Heat Balance Calculation and Energy Efficiency Analysis for Building Clusters Based on Psychrometric Chart

How to perform accurate calculation of heat balance and quantitative analysis of energy efficiency for building clusters is an urgent problem to be solved to reduce building energy consumption and improve energy utilization efficiency. This article proposes a method for the heat balance calculation and energy efficiency analysis of building clusters based on enthalpy and humidity diagrams and applies it to the energy management of building clusters containing primary return air systems and heating pipe networks. Firstly, the basic structure and energy management principle of building clusters with a primary return air system and a heating pipe network were given, and the heat balance calculation and energy efficiency analysis method based on i-d diagram was proposed to realize the accurate calculation of heat load and the quantification of energy utilization. Secondly, the energy management model of the building cluster with a primary return air system and a heating pipe network was established to efficiently manage the indoor temperature and the heating schedule of ASHP, HN and HI. Finally, the proposed method was validated by calculation examples, and the results showed that the proposed method is beneficial for improving the energy economy and energy efficiency of building clusters.

Geophysical and Hydrogeological Investigations of Water Leakage from a Reservoir Dam to a Coastal Aquifer: The Lebna Case Study (Northeastern Tunisia)

In semiarid regions, dams are useful for surface water storage, sediment sequestration, and aquifer recharge. Built in 1987 on the Cap Bon peninsula (in northeastern Tunisia), the Lebna Dam is considered a good example of a multifunctional reservoir. The dam feeds two important irrigation networks, stores large sediment quantities, and allows a significant recharge flow to the underlying aquifer. This work suggests new leakage flow and dam-aquifer interaction characterizations through the development of an approach that combines a water balance calculation, geological field observations, groundwater monitoring, and geophysical research. The hydrological balance calculation performed over the 27-year monitoring period, from 1990 to 2017, shows that an estimated water volume of 3.7 Mm3y-1 has leaked from the Lebna reservoir to the coastal aquifer. Geological mapping of the Lebna Dam basin in summer 2019 revealed the existence of permeable layers of sands to sandstones exposed along the southern banks of the reservoir and extending to an elevation that included the water level when the dam is full; these rocks outcrop at approximately 16 m.a.s.l. A geophysical survey based on 67 vertical electrical soundings and 8 electrical resistivity tomography profiles in the area downstream of the reservoir was carried out to identify the lateral continuity of the recharge zones. Piezometric campaigns consisting of four field surveys in 2019 and 2020 were conducted in the region downstream of Lebna Dam, consisting of 71 water well samples. An interpretation of these geophysical data coupled with available borehole logging and piezometric measurements was used to define the leakage geometry from the reservoir dam to the coastal aquifer. The collected evidence led to the conclusion that concentrated recharge occurs in the downstream sections, especially on the right bank of the aquifer.

WaterbalANce, a WebApp for Thornthwaite–Mather Water Balance Computation: Comparison of Applications in Two European Watersheds

Nowadays, the balance between incoming precipitation and stream or spring discharge is a challenging aspect in many scientific disciplines related to water management. In this regard, although advances in the methodologies for water balance calculation concerning each component of the water cycle have been achieved, the Thornthwaite–Mather method remains one of the most used, especially for hydrogeological purposes. In fact, in contrast to physical-based models, which require many input parameters, the Thornthwaite–Mather method is a simple, empirical, data-driven procedure in which the error associated with its use is smaller than that associated with the measurement of input data. The disadvantage of this method is that elaboration times can be excessively long if a classical MS Excel file is used for a large amount of data. Although many authors have attempted to automatize the procedure using simple algorithms or graphical user interfaces, some bugs have been detected. For these reasons, we propose a WebApp for monthly water balance calculation, called WaterbalANce. WaterbalANce was written in Python and is driven by a serverless computing approach. Two respective European watersheds are selected and presented to demonstrate the application of this method.