Building prosperity: harnessing Australia's comparative energy advantage

2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Harper
Keyword(s):  
Energy Advantage

scholarly journals Areas of energy advantage for flowsheets of separation modes for mixtures containing components with similar volatilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-20
Author(s):  
M. E. Peshekhontseva ◽  
M. A. Maevskiy ◽  
I. S. Gaganov ◽  
A. V. Frolkova
Keyword(s):  
Ethyl Acetate ◽  
Butyl Acetate ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Equilibrium Diagram ◽  
Distribution Coefficients ◽  
Local Composition ◽  
Component Distribution ◽  
Boiling Points ◽  
Relative Errors ◽  
Energy Advantage

Objectives. The conditions for the effective application of the sharp distillation technique (without a component distributed between the distillate and bottom flows) for the separation of quaternary zeotropic mixtures containing components with similar volatilities were determined. The area of energy advantage for the flowsheet based on the preliminary fractionation of the mixture, compared with the flowsheet, the first distillation column of which works based on the indirect separation mode, was identified for an ethyl acetate–benzene–toluene–butyl acetate system. Energy savings of up to 20% were achieved. The direct and indirect distillation modes can become competitive when the point of the original composition is located near single K-surfaces or in a region with a different ratio of distribution coefficients. Sharp distillation is not suitable for the separation of a mixture containing a pair of components exhibiting relative unity volatility with medium boiling points.Methods. The mathematical modeling in the Aspen Plus V.10.0 software package was chosen as the research method. The simulation was based on the Wilson local composition equation. The relative errors in the description of the phase equilibrium did not exceed 3%.Results. The structure of the vapor–liquid equilibrium diagram and diagram of surfaces of the unit component distribution coefficients were studied for the ethyl acetate–benzene–toluenebutyl acetate and acetone–toluene–butyl acetate–o-xylene systems. Flowsheets based on the sharp, indirect (both systems), or direct (second system) distillation modes were proposed. The distillation process was simulated, and the parameters of the column work were determined (the quality of the substances meets the State Standard requirements of the Russian Federation for minimal energy consumption).Conclusions. Recommendations regarding the use of sharp distillation for the separation of quaternary mixtures containing components with similar volatilities were devised.

Doubling the Energy Advantage of Waste-to-Energy: District Heating in the Northeast U.S.

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priscilla Ulloa ◽  
Nickolas J. Themelis
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Dioxide Emissions ◽  
District Heating ◽  
The United States ◽  
Hot Water ◽  
Waste To Energy ◽  
Preliminary Evaluation ◽  
Surrounding Area ◽  
Municipal Solid Wastes ◽  
Network Costs ◽  
Energy Advantage

In District Heating (DH), a large number of buildings are heated from a central source by conveying steam or hot water through a network of insulated pipes. Waste-to-Energy (WTE) signifies the controlled combustion of municipal solid wastes to generate electrical and thermal energy in a power plant. Both technologies have been developed simultaneously and are used widely in Europe. In the United States, however, WTE is used principally for the generation of electricity. The advantages of district heating using WTE plants are: overall fuel conservation, by increasing the thermal efficiency of WTE, and overall reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. The purpose of this study was to examine the current situation of district heating in the U.S. and determine the potential for applying DH to existing WTE plants. A preliminary evaluation was conducted of DH application at two WTE facilities in Connecticut: the Wheelabrator Bridgeport and the Covanta Preston facilities. Using a Canadian methodology, the minimal distribution heating network costs for Bridgeport were estimated at about $24 million dollars for providing heat to a surrounding area of one square mile and the DH revenues at $6.8 million.

A reality based cost-benefit analysis of high performance residences: Part II

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 630-649
Author(s):  
Eric Wilson ◽  
Phalguni Mukhopadhyaya ◽  
Kevin Pickwick ◽  
Terry Bergen
Keyword(s):  
High Performance ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Payback Period ◽  
Performance Standard ◽  
Efficiency Measures ◽  
Research Initiative ◽  
Home Buyer ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Energy Advantage

This research initiative attempts to determine, from real construction cost estimates, the cost challenge and expected payback period associated with building a high-performance residence in Victoria, BC. This was accomplished through: a simulated tendering process with local contractors, an energy analysis of a case-study residence (Part I of this research initiative), and an in-depth study into the variables governing time-to-amortization. The contractors provided quotes for an as-built “above code” residence (ACR), and a “minimum-code” residence (MCR) with the same floor plan (Note: The as-built above-code residence was not built or designed to any specific performance standard; however, it was found in Part I of this research initiative that when compared to the new BC Step code that it performed at a step 3 designation, bordering on step 4 performance). The results of the tendering process were then compared to the as-built construction costs of the residence. When compared to the MCR, it was found that the ACR has a cost challenge of approximately 22.5%, an energy advantage of 22.5 kWh/m2/year, and a payback period of over 79 years when a fuel inflation rate of 2% is considered. However, many of the components in the ACR assemblies were either for aesthetic appeal (metal-roofing), or comfort (floor-cavity insulation), and therefore it was possible to reduce the cost challenge to just 2.1%, while maintaining an energy advantage of 15 kWh/m2/year and step level 3 designation. This was dubbed the hybrid-residence as it employed a combination of above-code and minimum-code construction assemblies. Based on a simple mortgage increase calculation, it was found that the reduction in operational costs produced by the energy-efficiency measures for this residence services 87% of the mortgage increase taken on by the home buyer.

scholarly journals Controlled Warm Working: Possible Tool for Optimizing Stored Energy Advantage in Deformed γ-fiber (ND//‹111›)

2009 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-85 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Khatirkar ◽  
L. A. I. Kestens ◽  
R. Petrov ◽  
I. Samajdar
Keyword(s):  
Stored Energy ◽  
Warm Working ◽  
Energy Advantage

Group size and predator surveillance in foraging house sparrows (Passer domesticus)

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Studd ◽  
Robert D. Montgomerie ◽  
Raleigh J. Robertson
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Passer Domesticus ◽  
Flock Size ◽  
House Sparrows ◽  
Scanning Time ◽  
Time Scanning ◽  
Bird Feeder ◽  
Feeding Bout ◽  
High Level ◽  
Energy Advantage

Time budgets of house sparrows (Passer domesticus) foraging at a bird feeder revealed that the time an individual allocated to scanning for predators was negatively correlated with the size of the foraging group. The frequency of both aggressive and scanning bouts per individual did not vary significantly with group size. Reduced scanning time by individuals in larger groups was achieved by shortening scan bouts, rather than by decreasing scan rate as found in most other studies. For all group sizes, scan and interscan (mostly feeding) bout lengths were randomly distributed. We show analytically that even these birds scanning independently for random lengths of time were able to maintain a high level of predator surveillance while increasing the proportion of time spent foraging as flock size became larger. We also demonstrate a time–energy advantage to longer scanning bouts when ecological conditions allow birds to spend a relatively high proportion of their time scanning.

An approach to evaluate the energy advantage of two axes solar tracking systems in Spain

2011 ◽  
Vol 88 (12) ◽  
pp. 5131-5142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fernando Cruz-Peragón ◽  
Pedro J. Casanova-Peláez ◽  
Francisco A. Díaz ◽  
Rafael López-García ◽  
José M. Palomar
Keyword(s):  
Tracking Systems ◽  
Solar Tracking ◽  
Energy Advantage

scholarly journals The Heated Condensation Framework. Part II: Climatological Behavior of Convective Initiation and Land–Atmosphere Coupling over the Conterminous United States

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 1946-1961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed B. Tawfik ◽  
Paul A. Dirmeyer ◽  
Joseph A. Santanello
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Plains ◽  
Potential Temperature ◽  
The United States ◽  
Convective Initiation ◽  
Positive Feedbacks ◽  
Southern Great Plains ◽  
The North ◽  
Wrong Reason ◽  
Energy Advantage

Abstract This is Part II of a two-part study introducing the heated condensation framework (HCF), which quantifies the potential convective state of the atmosphere in terms of land–atmosphere interactions. Part I introduced the full suite of HCF variables and applied them to case studies with observations and models over a single location in the southern Great Plains. It was shown in Part I that the HCF was capable of identifying locally initiated convection and quantifying energetically favorable pathways for initiation. Here, the HCF is applied to the entire conterminous United States and the climatology of convective initiation (CI) in relation to local land–atmosphere coupling (LoCo) is explored for 34 summers (June–August) using the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and observations. NARR is found to be capable of capturing the convective threshold (buoyant mixing potential temperature θBM) and energy advantage transition (energy advantage potential temperature θadv) for most of the United States. However, there are compensating biases in the components of moisture qmix and temperature q*, resulting in low θBM biases for the wrong reason. The HCF has been used to show that local CI occurred over the Rocky Mountains and the southern Great Plains 35%–65% of the time. Finally, the LoCo process chain has been recast in light of the HCF. Both positive and negative soil moisture–convective feedbacks are possible, with negative feedbacks producing a stronger response in CI likelihood under weak convective inhibition. Positive feedbacks are present but weaker.

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