Waste glass (WG), as a nonbiodegradable material, poses a threat to environmental protection. The reuse of WG as a raw material to replace cement or aggregate in concrete production is gaining attention for recycling purposes. However, the optimal proportion of WG in concrete mixtures and its particle size distribution are hard to determine. Large glass particles are prone to leading to the undesirable alkali−silica reaction (ASR) in concrete. Therefore, in this study, cement and aggregate in concrete mixtures are partially replaced by combinations of glass powder (<30 μm) and glass beads (0.2−1.7 mm), respectively. Glass concretes (GCs) containing waste glass at various replacement ratios (0, 10, 15, 20, and 30%) are prepared, and their flowability and compressive strength are evaluated and compared. Finally, steel tubes filled by ordinary concrete (OCFSTs) and steel tubes filled by glass concrete (GCFSTs) are fabricated and tested in axial compression. The test results show that t... [more]

Second-generation biodiesel, which is produced from essential oil plants, has important advantages, including a high yield of biofuels and the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The goal of this research was to examine the profile of original and review articles on biodiesel production from essential oils using bibliometric analysis. The search strategy identified 186 relevant and available peer-reviewed publications from 1981 to 2023, which were downloaded from the Web of Science (WoS) database. The retrieved documents were analyzed using VOSviewer. China was the predominant country publishing those documents, followed by the United States, India, Australia, and France. The keyword cluster analysis indicated the presence of 10 main research topics: diesel, fuel, and engine performance; extraction of lipids from microalgae; biofuel production from essential oils; green chemistry; the pyrolysis process; bioethanol production from renewable raw materials; obtaining biodiesel f... [more]

Nowadays, energy conversion plays a crucial role in sustainable growth and development [...]

For the sake of understanding the mechanism of deep subcriticality and high heterogeneity of neutron fluence rate in time−space on the neutron kinetics of the Accelerator-driven Subcritical Reactor Subcritical Reactor (ADSR) under varied beam transients and neutron spectra. A Monte Carlo homogenization approach for the neutron time−space kinetics of the ADSR is proposed in this study, and the influence mechanism on the kinetic parameters of the ADSR under varied neutron spectra, subcriticality, and beam transients is examined. The results show that the Monte Carlo homogenization for the α eigenvalue mode is more adaptable to the subcriticality characteristics under varied subcriticality; under beam transients, the relative differences in the kinetic parameters of the different modes of the ADSR with fast/thermal spectra increase with the depth of subcriticality, and the differences in neutron generation time for varied modes are larger than those of effective fraction of delayed neutro... [more]

The paper presents the possibilities of low-emission-powered vehicles based mainly on compressed hydrogen. It shows currently used forms of powering vehicles based on their genesis, process of obtention, and popularity. They are also compared to each other, presenting the advantages and disadvantages of a given solution. The share of electricity in transport, its forecasts for the future, and the possibilities of combination with conventional energy sources are also described. Based on current technological capabilities, hydrogen plays a crucial role, as presented in the above work, constituting a fundamental basis for future transport solutions.

Continuous global economic and population growth has driven the ever-increasing demand for energy [...]

Wettability in CO2-brine-mineral/rock systems is an important parameter influencing CO2 storage capacities and leakage risks in saline reservoirs. However, CO2 tends to react with various minerals and rocks at subsurface conditions, thus causing temporal and spatial wettability changes. Although many relevant research works have been published during past years, a thorough overview of this area is still lacking. Therefore herein, reaction-induced wettability changes are reviewed, and the underlying mechanisms are discussed. Current research gaps are identified, future outlooks are suggested, and some conclusions are drawn. The fundamental understanding of reaction-induced mineral and rock wettability changes during CO2 storage in saline reservoirs is analyzed and the guidance for long-term CO2 containment security evaluations is provided.

This paper presents the application of prediction in the analysis of market price volatility in Polish conditions of wood processing by-products in the form of biomass. The ARIMA model, which takes into account cyclical, seasonal, irregular fluctuations of historical data on the basis of which the forecast and long-term trends of selected wood products were made, was used in predicting prices. Comparisons were made between the ARIMA prediction method and the multiplicative Winters−Holt model. During the period studied (2017−2022), the changes in the market price of biomass were characterized by a wide spread of values. On average, the price of these products increased from 2017 to the end of 2022 by 125%. The price prediction analysis showed seasonal fluctuations in the case of wood chips. The uncertainty in price prediction is due to changes in supply resulting from the influence of global factors. The Diebold−Mariano test of matching accuracy confirms that the price prediction of the... [more]

In recent years, the safety of oil and gas pipelines has become a primary concern for the pipeline industry. This paper presents a comprehensive study of the vulnerability concepts that may be used to measure the safety status of pipeline systems. The origins of the vulnerability concepts are identified, the development and evolution of the vulnerability concepts are described, and the main connotations of the four levels of vulnerability concepts applied in different fields at this stage are summarized. Qualitative and quantitative methods of vulnerability assessment are comprehensively investigated, and the advantages and disadvantages, scope of application and key issues faced are compared and summarized. The research and analysis show that the vulnerability assessment of oil and gas pipelines is at a preliminary stage, and there is an urgent demand to establish a unified vulnerability concept and assessment system for oil and gas pipeline systems. The current qualitative or semi-qu... [more]

In our paper we analyse the scientific perception of energy use in the social sciences [...]

In the past few years, internet celebrities have become a new and important way to get people to buy energy-saving products. Their psychological mechanisms for promoting fans’ intention to purchase have become the focus of academic attention, but a unified conclusion has yet to be reached. This study uses online communities as a scenario, with the characteristics of influencers’ expertise, social attraction, and task attraction as antecedent variables and social cognitive theory and parasocial interaction theory as the theoretical basis to explore their influence on fans’ intention to purchase household energy-saving products. The study investigates the mediating role of parasocial relationships and the moderating role of fans’ green self-efficacy in influencing internet celebrities’ expertise and attraction of fans’ parasocial relationships. The results showed that the parasocial relationships formed between fans and influencers mediated the relationship between the expertise and attr... [more]

The increasing demand for electricity and the need for environmentally friendly transportation systems has resulted in the proliferation of solar photovoltaic (PV) generators and electric vehicle (EV) charging within the low voltage (LV) distribution network. This high penetration of PV and EV charging can cause power quality challenges, hence the need for hosting capacity (HC) studies to estimate the maximum allowable connections. Although studies and reviews are abundant on the HC of PV and EV charging available in the literature, there is a lack of reviews on HC studies that cover both PV and EVs together. This paper fills this research gap by providing a detailed review of five commonly used methods for quantifying HC including deterministic, time series, stochastic, optimization, and streamlined methods. This paper comprehensively reviews the HC concept, methods, and tools, covering both PV and EV charging based on a survey of state-of-the-art literature published within the last... [more]

The possibilities for reducing the fuel consumption of internal combustion engines focus mainly on developing combustion systems, as one such solution is a two-stage combustion system using jet ignition. The combustion of gaseous mixtures with a high excess air ratio leads to an increase in overall efficiency and a reduction in the emissions of selected exhaust components. In such a convention, gas combustion studies were conducted in the methane/propane configuration. Using an active prechamber where spark plugs were placed and direct injection through a check valve, the fuel dose was minimized into the prechamber. The tests were conducted for a constant center of combustion (CoC). The combustion process in both the prechamber and main chamber was analyzed using a test stand equipped with a 0.5 dm3 single-cylinder engine. The engine was controlled by varying the fuel supply to the prechamber and main chamber in excess air ratio λ = 1.3−1.8. The study analyzed thermodynamic indices suc... [more]

Delamination damage to spar caps seriously endangers the operation safety of offshore wind turbines. The effect of initial delamination of various depths and areas on the ultimate tensile load of laminates is studied based on experiments and numerical simulation, and an effective method for predicting the residual tensile strength of laminates with high thickness is proposed. Three groups of initial delamination specimens with different characteristics were fabricated, and static displacement tensile tests were carried out. An accurate three-dimensional numerical analysis model was established, and the results were in good agreement with the experimental values, with the overall error of the failure load being less than 6%. Furthermore, a numerical model for a 20-ply high-thickness spar cap laminate was established to predict the effect of delamination on tensile strength. The results showed that, for the same depth of initial delamination, the difference in delamination area had littl... [more]

In 2022, Thailand’s Demand Response (DR) business model was shifting from the Traditional Utility (TU) model to the Load Aggregator (LA) model in accordance with Thailand’s smart grid master plan. This research studied the current demand response model and mechanism to draw possible gaps in operations. This research deals with the data system owned by the individual load aggregator. The load aggregators collect meter data and evaluate demand adaptations before sending the results to claim compensation on behalf of their customers. This approach lacks transparency and facilitates distortion of the facts. Hence, this research introduces the data execution by smart contracts and data records on the blockchain that enhance transparent data sharing among multiple parties and maintain data integrity. Moreover, the proposed bidding algorithm allows customers to offer an expected price under the maximum incentive payment determined by the avoided costs of running the peaking power plants. Henc... [more]

Green hydrogen is set to become the energy carrier of the future, provided that production technologies such as electrolysis and solar water splitting can be scaled to global dimensions. Testing these hydrogen technologies on the MW scale requires the development of dedicated new test facilities for which there is no precedent. This perspective highlights the challenges to be met on the path to implementing a test facility for large-scale water electrolysis, photoelectrochemical and photocatalytic water splitting and aims to serve as a much-needed blueprint for future test facilities based on the authors’ own experience in establishing the Hydrogen Lab Leuna. Key aspects to be considered are the electricity and utility requirements of the devices under testing, the analysis of the produced H2 and O2 and the safety regulations for handling large quantities of H2. Choosing the right location is crucial not only for meeting these device requirements, but also for improving financial viabi... [more]

Conventionally accessible silicon solar cells experience two major drawbacks, such as reduced efficiency and increased fabrication costs. The prospects for the reduction in the cost of the photovoltaic form of energy conversion are bifacial solar cells. Bifacial solar cells show potential opportunity in reducing the cost of solar energy conversion when analyzed with respect to monofacial cells. The bifacial solar cells exploit sunlight occurrence on both sides of the cell more efficiently. Bifacial-based solar photovoltaic (PV) is a technology that increases the generation of electrical energy per square meter of PV module through the utilization of light absorption from the albedo. This technology can generally be categorized based on the type of solar cell material and the fabrication technique. PV devices are classified as a silicon-based, thin film, organic, and advanced nano PV. This paper takes a second look at some recent initiatives and significant issues in enhancing the effic... [more]

Recently, the demand for small, low-cost electronics has increased the use of cost-effective tiny inductors in power-management ICs (PMICs). However, the conduction loss caused by the parasitic DC resistance (RDCR) of a small inductor leads to low efficiency, which reduces the battery usage time and may also cause thermal problems in mobile devices. In particular, these issues become critical when a conventional boost converter (CBC) is used to achieve high-output voltage due to the large inductor current. In addition, as the output voltage increases, a number of issues become more serious, such as large output voltage ripple, conversion-ratio limit, and overlap loss. To solve these issues, this paper proposed a high-voltage boost converter with dual-current flows (HVDF). The proposed HVDF can achieve a higher efficiency than a CBC by reducing the total conduction loss in heavy load current conditions with a small inductor. Moreover, because in the HVDF, the current delivered to the ou... [more]

The ERTMS/ETCS is the newest automatic train protection system. This is a system that supports the driver in driving the train. It is currently being implemented throughout the European Union. This system’s latest specifications also provide additional functions to increase the energy efficiency of train driving in the form of ATO (automatic train operation). These functions of the ETCS will be valuable, provided they operate without failure. To achieve errorless configuration of the ETCS, a methodology for automatic system verification using the IMDS (Integrated Model of Distributed Systems) formalism and the temporal tool Dedan was applied. The main contribution is asynchronous and timed verification, which appropriately models the distributed nature of the ETCS and allows the designer not only to analyze time dependencies but also to define the range of train velocities in which the operational scenario is valid. Additionally, the novelties of the presented verification methodology... [more]

Remote community initiatives for renewable energy are rapidly emerging across Canada but with varying numbers, success rates, and strategies. To meet low-carbon transition goals, the need to coordinate technology deployment and long-term policy to guide the adoption is critical. Renewable resources such as wind, solar, hydro, and biomass can provide energy at a subsidized cost, create sustainable infrastructure, and provide new economic viability in social value integration. The renewable energy transition is crucial to Canada in sustaining remote and indigenous communities by providing local, clean, and low-carbon-emission energy for heat, power, and possibly transportation. This paper identified 635 renewable resources projects deployed to improve and increase electricity supply. To an extent, balancing demand within the remote and indigenous communities of Canada and highlighting sustainable renewable energy development through ownership participation within the communities is achie... [more]

Electromagnetic forces acting on conductors of the cleats and lead of a power transformer can cause permanent damage to the insulation of conductors. Determining the force acting on the conductor of cleats and leads cannot be performed using the standard analytical formula because those conductors are in close proximity to the construction part of the active part made of ferromagnetic material. To calculate those forces in a steady state of a three-phase AC current, a parametric numerical simulation was conducted. Based on the simulation, a new analytical formula for forces acting on cables near the ferromagnetic plate was proposed by the authors. It was also noted that the presence of the ferromagnetic plate can increase the forces up to 60% compared to the same geometry without the plate. This publication also discusses how eddy currents and the proximity effect influence forces acting on conductors.

With growing concern about risks related to energy security around the world, the development of hydrogen cooperation between India and Japan has become very important to ensure the economic security of the two countries and to deepen economic cooperation. This report covers both public and private initiatives in the hydrogen area in both countries and visualizes the high potential and potential areas where both countries could cooperate in the hydrogen area, as well as the challenges that are necessary for cooperation. The following four factors are strong incentives for India and Japan to deepen cooperation in the hydrogen field: (1) India has a high potential hydrogen supply capacity, (2) India is very active in implementing hydrogen in society, (3) Japan is already conducting R&D in areas of high interest to India and (4) Japan will need to import hydrogen from other countries in the future. The issues of (1) cost visualization, including transportation costs, (2) harmonization of... [more]

Studies have reported the incorporation of microorganisms into cement to promote the formation of calcium carbonate in cracks of concrete, a process known as biomineralization. The paper aims to improve the process of the cascade system for biomineralization in cement by identifying the best hydrodynamic conditions in a reaction cell in order to increase the useful life of concrete structures and, therefore, bring energy and environmental benefits. Two central composite rotatable designs were used to establish the positioning of the air inlet and outlet in the lateral or upper region of the geometry of the reaction cell. The geometries of the reaction cell were constructed in SOLIDWORKS®, and computational fluid dynamics was performed using the Flow Simulation tool of the same software. The results were submitted to statistical analysis. The best combination of meshes for the simulation was global mesh 4 and local mesh 5. The statistical analysis applied to gas velocity and pressure re... [more]

Increasing the efficiency of twin-screw machines is beneficial for gas compression and expansion applications. We used a computation fluid dynamic approach to obtain the flow field and efficiency of a twin-screw machine that used R-134a as the working fluid. The leakage flow and sealing lines were obtained to study their geometrical effects during the compression and expansion process. The effects of the wrap angle (280°, 290°, and 300°) and pressure ratios on the compression efficiency were studied. During the compression process, the volumetric efficiency was more than 70% regardless of the wrap angle. We found that the volumetric efficiency slightly decreased when the wrap angle increased. However, the effect of the wrap angle on the isentropic efficiency was not substantial. An increase in the pressure ratio decreased the mass flow rate and increased the leakage flow. This screw machine can also be operated in an expansion process, and the simulated expansion ratio was 3:1. However... [more]

Appropriate frequency response is an issue of great importance in power system management, especially in an islanded one. An energy-based method for assessing a system’s response, which is needed to prevent under frequency load shedding (UFLS), is introduced. Renewable generation, such as wind turbine (WT) and photovoltaic (PV) facilities, reduces the ability of the power system to resist power imbalances and increases the risks of consumer disconnections by UFLS system, and even of total collapse. To estimate the amount of additional fast power reserve, an equation was developed, relating the moment of inertia, the system demand dynamics, and the available response of synchronous generating units. Clustering units based on their ability to respond to frequency changes in low inertia conditions allows the potential synchronous response to be assessed, providing information of its deficiency in a defined system state. The proposed method was applied to the Israeli power system and up to... [more]