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Sustainable and Renewable Thermal Energy Systems

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2025 | Viewed by 1390

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Sustainable and Renewable Energy Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates
Interests: renewable energy; solar energy; solar thermal energy systems; combined PV thermal systems; dust effect on solar systems; numerical modeling

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Guest Editor
1. Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Research Group, Sustainable Energy and Power Systems Research Centre, Research Institute for Sciences and Engineering (RISE), University of Sharjah, Sharjah PO Box 27272, United Arab Emirates
2. Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Energy Engineering, Aswan University, Aswan 81528, Egypt
Interests: heat transfer and electronics cooling; thermal sciences; microfluidic heat sinks; energy conversion; electronic packaging

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainable and renewable thermal energy systems have attracted the attention of energy professionals and researchers as efficient and sustainable solutions for heating, cooling and industrial process heating applications. These technologies are capable of delivering the required thermal energy at different temperature levels and can be adapted from small- to large-scale applications. However, low-efficiency thermal storage and the high cost of such devices are still challenging aspects that need more improvement and consideration. Furthermore, the application of optimization algorithms and artificial intelligence techniques in renewable thermal energy systems create the potential for improving the performance, prediction and system operation.

The current Special Issue seeks novel research on renewable thermal solutions, considered a state-of-the-art alternative for climate protection and reducing CO2 emissions. Contributions to this Special Issue are expected to address the most relevant challenges in renewable thermal systems in terms of performance, operation and cost. 

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. The main topics of interest for this Special Issue include but are not limited to:

  1. Renewable thermal solution for sustainable environment.
  2. Thermal energy storage systems.
  3. Recent progress in solar thermal technologies.
  4. Thermo-economic evaluation of renewable thermal technologies.
  5. Thermal energy integration and hybrid Approaches.
  6. Exergoeconomic analysis and optimization of thermal power plants.
  7. Artificial intelligence in renewable thermal technologies.
  8. Renewable energy systems for building heating and cooling.
  9. Phase change materials.
  10. Bio-inspired sustainable energy systems.
  11. Recent progress in biomass thermal technologies.
  12. Sustainable operation of geothermal power plants.
  13. Thermocline Alternatives.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Ahmed Amine Hachicha
Dr. Essam Abo-Zahhad
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. Sustainability 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 2400 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

  • sustainability
  • thermal energy storage
  • solar thermal
  • biomass
  • hybrid system
  • optimization
  • artificial intelligence
 

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

29 pages, 4830 KiB  
Article
The Integration of Renewable Energy into a Fossil Fuel Power Generation System in Oil-Producing Countries: A Case Study of an Integrated Solar Combined Cycle at the Sarir Power Plant
by Abdulrazzak Akroot, Mohamed Almaktar and Feras Alasali
Sustainability 2024, 16(11), 4820; https://doi.org/10.3390/su16114820 - 5 Jun 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 692
Abstract
Libya is facing a serious challenge in its sustainable development because of its complete dependence on traditional fuels in meeting its growing energy demand. On the other hand, more intensive energy utilization accommodating multiple energy resources, including renewables, has gained considerable attention. This [...] Read more.
Libya is facing a serious challenge in its sustainable development because of its complete dependence on traditional fuels in meeting its growing energy demand. On the other hand, more intensive energy utilization accommodating multiple energy resources, including renewables, has gained considerable attention. This article is motivated by the obvious need for research on this topic due to the shortage of applications concerning the prospects of the hybridization of energy systems for electric power generation in Libya. The 283 MW single-cycle gas turbine operating at the Sarir power plant located in the Libyan desert is considered a case study for a proposed Integrated Solar Combined Cycle (ISCC) system. By utilizing the common infrastructure of a gas-fired power plant and concentrating solar power (CSP) technology, a triple hybrid system is modeled using the EES programming tool. The triple hybrid system consists of (i) a closed Brayton cycle (BC), (ii) a Rankine cycle (RC), which uses heat derived from a parabolic collector field in addition to the waste heat of the BC, and (iii) an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), which is involved in recovering waste heat from the RC. A thermodynamic analysis of the developed triple combined power plant shows that the global power output ranges between 416 MW (in December) and a maximum of 452.9 MW, which was obtained in July. The highest overall system efficiency of 44.3% was achieved in December at a pressure ratio of 12 and 20% of steam fraction in the RC. The monthly capital investment cost for the ISCC facility varies between 52.59 USD/MWh and 58.19 USD/MWh. From an environmental perspective, the ISCC facility can achieve a carbon footprint of up to 319 kg/MWh on a monthly basis compared to 589 kg/MWh for the base BC plant, which represents a reduction of up to 46%. This study could stimulate decision makers to adopt ISCC power plants in Libya and in other developing oil-producing countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Renewable Thermal Energy Systems)
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