Energy management and guidelines to digitalisation of integrated natural gas distribution systems equipped with expander technology

In a swirling dynamic interaction, digital innovation, environment and anthropological evolution are swiftly shaping the smart grid scenario. Integration and flexibility are the keywords in this emergent picture characterised by a low carbon footprint. Digitalisation, within the natural limits imposed by the thermodynamics, seems to offer excellent opportunities for these purposes. Of course, here starts a new challenge: how digital technologies should be employed to achieve these objectives? How would we ensure a digital retrofit does not lead to a carbon emission increase? In author opinion, as long as it remains a generalised question, none answer exists: the need to contextualise the issue emerges from the variety of the characteristics of the energy systems and from their interactions with external processes. To address these points, in the first part of this research, the author presented a collection of his research contributions to the topic related to the energy management in natural gas pressure reduction station equipped with turbo expander technology. Furthermore, starting from the state of the art and the author's previous research contributions, the guidelines for the digital retrofit for a specific kind of distributed energy system, were outlined. Finally, a possible configuration of the ideal ICT architecture is extracted. This aims to achieve a higher level of coordination involving, natural gas distribution and transportation, local energy production, thermal user integration and electric vehicles charging. Finally, the barriers and the risks of a digitalisation process are critically analysed outlining in this way future research needs

Attenuation and Effectiveness of Triclopyr and 2,4-D Along Alaska Highway Rights-of-Way in a Continental and a Coastal Subarctic Environment

INE/AUTC 09.1

Computational thermo-fluid dynamics contributions to advanced gas turbine engine design

The design practices for the gas turbine are traced throughout history with particular emphasis on the calculational or analytical methods. Three principal components of the gas turbine engine will be considered: namely, the compressor, the combustor and the turbine

Rural electrification in central america and east africa, two case studies of sustainable microgrids

This paper deals with the electrification of rural villages in developing countries using Sustainable Energy Systems. The rural electrification feasibility study is done using Hybrid Optimization Model for Electric Renewable PRO (HOMER PRO). The HOMER PRO energy modelling software is an optimization software improved by U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. It helps in designing, comparing and optimizing the design of power generation technologies. In this paper, two rural electrification case studies are modelled and analysed using HOMER PRO. Technical and economic evaluation criteria are applied to study the feasibility of a micro-hydro plant in El Díptamo (Honduras), and a hybrid plant composed of photovoltaic module arrays, Diesel generators, and flow batteries, in a small island on Victoria Lake. For both cases, we show the results of the studies of the daily and yearly loads, of the resources available in the area and the economic evaluation of the chosen plants configuration

Energy management in the South African sugar industry

The South African sugar industry produces sugar and electricity and raw materials for ethanol production among other by-products. The cogeneration of electricity in the sugar industry is linked to energy security and avoided greenhouse gas emissions. Electrical energy and thermal energy are the primary energy types used for sugar processing. This paper identifies energy management best practices necessary to increase the efficiency of the cogeneration processes. Adoption of energy conservation and efficiency measures is imperative for the sugar industry to generate electricity for own use and for export to the national grid. More energy efficient practices save money and reduce coal consumption. Equipment and technological improvements coupled with process design improvements necessary to improve factory energy efficiency are identified. The paper further discusses the bio-energy role and potential in the South African sugar industry with a view to inform decision making and advise government policies

Nuclear Energy in the UK: Safety Culture and Industrial Organisation

In this paper we seek to explore the relationship between professionalism and nuclear safety in the UK. We consider the history of civil nuclear energy in Britain and the near complete shift in emphasis from state owned enterprises to the private sector. We show how in recent years government has acknowledged that a truly liberalised electricity industry is unable to deliver the construction of new nuclear power stations as part of a future low carbon electricity system. Throughout, however, the intention has been for policy merely to incentivise the private sector rather than to steer industry strategy directly. Having said that, the line between strong incentives and weak control can be hard to see. We present illustrative examples, real and fictional, that give insight into the UK nuclear safety culture and we discuss the wider nature of UK society with respect to corruption. We conclude that the unique basis of safety regulation in the UK, essentially permissive rather than prescriptive, has a key role to play in promoting and maintaining nuclear professionalism

The safety case and the lessons learned for the reliability and maintainability case

This paper examine the safety case and the lessons learned for the reliability and maintainability case

Comparative study of the noise generated by the moto-compressor and that generated by the turbo-compressor

The fundamental aim of this study is to compare between the noise generated by the moto-compressor and the noise generated by the turbo-compressor operating  24H/24H on the continuous function mode; these two machines make part of the equipment of the GP1Z, a factory of hydrocarbon treatment. To attain the principal objective of this study we divided our work into two parts, in the first part we followed and evaluated the average level of the noise emitted by the two machines, whereas in the second part we studied the noise propagation emitted by the two machines and its impact on the generation of the noise. The results obtained from this study demonstrate that the noise generated by the turbo-compressor is higher than the noise generated by the  moto-compressor.Keywords: noise; moto-compressor; turbo-compressor; noise maping

Nuclear Energy From the Fission Process as an Alternative Source of Energy

One of the major problems hindering the development of most developing countries, including Nigeria, is energy. Over the years, Nigeria’s population has continued to increase, nearly doubling in past thirty years. The energy consumption has also been on the increase, even increasing more rapidly than the population. If the trend in electrical energy consumption continues to increase, conventional energy resources used to generate electricity will be depleted; hence, there will be the need for other sources of energy. In this paper we discussed non-conventional source of energy as alternative solution to the energy crisis in Nigeria with emphasis on fission technique for the generation of nuclear energy. The study reveals that nuclear energy looks attractive and merits good consideration and support because of low operating cost particularly at this time of high price of fossil fuel

Thermodynamic Assessment of Cooled and Chilled Ammonia-based CO2 Capture in Air-Blown IGCC Plants

The energy impact of different post-combustion CO2 capture plants integrated in an advanced air-blown IGCC is simulated in this paper. Ammonia scrubbing is considered as the CO2 capture technology and chilled and cooled modes are investigated with reference to operation temperatures at the absorber equal to 7 °C and 20 °C respectively. Ammonia slip is controlled by means of an absorption-desorption cycle just before a final acid wash, where use of the H2S removed from the coal-derived gas at the desulphurization unit of the IGCC is made. Focusing on three levels of CO2 capture, from 80% to 90%, it is possible to appreciate that the cooled mode is promising as far as a reduction of the energy cost related to CO2 capture is concerned. As a matter of fact, the energy saving, possible when adopting an air cooling system instead of a chilling plant, is significant with the specific primary energy consumption for 90% of CO2 avoided which decreases from 2.79 MJ/kgCO2 to 2.54 MJ/kgCO2, when switching from the chilled to the cooled mode, with a difference equal to about 0.7 percentage point in IGCC efficiency