scholarly journals An integrated approach to energy use: the case study of the ACEA site

2019 ◽  
Vol 119 ◽  
pp. 00023
Author(s):  
Viviana Negro ◽  
Davide Mainero
Keyword(s):  
Energy Recovery ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Organic Fraction ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Gas Network ◽  
Purification System

Currently, ACEA utilises biogas obtained from the treatment of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste for thermal and electric energy recovery through endothermic engines (3 MW, in total). By 2020, the biogas produced at the site will no longer be used as a fuel for the combined heat and power units, but it is expected to feed a purification system in order to obtain a flow of biomethane to be injected into the natural gas network. This is part of the Italian strategy to achieve the Horizon 2020 European targets aimed at promoting the renewable production of transport fuels. In order to encourage sustainability and innovative prototype technologies, ACEA has also been involved in some European research projects, in particular for the conversion of biogas into other energy carriers. furthermore, ACEA ha recently built a flexible experimental platform that can used for the validation step of prototypes in an industrial field.

scholarly journals CASE STUDY OF ENERGY CONSERVATION IN INDUSTRY BY APPLICATION OF LEAN TOOLS

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
N.Sujith Prasanna ◽  
Dr.J.Nagesh Kumar
Keyword(s):  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Energy Saving ◽  
Energy Cost ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Sustainable Manufacturing ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Energy Saving Potential ◽  
Lean Tools

Energy cost is significant in many of the manufacturing activities. The efficiency of energy use is quiet low as there are substantial visible and hidden losses. Visible losses can be easily identified and corrective action can be taken. However hidden and indirect losses form a sizeable portion of the losses. Identifying these losses is not easy and requires an integrated approach which includes thorough study of process, operations and their interactions with energy use. Industries across sectors have implemented lean management principles which target various wastes occurring in the plant. This paper discusses case studies which highlight the exploitation of lean tools as a means for unearthing hidden energy saving potential that often go unnoticed. In addition to the energy savings which results in improved profits and competitiveness, the approach also aids the industry to pursue a path of sustainable manufacturing.

scholarly journals BIM and DfMA: A Paradigm of New Opportunities

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (17) ◽  
pp. 9591
Author(s):  
Sepehr Abrishami ◽  
Rocío Martín-Durán
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Design Stage ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Wide Range

The main goal of this study is to explore the adoption of a design for manufacturing and assembly (DfMA) and building information management (BIM) approach during the whole lifecycle of assets. This approach aims to tackle issues inherent in the design of traditional construction methods, such as low productivity and quality, poor predictability and building performance, and energy use, through the implementation of a BIM library of off-site components. In recent years, a renewed interest has been directed to the attempt to provide solutions to these urgent problems through the adoption of new advancements in technologies. However, while there are studies focussing on a BIM-DfMA approach, there is a lack of research regarding how this approach should be adopted during the whole lifecycle of the assets. Furthermore, to the best of our knowledge, defining an efficient way of developing a component-based BIM object library has not yet been included in any of the available studies. A mixed methodology approach has been used in this research. A conceptual framework was developed as the result of an extensive literature review to investigate new advancements in the AEC sector. Following the literature review, the framework was tested and validated through a case study based on the production and adoption of a BIM library of off-site components at the design stage of an asset. The architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry has recognised the necessity of a new approach that helps to resolve the well-known issues presented in traditional methods of construction. The conceptual framework and case study proposed presents a valuable new method of construction that support the implementation of a BIM and DfMA approach, highlighting their benefits. This framework has been created using many valuable and reliable sources of information. The result of this research supports the idea of a novel new construction method that focuses on a manufacturing-digital-driven industry, with the use of DfMA in a BIM-integrated approach. This novel method will add significance and be beneficial for a wide range of aspects in the construction sector, contributing to the theoretical and practical domain.

An integrated approach to assess both risk and impacts related with geo-resources exploration and exploitation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Vittoria Gargiulo ◽  
Alexander Garcia ◽  
Ortensia Amoroso ◽  
Paolo Capuano
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Probabilistic Approach ◽  
Energy Resource ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Risk Sources ◽  
New Perspective

<p>To the welfare of both economy and communities, our society widely exploits geo-resources. Nevertheless, with benefits come risks and even impacts. Understanding how a given project intrinsically bares such risks and impacts is of critical importance for both industry and society. In particular, it is fundamental to distinguish between the specific impacts related to exploiting a given energy resource and those shared with the exploitation of other energy resources. In order to do so, it is useful to differentiate impacts in two categories: routine impacts – caused by ordinary routine operations, investigated by Life-cycle assessment with a deterministic approach – and risk impacts – caused by incidents due to system failure or external events, investigated by risk assessments with a probabilistic approach. The latter category is extremely interesting because it includes low probability/high consequences events, which may not be completely independent or unrelated, causing the most disastrous and unexpected damages. For this reason, it is becoming more and more crucial to develop a strategy to assess not only the single risks but also their possible interaction and to harmonize the result obtained for different risk sources. Of particular interest for this purpose is the Multi-Hazard/Multi-Risk Assessment.</p><p>The aim of our work is to present an approach for a comprehensive analysis of impacts of geo-resource development projects. Routine operations as well as risks related to extreme events (as e.g.,seismic or meteorological) are linked using a Multi-Hazard Risk (MHR) approach built upon a Life-Cycle analysis (LCA). Given the complexity of the analysis, it is useful to adopt a multi-level approach: (a) an analysis of routine operations, (b) a qualitative identification of risk scenarios and (c) a quantitative multi-risk analysis performed adopting a bow-tie approach. In particular, after studying the two tools, i.e. LCA and MRA, we have implemented a protocol to interface them and to evaluate certain and potential impacts.</p><p>The performance of the proposed approach is illustrated on a virtual site (based on a real one) for geothermal energy production. As a result, we analyse the outcome of the LCA, identify risk-bearing elements and events, to finally obtain harmonised risk matrices for the case study. Such approach, on the one hand, can be used to assess both deterministic and stochastic impacts, on the other hand, can also open new perspective in harmonizing them. Using the LCA outputs as inputs of the MRA can allow the analyst to focus on particular risk pathways that could otherwise seem less relevant but can open new perspective in the risk/impact evaluation of single elements, as we show in this case study.</p><p>This work has been supported by S4CE ("Science for Clean Energy") project, funded from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 - R&I Framework Programme, under grant agreement No 764810 and by PRIN-MATISSE (20177EPPN2) project funded by Italian Ministry of Education and Research.</p>

scholarly journals The Complexity of Simple Goals: Case Study of a User-Centred Thermoregulation System for Smart Living and Optimal Energy Use

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 3632 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margherita Pillan ◽  
Fiammetta Costa ◽  
Marco Aureggi
Keyword(s):  
Smart Home ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Sustainable Use ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Functional Requirements ◽  
Experience Design ◽  
Complex Activity ◽  
User Experience Design ◽  
At Home

There are currently several systems for home automation and energy management available on the market. These systems are intended to reduce the use of energy, while ensuring optimal and customizable comfort conditions. The advances in technology (Internet of Things, sensors, cloud computing, data processing and thermal modelling) and in the design of interfaces should facilitate the adoption of convenient behaviours by final users, thereby producing more sustainable use of energy at home. Conversely, the effectiveness and efficiency of smart home systems for thermo-regulation is a complex activity, requiring the collaboration of multiple stakeholders and experts. In this paper, the authors report a case study about the design of a system for thermal regulation at home developed in a multidisciplinary research team for research and industrial purposes. The paper reports results including: a discussion on a number of issues involved in the design of smart home solutions for sustainability and on the importance of developing an integrated approach to their design; the needs analysis of users and of their functional requirements based on investigation with residents and profiling; final remarks about the role of User Experience Design methods and tools in the development of smart home solutions, understood as socio-technical systems.

Optimization of a Small Size CHP System by Means of a Fully Transient Numerical Approach

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Chiantera ◽  
Massimo Milani ◽  
Luca Montorsi ◽  
Matteo Stefani
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Numerical Approach ◽  
Combined Heat And Power ◽  
Battery Capacity ◽  
Energy Conversion Systems ◽  
One Year ◽  
Chp System

The paper investigates the performance of a combined heat and power system by means of a fully dynamic numerical approach. An ad-hoc library for the simulation of energy conversion systems is developed under the OpenModelica open source platform; the library includes the main components that usually equip a Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system and they can be connected as they are logically connected in the real plant. Each component is modelled by means of equations and correlations that calculate their performance on a time dependent basis. Therefore, many configurations can be evaluated not only in terms of cumulative annual results or average performance, but the instantaneous behavior can be investigated. The numerical library is constructed using the lumped and distributed parameter approach and it is validated by comparing the numerical results with the measured values over a one-year time period. The prediction capabilities of the proposed numerical approach are evaluated by simulating a case study of a health spa. This case study is selected since it is characterized by significant requirements of both thermal and electric energy. The comparison demonstrated that the calculated results are in good agreement with the measurements in terms of both annual values and distribution over the reference period. Furthermore, an optimization algorithm is adopted and linked to the developed library in order to estimate the best size of different components of the CHP system according to a number of constraints. This feature is particularly important when addressing the energy efficiency of a complete system that is depending on a number of interdependent variables. Therefore, the case study is investigated by accounting also for additional technologies that can be further enhance the performance of the system both in terms of energy consumption and economic investment. In particular, the numerical model is used to optimized the CHP energy efficiency by estimating the best trade-off between the reduction of the energy purchased and the overall cost of the system. The application of PV panels and electric energy accumulators is also investigated and the simulation demonstrates that the size of the cogeneration unit equal to 48 kW, the number of PV panels of 299 and the battery capacity of 45 kWh provide the lowest amount of energy purchased, while the best return of investment is obtained by the CHP unit of 40 kW along with 109 PV panels and a battery of 40 kWh.

350 Euston Road: Improving building performances and carbon footprint with innovative heating, ventilation and air conditioning solutions – A case study

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 650-662
Author(s):  
Phil Draper
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Footprint ◽  
Heat Recovery ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Heat Pumps ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Heating And Cooling ◽  
The Uk

This case study paper describes the advantages of how heat pumps with heat recovery worked to contribute to improving energy performance and reducing the carbon footprint of buildings, with a short payback, thus showing it is a viable technology for energy cost reduction and for improving the environmental impact of buildings within the UK. All actions were taken based on performance for both the current and the future expected needs of the building and are measured against a baseline. The research and results confirm that heat pumps with heat recovery are a viable solution for London office buildings offering an integrated approach to building heating and cooling. The project resulted in a final reduction of 62% on the base building controlled utilities (total building less occupier power). The added benefits will be around the carbon benefits that the resultant 86% reduction in gas will bring due to the gradual de-carbonisation of the electric energy production in the UK. Practical application: This paper illustrates how to utilise an existing building’s energy use data to determine how relatively simple technology can optimise the provision of simultaneous heating and cooling for comfort. It also details how modelled data can be used to allow the correct sizing of equipment to deliver both good internal comfort and low carbon emissions.

Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) Organic Fraction to Energy. Cuban Case Study. Brief Considerations

2016 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 39-44
Author(s):  
Oscar Cabeza ◽  
◽  
Alfredo Alonso ◽  
Yoel Lastre ◽  
Jorge Medina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Municipal Solid Waste ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Organic Fraction
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