Non-conventional Resources Research Articles

New method to prepare high purity anatase TiO2 through alkaline roasting and acid leaching from non-conventional minerals resource

Solid waste tailings from acid leaching of Gattar mineralized ore material contain economic and valuable minerals were processed to obtain some economic products. Firstly, these tailings were upgraded to a high‐‑titanium concentrate, which was then roasted with newly used (NaOH/Na2CO3) flux, for which the most suitable conditions for roasting were established. Then, the roasted masses were leached with hot water to selectively dissolve vanadium, silica and alumina leaving titanium in the leach residue (Ti-slag). Vanadium was recovered from the water leachate as a pure by-product. Thereafter, the Ti-slag was subjected to H2SO4 leaching to dissolve Ti, Fe, Mn and Zr. The effects of different parameters for H2SO4 leaching on the dissolution of Ti were determined. Titanium was separated as a pure TiO2 product in a single extraction stage with purity 99.9 wt%. The crystallographic transformations that occurred through the different processes were examined using XRD.

A Review of Hydrate Formation in Oil and Gas Transition Pipes

This review provides a description of the various applications and issues of gas hydrate production in gas and oil pipelines, in general, gas hydrate is a clathrate of physical compounds, in which gas molecules are trapped in crystalline cells, formed by hydrogen bonds of water molecules. In the presence of water under various conditions, gas hydrates can be formed from all gases at high and lower pressures. The oil and gas industry have been taking stringent measures for many years to prevent the formation of hydrates which is plug pipelines by use. However, Natural gas hydrate is a non-conventional energy resource available to humans in colder regions, such as ice or sea bottoms. Other positive applications for natural hydrate include sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2), storage, separation and transport of natural gas, the use of hydrate dissociation energy can be used in cooling and cool storage processes. The aims of this paper are to prevent gas hydrate’s formation that occur naturally in the oil natural gas transition pipelines, as well as the positive and negative that is remains from this natural phenomenon.

Four Decades of Bamboo Technology Research in Kerala Forest Research Institute Supporting Bamboo-Based Industries: A Review

Bamboo offers one of the best and important renewable, eco-friendly low-input alternative or non-conventional raw material resource to wood for livelihood as well as industrial purposes. Kerala Forest Research Institute is completing 45 years of service supporting the bamboo sector of Kerala, India. Its major contributions to bamboo technology are being made by the Wood Science and Technology faculty of the Institute, the present review is limited to the same sphere. The paper reviews and summarizes the work done by KFRI since 1975 till date, and also provides information on specific consolidation or re-stocking of the significant contributions in Bamboo Technology from the Institute.

Positive- and zero-sequence impedance estimation of YNynd-connected main power transformers in wind power applications

With the increased penetration of non-conventional renewable energy resources, such as wind power plants (WPPs), into the power system, a lot of interest has been placed on studying their impact for system protection, planning and operations to ensure continued reliability of the electric grid. The impact of WPPs on the grid is typically identified during generation interconnection studies. One of the challenges faced by protection and planning engineers, at an early stage in this process, is that many of the studies involving these power plants must be performed without specific data available because the equipment is not built yet. Among all the needed data, a particular interest in this study is placed on the positive- and zero-sequence impedances of the main power transformer (MPT) that interconnects a wind power plant to the transmission system due to its contribution to short-circuit current during ground faults. The most commonly found in practice MPT winding configurations is a high-voltage winding in wye with neutral bushing; a low-voltage winding in wye with neutral bushing without phase shift between these windings, and a stabilizing tertiary winding connected in delta that is not designed for external loading designated as YNyn0+d. Thus, this paper proposes a methodology to estimate the sequence impedances of YNyn0+d transformers from a statistical point of view applying clustering and regression analyses on existing MPT test report data.

Pythagorean Fuzzy SWARA–VIKOR Framework for Performance Evaluation of Solar Panel Selection

The age of industrialization and modernization has increased energy demands globally. Solar energy has been recognized as an inexhaustible source of energy and has been applied for desalination and electricity generation. Among different non-conventional energy resources, Solar Energy (SE) is one of the main contributors to the global energy system. A photovoltaic system (PS) is applied to produce SE using photovoltaic cells. The selection of a solar panel includes many intricate factors involving both subjective and quantifiable parameters; therefore, it can be regarded as a complex Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) problem. As the uncertainty commonly occurs in the selection of an ideal solar panel, the theory of Pythagorean fuzzy sets has been proven as one of the flexible and superior tools to deal with the uncertainty and ambiguity that arise in real-life applications. The aim of the study is to present an MCDM framework for solving the Solar Panel Selection (SPS) problem within the Pythagorean fuzzy (PF) environment. For this, first, a new integrated method is proposed based on the Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) and VlseKriterijumska Optimizcija I Kaompromisno Resenje (VIKOR) approaches in the Pythagorean fuzzy sets (PFSs) context. In the proposed approach, subjective weights of the evaluation criteria are calculated by the SWARA method, and the preference order of alternatives is decided by the VIKOR method in the PF context. The criteria weights evaluated by this approach involve the imprecision of experts’ opinions, which makes them more comprehensible. The computational procedure of the proposed methodology is established through a case study of the SPS problem under PF environment, which proves the applicability and efficiency of the proposed method. Furthermore, this study performs sensitivity analysis to reveal the stability of the developed framework. This analysis signifies that the solar panel option R4 constantly secures its highest ranking despite how the parameter values vary. In addition, a comparative study is discussed to analyze the validity of the obtained result. The results show that the proposed approach is more efficient and applicable with previously developed methods in the PFS environment.

Ontogenetic Development of Hedysarum alpinum L. in the Prebaikalia Region

Hedysarum alpinum L. is an important medicinal plant, which also has ornamental value and is used as a non-conventional feed resource. The medicinal value of this plant species is attributable to the content of the glycoside mangiferin in the aerial parts of a plant, which demonstrates immunostimulating properties. Harvesting of H. alpinumas a herbal raw material leads to a fast depletion of natural coenopopulation areas. When cultivated in Prebaikalia, the plant passes through all ontogenetic stages, entering the reproductive phase at year 2-3 of growth. The mid-reproductive stage, which is the most productive for feeding purposes, lasts 6 to 10 years. For introduced species, the life span of a plant growing in the same place ranges between 12 and 20 years. H. alpinumis a promising medicinal and fodder plant, which tolerates dry summer periods, is winter-hardy, and has high shoot biomass production.

Energy, Economic, and Environmental Evaluation of a Proposed Solar-Wind Power On-grid System Using HOMER Pro®: A Case Study in Colombia

The electrical sector in the Caribbean region of Colombia is currently facing problems that affect its reliability. Many thermo-electric plants are required to fill the gap and ensure energy supply. This paper thus proposes a hybrid renewable energy generation plant that could supply a percentage of the total energy demand and reduce the environmental impact of conventional energy generation. The hybrid plant works with a photovoltaic (PV) system and wind turbine systems, connected in parallel with the grid to supply a renewable fraction of the total energy demand. The investigation was conducted in three steps: the first stage determined locations where the energy system was able to take advantage of renewable sources, the second identified a location that could work more efficiently from an economic perspective, and finally, the third step estimated the number of PV solar panels and wind turbines required to guarantee optimal functioning for this location using, as a main method of calculation, the software HOMER pro® for hybrid optimization with multiple energy resources. The proposed system is expected to not only limit environmental impacts but also decrease total costs of electric grid consumption from thermoelectric plants. The simulations helped identify Puerto Bolivar, Colombia, as the location where the hybrid plant made the best use of non-conventional resources of energy. However, Rancho Grande was found to offer the system more efficiency, while generating a considerable amount of energy at the lowest possible cost. An optimal combination was also obtained—441 PV arrays and 3 wind turbines, resulting in a net present cost (NPC) of $11.8 million and low CO2 production of 244.1 tons per year.

Enhancing waste to hydrogen production through biomass feedstock blending: A techno-economic-environmental evaluation

Concerns related to global warming and the depletion of fossil fuels have propelled the global community to explore alternative renewable energy sources. Biomass is a nonconventional and renewable energy resource that can potentially be utilised for the production of sustainable heat and power. The thermal gasification process is an effective biomass conversion and utilisation method producing syngas as the product gas. This study details a biomass gasification process and subsequent optimisation, considering multiple parameters, including the type of feedstock and gasifying agent (gasifier) to maximise hydrogen production. Aspen Plus software is used to develop three agent-based biomass gasification models considering the characteristics of certain materials from Qatar built environment. The ultimate goal of the study is to optimise the gasification processes to yield different biomass blending options satisfying the maximisation of hydrogen generation through different scenarios. The capabilities of the built-in activated analysis package using Aspen Energy Analyser and Aspen Process Economic Analyser are utilised to evaluate the environmental and economic perspectives. The results demonstrate the excellence of steam-only biomass gasification in providing profitable and cleaner products. The yield of hydrogen production from blending of biomass feedstock achieved a high fraction of 5.23% with the steam-only gasification, while the yield increased from 1.63% to 5.22% for the oxygen/steam gasification when maximising the hydrogen fraction. Moreover, the selective limiting of biomass capacity enhances the quality of syngas through enriching the hydrogen production and lowers the need for subsequent adjustment and the manipulation of gasifying agent quantity and operating energy.

Smart methodology for performance improvement of energy sources for home application

The integrated solar and wind serves as a major contributor's for clean electrification in many nations. In this technical era energy crisis is primary issue due to depletion of nonconventional resources. Solar and wind available are chargeless. The hybrid energy can be installed for domestic or commercial purpose, it is required to meet impetration of power. To meliorate the pursuance of the hybrid energy, installed the continuous real time monitoring becomes necessary. IoT helps in monitoring the system by providing the detailed values of different parameters of plant over a dedicated IP address. This helps to maintain the plant over long distances by getting to know the values and thus maintain it to the desired levels. IoT helps in communicating the performance of the power generated and helps controlling the switch over between the energy sources available. A framework for energy source integrated with IoT is proposed to have fly back converter in continuous conduction mode along with multilevel inverter to decline the stress of current and escalate the power efficiency. The proposed venture not only helps in monitoring, controlling energy flow without any manual interference and power interruption, but also increases the productivity for the consumer and is highly reliable. In order to affirm the suggested venture a prototype module is made and executed.

Non-conventional resources for the coming drought: the development of rainwater harvesting systems in a Mediterranean suburban area

ABSTRACTThe city of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Spain) has made mandatory the installation of rainwater harvesting systems in new housing units with large gardens but also has provided subsidies to households to build these systems on a voluntary basis. We conducted a survey of households in both groups (mandatory and voluntary) to explore the effectiveness of these different types of policies. We see many similarities between the two groups, especially concerning satisfaction with the systems, and with their perceived environmental and economic benefits. The main difference was the preferred size of rainwater tanks.

Study on Wave Energy Conversion by Using Oscillating Water Column in Alindau Waters

Growth electricity consumption in central sulawesi encourages increased utilization of conventional resources such as petroleum products and coal as alternative energy plant. It causes some adverse effect either on the environment, health and economy. As a result, the alternative of conversion energy from non-conventional resources must be provided. Central Sulawesi with coastline about 4,013km has immense potential in developing wave energy as an alternative of Renewable Energy Resource. This paper investigated the potential for wave energy conversion in Lindau Water as an alternative of power plant by using Oscillating Water Column System (OWC). The value of significant wave height and periods are calculated based on the Wilson method, which is then analysed to determine the potential of electricity that feasible converted from wave energy in Lindau waters and potential to applicated wave energy conversion using OWC in Lindau Waters. The result found the conversion of Lindau waters wave energy produce the largest power that can be converted is about 21. 000 watts. Its shows the potential that can be applied to coverage the need electricity by using wave energy in Alindau Village.

Analysis of Energy Management in Micro-grid with Distributed Generation System

The Energy management in Micro-Grid system is one of the most irrefutable issues in micro grid technology development. The Micro grid energy system consists on non-conventional resources, unit with storage energy and islanded or grid connected mode of operating loads. This tabloid presents a Micro-Grid energy management system for distributed generation connected MG with hybrid energy storage system. Hybrid energy storage system is achieved by combining the Ultra-capacitor and battery storage. The proposed energy management system in micro grid with hybrid energy storage system follows the two techniques, such as forecasting and optimization. Prediction of solar irradiance, load demand and temperature are coming under the Forecasting technique. For the economical operation in a grid connected micro grid the optimal day-ahead scheduling of power generation and load demand is performed by the optimization technique. The MG will absorb or deliver the prespecified amount of power. In this method MG connected to the power grid in large numbers are integrated. The main intension of the energy management system is power balancing in the micro grid. The MATLAB/Simulink environment has been used to analyzing the effect of Energy management in micro-gird with hybrid energy storage system. The simulation results will show the effective and stoutness of the proposed energy management method.

Concrete Solar Collector- an Experimental Investigation in Solar Passive Energy

The overall development of any country in the world depends on the demand and supply of energy. The energy demand has been increasing gradually and the supply is limited. With the increasing per capita power consumption, the depletion of conventional resources, an increase in the cost of power production and environmental pollution are emerging issues of concern in future. Seeking non-conventional energy resources and technologies will be solutions to these problems to a great extent. This paper aims at ascertaining the feasibility of using concrete for producing solar water heater and makes the heater more cost effective. This paper paves way for the possible meshing of concrete collector with roof slab to provide human comfort and hot water requirement. With these facts in mind concrete solar collector, of size 2 m 2 was developed, designed, fabricated and tested in Pune. Trials were conducted in both winter and summer season on the concrete collector for different mass flow rates from 20 to 45 liter/hr. The average outlet water temperature was found to be 58◦C. The average overall efficiency of concrete collector is found to be 34%. The optical efficiency of the concrete collector is found to be 42.75%. The overall heat loss coefficient of the concrete collector is found to be 11.2 W/m 2 K

Energy Framework and Policy Direction Guidelines: Ghana 2017–2050 Perspectives

Ghana currently has no future energy strategic plan or framework for its generation system apart from the Energy Policy developed by the Energy Commission (EC). The EC based its research on the year 2000 parameters and estimated the energy system up to 2020, which cannot entirely address the current challenges facing the energy sector. The main objective of this paper is to develop an integrated energy planning (IEP) framework for Ghana as a guideline for addressing energy challenges, to promote energy efficiency in both demand and transmission, CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> emissions reduction, and the utilization of renewable energy sources (RES). The methods used are content analysis, multiple case study, and procedure for IEP framework development. The primary computer tool used for the analysis and future energy projections was Long-range Energy Alternative Planning. The demand forecast was performed using key input parameters, including Gross Domestic Product, population change and urbanization. The overall results of this study suggest 40% of non-conventional renewable energy resources into the country's energy mix, proposed energy efficiency promotion in both demand and transmission, and the utilization of RES integration to save the nation up to about 40% CO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> emissions reduction. The paper recommends strategies to reduce losses in the transmission and distribution systems of Ghana. The paper again recommends the revenues accrued from the carbon tax for maintenance work on the existing equipment, and finally, an integrated energy planning framework was developed to serve as a roadmap for Ghana's energy sector up to the year 2050.

Capacitance Requirement for Rated Current and Rated Voltage Operation of SEIG Using Whale Optimization Algorithm

In today’s world non-conventional energy resources are being considered as powerful resources in the field of power generation. To optimize the resources required to generate the power is always be a challenging task. Many meta-heuristic algorithms have been applied for solving the complex optimization problems. Resource optimization is also a n-p hard problem. Whale optimization (WO) is newly developed meta-heuristic performed efficiently for solving complex engineering problems. In this paper WO is used as an optimization algorithm in order to optimize the value of excitation capacitance for rated voltage and rated current operation of self-excited induction generator. The simulation has been carried out on a 5.5 kw rating induction generator and the same has been used for the experimental validation. The results as obtained shows that WO outperformed as compared to other meta-heuristic

ANALYSIS THE PERFORMANCE AND EFFECTS OF ARTIFICIAL ROUGHNESS WITH VARIOUS RIBS ARRANGEMENT ON THE ABSORBER PLATE OF SOLAR AIR HEATER.

Energy requirement is very important in our life. Today, every country draws its energy needs from a variety of sources. we can broadly categorize these sources as comercial and noncommercial. The commercial sources include the fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas, while the noncommercial sources include wood, animal wastes and agricultural wastes. In past few years, it has become obvious that fossil fuel resources are fast depleting and the fossil fuel era is gradually coming to an end. This is particularly true for oil and natural gas. Energy expenditue is constantly increasing all over the world, and we have very little source of energy. So in such a situation, we need to find alternate source of energy. Till this time, it would not be wrong to say that the sun was supplying all the energy needs of man either directly or indirectly. As we know the energy resources available on the earth are in various forms like sunlight, fossil fuels, hydraulic energy, wind energy, tidal energy, geothermal energy and nuclear energy etc. we are having basically two types of energy resources i.e. conventional and non-conventional energy resources. From the point of view of energy saving and fulfill of present and future demand, the best option is renewable energy. We know that Sun is the ultimate source of energy and it is easilly available on the earth in free of cost. Solar energy is used in many areas for different purposes like heat and cool buildings, to heat water, to operate engines etc. So we have best option for provide heat for various purposes is Solar Air Heater. Artificial roughness, which is mounted on the absorber plate, play important role for enhancement of heat transfer rate in order to improve the thermal performance of solar air heater. In this paper our aim is to increase the thermal performance of solar air heater using artificial roughness with different shape of ribs arrangement roughness.

Characterization of Finfish Hatchery Waste for Value Added Product

Commercial fish hatchery generates waste both organic and inorganic; the sources are primarily from uneaten food and fish feces. Conventional methods of treating hatchery wastes will increase the operating cost and become extra burden in production. It is necessary to develop a new research application of this nonconventional resource and reduce the negative impacts of hatchery waste on the environment. The whole project is to utilize hatchery waste through bioprocess for probiotic fortified live feed production. In this study, the chemical composition of hatchery waste was determined to understand the suitability waste to get value-added derived products through bioprocess. Composite samples were collected everyday and dried in an oven at a temperature of 65°C until complete dryness. Dried samples were mixed well and grinded into fine powder. The analytical parameters like total solids, ammonium nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate were determined from the freshly collected samples. Total nitrogen, total phosphorus and total potassium were determined from the dry samples. Total solids, ammonium nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate-phosphorus were observed in the ranged from 75 - 82 mg/L, 0.25 - 8.5 mg/L, 0.05 - 1.9 mg/L, 0.04 - 6.7 mg/L and 4.1 - 16.7 mg/L respectively. On the other hand, the mean content of 3.75% total nitrogen, 1.80% total phosphorus and 0.15% potassium were determined in dry hatchery wastes. The analytical parameters are useful and demonstrate that the nutrients in both fresh and dry waste will be supportive for the growth of microbes in the bioprocess system.

Off-Grid Prospects of Biofuel-Based Rural Electrification in India

Tapping non-conventional renewable energy resources for generation of electricity is the need of the hour, particularly in the developing countries. Renewable energy from photovoltaic, wind turbines and small hydroelectricity plants is eco-friendly and highly desirable for all countries. But, for the developing countries, such as, Sub-Sahara Africa where hardly 14.2% of rural electrification is available, these resources may prove a lifeline. Biofuels may be used as another safe resource for an off-grid electricity generation that covers about 60% of the requirement in Brazil. It may be a choice area for this purpose on small scales akin to the mini-grid system, particularly in the remote rural belts. It has been observed that Jatropha-derived fatty acid (de-esterified oil) is quite suitable for off-grid rural electrification in India. Bio-methanation of press cake (from Jatropha and other oilseeds) is another suitable material for harnessing off-grid electricity at a reduced level of environmental pollution. Several studies, Government reports, NGO projects and field studies show that the objective of rural electrification stands a bright prospect. It was found that there is a major gap in the available literature on the rural electrification through Jatropha cultivation. There is a lack of knowledge of how to make the best possible use of Jatropha for energy generation in India. This endeavor evaluates an Indian perspective of how biofuel-based off-grid electrification may brighten energy scenario, primarily in the rural habitats that comprise over 75% here. It has been also found that the costing of biodiesel is much cheaper than the petroleum-based diesel in near future.

Performance Analysis Of Distributed Real Time Optimization Technique For Optimal Power Flow Problems

For conventional electric power system, penetration of high level of distributed generation is new challenge. Distributed energy resources produces on-site electricity, by which it reduces the requirement of new transmission line set up and also provides reduction of line losses. In earlier days, centralized optimization approaches have been the primary way of optimization of power system. In centralized approach of optimization, optimal power flow operation is performed by collecting information at central controller. But because of increase of size of power system and enhancement of distributed resources from demand side various problem arises in performing computation and control in centralized approach. Optimal operation of power flows are utilized in planning and scheduling of generation of power. Most of the non-conventional resources are located at the distribution grid. So to handle the uncertainness associated in renewable energy resources, load demands etc. there is a need of development of distributed algorithm for AC-optimization problems. This paper realizes in real time optimization and to track the time varying OPF problem and for numerical optimization method different quasi-Newton methods are used. For time varying loads there is a requirement of an algorithm technique that can track variant load on faster time scale. So, to address these challenges various approaches or techniques are presented.

Wavelet-Alienation Coefficient based Protection of Distribution System

Growth enhances the complexity in control of distribution networks which are progressing towards the vision of smart grids. Inclusion of non-conventional resource power generators affects in magnitude and flow directions of faults in the distribution system there by posing challenges towards protection of distribution system.. A wavelet and alienation coefficients based algorithm described in this paper for electrical distribution network protection which is also connected with wind farm. The algorithm takes the current samples at selected nodes of the wind farm connected distribution system. From the collected samples of the current signals approximation coefficients are extracted using wavelet technique. A moving half cycle window is used to obtain alienation coefficients of the current signals which were approximated by wavelet technique. Using the WT (Wavelet transform) decomposition on the currents measured at selected nodes approximation coefficients are computed, which are used for acquiring the alienation coefficients to fault classification and identification. MATLAB Simulink is used for simulation of modified IEEE 13 bus test feeder system.Effectiveness of proposed technique examine for all possible shunt faults at every bus of test feeder system. Also the effect of wind speed variations and location of wind farm connection conditions are tested to evaluate the reliability of the technique.