A Numerical Model of In-Channel Pebble Bed Thermal Storage for a Solar Chimney

In this study, solar chimney performance is numerically modeled. Previously published models have considered water bags and natural earth as means to store daytime thermal energy for nighttime operation of the system. The present model considers in-channel pebble bed thermal storage. A one-dimensional, implicit time stepping numerical model is developed to predict solar chimney performance throughout a 24 hour period. The model is partially verified with available experimental data. The daily energy, daily efficiency and heat transfer characteristics of the solar chimney with pebble bed thermal storage are summarized. The numerical simulation showed that by introducing a pebble bed, nightly exit velocities reach 40% of the peak daytime velocity. However, the daily kinetic energy delivered by a solar chimney with pebble bed thermal storage is much less than a traditional solar chimney, suggesting pebble bed thermal storage is more practicable in building heating applications as opposed to power generation.

Simulation and Optimization of Combined Cycle Power Cycles Through HRSG’s Heat Exchangers Arrangement and Parameters for Exergy and Cost

To produce the power with higher overall efficiency and reasonable cost is ultimate aim for the power industries in the power deficient scenario. Though combined cycle power plant is most efficient way to produce the power in today’s world, rapidly increasing fuel prices motivates to define a strategy for cost-effective optimization of this system. The heat recovery steam generator is one of the equipment which is custom made for combined cycle power plant. So, here the particular interest is to optimize the combined power cycle performance through optimum design of heat recovery steam generator. The case of combined cycle power plant re-powered from the existing Rankine cycle based power plant is considered to be simulated and optimized. Various possible configuration and arrangements for heat recovery steam generator has been examined to produce the steam for steam turbine. Arrangement of heat exchangers of heat recovery steam generator is optimized for bottoming cycle’s power through what-if analysis. Steady state model has been developed using heat and mass balance equations for various subsystems to simulate the performance of combined power cycles. To evaluate the performance of combined power cycles and its subsystems in the view of second law of thermodynamics, exergy analysis has been performed and exergetic efficiency has been determined. Exergy concepts provide the deep insight into the losses through subsystems and actual performance. If the sole objective of optimization of heat recovery steam generator is to increase the exergetic efficiency or minimizing the exergy losses then it leads to the very high cost of power which is not acceptable. The exergo-economic analysis has been carried to find the cost flow from each subsystem involved to the combined power cycles. Thus the second law of thermodynamics combined with economics represents a very powerful tool for the systematic study and optimization of combined power cycles. Optimization studies have been carried out to evaluate the values of decision parameters of heat recovery steam generator for optimum exergetic efficiency and product cost. Genetic algorithm has been utilized for multi-objective optimization of this complex and nonlinear system. Pareto fronts generated by this study represent the set of best solutions and thus providing a support to the decision-making.

Thermoeconomic Model for the Energy Optimization of Industrial Air Compressed Supply Network Under Transient Condition

Air compression represents around 20% of industrial total electric power demand, especially in chemicals and process companies. Few technical studies related with energy optimization of air compressed networks are reported in the specialized literature, in contrast, in natural gas and steam networks have been widely analyzed. Pressure, temperature and flow monitoring of air compression is not enough for implementation of energy optimization models, for this reason authors have developed a transit conditions model which takes into account air supply equipments and air compressed process requirements. This paper presents a decision support system for the scheduling selection of a set of air compressors in an industrial plant based on energy demand minimization. Several constraints must be taken in consideration during the optimization process, this can be desegregate in two types, the first set of constrains was used for simulate the operation of scroll, screw and centrifuges compressors, the second based in graph an node theory and contain the mathematical transit conditions model of supply air network topology, for the complexity of the problem the use of a genetic algorithm to search an optimal combination was necessary.

Micro Solar Thermal Collector Glazing for Enhanced Thermal Energy Harvesting

Increasing focus on alternative energy sources has produced significant progress across a wide variety of research areas. One particular area of interest has been solar energy. This has been true on both large and small-scale applications. Research in this paper presents investigations into a small-scale solar thermal collector. This approach is divergent from traditional micro solar photovoltaic devices, relying on transforming incoming solar energy to heat for use by devices like thermoelectrics. The Solar Thermal Collector (STC) is constructed using a copper collector plate with electroplated tin-nickel selective coating atop the collector surface. Further, a unique top piece is added to trap thermal energy and reduce convective, conductive, and radiative losses to the surrounding environment. Results show a capture efficiency of 92% for a collector plate alone when exposed to a 1000 W/m2 simulated solar source. The addition of the top “glazing” piece improves capture efficiency to 97%. Future work will integrate these unique devices with thermoelectric generators for electric power production. This will yield a fully autonomous system, capable of powering small sensors or other devices in remote locations or supplementing existing devices with renewable energy.

Evaluation of Blister Behavior for U10Mo Mini Fuel Plates With Cold Rolled Foils

This article aims to provide possible mechanical causes for the lowered blister temperatures of RERTR-12 and AFIP-4 fuel plates. Recent experimental investigations to determine the blister threshold temperatures have indicated lower thresholds for similar plates with comparable burn-up histories. Measured blister temperatures of roughly 100 °C lower compared to the previously tested plates may not be satisfactory for some plates. The primary differences between recent experiments and previous tests are: (1) An aggressive cold work process involving large thickness reduction ratios without normalization or full annealing (2) Subjecting the plates to a thermal cycling process prior to irradiation, and finally (3) A primarily frontal neutron flux as opposed to a transverse flux profile. It is believed that the stress field has implications to blister behavior. To investigate this claim, the stress-strain states for the fabrication procedure were evaluated. First, the residual stress profile caused by the cold rolling process was calculated. Modeling of the cold rolling process has shown confirmation of residual stresses of considerable magnitude and the existence of stress gradients with respect to foil thickness prior to the HIP process. Once calculated, these stress profiles were used as an initial condition for the fabrication process. Due to the variation in stress fields depending on location at which a foil is cut from the cold rolled plate, three representative regions were selected and implemented in the HIP simulation. Variation in stresses, depending on location of the cold rolled plate as well and variation in the through-thickness, results in a wide range of mechanical stress states. This suggests that inhomogeneous irradiation and thermal cycling behavior will result from the use of cold rolled foils. Additionally, these results suggest that there will be fundamental differences in fuel plate behavior observed between plates fabricated with cold rolled foils versus hot rolled and fully annealed foils.

Direct Measurement of the Local Current Density Under Land-Channel Areas With Partially-Catalyzed MEAs

In a PEM fuel cell, local current density can vary drastically under the land and channel areas. The non-uniform current density distribution not only affects the overall performance of the fuel cell, but also leads to the local temperature and concentration differentiation on the MEA, which can cause problems such as membrane dehydration and catalyst degradations at certain locations. In order to investigate the local current performance, the objective of this work is to directly measure the local current density variations across the land and channel at the cathode in a PEM fuel cell with partially-catalyzed MEAs. First, the cathode flow plate is specially designed with a single-serpentine channel structure, and the gas diffusion electrode at cathode side is cut to fit this flow field size (5.0cm×1.3cm). Then five different partially-catalyzed MEAs with 1mm width corresponding to different locations from the middle of the gas channel to the middle of the land area are made. Fuel cells with each of the partially-catalyzed MEAs have been tested and the results provide the lateral current density distribution across the channel and the land areas. In the high cell voltage region, local current density is highest under the center of the land area and decreases toward the center of the channel area; while in the low cell voltage region local current density is highest under the middle of the channel area and decrease toward the center of the land area. Different flow rates are tested at the cathode side of the cell to study their effects on the local current density performance along the land-channel direction. And the results show that the flow rate barely has the effect on the current at the high cell voltage region, while it plays a significant role at the low voltage region due to the mass transport effect.

A Combined Cycle Power Plant With Absorption Cooling for Houses Air Conditioning

This study examined the viability of a single-effect water/lithium bromide absorption chiller driven by steam extracted from the steam turbine in the configuration of a combined cycle power plant (CCPP). System performance was verified based on the annual cooling load profile of 1,000 typical houses in Kuwait obtained from DesignBuilder building simulation software. Computer models that represented a CCPP with an absorption chiller and a CCPP with a Direct-Expansion (DX) air conditioning system were developed using Engineering Equation Solver software. The computer models interacted with the cooling load profiles obtained from DesignBuilder. Analysis shows that the CCPP with the absorption chiller yielded less net electrical power to the utility grid compared to similar CCPPs giving electricity both to the grid and to the Direct-Expansion air conditioning systems given the same cooling requirements. The reason for this finding is the reduction in steam turbine power output resulting from steam extraction.

Effect of Anode Surface Roughness on Power Generation in Microbial Fuel Cells

A three-electrode system was used to study the effect of anode surface roughness on the performance of microbial fuel cells (MFCs). Two glassy carbon plates were polished to uniform roughness of the orders of magnitude of 10s of nm and 100s of nm. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to quantify the roughness as well as the 3D topography of the surfaces. Multiple electrochemical methods including potentiostatic tests, potentiodynamic tests, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were utilized to monitor the performance of the glassy carbon electrodes. After 275 hours of experimentation, the current density generated by the rough electrode was much higher than that generated by the smooth one. Furthermore, the charge-transfer resistance of the rough electrode was lower than that of the smooth one. The better electrochemical performance of the rough surface may be due to denser biofilm grown on the surface, which was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM).

Exergy Analysis of a Solid-Oxide Fuel Cell, Gas Turbine, Steam Turbine Triple-Cycle Power Plant

In an effort to make higher efficiency power systems, several joint fuel cell / combustion-based cycles have been proposed and modeled. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has recently built such a system with a solid-oxide fuel cell gas turbine plant, and is now working on a variant that includes a bottoming steam cycle. They report their double and triple cycles have LHV efficiencies greater than 52% and 70%, respectively. In order to provide insight into the thermodynamics behind such efficiencies, this study attempts to reverse engineer the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries system from publicly available data. The information learned provides the starting point for a computer model of the triple cycle. An exergy analysis is used to compare the triple cycle to its constituent sub-cycles, in particular the natural gas combined cycle. This analysis provides insights into the benefits of integrating the fuel cell and gas turbine architectures in a manner that improves the overall system performance to previously unseen efficiencies.

Waste Heat Recovery for Offshore Applications

With increasing incentives for reducing the CO2 emissions offshore, optimization of energy usage on offshore platforms has become a focus area. Most of offshore oil and gas platforms use gas turbines to support the electrical demand on the platform. It is common to operate a gas turbine mostly under part-load conditions most of the time in order to accommodate any short term peak loads. Gas turbines with flexibility with respect to fuel type, resulting in low turbine inlet and exhaust gas temperatures, are often employed. The typical gas turbine efficiency for an offshore application might vary in the range 20–30%. There are several technologies available for onshore gas turbines (and low/medium heat sources) to convert the waste heat into electricity. For offshore applications it is not economical and practical to have a steam bottoming cycle to increase the efficiency of electricity production, due to low gas turbine outlet temperature, space and weight restrictions and the need for make-up water. A more promising option for use offshore is organic Rankine cycles (ORC). Moreover, several oil and gas platforms are equipped with waste heat recovery units to recover a part of the thermal energy in the gas turbine off-gas using heat exchangers, and the recovered thermal energy acts as heat source for some of the heat loads on the platform. The amount of the recovered thermal energy depends on the heat loads and thus the full potential of waste heat recovery units may not be utilized. In present paper, a review of the technologies available for waste heat recovery offshore is made. Further, the challenges of implementing these technologies on offshore platforms are discussed from a practical point of view. Performance estimations are made for a number of combined cycles consisting of a gas turbine typically used offshore and organic Rankine cycles employing different working fluids; an optimal media is then suggested based on efficiency, weight and space considerations. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research within the field of waste heat recovery for offshore applications.