0000000000085976
AUTHOR
Leone G
Assessing the feasibility of cogeneration retrofit and district heating/cooling networks in small Italian islands
Sustainability of energy supply strategies in small islands has been emerging as a severe issue, due to the large margins for improvement and rationalization of the most frequently adopted solutions. In most of the European islands, large amounts of heat are wasted by the operation of engine-based power plants; conversely, heat is produced by boilers (supplied by liquid fuels) or by electric equipment for a number of different uses, like domestic hot water production or space heating in winter. In this paper a techno-economic analysis is proposed to assess the feasibility of CHP-retrofit of the existing power plants and the possible utilization of the recovered heat to supply, via a distric…
Use of finite element models for estimating thermal performance of façade-integrated solar thermal collectors
Abstract Research on building-integrated solar thermal collectors is attracting increasingly more interest. Many efforts have been focused at the design level for obtaining specific building-orientated products, but there is a significant lack of standardised methods for evaluating how the efficiency of solar collectors changes when a wall is an integral part of the solar component itself. Generally speaking, experimental tests on integrated components are not easy to realise and are, in any case, expensive in terms of time and money. Physical and numerical methods can be utilised, but at the moment, there is no common approach. The present work addresses a method for the calculation of a b…
Is the NZEB Benchmarking Approach Suitable for Assessing Energy Retrofit Design?
Currently, many effort have been done to enable energy saving issues in building design and many definitions have been introduced for most performing constructions based on energy balance between energy demand and supply. Recently, the Net Zero Energy Building theory has bypassed old Passive House concept but many questions still remain open. Present work aims to estimate how NZEB requirements matching could be affected by the choice of their definition and the choice of weighting factor system, to be count in the energy balance. NZEB concept is mainly referred to new buildings design. Its application to existing buildings is for sure an hard task provided the architecture and physical cons…
ICT applications for improving the generation and distribution efficiency of a small mediterranean island
The paper presents a study on the opportunities offered by ICT for improving the efficiency of the generation and distribution system of a small island. The island taken into consideration is the Italian Lampedusa island. In the paper, the power distribution system of the island is described and the summer and winter daily load profiles are examined in order to define the more suitable control actions for improving the generation and distribution efficiency of the power system. Finally the architecture of an idoneous control system for the smart grid is proposed and an evaluation of the purchase and installation costs of components and devices for the transition of a traditional house towar…
Analysis of some renewable energy uses and demand side measures for hotels on small Mediterranean islands: A case study
Abstract Tourist activity strongly influences the energy consumption and the overall load profile of communities with isolated energy systems. One example is hotel sectors on small islands that are not connected to mainland energy distribution grids. The use of solar energy systems could be a smart option for reducing energy consumption and tackling seasonal fluctuation. The operation of a weak and isolated electric grid requires attention to the management of power profiles in very short time frames. Energy storage (thermal or electric), as well as building automation control technologies, can be utilised for these aims. In this context, the present paper illustrates a study conducted at a…
Characterization of a small Mediterranean island end-users’ electricity consumption: The case of Lampedusa
Abstract The paper presents the results of a study carried out on Lampedusa Island (Italy) and based on the survey of electricity consumption data. The main outcomes of the study are: • the characterization of the energy demand of private houses and hotels in Italian small islands with significant touristic flows during the summer period; • the identification of inefficient use of the electric loads; • the construction of aggregated load profiles for clusters of homogeneous domestic end-user to be used for implementing Demand Response strategies. The study shows how electricity consumption in Mediterranean small islands are very high with respect to the national average and lays the basis f…
Indoor Environmental Quality Survey: A Brief Comparison between Different Post Occupancy Evaluation Methods
Building occupants are important factor in giving information on indoor conditions such as comfort, productivity, building performance and occupants ́ health. Even that, being their appraisal mainly based on subjective judgments, it is difficult to set up a standard and objective method for this purpose. The present work aimed to describe, analyze and compare the most common tests on this topic, in order to highlight critical, failings and strengths.
Impact of Demand Response Control Logic on Isolated Island's Distribution Networks
The work presents the results of a study regarding the impact of some Demand Response control logics on an isolated distribution network. The proposed control is divided into precise steps in which the coordination between the general aggregator controller and the single local Energy Management Systems is developed and illustrated with details. The control is applied to the flexible loads and to the storage systems of photovoltaic plants installed at the end-users' houses and connected to the network. The study is carried out delivering a suitable network model of the island's system, with the implementation of load profiles for all the loads of the network for a total simulation time of 24…
A phase I-II multicentre study on G-CSF in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
Building integrated solar thermal design: assessment of performances of a low cost solar wall in a typical Italian building
Abstract Present work deals with the topic of building integration of solar thermal collector (BIST) as a refurbishment measure. Such equipment, more than its main function as heating generator, plays a specific role as a building component (envelope finishes, thermal insulation layer, roof cover etc). Consequently, from a heat transfer point of view, an integrated component affects twice the global building balance: supporting the thermal plant (i.e. providing heat for final uses) and modifying the wall heat-transfer pattern (i.e. reducing thermal losses). In turn, the collector performance itself is influenced by the wall structure (back losses reduction). Present work proposes a method f…
Hematopoietic stem cell distribution in two at term anencephalic fetuses.
La Sicilia Romana e Bizantina
Alternative energy storage options for heat pump water heater coupled with photovoltaic plant for domestic hot water production
The present work relies on the topic of energy storage for Heat and Electricity applied to Heat Pump Water Heaters coupled with photovoltaic plants for Domestic Hot Water production. The main idea is to evaluate the possibility to exploit the water tank as heat storage for the produced photovoltaic energy and, where appropriate combined with electrical storage. For this reason, two heat pumps with different volume size have been chosen and smart control strategies have been applied while monitoring the water temperature in the tank. Calculations account on tapping profile inferred from monitored data of a representative end-user in a Mediterranean small island. Results show how the combinat…
Comparison between the performances of daylight linked control system at two different latitudes
The aim of this work is to compare the performance of a daylight-linked control system installed and tested in two different case studies by means of a set of indices. The two case studies are characterized by different geometry, location and windows orientation. The first one is located at the ENEA premises in Lampedusa (IT, 35° 30' N); the second one is located in Palermo (IT, 38°6' N) on the third floor of the building 9 of the Department of Engineering if the University of Palermo. In both cases, the indices were calculated by using the same daylight-linked control system and the same end-use (office). The results were reported and analysed in order to demonstrate as the performances of…
A feasibility study of some DSM enabling solutions in small islands: The case of Lampedusa
Abstract The paper addresses the issue of the transition from a traditional electrical system without automation to a newer active and smart system allowing the possibility of implementing Demand Side Management policies, for little islands not supplied by the main grid. In particular, the paper focuses on two main topics related to the definition of: • an effective control, monitoring and communication system as a tool for the full exploitation of the opportunities given by Demand Response policies; • some solutions for the automation of the end-users’ electrical installations, in order to offer to the utility flexibility to be used for the improvement of the generation and distribution ef…