Risk Analysis in Renewable Energy： Assessment of the Vulnerability of the Environment and Community

As a result of recent accidents, society is becoming more conscious and concerned about the risk that are under to the environment and communities. A proposal of assessment of the vulnerability of the environment and community is presented here under a holistic perspective using fuzzy logic as a formal tool. An internal factor of the risk of a system under a given threat is assessed. Risk is considered as the union between the threat and the vulnerability of the environment and community. This approach shows that the reduction in either or both of them makes a reduction in the risk content as well. The main purpose of this proposal is not to obtain a single value as output; in fact the result is a map which can contribute to the different areas of the community in decision making.     

VLES Modelling with the Renormalization Group

In a Very-Large-Eddy Simulation (VLES), the filterwidth-wavenumber can be outside the inertial range, and simple subgrid models have to be replaced by more complicated ('RANS-like') models which can describe the transport of the biggest eddies. One could approach this by using a RANS model in these regions, and modify the lengthscale in the model for the LES-regions[1-3]. The problem with these approaches is that these models are specifically calibrated for RANS computations, and therefore not suitable to describe inertial range quantities. We investigated the construction of subgrid viscosity and transport equations without any calibrated constants, but these are calculated directly form the Navier-Stokes equation by means of a Renormalization Group (RG) procedure. This leads to filterwidth dependent transport equations and effective viscosity with the right limiting behaviour (DNS and RANS limits).     

Eco Insulation Materials： Reduction of Cooling Loads of a House Made of Breeze Block or Laterite in a Dry Tropical Climate

In this paper, we study the influence ofeco materials for roof insulation and fiber-reinforced mortar coatings on cooling loads of a home in dry tropical climate. The walls of the house are made of cinderblock or laterite and the insulating material of a roof panel is made with lime （24%）, cement （6%）, water （50%） of vegetable fibers hibiscus sabdariffa （16%）, tree widespread in Burkina Faso and sugar cane bagasse （4%）. This panel roof insulation and the fiber-reinforced mortar were characterized at the Laboratory of Physics and Chemistry of the environment by the hot plate method. The building is modeled in TRNSYS using climate data from the city of Ouagadougou. The results obtained show that in the warmer months of the year, that is to say in March and April, the relative differences between heat gains the configurations ＂breeze block-coating mortar and roof not insulated＂ and ＂laterite- fiber-reinforced mortar coating and insulated roof＇ vary between 15.6% and 16.8%. The configuration ＂laterite-fiber-reinforced mortar coating and insulated roof allows a reduction of annual heat gains of 15.5% compared to the configuration ＂breeze block-coating mortar and roof not insulated＂.     

Application of Optimization Technology for Ratio of Air to Fuel Combining Feedforward with Feedback in Heating Furnace

The thermal characteristics of heating furnace using gas as fuel are discussed in detail in this paper. Combining the technique of fuzzy control with calorific value of feedforward and oxygen concentration of waste gas feedback, the optimization model for ratio of air to fuel is developed and utilized in practice. According to the practical operation, the model can effectively control the oxygen concentration of waste gas, enhance the quality of product and decrease the fuel consumption.     

Characteristics of the Mach Disk in the Underexpanded Jet in which the Back Pressure Continuously Changes with Time

When the high-pressure gas is exhausted to the vacuum chamber from the nozzle, the underexpanded supersonic jet contained with the Mach disk is generally formed. The eventual purpose of this study is to clarify the unsteady phenomenon of the underexpanded free jet when the back pressure continuously changes with time. The characteristic of the Mach disk has been clarified in consideration of the diameter and position of it by the numerical analysis in this paper. The sonic jet of the exit Mach number Me=1 is assumed and the axisymmetric conservational equation is solved by the TVD method in the numerical calculation. The diameter and position of the Mach disk differs with the results of a steady jet and the influence on the continuously changing of the back pressure is evidenced from the comparison with the case of steady supersonic jet.     

Experimental Studies on Combustion Characteristics of Mixed Municipal Solid Waste

In our country, municipal solid wastes (MSW) are always burnt in their original forms and only a few pretreatments are taken. Therefore it is vital to study the combustion characteristics of mixed waste. In this paper, thermogravimetric analysis and a lab scale fluidized bed facility were used as experimental means. The data in two different experimental systems were introduced and compared. It took MSW 3-3.5 min to burn out in FB, but in thermogravimetric analyzer, the time is 20-25 min. It can be concluded that, in general, the behavior of a mixture of waste in TGA can be expressed by simple combination of individual components of the waste mixtures. Only minor deviations from the rule were observed. Yet, in Fluidized Bed, it was found that, for some mixtures, there was interference among the components during fluidized bed combustion.     

Catalytic Partial Oxidation of Biomass/Oil Mixture

Investigation was focussed to application of waste POX （partial oxidation）, e.g., meal rape in form of suspension in high boiling hydrocarbons from crude oil distillation. There is an opportunity for utilization of biomass waste resulted from fuels bio-components production. A decrease of oxygen and water steam demand in feed for POX process was observed in this variant. Catalytic effect of iron nanoparticles or nickel nitrate as catalysts in improvement of the pilot plant biomass/oil partial oxidation was investigated as well. Presence of catalyst in the feed supports formation of carbon monoxide and suppression content of methane in the gas product. Experimental data were well compared with process simulation based on eauilibrium reactor model.     

Convective Drying of Sludge Cake

This paper presented an experimental study on convective drying of waste water sludge collected from Beijing GaoBeiDian Sewage Treatment Plant, particularly on the correlation between the observed shrinkage dynamics of sludge cake and the drying curve. During the initial stage of drying the process resembles to that of a particulate bed, in which moisture diffuses and evaporates at the upper surface. Conventional drying theory assuming a diffusion-evaporating front interprets this period of drying. Consequently, owing to the very large shrinkage ratio of the dried cake, cracks emerges and propagates on and within the cake body, whence inducing evaporating channel that facilitates the water removal. This occurrence compensates the reduction of surface area for evaporation, whence extending the constant-rate period during the test. Afterwards, the cracks meet with each other and form isolated cake piles, while the subsequent drying occur mainly within these piles and the conventional theory fails. The tran     

CFD Simulation of Reactor Internal Flow in the Scaled APR＋

A series of 1/5 scale reactor flow model tests have been conducted in order to determine the hydraulic characteristics of the APR＋ （advanced power reactor plus）. The objective of test was to determine the core inlet flow field of the model reactor in order to provide input information required by the open core thermal margin analysis code such as TORC. In this study, in order to examine the validity of the results of reactor flow model tests and the applicability of CFD （computational fluid dynamics） in the simulation of reactor internal flow, CFD simulation was conducted with the commercial multi-purpose CFD software, ANSYSCFX V. 14. It was found that the velocity field in the downcomer had the inhomogeneous feature. Relative high velocity region was located in the core region. This result was different from measurement and this difference may result from the fact that some internal structures were not modeled with the real geometry but treated as the porous domain.     

Current Situation and Perspective of Second Generation Solid Biofuels Production： Case Study——CMR （Campinas Metropolitan Region）, Sao Paulo,Brazil

This proposal aims to assess the market introduction of advanced technologies for the production of 2nd generation solid biofuels, specifically technologies for the production of briquettes and pellets from agro-industrial wastes. The development of this project will evaluate the socio-environmental and techno-economical feasibility and use of 2nd generation solid biofuels in the CMR （Campinas Metropolitan Region）. The successful introduction of second generation briquettes and pellets to market depends, mainly, on two aspects： logistics in supply chains which generate waste, and the efficiency of production technologies. The study of logistics （supply chain） is based on survey data of the main productive supply chains, analysis, and modeling to optimize the facility location in the network for each case. The evaluation of the efficiency of production technology is provided by testing specially designed waste compacting devices, and comparing these results with the resulting power consumption during the production, in demonstration-scale, of a round of briquettes. The costs and consumption during the demonstration-scale production of briquettes are used for validation and correction of an optimization model. This project was approved in late 2012 with a period of two years for its implementation. Later in 2013, it was decided also to extend its implementation to the Metropolitan Region of Manaus, Amazon. Due to its recent beginning, the results shown here are only preliminary.     

Economic-Technical Feasibility Study of the ＂Sierra de Tineo＂ Wind Farm Expansion. Tineo-Principality of Asturias （Spain）

The aim of this work is double. Firstly, we want to stress out that investing in renewable energies in 2009 in Spain was a profitable activity. This question will be answered studying the possibilities of expanding ＂Sierra de Tineo＂ wind farm in the Principality of Asturias （location, wind resource, data analysis, simulation, legal standards and economic and sensitivity study of the investment）, and for that, data from the year 2009 have been used. And secondly, the goal is to set the bases for a future paper where the current situation of Spain （within the renewable framework）, will be compared with the 2009 scenario.     

Modeling and Measurements of Heat Transfer Phenomena in Two-Phase PbSn Alloy Solidification in an External Magnetic Field

The main aim of this work is to study numerically the influence of an external magnetic field on the solidification processes of two-component materials. Based on the continuum model of two-phase flow a mathematical model for the directional solidification of a binary alloy in a magnetic field is presented. The model includes mass, momentum, energy and species mass conservation equations written in compressible form and additional relationships describing the temperature-solute coupling. The geometry under study is a cylindrical mold with adiabatic walls and cooled bottom. The macroscale transport in the solidification of alloys is governed by the progress of the two-phase mushy zone, which is treated by means of a porous medium approach. The volume fraction of liquid and solid phases, respectively, is calculated from a 2D approximation of the phase diagram. The results of calculation are compared with experimental data.     

Thermodynamic Performance Analysis of a Low-Cost,Recycled and Energy-Efficient Solar Air Heater with Waste Beverage Cans:An Experimental Research

Solar air heaters are at the centre of interest owing to their widespread use for various purposes.In the study,thermal performance analysis of a solar air heater that can be easily produced from daily waste materials is done.The system has a low-cost structure with both waste material use and a simple design.The proposed system is tested under different climatic conditions,and the energetic and the exergetic performance figures are obtained for the first time in literature.It is observed from t...     

Experimental study on elevated fires in a ceiling vented compartment

The impacts of elevation on fires in a ceiling vented compartment were investigated experimentally. The flame behavior of elevated fires was recorded. Various parameters including the fuel mass loss rate, the light extinction coefficient, the oxygen concentration and the gas temperature were measured. Results indicated that the variations of the flame behavior were consistent with that of the fuel mass loss rate. The fire location significantly impacted the light extinction coefficient, the oxygen concentration and the gas temperature, which all showed distinct stratification phenomena. For a higher elevated fire, the average fuel loss rate and the overall light extinction coefficient were smaller, the oxygen concentration was higher and the gas temperature was lower. In addition, the smoke descending was slower. From the perspective of those parameters the fire was less hazardous if the fire was elevated higher, which was totally different from the elevated fires in closed compartments.     

Prediction of Losses in Flow Through the Last Stage of LP Steam Turbine

The aim of presented work was the prediction of the losses in the wet steam flow through the last stage of 200MW steam turbine LP part.To this end,three numerical tools were used.The first method was the streamline curvature method (SCM) used on the meridional plane with losses correlations.The next two methods,TASCflow commercial CFD code and an in-house CFD code,based on the solution of the Reynolds- averaged Navier-Stokes equations (RANS).Ap- plication of three independent numerical tools al- lowed to make the more reliable losses analysis and made possible to compare applied numerical methods with each other. For the flow modeling in the last stage of LP steam turbine the various two-phase flow models were used and compared.The equilibrium model and non-equi- librium models with homogeneous and/or heterogeneous condensation were considered.The boundary conditions at the inlet and outlet from the stage were selected in such way to get the beginning of the homogeneous condensation process in the sta- tot.It corresponded to the part load of the turbine, i.e.140MW power and pressure in condenser 2.7kPa.     

An Investigation of the Swirling Flow and Heat Transfer in a Duct

This paper presents the results of experiments and numerical simulation of the turbulent swirling flow and heattransfer in a duct.The calculated results are in good agreement with data obtained by measurements.It isfound that the swirling flow promotes heat transfer to the wall of the duct;the swirl numbers are dependentupon the vane exit angles of the swirler,distance from the swirler and the duct Reynolds number.But the decayof swirling flow in streamwise direction is related to local Reynolds numbers and is independent of the swirlerexit angle.The swirl flow characteristics presented in this paper may be used for engineering purposes.     

The Experimental Study on Regenerative Heat Transfer in High Temperature Air Combustion

For the purpose of decomposing the processing gases CF4 from semiconductor manufacturers, ceramic honeycomb regenerative burner system is suggested by using the principle of HTAC. A simulated high temperature air combustion furnace has been used to determine the features of HTAC flames and the results of the decomposition of CF4. The preheat air temperature of it is above 900℃. The exhaust gas released into the atmosphere is lower than 150℃. Moreover, the efficiency of recovery of waste heat is higher than 80%, the NOx level in exhaust gas is less than 198 mg/m3 and the distribution of temperature in the furnace is nearly uniform. The factors influencing on heat transfer, temperature profile in chamber and NOX emission were discussed. Also some CF4 can be decomposed in this system.     

Effect of Nanoparticle Type and Surfactant on Heat Transfer Enhancement in Spray Cooling

In this study,the heat transfer characteristics of nanofluids used in spray cooling systems were examined.Three nanofluids,i.e.,Cu,CuO,and Al2 O3,respectively,with volume fractions ranging from 0.1%to0.5%,as well as different volume fractions of a surfactant Tween 20,were used.In addition,their contact angles were measured to examine the heat-transfer characteristics.Under the same experimental conditions,with the increase in the volume fraction of the Cu nanoparticles from 0.1%to 0.5%,the maximum heat flux qmax increased from 3.36 MW/m2 to 3.48 MW/m2 from the impinging central point to r=30 mm(r is the distance from the impingement point),and the corresponding temperature of qmax increased from 400℃to 420℃.Results revealed that with increasing Tween 20 concentrations,the contact angle decreased because of the decrease in the surface tension of nanofluids and improvement of the wetting ability,and the corresponding qmax increased from 3.48 MW/m2 to 3.94 MW/m2 at the impact central point.     

Numerical Simulation of Dual-Phase-Lag Model and Inverse Fractional Single-Phase-Lag Problem for the Non-Fourier Heat Conduction in a Straight Fin

In recent years,many studies have been done on heat transfer in the fin under unsteady boundary conditions using Fourier and non-Fourier models.In this paper,unsteady non-Fourier heat transfer in a straight fin having an internal heat source under periodic temperature at the base was investigated by solving numerically Dual-Phase-Lag and Fractional Single-Phase-Lag models.In this way,the governing equations of these models were presented for heat conduction analysis in the fin,and their results of the temperature distribution were validated using the theoretical results of Single and Dual-Phase-Lag models.After that,for the first time the order of fractional derivation and heat flux relaxation time of the fractional model were obtained for the straight fin problem under periodic temperature at the base using Levenberg-Marquardt parameter estimation method.To solve the inverse fractional heat conduction problem,the numerical results of Dual-Phase-Lag model were used as the inputs.The results obtained from Fractional Single-Phase-Lag model could predict the fin temperature distribution at unsteady boundary condition at the base as well as the Dual-Phase-Lag model could.     

Numerical simulation for thermal distribution of air-conditioner outdoor units

Air-conditioners used in high-rise residential or office buildings often have outdoor units installed on the side-walls or roofs in the confined space of the buildings.The heat released from the outdoor units causes the tem-perature rise in the confined installation space and leads to uncomfortable thermal environment and deteriorative performance of air-conditioners.The factors affecting the performance of air-conditioners are the heat released from the outdoor units,the solar radiation and the ventilation of the confined installation space,which are inves-tigated in this study and simulated by FLUENT using the porous model and discrete ordinates (DO) radiation model.It is proved that the porous model is more reliable than the solid model.The optimal installation distance from the supporting wall is obtained.The average temperature of the exit without wind is 1.18% higher than that with wind.The results show that the heat released from the outdoor units and the ventilation of the confined in-stallation space are the main factors affecting the thermal environment in the confined installation space.The in-fluence of the solar radiation is negligible.