Energy models have been widely applied to the analysis of energy system decarbonisation to assess the options and costs of a transition to a low carbon supply. However, questions persist as to whether they are able to effectively represent and assess heat decarbonisation pathways for the buildings sector. A range of limitations have been identified, including a poor spatio-temporal resolution, limited representation of behaviour, and restricted representation of the full technical option set. This paper undertakes a review of existing energy models for heat decarbonisation in the UK, applying the novel perspective of energy system architecture (ESA). A set of ESA-related features are identified (including evolvability, flexibility, robustness, and feasibility), and models are reviewed against these features. The review finds that a range of models exist that have strengths across different features of ESA, suggesting that multiple modelling approaches are needed in order to adequately... [more]

Four kinds of feet with typical structures, referred to as the hemispherical foot, the semicylindrical foot, the rectangular foot and the circular foot, respectively, were designed and manufactured to study the foot−terrain interaction mechanics for legged robots. Three kinds of quartz sand were selected to study how particle size, shape and compactness affected the physical properties of the substrate and the intrusion performance of mechanical feet. The media with smaller particle sizes had higher bulk densities and lower angles of stability, but no obvious rule was found for particle shapes of quartz sand with different sizes. The intrusion resistive forces and pressures of the hemispherical foot on these three kinds of quartz sand were all less compared with the other three mechanical feet. The particle disturbance areas and motion trends were compared under these four kinds of mechanical feet using discrete element method simulations. The intrusion resistive forces of these mechan... [more]

This paper proposes and develops a circuit-based model aiming to simulate variable magnetic power elements in power electronic converters. The derived model represents the magnetic element by a reluctance-based equivalent circuit. The model takes into consideration device core losses, with the main emphasis given to hysteresis losses, which are modeled using the Jiles-Atherton model. The core loss model is further validated on different ferromagnetic materials to prove its range of applicability. The winding losses of the magnetic device are also taken into consideration, which are obtained using Dowell empirical formulas. In addition, the frequency dependence of the device losses is also considered. The proposed modeling procedure has been applied to study and characterize a double E-core variable power inductor structure in a 1 kW SiC full bridge DC-DC converter. The procedure has been verified by comparing the simulation results to the experimental measurements, confirming the valid... [more]

Three-level converters have drawn extensive attention due to their ability to deliver high-quality power. High semiconductor count is the main drawback of three-level converters. As a solution to this, a 10-switch converter is presented, that has advantages over both two- and three-level converters, simultaneously, plus it is applicable to a variety of power ranges. However, the switching pattern of 10-switch converter is not as simple as standard three-level converter due to lack of medium vectors. This paper presents a novel space vector modulation (SVM) for a 10-switch converter to reduce total harmonic distortion (THD) and common mode voltage (CMV) of this converter in comparison to prior carrier-based modulation methods. A simplified, low-cost modulation algorithm for the converter is proposed. The designed switching sequence has aimed at a low output THD and enhancement of DC bus voltage utilization. The performance of the proposed SVM is then compared to upgraded sinusoidal PWM.... [more]

This paper presents the results of numerical experiments on fire development and the backdraft phenomenon. The numerical model of fire development built with the use of Ansys Fluent was then validated based on literature data taken from real fire experiments. Some theoretical foundations of airflow and combustion modelling were added. Some features of the numerical model, which allowed for its high accuracy to be achieved, were widely discussed. Since large buoyancy forces were involved, to reproduce the decrease of the atmospheric pressure with height, a variable static pressure was applied using UDF (user-defined function).The results showed good accordance taking into account both the temperature profiles and the distribution of the airflow velocity. Once the model was validated, the research was extended to examine the backdraft phenomenon. The results revealed characteristic phases of the phenomenon and the occurrence of the gravity current as well, which were reported by empirica... [more]

The effects of particle shape differences on binary mixture shear flows are investigated using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The binary mixtures consist of frictionless rods and disks, which have the same volume but significantly different shapes. In the shear flows, stacking structures of rods and disks are formed. The effects of the composition of the mixture on the stacking are examined. It is found that the number fraction of stacking particles is smaller for the mixtures than for the monodisperse rods and disks. For binary mixtures with small particle shape differences, the mixture stresses are bounded by the stresses of the two corresponding monodisperse systems. However, for binary mixtures with large particle shape differences, the stresses of the mixtures can be larger than the stresses of the monodisperse systems at large solid volume fractions because larger differences in particle shape cause geometrical interference in packing, leading to stronger particle−particle in... [more]

The whey is a byproduct of the dairy industry that, if not treated properly, can cause serious environmental pollution problems. Anaerobic treatment is an alternative for its recovery, since, in addition to reducing the organic load. it allows the generation of value-added products such as volatile fatty acids (VFA) and biogas. However, the process is very complex and requires specific operating conditions that guarantee its stability and favor the production of value-added compounds. In this work, an unstructured mathematical model is proposed to evaluate the dynamic behavior of the stages of the anaerobic degradation process of the whey (i.e., hydrolysis, acidogenesis, acetogenesis and methanogenesis). The proposed model considers the dynamic variation in pH during the experiment. To validate the model, an experimental set was carried out at pH and temperature conditions that favor the production of VFAs. Experimental results show that the anaerobic treatment of the raw cheese whey f... [more]

While the vast majority of the wind energy market is dominated by megawatt-size wind turbines, the increasing importance of distributed electricity generation gives way to small, personal-size installations. Due to their situation at relatively low heights and above-ground levels, they are forced to operate in a low energy-density environment, hence the important role of rotor optimization and flow studies. In addition, the small wind turbine operation close to human habitats emphasizes the need to ensure the maximum reliability of the system. The present article summarizes a case study of a small wind turbine (rated power 350 W @ 8.4 m/s) from the point of view of aerodynamic performance (efficiency, flow around blades). The structural strength analysis of the blades milled for the prototype was performed in the form of a one-way Fluid−Structure Interaction (FSI). Blade deformations and stresses were examined, showing that only minor deformations may be expected, with no significant i... [more]

With the global increase in demand for energy, energy conservation of research and development buildings has become of primary importance for building owners. Knowledge based on the patterns in energy consumption of previous years could be used to predict the near-future energy usage of buildings, to optimize and facilitate more effective energy consumption. Hence, this research aimed to develop a generic model for predicting energy consumption. Air-conditioning was used to exemplify the generic model for electricity consumption, as it is the process that often consumes the most energy in a public building. The purpose of this paper is to present this model and the related findings. After causative factors were determined, the methods of linear regression and various machine learning techniques—including the earlier machine learning techniques of support vector machine, random forest, and multilayer perceptron, and the later machine learning techniques of deep neural network, recurrent... [more]

Hydraulic hybrid powertrains provide an opportunity for specific applications, such as heavy-duty vehicles based on high-power density, which has not been included in other types of hybrid powertrains. Among the various architectures of hybrid vehicles, power-split hybrids have a greater possibility of producing better fuel efficiency than other hybrid architectures. This study analyzed the possible energy-saving characteristics of power-split hydraulic hybrid vehicles (HHVs); this has not been comprehensively described in previous studies. A typical configuration of power-split HHVs was modeled with the FTP-72 driving cycle using a novel simulation method that considered the dynamic and thermal behaviors together. The characteristics were analyzed in comparison to a power-split hydrostatic transmission (HST), which is designed with the same conditions except for hydraulic energy storage. The power-split HHV not only has a better fuel efficiency, but it also shows system energy-saving... [more]

This paper presents the results of a research project aimed at evaluating the unconventional natural gas potential of the autochthonous Miocene sediments in the Polish part of the Carpathian Foredeep. The primary objective of the study was to re-evaluate the biogenic gas generation system within Miocene sediments, paying special attention to unconventional gas resources accumulated in tight mudstone formations. The four-dimensional (4D) petroleum system modeling method (PetroMod software) was used to reconstruct the basin geometry and three-dimensional (3D) evolution through a geological timescale, in particular the progress of gas generation, migration, and accumulation processes, as well as their consequences for gas exploration and development. Special attention was paid to the dynamics of gas generation processes and the advancement of sediment compaction and their time dependence, as well as to the progress and outcomes of gas migration and accumulation processes. The results indi... [more]

Changing the connection type of a medium voltage (MV) cable screen is linked to a decrease in power loss, although it may also lead to the generation of overvoltage in a metallic cable screen, which is hazardous for proper cable line work. In this paper, results of simulation and field researches are presented, showing the range of voltages that occurs in cable screens during single-phase ground fault. There are considered to be three scenarios according to the applied type of cable screen connection. Conducted researches allow the comparison of chosen methods of simulation with an actual outcome. Results obtained during simulation and field studies lead to the conclusion that the range of overvoltage occurred in a cable screen could in fact be dangerous for the cable line’s sheath insulation without proper overvoltage protection.

A dynamic Smagorinsky−Lilly model (DSLM) subgrid model on the basis of the Smagorinsky−Lilly subgrid model (SLM) was introduced in the OpenFOAM software. The flow field of the vehicle was simulated, and the pressure coefficient and sound pressure curve of the monitoring points were compared with the wind tunnel test results. The results show that the DSLM subgrid model with a wall function can achieve high simulation accuracy. The investigation of the flow field structure revealed an intermittent detachment of the turbulent vortex after the airflow passed through the rearview mirror, thereby resulting in a violent pressure pulsation on the side window around the rearview mirror. Airflow passed through the A-pillar, separated, and reattached on the upper side window, thereby producing aerodynamic noise. The research results can serve as a good reference for the simulation and test of aerodynamic noises outside the vehicle, and for the reduction of the aerodynamic noises of vehicles.

A thin silicon oxide (SiOx) layer (thickness: 1.5−2.0 nm) formed at an Al2O3/Si interface can enhance the interface properties. However, it is challenging to control the characteristics of thin SiOx layers because SiOx forms naturally during Al2O3 deposition on Si substrates. In this study, a ~1.5 nm-thick SiOx layer was inserted between Al2O3 and Si substrates by wet chemical oxidation to improve the passivation properties. The acidic solutions used for wet chemical oxidation were HCl:H2O2:H2O, H2SO4:H2O2:H2O, and HNO3. The thicknesses of SiOx layers formed in the acidic solutions were ~1.48, ~1.32, and ~1.50 nm for SiOx-HCl, SiOx-H2SO4, and SiOx-HNO3, respectively. The leakage current characteristics of SiOx-HNO3 were better than those of the oxide layers formed in the other acidic solutions. After depositing a ~10 nm-thick Al2O3 on an SiOx-acidic/Si structure, we measured the effective carrier lifetime using quasi steady-state photoconductance and examined the interfacial properties... [more]

An increase in demand for renewable energy resources, energy storage technologies, and electric vehicles requires high-power level DC-DC converters. The DC-DC converter that is suitable for high-power conversion applications (i.e., resonant, full-bridge or the dual-active bridge) requires magnetic transformer coupling between input and output stage. However, transformer design in these converters remains a challenging problem, with several non-linear scaling issues that need to be simultaneously optimized to reduce losses and maintain acceptable performance. In this paper, a new transformer-less high step-up boost converter with a charge pump capacitorand capacitor-inductor-diode CLD cell is proposed using dynamic modeling. The experimental and simulation results of the proposed converter are carried out in a laboratory and through Matlab Simulink, where 10 V is given as an input voltage, and at the output, 100 V achieved in the proposed converter. A comparative analysis of the propose... [more]

The sixth-generation (6G) mobile networks are expected to operate at a higher frequency to achieve a wider bandwidth and to enhance the frequency reuse efficiency for improved spectrum utilization. In this regard, three-dimensional (3D) spatial reuse of millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectra by in-building small cells is considered an effective technique. In contrast to previous works exploiting microwave spectra, in this paper, we present a technique for the 3D spatial reuse of 28 and 60 GHz mmWave spectra by in-building small cells, each enabled with dual transceivers operating at 28 and 60 GHz bands, to enhance frequency reuse efficiency and achieve the expected spectral efficiency (SE) and energy efficiency (EE) requirements for 6G mobile networks. In doing so, we first present an analytical model for the 28 GHz mmWave spectrum to characterize co-channel interference (CCI) and deduce a minimum distance between co-channel small cells at both intra- and inter-floor levels in a multistory b... [more]

Under-ventilation and high energy consumption are some of the problems associated with school classrooms. Thus, it is necessary to develop a ventilation strategy that is characterized by high energy-saving and ventilation efficiency. To this end, this study aims to investigate natural ventilation as a possible strategy to improve the indoor environment while reducing ventilation loads and maintaining energy costs during intermediate seasons. Ventilation and cooling load reductions based on the opening and closing of several windows were analyzed. Window flow coefficients and ventilation rates were measured and used for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation to obtain pressure coefficients for 16 wind directions. The results obtained showed that the improved natural ventilation strategy could be used to effectively establish required indoor conditions (26 °C, 60% RH). Additionally, compared with the mechanical ventilation system with variable refrigerant flow, this natural strate... [more]

As one of the promising technologies to meet the increasing demand for electricity, supercritical CO2 (S-CO2) Brayton cycle has the characteristics of high efficiency, economic structure, and compact turbomachinery. These characteristics are closely related to the thermodynamic properties of working fluid. When CO2 is mixed with other gas, cycle parameters are determined by the constituent and the mass fraction of CO2. Therefore, in this contribution, a thermodynamic model is developed and validated for the recompression cycle. Seven types of CO2-based mixtures, namely CO2-Xe, CO2-Kr, CO2-O2, CO2-Ar, CO2-N2, CO2-Ne, and CO2-He, are employed. At different CO2 mass fractions, cycle parameters are determined under a fixed compressor inlet temperature, based on the maximization of cycle efficiency. Cycle performance and recuperators’ parameters are comprehensively compared for different CO2-based mixtures. Furthermore, in order to investigate the effect of compressor inlet temperature, cyc... [more]

This paper uses a two-layered soft voting-based ensemble model to predict the interfacial tension (IFT), as one of the transformer oil test parameters. The input feature vector is composed of acidity, water content, dissipation factor, color and breakdown voltage. To test the generalization of the model, the training data was obtained from one utility company and the testing data was obtained from another utility. The model results in an optimal accuracy of 0.87 and a F1-score of 0.89. Detailed studies were also carried out to find the conditions under which the model renders optimal results.

Thin-film solar cells are predominately designed similar to a stacked structure. Optimizing the layer thicknesses in this stack structure is crucial to extract the best efficiency of the solar cell. The commonplace method used in optimization simulations, such as for optimizing the optical spacer layers’ thicknesses, is the parameter sweep. Our simulation study shows that the implementation of a meta-heuristic method like the genetic algorithm results in a significantly faster and accurate search method when compared to the brute-force parameter sweep method in both single and multi-layer optimization. While other sweep methods can also outperform the brute-force method, they do not consistently exhibit 100% accuracy in the optimized results like our genetic algorithm. We have used a well-studied P3HT-based structure to test our algorithm. Our best-case scenario was observed to use 60.84% fewer simulations than the brute-force method.

Preheating furnaces, which are commonly used in many production sectors (e.g., iron and steel), are simultaneously one of the most energy-intensive devices used in the industry. Partial replacement of natural gas with biomass-derived synthesis gas as a fuel used for heating would be an important step towards limiting industrial CO2 emissions. The time dependent computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of an exemplary furnace was created to evaluate whether it is possible to obtain 40% of energy from syngas combustion without deterioration of thermal parameters of the treated load. As an outcome, a promising method to organize co-firing in the furnace was indicated. The obtained results show that the co-firing method (up to 40% thermal natural gas replacement with syngas), assuming low air-to-fuel equivalence ratio (λNG = 2.0) and even distribution of power among the furnace corners, lead to satisfactory efficiency of the heat treatment process—the heat transferred to the load exceeds 9... [more]

In recent decades, many EU and national regulations have been issued in order to increase the energy efficiency in different sectors and, consequently, to reduce environmental pollution. In the building sector, energy efficiency interventions are usually based on the use of innovative insulated materials and on the installation of cogeneration and tri-generation units, as well as solar technologies. New and retrofitted buildings are more and more commonly being called “smart buildings”, since they are characterized by the installation of electric and thermal power generation units, energy storage systems, and flexible loads; the presence of such technologies determines the necessity of installing Building Energy Management Systems (BEMSs), which are used to optimally manage their operation. The present paper proposes a BEMS for a smart building, equipped with plants based on renewables (photovoltaics, solar thermal panels, and geothermal heat pump), where the heating and cooling demand... [more]

In this paper, we investigate the effect of pore size heterogeneity on fluid composition distribution of multicomponent-multiphase hydrocarbons and its subsequent influence on mass transfer in shale nanopores. The change of multi-contact minimum miscibility pressure (MMP) in heterogeneous nanopores was investigated. We used a compositional simulation model with a modified flash calculation, which considers the effect of large gas−oil capillary pressure on phase behavior. Different average pore sizes for different segments of the computational domain were considered and the effect of the resulting heterogeneity on phase change, composition distributions, and production was investigated. A two-dimensional formulation was considered here for the application of matrix−fracture cross-mass transfer and the rock matrix can also consist of different segments with different average pore sizes. Both convection and molecular diffusion terms were included in the mass balance equations, and differe... [more]

In order for numerical weather prediction (NWP) models to correctly predict solar irradiance reaching the earth’s surface for more accurate solar power forecasting, it is important to initialize the NWP model with accurate cloud information. Knowing where the clouds are located is the first step. Using data from geostationary satellites is an attractive possibility given the low latencies and high spatio-temporal resolution provided nowadays. Here, we explore the potential of utilizing the random forest machine learning method to generate the cloud mask from GOES-16 radiances. We first perform a predictor selection process to determine the optimal predictor set for the random forest predictions of the horizontal cloud fraction and then determine the appropriate threshold to generate the cloud mask prediction. The results show that the random forest method performs as well as the GOES-16 level 2 clear sky mask product with the ability to customize the threshold for under or over predict... [more]

Photovoltaic (PV) panels and thermal collectors are commonly known as mature technologies to capture solar energy. The efficiency of PV cells decreases as operating cell temperature increases. Photovoltaic Thermal Collectors (PVT) offer a way to mitigate this performance reduction by coupling solar cells with a thermal absorber that can actively remove the excess heat from the solar cells to the Heat Transfer Fluid (HTF). In order for PVT collectors to effectively counter the negative effects of increased operating cell temperature, it is fundamental to have an adequate heat transfer from the cells to the HTF. This paper analyzes the operating temperature of the cells in a low concentrating PVT solar collector, by means of both experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation results on the Solarus asymmetric Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) PowerCollector (PC). The PC solar collector features a Compound Parabolic Concentrator (CPC) reflector geometry called the Maxi... [more]