Evaluation of energy and indoor environmental performance of a UK passive house dwelling

The preliminary findings of the energy and indoor environmental performance of a Passive House dwelling in North East of England is presented in this paper. This dwelling is designed to comply with the Passive House Standard (certified by the International Passive House Association) which aims to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. The property benefits from advanced building fabric design and materials, PV array, mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system (MVHR) and high efficiency domestic hot water storage vessel to minimise operational carbon emissions. Power generated by the PV panel, imported grid electricity and mains gas consumption of this house are monitored by a proprietary monitoring package; and data of indoor temperature, relative humidity and resident occupancy at several different locations in the dwelling are also recorded. A computational model of this property was developed using DesignBuilder software. The model was validated using the data monitored on site; and is used to predict and evaluate the performance of the house. The initial findings of this study shows the advantages of Passive House in achieving high thermal comfort and good indoor air quality with much lower energy consumption compares to the national averag

Towards sustainable farming: Feasibility study into energy recovery from bio-wastes on a small-scale dairy farm

Anaerobic digestion (AD) of farm biomass is growing importance as it offers environmental benefits and the biogas produced from AD which can be used as fuel for co-generation of heat and electricity. The study aimed to explore the viability of energy recovery from bio-wastes on a small-scale dairy farm to produce biogas using AD and the gas used as biofuel to fuel a combined heat and power (CHP) which generated electrical power and heat for the farm. The AD and the CHP system was designed and simulated using ECLIPSE software. Various ages of cow manure were sampled, analysed and used as an AD feedstock and it was found that as cow manure aged the amount biogas produced from anaerobic digestion was decreased; a reduction in biogas production of 5.76% was found over two months, and in the subsequent two months the reduction rate was found to accelerate, leading to a 16.92% reduction after four months. That means cow manure should be used as an AD feedstock as soon as possible, as carbon lost in the form of methane (CH4) occurs naturally in the atmosphere, accelerating over time. Early insertion of fresh manure into an anaerobic digester can significantly increase biogas production and subsequently reduce emissions of CH4, which has a global warming potential (GWP) of twenty-five times that of carbon dioxide (CO2). The simulation results indicated that enough energy can be recovered from the quantity of cow manure available on the farm to provide the electrical and heating energy demands of the farmyard and the attached dwellings, thus creating a sustainable farming system. In combination with the environmental benefits, it was determined that a substantial annual revenue could be generated from utility bill savings and current favourable incentive rates available to promote renewable energy technologies in farming industry in the UK

Investigation of the macroscopic characteristics of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) spray using CFD method

The main macroscopic characteristics of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) spray in both injection and post-injection periods are investigated via computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in this research. A 2D CFD work employing the Wave breakup model and the KHRT breakup model are validated by the experimental data from a Constant Volume Vessel (CVV). Spray tip penetration and cone angle are obtained by the CFD model under various conditions, where the rail pressure, fuel temperature, ambient pressure and ambient temperature are independently varying. Results demonstrate that the Wave model has overall higher precision in predicting the spray tip penetration and the average cone angle than the KHRT model. By the End of Injection (EOI), spray tip penetration is significantly increased by increasing rail pressure and decreasing ambient pressure. While the average cone angle is larger at high ambient pressure but not sensitive to rail pressure at the cold ambient condition. The average cone angle during injection can be enlarged by high ambient temperature, especially when the rail pressure is also high. Nevertheless, spray tip penetration can only be slightly promoted by high ambient temperature. Fuel temperature has no comparable impact on spray tip penetration and cone angle during injection. In the post-injection period (after the EOI), ambient temperature becomes dominant and spray tip penetration can be reduced by either ambient temperature or fuel temperature. An empirical model is also correlated via Design of Experiments (DoE) and has high precision in predicting spray tip penetration after the breakup time

Investigation of a novel composite sorbent for improved sorption characteristic

Novel composite sorbents are developed. Strontium chloride (SrCl2) is selected whereas expanded natural graphite and nanoparticle i.e. carbon coated nickel are integrated as the additive with different densities for the better heat transfer and sorption performance. Thermal properties such as thermal diffusivity and conductivity are investigated by the laser flash method. The sorption performance is tested by the unit which is especially designed. It is indicated that the highest thermal diffusivity could reach 2.242 mm2\ub7s-1 when the density is 1000 kg\ub7m-3 and testing temperature is 20oC. For different testing temperature and density, the thermal diffusivity range from 1.3 mm2\ub7s-1 to 2.242 mm2\ub7s-1. Also worth noting that the highest thermal conductivity could reach 2.5 mm2\ub7s-1 for the environmental temperature. One paramount factor i.e. the global conversion rate of the novel composite SrCl2 is compared and analyzed under different working conditions. It can be found that the higher desorption temperature results in the faster variation of the global conversion rate. In addition, It takes about 15 minutes and 40 minutes to finish the reaction SrCl2 8-1 and 1-0 when the desorption temperature is 180oC and 130oC, respectively. For sorption process, it is indicated that the global conversion rate varies faster with the increase of the sorption temperature. When the global conversion is 0.7, it takes about 14 to 28 minutes when sorption temperature range from -5oC to 15oC

Transitioning or tinkering at a net-zero economy? Introducing an assessment framework for industrial cluster decarbonisation in the United Kingdom

Decarbonising industrial clusters globally is crucial in combating climate change and is integral to the United Kingdom's ambition of achieving a net-zero economy by 2050. The absence of holistic frameworks that provide a nuanced understanding of the broad spectrum of mitigation options for decarbonising industrial clusters, coupled with a deficiency in real-world empirical evaluations, present a substantial barrier in realising set targets for reducing CO2 emissions. The increasing fragmentations in industrial decarbonisation frameworks further exacerbates the challenge of identifying the necessary and sufficient actions for achieving optimal industrial decarbonisation and net-zero transitioning. This paper proposes an assessment framework for industrial cluster decarbonisation and aims to address the existing gaps, particularly in the assessment of social, economic, and environmental impact of any deployed technology. Focusing on a wide range of technologies, sectoral strategies, and regional dynamics, the proposed framework is driven by specific key performance indicators and a comprehensive human and data-driven analytical approach that reflects descriptive, diagnostic, and prescriptive insights on the Teesside industrial cluster in the United Kingdom. Following the validation of the proposed assessment framework, empirical findings from 30 in-depth semi-structured interviews, two workshops, focus group meetings and the literature on industrial decarbonisation reveal that the framework recognises the complex interplay of technology and decision-making in the transition to net-zero of industrial clusters. The article concludes that the proposed assessment framework can assist stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers in assessing the impacts of energy transition, which is critical to policy design and decision-making while also contributing to achieving sustainable decarbonisation goals

Research and innovation identified to decarbonise the maritime sector

The maritime sector requires technically, environmentally, socially, and economically informed pathways to decarbonise and eliminate all emissions harmful to the environment and health. This is extremely challenging and complex, and a wide range of technologies and solutions are currently being explored. However, it is important to assess the state-of-the-art and identify further research and innovation required to accelerate decarbonisation. The UK National Clean Maritime Research Hub have identified key priority areas to drive this process, with particular focus on marine fuels, power and propulsion, vessel efficiency, port operations and infrastructure, digitalisation, finance, regulation, and policy

FF/OLR Microbial impact

Time course data for 5 rice straw anaerobic digesters. 16S DNA amplicon data has been submitted to NCBI GenBank MG808422 - MG81152