Analysis of the energy performance of a ground source heat pump system after five years of operation

[EN] GeoCool plant was the result of a EU project whose main purpose was to adapt ground coupled heat pump technology to coolingdominatedareas. The executionofthis experimentalplant was completedatthe end of year 2004, starting on February 2005 the regular operation of the air conditioning system. Since then, GeoCool facility has been monitored by a network of sensors characterizing its most relevant parameters. Several aspects of the performance and behaviour of the system during its first operational year were presented on a previous paper. This paper presents the energy performance measurements of GeoCool ground coupled heat pump system acquired during five years of operation as well as the evolution of the return water temperature from the ground as a representative of the ground temperature. The analysis of the experimental results shows that the system energy performance is maintained through the years with no appreciable impact on ground thermal responseThis work has been supported by FP7 project "Advanced ground source heat pump systems for heating and cooling in Mediterranean climate" (GROUND-MED).Montagud Montalvá, CI.; Corberán Salvador, JM.; Montero Reguera, ÁE.; Urchueguía Schölzel, JF. (2011). Analysis of the energy performance of a ground source heat pump system after five years of operation. Energy and Buildings. 43(12):3618-3626. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.09.036S36183626431

Efficiency improvement of a ground coupled heat pump system from energy management

The installed capacity of an air conditioning system is usually higher than the average cooling or heating demand along the year. So, most of the time, the system is working under its actual capacity. In this contribution, we study the way to improve the efficiency of a ground coupled heat pump air conditioning system by adapting its produced thermal energy to the actual thermal demand. For this purpose, an air conditioning system composed by a ground coupled heat pump and a central fan coil linked to an office located in a cooling dominated area was simulated, and a new management strategy aiming to diminish electrical consumption was developed under the basic constraint that comfort requirements are kept. This strategy takes advantage of the possibility of managing the air flow in the fan, the water mass flows in the internal and external hydraulic systems, and the set point temperature in the heat pump to achieve this objective. The electrical consumption of the system is calculated for the new management strategy and compared with the results obtained for a conventional one, resulting in estimated energy savings around 30%This work has been supported by the Spanish Government under projects "Modelado y simulacion de sistemas energeticos complejos" (2005 Ramon y Cajal program), "Modelado, simulacion y validacion experimental de la transferencia de calor en el entorno de la edificacion" (ENE2008-0059/CON). A. Sala is grateful to the financial support of grants DPI2008-06731-c02-01 (Spanish Government), and Generalitat Valenciana Prometeo/2008/088.Pardo García, N.; Montero Reguera, ÁE.; Sala Piqueras, A.; Martos Torres, J.; Urchueguía Schölzel, JF. (2011). Efficiency improvement of a ground coupled heat pump system from energy management. Applied Thermal Engineering. 31(2):391-398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2010.09.016S39139831

CyanoFactory, a European consortium to develop technologies needed to advance cyanobacteria as chassis for production of chemicals and fuels

CyanoFactory, Design, construction and demonstration of solar biofuel production using novel (photo)synthetic cell factories, was an R&D project developed in response to the European Commission FP7-ENERGY-2012-1 call “Future Emerging Technologies” and the need for significant advances in both new science and technologies to convert solar energy into a fuel. CyanoFactory was an example of “purpose driven” research and development with identified scientific goals and creation of new technologies. The present overview highlights significant outcomes of the project, three years after its successful completion. The scientific progress of CyanoFactory involved: (i) development of a ToolBox for cyanobacterial synthetic biology; (ii) construction of DataWarehouse/Bioinformatics web-based capacities and functions; (iii) improvement of chassis growth, functionality and robustness; (iv) introduction of custom designed genetic constructs into cyanobacteria, (v) improvement of photosynthetic efficiency towards hydrogen production; (vi) biosafety mechanisms; (vii) analyses of the designed cyanobacterial cells to identify bottlenecks with suggestions on further improvements; (viii) metabolic modelling of engineered cells; (ix) development of an efficient laboratory scale photobioreactor unit; and (x) the assembly and experimental performance assessment of a larger (1350 L) outdoor flat panel photobioreactor system during two seasons. CyanoFactory - Custom design and purpose construction of microbial cells for the production of desired products using synthetic biology – aimed to go beyond conventional paths to pursue innovative and high impact goals. CyanoFactory brought together ten leading European partners (universities, research organizations and enterprises) with a common goal – to develop the future technologies in Synthetic biology and Advanced photobioreactors

Supplementary Material for: Experimental and Modeling Analysis of <i> Synechocystis </i>sp. PCC 6803 Growth

<i>Background/Aims:</i> The influence of different parameters such as temperature, irradiance, nitrate concentration, pH, and an external carbon source on <i>Synechocystis </i>PCC 6803 growth was evaluated. <i>Methods:</i> 4.5-ml cuvettes containing 2 ml of culture, a high-throughput system equivalent to batch cultures, were used with gas exchange ensured by the use of a Parafilm™ cover. The effect of the different variables on maximum growth was assessed by a multi-way statistical analysis. <i>Results:</i> Temperature and pH were identified as the key factors. It was observed that <i>Synechocystis</i> cells have a strong influence on the external pH. The optimal growth temperature was 33°C while light-saturating conditions were reached at 40 µE·m^–2·s^–1. <i>Conclusion:</i> It was demonstrated that <i>Synechocystis</i> exhibits a marked difference in behavior between autotrophic and glucose-based mixotrophic conditions, and that nitrate concentrations did not have a significant influence, probably due to endogenous nitrogen reserves. Furthermore, a dynamic metabolic model of <i>Synechocystis</i> photosynthesis was developed to gain insights on the underlying mechanism enabling this cyanobacterium to control the levels of external pH. The model showed a coupled effect between the increase of the pH and ATP production which in turn allows a higher carbon fixation rate