Economic Convenience Research Articles

Hybrid renewable energy systems for renewable integration in microgrids: Influence of sizing on performance

Hybrid Power System (HPS) are effective means for the increase of the exploitation of local renewable energy sources in the Distributed Generation (DG) paradigm concept. This work aims at analyzing thoroughly the effects mentioned for two different energy demand profiles: an industrial facility and a residential complex of 75 apartments. A parametric analysis with different components sizing is proposed to evaluate the optimal solution in terms of deployment of renewable energies, resilience of the system and environmental impact, considering the economic convenience as a sustainability constraint. Results show that the two main drivers for the convenience of such systems are the load profile and the PV power plant power sizing. The former shows greater effectiveness of the microgrid management for the residential load rather than the industrial one. The latter shows that the correct sizing of the PV powerplant allows for a smarter use of the battery and gives lesser dependence on the energy exchanged with the grid.

Indigenous medicine and biomedical health care in fragile settings: insights from Burundi.

This study contributes to the health policy debate on medical systems integration by describing and analysing the interactions between health-care users, indigenous healers, and the biomedical public health system, in the so far rarely documented case of post-conflict Burundi. We adopt a mixed-methods approach combining (1) data from an existing survey on access to health-care, with 6,690 individuals, and (2) original interviews and focus groups conducted in 2014 with 121 respondents, including indigenous healers, biomedical staff, and health-care users. The findings reveal pluralistic patterns of health-care seeking behaviour, which are not primarily based on economic convenience or level of education. Indigenous healers' diagnosis is shown to revolve around the concept of 'enemy' and the need for protection against it. We suggest ways in which this category may intersect with the widespread experience of trauma following the civil conflict. Finally, we find that, while biomedical staff displays ambivalent attitudes towards healers, cross-referrals occasionally take place between healers and health centres. These findings are interpreted in light of the debate on health systems integration in Sub-Saharan Africa. In particular, we discuss policy options regarding healers' accreditation, technical training, management of cross-referrals as well as of herb-drug interactions; and we emphasise healers' psychological support role in helping communities deal with trauma. In this respect, we argue that the experience of conflict, and the experiences and conceptualizations of mental and physical illness, need to be taken into account when devising appropriate public or international health policy responses.

Gamblers, scratchers and their financial education

We develop an online survey to investigate the characteristics of slot/videopoker players and scratchers (individuals buying tickets of scratch-off lotteries). We find evidence of a negative relationship between gambling and financial literacy. More specifically, after controlling for gender, education, income, employment status and area of residence: (1) slot and/or videopoker players have an 8% lower probability of answering correctly to all of the three standard financial education questions; (2) scratch-off players have a 10% lower probability of answering correctly to the (third) mutual fund risk diversification question, (3) a correct answer to all financial education questions raises by 14% the probability of declaring unwillingness to play due to lack of economic convenience. Scratch-off players are as well more impatient and more likely to sacrifice expected value for positive skewness and they overestimate the probability of winning at least the price of the ticket. Our findings suggest that scratchers and slot/videopoker players may be unable to evaluate the overall consequences of gambling on their economic wellbeing due to their lower financial education.

On the optimal mix between lead-acid battery and thermal storage tank for PV and heat pump systems in high performance buildings

The coming into force of the European Directive 2009/28/CE [1] increases the role of renewable energy sources to satisfy the energy consumptions of new buildings and major renovations. In this respect, the vapor-compression heat pump coupled with PV panels is a promising solution and, consequently, it is increasingly used for residential heating applications. This HVAC solution is especially advantageous in high performance building when low temperature hydronic systems are adopted. However, in these buildings some issues arise in the HVAC control and the building might be easily subject to poor comfort conditions when approaching the nZEB target while maintaining economical convenience. Besides, the seasonal performance of the heating system is strongly dependent on the HVAC design. Hence, the optimal size of the storage components is a key aspect in order to maximize the renewable coverage factor, overcoming the shift in time between PV production and energy demand. For this reason, different strategies may be adopted such as the thermal storage tank or the electricity storage in lead-acid battery.This paper analyses the mix among the thermal storage tank, the lead-acid battery and the thermal capacitance of the building envelope for the optimal design solutions in three Italian climates. The complex interactions among building, occupants, weather conditions and HVAC systems are considered by means of a dynamic simulation tool. The optimal design solutions were studied, according to the cost optimal approach of the EPBD context, by means of a genetic algorithm developed in Matlab®. The energy performance for heating (EPh) and the net present value (NPV) are considered as competitive goals.

Analysis of thermal control and heat accounting economic convenience in typical Italian housing unit and climatic zones

Analysis of thermal control and heat accounting economic convenience in typical Italian housing unit and climatic zones

Economic viability for residential battery storage systems in grid‐connected PV plants

Today's residential battery energy storage systems (BESSs) are off the shelf products used to increase the self-consumption of residential photovoltaic (PV) plants and to reduce the losses related to energy transfer in distribution grids. This work investigates the economic viability of adding a BESS to a residential grid-connected PV plant by using a methodology for optimising the size of the BESS. The identification of the optimal size which minimises the total cost of the system is not trivial; indeed, it is a trade-off between OPEX and CAPEX, which are mainly affected by the battery technology, usage profile, expected lifetime, and efficiency. Here, an analysis of the opportunity to install a storage system together with a grid-connected residential PV plant is performed. Three typical low-voltage prosumers (Italy, Switzerland, and the UK) are investigated in order to take into account the different legislative and tariff framework over Europe. Numerical results reported here show that present costs of storages are still too high to allow an economic convenience of the storage installation. Moreover, an indication of the necessary incentives to allow the spreading of these systems is given.

Agility in assembly systems: a comparison model

PurposeThis paper aims at analyzing different possible assembly systems, including innovative potential configurations such as the fully flexible assembly systems (FAS), by defining a novel analytical model that focuses on the concept of agility and its impact on the whole system performance, also evaluating the economic convenience in terms of the unit direct production cost.Design/methodology/approachThe authors propose a comparison model derived by Newton’s second law, introducing a quantitative definition of agility (acceleration), resistance of an assembly system to any change of its operative state (inertia) and unit direct production cost (force). Different types of assembly systems (manual, flexible and fully FAS) are analyzed and compared using the proposed model, investigating agility, system inertia and their impact on the unit direct production cost.FindingsThe proposed agility definition and the proposed comparison model have been applied considering different sets of parameters as independent variables, such as the number of components to assemble (product model complexity) and the target throughput of the system. The main findings are a series of convenience areas which either, for a given target unit direct production cost (force), defines the most agile system to adopt or, for a given target agility (acceleration), defines the most economical system to adopt, as function of the independent variables.Originality/valueThe novelty of this work is, first, the analytical definition of agility applied to assembly systems and contextualized by means of the definition of the new comparison model. The comparison between different assembly systems on the basis of agility, and by using different sets of independent variables, is a further element of interest. Finally, the resulting convenience areas represent a desirable tool that could be used to optimally choose the most suitable assembly system according to one or more system parameters.

Disabled Friendly Facility between Feasibility and Legality

Most hotels in Lebanon, built before 2011, do not provide access to disabled persons in light of 220/2000 law. This is due to: 1/ a misconception that a Disabled Friendly Facility (DFF) would be on behalf of hotel guests’ satisfaction and consequently, would reduce hotel’s popularity and revenue; 2/ a fear that the unforeseen demand for DFFs will be offset by expenses and, in best-case scenarios, would not generate enough profits to pay back initial investments. In brief, hotel-business investors are not sure about the convenience of a DFF and about the number of DFFs to provide in light of 7194/2011law. The objective of this paper is, on the first hand, to demonstrate the financial feasibility and the economic convenience of a DFF and, on the other hand, to test its impact on the satisfaction of hotel guests. In other terms, on the popularity of the hotel.

A Lean Approach to Enable Sustainability in the Built Environment through BIM

Rating systems are assumed as instruments to endorse architectural quality, reliability, energy efficiency, economic convenience and finally expose a sustainability label. Moreover, these tools can be tied to a BIM model. The aim of this research is to set up a lean methodology to fulfil CESBA requirements through Construction to Operations Building information exchange – COBie in project on existing buildings adopting the BIM Bronze approach by UK Ministry of Justice - MoJ. This will allow to develop a semantic model and to extract sustainability reports in a post-construction phase, thereby minimising the cost of gathering information on existing buildings. An illustrated example regarding energy criteria of CESBA protocol will be presented to further the proposed approach.

Measuring the financial sustainability of vine landraces for better conservation programmes of Mediterranean agro-biodiversity

The Apulia region, in southern Italy, has a long tradition of vine cultivation for winemaking. However, in the last decades, regional farmers substituted local landraces with more productive non-native varieties. Regional institutions introduced regulations aimed at preventing the extinction of the local and historic ecotypes in the form of financial subsidies to reduce planting and operating costs.In this paper, we compared the financial sustainability of a non-autochthone, a typical and a landrace variety for wine production, in intensive and semi-extensive cultivation systems, with and without financial supports. The analysis referred to northern Apulia, considering a 26-year economic duration of vineyards. The results showed that the non-autochthone variety was more profitable due to its higher yields, while investments regarding landrace-based plants were characterized by lower economic convenience, despite financial aid.These estimates shed light on the effectiveness and efficacy of the present regulations, as well as on the development of future strategies for a better restoration of vine landraces in Apulia. This new framework will help to increase farmers’ profits, improve environmental conditions for the community and ensure higher quality, security and safety for consumers.

ScipionCloud: An integrative and interactive gateway for large scale cryo electron microscopy image processing on commercial and academic clouds.

New instrumentation for cryo electron microscopy (cryoEM) has significantly increased data collection rate as well as data quality, creating bottlenecks at the image processing level. Current image processing model of moving the acquired images from the data source (electron microscope) to desktops or local clusters for processing is encountering many practical limitations. However, computing may also take place in distributed and decentralized environments. In this way, cloud is a new form of accessing computing and storage resources on demand. Here, we evaluate on how this new computational paradigm can be effectively used by extending our current integrative framework for image processing, creating ScipionCloud. This new development has resulted in a full installation of Scipion both in public and private clouds, accessible as public "images", with all the required preinstalled cryoEM software, just requiring a Web browser to access all Graphical User Interfaces. We have profiled the performance of different configurations on Amazon Web Services and the European Federated Cloud, always on architectures incorporating GPU's, and compared them with a local facility. We have also analyzed the economical convenience of different scenarios, so cryoEM scientists have a clearer picture of the setup that is best suited for their needs and budgets.

Clinical Laboratory Automation: A Case Study.

BackgroundThis paper presents a case study of an automated clinical laboratory in a large urban academic teaching hospital in the North of Italy, the Spedali Civili in Brescia, where four laboratories were merged in a unique laboratory through the introduction of laboratory automation.Materials and MethodsThe analysis compares the preautomation situation and the new setting from a cost perspective, by considering direct and indirect costs. It also presents an analysis of the turnaround time (TAT). The study considers equipment, staff and indirect costs.ResultsThe introduction of automation led to a slight increase in equipment costs which is highly compensated by a remarkable decrease in staff costs. Consequently, total costs decreased by 12.55%. The analysis of the TAT shows an improvement of nonemergency exams while emergency exams are still validated within the maximum time imposed by the hospital.ConclusionsThe strategy adopted by the management, which was based on re-using the available equipment and staff when merging the pre-existing laboratories, has reached its goal: introducing automation while minimizing the costs.Significance for public healthAutomation is an emerging trend in modern clinical laboratories with a positive impact on service level to patients and on staff safety as shown by different studies. In fact, it allows process standardization which, in turn, decreases the frequency of outliers and errors. In addition, it induces faster processing times, thus improving the service level. On the other side, automation decreases the staff exposition to accidents strongly improving staff safety. In this study, we analyse a further potential benefit of automation, that is economic convenience. We study the case of the automated laboratory of one of the biggest hospital in Italy and compare the cost related to the pre and post automation situation. Introducing automation lead to a cost decrease without affecting the service level to patients. This was a key goal of the hospital which, as public health entities in general, is constantly struggling with budget constraints.

Models and tools for the assessment of thermal-short circuit in open-loop geothermal systems

The use of Ground Water Heat Pumps (GWHPs) for the heating and cooling of buildings is getting more and more popular due to the sustainability and economic convenience of this technology. One of the most critical design issues of these systems is the hydraulic and thermal short-circuit between the abstraction and the injection well(s), which impairs the energy efficiency of the heat pump and may even lead to the plant failure. A number of mathematical tools has already been developed to assess thermal short-circuit in well doublets with a prescribed injection temperature (thermal feedback), but this assumption is rarely met in the reality. In order to assess thermal short-circuit for a prescribed temperature difference between injection and abstraction (thermal recycling), a numerical code called TRS (Thermal Recycling Simulator) was therefore developed and is presentedin this paper. The code is based on the potential flow theory and it has been validated against coupled flow and heat transport simulations with FEFLOW. TRS is freely available at http://goo.gl/AdjCp6 and works in MATLAB environment. An empirical formula, which describesthe time evolution of the extracted water temperature, has also been derived from a series of simulations with TRS. The developed mathematical tools can be used to assess the long-term sustainability of a certain plant setup, to perform sensitivity analyses and for largescale assessments of the thermal exchange capacity of aquifers.

Cost–Benefit Analysis of Wastewater Reuse in Puglia, Southern Italy

A comprehensive economic analysis of the associated costs and benefits derived from wastewater treatment is a prerequisite for ensuring long-term economic, environmental, and social sustainability. This study aims to improve the economic evaluation of wastewater reuse. A methodological framework is presented for the application of cost-benefit analysis to wastewater project plants. The method considers two alternative scenarios for the irrigation use of treated water: (i) for newly irrigated land; and (ii) as an alternative to current groundwater sources. A case study is carried out in Puglia, Southern Italy, where two thirds of irrigation water comes from groundwater. The results show that improved urban wastewater treatment would increase the regional availability of irrigation water by 60 million m3 per year, about 10% of the overall irrigation water demand. While treatment costs are highly dependent on the incoming effluent quality and plant size, the benefits are quite stable. These results point to a case-specific analysis, whereby the economic convenience of wastewater reuse could be assessed against the local context.

Energy saving in operations management through variable-speed drive technology: environmental versus economic convenience

CO2 emissions are mainly due to electricity generation. The percentage of electrical energy used within industry rises up to 70% in industrialised countries and electrical motors use the greatest part. Due to the high degree of flexibility required in production systems, the classical on-off control system causes large energy losses due to mismatches between the output power of fixed-speed motors and the mechanical power demands of the electromechanical system. Variable-speed drive (VSD) systems, developed through the inverter-fed alternating current technology, are identified as the motor system technology with the most significant energy-saving potential. The purpose of this paper is to analyse and compare both the economic and the environmental benefits related to the potential retrofitting of existing production systems managed using the traditional on-off control according to different variable typologies: the flexibility requirement variables, the production system variables and the variables related to the specific country considered. As a result, the paper identifies the relation between the two economic and environmental objectives according to the analysed variables. Two company cases are reported in order to demonstrate both the economic and the environmental benefits of applying the VSD technology to existing production systems.

Energy saving in operations management through variable-speed drive technology: environmental versus economic convenience

Energy saving in operations management through variable-speed drive technology: environmental versus economic convenience

Tree-oriented silviculture for growing valuable broadleaved tree species in Turkey oak coppices

Valuable broadleaved tree species can play an important role in mixed-forest management; in these forests, silviculture may play an important role in getting high value timber. This paper illustrates a tree-oriented silviculture approach with an application in a Turkey oak coppice stand in Central Italy. This silvicultural approach has been developed in the last decades in France, Germany, Switzerland. The rationale behind the tree-oriented approach is to select a number of target sporadic tree species with valuable timber and to support their growth through repeated thinning from above. We tested the effectiveness of this silviculture approach as an alternative to customary coppice management in Italy, which is traditionally focused on the dominant tree species and does not consider valuable broadleaved tree species. The two silviculture approaches (tree-oriented and customary coppicing) were compared through a financial evaluation of the economic convenience of the two alternatives in a Turkey oak coppice stand in Central Italy

Mobile Phone Usage and Consumption Motivations in Ota, Nigeria

Studies in mobile telephony have shown their relevance for Africandevelopment but little is known about the usage patterns andconsumption motivations of different groups in Nigeria. The study examinedthe phenomenon among University staff and students in Ota, with a view to describing the consumption motivations and patterns of mobile phone use. Survey, focus group discussions (FGDs) and in-depth interviews (IDIs)were used to generate data that explained the study problem. While the quantitative approach highlighted the usage patterns, qualitative methodsdescribed the factors that motivate mobile consumption. Findings show that mobile phones are mostly used for oral communication and social networking by adults and youths, respectively. Usage is predicated on the need for information, accessibility, connectivity, interactivity, networking, entertainment and cost efficiency whileconsumption is motivated by economic incentives, social benefits and convenience of use. Because mobilesnavigate sociocultural, economic and spatial boundaries, they providea ready platform for the dissemination of development messages in Nigeria.andpoint to the need for more attention in explaining the behavioural aspects of mobile technology in the developing countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

Cyclic Behavior of Composite Truss Beam-to-RC Column Joints in MRFS

In the present paper, the cyclic behavior of beam-to-column joints made up of Hybrid Steel Trussed Concrete Beams (HSTCBs) connected to Reinforced Concrete (RC) piers is investigated. HSTCBs are a typology of composite beam generally constituted by a steel truss with end zone added rebars embedded within a block of concrete cast in place. HSTCBs represent a structural solution for light industrialization in the civil constructions; the main advantages in their use are the higher construction speed with the minimum site labor, the possibility of covering wide spans with low depths and a final economical convenience. For these reasons, they are also increasingly adopted within seismic framed structures. In the present study, the examined joints are representative of framed RC structures subjected to seismic actions and designed according to the current Italian standard code. Cyclic tests are performed and interpreted by means of analytical and numerical models with the aim of verifying the strength capacity and ductility of the system, focusing on both the global behavior and the force transmission between steel truss and concrete in the joint region.

Thermo-economic analysis of a novel cogeneration system for sewage sludge treatment

Wastewater treatment plants are high energy-consuming systems, and their electric energy consumption contributes to 25–30% of the total operating costs. A significant part of thermal energy is needed for management of the sludge produced during the process. Sludge drying by Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems is attractive to obtain substantial economic and energy savings, especially if all the waste heat can be used. Since biogas production, where available, is insufficient for sludge drying, the direct use of the exhaust gases of a CHP system fuelled with syngas derived from sludge gasification and waste vegetable oil, is proposed. The profitability of this system is comparable with that of the systems currently employed in advanced wastewater treatment plants. The economic convenience derives from the reduction of sludge to be disposed and the overall energy saving in the plant. The simple payback of the proposed system, equal to 6.8 years, is only one year higher than that found for of an analogue conventional system, while the Net Present Value is 30% higher than that calculated for a conventional system. In terms of environmental impact, the layout presented is more efficient as biomass-derived fuels are used instead of fossil fuels.