Investment Payback Period Research Articles

Cost-benefit analysis of adopting the solar photovoltaic water pumping system: A case of Rajasthan

Rajasthan, the largest state in India, occupies 10.5 per cent of the total geographical area of the country, although about two-thirds of its area is arid. The state has a predominantly agrarian economy, and agriculture is the mainstay of about two-thirds of the workforce. Interestingly, only 28 per cent of the net cultivable area in the state is irrigated, compared to the national average of 49.8 per cent. With the aim to improve irrigation facilities and increase agricultural productivity, the state government implemented the solar photovoltaic water pumping system (SPVWPS) in 2008-09 as an appropriate alternative to grid-connected water pumping. The aim of this paper is to assess the costs and benefits of adopting the SPVWPS using data from a field survey of 126 households. The findings show that use of the SPVWPS offers substantial benefits to adopters in the long run. In addition, government subsidy plays a major role in determining the payback period of adopters' investment in the scheme. The paper suggests that, alongside timely implementation of the scheme, the government should facilitate domestic manufacturing of solar cells and panels to fully harness social benefits of the SPVWPS.

Research on the Operation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

As the number of electric vehicles continues to grow, the demand for charging infrastructure continues to expand, and the construction of charging facilities is significantly accelerated. However, after the completion of large-scale construction, problems such as low utilization, low operating profit, and extended investment payback period have emerged, which has become a bottleneck for the development of the electric vehicle industry. Based on the actual operating data of a charging station, this article analyses the operating characteristics of the charging station from the three aspects of charging power, charging time, and utilization. According to its characteristics, this article analyses the relationship with the local economic operation trend, the reasonable length of time for charging parking spaces, and the efficiency of manual maintenance. The article proposes corresponding improvement opinions for existing operational shortcomings.

Investment Analysis In Ct Scanner Procurement Project Between Pt. Sinar Kemajuan Abadi And Hospital In Bandung “Hasan Sadikin”

CT Scanner is an indispensable medical tool by the hospital to support public health services, especially as a tool to diagnose the disease more deeply, due to the increasing needs of the community will need to check with a ct scan with a high degree of accuracy then PT Sinar Kemajuan Abadi do product marketing strategy with the cooperative agreement with the procurement of hospital ct scan x.Analysis of investment decisions are then PT Sinar Kemajuan Abadi investment feasibility analysis on project procurement cooperation CT Scanner, PT Sinar Kemajuan Abadi with hospitals x. Research by conducting a sensitivity analysis to determine the variable Payback Period (PP), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Profitability Index (PI).Results showed that the investment worth it for a period of return on investment (Payback Period) of less than 10 years that is for 4 years and 3 months, the net present value (NPV) is positive IDR 573 792 338, -, The Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 24.45%, and Profitability Index (PI) is more than 1 is 1:18.

Seismic loss assessment of steel structures equipped with rotational friction dampers subjected to intensifying dynamic excitations

The expected seismic losses of structures with Rotational Friction Dampers (RFDs) are assessed by the Endurance Time (ET) method considering the optimal frictional moment of the devices. A practical method is proposed to obtain the optimal frictional moment of the dampers in multi-story structures at multiple seismic hazard levels. The ET method is used as the analytical tool in this research due to its ability to reduce the number of required analyses and providing good estimations of structural responses at various hazard levels. In order to investigate the effectiveness of the dampers, the life cycle costs of a weak steel structure equipped with optimal RFDs are compared with a standard structure with optimal RFDs and without RFDs. To this end, a comprehensive performance evaluation is performed on the structures based on FEMA P-58 methodology. The ET method is also used as a tool to assess the structural responses in the framework of this methodology. The probability of collapse, fatalities, and expected damage costs are estimated utilizing a Monte Carlo procedure considering uncertainties. Also, a cost-benefit analysis is performed to determine the payback period of investment for the additional cost of the rotational friction damping systems.

Investigation and optimization of a solar-assisted pumped thermal energy storage system with flat plate collectors

The objective of this work is the investigation of a solar-assisted pumped thermal energy storage system. The examined unit includes a solar field with flat plate collectors, a high-temperature heat pump, a latent storage system and an organic Rankine cycle. This system is fed by electricity from any renewable energy source (e.g., wind turbines or photovoltaic panels), and so the compressor of the heat pump is driven. The heat pump is fed with low-temperature heat from flat plate collectors, and it rejects heat of medium temperature to a latent storage system. The next step is exploiting the stored heat from an organic Rankine cycle for power production when there is a need for using electricity. The studied system is a “heat and power to power” system and can lead to high power recovery ratios. The analysis was conducted with a developed mathematical program in Engineering Equation Solver, and it was validated with numerical results from the literature. The optimum storage temperature has been found at 150 °C and the optimum temperature in the evaporator of the heat pump at 75 °C. In this case, the electricity recovery ratio (or power to power ratio) is found at 68.48%, the organic Rankine cycle efficiency at 18.45%, and the heat pump coefficient of performance at 3.704, while the collecting area is 150 m2. The use of a similar system without solar collectors but with the ambient as the heat source leads only to a 32.14% power recovery ratio. So, the specific gain of the used collecting area is 35.17 W/m2 which is an important amount of electricity. In the global optimum case, the simple payback period of the solar field investment is found to be at 7.8 years, which is a reasonable value and proves the financial viability of the examined idea. Moreover, this work proves that providing heat input of a relatively high temperature in the heat pump of the pumped thermal energy storage system is an excellent choice for recovering higher amounts of electricity.

Effect of mechanical ventilation on the improvement of the thermal performance of PCM-incorporated double external walls: A numerical investigation under different climatic conditions in Morocco

Improving the thermal storage capacity of buildings through the use of phase change materials (PCMs) is a promising solution to improve the thermal comfort of occupants and reduce energy consumption. In this study, the contribution of mechanical ventilation to the improvement of the thermal performance of double external walls incorporating PCM was investigated. The thermal and energetic performances of a typical residential dwelling in different climatic zones of Morocco were evaluated using recently collected weather data in typical meteorological year format. Several parameters that could impact the results were explored, including the melting temperature and thickness of the PCM, as well as the ventilation rate. The simulation results showed that the use of mechanical ventilation can lead to a considerable improvement in the thermal comfort and reduction in cooling energy consumption. In addition, an economic analysis revealed that mechanical ventilation can contribute to reducing the payback period of PCM investment.

Economic assessment and regional adaptability analysis of CCHP system coupled with biomass-gas based on year-round performance

The combined cooling, heating and power system (CCHP) coupled with biomass-gas could meet energy consumption stably and have favorable thermal performance with a renewable energy contribution rate of 72.11%. The economic benefits of biogas-fueled CCHP system based on annual performance and regional adaptability are studied. Three government subsidy policies: direct government investment, electricity price subsidy for biomass power generation and government discount are selected to assess the effects of economic performance under different proportions. Net present value (NPV), investment payback period (PP) and internal rate of return (IRR) are used as economic evaluation indicators. Without policy subsidies, the NPV, PP and IRR in the cold area are 36,300 yuan, 12.26 years and 5.19%, respectively. Under the limitations of technology, the system is more suitable for areas with uniform cooling and heating load currently. Sensitivity analysis showed that the anaerobic fermenter and biogas slurry price have the greatest impact on the economic benefits. Based on electricity price subsidy (0.47 yuan/kWh), supplemented by direct government investment (20%) are suggested (PP is 8.0 years). It is proposed to form a unified mechanism of government lead, policy incline, enterprise investment and resident support for making the CCHP system coupled with biomass-gas develop vigorously.

The economic impacts of restricting black carbon emissions on cargo shipping in the Polar Code Area

Abstract Since black carbon (BC) has become one of the most harmful pollutants and partly accelerated the melting of the Arctic sea ice, internationally mandatory policy to limit black carbon emissions in the whole Polar Code Area is on the agenda. To cope with this policy, some potential measures from both the coastal government and the shipowners, as well as the economic impacts of these measures, are considered in this paper. We analyze the daily navigation profits and the corresponding BC emissions after these measures are adopted. Since equipment-related cost is usually regarded as fixed and cannot be calculated on a daily basis, this paper also proposes an equipment investment payback period to access the time needed to achieve a balance between the investments and the profits of applying the equipment. A case of a dry bulk carrier navigating through the Northwest Passage is presented for concrete quantitative analysis. The results indicate that wind propulsion system can help shipowners mitigate the largest amount of BC emission. Wind-driven generators, which are used for auxiliary generating system, are the most economic-beneficial to shipowners under the current technology environment. Besides, we found that BC emission tax rate set by coastal governments plays an important role in the selection of different measures by shipowners.

Forecasting the potential and economic feasibility of power generation using biogas from food waste in Ghana: Evidence from Accra and Kumasi

Global environmental change is driven by food production. Biogas from food waste is a better source of clean energy. Ghana’s energy strategy targets a 10% increase in renewable energy and modern biomass in the national electricity generation mix. Studies on the assessment of electricity generation potential and economic feasibility of biogas to electricity projects in Ghana’s major cities are scarcely available. This study assesses the electricity generation potential of biogas from food waste through anaerobic digestion technology. The municipal solid waste generation potential of Accra and Kumasi was estimated from 2020 to 2039. The potential theoretical methane yield from food waste was calculated using Buswell’s equation. The study analyzed anaerobic digestion projects’ economic feasibility using the total life cycle cost, net present value, investment payback period, levelized cost of energy, and internal rate of return methods. A sensitivity analysis based on two scenarios (optimistic and pessimistic) was performed to analyze the influence of changes in the composition of food waste, per capita waste generation rate, population growth rate, per capita GDP growth rate, discount rate, capacity factor, electricity generation efficiency, waste collection efficiency, and methane production potential on the economic feasibility of the projects. The main findings indicate that the amount of waste generation in Accra during the project life cycle is 899,000 t/y to 3,359,000 t/y, while that of Kumasi is 915,000 t/y to 3,159,000 t/y. The power generation potential of the project in Accra ranges from 80.43 to 300.49 GWh/y, and in Kumasi ranges from 60.63 to 209.31 GWh/y. Economically, the project is feasible in Accra and Kumasi. The net present value of the project in Accra and Kumasi is $217,800,000 and $156,100,000. The sensitivity analysis shows that the project is infeasible in all the cities with a discount rate exceeding 20%. When the discount rate exceeds 20%, the project becomes highly infeasible in Accra compared to Kumasi. This study will offer itself as scientific guidance for investment in biogas to electricity projects in Ghana’s cities.

Applicability evaluation of cast-in-place energy piles based on two-year heating and cooling operation

An energy pile is a type of ground heat exchanger (GHEX) that can reduce the initial construction cost by being installed in the existing foundation structure (i.e., pile). However, despite economic benefits, energy piles have not been globally employed owing to a lack of construction cases and appropriate design methods. Therefore, in this study, a design method applicable to large-diameter cast-in-place energy piles was developed and verified by conducting long-term monitoring on the heating and cooling operation. In addition, to evaluate the applicability of the cast-in-place energy piles, their thermo-mechanical behaviors and economic feasibility were analyzed using the long-term monitoring results. Although degradation of thermal performance and significant changes in the ground temperature were observed in the heating operation, it was concluded that the proposed design method could provide reliable design outcomes. The maximum thermal stress was estimated to be 2.38 MPa during the long-term monitoring, which is approximately 8.5% of the design strength criterion for cast-in-place concrete. Finally, compared with a conventional closed-loop vertical GHEX, the cast-in-place energy piles could reduce the initial investment cost by 25.31%, and the investment payback period was evaluated to be 1.61 years.

A techno-economic analysis for power generation through wind energy: A case study of Pakistan

Pakistan needs to overcome the cost of power generation and the ever-increasing demand for energy with environment-friendly renewable energy resources. Several research efforts have been made with the support of Pakistan Meteorological Department in the last two decades for wind resource assessment (WRA) across the country. However, the practical installation of wind farms is quite a fraction of the total forecast wind energy potential. In this feasibility, WRA of Umerkot and Sujawal districts located in Sindh provinces of Pakistan has been analyzed by analyzing mean wind speeds, estimated Weibull parameters, power and energy densities calculation for various heights of selected wind turbines. Further, this paper analyzes the overall energy potential for these locations with implementation cost and pay-back period for investment. These locations are selected by the World Bank initiative of wind profiling campaigns to record wind speed data during 2016 and 2018 with 10 min resolution. It is observed that Umerkot and Sujawal sites are suitable for energy production. The highest values of power and energy densities for Sujawal are 414.18 W/m2 and 3628.22 kWh/m2/Yr and for Umerkot these values are 303.86 W/m2 and 2661.81 kWh/m2/Yr. The results indicate that using Nordex N90/2500 wind turbines are highly beneficial for Umerkot and Sujawal. The associated costs of energy are 0.074 $/kWh and 0.056 $kWh respectively and the payback period is estimated to be around 7 years with 20 years life time of the project. This work suggests the possibility of wind farm installation and commissioning based on power density calculation and cost of land acquisition. This work emphasizes the investment for wind farms at Sujawal and Umerkot for the sustainable growth of the country. This helps out policymakers for long term planning, development of wind energy projects and attracting investment for the country.

Identification of cost-optimal levels for energy refurbishment of a residential building stock under different scenarios: Application at the urban scale

The low replacement rate of existing residential buildings, together with their high share in the final energy consumption, has put energy refurbishment of the current stock in the centre of the agenda. Nevertheless, due to the high up-front investment and long payback period that it usually implies, deep energy retrofitting is not yet widely applied. In this context, the cost-optimal methodology introduced by Directive 2010/31/EU created a framework to identify the energy efficiency measures that would maximize the economic return. However, the analysis of cost-optimality has often been limited to a single building or type of building, which cannot be extrapolated to an existing building stock. In other cases, the limited number of reference buildings hinders the capture of the great heterogeneity of an existing building stock into sufficiently homogeneous building typologies for a reliable extrapolation of the assessment results. To address such a challenge, this research proposes the application of the cost-optimal method on an urban scale, aiming to identify the suitable range of energy performance that is reasonable to promote in different types of buildings, keeping in mind their specific characteristics. The methodology is applied to the residential building stock of the city of Bilbao, northern Spain, through a comprehensive approach that also incorporates deeper interventions pointing at nearly zero-energy building levels. The results aim to support decision-makers in outlining the most suitable energy efficiency policy and determining the priority targets that demand the mobilisation of investment.

Thermodynamic and economic analysis of the air source heat pump system with direct-condensation radiant heating panel

The air source heat pump (ASHP) system with the direct-condensation radiant heating panel (DRHP) is an efficient space heating method. To evaluate the energy and exergy efficiencies of the system, a thermodynamic model was established. The effects of external air temperature, indoor air temperature and condensation temperature on the system efficiencies were investigated comprehensively. Results indicate that the low compression ratio is beneficial to the improvement of the energy and exergy efficiency of the system. The efficiency superiority of the system is corroborated in comparison with other ASHP systems. Meanwhile, the economic performances of the system are investigated with the initial cost, operating cost and several economic indicators. To examine the operating cost of the system, a reliable system model is proposed and the hourly heating load rates of a case study are presented. Results show that the dynamic investment pay-back period and the internal rate of return of the proposed system are 7.3 years and 11.2%, respectively. The economic competitiveness of the proposed system is demonstrated in comparison with other traditional ASHP heating systems.

Research on Application of Solar Air Heating in Buildings of Villages in Northern China—Based on Experimental Study

In this paper, a test bench was built to study the thermal performance of three typical air collectors. Based on the test data, this paper conducted a comprehensive study on the physical and economic performance of the solar air heating systems including indoor temperature, solar energy guarantee rate, investment payback period and life cycle cost, and gave recommendations for their applications. The research showed that under the specified air flow rate range, the efficiency of the three typical collectors all reached above 45%. When the flow rate increased twice, the efficiencies of the V-groove collector, S-type spoiler collector, seams penetration collector were increased by 16%, 20%, 19%, respectively. This research recommended the ideal flow rate for solar air heating in China was 36 m3/(h.m2) ~ 54 m3/(h.m2). The simulation results in15 typical cities showed that the solar energy guarantee rate was generally above 20%, and in more than half of cities the solar energy guarantee rate reached 30% or above, with the highest in Lhasa, reached 62%. Economic analysis indicated more than 70% of the cities in northern China have a simple payback period of less than 6 years. The results indicated that solar air heating technology not only has a wide range of adaptability but also yield great financial benefits in northern China. This paper will have a significant impact on guiding the application of solar air heating in rural areas of China.

Technical and economic indicators of a slurry tailings hydrotransport system when replacing steel slurry lines with polyurethane-coated slurry lines

The hydrotransport system of Andrei Varichev Mikhailovsky GOK JSC used for iron ore processing tailings was studied with the aim of establishing its performance when using slurry pipelines with and without polyurethane coatings of their internal surfaces under mass concentration variations of 10 to 70 %. It has been established that the use of internal polyurethane coatings significantly reduces the specific head losses in hydraulic transportation of thickened slurry tailings for iron ore processing tailings. However, the technical and economic calculations performed failed to confirm the economic efficiency of their application for the slurry pipelines of the tailings facility hydrotransport system of Mikhailovsky GOK at any slurry thickening values, due to the significant payback period of capital investments caused by the relatively high current cost of polyurethanecoated pipelines. At the same time, a significant reduction (almost by a factor of four, provided that the current production volumes are maintained) in hydrotransport (energy) costs and maintenance costs of pressure slurry pipelines were identified for a transition to slurry tailings thickening to 50 % solids (excluding the capital and operating costs for the thickening system, reconstruction of the slurry pumping stations and additional measures for the distribution of a thicker slurry at the tailings storage facility). It is proposed to use the results obtained in the reconstruction of the slurry tailings hydrotransport system at the tailings facility of Mikhailovsky GOK with a conversion to hydraulic transportation of bulk concentration tailings thickened to 50 % in ∅820 mm slurry pipelines.

Supply Chain Driven Commercialisation of Bio Energy Carbon Capture and Storage

Pulp mills, as large biogenic CO2 point sources, could adopt Bio Energy Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) through retrofitting carbon capture. These existing carbon sources constitute a great potential to roll out BECCS on commercial scale. Yet, despite political targets for negative emission production in Sweden, no incentive schemes were thus far enacted. While previous proposals focus on governmental compensation, the aim of this work is to set BECCS into the supply chain of a wide array of consumer products and thereby find alternative or complementary, business-driven, ways to incentivise BECCS when applied to the pulp and paper industry. In this work, we assess a “value proposition” for low-carbon products in supply chains linked to the pulp and paper industry. By projecting the costs and negative emissions related to BECCS from the pulp mill to typical consumer products, as exemplified by three case study products, we show how BECCS can substantially reduce the carbon footprint of the consumer products, while only marginally increasing their cost. Additional price premiums could shorten the payback period of the initial investment in BECCS. The developed business case presents how actors along the supply chain for pulp and paper products can collectively contribute to securing financing and to mitigating investment risks. The results challenge the private sector, i.e., the companies along the pulp-and-paper supply chain to commit considerable investments also in the case without or with too weak direct political incentives. We conclude by discussing the governance implications on corporate and public level to enable the collaborative “bottom-up” adoption of BECCS.

A new correlation for estimating the gas turbine cost

The recent changes in energy scenario with rising attention to decarbonization, introduction of new technology and renewable source have led to design power plant with the lowest values of cost of energy, investment payback period, CO2 emission, especially in cogeneration and combined cycle plants. The cost of a gas turbine, an industrial key intellectual property value, represents a large portion of total plant capital cost. In fact, the correlations used to determine this cost, represent an important part in the optimization of power plant studied. In this work, a new cost correlation has been determined using gas turbine data presents into GTW handbook. The overall correlation, dependently only on gas turbine output power, used in a lot of scientific studies is here actualized, calculating new split-power and new coefficients for Heavy Duty and Aeroderivative gas turbine. Therefore, a more complete and detailed correlation is developed, introducing additional parameters, such as thermodynamic efficiency, pressure ratio, exhaust temperature and exhaust mass flow rate, whose values are available on gas turbine datasheet. The new correlation here proposed reflects better real gas turbine configurations and costs.

Drivers and challenges of electric vehicles integration in corporate fleet: An empirical survey

Low-carbon economy roadmaps aim to reduce transport emissions by relying, at least to some extent, on electric vehicles. The uptake of electric vehicles on a mass scale requires the simultaneous adoption of such vehicles for private and commercial purposes. Although literature regarding the private sphere is consistent, there is comparatively less empirical research seeking to explain the factors that enable and hinder the uptake of electric vehicles at a commercial level at which fleet managers have a prominent role. Based on an empirical survey conducted in Italy, this paper investigates the role of technical and financial information in fleet managers' procurement decision-making. Results suggest a lack of awareness regarding technical characteristics of vehicles, given that 59% of the fleet managers surveyed scored low to medium. Furthermore, a misalignment related to the expected investment payback period was observed, considering that 49% declared that they expect a payback period within three years. Given that exposure to electric vehicles within fleets constitutes an incentive for private purchase, well-designed policies for corporate fleets' electrification would lead to remarkable growth of the electric vehicles s market.

Analysis of joint operation of air-cooling system and peak cooling device in summer

In view of the insufficient condensation capacity of air-cooling island in the summer, this paper proposed joint operation of air-cooling unit and peak cooling device to reduce the turbine back pressure. A joint operation cooling system can be formed by building a separate condenser room, retrofitting hydraulic pipe and adding a peak heat exchanger device. The influence factors on the air-cooling island condensation capacity are analyzed by establishing heat transfer calculation simulation model of the air-cooled condensers (ACCs) and the peak heat exchanger. The simulation results show that the main factor affecting the condensation capacity of air-cooling condenser and peak heat exchanger is ambient temperature, and the condensation capacity decreases significantly with increasing the ambient temperature. When it is hot in summer, the condensation capacity of original air-cooling system can not meet the demand, therefore, a joint operation scheme is determined for temperature above 10 °C: give priority to air-cooling system, peak cooling device as supplement when air-cooling system has insufficient condensation capacity. At the same time, the simulation results show that the joint operation of air-cooling system and peak cooling device can effectively reduce turbine back pressure. In actual power plant, joint operation of air-cooling system and peak cooling device was used at 25 °C and 30 °C under 330 MW, and the turbine back pressure decreased by 6.7 kPa and 6.1 kPa, respectively. The joint operation system has economic benefits and the investment payback period is 4 years.

4E analysis and multiple objective optimizations of a cascade waste heat recovery system for waste-to-energy plant

Owning to its advantage in waste reuse, waste-to-energy technology, has become the most popular way to deal with the increasingly municipal solid waste. However, the energy efficiency of waste-to-energy plant is limited because of the huge heat loss. In this study, a novel waste heat recovery system, consisting of a supercritical CO2 cycle, an organic Rankine cycle, and an absorption refrigeration cycle, is proposed to improve both the thermal efficiency and economic performance of the waste-to-energy plant. A comprehensive thermodynamic analysis is performed to study the energy and exergy efficiency of the system by establishing a reliable mathematical model. Net present value analysis is carried out to study the final net profit and dynamic investment payback period. Besides, the levelized cost of electricity and ecological efficiency of the waste-to-energy plant are investigated. Based on the results of parameter sensitivity analysis of the system, multiple objective optimizations is carried out by using non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II. The results show that the combined system obtains the highest economic benefit in winter. The energy efficiency of the waste-to-energy plant can be up to 75.07% after adding the waste heat recovery system, with an increment of 54.58%. And the maximum net present value and minimum dynamic payback period are 23.22 M$ and 4.11 years, separately. Compared with the original waste-to-energy plant, the levelized cost of electricity and ecological efficiency are decreased by 68% and increased by 16%, respectively. From the results of sensitivity analysis, the isentropic efficiency of turbine of supercritical CO2 cycle, the evaporator pressure of organic Rankine cycle, and the generator temperature of absorption refrigeration cycle are the most sensitive factors for the thermal efficiency and economic performance of the system. The exergy destruction analysis shows that the exergy destruction rate of the boiler declines to 48.41% after adding the waste heat recovery system, but the condensers need further improvement for their lowest exergy efficiency. In conclusion, the waste-to-energy plant can provide electricity, heating and cooling simultaneously after adding the waste heat recovery system and the proposed system is theoretically feasible from the results of thermodynamic, economic and environmental analysis.