Harvesting operations and energetics of tall grasses for biomass energy production: A case study

The U.S.A. imports about 50% of its energy needs while Florida imports about 85%. Among the renewable energy sources available, biomass appears promising especially in the southeast which includes Florida because of a favorable environment for production and the available methods to convert biomass to energy. Optimal production of biomass requires the identification and management of high yielding persistent perennial cultivars. Elephantgrass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum.) and energycane (Saccharum spontaneum L.) are two tall grasses that meet these requirements. To optimize the supply of convertible biomass, suitable methods of harvesting the crop must be available. The purpose of this research was to study the feasibility and energetics of harvesting, drying, and baling tall grasses with conventional farm machinery.

A Mathews rotary scythe and a New Holland 849 Auto Wrap large round baler were determined to provide a practical harvesting system for baled biomass averaging 15–27 Mg ha⁻¹. The rotary scythe can be used for harvesting and fluffing or turning a windrow over to expedite drying. This harvesting system requires about 3 kg diesel fuel Mg⁻¹ dry biomass (DB), 25 min of time Mg⁻¹ DB, and a cost of about $10 to 12 Mg⁻¹ DB. Energy requirements of harvesting operations would be about 300–375 MJ Mg⁻¹ DB, and primary energy requirements for production and harvesting are about 1100–1500 MJ Mg⁻¹ DB. For each unit of fossil fuel invested in the total production and harvesting system, 12–15 units would be returned in biomass.     

基于CORA数据的南海温差能资源时空特征研究

基于2000—2013年中国近海及邻近海域海洋逐日再分析产品(China Ocean Reanalysis,CORA)数据资料,通过计算南海表层(5 m)与深层(1000 m)的温差、卡诺效率、有效水头、暖水体积量、温差能可开发量等参数,对中国南海温差能在季节、年代际的地理分布及其变化特征进行详细分析。结果表明：1)南海大于1000 m水深海域的温差均满足发电净效率的要求,可全年有效开采,温差分布具有明显季节变换特征,夏季最高,秋、春次之,冬季最低,常年高值主要集中在南沙群岛至吕宋岛西部一带。2)中沙群岛以南是卡诺效率高值且月波动较小海区,效率最高月份为5—8月份。3)南海温差能年平均有效水头介于774～945 m,高值主要分布在南海中东部、南部海域,呈西南—东北走向,有效水头在850 m以上;南海中南部、吕宋岛西部海域年际变化呈2.0～3.0 m/a上升趋势。4)南海暖水体积量月变化呈“V”型,冬季8.50×10¹³m³以上,处在较高水平;年际变化0.165×10¹³m³/a,呈增长趋势,年平均7...     

Electrical power generation from ocean currents in the Straits of Florida: Some environmental considerations

Ocean currents contain a remarkable amount of kinetic energy and have potential worldwide capability. Initial tests to harness current power focus on the Straits of Florida where the Florida Current has a total flow capacity of about 30 × 10⁶ m³ s⁻¹. Generation of clean electricity from ocean currents off southeast Florida is based on a power extractor comprising open-center turbine technology. This innovative turbine provides safe passage for fish and other aquatic species. The water-column array of energy production units (EPUs) will have a 350 km² footprint, based on a 600 m (10 rotor diameters) downstream separation distance between EPUs with a lateral separation of 400 m. Water depths for the EPU field are in the range of 100–500 m. With such a large area of water column and benthic habitat utilized, environmental concerns must be overcome, including routing of transmission lines to shore. Risks and vulnerabilities of the proposed ocean current generated electricity include failure of individual EPUs and damage to sensitive coastal marine environments during installation.     

Power potential from ocean currents for hydrogen production

The transport energy of world ocean currents is briefly surveyed. As a case study concentration has been made on the Florida currents between Miami, Florida and Bahamas. Over a region of 60 km × 10 km × 200 m power in the range of 22 to 37 GW is predicted to be produced at about a cost of 1.1¢ per kWh. The adverse features in the ocean environment have been briefly discussed and taken in due consideration. However, a word of caution is expressed that the estimation of power production and energy cost from the Florida Current, or for that matter, from any ocean current, should not be taken any more seriously than the uncertainty factors involved in fluctuations occurring in ocean currents. The amount of power extracted from the Florida Current is well within its fluctuation limits as observed and estimated over years. Thus the power extracted is no threat to the environment. The storage, transportation and end-use of this large amount of energy is argued in favor of hydrogen. The gaseous and liquid hydrogen are both recommended. The cost of hydrogen production is comparable to conventional fuel cost.     

Volcanoes as a source of geothermal energy

The thermal energy available from high-temperature magma is calculated to be 8 × 10¹⁴ kcal/km³ and an upper bound for volcanic energy of 3 × 10¹⁸ kcal/volcano is determined. Approximately one-third of the energy may be obtained between about 750 and 1150 °C (i.e. above the solidification temperature of the magma), while the remaining two-thirds is available from magma in the solid state between ambient and around 750 °C. Gas dissolved in the magma possesses about 4% of the thermal energy and a large portion of that energy is potentially available as high-temperature steam. After removal of water, the gas remaining is a low-Btu gas with a heat of combustion of about 0.3 kcal/l. Utilization of both the thermal and combustion energy is the subject of current research projects.     

Thermal design of a roof as an inexpensive solar collector/storage system

This paper presents the thermal performance of a roof as a solar collector/storage system which is important for the thermal design of buildings. The system consists of a mass of concrete or concrete insulation, one face of which is blackened/glazed and exposed to solar radiation and ambient air, while the other is in contact with room air at constant temperature. The heat can be extracted by the passage of water through the network of tubes in this block. It is seen that, by increasing the depth of the tubes, the rise in water temperature decreases but the time difference between the maxima of the solair temperature and that of the outlet water temperature increases. At a tube depth of 0·10 m, the maximum temperature rise of the water is 33·5°C. The corresponding efficiency of the system is 28·0% while the flow rate of water is 5·0 litre/h m²; the heat flux entering the room is also reduced considerably.     

中低温能源在中国

推动中低温能源的规模化应用是中国重构能源供给格局、实现清洁、低碳与可持续发展的有效途径.然而,目前中国中低温能源尚无完善的统计和明确的专项能源规划,其开发利用情况尚不明确;同时,中低温能源品位低、能量密度小,其开发利用仍然面临获取难、转换方式单一等问题,缺乏有效的技术路线指导.该文从中国能源结构中供需匹配角度出发,对地...     

On the ocean heat budget and ocean thermal energy conversion

Ocean water covers a vast portion of the Earth's surface and is also the world's largest solar energy collector. It plays an important role in maintaining the global energy balance as well as in preventing the Earth's surface from continually heating up because of solar radiation. The ocean also plays an important role in driving the atmospheric processes. The heat exchange processes across the ocean surface are represented in an ocean thermal energy budget, which is important because the ocean stores and releases thermal energy. The solar energy absorbed by the ocean heats up the surface water, despite the loss of heat energy from the surface due to back‐radiation, evaporation, conduction, and convection, and the seasonal change in the surface water temperature is less in the tropics. The cold water from the higher latitudes is carried by ocean currents along the ocean bottom from the poles towards the equator, displacing the lower‐density water above and creating a thermal structure with a large reservoir of warm water at the ocean surface and a large reservoir of cold water at the bottom, with a temperature difference of 22°C to 25°C between them. The available thermal energy, which is the almost constant temperature water at the beginning and end of the thermocline, in some areas of the oceans, is suitable to drive ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) plants. These plants are basically heat engines that use the temperature difference between the surface and deep ocean water to drive turbines to generate electricity. A detailed heat energy budget of the ocean is presented in the paper taking into consideration all the major heat inputs and outputs. The basic OTEC systems are also presented and analyzed in this paper. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thermal resource availability

Ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) power plants require an ocean temperature difference sufficient to operate turbines as efficiently as possible. In 1975, Ocean Data Systems, Inc. (ODSI) assembled an ocean temperature data base for OTEC purposes for the National Science Foundation. From this data, summaries were prepared identifying seasonal OTEC thermal gradients for ocean areas surrounding the North American continent. Under the Energy Research and Development Administration program, ODSI updated the historical file and identified the thermal resource for many specific sites on a monthly basis. Now, the Department of Energy and ODSI have done a worldwide OTEC thermal resource study. Two charts of the world's oceans showing the gross resource available at depths of 500 and 1000 m have been produced (Figs. 1 and 2).     

Effect of obstacles with different opening means on thermal stratification in hot water storage tanks

为研究具有内置隔板的太阳能蓄热水箱隔板开孔尺寸及位置对其内部热分层效果的影响,对9种隔板开孔位置的太阳能蓄热水箱内温度场进行了数值分析,结果显示：在相同的流动参数及开孔面积条件下,隔板中心开1个圆孔的水箱热分层效果最好。对于多开孔的水箱,开孔位置对水箱内热分层影响不大,但对蓄热量影响显著。对于隔板中心开1个圆孔的水箱,在不同流动参数条件下,冷、热水出口温差随着冷水入口流速的增大呈先增后减的趋势,当冷水入口流速大于0.9 m/s时,减弱了热分层的稳定性。     

热除菌型Trombe墙系统性能研究

热除菌利用细菌在高温下失活的原理,是一种安全、有效、环保的杀菌方法。将热杀菌技术与Trombe墙结合,提出一种热除菌型Trombe墙系统,能同时实现建筑室内采暖和热杀菌功能。围绕提出的除菌型Trombe墙进行墙体热性能实验研究,探究墙体全天的热性能;同时建立系统传热热传质模型,进行室内典型细菌的热失活分析。结果表明,在环境温度为18.1℃、太阳辐射强度为620.6 W/m²的实验条件下,日均空气热效率为0.46;对于大肠杆菌、利斯特氏菌、植物乳杆菌、山夫顿堡沙门氏菌和酿酒酵母五种细菌,热除菌产生的洁净空气量在0～40 m³/h范围内,全天净空气总产生量分别为94.01 m³/(m²·d)、86.51 m³/(m²·d)、100.70 m³/(m²·d)、94.95 m³/(m²·d)和100.10 m³/(m²·d);当换气次...     

深层埋管式能源桩换热性能影响因素分析

提出一种新型的能源桩换热管型式,即深层埋管式能源桩。利用Comsol Multiphysics建立三维方法模拟桩体-土体传热,一维方法模拟管内水动态传热传质的数值模型,考虑了土体温度随深度的变化,模拟出口水温随时间的变化规律并计算换热量,比较深层埋管式与传统的1-U型、1-W型能源桩的换热量,分析了桩径、桩体导热系数、桩体密度、桩体比热容等不同参数对新型深层埋管式能源桩换热量的影响。模拟结果表明：以运行50 h为例,深层埋管式的总体换热量比1-U型、1-W型分别高122%、54%;而对于单位管长换热量,深层埋管式比1-U型、1-W型分别高9%、50%,桩径从0.5 m增加到1 m,换热量增加14.3%;桩体导热系数从1.2 W/(m∙K) 增大至2.5 W/(m∙K),换热量增加9.6%;桩体密度从1 800 kg/m³增大到2 600 kg/m³,换热量增大0.8%;桩体比热容从637 J/(kg∙K) 增大到1 037 J/(kg∙K),换热量增大1.1%。因此深层埋管式的热性能优于传统1-U型和1-W型,在满足能源桩力学性能的前提下,为了提高深层埋管式能源桩换热性能,可以适当增大桩径。对于桩体材料的选择,应该选择导热系数较高的材料。密度和比热容对换热量的提升影响不大。     

Thermal performance of an electrochromic vacuum glazing

Using a three-dimensional finite volume model, the thermal performance of an electrochromic vacuum glazing was simulated for insolation intensities between 0 and 1200 W m⁻². The electrochromic evacuated glazing simulated consisted of three glass panes 0.5 m by 0.5 m with a 0.12 mm wide evacuated space between two 4 mm thick panes supported by 0.32 mm diameter pillars spaced on a 25 mm square grid contiguously sealed by a 6 mm wide metal edge seal. The third glass pane on which the electrochromic layer was deposited was assumed to be sealed to the evacuated glass unit. The simulations indicate that when facing the indoor environment, the temperature of the glass pane with the electrochromic layer can reach 129.5 °C for an incident insolation of 600 W m⁻². At such temperatures unacceptable occupant comfort would ensue and the durability of the electrochromic glazing would be compromised. The glass pane with the electrochromic layer must therefore face the outdoor environment.     

末次冰期以来珠江口盆地深水区天然气水合物稳定带演化

珠江口盆地深水区具备优良的天然气水合物成藏条件,是南海重要的天然气水合物资源勘探区。利用CSMHYD软件模拟预测了天然气水合物相平衡条件下,现今珠江口盆地的天然气水合物稳定带厚度分布和末次冰期以来水合物稳定带厚度的演化特征,同时讨论了晚更新世冰期以来海平面、底水温度对该区天然气水合物稳定带变化的影响,以及水合物分解对环境的影响。结果表明：（1）水深超过600 m的海域具备形成天然气水合物的温压条件;水合物稳定带平均厚度245 m,其中南部稳定带的最大厚度超过330 m,是有利的水合物勘探区;（2）中层水团温度上升很可能是新仙女木末期珠江口盆地深水区天然气水合物分解的主要诱发因素;（3）B/A暖期到YD冷期结束时水合物稳定带面积减少约0.65×10⁴ km²,分解释放的甲烷量约0.38×10¹³ m³,折算成总碳量约为1.9 Gt。     

西沙海槽晚更新世冰期以来原地微生物成因水合物储库的变化

利用基于热力学理论的CSMHYD程序,计算现今及晚更新世冰期琼东南盆地西沙海槽天然气水合物的稳定带厚度及资源量,讨论晚更新世冰期以来海平面、底水温度和沉积速率变化对西沙海槽天然气水合物储库变化的影响。结果表明：①研究区水深超过600 m的海域具备天然气水合物赋存的温压条件。天然气水合物稳定带最大厚度约300 m,位于研究区的中东部和东南部。②晚更新世冰期以来,底水温度的升高抵消了海平面上升对天然气水合物稳定性的影响。研究区冰期和间冰期旋回中沉积速率发生显著变化,沉积速率大的区域,原地微生物成因天然气水合物的浓度也相应较大;导致冰期-间冰期旋回过程中原地微生物成因水合物储库变化的关键因素是甲烷供给及沉积速率,而不是温压条件的变化。③西沙海槽天然气水合物现今的储库比晚更新世冰期的减少了0.78 × 10¹² m³的甲烷气。     

Solar motors with flat-plate collectors

Research at the Laboratory of Meteorological Physics of the University of Dakar has been devoted for several years to the study of solarenergy utilization. An experimental solar motor has been operating since August 1962. This motor drives a pump lifting 8 to 10 liters water per minute from a depth of 13 meters. (Output 130 kg meters per MINUTE = 21 watt).

This experiment being successful, the construction of a more efficient pump was begun. It has a collector of 300 m² (3228 ft²) capable of supplying (during 5 hours/day) about 40 m³/hour of water lifted from a depth of 8 to 10 m (10,000 gallons water per hr raised 27 to 33 ft). This quantity of water represents the approximate daily requirement of a community of 500 persons. This engine, which is very simple and sturdily built, necessitating no servicing, opens a new area in the utilization of solar energy in tropical countries.     

On production behavior of enhanced geothermal systems with CO2 as working fluid

Numerical simulation is used to evaluate the mass flow and heat extraction rates from enhanced geothermal injection–production systems that are operated using either CO₂ or water as heat transmission fluid. For a model system patterned after the European hot dry rock experiment at Soultz, we find significantly greater heat extraction rates for CO₂ as compared to water. The strong dependence of CO₂ mobility (=density/viscosity) upon temperature and pressure may lead to unusual production behavior, where heat extraction rates can actually increase for a time, even as the reservoir is subject to thermal depletion. We present the first ever, three-dimensional simulations of CO₂ injection–production systems. These show strong effects of gravity on the mass flow and heat extraction due to the large contrast of CO₂ density between cold injection and hot production conditions. The tendency for preferential flow of cold, dense CO₂ along the reservoir bottom can lead to premature thermal breakthrough. The problem can be avoided by producing from only a limited depth interval at the top of the reservoir.     

Experimental study on performance of passive and active solar stills in Indian coastal climatic condition

This present work is aimed to examine the effect of mass flow rate on distillate output and performance of a solar still in active mode. Outdoor experiments were conducted at the coastal town, Kakinada (16°93′N/83°33′E), Andhra Pradesh, India. A solar still with a 30° of fixed cover inclination, 1m² of effective basin area, and a flat-plate collector (FPC) with an effective area of 2 m² were used. An attempt was also made earlier in passive mode to optimize the water depth for the same solar still for maximum yield and distillation efficiency. For the passive still, it is observed that the capacity of heat storage and heat drop are significant parameters that affect the still performance. For the selected still design, the study reveals that 0.04 m water depth is the optimum value for specific climatic conditions. In the active solar still, with the optimum water depth, different flow rates of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 L/min are considered through FPC. It is observed that both the mass flow rate and the variation of internal heat transfer coefficients with the mass flow rate have a significant effect on the yield and performance of the still. The experimental results show that the combination of 1.5 L/min mass flow rate and an optimum water depth of 0.04 m leads to a maximum yield for the active solar still. The enhanced yield of the active solar still is 57.55%, compared with that of the passive solar still, due to increase in area of radiation collection and more heat absorption rate.     

Design of a seasonal thermal energy storage in the ground

Longterm storage of high quantities of thermal energy is one of the key problems for a widespread and successful implementation of solar district heating and for more efficient use of conventional energy sources. Seasonal storage in the ground in the temperature range of up to 90°C seems to be favourable from a technical and economical point of view. Preferably duct systems with vertical heat exchangers can be built in areas without ground water or low flow velocity compared with the geometry of the store and the storage period.

The thermal performance of such systems is influenced by the heat and moisture movement in the area surrounding the heat exchangers. Thermal conductivity and heat capacity are strongly dependent on the water content. This combined heat and moisture transport was simulated on the computer for temperatures up to 90°C. This model calculates the effective heat transfer coefficient and the heat capacity of the soil depending on water content, mineral composition, dry bulk density and shape of soil components. The computer simulation was validated by a number of laboratory and field experiments.

Based on this theoretical work a pilot plant was designed for seasonal storage of industrial waste heat. A heat and power cogeneration unit (174 kW_th) delivers waste heat during summer to the ground storage of about 15 000 m³ with 140 vertical heat exchangers of 30 m depth. About 418 MWh/a will be charged into the ground at a temperature level of 80°C, about 266 MWh/a should be extracted at temperatures between 40°C and 70°C and delivered directly to the space heating system. With this design an economic calculation gave energy prices of 39 US$/MWh which is of the same order as conventional energy prices.     

Thermal performance modeling of the reverse absorber shallow solar pond

Reverse absorber type shallow solar ponds are proposed as being capable of attaining higher temperatures and still higher efficiencies than the conventional type due to convection suppression and elimination of top radiative losses. The theoretical thermal analysis and simulation of the performance of two configurations of the reverse absorber shallow solar pond (RASSP); one with the top insulated and the other with top exposed, are presented. The ensuing model equations were solved to obtain the desired performance parameters. For a pond depth of 0.10 m, results of the simulations show that water temperatures up to 70°C could be obtained in a RASSP with double glass covers, higher than could be gotten in either an RASSP with top insulation or a conventional SSP of equal depth. The effect of pond depth on the proportions of the radiation incident on the RASSP that is either collected as thermal energy or lost was studied. The average transmissivity-absorptivity products, (τα), overall heat loss coefficients, UL and optimal pond depths were also computed.