1,720,977 research outputs found
Modeling the Egyptian Path to Energy Efficiency towards 2035
No full textThis paper offers a tool to evaluate the implementation of energy efficiency actions for the residential sector with a focus on Egypt which adopted a path to achieve 8.6 Mtoe energy savings through 2035. The Country has been divided in climate zones and users classified according to the kind of their typical household in the cities and in the rural areas. The National Energy Efficiency Plan (NEEP) has been taken as a reference, technologies' improvement has been evaluated in terms of savings and costs and a plan from 2017 through 2035 has been detailed by the means of an easy-to-use optimization model. The novelty lies in offering this model a tool allowing an analysis where to spot possible bottlenecks but also hidden potentials in the targeted users, among which photovoltaic for residential applications
Energy Performance Benchmarking and Indicators: A Comprehensive Framework for scientifically sound Data-Driven and Energy Management Improvements in Hospitals
No full textHospitals are extremely energy-intensive facilities, but improved tracking and analysis of key energy indicators can enable better management of consumption, costs, and emissions. Multidimensional indicators provide greater visibility into the interdependencies between hospital infrastructure and operations. Energy usage intensity that adapts based on different operating conditions can reveal new efficiency pathways and opportunities using data analysis. This paper (i) synthesizes research on hospital energy use patterns, metrics, and indicators and (ii) it provides an overview on use of new indicator for a data driven tool aiming to collect a systematic set of benchmarks to support an effective energy management in hospital facilities. While hospital energy demands are high, tremendous potential to cut energy waste through technical strategies based on the specific energy indicators adoption remains untapped. New leveraging indicators act as pivotal elements for hospitals to institute systematic energy conservation programs including TEC (Total Energy Consumption) forecasting. Enhancing data collection and monitoring methods will further improve the efficacy of indicators. This paper serves as a background study and introduces to a selective literature helping to identify suitable energy indicators as part of a holistic approach to achieve more sustainable energy goals
Modeling of hydrodynamics and mechanical aspects of a Wave Energy Converter (WEC) to understand the main principles
No full textThis work aims at illustrating a first-approach modeling of an all-purpose wave energy converter (WEC), and reproducing its allegedly behavior, once there is a need to forecast its production from a location, where all the monitoring data are available, to another location. A few commercial software provide such a feature but, to proficiently use them, several practical parameters are needed and this makes the learning quite hard. In the proposed model, some parameters are offered and can be tuned according with the device to reproduce, and its known data (e.g. power matrix). The Simulink/Matlab model needs the couple (H,T) (wave height and period) as input, and it provides mechanic, and then, electric power as output: using a time series of (H i ,T i ), it is able to produce a suitable power profile, useful to be used-for instance-in feasibility studies
Proposing an open-source model for unconventional participation to energy planning
No full textIn this paper we present MELiSsa, a local multi-regional energy system model of a specific area: the Lombardy region. MELiSsa, implemented through an open-code modeling framework (OSeMOSYS), is built upon transparent relations and open data. Building this model is a first step towards four main goals: (i) extending the energy planning process of the region to citizens and experts usually not involved; (ii) exploiting this uncommon participation for a crowd-source development; (iii) providing a simple tool for interested local citizens to get consciousness of the technological and behavioral limits of their energy system; (iv) providing a real-case-based platform for interdisciplinary research and academic purposes possibly beyond the region boundaries. The current structure and input data of MELiSsa are presented and discussed together with a demonstrative analysis. Preliminary results show that interdisciplinary participation is enabled as an opportunity and it is needed to properly model technological dynamics as well as non-technological issues that will be relevant within the path to reach environmental, economic and social targets. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved
Investigating the Capability of a Power Converter in Delivering Net Carbon Reduction: Presentation of the First LCA Approach
No full textStudies focused on the quantification of the environmental impacts of power converters has not been done yet to our best knowledge to investigate its capability in delivering the net carbon reduction in this global energy crisis, but a few unsystematic ones [1]. This study presents a preliminary Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach of a 2.5kW inverter with the aim of contributing to decision - making regarding how to assess the environmental impact and reduction of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions of its manufacturing. The scope is to identify the methodological steps, and provide the overall evaluation. Nevertheless here only the intermediate result for one of its major component (the heat sink) is reported. The LCA encompasses the “cradle to gate with module C1- C4(End of Life) and D (Benefits and Loads beyond the system boundary)” life cycle stages of the power converter [2]. The primary data were obtained from the manufacturers and the secondary data from Eco invent database. In this ongoing assessment, the environmental impacts are majorly due to the role raw material (particularly aluminium) plays, followed by its manufacturing stage. The full paper will report the LCA overall assessment and discussion of its intermediate steps, with a special focus on its carbon footprint
A Reconfigurable Cascaded Multilevel Converter for EV Powertrain
No full textThis paper presents a new topology for EV powertrain, called Reconfigurable Cascaded Multilevel Converter, able to simultaneously implement power conversion and active battery system management. The latter feature is performed through the Reconfigurable Battery Module structure, where the serial connection of cells is controlled through a pattern of switches. This work contributes to the improvement of EV powertrain multilevel topologies by adding the advantages of reconfigurable systems. Compared to other multilevel topologies, an optimized control algorithm allows maintaining the converter efficiency comparable to more standard solutions and, concurrently, performing sorting algorithms to keep balanced SOC dynamics between the cells. Moreover, the new topology can be completely customized, according to different application requirements. To validate its feasibility in terms of efficiency, the converter is compared to other three alternative topologies. Efficiency measurements are carried out to validate the comparison. Finally, experimental results show how the active management of the battery stack can avoid voltage imbalances and be resilient to sudden voltage or load changes
Empowering Resilient Hospital Microgrids in Gaza with a Novel Toolbox for Sustainable Energy Solutions
No full textPreliminary Results and Discussion over a Novel Toolbox Supporting the Optimal Design and Management of a Resilient Islanded Microgrid
No full textThis paper introduces a new fully integrated decision support system (DSS) for hybrid isolated microgrids, enabling both the designer and the energy manager to make choices according to the geographical location and application-specific resilience indicators (KPI). An optimal formulation of the energy management system (EMS) is associated with the DSS and it provides the reference parameters for the power converter controller, as well as the information to build the tech-economic assessment. As several degrees of freedom exist when designing the microgrid, indicators are defined and used to analyze several scenarios and microgrid configurations, focusing on different levels of resilience. Preliminary results derived from the sizing and the EMS optimizations are presented here for different KPI, affected by the geographical location
Decarbonization of Electric Arc Furnace Steel Mills, how to Set-up an Effective Allocation of Energy Flows, aiming at Tracking Efficiency and Energy Savings
No full textA decrease in the energy intensity of 1.7 GJ/t by 2030 and 4.1 GJ/t by 2050 is expected from the current 18.9 GJ/t in the steel sector according to the International Energy Agency Roadmap to Iron and Steel. The scope of this work is methodological: it represents the application of energy management in an energy-intensive sector, like the steel production process, which is the first step towards the decarbonization and implementation of ISO 50001 and ISO 14064. The methodology foresees the following three major steps. At first, the manufacturing process is categorized into m different processes, where each process accounts for n equipment. The energy consumption of each equipment (i.e., electrical, thermal, diesel, water, ...) is attributed to each m-th process. Each process is then placed into a k different functional area according to the services it provides. In the second step, the identification of energy-intensive processes has been done based on the ISO 50001 energy management system. In the third step, the energy performance indicators (EnPIs) are identified and compared with the available literature at a global. We applied the methodology to a case study of two steel mills. The energy-saving opportunities (energy and emissions) and economics are proposed as a result of the monitoring system. The novelty of this work is the detailed categorization of the steel manufacturing process, identification of 17 EnPI, as compared with the literature, and finally, we proposed a model for the decarbonization of the steel industry. This model can serve as the first step toward the implementation of ISO 50001 in the sector
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