Friendly Power Research Articles

The Cathodic Behavior of Doped Pr2NiO4 Cathode for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with Lsgm As Electrolyte

Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is now expectative as its highly efficient and the environmental friendly electric power generator for the next generation and now expectative for its application to the stationary field, such as power plants and home electricity-heat simultaneous generating systems, because of its high operating temperature and the flexibility of fuels. Unfortunately, cathode properties will drop seriously as the operating temperature decreases. One of the main subjects to overcome this problem is the development of novel cathode materials with high electrical conductivity and stability in the SOFC operating conditions. As reported, Pr2Ni0.71Cu0.24Ga0.05O4(PNCG) showed very good oxygen diffusivity, lower polarization resistance [1~3] and appropriate thermal expansion coefficient [4]. Therefore PNCG is a good candidate for IT-SOFC. In the present study, various oxides were prepared by using the conventional solid-state reaction methods. XRD was employed to check the crystal structure of the products. The cell tested consists of PNCG cathode, La0.9Sr0.1Ga0.8Mg0.2O3 (LSGM) electrolyte and Ni-Fe bimetallic anode. For measuring power generating properties, pure O2 and humidified H2were used for oxidant and fuel, respectively. The temperature range is 773 K~1073 K, normal pressure, and 100 cc/min gas flow rate. The impedance spectra were measured to study the oxygen diffusivity and oxygen reduction reaction at cathode. The XRD results indicate that the PNCG was obtained with K2NiO4 structure, no other oxides were found. When the cell voltage was 0.7 V, the cell power density was 484.2 mW/cm2 at 1073 K, 239.2 mW/cm2 at 973 K, 52.5 mW/cm2 at 873 K and 6.7 mW/cm2at 773 K, respectively. The cell with PNCG cathode exhibited reasonable cell performances among the operating temperature range. Figure 1 shows the power generation property of the cell using PNCG cathode. The impedance spectra were measured too. The result was shown in figure 2. The impedance spectra were fitted with Zview software. Then theoretical calculation using the Adler-Lane-Steel and Dusty gas models were employed to analyze the oxygen diffusion and oxygen reduction reaction on PNCG. Consequently, this study reveals that PNCG does function on improving catalytic property of cathode materials for its high surface exchange coefficient and oxygen diffusion coefficient. PNCG is a good candidate cathode for SOFC.

Advanced Combustion and Fuel Technologies for Economical and Environmentally Friendly Power Generation in Engines and Power Plants: Issues and Challenges

Advanced Combustion and Fuel Technologies for Economical and Environmentally Friendly Power Generation in Engines and Power Plants: Issues and Challenges

Thermo-economic analysis of conventional combined cycle hybridization: United Arab Emirates case study

Extensive investigations have been conducted to find a replacement for fossil fuels and natural gases in power generation industries. Solar energy is one of the most promising solution to a more environmentally friendly power production technology. In particular, concentrated solar power technologies are displaying significant potential for electricity production. United Arab Emirates hot and sunny climate is an indication of the great potential it possesses for hybrid and solar only power plant implementation. In this paper, power plant hybridization feasibility in the United Arab Emirates is taken under extensive investigation. Moreover, a thermo-economic optimization is performed for the installment of a new 50MWe hybrid conventional combined cycle power plant in the United Arab Emirates. In addition, hybridization of an already existing conventional combined cycle power plant is comprehensively investigated by utilizing levelized cost of electricity, payback period, life cycle saving, and net present value approaches. The hybrid conventional combined cycle power plant optimum levelized cost of electricity and net present value are 77.7US$/MWh and −34.918MUS$, respectively. Additionally, the plant solar share and specific carbon dioxide emission are 8.87% and 371.9kgCO2/MWh, respectively.

Direct electron transfer-type dual gas diffusion H2/O2biofuel cells

H2/O2biofuel cells utilizing hydrogenases and multicopper oxidases as bioelectrocatalysts are clean, sustainable, and environmentally friendly power devices.

Energy-efficient and environmentally friendly power dispatch by trigeneration with renewable energy and energy storage

The importance of energy-efficient power generation that effectively utilizes the available fossil fuels is increasing due to the gradual decline in fossil fuel reserves. Furthermore, concern about global warming has led to rapid growth in renewable energy and energy storage technologies. This trend is encouraging power utilities to effectively exploit the use of renewable energy resources (RESs) and energy storage facilities (ESFs) for power supply systems. In this regards, trigeneration in the presence of RESs and ESFs can play an important role for efficient and clean power dispatch. This paper discusses the optimum power dispatch using a hybrid power plant consisting of trigeneration-based thermal plants, RES-based plants, and energy storage facilities. Mathematical modeling of such a dispatch problem is formulated and the analysis is carried out using MATLAB simulations. Results show that considerable reduction in fuel utilization and pollutants emission can be achieved using such hybrid plants by using the optimum power dispatch proposed here.

A Novel Optimization Algorithm for Reliable Energy Generation based on Wind, Solar and Fuel Cell

 Abstract—Concerns about fuel cost, pollution and global warming has made it necessary to look for new energy solutions. Renewable energies are environmentally friendly, not cheap at the beginning but naturally available at a constant rate and wide spread, unlike fossil fuels that are localized in limited places. To generate environmentally friendly power we consider two renewable energy resources: wind and photovoltaic, and a clean alternative energy (AE): fuel cells. In order to have a reliable and cost efficient power generating system, an optimization algorithm based on genetic algorithm is proposed. The proposed system has been tested for different scenarios and has been proven to be a reliable power generating system for various situations.

EFPC: An Environmentally Friendly Power Control Scheme for Underwater Sensor Networks.

In oceans, the limited acoustic spectrum resource is heavily shared by marine mammals and manmade systems including underwater sensor networks. In order to limit the negative impact of acoustic signal on marine mammals, we propose an environmentally friendly power control (EFPC) scheme for underwater sensor networks. EFPC allocates transmission power of sensor nodes with a consideration of the existence of marine mammals. By applying a Nash Equilibrium based utility function with a set of limitations to optimize transmission power, the proposed power control algorithm can conduct parallel transmissions to improve the network’s goodput, while avoiding interference with marine mammals. Additionally, to localize marine mammals, which is a prerequisite of EFPC, we propose a novel passive hyperboloid localization algorithm (PHLA). PHLA passively localize marine mammals with the help of the acoustic characteristic of these targets. Simulation results show that PHLA can localize most of the target with a relatively small localization error and EFPC can achieve a close goodput performance compared with an existing power control algorithm while avoiding interfering with marine mammals.

Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator Based Standalone Wave Power Conversion System for Sustainable Power Supply at Perhentian Island

In developing country like Malaysia, the development of islands is mostly related to the electric power availability. Because there are many islands in Malaysia where the power grid is not available. As an island surrounded by sea, wave energy can be considered one of the environmental friendly power generating sources for island communities. But, high dependency on weather conditions is the main drawback of wave energy source. To overcome this drawback; wave energy device, energy storage devices and the electronic converters need to be integrated with each other. This study presents a battery storage standalone oscillating water column wave energy conversion system for island electrification in Malaysia

English

2 ABSTRACT: The design of wireless sensor networks for distributed applications is the most challenging task due to the factors such as limited storage on nodes, variable data arrival rate and high energy cost of communication. In most Wireless Sensor Networks(WSN), the battery is the sole energy source of the sensor node. The Sensor nodes are expected to work on batteries for several months to a few years without replenishing. Thus, energy efficiency becomes a major issue in WSNs. Nowadays, it is desired to use the WSN in heterogeneous platform for multiple monitoring. The Software development for the sensor node is a tedious task due to the change in network topology. The present state of art has come up with different solutions to overcome the performance issues such as Memory overhead, Heterogeneity, Portability, Scalability, Cost and Quality of Service. An adaptive framework should minimize the resource consumption and provide an optimal solution for run-time Reconfiguration. This paper presents a detailed review on current state-of-the art in the Run-time Reconfigurations of Wireless Sensor Networks. An Analysis is made on the existing middleware approaches and an evaluation is done based on the parameters like Application Openness, Scalability, Heterogeneity, User Friendly Interface, Mobility and Power Efficiency. The paper identifies a few open research issues that must be addressed during the Run-Time Reconfigurations of Wireless Sensor Networks.

Silver stress migration bonding driven by thermomechanical stress with various substrates

In recent years, the requirement for environmentally friendly power electronics such as light-emitting diodes and integrated power modules has led to substantial efforts in electronic packaging. The high operating temperatures of advanced power devices particularly require alternative bonding materials to replace the high-temperature solders that contain much Pb. Without limiting the conventional soldering processes that use melting alloys, several candidate materials have been developed, along with the development of devices. In this study, we demonstrate Ag stress migration bonding with various substrate materials to address the intrinsic mechanisms underlying the bonding process. Varying the substrate material changes the thermal expansion mismatch between the sputtered Ag films and the substrate, resulting in different bonding properties, in particular the die shear strength. It has been revealed that a low bonding temperature process can be achieved with a high thermal stress, suggesting that stress migration and resulting stress relaxation at the bonding temperature play key roles in controlling the Ag stress migration bonding. This Ag stress migration bonding opens up a novel opportunity to access wide band-gap devices by realizing low-temperature processes without any application of pressure.

Ветроэнергетические установки с оперативным прогнозированием технического состояния

The prospects for the creation of energy efficient, reliable and environmentally friendly power sources for Autonomous systems of power supply to remote consumers on the basis of alternative and renewable generating facilities. Presents a comprehensive analysis of the characteristics of operation of wind turbines in accordance with modern requirements of active-adaptive systems and SMART GRID. It is shown that the reliability of the Electromechanical parts of wind turbines can only be achieved if the use of the operational systems of forecasting of the technical condition. Proposed procedural algorithms for the development of such systems and scientifically based methodology for their implementation. Developed software adapted to implement algorithms for Autonomous monitoring of energy sources based on synchronous generators with frequency converters on the basis of these minimal sets of elementary tests. Practical recommendations for optimization of diagnostic procedures with the use of new hardware and algorithmic tools and perspectives of their further development.

DC grid initiative in India

Developing country like India needs cost effective solution to meet the rising demand with environmental friendly power generation. Current power generation scenario of India is presented in this paper along with alternative resources available for fossil fuel free generation. As the potential of solar is high in India and end equipment usage also in DC, makes the DC microgrid more advantageous over AC microgrid at the low voltage end. In addition to this, fewer conversion stages in the DC grid makes substantial loss reduction in comparison to AC grid. Modified DC configurations are proposed along with their potentials in India. A comparison is made between AC home and DC home in terms of cost and power consumption for analysis. Performance of Type 1 structure is analyzed under different scenarios in RSCAD/EMTDC software environment.

Probabilistic performance assessment of a coal-fired power plant

Despite the low-carbon environmental policies, coal is expected to remain a main source of energy in the coming decades. Therefore, efficient and environmentally friendly power systems are required. A design process based on the deterministic models and application of the safety factors leads to the equipment oversizing, hence fall in the efficiency and increase in the capital and operating costs. In this work, applicability of a non-intrusive stochastic methodology to determine the probability of the power plant equipment failure was investigated. This alternative approach to the power plant performance assessment employs approximation methods for the deterministic prediction of the key performance indicators, which are used to estimate reliability indices based on the uncertainty of the input to a process model of the coal-fired power plant. This study revealed that high reliability indices obtained in the analysis would lead to reduced application of conservative safety factors on the plant equipment, which should result in lower capital and operating cost, through a more reliable assessment of its performance state over its service time, and lead to the optimisation of its inspection and maintenance interventions.

Russian–American relations: From Tsarism to Putin

It is agreed that US–Russian relations today are in a crisis. This article seeks a better understanding of the current US–Russian relationship by examining its origins. Russia and the United States have always had conflicting interests as great powers, as the realist school would argue. Opportunities for cooperation were also constrained by longstanding ideological differences neglected by structural realism. Nevertheless, Russian–American relations from 1781 to 1824 were conducted according to realistic assessments of national interests, and in America, Russia was perceived as a friendly power. However, by the late nineteenth century ideological currents in American political culture reversed this favorable image of Russia. Negative perceptions peaked during the Cold War – and have survived the collapse of communism. It should thus come as no surprise that Russia and the United States in the early part of the twenty-first century are capable of conducting diplomacy based on notions of power and interests. A neoclassical realist approach considers norms and cultural forces that frame national interests, providing a more nuanced explanation of international relations in a world where elites are no longer isolated from public opinion.

Channel discovery algorithms for interference avoidance in smart grid communication networks: a survey

AbstractSmart grid technology has attracted a lot of attention in the communication and power engineering communities because of its high efficiency and environmental friendly power production and delivery. Smart grid communication networks act as not only a bridge between the end power users and the utility but also a backbone of the entire smart grid system. It is a challenging task to deploy smart grid communication networks because of interference‐intensive environment. The goal of this paper is to explore various issues on deployment of smart grid communication networks. The first half of this paper provides a survey on smart grid communication networks. The background of smart grid communication networks is introduced, and the IEEE 802.15.4g standard for smart utility networks is reviewed. In addition, the issues on network topology and routing protocols of smart utility networks are addressed, followed by the discussions on optimizing gateway deployment. Various methods for addressing coexistence issues in smart grid communication networks are presented. The second half of this paper is to propose a channel discovery algorithm exploiting the inherent CSMA/CA mechanism in the protocols. Because of the use of CSMA/CA mechanism and up‐to‐date channel status table, the proposed algorithm can quickly find an available channel for transmission when interferences occur. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Development and Experimental Investigation of a Tubular Combustor for Pyrolysis Oil Burning

The growing demand for more economical and environmentally friendly power generation forces the industry to search for fuels that can replace the conventional fossil fuels. This has led to significant developments in the production of alternative fuels during the last years, which have made them a reliable and relatively efficient source of energy. One example of these alternative fuels is the pyrolysis oil. However, higher viscosity, lower heat content, limited chemical stability, and its ability to create sediment make pyrolysis oil challenging for gas turbines. The OPRA OP16 gas turbine is an all radial single-shaft gas turbine rated at 1.9 MW. The all radial design, together with the lack of intricate cooling geometries in the hot section, makes this gas turbine suitable for operation on these fuels. This paper presents an experimental investigation of pyrolysis oil combustion in a tubular combustor developed, especially for low-calorific fuels. The experiments have been performed in an atmospheric combustion test rig, and the results have been compared to the results obtained from ethanol and diesel combustion. It was found that it was possible to burn pure pyrolysis oil in the load range between 70% and 100% with a combustion efficiency exceeding 99% and without creation of sediments on the combustor inner wall. It was found that the NOx emissions were similar for pyrolysis oil and diesel, whereas the CO emissions were twice as high for pyrolysis oil. A comparison between the air blast nozzle and the pressure nozzle was performed. The air blast nozzle was found to be more suitable due to its better performance over a wider operating range and that it is more resistant to erosion and abrasion. It was found that the maximum allowed droplet size of the pyrolysis oil spray should be about 50–70% of the droplet size for diesel fuel.

Modified Suggestions for Distribution Automation Standards to Coping with DG Connected to the Power Grid

With the rapid development of energy-saving and environmentally friendly power sources, such as solar photovoltaic and biomass power, the demand of distributed generation (DG) systems connected to the low-voltage distribution network is increasing. Distributed generation systems connected to the low-voltage distribution network will impact power quality, security and stability operation of power grid. So power companies should strengthen the supervision of DG. Based on the research of domestic and foreign DG monitoring standards, this paper sorts out the DG relevant provisions in existing distribution automation standards, and proposes some modified suggestions in the existing distribution automation standards to cope with DG connected to the distribution network.

Development of carbon/PEEK composite bipolar plates with nano-conductive particles for High-Temperature PEM fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs)

Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) systems are environmentally friendly power sources that have many potential applications. Although bipolar plates made of carbon fiber composites have high strength and stiffness and also resist corrosion in an acidic environment, they exhibit only marginal electrical conductivity, which compromises the efficiency of PEM fuel cells.In this work, to increase both the manufacturing productivity and the electrical conductivity of a High-Temperature PEM fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) bipolar plate, PEEK (Poly Ether–ether Ketone), a high temperature thermoplastic polymer was employed as the matrix of the carbon composite bipolar plate. To increase the electrical conductivity and strength, a continuous carbon fiber composite and conductive nano-particles were used. The electrical resistance and the mechanical properties were measured at both low and high temperatures. Environmental durability tests were performed to verify the durability of the developed bipolar plates.

Современное состояние безопасности атомных электростанций, перспективы развития атомной энергетики и концептуальные вопросы стратегии развития экологически чистой ядерной энергетики

The article considers current state of safety of nuclear power engineering. It presents a brief summary of stress-tests at nuclear power plants in the European Union and Russia. It reveals that the power on breeders shall not develop due to its low efficiency, high expenses and the risk of propagation of nuclear materials. Moreover, construction of plutonium processing production operations on nuclear power plant platforms with breeders, production of mixed uranium-plutonium nuclear fuel and synthesis ofamericium-241 in the spent nuclear fuel calls ecological safety into question. The article also addresses conceptual issues of creation of environmentally friendly nuclear power on the basis of nuclear relativistic technology. It is shown that such power shall not produce "bomb" materials and, therefore, will find extensive application around the world. Thereby the most challenging international problems of the present will be solved. The new nuclear power can become a basis for hydrogen production, which might solve practically all problems of mankind, including even food, by means of nuclear energy.

In Situ Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) Studies on Pt-Rh-Sn Nanoparticle Electrocatalysts for Ethanol Oxidation in Direct Liquid Fuel Cells

Alcohol fuel cells are of great interest in academic and industrial fuel cell research due to their high volumetric energy density compared to hydrogen/air fuel cells, and have high potential as an environmental friendly power source.1 As a liquid fuel, ethanol has higher energy densities (8 kWh kg-1), better efficiency, low toxicity, biocompatibility and abundant availability. However, ethanol oxidation suffers from slow kinetics, sluggish adsorption and C-C bond cleavage as well as poisoning of the active sites on Pt catalysts by CO-intermediates. The desired reaction involves the cleavage of the C-C bond, i.e. the total ethanol oxidation to CO2, while partial oxidation leads to by-products like acetic acid or acetaldehyde, which reduce the faradaic efficiency of the anodic reaction of DEFC:C2H5OH + 3 H2O --> 2 CO2 + 12 H+ + 12 e- To improve the performance for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) the development of novel efficient electrocatalysts is necessary. Research has been widely focused on the addition of co-catalysts to platinum. Recently, ternary metal systems like Pt-Rh-Sn have shown enhanced EOR activity.2 However, the elucidation of the mechanism and the role of single metal atoms is still not completely understood and therefore a pressing subject of current research.3 Our aim is to increase the understanding of the relation between catalyst structure and composition and the EOR activity. Therefore, we tested different carbon supported nanoparticle catalysts, prepared by simultaneous reduction or consecutive reduction of Pt, Rh and Sn precursor salts, using oleic acid and oleylamine as surfactants and tetradecanediol as the reducing agent in dioctyl ether. A uniquely comprehensive set of experimental techniques was employed to determine the composition, morphology and atomic-scale structural coherence of the synthesized ternary nanoalloy electrocatalysts, including inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), Cu Kα based and synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-Ray photoelectron spectroscopy, etc. Cu Kα and synchrotron XRD studies coupled to atomic pair distribution function analysis showed that PtRhSn/C nanoalloy had PtSn niggliite type structure with Rh occupying random Pt sites. Electrochemical experiments showed that the catalytic activity towards EOR of chemically homogeneous PtRhSn/C is the highest when compared to those of the other catalysts. The results showed that while Sn is more important than Rh as a component in nanoalloys used for oxidation of ethanol, the role of Rh is definitely not negligible since PtRhSn/C nanoalloy showed best catalytic property as compared to the corresponding catalyst without Rh/Sn. Achieving a very good degree of chemical homogeneity and the underlying atomic arrangement in the PtRhSn/C ternary alloy is a crucial condition in producing a catalyst with improved properties for oxidation of ethanol.Here, we present results of an in situ FTIR study of Pt-Rh-Sn based nanoparticle for the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR). While the investigation of the different prepared catalysts revealed structural changes in morphology and chemical composition and electrochemical behaviour and the products /intermediates distributions on the electrode surface could provide valuable conclusions, we are also able to give an insight into significant results for the different materials and their part in the electrocatalysis of ethanol to CO2. In-situ FTIR data showing formation of CO2during the EOR as a result of C-C bond splitting in ethanol at an early potential is will help in further understanding of the mechanistic aspects of these electrocatalysts towards EOR and has the potential to help in the future design of DLFC catalysts.