0000000000015109
AUTHOR
Girolama Airò Farulla
A Review of Key Performance Indicators for Building Flexibility Quantification to Support the Clean Energy Transition
The transition to a sustainable society and a carbon-neutral economy by 2050 requires extensive deployment of renewable energy sources that, due to the aleatority and non-programmability of most of them, may seriously affect the stability of existing power grids. In this context, buildings are increasingly being seen as a potential source of energy flexibility for the power grid. In literature, key performance indicators, allowing different aspects of the load management, are used to investigate buildings’ energy flexibility. The paper reviews existing indicators developed in the context of theoretical, experimental and numerical studies on flexible buildings, outlining the current status a…
Membrane Deformation and Its Effects on Flow and Mass Transfer in the Electromembrane Processes
In the membrane processes, a trans-membrane pressure (TMP) may arise due to design features or operating conditions. In most applications, stacks for electrodialysis (ED) or reverse electrodialysis (RED) operate at low TMP (<
Computer Fluid Dynamics Assessment of an Active Ventilated Façade Integrating Distributed MPPT and Battery
Ventilated Façades integrated with photovoltaic panels have become a popular way to improve both the thermal-physical performances of the existing built environment. The increased usage of not-programmable renewable energy sources implies the adoption of energy storage systems to mitigate the mismatch between the power generation and the building’s demand. Aiming at properly integrates a photovoltaic panel and a battery (Lithium based) as a module of an active ventilated façade, the prototype design has been carried out in terms of thermo-fluid dynamics performance. Based on experimental setup, a numerical study of flow through the air cavity of the active ventilated façade has been carried…
Experimental and Computational Fluid Dynamic study of an active ventilated façade integrating battery and distributed MPPT
Ventilated Façades integrating photovoltaic panels are a promising way to improve efficiency and the thermal-physical performances of buildings. Due the inherent intermittence of the non-programmable renewable energy sources, their increasing usage implies the use of energy storage systems to mitigate the mismatch between power generation and the buildings’ load demand. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the thermo-fluid dynamic performances of a prototype integrating a photovoltaic cell and a battery as a module of an active ventilated façade. Based on an experimental setup, a numerical study in steady state conditions of flow through the air cavity of the module has been car…
A review of thermochemical energy storage systems for power grid support
Power systems in the future are expected to be characterized by an increasing penetration of renewable energy sources systems. To achieve the ambitious goals of the “clean energy transition”, energy storage is a key factor, needed in power system design and operation as well as power-to-heat, allowing more flexibility linking the power networks and the heating/cooling demands. Thermochemical systems coupled to power-to-heat are receiving an increasing attention due to their better performance in comparison with sensible and latent heat storage technologies, in particular, in terms of storage time dynamics and energy density. In this work, a comprehensive review of the state of art of theore…
Pressure-Induced Deformation of Pillar-Type Profiled Membranes and Its Effects on Flow and Mass Transfer
In electro-membrane processes, a pressure difference may arise between solutions flowing in alternate channels. This transmembrane pressure (TMP) causes a deformation of the membranes and of the fluid compartments. This, in turn, affects pressure losses and mass transfer rates with respect to undeformed conditions and may result in uneven flow rate and mass flux distributions. These phenomena were analyzed here for round pillar-type profiled membranes by integrated mechanical and fluid dynamics simulations. The analysis involved three steps: (1) A conservatively large value of TMP was imposed, and mechanical simulations were performed to identify the geometry with the minimum pillar density…