Electric Power Production Research Articles

Increased heavy metal concentrations in the soils near electric power generators in Samarra city (Iraq)

Purpose. To determine the concentration levels of various heavy metals and carbon in the soils of four Samarra City areas that are close to pollution sources (electric power generators). Methodology. A pollution source is sampled at a distance of 5, 10, 15, and 20 meters. The concentrations of iron (Fe), lead (Pb), copper (Cu), cadmium (Cd) metals, as well as carbon, are then determined. Findings. It has been determined that the iron and copper concentrations are within the permissible limits prescribed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. However, the soils contaminated with cadmium and lead in concentration exceed the permissible limits. The metal concentrations increase with distance from the source. The metal concentration is low at a distance of 5 m from the pollution source, then it increases at a greater distance. Moreover, metals are found in soils at a distance of 10 m, then their concentration further increases at a distance up to 20 m. Concentrations of metal and carbon at a distance of 20m are the highest. Originality. This study determines the concentration level of heavy metal contaminants, as well as the impact of electric power generating waste on the metropolis. According to the study, the concentration of these components increases around electric power producers. Practical value. The concentrations of heavy metals in soils increase as the distance from the source of pollution increases.

A novel hybrid solar chimney power plant: Performance analysis and deployment feasibility

AbstractThis study presents a novel hybrid solar chimney power plant (HSCPP) design. The HSCPP preserves the typical solar chimney power plant (SCPP), with an additional seawater pool at the base and water sprinklers at the top. This new and novel design configuration offers an opportunity to run the system during the daytime as a traditional SCPP and as a downdraft cooling tower at night. The performance of the HSCPP was analyzed in 16 cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) that span the entire geographical area of the country to select the optimal location for installation. The results showed that the highest annual electrical energy production of 676.20 MWh was achieved in the southern city of Shahrurah. However, the lowest annual electrical energy production of 347.59 MWh was found at Wajh, in the west. The highest annual freshwater production was 143,898 tons at Riyadh, in the center. However, the lowest annual freshwater production was 77,868 tons at Muwayh, in the west. Furthermore, the results showed that the proposed HSCPP increased electrical power production by 55% and freshwater production by 20% when compared to traditional SCPP. In addition, an outstanding reduction in CO2 emissions by approximately 56% was associated with such an application of HSCPP. The performance of the HSCPP is very promising, however, the geographical location to install the HSCPP is performance‐critical. Hence, the optimal locations were found to be from the center to the southern part of the KSA.

Investigation of Existence of Steady States of a Solar Power Plant Operating in the Distribution Network of an Electric Power System

The paper presents the results of studies of the steady-state operating modes of solar photovoltaic stations. Using the data obtained, it is possible to significantly increase the efficiency of using solar power generating plants and significantly increase the service life of additional equipment. The relevance of this study is due to the increasing demand for low-power electric power systems, as well as for renewable energy technologies. For the research, materials were taken from relevant international departments and agencies, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation. In addition, the sources of data are publications and studies of Russian and foreign scientists on the issues under study. The Federal Law No. 35-FZ “On Electricity”, adopted in December 2019 by the State Duma of the Russian Federation, introduces such a concept as “Micro-generation facility”, thereby simplifying the possibility of installing, connecting to the general network of an electrical system, for example, a small solar power plant (SPP) consumer. Small-scale electric power industry at this stage of its life is an energy-efficient tool in the restructuring of the energy sector of the Russian Federation, contributing to the abandonment of the traditional centralized system based on the use of large sources of electric power production, and the transition to alternative methods of generating electricity based on the use of energy sources, updated for specific natural conditions and requests of potential consumers. Reducing pollutants and emissions that are harmful to human health can reduce the level of the existing burden on the country's economy and give an impetus to the development of its potential due to the freed up resources. reduce the burden on the economy, thereby freeing up resources for its growth. Of course, the transition from traditional economic models to the model of “green growth” can be realized only if significant efforts are made to expand international cooperation in this area. At the same time, there is a need for consistent implementation of events at various levels on the part of all states, as well as maintaining the chosen political course for many years.

Creating a decarbonized economy: Decoupling effects and driving factors of CO2 emission of 28 industries in China

Identifying the carbon emission characteristics, driving factors, and decoupling status of the industrial subsectors is important for developing effective policy measures. This allows for implementing industrial emission reduction that, eventually, decouple carbon emission and economic growth. Such an analysis is especially important for the case of China on its way towards sustainable development and increasing global interrelationships. However, the literature still lacks comprehensive analysis, especially, at the industry level. This study uses the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index and decoupling indicator to analyze how different factors contribute to CO2 emissions in 28 industries in China during 2002–2017. The results reveal that the growth of industrial CO2 emissions has been positive but decreasing. The highest CO2 emission change is observed for production and supply of electric and heat power, processing of petroleum, coking, and nuclear fuel, and smelting and pressing of metals. These sectors also show high carbon intensity levels. The economic output (scale) effect and population effect comprise the two major factors promoting the CO2 emission. The energy intensity effect is the key inhibiting factor of the industrial energy-related CO2 emission in China. The suppressive effects of energy and industrial structure have been continuously increasing. The economic growth and CO2 emission has been gradually decoupling in the case of the 28 sectors analyzed. Manufacture of cloths, leather, fur, feather, and related products as well as production and supply of gas exhibit a relatively stable strong decoupling. Based on the decoupling analysis, this study shows that energy intensity has induced the decoupling, whereas the opposite effect has occurred due to economic growth, and the other factors showed little effect on CO2 emission decoupling.

Analyzing the spatial interaction between industrial land uses and the environment using the DPSIR framework

The spatial interaction of using industrial land and the ecosystem is characterized by its complexity and land size. While some cases show a positive impact, others have a completely negative impact on the environment. Most importantly, on several occasions, these interactions do not have a direct consequence until after an extended period of time. Therefore, in this paper, we address the framework of driving force, pressure, state, impact and the response (DPSIR) of the environmental assessment systems for sustainable development. In this paper, we also demonstrate how the electric power production affects the ecosystems. Furthermore, based on our findings in the research paper, we suggest sustainable solutions that will limit the damage caused by these interactions.

Safety Risk Assessment of Electric Power Operation Site Based On Variable Precision Rough Set

In order to improve the intelligent informatization level of electric power production safety and reduce the accidents, the paper constructs a dynamic perception scheme of electric power production site that utilizes multi-dimensional information such as personnel location, equipment status, and image information. This method uses a multi-sensor network to realize the real-time perception of the image and position information of dynamic power work objects, then uses object identification and intelligent analysis to acquire the dynamic factors. Static factors are selected through questionnaire and historical data, and variable precision fuzzy theory is used to calculate the weight of static factors at dynamic power operation sites. A comprehensive evaluation is established to perceive risk and estimate security probability based on static factors and dynamic scene information. The application system can present the situation of the operation scene, and then realize safety assessment and early warning of the dangerous situation in the case of dynamic power monitoring. This method can prevent safety accidents and enhance the overall safety of power operations.

Efficiency improvement of hybrid PV-TEG system based on an energy, exergy, energy-economic and environmental analysis; experimental, mathematical and numerical approaches

Nowadays, Photovoltaic panels are being used as effective devices to utilize solar free energy. However, they lose their efficiency when their temperature increases; consequently, a large portion of the solar energy is wasted. In this study, a hybrid system of polycrystalline Photovoltaic panel equipped with Thermoelectric generator modules and combined with water-cooled heat exchangers has been proposed to extract more power from the Photovoltaic meanwhile producing electricity by Thermoelectric generators and absorbing heat by water. Previous studies have been mostly based on a 24-hour simulation while not considering the long-term analysis of the system. This study includes a 24-hour analysis via experimental build testing, mathematical modelling, and finite element simulation, followed by a finite element simulation carried out for one year. This study considers the influence of varying irradiance and thermal resistance on the Photovoltaic, Thermoelectric hot and cold sides and outlet water temperatures on the daily and annual energy, exergy, environmental, and energy-economic outcomes. It was found that the averaged maximum Photovoltaic temperature for the experiment and simulations of the Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric hybrid system was 44.2°C at maximum irradiation. In comparison, it was 57.1°C for the stand-alone Photovoltaic. The electrical power production of the Photovoltaic-Thermoelectric hybrid system was 9.49W, which is noticeably higher than the 8.48W output of the stand-alone Photovoltaic meaning that the electrical efficiency and the exergy efficiency increased by 1.67%, and 1.72%, respectively. The environmental and energy-economic simulations show that the carbon payback period and the discounted payback period are 1.31 and 12.39 years, respectively.

A game theory-based price bidding strategy for electric vehicle aggregators in the presence of wind power producers

A game theory-based approach was proposed for energy exchange between the electric vehicles (EV) load and wind power producers (WPP) active in the regulation, balancing, and day-ahead markets. An optimal Bidding strategy was developed to reduce risks arising from the wind energy–EV imbalance in the energy markets where EV aggregators (EVAs) Bid price packages to WPPs for charging or not charging EVs to compensate for energy deviations. Generally, the WPP collects price Bids by aggregators to determine the share of each aggregator in energy exchange contracts by maximizing its profit function. On the other hand, there is competition between EV aggregators to sell their services to WPPs for compensating losses of EV owners. A non-cooperative game was to serve as a model for the competition among EV aggregators due to insufficient information. The Nash equilibrium was employed to solve this non-cooperative game.

Rational Application of Electric Power Production Optimization through Metaheuristics Algorithm

The aim of this manuscript is to introduce solutions to optimize economic dispatch of loads and combined emissions (CEED) in thermal generators. We use metaheuristics, such as particle swarm optimization (PSO), ant lion optimization (ALO), dragonfly algorithm (DA), and differential evolution (DE), which are normally used for comparative simulations, and evaluation of CEED optimization, generated in MATLAB. For this study, we used a hybrid model composed of six (06) thermal units and thirteen (13) photovoltaic solar plants (PSP), considering emissions of contaminants into the air and the reduction in the total cost of combustibles. The implementation of a new method that identifies and turns off the least efficient thermal generators allows metaheuristic techniques to determine the value of the optimal power of the other generators, thereby reducing the level of pollutants in the atmosphere. The results are presented in comparative charts of the methods, where the power, emissions, and costs of the thermal plants are analyzed. Finally, the comparative results of the methods were analyzed to characterize the efficiency of the proposed algorithm.

Strategic bidding of wind power producers in electricity markets in presence of information sharing

In order to facilitate the growing share of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) in power systems around the world, a cost-effective integration of RES into the electricity market is essential. In addition to numerous technical challenges, the integration of RES-based generation creates some market design challenges. For example, monitoring market power abuse by RES-based electricity generation companies may be not straightforward, given the variable and limitedly predictable availability of these resources, not known by the regulator. In this context, this paper investigates the impact of sharing wind power forecasts among market participants on wind power producers’ (WPPs’) bidding behaviour. An analytical model that captures the strategic price-making behaviour of competing WPPs on the day-ahead electricity market is provided. A best response function is provided, showing the strategic quantity bid of a price-making WPP in function of the bids of other market participants. Subsequently, a ‘multiple leaders-common market clearing’ problem is formulated as a Nash game between the strategic WPPs. Last, we allow WPPs to make their individual wind power forecasts available to their competing WPPs. When all price-making market participants possess the forecasts of each WPP, all strategic agents estimate the market outcome correctly. On the contrary, with minimal information sharing, the price-making WPPs use an assumption on the behaviour of the other WPPs in the strategic determination of their quantity bids. Sharing information on individual forecasts may lead to a higher or lower wind power participation into the day-ahead market, profits for WPPs and social welfare. On the one hand, systems in which all the WPPs would bid above their mean forecast lead to a lower wind power participation when sharing individual forecasts among WPPs, hence, a lower social welfare. Additionally, the profits for WPPs increase. On the other hand, a higher wind power participation is realised when sharing forecasts for systems in which all WPPs bid below their mean forecast, hence a higher social welfare and lower WPP profits. These insights are useful for policy makers and regulators in order to ensure transparent and competitive electricity markets.

An Efficient Method for Computing the Power Potential of Bypass Hydropower Installations

Small-scale hydropower installations make possible a transition towards decentralized electrical power production with very low ecological footprint. However, the prediction of their power potential is difficult, because the incoming flow velocity and the inlet and outlet water heights are often outside of the control of the operator. This leads to a need for a method capable of calculating an installation’s power potential and efficiency rapidly, in order to cover for many possible load cases. In this article, the use of a previously-published theoretical framework is demonstrated with the case of a mid-scale hydropower device, a 26 m long water vortex power plant. It is shown that a simplified CFD simulation with a single output (the mass flow rate) is sufficient to obtain values for the two coefficients in the model. Once this is done, it becomes possible to evaluate the device’s real-life performance, benchmarking it against reference values anchored in physical principles. The method can be used to provide design guidance and rapidly compare different load cases, providing answers that are not easily obtained using intuition or even experiments. These results are obtained for a computing cost several orders of magnitude smaller than those associated with a full description of the flow using CFD methods.

Using Fuzzy Inference System in Gas Turbine to Overcome a High Exhaust Temperature Problem

The turbine units are at the forefront of equipment in the process of pumping crude oil and exporting it to the oil ports, where there are many types of turbines used in different sites of Iraqi stations whether pumping oil stations or electrical power production stations. One of the most important types of turbines is the gas turbine, which is frequently used in oil depots. One of the remarkable depots in Iraq is Zubair-1 / Basra that exports around 850,000 barrels per day (B/D). Therefore, Zubair-1 should continue pumping the crude oil 24/7, which has five gas turbines (three Rolls-Royce AVON MK 1533 and two Siemens SGT 400). However, the three Rolls-Royce gas turbines in Zubair-1 have not worked in the summer season since 2016, when the ambient temperature goes high around 11:00 am to 3:30 pm. This paper proposes solution to solve a high exhaust temperature (EGT) shutdown signal (a preventing running turbine signal) without effect on the sequence of turbine running stages. The proposal is adding a fuzzy inference system (FIS) that controls the gas turbine in the first two running stages that demonstrates and controls of speed the turbine from 800 RPM to 3000 RPM. The inputs of FIS are the average temperature of eight combustion chambers (exhaust temperatures) and the speed of the gas turbine, while the output of FIS is the control signal to the flow control valve (FCV) with an amplifier to gain the signal.
 The FIS proposal has been applied in all three Rolls-Royce jet pumping turbines since April 7, 2021, and they work regularly at all times of the day. The FIS minimizes the maximum average of combustion chambers temperature at midafternoon in June 9, 2021 (48 ˚C ambience temperature) from 689 ˚C to 610 ˚C that means the improvement is around 45%.

Mismatching and partial shading identification in photovoltaic arrays by an artificial neural network ensemble

Photovoltaic arrays may suffer from a number of temporary and permanent faults. Partial shading and soiling belong to the former group, while cell cracking and delamination fall within the latter one. In these cases, the shape of the current vs voltage curve around the maximum power point shows features that are different from those ones of an array operating in normal conditions. The shape change should allow triggering, in case of a temporary fault, control actions that might improve the electrical power production. Instead, if the fault is permanent, the identification of the modified shape should activate a procedure for a more in-depth analysis of the problem and a maintenance action. In this paper, the conditions leading to a change in the array behavior during its delivering of the maximum power are examined. The change of curvature of the current vs voltage curve around its maximum power point is suitably detected to trigger the fault mitigation action. The feature is caught through an ensemble of artificial neural networks, which analyzes the current vs voltage curve and classifies the module as healthy or faulty. It is demonstrated that few samples around the maximum power point are required, this meaning that the proposed approach is compatible with the operation of any perturbative maximum power point tracking algorithm and its application does not lead to any power production drop. In addition, the approach does not require neither temperature nor irradiance measurements as inputs. The neural networks are trained through synthetic data, so that their application is not limited to arrays including a specific photovoltaic module. The method is also validated through experimental data.

Critical Transmission Paths of Aggregate Embodied Carbon Emission Influencing Factors in China

Carbon emissions, being embedded in sectorial production chains, need to be reduced through targeted carbon emission reduction strategies. For such a reason, it is urgent to assess the contributions of different influencing factors among different sectors for different supply chains. Focused on China, being the world’s largest carbon emitter, this paper uses the latest 2018 China’s input-output table to assess different factors, at sectoral scale, related to embodied carbon emissions. The analysis proved that the total final use factor prompted the largest emission growth, while the input-output structure factor inhibited the emission increase significantly. The gross fixed capital formation category was the largest contributor to aggregate embodied carbon emission growth, followed by urban consumption and export categories. The construction was identified as a key sector for its embodied carbon emission, the most relevant intermediate inputs to construction sector are the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, the smelting and rolling of metals, and the production and supply of electric power and heat power sectors. Results indicate that, in the case of China, low-carbon building materials should be favored in the future. Meanwhile, energy-saving should be promoted among urban residents to increase the effectiveness of carbon emissions reduction strategies.

Prospects for Using Hydrogen in Various Branches of the World Economy as One of the Directions of Its Decarbonization

The review deals with the state of the art and prospects for using hydrogen in various branches of the world economy: in industry (oil-refining, chemical, steel-casting, cement), on transport (road, railway, maritime, aviation), and in production and distribution of the electric and thermal power. Using hydrogen is one of efficient directions of the economy decarbonization. The possibility and efficiency of using hydrogen, ammonia, methanol, and synthetic kerosene as a fuel for internal combustion engines and gas turbines in various kinds of vehicles and in production of the electric and thermal power are evaluated. The need for long-term hydrogen storage for reducing the influence exerted on the operation of electric networks by seasonal variations in the electric power production from renewable sources is demonstrated, and the hydrogen storage methods are considered. The feasibility of various procedures for utilizing CO2 formed in the course of hydrogen production by steam methane conversion at industrial enterprises using hydrogen for their own needs are analyzed.

Dilution of concentrations of PAHs from atmospheric particles, bulk deposition to soil: a review.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are emitted to the atmosphere by various anthropogenic activities as well as natural sources, they undergo long-range transport, are degraded (e.g., by photolysis) and finally they are deposited onto the surface and potentially accumulate in topsoil. The dry deposition of particle-bound PAHs dominates the accumulation of PAHs in soil and their further fate in soil is governed by sorption/desorption from these airborne particles. This paper offers an overview on concentrations of particle-bound PAHs, the dry deposition fluxes and finally concentrations of PAHs in soil. In addition, spatial and temporal variations of PAHs are considered. The results show that concentrations of particle-bound PAHs typically range from 1mgg-1 up to 10mgg-1 in cities with coal-based heating in winter and in countries with coal-based industry incl. electrical power production. These values are very high and exceed the legal limits set in soils by orders of magnitude. Atmospheric deposition rates typically reach several mgm-2a-1, but in winter, especially in countries with heating, deposition rates are up to 10 times higher. PAHs concentrations in soils show a very wide variation from less than 1µgg-1 in rural areas up to 10µgg-1 in urban space, which is about 1000 times lower than the concentration of PAHs on particles in the atmosphere. This demonstrates the relevance of high concentrations of PAHs on airborne particles deposited on soils, which also highlights the importance of considering incremental lifetime cancer risk models for both air and soil and assessing the total health risk of PAHs to humans.

Microbial fuel cell compared to a chemostat

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) represent a green and sustainable energy conversion system that integrate bacterial biofilms within an electrochemical two-electrode set-up to produce electricity from organic waste. In this review, we focus on a novel exploratory model, regarding “thin” biofilms forming on highly perfusable (non-diffusible) anodes in small-scale, continuous flow MFCs due to the unique properties of the electroactive biofilm. We discuss how this type of MFC can behave as a chemostat in fulfilling common properties including steady state growth and multiple steady states within the limit of biological physicochemical conditions imposed by the external environment. With continuous steady state growth, there is also continuous metabolic rate and continuous electrical power production, which like the chemostat can be controlled. The model suggests that in addition to controlling growth rate and power output by changing the external resistive load, it will be possible instead to change the flow rate/dilution rate.

Nanocoating of microbial fuel cell electrodes for enhancing bioelectricity generation from wastewater

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are devices where bacteria generate electrical energy by oxidizing organic matter in wastewater. The implementation of MFCs on a commercial scale is limited due to electrode resistances, which are one of the key factors limiting electricity generation. This study presents a method to maximize the electrical power production from MFCs by coating the electrodes using nanomaterials which leads to prototyping novel electrodes having higher electrical conductivity than common electrodes. The voltage reached 1.234 V directly after operating the MFCs, with nanocoated electrodes, and showed voltage stability till the end of the 140 h interval with a peak value of 1.367 V with a maximum areal power density of 116 mW m−2 and a maximum volumetric power density of 15.6 mW m−3. However, the voltage of the control (without coating) was steadily increased to 0.616 V after 22 h with a maximum areal power density of 23.6 mW m−2 and a maximum volumetric power density of 3.2 mW m−3 then showed voltage stability till the end of the 140 h interval. It was found that the coulombic efficiency of the MFCs where its electrodes are coated with graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets was higher than graphene, carbon nanotubes, and the control in a descending order, respectively. By this method, it is possible to improve the electrical conductivity of the MFCs which results in increasing the generated electrical power by 4.9 times the conventional method.

New Integrated Process for the Efficient Production of Methanol, Electrical Power, and Heating

In this paper, a novel process is developed to cogenerate 4741 kg/h of methanol, 297.7 kW of electricity, and 35.73 ton/h of hot water, including a hydrogen purification system, an absorption–compression refrigeration cycle (ACRC), a regenerative Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and parabolic solar troughs. The heat produced in the methanol reactor is recovered in the ORC and ACRC. Parabolic solar troughs provide thermal power to the methanol distillation tower. Thermal efficiencies of the integrated structure and the liquid methanol production cycle are 78.14% and 60.91%, respectively. The process’s total exergy efficiency and irreversibility are 89.45% and 16.89 MW. The solar thermal collectors take the largest share of exergy destruction (34%), followed by heat exchangers (30%) and mixers (19%). Based on the sensitivity analysis, D17 (mixture of H2 and low-pressure fuel gas before separation) was the most influential stream affecting the performance of the process. With the temperature decline of stream D17 from −139 to −149 °C, the methanol production rate and the total thermal efficiency rose to 4741.2 kg/h and 61.02%, respectively. Moreover, the growth in the hydrogen content from 55% to 80% molar of the feed gas, the flow rate of liquid methanol, and the total exergy efficiency declined to 4487 kg/h and 86.05%.

Measurement and Analysis of Environmental Costs in the General Company for Electricity Production, Central Region: An Applied Research in the First Station south of Baghdad

The research aims to identify the environmental costs of the economic unit in sample research, as well as classifying the environmental cost to prevention costs, appraisal cost, internal failure cost and external failure cost. moreover the research aims to measure and analyses the apparent and hidden environmental cost. related to the activities undertaken and clarifying the impact of these costs on the institute as a whole. The research problem a raised As a result of the high costs incurred by the economic unit in sample research, represented by the electric power plant in order to preserve the environment, it was found that the company suffers from a weakness in the measurement and analysis of environmental costs according to the classifications of its activities, which in turn is reflected in the costs incurred by the company, causing its increase as a result of lack of Classification it at the expense of its activities, in order to remove the environmental damage resulting from the practice of the activity of the unit, which negatively affects the quality of the environmental service of the company. The research was based on the hypothesis that Accurate and clear measurement and analysis of environmental costs will contribute to determining environmental costs based on the classification of their activities, and thus knowledge of the resulting environmental damage and the possibility of avoiding or limiting them, Where the research reached many conclusions, the most important of which is the station's failure to measure, analyze, and determine the environmental costs to prevent pollutants coming out of the electric power production process.