Road freight transport involves many adversities, along with the growing effect of carbon dioxide transmitted by vehicles on the natural environment, greenhouse gas emissions, or extensive energy use. Within the smart mobility concept, the acknowledged management of enterprises’ relationships with customers within their service is profoundly determined by the deployment of compelling Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITSs) applications in forming united cooperation with the customers. The paper proposes selected ITS applications as an advancement of logistics customer service in road freight transport enterprises that is divided into a group of six applications which are critical within the area of vehicle support, improving the energy efficiency of transport and reducing the negative impact of transport on the natural environment, reducing transport time but increasing connectivity and comfort, as well as a group of ten different applications chosen as crucial for general management... [more]

A novel modular Transformerless, Self-balanced, Static Synchronous Series Compensator (TSB-SSSC) capable of delivering ultra-high current, with the objective of dynamically balancing the impedance of the transmission power grid, is proposed. Balancing transmission lines is crucial in power optimization and delivery because it increases the power transfer capability without building new power lines. The transformerless SSSC needs to support and control the line current from a few hundred to several thousand amperes. This paper presents how the ultra-high current architecture of the TSB-SSSC is achieved by operating multiple converters with self-balancing capabilities in parallel. The mechanism of self-balancing is based on the intrinsic physics of the capacitor and is enabled by a passive network of capacitor equalizers that keep the capacitor voltage equal during switching disconnection. The second self-balancing system consists of an inductive component that balances possible differen... [more]

This study investigated the suitability of stone fruit seed as a source of biodiesel for transport. Stone fruit oil (SFO) was extracted from the seed and converted into biodiesel. The biodiesel yield of 95.75% was produced using the alkaline catalysed transesterification process with a methanol-to-oil molar ratio of 6:1, KOH catalyst concentration of 0.5 wt% (weight %), and a reaction temperature of 55 °C for 60 min. The physicochemical properties of the produced biodiesel were determined and found to be the closest match of standard diesel. The engine performance, emissions and combustion behaviour of a four-cylinder diesel engine fuelled with SFO biodiesel blends of 5%, 10% and 20% with diesel, v/v basis, were tested. The testing was performed at 100% engine load with speed ranging from 200 to 2400 rpm. The average brake specific fuel consumption and brake thermal efficiency of SFO blends were found to be 4.7% to 15.4% higher and 3.9% to 11.4% lower than those of diesel, respectively... [more]

Based on the Reynolds time mean N-S equation and standard k-ε turbulence model and using Computational Fluid Dynamics technology, this study aims to integrate the brake pump to carry out numerical simulation. Through the adoption of different arrangements of impending height and spacing, the hydraulic characteristics of the full tubular pump unit are analyzed. The two-dimensional streamline, velocity and pressure distribution, and three-dimensional streamline, axial velocity and vorticity distribution of the front pool of each scheme are displayed. The results show that the recommended pump installation height is 0.8 Dd, the maximum limit value of the pump station design specification; in the dual-pump mode, the recommended pump spacing is 2.00 Ds.

This present research examined the association among carbon emissions, financial development, economic growth, natural resources, and energy usage in GCC nations within the environmental Kuznets curve framework by applying the datasets between 1995 and 2019. It used some empirical approaches, including second-generation unit roots and cointegration methods and method of moments quantile regression (MMQR). We detected a cointegrating interconnection between carbon emissions and financial development, energy usage, economic growth, natural resources, and squared of economic growth in the long term. Furthermore, the findings of the MMQR reveal that economic growth, financial development, energy usage, and natural resources degrade the environment, as well as proving the presence of the EKC hypothesis. Moreover, the results also demonstrated that financial development greatly moderates energy usage in order to attain environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the fixed-effect ordinary leas... [more]

The article concerns the assessment of the energy consumption of inland waterway freight transport on river sections in the context of environmental management. The research question was: Does the choice of the route determine the total energy consumption of inland waterway transport and therefore affect the potential of cargo transport of this mode? The article aims to indicate the directions of energy consumption by inland waterway freight transport depending on the route selection, the volume of transport, and the length of the route. The study was carried out on nine sections of the Odra River in Poland during the years 2015−2020. Statistical and econometric techniques were used, i.e., ANOVA, generalized linear models, Eta coefficients, Lasso and Ridge regularization, and X-average control charts (Six Sigma tool). Based on early warning models, river sections were identified that favor the rationalization of energy consumption in terms of the network. The sensitivity of the energy... [more]

The conventional permanent magnet torque motor (PMTM) is slotted on the inner surface of the stator core. When the size of the stator core is small, the winding coils are difficult to embed into the slots. To solve the problem, a novel PMTM is presented, which is slotted on the outer surface of the stator core. As a result, the winding coils can be conveniently embedded into the slots from the outer surface of the stator core. The novel structure of the PMTM with back winding (BWPMTM) is introduced, and the advantage of the novel structure is analyzed. Furthermore, this paper proposes a limit analytical method to solve the optimal parameters of the motor which comprehensively considers four constraints: no-load back electromotive force (EMF), torque, temperature and slot space factor. The optimal parameters of the motor are directly solved to maximize torque density within the constrained range. This method avoids repeated iterative processes and greatly reduces the amount of calculati... [more]

In this article, issues related to electromagnetic compatibility and energy/power quality for a laptop are addressed. Power quality problems are outlined. Testing frameworks (developed by authors) are presented and discussed for a laptop when two different sampling frequencies are used: 80 kHz and 19.2 kHz. Waveforms corresponding to the voltage across the laptop’s terminals and current absorbed by it were acquired. Recordings and numerical processing, based on original software using Fast Fourier Transform, are discussed, and the analysis of waveforms in both cases is performed. Various power quality indices were calculated. Theoretical and practical aspects related to the determination of power quantities, power flows, and power factor are presented. Some conclusions concerning different ranges of frequencies are presented, along with some considerations for power quality problems. Tests for conducted emissions (single phase and neutral wire respectively) and for the radiated emissio... [more]

In this article, we explore the sustainability potential of an alternative commons-based mode of production called cosmolocalism. Cosmolocal production combines global knowledge production with local physical production. Such a production mode has been applied across the globe for locally manufacturing small wind turbines (SWTs) for rural electrification. We assess the sustainability of such cosmolocal SWTs in a case study of electrifying a rural community in Ethiopia. In this context, the life cycles of five SWT alternatives have been compared, ranging from conventional industrially produced turbines to open-source locally manufactured and maintained ones. Our case study indicates that the local manufacturing and maintenance of SWTs offer significant advantages and may redeem small wind turbines as a sustainable component for rural electrification. Specifically, the fully cosmolocal alternative (A1) performs better than any other alternative in technical, environmental, and social cri... [more]

This paper considers a field with high-viscosity oil in a terrigenous weakly consolidated reservoir (sandstone) with a massive gas cap and an aquifer. The major challenge in the field operation is the migration of solid sand particles into the well, accompanied by a breakthrough of water and/or gas. The goal of the investigation was to evaluate the degree of influence on the sanding process of water and gas shares in the produced fluid and to determine the effect of pressure drop. The research methodology is based on a series of filtration experiments on small-sized bulk reservoir models. Particle size distribution of bulk models was created in accordance with that of the reservoir. The experiments were made in the form of Prepack Sand Retention Tests (SRT). Gas breakthrough allows sand production on a relatively high level for a longer amount of time, even though the concentration of solids in the produced fluid is lower than that of water breakthrough. On the other hand, water breakt... [more]

Soot blowing optimization is a key, but challenging question in the health management of coal-fired power plant boiler. The monitoring and prediction of ash fouling for heat transfer surfaces is an important way to solve this problem. This study provides a hybrid data-driven model based on advanced machine-learning techniques for ash fouling prediction. First, the cleanliness factor is utilized to represent the level of ash fouling, which is the original data from the distributed control system. The wavelet threshold denoising algorithm is employed as the data preprocessing approach. Based on the empirical mode decomposition (EMD), the denoised cleanliness factor data is decoupled into a series of intrinsic mode functions (IMFs) and a residual component. Second, the support vector regression (SVR) model is used to fit the residual, and the Gaussian process regression (GPR) model is applied to estimate the IMFs. The cleanliness factor data of ash accumulation on the heat transfer surfac... [more]

The management of the global energy resources has stimulated the emergence of various agreements in favor of the environment. Among the most famous are the Conference of Parties (COP) and Route 2030, which aim to limit global warming to 1.5 °C by reducing the energy consumption and global emission levels. In order to comply with the international standards for energy consumption and pollutant emissions, the Brazilian government has been promoting the expansion of biofuels in the national energy matrix. Considering this scenario, the development of a novel internal combustion engine for the exclusive use of ethanol as a fuel, equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and employing modern design concepts, consists of an innovative and promising pathway for future Brazilian mobility, from both environmental and technological outlooks. In this sense, this work presents a method to determine the main engine dimensions as part of the initial process for a new ethanol prototype engine devel... [more]

Community-led bioenergy projects show great promise to address a range of issues for remote and Indigenous Arctic communities that typically rely on diesel for meeting their energy demands. However, there is very little research devoted to better understanding what makes individual projects successful. In this study, we analyze the case of the Galena Bioenergy Project (Alaska)—a biomass heating project that uses locally sourced woody biomass to help meet the heating demands of a large educational campus. Using project documents and other publicly available reports, we evaluate the project’s success using three indicators: operational, environmental, and community level socio-economic benefits. We find that the project shows signs of success in all three respects. It has a reliable fuel supply chain for operations, makes contributions towards greenhouse gas reductions by replacing diesel and has improved energy and economic security for the community. We also examine enabling factors be... [more]

In order to quantitatively evaluate the degree of protection in protective layer mining and provide guidance for the design of a secondary outburst elimination scheme, a variable weight-projection gray target dynamic evaluation model for the effectiveness of protective layer mining is established. The improved order relation analysis method was used to determine the subjective weight of each index toward the decision-making goal based on numerical diversity characteristics, and the initial fixed-weight calculation for mixed multi-attribute metrics was processed through the degree of index action. The variable weight function was used to dynamically adjust the fixed weight through the penalty and incentive index methods. Four indexes (gas content, gas pressure, coal seam permeability coefficient, and expansion deformation) were selected, the outburst elimination and anti-reflection were taken as the guide, and the critical value of each index for eliminating burst and the critical value... [more]

Ukrainian electricity production sector is in a critical situation. It is necessary to increase the coal production to ensure the continuity of electricity production. In this paper, an analysis of coal mining in western Donbas, Ukraine, was presented. The crucial thing is to increase coal production in this region. The new calculation schemes were proposed to increase coal extraction in Donbas mines. The coal pillar parameters, which are necessary for the effective control of the rock pressure caused by the stooping, were substantiated. The obtained parameters for the coal pillars will allow extracting more coal, safely and quickly dismantling the mechanized complex and effectively protecting the ongoing mine work. The case study helps determine the coal losses because of pillar leaving and to improve the stability of the main haulage roads located in the zone of the stooping effect as well as to achieve additional coal production in the mine. Such a technological solution allows to e... [more]

Dimethyl ether (DME)/C1-C4 alkane mixtures are ideal fuel for homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) engines. The comparison of ignition delay and multi-stage ignition for DME/C1-C4 alkane mixtures can provide theoretical guidance for expanding the load range and controlling the ignition time of DME HCCI engines. However, the interaction mechanism between DME and C1-C4 alkane under engine relevant high-pressure and low-temperature conditions remains to be revealed, especially the comprehensive comparison of the negative temperature coefficient (NTC) and multi-stage ignition characteristic. Therefore, the CHEMKIN-PRO software is used to calculate the ignition delay process of DME/C1-C4 alkane mixtures (50%/50%) at different compressed temperatures (600−2000 K), pressures (20−50 bar), and equivalence ratios (0.5−2.0) and the multi-stage ignition process of DME/C1-C4 alkane mixtures (50%/50%) over the temperature of 650 K, pressure of 20 bar, and equivalence ratio range of 0.3−0.5... [more]

Smart sustainable cities represent a great challenge for the modern world. Generation Z (Gen Z), whose representatives are now entering adult life, will play a key role in the implementation of this concept. The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of the relationship between the evaluation of smart mobility’s importance for a smart city and the attitudes and behaviours of Generation Z members in the context of sustainability, use of ICT, and their declarative and actual participation in smart city activities. The diagnostic survey method was used to achieve the research objective. The authors designed the questionnaire based on a literature analysis. The research sample consisted of 484 representatives of Generation Z—students of universities located in a smart city, Lublin (Poland). The collected data was statistically analysed using the following methods and statistical tests: Cronbach’s alpha, Pearson’s chi-square test for independence, symmetric measures: Cramer’s V,... [more]

This work investigates the cost-efficient integration of renewable hydrogen into steelworks for the production of methane and methanol as an efficient way to decarbonize the steel industry. Three case studies that utilize a mixture of steelworks off-gases (blast furnace gas, coke oven gas, and basic oxygen furnace gas), which differ on the amount of used off-gases as well as on the end product (methane and/or methanol), are analyzed and evaluated in terms of their economic performance. The most influential cost factors are identified and sensitivity analyses are conducted for different operating and economic parameters. Renewable hydrogen produced by PEM electrolysis is the most expensive component in this scheme and responsible for over 80% of the total costs. Progress in the hydrogen economy (lower electrolyzer capital costs, improved electrolyzer efficiency, and lower electricity prices) is necessary to establish this technology in the future.

There is a need for new numerical tools to capture the physics of floating offshore wind turbines (FOWTs) more accurately to refine engineering designs and reduce costs. The conventional measurement apparatuses in tank tests, including wave probes, velocity and current profilers, and Doppler sensors, are unable to provide a full 3D picture of velocity, pressure, turbulence, and vorticity profile. In tank tests, use of the underwater stereoscopic particle image velocimetry (SPIV) method to fully characterise the 3D flow field around floating wind platforms can overcome some of the limitations associated with classical measurement techniques and provide a rich source of validation data to advance high-fidelity numerical tools. The underwater SPIV method has been widely used for marine and offshore applications, including ship and propeller wakes, wave dynamics, and tidal stream turbines; however, to date, this technology has not seen widespread use for the hydrodynamic study of FOWTs. Th... [more]

This Special Issue contains successful submissions as an answer to the invitation to bring together research on advances in design, modeling, and performance of novel combustion techniques for clean energy [...]

Despite South Africa’s international recognition in solar energy investments, the country is struggling to meet its growing energy needs. In recent years, national blackouts and load shedding have been a recurring experience in the country. The high cost of electrification and the overstrained national grid have left several rural communities without access to electricity. This study aims to explore the solar energy resources and performance of a 3.8 kWp stand-alone residential photovoltaic (PV) power system in one of the underutilised regions in South Africa. The study mainly uses ground measured solar radiation data to evaluate the solar resources of Alice and compare them with those in other parts of the world with mega solar PV projects. The components of solar radiation considered are global horizontal irradiance (GHI), direct normal irradiance (DNI), and diffuse horizontal irradiance (DHI). The average total daily GHI, DNI, and DHI of Alice were 4.98, 5.74, and 1.44 kWh/m2. Clear... [more]

The transport sector generates a considerable amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions worldwide, especially road transport, which accounts for 95% of the total GHGs. It is commonly known that Electric vehicles (EVs) can significantly reduce GHG emissions. However, with a fossil-fuel-based power generation system, EVs can produce more GHGs and therefore cannot be regarded as purely environmentally friendly. As a result, renewable energy sources (RES) such as photovoltaic (PV) can be integrated into the EV charging infrastructure to improve the sustainability of the transportation system. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art literature on power electronics converter systems, which interface with the utility grid, PV systems, and EVs. Comparisons are made in terms of their topologies, isolation, power and voltage ranges, efficiency, and bi-directional power capability for V2G operation. Specific attention is devoted to bidirectional isolated and non-isolated EV-interfaced converters i... [more]

In the course of the documentation works aimed at updating exploitable resources of the groundwater intake, an unexpected change in hydrodynamic field arrangement was observed in a fragment of the area. In relation to the observations made so far, lasting several decades, the groundwater table switched its slope, indicating the flow in the opposite direction than originally. Initially, in the range of the surveyed hydrogeological structure, no object was identified whose draining character could cause such an effect. No significant groundwater extraction or drainage points were documented within a radius of several kilometers. It was only the extended scope of spatial analysis that made it possible to identify the probable cause of a local change in the water table position as a mining pit located in the neighboring hydrogeological structure. The two adjacent hydrogeological structures treated separately so far revealed an experimentally confirmed hydraulic connection. An in-depth anal... [more]

This article considers the distribution of the pressure coefficient on the surface of a modular house model in order to further assess the possibility of operation of a thermosyphon solar collector integrated into the external protection. The experiment was planned to estimate the factors influencing the value of the aerodynamic coefficient. The results of experimental studies conducted in a wind tunnel are presented. The obtained graphical dependences were compared with the results of computer simulations and convergence was evaluated.

The development of an efficient and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrode is needed to solve the bottleneck in the application of an anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE). In this work, the self-supporting NiFe layered double hydroxides (NiFe LDHs) “nanoflower” cluster OER electrode directly grown on the surface of nickel fiber felt (Ni fiber) was synthesized by a one-step impregnation at ambient pressure and temperature. The self-supporting NiFe LDHs/Ni fiber electrode showed excellent activity and stability in a three-electrode system and as the anode of AEMWE. In a three-electrode system, the NiFe LDHs/Ni fiber electrode showed excellent OER performance with an overpotential of 208 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2 in 1 M KOH. The NiFe LDHs/Ni fiber electrode was used as the anode of the AEMWE, showing high cell performance with a current density of 0.5 A cm−2 at 1.68 V and a stability test for 200 h in 1 M KOH at 70 °C. The electrocatalytic performance... [more]