Search results for "Alternative Energy"
showing 10 items of 16 documents
Performance Study of Twisted Darrieus Hydrokinetic Turbine With Novel Blade Design
2021
Abstract Twisted Darrieus water turbine is receiving growing attention for small-scale hydropower generation. Accordingly, the need for raised water energy conversion incentivizes researchers to focus on the blade shape optimization of twisted Darrieus turbine. In view of this, experimental analysis has been performed to appraise the efficiency of a spiral Darrieus water rotor in the present work. To better the performance parameters of the studied water rotor with twisted blades, three novel blade shapes, namely U-shaped blade, V-shaped blade, and W-shaped blade, have been numerically tested using a computational fluid dynamics three-dimensional numerical model. The maximum power coefficie…
The hydrothermal system of the Domuyo volcanic complex (Argentina): A conceptual model based on new geochemical and isotopic evidences
2016
The Domuyo volcanic complex (Neuquén Province, Argentina) hosts one of the most promising geothermal systems of Patagonia, giving rise to thermal manifestations discharging hot and Cl−-rich fluids. This study reports a complete geochemical dataset of gas and water samples collected in three years (2013, 2014 and 2015) from the main fluid discharges of this area. The chemical and isotopic composition (δD-H2O and δ18O-H2O) of waters indicates that rainwater and snow melting are the primary recharge of a hydrothermal reservoir located at relative shallow depth (400–600 m) possibly connected to a second deeper (2–3 km) reservoir. Reactive magmatic gases are completely scrubbed by the hydrotherm…
Towards a microbial thermoelectric cell.
2013
Microbial growth is an exothermic process. Biotechnological industries produce large amounts of heat, usually considered an undesirable by-product. In this work, we report the construction and characterization of the first microbial thermoelectric cell (MTC), in which the metabolic heat produced by a thermally insulated microbial culture is partially converted into electricity through a thermoelectric device optimized for low ΔT values. A temperature of 41°C and net electric voltage of around 250–600 mV was achieved with 1.7 L baker’s yeast culture. This is the first time microbial metabolic energy has been converted into electricity with an ad hoc thermoelectric device. These results might…
Third-Generation Solar Cells: Concept, Materials and Performance - An Overview
2019
The large scarcity of natural fuels in earth crust has triggered to search alternative energy reservoirs for the future generation of human life. Because of large abundancy, solar energy is considered as big hope for the future generation energy utilization for commercial as well as home applications. The scientific revolution achieved in synthesis and processing of semiconductor nanomaterials, organic conducting polymers have led into new dimension in fabrication of future-generation solar cells. Reduction in the dimension of semiconductor nanomaterials significantly influences on their structural and optical properties which is helpful for the excellent photon harvesting. Also, their larg…
Hydrogen Production from Sea Wave for Alternative Energy Vehicles for Public Transport in Trapani (Italy)
2016
The coupling of renewable energy and hydrogen technologies represents in the mid-term a very interesting way to match the tasks of increasing the reliable exploitation of wind and sea wave energy and introducing clean technologies in the transportation sector. This paper presents two different feasibility studies: the first proposes two plants based on wind and sea wave resource for the production, storage and distribution of hydrogen for public transportation facilities in the West Sicily; the second applies the same approach to Pantelleria (a smaller island), including also some indications about solar resource. In both cases, all buses will be equipped with fuel-cells. A first economic a…
Clean and Sustainable Biodiesel Production
2015
To date, the majority of world's primary energy is derived from fossil fuels. However, the fossil fuel recourses are in an inevitable decline as energy demand continues to grow exponentially with population growth, urbanization, and improved standards of living. Crude oil prices have recently risen several times and their current annual volatility exceeds 30%. The potential scarcity of fossil fuels has prompted a global search for alternative energy resources. Biodiesel fulfills the major requirements for production of alternative fuels such as feedstock availability, technical feasibility, and economic competitiveness. Together with other renewable biofuels, the use of biodiesel as a subst…
Recent Progress in the Development of Composite Membranes Based on Polybenzimidazole for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell Ap…
2020
[EN] The rapid increasing of the population in combination with the emergence of new energy-consuming technologies has risen worldwide total energy consumption towards unprecedent values. Furthermore, fossil fuel reserves are running out very quickly and the polluting greenhouse gases emitted during their utilization need to be reduced. In this scenario, a few alternative energy sources have been proposed and, among these, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising. Recently, polybenzimidazole-based polymers, featuring high chemical and thermal stability, in combination with fillers that can regulate the proton mobility, have attracted tremendous attention for their roles as PE…
Economic analysis and energy valorisation of by-products of the wine supply chain: the case of the 'Mamertino wine PDO'
2018
The paper reports the analysis of biomass derived from maintenance of a vineyard, to assess its potential as an alternative energy source, instead of the usual disposal of the wine supply chainâs residuals. The site studied is within the province of Messina, Sicily, in the area of Mamertino wine PDO, a wine of superior quality. The analysis suggests that use of this kind of biomass may allow a fossil fuel such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to be replaced by a wine wood chip biomass boiler, thus meeting economic and environmental criteria by reason of recycling for sustainability.
Supporting public decision process in buildings energy retrofitting operations: the application of a Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding model to a cas…
2020
Abstract The challenge of promoting sustainable cities and reaching the objectives developed by the European Green Deal includes the renovation of the building sector, as it is responsible for 40% of energy consumption in Europe. Regional or local public administrations have to allocate their financial resources for improving the energy performances of their building stock and to face a multidimensional problem, where different aspects – such as energy efficiency, financial-economic feasibility and environmental protection – have to be harmonized. The present study proposes a Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding model, which includes the ELECTRE TRI-nC method, for supporting the public decisio…
Alternative energy storage options for heat pump water heater coupled with photovoltaic plant for domestic hot water production
2019
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…