Stable power supply of an independent power source for a remote island using a Hybrid Energy Storage System composed of electric and hydrogen energy storage systems

We propose a self-sustaining power supply system consisting of a “Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS)” and renewable energy sources to ensure a stable supply of high-quality power in remote islands. The configuration of the self-sustaining power supply system that can utilize renewable energy sources effectively on remote islands where the installation area is limited is investigated. It is found that it is important to select renewable energy sources whose output power curve is close to the load curve to improve the efficiency of the system. The operation methods that can increase the cost-effectiveness of the self-sustaining power supply system are also investigated. It is clarified that it is important for increasing the cost effectiveness of the self-sustaining power supply system to operate the HESS with a smaller capacity of its components by setting upper limits on the output power of the renewable energy sources and cutting the infrequent generated power.     

Locating wind farm for power and hydrogen production based on Geographic information system and multi-criteria decision making method: An application

Hydrogen generation from renewable energy resources is considered as a suitable solution to solve the problems related to the energy sector and the reduction of greenhouse gases. The aim of this study is to provide an integrated framework for identifying suitable areas for the construction of wind farms to produce hydrogen. For this purpose, a combined method of Geographic Information System (GIS) and multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) has been used to locate the power plant in Yazd province. The GIS method in the present study consisted of two parts: constraints and criteria. The constraint section included areas that were unsuitable for the construction of wind farms to produce power and hydrogen. In the present study, various aspects such as physical, economic and environmental had been considered as constraints. In the criteria section, eight different criteria from technical aspects (including average wind speed, hydrogen production potential, land slope) and economic aspects (including distance to electricity grid, distance to urban areas, distance to road, distance to railway and distance to centers of High hydrogen consumption) had been investigated. The MCDM tool had been used to weigh the criteria and identify suitable areas. Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique was used for weighting the criteria. The results of AHP weighting method showed that economic criteria had the highest importance with a value of 0.681. The most significant sub-criterion was the distance to urban areas and the least significant sub-criterion was the distance to power transmission lines. The results of GIS-MCDM analysis had shown that the most proper areas were in the southern and central sectors of Yazd province. In addition, the feasibility of hydrogen production from wind energy had shown that this province had the capacity to generate hydrogen at the rate of 53.6–128.6 tons per year.     

Experimental study on mitigating wind erosion of calcareous desert sand using spray method for microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation

Wind erosion is one of the significant natural calamities worldwide, which degrades around one-third of global land. The eroded and suspended soil particles in the environment may cause health hazards, i.e. allergies and respiratory diseases, due to the presence of harmful contaminants, bacteria, and pollens. The present study evaluates the feasibility of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technique to mitigate wind-induced erosion of calcareous desert sand (Thar desert of Rajasthan province in India). The temperature during biotreatment was kept at 36 °C to stimulate the average temperature of the Thar desert. The spray method was used for bioaugmentation of Sporosarcina (S.) pasteurii and further treatment using chemical solutions. The chemical solution of 0.25 pore volume was sprayed continuously up to 5 d, 10 d, 15 d, and 20 d, using two different concentration ratios of urea and calcium chloride dihydrate viz 2:1 and 1:1. The biotreated samples were subjected to erosion testing (in the wind tunnel) at different wind speeds of 10 m/s, 20 m/s, and 30 m/s. The unconfined compressive strength of the biocemented crust was measured using a pocket penetrometer. The variation in calcite precipitation and microstructure (including the presence of crystalline minerals) of untreated as well as biotreated sand samples were determined through calcimeter, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscope (EDX). The results demonstrated that the erosion of untreated sand increases with an increase in wind speeds. When compared to untreated sand, a lower erosion was observed in all biocemented sand samples, irrespective of treatment condition and wind speed. It was observed that the sample treated with 1:1 cementation solution for up to 5 d, was found to effectively resist erosion at a wind speed of 10 m/s. Moreover, a significant erosion resistance was ascertained in 15 d and 20 d treated samples at higher wind speeds. The calcite content percentage, thickness of crust, bulk density, and surface strength of biocemented sand were enhanced with the increase in treatment duration. The 1:1 concentration ratio of cementation solution was found effective in improving crust thickness and surface strength as compared to 2:1 concentration ratio of cementation solution. The calcite crystals formation was observed in SEM analysis and calcium peaks were observed in EDX analysis for biotreated sand.     

An economic investigation of the wind-hydrogen projects: A case study

Hydrogen as an energy carrier can play a significant role in reducing environmental emissions if it is produced from renewable energy resources. This research aims to assess hydrogen production from wind energy considering environmental, economic, and technical aspect for the East Azerbaijan province of Iran. The economic assessment is performed by calculation of payback period, levelized cost of hydrogen, and levelized cost of electricity. Since uncertainty in the power output of wind turbines may affect the payback period, all calculations are performed for four different turbine degradation rates. While it is common in the literature to choose the wind turbine based on a single criterion, this study implements Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) techniques for this purpose. The results of Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis illustrates that economic issue is the most important criterion for this research. The results of Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment shows that Vestas V52 is the most suitable wind turbine for Ahar and Sarab cities, while Eovent EVA120 H-Darrieus is a better choice for other stations. The most suitable location for wind power generation is found to be Ahar, where it is estimated to annually generate 2914.8 kWh of electricity at the price of 0.045 $/kWh, and 47.2 tons of hydrogen at the price of 1.38 $/kg, which result in 583 tons of CO₂ emission reduction.     

Effect of wind condition on unintended hydrogen release in a hydrogen refueling station

Ambient condition, especially the wind condition, is an important factor to determine the behavior of hydrogen diffusion during hydrogen release. However, only few studies aim at the quantitative study of the hydrogen diffusion in a wind-exist condition. And very little researches aiming at the variable wind condition have been done. In this paper, the hydrogen diffusion in different wind condition which including the constant wind velocity and the variable wind velocity is investigated numerically. When considering the variable wind velocity, the UDF (user defined function) is compiled. Characteristics of the FGC (flammable gas cloud) and the HMF (hydrogen mass fraction) are analyzed in different wind condition and comparisons are made with the no-wind condition. Results indicate that the constant wind velocity and the variable wind velocity have totally different effect for the determination of hydrogen diffusion. Comparisons between the constant wind velocity and the variable wind velocity indicate that the variable wind velocity may cause a more dangerous situation since there has a larger FGC volume. More importantly, the wind condition has a non-negligible effect when considering the HMF along the radial direction. As the wind velocity increases, the distribution of the HMF along the radial direction is not Gaussian anymore when the distance between the release hole and the observation line exceeds to a critical value. This work can be a supplement of the research on the hydrogen release and diffusion and a valuable reference for the researchers.     

Techno-economic analysis of hydrogen energy for renewable energy power smoothing

With the increasing proportion of renewable energy (mainly wind power and photovoltaic) connected to the grid, the fluctuation of renewable energy power brings great challenges to the safe and reliable operation of power grid. As a clean, low-carbon secondary energy, hydrogen energy is applied in renewable energy (mainly wind power and photovoltaic) grid-connected power smoothing, which opens up a new way of coupling hydrogen storage energy with renewable energy. This paper focuses on the optimization of capacity of electrolyzers and fuel cells and the analysis of system economy in the process of power output smoothing of wind/photovoltaic coupled hydrogen energy grid-connected system. Based on the complementary characteristics of particle swarm optimization (PSO) and chemical reaction optimization algorithm (CROA), a particle swarm optimization-chemical reaction optimization algorithm (PSO-CROA) are proposed. Aiming at maximizing system profit, the capacity of electrolyzers and fuel cells are constrained by wind power fluctuation, and considering environmental benefits, government subsidies and time value of funds, the objective function and its constraints are established. According to the simulation analysis, by comparing the calculated results with PSO and CROA, it shows that PSO-CROA effectively evaluates the economy of the system, and optimizes the optimal capacity of the electrolyzers and fuel cells. The conclusion of this paper is of great significance for the application of hydrogen energy storage in the evaluation of power smoothness and economy of renewable energy grid connection and the calculation of economic allocation of hydrogen energy storage capacity.     

Flow conditioning system for tri-sonic high pressure aerothermal testing

Blowdown testing offers a cost-effective experimental tool to replicate the aerothermal conditions in numerous high speed systems. The wind tunnel must replicate the inlet operating conditions, while the spatial and time dependent inlet flow conditions should be assessed carefully. This paper provides a design methodology and rules that ensure adequate flow conditioning in high inlet pressure wind tunnels suitable for subsonic and supersonic operation with mass-flow limits ranging from 1 kg/s to 25 kg/s, Reynolds numbers from 10³ (1/m) to 4x10⁷ (1/m), and Mach numbers from 0.01 up to 6. The quality of the proposed flow conditioning system was evaluated using stereo PIV measurements combined with hotwire, Pitot probe, and total flow temperature traverses.     

Oil Demand and Stocks

Current data of world oil demand. This includes international bunkers and refinery fuel. Updated on a monthly basis. Current data of oil demand from counties such as Canada, the United States of America, Japan, OECD Europe, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Republic of Korea, and Turkey. Updated on a monthly basis. Current data for crude oil and refined product stocks in Canada, Chile, Mexico, the United States (Western Hemisphere), France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and Other Europe (Europe), Japan, Republic of Korea, Other Pacific (Asia-Pacific), and Total OECD (Table 12.1) Current data for refined product stocks in the OECD Western Hemisphere, OECD Europe, OECD Asia-Pacific and Total OECD. Products include gasoline, diesel and gasoil, and heavy fuel oil. Updated on a monthly basis (Table 12.2).     

The potential and economic viability of hydrogen production from the use of hydroelectric and wind farms surplus energy in Brazil: A national and pioneering analysis

Energy security is an issue at stake in governments all over the world, and also in Brazil. Although the country's energetic matrix is largely based on hydropower sources, the need for diversification is increasingly needed. The possibility of hybrids between hydropower and wind power for hydrogen production emerges as a clean alternative source for energy security. In high-throughput seasons, excess energy could be used to produce hydrogen, which could supply shortages of energy. This study shows the potential for producing hydrogen in Brazil, using excess energy from hydroelectric and wind farms. Taking into account one hour per day of surplus energy production, it would be possible to generate 6.50E+09 Nm³.y⁻¹ of H₂. On the other hand, considering two and three hours, the H₂ generation would be equal to 1.30E+10 Nm³.y⁻¹ and 2.00E+10 Nm³.y⁻¹, respectively. This study calculated the economic viability for hydrogen production, at a cost of 0.303 USD.kWh⁻¹, a higher cost if compared to that of the wind and hydroelectric plants.     

Accuracy of wind energy forecasts in Great Britain and prospects for improvement

The metric representing the wind energy forecast error, when reported as a percent, is calculated quite differently than the error metrics for electricity transmission, electricity load, or in other industries such as manufacturing when they are also reported as a percent. The resulting calculated metric is quite different from what would be reported if the method utilized elsewhere was employed. This paper examines the possible forecast assessment and operational challenges associated with this finding. Concerning the prospects for improvement, the errors reported in MW of energy have a systematic component. With this insight, we developed a model to improve accuracy.