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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (23 October 2023) | Viewed by 3568

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Xiang Li

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Guest Editor

School of Mechanical Engineering, Nantong University, Nantong 226019, China
Interests: new combustion technology and control strategies of IC engine; zero/low carbon emissions powertrain system; optical/laser diagnostics of spray and combustion; alternative fuels
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Rohitha Weerasinghe

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies & Science, University of Bedfordshire, University Square, Luton LU1 3JU, UK
Interests: energy; sustainability; combustion; low-carbon powertrains; CFD; simulation of energy systems

Dr. Raouf Mobasheri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Department of Smart Systems and Energies, JUNIA Graduate School of Engineering, 13 Rue De Toul, CEDEX, BP41290, 59014 Lille, France
Interests: internal combustion engines; alternative fuels; carbon capture and storage; computational methods; hydrogen
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the last few decades, the increasing amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) in the atmosphere has become a critical issue in the face of the global warming crisis. Reducing CO₂ emissions has thus become a major goal in the development of new vehicles.

To effectively reduce CO₂ emissions from conventional internal combustion engines, environmentally friendly vehicles with advanced powertrain technology that does not solely depend on petroleum have been produced, e.g., hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid electric, battery electric, fuel-cell, oxy-fuel combustion and solar-powered vehicles.

However, to achieve net-zero emissions, a sustainable and low-cost solution to reducing or eliminating CO₂ emissions from vehicle powertrains is required.

Original research articles and reviews are welcome for this Special Issue. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

Zero/low-carbon-emissions powertrain systems;
Engine emissions;
Alternative fuels;
Fuel cell;
Carbon capture and storage,
Hydrogen.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Xiang Li
Dr. Rohitha Weerasinghe
Dr. Raouf Mobasheri
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

zero/low carbon emissions
fuel cell
engine emissions

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 3085 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Low-Carbon Optimization Design for Low-Temperature Granary Roof Insulation in Different Ecological Grain Storage Zones in China

by Dinan Li, Yuge Huang, Chengzhou Guo, Haitao Wang, Jianwei Jia and Lu Huang

Sustainability 2023, 15(18), 13626; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151813626 - 12 Sep 2023

Viewed by 846

Abstract

The optimization design of buildings is very important to the energy consumption, carbon emissions, and sustainable development of buildings. The low-temperature granary has a low grain storage temperature and high energy consumption indexes. The design scheme of the roof insulation for a low-temperature granary should be determined in actual building design processes by considering the costs, carbon emissions, and outdoor climate, comprehensively. In this paper, a new low-carbon optimization design method is proposed for the roof insulation in the low-temperature granary. The low-carbon optimization design method can respond to the cost issue, emission reduction issue, and outdoor climate issue, simultaneously. Moreover, the low-temperature granary roof insulation of different ecological grain storage zones in China is optimized in terms of carbon reduction by using the proposed low-carbon optimization design method. The application results of the optimization design method in different ecological grain storage zones in China indicate that the outdoor climate has significant impacts on the economic performance and carbon reduction effect of roof insulation. The cost considerations related to carbon emissions can apparently increase the economic efficiency of roof insulation. The optimal economic thicknesses of expanded polystyrene (EPS) in the cities of Urumqi, Harbin, Zhengzhou, Changsha, Guiyang, and Haikou are 0.025 m, 0.037 m, 0.085 m, 0.097 m, 0.072 m, and 0.148 m, respectively. The different outdoor climates of the seven ecological grain storage areas in China have important influences on the comprehensive economic performances of low-temperature granary roof insulation. The design of the low-temperature granary roof insulation in Haikou city has the best economic performance among the seven ecological grain storage zones in China. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieve a Low Carbon Powertrain System: Future Design and Sustainability)

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19 pages, 4913 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Voltage Zoning Regulation Method of Distribution Network with High Proportion of Photovoltaic Considering Energy Storage Configuration

by Fangfang Zheng, Xiaofang Meng, Tiefeng Xu, Yongchang Sun and Nannan Zhang

Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 10732; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310732 - 7 Jul 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 808

Abstract

Photovoltaics have uncertain characteristics. If a high proportion of photovoltaics are connected to the distribution network, the voltage will exceed the limit. In order to solve this problem, a voltage regulation method of a distribution network considering energy storage partition configuration is proposed. Taking the minimum total voltage deviation, the minimum total cost, the minimum total power loss, and the minimum energy storage device installation ratio as the objective function, and considering various conditions, such as voltage deviation constraint and energy storage constraint, a mathematical model of voltage regulation is established. Firstly, a high proportion of photovoltaics are connected to the distribution network, and the voltage deviation curve is obtained. The optimal k value is determined by the elbow rule. The voltage deviation curve of each node is clustered by the k-means algorithm so as to determine the energy storage device partition. The energy storage device is connected to various clustering centers, and then the weighting factor of each objective function is determined by the fuzzy comprehensive evaluation method. For comparison and analysis, (k + 1) schemes are determined through the partition configuration of (k + 1) energy storage devices. Then, the model is solved by particle swarm optimization, and the unit output result and the minimum objective function value are obtained. Finally, an example of IEEE33 is used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieve a Low Carbon Powertrain System: Future Design and Sustainability)

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17 pages, 4635 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Quantitative Analysis of Water Injection Mass and Timing Effects on Oxy-Fuel Combustion Characteristics in a GDI Engine Fuelled with E10

by Hao Chen, Chenxi Wang, Xiang Li, Yongzhi Li, Miao Zhang, Zhijun Peng, Yiqiang Pei, Zhihao Ma, Xuewen Zhang, Peiyong Ni, Rohitha Weerasinghe and Raouf Mobasheri

Sustainability 2023, 15(13), 10290; https://doi.org/10.3390/su151310290 - 29 Jun 2023

Viewed by 954

Abstract

The climate change issue has become a growing concern due to the increasing greenhouse gas emissions. To achieve carbon neutrality for mitigating the climate problem, the oxy-fuel combustion (OFC) technique on internal combustion engines (ICEs) has attracted much attention. Furthermore, the water injection (WI) strategy was proven effective in improving the combustion process and thermal efficiency in engines under OFC mode. However, WI strategy effects on gasoline direct injection (GDI) engines fuelled with gasoline–alcohol blends have not been reported. This study quantitatively analysed WI mass and timing effects on oxy-fuel combustion performance from a GDI engine fuelled with E10 (10% ethanol and 90% gasoline in mass) by simulation. The results show that equivalent brake-specific fuel consumption (BSFC_E) shows a monotonically decreasing trend with the increase in the water–fuel mass ratio (

R_{w f}

) from 0 to 0.2. However, further increasing

R_{w f}

would cause a deterioration in BSFC_E due to the enhanced cooling effects of water vaporisation. Moreover, an appropriate water injection timing (

t_{W I}

) could be explored for improving OFC performance, especially for large

R_{w f}

conditions. The difference in BSFC_E between

t_{W I}

= −100°CA and

t_{W I}

= −60°CA can be up to around 6.3 g/kWh by increasing

R_{w f}

to 0.6. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Achieve a Low Carbon Powertrain System: Future Design and Sustainability)

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