Energy Consumption Prediction of University Buildings in China and Strategies for Energy Efficiency Management

In 2007, Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) and Ministry of Housing & Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) carried out the Campus Resource Conservation Actions, in order to take full use of resources and to improve the energy efficiency. However, due to the large amounts of universities, the total energy consumption and the energy efficiency situation have no objective statistics. Taking modeling the energy consumption of university buildings as the starting point, this paper analyzes the characteristics of university buildings in China. Then, we do the prediction, trend and potential analysis of the total energy consumption in 2020. In addition, four strategies for energy efficiency management are carried out, which might be helpful for all the university managers and related departments.

Solar-Driven Sorption Chillers for Residential Space Cooling: A Review of Recent Developments and Possible Applications in Canada

Energy use for space cooling has increased by 156% from 1990 to 2010 in the Canadian residential sector. In many parts of the country, the increasing use of electrically driven air-conditioners has begun to shift the peak load on the electricity grid from the coldest days of winter to the hottest days of summer. Many of Canada’s major electric utilities providers rely on fossil fuels to generate the additional capacity needed to meet the peak demand, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions. Solar-driven sorption chillers remain one of the possible solutions for shaving the peak loads experienced by the electricity grid. This paper presents a review of the recent developments in the research of adsorption and absorption chillers, as well as a comparison of the two technologies based on the latest published experimental results found in the literature. Adsorption chillers continue to evolve in their design, including the use of new consolidated and composite adsorbents, the integration of coated adsorbers into internal heat exchangers, and newly developed advanced cycles for heat and mass recovery. While the physical design of adsorption chillers continues to be advanced, the development of absorption chillers for solar cooling applications has largely been focused on optimizing the system as a whole through improved control strategies and the implementation of newly developed high performance solar collectors. Finally, the paper aims to assess the current state of development of solar-driven sorption chillers to provide insight into their applicability in the Canadian residential sector, as well as the remaining challenges facing this technology.

From Passive to Active Pitch Regulation of Wind Turbines: Optimization Method With Numerical Validation

An optimization method that changes the control strategy of the Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) from passive- to active-pitch has been developed. The method aims to keep the rated power constant by adjusting the blade pitch angle while matching the rotor and the drive torques. The method is applied to an optimized wind turbine model. Further, numerical simulations were performed to validate the developed method and for further investigations of the flow behavior over the blades.

Assessment of Photovoltaic Surface Texturing on Transmittance Effects and Glint/Glare Impacts

Standard glass and polymer covers on photovoltaic modules can partially reflect the sunlight causing glint and glare. Glint and glare from large photovoltaic installations can be significant and have the potential to create hazards for motorists, air-traffic controllers and pilots flying near installations. In this work, the reflectance, surface roughness and reflected solar beam spread were measured from various photovoltaic modules acquired from seven different manufacturers. The surface texturing of the PV modules varied from smooth to roughly textured. Correlations between the measured surface texturing (roughness parameters) and beam spread (subtended angle) were determined. These correlations were then used to assess surface texturing effects on transmittance and ocular impacts of glare from photovoltaic module covers. The results can be used to drive the designs for photovoltaic surface texturing to improve transmittance and minimize glint/glare.

Numerical Simulation Study for the Performance of a Large Solar Hot Water System With Horizontal Storage Tank

A large solar hot water system can be utilized to provide driving energy for heating system, heat-driven cooling system, as well as to provide hot water. This research addresses the effects of the storage tank design parameters on the performance of a large-scale solar hot water system with a horizontal storage tank. Most literatures only considered the stratification performance of the thermal storage tank itself instead of considering the overall system performance. Also, there is lack of experimental research data available for the design purpose. Therefore, this study employs a numerical simulation technique to study the design parameters effect of a horizontal thermal storage tank on the performance of a large-scale solar hot water system. In this study, the ANSYS-CFX program is employed to calculate the flow and temperature distributions inside horizontal thermal storage tank. Then the inlets and outlets of the tank are combined with the TRNSYS program to simulate the entire system performance under the weather of three representative cities of Taiwan, (Taipei, Taichung and, Kaohsiung). The results of the present study indicate that the vertical stratification baffles in the tank have important effects on system performance improvement. Quantitative increase of solar fraction of the total load is obtained. The comparison with the system with vertical storage tank is provided. The results of the present study can provide important reference for the large solar hot water system design in improving system efficiency.

Experimental Investigation of a Lab-Scale, Cross-Flow Grain Dryer for Testing of Drying Efficiency and Characteristic Profiles of a Packed Bed

This study investigates the drying mechanisms of corn when it is exposed to air at elevated temperature and velocity within a cross-flow packed bed dryer. A highly-instrumented laboratory-scale experimental test dryer was constructed to batch-dry samples of 0.03 m3 (1 ft3) of high moisture corn. This is achieved using a perforated wall drying chamber with forced air at temperatures ranging from 180–240°F. The high temperature, high velocity air entering the column is supplied by a variable speed fan and a variable Wattage electric heating coil through a 0.09 m2 (1 ft2) square air duct. This device is able to precisely control the drying air temperate and flow rate, while also measuring the temperature and humidity of the air exiting the dryer. In creating and instrumenting this apparatus, tests were performed to analyze both energy use and drying rate to determine the operating conditions that find a balance between energy and time requirements for moisture removal. This study used a variety of supply air temperatures and air flow rates in drying samples of corn at two initial moisture contents (19%MC and 24%MC) to 15%MC. This is done to determine if there are notable differences in energy requirements (Btu/pound water removed) between different operating conditions. This study determined that corn undergoes a significant pre-heating process before peak drying efficiency is achieved. Current grain dryer designs should focus the most energy just after that pre-heating process for highest overall efficiencies. Additionally, this study found an inverse relationship between dry time and energy efficiency, which showed that an optimum balance between those two factors should be identified.

Numerical Simulation of Heat Transfer in a 3D Cavity-Receiver

The unsteady 3D fluid flow coupled to radiative, convective, and conductive heat transfers are computed within a cavity-receiver that was successfully tested experimentally. A Monte-Carlo radiation model is used in the fluid regions of the reactor with source terms outside the cavity’s window to account for the concentrated radiative power input. Darcy’s law for the viscous regime and the Forchheimer’s term for the inertial regime are used in the momentum equation to account for the pressure drop within the porous region (RPC). Two separate energy equations for the solid and for the fluid regions of the porous domain are solved in order to capture the non-equilibrium effects in that region. Rosseland diffusion approximation is used in the solid regions of the RPC domain. The material properties and boundary conditions were taken from published experimental measurements. The simulation results are compared to the measurement data collected during the pre-heating and the ceria reduction phases, which sum up to four different radiative power inputs. Results of the comparison are very good and constitute the verification that the numerical methods, physical sub-process models and material properties are adequately selected and implemented. An analysis regarding the heat balance, the recirculating flow and, the effect of dual-scale porosity is also presented.

Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Melting Process in PCM Storage

Thermal energy storage (TES) technologies have been developed using Phase Change Materials (PCM) at various power plants to utilize waste heat sources. The melting process of PCM has been investigated experimentally and numerically to construct a fundamental database of TES systems. D-Mannitol was selected as a PCM for medium TES systems in this study. The experimental apparatus consisted of the cartridge heater, thermocouples, test tube, acryl tube, vacuum pump, pressure indicator, volt slider and shunt resistance. The temperatures near the cartridge heater were measured by K-type thermocouples. The heat inputs were ranged from 10W to 15W. As a result, temperature of D-mannitol increased with time linearly under the solid state until the fusion temperature. When D-mannitol changed from the solid phase to the liquid phase, temperatures remained constantly due to the latent heat. Moreover, the numerical simulation was conducted using the commercial CFD code, ANSYS FLUENT. As a result of the numerical simulation, it was understood that the melting process was affected by the natural convection at the inner wall. As the heat flux of the cartridge heater input from the inner wall, the liquid fraction increased from the inner wall to the outer wall. The numerical result was compared with the experimental data. It was understood that the temperature of numerical simulation was approximately consistent with that of the experiment during the phase change process.

Design of a Cogeneration Hybrid Propulsion System for Commuter Aircrafts With Thermal Recovery

This paper approaches the argument of cogeneration in aircraft propulsion. It presents an effective design of a cogeneration system with thrust augmentation by heat recovery for aeronautic propulsion which can be installed inside an electrical ducted fan unit. The system optimization is based on constructal law. Energy comparison against potential competitors is produced together with an analysis in terms of GHG emissions.

Finding an Optimal Driving Strategy for an Electric Bus Based on Operational Data

One of the clean energy initiatives at Missouri S&T is an electric shuttle bus service, the Ebus. It provides valuable operational data for a fleet-type electric vehicle (EV) operating over a fixed route. The primary aim of this study is to use the daily operational data obtained from the Ebus in order to formulate an optimal driving strategy. Existing research efforts to improve EVs focus on improvements to the architecture and the energy management strategy. However, they fail to provide the driver with an optimal driving strategy leading to suboptimal use of the stored battery energy. This shortcoming was addressed here by implementing a multi-objective approach to find an optimal driving strategy for an electric bus. The driving strategy was taken to comprise two parts: a constant trip speed and an acceleration value to achieve that speed. From the operational data, the efficiency and power consumption of the electric motor were computed for different speeds. By assuming the entire trip was executed at a constant speed, the range for each speed was calculated. The speeds were ranked based on their corresponding ranges. Then, to achieve the optimal speed, the acceleration duration and energy consumption for different acceleration values were computed. The values were ranked based on the trade-off between duration and energy. The choice of driving strategy (exact speed and acceleration values) is left to the driver since different strategies would be needed for different road conditions. This multi-objective approach gives flexibility to the driver and promotes optimal use of the stored battery energy, thereby enhancing the energy efficiency and range of the Ebus. It can be easily implemented in other electric vehicles as well.