Technological advancement in recent years has resulted in larger and taller wind turbines (WTs) with enhanced power generation capacities. Application of natural hazard risk quantification for WTs helps stakeholders plan, design, install, and operate wind farms safely and profitably. This study focuses on a review of the risks to WTs from earthquakes, strong wind, hurricanes, tsunamis, and lightning. The structural failure of the blades, towers, and foundations in response to these hazards was investigated. Furthermore, research from the past few decades covering modes of failures, such as foundation overturning, tower tilting, tower buckling, blade buckling, deformations, and delamination of blades, was investigated. It was found that the methodologies used by researchers include analytical, statistical, and data-based models, as well as experimental research. This study shows that, while seismic, wind, and hurricane risks have been explored with analytical, experimental, and statisti... [more]

In response to climate change, governments around the world have committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which contribute to global warming, through the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources and electrification of transportation. This article outlines the design procedure for the electrification of a railway vehicle used for maintenance services on the rail network. The proposed methodology consists of the design of both an all-electric propulsion system and storage system with the aim of zero emissions when the vehicle is operating in tunnels and to minimise noise during maintenance services in cities. After highlighting the characteristics of the railway vehicle under consideration, a simulation model of the propulsion and generation system was developed in order to calculate the energy consumption of the entire railway system. Finally, experimental tests carried out on the prototype proved the effectiveness of the design procedure adopted and the pr... [more]

Electricity is used in educational buildings, and there are now numerous attempts to reduce consumption, achieve sustainability, and protect the environment. This paper aims to study energy consumption, identify opportunities to rationalize energy consumption, and propose solutions at Sulaiman Al-Rajhi University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in order for the university campus to become sustainable. The results showed that total annual electrical consumption totaled 13,859 MWh in 2021. The air conditioning system, other devices, and lighting have the percentage of consumption 79, 14, and 7% of the total, respectively. Electricity consumption intensity was approximately 145−155 kWh/m2, and the per capita intensity was approximately 12,987−16,351 kWh, in the period 2017−2021. The price of the electrical energy generated on the university campus ranged between 0.3 and 0.53 SR/kWh in 2021, while the electricity tariff from the grid for educational buildings was 0.18 SR/kWh. This means tha... [more]

Recently, the concept of green building has become popular, and various renewable energy systems have been integrated into green buildings. In particular, the application range of fuel cells (FCs) has become widespread due to the various government plans regarding green hydrogen energy systems. In particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have proven superiority over other existing FCs. However, the uniqueness of the operating maximum power point (MPP) of PEMFCs represents a critical issue for the PEMFC control systems. The perturb and observe, incremental conductance/resistance, and fuzzy logic control (FLC) represent the most used MPP tracking (MPPT) algorithms for PEMFC systems, among which the FLC-based MPPT methods have shown improved performance compared to the other methods. Therefore, this paper presents a modified FLC-based MPPT method for PEMFC systems in green building applications. The proposed method employs the rate of change of the power with current (dP/d... [more]

Sustainability issues are becoming increasingly prominent in applications requiring the use of heavy-duty engines. Therefore, it is important to cut the emissions and costs of such engines to reduce the carbon footprint and keep the operating expenses under control. Even if for some applications a battery electric equipment is introduced, the diesel-equipped machinery is still popular thanks to the longer operating range. In this field, the open pit mines are a good example. In fact, the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of the mining equipment is highly impacted by fuel consumption (engine efficiency) and reliability (service interval and engine life). The present work is focused on efficiency enhancements achievable through the application of a combustion control strategy based on the in-cylinder pressure information. The benefits are mainly due to two factors. First, the negative effects of injectors aging can be compensated. Second, cylindrical online calibration of the control paramet... [more]

The energy sector is in the spotlight today for its contribution to global warming and its dependence on global geopolitics. Even though many countries have reduced their use of coal, the COVID-19 crisis, the drop in temperatures in Central Asia, and the war between Russia and Ukraine have shown that coal continues to play an important role in this sector today. As long as we continue to depend energetically on coal, it is necessary to create the basis for the successful extraction and industrial use of coal mine methane (CMM), for example, as an unconventional energy resource. Early degassing technology is a technique that allows for the extraction of the methane contained within the coal seams. The application of this technology would reduce emissions, improve mine safety, and even increase their profitability. However, this technology has been understudied and is still not implemented on a large scale today. Moreover, mines with this technology generally burn the extracted methane i... [more]

Nowadays, renewable energy (RE) sources are heavily integrated into the power system due to the deregulation of the energy market along with environmental and economic benefits. The intermittent nature of RE and the stochastic behavior of loads create frequency aberrations in interconnected hybrid power systems (HPS). This paper attempts to develop an optimization technique to tune the controller optimally to regulate frequency. A hybrid Sparrow Search Algorithm-Grey Wolf Optimizer (SSAGWO) is proposed to optimize the gain values of the proportional integral derivative controller. The proposed algorithm helps to improve the original algorithms’ exploration and exploitation. The optimization technique is coded in MATLAB and applied for frequency regulation of a two-area HPS developed in Simulink. The efficacy of the proffered hybrid SSAGWO is first assessed on standard benchmark functions and then applied to the frequency control of the HPS model. The results obtained from the multi-are... [more]

This article addresses the development of the energy compensation method used for the design of hybrid energy storage systems—HBESS. The combination of two battery technologies offers better cost and performance when considering microgrid systems to provide uninterrupted power to sensitive loads (substation auxiliary system) and also provides greater energy security. In the event of a failure, the load needs to continue operating, and batteries such as lithium ions have a fast response, but are expensive for large-scale systems. However, some technologies offer low-cost and good availability of energy for long hours of discharge, such as lead−acid batteries. Consequently, different battery technologies can be used to meet all the needs of the sensitive loads. A specific method for sizing a HBESS was developed for islanded microgrids to support sensitive loads. This method was developed to meet the demand for substations outside the Brazilian standard of power systems that lack an unint... [more]

The Brazilian Power System is mainly composed of renewable generation from hydroelectric and wind. Hence, spot and forward electricity prices tend to represent the inherently stochastic nature of these resources, while risk management is a measure taken by agents, especially hydro power plants (HPPs) to hedge against deep financial losses. A HPP goal is to maximize its profit considering uncertainties in forward electricity prices, spot prices, and generation scaling factor (GSF) for years ahead. Therefore, the objective of this work is to simulate the real decision-making process of a HPP, where they need to have a perspective of the forward market and future spot price assessment to negotiate forward electricity contracts. To do so, the present work models the uncertainty in electricity forward prices via two-stage stochastic programming, assessing the benefits of the stochastic solution in comparison to the deterministic one. In addition, different risk aversion levels are assessed... [more]

Hydrogen can be considered an innovative fuel that will revolutionize the energy sector and enable even more complete use of the potential of renewable sources. The aim of the paper is to present the challenges faced by companies and economies that will produce and use hydrogen. Thanks to the use of hydrogen in the energy, transport and construction sectors, it will be possible to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. By 2050, global demand for hydrogen will increase to 614 million metric tons a year, and thanks to the use of hydrogen in energy, transport and construction, it will be possible to achieve climate neutrality. Depending on the method of hydrogen production, the processes used and the final effects, several groups can be distinguished, marked with different colors. It is in this area of obtaining friendly hydrogen that innovative possibilities for its production open up. The costs of hydrogen production are also affected by network fees, national tax systems, availability and... [more]

This paper focused on the performance monitoring and modeling of a 6.0 kW, 2000 L hybrid direct expansion solar assisted heat pump (DX-SAHP) water heater used for the production of hot water in a university students’ accommodation with 123 females. The data of total electrical energy consumed, volume of hot water consumed, ambient temperature, relative humidity, and solar irradiance were obtained from the data acquisition systems and analyzed in conjunction with the energy factor (EF) of the system. A multiple linear regression model was developed to predict the EF. The EF of the hybrid DX-SAHP water heater was determined from the summation of the coefficient of performance (COP) of the heat pump unit and the solar fraction (SF) of the solar collectors. The operations of the hybrid energy system were analyzed based on three phases (first phase from 00:00−08:00, second phase from 08:30−18:30, and third phase from 19:00−23:30) over 24 h for the entire monitoring period. The average EF of... [more]

The implementation of electricity-charged thermochemical energy storage (TCES) using high-temperature solid cycles would benefit the energy system by enabling the absorption of variable renewable energy (VRE) and its conversion into dispatchable heat and power. Using a Swedish case study, this paper presents a process for TCES-integrated district heating (DH) production, assesses its technical suitability, and discusses some practical implications and additional implementation options. The mass and energy flows of a biomass plant retrofitted with an iron-based redox loop are calculated for nine specific scenarios that exemplify its operation under electricity generation mixes that differ with respect to variability and price. In addition, the use of two types of electrolyzers (low-temperature and high-temperature versions) is investigated. The results show that for the Swedish case, the proposed scheme is technically feasible and capable of covering the national DH demand by making use... [more]

The paper presents the results of the analysis of the resistance to hydrogen and high-temperature salt corrosion of the developed alloy of the CM88Y type for the turbine blades of gas turbine engines for marine and power purposes in comparison with the industrial heat-resistant corrosion-resistant alloy CM88Y and the alloy for the protective coating of the SDP3-A blades. SDP3-A alloy was chosen as a reference sample, which has high hydrogen and corrosion resistance. The new heat-resistant alloy additionally contains such refractory metals as rhenium and tantalum, which are added to the composition of the alloy in order to increase operational characteristics while maintaining phase-structural stability. These are properties such as long-term and fatigue strength, characteristics of plasticity and strength at room and elevated temperatures. Therefore, the purpose of these studies was to determine the resistance to high-temperature salt corrosion of the developed alloy in comparison with... [more]

The suspension of different nanoparticles into various conventional thermal fluids to synthesize nanofluids has been proven to possess superior thermal, optical, tribological, and convective properties, and the heat transfer performance over conventional thermal fluids. This task appears trivial but is complicated and significant to nanofluid synthesis and its subsequent utilization in diverse applications. The stability of mono and hybrid nanofluids is significantly related to stirring duration and speed; volume, density, and base fluid type; weight/volume concentration, density, nano-size, and type of mono or hybrid nanoparticles used; type and weight of surfactant used; and sonication time, frequency, mode, and amplitude. The effects of these parameters on stability consequently affect the thermal, optical, tribological, and convective properties, and the heat transfer performance of nanofluids in various applications, leading to divergent, inaccurate, and suspicious results. Dispar... [more]

Hydrogen is emerging as a new energy vector outside of its traditional role and gaining more recognition internationally as a viable fuel route. This review paper offers a crisp analysis of the most recent developments in hydrogen production techniques using conventional and renewable energy sources, in addition to key challenges in the production of Hydrogen. Among the most potential renewable energy sources for hydrogen production are solar and wind. The production of H2 from renewable sources derived from agricultural or other waste streams increases the flexibility and improves the economics of distributed and semi-centralized reforming with little or no net greenhouse gas emissions. Water electrolysis equipment driven by off-grid solar or wind energy can also be employed in remote areas that are away from the grid. Each H2 manufacturing technique has technological challenges. These challenges include feedstock type, conversion efficiency, and the need for the safe integration of H... [more]

Water resources are the basis for human survival and development. However, human beings face severe challenges of water pollution and freshwater shortage. With the critical advantages of low energy consumption, high efficiency, low cost, green and pollution-free, and renewable electrodes, capacitive deionization (CDI) has become an up-and-coming water treatment technology. After decades of development, the application of CDI has expanded from seawater desalination to many fields. However, the existing literature still needs a comprehensive overview of the multi-functional application of CDI technology in water treatment. Therefore, our work critically reviewed the latest research progress of CDI in water treatment to meet the technical requirements of various application fields. This paper first summarizes the various applications of CDI in water treatment, focusing on CDI’s representative research results in heavy metal removal, organic contaminants removal, water softening, phosphate... [more]

As a crucial power source, the separation of fine coal has gradually become a research focus in the coal separation field. In this study, the vibratory combined force field fluidized bed has been introduced into fine coal (6−0.5 mm) separation research. The kinematic characteristics of the fluidized bed was studied. The spatial distribution of coal on the bed under the action of vibration and air was clarified. The influence of different factors on the degree of ash segregation (Sash) was analyzed, and the optimal operation parameters were evaluated. The results showed that the vibratory combined force field fluidized bed was characterized by round-trip periodic movement. The maximum vibration amplitude on the X-axis of the main vibration direction was 6.88 mm, the velocity amplitude was 287.60 mm/s, and the acceleration amplitude was 10.43 m/s2. At 34 Hz and 5.68 m/s for vibration frequency and air speed, the maximum ash segregation of the product was 1.896, and the yield and ash cont... [more]

The promised prospects of Li−S technology, especially within the energy situation of the 21st century, have sparked a renewed interest from the scientific community in the 2000s. In this context, we present our new vision for the fabrication of novel cathodes for Li−S batteries that were synthesized using the first combination of composite plating and electroforming (composite electroforming). The latter consists of electroforming the current collector foil directly in a one-step process. Simultaneously, the active material is introduced into the metal matrix by means of composite plating. Reduced technological steps, better performance and resource-saving production, combined with a potentially easier and highly efficient way of recycling electrodes, are achievements of the current method. In the present work, novel cathodes for lithium−sulfur batteries were synthesized by composite electroforming of AlSi10Mg0.4@Ni foil from a nickel sulfamate-based electrolyte with AlSi10Mg0.4 partic... [more]

This work presents a comparison of alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) distribution systems for a residential building equipped with solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and battery storage. Using measured PV and load data from a residential building in Sweden, the study evaluated the annual losses, PV utilization, and energy savings of the two topologies. The analysis considered the load-dependent efficiency characteristics of power electronic converters (PECs) and battery storage to account for variations in operating conditions. The results show that DC distribution, coupled with PV generation and battery storage, offered significant loss savings due to lower conversion losses than the AC case. Assuming fixed efficiency for conversion gave a 34% yearly loss discrepancy compared with the case of implementing load-dependent losses. The results also highlight the effect on annual system losses of adding PV and battery storage of varying sizes. A yearly loss reduction of 15.8... [more]

With growing interest in sustainability and net-zero emissions, there has been a global trend to integrate wind power into energy grids. However, challenges such as the intermittency of wind energy remain, which leads to a significant need for accurate wind-power forecasting. Therefore, this study focuses on creating a wind-power generation-forecasting model using a machine-learning algorithm. In this study, we used the gradient-boosting machine (GBM) algorithm to build a wind-power forecasting model. Time-series data with a 15 min interval from Jeju’s wind farms were applied to the model as input data. The short-term forecasting model trained by the same month with the test set turns out to have the best performance, with an NMAE value of 5.15%. Furthermore, the forecasting results were applied to Jeju’s power system to carry out a grid-security analysis. The improved accuracy of wind-power forecasting and its impact on the security of electrical grids in this study potentially contri... [more]

Biofuels, as a renewable, eco-friendly, and cost-effective energy source, can reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. The researchers considered different approaches for obtaining high biodiesel yields from microalgae biomass. This work aims to present an overview of the feasibility of microalgae use in biodiesel production. Therefore, biodiesel production from microalgae oil via the transesterification process was explained in detail. The application of non-catalytic transesterification and catalytic transesterification was reviewed. The achievements in the application of homogenous catalysts, heterogeneous catalysts, and enzymatic catalysts for microalgae oil transesterification were discussed. The present technologies for biodiesel production from microalgae need more improvements to increase their efficiencies and reduce costs. Therefore, future research should focus on the development of effective catalysts for biodiesel production from microalgae biomass.

A rational designing nanostructured Earth-abundant and non-precious electrocatalysts for promoting an anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is crucial for cutting-edge energy conversion and storage fields. Herein, we demonstrate a porous structured three-dimensional (3-D) FeP nanosheets on NiO modified Ni electrode (PS-3D-FeP@NiO|Ni) using of a facile and two-step electrodeposition strategy that exhibits enhanced OER under alkaline electrolyte. The as-developed porous-structured 3-D FeP nanosheets on NiO modified Ni electrode exhibits the best OER catalytic activity in relations of low onset potential (ղonset) of ~1.37 V (vs. RHE), small overpotential (η) of ~0.17 V to produce the current densities of 10 mA cm−2, lower Tafel slope value of ~40.0 mV/dec, higher turn-over frequency (TOF) of 0.435 s−1, and long-term stability when compared to other CoP@NiOǀNi, NiP@NiOǀNi, CuP@NiOǀNi, NiP|NF (nickel foam), and commercial IrO2|Ni electrodes established in this study. The anodic current den... [more]

The shipping industry is going through a period of technology transition that aims to increase the use of carbon-neutral fuels. There is a significant trend of vessels being ordered with alternative fuel propulsion. Shipping’s future fuel market will be more diverse, reliant on multiple energy sources. One of very promising means to meet the decarbonisation requirements is to operate ships with sustainable electrical energy by integrating local renewables, shore connection systems and battery energy storage systems (BESS). With the increasing number of battery/hybrid propulsion vessels in operation and on order, this kind of vessel propulsion is becoming more common, especially in the segment of short range vessels. This paper presents review of recent studies of electrification or hybridisation, different aspects of using the marine BESS and classes of hybrid propulsion vessels. It also reviews several types of energy storage and battery management systems used for ships’ hybrid propu... [more]

After overcoming COVID-19, the tourism demand around the world is on the rise again. At the same time, the interest in eco-friendliness is growing again, and efforts are being made to build an eco-friendly tourism ecosystem. In this study, assuming that a battery-powered electric city tour bus is adopted instead of an existing internal combustion engine city tour bus, we tried to develop optimal design and operation algorithms for battery-powered electric city tour bus systems. The developed algorithm pursues the maximization of the profit, which is calculated through the ticket price paid by tourists using the city tour bus and the overall cost of the electric city tour bus system. In addition, the decision variables of the algorithm are the daily number and interval of operations of the electric city tour bus, which are related to the tourism demand, the battery capacity of the electric city tour bus, and whether a pantograph-type wireless charger is installed or not at the bus stop.... [more]

A power conversion interface for a small-capacity photovoltaic power generation system (PPGS) is proposed in this paper. The proposed power conversion interface is composed of a DC−DC converter (DDC), a battery pack and a buck−boost inverter (BBI). The battery pack is integrated to the power conversion interface to store or release energy for smoothing the power fluctuation of the small-capacity PPGS. The battery pack is only activated when a large power change occurs in the photovoltaic array (PV array). The DC power, no matter whether is from the PV array or the battery pack, needs to be converted into AC power only by the BBI in the proposed power conversion interface. Moreover, the PV array charges the battery pack only through the DDC, which simplifies the power circuit and improves the power conversion efficiency. To verify the feasibility of the proposed power conversion interface, a hardware prototype is established for practical experiments.