended diesel fuel (DF) and emulsified multicomponent biofuels have been investigated. Fuel physicochemical properties have been analyzed. Experimental tests of a diesel engine D-245 in the operating conditions of the external characteristic curve and the 13-mode test cycle have been conducted to investigate the effect of these fuels on engine performances. CFD simulations of the nozzle inner flow were performed for DF and ethanol-emulsified RO. The possibility of a significant improvement in brake thermal efficiency of the engine has been noted. The efficiency of using blended biofuels from RO as a motor fuel for diesel engines has been evaluated based on the experimental test results. It was shown that in comparison with the presence of RO in emulsified multicomponent biofuel, the presence of water has a more significant effect on NOx emission reduction. The content... [more]

It is broadly acknowledged that there is an urgent need to reduce carbon-based mobility systems and increase renewable energy alternatives. The automotive industry is one of the greatest consumers of energy in the world. It is fronted with many challenges that aim at reducing carbon emissions. Renewable energy costs are getting cheaper and more cost effective. However, well devised design and control strategies are also needed in order to optimize any systems that are adopted in this field. Previous research shows that the energy consumption for non-traction purposes may be of the same scale as the energy used to move rolling stock, and in some cases even larger. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is very interested in the implementation of policies that aim at reducing energy consumption and encouraging renewable energy programs. Under its Vision 2030 development program, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is looking to produce 30% of its energy from renewables and other sources, with solar energy... [more]

Multiple jet impingement is a widely implemented convective process for enhancing heat transfer over target surfaces. Depending on the engineering application, the impinging plate can have different configurations. However, the increased complexity of the surface induces complicated thermal behaviors that must be analyzed. In that sense, this study consisted of the experimental and numerical analysis of multiple jets impinging on a step surface. A particle image velocimetry technique was applied to measure velocity fields, while a heat flux sensor was mounted on the surface to determine the heat transfer. Numerical simulations, for both flat and non-flat plates, were conducted in ANSYS FLUENT applying the SST k-ω model, and experimental results were used to validate the model. Three surface configurations were analyzed, flat, 1 D, and 2 D steps, and the results show an increase in the average Nusselt number compared with the flat plate, 9% and 20%, respectively. This increase was mainl... [more]

The unit commitment problem (UCP) is one of the key and fundamental concerns in the operation, monitoring, and control of power systems. Uncertainty management in a UCP has been of great interest to both operators and researchers. The uncertainties that are considered in a UCP can be classified as technical (outages, forecast errors, and plugin electric vehicle (PEV) penetration), economic (electricity prices), and “epidemics, pandemics, and disasters” (techno-socio-economic). Various methods have been developed to model the uncertainties of these parameters, such as stochastic programming, probabilistic methods, chance-constrained programming (CCP), robust optimization, risk-based optimization, the hierarchical scheduling strategy, and information gap decision theory. This paper reviews methods of uncertainty management, parameter modeling, simulation tools, and test systems.

Today, the problem of energy shortage and climate change has urgently motivated the development of research engaged in improving the fuel efficiency of internal combustion engines (ICEs). Although many constructive alternatives—including battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and low-carbon fuels such as biofuels or hydrogen—are being put forward, they are starting from a very low base, and still face significant barriers. Nevertheless, 85−90% of transport energy is still expected to come from combustion engines powered by conventional liquid fuels even by 2040. Therefore, intensive passion for the improvement of engine thermal efficiency and decreasing energy loss has driven the development of reliable approaches and modelling to fully understand the underlying mechanisms. In this paper, literature surveys are presented that investigate the relative advantages of technologies mainly focused on minimizing energy loss in engine assemblies, including pistons and rings, bearings and valves, wat... [more]

Power system scheduling of renewable energy sources has been studied extensively due to the severe increase in pollution caused by conventional energy sources. In this study, a multi-objective scheduling model of a hybrid microgrid is proposed to minimize the cost of hybrid microgrids and maximize the power supply reliability. The main power generation units such as the wind turbines, photovoltaic (PV) cells, and battery banks are used in this hybrid microgrid. In this study, the optimal sizing of PV panels and battery banks are obtained using multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) for the proposed multi-objective scheduling model. The lifetime of battery banks is considered in the energy storage system (ESS) model. Finally, the practicality of the scheduling model proposed in this study is verified by four examples.