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Integration of Renewable Technologies in Water, Electricity, Heating and Cooling Networks

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 January 2018) | Viewed by 32490

Special Issue Editors

Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, 80125 Naples, Italy
Interests: fuel cells; advanced optimization techniques; solar thermal systems; concentrating photovoltaic/thermal photovoltaic systems; energy saving in buildings; solar heating and cooling; organic Rankine cycles; geothermal energy; dynamic simulations of energy systems; renewable polygeneration systems
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Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, Naples, Italy
Interests: advanced energy system; solar heating and cooling; combined heat and power (CHP); energy efficiency; renewable energy; energy policy; geothermal energy; biomass and waste-to-energy systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, 90128, Palermo (PA), Italy
Interests: cogeneration and trigeneration systems; exergy analysis; thermoeconomics; fault detection and diagnosis of energy systems; energetics of desalination processes; process integration; heat exchanger networks design; district heating and cooling

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last few years, several countries, especially in the European Union (EU), have been experiencing a dramatic increase in the utilization of non-programmable renewable energy technologies, mainly solar and wind. Such trend has determined a number of positive effects, such as energy diversification, reduction of pollutant emissions, development of local green economies, and many others. On the other hand, the large, non-programmable amount of renewable energy delivered to the grid poses severe issues in terms of the management of excess energy and balance between demand and supply. This phenomenon determines an increasing cost for the management of an electric grid, which is typically transferred to the final user. In this framework, a novel and more intense attention has to be paid to energy planning activities, in order to select the optimal mix between renewable and fossil technologies, meeting the demands of the user, and allowing one to achieve an optimal balance of the networks. Therefore, a scientific approach is required in order to design and analyze, from energy, environmental and economic points of view, the integration of renewable technologies in energy and water networks. Thus, system flexibility (e.g., using excess renewable electricity for non-conventional applications, such as reverse osmosis desalination or thermal storage by heat pumps) and the development of novel and efficient systems for thermal and electrical energy storage is crucial in order to achieve sustainable and viable water and energy systems, mainly fed by renewable energy sources.

In this context, this Special Issue aims at collecting the most significant and recent studies dealing with the integration of renewable technologies in new or existing water, electricity, heat and cooling networks. Therefore, authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts analyzing the possible utilization of renewables for multiple purposes (electrical, thermal, cooling, water and transport) in order to achieve a full utilization of such sources. Papers investigating novel electrical and thermal storage systems are welcome, too.

The topics of primary interest include but are not limited to:

  • Energy planning
  • Polygeneration systems based on renewables
  • Advanced thermal storage
  • Advanced electrical storage: compressed air energy storage (CAES), flying wheels, supercapacitors, etc.
  • District heating and cooling systems
  • Water pumping by renewables
  • Thermally-driven water desalination
  • Electrically-driven water desalination
  • Integration of renewables with transportation
  • System dynamic simulation
  • Integration of renewable systems in buildings
  • Control strategies and system management
  • Economical assessment and funding policies
  • Building dynamic simulation

Prof. Dr. Francesco Calise
Prof. Dr. Massimo Dentice d’Accadia
Prof. Dr. Antonio Piacentino
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • distributed generation
  • renewable energy
  • electrical and thermal storage
  • energy planning
  • simulation
  • optimization

Published Papers (6 papers)

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10556 KiB  
Article
Thermodynamic Optimization of a Geothermal- Based Organic Rankine Cycle System Using an Artificial Bee Colony Algorithm
by Osman Özkaraca, Pınar Keçebaş, Cihan Demircan and Ali Keçebaş
Energies 2017, 10(11), 1691; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10111691 - 25 Oct 2017
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 5205
Abstract
Geothermal energy is a renewable form of energy, however due to misuse, processing and management issues, it is necessary to use the resource more efficiently. To increase energy efficiency, energy systems engineers carry out careful energy control studies and offer alternative solutions. With [...] Read more.
Geothermal energy is a renewable form of energy, however due to misuse, processing and management issues, it is necessary to use the resource more efficiently. To increase energy efficiency, energy systems engineers carry out careful energy control studies and offer alternative solutions. With this aim, this study was conducted to improve the performance of a real operating air-cooled organic Rankine cycle binary geothermal power plant (GPP) and its components in the aspects of thermodynamic modeling, exergy analysis and optimization processes. In-depth information is obtained about the exergy (maximum work a system can make), exergy losses and destruction at the power plant and its components. Thus the performance of the power plant may be predicted with reasonable accuracy and better understanding is gained for the physical process to be used in improving the performance of the power plant. The results of the exergy analysis show that total exergy production rate and exergy efficiency of the GPP are 21 MW and 14.52%, respectively, after removing parasitic loads. The highest amount of exergy destruction occurs, respectively, in condenser 2, vaporizer HH2, condenser 1, pumps 1 and 2 as components requiring priority performance improvement. To maximize the system exergy efficiency, the artificial bee colony (ABC) is applied to the model that simulates the actual GPP. Under all the optimization conditions, the maximum exergy efficiency for the GPP and its components is obtained. Two of these conditions such as Case 4 related to the turbine and Case 12 related to the condenser have the best performance. As a result, the ABC optimization method provides better quality information than exergy analysis. Based on the guidance of this study, the performance of power plants based on geothermal energy and other energy resources may be improved. Full article
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4273 KiB  
Article
A Multi-Energy System Expansion Planning Method Using a Linearized Load-Energy Curve: A Case Study in South Korea
by Woong Ko, Jong-Keun Park, Mun-Kyeom Kim and Jae-Haeng Heo
Energies 2017, 10(10), 1663; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10101663 - 20 Oct 2017
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 4831
Abstract
Multi-energy systems can integrate heat and electrical energy efficiently, using resources such as cogeneration. In order to meet energy demand cost-effectively in a multi-energy system, adopting appropriate energy resources at the right time is of great importance. In this paper, we propose an [...] Read more.
Multi-energy systems can integrate heat and electrical energy efficiently, using resources such as cogeneration. In order to meet energy demand cost-effectively in a multi-energy system, adopting appropriate energy resources at the right time is of great importance. In this paper, we propose an expansion planning method for a multi-energy system that supplies heat and electrical energy. The proposed approach formulates expansion planning as a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) problem. The objective is to minimize the sum of the annualized cost of the multi-energy system. The candidate resources that constitute the cost of the multi-energy system are fuel-based power generators, heat-only boilers, a combined heat and power (CHP) unit, energy storage resources, and a renewable electrical power source. We use a load-energy curve, instead of a load-duration curve, for constructing the optimization model, which is subsequently linearized using a Douglas-Peucker algorithm. The residual load-energy curve, for utilizing the renewable electrical power source, is also linearized. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method through a comparison with a conventional linearization method. In addition, we evaluate the cost and planning schedules of different case studies, according to the configuration of resources in the multi-energy system. Full article
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10446 KiB  
Article
Detailed Modelling of the Deep Decarbonisation Scenarios with Demand Response Technologies in the Heating and Cooling Sector: A Case Study for Italy
by Francesco Calise, Massimo Dentice D’Accadia, Carlo Barletta, Vittoria Battaglia, Antun Pfeifer and Neven Duic
Energies 2017, 10(10), 1535; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10101535 - 03 Oct 2017
Cited by 32 | Viewed by 5331
Abstract
Energy policies accompanying the transition towards a sustainable development process must be supported by technical analyses in which future energy scenarios are modeled and evaluated. This paper analyzes possible decarbonization scenarios in Italy for the year 2050. They envisage high electrification of transports [...] Read more.
Energy policies accompanying the transition towards a sustainable development process must be supported by technical analyses in which future energy scenarios are modeled and evaluated. This paper analyzes possible decarbonization scenarios in Italy for the year 2050. They envisage high electrification of transports and residential buildings, high use of renewable energies, and a modal shift towards public transport. The energy scenarios are evaluated using a software program, EnergyPLAN, starting from a reference model developed for the year 2014. Special attention has been given to the modeling of data that are unavailable in the literature, such as the time profile of heating and cooling demands, obtained with the degree-days method and validated by elaborating the results of the modeling of the residential building stock, this latter was dynamically simulated in TRNSYS. The results show that to obtain a significant decrease of greenhouse gas emissions and fossil fuel consumption, it is necessary not only to promote a deeper penetration of renewable sources, but also their integration with other technologies (cogeneration, trigeneration, power-to-heat systems, thermal storage, vehicle-to-grid operations). In fact, renewables technologies alone can raise some critical issues, such as excess and/or shortage of electricity production and non-sustainable exploitation of biomass. Full article
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9016 KiB  
Article
Co-Production Performance Evaluation of a Novel Solar Combi System for Simultaneous Pure Water and Hot Water Supply in Urban Households of UAE
by Nutakki Tirumala Uday Kumar and Andrew R. Martin
Energies 2017, 10(4), 481; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10040481 - 04 Apr 2017
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 6127
Abstract
Water is the most desirable and sparse resource in Gulf cooperation council (GCC) region. Utilization of point-of-use (POU) water treatment devices has been gaining huge market recently due to increase in knowledge of urban population on health related issues over contaminants in decentralized [...] Read more.
Water is the most desirable and sparse resource in Gulf cooperation council (GCC) region. Utilization of point-of-use (POU) water treatment devices has been gaining huge market recently due to increase in knowledge of urban population on health related issues over contaminants in decentralized water distribution networks. However, there is no foolproof way of knowing whether the treated water is free of contaminants harmful for drinking and hence reliance on certified bottled water has increased worldwide. The bottling process right from treatment to delivery is highly unsustainable due to huge energy demand along the supply chain. As a step towards sustainability, we investigated various ways of coupling of membrane distillation (MD) process with solar domestic heaters for co-production of domestic heat and pure water. Performance dynamics of various integration techniques have been evaluated and appropriate configuration has been identified for real scale application. A solar combi MD (SCMD) system is experimentally tested for single household application for production 20 L/day of pure water and 250 L/day of hot water simultaneously without any auxiliary heating device. The efficiency of co-production system is compared with individual operation of solar heaters and solar membrane distillation. Full article
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4022 KiB  
Article
Wave Energy Assessment along Sicilian Coastline, Based on DEIM Point Absorber
by Vincenzo Franzitta, Pietro Catrini and Domenico Curto
Energies 2017, 10(3), 376; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10030376 - 16 Mar 2017
Cited by 43 | Viewed by 4784
Abstract
The use of renewable energy sources is one of the most relevant goals to be achieved in order to match the climate protection targets. As a case study, the paper shows the current electrical energy production by sources in the Sicilian context. Among [...] Read more.
The use of renewable energy sources is one of the most relevant goals to be achieved in order to match the climate protection targets. As a case study, the paper shows the current electrical energy production by sources in the Sicilian context. Among the renewable energy sources, the paper investigates the wave energy potential along the Sicilian coasts, because of the favorable climate around the island. A point absorber is present in order to exploit this source. Two scenarios are presented, with two different levels of energy production. Full article
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16968 KiB  
Article
Thermochemical Storage of Middle Temperature Wasted Heat by Functionalized C/Mg(OH)2 Hybrid Materials
by Emanuela Mastronardo, Yukitaka Kato, Lucio Bonaccorsi, Elpida Piperopoulos and Candida Milone
Energies 2017, 10(1), 70; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10010070 - 10 Jan 2017
Cited by 22 | Viewed by 4948
Abstract
For the thermochemical performance implementation of Mg(OH)2 as a heat storage medium, several hybrid materials have been investigated. For this study, high-performance hybrid materials have been developed by exploiting the authors’ previous findings. Expanded graphite (EG)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-Mg(OH)2 hybrid materials have [...] Read more.
For the thermochemical performance implementation of Mg(OH)2 as a heat storage medium, several hybrid materials have been investigated. For this study, high-performance hybrid materials have been developed by exploiting the authors’ previous findings. Expanded graphite (EG)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs)-Mg(OH)2 hybrid materials have been prepared through Mg(OH)2 deposition-precipitation over functionalized, i.e., oxidized, or un-functionalized EG or CNTs. The heat storage performances of the carbon-based hybrid materials have been investigated through a laboratory-scale experimental simulation of the heat storage/release cycles, carried out by a thermogravimetric apparatus. This study offers a critical evaluation of the thermochemical performances of developed materials through their comparison in terms of heat storage and output capacities per mass and volume unit. It was demonstrated that both EG and CNTs improves the thermochemical performances of the storage medium in terms of reaction rate and conversion with respect to pure Mg(OH)2. With functionalized EG/CNTs-Mg(OH)2, (i) the potential heat storage and output capacities per mass unit of Mg(OH)2 have been completely exploited; and (ii) higher heat storage and output capacities per volume unit were obtained. That means, for technological applications, as smaller volume at equal stored/released heat. Full article
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