Optimum design, socioenvironmental impact, and exergy analysis of a solar and rice husk-based off-grid hybrid renewable energy system

This study examines the optimal sizing of an off-grid hybrid system comprising solar photovoltaic (PV), rice husk-based biomass, and lead-acid battery for meeting the electric demand of a rural community. Considering a selected remote village in Bangladesh as a case study, the proposed optimized system is primarily compared with the diesel generator and the micro gas turbine (MGT)-based options in techno-economic and environmental terms. The potential social benefits, such as the employment creation and the improvement in the human development index in the locality, have been investigated in this study. Moreover, the impacts of operational greenhouse gas emissions on the human health damage and the surrounding ecosystem have been examined. Additionally, an exergy analysis of the hybrid system and the components has been carried out. Results indicate that in addition to being the environmentally preferable option, the proposed PV/biomass/battery system offers a lower cost of energy of 0.314 $/kWh compared to the MGT-based system (0.377$/kWh). Although the diesel-based system offers a marginally better economy (9.55% less energy cost), it comes with the expense of probable damages to human health and the ecosystem worth of $15,211 and$6,608, respectively, making biomass the best option with no such damages. Exergy analysis reveals higher loss from PV than biomass and 13.09% system exergy efficiency. The assessment of the social indicators testifies to the potential of promoting the human development index from its current value and the formation of 1.41 jobs to as high as 15.15 full-time permanent jobs with the installation of hybrid systems in the community

Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading Pricing Mechanisms: Towards a Comprehensive Analysis of Energy and Network Service Pricing (NSP) Mechanisms to Get Sustainable Enviro-Economical Energy Sector

Peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading facilitates both consumers and prosumers to exchange energy without depending on an intermediate medium. This system makes the energy market more decentralized than before, which generates new opportunities in energy-trading enhancements. In recent years, P2P energy trading has emerged as a method for managing renewable energy sources in distribution networks. Studies have focused on creating pricing mechanisms for P2P energy trading, but most of them only consider energy prices. This is because of a lack of understanding of the pricing mechanisms in P2P energy trading. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of pricing mechanisms for energy and network service prices in P2P energy trading, based on the recent advancements in P2P. It suggests that pricing methodology can be categorized by trading process in two categories, namely energy pricing and network service pricing (NSP). Within these categories, network service pricing can be used to identify financial conflicts, and the relationship between energy and network service pricing can be determined by examining interactions within the trading process. This review can provide useful insights for creating a P2P energy market in distribution networks. This review work provides suggestions and future directions for further development in P2P pricing mechanisms

A Comprehensive Review on Recent Advancements in Thermochemical Processes for Clean Hydrogen Production to Decarbonize the Energy Sector

Hydrogen is a source of clean energy as it can produce electricity and heat with water as a by-product and no carbon content is emitted when hydrogen is used as burning fuel in a fuel cell. Hydrogen is a potential energy carrier and powerful fuel as it has high flammability, fast flame speed, no carbon content, and no emission of pollutants. Hydrogen production is possible through different technologies by utilizing several feedstock materials, but the main concern in recent years is to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from energy sectors. Hydrogen production by thermochemical conversion of biomass and greenhouse gases has achieved much attention as researchers have developed several novel thermochemical methods which can be operated with low cost and high efficiency in an environmentally friendly way. This review explained the novel technologies which are being developed for thermochemical hydrogen production with minimum or zero carbon emission. The main concern of this paper was to review the advancements in hydrogen production technologies and to discuss different novel catalysts and novel CO2-absorbent materials which can enhance the hydrogen production rate with zero carbon emission. Recent developments in thermochemical hydrogen production technologies were discussed in this paper. Biomass gasification and pyrolysis, steam methane reforming, and thermal plasma are promising thermochemical processes which can be further enhanced by using catalysts and sorbents. This paper also reviewed the developments and influences of different catalysts and sorbents to understand their suitability for continuous clean industrial hydrogen production

Numerical simulation and performance optimization of a lead-free inorganic perovskite solar cell using SCAPS-1D

The perovskite solar cells, founded on lead halides, have garnered significant attention from the photovoltaic industry owing to their superior efficiency, ease of production, lightweight characteristics, and affordability. However, due to the hazardous nature of lead-based compounds, these solar cells are currently unsuitable for commercial production. In this context, a lead-free perovskite, cesium-bismuth iodide (Cs3Bi2I9) is considered as a potential alternative to the lead halide-based cell due to their non-toxicity and stability, but this perovskite cannot be matched with random hole transport layer (HTL) and electron transport layer (ETL) materials compared to lead halide-based perovskite because of their crystal structure and band gap. Therefore, in this study, performance comparison of different ideal HTL and ETL materials for Cs3Bi2I9 perovskite layer were studied using SCAPS-1D device simulation on the basis of open circuit voltage, short circuit current, power conversion efficiency (PCE) and fill factor (FF) as well as several novel PSC configuration models were designed that can direct for further experimental research for PSC device commercialization. Results from this investigation reveals that the maximum efficiency of 20.96 % is obtained for the configuration ITO/WS2/Cs3Bi2I9/NiO/Au with optimized parameters such as thickness 400 nm, band gap 2.1eV, absorber layer defect density 1012 cm−3, donor density of ETL 1018 cm−3 and the acceptor density of HTL 1020 cm−3

Experimental investigation of cooling, wind velocity, and dust deposition effects on solar PV performance in a tropical climate in Bangladesh

Numerous factors affect how well a solar PV system performs, and continuous monitoring of these parameters while it is in operation is necessary to suggest improvements and attain peak optimum performance. This study examines the impacts of irradiance, cell temperature, wind velocity, water cooling, and dust deposition are examined on a 50W PV module in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. Experimental results suggest that the preferred wind velocity and water flow rate for the PV panel's top surface cooling were around 5 m/s and 0.0045 m3/min (0.113 m3/min per m2 of panel area), respectively. The cooling system's water circulation at 0.0045 m3/min boosted the PV panels' output power, energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency by 20.47%, 12%, and 37.5%, respectively, at 730–780 W/m2 irradiation. The dust deposition of the PV panel reduced the power output to 21W from 46.81W (without dust) upon applying 42 gm of dust with a 0.29 mm particle size. Wind velocity (5 m/s) increases efficiency from 14.8% to 16.5%. The findings of this study may be useful to investors and policy makers in helping them to take right actions to minimize losses associated with the effects these operational and environmental factors

An energy-efficient pumping system for sustainable cities and society: Optimization, mathematical modeling, and, impact assessment

In this research work, we have focused on one of the reasons called drawdown (difference between static and pumping heads) for getting maximum efficiency. Therefore, various mechanical attachments have been designed and fabricated for performance evaluation. Since pump performance and drawdown are inversely related, the primary goal is to reduce drawdown as much as possible. The effect of various types of mechanical attachments on pump performance is investigated in this research work. Three bowl-type mechanical attachments can be integrated at once and can increase efficiency by up to 58%, which is 8% more than utilizing no attachment. Additionally, the impact of bore well diameter on pump performance has been studied. In addition, the impact of applying mechanical attachment at two pumping sites has been investigated, and a considerable amount of energy savings has been found. The response surface methodology (RSM)-based optimization of the various input parameters has also been examined. It was found that the maximum 62.04 % could be achieved through a head of 66.5 m, a discharge of 0.012 m3/s, an input power of 12,605 W, and a bore well diameter of 0.215054 m, having three bowl-type mechanical attachments at a time. The mathematical modeling was also performed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and formulated some equations for pumping efficiency with various pumping input parameters. Since there is very little variation between actual and anticipated performance, it can be used to evaluate the pumping system’s performance in relation to various input parameters. As a result, maintaining sustainable cities and societies might greatly benefit from the energy-efficient pumping system

Assessing seismicity in Bangladesh: an application of Guttenberg-Richter relationship and spectral analysis

AbstractBangladesh has a high risk of earthquakes because the Dauki, Jamuna, and Chittagong-Myanmar faults are still active. However, the assessment of seismicity remains a big challenge due to the complex geologic setting of Bangladesh. This study employed the Guttenberg-Richter relationship and the spectral models to assess and analyze the earthquake conditions in Bangladesh. Besides, an instrumental earthquake catalogue, obtained from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), covering 1985–2017, is established. The results revealed that the Guttenberg-Richter constants of a and b were 2.981 and 0.392, which propagated a strain release from 1992 to 2017. The spectral model analyses, e.g. wavelet transform (WT), short-time Fourier transformation (STFT), and multitaper model (MTM), demonstrated the magnitude and strain release anomalies of the same magnitude ranging from 4.8 to 5.7, indicating the probable precursor of an upcoming earthquake. Notably, magnitudes have been running around 4.5–5.8, which may act as a signal to major earthquakes that have not been evident before. The proposed models allowed for the completion of the Bangladesh earthquake catalogue and provided a platform for future seismicity assessment and earthquake probability analysis. These results should be considered in determining how likely earthquakes are to happen in an area or region