The Atkinson cycle, where expansion ratio is higher than the compression ratio, is one of the methods used to improve thermal efficiency of engines. Miller improved the Atkinson cycle by controlling the intake- or exhaust-valve closing timing, a technique which is called the Miller cycle. The Otto−Miller cycle can improve thermal efficiency and reduce NOx emission by reducing compression work; however, it must compensate for the compression pressure and maintain the intake air mass through an effective compression ratio or turbocharge. Hence, we performed thermodynamic cycle analysis with changes in the intake-valve closing timing for the Otto−Miller cycle and evaluated the engine performance and Miller timing through the resulting problems and solutions. When only the compression ratio was compensated, the theoretical thermal efficiency of the Otto−Miller cycle improved by approximately 18.8% compared to that of the Otto cycle. In terms of thermal efficiency, it is more advantageous t... [more]

The wide use of pumps and turbines has significant value in energy conservation and utilization. In this work, a three-dimensional Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model and a one-dimensional theoretical model of a Pump as Turbine (PAT) were established. On this basis, the correlation between pressure and velocity was quantitatively investigated by a proposed sensitivity index (SPV). A synergy field analysis was then applied to evaluate the flow characteristics of a pump and PAT, providing a perspective from the mechanism of the energy transfer enhancement for hydraulic devices. Moreover, the hydraulic and synergy performances of PAT were studied under various operating conditions. The results show that the minimum SPV is obtained in the impeller. With increasing flow rate, the SPV of the PAT generally increases, and the synergy angle of the impeller surface increases as well. A strong disordered synergy field is observed in regions of the blade leading edge, trailing edge, and volut... [more]

Catalytic performance of La0.3Sr0.7Co0.7Fe0.3O3 (LSCF3773 or LSCF) catalyst for syngas production via two step thermochemical cycles of H2O and CO2 co-splitting was investigated. Oxygen storage capacity (OSC) was found to depend on reduction temperature, rather than the oxidation temperature. The highest oxygen vacancy (Δδ) was achieved when the reduction and oxidation temperature were both fixed at 900 °C with the feed ratio (H2O to CO2) of 3 to 1, with an increasing amount of CO2 in the feed mixture. CO productivity reached its plateau at high ratios of H2O to CO2 (1:1, 1:2, and 1:2.5), while the total productivities were reduced with the same ratios. This indicated the existence of a CO2 blockage, which was the result of either high Ea of CO2 dissociation or high Ea of CO desorption, resulting in the loss in active species. From the results, it can be concluded that H2O and CO2 splitting reactions were competitive reactions. Ea of H2O and CO2 splitting was estimated at 31.01 kJ/mol... [more]

This paper proposes a current decoupling controller for a Doubly-fed Induction Generator (DFIG) based on floating offshore wind turbine and power to gas. The proposed controller realizes Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) through integral sliding mode compensation. By using the internal model control strategy, an open-loop controller is designed to ensure that the system has good dynamic performance. Furthermore, using the integral Sliding Mode Control (SMC) strategy, a compensator is designed to eliminate the parameter perturbation and external disturbance of the open-loop control. The parameters of the designed controller are designed through Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO). Simulation results show that the proposed control strategy has better response speed and smaller steady-state error than the traditional control strategy. This research is expected to be applied to the field of hydrogen production by floating offshore wind power.

The world has a target of achieving 100% renewable energy by the end of the century. This paper presents a case study to establish a new floating photovoltaic park (FPV) in Egyptian dams. In Egypt, two hydroelectric dams, namely High Dam and Aswan Reservoir, together produce 2.65 GW in the Upper-Egypt region. The addition of 5 MW FPV for each dam is simulated using the Helioscope software application. A comparison between the performance of the dams with and without adding the FPV is presented in terms of the evaporation rate and total produced energy. A comparison between different types of FPV, namely polycrystalline, thin film and mono-crystalline in the two dams are also presented. The results show that installing FPV in the Egyptian dams will drive the dams to better performance in terms of carbon dioxide reduction, water-saving from reducing evaporation and increasing hydropower generation.

A novel design of an unfinned thermosyphon HPHX having a continuous closed tube loop which requires only a single charge is proposed for industrial waste heat recovery. The HPHX consists of 9×17 straight copper tubes in a staggered arrangement connected by 144 U bends. Without fins, not only are the pressure drops of the cooling air flow limited, but the cost, weight and maintenance effort can be greatly reduced. The thermal performance of this novel thermosyphon HPHX was tested with water at a filling ratio of 40%. The evaporator section is immersed in hot silicone oil, while the condenser section is cooled by air flow. The heat transfer rate (Q) reaches 6.65 kW at a heating pool temperature of 150 °C and a cooling air flow rate (F) of 1600 CMH, when the HPHX attains maximum effective thermal conductivity of 12,798 W/m-K. An ε-NTU theoretical model for single-tube thermosyphons was formulated with the boiling and film condensation modelled by empirical correlations. This model predict... [more]

The 14C method is an approach used to determine the proportion of carbon derived from biomass and fossil fuel in the co-fired flue gas. Its accuracy is mainly limited by the deviations between the applied biomass fuels’ 14C activity reference value and virtual value. To enrich the theoretical basis of the 14C method when applied to a Chinese biomass and coal co-firing power station, this study performed field sampling experiments and established a new evaluation method based on domestic literature. Unlike previous studies, this study revealed that the 14C activity of biomass far away from fossil carbon sources was 0.7−1.3 pMC lower than the local atmosphere. The 14C activity laws between tree rings and barks, specifically between eucalyptus bark and poplar bark were different, due to different growth models and different bark regeneration cycles, respectively. According to the test results and renewal conclusions, this study proposed a reasonable idea for constructing the prediction eq... [more]

The aim of the study was to assess the influence of the addition of an oxygenated additive (a mixture of mono-, di- and triacetylglycerol obtained from residual glycerin within the biodiesel production scheme) on the specific fuel consumption and exhaust emissions of a EURO 3 diesel bus during its daily route through the city. To do this, the urban bus was fuelled with five fuel blends of diesel (D), biodiesel (B), additive (A) and heptanol as co-surfactant (H). A portable emissions measurement system was used to measure the exhaust gases while an engine exhaust particle system with a dilution system, both installed on the urban bus, was used for nanoparticles measurement in actual operating conditions through the city of Seville. Results showed that B95A5 (95%v/v biodiesel, 5%v/v additive) and B90A10 were the blends that most increased NOx emissions (by 24.12% and 9.85%, respectively) compared to D100. On the other hand, B47.5D47.5A2.5H2.5 was the blend that most reduced total particl... [more]

This paper deals with design of permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSG) for diesel engine generators. The PMSG is required to reduce the total harmonic distortion (THD) reduction of the induced electromotive force (EMF) for the enhancement of power quality. In this paper, a design method is proposed to reduce the THD of the induced EMF for power quality enhancement in the PMSG. First, the selection process for the number of poles and slots is described. Second, the rotor shape design is proposed using an eccentric curve and slit shape. Based on the results of the first process, the optimal rotor shape is selected to achieve the additional THD reduction of the induced EMF. Finally, the performance for the optimal rotor shape is verified through a 2-dimensional finite element analysis (2D FEA) and prototype.

Heat transfer models of closed-circuit cooling towers are available in the literature. Using these models, traditional parametric studies show how the inlet conditions of the streams influence the cooling capacity. This type of analysis could yield to suboptimal operation of the cooling tower since optimal heat and mass transfer processes do not necessarily imply an energy efficient cooling device. The optimal design of closed-circuit cooling towers should include any evaluation of pressure loses associated with the three streams involved. Air-water biphasic pressure drop across tube bundles in such devices was not sufficiently investigated in literature. The proposed literature correlations depend on geometry parameters, and these parameters are not known. In this work, an experimental device has been designed and constructed to study pressure drops, and an energy consumption model has been developed. The pressure drop was successfully calculated modifying a general correlation propos... [more]

Lipid vesicles, especially giant lipid vesicles (GLVs), are usually adopted as cell membrane models and their preparation has been widely studied. However, the effects of some nonelectrolytes on GLV formation have not been specifically studied so far. In this paper, the effects of the nonelectrolytes, including sucrose, glucose, sorbitol and ethanol, and their coexistence with sodium chloride, on the lipid hydration and GLV formation were investigated. With the hydration method, it was found that the sucrose, glucose and sorbitol showed almost the same effect. Their presence in the medium enhanced the hydrodynamic force on the lipid membranes, promoting the GLV formation. GLV formation was also promoted by the presence of ethanol with ethanol volume fraction in the range of 0 to 20 percent, but higher ethanol content resulted in failure of GLV formation. However, the participation of sodium chloride in sugar solution and ethanol solution stabilized the lipid membranes, suppressing the... [more]

In the past few decades, water and air were commonly used as working fluid to evaluate shell and tube heat exchanger (STHE) performance. This study was undertaken to estimate heat transfer coefficients and evaluate performance in the pilot-scale twisted tube-based STHE using the flue gas from biomass co-combustion as working fluid. Theoretical calculation along with experimental results were used to calculate the specific heat of flue gas. A simplified model was then developed from the integration of two heat transfer methods to predict the overall heat transfer coefficient without tedious calculation of individual heat transfer coefficients and fouling factors. Performance including water and trailer temperature, heat load, effectiveness, and overall heat transfer coefficient were jointly investigated under variable operating conditions. Results indicated that the specific heat of flue gas from co-combustion ranging between 1.044 and 1.338 kJ/kg·K while specific heat was increased by... [more]

Tissue engineering (TE) was initially designed to tackle clinical organ shortage problems. Although some engineered tissues have been successfully used for non-clinical applications, very few (e.g., reconstructed human skin) have been used for clinical purposes. As the current TE approach has not achieved much success regarding more broad and general clinical applications, organ shortage still remains a challenging issue. This very limited clinical application of TE can be attributed to the constraints in manufacturing fully functional tissues via the traditional top−down approach, where very limited cell types are seeded and cultured in scaffolds with equivalent sizes and morphologies as the target tissues. The newly proposed developmental engineering (DE) strategy towards the manufacture of fully functional tissues utilises a bottom−up approach to mimic developmental biology processes by implementing gradual tissue assembly alongside the growth of multiple cell types in modular scaff... [more]

The application of splitter blades can improve passage obstructions and reduce flow loss of small-scale organic Rankine cycle (ORC) radial inflow turbines. In this study, taking R245fa as the working fluid, splitter blades are applied to design an impeller layout for a 10 kW ORC radial inflow turbine, and numerical simulation is conducted on different impeller schemes through Fluent 15.0. The influence of the meridian length and circumferential position of the splitter blade on the performance of the turbine impeller is studied. The results show that the meridian length and circumferential position of the splitter blade exert greater effects on the flow field distribution inside the impeller and the impeller performance. When the circumferential offset of the splitter blade is around 0.6 and the blade length is around 80% of the length of main blade, the ORC radial inflow turbine designed in this study reaches optimum performance, and its performance is better than the traditional impe... [more]

Maritime transport is investigating several options to reduce its greenhouse gases and air pollutant emissions. An experimental ship, Energy Observer, is using excess renewable energy to generate onboard hydrogen by electrolysis of purified seawater. As a promising option for storing energy, it can provide on-demand energy to the ship through a hydrogen fuel cell (FC). As hydrogen FCs lifetime and performance are correlated to hydrogen quality, the hydrogen produced onboard needs to be monitored. This study assesses the probability of contaminants presence for this electrolyser, using purified seawater and supports the results with a hydrogen fuel quality analysis from the Energy Observer ship. It demonstrates that an electrolyser using onboard purified seawater can generate hydrogen of a quality compliant with ISO 14687:2019. Additional contaminants (i.e., ions, heavy metal) were also measured. The study highlights the potential contaminants to be monitored and future research on new... [more]

Biological municipal wastewater treatments lead to high sludge generation and long retention times, and the possibilities for recovery of the energy content of the input waste stream are very limited due to the low operating temperature. As an alternative, we propose a sequence of exclusively physicochemical, non-biological stages that avoid sludge production, while producing high-grade energy outflows favoring recovery, all in shorter times. Ultrafiltration and evaporation units provide a front-end concentration block, while a supercritical water oxidation reactor serves as the main treatment unit. A new approach for energy recovery from the effluent of the reactor is proposed, based on its injection in a gas turbine, which presents advantages over simpler direct utilization methods from operational and efficiency points of view. A process layout and a numerical simulation to assess this proposal have been developed. Results show that the model process, characterized with proven opera... [more]

This study examines the performance of three heat pump dryers: the original reference design, a modified drying chamber, and an external desiccant wheel design. Unlike most existing studies that normally adopt organic products as the drying materials, in this study we used moist sodium polyacrylate (Orbeez) as the drying material for consistent characterization of the heat pump performance. R-134a was adopted as the refrigerant for the heat pump system. The experiments were performed subject to different weights of Orbeez (drying material) at a constant volumetric flow rate of 100 m3/h. During experimentation, different parameters like the coefficient of performance (COPHP), drying rate, heat transfer rate by the condenser, moisture extraction rate, and specific moisture extraction rate were calculated. The average COPHP, mass transfer rate, heat transfer rate, MER, and SMER of the system were calculated as 3.9, 0.30 kg/s, 0.56 kW, 0.495 kg/h, and 1.614 kg/kWh, respectively. The maximu... [more]

Oblique detonation wave (ODW) reflection on the upper wall leads to a sophisticated wave complex, whose stability is critical to the application of oblique detonation engines. The unstable wave complex characterized with a continuous moving Mach stem has been observed, but the corresponding re-stability adjusting method is still unclear so far. In this study, the cowl-induced expansion wave based on the model with an upper-side expansion wall is introduced, and the ODW dynamics have been analyzed using the reactive Euler equations with a two-step induction−reaction kinetic model. With the addition of a cowl-induced expansion wave, the re-stabilized Mach stem has been distinguished. This re-stability is determined by the weakened secondary reflection wave of lower wall, while the final location of Mach stem is not sensitive to the position of the expansion corner. The re-stabilized ODW structure is also basically irrelevant to the expansion angle, while it may shift to unstable due to t... [more]

Biodiesel or known as fatty acid methyl ester (FAME), is a diesel fuel substitute derived from the transesterification reaction of triglycerides with alcohol in the presence of suitable catalyst. The demand for biodiesel is increasing due to environmental and health awareness, as well as diminishing energy security. However, the presence of impurities in biodiesel will affect engine performance by corroding fuel tubes and damaging the injectors. Common methods for the purification of biodiesel include water washing, dry washing and membrane separation. This mini review compares the technological advancement for efficient enhancement of biodiesel and glycerol refining between wet washing, dry washing (activated compound, biomass-based adsorbents and silica-based adsorbents), ion exchange and membrane separation technology. The percentage of glycerol residues, soap, alcohol and catalyst from crude biodiesel was compared to reflect the resulting biodiesel purity variation. The advantages... [more]

The rise of new digital technologies and their applications in several areas pushes the process industry to update its methodologies with more intensive use of mathematical models—commonly denoted as digital twins—and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to continuously enhance operational efficiency. In this context, Real-time Optimization (RTO) is a strategy that is able to maximize an economic function while respecting the existing constraints, which enables keeping the operation at its optimum point even though the plant is subjected to nonlinear behavior and frequent disturbances. However, the investment related to the project of commercial RTOs may make its application infeasible for small-scale facilities. In this work, an in-house, small-scale RTO is presented and its successful application in a real industrial case—a Natural Gas Processing Unit—is shown. Besides that, a new method for enhancing the efficiency of using sequential-modular simulator inside an optimization fram... [more]

Under low flow-rate conditions, a Francis turbine exhibits precession of a vortex rope with pressure fluctuations in the draft tube. These undesirable flow phenomena can lead to deterioration of the turbine performance as manifested by torque and power output fluctuations. In order to suppress the rope with precession and a swirl component in the tube, the use of anti-swirl fins was investigated in a previous study. However, vortex rope generation still occurred near the cone of the tube. In this study, unsteady-state Reynolds-averaged Navier−Stokes analyses were conducted with a scale-adaptive simulation shear stress transport turbulence model. This model was used to observe the effects of the injection in the draft tube on the unsteady internal flow and pressure phenomena considering both active and passive suppression methods. The air injection affected the generation and suppression of the vortex rope and swirl component depending on the flow rate of the air. In addition, an inject... [more]

A novel bridgeless isolated AC LED driver is developed, which improves LED utilization and application flexibility due to a coupled inductor inserted between the bidirectional switch and the LED module without any output electrolytic capacitor. By reducing the turns ratio of the coupled inductor, the voltage across the secondary side will be decreased so as to lessen the voltage across the LED strings and hence reduce the number of LEDs, thereby making the load design of the AC LED driver more flexible. It is noted that the coupled inductor plays a role of not only galvanic isolation but also inductor behavior as well as transformer behavior. Therefore, during the turn-on period of the bidirectional switch, the coupled inductor can transfer the energy to one LED string and store the energy simultaneously, whereas during the turn-off period of the bidirectional switch, the coupled inductor can release the stored energy to the other LED string. That is, two LED strings are conducted over... [more]

In order to achieve the accuracy of gas emission prediction for different workplaces in coal mines, three coal mining workings and four intake and return air roadway of working face in Nantun coal mine were selected for the study. A prediction model of gas emission volume based on the grey prediction model GM (1,1) was established. By comparing the predicted and actual values of gas emission rate at different working face locations, the prediction error of the gray prediction model was calculated, and the applicability and accuracy of the gray prediction method in the prediction of gas gushing out from working faces in coal mines were determined. The results show that the maximum error between the predicted and actual measured values of the gray model is 2.41%, and the minimum value is only 0.07%. There is no significant prediction error over a larger time scale; the overall prediction accuracy is high. It achieves the purpose of accurately predicting the amount of gas gushing from the... [more]

A polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy and heat. The energy conversion is simple; however, the multiphysics phenomena involved in the energy conversion process must be analyzed in detail. The gas diffusion layer (GDL) provides a diffusion media for reactant gases and gives mechanical support to the fuel cell. It is a complex medium whose properties impact the fuel cell’s efficiency. Therefore, an in-depth analysis is required to improve its mechanical and physical properties. In the current study, several transport phenomena through three-dimensional digitally created GDLs have been analyzed. Once the porous microstructure is generated and the transport phenomena are mimicked, transport parameters related to the fluid flow and mass diffusion are computed. The GDLs are approximated to the carbon paper represented as a grouped package of carbon fibers. Several correlations, based on the fiber diameter, to p... [more]

The dry roll-type electrostatic coal beneficiation technology under high voltage is used to study the beneficiation of low-grade and high-ash coal in Inner Mongolia, northern China. The optimal coal beneficiation conditions are determined by adjusting three parameters: the electrode voltage, the distance between the electrode and the drum, and the angle θ of the electrode. The best quality clean coal is obtained under the condition of voltage of 30 kV, angle θ of 75°, and electrode distance of 7 cm. Moreover, after separation, the quality of clean coal accounted for 48.41% of the raw coal mass, while the ash ratio decreased from 38.6% of the raw coal to 18.71% of the clean coal, which significantly improves the coal usability. Finally, through the methods of combustion characteristics analysis, infrared spectrum analysis, and combustion exhaust gas analysis of raw and clean coal, it is proven that the roll-type electrostatic separation technology has a high coal beneficiation effect on... [more]