WorldWideScience

Sample records for efficient energy conversion

  1. On the Energy Conversion Efficiency of Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesting Devices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jae Eun [Catholic University of Daegu, Kyungsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-05-15

    To properly design and assess a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester, it is necessary to consider the application of an efficiency measure of energy conversion. The energy conversion efficiency is defined in this work as the ratio of the electrical output power to the mechanical input power for a piezoelectric vibration energy harvester with an impedance-matched load resistor. While previous research works employed the electrical output power for approximate impedance-matched load resistance, this work derives an efficiency measure considering optimally matched resistance. The modified efficiency measure is validated by comparing it with finite element analysis results for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters with three different values of the electro-mechanical coupling coefficient. New findings on the characteristics of energy conversion and conversion efficiency are also provided for the two different impedance matching methods.

  2. Functionalization of graphene for efficient energy conversion and storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Liming

    2013-01-15

    As global energy consumption accelerates at an alarming rate, the development of clean and renewable energy conversion and storage systems has become more important than ever. Although the efficiency of energy conversion and storage devices depends on a variety of factors, their overall performance strongly relies on the structure and properties of the component materials. Nanotechnology has opened up new frontiers in materials science and engineering to meet this challenge by creating new materials, particularly carbon nanomaterials, for efficient energy conversion and storage. As a building block for carbon materials of all other dimensionalities (such as 0D buckyball, 1D nanotube, 3D graphite), the two-dimensional (2D) single atomic carbon sheet of graphene has emerged as an attractive candidate for energy applications due to its unique structure and properties. Like other materials, however, a graphene-based material that possesses desirable bulk properties rarely features the surface characteristics required for certain specific applications. Therefore, surface functionalization is essential, and researchers have devised various covalent and noncovalent chemistries for making graphene materials with the bulk and surface properties needed for efficient energy conversion and storage. In this Account, I summarize some of our new ideas and strategies for the controlled functionalization of graphene for the development of efficient energy conversion and storage devices, such as solar cells, fuel cells, supercapacitors, and batteries. The dangling bonds at the edge of graphene can be used for the covalent attachment of various chemical moieties while the graphene basal plane can be modified via either covalent or noncovalent functionalization. The asymmetric functionalization of the two opposite surfaces of individual graphene sheets with different moieties can lead to the self-assembly of graphene sheets into hierarchically structured materials. Judicious

  3. Hierarchical Graphene Foam for Efficient Omnidirectional Solar-Thermal Energy Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Huaying; Tang, Miao; Guan, Baolu; Wang, Kexin; Yang, Jiawei; Wang, Feifan; Wang, Mingzhan; Shan, Jingyuan; Chen, Zhaolong; Wei, Di; Peng, Hailin; Liu, Zhongfan

    2017-10-01

    Efficient solar-thermal energy conversion is essential for the harvesting and transformation of abundant solar energy, leading to the exploration and design of efficient solar-thermal materials. Carbon-based materials, especially graphene, have the advantages of broadband absorption and excellent photothermal properties, and hold promise for solar-thermal energy conversion. However, to date, graphene-based solar-thermal materials with superior omnidirectional light harvesting performances remain elusive. Herein, hierarchical graphene foam (h-G foam) with continuous porosity grown via plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition is reported, showing dramatic enhancement of broadband and omnidirectional absorption of sunlight, which thereby can enable a considerable elevation of temperature. Used as a heating material, the external solar-thermal energy conversion efficiency of the h-G foam impressively reaches up to ≈93.4%, and the solar-vapor conversion efficiency exceeds 90% for seawater desalination with high endurance. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. DOE-EFRC Center on Nanostructuring for Efficient Energy Conversion (CNEEC)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Prinz, Friedrich B. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Mechanical Engineering. Materials Science and Engineering; Bent, Stacey F. [Stanford Univ., CA (United States). Chemical Engineering

    2015-10-22

    CNEEC’s mission has been to understand how nanostructuring of materials can enhance efficiency for solar energy conversion to produce hydrogen fuel and to solve fundamental cross-cutting problems. The overarching hypothesis underlying CNEEC research was that controlling, synthesizing and modifying materials at the nanometer scale increases the efficiency of energy conversion and storage devices and systems. In this pursuit, we emphasized the development of functional nanostructures that are based primarily on earth abundant and inexpensive materials.

  5. Overall efficiencies for conversion of solar energy to a chemical fuel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fish, J. D.

    A complete and consistent scheme for determining the overall efficiency of a generalized process for the conversion of solar energy into a chemical fuel (e.g. hydrogen) is developed and applied to seven conversion processes: thermal, thermochemical, photovoltaic, photogalvanic, photoelectrolysis, photosynthesis and photochemical conversion. It is demonstrated that the overall efficiency of each of these processes is determined by ten common factors: maximum theoretical efficiency, inherent absorption losses, inherent internal losses, rate limiting effects, reflection losses, transmission losses, coverage losses, system construction requirements, parasitic losses and harvesting and conversion losses. Both state-of-the-art and optimistic values are assigned to each factor for each of the seven conversion processes. State-of-the-art overall efficiencies ranged from 5% for thermal conversion down to essentially zero for thermochemical. Optimistic values in the range of about 10 to 15% are calculated for several of the processes.

  6. Electromechanical conversion efficiency for dielectric elastomer generator in different energy harvesting cycles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Jian-Bo; E, Shi-Ju; Guo, Zhuang; Gao, Zhao; Luo, Han-Pin

    2017-11-01

    In order to improve electromechanical conversion efficiency for dielectric elastomer generators (DEG), on the base of studying DEG energy harvesting cycles of constant voltage, constant charge and constant electric field intensity, a new combined cycle mode and optimization theory in terms of the generating mechanism and electromechanical coupling process have been built. By controlling the switching point to achieve the best energy conversion cycle, the energy loss in the energy conversion process is reduced. DEG generating test bench which was used to carry out comparative experiments has been established. Experimental results show that the collected energy in constant voltage cycle, constant charge cycle and constant electric field intensity energy harvesting cycle decreases in turn. Due to the factors such as internal resistance losses, electrical losses and so on, actual energy values are less than the theoretical values. The electric energy conversion efficiency by combining constant electric field intensity cycle with constant charge cycle is larger than that of constant electric field intensity cycle. The relevant conclusions provide a basis for the further applications of DEG.

  7. Gate controlled high efficiency ballistic energy conversion system

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, Yanbo; Bos, Diederik; de Boer, Hans L.; van den Berg, Albert; Eijkel, Jan C.T.; Zengerle, R.

    2013-01-01

    Last year we demonstrated the microjet ballistic energy conversion system[1]. Here we show that the efficiency of such a system can be further improved by gate control. With gate control the electrical current generation is enhanced a hundred times with respect to the current generated from the zeta

  8. Decomposing Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Standards in the Energy Conversion Efficiency and Tractive Energy Domain

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pannone, Greg [Novation Analytics; Thomas, John F [ORNL; Reale, Michael [Novation Analytics; Betz, Brian [Novation Analytics

    2017-01-01

    The three foundational elements that determine mobile source energy use and tailpipe carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are the tractive energy requirements of the vehicle, the on-cycle energy conversion efficiency of the propulsion system, and the energy source. The tractive energy requirements are determined by the vehicle's mass, aerodynamic drag, tire rolling resistance, and parasitic drag. Oncycle energy conversion of the propulsion system is dictated by the tractive efficiency, non-tractive energy use, kinetic energy recovery, and parasitic losses. The energy source determines the mobile source CO2 emissions. For current vehicles, tractive energy requirements and overall energy conversion efficiency are readily available from the decomposition of test data. For future applications, plausible levels of mass reduction, aerodynamic drag improvements, and tire rolling resistance can be transposed into the tractive energy domain. Similarly, by combining thermodynamic, mechanical efficiency, and kinetic energy recovery fundamentals with logical proxies, achievable levels of energy conversion efficiency can be established to allow for the evaluation of future powertrain requirements. Combining the plausible levels of tractive energy and on-cycle efficiency provides a means to compute sustainable vehicle and propulsion system scenarios that can achieve future regulations. Using these principles, the regulations established in the United States (U.S.) for fuel consumption and CO2 emissions are evaluated. Fleet-level scenarios are generated and compared to the technology deployment assumptions made during rule-making. When compared to the rule-making assumptions, the results indicate that a greater level of advanced vehicle and propulsion system technology deployment will be required to achieve the model year 2025 U.S. standards for fuel economy and CO2 emissions.

  9. Highly efficient power system based on direct fission fragment energy conversion utilizing magnetic collimation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tsvetkov, Pavel V.; Hart, Ron R.; Parish, Theodore A.

    2003-01-01

    The present study was focused on developing a technologically feasible power system that is based on direct fission fragment energy conversion utilizing magnetic collimation. The new concept is an attempt to combine several advantageous design solutions, which have been proposed for application in both fission and fusion reactors, into one innovative system that can offer exceptional energy conversion efficiency. The analysis takes into consideration a wide range of operational aspects including fission fragment escape from the fuel, collimation, collection, criticality, long-term performance, energy conversion efficiency, heat removal, and safety characteristics. Specific characteristics of the individual system components and the entire system are evaluated. Consistent analysis and evaluation of the technological feasibility of the concept were achieved using state-of-the-art computer codes that allowed realistic and consistent modeling. The calculated energy conversion efficiencies for the presented designs without a thermodynamic cycle and with the heavy water cycle are 52% and 62%, respectively. The analysis indicates that efficiencies up to 90% are potentially achievable. (author)

  10. Energy conversion efficiency of hybrid electric heavy-duty vehicles operating according to diverse drive cycles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Banjac, Titina [AVL-AST d.o.o., Trg Leona Stuklja 5, SI-2000 Maribor (Slovenia); Trenc, Ferdinand; Katrasnik, Tomaz [Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Univ. of Ljubljana, Askerceva 6, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia)

    2009-12-15

    Energy consumption and exhaust emissions of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) strongly depend on the HEV topology, power ratios of their components and applied control strategy. Combined analytical and simulation approach was applied to analyze energy conversion efficiency of different HEV topologies. Analytical approach is based on the energy balance equations and considers all energy paths in the HEVs from the energy sources to the wheels and to other energy sinks. Simulation approach is based on a fast forward-facing simulation model for simulating parallel and series HEVs as well as for conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, and considers all components relevant for modeling energy conversion phenomena. Combined approach enables evaluation of energy losses on different energy paths and provides their impact on the fuel economy. It therefore enables identification of most suitable HEV topology and of most suitable power ratios of the components for targeted vehicle application, since it reveals and quantifies the mechanisms that could lead to improved energy conversion efficiency of particular HEV. The paper exposes characteristics of the test cycles that lead to improved energy conversion efficiency of HEVs. Mechanisms leading to improved fuel economy of parallel HEVs through drive-away and vehicle propulsion at low powertrain loads by electric motor are also analyzed. It was also shown that control strategies managing energy flow through electric storage devices significantly influence energy conversion efficiency of series HEVs. (author)

  11. Improper ferroelectrics as high-efficiency energy conversion materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wakamatsu, Toru; Tanabe, Kenji; Terasaki, Ichiro; Taniguchi, Hiroki

    2017-01-01

    An improper ferroelectric is a certain type of ferroelectrics whose primary order parameter is not polarization but another physical quantity such as magnetization. In contrast to a conventional proper ferroelectrics as represented by Pb(Zr,Ti)O_3 and BaTiO_3, the improper ferroelectrics has been inconceivable for practical applications thus far. Herein, we illustrate the great potential of improper ferroelectrics for efficient conversion of temperature fluctuation to electric energy, as demonstrated with (Ca_0_._8_4Sr_0_._1_6)_8[AlO_2]_1_2(MoO_4)_2 (CSAM-16). The present study has experimentally proven that CSAM-16 achieves an excellent electrothermal coupling factor and high electric field sensitivity for pyroelectric energy conversion that approach a practical level for application to self-powered autonomous electronic devices for rapidly spreading wireless sensor networks. The present results provide a novel approach to developing innovative pyroelectric energy harvesting devices using improper ferroelectrics. (copyright 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  12. An efficiency booster for energy conversion in natural circulation loops

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Dongqing, E-mail: wangdongqing@stu.xjtu.edu.cn [School of Nuclear Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710049 (China); Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084 (China); Jiang, Jin, E-mail: jjiang@eng.uwo.ca [Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario N6A 5B9 (Canada); Beijing Computational Science Research Center, Beijing 100084 (China)

    2016-08-01

    Highlights: • Low driving power conversion efficiency of natural circulation loops is proved. • The low conversion efficiency leads to low heat transfer capacity of such loops. • An efficiency booster is designed with turbine to increase the efficiency. • Performance of the proposed booster has been numerically simulated. • The booster drastically enhances heat transfer capacity of such loops. - Abstract: In this paper, the capacity of a natural circulation loop for transferring heat from a heat source to a heat sink has been analyzed. It is concluded that the capacity of the natural circulation loop depends on the conversion efficiency of the thermal energy from the heat source to the driving force for the circulation of the flow. The low conversion efficiency leading to weak driving force in such loops has been demonstrated analytically and validated through simulation results. This issue has resulted in a low heat transfer capacity in the circulation loop. To increase the heat transfer capacity, one has to improve this efficiency. To meet such a need, a novel efficiency booster has been developed in this paper. The booster essentially increases the flow driving force and hence significantly improves the overall heat transfer capacity. Design and analysis of this booster have been performed in detail. The performance has been examined through extensive computer simulations. It is concluded that the booster can indeed drastically improve the heat transfer capacity of the natural circulation loop.

  13. An efficiency booster for energy conversion in natural circulation loops

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Dongqing; Jiang, Jin

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Low driving power conversion efficiency of natural circulation loops is proved. • The low conversion efficiency leads to low heat transfer capacity of such loops. • An efficiency booster is designed with turbine to increase the efficiency. • Performance of the proposed booster has been numerically simulated. • The booster drastically enhances heat transfer capacity of such loops. - Abstract: In this paper, the capacity of a natural circulation loop for transferring heat from a heat source to a heat sink has been analyzed. It is concluded that the capacity of the natural circulation loop depends on the conversion efficiency of the thermal energy from the heat source to the driving force for the circulation of the flow. The low conversion efficiency leading to weak driving force in such loops has been demonstrated analytically and validated through simulation results. This issue has resulted in a low heat transfer capacity in the circulation loop. To increase the heat transfer capacity, one has to improve this efficiency. To meet such a need, a novel efficiency booster has been developed in this paper. The booster essentially increases the flow driving force and hence significantly improves the overall heat transfer capacity. Design and analysis of this booster have been performed in detail. The performance has been examined through extensive computer simulations. It is concluded that the booster can indeed drastically improve the heat transfer capacity of the natural circulation loop.

  14. Improper ferroelectrics as high-efficiency energy conversion materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wakamatsu, Toru; Tanabe, Kenji; Terasaki, Ichiro; Taniguchi, Hiroki [Department of Physics, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8602 (Japan)

    2017-05-15

    An improper ferroelectric is a certain type of ferroelectrics whose primary order parameter is not polarization but another physical quantity such as magnetization. In contrast to a conventional proper ferroelectrics as represented by Pb(Zr,Ti)O{sub 3} and BaTiO{sub 3}, the improper ferroelectrics has been inconceivable for practical applications thus far. Herein, we illustrate the great potential of improper ferroelectrics for efficient conversion of temperature fluctuation to electric energy, as demonstrated with (Ca{sub 0.84}Sr{sub 0.16}){sub 8}[AlO{sub 2}]{sub 12}(MoO{sub 4}){sub 2} (CSAM-16). The present study has experimentally proven that CSAM-16 achieves an excellent electrothermal coupling factor and high electric field sensitivity for pyroelectric energy conversion that approach a practical level for application to self-powered autonomous electronic devices for rapidly spreading wireless sensor networks. The present results provide a novel approach to developing innovative pyroelectric energy harvesting devices using improper ferroelectrics. (copyright 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH and Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

  15. A novel MPPT method for enhancing energy conversion efficiency taking power smoothing into account

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Jizhen; Meng, Hongmin; Hu, Yang; Lin, Zhongwei; Wang, Wei

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • We discuss the disadvantages of conventional OTC MPPT method. • We study the relationship between enhancing efficiency and power smoothing. • The conversion efficiency is enhanced and the volatility of power is suppressed. • Small signal analysis is used to verify the effectiveness of proposed method. - Abstract: With the increasing capacity of wind energy conversion system (WECS), the rotational inertia of wind turbine is becoming larger. And the efficiency of energy conversion is significantly reduced by the large inertia. This paper proposes a novel maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method to enhance the efficiency of energy conversion for large-scale wind turbine. Since improving the efficiency may increase the fluctuations of output power, power smoothing is considered as the second control objective. A T-S fuzzy inference system (FIS) is adapted to reduce the fluctuations according to the volatility of wind speed and accelerated rotor speed by regulating the compensation gain. To verify the effectiveness, stability and good dynamic performance of the new method, mechanism analyses, small signal analyses, and simulation studies are carried out based on doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbine, respectively. Study results show that both the response speed and the efficiency of proposed method are increased. In addition, the extra fluctuations of output power caused by the high efficiency are reduced effectively by the proposed method with FIS

  16. Laser-accelerated proton conversion efficiency thickness scaling

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hey, D. S.; Foord, M. E.; Key, M. H.; LePape, S. L.; Mackinnon, A. J.; Patel, P. K.; Ping, Y.; Akli, K. U.; Stephens, R. B.; Bartal, T.; Beg, F. N.; Fedosejevs, R.; Friesen, H.; Tiedje, H. F.; Tsui, Y. Y.

    2009-01-01

    The conversion efficiency from laser energy into proton kinetic energy is measured with the 0.6 ps, 9x10 19 W/cm 2 Titan laser at the Jupiter Laser Facility as a function of target thickness in Au foils. For targets thicker than 20 μm, the conversion efficiency scales approximately as 1/L, where L is the target thickness. This is explained by the domination of hot electron collisional losses over adiabatic cooling. In thinner targets, the two effects become comparable, causing the conversion efficiency to scale weaker than 1/L; the measured conversion efficiency is constant within the scatter in the data for targets between 5 and 15 μm, with a peak conversion efficiency of 4% into protons with energy greater than 3 MeV. Depletion of the hydrocarbon contaminant layer is eliminated as an explanation for this plateau by using targets coated with 200 nm of ErH 3 on the rear surface. The proton acceleration is modeled with the hybrid-particle in cell code LSP, which reproduced the conversion efficiency scaling observed in the data.

  17. Direct conversion of fusion energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Johansson, Markus

    2003-03-01

    Deuterium and tritium are expected to be used as fuel in the first fusion reactors. Energy is released as kinetic energy of ions and neutrons, when deuterium reacts with tritium. One way to convert the kinetic energy to electrical energy, is to let the ions and neutrons hit the reactor wall and convert the heat that is caused by the particle bombardment to electrical energy with ordinary thermal conversion. If the kinetic energy of the ions instead is converted directly to electrical energy, a higher efficiency of the energy conversion is possible. The majority of the fusion energy is released as kinetic energy of neutrons, when deuterium reacts with tritium. Fusion reactions such as the D-D reactions, the D- 3 He reaction and the p- 11 B reaction, where a larger part of the fusion energy becomes kinetic energy of charged particles, appears therefore more suitable for direct conversion. Since they have lower reactivity than the D-T reaction, they need a larger βB 2 0 to give sufficiently high fusion power density. Because of this, the fusion configurations spherical torus (ST) and field-reversed configuration (FRC), where high β values are possible, appear interesting. Rosenbluth and Hinton come to the conclusion that efficient direct conversion isn't possible in closed field line systems and that open geometries, which facilitate direct conversion, provide inadequate confinement for D- 3 He. It is confirmed in this study that it doesn't seem possible to achieve as high direct conversion efficiency in closed systems as in open systems. ST and FRC fusion power plants that utilize direct conversion seem however interesting. Calculations with the help of Maple indicate that the reactor parameters needed for a D-D ST and a D 3 He ST hopefully are possible to achieve. The best energy conversion option for a D-D or D 3 He ST appears to be direct electrodynamic conversion (DEC) together with ordinary thermal conversion or liquid metal MHD conversion (LMMHD). For a D

  18. Direct conversion of fusion energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Johansson, Markus

    2003-03-01

    Deuterium and tritium are expected to be used as fuel in the first fusion reactors. Energy is released as kinetic energy of ions and neutrons, when deuterium reacts with tritium. One way to convert the kinetic energy to electrical energy, is to let the ions and neutrons hit the reactor wall and convert the heat that is caused by the particle bombardment to electrical energy with ordinary thermal conversion. If the kinetic energy of the ions instead is converted directly to electrical energy, a higher efficiency of the energy conversion is possible. The majority of the fusion energy is released as kinetic energy of neutrons, when deuterium reacts with tritium. Fusion reactions such as the D-D reactions, the D-{sup 3}He reaction and the p-{sup 11}B reaction, where a larger part of the fusion energy becomes kinetic energy of charged particles, appears therefore more suitable for direct conversion. Since they have lower reactivity than the D-T reaction, they need a larger {beta}B{sup 2}{sub 0} to give sufficiently high fusion power density. Because of this, the fusion configurations spherical torus (ST) and field-reversed configuration (FRC), where high {beta} values are possible, appear interesting. Rosenbluth and Hinton come to the conclusion that efficient direct conversion isn't possible in closed field line systems and that open geometries, which facilitate direct conversion, provide inadequate confinement for D-{sup 3}He. It is confirmed in this study that it doesn't seem possible to achieve as high direct conversion efficiency in closed systems as in open systems. ST and FRC fusion power plants that utilize direct conversion seem however interesting. Calculations with the help of Maple indicate that the reactor parameters needed for a D-D ST and a D{sub 3} He ST hopefully are possible to achieve. The best energy conversion option for a D-D or D{sub 3} He ST appears to be direct electrodynamic conversion (DEC) together with ordinary thermal conversion

  19. High thermal efficiency x-ray energy conversion scheme for advanced fusion reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Quimby, D.C.; Taussig, R.T.; Hertzberg, A.

    1977-01-01

    This paper reports on a new radiation energy conversion scheme which appears to be capable of producing electricity from the high quality x-ray energy with efficiencies of 60 to 70 percent. This new reactor concept incorporates a novel x-ray radiation boiler and a new thermal conversion device known as an energy exchanger. The low-Z first walls of the radiation boiler are semi-transparent to x-rays, and are kept cool by incoming working fluid, which is subsequently heated to temperatures of 2000 to 3000 0 K in the interior of the boiler by volumetric x-ray absorption. The radiation boiler may be a compact part of the reactor shell since x-rays are readily absorbed in high-Z materials. The energy exchanger transfers the high-temperature working fluid energy to a lower temperature gas which drives a conventional turbine. The overall efficiency of the cycle is characterized by the high temperature of the working fluid. The high thermal efficiencies which appear achievable with this cycle would make an otherwise marginal advanced fusion reactor into an attractive net power producer. The operating principles, initial conceptual design, and engineering problems of the radiation boiler and thermal cycle are presented

  20. Theoretical efficiency limits for thermoradiative energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Strandberg, Rune

    2015-01-01

    A new method to produce electricity from heat called thermoradiative energy conversion is analyzed. The method is based on sustaining a difference in the chemical potential for electron populations above and below an energy gap and let this difference drive a current through an electric circuit. The difference in chemical potential originates from an imbalance in the excitation and de-excitation of electrons across the energy gap. The method has similarities to thermophotovoltaics and conventional photovoltaics. While photovoltaic cells absorb thermal radiation from a body with higher temperature than the cell itself, thermoradiative cells are hot during operation and emit a net outflow of photons to colder surroundings. A thermoradiative cell with an energy gap of 0.25 eV at a temperature of 500 K in surroundings at 300 K is found to have a theoretical efficiency limit of 33.2%. For a high-temperature thermoradiative cell with an energy gap of 0.4 eV, a theoretical efficiency close to 50% is found while the cell produces 1000 W/m 2 has a temperature of 1000 K and is placed in surroundings with a temperature of 300 K. Some aspects related to the practical implementation of the concept are discussed and some challenges are addressed. It is, for example, obvious that there is an upper boundary for the temperature under which solid state devices can work properly over time. No conclusions are drawn with regard to such practical boundaries, because the work is aimed at establishing upper limits for ideal thermoradiative devices

  1. Energy Efficiency and Performance Limiting Effects in Thermo-Osmotic Energy Conversion from Low-Grade Heat.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Straub, Anthony P; Elimelech, Menachem

    2017-11-07

    Low-grade heat energy from sources below 100 °C is available in massive quantities around the world, but cannot be converted to electricity effectively using existing technologies due to variability in the heat output and the small temperature difference between the source and environment. The recently developed thermo-osmotic energy conversion (TOEC) process has the potential to harvest energy from low-grade heat sources by using a temperature difference to create a pressurized liquid flux across a membrane, which can be converted to mechanical work via a turbine. In this study, we perform the first analysis of energy efficiency and the expected performance of the TOEC technology, focusing on systems utilizing hydrophobic porous vapor-gap membranes and water as a working fluid. We begin by developing a framework to analyze realistic mass and heat transport in the process, probing the impact of various membrane parameters and system operating conditions. Our analysis reveals that an optimized system can achieve heat-to-electricity energy conversion efficiencies up to 4.1% (34% of the Carnot efficiency) with hot and cold working temperatures of 60 and 20 °C, respectively, and an operating pressure of 5 MPa (50 bar). Lower energy efficiencies, however, will occur in systems operating with high power densities (>5 W/m 2 ) and with finite-sized heat exchangers. We identify that the most important membrane properties for achieving high performance are an asymmetric pore structure, high pressure resistance, a high porosity, and a thickness of 30 to 100 μm. We also quantify the benefits in performance from utilizing deaerated water streams, strong hydrodynamic mixing in the membrane module, and high heat exchanger efficiencies. Overall, our study demonstrates the promise of full-scale TOEC systems to extract energy from low-grade heat and identifies key factors for performance optimization moving forward.

  2. Theoretical Comparison of the Energy Conversion Efficiencies of Electrostatic Energy Harvesters

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Chang-Kyu [Korea Polytechnic University, Siheung (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-02-15

    The characteristics of a new type of electrostatic energy harvesting device, called an out-of plane overlap harvester, are analyzed for the first time. This device utilizes a movable part that vibrates up and down on the surface of a wafer and a changing overlapping area between the vertical comb fingers. This operational principle enables the minimum capacitance to be close to 0 and significantly increases the energy conversion efficiency per unit volume. The characteristics of the out-of-plane overlap harvester, an in-plane gap-closing harvester, and an in-plane overlap harvester are compared in terms of the length, height, and width of the comb finger and the parasitic capacitance. The efficiency is improved as the length or the height increases and as the width or the parasitic capacitance decreases. In every case, the out-of-plane overlap harvester is able to create more energy and is, thus, preferable over other designs. It is also free from collisions between two electrodes caused by random vibration amplitudes and creates more energy from off axis perturbations. This device, given its small feature size, is expected to provide more energy to various types of wireless electronics devices and to offer high compatibility with other integrated circuits and ease of embedment.

  3. Multifunctional ZnO Nanomaterials for Efficient Energy Conversion and Sensing

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-02

    Final Report: Multifunctional ZnO Nanomaterials for Efficient Energy Conversion and Sensing The views, opinions and/or findings contained in this...ADDRESS. Fisk University 1000 17th Avenue North Nashville, TN 37208 -3045 31-May-2015 ABSTRACT Final Report: Multifunctional ZnO Nanomaterials for...and reproducible nanomaterials growth/synthesis with control of nanostructure size, shape, and functionality, in uniform functionalization with both

  4. Supported black phosphorus nanosheets as hydrogen-evolving photocatalyst achieving 5.4% energy conversion efficiency at 353 K.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Bin; Tian, Bining; Smith, Bethany; Scott, M C; Hua, Ruinian; Lei, Qin; Tian, Yue

    2018-04-11

    Solar-driven water splitting using powdered catalysts is considered as the most economical means for hydrogen generation. However, four-electron-driven oxidation half-reaction showing slow kinetics, accompanying with insufficient light absorption and rapid carrier combination in photocatalysts leads to low solar-to-hydrogen energy conversion efficiency. Here, we report amorphous cobalt phosphide (Co-P)-supported black phosphorus nanosheets employed as photocatalysts can simultaneously address these issues. The nanosheets exhibit robust hydrogen evolution from pure water (pH = 6.8) without bias and hole scavengers, achieving an apparent quantum efficiency of 42.55% at 430 nm and energy conversion efficiency of over 5.4% at 353 K. This photocatalytic activity is attributed to extremely efficient utilization of solar energy (~75% of solar energy) by black phosphorus nanosheets and high-carrier separation efficiency by amorphous Co-P. The hybrid material design realizes efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversion in suspension, demonstrating the potential of black phosphorus-based materials as catalysts for solar hydrogen production.

  5. Numerical study of hydrodynamic behavior and conversion efficiency of a two-buoy wave energy converter

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Cen; Zhang, Yong-liang

    2018-04-01

    In this paper we propose a two-buoy wave energy converter composed of a heaving semi-submerged cylindrical buoy, a fixed submerged cylindrical buoy and a power take-off (PTO) system, and investigate the effect of the fixed submerged buoy on the hydrodynamics of the heaving semi-submerged buoy based on the three-dimensional potential theory. And the dynamic response of the semi-submerged buoy and the wave energy conversion efficiency of the converter are analyzed. The difference of the hydrodynamics and the wave energy conversion efficiency of a semi-submerged buoy converter with and without a fixed submerged buoy is discussed. It is revealed that the influence of the fixed submerged buoy on the exciting wave force, the added mass, the radiation damping coefficient and the wave energy conversion efficiency can be significant with a considerable variation, depending on the vertical distance between the heaving semi-submerged buoy and the fixed submerged buoy, the diameter ratio of the fixed submerged buoy to the heaving semi-submerged buoy and the water depth.

  6. Fuel conversion efficiency and energy balance of a 400 kW{sub t} fluidized bed straw gasifier

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erguedenler, A.; Ghaly, A.E.; Hamdullahpur, F. [Technical Univ. of Nova Scotia, Halifax (Canada)

    1993-12-31

    A 400 kW (thermal) dual-distributor type fluidized bed gasifier developed for the energy recovery from cereal straw was used to investigate the effects of equivalence ratio (actual air-fuel ratio: stoichiometric air-fuel ratio), fluidization velocity and bed height on the fuel conversion efficiency from wheat straw. The energy balance was also performed on the system under those operating conditions. The results indicated that the equivalence ratio was the most significant parameter affecting the fuel conversion efficiency and the energy recovered from the straw in the form of gas. Both the fuel conversion efficiency and the energy recovery increased with increases in the equivalence ratio. The fluidization velocity and bed height had minimal effects on these parameters. A fuel conversion efficiency as high as 98% was obtained at the equivalence ratio of 0.35. The energy recovered in the form of gas and the sensible heat of the produced gas were in the ranges of 40--70% and 9--17%, respectively. Unaccounted losses showed a dramatic increase at lower equivalence ratios and were in the range of 6--53% depending on the operating condition.

  7. Thermal power plant efficiency enhancement with Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Soto, Rodrigo; Vergara, Julio

    2014-01-01

    In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, coastal thermal power plants would gain further opposition due to their heat rejection distressing the local ecosystem. Therefore, these plants need to enhance their thermal efficiency while reducing their environmental offense. In this study, a hybrid plant based on the principle of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion was coupled to a 740 MW coal-fired power plant project located at latitude 28°S where the surface to deepwater temperature difference would not suffice for regular OTEC plants. This paper presents the thermodynamical model to assess the overall efficiency gained by adopting an ammonia Rankine cycle plus a desalinating unit, heated by the power plant condenser discharge and refrigerated by cold deep seawater. The simulation allowed us to optimize a system that would finally enhance the plant power output by 25–37 MW, depending on the season, without added emissions while reducing dramatically the water temperature at discharge and also desalinating up to 5.8 million tons per year. The supplemental equipment was sized and the specific emissions reduction was estimated. We believe that this approach would improve the acceptability of thermal and nuclear power plant projects regardless of the plant location. -- Highlights: • An Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion hybrid plant was designed. • The waste heat of a power plant was delivered as an OTEC heat source. • The effect of size and operating conditions on plant efficiency were studied. • The OTEC implementation in a Chilean thermal power plant was evaluated. • The net efficiency of the thermal power plant was increased by 1.3%

  8. Efficient energy conversion in the pulp and paper industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marechal, F.; Perin-Levasseur, Z.

    2005-07-01

    This yearly report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) takes a look at the work done in 2005 and the work planned for 2006 within the framework of the Efficient Energy Conversion in the Pulp and Paper Industry project. The results of investigations made at a large pulp and paper facility in Switzerland are presented and analysed. Data models of the steam and condensate networks and of the processes involved are examined. An additional model of the sulphur loop has been also elaborated. From this analysis, a list of required measurements has been developed. Several performance indicators have also been calculated: A systematic analysis method developed to identify sections where condensate could be recovered is discussed. A systematic definition of the hot and cold streams in the process is being developed in order to compute the minimum energy requirements of the process. Evaluating this minimum energy requirement from the data available is to be used to prepare definitions of the energy savings possible.

  9. Potential use and the energy conversion efficiency analysis of fermentation effluents from photo and dark fermentative bio-hydrogen production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zhiping; Li, Yameng; Zhang, Huan; He, Chao; Zhang, Quanguo

    2017-12-01

    Effluent of bio-hydrogen production system also can be adopted to produce methane for further fermentation, cogeneration of hydrogen and methane will significantly improve the energy conversion efficiency. Platanus Orientalis leaves were taken as the raw material for photo- and dark-fermentation bio-hydrogen production. The resulting concentrations of acetic, butyric, and propionic acids and ethanol in the photo- and dark-fermentation effluents were 2966mg/L and 624mg/L, 422mg/L and 1624mg/L, 1365mg/L and 558mg/L, and 866mg/L and 1352mg/L, respectively. Subsequently, we calculated the energy conversion efficiency according to the organic contents of the effluents and their energy output when used as raw material for methane production. The overall energy conversion efficiencies increased by 15.17% and 22.28%, respectively, when using the effluents of photo and dark fermentation. This two-step bio-hydrogen and methane production system can significantly improve the energy conversion efficiency of anaerobic biological treatment plants. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  10. Autonomous renewable energy conversion system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Valtchev, V. [Technical University of Varna (Bulgaria). Dept. of Electronics; Bossche, A. van den; Ghijselen, J.; Melkebeek, J. [University of Gent (Belgium). Dept. of Electrical Power Engineering

    2000-02-01

    This paper briefly reviews the need for renewable power generation and describes a medium-power Autonomous Renewable Energy Conversion System (ARECS), integrating conversion of wind and solar energy sources. The objectives of the paper are to extract maximum power from the proposed wind energy conversion scheme and to transfer this power and the power derived by the photovoltaic system in a high efficiency way to a local isolated load. The wind energy conversion operates at variable shaft speed yielding an improved annual energy production over constant speed systems. An induction generator (IG) has been used because of its reduced cost, robustness, absence of separate DC source for excitation, easier dismounting and maintenance. The maximum energy transfer of the wind energy is assured by a simple and reliable control strategy adjusting the stator frequency of the IG so that the power drawn is equal to the peak power production of the wind turbine at any wind speed. The presented control strategy also provides an optimal efficiency operation of the IG by applying a quadratic dependence between the IG terminal voltage and frequency V {approx} f{sup 2}. For improving the total system efficiency, high efficiency converters have been designed and implemented. The modular principle of the proposed DC/DC conversion provides the possibility for modifying the system structure depending on different conditions. The configuration of the presented ARECS and the implementation of the proposed control algorithm for optimal power transfer are fully discussed. The stability and dynamic performance as well as the different operation modes of the proposed control and the operation of the converters are illustrated and verified on an experimental prototype. (author)

  11. Optimization theory for ballistic energy conversion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, Yanbo; Versluis, Michel; Van Den Berg, Albert; Eijkel, Jan C.T.

    2016-01-01

    The growing demand of renewable energy stimulates the exploration of new materials and methods for clean energy. We recently demonstrated a high efficiency and power density energy conversion mechanism by using jetted charged microdroplets, termed as ballistic energy conversion. Hereby, we model and

  12. Semiconductor nanowires for photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dasgupta, Neil; Yang, Peidong

    2013-01-23

    Semiconductor nanowires (NW) possess several beneficial properties for efficient conversion of solar energy into electricity and chemical energy. Due to their efficient absorption of light, short distances for minority carriers to travel, high surface-to-volume ratios, and the availability of scalable synthesis methods, they provide a pathway to address the low cost-to-power requirements for wide-scale adaptation of solar energy conversion technologies. Here we highlight recent progress in our group towards implementation of NW components as photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical energy conversion devices. An emphasis is placed on the unique properties of these one-dimensional (1D) structures, which enable the use of abundant, low-cost materials and improved energy conversion efficiency compared to bulk devices.

  13. High efficiency β radioisotope energy conversion using reciprocating electromechanical converters with integrated betavoltaics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duggirala, Rajesh; Li, Hui; Lal, Amit

    2008-04-01

    We demonstrate a 5.1% energy conversion efficiency Ni63 radioisotope power generator by integrating silicon betavoltaic converters with radioisotope actuated reciprocating piezoelectric unimorph cantilever converters. The electromechanical energy converter efficiently utilizes both the kinetic energy and the electrical charge of the 0.94μW β radiation from a 9mCi Ni63 thin film source to generate maximum (1) continuous betavoltaic electrical power output of 22nW and (2) pulsed piezoelectric electrical power output of 750μW at 0.07% duty cycle. The electromechanical converters can be potentially used to realize 100year lifetime power sources for powering periodic sampling remote wireless sensor microsystems.

  14. Energy-efficient biogas reforming process to produce syngas: The enhanced methane conversion by O_2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Xuejing; Jiang, Jianguo; Li, Kaimin; Tian, Sicong; Yan, Feng

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The effect of O_2 content from 0 to 15% on Ni/SiO_2 are studied for biogas reforming. • The presence of O_2 in biogas improves CH_4 conversion and stability of biogas reforming. • An obvious carbon-resistance effect is observed due to the carbon gasification effect of O_2 in biogas. • The presence of O_2 in biogas greatly helps inhibit the catalyst sintering. - Abstract: We report an energy-efficient biogas reforming process with high and stable methane conversions by O_2 presence. During this biogas reforming process, the effects of various O_2 concentrations in biogas on initial conversions and stability at various temperatures on a Ni/SiO_2 catalyst were detailed investigated. In addition, theoretical energy consumption and conversions were calculated based on the Gibbs energy minimization method to compare with experimental results. Carbon formation and sintering during the reforming process were characterized by thermal gravity analysis, the Brunauer-Emmett-Teller method, X-ray diffraction, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy to investigate the feasibility of applying this process to an inexpensive nickel catalyst. The results showed that 5% O_2 in biogas improved the CH_4 conversion and stability of biogas reforming. The enhancement of stability was attributed to the inhibited sintering, our first finding, and the reduced carbon deposition at the same time, which sustained a stable conversion of CH_4, and proved the applicability of base Ni catalyst to this process. Higher O_2 concentrations (⩾10%) in biogas resulted in severe decrease in CO_2 conversion and greater H_2O productivity. Our proposed biogas reforming process, with a high and stable conversion of CH_4, reduced energy input, and the applicability to inexpensive base metal catalyst, offers a good choice for biogas reforming with low O_2 concentrations (⩽5%) to produce syngas with high energy efficiency.

  15. Enhanced energy conversion efficiency from high strength synthetic organic wastewater by sequential dark fermentative hydrogen production and algal lipid accumulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Hong-Yu; Liu, Bing-Feng; Kong, Fanying; Zhao, Lei; Xing, Defeng; Ren, Nan-Qi

    2014-04-01

    A two-stage process of sequential dark fermentative hydrogen production and microalgal cultivation was applied to enhance the energy conversion efficiency from high strength synthetic organic wastewater. Ethanol fermentation bacterium Ethanoligenens harbinense B49 was used as hydrogen producer, and the energy conversion efficiency and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency reached 18.6% and 28.3% in dark fermentation. Acetate was the main soluble product in dark fermentative effluent, which was further utilized by microalga Scenedesmus sp. R-16. The final algal biomass concentration reached 1.98gL(-1), and the algal biomass was rich in lipid (40.9%) and low in protein (23.3%) and carbohydrate (11.9%). Compared with single dark fermentation stage, the energy conversion efficiency and COD removal efficiency of two-stage system remarkably increased 101% and 131%, respectively. This research provides a new approach for efficient energy production and wastewater treatment using a two-stage process combining dark fermentation and algal cultivation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Efficient electrochemical CO2 conversion powered by renewable energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kauffman, Douglas R; Thakkar, Jay; Siva, Rajan; Matranga, Christopher; Ohodnicki, Paul R; Zeng, Chenjie; Jin, Rongchao

    2015-07-22

    The catalytic conversion of CO2 into industrially relevant chemicals is one strategy for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions. Along these lines, electrochemical CO2 conversion technologies are attractive because they can operate with high reaction rates at ambient conditions. However, electrochemical systems require electricity, and CO2 conversion processes must integrate with carbon-free, renewable-energy sources to be viable on larger scales. We utilize Au25 nanoclusters as renewably powered CO2 conversion electrocatalysts with CO2 → CO reaction rates between 400 and 800 L of CO2 per gram of catalytic metal per hour and product selectivities between 80 and 95%. These performance metrics correspond to conversion rates approaching 0.8-1.6 kg of CO2 per gram of catalytic metal per hour. We also present data showing CO2 conversion rates and product selectivity strongly depend on catalyst loading. Optimized systems demonstrate stable operation and reaction turnover numbers (TONs) approaching 6 × 10(6) molCO2 molcatalyst(-1) during a multiday (36 h total hours) CO2 electrolysis experiment containing multiple start/stop cycles. TONs between 1 × 10(6) and 4 × 10(6) molCO2 molcatalyst(-1) were obtained when our system was powered by consumer-grade renewable-energy sources. Daytime photovoltaic-powered CO2 conversion was demonstrated for 12 h and we mimicked low-light or nighttime operation for 24 h with a solar-rechargeable battery. This proof-of-principle study provides some of the initial performance data necessary for assessing the scalability and technical viability of electrochemical CO2 conversion technologies. Specifically, we show the following: (1) all electrochemical CO2 conversion systems will produce a net increase in CO2 emissions if they do not integrate with renewable-energy sources, (2) catalyst loading vs activity trends can be used to tune process rates and product distributions, and (3) state-of-the-art renewable-energy technologies are sufficient

  17. Energy conversion and utilization technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1988-01-01

    The DOE Energy Conversion and Utilization Technologies (ECUT) Program continues its efforts to expand the generic knowledge base in emerging technological areas that support energy conservation initiatives by both the DOE end-use sector programs and US private industry. ECUT addresses specific problems associated with the efficiency limits and capabilities to use alternative fuels in energy conversion and end-use. Research is aimed at understanding and improving techniques, processes, and materials that push the thermodynamic efficiency of energy conversion and usage beyond the state of the art. Research programs cover the following areas: combustion, thermal sciences, materials, catalysis and biocatalysis, and tribology. Six sections describe the status of direct contact heat exchange; the ECUT biocatalysis project; a computerized tribology information system; ceramic surface modification; simulation of internal combustion engine processes; and materials-by-design. These six sections have been indexed separately for inclusion on the database. (CK)

  18. A General Mathematical Framework for Calculating Systems-Scale Efficiency of Energy Extraction and Conversion: Energy Return on Investment (EROI and Other Energy Return Ratios

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adam R. Brandt

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available The efficiencies of energy extraction and conversion systems are typically expressed using energy return ratios (ERRs such as the net energy ratio (NER or energy return on investment (EROI. A lack of a general mathematical framework prevents inter-comparison of NER/EROI estimates between authors: methods used are not standardized, nor is there a framework for succinctly reporting results in a consistent fashion. In this paper we derive normalized mathematical forms of four ERRs for energy extraction and conversion pathways. A bottom-up (process model formulation is developed for an n-stage energy harvesting and conversion pathway with various system boundaries. Formations with the broadest system boundaries use insights from life cycle analysis to suggest a hybrid process model/economic input output based framework. These models include indirect energy consumption due to external energy inputs and embodied energy in materials. Illustrative example results are given for simple energy extraction and conversion pathways. Lastly, we discuss the limitations of this approach and the intersection of this methodology with “top-down” economic approaches.

  19. Frontiers of Energy Storage and Conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiajun Chen

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available This special issue of Inorganics features a Forum for novel materials and approaches for electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Diminishing non-renewable fossil fuels and the resulting unattainability of environment have made us search new sustainable energy resources and develop technology for efficient utilization of such resources. Green energy sources, such as solar, hydroelectric, thermal and wind energy are partially replacing fossil fuels as means to generate power. Inorganic (solid state materials are key in the development of advanced devices for the efficient storage and conversion of energy. The grand challenge facing the inorganic chemist is to discover, design rationally and utilize advanced technological materials made from earth-abound elements for these energy storage and conversion processes. Recent spectacular progress in inorganic materials synthesis, characterization, and computational screening has greatly advanced this field, which drove us to edit this issue to provide a window to view the development of this field for the community. This special issue comprises research articles, which highlights some of the most recent advances in new materials for energy storage and conversion. [...

  20. Conceptual design of a FGM thermoelectric energy conversion system for high temperature heat source. 1. Design of thermoelectric energy conversion unit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kambe, Mitsuru; Teraki, Junichi; Hirano, Toru.

    1996-01-01

    Thermoelectric (TE) power conversion system has been focused as a candidate of direct energy conversion systems for high temperature heat source to meet the various power requirements in next century. A concept of energy conversion unit by using TE cell elements combined with FGM compliant pads has been presented to achieve high thermal energy density as well as high energy conversion efficiency. An energy conversion unit consists of 8 couples of P-N cell elements sandwiched between two FGM compliant pads. Performance analysis revealed that the power generated by this unit was 11 watts which is nearly ten times as much as conventional unit of the same size. Energy conversion efficiency of 12% was expected based on the assumption of ZT = 1. All the member of compliant pads as well as TE cells could be bonded together to avoid thermal resistance. (author)

  1. Effect of linear temperature dependence of thermoelectric properties on energy conversion efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamashita, Osamu

    2008-01-01

    New thermal rate equations were developed by taking the temperature dependences of the electrical resistivity ρ and thermal conductivity κ of the thermoelectric (TE) materials into the thermal rate equations on the assumption that they vary linearly with temperature T. The relative energy conversion efficiency η/η 0 for a single TE element was formulated by approximate analysis, where η and η 0 are the energy conversion efficiencies derived from the new and conventional thermal rate equations, respectively. Applying it to Si-Ge alloys, the temperature dependence of ρ is stronger than that of κ, so the former has a more significant effect on η/η 0 than the latter. However, the degree of contribution from both of them to η/η 0 was a little lower than 1% at the temperature difference ΔT of 600 K. When the temperature dependence of κ was increased to become equal to that of ρ, however, it was found that η/η 0 is increased by about 10% at ΔT = 600 K. It is clarified here that the temperature dependences of ρ and κ are also important factors for an improvement in η

  2. Development of an integrated optimization method for analyzing effect of energy conversion efficiency under uncertainty – A case study of Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, China

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jin, S.W.; Li, Y.P.; Huang, G.H.; Hao, Q.; Nie, S.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Superiority–inferiority full-infinite mixed-integer method is developed. • The method can tackle uncertainties of fuzzy sets, crisp and functional intervals. • The method is applied to a real case of planning energy system. • Effects of energy-conversion efficiency on energy systems are analyzed. • Results can support policy enactment of conversion efficiency improvement. - Abstract: In this study, a superiority–inferiority full-infinite mixed-integer programming (SFMP) method is developed for analyzing the effect of energy conversion efficiency under uncertainty. SFMP can effectively tackle uncertainties expressed as fuzzy sets, crisp intervals and functional intervals, it also can directly reflect relationships among multiple fuzzy sets through varying superiority and inferiority degrees with a high computational efficiency. Then the developed SFMP is applied to a real case of planning energy system for Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, where multiple scenarios related to different energy-conversion efficiency are concerned. Results for energy processing, energy conversion, capacity expansion, pollutant emission and system cost have been generated. It is proved that SFMP is an effective approach to deal with the uncertainties in energy systems with interactive and uncertain characteristics. A variety of uncertainties existed in energy conversion processes and impact factors could affect the modeling result. Results show that improvement of energy-conversion efficiency can effectively facilitate reducing energy resources consumption, optimizing energy generation pattern, decreasing capacity expansion, as well as mitigating pollutant emissions. Results also reveal that, for the study area, electric power has a highest energy saving potential among heating, oil processing, coal washing and refining. Results can help decision makers to generate desired alternatives that can facilitate policy enactment of conversion efficiency

  3. What limits photosynthetic energy conversion efficiency in nature? Lessons from the oceans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falkowski, Paul G; Lin, Hanzhi; Gorbunov, Maxim Y

    2017-09-26

    Constraining photosynthetic energy conversion efficiency in nature is challenging. In principle, two yield measurements must be made simultaneously: photochemistry, fluorescence and/or thermal dissipation. We constructed two different, extremely sensitive and precise active fluorometers: one measures the quantum yield of photochemistry from changes in variable fluorescence, the other measures fluorescence lifetimes in the picosecond time domain. By deploying the pair of instruments on eight transoceanic cruises over six years, we obtained over 200 000 measurements of fluorescence yields and lifetimes from surface waters in five ocean basins. Our results revealed that the average quantum yield of photochemistry was approximately 0.35 while the average quantum yield of fluorescence was approximately 0.07. Thus, closure on the energy budget suggests that, on average, approximately 58% of the photons absorbed by phytoplankton in the world oceans are dissipated as heat. This extraordinary inefficiency is associated with the paucity of nutrients in the upper ocean, especially dissolved inorganic nitrogen and iron. Our results strongly suggest that, in nature, most of the time, most of the phytoplankton community operates at approximately half of its maximal photosynthetic energy conversion efficiency because nutrients limit the synthesis or function of essential components in the photosynthetic apparatus.This article is part of the themed issue 'Enhancing photosynthesis in crop plants: targets for improvement'. © 2017 The Author(s).

  4. Increasing conversion efficiency of two-step photon up-conversion solar cell with a voltage booster hetero-interface.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asahi, Shigeo; Kusaki, Kazuki; Harada, Yukihiro; Kita, Takashi

    2018-01-17

    Development of high-efficiency solar cells is one of the attractive challenges in renewable energy technologies. Photon up-conversion can reduce the transmission loss and is one of the promising concepts which improve conversion efficiency. Here we present an analysis of the conversion efficiency, which can be increased by up-conversion in a single-junction solar cell with a hetero-interface that boosts the output voltage. We confirm that an increase in the quasi-Fermi gap and substantial photocurrent generation result in a high conversion efficiency.

  5. A functional form-stable phase change composite with high efficiency electro-to-thermal energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wu, Wenhao; Huang, Xinyu; Li, Kai; Yao, Ruimin; Chen, Renjie; Zou, Ruqiang

    2017-01-01

    Graphical abstract: The thermal conductivity of PU was enhanced to 43 times of the pristine value by encapsulation in a PGF, PU@PGF can be used for highly efficient electro-to-heat energy conversion and storage with the highest energy storage efficiency up to 85%. - Highlights: • The composite exhibits an in-situ solid-solid phase change behavior. • The enthalpy of polyurethane is enhanced within the matrix. • The thermal conductivity of the composite is 43 times as much as that of the polyurethane. • Supercooling of polyurethane is greatly reduced. • The composite is applied to cold protection as a wear layer. - Abstract: A novel solid-to-solid phase change composite brick was prepared by combination of polyurethane (PU) and pitch-based graphite foam (PGF). The carbonaceous support, which can be used for mass production, not only greatly improves the thermal conductivity but promote electro-to-heat conversion efficiency of organic phase change materials (PCMs). Our composite retained the enthalpy of PCM and exhibited a greatly reduced supercooling temperature. The novel composite was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The enthalpy of polyurethane has increased about 8.6% after infiltrating into graphite foam. The composite was very stable during thermal cycle test, and the electro-to-heat conversion efficiency achieves to 85% at lower voltages (1.5–1.8 V), which can vastly reduce energy consumption. The as-prepared composite was used in a wear layer to test its performance comparing with normal fabric.

  6. Energy conversion phenomena in plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katrasnik, Tomaz

    2011-01-01

    Research highlights: → Energy conversion phenomena of PHEVs for different drive cycles and depletion rates of energy sources. → Detailed physically based framework for analyzing energy conversion phenomena in PHEVs. → Interaction of energy flows and energy losses with energy consumption of the PHEV. → Identification and explanation of mechanisms leading to optimal tank-to-wheel efficiency. → Analysis of well-to-wheel efficiencies for different realistic well-to-tank scenarios. -- Abstract: Energy flows and energy conversion efficiencies of commercial plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles (PHEV) are analyzed for parallel and series PHEV topologies. The analysis is performed by a combined analytical and simulation approach. Combined approach enables evaluation of energy losses on different energy paths and provides their impact on the energy consumption of the PHEV. Thereby the paper reveals energy conversion phenomena of different PHEV topologies operating according to charge depleting and charge sustaining modes as well as according to different test cycles. It is shown in the paper that amount of the energy depleted from both on-board energy sources is significantly influenced by the efficiencies of energy conversion chains from on-board energy sources to the wheels. It is also shown that energy used to power the PHEV according to particular test cycles varies based on its operating mode, which influences energy flows on different energy paths within the PHEVs and consequently overall energy consumed by the PHEV. The paper additionally discusses well-to-wheel efficiencies considering different realistic well-to-tank scenarios. It is shown that well-to-tank efficiency of electric energy generation significantly influences optimal operating mode of the PHEV if consumption of primary energy sources is considered.

  7. Energy Conversion and Storage Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cairns, E.J.

    1992-03-01

    The Energy Conversion and Storage Program applies chemistry and materials science principles to solve problems in (1) production of new synthetic fuels, (2) development of high-performance rechargeable batteries and fuel cells, (3) development of advanced thermochemical processes for energy conversion, (4) characterization of complex chemical processes, and (5) application of novel materials for energy conversion and transmission. Projects focus on transport-process principles, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, separation processes, organic and physical chemistry, novel materials, and advanced methods of analysis. Electrochemistry research aims to develop advanced power systems for electric vehicle and stationary energy storage applications. Topics include identification of new electrochemical couples for advanced rechargeable batteries, improvements in battery and fuel-cell materials, and the establishment of engineering principles applicable to electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Chemical Applications research includes topics such as separations, catalysis, fuels, and chemical analyses. Included in this program area are projects to develop improved, energy-efficient methods for processing waste streams from synfuel plants and coal gasifiers. Other research projects seek to identify and characterize the constituents of liquid fuel-system streams and to devise energy-efficient means for their separation. Materials Applications research includes the evaluation of the properties of advanced materials, as well as the development of novel preparation techniques. For example, the use of advanced techniques, such as sputtering and laser ablation, are being used to produce high-temperature superconducting films.

  8. Overall energy conversion efficiency of a photosynthetic vesicle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sener, Melih [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Strumpfer, Johan [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Singharoy, Abhishek [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Hunter, C. Neil [Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom; Schulten, Klaus [Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Department of Physics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States; Center for Biophysics and Computational Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, United States

    2016-08-26

    The chromatophore of purple bacteria is an intracellular spherical vesicle that exists in numerous copies in the cell and that efficiently converts sunlight into ATP synthesis, operating typically under low light conditions. Building on an atomic-level structural model of a low-light-adapted chromatophore vesicle from Rhodobacter sphaeroides, we investigate the cooperation between more than a hundred protein complexes in the vesicle. The steady-state ATP production rate as a function of incident light intensity is determined after identifying quinol turnover at the cytochrome bc1 complex (cytbc1) as rate limiting and assuming that the quinone/quinol pool of about 900 molecules acts in a quasi-stationary state. For an illumination condition equivalent to 1% of full sunlight, the vesicle exhibits an ATP production rate of 82 ATP molecules/s. The energy conversion efficiency of ATP synthesis at illuminations corresponding to 1%–5% of full sunlight is calculated to be 0.12-0.04, respectively. The vesicle stoichiometry, evolutionarily adapted to the low light intensities in the habitat of purple bacteria, is suboptimal for steady-state ATP turnover for the benefit of protection against over-illumination.

  9. Recovery Act: Integrated DC-DC Conversion for Energy-Efficient Multicore Processors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Shepard, Kenneth L

    2013-03-31

    In this project, we have developed the use of thin-film magnetic materials to improve in energy efficiency of digital computing applications by enabling integrated dc-dc power conversion and management with on-chip power inductors. Integrated voltage regulators also enables fine-grained power management, by providing dynamic scaling of the supply voltage in concert with the clock frequency of synchronous logic to throttle power consumption at periods of low computational demand. The voltage converter generates lower output voltages during periods of low computational performance requirements and higher output voltages during periods of high computational performance requirements. Implementation of integrated power conversion requires high-capacity energy storage devices, which are generally not available in traditional semiconductor processes. We achieve this with integration of thin-film magnetic materials into a conventional complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process for high-quality on-chip power inductors. This project includes a body of work conducted to develop integrated switch-mode voltage regulators with thin-film magnetic power inductors. Soft-magnetic materials and inductor topologies are selected and optimized, with intent to maximize efficiency and current density of the integrated regulators. A custom integrated circuit (IC) is designed and fabricated in 45-nm CMOS silicon-on-insulator (SOI) to provide the control system and power-train necessary to drive the power inductors, in addition to providing a digital load for the converter. A silicon interposer is designed and fabricated in collaboration with IBM Research to integrate custom power inductors by chip stacking with the 45-nm CMOS integrated circuit, enabling power conversion with current density greater than 10A/mm2. The concepts and designs developed from this work enable significant improvements in performance-per-watt of future microprocessors in servers, desktops, and mobile

  10. Efficiency of solar radiation conversion in photovoltaic panels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kurpaska Sławomir

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper included analysis the conversion efficiency in photovoltaic panels. The tests were done between February and June at a test stand equipped with three commonly used types of photovoltaic panels: poly- and monocrystalline silicon and with semi-conductive layer made of copper (Cu, indium (In, gallium (Ga and selenium (Se (CIGS. Five days of each month were selected for a detailed analysis. They were close to the so-called recommended day for calculations in solar power engineering. Efficiency, calculated as the yield of electrical energy in relation to solar radiation energy reaching the panels was made conditional upon solar radiation intensity and ambient temperature. It was found that as solar radiation intensity and ambient temperature increase, the efficiency of solar radiation conversion into electricity is reduced. Correlation dependence was determined for the test data obtained, describing temperature change of panels depending on climatic conditions. It was found that as panel temperature increases, the conversion efficiency is reduced. Within the tested scope of experiment conditions, the efficiency was reduced in the range between 20.1 and 22.8%. The authors also determined the average efficiency values in individual test months together with average ambient conditions of the environment where the process of solar radiation conversion took place.

  11. High efficiency thermal to electric energy conversion using selective emitters and spectrally tuned solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chubb, Donald L.; Flood, Dennis J.; Lowe, Roland A.

    1992-01-01

    Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems are attractive possibilities for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion, but have typically required the use of black body radiators operating at high temperatures. Recent advances in both the understanding and performance of solid rare-earth oxide selective emitters make possible the use of TPV at temperatures as low as 1500 K. Depending on the nature of parasitic losses, overall thermal-to-electric conversion efficiencies greater than 20 percent are feasible.

  12. Universality of energy conversion efficiency for optimal tight-coupling heat engines and refrigerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheng, Shiqi; Tu, Z C

    2013-01-01

    A unified χ-criterion for heat devices (including heat engines and refrigerators), which is defined as the product of the energy conversion efficiency and the heat absorbed per unit time by the working substance (de Tomás et al 2012 Phys. Rev. E 85 010104), is optimized for tight-coupling heat engines and refrigerators operating between two heat baths at temperatures T c and T h ( > T c ). By taking a new convention on the thermodynamic flux related to the heat transfer between two baths, we find that for a refrigerator tightly and symmetrically coupled with two heat baths, the coefficient of performance (i.e., the energy conversion efficiency of refrigerators) at maximum χ asymptotically approaches √(ε C ) when the relative temperature difference between two heat baths ε C -1 ≡(T h -T c )/T c is sufficiently small. Correspondingly, the efficiency at maximum χ (equivalent to maximum power) for a heat engine tightly and symmetrically coupled with two heat baths is proved to be η C /2+η C 2 /8 up to the second order term of η C ≡ (T h − T c )/T h , which reverts to the universal efficiency at maximum power for tight-coupling heat engines operating between two heat baths at small temperature difference in the presence of left–right symmetry (Esposito et al 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett. 102 130602). (fast track communication)

  13. Analytical framework for analyzing the energy conversion efficiency of different hybrid electric vehicle topologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Katrasnik, Tomaz

    2009-01-01

    Energy consumption and exhaust emissions of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) strongly depend on the HEV topology, power ratios of the components and applied control strategy. There are many available patterns of combining the power flows to meet load requirements making it difficult to analyze and evaluate a newly designed HEV. In order to enhance design of HEVs, the paper provides a stand alone analytical framework for evaluating energy conversion phenomena of different HEV topologies. Analytical analysis is based on the energy balance equations and considers the complete energy path in the HEVs from the energy sources to the wheels and to other energy sinks. The analytical framework enables structuring large amount of data in physically meaningful energy flows and associated energy losses, and therefore provides insightful information for HEV optimization. It therefore enables identification of most suitable HEV topology and of most suitable power ratios of the components, since it reveals and quantifies the instruments that could lead to improved energy conversion efficiency of particular HEV. The analytical framework is also applicable for correcting the energy consumption of the HEV to the value corresponding to balanced energy content of the electric storage devices.

  14. Microbial Energy Conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Buckley, Merry [American Society for Microbiology (ASM), Washington, DC (United States); Wall, Judy D. [Univ. of Missouri, Columbia, MO (United States)

    2006-10-01

    The American Academy of Microbiology convened a colloquium March 10-12, 2006, in San Francisco, California, to discuss the production of energy fuels by microbial conversions. The status of research into various microbial energy technologies, the advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches, research needs in the field, and education and training issues were examined, with the goal of identifying routes for producing biofuels that would both decrease the need for fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Currently, the choices for providing energy are limited. Policy makers and the research community must begin to pursue a broader array of potential energy technologies. A diverse energy portfolio that includes an assortment of microbial energy choices will allow communities and consumers to select the best energy solution for their own particular needs. Funding agencies and governments alike need to prepare for future energy needs by investing both in the microbial energy technologies that work today and in the untested technologies that will serve the world’s needs tomorrow. More mature bioprocesses, such as ethanol production from starchy materials and methane from waste digestors, will find applications in the short term. However, innovative techniques for liquid fuel or biohydrogen production are among the longer term possibilities that should also be vigorously explored, starting now. Microorganisms can help meet human energy needs in any of a number of ways. In their most obvious role in energy conversion, microorganisms can generate fuels, including ethanol, hydrogen, methane, lipids, and butanol, which can be burned to produce energy. Alternatively, bacteria can be put to use in microbial fuel cells, where they carry out the direct conversion of biomass into electricity. Microorganisms may also be used some day to make oil and natural gas technologies more efficient by sequestering carbon or by assisting in the recovery of oil and

  15. Clean and efficient energy conversion processes (Cecon-project). Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1998-12-31

    The objectives of the work programme reported are the development and testing of two optimised energy conversion processes, both consisting of a radiant surface gas burner and a ceramic heat exchanger. The first sub-objective of the programme is related to industrial heating, drying and curing processes requireing low and medium heat fluxes. It is estimated that around one tenth of the total EC industrial energy use is associated with such processes. The majority of these processes currently use convection and conduction as the main heat transfer mechanisms and overall energy efficiencies are typically below 25%. For many drying and finishing processes (such as curing powder coatings and drying paints, varnishes, inks, and for the fabrication of paper and textiles), radiant heating can achieve much faster dyring rates and higher energy efficiency than convective heating. In the project new concepts of natural gas fired radiant heating have been investigated which would be much more efficient than the existing processes. One element of the programme was the evelopment of gas burners having enhanced radiant efficiencies. A second concerned the investigation of the safety of gas burners containing significant volumes of mixed gas and air. Finally the new gas burners were tested in combination with the high temperature heat exchanger to create highly efficient radiant heating systems. The second sub-objective concerned the development of a compact low cost heat exchanger capable of achieving high levels of heat recovery (up to 60%) which could be easily installed on industrial processes. This would make heat recovery a practical proposition on processes where existing heat recovery technology is currently not cost effective. The project will have an impact on industrial processes consuming around 80 MTOE of energy per year within EU countries (1 MTOE equals 41.8 PJ). The overall energy saving potential of the project is estimated to be around 22 MTOE which is around 10

  16. Computational screening of new inorganic materials for highly efficient solar energy conversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kuhar, Korina

    2017-01-01

    in solar cells convert solar energy into electricity, and PC uses harvested energy to conduct chemical reactions, such as splitting water into oxygen and, more importantly, hydrogen, also known as the fuel of the future. Further progress in both PV and PC fields is mostly limited by the flaws in materials...... materials. In this work a high-throughput computational search for suitable absorbers for PV and PC applications is presented. A set of descriptors has been developed, such that each descriptor targets an important property or issue of a good solar energy conversion material. The screening study...... that we have access to. Despite the vast amounts of energy at our disposal, we are not able to harvest this solar energy efficiently. Currently, there are a few ways of converting solar power into usable energy, such as photovoltaics (PV) or photoelectrochemical generation of fuels (PC). PV processes...

  17. Photovoltaic conversion efficiency in copper-phthalocyanine/perylenetetracarboxylic acid benzimidazole heterojunction solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tsutsui, Tetsuo [Dept. of Materials Science and Technology, Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan); Nakashima, Takuya [Dept. of Materials Science and Technology, Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan); Fujita, Yoshimasa [Dept. of Materials Science and Technology, Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan); Saito, Shogo [Dept. of Materials Science and Technology, Graduate School of Engineering Sciences, Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan)

    1995-04-01

    Energy conversion efficiency of organic heterojuction-type solar cells was analyzed based on a simplified model. Energy conversion efficiency was expressed by four terms, a proton collection factor, a voltage output factor, an average quantum efficiency of photo-carrier generation and a fill factor. Meanings of low values of former two terms were discussed. (orig.)

  18. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), Westinghouse phase 1. Volume 5: Combined gas-steam turbine cycles. [energy conversion efficiency in electric power plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amos, D. J.; Foster-Pegg, R. W.; Lee, R. M.

    1976-01-01

    The energy conversion efficiency of gas-steam turbine cycles was investigated for selected combined cycle power plants. Results indicate that it is possible for combined cycle gas-steam turbine power plants to have efficiencies several point higher than conventional steam plants. Induction of low pressure steam into the steam turbine is shown to improve the plant efficiency. Post firing of the boiler of a high temperature combined cycle plant is found to increase net power but to worsen efficiency. A gas turbine pressure ratio of 12 to 1 was found to be close to optimum at all gas turbine inlet temperatures that were studied. The coal using combined cycle plant with an integrated low-Btu gasifier was calculated to have a plant efficiency of 43.6%, a capitalization of $497/kW, and a cost of electricity of 6.75 mills/MJ (24.3 mills/kwh). This combined cycle plant should be considered for base load power generation.

  19. A Review of Previous Research in Direct Energy Conversion Fission Reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DUONG, HENRY; POLANSKY, GARY F.; SANDERS, THOMAS L.; SIEGEL, MALCOLM D.

    1999-01-01

    From the earliest days of power reactor development, direct energy conversion was an obvious choice to produce high efficiency electric power generation. Directly capturing the energy of the fission fragments produced during nuclear fission avoids the intermediate conversion to thermal energy and the efficiency limitations of classical thermodynamics. Efficiencies of more than 80% are possible, independent of operational temperature. Direct energy conversion fission reactors would possess a number of unique characteristics that would make them very attractive for commercial power generation. These reactors would be modular in design with integral power conversion and operate at low pressures and temperatures. They would operate at high efficiency and produce power well suited for long distance transmission. They would feature large safety margins and passively safe design. Ideally suited to production by advanced manufacturing techniques, direct energy conversion fission reactors could be produced more economically than conventional reactor designs. The history of direct energy conversion can be considered as dating back to 1913 when Moseleyl demonstrated that charged particle emission could be used to buildup a voltage. Soon after the successful operation of a nuclear reactor, E.P. Wigner suggested the use of fission fragments for direct energy conversion. Over a decade after Wigner's suggestion, the first theoretical treatment of the conversion of fission fragment kinetic energy into electrical potential appeared in the literature. Over the ten years that followed, a number of researchers investigated various aspects of fission fragment direct energy conversion. Experiments were performed that validated the basic physics of the concept, but a variety of technical challenges limited the efficiencies that were achieved. Most research in direct energy conversion ceased in the US by the late 1960s. Sporadic interest in the concept appears in the literature until this

  20. Efficiency Evaluation of Energy Systems

    CERN Document Server

    Kanoğlu, Mehmet; Dinçer, İbrahim

    2012-01-01

    Efficiency is one of the most frequently used terms in thermodynamics, and it indicates how well an energy conversion or process is accomplished. Efficiency is also one of the most frequently misused terms in thermodynamics and is often a source of misunderstanding. This is because efficiency is often used without being properly defined first. This book intends to provide a comprehensive evaluation of various efficiencies used for energy transfer and conversion systems including steady-flow energy devices (turbines, compressors, pumps, nozzles, heat exchangers, etc.), various power plants, cogeneration plants, and refrigeration systems. The book will cover first-law (energy based) and second-law (exergy based) efficiencies and provide a comprehensive understanding of their implications. It will help minimize the widespread misuse of efficiencies among students and researchers in energy field by using an intuitive and unified approach for defining efficiencies. The book will be particularly useful for a clear ...

  1. Energy analysis of biochemical conversion processes of biomass to bioethanol

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bakari, M.; Ngadi, M.; Bergthorson, T. [McGill Univ., Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, PQ (Canada). Dept. of Bioresource Engineering

    2010-07-01

    Bioethanol is among the most promising of biofuels that can be produced from different biomass such as agricultural products, waste and byproducts. This paper reported on a study that examined the energy conversion of different groups of biomass to bioethanol, including lignocelluloses, starches and sugar. Biochemical conversion generally involves the breakdown of biomass to simple sugars using different pretreatment methods. The energy needed for the conversion steps was calculated in order to obtain mass and energy efficiencies for the conversions. Mass conversion ratios of corn, molasses and rice straw were calculated as 0.3396, 0.2300 and 0.2296 kg of bioethanol per kg of biomass, respectively. The energy efficiency of biochemical conversion of corn, molasses and rice straw was calculated as 28.57, 28.21 and 31.33 per cent, respectively. The results demonstrated that lignocelluloses can be efficiently converted with specific microorganisms such as Mucor indicus, Rhizopus oryzae using the Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) methods.

  2. Electrokinetic energy conversion efficiency of viscoelastic fluids in a polyelectrolyte-grafted nanochannel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jian, Yongjun; Li, Fengqin; Liu, Yongbo; Chang, Long; Liu, Quansheng; Yang, Liangui

    2017-08-01

    In order to conduct extensive investigation of energy harvesting capabilities of nanofluidic devices, we provide analytical solutions for streaming potential and electrokinetic energy conversion (EKEC) efficiency through taking the combined consequences of soft nanochannel, a rigid nanochannel whose surface is covered by charged polyelectrolyte layer, and viscoelastic rheology into account. The viscoelasticity of the fluid is considered by employing the Maxwell constitutive model when the forcing frequency of an oscillatory driving pressure flow matches with the inverse of the relaxation time scale of a typical viscoelastic fluid. We compare the streaming potential and EKEC efficiency with those of a rigid nanochannel, having zeta potential equal to the electrostatic potential at the solid-polyelectrolyte interface of the soft nanochannels. Within the present selected parameter ranges, it is shown that the different peaks of maximal streaming potential and EKEC efficiency for the rigid nanochannel are larger than those for the soft nanochannel when forcing frequencies of the driving pressure gradient are close to resonating frequencies. However, more enhanced streaming potential and EKEC efficiency for a soft nanochannel can be found in most of the regions away from these resonant frequencies. Moreover, the influence of several dimensionless parameters on EKEC efficiency is discussed in detail. Finally, within the given parametric regions, the maximum efficiency at some resonant frequency obtained in present analysis is about 25%. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Energy Conversion & Storage Program, 1993 annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cairns, E.J.

    1994-06-01

    The Energy Conversion and Storage Program applies chemistry and materials science principles to solve problems in: production of new synthetic fuels; development of high-performance rechargeable batteries and fuel cells; development of high-efficiency thermochemical processes for energy conversion; characterization of complex chemical processes and chemical species; and the study and application of novel materials for energy conversion and transmission. Projects focus on transport-process principles, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, separation processes, organic and physical chemistry, novel materials, and advanced methods of analysis.

  4. Synergistic energy conversion process using nuclear energy and fossil fuels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hori, Masao

    2007-01-01

    Because primary energies such as fossil fuels, nuclear energy and renewable energy are limited in quantity of supply, it is necessary to use available energies effectively for the increase of energy demand that is inevitable this century while keeping environment in good condition. For this purpose, an efficient synergistic energy conversion process using nuclear energy and fossil fuels together converted to energy carriers such are electricity, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels seems to be effective. Synergistic energy conversion processes containing nuclear energy were surveyed and effects of these processes on resource saving and the CO 2 emission reduction were discussed. (T.T.)

  5. A General Mathematical Framework for Calculating Systems-Scale Efficiency of Energy Extraction and Conversion: Energy Return on Investment (EROI) and Other Energy Return Ratios

    OpenAIRE

    Adam R. Brandt; Michael Dale

    2011-01-01

    The efficiencies of energy extraction and conversion systems are typically expressed using energy return ratios (ERRs) such as the net energy ratio (NER) or energy return on investment (EROI). A lack of a general mathematical framework prevents inter-comparison of NER/EROI estimates between authors: methods used are not standardized, nor is there a framework for succinctly reporting results in a consistent fashion. In this paper we derive normalized mathematical forms of four ERRs for energy ...

  6. Efficient full-spectrum utilization, reception and conversion of solar energy by broad-band nanospiral antenna.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Huaqiao; Gao, Huotao; Cao, Ting; Li, Boya

    2018-01-22

    In this work, the collection of solar energy by a broad-band nanospiral antenna is investigated in order to solve the low efficiency of the solar rectenna based on conventional nanoantennas. The antenna impedance, radiation, polarization and effective area are all considered in the efficiency calculation using the finite integral technique. The wavelength range investigated is 300-3000 nm, which corresponds to more than 98% of the solar radiation energy. It's found that the nanospiral has stronger field enhancement in the gap than a nanodipole counterpart. And a maximum harvesting efficiency about 80% is possible in principle for the nanospiral coupled to a rectifier resistance of 200 Ω, while about 10% for the nanodipole under the same conditions. Moreover, the nanospiral could be coupled to a rectifier diode of high resistance more easily than the nanodipole. These results indicate that the efficient full-spectrum utilization, reception and conversion of solar energy can be achieved by the nanospiral antenna, which is expected to promote the solar rectenna to be a promising technology in the clean, renewable energy application.

  7. Design rules for donors in bulk-heterojunction solar cells - towards 10 % energy-conversion efficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scharber, M.C.; Muehlbacher, D.; Koppe, M.; Denk, P.; Waldauf, C.; Brabec, C.J. [Konarka Austria, Altenbergerstrasse 69, A-4040 Linz (Austria); Heeger, A.J. [Department of Materials Science, Broida Hall 6125, University of California at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 3106-5090 (United States)

    2006-03-17

    For bulk-heterojunction photovoltaic cells fabricated from conjugated polymers and a fullerene derivative, the relation between the open-circuit voltage (V{sub oc}) and the oxidation potential for different conjugated polymers is studied. A linear relation between V{sub oc} and the oxidation potential is found (see figure). Based on this relation, the energy-conversion efficiency of a bulk-heterojunction solar cell is derived as a function of the bandgap and the energy levels of the conjugated polymer. (Abstract Copyright [2006], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

  8. Saturation mechanism and improvement of conversion efficiency of free electron laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taguchi, T.; Mima, K.; Mochizuki, T.

    1980-01-01

    Saturation mechanisms of free electron laser are investigated in the Compton regime. It is found that the saturation occurs due to quasi-linear energy spreading of electron beam in the case of many mode excitation. The energy conversion efficiency remains low even if many modes are taken into account. For improvement of the conversion efficiency, effects of reacceleration by a traveling wave are investigated and turn out to increase the efficiency up to more than 50%. (author)

  9. Energy Storage System with Voltage Equalization Strategy for Wind Energy Conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cheng-Tao Tsai

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, an energy storage system with voltage equalization strategy for wind energy conversion is presented. The proposed energy storage system provides a voltage equalization strategy for series-connected lead-acid batteries to increase their total storage capacity and lifecycle. In order to draw the maximum power from the wind energy, a perturbation-and-observation method and digital signal processor (DSP are incorporated to implement maximum power point tracking (MPPT algorithm and power regulating scheme. In the proposed energy storage system, all power switches have zero-voltage-switching (ZVS feature at turn-on transition. Therefore, the conversion efficiency can be increased. Finally, a prototype energy storage system for wind energy conversion is built and implemented. Experimental results have verified the performance and feasibility of the proposed energy storage system for wind energy conversion.

  10. Comparative efficiency of technologies for conversion and transportation of energy resources of Russia's eastern regions to NEA countries

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kler, Aleksandr; Tyurina, Elina; Mednikov, Aleksandr

    2018-01-01

    The paper presents perspective technologies for combined conversion of fossil fuels into synthetic liquid fuels and electricity. The comparative efficiency of various process flows of conversion and transportation of energy resources of Russia's east that are aimed at supplying electricity to remote consumers is presented. These also include process flows based on production of synthetic liquid fuel.

  11. Power production with direct energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rochau, G.; Lipinski, R.; Polansky, G.; Seidel, D.; Slutz, S.; Morrow, C.; Anghaie, S.; Beller, D.; Brown, L.; Parish, T.

    2001-01-01

    The direct energy conversion (DEC) project has as its main goal the development of a direct energy conversion process suitable for commercial development. We define direct energy conversion as any fission process that returns usable energy without using an intermediate thermal process. During the first phase of study, nine different concepts were investigated and 3 were selected: 1) quasi-spherical magnetically insulated fission electrode cell, 2) fission fragment magnetic collimator, and 3) gaseous core reactor with MHD generator. Selection was based on efficiency and feasibility. The realization of their potential requires an investment in both technically and commercially oriented research. The DEC project has a process in place to take one of these concepts forward and to outline the road map for further development. (A.C.)

  12. Power production with direct energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rochau, G.; Lipinski, R.; Polansky, G.; Seidel, D.; Slutz, S. [Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States); Morrow, C. [Morrow Consulting, Albuquerque, NM (United States); Anghaie, S. [Florida Univ., Gainesville, FL (United States); Beller, D. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (United States); Brown, L. [General Atomic Co., San Diego, CA (United States); Parish, T. [Texas A and M Univ., College Station, TX (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

    2001-07-01

    The direct energy conversion (DEC) project has as its main goal the development of a direct energy conversion process suitable for commercial development. We define direct energy conversion as any fission process that returns usable energy without using an intermediate thermal process. During the first phase of study, nine different concepts were investigated and 3 were selected: 1) quasi-spherical magnetically insulated fission electrode cell, 2) fission fragment magnetic collimator, and 3) gaseous core reactor with MHD generator. Selection was based on efficiency and feasibility. The realization of their potential requires an investment in both technically and commercially oriented research. The DEC project has a process in place to take one of these concepts forward and to outline the road map for further development. (A.C.)

  13. Patchy zooplankton grazing and high energy conversion efficiency: ecological implications of sandeel behavior and strategy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Deurs, Mikael van; Christensen, Asbjørn; Rindorf, Anna

    2013-01-01

    of prey. Here we studied zooplankton consumption and energy conversion efficiency of lesser sandeel (Ammodytes marinus) in the central North Sea, using stomach data, length and weight-at-age data, bioenergetics, and hydrodynamic modeling. The results suggested: (i) Lesser sandeel in the Dogger area depend...... sandeel densities and growth rates per area than larger habitats...

  14. Audio power amplifier techniques with energy efficient power conversion. Vol. 1

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nielsen, Karsten

    1998-04-01

    A fundamental study of both analog and digital pulse modulation methods is carried out. A novel class of multi-level pulse modulation methods - Phase Shifted Carrier Pulse Width Modulation (PSCPWM) - is introduced and show to have several advantageous features, primarily caused by the much improved synthesis of the modulating signal. Enhanced digital pulse modulation methods for digital Pulse Modulation Amplifier (PMA) systems are investigated, and a simple methodology for digital PWM modulator synthesis is devised. It is concluded, that the modulator performance is not a limitation in the system, regardless of the domain of modulator implementation. Power conversion in PMA systems is adressed from the perspective of both linearity and efficienty optimization. Based on detailed studies of the distortion mechanisms in the power conversion stage it is concluded, that this is the fundamental limitation on system performance due to several physical limitations. The analysis of general power stage efficiency concludes that dramatic improvements in energy efficiency are possible with PMA systems that are optimized for efficiency. A control system design methodology is devised as a platform for synthesis of robust control systems. Investigations of three fundamental control structures show that even simple control systems offer a remarkable value, although the considered topologies also have their limitations which is verified by practical evaluation in hardware. A novel control method is introduced - Multivariable Enhanced Cascade Control (MECC). MECC provides flexible control over all essential system parameters and is furthermore simple in realization. Practical evaluation of a MECC based PMA shows state-of-the-art performance. The application of non-linear control methods is investigated with the introduction of an enhanced non-linear control/modulator topology. Although the non-linear controller is theoretically interesting, the method proves to suffer from various

  15. Materials in energy conversion, harvesting, and storage

    CERN Document Server

    Lu, Kathy

    2014-01-01

    First authored book to address materials' role in the quest for the next generation of energy materials Energy balance, efficiency, sustainability, and so on, are some of many facets of energy challenges covered in current research. However, there has not been a monograph that directly covers a spectrum of materials issues in the context of energy conversion, harvesting and storage. Addressing one of the most pressing problems of our time, Materials in Energy Conversion, Harvesting, and Storage illuminates the roles and performance requirements of materials in energy an

  16. Tandem photovoltaic solar cells and increased solar energy conversion efficiency

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loferski, J. J.

    1976-01-01

    Tandem photovoltaic cells, as proposed by Jackson (1955) to increase the efficiency of solar energy conversion, involve the construction of a system of stacked p/n homojunction photovoltaic cells composed of different semiconductors. It had been pointed out by critics, however, that the total power which could be extracted from the cells in the stack placed side by side was substantially greater than the power obtained from the stacked cells. A reexamination of the tandem cell concept in view of the development of the past few years is conducted. It is concluded that the use of tandem cell systems in flat plate collectors, as originally envisioned by Jackson, may yet become feasible as a result of the development of economically acceptable solar cells for large scale terrestrial power generation.

  17. Three-Dimensional Hetero-Integration of Faceted GaN on Si Pillars for Efficient Light Energy Conversion Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Dong Rip; Lee, Chi Hwan; Cho, In Sun; Jang, Hanmin; Jeon, Min Soo; Zheng, Xiaolin

    2017-07-25

    An important pathway for cost-effective light energy conversion devices, such as solar cells and light emitting diodes, is to integrate III-V (e.g., GaN) materials on Si substrates. Such integration first necessitates growth of high crystalline III-V materials on Si, which has been the focus of many studies. However, the integration also requires that the final III-V/Si structure has a high light energy conversion efficiency. To accomplish these twin goals, we use single-crystalline microsized Si pillars as a seed layer to first grow faceted Si structures, which are then used for the heteroepitaxial growth of faceted GaN films. These faceted GaN films on Si have high crystallinity, and their threading dislocation density is similar to that of GaN grown on sapphire. In addition, the final faceted GaN/Si structure has great light absorption and extraction characteristics, leading to improved performance for GaN-on-Si light energy conversion devices.

  18. Feasibility study on conversion and storage of solar energy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Senghaphan, W; Tunsiri, P; Trivijitkasem, P; Ratanathammaphan, K

    1982-01-01

    A study has been conducted on the energy conversion system from solar energy to mechanical energy and on the efficiency of energy storage by an ordinary battery. The conversion system makes use of a thermal cycle, that is to say, the solar energy is collected as heat, and this heat makes suitable working substances evaporate into vapor with volume and pressure which can be used to drive the turbine resulting in mechanical energy. The vapor which passes through the turbine will have reduced pressure and reduced temperature and will be recondensed into liquid after passing through a suitable radiator. This liquid can be pumped back into the hot part of the conversion system with little energy. It is found by this study that the turbine could be operated by using acetone as working substance with a 80-90/sup 0/C source of heat. In the energy conversion system from solar energy to electrical energy, it is essential to provide for an energy storage, so that energy can be used in the absence of sunshine. To store energy by using a batter is one of the convenient methods. Therefore the efficiency of the batteries has been studied. Owing to incompleteness of the researched system, a conventional DC power supply has been used for charging the batteries. It is found that the efficiency of the charging and discharging cycle of batteries is about 40-60%.

  19. Thermodynamic limits to the conversion of blackbody radiation by quantum systems. [with application to solar energy conversion devices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buoncristiani, A. M.; Smith, B. T.; Byvik, C. E.

    1982-01-01

    Using general thermodynamic arguments, we analyze the conversion of the energy contained in the radiation from a blackbody to useful work by a quantum system. We show that the energy available for conversion is bounded above by the change in free energy in the incident and reradiated fields and that this free energy change depends upon the temperature of the receiving device. Universal efficiency curves giving the ultimate thermodynamic conversion efficiency of the quantum system are presented in terms of the blackbody temperature and the temperature and threshold energy of the quantum system. Application of these results is made to a variety of systems including biological photosynthetic, photovoltaic, and photoelectrochemical systems.

  20. Effects of mechanical deformation on energy conversion efficiency of piezoelectric nanogenerators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoo, Jinho; Kim, Wook; Choi, Dukhyun; Cho, Seunghyeon; Kim, Chang-Wan; Kwon, Jang-Yeon; Kim, Hojoong; Kim, Seunghyun; Chang, Yoon-Suk

    2015-01-01

    Piezoelectric nanogenerators (PNGs) are capable of converting energy from various mechanical sources into electric energy and have many attractive features such as continuous operation, replenishment and low cost. However, many researchers still have studied novel material synthesis and interfacial controls to improve the power production from PNGs. In this study, we report the energy conversion efficiency (ECE) of PNGs dependent on mechanical deformations such as bending and twisting. Since the output power of PNGs is caused by the mechanical strain of the piezoelectric material, the power production and their ECE is critically dependent on the types of external mechanical deformations. Thus, we examine the output power from PNGs according to bending and twisting. In order to clearly understand the ECE of PNGs in the presence of those external mechanical deformations, we determine the ECE of PNGs by the ratio of output electrical energy and input mechanical energy, where we suggest that the input energy is based only on the strain energy of the piezoelectric layer. We calculate the strain energy of the piezoelectric layer using numerical simulation of bending and twisting of the PNG. Finally, we demonstrate that the ECE of the PNG caused by twisting is much higher than that caused by bending due to the multiple effects of normal and lateral piezoelectric coefficients. Our results thus provide a design direction for PNG systems as high-performance power generators. (paper)

  1. Thermodynamic analysis of energy conversion and transfer in hybrid system consisting of wind turbine and advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Yuan; Yang, Ke; Li, Xuemei; Xu, Jianzhong

    2014-01-01

    A simulation model consisting of wind speed, wind turbine and AA-CAES (advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage) system is developed in this paper, and thermodynamic analysis on energy conversion and transfer in hybrid system is carried out. The impacts of stable wind speed and unstable wind speed on the hybrid system are analyzed and compared from the viewpoint of energy conversion and system efficiency. Besides, energy conversion relationship between wind turbine and AA-CAES system is investigated on the basis of process analysis. The results show that there are several different forms of energy in hybrid system, which have distinct conversion relationship. As to wind turbine, power coefficient determines wind energy utilization efficiency, and in AA-CAES system, it is compressor efficiency that mainly affects energy conversion efficiencies of other components. The strength and fluctuation of wind speed have a direct impact on energy conversion efficiencies of components of hybrid system, and within proper wind speed scope, the maximum of system efficiency could be expected. - Highlights: • A hybrid system consisting of wind, wind turbine and AA-CAES system is established. • Energy conversion in hybrid system with stable and unstable wind speed is analyzed. • Maximum efficiency of hybrid system can be reached within proper wind speed scope. • Thermal energy change in hybrid system is more sensitive to wind speed change. • Compressor efficiency can affect other efficiencies in AA-CAES system

  2. Near-field enhanced thermionic energy conversion for renewable energy recycling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghashami, Mohammad; Cho, Sung Kwon; Park, Keunhan

    2017-09-01

    This article proposes a new energy harvesting concept that greatly enhances thermionic power generation with high efficiency by exploiting the near-field enhancement of thermal radiation. The proposed near-field enhanced thermionic energy conversion (NETEC) system is uniquely configured with a low-bandgap semiconductor cathode separated from a thermal emitter with a subwavelength gap distance, such that a significant amount of electrons can be photoexcited by near-field thermal radiation to contribute to the enhancement of thermionic current density. We theoretically demonstrate that the NETEC system can generate electric power at a significantly lower temperature than the standard thermionic generator, and the energy conversion efficiency can exceed 40%. The obtained results reveal that near-field photoexcitation can enhance the thermionic power output by more than 10 times, making this hybrid system attractive for renewable energy recycling.

  3. Electrochemistry of Nanocomposite Materials for Energy Conversion

    OpenAIRE

    Boni, Alessandro

    2016-01-01

    Energy is the most relevant technological issue that the world experiences today, and the development of efficient technologies able to store and convert energy in different forms is urgently needed. The storage of electrical energy is of major importance and electrochemical processes are particularly suited for the demanding task of an efficient inter-conversion. A potential strategy is to store electricity into the chemical bonds of electrogenerated fuels, like hydrogen and/or energy-den...

  4. Thermoelectric Energy Conversion: Materials, Devices, and Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen, Gang

    2015-01-01

    This paper will present a discussion of challenges, progresses, and opportunities in thermoelectric energy conversion technology. We will start with an introduction to thermoelectric technology, followed by discussing advances in thermoelectric materials, devices, and systems. Thermoelectric energy conversion exploits the Seebeck effect to convert thermal energy into electricity, or the Peltier effect for heat pumping applications. Thermoelectric devices are scalable, capable of generating power from nano Watts to mega Watts. One key issue is to improve materials thermoelectric figure- of-merit that is linearly proportional to the Seebeck coefficient, the square of the electrical conductivity, and inversely proportional to the thermal conductivity. Improving the figure-of-merit requires good understanding of electron and phonon transport as their properties are often contradictory in trends. Over the past decade, excellent progresses have been made in the understanding of electron and phonon transport in thermoelectric materials, and in improving existing and identify new materials, especially by exploring nanoscale size effects. Taking materials to real world applications, however, faces more challenges in terms of materials stability, device fabrication, thermal management and system design. Progresses and lessons learnt from our effort in fabricating thermoelectric devices will be discussed. We have demonstrated device thermal-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency ∼10% and solar-thermoelectric generator efficiency at 4.6% without optical concentration of sunlight (Figure 1) and ∼8-9% efficiency with optical concentration. Great opportunities exist in advancing materials as well as in using existing materials for energy efficiency improvements and renewable energy utilization, as well as mobile applications. (paper)

  5. Direct energy conversion system for D-3He fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomita, Y.; Shu, L.Y.; Momota, H.

    1993-11-01

    A novel and highly efficient direct energy conversion system is proposed for utilizing D- 3 He fueled fusion. In order to convert kinetic energy of ions, we applied a pair of direct energy conversion systems each of which has a cusp-type DEC and a traveling wave DEC (TWDEC). In a cusp-type DEC, electrons are separated from the escaping ions at the first line-cusp and the energy of thermal ion components is converted at the second cusp DEC. The fusion protons go through the cusp-type DEC and arrive at the TWDEC, which principle is similar to 'LINAC.' The energy of fusion protons is recovered to electricity with an efficiency of more than 70%. These DECs bring about the high efficient fusion plant. (author)

  6. Stoichiometric estimates of the biochemical conversion efficiencies in tsetse metabolism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Custer Adrian V

    2005-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The time varying flows of biomass and energy in tsetse (Glossina can be examined through the construction of a dynamic mass-energy budget specific to these flies but such a budget depends on efficiencies of metabolic conversion which are unknown. These efficiencies of conversion determine the overall yields when food or storage tissue is converted into body tissue or into metabolic energy. A biochemical approach to the estimation of these efficiencies uses stoichiometry and a simplified description of tsetse metabolism to derive estimates of the yields, for a given amount of each substrate, of conversion product, by-products, and exchanged gases. This biochemical approach improves on estimates obtained through calorimetry because the stoichiometric calculations explicitly include the inefficiencies and costs of the reactions of conversion. However, the biochemical approach still overestimates the actual conversion efficiency because the approach ignores all the biological inefficiencies and costs such as the inefficiencies of leaky membranes and the costs of molecular transport, enzyme production, and cell growth. Results This paper presents estimates of the net amounts of ATP, fat, or protein obtained by tsetse from a starting milligram of blood, and provides estimates of the net amounts of ATP formed from the catabolism of a milligram of fat along two separate pathways, one used for resting metabolism and one for flight. These estimates are derived from stoichiometric calculations constructed based on a detailed quantification of the composition of food and body tissue and on a description of the major metabolic pathways in tsetse simplified to single reaction sequences between substrates and products. The estimates include the expected amounts of uric acid formed, oxygen required, and carbon dioxide released during each conversion. The calculated estimates of uric acid egestion and of oxygen use compare favorably to

  7. Direct energy conversion of radiation energy in fusion reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, S.; Iiyoshi, A.; Motojima, O.; Okamoto, M.; Sudo, S.; Ohnishi, M.; Onozuka, M.; Uenosono, C.

    1993-11-01

    Direct energy conversion from plasma heat flux has been studied. Since major parts of fusion energy in the advanced fusion reactor are radiation and charged particle energies, the flexible design of the blanket is possible. We discuss the potentiality of the thermoelectric element that generates electricity by temperature gradient in conductors. A strong magnetic field is used to confine the fusion plasma, therefore, it is appropriate to consider the effect of the magnetic field. We propose a new element which is called Nernst element. The new element needs the magnetic field and the temperature gradient. We compare the efficiency of these two elements in a semiconductor model. Finally, a direct energy conversion are mentioned. (author)

  8. Direct energy conversion of radiation energy in fusion reactor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamaguchi, S.; Iiyoshi, A.; Motojima, O.; Okamoto, M.; Sudo, S.; Ohnishi, M.; Onozuka, M.; Uenosono, C.

    1993-11-01

    Direct energy conversion from plasma heat flux has been studied. Since major parts of fusion energy in the advanced fusion reactor are radiation and charged particle energies, the flexible design of the blanket is possible. We discuss the potentiality of the thermoelectric element that generates electricity by temperature gradient in conductors. A strong magnetic field is used to confine the fusion plasma, therefore, it is appropriate to consider the effect of the magnetic field. We propose a new element which is called Nernst element. The new element needs the magnetic field and the temperature gradient. We compare the efficiency of these two elements in a semiconductor model. Finally, a direct energy conversion are mentioned.

  9. Direct energy conversion of radiation energy in fusion reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamaguchi, S.; Iiyoshi, A.; Motojima, O.; Okamoto, M.; Sudo, S.; Ohnishi, M.; Onozuka, M.; Uenosono, C.

    1993-11-01

    Direct energy conversion from plasma heat flux has been studied. Since major parts of fusion energy in the advanced fusion reactor are radiation and charged particle energies, the flexible design of the blanket is possible. We discuss the potentiality of the thermoelectric element that generates electricity by temperature gradient in conductors. A strong magnetic field is used to confine the fusion plasma, therefore, it is appropriate to consider the effect of the magnetic field. We propose a new element which is called Nernst element. The new element needs the magnetic field and the temperature gradient. We compare the efficiency of these two elements in a semiconductor model. Finally, a direct energy conversion are mentioned. (author).

  10. Regional and global exergy and energy efficiencies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nakicenovic, N; Kurz, R [International Inst. for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg (Austria). Environmentally Compatible Energy Strategies (Ecuador) Project; Gilli, P V [Graz Univ. of Technology (Austria)

    1996-03-01

    We present estimates of global energy efficiency by applying second-law (exergy) analysis to regional and global energy balances. We use a uniform analysis of national and regional energy balances and aggregate these balances first for three main economic regions and subsequently into world totals. The procedure involves assessment of energy and exergy efficiencies at each step of energy conversion, from primary exergy to final and useful exergy. Ideally, the analysis should be extended to include actual delivered energy services; unfortunately, data are scarce and only rough estimates can be given for this last stage of energy conversion. The overall result is that the current global primary to useful exergy efficiency is about one-tenth of the theoretical maximum and the service efficiency is even lower. (Author)

  11. The Carbon Nanotube Fibers for Optoelectric Conversion and Energy Storage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongfeng Luo

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This review summarizes recent studies on carbon nanotube (CNT fibers for weavable device of optoelectric conversion and energy storage. The intrinsic properties of individual CNTs make the CNT fibers ideal candidates for optoelectric conversion and energy storage. Many potential applications such as solar cell, supercapacitor, and lithium ion battery have been envisaged. The recent advancement in CNT fibers for optoelectric conversion and energy storage and the current challenge including low energy conversion efficiency and low stability and future direction of the energy fiber have been finally summarized in this paper.

  12. Efficiencies and Physical Principles of Various Solar Energy Conversion Processes Leading to the Photolysis of Water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bergene, T

    1996-12-31

    In the application of solar energy, hydrogen is likely to be used as an energy carrier and a storage medium. Production of molecular hydrogen and oxygen from water requires energy input, which may come from solar energy in various ways. This thesis begins with a literature survey of the different conversion processes and the efficiencies, which is an introduction to a series of enclosed papers. These papers are: (1) Trapping of Minority Charge Carriers at Irradiated Semiconductor/Electrolyte Heterojunctions, (2) Model Calculations on Flat-Plate Solar Heat Collector With Integrated Solar Cells, and (3) Efficiencies and Physical Principles of Photolysis of Water By Microalgae. In the papers, The qualitative features of the ``illumination-current``-characteristic curve are deduced. The hypothesis is that trapping originates in some specific cases because of confinement, which leads to charge injections into energy states above that corresponding to the band edge. The quantitative features of certain hybrid photovoltaic/thermal configuration are deduced. An analysis of the theoretical and realizable efficiencies of the photolysis of water by micro algae is given. 151 refs., 18 figs., 1 table

  13. Energy conversion technology by chemical processes

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oh, I W; Yoon, K S; Cho, B W [Korea Inst. of Science and Technology, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); and others

    1996-12-01

    The sharp increase in energy usage according to the industry development has resulted in deficiency of energy resources and severe pollution problems. Therefore, development of the effective way of energy usage and energy resources of low pollution is needed. Development of the energy conversion technology by chemical processes is also indispensable, which will replace the pollutant-producing and inefficient mechanical energy conversion technologies. Energy conversion technology by chemical processes directly converts chemical energy to electrical one, or converts heat energy to chemical one followed by heat storage. The technology includes batteries, fuel cells, and energy storage system. The are still many problems on performance, safety, and manufacturing of the secondary battery which is highly demanded in electronics, communication, and computer industries. To overcome these problems, key components such as carbon electrode, metal oxide electrode, and solid polymer electrolyte are developed in this study, followed by the fabrication of the lithium secondary battery. Polymer electrolyte fuel cell, as an advanced power generating apparatus with high efficiency, no pollution, and no noise, has many applications such as zero-emission vehicles, on-site power plants, and military purposes. After fabricating the cell components and operating the single cells, the fundamental technologies in polymer electrolyte fuel cell are established in this study. Energy storage technology provides the safe and regular heat energy, irrespective of the change of the heat energy sources, adjusts time gap between consumption and supply, and upgrades and concentrates low grade heat energy. In this study, useful chemical reactions for efficient storage and transport are investigated and the chemical heat storage technology are developed. (author) 41 refs., 90 figs., 20 tabs.

  14. Energy conversion & storage program. 1995 annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cairns, E.J.

    1996-06-01

    The 1995 annual report discusses laboratory activities in the Energy Conversion and Storage (EC&S) Program. The report is divided into three categories: electrochemistry, chemical applications, and material applications. Research performed in each category during 1995 is described. Specific research topics relate to the development of high-performance rechargeable batteries and fuel cells, the development of high-efficiency thermochemical processes for energy conversion, the characterization of new chemical processes and complex chemical species, and the study and application of novel materials related to energy conversion and transmission. Research projects focus on transport-process principles, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, separation processes, organic and physical chemistry, novel materials and deposition technologies, and advanced methods of analysis.

  15. Energy Conversion and Storage Program. 1990 annual report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cairns, E.J.

    1992-03-01

    The Energy Conversion and Storage Program applies chemistry and materials science principles to solve problems in (1) production of new synthetic fuels, (2) development of high-performance rechargeable batteries and fuel cells, (3) development of advanced thermochemical processes for energy conversion, (4) characterization of complex chemical processes, and (5) application of novel materials for energy conversion and transmission. Projects focus on transport-process principles, chemical kinetics, thermodynamics, separation processes, organic and physical chemistry, novel materials, and advanced methods of analysis. Electrochemistry research aims to develop advanced power systems for electric vehicle and stationary energy storage applications. Topics include identification of new electrochemical couples for advanced rechargeable batteries, improvements in battery and fuel-cell materials, and the establishment of engineering principles applicable to electrochemical energy storage and conversion. Chemical Applications research includes topics such as separations, catalysis, fuels, and chemical analyses. Included in this program area are projects to develop improved, energy-efficient methods for processing waste streams from synfuel plants and coal gasifiers. Other research projects seek to identify and characterize the constituents of liquid fuel-system streams and to devise energy-efficient means for their separation. Materials Applications research includes the evaluation of the properties of advanced materials, as well as the development of novel preparation techniques. For example, the use of advanced techniques, such as sputtering and laser ablation, are being used to produce high-temperature superconducting films.

  16. Review of direct energy conversion for fusion reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barr, W.L.; Moir, R.W.

    1976-01-01

    The direct conversion to electrical energy of the energy carried by the leakage plasma from a fusion reactor and by the ions that are not converted to neutrals in a neutral-beam injector is discussed. The conversion process is electrostatic deceleration and direct particle collection as distinct from plasma expansion against a time-varying magnetic field or conversion in an EXB duct (both MHD). Relatively simple 1-stage plasma direct converters are discussed which can have efficiencies of about 50 percent. More complex and costly (measured in $/kW) 2-, 3-, 4-, and 22-stage concepts have been tested at efficiencies approaching 90 percent. Beam direct converters have been tested at 15 keV and 2 kW of power at 70 +- 2 percent efficiency, and a test of a 120-keV, 1-MW version is being prepared. Designs for a 120-keV, 4-MW unit are presented. The beam direct converter, besides saving on power supplies and on beam dumps, should raise the efficiency of creating a neutral beam from 40 percent without direct conversion to 70 percent with direct conversion for a 120-keV deuterium beam. The technological limits determining power handling and lifetime such as space-charge effects, heat removal, electrode material, sputtering, blistering, voltage holding, and insulation design, are discussed. The application of plasma direct converters to toroidal plasma confinement concepts is also discussed

  17. Photovoltaic wire derived from a graphene composite fiber achieving an 8.45 % energy conversion efficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Zhibin; Sun, Hao; Chen, Tao; Qiu, Longbin; Luo, Yongfeng; Peng, Huisheng

    2013-07-15

    Wired for light: Novel wire-shaped photovoltaic devices have been developed from graphene/Pt composite fibers. The high flexibility, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity of graphene composite fibers resulted in a maximum energy conversion efficiency of 8.45 %, which is much higher than that of other wire-shaped photovoltaic devices. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  18. 2nd Workshop on the Chemistry of Energy Conversion

    CERN Document Server

    2016-01-01

    A sustainable energy future that does not rely on fossil fuels requires the advances of new materials design and development with efficient energy conversion. However, materials development is still at its infancy. There is an imperative to develop new energy conversion strategies. In Nature, plants harness sunlight and convert them into chemical energy. The ability to mimic Nature by combining synthetic nanoscopic and molecular components to produce chemical fuels is the Holy Grail to achieve sustainable energy production.​ The Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) and the School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences (SPMS), NTU, are jointly organizing this workshop. We aim to create dialogues among scientists in the energy conversion field, with the ultimate goal of facilitating breakthroughs in materials design for energy conversion. It will also bring the expertise on Chemistry of Energy Conversion to the door steps of the materials research community in Singapore and also provide a platform for partic...

  19. Complex thermal energy conversion systems for efficient use of locally available biomass

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kalina, Jacek

    2016-01-01

    This paper is focused on a theoretical study in search for new technological solutions in the field of electricity generation from biomass in small-scale distributed cogeneration systems. The purpose of this work is to draw readers' attention to possibilities of design complex multi-component hybrid and combined technological structures of energy conversion plants for effective use of locally available biomass resources. As an example, there is presented analysis of cogeneration system that consists of micro-turbine, high temperature fuel cell, inverted Bryton cycle module and biomass gasification island. The project assumes supporting use of natural gas and cooperation of the plant with a low-temperature district heating network. Thermodynamic parameters, energy conversion effectiveness and economic performance are examined. Results show relatively high energy conversion performance and on the other hand weak financial indices of investment projects at the current level of energy prices. It is however possible under certain conditions to define an optimistic business model that leads to a feasible project. - Highlights: • Concept of biomass energy conversion plant is proposed and theoretically analysed. • MCFC type fuel cell is fuelled with biomass gasification gas. • Natural gas fired microturbine is considered as a source of continuous power. • Inverted Bryton Cycle is considered for utilisation of high temperature exhaust gas.

  20. Wind energy conversion system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longrigg, Paul

    1987-01-01

    The wind energy conversion system includes a wind machine having a propeller connected to a generator of electric power, the propeller rotating the generator in response to force of an incident wind. The generator converts the power of the wind to electric power for use by an electric load. Circuitry for varying the duty factor of the generator output power is connected between the generator and the load to thereby alter a loading of the generator and the propeller by the electric load. Wind speed is sensed electro-optically to provide data of wind speed upwind of the propeller, to thereby permit tip speed ratio circuitry to operate the power control circuitry and thereby optimize the tip speed ratio by varying the loading of the propeller. Accordingly, the efficiency of the wind energy conversion system is maximized.

  1. NASA-OAST program in photovoltaic energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullin, J. P.; Flood, D. J.

    1982-01-01

    The NASA program in photovoltaic energy conversion includes research and technology development efforts on solar cells, blankets, and arrays. The overall objectives are to increase conversion efficiency, reduce mass, reduce cost, and increase operating life. The potential growth of space power requirements in the future presents a major challenge to the current state of technology in space photovoltaic systems.

  2. Elements of energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Russell, Charles R

    2013-01-01

    Elements of Energy Conversion brings together scattered information on the subject of energy conversion and presents it in terms of the fundamental thermodynamics that apply to energy conversion by any process. Emphasis is given to the development of the theory of heat engines because these are and will remain most important power sources. Descriptive material is then presented to provide elementary information on all important energy conversion devices. The book contains 10 chapters and opens with a discussion of forms of energy, energy sources and storage, and energy conversion. This is foll

  3. Cobalt phosphate-modified barium-doped tantalum nitride nanorod photoanode with 1.5% solar energy conversion efficiency

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Yanbo

    2013-10-03

    Spurred by the decreased availability of fossil fuels and global warming, the idea of converting solar energy into clean fuels has been widely recognized. Hydrogen produced by photoelectrochemical water splitting using sunlight could provide a carbon dioxide lean fuel as an alternative to fossil fuels. A major challenge in photoelectrochemical water splitting is to develop an efficient photoanode that can stably oxidize water into oxygen. Here we report an efficient and stable photoanode that couples an active barium-doped tantalum nitride nanostructure with a stable cobalt phosphate co-catalyst. The effect of barium doping on the photoelectrochemical activity of the photoanode is investigated. The photoanode yields a maximum solar energy conversion efficiency of 1.5%, which is more than three times higher than that of state-of-the-art single-photon photoanodes. Further, stoichiometric oxygen and hydrogen are stably produced on the photoanode and the counter electrode with Faraday efficiency of almost unity for 100 min. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited. All rights reserved.

  4. Numerical Simulation of Energy Conversion Mechanism in Electric Explosion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanjun, Wang; Junjun, Lv; Mingshui, Zhu; Qiubo, Fu; EFIs Integration R&D Group Team

    2017-06-01

    Electric explosion happens when micron-scale metal films such as copper film is stimulated by short-time current pulse, while generating high temperature and high pressure plasma. The expansion process of the plasma plays an important role in the study of the generation of shock waves and the study of the EOS of matter under high pressure. In this paper, the electric explosion process is divided into two stages: the energy deposition stage and the quasi-isentropic expansion stage, and a dynamic EOS of plasma considering the energy replenishment is established. On this basis, flyer driven by plasma is studied numerically, the pressure and the internal energy of plasma in the energy deposition stage and the quasi - isentropic expansion stage are obtained by comparing the velocity history of the flyer with the experimental results. An energy conversion model is established, and the energy conversion efficiency of each process is obtained, and the influence of impedance matching relationship between flyer and metal plasma on the energy conversion efficiency is proposed in this paper.

  5. Analytical investigation of low temperature lift energy conversion systems with renewable energy source

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Hoseong; Hwang, Yunho; Radermacher, Reinhard

    2014-01-01

    The efficiency of the renewable energy powered energy conversion system is typically low due to its moderate heat source temperature. Therefore, improving its energy efficiency is essential. In this study, the performance of the energy conversion system with renewable energy source was theoretically investigated in order to explore its design aspect. For this purpose, a computer model of n-stage low temperature lift energy conversion (LTLEC) system was developed. The results showed that under given operating conditions such as temperatures and mass flow rates of heat source and heat sink fluids the unit power generation of the system increased with the number of stage, and it became saturated when the number of staging reached four. Investigation of several possible working fluids for the optimum stage LTLEC system revealed that ethanol could be an alternative to ammonia. The heat exchanger effectiveness is a critical factor on the system performance. The power generation was increased by 7.83% for the evaporator and 9.94% for the condenser with 10% increase of heat exchanger effectiveness. When these low temperature source fluids are applied to the LTLEC system, the heat exchanger performance would be very critical and it has to be designed accordingly. - Highlights: •Energy conversion system with renewable energy is analytically investigated. •A model of multi-stage low temperature lift energy conversion systems was developed. •The system performance increases as the stage number is increased. •The unit power generation is increased with increase of HX effectiveness. •Ethanol is found to be a good alternative to ammonia

  6. Quantitative feasibility study of magnetocaloric energy conversion utilizing industrial waste heat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vuarnoz, D.; Kitanovski, A.; Gonin, C.; Borgeaud, Y.; Delessert, M.; Meinen, M.; Egolf, P.W.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► We model magnetic energy conversion machine for the use of industrial waste heat. ► Efficiencies and masses of the system are evaluated by a numerical model. ► Excellent potential of profitability is expected with large low-exergy heat sources. -- Abstract: The main objective of this theoretical study was to investigate under which conditions a magnetic energy conversion device (MECD) – utilizing industrial waste heat – is economically feasible. Furthermore, it was evaluated if magnetic energy conversion (MCE) has the potential of being a serious concurrent to already existing conventional energy conversion technologies. Up-today the availability of magnetocaloric materials with a high Curie temperature and a high magnetocaloric effect is rather limited. Therefore, this study was mainly focused on applications with heat sources of low to medium temperature levels. Magnetic energy conversion machines, containing permanent magnets, are numerically investigated for operation conditions with different temperature levels, defined by industrial waste heat sources and environmental heat sinks, different magnetic field intensities and different frequencies of operation (number of thermodynamic cycles per unit of time). Theoretical modeling and numerical simulations were performed in order to determine thermodynamic efficiencies and the exergy efficiencies as function of different operation conditions. From extracted data of our numerical results, approximate values of the total mass and total volume of magnetic energy conversion machines could be determined. These important results are presented dependent on the produced electric power. An economic feasibility study supplements the scientific study. It shows an excellent potential of profitability for certain machines. The most important result of this article is that the magnetic energy conversion technology can be economically and technically competitive to or even beat conventional energy

  7. Energy conversion statics

    CERN Document Server

    Messerle, H K; Declaris, Nicholas

    2013-01-01

    Energy Conversion Statics deals with equilibrium situations and processes linking equilibrium states. A development of the basic theory of energy conversion statics and its applications is presented. In the applications the emphasis is on processes involving electrical energy. The text commences by introducing the general concept of energy with a survey of primary and secondary energy forms, their availability, and use. The second chapter presents the basic laws of energy conversion. Four postulates defining the overall range of applicability of the general theory are set out, demonstrating th

  8. An estimate of spherical impactor energy transfer for mechanical frequency up-conversion energy harvester

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. R. Corr

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Vibration energy harvesters, which use the impact mechanical frequency up-conversion technique, utilize an impactor, which gains kinetic energy from low frequency ambient environmental vibrations, to excite high frequency systems that efficiently convert mechanical energy to electrical energy. To take full advantage of the impact mechanical frequency up-conversion technique, it is prudent to understand the energy transfer from the low frequency excitations, to the impactor, and finally to the high frequency systems. In this work, the energy transfer from a spherical impactor to a multi degree of freedom spring / mass system, due to Hertzian impact, is investigated to gain insight on how best to design impact mechanical frequency up-conversion energy harvesters. Through this academic work, it is shown that the properties of the contact (or impact area, i.e., radius of curvature and material properties, only play a minor role in energy transfer and that the equivalent mass of the target system (i.e., the spring / mass system dictates the total amount of energy transferred during the impact. The novel approach of utilizing the well-known Hertzian impact methodology to gain an understanding of impact mechanical frequency up-conversion energy harvesters has made it clear that the impactor and the high frequency energy generating systems must be designed together as one system to ensure maximum energy transfer, leading to efficient ambient vibration energy harvesters.

  9. US energy conversion and use characteristics

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Imhoff, C.H.; Liberman, A.; Ashton, W.B.

    1982-02-01

    The long-range goal of the Energy Conversion and Utilization Technology (ECUT) Program is to enhance energy productivity in all energy-use sectors by supporting research on improved efficiency and fuel switching capability in the conversion and utilization of energy. Regardless of the deficiencies of current information, a summary of the best available energy-use information is needed now to support current ECUT program planning. This document is the initial draft of this type of summary and serves as a data book that will present current and periodically updated descriptions of the following aspects of energy use: gross US energy consumption in each major energy-use sector; energy consumption by fuel type in each sector; energy efficiency of major equipment/processes; and inventories, replacement rates, and use patterns for major energy-using capital stocks. These data will help the ECUT program staff perform two vital planning functions: determine areas in which research to improve energy productivity might provide significant energy savings or fuel switching and estimate the actual effect that specific research projects may have on energy productivity and conservation. Descriptions of the data sources and examples of the uses of the different types of data are provided in Section 2. The energy-use information is presented in the last four sections; Section 3 contains general, national consumption data; and Sections 4 through 6 contain residential/commercial, industrial, and transportation consumption data, respectively. (MCW)

  10. Ballistic energy conversion: physical modeling and optical characterization

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, Yanbo; Bos, Diederik; van der Meulen, Mark-Jan; van der Meulen, Mark-Jan; Versluis, Michel; van den Berg, Albert; Eijkel, Jan C.T.

    2016-01-01

    The growing demand for renewable energy stimulates the exploration of new materials and methods for clean energy, a process which is boosted by nanoscience and emerging nanotechnologies. Recently a high efficiency and high power density energy conversion mechanism was demonstrated through the use of

  11. Remarks to a process-overlapping description of cost structures of energy conversion processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnert, H.

    1986-03-01

    The cost of energy conversion processes are more and more determined by capital expenses. These are partly used to improve the efficiency. With a mathematical formula for the relation between capital costs and efficiency a process-over-laping description is proposed and proved at 10 typically chosen energy conversion processes. The result is a classification of enery conversion processes in categories of efficiency-producing and efficiency-independent capital expenditures. Another result is that process-overlapping the relative capital cost supplement is described by the (1-eta)/eta-law. (orig.) [de

  12. Betavoltaic Battery Conversion Efficiency Improvement Based on Interlayer Structures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li Da-Rang; Jiang Lan; Yin Jian-Hua; Lin Nai; Tan Yuan-Yuan

    2012-01-01

    Significant differences among the doping densities of PN junctions in semiconductors cause lattice mismatch and lattice defects that increase the recombination current of betavoltaic batteries. This extensively decreases the open circuit voltage and the short current, which results in low conversion efficiency. This study proposes P + PINN + -structure based betavoltaic batteries by adding an interlayer to typical PIN structures to improve conversion efficiency. Numerical simulations are conducted for the energy deposition of beta particles along the thickness direction in semiconductors. Based on this, 63 Ni-radiation GaAs batteries with PIN and P + PINN + structures are designed and fabricated to experimentally verify the proposed design. It turns out that the conversion efficiency of the betavoltaic battery with the proposed P + PINN + structure is about 1.45 times higher than that with the traditional PIN structure. (cross-disciplinary physics and related areas of science and technology)

  13. Carbon nanomaterials for advanced energy conversion and storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, Liming; Chang, Dong Wook; Baek, Jong-Beom; Lu, Wen

    2012-04-23

    It is estimated that the world will need to double its energy supply by 2050. Nanotechnology has opened up new frontiers in materials science and engineering to meet this challenge by creating new materials, particularly carbon nanomaterials, for efficient energy conversion and storage. Comparing to conventional energy materials, carbon nanomaterials possess unique size-/surface-dependent (e.g., morphological, electrical, optical, and mechanical) properties useful for enhancing the energy-conversion and storage performances. During the past 25 years or so, therefore, considerable efforts have been made to utilize the unique properties of carbon nanomaterials, including fullerenes, carbon nanotubes, and graphene, as energy materials, and tremendous progress has been achieved in developing high-performance energy conversion (e.g., solar cells and fuel cells) and storage (e.g., supercapacitors and batteries) devices. This article reviews progress in the research and development of carbon nanomaterials during the past twenty years or so for advanced energy conversion and storage, along with some discussions on challenges and perspectives in this exciting field. Copyright © 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  14. EnerGis: A geographical information based system for the evaluation of integrated energy conversion systems in urban areas

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Girardin, Luc; Marechal, Francois; Dubuis, Matthias; Calame-Darbellay, Nicole; Favrat, Daniel

    2010-01-01

    A geographical information system has been developed to model the energy requirements of an urban area. The purpose of the platform is to model with sufficient detail the energy services requirements of a given geographical area in order to allow the evaluation of the integration of advanced integrated energy conversion systems. This tool is used to study the emergence of more efficient cities that realize energy efficiency measures, integrate energy efficient conversion technologies and promote the use of endogenous renewable energy. The model is illustrated with case studies for the energetic planning of the Geneva district (Switzerland).

  15. Silicon nanowires for photovoltaic solar energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Kui-Qing; Lee, Shuit-Tong

    2011-01-11

    Semiconductor nanowires are attracting intense interest as a promising material for solar energy conversion for the new-generation photovoltaic (PV) technology. In particular, silicon nanowires (SiNWs) are under active investigation for PV applications because they offer novel approaches for solar-to-electric energy conversion leading to high-efficiency devices via simple manufacturing. This article reviews the recent developments in the utilization of SiNWs for PV applications, the relationship between SiNW-based PV device structure and performance, and the challenges to obtaining high-performance cost-effective solar cells.

  16. Linear mode conversion of Langmuir/z-mode waves to radiation: Scalings of conversion efficiencies and propagation angles with temperature and magnetic field orientation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schleyer, F.; Cairns, Iver H.; Kim, E.-H.

    2013-01-01

    Linear mode conversion (LMC) is the linear transfer of energy from one wave mode to another in an inhomogeneous plasma. It is relevant to laboratory plasmas and multiple solar system radio emissions, such as continuum radiation from planetary magnetospheres and type II and III radio bursts from the solar corona and solar wind. This paper simulates LMC of waves defined by warm, magnetized fluid theory, specifically the conversion of Langmuir/z-mode waves to electromagnetic (EM) radiation. The primary focus is the calculation of the energy and power conversion efficiencies for LMC as functions of the angle of incidence θ of the Langmuir/z-mode wave, temperature β=T e /m e c 2 , adiabatic index γ, and orientation angle φ between the ambient density gradient ∇N 0 and ambient magnetic field B 0 in a warm, unmagnetized plasma. The ratio of these efficiencies is found to agree well as a function of θ, γ, and β with an analytical relation that depends on the group speeds of the Langmuir/z and EM wave modes. The results demonstrate that the energy conversion efficiency ε is strongly dependent on γβ, φ and θ, with ε∝(γβ) 1/2 and θ∝(γβ) 1/2 . The power conversion efficiency ε p , on the other hand, is independent of γβ but does vary significantly with θ and φ. The efficiencies are shown to be maximum for approximately perpendicular density gradients (φ≈90°) and minimal for parallel orientation (φ=0°) and both the energy and power conversion efficiencies peak at the same θ.

  17. Direct Conversion of Energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corliss, William R.

    This publication is one of a series of information booklets for the general public published by the United States Atomic Energy Commission. Direct energy conversion involves energy transformation without moving parts. The concepts of direct and dynamic energy conversion plus the laws governing energy conversion are investigated. Among the topics…

  18. Large-scale cauliflower-shaped hierarchical copper nanostructures for efficient photothermal conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Peixun; Wu, Hui; Zhong, Minlin; Zhang, Hongjun; Bai, Benfeng; Jin, Guofan

    2016-07-01

    Efficient solar energy harvesting and photothermal conversion have essential importance for many practical applications. Here, we present a laser-induced cauliflower-shaped hierarchical surface nanostructure on a copper surface, which exhibits extremely high omnidirectional absorption efficiency over a broad electromagnetic spectral range from the UV to the near-infrared region. The measured average hemispherical absorptance is as high as 98% within the wavelength range of 200-800 nm, and the angle dependent specular reflectance stays below 0.1% within the 0-60° incident angle. Such a structured copper surface can exhibit an apparent heating up effect under the sunlight illumination. In the experiment of evaporating water, the structured surface yields an overall photothermal conversion efficiency over 60% under an illuminating solar power density of ~1 kW m-2. The presented technology provides a cost-effective, reliable, and simple way for realizing broadband omnidirectional light absorptive metal surfaces for efficient solar energy harvesting and utilization, which is highly demanded in various light harvesting, anti-reflection, and photothermal conversion applications. Since the structure is directly formed by femtosecond laser writing, it is quite suitable for mass production and can be easily extended to a large surface area.Efficient solar energy harvesting and photothermal conversion have essential importance for many practical applications. Here, we present a laser-induced cauliflower-shaped hierarchical surface nanostructure on a copper surface, which exhibits extremely high omnidirectional absorption efficiency over a broad electromagnetic spectral range from the UV to the near-infrared region. The measured average hemispherical absorptance is as high as 98% within the wavelength range of 200-800 nm, and the angle dependent specular reflectance stays below 0.1% within the 0-60° incident angle. Such a structured copper surface can exhibit an apparent

  19. Polymer-Polymer Förster Resonance Energy Transfer Significantly Boosts the Power Conversion Efficiency of Bulk-Heterojunction Solar Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gupta, Vinay; Bharti, Vishal; Kumar, Mahesh; Chand, Suresh; Heeger, Alan J

    2015-08-01

    Optically resonant donor polymers can exploit a wider range of the solar spectrum effectively without a complicated tandem design in an organic solar cell. Ultrafast Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) in a polymer-polymer system that significantly improves the power conversion efficiency in bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells from 6.8% to 8.9% is demonstrated, thus paving the way to achieving 15% efficient solar cells. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Potential pyrolysis pathway assessment for microalgae-based aviation fuel based on energy conversion efficiency and life cycle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guo, Fang; Wang, Xin; Yang, Xiaoyi

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • High lipid content in microalgae increases energy conversion efficiency. • Indirect pathway has the highest mass ratio, energy ratio and energy efficiency. • The Isochrysis indirect pathway produces most kerosene component precursor. • The Isochrysis indirect pyrolysis pathway shows the best performance in LCA. - Abstract: Although the research of microalgae pyrolysis has been conducted for many years, there is a lack of investigations on energy efficiency and life cycle assessment. In this study, we investigated the biocrude yield and energy efficiency of direct pyrolysis, microalgae residue pyrolysis after lipid extraction (indirect pyrolysis), and different microalgae co-pyrolysis. This research also investigated the life cycle assessment of the three different pyrolysis pathways. A system boundary of Well-to-Wake (WTWa) was defined and included sub-process models, such as feedstock production, fuel production and pump-to-wheels (PTW) stages. The pathway of Isochrysis indirect pyrolysis shows the best performance in the mass ratio and energy ratio, produces the most kerosene component precursor, has the lowest WTWa total energy input, fossil fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and resultes in the best energy efficiency. All the evidence indicates that Isochrysis R2 pathway is a potential and optimal pyrolysis pathway to liquid biofuels. The mass ratio of pyrolysis biocrude is shown to be the decisive factor for different microalgae species. The sensitivity analysis results also indicates that the life cycle indicators are particularly sensitive to the mass ratio of pyrolysis biocrude for microalgae-based hydrotreated pyrolysis aviation fuel.

  1. Particle Discrimination Experiment for Direct Energy Conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yasaka, Y.; Kiriyama, Y.; Yamamoto, S.; Takeno, H.; Ishikawa, M.

    2005-01-01

    A direct energy conversion system designed for D- 3 He fusion reactor based on a field reversed configuration employs a venetian-blind type converter for thermal ions to produce DC power and a traveling wave type converter for fusion protons to produce RF power. It is therefore necessary to separate, discriminate, and guide the particle species. For this purpose, a cusp magnetic field is proposed, in which the electrons are deflected and guided along the field line to the line cusp, while the ions pass through the point cusp. A small-scale experimental device was used to study the basic characteristics of discrimination of electrons and ions in the cusp magnetic field. Ions separated from electrons are guided to an ion collector, which is operated as a one-stage direct energy converter. The conversion efficiency was measured for cases with different values of mean and spread of ion energy. These experiments successfully demonstrate direct energy conversion from plasma beams using particle discrimination by a cusp magnetic field

  2. Thrust Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, and the Role of VDF in Hall Thruster Performance Analysis (Preprint)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Larson, C. W; Hargus, William A; Brown, Daniel L

    2007-01-01

    ...) of the propellant jet on the conversion of anode electrical energy to jet kinetic energy. This enabled a mathematically rigorous distinction to be made between thrust efficiency and energy efficiency...

  3. Thrust Efficiency, Energy Efficiency, and the Role of VDF in Hall Thruster Performance Analysis (Postprint)

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Larson, C. W; Hargus, William A; Brown, Daniel L

    2007-01-01

    ...) of the propellant jet on the conversion of anode electrical energy to jet kinetic energy. This enabled a mathematically rigorous distinction to be made between thrust efficiency and energy efficiency...

  4. Efficiency of Energy Harvesting in Ni-Mn-Ga Shape Memory Alloys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lindquist, Paul; Hobza, Tony; Patrick, Charles; Müllner, Peter

    2018-03-01

    Many researchers have reported on the voltage and power generated while energy harvesting using Ni-Mn-Ga shape memory alloys; few researchers report on the power conversion efficiency of energy harvesting. We measured the magneto-mechanical behavior and energy harvesting of Ni-Mn-Ga shape memory alloys to quantify the efficiency of energy harvesting using the inverse magneto-plastic effect. At low frequencies, less than 150 Hz, the power conversion efficiency is less than 0.1%. Power conversion efficiency increases with (i) increasing actuation frequency, (ii) increasing actuation stroke, and (iii) decreasing twinning stress. Extrapolating the results of low-frequency experiments to the kHz actuation regime yields a power conversion factor of about 20% for 3 kHz actuation frequency, 7% actuation strain, and 0.05 MPa twinning stress.

  5. Full 3D modelling of pulse propagation enables efficient nonlinear frequency conversion with low energy laser pulses in a single-element tripler

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kardaś, Tomasz M.; Nejbauer, Michał; Wnuk, Paweł; Resan, Bojan; Radzewicz, Czesław; Wasylczyk, Piotr

    2017-02-01

    Although new optical materials continue to open up access to more and more wavelength bands where femtosecond laser pulses can be generated, light frequency conversion techniques are still indispensable in filling the gaps on the ultrafast spectral scale. With high repetition rate, low pulse energy laser sources (oscillators) tight focusing is necessary for a robust wave mixing and the efficiency of broadband nonlinear conversion is limited by diffraction as well as spatial and temporal walk-off. Here we demonstrate a miniature third harmonic generator (tripler) with conversion efficiency exceeding 30%, producing 246 fs UV pulses via cascaded second order processes within a single laser beam focus. Designing this highly efficient and ultra compact frequency converter was made possible by full 3-dimentional modelling of propagation of tightly focused, broadband light fields in nonlinear and birefringent media.

  6. [Maintenance ration and conversion efficiency of Hyporhamphus sajori].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, X; Tang, Q

    2001-04-01

    The maintenance ration and conversion efficiency of Japanese halfbeak, Hyporhamphus sajori were tested with enclosures installed in a shrimp raising pond. The results showed that there existed an evident relationship between daily ration(DR) and growth rate(GR) of the fish, GR = 140.37 DR - 24.03. The conversion efficiency was 13.96% in biomass or 16.12% in energy. The maintenance ration was 17.12% and 20.39% of body weight in terms of growth rate and specific growth rate, respectively, indicating that it could be deduced from growth rate quite differently from that from specific growth rate in the same experiment. The abnormal growth rate appeared when daily ration was below 3.30% of body weight, implied that Japanese halfbeak may get other food resources besides supplied net zooplankton.

  7. Design and analysis of Helium Brayton cycle for energy conversion system of RGTT200K

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ignatius Djoko Irianto

    2016-01-01

    The helium Brayton cycle for the design of cogeneration energy conversion system for RGTT200K have been analyzed to obtain the higher thermal efficiency and energy utilization factor. The aim of this research is to analyze the potential of the helium Brayton cycle to be implemented in the design of cogeneration energy conversion system of RGTT200K. Three configuration models of cogeneration energy conversion systems have been investigated. In the first configuration model, an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) is installed in series with the gas turbine, while in the second configuration model, IHX and gas turbines are installed in parallel. The third configuration model is similar to the first configuration, but with two compressors. Performance analysis of Brayton cycle used for cogeneration energy conversion system of RGTT200K has been done by simulating and calculating using CHEMCAD code. The simulation result shows that the three configuration models of cogeneration energy conversion system give the temperature of thermal energy in the secondary side of IHX more than 800 °C at the reactor coolant mass flow rate of 145 kg/s. Nevertheless, the performance parameters, which include thermal efficiency and energy utilization factor (EUF), are different for each configuration model. By comparing the performance parameter in the three configurations of helium Brayton cycle for cogeneration energy conversion systems RGTT200K, it is found that the energy conversion system with a first configuration has the highest thermal efficiency and energy utilization factor (EUF). Thermal efficiency and energy utilization factor for the first configuration of the reactor coolant mass flow rate of 145 kg/s are 35.82 % and 80.63 %. (author)

  8. Integrated Photoelectrochemical Solar Energy Conversion and Organic Redox Flow Battery Devices

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Wenjie

    2016-09-21

    Building on regenerative photoelectrochemical solar cells and emerging electrochemical redox flow batteries (RFBs), more efficient, scalable, compact, and cost-effective hybrid energy conversion and storage devices could be realized. An integrated photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion and electrochemical storage device is developed by integrating regenerative silicon solar cells and 9,10-anthraquinone-2,7-disulfonic acid (AQDS)/1,2-benzoquinone-3,5-disulfonic acid (BQDS) RFBs. The device can be directly charged by solar light without external bias, and discharged like normal RFBs with an energy storage density of 1.15 Wh L−1 and a solar-to-output electricity efficiency (SOEE) of 1.7 % over many cycles. The concept exploits a previously undeveloped design connecting two major energy technologies and promises a general approach for storing solar energy electrochemically with high theoretical storage capacity and efficiency.

  9. Improvement of conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells using up-conversion molybdate La2Mo2O9:Yb,R (R=Er, Ho) phosphors

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Yen-Chi Chen; Teng-Ming Chen

    2011-01-01

    The goal of this work was aimed to improve the power conversion efficiency of single crystalline silicon-based photovoltaic cells by using the solar spectral conversion principle,which employs an up-conversion phosphor to convert a low energy infrared photon to the more energetic visible photons to improve the spectral response.In this study,the surface of multicrystalline silicon solar cells was coated with an up-conversion molybdate phosphor to improve the spectral response of the solar cell in the ncar-infiared spectral range.The short circuit current (Isc),open circuit voltage (Voc),and conversion efficiency (η) of spectral conversion cells were measured.Preliminary experimental results revealed that the light conversion efficiency of a 1.5%-2.7% increase in Si-based cell was achieved.

  10. Solar energy conversion by photocatalytic overall water splitting

    KAUST Repository

    Takanabe, Kazuhiro

    2015-07-04

    Summary: Solar energy is abundant and renewable energy: however, extensive conversion of the solar energy can only be achieved by large-scale collection of solar flux. The technology that satisfies this requirement must be as simple as possible to reduce capital cost. Overall water splitting (OWS) by powder-form photocatalysts directly produces H2 as a chemical energy in a single reactor, which does not require any complicated parabolic mirrors and electronic devices. Because of its simplicity and low capital cost, it has tremendous potential to become the major technology of solar energy conversion. To achieve the OWS efficiently, the development of efficient photocatalysts is mandatory. The OWS hotocatalysis involves the electrocatalys is for both water reduction and oxidation on the surafce of photocatalysts, which is driven by particular semiconductors that absorb photons to generate excited carriers. Such photocatalysts must be designed to maximize the charge separation efficiency at the catalyst-semiconductor and semiconductor-electrolyte interface. In addition the low-overpotential electrocatalyts towards water redox reactions should be insensitive to the back-reaction of the produced H2 and O2 that produces H2O. In this presentation, some recent progress on the topic of the OWS in our group will be discussed.

  11. Solar energy conversion systems

    CERN Document Server

    Brownson, Jeffrey R S

    2013-01-01

    Solar energy conversion requires a different mind-set from traditional energy engineering in order to assess distribution, scales of use, systems design, predictive economic models for fluctuating solar resources, and planning to address transient cycles and social adoption. Solar Energy Conversion Systems examines solar energy conversion as an integrative design process, applying systems thinking methods to a solid knowledge base for creators of solar energy systems. This approach permits different levels of access for the emerging broad audience of scientists, engineers, architects, planners

  12. The Energy Conversion Analysis of HTR Gas Turbine System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Utaja

    2000-01-01

    The energy conversion analysis of HTR gas turbine system by hand calculation is tedious work and need much time. This difficulty comes from the repeated thermodynamic process calculation, both on compression or expansion of the cycle. To make the analysis faster and wider variable analyzed, HTR-1 programme is used. In this paper, the energy conversion analysis of HTR gas turbine system by HTR-1 will be described. The result is displayed as efficiency curve and block diagram with the input and output temperature of the component. This HTR-1 programme is developed by Basic language programming and be compiled by Visual Basic 5.0 . By this HTR-1 programme, the efficiency, specific power and effective compression of the amount of gas can be recognized fast. For example, for CO 2 gas between 40 o C and 700 o C, the compression on maximum efficiency is 4.6 and the energy specific is 18.9 kcal/kg, while the temperature changing on input and output of the component can be traced on monitor. This process take less than one second, while the manual calculation take more than one hour. It can be concluded, that the energy conversion analysis of the HTR gas turbine system by HTR-1 can be done faster and more variable analyzed. (author)

  13. Effect of operating conditions on energy efficiency for a small passive direct methanol fuel cell

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chu Deryn; Jiang Rongzhong

    2006-01-01

    Energy conversion efficiency was studied in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) with an air-breathing cathode using Nafion 117 as electrolyte membrane. The effect of operating conditions, such as methanol concentration, discharge voltage and temperature, on Faradic and energy conversion efficiencies was analyzed under constant voltage discharge with quantitative amount of fuel. Both of Faradic and energy conversion efficiencies decrease significantly with increasing methanol concentration and environmental temperature. The Faradic conversion efficiency can be as high as 94.8%, and the energy conversion efficiency can be as high as 23.9% if the environmental temperature is low enough (10 deg. C) under constant voltage discharge at 0.6 V with 3 M methanol for a DMFC bi-cell. Although higher temperature and higher methanol concentration can achieve higher discharge power, it will result in considerable losses of Faradic and energy conversion efficiencies for using Nafion electrolyte membrane. Development of alternative highly conductive membranes with significantly lower methanol crossover is necessary to avoid loss of Faradic conversion efficiency with temperature and with fuel concentration

  14. The Status of Thermophotovoltaic Energy Conversion Technology at Lockheed Martin Corporation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    EJ Brown; PF Baldasaro; SR Burger; LR Danielson; DM DePoy; JM Dolatowski; PM Fourspring; GJ Nichols; WF Topper; TD Rahmlow

    2004-07-29

    In a thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion system, a heated surface radiates in the mid-infrared range onto photocells which are sensitive at these energies. Part of the absorbed energy is converted into electric output. Conversion efficiency is maximized by reducing the absorption of non-convertible energy with some form of spectral control. In a TPV system, many technology options exist. Our development efforts have concentrated on flat-plate geometries with greybody radiators, front surface tandem filters and a multi-chip module (MCM) approach that allows selective fabrication processes to match cell performance. Recently, we discontinued development of GaInAsSb quaternary cell semiconductor material in favor of ternary GaInAs material. In our last publication (Ref. 1), the authors reported conversion efficiencies of about 20% (radiator 950 C, cells 22 C) for small modules (1-4 cm{sup 2}) tested in a prototypic cavity test environment. Recently, we have achieved measured conversion efficiencies of about 12.5% in larger ({approx}100 cm{sup 2}) test arrays. The efficiency reduction in the larger arrays was probably due to quality and variation of the cells as well as non-uniform illumination from the hot radiator to the cold plate. Modules in these tests used GaInAsSb cells with 0.52 eV bandgap and front surface filters for spectral control. This paper provides details of the individual system components and the rationale for our technical decisions. It also describes the measurement techniques used to record these efficiencies.

  15. Design and Performance of Energy Conversion Units of Betavoltaic Isotopic Batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Guanquan; Yang Yuqing; Zhang Huaming; Hu Rui; Wei Hongyuan; Xiong Xiaoling; Luo Shunzhong

    2010-01-01

    Based on the single crystal silicon semiconductor junction devices, the relationships between their configurable parameters and the electrical properties were discussed for the purpose of design of energy conversion units of betavoltaic isotopic batteries. Two kinds of silicon semiconductor junction devices as energy conversion units of betavoltaic batteries were designed and customized. The electrical output properties of the devices irradiated by 63 Ni source were measured. The results show that the new designed devices perform better than the existing commercial one in open-circuit voltage, output power and energy conversion efficiency. (authors)

  16. Integrated Photoelectrochemical Solar Energy Conversion and Organic Redox Flow Battery Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wenjie; Fu, Hui-Chun; Li, Linsen; Cabán-Acevedo, Miguel; He, Jr-Hau; Jin, Song

    2016-10-10

    Building on regenerative photoelectrochemical solar cells and emerging electrochemical redox flow batteries (RFBs), more efficient, scalable, compact, and cost-effective hybrid energy conversion and storage devices could be realized. An integrated photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion and electrochemical storage device is developed by integrating regenerative silicon solar cells and 9,10-anthraquinone-2,7-disulfonic acid (AQDS)/1,2-benzoquinone-3,5-disulfonic acid (BQDS) RFBs. The device can be directly charged by solar light without external bias, and discharged like normal RFBs with an energy storage density of 1.15 Wh L -1 and a solar-to-output electricity efficiency (SOEE) of 1.7 % over many cycles. The concept exploits a previously undeveloped design connecting two major energy technologies and promises a general approach for storing solar energy electrochemically with high theoretical storage capacity and efficiency. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Efficiency of a gyroscopic device for conversion of mechanical wave energy to electrical energy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carlsen, Martin; Darula, Radoslav; Gravesen, Jens

    2011-01-01

    We consider a recently proposed gyroscopic device for conversion of mechanical ocean wave energy to electrical energy. Two models of the device derived from standard engineering mechanics from the literature are analysed, and a model is derived from analytical mechanics considerations. From...... these models, estimates of the power production, eciency, forces and moments are made. We nd that it is possible to extract a signicant amount of energy from an ocean wave using the described device. Further studies are required for a full treatment of the device....

  18. Rare-earth magnet applications in energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tripathi, K.C.

    1998-01-01

    In recent years there has been considerable progress in the field of development and variety of new applications of rare-earth and rare-earth transition metal magnets. High energy content Nd-Fe-B magnet system which competes with superconducting magnets is very promising for the use in energy conversion machines, levitation systems, magnetic resonance investigation and other magnetic applications. Energy conversion machines such as motors and generators are of interest in this context. Motor converts electrical energy into mechanical energy using permanent magnets and ferromagnetic materials as its components. Electric generator converts mechanical energy into electricity using permanent magnets and ferromagnetic material. In both cases symmetry and symmetry breaking play an important role. Symmetry exists above curie temperature, as temperature is lowered symmetry is broken due to spontaneous magnetisation. Author and coworkers developed some new and highest efficiency, permanent magnet based, electronically controlled, dynamically synchronised pulsed dc linear and rotational motors which are briefly described here. Based on such experience and considering field interactions inside material under dynamical conditions and special geometrical situations, order-disorder processes, symmetry breaking and energy transfer on the basis of manifold aspects as a cooperative many body interaction, thermal fluctuations, zero-point energy, dissipation of energy, entropy exchange are discussed in context of conversion of environmental heat into electricity as suggested by Tripathi earlier. (orig.)

  19. Pyroelectric and dielectric energy conversion – A new view of the old problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poprawski, W.; Gnutek, Z.; Radojewski, J.; Poprawski, R.

    2015-01-01

    The pyroelectric effect is commonly used to construct infrared radiation detectors. In this article we intend to pay attention to a possibility of the pyroelectric effect employment along with the temperature dependence of the dielectric permittivity into a direct conversion of the time-alternating heat flux and the electromagnetic radiation to the electric energy. Converters making use of the mentioned phenomena can be applied in the low-power electric energy generators mounted in autonomous electronic devices. Operation principles for pyroelectric and dielectric generators (PEG and DEG) of the electric energy are presented in this work together with a brief review on ferro- and antiferroelectric materials suitable for the generators. It was shown that for the ferroelectrics with the second-order phase transition the conversion efficiency of PEGs did not depend on temperature in a wide temperature range, and ferroelectrics showing an order–disorder phase transition together with composites and heterostructures based on these ferroelectrics had high conversion efficiency. For the first time ferro- and antiferroelectric materials were extensively reviewed with regard to their applicability in PEGs. It was also shown that ferro- and antiferroelectrics with translation-type phase transition, quantum ferroelectrics, ferro- and antiferroelectric relaxors were good materials for DEGs. Considering literature data the efficiency for the thermal-to-electrical energy conversion was estimated for a few typical material groups. Advantages and disadvantages of the individual groups were presented along with their possible limitations for PEG and DEG usage. - Highlights: • A direct conversion of the alternating heat flux to the electric energy is described. • Order–disorder-type ferroelectrics were found to be suitable for pyroelectric energy generators. • Certain ferro- and antiferroelectrics, quantum ones and relaxors were good for dielectric converters. • The

  20. Examination of spent fuel radiation energy conversion for electricity generation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Haneol; Yim, Man-Sung, E-mail: msyim@kaist.ac.kr

    2016-04-15

    Highlights: • Utilizing conversion of radiation energy of spent fuel to electric energy. • MCNPX modeling and experiment were used to estimate energy conversion. • The converted energy may be useful for nuclear security applications. • The converted energy may be utilized for safety applications through energy storage. - Abstract: Supply of electricity inside nuclear power plant is one of the most important considerations for nuclear safety and security. In this study, generation of electric energy by converting radiation energy of spent nuclear fuel was investigated. Computational modeling work by using MCNPX 2.7.0 code along with experiment was performed to estimate the amount of electric energy generation. The calculation using the developed modeling work was validated through comparison with an integrated experiment. The amount of electric energy generation based on a conceptual design of an energy conversion module was estimated to be low. But the amount may be useful for nuclear security applications. An alternative way of utilizing the produced electric energy could be considered for nuclear safety application through energy storage. Further studies are needed to improve the efficiency of the proposed energy conversion concept and to examine the issue of radiation damage and economic feasibility.

  1. Piezoelectric ribbons printed onto rubber for flexible energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Yi; Jafferis, Noah T; Lyons, Kenneth; Lee, Christine M; Ahmad, Habib; McAlpine, Michael C

    2010-02-10

    The development of a method for integrating highly efficient energy conversion materials onto stretchable, biocompatible rubbers could yield breakthroughs in implantable or wearable energy harvesting systems. Being electromechanically coupled, piezoelectric crystals represent a particularly interesting subset of smart materials that function as sensors/actuators, bioMEMS devices, and energy converters. Yet, the crystallization of these materials generally requires high temperatures for maximally efficient performance, rendering them incompatible with temperature-sensitive plastics and rubbers. Here, we overcome these limitations by presenting a scalable and parallel process for transferring crystalline piezoelectric nanothick ribbons of lead zirconate titanate from host substrates onto flexible rubbers over macroscopic areas. Fundamental characterization of the ribbons by piezo-force microscopy indicates that their electromechanical energy conversion metrics are among the highest reported on a flexible medium. The excellent performance of the piezo-ribbon assemblies coupled with stretchable, biocompatible rubber may enable a host of exciting avenues in fundamental research and novel applications.

  2. Feasibility survey on international cooperation for high efficiency energy conversion technology in fiscal 1993

    Science.gov (United States)

    1994-03-01

    Following cooperative researches on fuel cell jointly conducted by NEDO and EGAT (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand), the survey on international cooperation relating to high efficiency energy conversion technology was carried out for the ASEAN countries. The paper summed up the results of the survey. The study of the international cooperation is made for the following three items: a program for periodical exchange of information with EGAT, a project for cooperative research on phosphoric acid fuel cell in Indonesia, and a project for cooperative research with EGAT on electric power storage by advanced battery. In Malaysia, which is small in scale of state, part of the Ministry of Energy, Telecommunication and Posts is only in charge of the energy issue. Therefore, the situation is that they cannot answer well to many items of research/development cooperation brought in from Japan. The item of medium- and long-term developmental research in the Philippines is about the problems which are seen subsequently in the Manila metropolitan area where the problem of outage is being settled. Accordingly, it is essential to promote the cooperative research, well confirming policies and systems of the Ministry of Energy and the national electricity corporation.

  3. Limits to solar power conversion efficiency with applications to quantum and thermal systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byvik, C. E.; Buoncristiani, A. M.; Smith, B. T.

    1983-01-01

    An analytical framework is presented that permits examination of the limit to the efficiency of various solar power conversion devices. Thermodynamic limits to solar power efficiency are determined for both quantum and thermal systems, and the results are applied to a variety of devices currently considered for use in space systems. The power conversion efficiency for single-threshold energy quantum systems receiving unconcentrated air mass zero solar radiation is limited to 31 percent. This limit applies to photovoltaic cells directly converting solar radiation, or indirectly, as in the case of a thermophotovoltaic system. Photoelectrochemical cells rely on an additional chemical reaction at the semiconductor-electrolyte interface, which introduces additional second-law demands and a reduction of the solar conversion efficiency. Photochemical systems exhibit even lower possible efficiencies because of their relatively narrow absorption bands. Solar-powered thermal engines in contact with an ambient reservoir at 300 K and operating at maximum power have a peak conversion efficiency of 64 percent, and this occurs for a thermal reservoir at a temperature of 2900 K. The power conversion efficiency of a solar-powered liquid metal magnetohydrodydnamic generator, a solar-powered steam turbine electric generator, and an alkali metal thermoelectric converter is discussed.

  4. Evaluation of thermal efficiency and energy conversion of thermoacoustic Stirling engines

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhong Junhu; Zheng Yuli; Qing Li; Qiang Li

    2010-01-01

    Thermodynamic cycle transferring heat and work was executed in thermoacoustic engines, when the acoustic resonators substituted the moving mechanical components of the traditional heat engines. Based on the traveling-wave phasing and reversible heat transfer, thermoacoustic Stirling engines could achieve 70% of the Carnot efficiency theoretically, if the inevitable viscous dissipation in resonators was also counted as exported power. It should be pointed out an error on this efficiency evaluation in the previous literatures. More than 70% of the acoustic power production was often consumed by the side-branch resonator that was the essential configuration to build up a thermoacoustic Stirling engine. According to the simulation results and some experimental data, the actual available acoustic power consumed by the acoustic loads was restricted by the operating peak-to-mean pressure ratio, i.e. |p 1 /p m |. When the peak-to-mean pressure ratio operated on 4-6.5%, the thermal efficiency and power density of the available acoustic power reached higher levels. But the available acoustic power would approach zero when |p 1 /p m | attained 10%. It was approved that the turbulence oscillation occurred on the higher |p 1 /p m | (usually >4%) was the main reason of the excess dissipation in the side-branch resonator. This character of the available power limited the wide application of thermoacoustic Stirling engines. The evaluation of thermal efficiency and energy conversion also indicated the improving direction of thermoacoustic Stirling engines. Generators driven by the thermoacoustic Stirling engines were an effective way, due to the elimination of the side-branch resonator. To achieve a high power density and a high pressure ratio on the higher available power efficiency level, the standing-wave thermoacoustic engines might outvie the traveling-wave thermoacoustic engines. To enjoy the best features of standing-wave engines and traveling-wave engines simultaneously

  5. High efficiency direct thermal to electric energy conversion from radioisotope decay using selective emitters and spectrally tuned solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chubb, Donald L.; Flood, Dennis J.; Lowe, Roland A.

    1993-01-01

    Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems are attractive possibilities for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion, but have typically required the use of black body radiators operating at high temperatures. Recent advances in both the understanding and performance of solid rare-earth oxide selective emitters make possible the use of TPV at temperatures as low as 1200K. Both selective emitter and filter system TPV systems are feasible. However, requirements on the filter system are severe in order to attain high efficiency. A thin-film of a rare-earth oxide is one method for producing an efficient, rugged selective emitter. An efficiency of 0.14 and power density of 9.2 W/KG at 1200K is calculated for a hypothetical thin-film neodymia (Nd2O3) selective emitter TPV system that uses radioisotope decay as the thermal energy source.

  6. High efficiency direct thermal to electric energy conversion from radioisotope decay using selective emitters and spectrally tuned solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chubb, D.L.; Flood, D.J.; Lowe, R.A.

    1993-08-01

    Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) systems are attractive possibilities for direct thermal-to-electric energy conversion, but have typically required the use of black body radiators operating at high temperatures. Recent advances in both the understanding and performance of solid rare-earth oxide selective emitters make possible the use of TPV at temperatures as low as 1200K. Both selective emitter and filter system TPV systems are feasible. However, requirements on the filter system are severe in order to attain high efficiency. A thin-film of a rare-earth oxide is one method for producing an efficient, rugged selective emitter. An efficiency of 0.14 and power density of 9.2 W/KG at 1200K is calculated for a hypothetical thin-film neodymia (Nd2O3) selective emitter TPV system that uses radioisotope decay as the thermal energy source

  7. Novel high efficient speed sensorless controller for maximum power extraction from wind energy conversion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fathabadi, Hassan

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Novel sensorless MPPT technique without drawbacks of other sensor/sensorless methods. • Tracking the actual MPP of WECSs, no tracking the MPP of their wind turbines. • Actually extracting the highest output power from WECSs. • Novel MPPT technique having the MPPT efficiency more than 98.5% for WECSs. • Novel MPPT technique having short convergence time for WECSs. - Abstract: In this study, a novel high accurate sensorless maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method is proposed. The technique tracks the actual maximum power point of a wind energy conversion system (WECS) at which maximum output power is extracted from the system, not the maximum power point of its wind turbine at which maximum mechanical power is obtained from the turbine, so it actually extracts the highest output power from the system. The technique only uses input voltage and current of the converter used in the system, and neither needs any speed sensors (anemometer and tachometer) nor has the drawbacks of other sensor/sensorless based MPPT methods. The technique has been implemented as a MPPT controller by constructing a WECS. Theoretical results, the technique performance, and its advantages are validated by presenting real experimental results. The real static-dynamic response of the MPPT controller is experimentally obtained that verifies the proposed MPPT technique high accurately extracts the highest instant power from wind energy conversion systems with the MPPT efficiency of more than 98.5% and a short convergence time that is only 25 s for the constructed system having a total inertia and friction coefficient of 3.93 kg m 2 and 0.014 N m s, respectively.

  8. Annual variations in the solar energy conversion efficiency in a willow coppice stand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noronha-Sannervik, A.; Kowalik, P.

    2003-01-01

    Productivity of an experimental willow coppice forest located at Uppsala, Sweden, was monitored between 1985 and 1994. The 2.7 ha stand was planted in 1984 with a density of 20 000 cuttings per ha and was harvested three times. During the monitored period, the annual stem wood production and the cumulated values of total solar radiation during the growing season, were measured. The conversion of incoming solar radiation into stem biomass was evaluated and the results show that the solar energy conversion efficiency (ECE), for the first and fourth year of the cutting cycle, is, on average, 64% of the ECE for the second and third year of the cutting cycle. It is discussed that the low ECE of 1-year-old shoots is related to a delay in leaf canopy development at the beginning of the growing season and lack of weed control after harvest. For the 4-years-old shoots, the low ECE, is believed to be related to the increased shoot and stool mortality caused by the self-thinning process ongoing in the willow stand. It is recommended that the harvesting interval should be based on the specific development of the stand and more attention should be paid to weed control, especially in the first growing season after harvest

  9. Energy conversion options for ARIES-III - A conceptual D-3He tokamak reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Santarius, J.F.; Blanchard, J.P.; Emmert, G.A.; Sviatoslavsky, I.N.; Wittenberg, L.J.; Ghoneim, N.M.; Hasan, M.Z.; Mau, T.K.; Greenspan, E.; Herring, J.S.; Kernbichler, W.; Klein, A.C.; Miley, G.H.; Miller, R.L.; Peng, Y.K.M.

    1989-01-01

    The potential for highly efficient conversion of fusion power to electricity provides one motivation for investigating D- 3 He fusion reactors. This stems from: (1) the large fraction of D- 3 He power produced in the forms of charged particles and synchrotron radiation which are amenable to direct conversion, and (2) the low neutron fluence and lack of tritium breeding constraints, which increase design flexibility. The design team for a conceptual D- 3 He tokamak reactor, ARIES-III, has investigated numerous energy conversion options at a scoping level in attempting to realize high efficiency. The energy conversion systems have been studied in the context of their use on one or more of three versions of a D- 3 He tokamak: a first stability regime device, a second stability regime device, and a spherical torus. The set of energy conversion options investigated includes bootstrap current conversion, compression-expansion cycles, direct electrodynamic conversion, electrostatic direct conversion, internal electric generator, liquid metal heat engine blanket, liquid metal MHD, plasma MHD, radiation boiler, scrape-off layer thermoelectric, synchrotron radiation conversion by rectennas, synchrotron radiation conversion by thermal cycles, thermionic/AMTEC/thermal systems, and traveling wave conversion. The original set of options is briefly discussed, and those selected for further study are described in more detail. The four selected are liquid metal MHD, plasma MHD, rectenna conversion, and direct electrodynamic conversion. Thermionic energy conversion is being considered, and some options may require a thermal cycle in parallel or series. 17 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab

  10. Combustion and direct energy conversion inside a micro-combustor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lei, Yafeng; Chen, Wei; Lei, Jiang

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • The flammability range of micro-combustor was broadened with heat recirculation. • The quenching diameter decreased with heat recirculation compared to without recirculation. • The surface areas to volume ratio was the most important parameter affecting the energy conversion efficiency. • The maximum conversion efficiency (3.15%) was achieved with 1 mm inner diameter. - Abstract: Electrical energy can be generated by employing a micro-thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cell which absorbs thermal radiation from combustion taking place in a micro-combustor. The stability of combustion in a micro-combustor is essential for operating a micro-power system using hydrogen and hydrocarbon fuels as energy source. To understand the mechanism of sustaining combustion within the quenching distance of fuel, this study proposed an annular micro combustion tube with recirculation of exhaust heat. To explore the feasibility of combustion in the micro annular tube, the parameters influencing the combustion namely, quenching diameter, and flammability were studied through numerical simulation. The results indicated that combustion could be realized in micro- combustor using heat recirculation. Following results were obtained from simulation. The quenching diameter reduced from 1.3 mm to 0.9 mm for heat recirculation at equivalence ratio of 1; the lean flammability was 2.5%–5% lower than that of without heat recirculation for quenching diameters between 2 mm and 5 mm. The overall energy conversion efficiency varied at different inner diameters. A maximum efficiency of 3.15% was achieved at an inner diameter of 1 mm. The studies indicated that heat recirculation is an effective strategy to maintain combustion and to improve combustion limits in micro-scale system.

  11. Efficient Solar-Thermal Energy Harvest Driven by Interfacial Plasmonic Heating-Assisted Evaporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chang, Chao; Yang, Chao; Liu, Yanming; Tao, Peng; Song, Chengyi; Shang, Wen; Wu, Jianbo; Deng, Tao

    2016-09-07

    The plasmonic heating effect of noble nanoparticles has recently received tremendous attention for various important applications. Herein, we report the utilization of interfacial plasmonic heating-assisted evaporation for efficient and facile solar-thermal energy harvest. An airlaid paper-supported gold nanoparticle thin film was placed at the thermal energy conversion region within a sealed chamber to convert solar energy into thermal energy. The generated thermal energy instantly vaporizes the water underneath into hot vapors that quickly diffuse to the thermal energy release region of the chamber to condense into liquids and release the collected thermal energy. The condensed water automatically flows back to the thermal energy conversion region under the capillary force from the hydrophilic copper mesh. Such an approach simultaneously realizes efficient solar-to-thermal energy conversion and rapid transportation of converted thermal energy to target application terminals. Compared to conventional external photothermal conversion design, the solar-thermal harvesting device driven by the internal plasmonic heating effect has reduced the overall thermal resistance by more than 50% and has demonstrated more than 25% improvement of solar water heating efficiency.

  12. Direct energy conversion of radiation energy in fusion reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yamaguchi, S.; Iiyoshi, A.; Motojima, O.; Okamoto, M.; Sudo, S. [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Nagoya (Japan); Ohnishi, M.; Onozuka, M.; Uenosono, C.

    1994-12-31

    Direct energy conversion from plasma heat flux has been studied. Since major parts of fusion energy in the advanced fusion reactor are radiation and charged particle energies, the flexible design of the blanket is possible. We discuss the potentiality of the thermoelectric element that generate electricity by temperature gradient in conductors. A Strong magnetic field is used to confine the fusion plasma, therefore, it is appropriate to consider the effect of the magnetic field. We propose a new element which is called Nernst element. The new element needs the magnetic field and the temperature gradient. We compare the efficiency of these two elements in a semiconductor model. Finally, a direct energy converter are mentioned. (author).

  13. Direct energy conversion of radiation energy in fusion reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamaguchi, S.; Iiyoshi, A.; Motojima, O.; Okamoto, M.; Sudo, S.; Ohnishi, M.; Onozuka, M.; Uenosono, C.

    1994-01-01

    Direct energy conversion from plasma heat flux has been studied. Since major parts of fusion energy in the advanced fusion reactor are radiation and charged particle energies, the flexible design of the blanket is possible. We discuss the potentiality of the thermoelectric element that generate electricity by temperature gradient in conductors. A Strong magnetic field is used to confine the fusion plasma, therefore, it is appropriate to consider the effect of the magnetic field. We propose a new element which is called Nernst element. The new element needs the magnetic field and the temperature gradient. We compare the efficiency of these two elements in a semiconductor model. Finally, a direct energy converter are mentioned. (author)

  14. Large impact of reorganization energy on photovoltaic conversion due to interfacial charge-transfer transitions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fujisawa, Jun-ichi

    2015-05-14

    Interfacial charge-transfer (ICT) transitions are expected to be a novel charge-separation mechanism for efficient photovoltaic conversion featuring one-step charge separation without energy loss. Photovoltaic conversion due to ICT transitions has been investigated using several TiO2-organic hybrid materials that show organic-to-inorganic ICT transitions in the visible region. In applications of ICT transitions to photovoltaic conversion, there is a significant problem that rapid carrier recombination is caused by organic-inorganic electronic coupling that is necessary for the ICT transitions. In order to solve this problem, in this work, I have theoretically studied light-to-current conversions due to the ICT transitions on the basis of the Marcus theory with density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) calculations. An apparent correlation between the reported incident photon-to-current conversion efficiencies (IPCE) and calculated reorganization energies was clearly found, in which the IPCE increases with decreasing the reorganization energy consistent with the Marcus theory in the inverted region. This activation-energy dependence was systematically explained by the equation formulated by the Marcus theory based on a simple excited-state kinetic scheme. This result indicates that the reduction of the reorganization energy can suppress the carrier recombination and enhance the IPCE. The reorganization energy is predominantly governed by the structural change in the chemical-adsorption moiety between the ground and ICT excited states. This work provides crucial knowledge for efficient photovoltaic conversion due to ICT transitions.

  15. Ecological conversion efficiency and its influencers in twelve species of fish in the Yellow Sea Ecosystem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Qisheng; Guo, Xuewu; Sun, Yao; Zhang, Bo

    2007-09-01

    The ecological conversion efficiencies in twelve species of fish in the Yellow Sea Ecosystem, i.e., anchovy ( Engraulis japonicus), rednose anchovy ( Thrissa kammalensis), chub mackerel ( Scomber japonicus), halfbeak ( Hyporhamphus sajori), gizzard shad ( Konosirus punctatus), sand lance ( Ammodytes personatus), red seabream ( Pagrus major), black porgy ( Acanthopagrus schlegeli), black rockfish ( Sebastes schlegeli), finespot goby ( Chaeturichthys stigmatias), tiger puffer ( Takifugu rubripes), and fat greenling ( Hexagrammos otakii), were estimated through experiments conducted either in situ or in a laboratory. The ecological conversion efficiencies were significantly different among these species. As indicated, the food conversion efficiencies and the energy conversion efficiencies varied from 12.9% to 42.1% and from 12.7% to 43.0%, respectively. Water temperature and ration level are the main factors influencing the ecological conversion efficiencies of marine fish. The higher conversion efficiency of a given species in a natural ecosystem is acquired only under the moderate environment conditions. A negative relationship between ecological conversion efficiency and trophic level among ten species was observed. Such a relationship indicates that the ecological efficiency in the upper trophic levels would increase after fishing down marine food web in the Yellow Sea ecosystem.

  16. Energy efficiency through energy audit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esan, A. A.

    2000-08-01

    Energy is an essential factor to economic and social development and improved standards of living in developing countries. Nigeria in particular. There is a strong need for greater energy efficiency in every sector of economy in order to reduce costs. enhance competitiveness, conserve energy resources and reduce environmental impacts associated with production, distribution and use of energy. Energy auditing and monitoring has a significant role in any energy management and conservation project. Energy auditing as an important part of industrial energy management on plant level, represents a complex of activities aiming at the efficient use of energy. The activities are undertaken by a team of experts who use a set of measuring instruments to monitor and evaluate all the necessary data to elaborate a package of recommendations on improvements in the field of energy efficiency and possible product quality. The inefficient conversion and use of energy have been identified as a central problem for all developing countries, Nigeria inclusive, since they all consume significantly higher amounts of energy per unit of GDP than OECD countries. This aggravates energy-related environmental problems and is also a burden on domestic resources and foreign exchange. Energy prices have risen drastically in many developing countries, while energy intensities remain high. Price changes alone are not rapidly translating energy efficiency improvements. Identifying and removing the obstacles to greater energy efficiency should be priority for government in developing countries. This is why the Energy Commission, an apex organ of government on Energy matters in all its ramifications is out to encourage relatively low-cost energy audits for the Textile industries - such audits can identify ''good house-keeping's' measures, such as simply process improvements, that reduce energy consumption and operating costs. This will be followed by the training of plant workers/energy managers

  17. Efficiency calculations for the direct energy conversion system of the Cadarache neutral beam injectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, R.C.

    1988-01-01

    A prototype energy conversion system is presently in operation at Cadarache, France. Such a device is planned for installation on each six neutral beam injectors for use in the Tore Supra experiment in 1989. We present calculations of beam performance that may influence design considerations. The calculations are performed with the DART charged particle beam code. We investigate the effects of cold plasma, direct energy conversion and neutral beam production. 4 refs., 6 figs., 4 tabs

  18. Energy conversion alternatives study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shure, L. T.

    1979-01-01

    Comparison of coal based energy systems is given. Study identifies and compares various advanced energy conversion systems using coal or coal derived fuels for baselaoad electric power generation. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS) reports provede government, industry, and general public with technically consistent basis for comparison of system's options of interest for fossilfired electric-utility application.

  19. Organometallics and related molecules for energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Wong, Wai-Yeung

    2015-01-01

    This book presents a critical perspective of the applications of organometallic compounds (including those with metal or metalloid elements) and other related metal complexes as versatile functional materials in the transformation of light into electricity (solar energy conversion) and electricity into light (light generation in light emitting diode), in the reduction of carbon dioxide to useful chemicals, as well as in the safe and efficient production and utilization of hydrogen, which serves as an energy storage medium (i.e. energy carrier). This book focuses on recent research developmen

  20. WIND ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS - A TECHNICAL REVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. RAMESH BABU

    2013-08-01

    Full Text Available Wind power production has been under the main focus for the past decade in power production and tremendous amount of research work is going on renewable energy, specifically on wind power extraction. Wind power provides an eco-friendly power generation and helps to meet the national energy demand when there is a diminishing trend in terms of non-renewable resources. This paper reviews the modeling of Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS, control strategies of controllers and various Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT technologies that are being proposed for efficient production of wind energy from the available resource.

  1. Organic electronics on fibers for energy conversion applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Connor, Brendan T.

    Currently, there is great demand for pollution-free and renewable sources of electricity. Solar cells are particularly attractive from the standpoint of sunlight abundance. However, truly widespread adoption of solar cells is impeded by the high cost and poor scalability of existing technologies. For example, while 53,000 mi2 of 10% efficient solar cell modules would be required to supply the current U.S. energy demand, only about 50 mi2 have been installed worldwide. Organic semiconductors potentially offer a route to realizing low-cost solar cell modules, but currently suffer from low conversion efficiency. For organic-based solar cells to become commercially viable, further research is required to improve device performance, develop scalable manufacturing methods, and reduce installation costs via, for example, novel device form factors. This thesis makes several contributions to the field of organic solar cells, including the replacement of costly and brittle indium tin oxide (ITO) electrodes by inexpensive and malleable, thin metal films, and the application of external dielectric coatings to improve power conversion efficiency. Furthermore, we show that devices with non-planar geometries (e.g. organic solar cells deposited onto long fibers) can have higher efficiencies than conventional planar devices. Building on these results, we demonstrate novel fiber-based organic light emitting devices (OLEDs) that offer substantially improved color quality and manufacturability as a next-generation solid-state lighting technology. An intriguing possibility afforded by the fiber-based device architectures is the ability to integrate energy conversion and lighting functionalities with textiles, a mature, commodity-scale technology.

  2. Ultrafast Electron Dynamics in Solar Energy Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ponseca, Carlito S; Chábera, Pavel; Uhlig, Jens; Persson, Petter; Sundström, Villy

    2017-08-23

    Electrons are the workhorses of solar energy conversion. Conversion of the energy of light to electricity in photovoltaics, or to energy-rich molecules (solar fuel) through photocatalytic processes, invariably starts with photoinduced generation of energy-rich electrons. The harvesting of these electrons in practical devices rests on a series of electron transfer processes whose dynamics and efficiencies determine the function of materials and devices. To capture the energy of a photogenerated electron-hole pair in a solar cell material, charges of opposite sign have to be separated against electrostatic attractions, prevented from recombining and being transported through the active material to electrodes where they can be extracted. In photocatalytic solar fuel production, these electron processes are coupled to chemical reactions leading to storage of the energy of light in chemical bonds. With the focus on the ultrafast time scale, we here discuss the light-induced electron processes underlying the function of several molecular and hybrid materials currently under development for solar energy applications in dye or quantum dot-sensitized solar cells, polymer-fullerene polymer solar cells, organometal halide perovskite solar cells, and finally some photocatalytic systems.

  3. Physical Limits of Solar Energy Conversion in the Earth System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kleidon, Axel; Miller, Lee; Gans, Fabian

    2016-01-01

    Solar energy provides by far the greatest potential for energy generation among all forms of renewable energy. Yet, just as for any form of energy conversion, it is subject to physical limits. Here we review the physical limits that determine how much energy can potentially be generated out of sunlight using a combination of thermodynamics and observed climatic variables. We first explain how the first and second law of thermodynamics constrain energy conversions and thereby the generation of renewable energy, and how this applies to the conversions of solar radiation within the Earth system. These limits are applied to the conversion of direct and diffuse solar radiation - which relates to concentrated solar power (CSP) and photovoltaic (PV) technologies as well as biomass production or any other photochemical conversion - as well as solar radiative heating, which generates atmospheric motion and thus relates to wind power technologies. When these conversion limits are applied to observed data sets of solar radiation at the land surface, it is estimated that direct concentrated solar power has a potential on land of up to 11.6 PW (1 PW=10(15) W), whereas photovoltaic power has a potential of up to 16.3 PW. Both biomass and wind power operate at much lower efficiencies, so their potentials of about 0.3 and 0.1 PW are much lower. These estimates are considerably lower than the incoming flux of solar radiation of 175 PW. When compared to a 2012 primary energy demand of 17 TW, the most direct uses of solar radiation, e.g., by CSP or PV, have thus by far the greatest potential to yield renewable energy requiring the least space to satisfy the human energy demand. Further conversions into solar-based fuels would be reduced by further losses which would lower these potentials. The substantially greater potential of solar-based renewable energy compared to other forms of renewable energy simply reflects much fewer and lower unavoidable conversion losses when solar

  4. Designing Energy Conversion Systems for the Next Decade

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Slobodan N. Vukosavić

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Sustainable growth in energy consumption requires transition to clean and green energy sources and energy systems. Environment friendly and renewable energy systems deal with electrical energy and rely on efficient electrical power converters. High power electronics is the key technology to deal with the next generation of electrical energy systems. The door to future breakthroughs in high power electronics is opened by major improvement in semiconductor power devices and their packaging technologies. New materials allow for much higher junction temperatures and higher operating voltages. Most importantly, advanced power semiconductor devices and novel converter topology open the possibility to increase the energy efficiency of power conversion and reduce the amount of heat. Although the waste heat created by high power converters can be put to use by adding on to heating systems, this option is not always available and the conversion losses are mostly wasted. At the same time, wasted heat is a form of pollution that threatens the environment. Another task for high power converters is efficient harvesting of renewable energy sources, such as the wind energy and the sun. Intermittent in nature, they pose a difficult task to power converter topology and controls. Eventually, high power converters are entering power distribution and transmission networks. With their quick reaction, with fast communication between the grid nodes and with advanced controllability of high power converters, a number of innovations can be introduced, facilitating the power system control and allowing for optimizations and loss reduction. Coined smart grid, this solution comprises two key elements, and these are intelligent controls and large static power converters. At virtually no cost, smart grids allow for a better utilization of available resources and it enlarges the stable operating range of the transmission systems. Therefore, it is of interest to review the

  5. Effect of linear and non-linear components in the temperature dependences of thermoelectric properties on the energy conversion efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yamashita, Osamu

    2009-01-01

    The new thermal rate equations were built up by taking the linear and non-linear components in the temperature dependences of the Seebeck coefficient α, the electrical resistivity ρ and thermal conductivity κ of a thermoelectric (TE) material into the thermal rate equations on the assumption that their temperature dependences are expressed by a quadratic function of temperature T. The energy conversion efficiency η for a single TE element was formulated using the new thermal rate ones proposed here. By applying it to the high-performance half-Heusler compound, the non-linear component in the temperature dependence of α among those of the TE properties has the greatest effect on η, so that η/η 0 was increased by 11% under the condition of T = 510 K and ΔT = 440 K, where η 0 is a well-known conventional energy conversion efficiency. It was thus found that the temperature dependences of TE properties have a significant influence on η. When one evaluates the accurate achievement rate of η exp obtained experimentally for a TE generator, therefore, η exp should be compared with η the estimated from the theoretical expression proposed here, not with η 0 , particularly when there is a strong non-linearity in the temperature dependence of TE properties.

  6. Design Principles for Covalent Organic Frameworks as Efficient Electrocatalysts in Clean Energy Conversion and Green Oxidizer Production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chun-Yu; Zhang, Lipeng; Zhao, Zhenghang; Xia, Zhenhai

    2017-05-01

    Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), an emerging class of framework materials linked by covalent bonds, hold potential for various applications such as efficient electrocatalysts, photovoltaics, and sensors. To rationally design COF-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction and evolution reactions in fuel cells and metal-air batteries, activity descriptors, derived from orbital energy and bonding structures, are identified with the first-principle calculations for the COFs, which correlate COF structures with their catalytic activities. The calculations also predict that alkaline-earth metal-porphyrin COFs could catalyze the direct production of H 2 O 2 , a green oxidizer and an energy carrier. These predictions are supported by experimental data, and the design principles derived from the descriptors provide an approach for rational design of new electrocatalysts for both clean energy conversion and green oxidizer production. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  7. Task Order 20: Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Brayton Cycle Energy Conversion Study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Murray, Paul [AREVA Federal Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Lindsay, Edward [AREVA Federal Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); McDowell, Michael [AREVA Federal Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States); Huang, Megan [AREVA Federal Services, LLC, Charlotte, NC (United States)

    2015-04-23

    AREVA Inc. developed this study for the US Department of Energy (DOE) office of Nuclear Energy (NE) in accordance with Task Order 20 Statement of Work (SOW) covering research and development activities for the Supercritical Carbon Dioxide (sCO2) Brayton Cycle energy conversion. The study addresses the conversion of sCO2 heat energy to electrical output by use of a Brayton Cycle system and focuses on the potential of a net efficiency increase via cycle recuperation and recompression stages. The study also addresses issues and study needed to advance development and implementation of a 10 MWe sCO2 demonstration project.

  8. Numerical conversion efficiency of thermally isolated Seebeck nanoantennas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edgar Briones

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available In this letter, we evaluate the conversion efficiency of thermally isolated Seebeck nanoantennas by numerical simulations and discuss their uses and scope for energy harvesting applications. This analysis includes the simple case of titanium-nickel dipoles suspended in air above the substrate by a 200 nm silicon dioxide membrane to isolate the heat dissipation. Results show that substantially thermal gradients are induced along the devices leading to a harvesting efficiency around 10-4 %, 400 % higher than the previously reported Seebeck nanoantennas. In the light of these results, different optimizing strategies should be considered in order to make the Seebeck nanoantennas useful for harvesting applications.

  9. Conversion of far ultraviolet to visible radiation: absolute measurements of the conversion efficiency of tetraphenyl butadiene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vest, Robert E.; Coplan, Michael A.; Clark, Charles W.

    Far ultraviolet (FUV) scintillation of noble gases is used in dark matter and neutrino research and in neutron detection. Upon collisional excitation, noble gas atoms recombine into excimer molecules that decay by FUV emission. Direct detection of FUV is difficult. Another approach is to convert it to visible light using a wavelength-shifting medium. One such medium, tetraphenyl butadiene (TPB) can be vapor-deposited on substrates. Thus the quality of thin TPB films can be tightly controlled. We have measured the absolute efficiency of FUV-to-visible conversion by 1 μm-thick TPB films vs. FUV wavelengths between 130 and 300 nm, with 1 nm resolution. The energy efficiency of FUV to visible conversion varies between 1% and 5%. We make comparisons with other recent results. Work performed at the NIST SURF III Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility,.

  10. Photoassisted electrolysis of water - Conversion of optical to chemical energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wrighton, M. S.; Bolts, J. M.; Kaiser, S. W.; Ellis, A. B.

    1976-01-01

    A description is given of devices, termed photoelectrochemical cells, which can, in principle, be used to directly convert light to fuels and/or electricity. The fundamental principles on which the photoelectrochemical cell is based are related to the observation that irradiation of a semiconductor electrode in an electrochemical cell can result in the flow of an electric current in the external circuit. Attention is given to the basic mechanisms involved, the energy conversion efficiency, the advantages of photoelectrochemical cells, and the results of investigations related to the study of energy conversion via photoelectrochemical cells.

  11. Possible improvements of efficiency by the use of new coal conversion technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krieb, K.H.

    1976-01-01

    Following a comparison of the efficiencies of conventional steam power processes, the gas fuel cell and the combined gas steam turbine processes are introduced as new coal utilization technologies. Coal conversion processes which can be coupled to combined gas-steam turbine processes such as the fluidized-bed firing, the solid bed gasification, the dust part-gasification and the fluidized-bed gasification are more closely mentioned and their coupling efficiencies discussed. The decoupling of third energy, such as low-temperature heat, high-temperature heat and chemical energy are briefly dealt with as third possibility for the improvement of the efficiency. (GG/LH) [de

  12. Leaf area development, dry weight accumulation and solar energy conversion efficiencies of Phaseolus vulgaris L. under different soil moisture levels near Nairobi, Kenya

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Muniafu, M.M.; Macharia, J.N.M.; Stigter, C.J.; Coulson, G.L.

    1999-01-01

    Leaf area development, dry weight accumulation and solar energy conversion efficiencies of Phaseolus vulgaris L. cv GLP-2 under two soil moisture levels in two contrasting seasons near Nairobi, Kenya were investigated. The experiment confirms that dry weights and yields of Phaseolus vulgaris are

  13. Measuring energy efficiency: Is energy intensity a good evidence base?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Proskuryakova, L.; Kovalev, A.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Energy intensity measure reflects consumption, not energy efficiency. • Thermodynamic indicators should describe energy efficiency at all levels. • These indicators should have no reference to economic or financial parameters. • A set of energy efficiency indicators should satisfy several basic principles. • There are trade-offs between energy efficiency, power and costs. - Abstract: There is a widespread assumption in energy statistics and econometrics that energy intensity and energy efficiency are equivalent measures of energy performance of economies. The paper points to the discrepancy between the engineering concept of energy efficiency and the energy intensity as it is understood in macroeconomic statistics. This double discrepancy concerns definitions (while engineering concept of energy efficiency is based on the thermodynamic definition, energy intensity includes economic measures) and use. With regard to the latter, the authors conclude that energy intensity can only provide indirect and delayed evidence of technological and engineering energy efficiency of energy conversion processes, which entails shortcomings for management and policymaking. Therefore, we suggest to stop considering subsectoral, sectoral and other levels of energy intensities as aggregates of lower-level energy efficiency. It is suggested that the insufficiency of energy intensity indicators can be compensated with the introduction of thermodynamic indicators describing energy efficiency at the physical, technological, enterprise, sub-sector, sectoral and national levels without references to any economic or financial parameters. Structured statistical data on thermodynamic efficiency is offered as a better option for identifying break-through technologies and technological bottle-necks that constrain efficiency advancements. It is also suggested that macro-level thermodynamic indicators should be based on the thermodynamic first law efficiency and the energy

  14. High-energy (>70 keV) x-ray conversion efficiency measurement on the ARC laser at the National Ignition Facility

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Hui; Hermann, M. R.; Kalantar, D. H.; Martinez, D. A.; Di Nicola, P.; Tommasini, R.; Landen, O. L.; Alessi, D.; Bowers, M.; Browning, D.; Brunton, G.; Budge, T.; Crane, J.; Di Nicola, J.-M.; Döppner, T.; Dixit, S.; Erbert, G.; Fishler, B.; Halpin, J.; Hamamoto, M.; Heebner, J.; Hernandez, V. J.; Hohenberger, M.; Homoelle, D.; Honig, J.; Hsing, W.; Izumi, N.; Khan, S.; LaFortune, K.; Lawson, J.; Nagel, S. R.; Negres, R. A.; Novikova, L.; Orth, C.; Pelz, L.; Prantil, M.; Rushford, M.; Shaw, M.; Sherlock, M.; Sigurdsson, R.; Wegner, P.; Widmayer, C.; Williams, G. J.; Williams, W.; Whitman, P.; Yang, S.

    2017-03-01

    The Advanced Radiographic Capability (ARC) laser system at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) is designed to ultimately provide eight beamlets with a pulse duration adjustable from 1 to 30 ps, and energies up to 1.5 kJ per beamlet. Currently, four beamlets have been commissioned. In the first set of 6 commissioning target experiments, the individual beamlets were fired onto gold foil targets with energy up to 1 kJ per beamlet at 20-30 ps pulse length. The x-ray energy distribution and pulse duration were measured, yielding energy conversion efficiencies of 4-9 × 10-4 for x-rays with energies greater than 70 keV. With greater than 3 J of such x-rays, ARC provides a high-precision x-ray backlighting capability for upcoming inertial confinement fusion and high-energy-density physics experiments on NIF.

  15. Theoretical studies of thermionic conversion of solar energy with graphene as emitter and collector

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olawole, Olukunle C.; De, Dilip Kumar

    2018-01-01

    Thermionic energy conversion (TEC) using nanomaterials is an emerging field of research. It is known that graphene can withstand temperatures as high as 4600 K in vacuum, and it has been shown that its work function can be engineered from a high value (for monolayer/bilayer) of 4.6 eV to as low as 0.7 eV. Such attractive electronic properties (e.g., good electrical conductivity and high dielectric constant) make engineered graphene a good candidate as an emitter and collector in a thermionic energy converter for harnessing solar energy efficiently. We have used a modified Richardson-Dushman equation and have adopted a model where the collector temperature could be controlled through heat extraction in a calculated amount and a magnet can be attached on the back surface of the collector for future control of the space-charge effect. Our work shows that the efficiency of solar energy conversion also depends on power density falling on the emitter surface, and that a power conversion efficiency of graphene-based solar TEC as high as 55% can be easily achieved (in the absence of the space-charge effect) through proper choice of work functions, collector temperature, and emissivity of emitter surfaces. Such solar energy conversion would reduce our dependence on silicon solar panels and offers great potential for future renewable energy utilization.

  16. Rationally designed graphene-nanotube 3D architectures with a seamless nodal junction for efficient energy conversion and storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Yuhua; Ding, Yong; Niu, Jianbing; Xia, Zhenhai; Roy, Ajit; Chen, Hao; Qu, Jia; Wang, Zhong Lin; Dai, Liming

    2015-09-01

    One-dimensional (1D) carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2D single-atomic layer graphene have superior thermal, electrical, and mechanical properties. However, these nanomaterials exhibit poor out-of-plane properties due to the weak van der Waals interaction in the transverse direction between graphitic layers. Recent theoretical studies indicate that rationally designed 3D architectures could have desirable out-of-plane properties while maintaining in-plane properties by growing CNTs and graphene into 3D architectures with a seamless nodal junction. However, the experimental realization of seamlessly-bonded architectures remains a challenge. We developed a strategy of creating 3D graphene-CNT hollow fibers with radially aligned CNTs (RACNTs) seamlessly sheathed by a cylindrical graphene layer through a one-step chemical vapor deposition using an anodized aluminum wire template. By controlling the aluminum wire diameter and anodization time, the length of the RACNTs and diameter of the graphene hollow fiber can be tuned, enabling efficient energy conversion and storage. These fibers, with a controllable surface area, meso-/micropores, and superior electrical properties, are excellent electrode materials for all-solid-state wire-shaped supercapacitors with poly(vinyl alcohol)/H2SO4 as the electrolyte and binder, exhibiting a surface-specific capacitance of 89.4 mF/cm(2) and length-specific capacitance up to 23.9 mF/cm, - one to four times the corresponding record-high capacities reported for other fiber-like supercapacitors. Dye-sensitized solar cells, fabricated using the fiber as a counter electrode, showed a power conversion efficiency of 6.8% and outperformed their counterparts with an expensive Pt wire counter electrode by a factor of 2.5. These novel fiber-shaped graphene-RACNT energy conversion and storage devices are so flexible they can be woven into fabrics as power sources.

  17. Energy conversion at dipolarization fronts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khotyaintsev, Yu. V.; Divin, A.; Vaivads, A.; André, M.; Markidis, S.

    2017-02-01

    We use multispacecraft observations by Cluster in the Earth's magnetotail and 3-D particle-in-cell simulations to investigate conversion of electromagnetic energy at the front of a fast plasma jet. We find that the major energy conversion is happening in the Earth (laboratory) frame, where the electromagnetic energy is being transferred from the electromagnetic field to particles. This process operates in a region with size of the order several ion inertial lengths across the jet front, and the primary contribution to E·j is coming from the motional electric field and the ion current. In the frame of the front we find fluctuating energy conversion with localized loads and generators at sub-ion scales which are primarily related to the lower hybrid drift instability excited at the front; however, these provide relatively small net energy conversion.

  18. Magnetohydrodynamic energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosa, R.J.

    1987-01-01

    The object of this book is to present a review of the basic principles and practical aspects of magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy conversion. The author has tried to give qualitative semiphysical arguments where possible for the benefit of the reader who is unfamiliar with plasma physics. The aim of MHD energy conversion is to apply to a specific practical goal a part of what has become a vast area of science called plasma physics. The author has attempted to note in the text where a broader view might be fruitful and to give appropriate references

  19. Conversion of visible light to electrical energy - Stable cadmium selenide photoelectrodes in aqueous electrolytes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wrighton, M. S.; Ellis, A. B.; Kaiser, S. W.

    1977-01-01

    Stabilization of n-type CdSe to photoanodic dissolution is reported. The stabilization is accomplished by the competitive oxidation of S(--) or S(n)(--) at the CdSe photoanode in an electrochemical cell. Such stabilized cells are shown to sustain the conversion of low energy (not less than 1.7 eV) visible light to electricity with good efficiency and no deterioration of the CdSe photoelectrode or of the electrolyte. The electrolyte undergoes no net chemical change because the oxidation occurring at the photoelectrode is reversed at the cathode. Conversion of monochromatic light at 633 nm to electricity is shown to be up to approximately 9% efficient with output potentials of approximately 0.4 V. Conversion of solar energy to electricity is estimated to be approximately 2% efficient.

  20. Output power maximization of low-power wind energy conversion systems revisited: Possible control solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Vlad, Ciprian; Munteanu, Iulian; Bratcu, Antoneta Iuliana; Ceanga, Emil [' ' Dunarea de Jos' ' University of Galati, 47, Domneasca, 800008-Galati (Romania)

    2010-02-15

    This paper discusses the problem of output power maximization for low-power wind energy conversion systems operated in partial load. These systems are generally based on multi-polar permanent-magnet synchronous generators, who exhibit significant efficiency variations over the operating range. Unlike the high-power systems, whose mechanical-to-electrical conversion efficiency is high and practically does not modify the global optimum, the low-power systems global conversion efficiency is affected by the generator behavior and the electrical power optimization is no longer equivalent with the mechanical power optimization. The system efficiency has been analyzed by using both the maxima locus of the mechanical power versus the rotational speed characteristics, and the maxima locus of the electrical power delivered versus the rotational speed characteristics. The experimental investigation has been carried out by using a torque-controlled generator taken from a real-world wind turbine coupled to a physically simulated wind turbine rotor. The experimental results indeed show that the steady-state performance of the conversion system is strongly determined by the generator behavior. Some control solutions aiming at maximizing the energy efficiency are envisaged and thoroughly compared through experimental results. (author)

  1. Output power maximization of low-power wind energy conversion systems revisited: Possible control solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vlad, Ciprian; Munteanu, Iulian; Bratcu, Antoneta Iuliana; Ceanga, Emil

    2010-01-01

    This paper discusses the problem of output power maximization for low-power wind energy conversion systems operated in partial load. These systems are generally based on multi-polar permanent-magnet synchronous generators, who exhibit significant efficiency variations over the operating range. Unlike the high-power systems, whose mechanical-to-electrical conversion efficiency is high and practically does not modify the global optimum, the low-power systems global conversion efficiency is affected by the generator behavior and the electrical power optimization is no longer equivalent with the mechanical power optimization. The system efficiency has been analyzed by using both the maxima locus of the mechanical power versus the rotational speed characteristics, and the maxima locus of the electrical power delivered versus the rotational speed characteristics. The experimental investigation has been carried out by using a torque-controlled generator taken from a real-world wind turbine coupled to a physically simulated wind turbine rotor. The experimental results indeed show that the steady-state performance of the conversion system is strongly determined by the generator behavior. Some control solutions aiming at maximizing the energy efficiency are envisaged and thoroughly compared through experimental results.

  2. Investigating the Optimum Efficiency of Acoustoelectric Conversion Plate Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chien-Chih Chen

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to develop the acoustoelectric conversion plate in terms of electromagnetic induction law to convert sound energy to electricity, where the developed apparatus is made of three parts, the thin film coil, the spring, and the high-intensity magnetic framework. In process, the thin film coil receives the injecting sound vibration in connection with the spring to cause the reciprocating motion between the coil and the high-intensity magnet, which yields the electromotive force (EMF. In this study, a pearl plate of length 95 mm, width 95 mm, and thickness 1.5 mm adhered with a PET film of thickness 0.08mm is built as the substrate plate due to it has good properties of light and elasticity. In connection with the substrate plate and the electric coil is the thin film coil. Experiments used the speaker with output frequencies of 30~156 Hz and sound power of 0.5 W (sound intensity 0.32 W/m2, sound pressure level 115 dB as the sound source. The sound energy is captured by the acoustoelectric conversion plate for working efficiency and optimization parameters analysis. The studied parameters content of diameter, turns, and width of electric coil as well as distance between high intensity magnet and coil. The results show that diameter 0.11 mm, turns 220, and width 3 mm of the electric coil, in connection with steel spring of diameter 0.2 mm while input sound is 30 Hz, receives the average output voltage of 0.57 V, the average output current of 5.46 mA, the average output power of 3.13 mW, and the sound electric conversion efficiency of 0.63%. This innovation device could be used in highway, near waterfalls, and some high noise factories to capture energy for immediately charging cell-phone to save human life.

  3. Maximum Efficiency of Thermoelectric Heat Conversion in High-Temperature Power Devices

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. I. Khvesyuk

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Modern trends in development of aircraft engineering go with development of vehicles of the fifth generation. The features of aircrafts of the fifth generation are motivation to use new high-performance systems of onboard power supply. The operating temperature of the outer walls of engines is of 800–1000 K. This corresponds to radiation heat flux of 10 kW/m2 . The thermal energy including radiation of the engine wall may potentially be converted into electricity. The main objective of this paper is to analyze if it is possible to use a high efficiency thermoelectric conversion of heat into electricity. The paper considers issues such as working processes, choice of materials, and optimization of thermoelectric conversion. It presents the analysis results of operating conditions of thermoelectric generator (TEG used in advanced hightemperature power devices. A high-temperature heat source is a favorable factor for the thermoelectric conversion of heat. It is shown that for existing thermoelectric materials a theoretical conversion efficiency can reach the level of 15–20% at temperatures up to 1500 K and available values of Ioffe parameter being ZT = 2–3 (Z is figure of merit, T is temperature. To ensure temperature regime and high efficiency thermoelectric conversion simultaneously it is necessary to have a certain match between TEG power, temperature of hot and cold surfaces, and heat transfer coefficient of the cooling system. The paper discusses a concept of radiation absorber on the TEG hot surface. The analysis has demonstrated a number of potentialities for highly efficient conversion through using the TEG in high-temperature power devices. This work has been implemented under support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation; project No. 1145 (the programme “Organization of Research Engineering Activities”.

  4. Thermodynamics and energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Struchtrup, Henning

    2014-01-01

    This textbook gives a thorough treatment of engineering thermodynamics with applications to classical and modern energy conversion devices.   Some emphasis lies on the description of irreversible processes, such as friction, heat transfer and mixing, and the evaluation of the related work losses. Better use of resources requires high efficiencies, therefore the reduction of irreversible losses should be seen as one of the main goals of a thermal engineer. This book provides the necessary tools.   Topics include: car and aircraft engines,  including Otto, Diesel and Atkinson cycles, by-pass turbofan engines, ramjet and scramjet;  steam and gas power plants, including advanced regenerative systems, solar tower, and compressed air energy storage; mixing and separation, including reverse osmosis, osmotic powerplants, and carbon sequestration; phase equilibrium and chemical equilibrium, distillation, chemical reactors, combustion processes, and fuel cells; the microscopic definition of entropy.    The book i...

  5. The conversion factor of α radiation efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Weida; Zhou Zhixin; Xia Junding

    1997-01-01

    It is important in fine-grain TL dating that the full α dose must be converted into the equivalent β dose. Although the conversion coefficient K for internal radiation efficiency can not be measured directly for each sample, it is possible to measure the external radiation efficiency K 3.7 . For this purpose a special study for the conversion factor of K to K 3.7 has been made using ultrathin TLD. The results show that the conversion factor of the TLD for archaeological samples is 0.847, which is in agreement with the calculated value 0.85

  6. The photochemical conversion of solar energy into electrical energy: Eosin-Arabinose system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gangotri, K.M. [Department of Chemistry, Solar Energy Laboratory, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur 342 033, Rajasthan (India); Bhimwal, Mukesh Kumar [Solar Energy Laboratory, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur 342 033, Rajasthan (India)

    2010-12-15

    A photosensitizer -Eosin and a reductant- Arabinose have been used in the photogalvanic cell for photochemical conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. The generated photopotential and photocurrent are 679.0 mV and 240.0 {mu}A respectively. The maximum power of the cell is 162.96 {mu}W whereas the observed power at power point is 73.08 {mu}W. The conversion efficiency is 0.7026% and the fill factor is 0.2856 at the power point of the photogalvanic cell. The photogalvanic cell so developed can work for 85.0 min in dark if it is irradiated for 140.0 min i.e. the storage capacity of photogalvanic cell is 60.71%. The effects of different parameters on the electrical output of the photogalvanic cell have been observed. A mechanism has also been proposed for the photogeneration of electrical energy. (author)

  7. The Liquid Droplet Radiator - an Ultralightweight Heat Rejection System for Efficient Energy Conversion in Space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattick, A. T.; Hertzberg, A.

    1984-01-01

    A heat rejection system for space is described which uses a recirculating free stream of liquid droplets in place of a solid surface to radiate waste heat. By using sufficiently small droplets ( 100 micron diameter) of low vapor pressure liquids the radiating droplet sheet can be made many times lighter than the lightest solid surface radiators (heat pipes). The liquid droplet radiator (LDR) is less vulnerable to damage by micrometeoroids than solid surface radiators, and may be transported into space far more efficiently. Analyses are presented of LDR applications in thermal and photovoltaic energy conversion which indicate that fluid handling components (droplet generator, droplet collector, heat exchanger, and pump) may comprise most of the radiator system mass. Even the unoptimized models employed yield LDR system masses less than heat pipe radiator system masses, and significant improvement is expected using design approaches that incorporate fluid handling components more efficiently. Technical problems (e.g., spacecraft contamination and electrostatic deflection of droplets) unique to this method of heat rejectioon are discussed and solutions are suggested.

  8. Efficiency improvement for vehicle powertrains using energy integration techniques

    OpenAIRE

    Dimitrova, Zlatina; Maréchal, François

    2016-01-01

    The main design criteria for the modern sustainable development of vehicle powertrains are the high energy efficiency of the conversion system, the competitive cost and the lowest possible environmental impacts. The need for efficiency improvement of the vehicle energy system induces the search for an innovative methodology during the design process. In this article the energy services for mobility and comfort are integrated. The energy integration of the mobility and the comfort service is a...

  9. High-Intensity Laser-to-Hot-Electron Conversion Efficiency from 1 to 2100 J Using the OMEGA EP Laser System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nilson, P. M.

    2010-11-01

    Intense laser--matter interactions generate high-current electron beams. The laser-electron conversion efficiency is an important parameter for fast ignition and for developing intense x-ray sources for flash-radiography and x-ray-scattering experiments. These applications may require kilojoules of laser energy focused to greater than 10^18 W/cm^2 with pulse durations of tens of picoseconds. Previous experiments have measured the conversion efficiency with picosecond and subpicosecond laser pulses with energies up to ˜500 J. The research extends conversion-efficiency measurements to 1- to 10-ps laser pulses with energies up to 2100 J using the OMEGA EP Laser System and shows that the conversion efficiency is constant (20±10%) over the entire range The conversion efficiency is measured for interactions with finite-mass, thin-foil targets. A collimated electron jet exits the target rear surface and initiates rapid target charging, causing the majority of laser-accelerated electrons to recirculate (reflux) within the target. The total fast-electron energy is inferred from K-photon spectroscopy. Time-resolved x-ray emission data suggest that electrons are accelerated into the target over the entire laser-pulse duration with approximately constant conversion. This work provides significant insight into high-intensity laser--target interactions. This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inertial Confinement Fusion under Cooperative Agreement Nos. DE-FC52-08NA28302 and DE-FC02-04ER54789. [4pt] In collaboration with R. Betti, A. A. Solodov (LLE/FSC), R. S. Craxton, J. A. Delettrez, C. Dorrer, L. Gao, P. A. Jaanimagi, J. H. Kelly, B. E. Kruschwitz, D. D. Meyerhofer, J. F. Myatt, T. C. Sangster, C. Stoeckl, W. Theobald, B. Yaakobi, J. D. Zuegel (LLE), A. J. MacKinnon, P. K. Patel (LLNL), K. U. Akli (General Atomics), L. Willingale, K. M. Krushelnick (U. of Michigan).

  10. A composite efficiency metrics for evaluation of resource and energy utilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Siyu; Yang, Qingchun; Qian, Yu

    2013-01-01

    Polygeneration systems are commonly found in chemical and energy industry. These systems often involve chemical conversions and energy conversions. Studies of these systems are interdisciplinary, mainly involving fields of chemical engineering, energy engineering, environmental science, and economics. Each of these fields has developed an isolated index system different from the others. Analyses of polygeneration systems are therefore very likely to provide bias results with only the indexes from one field. This paper is motivated from this problem to develop a new composite efficiency metrics for polygeneration systems. This new metrics is based on the second law of thermodynamics, exergy theory. We introduce exergy cost for waste treatment as the energy penalty into conventional exergy efficiency. Using this new metrics could avoid the situation of spending too much energy for increasing production or paying production capacity for saving energy consumption. The composite metrics is studied on a simplified co-production process, syngas to methanol and electricity. The advantage of the new efficiency metrics is manifested by comparison with carbon element efficiency, energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency. Results show that the new metrics could give more rational analysis than the other indexes. - Highlights: • The composite efficiency metric gives the balanced evaluation of resource utilization and energy utilization. • This efficiency uses the exergy for waste treatment as the energy penalty. • This efficiency is applied on a simplified co-production process. • Results show that the composite metrics is better than energy efficiencies and resource efficiencies

  11. Experimental characterization of a direct conversion amorphous selenium detector with thicker conversion layer for dual-energy contrast-enhanced breast imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scaduto, David A; Tousignant, Olivier; Zhao, Wei

    2017-08-01

    Dual-energy contrast-enhanced imaging is being investigated as a tool to identify and localize angiogenesis in the breast, a possible indicator of malignant tumors. This imaging technique requires that x-ray images are acquired at energies above the k-shell binding energy of an appropriate radiocontrast agent. Iodinated contrast agents are commonly used for vascular imaging, and require x-ray energies greater than 33 keV. Conventional direct conversion amorphous selenium (a-Se) flat-panel imagers for digital mammography show suboptimal absorption efficiencies at these higher energies. We use spatial-frequency domain image quality metrics to evaluate the performance of a prototype direct conversion flat-panel imager with a thicker a-Se layer, specifically fabricated for dual-energy contrast-enhanced breast imaging. Imaging performance was evaluated in a prototype digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT) system. The spatial resolution, noise characteristics, detective quantum efficiency, and temporal performance of the detector were evaluated for dual-energy imaging for both conventional full-field digital mammography (FFDM) and DBT. The zero-frequency detective quantum efficiency of the prototype detector is improved by approximately 20% over the conventional detector for higher energy beams required for imaging with iodinated contrast agents. The effect of oblique entry of x-rays on spatial resolution does increase with increasing photoconductor thickness, specifically for the most oblique views of a DBT scan. Degradation of spatial resolution due to focal spot motion was also observed. Temporal performance was found to be comparable to conventional mammographic detectors. Increasing the a-Se thickness in direct conversion flat-panel imagers results in better performance for dual-energy contrast-enhanced breast imaging. The reduction in spatial resolution due to oblique entry of x-rays is appreciable in the most extreme clinically relevant cases, but may not profoundly

  12. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), General Electric Phase 1. Volume 2: Advanced energy conversion systems. Part 1: Open-cycle gas turbines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, D. H.; Corman, J. C.

    1976-01-01

    Ten energy conversion systems are defined and analyzed in terms of efficiency. These include: open-cycle gas turbine recuperative; open-cycle gas turbine; closed-cycle gas turbine; supercritical CO2 cycle; advanced steam cycle; liquid metal topping cycle; open-cycle MHD; closed-cycle inert gas MHD; closed-cycle liquid metal MHD; and fuel cells. Results are presented.

  13. Efficient energy conversion in the pulp and paper industry: application to a sulfite wood pulping process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marechal, F.

    2007-07-01

    This report measures the actions performed in 2006 and the actions planned for 2007 within the framework of the project Efficient Energy Conversion in the Pulp and Paper Industry. In addition to the data reconciliation models of the steam and condensate networks and of the process of Borregaard Schweiz AG, process models have been developed with the goal of defining the heat requirements of the process. The combination of utility system data reconciliation with the process models allows to considerably reduce the need for detailed process modelling and for on-site data collection and measurement. A systematic definition of the hot and cold streams in the process has been developed in order to compute the minimum energy requirement of the process. The process requirements have been defined using the dual representation concept where the energy requirement of the process unit operations are systematically analysed from their thermodynamic requirement and the way they are satisfied by the technology that implements the operation. Corresponding to the same energy requirement but realised with different temperature allows on one hand to define the exergy efficiency of the heat transfer system in each of the process unit operations and to identify possible energy savings by heat exchange in the system. The analysis has been completed by the definition of the possible energy recovery from waste streams. The minimum energy requirement of the process using the different requirement representation has been realised and the analysis of the energy savings opportunities is now under preparation. This new step will first concern the definition of the utility system integration and the systematic analysis of the energy savings opportunities followed by the techno-economic evaluation of the most profitable energy savings options in the process. The national and international collaborations constitute also an important part of this project. The project is done in close

  14. The use of gas based energy conversion cycles for sodium fast reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saez, M.; Haubensack, D.; Alpy, N.; Gerber, A.; Daid, F.

    2008-01-01

    In the frame of Sodium Fast Reactors, CEA, AREVA and EDF are involved in a substantial effort providing both significant expertise and original work in order to investigate the interest to use a gas based energy conversion cycle as an alternative to the classical steam cycle. These gas cycles consist in different versions of the Brayton cycle, various types of gas being considered (helium, nitrogen, argon, separately or mixed, sub or supercritical carbon dioxide) as well as various cycle arrangements (indirect, indirect / combined cycles). The interest of such cycles is analysed in details by thermodynamic calculations and cycle optimisations. The objective of this paper is to provide a comparison between gas based energy conversion cycles from the viewpoint of the overall plant efficiency. Key factors affecting the Brayton cycle efficiency include the turbine inlet temperature, compressors and turbine efficiencies, recuperator effectiveness and cycle pressure losses. A nitrogen Brayton cycle at high pressure (between 100 and 180 bar) could appear as a potential near-term solution of classical gas power conversion system for maximizing the plant efficiency. At long-term, supercritical carbon dioxide Brayton cycle appears very promising for Sodium Fast Reactors, with a potential of high efficiency using even at a core outlet temperature of 545 deg. C. (authors)

  15. Layered tin monoselenide as advanced photothermal conversion materials for efficient solar energy-driven water evaporation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Jiandong; Zheng, Zhaoqiang; Yang, Guowei

    2018-02-08

    Solar energy-driven water evaporation lays a solid foundation for important photothermal applications such as sterilization, seawater desalination, and electricity generation. Due to the strong light-matter coupling, broad absorption wavelength range, and prominent quantum confinement effect, layered tin monoselenide (SnSe) holds a great potential to effectively harness solar irradiation and convert it to heat energy. In this study, SnSe is successfully deposited on a centimeter-scale nickel foam using a facile one-step pulsed-laser deposition approach. Importantly, the maximum evaporation rate of SnSe-coated nickel foam (SnSe@NF) reaches 0.85 kg m -2 h -1 , which is even 21% larger than that obtained with the commercial super blue coating (0.7 kg m -2 h -1 ) under the same condition. A systematic analysis reveals that its good photothermal conversion capability is attributed to the synergetic effect of multi-scattering-induced light trapping and the optimal trade-off between light absorption and phonon emission. Finally, the SnSe@NF device is further used for seawater evaporation, demonstrating a comparable evaporation rate (0.8 kg m -2 h -1 ) to that of fresh water and good stability over many cycles of usage. In summary, the current contribution depicts a facile one-step scenario for the economical and efficient solar-enabled SnSe@NF evaporation devices. More importantly, an in-depth analysis of the photothermal conversion mechanism underneath the layered materials depicts a fundamental paradigm for the design and application of photothermal devices based on them in the future.

  16. Extended exergy concept to facilitate designing and optimization of frequency-dependent direct energy conversion systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wijewardane, S.; Goswami, Yogi

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Proved exergy method is not adequate to optimize frequency-dependent energy conversion. • Exergy concept is modified to facilitate the thermoeconomic optimization of photocell. • The exergy of arbitrary radiation is used for a practical purpose. • The utility of the concept is illustrated using pragmatic examples. - Abstract: Providing the radiation within the acceptable (responsive) frequency range(s) is a common method to increase the efficiency of the frequency-dependent energy conversion systems, such as photovoltaic and nano-scale rectenna. Appropriately designed auxiliary items such as spectrally selective thermal emitters, optical filters, and lenses are used for this purpose. However any energy conversion method that utilizes auxiliary components to increase the efficiency of a system has to justify the potential cost incurred by those auxiliary components through the economic gain emerging from the increased system efficiency. Therefore much effort should be devoted to design innovative systems, effectively integrating the auxiliary items and to optimize the system with economic considerations. Exergy is the widely used method to design and optimize conventional energy conversion systems. Although the exergy concept is used to analyze photovoltaic systems, it has not been used effectively to design and optimize such systems. In this manuscript, we present a modified exergy method in order to effectively design and economically optimize frequency-dependent energy conversion systems. Also, we illustrate the utility of this concept using examples of thermophotovoltaic, Photovoltaic/Thermal and concentrated solar photovoltaic

  17. Waste-to-energy advanced cycles and new design concepts for efficient power plants

    CERN Document Server

    Branchini, Lisa

    2015-01-01

    This book provides an overview of state-of-the-art technologies for energy conversion from waste, as well as a much-needed guide to new and advanced strategies to increase Waste-to-Energy (WTE) plant efficiency. Beginning with an overview of municipal solid waste production and disposal, basic concepts related to Waste-To-Energy conversion processes are described, highlighting the most relevant aspects impacting the thermodynamic efficiency of WTE power plants. The pervasive influences of main steam cycle parameters and plant configurations on WTE efficiency are detailed and quantified. Advanc

  18. Cobalt phosphate-modified barium-doped tantalum nitride nanorod photoanode with 1.5% solar energy conversion efficiency

    KAUST Repository

    Li, Yanbo; Zhang, Li; Torres-Pardo, Almudena; Gonzá lez- Calbet, José Marí a Gonzá lez; Ma, Yanhang; Oleynikov, Peter; Terasaki, Osamu; Asahina, Shunsuke; Shima, Masahide; Cha, Dong Kyu; Zhao, Lan; Takanabe, Kazuhiro; Kubota, Jun; Domen, Kazunari

    2013-01-01

    conversion efficiency of 1.5%, which is more than three times higher than that of state-of-the-art single-photon photoanodes. Further, stoichiometric oxygen and hydrogen are stably produced on the photoanode and the counter electrode with Faraday efficiency

  19. Adaptability of solar energy conversion systems on ships

    Science.gov (United States)

    Visa, I.; Cotorcea, A.; Neagoe, M.; Moldovan, M.

    2016-08-01

    International trade of goods largely uses maritime/transoceanic ships driven by engines using fossil fuels. This two centuries tradition is technologically mature but significantly adds to the CO2 emissions; therefore, recent trends focus on on-board implementation of systems converting the solar energy into power (photovoltaic systems) or heat (solar-thermal systems). These systems are carbon-emissions free but are still under research and plenty of effort is devoted to fast reach maturity and feasibility. Unlike the systems implemented in a specific continental location, the design of solar energy conversion systems installed on shipboard has to face the problem generated by the system base motion along with the ship travelling on routes at different latitudes: the navigation direction and sense and roll-pitch combined motion with reduced amplitude, but with relatively high frequency. These raise highly interesting challenges in the design and development of mechanical systems that support the maximal output in terms of electricity or heat. The paper addresses the modelling of the relative position of a solar energy conversion surface installed on a ship according to the current position of the sun; the model is based on the navigation trajectory/route, ship motion generated by waves and the relative sun-earth motion. The model describes the incidence angle of the sunray on the conversion surface through five characteristic angles: three used to define the ship orientation and two for the solar angles; based on, their influence on the efficiency in solar energy collection is analyzed by numerical simulations and appropriate recommendations are formulated for increasing the solar energy conversion systems adaptability on ships.

  20. Calorimetric Measurement for Internal Conversion Efficiency of Photovoltaic Cells/Modules Based on Electrical Substitution Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saito, Terubumi; Tatsuta, Muneaki; Abe, Yamato; Takesawa, Minato

    2018-02-01

    We have succeeded in the direct measurement for solar cell/module internal conversion efficiency based on a calorimetric method or electrical substitution method by which the absorbed radiant power is determined by replacing the heat absorbed in the cell/module with the electrical power. The technique is advantageous in that the reflectance and transmittance measurements, which are required in the conventional methods, are not necessary. Also, the internal quantum efficiency can be derived from conversion efficiencies by using the average photon energy. Agreements of the measured data with the values estimated from the nominal values support the validity of this technique.

  1. Biomass energy conversion: conventional and advanced technologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Young, B C; Hauserman, W B [Energy and Environmental Research Center, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States)

    1995-12-01

    Increasing interest in biomass energy conversion in recent years has focused attention on enhancing the efficiency of technologies converting biomass fuels into heat and power, their capital and operating costs and their environmental emissions. Conventional combustion systems, such as fixed-bed or grate units and entrainment units, deliver lower efficiencies (<25%) than modem coal-fired combustors (30-35%). The gasification of biomass will improve energy conversion efficiency and yield products useful for heat and power generation and chemical synthesis. Advanced biomass gasification technologies using pressurized fluidized-bed systems, including those incorporating hot-gas clean-up for feeding gas turbines or fuel cells, are being demonstrated. However, many biomass gasification processes are derivatives of coal gasification technologies and do not exploit the unique properties of biomass. This paper examines some existing and upcoming technologies for converting biomass into electric power or heat. Small-scale 1-30 MWe units are emphasized, but brief reference is made to larger and smaller systems, including those that bum coal-biomass mixtures and gasifiers that feed pilot-fuelled diesel engines. Promising advanced systems, such as a biomass integrated gasifier/gas turbine (BIG/GT) with combined-cycle operation and a biomass gasifier coupled to a fuel cell, giving cycle efficiencies approaching 50% are also described. These advanced gasifiers, typically fluid-bed designs, may be pressurized and can use a wide variety of biomass materials to generate electricity, process steam and chemical products such as methanol. Low-cost, disposable catalysts are becoming available for hot-gas clean-up (enhanced gas composition) for turbine and fuel cell systems. The advantages, limitations and relative costs of various biomass gasifier systems are briefly discussed. The paper identifies the best known biomass power projects and includes some information on proposed and

  2. Biomass energy conversion: conventional and advanced technologies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Young, B.C.; Hauserman, W.B.

    1995-01-01

    Increasing interest in biomass energy conversion in recent years has focused attention on enhancing the efficiency of technologies converting biomass fuels into heat and power, their capital and operating costs and their environmental emissions. Conventional combustion systems, such as fixed-bed or grate units and entrainment units, deliver lower efficiencies (<25%) than modem coal-fired combustors (30-35%). The gasification of biomass will improve energy conversion efficiency and yield products useful for heat and power generation and chemical synthesis. Advanced biomass gasification technologies using pressurized fluidized-bed systems, including those incorporating hot-gas clean-up for feeding gas turbines or fuel cells, are being demonstrated. However, many biomass gasification processes are derivatives of coal gasification technologies and do not exploit the unique properties of biomass. This paper examines some existing and upcoming technologies for converting biomass into electric power or heat. Small-scale 1-30 MWe units are emphasized, but brief reference is made to larger and smaller systems, including those that bum coal-biomass mixtures and gasifiers that feed pilot-fuelled diesel engines. Promising advanced systems, such as a biomass integrated gasifier/gas turbine (BIG/GT) with combined-cycle operation and a biomass gasifier coupled to a fuel cell, giving cycle efficiencies approaching 50% are also described. These advanced gasifiers, typically fluid-bed designs, may be pressurized and can use a wide variety of biomass materials to generate electricity, process steam and chemical products such as methanol. Low-cost, disposable catalysts are becoming available for hot-gas clean-up (enhanced gas composition) for turbine and fuel cell systems. The advantages, limitations and relative costs of various biomass gasifier systems are briefly discussed. The paper identifies the best known biomass power projects and includes some information on proposed and

  3. Cogeneration Technology Alternatives Study (CTAS). Volume 3: Energy conversion system characteristics

    Science.gov (United States)

    1980-01-01

    Six current and thirty-six advanced energy conversion systems were defined and combined with appropriate balance of plant equipment. Twenty-six industrial processes were selected from among the high energy consuming industries to serve as a frame work for the study. Each conversion system was analyzed as a cogenerator with each industrial plant. Fuel consumption, costs, and environmental intrusion were evaluated and compared to corresponding traditional values. The advanced energy conversion technologies indicated reduced fuel consumption, costs, and emissions. Fuel energy savings of 10 to 25 percent were predicted compared to traditional on site furnaces and utility electricity. With the variety of industrial requirements, each advanced technology had attractive applications. Fuel cells indicated the greatest fuel energy savings and emission reductions. Gas turbines and combined cycles indicated high overall annual savings. Steam turbines and gas turbines produced high estimated returns. In some applications, diesels were most efficient. The advanced technologies used coal derived fuels, or coal with advanced fluid bed combustion or on site gasifications. Data and information for both current and advanced energy conversion technology are presented. Schematic and physical descriptions, performance data, equipment cost estimates, and predicted emissions are included. Technical developments which are needed to achieve commercialization in the 1985-2000 period are identified.

  4. Environmental effects of energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hansmeyer, K.H.; Fortak, H.; Knoepp, H.; Lindackers, K.H.; Schafhausen, F.; Schoedel, J.P.

    1984-01-01

    The article presents an analysis of energy conversion systems by the ''Council of Environmental Experts'' in order to correct the erroneous assumption that small energy conversion systems will also be small-scale and negligible emitters of pollutants. The additional pollution caused by Neurath power plant is considered to be low, at least in its immediate vicinity, owing to the implementation of the most recent technical developments. The environmental effects of energy conversion processes are discussed, including the waste heat problem and processes for water-cooling of power plants. General aspects of a new concept of energy taxation are discussed which is to reduce energy consumption. The problem of radioactive waste is discussed from spent fuel storage and reprocessing to the decommissioning of older power plants. The author points out that also new fossil-fuel technologies will pollute the environment. (orig.) [de

  5. Self-oscillating modulators for direct energy conversion audio power amplifiers

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ljusev, Petar; Andersen, Michael Andreas E.

    2005-01-01

    Direct energy conversion audio power amplifier represents total integration of switching-mode power supply and Class D audio power amplifier into one compact stage, achieving high efficiency, high level of integration, low component count and eventually low cost. This paper presents how self-oscillating...

  6. Photovoltaic solar energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Bauer, Gottfried H

    2015-01-01

    This concise primer on photovoltaic solar energy conversion invites readers to reflect on the conversion of solar light into energy at the most fundamental level and encourages newcomers to the field to help find meaningful answers on how photovoltaic solar energy conversion can work (better), eventually contributing to its ongoing advancement. The book is based on lectures given to graduate students in the Physics Department at the University of Oldenburg over the last two decades, yet also provides an easy-to-follow introduction for doctoral and postdoctoral students from related disciplines such as the materials sciences and electrical engineering. Inspired by classic textbooks in the field, it reflects the author’s own ideas on how to understand, visualize and eventually teach the microscopic physical mechanisms and effects, while keeping the text as concise as possible so as to introduce interested readers to the field and balancing essential knowledge with open questions.

  7. New energy technologies 4. Energy management and energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sabonnadiere, J.C.; Caire, R.; Raison, B.; Quenard, D.; Verneau, G.; Zissis, G.

    2007-01-01

    This forth tome of the new energy technologies handbook is devoted to energy management and to the improvement of energy efficiency. The energy management by decentralized generation insertion and network-driven load control, analyzes the insertion and management means of small power generation in distribution networks and the means for load management by the network with the aim of saving energy and limiting peak loads. The second part, devoted to energy efficiency presents in a detailed way the technologies allowing an optimal management of energy in buildings and leading to the implementation of positive energy buildings. A special chapter treats of energy saving using new lighting technologies in the private and public sectors. Content: 1 - decentralized power generation - impacts and solutions: threat or opportunity; deregulation; emerging generation means; impact of decentralized generation on power networks; elements of solution; 2 - mastery of energy demand - loads control by the network: stakes of loads control; choice of loads to be controlled; communication needs; measurements and controls for loads control; model and algorithm needs for loads control. A better energy efficiency: 3 - towards positive energy buildings: key data for Europe; how to convert fossil energy consuming buildings into low-energy consuming and even energy generating buildings; the Minergie brand; the PassivHaus or 'passive house' label; the zero-energy house/zero-energy home (ZEH); the zero-energy building (ZEB); the positive energy house; comparison between the three Minergie/PassivHaus/ZEH types of houses; beyond the positive energy building; 4 - light sources and lighting systems - from technology to energy saving: lighting yesterday and today; light sources and energy conversion; energy saving in the domain of lighting: study of some type-cases; what future for light sources. (J.S.)

  8. Characterization of energy conversion of multiferroic PFN and PFN:Mn

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucjan Kozielski

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Characterization of energy conversion of multiferroic materials is concerned with multifunctional properties of materials, a topic that is fascinating from the scientific point of view and important for the modern technology. The complex characterization of multiferroic structures suffers at present from lack of a systematic experimental approach and deficiency of multifunctional magnetoelectric properties testing capabilities. Compactness and high frequency energy conversion capacity are the main reasons of invention and improvement of sophisticated materials which are prepared for high-speed computer memories and broadband transducer devices. As a consequence, one can easily notice an intense search for new materials for generation, transformation and amplification of magnetic and electric energies. In this scenario, the combination of excellent piezoelectric and magnetic properties makes lead iron niobate Pb(Fe1/2Nb1/2O3 (PFN an attractive host material for application in integrated magnetoelectric energy conversion applications. PFN multiferroic materials are attractive for commercial electroceramics due to high value of dielectric permittivity and magnetoelectric coefficients as well as relatively easy synthesis process. However, synthesis of PFN ceramics is mostly connected with formation of the secondary unwanted pyrochlore phase associated with dramatic decrease of ferroelectric properties. The authors have successfully reduced this negative phenomenon by Mn doping and finally present high piezoelectric and magnetoelectric energy conversion efficiency in fabricated PMFN ceramics.

  9. Solar-thermal conversion and thermal energy storage of graphene foam-based composite

    KAUST Repository

    Zhang, Lianbin

    2016-07-11

    Among various utilizations of solar energy, solar-thermal conversion has recently gained renewed research interest due to its extremely high energy efficiency. However, one limiting factor common to all solar-based energy conversion technologies is the intermittent nature of solar irradiation, which makes them unable to stand-alone to satisfy continuous energy need. Herein, we report a three-dimensional (3D) graphene foam and phase change material (PCM) composite for the seamlessly combined solar-thermal conversion and thermal storage for sustained energy release. The composite is obtained by infiltrating the 3D graphene foam with a commonly used PCM, paraffin wax. The high macroporosity and low density of the graphene foam allow for high weight fraction of the PCM to be incorporated, which enhances heat storage capacity of the composite. The interconnected graphene sheets in the composite provide (1) the solar-thermal conversion capability, (2) high thermal conductivity and (3) form stability of the composite. Under light irradiation, the composite effectively collects and converts the light energy into thermal energy, and the converted thermal energy is stored in the PCM and released in an elongated period of time for sustained utilization. This study provides a promising route for sustainable utilization of solar energy.

  10. Solar-thermal conversion and thermal energy storage of graphene foam-based composites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lianbin; Li, Renyuan; Tang, Bo; Wang, Peng

    2016-08-14

    Among various utilizations of solar energy, solar-thermal conversion has recently gained renewed research interest due to its extremely high energy efficiency. However, one limiting factor common to all solar-based energy conversion technologies is the intermittent nature of solar irradiation, which makes them unable to stand-alone to satisfy the continuous energy need. Herein, we report a three-dimensional (3D) graphene foam and phase change material (PCM) composite for the seamlessly combined solar-thermal conversion and thermal storage for sustained energy release. The composite is obtained by infiltrating the 3D graphene foam with a commonly used PCM, paraffin wax. The high macroporosity and low density of the graphene foam allow for high weight fraction of the PCM to be incorporated, which enhances the heat storage capacity of the composite. The interconnected graphene sheets in the composite provide (1) the solar-thermal conversion capability, (2) high thermal conductivity and (3) form stability of the composite. Under light irradiation, the composite effectively collects and converts the light energy into thermal energy, and the converted thermal energy is stored in the PCM and released in an elongated period of time for sustained utilization. This study provides a promising route for sustainable utilization of solar energy.

  11. Photonic design for efficient solid state energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agrawal, Mukul

    The efficiency of conversion between electrical and photonic energy in optoelectronic devices such as light-emitting diodes, photodetectors and solar cells is strongly affected by the photonic modes supported by the device structure. In this thesis, we show how tuning of the local photon density of states in subwavelength structures can be used to optimize device performance. The first part of the thesis is focused on organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs), a candidate technology for next-generation displays and solid-state lighting. An important unsolved problem in OLEDs is to ensure that a significant fraction of photons emitted by the organic emissive layer couple out of the device structure instead of remaining trapped in the device. It is shown using modeling and experiments that optimized non-periodic dielectric multilayer stacks can significantly increase the photon outcoupling while maintaining display quality brightness uniformity over the viewing cone. In the second part, we discuss the theoretical limits to broadband light harvesting in photovoltaic cells. First, it is shown that the extent to which one-dimensional optical cavities can be used to enhance light absorption over a broad spectral range is limited by the requirement that the cavity mirrors have a causal response. This result is used as a guide to design practical dielectric structures that enhance light harvesting in planar thin-film organic solar cells. Finally, we consider the enhancement of optical absorption in two- and three-dimensional structures in which incident light is scattered into quasi-trapped modes for more effective utilization of solar radiation. It is shown that there is an upper bound to the degree to which optical absorption can be enhanced that is identical to the limit found in the geometric optics regime. Rigorous optical simulations are used to show that an optical structure consisting of a two-dimensional array of inverted pyramids comes close to this limit. Before

  12. Modeling the efficiency of Förster resonant energy transfer from energy relay dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells

    KAUST Repository

    Hoke, Eric T.

    2010-02-11

    Förster resonant energy transfer can improve the spectral breadth, absorption and energy conversion efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells. In this design, unattached relay dyes absorb the high energy photons and transfer the excitation to sensitizing dye molecules by Förster resonant energy transfer. We use an analytic theory to calculate the excitation transfer efficiency from the relay dye to the sensitizing dye accounting for dynamic quenching and relay dye diffusion. We present calculations for pores of cylindrical and spherical geometry and examine the effects of the Förster radius, the pore size, sensitizing dye surface concentration, collisional quenching rate, and relay dye lifetime. We find that the excitation transfer efficiency can easily exceed 90% for appropriately chosen dyes and propose two different strategies for selecting dyes to achieve record power conversion efficiencies. © 2010 Optical Society of America.

  13. The Research and Development of the Radioisotope Energy Conversion System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steinfelds, E.V.; Ghosh, T.K.; Prelas, M.A.; Tompson, R.V.; Loyalka, S.K.

    2001-01-01

    The project of developing radioisotope energy conversion system (RECS) involves analytical computational assisted design and modeling and also laboratory research. The computational analysis consists of selecting various geometries and materials for the main RECS container and the internally located radioisotope, computing the fluxes of the beta (-) particles and of the visible (or ultraviolet) photons produced by the beta (-) s, computing the transport of these photons to the photovoltaic cells, and computing the overall efficiency of useful conversion of the radioisotope power

  14. Method and device for current driven electric energy conversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    2012-01-01

    Device comprising an electric power converter circuit for converting electric energy. The converter circuit comprises a switch arrangement with two or more controllable electric switches connected in a switching configuration and controlled so as to provide a current drive of electric energy from...... configurations such as half bridge buck, full bridge buck, half bridge boost, or full bridge boost. A current driven conversion is advantageous for high efficient energy conversion from current sources such as solar cells or where a voltage source is connected through long cables, e.g. powerline cables for long...... an associated electric source connected to a set of input terminals. This is obtained by the two or more electric swiches being connected and controlled to short-circuit the input terminals during a part of a switching period. Further, a low pass filter with a capacitor and an inductor are provided to low pass...

  15. Geothermal energy conversion facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kutscher, C.F.

    1997-12-31

    With the termination of favorable electricity generation pricing policies, the geothermal industry is exploring ways to improve the efficiency of existing plants and make them more cost-competitive with natural gas. The Geothermal Energy Conversion Facility (GECF) at NREL will allow researchers to study various means for increasing the thermodynamic efficiency of binary cycle geothermal plants. This work has received considerable support from the US geothermal industry and will be done in collaboration with industry members and utilities. The GECF is being constructed on NREL property at the top of South Table Mountain in Golden, Colorado. As shown in Figure 1, it consists of an electrically heated hot water loop that provides heating to a heater/vaporizer in which the working fluid vaporizes at supercritical or subcritical pressures as high as 700 psia. Both an air-cooled and water-cooled condenser will be available for condensing the working fluid. In order to minimize construction costs, available equipment from the similar INEL Heat Cycle Research Facility is being utilized.

  16. Hierarchically interconnected porous scaffolds for phase change materials with improved thermal conductivity and efficient solar-to-electric energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Jie; Yu, Peng; Tang, Li-Sheng; Bao, Rui-Ying; Liu, Zheng-Ying; Yang, Ming-Bo; Yang, Wei

    2017-11-23

    An ice-templating self-assembly strategy and a vacuum impregnation method were used to fabricate polyethylene glycol (PEG)/hierarchical porous scaffold composite phase change materials (PCMs). Hierarchically interconnected porous scaffolds of boron nitride (BN), with the aid of a small amount of graphene oxide (GO), endow the composite PCMs with high thermal conductivity, excellent shape-stability and efficient solar-to-electric energy conversion. The formation of a three-dimensional (3D) thermally conductive pathway in the composites contributes to improving the thermal conductivity up to 2.36 W m -1 K -1 at a relatively low content of BN (ca. 23 wt%). This work provides a route for thermally conductive and shape-stabilized composite PCMs used as energy storage materials.

  17. Metamaterial Receivers for High Efficiency Concentrated Solar Energy Conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yellowhair, Julius E. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Concentrating Solar Technologies Dept.; Kwon, Hoyeong [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Alu, Andrea [Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States). Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Jarecki, Robert L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Concentrating Solar Technologies Dept.; Shinde, Subhash L. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States). Concentrating Solar Technologies Dept.

    2016-09-01

    Operation of concentrated solar power receivers at higher temperatures (>700°C) would enable supercritical carbon dioxide (sCO2) power cycles for improved power cycle efficiencies (>50%) and cost-effective solar thermal power. Unfortunately, radiative losses at higher temperatures in conventional receivers can negatively impact the system efficiency gains. One approach to improve receiver thermal efficiency is to utilize selective coatings that enhance absorption across the visible solar spectrum while minimizing emission in the infrared to reduce radiative losses. Existing coatings, however, tend to degrade rapidly at elevated temperatures. In this report, we report on the initial designs and fabrication of spectrally selective metamaterial-based absorbers for high-temperature, high-thermal flux environments important for solarized sCO2 power cycles. Metamaterials are structured media whose optical properties are determined by sub-wavelength structural features instead of bulk material properties, providing unique solutions by decoupling the optical absorption spectrum from thermal stability requirements. The key enabling innovative concept proposed is the use of structured surfaces with spectral responses that can be tailored to optimize the absorption and retention of solar energy for a given temperature range. In this initial study through the Academic Alliance partnership with University of Texas at Austin, we use Tungsten for its stability in expected harsh environments, compatibility with microfabrication techniques, and required optical performance. Our goal is to tailor the optical properties for high (near unity) absorptivity across the majority of the solar spectrum and over a broad range of incidence angles, and at the same time achieve negligible absorptivity in the near infrared to optimize the energy absorbed and retained. To this goal, we apply the recently developed concept of plasmonic Brewster angle to suitably designed

  18. The total flow concept for geothermal energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austin, A. L.

    1974-01-01

    A geothermal development project has been initiated at the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) to emphasize development of methods for recovery and conversion of the energy in geothermal deposits of hot brines. Temperatures of these waters vary from 150 C to more than 300 C with dissolved solids content ranging from less than 0.1% to over 25% by weight. Of particular interest are the deposits of high-temperature/high-salinity brines, as well as less saline brines, known to occur in the Salton Trough of California. Development of this resource will depend on resolution of the technical problems of brine handling, scale and precipitation control, and corrosion/erosion resistant systems for efficient conversion of thermal to electrical energy. Research experience to date has shown these problems to be severe. Hence, the LLL program emphasizes development of an entirely different approach called the Total Flow concept.

  19. Covalent Organic Framework Electrocatalysts for Clean Energy Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Chun-Yu; Zhang, Detao; Zhao, Zhenghang; Xia, Zhenhai

    2018-02-01

    Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are promising for catalysis, sensing, gas storage, adsorption, optoelectricity, etc. owning to the unprecedented combination of large surface area, high crystallinity, tunable pore size, and unique molecular architecture. Although COFs are in their initial research stage, progress has been made in the design and synthesis of COF-based electrocatalysis for the oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, and CO 2 reduction in energy conversion and fuel generation. Design principles are also established for some of the COF materials toward rational design and rapid screening of the best electrocatalysts for a specific application. Herein, the recent advances in the design and synthesis of COF-based catalysts for clean energy conversion and storage are presented. Future research directions and perspectives are also being discussed for the development of efficient COF-based electrocatalysts. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  20. Enhanced Solar Photoelectrochemical Conversion Efficiency of ZnO:Cu Electrodes for Water-Splitting Application

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rekha Dom

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available n-type ZnO:Cu photoanodes were fabricated by simple spray pyrolysis deposition technique. Influence of low concentration (range ~10−4–10−1% of Cu doping in hexagonal ZnO lattice on its photoelectrochemical performance has been investigated. The doped photoanodes displayed 7-time enhanced conversion efficiencies with respect to their undoped counterpart, as estimated from the photocurrents generated under simulated solar radiation. This is the highest enhancement in the solar conversion efficiency reported so far for the Cu-doped ZnO. This performance is attributed to the red shift in the band gap of the Cu-doped films and is in accordance with the incident-photon-current-conversion efficiency (IPCE measurements. Electrochemical studies reveal an n-type nature of these photoanodes. Thus, the study indicates a high potential of doped ZnO films for solar energy applications, in purview of the development of simple nanostructuring methodologies.

  1. Renewable energy and macroeconomic efficiency of OECD and non-OECD economies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chien, Taichen; Hu, Jin-Li

    2007-01-01

    This article analyzes the effects of renewable energy on the technical efficiency of 45 economies during the 2001-2002 period through data envelopment analysis (DEA). In our DEA model, labor, capital stock, and energy consumption are the three inputs and real GDP is the single output. Increasing the use of renewable energy improves an economy's technical efficiency. Conversely, increasing the input of traditional energy decreases technical efficiency. Compared to non-OECD economies, OECD economies have higher technical efficiency and a higher share of geothermal, solar, tide, and wind fuels in renewable energy. However, non-OECD economies have a higher share of renewable energy in their total energy supply than OECD economies

  2. Magnetic reconnection in Earth's magnetotail: Energy conversion and its earthward-tailward asymmetry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, San; Pritchett, P. L.; Angelopoulos, V.; Artemyev, A. V.

    2018-01-01

    Magnetic reconnection, a fundamental plasma process, releases magnetic energy and converts it to particle energy, by accelerating and heating ions and electrons. This energy conversion plays an important role in the Earth's magnetotail. A two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulation is performed to study such a conversion in a magnetotail topology, one with a nonzero Bz, and the energy conversion is found to be more efficient in the earthward outflow than in the tailward outflow. Such earthward-tailward asymmetry is manifested not only in j .E but also in Poynting flux, Hall electromagnetic fields, bulk kinetic energy flux, enthalpy flux, heat flux, bulk acceleration, heating, and suprathermal particle energization, all of which are more prevalent on the earthward side. Such asymmetries are consistent with spacecraft observations reported in the literature. Our study shows that in the magnetotail, most of the energy converted by reconnection flows predominantly toward the Earth and has the potential of being geoeffective, rather than being expelled to the solar wind by the tailward flow. The energy conversion asymmetry arises from the presence of the non-zero normal magnetic field, the stronger lobe magnetic field, and the stronger cross-tail current earthward of the reconnection site in the pre-reconnecting thin current sheet.

  3. Ocean wave energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    McCormick, Michael E

    2007-01-01

    This volume will prove of vital interest to those studying the use of renewable resources. Scientists, engineers, and inventors will find it a valuable review of ocean wave mechanics as well as an introduction to wave energy conversion. It presents physical and mathematical descriptions of the nine generic wave energy conversion techniques, along with their uses and performance characteristics.Author Michael E. McCormick is the Corbin A. McNeill Professor of Naval Engineering at the U.S. Naval Academy. In addition to his timely and significant coverage of possible environmental effects associa

  4. Graphene for thermoelectronic solar energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    De, Dilip K.; Olukunle, Olawole C.

    2017-08-01

    Graphene is a high temperature material which can stand temperature as high as 4600 K in vacuum. Even though its work function is high (4.6 eV) the thermionic emission current density at such temperature is very high. Graphene is a wonderful material whose work function can be engineered as desired. Kwon et al41 reported a chemical approach to reduce work function of graphene using K2CO3, Li2CO3, Rb2CO3, Cs2CO3. The work functions are reported to be 3.7 eV, 3.8 eV, 3.5 eV and 3.4 eV. Even though they did not report the high temperature tolerance of such alkali metal carbonate doped graphene, their works open a great promise for use of pure graphene and doped graphene as emitter (cathode) and collector (anode) in a solar thermionic energy converter. This paper discusses the dynamics of solar energy conversion to electrical energy using thermionic energy converter with graphene as emitter and collector. We have considered parabolic mirror concentrator to focus solar energy onto the emitter to achieve temperature around 4300 K. Our theoretical calculations and the modelling show that efficiency as high as 55% can easily be achieved if space-charge problem can be reduced and the collector can be cooled to certain proper temperature. We have discussed methods of controlling the associated space-charge problems. Richardson-Dushman equation modified by the authors have been used in this modelling. Such solar energy conversion would reduce the dependence on silicon solar panel and has great potential for future applications.

  5. Efficient Solar Energy Harvesting and Storage through a Robust Photocatalyst Driving Reversible Redox Reactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Yangen; Zhang, Shun; Ding, Yu; Zhang, Leyuan; Zhang, Changkun; Zhang, Xiaohong; Zhao, Yu; Yu, Guihua

    2018-06-14

    Simultaneous solar energy conversion and storage is receiving increasing interest for better utilization of the abundant yet intermittently available sunlight. Photoelectrodes driving nonspontaneous reversible redox reactions in solar-powered redox cells (SPRCs), which can deliver energy via the corresponding reverse reactions, present a cost-effective and promising approach for direct solar energy harvesting and storage. However, the lack of photoelectrodes having both high conversion efficiency and high durability becomes a bottleneck that hampers practical applications of SPRCs. Here, it is shown that a WO 3 -decorated BiVO 4 photoanode, without the need of extra electrocatalysts, can enable a single-photocatalyst-driven SPRC with a solar-to-output energy conversion efficiency as high as 1.25%. This SPRC presents stable performance over 20 solar energy storage/delivery cycles. The high efficiency and stability are attributed to the rapid redox reactions, the well-matched energy level, and the efficient light harvesting and charge separation of the prepared BiVO 4 . This demonstrated device system represents a potential alternative toward the development of low-cost, durable, and easy-to-implement solar energy technologies. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  6. Perspectives on implementing energy efficiency in existing Swedish detached houses

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joelsson, Anna; Gustavsson, Leif [Ecotechnology, Department of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Oestersund (Sweden)

    2008-01-15

    In this study, we first analyse energy-efficiency measures in existing electrically heated houses in Sweden from a societal economic perspective. Measures to a house envelopes and to energy supply chains are evaluated through a system analysis approach and we include the external costs of climate change and the effect of different Swedish climatic zones. We find that in a typical house from the 1970s, conversion from electric heating is highly motivated since the mitigation cost of conversion is lower than the estimated external costs of emitted CO{sub 2}. Both conversions and house envelope measures are more motivated in the northern part of the country, where there is a higher heat demand. A successful implementation of changes requires them to be attractive for consumers to adopt. We therefore secondly analyse the economic conditions for Swedish house owners to implement societal economic cost-efficient measures. We include the economic influence of an investment subsidy for heating system conversion, an income tax deduction for changing windows, customer electricity tax, real estate tax and of the cost of purchased energy from different energy suppliers. Apart from the economics, several other factors affect a house owner's decision to change heating systems. We therefore thirdly analyse house owners' perceptions of different heating supply alternatives based on the results of two comprehensive questionnaires. These different perspectives are combined in a discussion whether the studied policy instruments encourage house owners to implement changes in accordance with the energy-efficiency goals of decision makers. We find that the investment subsidy could be useful to break the lock-in effect of resistance heaters, which house owners seemed to experience. The electricity tax makes heating systems in line with national goals more competitive and efficiency measures to the house envelope more profitable. The reduction of the electricity tax in the northern part

  7. Perspectives on implementing energy efficiency in existing Swedish detached houses

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joelsson, Anna; Gustavsson, Leif

    2008-01-01

    In this study, we first analyse energy-efficiency measures in existing electrically heated houses in Sweden from a societal economic perspective. Measures to a house envelopes and to energy supply chains are evaluated through a system analysis approach and we include the external costs of climate change and the effect of different Swedish climatic zones. We find that in a typical house from the 1970s, conversion from electric heating is highly motivated since the mitigation cost of conversion is lower than the estimated external costs of emitted CO 2 . Both conversions and house envelope measures are more motivated in the northern part of the country, where there is a higher heat demand. A successful implementation of changes requires them to be attractive for consumers to adopt. We therefore secondly analyse the economic conditions for Swedish house owners to implement societal economic cost-efficient measures. We include the economic influence of an investment subsidy for heating system conversion, an income tax deduction for changing windows, customer electricity tax, real estate tax and of the cost of purchased energy from different energy suppliers. Apart from the economics, several other factors affect a house owner's decision to change heating systems. We therefore thirdly analyse house owners' perceptions of different heating supply alternatives based on the results of two comprehensive questionnaires. These different perspectives are combined in a discussion whether the studied policy instruments encourage house owners to implement changes in accordance with the energy-efficiency goals of decision makers. We find that the investment subsidy could be useful to break the lock-in effect of resistance heaters, which house owners seemed to experience. The electricity tax makes heating systems in line with national goals more competitive and efficiency measures to the house envelope more profitable. The reduction of the electricity tax in the northern part of

  8. Photovoltaic conversion of the solar energy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gordillo G, Gerardo

    1998-01-01

    In this work, a short description of the basic aspect of the performance of homojunction solar cells and of the technological aspects of the fabrication of low cost thin film solar cells is made. Special emphasis on the historical aspects of the evolution of the conversion efficiency of photovoltaic devices based on crystalline silicon, amorphous silicon, Cd Te and CulnSe 2 is also made. The state of art of the technology of photovoltaic devices and modules is additionally presented. The contribution to the development of high efficiency solar cells and modules, carried out by research centers of universities such us: Stuttgart university (Germany), Stockholm university (Sweden), University of South Florida (USA), university of south gales (Australia), by the national renewable energy laboratory of USA and by research centers of companies such us: Matsushita (Japan), BP-solar (England), Boeing (USA), Arco solar (USA), Siemens (Germany) etc. are specially emphasized. Additionally, a section concerning economical aspect of the photovoltaic generation of electric energy is enclosed. In this section an overview of the evolution of price and world market of photovoltaic system is presented

  9. Conversion efficiency of lead for 30-200 MeV photons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Darriulat, P.; Gygi, E.; Holder, M.; McDonald, K.T.; Pugh, H.G.; Schneider, F.; Tittel, K.

    1975-01-01

    The conversion efficiency of lead has been measured as a function of thickness for 44 MeV, 94 MeV and 177 MeV photons, and as a function of energy between 29 MeV and 177 Mev for thickness of one and two radiation lengths. Some additional information on multiplicity of secondary tracks and on their angular distribution was obtained using a small streamer chamber. The results obtained confirm the shower calculations of Messel and Crawford. (Auth.)

  10. Energy conversion and management principles and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Petrecca, Giovanni

    2014-01-01

    This book provides an overall view of energy conversion and management in industry and in buildings by following the streams of energy from the site boundaries to the end users. Written for an audience of both practitioners and faculty/students, Energy Conversion and Management: Principles and Applications presents general principles of energy conversion and energy sources, both traditional and renewable, in a broad range of facilities such as electrical substations, boiler plants, heat and power plants, electrical networks, thermal fluid distributions lines and insulations, pumps and fans, ai

  11. Benchmarking urban energy efficiency in the UK

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keirstead, James

    2013-01-01

    This study asks what is the ‘best’ way to measure urban energy efficiency. There has been recent interest in identifying efficient cities so that best practices can be shared, a process known as benchmarking. Previous studies have used relatively simple metrics that provide limited insight on the complexity of urban energy efficiency and arguably fail to provide a ‘fair’ measure of urban performance. Using a data set of 198 urban UK local administrative units, three methods are compared: ratio measures, regression residuals, and data envelopment analysis. The results show that each method has its own strengths and weaknesses regarding the ease of interpretation, ability to identify outliers and provide consistent rankings. Efficient areas are diverse but are notably found in low income areas of large conurbations such as London, whereas industrial areas are consistently ranked as inefficient. The results highlight the shortcomings of the underlying production-based energy accounts. Ideally urban energy efficiency benchmarks would be built on consumption-based accounts, but interim recommendations are made regarding the use of efficiency measures that improve upon current practice and facilitate wider conversations about what it means for a specific city to be energy-efficient within an interconnected economy. - Highlights: • Benchmarking is a potentially valuable method for improving urban energy performance. • Three different measures of urban energy efficiency are presented for UK cities. • Most efficient areas are diverse but include low-income areas of large conurbations. • Least efficient areas perform industrial activities of national importance. • Improve current practice with grouped per capita metrics or regression residuals

  12. Energy efficiency as a competitive advantage; Energieeffizienz als Wettbewerbsvorteil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Agricola, A.C. [Deutsche Energie-Agentur GmbH (dena), Berlin (Germany)

    2008-06-15

    'The Energy Efficiency Award 'with a prize of 30,000 Euro is conferred to enterprises from industry and trades for transformation of outstanding operational projects for the increase of energy efficiency. The winners of the 'Energy Efficiency Award 2008' point out the role of the increase of energy efficiency in the cost reduction and increase of net yield. The first price was conferred to Festo AG (Esslingen, Federal Republic of Germany). This enterprise could save 38 % of the annual energy costs by an energy-efficient conversion of a location extension in comparison to a conventional planning. The second price was conferred to Leiber GmbH (Bremsche, Federal Republic of Germany) and Mercedes-Benz factory Untertuerkheim of Daimler Benz AG. With a new energy-efficient waste water purification, Leiber GmbH could save 72 % of the current consumption in comparison to the technology used previously. By means of suitable energy efficiency measures, Mercedes-Benz factory Untertuerkheim could save nearly 9 million Euro per year at energy costs. For these three examples, the author of the contribution under consideration describes the measures leading to this success.

  13. Nano Sensing and Energy Conversion Using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Iltai (Isaac Kim

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Nanophotonic technique has been attracting much attention in applications of nano-bio-chemical sensing and energy conversion of solar energy harvesting and enhanced energy transfer. One approach for nano-bio-chemical sensing is surface plasmon resonance (SPR imaging, which can detect the material properties, such as density, ion concentration, temperature, and effective refractive index in high sensitivity, label-free, and real-time under ambient conditions. Recent study shows that SPR can successfully detect the concentration variation of nanofluids during evaporation-induced self-assembly process. Spoof surface plasmon resonance based on multilayer metallo-dielectric hyperbolic metamaterials demonstrate SPR dispersion control, which can be combined with SPR imaging, to characterize high refractive index materials because of its exotic optical properties. Furthermore, nano-biophotonics could enable innovative energy conversion such as the increase of absorption and emission efficiency and the perfect absorption. Localized SPR using metal nanoparticles show highly enhanced absorption in solar energy harvesting. Three-dimensional hyperbolic metamaterial cavity nanostructure shows enhanced spontaneous emission. Recently ultrathin film perfect absorber is demonstrated with the film thickness is as low as ~1/50th of the operating wavelength using epsilon-near-zero (ENZ phenomena at the wavelength close to SPR. It is expected to provide a breakthrough in sensing and energy conversion applications using the exotic optical properties based on the nanophotonic technique.

  14. Microbial battery for efficient energy recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Xing; Ye, Meng; Hsu, Po-Chun; Liu, Nian; Criddle, Craig S; Cui, Yi

    2013-10-01

    By harnessing the oxidative power of microorganisms, energy can be recovered from reservoirs of less-concentrated organic matter, such as marine sediment, wastewater, and waste biomass. Left unmanaged, these reservoirs can become eutrophic dead zones and sites of greenhouse gas generation. Here, we introduce a unique means of energy recovery from these reservoirs-a microbial battery (MB) consisting of an anode colonized by microorganisms and a reoxidizable solid-state cathode. The MB has a single-chamber configuration and does not contain ion-exchange membranes. Bench-scale MB prototypes were constructed from commercially available materials using glucose or domestic wastewater as electron donor and silver oxide as a coupled solid-state oxidant electrode. The MB achieved an efficiency of electrical energy conversion of 49% based on the combustion enthalpy of the organic matter consumed or 44% based on the organic matter added. Electrochemical reoxidation of the solid-state electrode decreased net efficiency to about 30%. This net efficiency of energy recovery (unoptimized) is comparable to methane fermentation with combined heat and power.

  15. Modeling the efficiency of Förster resonant energy transfer from energy relay dyes in dye-sensitized solar cells

    KAUST Repository

    Hoke, Eric T.; Hardin, Brian E.; McGehee, Michael D.

    2010-01-01

    Förster resonant energy transfer can improve the spectral breadth, absorption and energy conversion efficiency of dye sensitized solar cells. In this design, unattached relay dyes absorb the high energy photons and transfer the excitation

  16. Efficient broadband third harmonic frequency conversion via angular dispersion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pennington, D.M.; Henesian, M.A.; Milam, D.; Eimerl, D.

    1995-01-01

    In this paper we present experimental measurements and theoretical modeling of third harmonic (3ω) conversion efficiency with optical bandwidth. Third harmonic conversion efficiency drops precipitously as the input bandwidth significantly exceeds the phase matching limitations of the conversion crystals. For Type I/Type II frequency tripling, conversion efficiency be-gins to decrease for bandwidths greater than ∼60 GHz. However, conversion efficiency corresponding to monochromatic phase-matched beams can be recovered provided that the instantaneous Propagation vectors are phase matched at all times. This is achieved by imposing angular spectral dispersion (ASD) on the input beam via a diffraction grating, with a dispersion such that the phase mismatch for each frequency is zero. Experiments were performed on the Optical Sciences Laser (OSL), a 1--100 J class laser at LLNL. These experiments used a 200 GHz bandwidth source produced by a multipassed electro-optic phase modulator. The spectrum produced was composed of discrete frequency components spaced at 3 GHz intervals. Angular dispersion was incorporated by the addition of a 1200 gr/mm diffraction grating oriented at the Littrow angle, and capable of rotation about the beam direction. Experiments were performed with a pulse length of 1-ns and a 1ω input intensity of ∼ 4 GW/cm 2 for near optimal dispersion for phase matching, 5.2 μrad/GHz, with 0.1, 60, and 155 GHz bandwidth, as well as for partial dispersion compensation, 1.66 μrad/GHz, with 155 GHz and 0.1 GHz bandwidth. The direction of dispersion was varied incrementally 360 degrees about the beam diameter. The addition of the grating to the beamline reduced the narrowband conversion efficiency by approximately 10%

  17. Surface reflectance and conversion efficiency dependence of technologies for mitigating global warming

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Edmonds, Ian [Solartran Pty Ltd., 12 Lentara St, Kenmore, Brisbane 4069 (Australia); Smith, Geoff [Physics and Advanced Materials, University of Technology, Sydney, PO Box 123, Broadway, New South Wales 2007 (Australia)

    2011-05-15

    A means of assessing the relative impact of different renewable energy technologies on global warming has been developed. All power plants emit thermal energy to the atmosphere. Fossil fuel power plants also emit CO{sub 2} which accumulates in the atmosphere and provides an indirect increase in global warming via the greenhouse effect. A fossil fuel power plant may operate for some time before the global warming due to its CO{sub 2} emission exceeds the warming due to its direct heat emission. When a renewable energy power plant is deployed instead of a fossil fuel power plant there may be a significant time delay before the direct global warming effect is less than the combined direct and indirect global warming effect from an equivalent output coal fired plant - the ''business as usual'' case. Simple expressions are derived to calculate global temperature change as a function of ground reflectance and conversion efficiency for various types of fossil fuelled and renewable energy power plants. These expressions are used to assess the global warming mitigation potential of some proposed Australian renewable energy projects. The application of the expressions is extended to evaluate the deployment in Australia of current and new geo-engineering and carbon sequestration solutions to mitigate global warming. Principal findings are that warming mitigation depends strongly on the solar to electric conversion efficiency of renewable technologies, geo-engineering projects may offer more economic mitigation than renewable energy projects and the mitigation potential of reforestation projects depends strongly on the location of the projects. (author)

  18. Energy Conversion in Imploding Z-Pinch Plasma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fisher, V.I.; Gregorian, L.; Davara, G.; Kroupp, E.; Bernshtam, V.A.; Ralchenko, Yu. V.; Starobinets, A.; Maron, Y.

    2002-01-01

    Due to important applications, Z-pinches became a subject of extensive studies. In these studies, main attention is directed towards improvement in efficiency of electric energy conversion into high-power radiation burst. At present, knowledge available on physics of Z-pinch operation, plasma motion, atomic kinetics, and energy conversion is mainly knowledge of numerical simulation results. We believe further progress require (i) experimental determination of spatial distribution and time history of thermodynamic parameters and magnetic field, as well as (ii) utilization of this data for experiment-based calculation of r,t-distribution of driving forces, mass and energy fluxes, and local energy deposition rates due to each of contributing mechanisms, what provides an insight into a process of conversion of stored electric energy into radiation burst. Moreover, experimentally determined r, t-distribution of parameters may serve for verification of computer programs developed for simulation of Z-pinch operation and optimization of radiation output. Within this research program we performed detailed spectroscopic study of plasmas imploding in modest-size (25 kV, 5 kJ, 1.2 μs quaterperiod) gas-puff Z-pinch. This facility has reasonably high repetition rate and provides good reproducibility of results. Consistent with plasma ionization degree in the implosion period, measurements are performed in UV-visible spectral range. Observation of spectral lines emitted at various azimuthal angles f showed no dependence on f. Dependence on axial coordinate z is found to be weak in near-anode half of the anode-cathode gap. Based on these observations and restricting the measurements to near-anode half of the gap, an evolution of parameters is studied in time and radial coordinate r only. In present talk we report on determination of radial component of plasma hydrodynamic velocity u r (r,t), magnetic field B ζ (r,t), electron density n e (r,t), density of ions in various

  19. Electrochemical solar energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gerischer, H.

    1991-01-01

    The principles of solar energy conversion in photoelectrochemical cells are briefly reviewed. Cells for the generation of electric power and for energy storage in form of electrochemical energy are described. These systems are compared with solid state photovoltaic devices, and the inherent difficulties for the operation of the electrochemical systems are analyzed. (author). 28 refs, 10 figs

  20. Proceedings of the 27th intersociety energy conversion engineering conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1992-01-01

    This book contains the proceedings of the 27th Intersociety Energy Conversion Engineering Conference. Topics included: Stirling Cycle Analysis; Stirling Cycle Models; Stirling Refrigerators/Heat Pumps and Cryocoolers; Domestic Policy; Efficiency/Conservation; Stirling Solar Terrestrial; Stirling Component Technology; Environmental Impacts; Renewable Resource Systems; Stirling Power Generation; Stirling Heat Transport System Technology; and Stirling Cycle Loss Understanding

  1. Efficient conversion of solar energy to biomass and electricity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parlevliet, David; Moheimani, Navid Reza

    2014-01-01

    The Earth receives around 1000 W.m(-2) of power from the Sun and only a fraction of this light energy is able to be converted to biomass (chemical energy) via the process of photosynthesis. Out of all photosynthetic organisms, microalgae, due to their fast growth rates and their ability to grow on non-arable land using saline water, have been identified as potential source of raw material for chemical energy production. Electrical energy can also be produced from this same solar resource via the use of photovoltaic modules. In this work we propose a novel method of combining both of these energy production processes to make full utilisation of the solar spectrum and increase the productivity of light-limited microalgae systems. These two methods of energy production would appear to compete for use of the same energy resource (sunlight) to produce either chemical or electrical energy. However, some groups of microalgae (i.e. Chlorophyta) only require the blue and red portions of the spectrum whereas photovoltaic devices can absorb strongly over the full range of visible light. This suggests that a combination of the two energy production systems would allow for a full utilization of the solar spectrum allowing both the production of chemical and electrical energy from the one facility making efficient use of available land and solar energy. In this work we propose to introduce a filter above the algae culture to modify the spectrum of light received by the algae and redirect parts of the spectrum to generate electricity. The electrical energy generated by this approach can then be directed to running ancillary systems or producing extra illumination for the growth of microalgae. We have modelled an approach whereby the productivity of light-limited microalgae systems can be improved by at least 4% through using an LED array to increase the total amount of illumination on the microalgae culture.

  2. Integrated solar capacitors for energy conversion and storage

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Ruiyuan Liu; Yuqiang Liu; Haiyang Zou; Tao Song; Baoquan Sun

    2017-01-01

    Solar energy is one of the most popular clean energy sources and is a promising alternative to fulfill the increasing energy demands of modern society.Solar cells have long been under intensive research attention for harvesting energy from sunlight with a high power-conversion efficiency and low cost.However,the power outputs of photovoltaic devices suffer from fluctuations due to the intermittent instinct of the solar radiation.Integrating solar cells and energystorage devices as self-powering systems may solve this problem through the simultaneous storage of the electricity and manipulation of the energy output.This review summarizes the research progress in the integration of new-generation solar cells with supercapacitors,with emphasis on the structures,materials,performance,and new design features.The current challenges and future prospects are discussed with the aim of expanding research and development in this field.

  3. Energy Efficiency and Air Quality Repairs at Lyonsdale Biomass

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brower, Michael R; Morrison, James A; Spomer, Eric; Thimot, Carol A

    2012-07-31

    This project enabled Lyonsdale Biomass, LLC to effect analyses, repairs and upgrades for its biomass cogeneration facility located in Lewis County, New York and close by the Adirondack Park to reduce air emissions by improving combustion technique and through the overall reduction of biomass throughput by increasing the system's thermodynamic efficiency for its steam-electrical generating cycle. Project outcomes result in significant local, New York State, Northeast U.S. and national benefits including improved renewable energy operational surety, enhanced renewable energy efficiency and more freedom from foreign fossil fuel source dependence. Specifically, the reliability of the Lyonsdale Biomass 20MWe woody biomass combined-heat and power (CHP) was and is now directly enhanced. The New York State and Lewis County benefits are equally substantial since the facility sustains 26 full-time equivalency (FTE) jobs at the facility and as many as 125 FTE jobs in the biomass logistics supply chain. Additionally, the project sustains essential local and state payment in lieu of taxes revenues. This project helps meet several USDOE milestones and contributes directly to the following sustainability goals:  Climate: Reduces greenhouse gas emissions associated with bio-power production, conversion and use, in comparison to fossil fuels. Efficiency and Productivity: Enhances efficient use of renewable resources and maximizes conversion efficiency and productivity. Profitability: Lowers production costs. Rural Development: Enhances economic welfare and rural development through job creation and income generation. Standards: Develop standards and corresponding metrics for ensuring sustainable biopower production. Energy Diversification and Security: Reduces dependence on foreign oil and increases energy supply diversity. Net Energy Balance: Ensures positive net energy balance for all alternatives to fossil fuels.

  4. Organohalide Perovskites for Solar Energy Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Qianqian; Armin, Ardalan; Burn, Paul L; Meredith, Paul

    2016-03-15

    Lead-based organohalide perovskites have recently emerged as arguably the most promising of all next generation thin film solar cell technologies. Power conversion efficiencies have reached 20% in less than 5 years, and their application to other optoelectronic device platforms such as photodetectors and light emitting diodes is being increasingly reported. Organohalide perovskites can be solution processed or evaporated at low temperatures to form simple thin film photojunctions, thus delivering the potential for the holy grail of high efficiency, low embedded energy, and low cost photovoltaics. The initial device-driven "perovskite fever" has more recently given way to efforts to better understand how these materials work in solar cells, and deeper elucidation of their structure-property relationships. In this Account, we focus on this element of organohalide perovskite chemistry and physics in particular examining critical electro-optical, morphological, and architectural phenomena. We first examine basic crystal and chemical structure, and how this impacts important solar-cell related properties such as the optical gap. We then turn to deeper electronic phenomena such as carrier mobilities, trap densities, and recombination dynamics, as well as examining ionic and dielectric properties and how these two types of physics impact each other. The issue of whether organohalide perovskites are predominantly nonexcitonic at room temperature is currently a matter of some debate, and we summarize the evidence for what appears to be the emerging field consensus: an exciton binding energy of order 10 meV. Having discussed the important basic chemistry and physics we turn to more device-related considerations including processing, morphology, architecture, thin film electro-optics and interfacial energetics. These phenomena directly impact solar cell performance parameters such as open circuit voltage, short circuit current density, internal and external quantum efficiency

  5. On the experimental determination of the efficiency of piezoelectric impact-type energy harvesters using a rotational flywheel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Janphuang, P; Lockhart, R; Briand, D; De Rooij, N F; Henein, S

    2013-01-01

    This paper demonstrates a novel methodology using a rotational flywheel to determine the energy conversion efficiency of the impact based piezoelectric energy harvesters. The influence of the impact speed and additional proof mass on the efficiency is presented here. In order to convert low frequency mechanical oscillations into usable electrical energy, a piezoelectric harvester is coupled to a rotating gear wheel driven by flywheel. The efficiency is determined from the ratio of the electrical energy generated by the harvester to the mechanical energy dissipated by the flywheel. The experimental results reveal that free vibrations of the harvester after plucking contribute significantly to the efficiency. The efficiency and output energy can be greatly improved by adding a proof mass to the harvester. Under certain conditions, the piezoelectric harvesters have an impact energy conversion efficiency of 1.2%

  6. Rectenna session: Micro aspects. [energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutmann, R. J.

    1980-01-01

    Two micro aspects of the rectenna design are addressed: evaluation of the degradation in net rectenna RF to DC conversion efficiency due to power density variations across the rectenna (power combining analysis) and design of Yagi-Uda receiving elements to reduce rectenna cost by decreasing the number of conversion circuits (directional receiving elements). The first of these micro aspects involves resolving a fundamental question of efficiency potential with a rectenna, while the second involves a design modification with a large potential cost saving.

  7. Visible light to electrical energy conversion using photoelectrochemical cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wrighton, Mark S. (Inventor); Ellis, Arthur B. (Inventor); Kaiser, Steven W. (Inventor)

    1983-01-01

    Sustained conversion of low energy visible or near i.r. light (>1.25 eV) to electrical energy has been obtained using wet photoelectrochemical cells where there are no net chemical changes in the system. Stabilization of n-type semi-conductor anodes of CdS, CdSe, CdTe, GaP, GaAs and InP to photoanodic dissolution is achieved by employing selected alkaline solutions of Na.sub.2 S, Na.sub.2 S/S, Na.sub.2 Se, Na.sub.2 Se/Se, Na.sub.2 Te and Na.sub.2 Te/Te as the electrolyte. The oxidation of (poly) sulfide, (poly)selenide or (poly)telluride species occurs at the irradiated anode, and reduction of polysulfide, polyselenide or polytelluride species occurs at the dark Pt cathode of the photoelectrochemical cell. Optical to electrical energy conversion efficiencies approaching 15% at selected frequencies have been observed in some cells. The wavelength for the onset of photocurrent corresponds to the band gap of the particular anode material used in the cell.

  8. Cooptimization of Adhesion and Power Conversion Efficiency of Organic Solar Cells by Controlling Surface Energy of Buffer Layers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Inhwa; Noh, Jonghyeon; Lee, Jung-Yong; Kim, Taek-Soo

    2017-10-25

    Here, we demonstrate the cooptimization of the interfacial fracture energy and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of poly[N-9'-heptadecanyl-2,7-carbazole-alt-5,5-(4',7'-di-2-thienyl-2',1',3'-benzothiadiazole)] (PCDTBT)-based organic solar cells (OSCs) by surface treatments of the buffer layer. The investigated surface treatments of the buffer layer simultaneously changed the crack path and interfacial fracture energy of OSCs under mechanical stress and the work function of the buffer layer. To investigate the effects of surface treatments, the work of adhesion values were calculated and matched with the experimental results based on the Owens-Wendt model. Subsequently, we fabricated OSCs on surface-treated buffer layers. In particular, ZnO layers treated with poly[(9,9-bis(3'-(N,N-dimethylamino)propyl)-2,7-fluorene)-alt-2,7-(9,9-dioctylfluorene)] (PFN) simultaneously satisfied the high mechanical reliability and PCE of OSCs by achieving high work of adhesion and optimized work function.

  9. The state of the art of wind energy conversion systems and technologies: A review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cheng, Ming; Zhu, Ying

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • This paper reviews the state of the art of wind energy conversion systems. • Different types of common wind energy conversion systems are classified and compared. • The four most popular MPPT control methods are reviewed and compared. • The latest development of wind energy conversion technologies is introduced. • Future trends of the wind energy conversion technologies are discussed. - Abstract: This paper gives a comprehensive review of the state of the art of wind energy conversion systems (WECS) and technologies, with an emphasis on wind power generator and control. First, different types of common WECSs are classified according to their features and drive train types. The WECSs are compared on the basis of the volume, weight, cost, efficiency, system reliability and fault ride through capability. The maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control, which aims to make the generator speed meet an optimum value to ensure the maximum energy yield, plays a key role in the variable speed WECSs. A comprehensive review and comparison of the four most popular MPPT control methods are carried out and improvements for each method are presented. Furthermore, the latest development of wind energy conversion technologies is introduced, such as the brushless doubly fed induction generator (BDFIG), the stator permanent magnet synchronous generators, the magnetic-geared generators, dual power flow WECS with the electrical variable transmission (EVT) machine, and direct grid-connected WECS. Finally, the future trends of the technologies are discussed

  10. Food waste-to-energy conversion technologies: current status and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pham, Thi Phuong Thuy; Kaushik, Rajni; Parshetti, Ganesh K; Mahmood, Russell; Balasubramanian, Rajasekhar

    2015-04-01

    Food waste represents a significantly fraction of municipal solid waste. Proper management and recycling of huge volumes of food waste are required to reduce its environmental burdens and to minimize risks to human health. Food waste is indeed an untapped resource with great potential for energy production. Utilization of food waste for energy conversion currently represents a challenge due to various reasons. These include its inherent heterogeneously variable compositions, high moisture contents and low calorific value, which constitute an impediment for the development of robust, large scale, and efficient industrial processes. Although a considerable amount of research has been carried out on the conversion of food waste to renewable energy, there is a lack of comprehensive and systematic reviews of the published literature. The present review synthesizes the current knowledge available in the use of technologies for food-waste-to-energy conversion involving biological (e.g. anaerobic digestion and fermentation), thermal and thermochemical technologies (e.g. incineration, pyrolysis, gasification and hydrothermal oxidation). The competitive advantages of these technologies as well as the challenges associated with them are discussed. In addition, the future directions for more effective utilization of food waste for renewable energy generation are suggested from an interdisciplinary perspective. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Basic aspects for improving the energy conversion efficiency of hetero-junction organic photovoltaic cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ryuzaki, Sou; Onoe, Jun

    2013-01-01

    Hetero-junction organic photovoltaic (OPV) cells consisting of donor (D) and acceptor (A) layers have been regarded as next-generation PV cells, because of their fascinating advantages, such as lightweight, low fabrication cost, resource free, and flexibility, when compared to those of conventional PV cells based on silicon and semiconductor compounds. However, the power conversion efficiency (η) of the OPV cells has been still around 8%, though more than 10% efficiency has been required for their practical use. To fully optimize these OPV cells, it is necessary that the low mobility of carriers/excitons in the OPV cells and the open circuit voltage (V OC), of which origin has not been understood well, should be improved. In this review, we address an improvement of the mobility of carriers/excitons by controlling the crystal structure of a donor layer and address how to increase the V OC for zinc octaethylporphyrin [Zn(OEP)]/C60 hetero-junction OPV cells [ITO/Zn(OEP)/C60/Al]. It was found that crystallization of Zn(OEP) films increases the number of inter-molecular charge transfer (IMCT) excitons and enlarges the mobility of carriers and IMCT excitons, thus significantly improving the external quantum efficiency (EQE) under illumination of the photoabsorption band due to the IMCT excitons. Conversely, charge accumulation of photo-generated carriers in the vicinity of the donor/acceptor (D/A) interface was found to play a key role in determining the V OC for the OPV cells.

  12. Solar energy conversion. Chemical aspects

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Likhtenshtein, Gertz [Ben-Gurion Univ. of the Negev, Beersheba (Israel). Dept. of Chemistry

    2012-07-01

    Finally filling a gap in the literature for a text that also adopts the chemist's view of this hot topic, Professor Likhtenshtein, an experienced author and internationally renowned scientist, considers different physical and engineering aspects in solar energy conversion. From theory to real-life systems, he shows exactly which chemical reactions take place when converting light energy, providing an overview of the chemical perspective from fundamentals to molecular harvesting systems and solar cells. This essential guide will thus help researchers in academia and industry better understand solar energy conversion, and so ultimately help this promising, multibillion euro/dollar field to expand. (orig.)

  13. High-efficiency integrated piezoelectric energy harvesting systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hande, Abhiman; Shah, Pradeep

    2010-04-01

    This paper describes hierarchically architectured development of an energy harvesting (EH) system that consists of micro and/or macro-scale harvesters matched to multiple components of remote wireless sensor and communication nodes. The micro-scale harvesters consist of thin-film MEMS piezoelectric cantilever arrays and power generation modules in IC-like form to allow efficient EH from vibrations. The design uses new high conversion efficiency thin-film processes combined with novel cantilever structures tuned to multiple resonant frequencies as broadband arrays. The macro-scale harvesters are used to power the collector nodes that have higher power specifications. These bulk harvesters can be integrated with efficient adaptive power management circuits that match transducer impedance and maximize power harvested from multiple scavenging sources with very low intrinsic power consumption. Texas MicroPower, Inc. is developing process based on a composition that has the highest reported energy density as compared to other commercially available bulk PZT-based sensor/actuator ceramic materials and extending it to thin-film materials and miniature conversion transducer structures. The multiform factor harvesters can be deployed for several military and commercial applications such as underground unattended sensors, sensors in oil rigs, structural health monitoring, supply chain management, and battlefield applications such as sensors on soldier apparel, equipment, and wearable electronics.

  14. A Study on the RF-DC Conversion Efficiency of Microstrip Patch Rectenna

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jung, Yang Ha; Youn, Dong Gi; Kim, Kwan Ho [Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute (Korea); Rhee, Young Chul [Kyungnam University (Korea)

    2000-07-01

    We designed and manufactured microstrip patch antenna mainly used in the rectenna and then analysed RF-DC conversion efficiency of wireless power transmission system. We analyse conversion efficiency of load, direction of linear and dual polization rectenna. We found that the maximum efficiency would be about 70% of load and direction in patch type. In conclusion, we found that total conversion efficiency is 64% - 71% in patch Rectenna. (author). 5 refs., 8 figs., 1 tab.

  15. Optimization theory for ballistic conversion

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Xie, Yanbo; Versluis, Michel; van den Berg, Albert; Eijkel, Jan C.T.

    2016-01-01

    The growing demand of renewable energy stimulates the exploration of new materials and methods for clean energy. We recently demonstrated a high efficiency and power density energy conversion mechanism by using jetted charged microdroplets, termed as ballistic energy conversion. Hereby, we model and

  16. Designing interfaces of hydrogenase-nanomaterial hybrids for efficient solar conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    King, Paul W

    2013-01-01

    The direct conversion of sunlight into biofuels is an intriguing alternative to a continued reliance on fossil fuels. Natural photosynthesis has long been investigated both as a potential solution, and as a model for utilizing solar energy to drive a water-to-fuel cycle. The molecules and organizational structure provide a template to inspire the design of efficient molecular systems for photocatalysis. A clear design strategy is the coordination of molecular interactions that match kinetic rates and energetic levels to control the direction and flow of energy from light harvesting to catalysis. Energy transduction and electron-transfer reactions occur through interfaces formed between complexes of donor-acceptor molecules. Although the structures of several of the key biological complexes have been solved, detailed descriptions of many electron-transfer complexes are lacking, which presents a challenge to designing and engineering biomolecular systems for solar conversion. Alternatively, it is possible to couple the catalytic power of biological enzymes to light harvesting by semiconductor nanomaterials. In these molecules, surface chemistry and structure can be designed using ligands. The passivation effect of the ligand can also dramatically affect the photophysical properties of the semiconductor, and energetics of external charge-transfer. The length, degree of bond saturation (aromaticity), and solvent exposed functional groups of ligands can be manipulated to further tune the interface to control molecular assembly, and complex stability in photocatalytic hybrids. The results of this research show how ligand selection is critical to designing molecular interfaces that promote efficient self-assembly, charge-transfer and photocatalysis. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Metals in Bioenergetics and Biomimetics Systems. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Solar energy efficiency of cocoa clones cultivated under three species of shade trees.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Oscar Regazzoni

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This experiment aims to know the solar energy efficiency of four clones of cocoa that cultivated under three different shading plants. This experiment has been done from September until December 2013 located at Kaliwining Experiment Farm with characteristic 45 m above sea level, soil type is low humic gley, soil texture is silty clay loam, and climate classification type D based on Scmidht and Fergusson Classification. This experiment used Nested Design as Experimental Design with species of shading plant as main plot which are Teak (Tectona grandis L., Krete (Cassia surattensis (Burm. F., Lamtoro (Leucaena leucocephala L. and Cocoa clones as sub plot which are Sulawesi 1, Sulawesi 2, KKM 22, KW 165. The observation of solar energy efficiency consists of daily solar radiation intensity, solar radiation intensity above plant, solar radiation intensity under plant, and also plant total dry weight. The experimental result showed that there is differences (heterogenity between shading location based on homogenity test by Bartlett Method. There are some interaction between the kind of shading plant and clones in parameter of interception efficiency, absorbtion efficiency, the efficiency of solar energy that caught by plant, and solar energy conversion efficiency. The efficiency of solar energy that caught by plant will affect the solar energy conversion efficiency with R2 = 0,86.

  18. Coupling analysis of energy conversion in multi-mode vibration structural control using a synchronized switch damping method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ji, Hongli; Qiu, Jinhao; Xia, Pinqi; Inman, Daniel

    2012-01-01

    Modal coupling is an important issue in the analysis and control of structural systems with multi-degrees of freedom (MDOF). In this paper, modal coupling induced by energy conversion in the structural control of an MDOF system using a synchronized switch damping method is investigated theoretically and validated numerically. In the analysis, it is supposed that the voltage on the piezoelectric actuator is switched at the displacement extrema of a given mode. Two types of coupling in energy conversion are considered. The first is whether the switching action based on one mode induces energy conversion of the other modes. The second is whether the vibration of one mode affects the energy conversion of the other modes. The results indicate that the modal coupling in energy conversion is very complicated. In most cases the switching action based on one mode does induce energy conversion of another mode, but the efficiency depends on the frequency ratio of the two modes. The vibration of one mode affects the energy conversion of another mode only when the frequency ratio of the two modes takes some special values. Discussions are also given on the potential application of the theoretical results in the design of an energy harvesting device. (paper)

  19. Renewable energy systems advanced conversion technologies and applications

    CERN Document Server

    Luo, Fang Lin

    2012-01-01

    Energy conversion techniques are key in power electronics and even more so in renewable energy source systems, which require a large number of converters. Renewable Energy Systems: Advanced Conversion Technologies and Applications describes advanced conversion technologies and provides design examples of converters and inverters for renewable energy systems-including wind turbine and solar panel energy systems. Learn Cutting-Edge Techniques for Converters and Inverters Setting the scene, the book begins with a review of the basics of astronomy and Earth physics. It then systematically introduc

  20. Experimental determination of relative light conversion factors of TLD-100 for protons with energies from 2.0 to 9.0 MeV

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schmidt, P.; Fellinger, J.; Henniger, J.; Huebner, K.

    1988-01-01

    The efficiency of thermoluminescent (TL) detectors to heavy charged particles is described by the so-called light conversion factor η. Relative light conversion factors for protons, alphas and heavier recoils are needed for the calculation of the neutron sensitivity of TL detectors. Such light conversion factors can be determined experimentally. In this paper a method is presented for the experimental determination of relative light conversion factors. Using the experimental arrangement described, relative light conversion factors for LiF material (TLD-100) for protons were determined. In LiF the relative main peak (peak V) efficiency is always lower than 1. It increases with increasing proton energy whereas the relative efficiency of the high temperature peak (peak VI) shows an opposite dependence on the proton energy. Relative light conversion factors for peak VI clearly exceed 1. (orig.)

  1. Efficiency of the monocrystalline photovoltaic modules in conversion solar radiation into electrical energy; Eficiencia de modulos fotovoltaicos monocristalinos na conversao de radiacao solar em energia eletrica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Carliane Diniz e [Universidade Estadual do Maranhao (UEMA), Sao Luis, MA (Brazil). Dept. de Engenharia Agricola], Email: carlianeds@yahoo.com.br; Seraphim, Odivaldo Jose [Universidade Estadual Paulista (FCA/UNESP), SP (Brazil). Fac. de Ciencias Agronomicas. Dept. de Engenharia Rural], Email: seraphim@fca.unesp.br

    2006-07-01

    With the scarcity of the conventional sources of energy production, other options must be considered, as the use of energy resources you renewed, that they offer to multiple advantages. One of the options to the supply of energy of the agricultural users is the photovoltaic solar systems for the local promotion of the quality of life. The objective of this study was to evaluate two marks of monocrystalline photovoltaic modules in different angles of inclination. The modules had presented low efficiency of conversion in conditions of field for incident solar radiation. (author)

  2. Demonstration of efficient full-aperture type I/type II third harmonic conversion on Nova

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wegner, P.J.; Henesian, M.A.; Marchi, F.T.; Speck, D.R.

    1988-01-01

    The ten arms of the Nova laser system readily deliver 22.5 kJ of third harmonic radiation in 1-ns pulses to targets for fusion experiments. Frequency conversion experiments conducted on a single arm have produced >7.5 kJ of 3ω radiation in longer (2.5-ns) pulses at the output of a Nova crystal array with 15 kJ of 1ω drive. Equivalent on-target energies (40-60 kJ) in 2-3-ns pulses is available at target chamber center when the laser disks in the output section of the Nova amplifier are replaced with new high-damage threshold glass. The remaining issue facing frequency conversion on Nova is to demonstrate similar 3-ω energy (>40 kJ) on-target at shorter (1-ns) pulse lengths with controlled pulse shape at 1→ drive energies up to 9 kJ. Frequency conversion to 40 kJ of 3→ with precisely shaped pulses is required for future experiments. The authors assembled a full-aperture (74-cm) array of these crystals to test on an arm outfitted with the new laser glass. Measurements of conversion efficiency, pulse time history, and optical quality of the converted beam are reported

  3. Progress and Perspectives of Plasmon-Enhanced Solar Energy Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cushing, Scott K; Wu, Nianqiang

    2016-02-18

    Plasmonics allows extraordinary control of light, making it attractive for application in solar energy harvesting. In metal-semiconductor heterojunctions, plasmons can enhance photoconversion in the semiconductor via three mechanisms, including light trapping, hot electron/hole transfer, and plasmon-induced resonance energy transfer (PIRET). To understand the plasmonic enhancement, the metal's geometry, constituent metal, and interface must be viewed in terms of the effects on the plasmon's dephasing and decay route. To simplify design of plasmonic metal-semiconductor heterojunctions for high-efficiency solar energy conversion, the parameters controlling the plasmonic enhancement can be distilled to the dephasing time. The plasmonic geometry can then be further refined to optimize hot carrier transfer, PIRET, or light trapping.

  4. Wind Energy Conversion Systems Technology and Trends

    CERN Document Server

    2012-01-01

    Wind Energy Conversion System covers the technological progress of wind energy conversion systems, along with potential future trends. It includes recently developed wind energy conversion systems such as multi-converter operation of variable-speed wind generators, lightning protection schemes, voltage flicker mitigation and prediction schemes for advanced control of wind generators. Modeling and control strategies of variable speed wind generators are discussed, together with the frequency converter topologies suitable for grid integration. Wind Energy Conversion System also describes offshore farm technologies including multi-terminal topology and space-based wind observation schemes, as well as both AC and DC based wind farm topologies. The stability and reliability of wind farms are discussed, and grid integration issues are examined in the context of the most recent industry guidelines. Wind power smoothing, one of the big challenges for transmission system operators, is a particular focus. Fault ride th...

  5. Hot-electron-based solar energy conversion with metal-semiconductor nanodiodes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Young Keun; Lee, Hyosun; Lee, Changhwan; Hwang, Euyheon; Park, Jeong Young

    2016-06-01

    Energy dissipation at metal surfaces or interfaces between a metal and a dielectric generally results from elementary excitations, including phonons and electronic excitation, once external energy is deposited to the surface/interface during exothermic chemical processes or an electromagnetic wave incident. In this paper, we outline recent research activities to develop energy conversion devices based on hot electrons. We found that photon energy can be directly converted to hot electrons and that hot electrons flow through the interface of metal-semiconductor nanodiodes where a Schottky barrier is formed and the energy barrier is much lower than the work function of the metal. The detection of hot electron flow can be successfully measured using the photocurrent; we measured the photoyield of photoemission with incident photons-to-current conversion efficiency (IPCE). We also show that surface plasmons (i.e. the collective oscillation of conduction band electrons induced by interaction with an electromagnetic field) are excited on a rough metal surface and subsequently decay into secondary electrons, which gives rise to enhancement of the IPCE. Furthermore, the unique optical behavior of surface plasmons can be coupled with dye molecules, suggesting the possibility for producing additional channels for hot electron generation.

  6. OPTIMIZATION OF AEOLIAN ENERGY CONVERSION OPTIMISATION DE LA CONVERSION DE L’ENERGIE EOLIENNE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Y. Soufi

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The use of renewable energy increases, because people are increasingly concerned with environmental issues. Among renewable, wind power is now widely used. Their study showed that a value of wind speed, there is a maximum mechanical power supplied by the turbine. So, power is supplied are particularly changes with maximum speed.However, the objective of this paper is to present an algorithm for optimal conversion of wind energy based on a criterion optimization that must maintain specific speed of the turbine at optimum speed which corresponds to the maximum power provided by the steady wind turbine. To this end, the object is to preserve the position of any static operating point on the characteristic of optimal.To validate the model and algorithm for optimal conversion of wind energy, a series of numerical simulations carried out using the software MatLab Simulink will be presented is discussed.

  7. Calculating the share of process energy consumed by biomass conversion plants. Bestimmung der Anteile der Prozessenergie bei einer Biogasanlage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goebel, W

    1984-06-01

    During the winter season the process energy consumption of biomass conversion plants is relatively high. Apart from the quantity and temperature of manures and insulation of the fermentation tank the process energy consumption depends on the efficiency of the heating system. Moreover, heat losses decide on the required quantities of process energy. Compared with the process energy consumption the electric power consumption of the engines supplying the biomass conversion plant is relatively low. Along with calculations tests and measurements in a biomass conversion plant during the winter season of 1981/1982 give access to the interrelation between process energy and electric power consumption.

  8. Entropy fluxes, endoreversibility, and solar energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Vos, A.; Landsberg, P. T.; Baruch, P.; Parrott, J. E.

    1993-09-01

    A formalism illustrating the conversion of radiation energy into work can be obtained in terms of energy and entropy fluxes. Whereas the Landsberg equality was derived for photothermal conversion with zero bandgap, a generalized inequality for photothermal/photovoltaic conversion with a single, but arbitrary, bandgap was deduced. This result was derived for a direct energy and entropy balance. The formalism of endoreversible dynamics was adopted in order to show the correlation with the latter approach. It was a surprising fact that the generalized Landsberg inequality was derived by optimizing some quantity W(sup *), which obtains it maximum value under short-circuit condition.

  9. HYDROKINETIC ENERGY CONVERSION SYSTEMS: PROSPECTS ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    eobe

    Hydrokinetic energy conversion systems utilize the kinetic energy of flowing water bodies with little or no head to generate ... generator. ... Its principle of operation is analogous to that of wind ..... Crisis-solar and wind power systems, 2009,.

  10. Towards a more efficient use of energy through beneficial electrification

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barbesino, C.; Le Goff, R.; Goericke, P.; Porter, D.F.; Roth, M.F.; Halberg, N.

    1996-01-01

    An important part of any commitment to energy conservation is a commitment to achieving savings in the use of electrical energy. However, to enable true comparisons to be made in the drive for more efficient and effective use of energy, it is essential that the entire primary energy chain, up to and including the final application, is taken into account. Conversion losses, which occur in the generation of electricity can often be offset by very high efficiencies at the point of use. The existence of a wide range of technology, to improve the efficiency of energy use and maximize the quality of usable energy extracted from primary energy resources, is a prerequisite. Of equal importance are the promotion and marketing of these technologies. In attempting to draw up a consistent energy conservation policy, it is essential to adopt approaches which consider all forms of energy. (R.P.)

  11. Energy Conversion and Transmission Characteristics Analysis of Ice Storage Air Conditioning System Driven by Distributed Photovoltaic Energy System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yongfeng Xu

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available In order to reduce the investment and operation cost of distributed PV energy system, ice storage technology was introduced to substitute batteries for solar energy storage. Firstly, the ice storage air conditioning system (ISACS driven by distributed photovoltaic energy system (DPES was proposed and the feasibility studies have been investigated in this paper. And then, the theoretical model has been established and experimental work has been done to analyze the energy coupling and transferring characteristics in light-electricity-cold conversion process. In addition, the structure optimization analysis was investigated. Results revealed that energy losses were high in ice making process of ice slide maker with only 17.38% energy utilization efficiency and the energy efficiency and exergy efficiency of ISACS driven by DPES were 5.44% and 67.30%, respectively. So the immersed evaporator and cointegrated exchanger were adopted for higher energy utilization efficiency and better financial rewards in structure optimization. The COP and exergy efficiency of ice maker can be increased to 1.48 and 81.24%, respectively, after optimization and the energy utilization efficiency of ISACS driven by DPES could be improved 2.88 times. Moreover, ISACS has the out-of-the-box function of ordinary air conditioning system. In conclusion, ISACS driven by DPES will have good application prospects in tropical regions without power grid.

  12. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), General Electric Phase 1. Volume 3: Energy conversion subsystems and components. Part 3: Gasification, process fuels, and balance of plant

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boothe, W. A.; Corman, J. C.; Johnson, G. G.; Cassel, T. A. V.

    1976-01-01

    Results are presented of an investigation of gasification and clean fuels from coal. Factors discussed include: coal and coal transportation costs; clean liquid and gas fuel process efficiencies and costs; and cost, performance, and environmental intrusion elements of the integrated low-Btu coal gasification system. Cost estimates for the balance-of-plant requirements associated with advanced energy conversion systems utilizing coal or coal-derived fuels are included.

  13. The maximization of the efficiency in the energy conversion in isolated photovoltaic systems; Tecnicas de maxima transferencia de potencia em sistemas fotovoltaicos isolados

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Machado-Neto, L. V. B.; Cabral, C. V. T.; Diniz, A. S. A. C.; Cortizo, P. C.; Oliveira-Filho, D.

    2004-07-01

    The maximization of the efficiency in the energy conversion is essential into the developing of technical and economic sustainability of photovoltaic solar energy systems. In this paper is realized the study of a power maximization technique for photovoltaic generators. The power maximization technique explored in this paper is the Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). There are different strategies being studied currently; this work consists of the development of an electronic converter prototype for MPPT, including the developing of the tracking algorithm implemented in a microcontroller. It is also realized a simulation of the system and a prototype was assembled and the first results are presented here. (Author)

  14. Polymers for energy storage and conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Mittal, Vikas

    2013-01-01

    One of the first comprehensive books to focus on the role of polymers in the burgeoning energy materials market Polymers are increasingly finding applications in the areas of energy storage and conversion. A number of recent advances in the control of the polymer molecular structure which allows the polymer properties to be more finely tuned have led to these advances and new applications. Polymers for Energy Storage and Conversion assimilates these advances in the form of a comprehensive text that includes the synthesis and properties of a large number of polymer systems for

  15. Ocean energy conversion - A reality

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Sarkar, A.

    -depth analysis of application and achievements of OTEC, tidal energy, impact of astronomical forces on tide, prospects of tidal power plants, wave energy conversion and its mathematical approach for both linear and non-linear waves, economic viability, problems...

  16. Energy and greenhouse balance of photocatalytic CO2 conversion to methanol

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muench W.

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Within the Leading-Edge Cluster “Forum Organic Electronic”, the research project “Solar2Fuel” funded by the German Ministry of education and research (BMBF (2009 – 2012, EnBW, BASF, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and Ruprecht-Karls-University of Heidelberg aim to develop a future solar powered CO2 to methanol conversion technology. CO2 from stationary sources such as power plants shall be catalytically converted together with water to a product such as methanol by use of solar irradiation. For this purpose a catalyst shall be developed. EnBW investigates the required boundary conditions to make such a principle interesting with respect to energy and greenhouse gas balance as well as economic evaluations. The assessment of boundary conditions includes the analysis of the whole chain from power generation, CO2 capture and transport, a virtual photocatalytic reactor, the product purification and use in the traffic sector. Most important technical factors of the process such as CO2 conversion efficiency is presented. CO2 capturing and liquefaction are the most energy intensive process steps, CO2 transport in pipeline is highly energy efficient and depending on energy need of the photoconversion step and the product purification, the overall greenhouse gas balance is comparable with the underground storage of the captured CO2.

  17. Report on investigations and studies on chemical conversion of photo-energy; Hikari energy no kagakuteki henkan ni kansuru chosa kenkyu hokokusho

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1984-03-01

    This paper summarizes problems in utilization of solar energy, their solutions, features, the currently achieved results, and prospects. With regard to water decomposition using semiconductors, simultaneous generation of hydrogen and oxygen has already been achieved, and there is high possibility of raising the efficiency by improving catalysts. Water decomposition using metal complexes has acceleration of charge isolation as the largest problem, whose prospect of solution is not necessarily bright at the present time. Photo-catalytic reaction is a field to be discussed as one means of developing a new synthesizing method from the viewpoint of organic synthetic chemistry. Conversion into electric energy that uses a photovoltaic process has high efficiency, and is a field to be noted. In photo-energy conversion by means of photo-synthesis, living organisms performing hydrogen production at high efficiency have been discovered. Important studies include the studies in terms of chemical engineering using these living organisms, improvement of breeds by gene manipulations, and studies that utilize living organisms or part of the constituting components. (NEDO)

  18. Solar energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Likhtenshtein, Gertz I

    2012-01-01

    Finally filling a gap in the literature for a text that also adopts the chemist?s view of this hot topic, Prof Likhtenshtein, an experienced author and internationally renowned scientist, considers different physical and engineering aspects in solar energy conversion. From theory to real-life systems, he shows exactly which chemical reactions take place when converting light energy, providing an overview of the chemical perspective from fundamentals to molecular harvesting systems and solar cells. This essential guide will thus help researchers in academia and industry better understa

  19. SOLID STATE ENERGY CONVERSION ALLIANCE (SECA) SOLID OXIDE FUEL CELL PROGRAM

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Unknown

    2003-06-01

    This report summarizes the progress made during the September 2001-March 2002 reporting period under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-01NT41245 for the U. S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) entitled ''Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program''. The program focuses on the development of a low-cost, high-performance 3-to-10-kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system suitable for a broad spectrum of power-generation applications. The overall objective of the program is to demonstrate a modular SOFC system that can be configured to create highly efficient, cost-competitive, and environmentally benign power plants tailored to specific markets. When fully developed, the system will meet the efficiency, performance, life, and cost goals for future commercial power plants.

  20. Surface Plasmon-Assisted Solar Energy Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dodekatos, Georgios; Schünemann, Stefan; Tüysüz, Harun

    2016-01-01

    The utilization of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) from plasmonic noble metals in combination with semiconductors promises great improvements for visible light-driven photocatalysis, in particular for energy conversion. This review summarizes the basic principles of plasmonic photocatalysis, giving a comprehensive overview about the proposed mechanisms for enhancing the performance of photocatalytically active semiconductors with plasmonic devices and their applications for surface plasmon-assisted solar energy conversion. The main focus is on gold and, to a lesser extent, silver nanoparticles in combination with titania as semiconductor and their usage as active plasmonic photocatalysts. Recent advances in water splitting, hydrogen generation with sacrificial organic compounds, and CO2 reduction to hydrocarbons for solar fuel production are highlighted. Finally, further improvements for plasmonic photocatalysts, regarding performance, stability, and economic feasibility, are discussed for surface plasmon-assisted solar energy conversion.

  1. Thermoelectric conversion efficiency in IV-VI semiconductors with reduced thermal conductivity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akihiro Ishida

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Mid-temperature thermoelectric conversion efficiencies of the IV-VI materials were calculated under the Boltzmann transport theory of carriers, taking the Seebeck, Peltier, and Thomson effects into account. The conversion efficiency was discussed with respect to the lattice thermal conductivity, keeping other parameters such as Seebeck coefficient and electrical conductivity to the same values. If room temperature lattice thermal conductivity is decreased up to 0.5W/mK, the conversion efficiency of a PbS based material becomes as high as 15% with the temperature difference of 500K between 800K and 300K.

  2. Conversion efficiency of implanted ions by confocal micro-luminescence mapping

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Deshko, Y.; Huang, Mengbing; Gorokhovsky, A.A.

    2013-01-01

    We report on the further development of the statistical approach to determine the conversion efficiency of implanted ions into emitting centers and present the measurement method based on the confocal micro-luminescence mapping. It involves the micro-luminescence mapping with a narrow-open confocal aperture, followed by the statistical analysis of the photoluminescence signal from an ensemble of emitting centers. The confocal mapping method has two important advantages compared to the recently discussed aperture-free method (J. Lumin. 131 (2011) 489): it is less sensitive to errors in the laser spot size and has a well defined useful area. The confocal mapping has been applied to the Xe center in diamond. The conversion efficiency has been found to be about 0.28, which is in good agreement with the results of the aperture-free method. - Highlights: ► Conversion efficiency of implanted ions into emitting centers – statistical approach. ► Micro-luminescence mapping with open and narrow confocal aperture – comparison. ► Advantages of the confocal micro-luminescence mapping. ► Confocal micro-luminescence mapping has been applied to the Xe center in diamond. ► The conversion efficiency has been found to be about 0.28.

  3. Algal Energy Conversion and Capture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hazendonk, P.

    2015-12-01

    We address the potential for energy conversions and capture for: energy generation; reduction in energy use; reduction in greenhouse gas emissions; remediation of water and air pollution; protection and enhancement of soil fertility. These processes have the potential to sequester carbon at scales that may have global impact. Energy conversion and capture strategies evaluate energy use and production from agriculture, urban areas and industries, and apply existing and emerging technologies to reduce and recapture energy embedded in waste products. The basis of biocrude production from Micro-algal feedstocks: 1) The nutrients from the liquid fraction of waste streams are concentrated and fed into photo bioreactors (essentially large vessels in which microalgae are grown) along with CO2 from flue gasses from down stream processes. 2) The algae are processed to remove high value products such as proteins and beta-carotenes. The advantage of algae feedstocks is the high biomass productivity is 30-50 times that of land based crops and the remaining biomass contains minimal components that are difficult to convert to biocrude. 3) The remaining biomass undergoes hydrothermal liquefaction to produces biocrude and biochar. The flue gasses of this process can be used to produce electricity (fuel cell) and subsequently fed back into the photobioreactor. The thermal energy required for this process is small, hence readily obtained from solar-thermal sources, and furthermore no drying or preprocessing is required keeping the energy overhead extremely small. 4) The biocrude can be upgraded and refined as conventional crude oil, creating a range of liquid fuels. In principle this process can be applied on the farm scale to the municipal scale. Overall, our primary food production is too dependent on fossil fuels. Energy conversion and capture can make food production sustainable.

  4. Renewable energy from corn residues by thermochemical conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Fei

    Declining fossil oil reserve, skyrocket price, unsecured supplies, and environment pollution are among the many energy problems we are facing today. It is our conviction that renewable energy is a solution to these problems. The long term goal of the proposed research is to develop commercially practical technologies to produce energy from renewable resources. The overall objective of my research is to study and develop thermochemical processes for converting bulky and low-energy-density biomass materials into bio-fuels and value-added bio-products. The rationale for the proposed research is that, once such processes are developed, processing facility can be set up on or near biomass product sites, reducing the costs associated with transport of bulky biomass which is a key technical barrier to biomass conversion. In my preliminary research, several conversion technologies including atmospheric pressure liquefaction, high pressure liquefaction, and microwave pyrolysis have been evaluated. Our data indicated that microwave pyrolysis had the potential to become a simple and economically viable biomass conversion technology. Microwave pyrolysis is an innovative process that provides efficient and uniform heating, and are robust to type, size and uniformity of feedstock and therefore suitable for almost any waste materials without needing to reduce the particle size. The proposed thesis focused on in-depth investigations of microwave pyrolysis of corn residues. My first specific aim was to examine the effects of processing parameters on product yields. The second specific research aim was to characterize the products (gases, bio-oils, and solid residues), which was critical to process optimization and product developments. Other research tasks included conducting kinetic modeling and preliminary mass and energy balance. This study demonstrated that microwave pyrolysis could be optimized to produce high value syngas, liquid fuels and pyrolytic carbons, and had a great

  5. Variables affecting energy efficiency and CO2 emissions in the steel industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Siitonen, Sari; Tuomaala, Mari; Ahtila, Pekka

    2010-01-01

    Specific energy consumption (SEC) is an energy efficiency indicator widely used in industry for measuring the energy efficiency of different processes. In this paper, the development of energy efficiency and CO 2 emissions of steelmaking is studied by analysing the energy data from a case mill. First, the specific energy consumption figures were calculated using different system boundaries, such as the process level, mill level and mill site level. Then, an energy efficiency index was developed to evaluate the development of the energy efficiency at the mill site. The effects of different production conditions on specific energy consumption and specific CO 2 emissions were studied by PLS analysis. As theory expects, the production rate of crude steel and the utilisation of recycled steel were shown to affect the development of energy efficiency at the mill site. This study shows that clearly defined system boundaries help to clarify the role of on-site energy conversion and make a difference between the final energy consumption and primary energy consumption of an industrial plant with its own energy production.

  6. Physical aspects of ferroelectric semiconductors for photovoltaic solar energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez-Varo, Pilar [Departamento de Electrónica y Tecnología de Computadores, CITIC-UGR, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada (Spain); Bertoluzzi, Luca [Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12006 Castelló (Spain); Bisquert, Juan, E-mail: bisquert@uji.es [Institute of Advanced Materials (INAM), Universitat Jaume I, 12006 Castelló (Spain); Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia); Alexe, Marin [Department of Physics, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL (United Kingdom); Coll, Mariona [Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona (ICMAB-CSIC), Campus UAB, 08193, Bellaterra, Catalonia (Spain); Huang, Jinsong [Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0656 (United States); Jimenez-Tejada, Juan Antonio [Departamento de Electrónica y Tecnología de Computadores, CITIC-UGR, Universidad de Granada, 18071 Granada (Spain); Kirchartz, Thomas [IEK5-Photovoltaik, Forschungszentrum Jülich, 52425 Jülich (Germany); Faculty of Engineering and CENIDE, University of Duisburg–Essen, Carl-Benz-Str. 199, 47057 Duisburg (Germany); Nechache, Riad; Rosei, Federico [INRS—Center Énergie, Matériaux et Télécommunications, Boulevard Lionel-Boulet, Varennes, Québec, J3X 1S2 (Canada); Yuan, Yongbo [Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering and Nebraska Center for Materials and Nanoscience, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588-0656 (United States)

    2016-10-07

    Solar energy conversion using semiconductors to fabricate photovoltaic devices relies on efficient light absorption, charge separation of electron–hole pair carriers or excitons, and fast transport and charge extraction to counter recombination processes. Ferroelectric materials are able to host a permanent electrical polarization which provides control over electrical field distribution in bulk and interfacial regions. In this review, we provide a critical overview of the physical principles and mechanisms of solar energy conversion using ferroelectric semiconductors and contact layers, as well as the main achievements reported so far. In a ferroelectric semiconductor film with ideal contacts, the polarization charge would be totally screened by the metal layers and no charge collection field would exist. However, real materials show a depolarization field, smooth termination of polarization, and interfacial energy barriers that do provide the control of interface and bulk electric field by switchable spontaneous polarization. We explore different phenomena as the polarization-modulated Schottky-like barriers at metal/ferroelectric interfaces, depolarization fields, vacancy migration, and the switchable rectifying behavior of ferroelectric thin films. Using a basic physical model of a solar cell, our analysis provides a general picture of the influence of ferroelectric effects on the actual power conversion efficiency of the solar cell device, and we are able to assess whether these effects or their combinations are beneficial or counterproductive. We describe in detail the bulk photovoltaic effect and the contact layers that modify the built-in field and the charge injection and separation in bulk heterojunction organic cells as well as in photocatalytic and water splitting devices. We also review the dominant families of ferroelectric materials that have been most extensively investigated and have provided the best photovoltaic performance.

  7. Physical aspects of ferroelectric semiconductors for photovoltaic solar energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lopez-Varo, Pilar; Bertoluzzi, Luca; Bisquert, Juan; Alexe, Marin; Coll, Mariona; Huang, Jinsong; Jimenez-Tejada, Juan Antonio; Kirchartz, Thomas; Nechache, Riad; Rosei, Federico; Yuan, Yongbo

    2016-01-01

    Solar energy conversion using semiconductors to fabricate photovoltaic devices relies on efficient light absorption, charge separation of electron–hole pair carriers or excitons, and fast transport and charge extraction to counter recombination processes. Ferroelectric materials are able to host a permanent electrical polarization which provides control over electrical field distribution in bulk and interfacial regions. In this review, we provide a critical overview of the physical principles and mechanisms of solar energy conversion using ferroelectric semiconductors and contact layers, as well as the main achievements reported so far. In a ferroelectric semiconductor film with ideal contacts, the polarization charge would be totally screened by the metal layers and no charge collection field would exist. However, real materials show a depolarization field, smooth termination of polarization, and interfacial energy barriers that do provide the control of interface and bulk electric field by switchable spontaneous polarization. We explore different phenomena as the polarization-modulated Schottky-like barriers at metal/ferroelectric interfaces, depolarization fields, vacancy migration, and the switchable rectifying behavior of ferroelectric thin films. Using a basic physical model of a solar cell, our analysis provides a general picture of the influence of ferroelectric effects on the actual power conversion efficiency of the solar cell device, and we are able to assess whether these effects or their combinations are beneficial or counterproductive. We describe in detail the bulk photovoltaic effect and the contact layers that modify the built-in field and the charge injection and separation in bulk heterojunction organic cells as well as in photocatalytic and water splitting devices. We also review the dominant families of ferroelectric materials that have been most extensively investigated and have provided the best photovoltaic performance.

  8. Optical Energy Transfer and Conversion System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hogan, Bartholomew P. (Inventor); Stone, William C. (Inventor)

    2018-01-01

    An optical energy transfer and conversion system comprising a fiber spooler and an electrical power extraction subsystem connected to the spooler with an optical waveguide. Optical energy is generated at and transferred from a base station through fiber wrapped around the spooler, and ultimately to the power extraction system at a remote mobility platform for conversion to another form of energy. The fiber spooler may reside on the remote mobility platform which may be a vehicle, or apparatus that is either self-propelled or is carried by a secondary mobility platform either on land, under the sea, in the air or in space.

  9. Effect of the shell material and confinement type on the conversion efficiency of core/shell quantum dot nanocrystal solar cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahin, Mehmet

    2018-05-23

    In this study, the effects of the shell material and confinement type on the conversion efficiency of core/shell quantum dot nanocrystal (QDNC) solar cells have been investigated in detail. For this purpose, the conventional, i.e. original, detailed balance model, developed by Shockley and Queisser to calculate an upper limit for the conversion efficiency of silicon p-n junction solar cells, is modified in a simple and effective way to calculate the conversion efficiency of core/shell QDNC solar cells. Since the existing model relies on the gap energy ([Formula: see text]) of the solar cell, it does not make an estimation about the effect of QDNC materials on the efficiency of the solar cells, and gives the same efficiency values for several QDNC solar cells with the same [Formula: see text]. The proposed modification, however, estimates a conversion efficiency in relation to the material properties and also the confinement type of the QDNCs. The results of the modified model show that, in contrast to the original one, the conversion efficiencies of different QDNC solar cells, even if they have the same [Formula: see text], become different depending upon the confinement type and shell material of the core/shell QDNCs, and this is crucial in the design and fabrication of the new generation solar cells to predict the confinement type and also appropriate QDNC materials for better efficiency.

  10. Effect of the shell material and confinement type on the conversion efficiency of core/shell quantum dot nanocrystal solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sahin, Mehmet

    2018-05-01

    In this study, the effects of the shell material and confinement type on the conversion efficiency of core/shell quantum dot nanocrystal (QDNC) solar cells have been investigated in detail. For this purpose, the conventional, i.e. original, detailed balance model, developed by Shockley and Queisser to calculate an upper limit for the conversion efficiency of silicon p–n junction solar cells, is modified in a simple and effective way to calculate the conversion efficiency of core/shell QDNC solar cells. Since the existing model relies on the gap energy () of the solar cell, it does not make an estimation about the effect of QDNC materials on the efficiency of the solar cells, and gives the same efficiency values for several QDNC solar cells with the same . The proposed modification, however, estimates a conversion efficiency in relation to the material properties and also the confinement type of the QDNCs. The results of the modified model show that, in contrast to the original one, the conversion efficiencies of different QDNC solar cells, even if they have the same , become different depending upon the confinement type and shell material of the core/shell QDNCs, and this is crucial in the design and fabrication of the new generation solar cells to predict the confinement type and also appropriate QDNC materials for better efficiency.

  11. Electronic and optical properties of doped oxides for energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Silva, Antonio Ferreira da

    2016-01-01

    Full text: Photocatalytic materials have gained remarkable attention in the field of solar fuel production, which is a promising approach for efficient solar energy conversion and storage . Among other oxides, doped BiNb(Ta)O 4 , ZnO , SnO 2 , WO 3 and TiO 2 have been identified as potential photocatalytic materials due to their appropriate band gap energies. We have used high quality materials as for instance by the citrate method according to reference [1], a modified ion beam assisted deposition technique [2] and as titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO 2 -NTs) arrays synthesized by electrochemical anodization [3]. We present the optical properties spectra of these materials using the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Ellipsometry and first principles approach by DFT respectively [1,2]. In this work, position of reduction and oxidation level with respect to the vacuum level are identified for these materials. We can conclude that some of them are good candidates for the production of hydrogen by splitting of water in the presence of sunlight and for efficient solar energy conversion as well. [1] C. G. Almeida, R. B. Araujo, R. G. Yoshimura, A. J. S. Mascarenhas, A. Ferreira da Silva, C. M.Araujo, L. A. Silva,Int. J. Hyd. Energy 39, 1220 (2014). [2] M. Kumar, G.Baldissera, C.Persson, D.G.F.David ,M.V.S.da Silva , J.A.Freitas Jr., J.G. Tischler , J.F.D.Chubaci, M.Matsuoka , A.Ferreira da Silva, , J. of Crystal Growth 403, 124 (2014). [3] J. R. Gonzalez et all., Nanotechnology (2016 in press). (author)

  12. Improvement of the energy conversion efficiency of Cu(In,Ga)Se{sub 2} solar cells using an additional Zn(S,O) buffer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Choi, In-Hwan, E-mail: ihchoi@cau.ac.kr [Chung-Ang University, Department of Physics, Seoul 156-756 (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Chul-Hwan [LG Innotek, Gyeonggi-do, Ansan-si 426-791 (Korea, Republic of)

    2012-12-15

    CuInGaSe{sub 2} (CIGS) solar cells were prepared with two different buffer structures. Sample A had a single, thin CdS buffer, {approx} 25 nm in thickness, and Sample B had a very thin CdS buffer (< 5 nm thickness) with an additional Zn(S,O) buffer layer. The CIGS and CdS layers in these samples were prepared using a 3-step co-evaporation method and chemical bath deposition, respectively, whereas the additional Zn(S,O) buffer and boron (B)-doped ZnO window layer were prepared by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The current-voltage curves, quantum efficiency, depth profile by secondary ion mass spectrometry, and transmission electron microscopy images of both samples were analyzed. Sample B showed greater open circuit voltage than Sample A, whereas the short circuit current of Sample B was less than that of Sample A. Even though the energy conversion efficiency is not markedly improved compared to the highest recorded value of each sample, it was quite obvious throughout this experiment that the additional buffer cells had higher reliability and homogeneous properties than CdS buffer cells. - Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CuInGaSe{sub 2} solar cells were prepared with two different buffer structures. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer One sample had a CdS buffer only, and the other had a very thin CdS and Zn(S,O) buffer. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Additional Zn(S,O) buffer was prepared by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Energy conversion efficiency of the additional buffer cells was slightly improved. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CdS/Zn(S,O) cells had higher reliability and homogeneous properties than CdS cells.

  13. Evolution of energy conversion plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osnaghi, C.

    2001-01-01

    The paper concerns the evolution and the future development of energy conversion plants and puts into evidence the great importance of the scientific and technological improvement in machines design, in order to optimize the use of energy resources and to improve ambient compatibility [it

  14. Conversion efficiency in the process of copolarized spontaneous four-wave mixing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garay-Palmett, Karina; U'Ren, Alfred B.; Rangel-Rojo, Raul

    2010-01-01

    We study the process of copolarized spontaneous four-wave mixing in single-mode optical fibers, with an emphasis on an analysis of the conversion efficiency. We consider both the monochromatic-pump and pulsed-pump regimes, as well as both the degenerate-pump and nondegenerate-pump configurations. We present analytical expressions for the conversion efficiency, which are given in terms of double integrals. In the case of pulsed pumps we take these expressions to closed analytical form with the help of certain approximations. We present results of numerical simulations, and compare them to values obtained from our analytical expressions, for the conversion efficiency as a function of several key experimental parameters.

  15. Highly-Efficient Thermoelectronic Conversion of Heat and Solar Radiation to Electric Power

    OpenAIRE

    Meir, Stefan

    2013-01-01

    Thermionic energy conversion has long been a candidate to convert solar radiation and the combustion heat of fossil fuels into electricity at high efficiencies. However, the formation of electron space charges has prevented the widespread use of the principle since its was first suggested in 1915. In this work, a novel mechanism to suppress the effects of the space charge was investigated: the acceleration of electrons in a special configuration of electric and magnetic fields. This work d...

  16. Hydrogen photoproduction by photoelectrochemical conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1989-01-01

    The water-splitting reaction by photoelectrochemical processes has gained much more attention than any of many reactions proposed for solar generation of energy-rich molecules (fuels). The conversion efficiency of the photosystem is the key factor. The higher the efficiency, the more economically feasible will be the conversion scheme. The conversion efficiency is a function of the semiconductor properties, light intensity, spectral quality, properties of the electrolyte, counterelectrode, cell configuration, etc. The semiconductor parameters include band gap, absorption coefficient and diffusion length. The area and material used for a counterelectrode are important when considering polarization losses in a two-electrode system. Besides, the stability problem is also a very important one to meet the requirement for practical applications. This paper reviews some important issues on photoelectrochemical generation of hydrogen by water splitting. It includes energy conversion efficiency, market assessment and cost goal, state of the technology, and future directions for research

  17. Principles of energy conversion, second edition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Culp, A.W. Jr.

    1991-01-01

    This book is organized under the following headings: Energy classification, sources, utilization, economics and terminology; Principal fuels for energy conversion; Production of thermal energy; Fossil-fuel systems (such as steam generators, etc.); Nuclear reactor design and operation; The environmental impact of power plant operation; Production of mechanical energy; Production of electrical energy; and Energy storage

  18. Novel Magnetic-to-Thermal Conversion and Thermal Energy Management Composite Phase Change Material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoqiao Fan

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Superparamagnetic materials have elicited increasing interest due to their high-efficiency magnetothermal conversion. However, it is difficult to effectively manage the magnetothermal energy due to the continuous magnetothermal effect at present. In this study, we designed and synthesized a novel Fe3O4/PEG/SiO2 composite phase change material (PCM that can simultaneously realize magnetic-to-thermal conversion and thermal energy management because of outstanding thermal energy storage ability of PCM. The composite was fabricated by in situ doping of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters through a simple sol–gel method. The synthesized Fe3O4/PEG/SiO2 PCM exhibited good thermal stability, high phase change enthalpy, and excellent shape-stabilized property. This study provides an additional promising route for application of the magnetothermal effect.

  19. Dimensionless Energy Conversion Characteristics of an Air-Powered Hydraulic Vehicle

    OpenAIRE

    Dongkai Shen; Qilong Chen; Yixuan Wang

    2018-01-01

    Due to the advantages of resource conservation and less exhaust emissions, compressed air-powered vehicle has attracted more and more attention. To improve the power and efficiency of air-powered vehicle, an air-powered hydraulic vehicle was proposed. As the main part of the air-powered hydraulic vehicles, HP transformer (short for Hydropneumatic transformer) is used to convert the pneumatic power to higher hydraulic power. In this study, to illustrate the energy conversion characteristics of...

  20. Thermoelectric energy conversion in layered structures with strained Ge quantum dots grown on Si surfaces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Korotchenkov, Oleg; Nadtochiy, Andriy; Kuryliuk, Vasyl; Wang, Chin-Chi; Li, Pei-Wen; Cantarero, Andres

    2014-03-01

    The efficiency of the energy conversion devices depends in many ways on the materials used and various emerging cost-effective nanomaterials have promised huge potentials in highly efficient energy conversion. Here we show that thermoelectric voltage can be enhanced by a factor of 3 using layer-cake growth of Ge quantum dots through thermal oxidation of SiGe layers stacked in SiO2/Si3N4 multilayer structure. The key to achieving this behavior has been to strain the Ge/Si interface by Ge dots migrating to Si substrate. Calculations taking into account the carrier trapping in the dot with a quantum transmission into the neighboring dot show satisfactory agreement with experiments above ≈200 K. The results may be of interest for improving the functionality of thermoelectric devices based on Ge/Si.

  1. A Flexible Maximum Power Point Tracking Control Strategy Considering Both Conversion Efficiency and Power Fluctuation for Large-inertia Wind Turbines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongmin Meng

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In wind turbine control, maximum power point tracking (MPPT control is the main control mode for partial-load regimes. Efficiency potentiation of energy conversion and power smoothing are both two important control objectives in partial-load regime. However, on the one hand, low power fluctuation signifies inefficiency of energy conversion. On the other hand, enhancing efficiency may increase output power fluctuation as well. Thus the two objectives are contradictory and difficult to balance. This paper proposes a flexible MPPT control framework to improve the performance of both conversion efficiency and power smoothing, by adaptively compensating the torque reference value. The compensation was determined by a proposed model predictive control (MPC method with dynamic weights in the cost function, which improved control performance. The computational burden of the MPC solver was reduced by transforming the cost function representation. Theoretical analysis proved the good stability and robustness. Simulation results showed that the proposed method not only kept efficiency at a high level, but also reduced power fluctuations as much as possible. Therefore, the proposed method could improve wind farm profits and power grid reliability.

  2. An Experimental Study on Energy Conversion Process of an in-Space CW Laser Thruster

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uehara, Susumu; Inoue, Takayoshi; Komurasaki, Kimiya; Arakawa, Yoshihiro

    2005-01-01

    CW laser propulsion has been investigated to develop a prospective propulsion system that may be used in space. OTV (Orbit Transfer Vehicle) is placed as one of the most effective applications of the propulsion system. In this study, the energy partitioning of incident laser energy was investigated over the wide range of velocity of the flow field in low pressure. Flow velocity is thought to have significant effects on energy conversion process because the distribution of temperature and the position of a laser sustained plasma in the focusing laser beam should be determined so that flow velocity and propagation velocity of optical discharge balance out. It was found that the higher energy conversion efficiency can be achieved by lowering the pressure and increasing the velocity of the flow field

  3. Data on flow cell optimization for membrane-based electrokinetic energy conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David Nicolas Østedgaard-Munck

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available This article elaborates on the design and optimization of a specialized flow cell for the measurement of direct conversion of pressure into electrical energy (Electrokinetic Energy Conversion, EKEC which has been presented in Østedgaard-Munck et al. (2017 [1]. Two main flow cell parameters have been monitored and optimized: A the hydraulic pressure profile on each side of the membrane introduced by pumps recirculating the electrolyte solution through the flow fields and B the electrical resistance between the current collectors across the combined flow cell. The latter parameter has been measured using four-point Electrochemical Impedance spectroscopy (EIS for different flow rates and concentrations. The total cell resistance consists of contributions from different components: the membrane (Rmem, anode charge transfer (RA, cathode charge transfer (RC, and ion diffusion in the porous electrodes (RD.The intrinsic membrane properties of Nafion 117 has been investigated experimentally in LiI/I2 solutions with concentrations ranging between 0.06 and 0.96 M and used to identify the preferred LiI/I2 solution concentration. This was achieved by measuring the solution uptake, internal solution concentration and ion exchange capacity. The membrane properties were further used to calculate the transport coefficients and electrokinetic Figure of merit in terms of the Uniform potential and Space charge models. Special attention has been put on the streaming potential coefficient which is an intrinsic property. Keywords: Electrokinetic energy conversion, Electrochemical flow cell, Conversion efficiency

  4. Study of electron beam energy conversion at gyrocon-linear accelerator facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karliner, M.M.; Makarov, I.G.; Ostreiko, G.N.

    2004-01-01

    A gyrocon together with the high-voltage 1.5 MeV accelerator ELIT-3A represents a power generator at 430 MHz serving for linear electron accelerator pulse driving. The facility description and results of calorimetric measurements of ELIT-3A electron beam power and accelerated beam at the end of accelerator are presented in the paper. The achieved energy conversion efficiency is about 55%

  5. A Switched-Capacitor Based High Conversion Ratio Converter for Renewable Energy Applications

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Li, Kerui; Yin, Zhijian; Yang, Yongheng

    2017-01-01

    A high step-up switched-capacitor based converter is proposed in this paper. The proposed converter features high conversion ratio, low voltage stress and continuous input current, which makes it very suitable for renewable energy applications like photovoltaic systems. More importantly...... voltage gain, low voltage stress on the switches, continuous input current, and relatively high efficiency....

  6. Energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2010-01-01

    After a speech of the CEA's (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique) general administrator about energy efficiency as a first rank challenge for the planet and for France, this publications proposes several contributions: a discussion of the efficiency of nuclear energy, an economic analysis of R and D's value in the field of fourth generation fast reactors, discussions about biofuels and the relationship between energy efficiency and economic competitiveness, and a discussion about solar photovoltaic efficiency

  7. The 20 year evolution of an energy conversion course at the United States Military Academy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bailey, Margaret; Oezer Arnas, A.; Potter, Robert; Samples, Jerry W.

    2004-01-01

    Over the past several years, an energy conversion course offered by the Mechanical Engineering Program at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, has evolved into a cohesive series of lessons addressing three general topical areas: advanced thermodynamics, advanced mechanical system analysis, and direct energy conversion systems. Mechanical engineering majors enroll in Energy Conversion Systems (ME 472) during the fall semester of their senior year as an advanced elective. ME 472 builds directly on the material covered in Thermodynamics (EM 301) taken during the student's junior year. In the first segment of ME 472, the students study advanced thermodynamic topics including exergy and combustion analyses. The students then analyze various mechanical systems including refrigeration systems, internal combustion engines, boilers, and fossil fuel fired steam and gas turbine combined power plants. Exergetic efficiencies of various equipment and systems are determined. The final portion of the course covers direct energy conversion technology, including fuel cells, photovoltaics, thermoelectricity, thermionics and magnetohydrodynamics. Supplemental lessons on energy storage, semi-conductors and nonreactive energy sources (such as solar collectors, wind turbines, and hydroelectric plants) are included here. This paper discusses the evolution of ME 472 since its inception and explains the motivations for the course's progress

  8. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), General Electric Phase 1. Volume 1: Executive summary. [using coal or coal derived fuels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Corman, J. C.

    1976-01-01

    A data base for the comparison of advanced energy conversion systems for utility applications using coal or coal-derived fuels was developed. Estimates of power plant performance (efficiency), capital cost, cost of electricity, natural resource requirements, and environmental intrusion characteristics were made for ten advanced conversion systems. Emphasis was on the energy conversion system in the context of a base loaded utility power plant. All power plant concepts were premised on meeting emission standard requirements. A steam power plant (3500 psig, 1000 F) with a conventional coal-burning furnace-boiler was analyzed as a basis for comparison. Combined cycle gas/steam turbine system results indicated competitive efficiency and a lower cost of electricity compared to the reference steam plant. The Open-Cycle MHD system results indicated the potential for significantly higher efficiency than the reference steam plant but with a higher cost of electricity.

  9. Energy efficiency of China's industry sector: An adjusted network DEA (data envelopment analysis)-based decomposition analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Yingnan; Wang, Ke

    2015-01-01

    The process of energy conservation and emission reduction in China requires the specific and accurate evaluation of the energy efficiency of the industry sector because this sector accounts for 70 percent of China's total energy consumption. Previous studies have used a “black box” DEA (data envelopment analysis) model to obtain the energy efficiency without considering the inner structure of the industry sector. However, differences in the properties of energy utilization (final consumption or intermediate conversion) in different industry departments may lead to bias in energy efficiency measures under such “black box” evaluation structures. Using the network DEA model and efficiency decomposition technique, this study proposes an adjusted energy efficiency evaluation model that can characterize the inner structure and associated energy utilization properties of the industry sector so as to avoid evaluation bias. By separating the energy-producing department and energy-consuming department, this adjusted evaluation model was then applied to evaluate the energy efficiency of China's provincial industry sector. - Highlights: • An adjusted network DEA (data envelopment analysis) model for energy efficiency evaluation is proposed. • The inner structure of industry sector is taken into account for energy efficiency evaluation. • Energy final consumption and energy intermediate conversion processes are separately modeled. • China's provincial industry energy efficiency is measured through the adjusted model.

  10. Increase of conversion efficiency and energy efficiency by coupling of the biomass conversion process and modulating operated biogas production with a decentralized energy supply; Steigerung der Wandlungs- und Energieeffizienz durch Kopplung von Biomassekonversionsverfahren und modulierend betriebene Biogasproduktion mit dezentraler Energiebereitstellung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bastian, Oliver

    2012-11-01

    Only certain parts of cultivated plants can be used in the production of biofuels. The production of biogas enables a full utilization of crops, but supplies only a limited storable energy source. A full utilization of crops can be achieved when the conversion paths for biogas, bioethanol and biodiesel can be coupled via their source streams, and if the process energy is provided by a straw power plant. A modulating production of biogas improves the energy supply meeting the demands. Using a simulation model for the presentation of conversion plants, decentralized power supply, industrial load periphery and soil resource it can be shown that the energy output of arable land may be increased significantly. The variances of the electrical loads for the public electricity grid can be reduced by a modulating operation of the biogas plant in conjunction with the local energy supply. Due to the application of the digestate and fate of straw fractions in arable fields, the material cycles of nitrogen and carbon are closed to a large extent.

  11. BP Canada Energy Company energy efficiency and GHG reduction opportunities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Forsyth, B. [BP Canada Energy Company, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2004-07-01

    This paper presented an outline of the BP Canada Energy Company's energy efficiency program, which uses an innovative approach that relies on front line operations staff to generate, evaluate and implement ideas for energy reduction projects. An outline of the organization team was presented, with details of the small central Calgary group responsible for coordination, technical support and tracking of data. Key objectives of the team were identified as: the promotion of energy efficiency; sharing of best practices; and coordination of efforts at operations at both the development and corporate level. An outline of BP upstream operations and emissions reduction strategies was provided along with a timeline of BP Canada greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sustainable reductions projects. A chart representing energy savings through conversion to natural gas was also presented, sorted by project type. Results included over 400 GHG or energy reduction projects completed, with an average pay out of 30 months as well as 300,000 tonnes equivalent of GHGs reduced at an estimated value of of $13,000,000. Areas of focus for future projects include: compression; fired equipment; flaring; venting; and fugitive emissions. Strategies to reduce emissions in all areas of future research were also provided. tabs, figs.

  12. Design of Novel Metal Nanostructures for Broadband Solar Energy Conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kristine A. Zhang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Solar power holds great potential as an alternative energy source, but current photovoltaic cells have much room for improvement in cost and efficiency. Our objective was to develop metal nanostructures whose surface plasmon resonance (SPR spectra closely match the solar spectrum to enhance light absorption and scattering. We employed the finite-difference time-domain simulation method to evaluate the effect of varying key parameters. A novel nanostructure with SPR absorption matching a region of the solar spectrum (300 to 1500 nm that contains 90% of solar energy was successfully designed. This structure consists of a large gold-silica core-shell structure with smaller gold nanoparticles and nanorods on its surface. Such complex nanostructures are promising for broad and tunable absorption spectra. In addition, we investigated the SPR of silver nanoparticle arrays, which can achieve scattering close to the solar spectrum. We demonstrated an improvement in efficiency of over 30% with optimal nanoparticle radius and periods of 75 nm and 325 nm, respectively. In combination, our studies enable high-efficiency, tunable, and cost-effective enhancement of both light absorption and scattering, which has potential applications in solar energy conversion as well as biomedical imaging.

  13. Geomagnetic activity effects on plasma sheet energy conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Hamrin

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available In this article we use three years (2001, 2002, and 2004 of Cluster plasma sheet data to investigate what happens to localized energy conversion regions (ECRs in the plasma sheet during times of high magnetospheric activity. By examining variations in the power density, E·J, where E is the electric field and J is the current density obtained by Cluster, we have studied the influence on Concentrated Load Regions (CLRs and Concentrated Generator Regions (CGRs from variations in the geomagnetic disturbance level as expressed by the Kp, the AE, and the Dst indices. We find that the ECR occurrence frequency increases during higher magnetospheric activities, and that the ECRs become stronger. This is true both for CLRs and for CGRs, and the localized energy conversion therefore concerns energy conversion in both directions between the particles and the fields in the plasma sheet. A higher geomagnetic activity hence increases the general level of energy conversion in the plasma sheet. Moreover, we have shown that CLRs live longer during magnetically disturbed times, hence converting more electromagnetic energy. The CGR lifetime, on the other hand, seems to be unaffected by the geomagnetic activity level. The evidence for increased energy conversion during geomagnetically disturbed times is most clear for Kp and for AE, but there are also some indications that energy conversion increases during large negative Dst. This is consistent with the plasma sheet magnetically mapping to the auroral zone, and therefore being more tightly coupled to auroral activities and variations in the AE and Kp indices, than to variations in the ring current region as described by the Dst index.

  14. Energy conversion in natural and artificial photosynthesis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McConnell, Iain; Li, Gonghu; Brudvig, Gary W

    2010-05-28

    Modern civilization is dependent upon fossil fuels, a nonrenewable energy source originally provided by the storage of solar energy. Fossil-fuel dependence has severe consequences, including energy security issues and greenhouse gas emissions. The consequences of fossil-fuel dependence could be avoided by fuel-producing artificial systems that mimic natural photosynthesis, directly converting solar energy to fuel. This review describes the three key components of solar energy conversion in photosynthesis: light harvesting, charge separation, and catalysis. These processes are compared in natural and in artificial systems. Such a comparison can assist in understanding the general principles of photosynthesis and in developing working devices, including photoelectrochemical cells, for solar energy conversion. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. A Floating Ocean Energy Conversion Device and Numerical Study on Buoy Shape and Performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ruiyin Song

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Wave and current energy can be harnessed in the East China Sea and South China Sea; however, both areas are subject to high frequencies of typhoon events. To improve the safety of the ocean energy conversion device, a Floating Ocean Energy Conversion Device (FOECD with a single mooring system is proposed, which can be towed to avoid severe ocean conditions or for regular maintenance. In this paper, the structure of the FOECD is introduced, and it includes a catamaran platform, an oscillating buoy part, a current turbine blade, hydraulic energy storage and an electrical generation part. The numerical study models the large catamaran platform as a single, large buoy, while the four floating buoys were modeled simply as small buoys. Theoretical models on wave energy power capture and efficiency were established. To improve the suitability of the buoy for use in the FOECD and its power harvesting capability, a numerical simulation of the four buoy geometries was undertaken. The shape profiles examined in this paper are cylindrical, turbinate (V-shaped and U-shaped cone with cylinder, and combined cylinder-hemisphere buoys. Simulation results reveal that the suitability of a turbinate buoy is the best of the four types. Further simulation models were carried out by adjusting the tip radius of the turbinate buoy. Three performance criteria including suitability, power harvesting capability and energy capture efficiency were analyzed. It reveals that the turbinate buoy has almost the same power harvesting capabilities and energy capture efficiency, while its suitability is far better than that of a cylindrical buoy.

  16. Highly coherent red-shifted dispersive wave generation around 1.3 μm for efficient wavelength conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Xia; Bi, Wanjun [Key Laboratory of Materials for High Power Laser, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039 (China); Chen, Wei; Xue, Tianfeng; Hu, Lili; Liao, Meisong, E-mail: liaomeisong@siom.ac.cn [Key Laboratory of Materials for High Power Laser, Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800 (China); Gao, Weiqing [School of Electronic Science and Applied Physics, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei 230009 (China)

    2015-03-14

    This research investigates the mechanism of the optical dispersive wave (DW) and proposes a scheme that can realize an efficient wavelength conversion. In an elaborately designed photonic crystal fiber, a readily available ytterbium laser operating at ∼1 μm can be transferred to the valuable 1.3 μm wavelength range. A low-order soliton is produced to concentrate the energy of the DW into the target wavelength range and improve the degree of coherence. The input chirp is demonstrated to be a factor that enhances the wavelength conversion efficiency. With a positive initial chirp, 76.6% of the pump energy in the fiber can be transferred into a spectral range between 1.24 and 1.4 μm. With the use of a grating compressor, it is possible to compress the generated coherent DW of several picoseconds into less than 90 fs.

  17. High-order harmonic conversion efficiency in helium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Crane, J.K.

    1992-01-01

    Calculated results are presented for the energy, number of photons, and conversion efficiency for high-order harmonic generation in helium. The results show the maximum values that we should expect to achieve experimentally with our current apparatus and the important parameters for scaling this source to higher output. In the desired operating regime where the coherence length, given by L coh =πb/(q-1), is greater than the gas column length, l, the harmonic output can be summarized by a single equation: N q =[(π z n z b 3 τ q |d q | z )/4h]{(p/q)(2l/b) z }. N q - numbers of photons of q-th harmonic; n - atom density; b - laser confocal parameter; τ q - pulse width of harmonic radiation; q - harmonic order; p - effective order of nonlinearity. (Note the term in brackets, the phase-matching function, has been separated from the rest of the expression in order to be consistent with the relevant literature)

  18. Novel Nuclear Powered Photocatalytic Energy Conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    White, John R.; Kinsmen, Douglas; Regan, Thomas M.; Bobek, Leo M.

    2005-01-01

    The University of Massachusetts Lowell Radiation Laboratory (UMLRL) is involved in a comprehensive project to investigate a unique radiation sensing and energy conversion technology with applications for in-situ monitoring of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) during cask transport and storage. The technology makes use of the gamma photons emitted from the SNF as an inherent power source for driving a GPS-class transceiver that has the ability to verify the position and contents of the SNF cask. The power conversion process, which converts the gamma photon energy into electrical power, is based on a variation of the successful dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) design developed by Konarka Technologies, Inc. (KTI). In particular, the focus of the current research is to make direct use of the high-energy gamma photons emitted from SNF, coupled with a scintillator material to convert some of the incident gamma photons into photons having wavelengths within the visible region of the electromagnetic spectrum. The high-energy gammas from the SNF will generate some power directly via Compton scattering and the photoelectric effect, and the generated visible photons output from the scintillator material can also be converted to electrical power in a manner similar to that of a standard solar cell. Upon successful implementation of an energy conversion device based on this new gammavoltaic principle, this inherent power source could then be utilized within SNF storage casks to drive a tamper-proof, low-power, electronic detection/security monitoring system for the spent fuel. The current project has addressed several aspects associated with this new energy conversion concept, including the development of a base conceptual design for an inherent gamma-induced power conversion unit for SNF monitoring, the characterization of the radiation environment that can be expected within a typical SNF storage system, the initial evaluation of Konarka's base solar cell design, the design and

  19. MATERIALS REQUIREMENTS FOR THERMIONIC ENERGY CONVERSION

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Allen, R. C.; Skeen, C. H.

    1963-03-15

    The fundamentals of the thermionic energy conversion and its potential applications are reviewed. Materials problems associated with thermionic emitters are considered in relation to the following: work function; emissivity; vaporization; thermal, mechanical, and electrical properties; chemical stability; permeation; and stability under nuclear radiation. Cesium purity and materials suitable for collectors, electrical leads, support structures, insulators, and seals are also discussed. Experimental work on problems involved is reviewed. It is concluded that significant developments have occurred recently in all areas of thermionic energy conversion. (40 references) (A.G.W.)

  20. Electronic and optical properties of doped oxides for energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, Antonio Ferreira da, E-mail: ferreira.fis@gmail.com [Universidade Federal da Bahia (UFBA), Salvador (Brazil)

    2016-07-01

    Full text: Photocatalytic materials have gained remarkable attention in the field of solar fuel production, which is a promising approach for efficient solar energy conversion and storage . Among other oxides, doped BiNb(Ta)O{sub 4}, ZnO , SnO{sub 2}, WO{sub 3} and TiO{sub 2} have been identified as potential photocatalytic materials due to their appropriate band gap energies. We have used high quality materials as for instance by the citrate method according to reference [1], a modified ion beam assisted deposition technique [2] and as titanium dioxide nanotubes (TiO{sub 2}-NTs) arrays synthesized by electrochemical anodization [3]. We present the optical properties spectra of these materials using the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS), Ellipsometry and first principles approach by DFT respectively [1,2]. In this work, position of reduction and oxidation level with respect to the vacuum level are identified for these materials. We can conclude that some of them are good candidates for the production of hydrogen by splitting of water in the presence of sunlight and for efficient solar energy conversion as well. [1] C. G. Almeida, R. B. Araujo, R. G. Yoshimura, A. J. S. Mascarenhas, A. Ferreira da Silva, C. M.Araujo, L. A. Silva,Int. J. Hyd. Energy 39, 1220 (2014). [2] M. Kumar, G.Baldissera, C.Persson, D.G.F.David ,M.V.S.da Silva , J.A.Freitas Jr., J.G. Tischler , J.F.D.Chubaci, M.Matsuoka , A.Ferreira da Silva, , J. of Crystal Growth 403, 124 (2014). [3] J. R. Gonzalez et all., Nanotechnology (2016 in press). (author)

  1. Experimental model of a wind energy conversion system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vasar, C.; Rat, C. L.; Prostean, O.

    2018-01-01

    The renewable energy domain represents an important issue for the sustainable development of the mankind in the actual context of increasing demand for energy along with the increasing pollution that affect the environment. A significant quota of the clean energy is represented by the wind energy. As a consequence, the developing of wind energy conversion systems (WECS) in order to achieve high energetic performances (efficiency, stability, availability, competitive cost etc) represents a topic of permanent actuality. Testing and developing of an optimized control strategy for a WECS direct implemented on a real energetic site is quite difficult and not cost efficient. Thus a more convenient solution consists in a flexible laboratory setup which requires an experimental model of a WECS. Such approach would allow the simulation of various real conditions very similar with existing energetic sites. This paper presents a grid-connected wind turbine emulator. The wind turbine is implemented through a real-time Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) emulator, which will be analyzed extensively in the paper. The HIL system uses software implemented in the LabVIEW programming environment to control an ABB ACS800 electric drive. ACS800 has the task of driving an induction machine coupled to a permanent magnet synchronous generator. The power obtained from the synchronous generator is rectified, filtered and sent to the main grid through a controlled inverter. The control strategy is implemented on a NI CompactRIO (cRIO) platform.

  2. Reduction of Climate Gases by Energy Efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moe, N.

    1998-01-01

    Carbon dioxide cannot be depolluted in practice. However, there are two areas where measures can be taken to avoid CO 2 emissions: 1. Energy-efficiency. 2. Use of sustainable energy sources in energy production. It is characteristic that many measures which are good for the environment are also good from the point of view of cost efficiency, preparedness and employment. This is tru, for instance, of the greater use of biofuels instead of fossil fuels, collective heating systems as opposed to individual ones and economy measures - especially more efficient use of electricity. It is a question of thinking of the system as a whole. Methane is another factor which contributes to the greenhouse effect. Methane emissions can also be avoided, or reduced, by system-thinking. System-thinking is, for instance, not ro deposit combustible waste but to use it as an energy source. And why not produce electricity by using methane from existing landfill sites. Electrical energy is the most useful form of energy. Therefore, electricity should not, as a principal rule, be used for heating, or as process energy. The fact that energy-efficiency and emission of greenhouse gases are interrelated is shown in the following two examples. 1. Only about 25% of the energy content in extracted coal will reach the consumers as electricity when the production takes place in an ordinary, coal-fires condensing power station. 2. When district heating (room-heating and hot water) is produced in a modern heat-production plant by flue-gas condensation, about 90% of the energy is utilised for heating purposes. To obtain an overall picture of the amount of energy used for a purpose, e.g. heating or electricity, you must view the entire process from extraction to final use. Such a picture can show the energy efficiency and what losses arise. Efficiency measures can reduce the energy bill. They can also reduce pollution, greenhouse gases among other things. Examples will be given in this paper of energy

  3. Novel silicon phases and nanostructures for solar energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wippermann, Stefan; He, Yuping; Vörös, Márton; Galli, Giulia

    2016-12-01

    Silicon exhibits a large variety of different bulk phases, allotropes, and composite structures, such as, e.g., clathrates or nanostructures, at both higher and lower densities compared with diamond-like Si-I. New Si structures continue to be discovered. These novel forms of Si offer exciting prospects to create Si based materials, which are non-toxic and earth-abundant, with properties tailored precisely towards specific applications. We illustrate how such novel Si based materials either in the bulk or as nanostructures may be used to significantly improve the efficiency of solar energy conversion devices.

  4. Fundamentals of thermophotovoltaic energy conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Chubb, Donald L

    2007-01-01

    This is a text book presenting the fundamentals of thermophotovoltaic(TPV) energy conversion suitable for an upper undergraduate or first year graduate course. In addition it can serve as a reference or design aid for engineers developing TPV systems. Mathematica design programs for interference filters and a planar TPV system are included on a CD-Rom disk. Each chapter includes a summary and concludes with a set of problems. The first chapter presents the electromagnetic theory and radiation transfer theory necessary to calculate the optical properties of the components in a TPV optical cavity. Using a simplified model, Chapter 2 develops expressions for the maximum efficiency and power density for an ideal TPV system. The next three chapters consider the three major components in a TPV system; the emitter, filter and photovoltaic(PV) array. Chapter 3 applies the electromagnetic theory and radiation transfer theory presented in Chapter 1 in the calculation of spectral emittance. From the spectral emittance t...

  5. Effect of biomass feedstock chemical and physical properties on energy conversion processes: Volume 2, Appendices

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Butner, R.S.; Elliott, D.C.; Sealock, L.J., Jr.; Pyne, J.W.

    1988-12-01

    This report presents an exploration of the relationships between biomass feedstocks and the conversion processes that utilize them. Specifically, it discusses the effect of the physical and chemical structure of biomass on conversion yields, rates, and efficiencies in a wide variety of available or experimental conversion processes. A greater understanding of the complex relationships between these conversion systems and the production of biomass for energy uses is required to help optimize the complex network of biomass production, collection, transportation, and conversion to useful energy products. The review of the literature confirmed the scarcity of research aimed specifically at identifying the effect of feedstock properties on conversion. In most cases, any mention of feedstock-related effects was limited to a few brief remarks (usually in qualitative terms) in the conclusions, or as a topic for further research. Attempts to determine the importance of feedstock parameters from published data were further hampered by the lack of consistent feedstock characterization and the difficulty of comparing results between different experimental systems. Further research will be required to establish quantitative relationships between feedstocks and performance criteria in conversion. 127 refs., 4 figs., 7 tabs.

  6. Statistical thermodynamics foundation for photovoltaic and photothermal conversion. II. Application to photovoltaic conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Badescu, Viorel; Landsberg, Peter T.

    1995-08-01

    The general theory developed in part I was applied to build up two models of photovoltaic conversion. To this end two different systems were analyzed. The first system consists of the whole absorber (converter), for which the balance equations for energy and entropy are written and then used to derive an upper bound for solar energy conversion. The second system covers a part of the absorber (converter), namely the valence and conduction electronic bands. The balance of energy is used in this case to derive, under additional assumptions, another upper limit for the conversion efficiency. This second system deals with the real location where the power is generated. Both models take into consideration the radiation polarization and reflection, and the effects of concentration. The second model yields a more accurate upper bound for the conversion efficiency. A generalized solar cell equation is derived. It is proved that other previous theories are particular cases of the present more general formalism.

  7. Advances in copper-chalcopyrite thin films for solar energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kaneshiro, Jess; Gaillard, Nicolas; Rocheleau, Richard; Miller, Eric [Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1680 East-West Road, Post 109, Honolulu, HI 96822 (United States)

    2010-01-15

    Promising alternatives to crystalline silicon as the basic building block of solar cells include copper-chalcopyrite thin films such as copper indium gallium diselenide, a class of thin films exhibiting bandgap-tunable semiconductor behavior, direct bandgaps and high absorption coefficients. These properties allow for the development of novel solar-energy conversion configurations like ultra-high efficiency multi-junction solar cells utilizing combinations of photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical junctions for hydrogen production. This paper discusses the current worldwide status as well as the development and optimization of copper-chalcopyrite thin films deposited onto various substrate types for different photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical applications at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. (author)

  8. Synchronous generator wind energy conversion control system

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Medeiros, A.L.R. [Wind Energy Group, Recife (Brazil); Lima, A.M.N.; Jacobina, C.B.; Simoes, F.J. [DEE, Campina Grande (Brazil)

    1996-12-31

    This paper presents the performance evaluation and the design of the control system of a WECS (Wind Energy Conversion System) that employs a synchronous generator based on its digital simulation. The WECS discussed in this paper is connected to the utility grid through two Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) power converters. The structure of the proposed WECS enables us to achieve high performance energy conversion by: (i) maximizing the wind energy capture and (ii) minimizing the reactive power flowing between the grid and the synchronous generator. 8 refs., 19 figs.

  9. Hybrid chromophore/template nanostructures: a customizable platform material for solar energy storage and conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kolpak, Alexie M; Grossman, Jeffrey C

    2013-01-21

    Challenges with cost, cyclability, and/or low energy density have largely prevented the development of solar thermal fuels, a potentially attractive alternative energy technology based on molecules that can capture and store solar energy as latent heat in a closed cycle. In this paper, we present a set of novel hybrid photoisomer/template solar thermal fuels that can potentially circumvent these challenges. Using first-principles computations, we demonstrate that these fuels, composed of organic photoisomers bound to inexpensive carbon-based templates, can reversibly store solar energy at densities comparable to Li-ion batteries. Furthermore, we show that variation of the template material in combination with the photoisomer can be used to optimize many of the key performance metrics of the fuel-i.e., the energy density, the storage lifetime, the temperature of the output heat, and the efficiency of the solar-to-heat conversion. Our work suggests that the solar thermal fuels concept can be translated into a practical and highly customizable energy storage and conversion technology.

  10. Low Li+ Insertion Barrier Carbon for High Energy Efficient Lithium-Ion Capacitor.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Wee Siang Vincent; Huang, Xiaolei; Tan, Teck Leong; Xue, Jun Min

    2018-01-17

    Lithium-ion capacitor (LIC) is an attractive energy-storage device (ESD) that promises high energy density at moderate power density. However, the key challenge in its design is the low energy efficient negative electrode, which barred the realization of such research system in fulfilling the current ESD technological inadequacy due to its poor overall energy efficiency. Large voltage hysteresis is the main issue behind high energy density alloying/conversion-type materials, which reduces the electrode energy efficiency. Insertion-type material though averted in most research due to the low capacity remains to be highly favorable in commercial application due to its lower voltage hysteresis. To further reduce voltage hysteresis and increase capacity, amorphous carbon with wider interlayer spacing has been demonstrated in the simulation result to significantly reduce Li + insertion barrier. Hence, by employing such amorphous carbon, together with disordered carbon positive electrode, a high energy efficient LIC with round-trip energy efficiency of 84.3% with a maximum energy density of 133 Wh kg -1 at low power density of 210 W kg -1 can be achieved.

  11. Photovoltaic conversion of laser energy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stirn, R. J.

    1976-01-01

    The Schottky barrier photovoltaic converter is suggested as an alternative to the p/n junction photovoltaic devices for the conversion of laser energy to electrical energy. The structure, current, output, and voltage output of the Schottky device are summarized. The more advanced concepts of the multilayer Schottky barrier cell and the AMOS solar cell are briefly considered.

  12. A Conversation on Zero Net Energy Buildings

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Torcellini, Paul A [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Eley, Charles [Consultant; Gupta, Smita [Itron; McHugh, Jon [McHugh Energy Consultants; Lui, Bing [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory; Higgins, Cathy [New Buildings Institute; Iplikci, Jessica [Energy Trust of Oregon; Rosenberg, Michael [Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

    2017-06-01

    Recently, zero net energy (ZNE) buildings have moved from state-of-the-art small project demonstrations to a more widely adopted approach across the country among various building types and sizes. States such as California set policy goals of all new residential construction to be NZE by 2020 and all commercial buildings to be NZE by 2030. However, the market for designing, constructing, and operating ZNE buildings is still relatively small. We bring together distinguished experts to share their thoughts on making ZNE buildings more widespread and mainstream from a broad perspective, including governments, utilities, energy-efficiency research institutes, and building owners. This conversation also presents the benefits of ZNE and ways to achieve that goal in the design and operation of buildings. The following is a roundtable conducted by ASHRAE Journal and Bing Liu with Charles Eley, Smita Gupta, Cathy Higgins, Jessica Iplikci, Jon McHugh, Michael Rosenberg, and Paul Torcellini.

  13. Mechanical efficiency of the energy release during a steam explosion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krieg, R.

    1997-01-01

    The mechanical processes during the expansion phase of a steam explosion with intimately fragmented liquid particles is investigated based on elementary principles and analytical solutions. During a short load pulse, the different densities of the water and the melted particles lead to different velocities. After the load pulse, viscosity effects lead to a slow down of the higher velocities and to a corresponding reconversion of the kinetic energy of the mixture into thermal energy. It is shown that both effects are proportional to each other. The ratio between the residual and the applied mechanical energy is defined as the mechanical efficiency of the steam explosion. Using data typical for a steam explosion in a pressurized water reactor, mechanical efficiencies of <50% are estimated. Considering that the thermodynamic efficiencies are quite limited, the very low conversion rates from thermal energy into mechanical energy observed during steam explosion experiments can be more easily understood

  14. Energy and protein feed-to-food conversion efficiencies in the US and potential food security gains from dietary changes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shepon, A.; Eshel, G.; Noor, E.; Milo, R.

    2016-10-01

    Feeding a growing population while minimizing environmental degradation is a global challenge requiring thoroughly rethinking food production and consumption. Dietary choices control food availability and natural resource demands. In particular, reducing or avoiding consumption of low production efficiency animal-based products can spare resources that can then yield more food. In quantifying the potential food gains of specific dietary shifts, most earlier research focused on calories, with less attention to other important nutrients, notably protein. Moreover, despite the well-known environmental burdens of livestock, only a handful of national level feed-to-food conversion efficiency estimates of dairy, beef, poultry, pork, and eggs exist. Yet such high level estimates are essential for reducing diet related environmental impacts and identifying optimal food gain paths. Here we quantify caloric and protein conversion efficiencies for US livestock categories. We then use these efficiencies to calculate the food availability gains expected from replacing beef in the US diet with poultry, a more efficient meat, and a plant-based alternative. Averaged over all categories, caloric and protein efficiencies are 7%-8%. At 3% in both metrics, beef is by far the least efficient. We find that reallocating the agricultural land used for beef feed to poultry feed production can meet the caloric and protein demands of ≈120 and ≈140 million additional people consuming the mean American diet, respectively, roughly 40% of current US population.

  15. Advances in wind energy conversion technology

    CERN Document Server

    Sathyajith, Mathew

    2011-01-01

    The technology of generating energy from wind has significantly changed during the past five years. The book brings together all the latest aspects of wind energy conversion technology - from wind resource analysis to grid integration of generated electricity.

  16. Effects of heating energy and heating position on the conversion characteristics of the catalyst of a four-stroke motorcycle engine in cold start conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horng, R.-F.; Chou, H.-M.; Hsu, T.-C.

    2004-01-01

    The effects of heating energy and heating position on the conversion efficiency of an electrically heated catalyst of a four stroke motorcycle engine under cold start conditions were investigated in this study. In general, during cold start, the operating temperatures of a four stroke motorcycle engine and its catalyst would not be optimized. It was found in this paper that by applying heat to the catalyst however, the reaction of the catalyst could be promoted, which, consequently, improved the conversion efficiency. The experimented parameters were heating energy, heating position, heating temperature and the carbon monoxide (CO) setting level. The heating temperatures included 100, 140 and 180 deg. C, while three different heating powers and six different heating positions were used. The CO levels were set as 1.0%, 1.8% and 2.3%. The best CO conversion efficiency was obtained by applying heating at the inlet of the catalyst. It was revealed that a high heating power induced a high temperature rising rate and, consequently, a high CO conversion efficiency. In terms of energy economy efficiency, however, heating at the mid-section of the catalyst gave the best results and through a relatively low heating power

  17. The effects of electrode materials on the conversion efficiency of a direct converter used in neutral beam injection systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noda, Shunichi; Nagae, Hiroshi; Yano, Hidenobu; Masuda, Mitsuharu; Akazaki, Masanori

    1986-01-01

    The injection of fast neutral beams into plasmas is thought to be the most promising way for the fusion plasma heating. Fast neutral beams are obtained by injecting fast ions into a neutralizer cell, in which ions are neutralized through charge exchange collisions with the ambient gas. However, the neutralization efficiency in the neutralizer cell is so low that the net power may not be extracted from a fusion reactor unless the energy of the ions being not neutralized in the cell is recovered. The present paper describes some problems associated with the electrostatic direct energy recovery of fast ion beams for this purpose. The titanium and molybdenum were tested as the direct converter electrode materials, and it was found that the conversion efficiency and the conditioning process of the converter electrode depended strongly on the electrode material. The effect of secondary electrons emitted from the electron repeller on the conversion efficiency was also made clear in the present experiments. (author)

  18. Energy Efficient Hybrid Gas Separation with Ionic Liquids

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Xinyan; Liang, Xiaodong; Gani, Rafiqul

    2017-01-01

    Shale gas, like natural gas, contains H2, CO2, CH4 and that light hydrocarbon gases needs processing to separate the gases for conversion to higher value products. Currently, distillation based separation is employed, which is energy intensive. Hybrid gas separation processes, combining absorption...... systems is established for process design-analysis. A strategy for hybrid gas separation process synthesis where distillation and IL-based absorption are employed for energy efficient gas processing is developed and its application is highlighted for a model shale gas processing case study....

  19. Energy efficiency analysis: biomass-to-wheel efficiency related with biofuels production, fuel distribution, and powertrain systems.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei-Dong Huang

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Energy efficiency analysis for different biomass-utilization scenarios would help make more informed decisions for developing future biomass-based transportation systems. Diverse biofuels produced from biomass include cellulosic ethanol, butanol, fatty acid ethyl esters, methane, hydrogen, methanol, dimethyether, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, and bioelectricity; the respective powertrain systems include internal combustion engine (ICE vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles based on gasoline or diesel ICEs, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, sugar fuel cell vehicles (SFCV, and battery electric vehicles (BEV. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We conducted a simple, straightforward, and transparent biomass-to-wheel (BTW analysis including three separate conversion elements--biomass-to-fuel conversion, fuel transport and distribution, and respective powertrain systems. BTW efficiency is a ratio of the kinetic energy of an automobile's wheels to the chemical energy of delivered biomass just before entering biorefineries. Up to 13 scenarios were analyzed and compared to a base line case--corn ethanol/ICE. This analysis suggests that BEV, whose electricity is generated from stationary fuel cells, and SFCV, based on a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with an on-board sugar-to-hydrogen bioreformer, would have the highest BTW efficiencies, nearly four times that of ethanol-ICE. SIGNIFICANCE: In the long term, a small fraction of the annual US biomass (e.g., 7.1%, or 700 million tons of biomass would be sufficient to meet 100% of light-duty passenger vehicle fuel needs (i.e., 150 billion gallons of gasoline/ethanol per year, through up to four-fold enhanced BTW efficiencies by using SFCV or BEV. SFCV would have several advantages over BEV: much higher energy storage densities, faster refilling rates, better safety, and less environmental burdens.

  20. Energy Efficiency Analysis: Biomass-to-Wheel Efficiency Related with Biofuels Production, Fuel Distribution, and Powertrain Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Wei-Dong; Zhang, Y-H Percival

    2011-01-01

    Background Energy efficiency analysis for different biomass-utilization scenarios would help make more informed decisions for developing future biomass-based transportation systems. Diverse biofuels produced from biomass include cellulosic ethanol, butanol, fatty acid ethyl esters, methane, hydrogen, methanol, dimethyether, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, and bioelectricity; the respective powertrain systems include internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles based on gasoline or diesel ICEs, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, sugar fuel cell vehicles (SFCV), and battery electric vehicles (BEV). Methodology/Principal Findings We conducted a simple, straightforward, and transparent biomass-to-wheel (BTW) analysis including three separate conversion elements -- biomass-to-fuel conversion, fuel transport and distribution, and respective powertrain systems. BTW efficiency is a ratio of the kinetic energy of an automobile's wheels to the chemical energy of delivered biomass just before entering biorefineries. Up to 13 scenarios were analyzed and compared to a base line case – corn ethanol/ICE. This analysis suggests that BEV, whose electricity is generated from stationary fuel cells, and SFCV, based on a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with an on-board sugar-to-hydrogen bioreformer, would have the highest BTW efficiencies, nearly four times that of ethanol-ICE. Significance In the long term, a small fraction of the annual US biomass (e.g., 7.1%, or 700 million tons of biomass) would be sufficient to meet 100% of light-duty passenger vehicle fuel needs (i.e., 150 billion gallons of gasoline/ethanol per year), through up to four-fold enhanced BTW efficiencies by using SFCV or BEV. SFCV would have several advantages over BEV: much higher energy storage densities, faster refilling rates, better safety, and less environmental burdens. PMID:21765941

  1. Energy efficiency analysis: biomass-to-wheel efficiency related with biofuels production, fuel distribution, and powertrain systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Wei-Dong; Zhang, Y-H Percival

    2011-01-01

    Energy efficiency analysis for different biomass-utilization scenarios would help make more informed decisions for developing future biomass-based transportation systems. Diverse biofuels produced from biomass include cellulosic ethanol, butanol, fatty acid ethyl esters, methane, hydrogen, methanol, dimethyether, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, and bioelectricity; the respective powertrain systems include internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles based on gasoline or diesel ICEs, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, sugar fuel cell vehicles (SFCV), and battery electric vehicles (BEV). We conducted a simple, straightforward, and transparent biomass-to-wheel (BTW) analysis including three separate conversion elements--biomass-to-fuel conversion, fuel transport and distribution, and respective powertrain systems. BTW efficiency is a ratio of the kinetic energy of an automobile's wheels to the chemical energy of delivered biomass just before entering biorefineries. Up to 13 scenarios were analyzed and compared to a base line case--corn ethanol/ICE. This analysis suggests that BEV, whose electricity is generated from stationary fuel cells, and SFCV, based on a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle with an on-board sugar-to-hydrogen bioreformer, would have the highest BTW efficiencies, nearly four times that of ethanol-ICE. In the long term, a small fraction of the annual US biomass (e.g., 7.1%, or 700 million tons of biomass) would be sufficient to meet 100% of light-duty passenger vehicle fuel needs (i.e., 150 billion gallons of gasoline/ethanol per year), through up to four-fold enhanced BTW efficiencies by using SFCV or BEV. SFCV would have several advantages over BEV: much higher energy storage densities, faster refilling rates, better safety, and less environmental burdens.

  2. Combining Energy Conversion and Storage: A Solar Powered Supercapacitor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Narayanan, Remya; Kumar, P. Naresh; Deepa, Melepurath; Srivastava, Avanish Kumar

    2015-01-01

    Graphical abstract: - Highlights: • A plasmonic TiO_2/CdS/Au fibers photoanode is fabricated for the first time. • The efficiency of the plasmonic cell is greater by 1.35 times than the non-plasmonic one. • A solar powered supercapacitor is developed with plasmonic photoanode and multiwalled carbon nanotubes. • The solar cell current charges the supercapacitor. • A specific capacitance of 150 F g"−"1 is achieved under sunlight without any external bias. - Abstract: A solar powered supercapacitor wherein a plasmonic quantum dot solar cell (QDSC) sources the photocurrent for charging/discharging a conjoined supercapacitor based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) is demonstrated. Gold or Au fibers are integrated into a titanium dioxide/cadmium sulfide (TiO_2/CdS) electrode to yield a TiO_2/CdS/Au photoanode. The plasmonic effect of Au fibers is reflected in the higher incident photon to current conversion efficiency (IPCE = 55%) and an improved overall power conversion efficiency (3.45%) produced by the TiO_2/CdS/Au photoanode relative to the non-plasmonic TiO_2/CdS photoanode. A Janus type bi-functional electrode composed of MWCNTs on either face separated by glass is prepared and it is coupled with the TiO_2/CdS/Au electrode and another MWCNT electrode to yield the tandem solar powered supercapacitor. By channelling the photocurrent produced by the QDSC part, under 0.1 sun illumination, the capacitance of the symmetric supercapacitor, without the application of any external bias is 150 F g"−"1 which compares well with reported values of electrically powered MWCNT supercapacitors. Our innovative design for a photo-supercapacitor offers a new paradigm for combining low cost photovoltaics with energy storage to yield a technologically useful device that needs nothing else other than solar energy to run.

  3. High Energy Conversion Efficiency with 3-D Micro-Patterned Photoanode for Enhancement Diffusivity and Modification of Photon Distribution in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yun, Min Ju; Sim, Yeon Hyang; Cha, Seung I; Seo, Seon Hee; Lee, Dong Y

    2017-11-08

    Dye sensitize solar cells (DSSCs) have been considered as the promising alternatives silicon based solar cell with their characteristics including high efficiency under weak illumination and insensitive power output to incident angle. Therefore, many researches have been studied to improve the energy conversion efficiency of DSSCs. However the efficiency of DSSCs are still trapped at the around 10%. In this study, micro-scale hexagonal shape patterned photoanode have proposed to modify light distribution of photon. In the patterned electrode, the appearance efficiency have been obtained from 7.1% to 7.8% considered active area and the efficiency of 12.7% have been obtained based on the photoanode area. Enhancing diffusion of electrons and modification of photon distribution utilizing the morphology of the electrode are major factors to improving the performance of patterned electrode. Also, finite element method analyses of photon distributions were conducted to estimate morphological effect that influence on the photon distribution and current density. From our proposed study, it is expecting that patterned electrode is one of the solution to overcome the stagnant efficiency and one of the optimized geometry of electrode to modify photon distribution. Process of inter-patterning in photoanode has been minimized.

  4. Improving conversion efficiency of CdS quantum dots-sensitized TiO{sub 2} nanotube arrays by doping with Zn{sup 2+} and decorating with ZnO nanoparticles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Chong, E-mail: chongchen@henu.edu.cn [Henan Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004 (China); School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004 (China); Wang, Lei; Li, Fumin; Ling, Lanyu [Henan Key Laboratory of Photovoltaic Materials, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004 (China); School of Physics and Electronics, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004 (China)

    2014-08-01

    The Zn-doped TiO{sub 2} nanotube arrays (TNTs) decorated with ZnO nanoparticles have been prepared via electrochemical anodization and immersing method. Furthermore, the CdS quantum dots (QDs) were deposited on the prepared Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO thin films by chemical bath deposition (CBD) method to fabricate the CdS QDs-sensitized Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrodes. The nanostructure, morphology, optical properties and electrochemical properties of the CdS/Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrode with comparison to those of the CdS/TNTs photoelectrodes were investigated. It has been found that the Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrodes significantly increased the UV–vis light absorption of the CdS/Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrodes and reduced the charge recombination at the surfaces of the CdS/Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrodes. As a consequence, when the Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO film was adopted instead of the plain TNTs film, the light-chemical energy conversion efficiency of the CdS/Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrode was much improved compared with the CdS/TNTs photoelectrode. A maximum energy conversion efficiency achieved for the CdS/Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrode is 3.86%, which is a 17% improvement compared with the maximum energy conversion efficiency of 3.29% achieved for the CdS/TNTs photoelectrodes. - Highlights: • The CdS/Zn-doped TNTs-ZnO photoelectrodes were synthesized. • The optical properties and photochemical properties were investigated. • The energy conversion efficiency depends on the Zn doping concentration. • The energy conversion efficiency was improved by the Zn doping.

  5. Feasibility of Traveling Wave Direct Energy Conversion of Fission Reaction Fragments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarditi, A. G.; George, J. A.; Miley, G. H.; Scott, J. H.

    2013-01-01

    Fission fragment direct energy conversion has been considered in the past for the purpose of increasing nuclear power plant efficiency and for advanced space propulsion. Since the fragments carry electric charge (typically in the order of 20 e) and have 100 MeV-range kinetic energy, techniques utilizing very high-voltage DC electrodes have been considered. This study is focused on a different approach: the kinetic energy of the charged fission fragments is converted into alternating current by means of a traveling wave coupling scheme (Traveling Wave Direct Energy Converter, TWDEC), thereby not requiring the utilization of high voltage technology. A preliminary feasibility analysis of the concept is introduced based on a conceptual level study and on a particle simulation model of the beam dynamics.

  6. Energy Efficiency Plan 2009-2012; Energie Efficiency Plan 2009-2012

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Meulen, M.M.W. (ed.)

    2009-02-15

    The aim of the Energy Efficiency Plan is to give an overview of the energy conservation plans of the Eindhoven University of Technology in Eindhoven, Netherlands, which must result in efficient use of energy conform the long-range agreements between businesses, industry and organizations and the Dutch government to improve energy efficiency (MJA3) [Dutch] Het doel van het EEP (Energie Efficiency Plan) is het in beeld brengen van de energiebesparingsplannen die leiden tot een efficienter gebruik van energie conform de MJA-3 afspraak (de derde Meerjaren Afspraak)

  7. A Review of Ultrahigh Efficiency III-V Semiconductor Compound Solar Cells: Multijunction Tandem, Lower Dimensional, Photonic Up/Down Conversion and Plasmonic Nanometallic Structures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Katsuaki Tanabe

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Solar cells are a promising renewable, carbon-free electric energy resource to address the fossil fuel shortage and global warming. Energy conversion efficiencies around 40% have been recently achieved in laboratories using III-V semiconductor compounds as photovoltaic materials. This article reviews the efforts and accomplishments made for higher efficiency III-V semiconductor compound solar cells, specifically with multijunction tandem, lower-dimensional, photonic up/down conversion, and plasmonic metallic structures. Technological strategies for further performance improvement from the most efficient (AlInGaP/(InGaAs/Ge triple-junction cells including the search for 1.0 eV bandgap semiconductors are discussed. Lower-dimensional systems such as quantum well and dot structures are being intensively studied to realize multiple exciton generation and multiple photon absorption to break the conventional efficiency limit. Implementation of plasmonic metallic nanostructures manipulating photonic energy flow directions to enhance sunlight absorption in thin photovoltaic semiconductor materials is also emerging.

  8. Energy production, conversion, storage, conservation, and coupling

    CERN Document Server

    Demirel, Yaşar

    2012-01-01

    Understanding the sustainable use of energy in various processes is an integral part of engineering and scientific studies, which rely on a sound knowledge of energy systems. Whilst many institutions now offer degrees in energy-related programs, a comprehensive textbook, which introduces and explains sustainable energy systems and can be used across engineering and scientific fields, has been lacking. Energy: Production, Conversion, Storage, Conservation, and Coupling provides the reader with a practical understanding of these five main topic areas of energy including 130 examples and over 600 practice problems. Each chapter contains a range of supporting figures, tables, thermodynamic diagrams and charts, while the Appendix supplies the reader with all the necessary data including the steam tables. This new textbook presents a clear introduction of basic vocabulary, properties, forms, sources, and balances of energy before advancing to the main topic areas of: • Energy production and conversion in importa...

  9. Multifunctional Energy Storage and Conversion Devices.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Yan; Zhu, Minshen; Huang, Yang; Pei, Zengxia; Li, Hongfei; Wang, Zifeng; Xue, Qi; Zhi, Chunyi

    2016-10-01

    Multifunctional energy storage and conversion devices that incorporate novel features and functions in intelligent and interactive modes, represent a radical advance in consumer products, such as wearable electronics, healthcare devices, artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, smart household, and space satellites, etc. Here, smart energy devices are defined to be energy devices that are responsive to changes in configurational integrity, voltage, mechanical deformation, light, and temperature, called self-healability, electrochromism, shape memory, photodetection, and thermal responsivity. Advisable materials, device designs, and performances are crucial for the development of energy electronics endowed with these smart functions. Integrating these smart functions in energy storage and conversion devices gives rise to great challenges from the viewpoint of both understanding the fundamental mechanisms and practical implementation. Current state-of-art examples of these smart multifunctional energy devices, pertinent to materials, fabrication strategies, and performances, are highlighted. In addition, current challenges and potential solutions from materials synthesis to device performances are discussed. Finally, some important directions in this fast developing field are considered to further expand their application. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  10. Methods for efficient usage of energy and materials in high temperature metallurgical processes; Methoden zur Energie- und Stoffeffizienz in der metallurgischen Hochtemperaturtechnik

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Scholz, Reinhard; Stuermer, Thomas [Technische Univ. Clausthal, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany). Inst. fuer Energieverfahrenstechnik

    2012-07-15

    Metallurgy belongs to the most energy intensive industries where the chain of processes, from materials production to materials recycling, proceeds typically at high temperatures. The higher the process temperature, the more valuable is energy recovery. In parallel with the current trends of improving energy efficiencies, one observes an increase of energy conversion costs in conversion processes of both fossil fuels and renewable energy sources. The paper is concerned with methods of improving energy efficiencies, as well as, with establishing their maximum values determined by the thermodynamics of the metallurgical processes considered. In a number of processes, for example in the blast furnace process of pig iron production, these thermodynamic limits have been reached. Then, if the prices of raw materials and/or energy (electricity produced either from fossil fuels or from renewables) are on the rise, the industry does not have any other option but increasing the final product prices which obviously affect competitiveness. (orig.)

  11. Integration of deep geothermal energy and woody biomass conversion pathways in urban systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moret, Stefano; Peduzzi, Emanuela; Gerber, Léda; Maréchal, François

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Novel optimization-based methodology to integrate renewable energy systems in cities. • Multiperiod model including storage, heat integration and Life Cycle Assessment. • Case study: systematic assessment of deep geothermal and wood conversion pathways. • Identification of novel wood-geothermal hybrid systems leading to higher efficiencies. • Extensive Supplementary Material to ensure full reproducibility of the work. - Abstract: Urban systems account for about two-thirds of global primary energy consumption and energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, with a projected increasing trend. Deep geothermal energy and woody biomass can be used for the production of heat, electricity and biofuels, thus constituting a renewable alternative to fossil fuels for all end-uses in cities: heating, cooling, electricity and mobility. This paper presents a methodology to assess the potential for integrating deep geothermal energy and woody biomass in an urban energy system. The city is modeled in its entirety as a multiperiod optimization problem with the total annual cost as an objective, assessing as well the environmental impact with a Life Cycle Assessment approach. For geothermal energy, deep aquifers and Enhanced Geothermal Systems are considered for stand-alone production of heat and electricity, and for cogeneration. For biomass, besides direct combustion and cogeneration, conversion to biofuels by a set of alternative processes (pyrolysis, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis and synthetic natural gas production) is studied. With a scenario-based approach, all pathways are first individually evaluated. Secondly, all possible combinations between geothermal and biomass options are systematically compared, taking into account the possibility of hybrid systems. Results show that integrating these two resources generates configurations featuring both lower costs and environmental impacts. In particular, synergies are found in innovative hybrid systems using

  12. Needs, resources and climate change: Clean and efficient conversion technologies

    KAUST Repository

    Ghoniem, Ahmed F.

    2011-02-01

    Energy "powers" our life, and energy consumption correlates strongly with our standards of living. The developed world has become accustomed to cheap and plentiful supplies. Recently, more of the developing world populations are striving for the same, and taking steps towards securing their future energy needs. Competition over limited supplies of conventional fossil fuel resources is intensifying, and more challenging environmental problems are springing up, especially related to carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions. There is strong evidence that atmospheric CO 2 concentration is well correlated with the average global temperature. Moreover, model predictions indicate that the century-old observed trend of rising temperatures could accelerate as carbon dioxide concentration continues to rise. Given the potential danger of such a scenario, it is suggested that steps be taken to curb energy-related CO 2 emissions through a number of technological solutions, which are to be implemented in a timely fashion. These solutions include a substantial improvement in energy conversion and utilization efficiencies, carbon capture and sequestration, and expanding the use of nuclear energy and renewable sources. Some of these technologies already exist, but are not deployed at sufficiently large scale. Others are under development, and some are at or near the conceptual state. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Energy conservation in coal conversion. Final report, September 15, 1977--September 1, 1978. Selected case studies and conservation methodologies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Purcupile, J.C.

    1978-09-01

    The purpose of this study is to apply the methodologies developed in the Energy Conservation in Coal Conversion August, 1977 Progress Report - Contract No. EY77S024196 - to an energy efficient, near-term coal conversion process design, and to develop additional, general techniques for studying energy conservation and utilization in coal conversion processes. The process selected for study was the Ralph M. Parsons Company of Pasadena, California ''Oil/Gas Complex, Conceptual Design/Economic Analysis'' as described in R and D Report No. 114 - Interim Report No. 4, published March, 1977, ERDA Contract No. E(49-18)-1975. Thirteen papers representing possible alternative methods of energy conservation or waste heat utilization have been entered individually into EDB and ERA. (LTN)

  14. The alkali metal thermoelectric converter /AMTEC/ - A new direct energy conversion technology for aerospace power

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bankston, C. P.; Cole, T.; Jones, R.; Ewell, R.

    1982-01-01

    A thermally regenerative electrochemical device for the direct conversion of heat to electrical energy, the alkali metal thermoelectric converter (AMTEC), is characterized by potential efficiencies on the order of 15-40% and possesses no moving parts, making it a candidate for space power system applications. Device conversion efficiency is projected on the basis of experimental voltage vs current curves exhibiting power densities of 0.7 W/sq cm and measured electrode efficiencies of up to 40%. Preliminary radiative heat transfer measurements presented may be used in an investigation of methods for the reduction of AMTEC parasitic radiation losses. AMTEC assumes heat input and rejection temperatures of 900-1300 K and 400-800 K, respectively. The working fluid is liquid sodium, and the porous electrode employed is of molybdenum.

  15. Energy Efficiency Roadmap for Uganda, Making Energy Efficiency Count. Executive Summary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    de la Rue du Can, Stephane; Pudleiner, David; Jones, David; Khan, Aleisha

    2017-06-15

    Like many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda has focused its energy sector investments largely on increasing energy access by increasing energy supply. The links between energy efficiency and energy access, the importance of energy efficiency in new energy supply, and the multiple benefits of energy efficiency for the level and quality of energy available, have been largely overlooked. Implementing energy efficiency in parallel with expanding both the electricity grid and new clean energy generation reduces electricity demand and helps optimize the power supply so that it can serve more customers reliably at minimum cost. Ensuring efficient appliances are incorporated into energy access efforts provides improved energy services to customers. Energy efficiency is an important contributor to access to modern energy. This Energy Efficiency Roadmap for Uganda (Roadmap) is a response to the important role that electrical energy efficiency can play in meeting Uganda’s energy goals. Power Africa and the United Nations Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) initiatives collaborated with more than 24 stakeholders in Uganda to develop this document. The document estimates that if the most efficient technologies on the market were adopted, 2,224 gigawatt hours could be saved in 2030 across all sectors, representing 31% of the projected load. This translates into 341 megawatts of peak demand reductions, energy access to an additional 6 million rural customers and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions by 10.6 million tonnes in 2030. The Roadmap also finds that 91% of this technical potential is cost-effective, and 47% is achievable under conservative assumptions. The Roadmap prioritizes recommendations for implementing energy efficiency and maximizing benefits to meet the goals and priorities established in Uganda’s 2015 SEforALL Action Agenda. One important step is to create and increase demand for efficiency through long-term enabling policies and financial incentives

  16. Highly efficient integrated rectifier and voltage boosting circuits for energy harvesting applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Maurath

    2008-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents novel circuit concepts for integrated rectifiers and voltage converting interfaces for energy harvesting micro-generators. In the context of energy harvesting, usually only small voltages are supplied by vibration-driven generators. Therefore, rectification with minimum voltage losses and low reverse currents is an important issue. This is realized by novel integrated rectifiers which were fabricated and are presented in this article. Additionally, there is a crucial need for dynamic load adaptation as well as voltage up-conversion. A circuit concept is presented, which is able to obtain both requirements. This generator interface adapts its input impedance for an optimal energy transfer efficiency. Furthermore, this generator interface provides implicit voltage up-conversion, whereas the generator output energy is stored on a buffer, which is connected to the output of the voltage converting interface. As simulations express, this fully integrated converter is able to boost ac-voltages greater than |0.35 V| to an output dc-voltage of 2.0 V–2.5 V. Thereby, high harvesting efficiencies above 80% are possible within the entire operational range.

  17. Energy Conversion Alternatives Study (ECAS), General Electric Phase 1. Volume 3: Energy conversion subsystems and components. Part 1: Bottoming cycles and materials of construction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, R. P.; Solomon, H. D.

    1976-01-01

    Energy conversion subsystems and components were evaluated in terms of advanced energy conversion systems. Results of the bottoming cycles and materials of construction studies are presented and discussed.

  18. Energy Efficiency of Biogas Produced from Different Biomass Sources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Begum, Shahida; Nazri, A H

    2013-01-01

    Malaysia has different sources of biomass like palm oil waste, agricultural waste, cow dung, sewage waste and landfill sites, which can be used to produce biogas and as a source of energy. Depending on the type of biomass, the biogas produced can have different calorific value. At the same time the energy, being used to produce biogas is dependent on transportation distance, means of transportation, conversion techniques and for handling of raw materials and digested residues. An energy systems analysis approach based on literature is applied to calculate the energy efficiency of biogas produced from biomass. Basically, the methodology is comprised of collecting data, proposing locations and estimating the energy input needed to produce biogas and output obtained from the generated biogas. The study showed that palm oil and municipal solid waste is two potential sources of biomass. The energy efficiency of biogas produced from palm oil residues and municipal solid wastes is 1.70 and 3.33 respectively. Municipal solid wastes have the higher energy efficiency due to less transportation distance and electricity consumption. Despite the inherent uncertainties in the calculations, it can be concluded that the energy potential to use biomass for biogas production is a promising alternative.

  19. Efficiency gains of photovoltaic system using latent heat thermal energy storage

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Tan, Lippong; Date, Abhijit; Fernandes, Gabriel; Singh, Baljit; Ganguly, Sayantan

    This paper presents experimental assessments of the thermal and electrical performance of photovoltaic (PV) system by comparing the latent heat-cooled PV panel with the naturally-cooled equivalent. It is commonly known that the energy conversion efficiency of the PV cells declines with the increment

  20. Highly efficient photocatalytic conversion of solar energy to hydrogen by WO3/BiVO4 core-shell heterojunction nanorods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kosar, Sonya; Pihosh, Yuriy; Bekarevich, Raman; Mitsuishi, Kazutaka; Mawatari, Kazuma; Kazoe, Yutaka; Kitamori, Takehiko; Tosa, Masahiro; Tarasov, Alexey B.; Goodilin, Eugene A.; Struk, Yaroslav M.; Kondo, Michio; Turkevych, Ivan

    2018-04-01

    Photocatalytic splitting of water under solar light has proved itself to be a promising approach toward the utilization of solar energy and the generation of environmentally friendly fuel in a form of hydrogen. In this work, we demonstrate highly efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency of 7.7% by photovoltaic-photoelectrochemical (PV-PEC) device based on hybrid MAPbI3 perovskite PV cell and WO3/BiVO4 core-shell nanorods PEC cell tandem that utilizes spectral splitting approach. Although BiVO4 is characterized by intrinsically high recombination rate of photogenerated carriers, this is not an issue for WO3/BiVO4 core-shell nanorods, where highly conductive WO3 cores are combined with extremely thin absorber BiVO4 shell layer. Since the BiVO4 layer is thinner than the characteristic carrier diffusion length, the photogenerated charge carriers are separated at the WO3/BiVO4 heterojunction before their recombination. Also, such architecture provides sufficient optical thickness even for extremely thin BiVO4 layer due to efficient light trapping in the core-shell WO3/BiVO4 nanorods with high aspect ratio. We also demonstrate that the concept of fill factor can be used to compare I-V characteristics of different photoanodes regarding their optimization for PV/PEC tandem devices.

  1. Recent Progress on Integrated Energy Conversion and Storage Systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Bin; Ye, Delai; Wang, Lianzhou

    2017-09-01

    Over the last few decades, there has been increasing interest in the design and construction of integrated energy conversion and storage systems (IECSSs) that can simultaneously capture and store various forms of energies from nature. A large number of IECSSs have been developed with different combination of energy conversion technologies such as solar cells, mechanical generators and thermoelectric generators and energy storage devices such as rechargeable batteries and supercapacitors. This review summarizes the recent advancements to date of IECSSs based on different energy sources including solar, mechanical, thermal as well as multiple types of energies, with a special focus on the system configuration and working mechanism. With the rapid development of new energy conversion and storage technologies, innovative high performance IECSSs are of high expectation to be realised for diverse practical applications in the near future.

  2. Dual-Function Au@Y2O3:Eu3+ Smart Film for Enhanced Power Conversion Efficiency and Long-Term Stability of Perovskite Solar Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Chang Woo; Eom, Tae Young; Yang, In Seok; Kim, Byung Su; Lee, Wan In; Kang, Yong Soo; Kang, Young Soo

    2017-07-28

    In the present study, a dual-functional smart film combining the effects of wavelength conversion and amplification of the converted wave by the localized surface plasmon resonance has been investigated for a perovskite solar cell. This dual-functional film, composed of Au nanoparticles coated on the surface of Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor (Au@Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ ) nanoparticle monolayer, enhances the solar energy conversion efficiency to electrical energy and long-term stability of photovoltaic cells. Coupling between the Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ phosphor monolayer and ultraviolet solar light induces the latter to be converted into visible light with a quantum yield above 80%. Concurrently, the Au nanoparticle monolayer on the phosphor nanoparticle monolayer amplifies the converted visible light by up to 170%. This synergy leads to an increased solar light energy conversion efficiency of perovskite solar cells. Simultaneously, the dual-function film suppresses the photodegradation of perovskite by UV light, resulting in long-term stability. Introducing the hybrid smart Au@Y 2 O 3 :Eu 3+ film in perovskite solar cells increases their overall solar-to-electrical energy conversion efficiency to 16.1% and enhances long-term stability, as compared to the value of 15.2% for standard perovskite solar cells. The synergism between the wavelength conversion effect of the phosphor nanoparticle monolayer and the wave amplification by the localized surface plasmon resonance of the Au nanoparticle monolayer in a perovskite solar cell is comparatively investigated, providing a viable strategy of broadening the solar spectrum utilization.

  3. Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nguyen Minh

    2006-07-31

    This report summarizes the work performed for Phase I (October 2001 - August 2006) under Cooperative Agreement DE-FC26-01NT41245 for the U. S. Department of Energy, National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) entitled 'Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Program'. The program focuses on the development of a low-cost, high-performance 3-to-10-kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system suitable for a broad spectrum of power-generation applications. During Phase I of the program significant progress has been made in the area of SOFC technology. A high-efficiency low-cost system was designed and supporting technology developed such as fuel processing, controls, thermal management, and power electronics. Phase I culminated in the successful demonstration of a prototype system that achieved a peak efficiency of 41%, a high-volume cost of $724/kW, a peak power of 5.4 kW, and a degradation rate of 1.8% per 500 hours. . An improved prototype system was designed, assembled, and delivered to DOE/NETL at the end of the program. This prototype achieved an extraordinary peak efficiency of 49.6%.

  4. Method for customizing an organic Rankine cycle to a complex heat source for efficient energy conversion, demonstrated on a Fischer Tropsch plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    DiGenova, Kevin J.; Botros, Barbara B.; Brisson, J.G.

    2013-01-01

    Highlights: ► Methods for customizing organic Rankine cycles are proposed. ► A set of cycle modifications help to target available heat sources. ► Heat sources with complex temperature–enthalpy profiles can be matched. ► Significant efficiency improvements can be achieved over basic ORC’s. -- Abstract: Organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) provide an alternative to traditional steam Rankine cycles for the conversion of low grade heat sources into power, where conventional steam power cycles are known to be inefficient. A large processing plant often has multiple low temperature waste heat streams available for conversion to electricity by a low temperature cycle, resulting in a composite heat source with a complex temperature–enthalpy profile. This work presents a set of ORC design concepts: reheat stages, multiple pressure levels, and balanced recuperators; and demonstrates the use of these design concepts as building blocks to create a customized cycle that matches an available heat source. Organic fluids are modeled using a pure substance database. The pinch analysis technique of forming composite curves is applied to analyze the effect of each building block on the temperature–enthalpy profile of the ORC heat requirement. The customized cycle is demonstrated on a heat source derived from a Fischer Tropsch reactor and its associated processes. Analysis shows a steam Rankine cycle can achieve a 20.6% conversion efficiency for this heat source, whereas a simple organic Rankine cycle using hexane as the working fluid can achieve a 20.9% conversion efficiency. If the ORC building blocks are combined into a cycle targeted to match the temperature–enthalpy profile of the heat source, this customized ORC can achieve 28.5% conversion efficiency.

  5. Comprehensive method for analyzing the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells under different spectral irradiances considering both photonic and electrical characteristics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chong, Kok-Keong; Khlyabich, Petr P.; Hong, Kai-Jeat; Reyes-Martinez, Marcos; Rand, Barry P.; Loo, Yueh-Lin

    2016-01-01

    Highlights: • Method to analyze power-conversion efficiency under various solar irradiance. • Power-conversion efficiency at local irradiance is 5.4% higher than AM1.5G. • Diffuse local irradiance has gain of 23.7–27.9% relative to AM1.5G conditions. • Annual average energy density yield is estimated as 31.89 kW h/m 2 in Malaysia. - Abstract: The solar spectral irradiance varies significantly for different locations and time due to latitude, humidity, cosine effect of incident sunlight, etc. For convenience, the power-conversion efficiency of a solar cell is referenced to the international standard of AM1.5G spectral irradiance, which inevitably leads to varying performance of deployed solar cells under the specific local climate and insolation conditions. To predict the actual performance of solar cells under local climate conditions, we propose a methodology to compute the power-conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaic cells based upon indoor measurement with a solar simulator, the measured local solar spectrum, and making use of both optical and electrical factors. From our study, the annual average energy density yield of poly(3-hexylthiophene):phenyl-C 61 -butyric acid methyl ester (P3HT:PCBM) bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells under the local spectral irradiance of Malaysia is estimated to be 31.89 kW h/m 2 and the power-conversion efficiency is increased by 5.4% compared to that measured under AM1.5G conditions. In addition, diffuse solar irradiance (cloudy condition) was found to be in favor of P3HT:PCBM solar cells, with gain of 23.7–27.9% relative to AM1.5G conditions.

  6. Iron disulfide for solar energy conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ennaoui, A. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Fiechter, S. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Pettenkofer, C. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Alonso-Vante, N. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Bueker, K. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Bronold, M. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Hoepfner, C. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany)); Tributsch, H. (Hahn-Meitner-Inst., Abt. Solare Energetik und Materialforschung, Berlin (Germany))

    1993-05-01

    Pyrite (E[sub g] = 0.95 eV) is being developed as a solar energy material due to its environmental compatibility and its very high light absorption coefficient. A compilation of material, electronic and interfacial chemical properties is presented, which is considered relevant for quantum energy conversion. In spite of intricate problems existing within material chemistry, high quantum efficiencies for photocurrent generation (> 90%) and high photovoltages ([approx] 500 mV) have been observed with single crystal electrodes and thin layers respectively. The most interesting aspect of this study is the use of pyrite as an ultrathin (10-20 nm) layer sandwiched between large gap p-type and n-type materials in a p-i-n like structure. Such a system, in which the pyrite layer only acts as photon absorber and mediates injection of excited electrons can be defined as sensitization solar cell. The peculiar electron transfer properties of pyrite interfaces, facilitating interfacial coordination chemical pathways, may turn out to be very helpful. Significant research challenges are discussed in the hope of attracting interest in the development of solar cells from this abundant material. (orig.)

  7. Graphitic design: prospects of graphene-based nanocomposites for solar energy conversion, storage, and sensing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lightcap, Ian V; Kamat, Prashant V

    2013-10-15

    Graphene not only possesses interesting electrochemical behavior but also has a remarkable surface area and mechanical strength and is naturally abundant, all advantageous properties for the design of tailored composite materials. Graphene-semiconductor or -metal nanoparticle composites have the potential to function as efficient, multifunctional materials for energy conversion and storage. These next-generation composite systems could possess the capability to integrate conversion and storage of solar energy, detection, and selective destruction of trace environmental contaminants or achieve single-substrate, multistep heterogeneous catalysis. These advanced materials may soon become a reality, based on encouraging results in the key areas of energy conversion and sensing using graphene oxide as a support structure. Through recent advances, chemists can now integrate such processes on a single substrate while using synthetic designs that combine simplicity with a high degree of structural and composition selectivity. This progress represents the beginning of a transformative movement leveraging the advancements of single-purpose chemistry toward the creation of composites designed to address whole-process applications. The promising field of graphene nanocomposites for sensing and energy applications is based on fundamental studies that explain the electronic interactions between semiconductor or metal nanoparticles and graphene. In particular, reduced graphene oxide is a suitable composite substrate because of its two-dimensional structure, outstanding surface area, and electrical conductivity. In this Account, we describe common assembly methods for graphene composite materials and examine key studies that characterize its excited state interactions. We also discuss strategies to develop graphene composites and control electron capture and transport through the 2D carbon network. In addition, we provide a brief overview of advances in sensing, energy conversion

  8. Engineered nanomaterials for solar energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mlinar, Vladan

    2013-02-01

    Understanding how to engineer nanomaterials for targeted solar-cell applications is the key to improving their efficiency and could lead to breakthroughs in their design. Proposed mechanisms for the conversion of solar energy to electricity are those exploiting the particle nature of light in conventional photovoltaic cells, and those using the collective electromagnetic nature, where light is captured by antennas and rectified. In both cases, engineered nanomaterials form the crucial components. Examples include arrays of semiconductor nanostructures as an intermediate band (so called intermediate band solar cells), semiconductor nanocrystals for multiple exciton generation, or, in antenna-rectifier cells, nanomaterials for effective optical frequency rectification. Here, we discuss the state of the art in p-n junction, intermediate band, multiple exciton generation, and antenna-rectifier solar cells. We provide a summary of how engineered nanomaterials have been used in these systems and a discussion of the open questions.

  9. Aqueous Lithium-Iodine Solar Flow Battery for the Simultaneous Conversion and Storage of Solar Energy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Mingzhe; McCulloch, William D; Beauchamp, Damian R; Huang, Zhongjie; Ren, Xiaodi; Wu, Yiying

    2015-07-08

    Integrating both photoelectric-conversion and energy-storage functions into one device allows for the more efficient solar energy usage. Here we demonstrate the concept of an aqueous lithium-iodine (Li-I) solar flow battery (SFB) by incorporation of a built-in dye-sensitized TiO2 photoelectrode in a Li-I redox flow battery via linkage of an I3(-)/I(-) based catholyte, for the simultaneous conversion and storage of solar energy. During the photoassisted charging process, I(-) ions are photoelectrochemically oxidized to I3(-), harvesting solar energy and storing it as chemical energy. The Li-I SFB can be charged at a voltage of 2.90 V under 1 sun AM 1.5 illumination, which is lower than its discharging voltage of 3.30 V. The charging voltage reduction translates to energy savings of close to 20% compared to conventional Li-I batteries. This concept also serves as a guiding design that can be extended to other metal-redox flow battery systems.

  10. Urban energy conversion and its effects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Geiger, B.

    1981-01-01

    The extent to which the building up and energy conversion affect the quality and energy economy of living space is shown by the example of Munich. The comparison of the energy economy of various ecological systems give qualified information for assessing the thermal loading in densely inhabited areas and show the basic differences between built-up and country areas. (DG) [de

  11. Experimental Research of a New Wave Energy Conversion Device

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Zhongyue; Shang, Jianzhong; Luo, Zirong; Sun, Chongfei; Chen, Gewei

    2018-01-01

    With the increasing tension of contemporary social energy, the development and utilization of renewable energy has become an important development direction. As an important part of renewable energy, wave energy has the characteristics of green environmental protection and abundant reserves, attracting more investment and research. For small marine equipment energy supply problem, this paper puts forward a micro wave energy conversion device as the basic of heaving motion of waves in the ocean. This paper designed a new type of power output device can solve the micro wave energy conversion problem.

  12. Wind Energy Conversion by Plant-Inspired Designs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCloskey, Michael A; Mosher, Curtis L; Henderson, Eric R

    2017-01-01

    In 2008 the U.S. Department of Energy set a target of 20% wind energy by 2030. To date, induction-based turbines form the mainstay of this effort, but turbines are noisy, perceived as unattractive, a potential hazard to bats and birds, and their height hampers deployment in residential settings. Several groups have proposed that artificial plants containing piezoelectric elements may harvest wind energy sufficient to contribute to a carbon-neutral energy economy. Here we measured energy conversion by cottonwood-inspired piezoelectric leaves, and by a "vertical flapping stalk"-the most efficient piezo-leaf previously reported. We emulated cottonwood for its unusually ordered, periodic flutter, properties conducive to piezo excitation. Integrated over 0°-90° (azimuthal) of incident airflow, cottonwood mimics outperformed the vertical flapping stalk, but they produced < daW per conceptualized tree. In contrast, a modest-sized cottonwood tree may dissipate ~ 80 W via leaf motion alone. A major limitation of piezo-transduction is charge generation, which scales with capacitance (area). We thus tested a rudimentary, cattail-inspired leaf with stacked elements wired in parallel. Power increased systematically with capacitance as expected, but extrapolation to acre-sized assemblages predicts < daW. Although our results suggest that present piezoelectric materials will not harvest mid-range power from botanic mimics of convenient size, recent developments in electrostriction and triboelectric systems may offer more fertile ground to further explore this concept.

  13. Low-energy hydrogen flux measurements at the TORTUR tokamak with negative ion conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Toledo, Wiebo van.

    1990-01-01

    The interaction of a tokamak plasma with the vessel wall is one of the most important subjects in thermonuclear research. The information about this interaction is not complete without direct detection of the outward stream of low-energy, down to a few electronvolts, neutral hydrogen or deuterium atoms. The detection of these atoms is the subject of this thesis. An appropriate method to analyse the atoms which are emitted from the edge plasma is to use a time-of-flight analyser. This kind of apparatus selects particles according to their velocities with-out distinguishing between different masses. If these analysers use the Daly-method the lowest measurable energy of the hydrogen atoms is approximately 25 electronvolts. To increase the detection efficiency a new detection method was developed. This new method uses the conversion of hydrogen atoms into H- ions on a cesiated tungsten surface. By this conversion the lowest measurable energy is decreased down to 5 electron-volt. (author). 93 refs.; 44 figs.; 7 tabs

  14. Gallium Nitride Direct Energy Conversion Betavoltaic Modeling and Optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-03-01

    power source. Autonomous systems such as space satellites require power sources that have strict size , weight, and power (SWaP) limitations, which...conversion process, called beta- photovoltaics , has a system efficiency that is dependent on both the conversion efficiency of the phosphor and the...effectively providing 9 J per day for autonomous systems . However, the volume for beta- photovoltaics is larger due to the need for phosphors to

  15. Space electric power design study. [laser energy conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martini, W. R.

    1976-01-01

    The conversion of laser energy to electrical energy is discussed. Heat engines in which the laser heats the gas inside the engine through a window as well as heat engines in which the gas is heated by a thermal energy storage reservoir which has been heated by laser radiation are both evaluated, as well as the necessary energy storage, transmission and conversion components needed for a full system. Preliminary system concepts are presented and a recommended development program is outlined. It appears possible that a free displacer Stirling engine operating directly a linear electric generator can convert 65% of the incident laser energy into electricity.

  16. Energy Conversion and Storage Requirements for Hybrid Electric Aircraft

    Science.gov (United States)

    Misra, Ajay

    2016-01-01

    Among various options for reducing greenhouse gases in future large commercial aircraft, hybrid electric option holds significant promise. In the hybrid electric aircraft concept, gas turbine engine is used in combination with an energy storage system to drive the fan that propels the aircraft, with gas turbine engine being used for certain segments of the flight cycle and energy storage system being used for other segments. The paper will provide an overview of various energy conversion and storage options for hybrid electric aircraft. Such options may include fuel cells, batteries, super capacitors, multifunctional structures with energy storage capability, thermoelectric, thermionic or a combination of any of these options. The energy conversion and storage requirements for hybrid electric aircraft will be presented. The role of materials in energy conversion and storage systems for hybrid electric aircraft will be discussed.

  17. Expansionary economic effects of energy conversion under stagnation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ono, Yoshiyasu

    2013-01-01

    After the Fukushima disaster, energy conversion such as nuclear power phaseout and deployment of renewable energy or survival of nuclear power had been actively argued pro and con. Both sides admitted extra costs were needed but their economic effects would be contrary dependent on business state. Under better economy, extra costs would be actual burden of total economy. Under stagnation as was long in Japan at present, extra costs brought about expansion of employment and economy with simulated consumption increase. Industry conversion would occur such industry intensively using power would depreciate and energy conserved industry would grow. Difference of power use intensity between industries made difficult in energy conversion because present Japanese industry constitution was mostly formed based on cheap power cost for industry use. Even taking account of international competition, the same would be true by adjusting finance balance sheet and currency exchange rate. (T. Tanaka)

  18. Solution combustion synthesis of metal oxide nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Fa-Tang; Ran, Jingrun; Jaroniec, Mietek; Qiao, Shi Zhang

    2015-10-01

    The design and synthesis of metal oxide nanomaterials is one of the key steps for achieving highly efficient energy conversion and storage on an industrial scale. Solution combustion synthesis (SCS) is a time- and energy-saving method as compared with other routes, especially for the preparation of complex oxides which can be easily adapted for scale-up applications. This review summarizes the synthesis of various metal oxide nanomaterials and their applications for energy conversion and storage, including lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors, hydrogen and methane production, fuel cells and solar cells. In particular, some novel concepts such as reverse support combustion, self-combustion of ionic liquids, and creation of oxygen vacancies are presented. SCS has some unique advantages such as its capability for in situ doping of oxides and construction of heterojunctions. The well-developed porosity and large specific surface area caused by gas evolution during the combustion process endow the resulting materials with exceptional properties. The relationship between the structural properties of the metal oxides studied and their performance is discussed. Finally, the conclusions and perspectives are briefly presented.

  19. Self-oscillating modulators for direct energy conversion audio power amplifiers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ljusev, P.; Andersen, Michael A.E.

    2005-07-01

    Direct energy conversion audio power amplifier represents total integration of switching-mode power supply and Class D audio power amplifier into one compact stage, achieving high efficiency, high level of integration, low component count and eventually low cost. This paper presents how self-oscillating modulators can be used with the direct switching-mode audio power amplifier to improve its performance by providing fast hysteretic control with high power supply rejection ratio, open-loop stability and high bandwidth. Its operation is thoroughly analyzed and simulated waveforms of a prototype amplifier are presented. (au)

  20. EPR's energy conversion system. Alstom's solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ledermann, P.

    2009-01-01

    ARABELLE steam turbines have been developed by Alstom to be used as the energy conversion system of light water reactors with high output power like the N4 PWR and the EPR. ARABELLE turbines cumulate 200.000 hours of service with a reliability ratio of 99.97 per cent. This series of slides presents the main features of the turbine including: the use of the simple flux, the very large shape of low pressure blades, the technology of welded rotors. The other main equipment like the alternator, the condenser, the moisture separator-reheaters, the circulating pumps that Alstom integrates in the energy conversion system have benefited with technological improvements that are also presented. (A.C.)

  1. Enhanced conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells using a CNT-incorporated TiO2 slurry-based photoanode

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiaoping Cai

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available A new titanium dioxide (TiO2 slurry formulation is herein reported for the fabrication of TiO2 photoanode for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs. The prepared TiO2 photoanode featured a highly uniform mesoporous structure with well-dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles. The energy conversion efficiency of the resulting TiO2 slurry-based DSSC was ∼63% higher than that achieved by a DSSC prepared using a commercial TiO2 slurry. Subsequently, the incorporation of acid-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs into the TiO2 slurry was examined. More specifically, the effect of varying the concentration of the CNTs in this slurry on the performance of the resulting DSSCs was studied. The chemical state of the CNTs-incorporated TiO2 photoanode was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A high energy conversion efficiency of 6.23% was obtained at an optimum CNT concentration of ∼0.06 wt.%. The obtained efficiency corresponds to a 63% enhancement when compared with that obtained from a DSSC based on a commercial TiO2 slurry. The higher efficiency was attributed to the improvement in the collection and transport of excited electrons in the presence of the CNTs.

  2. Enhanced conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells using a CNT-incorporated TiO2 slurry-based photoanode

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cai, Jiaoping; Chen, Zexiang; Li, Jun; Wang, Yan; Xiang, Dong; Zhang, Jijun; Li, Hai

    2015-02-01

    A new titanium dioxide (TiO2) slurry formulation is herein reported for the fabrication of TiO2 photoanode for use in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The prepared TiO2 photoanode featured a highly uniform mesoporous structure with well-dispersed TiO2 nanoparticles. The energy conversion efficiency of the resulting TiO2 slurry-based DSSC was ˜63% higher than that achieved by a DSSC prepared using a commercial TiO2 slurry. Subsequently, the incorporation of acid-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into the TiO2 slurry was examined. More specifically, the effect of varying the concentration of the CNTs in this slurry on the performance of the resulting DSSCs was studied. The chemical state of the CNTs-incorporated TiO2 photoanode was investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. A high energy conversion efficiency of 6.23% was obtained at an optimum CNT concentration of ˜0.06 wt.%. The obtained efficiency corresponds to a 63% enhancement when compared with that obtained from a DSSC based on a commercial TiO2 slurry. The higher efficiency was attributed to the improvement in the collection and transport of excited electrons in the presence of the CNTs.

  3. Energy conversion using hydrogen PEM fuel cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stoenescu, D.; Patularu, L.; Culcer, M.; Lazar, R.; Mirica, D.; Varlam, M.; Carcadea, E.; Stefanescu, I.

    2004-01-01

    It is well known that hydrogen is the most promising solution of future energy, both for long and medium term strategies. Hydrogen can be produced using many primary sources (naphthalene, natural gas, methanol, coal, biomass), solar cells power, etc. It can be burned or chemically reacted having a high yield of energy conversion and is a non-polluted fuel. This paper presents the results obtained by ICSI Rm. Valcea in an experimental-demonstrative conversion energy system consisting in a catalytic methane reforming plant for hydrogen production and three synthesis gas purification units in order to get pure hydrogen with a CO level lower than 10 ppm that finally feeds a hydrogen fuel stock. (authors)

  4. Plasmon-mediated Energy Conversion in Metal Nanoparticle-doped Hybrid Nanomaterials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dunklin, Jeremy R.

    Climate change and population growth demand long-term solutions for clean water and energy. Plasmon-active nanomaterials offer a promising route towards improved energetics for efficient chemical separation and light harvesting schemes. Two material platforms featuring highly absorptive plasmonic gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are advanced herein to maximize photon conversion into thermal or electronic energy. Optical extinction, attributable to diffraction-induced internal reflection, was enhanced up to 1.5-fold in three-dimensional polymer films containing AuNPs at interparticle separations approaching the resonant wavelength. Comprehensive methods developed to characterize heat dissipation following plasmonic absorption was extended beyond conventional optical and heat transfer descriptions, where good agreement was obtained between measured and estimated thermal profiles for AuNP-polymer dispersions. Concurrently, in situ reduction of AuNPs on two-dimensional semiconducting tungsten disulfide (WS2) addressed two current material limitations for efficient light harvesting: low monolayer content and lack of optoelectronic tunability. Order-of-magnitude increases in WS2 monolayer content, enhanced broadband optical extinction, and energetic electron injection were probed using a combination of spectroscopic techniques and continuum electromagnetic descriptions. Together, engineering these plasmon-mediated hybrid nanomaterials to facilitate local exchange of optical, thermal, and electronic energy supports design and implementation into several emerging sustainable water and energy applications.

  5. Comparison of wavelength conversion efficiency between silicon waveguide and microring resonator

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xiong, Meng; Ding, Yunhong; Ou, Haiyan

    2016-01-01

    Wavelength conversion based on degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) was demonstrated and compared between silicon nanowire and microring resonator (MRR). 15 dB enhancement of conversion efficiency (CE) with relatively low input pump power (5 mW) was achieved experimentally in an MRR. The impacts...

  6. Achieving affordable housing through energy efficiency strategy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Copiello, Sergio

    2015-01-01

    Cooperation between public and private sector has achieved a remarkable widespread, in the Italian context, over the last two decades. Nevertheless, the increasing difficulty in accessing the capital market and the rising cost of funding sources, both noticeable over the past few years, led to a slowdown of Public–Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives. Meanwhile, the community is expressing new needs to be satisfied, such as the conversion of brownfields, the recovery of housing stock dating back to former times, as well as the refurbishment of public offices or schools. Emerging priorities include the supply of affordable dwellings for low to medium income households. This essay aims to examine a case study in which PPP and buildings energy efficiency have been successfully combined, in order to jointly contribute to the achievement of a social housing settlement. Thanks to energy efficiency measures—concerning building envelope insulation, heating system and other installations—the agreed rent results far higher than social rent of protected tenancies, and furthermore above the range of fair rents characterising other regulated tenancies, but mildly lower than market rents. All this allows to achieve an equity yield rate satisfying from the perspective of a venture philanthropy investment. -- Highlights: •Provision of affordable dwellings is an emerging priority within Italian context. •Lack of public funds leads to promote Public–Private Partnership schemes. •Without public grants the adoption of a venture philanthropy approach is needed. •The examined case study allows to explain the role of buildings energy efficiency. •Buildings energy efficiency may boost feasibility of social housing transactions

  7. Luminescent GdVO_4:Sm"3"+ quantum dots enhance power conversion efficiency of bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells by Förster resonance energy transfer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bishnoi, Swati; Gupta, Vinay; Sharma, Gauri D.; Chand, Suresh; Sharma, Chhavi; Kumar, Mahesh; Haranath, D.; Naqvi, Sheerin

    2016-01-01

    In this work, we report enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) of bulk heterojunction polymer solar cells by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from samarium-doped luminescent gadolinium orthovanadate (GdVO_4:Sm"3"+) quantum dots (QDs) to polythieno[3,4-b]-thiophene-co-benzodithiophene (PTB7) polymer. The photoluminescence emission spectrum of GdVO_4:Sm"3"+ QDs overlaps with the absorption spectrum of PTB7, leading to FRET from GdVO_4:Sm"3"+ to PTB7, and significant enhancements in the charge-carrier density of excited and polaronic states of PTB7 are observed. This was confirmed by means of femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. The FRET from GdVO_4:Sm"3"+ QDs to PTB7 led to a remarkable increase in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PTB7:GdVO_4:Sm"3"+:PC_7_1BM ([6,6]-phenyl-C_7_1-butyric acid methyl ester) polymer solar cells. The PCE in optimized ternary blend PTB7:GdVO_4:Sm"3"+:PC_7_1BM (1:0.1:1.5) is increased to 8.8% from 7.2% in PTB7:PC_7_1BM. This work demonstrates the potential of rare-earth based luminescent QDs in enhancing the PCE of polymer solar cells.

  8. Energy conversion of orbital motions in gravitational waves: Simulation and test of the Seaspoon wave energy converter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Fresco, L.; Traverso, A.

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • We investigate an innovative wave energy converter. • We study a robust technology derived from wind power sector. • We increased the performance of a drag type rotor exploiting the motion of ocean waves and a simple flat plate component. • We proved the working principle with a numerical model first and with experimental test in wave flume later. • We aim to obtain a robust large energy harvester able to operate in mild energy sea and with an extended operating range. - Abstract: The conversion of ocean wave power into sustainable electrical power represents a major opportunity to Nations endowed with such a kind of resource. At the present time the most of the technological innovations aiming at converting such resources are at early stage of development, with only a handful of devices close to be at the commercial demonstration stage. The Seaspoon device, thought as a large energy harvester, catches the kinetic energy of ocean waves with promising conversion efficiency, and robust technology, according to specific “wave-motion climate”. University of Genoa aims to develop a prototype to be deployed in medium average energy content seas (i.e. Mediterranean or Eastern Asia seas). This paper presents the first simulation and experimental results carried out on a reduced scale proof-of-concept model tested in the laboratory wave flume

  9. Novel Integration of Perovskite Solar Cell and Supercapacitor Based on Carbon Electrode for Hybridizing Energy Conversion and Storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zhiyong; Zhong, Yan; Sun, Bo; Liu, Xingyue; Han, Jinghui; Shi, Tielin; Tang, Zirong; Liao, Guanglan

    2017-07-12

    Power packs integrating both photovoltaic parts and energy storage parts have gained great scientific and technological attention due to the increasing demand for green energy and the tendency for miniaturization and multifunctionalization in electronics industry. In this study, we demonstrate novel integration of perovskite solar cell and solid-state supercapacitor for power packs. The perovskite solar cell is integrated with the supercapacitor based on common carbon electrodes to hybridize photoelectric conversion and energy storage. The power pack achieves a voltage of 0.84 V when the supercapacitor is charged by the perovskite solar cell under the AM 1.5G white light illumination with a 0.071 cm 2 active area, reaching an energy storage proportion of 76% and an overall conversion efficiency of 5.26%. When the supercapacitor is precharged at 1.0 V, an instant overall output efficiency of 22.9% can be achieved if the perovskite solar cell and supercapacitor are connected in series, exhibiting great potential in the applications of solar energy storage and flexible electronics such as portable and wearable devices.

  10. FY 2000 report on the survey of the calculation of the overall conversion efficiency in case of using natural gas for fuel cells, etc.; 2000 nendo chosa hokokusho. Tennengas wo nenryodenchi ni mochiita baai no sogo henkan koritsu no santei ni kansuru chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2001-03-01

    For the purpose of evaluating the efficiency of fuel cell including the fuel supply system, survey was made of drilling of gas resource, conversion to liquid base fuel, transportation, storage, etc., the energy conversion efficiency was studied considering reforming characteristics of various fuels. In the comparison between LNG, methanol, DME and GTL that originate in natural gas and LPG and naphtha that originate in oil, a big difference is that methanol, DME and GTL were made through the conversion process with the large energy consumption. Namely, by the time before the reforming into hydrogen, the oil base indicated a higher efficiency in secondary energy fuel production than the natural gas base. Further, the reforming efficiency is the highest in methanol and DME, and there is a little difference between the integrated fuel cell (normal pressure) and the hydrogen production use fuel cell (pressurized). Concerning city gas and GTL, the efficiency is lower, affected by S/C. The overall efficiency is determined considering the conversion efficiency in other stages since it is determined by the conversion efficiency of up to the raw fuel and the energy conversion efficiency at PEFC. (NEDO)

  11. Compact energy conversion module, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This STTR project delivers a compact vibration-based Energy Conversion Module (ECM) that powers sensors for purposes like structural health monitoring (SHM). NASA...

  12. Energy efficiency in the British housing stock: Energy demand and the Homes Energy Efficiency Database

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, Ian G.; Steadman, Philip J.; Bruhns, Harry; Summerfield, Alex J.; Lowe, Robert

    2013-01-01

    The UK Government has unveiled an ambitious retrofit programme that seeks significant improvement to the energy efficiency of the housing stock. High quality data on the energy efficiency of buildings and their related energy demand is critical to supporting and targeting investment in energy efficiency. Using existing home improvement programmes over the past 15 years, the UK Government has brought together data on energy efficiency retrofits in approximately 13 million homes into the Homes Energy Efficiency Database (HEED), along with annual metered gas and electricity use for the period of 2004–2007. This paper describes the HEED sample and assesses its representativeness in terms of dwelling characteristics, the energy demand of different energy performance levels using linked gas and electricity meter data, along with an analysis of the impact retrofit measures has on energy demand. Energy savings are shown to be associated with the installation of loft and cavity insulation, and glazing and boiler replacement. The analysis illustrates this source of ‘in-action’ data can be used to provide empirical estimates of impacts of energy efficiency retrofit on energy demand and provides a source of empirical data from which to support the development of national housing energy efficiency retrofit policies. - Highlights: • The energy efficiency level for 50% of the British housing stock is described. • Energy demand is influenced by size and age and energy performance. • Housing retrofits (e.g. cavity insulation, glazing and boiler replacements) save energy. • Historic differences in energy performance show persistent long-term energy savings

  13. Renewable energy sources: Energy Efficiency Agency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bulgarensky, Mihael

    2004-01-01

    The paper presents the activities of the Energy Efficiency Agency, its main functions, as well as the new legislation stimulating the use of RES, stipulated in the new Energy Law of Bulgaria. The second part of the paper describes the potential of renewable energy in i.e. wind energy; solar energy; biomass energy; hydro energy; geothermal energy; draft of a National Program on RES 2005-2015. The third part describes the main issues of the new ENERGY EFFICIENCY LAW and the established Energy efficiency fund. (Author)

  14. Energy Efficiency Collaboratives

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Michael [US Department of Energy, Washington, DC (United States); Bryson, Joe [US Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC (United States)

    2015-09-01

    Collaboratives for energy efficiency have a long and successful history and are currently used, in some form, in more than half of the states. Historically, many state utility commissions have used some form of collaborative group process to resolve complex issues that emerge during a rate proceeding. Rather than debate the issues through the formality of a commission proceeding, disagreeing parties are sent to discuss issues in a less-formal setting and bring back resolutions to the commission. Energy efficiency collaboratives take this concept and apply it specifically to energy efficiency programs—often in anticipation of future issues as opposed to reacting to a present disagreement. Energy efficiency collaboratives can operate long term and can address the full suite of issues associated with designing, implementing, and improving energy efficiency programs. Collaboratives can be useful to gather stakeholder input on changing program budgets and program changes in response to performance or market shifts, as well as to provide continuity while regulators come and go, identify additional energy efficiency opportunities and innovations, assess the role of energy efficiency in new regulatory contexts, and draw on lessons learned and best practices from a diverse group. Details about specific collaboratives in the United States are in the appendix to this guide. Collectively, they demonstrate the value of collaborative stakeholder processes in producing successful energy efficiency programs.

  15. Compact Energy Conversion Module, Phase II

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This STTR project delivers a compact vibration-based Energy Conversion Module (ECM) that powers sensors for purposes such as structural health monitoring (SHM). NASA...

  16. NASA-OAST photovoltaic energy conversion program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mullin, J. P.; Loria, J. C.

    1984-01-01

    The NASA program in photovoltaic energy conversion research is discussed. Solar cells, solar arrays, gallium arsenides, space station and spacecraft power supplies, and state of the art devices are discussed.

  17. Robust Sliding Mode Control of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator-Based Wind Energy Conversion Systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guangping Zhuo

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The subject of this paper pertains to sliding mode control and its application in nonlinear electrical power systems as seen in wind energy conversion systems. Due to the robustness in dealing with unmodeled system dynamics, sliding mode control has been widely used in electrical power system applications. This paper presents first and high order sliding mode control schemes for permanent magnet synchronous generator-based wind energy conversion systems. The application of these methods for control using dynamic models of the d-axis and q-axis currents, as well as those of the high speed shaft rotational speed show a high level of efficiency in power extraction from a varying wind resource. Computer simulation results have shown the efficacy of the proposed sliding mode control approaches.

  18. Air Turbines for Wave Energy Conversion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manabu Takao

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the present status of the art on air turbines, which could be used for wave energy conversion. The air turbines included in the paper are as follows: Wells type turbines, impulse turbines, radial turbines, cross-flow turbine, and Savonius turbine. The overall performances of the turbines under irregular wave conditions, which typically occur in the sea, have been compared by numerical simulation and sea trial. As a result, under irregular wave conditions it is found that the running and starting characteristics of the impulse type turbines could be superior to those of the Wells turbine. Moreover, as the current challenge on turbine technology, the authors explain a twin-impulse turbine topology for wave energy conversion.

  19. The influence of tetrapod-like ZnO morphology and electrolytes on energy conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Chia-Hua; Chiu, Wei-Hao; Lee, Kun-Mu; Yen, Wen-Hsiang; Lin, Hsiu-Fen; Hsieh, Wen-Feng; Wu, Jenn-Ming

    2010-01-01

    Tetrapod-like ZnO nanostructures prepared by dc plasma technology were used as photoelectrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Each of the tetrapod-like ZnO possesses four extended arms that offer improved electron transport properties. Tetrapod-like ZnO with short (S-ZnO) and long arms (L-ZnO) were synthesized by controlling the plasma gas flow and the input power. Between these two tetrapod-like ZnO nanopowders, the DSSCs using S-ZnO showed higher energy conversion efficiency than using L-ZnO. This is due to the resulting increase in dye adsorption and enhanced short-circuit current density, using S-ZnO. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) shows that the properties of electron transport of S-ZnO are superior to that of the L-ZnO. We investigated the effect of the redox electrolytes (I 2 ) and the additives (LiI and TBP) on the performance of the DSSCs by intensity-modulated photovoltage spectroscopy and EIS.

  20. Role of Bioreactors in Microbial Biomass and Energy Conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Liang [Chongqing University, Chongqing, China; Zhang, Biao [Chongqing University, Chongqing, China; Zhu, Xun [Chongqing University, Chongqing, China; Chang, Haixing [Chongqing University of Technology; Ou, Shawn [ORNL; Wang, HONG [Chongqing University, Chongqing, China

    2018-04-01

    Bioenergy is the world’s largest contributor to the renewable and sustainable energy sector, and it plays a significant role in various energy industries. A large amount of research has contributed to the rapidly evolving field of bioenergy and one of the most important topics is the use of the bioreactor. Bioreactors play a critical role in the successful development of technologies for microbial biomass cultivation and energy conversion. In this chapter, after a brief introduction to bioreactors (basic concepts, configurations, functions, and influencing factors), the applications of the bioreactor in microbial biomass, microbial biofuel conversion, and microbial electrochemical systems are described. Importantly, the role and significance of the bioreactor in the bioenergy process are discussed to provide a better understanding of the use of bioreactors in managing microbial biomass and energy conversion.

  1. Energy efficiency improvement and cost saving opportunities forpetroleum refineries

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Worrell, Ernst; Galitsky, Christina

    2005-02-15

    The petroleum refining industry in the United States is the largest in the world, providing inputs to virtually any economic sector,including the transport sector and the chemical industry. The industry operates 146 refineries (as of January 2004) around the country,employing over 65,000 employees. The refining industry produces a mix of products with a total value exceeding $151 billion. Refineries spend typically 50 percent of cash operating costs (i.e., excluding capital costs and depreciation) on energy, making energy a major cost factor and also an important opportunity for cost reduction. Energy use is also a major source of emissions in the refinery industry making energy efficiency improvement an attractive opportunity to reduce emissions and operating costs. Voluntary government programs aim to assist industry to improve competitiveness through increased energy efficiency and reduced environmental impact. ENERGY STAR (R), a voluntary program managed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stresses the need for strong and strategic corporate energy management programs. ENERGY STAR provides energy management tools and strategies for successful corporate energy management programs. This Energy Guide describes research conducted to support ENERGY STAR and its work with the petroleum refining industry.This research provides information on potential energy efficiency opportunities for petroleum refineries. This Energy Guide introduces energy efficiency opportunities available for petroleum refineries. It begins with descriptions of the trends, structure, and production of the refining industry and the energy used in the refining and conversion processes. Specific energy savings for each energy efficiency measure based on case studies of plants and references to technical literature are provided. If available, typical payback periods are also listed. The Energy Guide draws upon the experiences with energy efficiency measures of petroleum refineries worldwide

  2. Design of a Highly Stable, High-Conversion-Efficiency, Optical Parametric Chirped-Pulse Amplification System with Good Beam Quality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Guardalben, M.J.; Keegan, J.; Waxer, L.J.; Bagnoud, V.; Begishev, I.A.; Puth, J.; Zuegel, J.D.

    2003-01-01

    OAK B204 An optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) design that provides 40% pump-to-signal conversion efficiency and over-500-mJ signal energy at 1054 nm for front-end injection into a Nd:glass amplifier chain is presented. This OPCPA system is currently being built as the prototype front end for the OMEGA EP (extended performance) laser system at the University of Rochester's Laboratory for Laser Energetics. Using a three-dimensional spatial and temporal numerical model, several design considerations necessary to achieve high conversion efficiency, good output stability, and good beam quality are discussed. The dependence of OPCPA output on the pump beam's spatiotemporal shape and the relative size of seed and pump beams is described. This includes the effects of pump intensity modulation and pump-signal walk-off. The trade-off among efficiency, stability, and low output beam intensity modulation is discussed

  3. Electromagnetic wave energy conversion research

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bailey, R. L.; Callahan, P. S.

    1975-01-01

    Known electromagnetic wave absorbing structures found in nature were first studied for clues of how one might later design large area man-made radiant-electric converters. This led to the study of the electro-optics of insect dielectric antennae. Insights were achieved into how these antennae probably operate in the infrared 7-14um range. EWEC theoretical models and relevant cases were concisely formulated and justified for metal and dielectric absorber materials. Finding the electromagnetic field solutions to these models is a problem not yet solved. A rough estimate of losses in metal, solid dielectric, and hollow dielectric waveguides indicates future radiant-electric EWEC research should aim toward dielectric materials for maximum conversion efficiency. It was also found that the absorber bandwidth is a theoretical limitation on radiant-electric conversion efficiency. Ideally, the absorbers' wavelength would be centered on the irradiating spectrum and have the same bandwith as the irradiating wave. The EWEC concept appears to have a valid scientific basis, but considerable more research is needed before it is thoroughly understood, especially for the complex randomly polarized, wide band, phase incoherent spectrum of the sun. Specific recommended research areas are identified.

  4. Embedded vertically aligned cadmium telluride nanorod arrays grown by one-step electrodeposition for enhanced energy conversion efficiency in three-dimensional nanostructured solar cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jun; Liu, Shurong; Mu, Yannan; Liu, Li; A, Runa; Yang, Jiandong; Zhu, Guijie; Meng, Xianwei; Fu, Wuyou; Yang, Haibin

    2017-11-01

    Vertically aligned CdTe nanorods (NRs) arrays are successfully grown by a simple one-step and template-free electrodeposition method, and then embedded in the CdS window layer to form a novel three-dimensional (3D) heterostructure on flexible substrates. The parameters of electrodeposition such as deposition potential and pH of the solution are varied to analyze their important role in the formation of high quality CdTe NRs arrays. The photovoltaic conversion efficiency of the solar cell based on the 3D heterojunction structure is studied in detail. In comparison with the standard planar heterojunction solar cell, the 3D heterojunction solar cell exhibits better photovoltaic performance, which can be attributed to its enhanced optical absorption ability, increased heterojunction area and improved charge carrier transport. The better photoelectric property of the 3D heterojunction solar cell suggests great application potential in thin film solar cells, and the simple electrodeposition process represents a promising technique for large-scale fabrication of other nanostructured solar energy conversion devices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Effects of radiation transport on mass ablation rate and conversion efficiency in numerical simulations of inertial confinement fusion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gupta, N.K.

    2002-01-01

    The effects of radiation transport on hydrodynamic parameters of laser produced plasmas are studied. LTE and non-LTE atomic models are used to calculate multi group opacities and emissivities. Screened hydrogenic atom model is used to calculate the energy levels. The population densities of neutral to fully ionized ions are obtained by solving the steady state rate equations. Radiation transport is treated in multi-group diffusion or Sn method. A comparison is made between 1 and 100 group radiation transport and LTE and non-LTE models. For aluminium, multi group radiation transport leads to much higher mass ablation as compared to the 1 group and no radiation transport cases. This in turn leads to higher ablation pressures. However, for gold gray approximation gives higher mass ablation as compared to multi group simulations. LTE conversion efficiency of laser light into x-rays is more than the non-LTE estimates. For LTE as well as non-LTE cases, the one group approximation over-predicts the conversion efficiency Multi group non-LTE simulations predict that the conversion efficiency increases with laser intensity up to a maximum and then it decreases. (author)

  6. Solar Power in the European Context: Conversion Efficiency and the Issue of Carbon

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Henrique Silva Pacini Costa

    2009-04-01

    Full Text Available The European Union is committed to increasing the use of renewable energies across Europe. One of the ways this is to be done is through the promotion of solar photovoltaics (PV, a method with significant environmental benefits. However, the high costs of electricity generated through PV have constrained the market reach of this option. This paper takes the form of a policy discussion, analyzing the fundamental issues concerning this type of energy, and its place in the European alternative energy market. Furthermore, a scenario is drafted to estimate how efficient solar panels should ideally be to make electricity produced by them cost-competitive with conventional, grid-tied energy sources. The study considers both a conventional scenario and another, with carbon capture costs incorporated into the final electricity prices. It is observed that in order to be competitive with conventional fossil-based electricity, photovoltaic conversion efficiencies should be around 34%. Incorporating carbon costs would further help promote solar PV, making it more price-attractive compared to emission-intensive electricity generation based on fossil fuels. The final part of the paper sheds light on the new developments on European PV, mainly in regards to the 2008 European Commission Climate Change Package, its implications and reactions from the industry.

  7. Photon energy conversion by near-zero permittivity nonlinear materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luk, Ting S.; Sinclair, Michael B.; Campione, Salvatore

    2017-12-19

    Efficient harmonic light generation can be achieved with ultrathin films by coupling an incident pump wave to an epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) mode of the thin film. As an example, efficient third harmonic generation from an indium tin oxide nanofilm (.lamda./42 thick) on a glass substrate for a pump wavelength of 1.4 .mu.m was demonstrated. A conversion efficiency of 3.3.times.10.sup.-6 was achieved by exploiting the field enhancement properties of the ENZ mode with an enhancement factor of 200. This nanoscale frequency conversion method is applicable to other plasmonic materials and reststrahlen materials in proximity of the longitudinal optical phonon frequencies.

  8. Dynamic modeling and sensitivity analysis of solar thermal energy conversion systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamilton, C. L.

    1977-01-01

    Since the energy input to solar thermal conversion systems is both time variant and probabilistic, it is unlikely that simple steady-state methods for estimating lifetime performance will provide satisfactory results. The work described here uses dynamic modeling to begin identifying what must be known about input radiation and system dynamic characteristics to estimate performance reliably. Daily operation of two conceptual solar energy systems was simulated under varying operating strategies with time-dependent radiation intensity ranging from smooth input of several magnitudes to input of constant total energy whose intensity oscillated with periods from 1/4 hour to 6 hours. Integrated daily system output and efficiency were functions of both level and dynamic characteristics of insolation. Sensitivity of output to changes in total input was greater than one.

  9. Performance of conversion efficiency of a crystalline silicon solar cell with base doping density

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gokhan Sahin

    Full Text Available In this study, we investigate theoretically the electrical parameters of a crystalline silicon solar cell in steady state. Based on a one-dimensional modeling of the cell, the short circuit current density, the open circuit voltage, the shunt and series resistances and the conversion efficiency are calculated, taking into account the base doping density. Either the I-V characteristic, series resistance, shunt resistance and conversion efficiency are determined and studied versus base doping density. The effects applied of base doping density on these parameters have been studied. The aim of this work is to show how short circuit current density, open circuit voltage and parasitic resistances are related to the base doping density and to exhibit the role played by those parasitic resistances on the conversion efficiency of the crystalline silicon solar. Keywords: Crystalline silicon solar cell, Base doping density, Series resistance, Shunt resistance, Conversion efficiency

  10. Energy Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Hybrid Conversion of Inland Passenger Vessel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Litwin Wojciech

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The development and growing availability of modern technologies, along with more and more severe environment protection standards which frequently take a form of legal regulations, are the reason why attempts are made to find a quiet and economical propulsion system not only for newly built watercraft units, but also for modernised ones. Correct selection of the propulsion and supply system for a given vessel affects significantly not only the energy efficiency of the propulsions system but also the environment - as this selection is crucial for the noise and exhaust emission levels. The paper presents results of experimental examination of ship power demand performed on a historic passenger ship of 25 m in length. Two variants, referred to as serial and parallel hybrid propulsion systems, were examined with respect to the maximum length of the single-day route covered by the ship. The recorded power demands and environmental impact were compared with those characteristic for the already installed conventional propulsion system. Taking into account a high safety level expected to be ensured on a passenger ship, the serial hybrid system was based on two electric motors working in parallel and supplied from two separate sets of batteries. This solution ensures higher reliability, along with relatively high energy efficiency. The results of the performed examination have revealed that the serial propulsion system is the least harmful to the environment, but its investment cost is the highest. In this context, the optimum solution for the ship owner seems to be a parallel hybrid system of diesel-electric type

  11. In silico designing of power conversion efficient organic lead dyes for solar cells using todays innovative approaches to assure renewable energy for future

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kar, Supratik; Roy, Juganta K.; Leszczynski, Jerzy

    2017-06-01

    Advances in solar cell technology require designing of new organic dye sensitizers for dye-sensitized solar cells with high power conversion efficiency to circumvent the disadvantages of silicon-based solar cells. In silico studies including quantitative structure-property relationship analysis combined with quantum chemical analysis were employed to understand the primary electron transfer mechanism and photo-physical properties of 273 arylamine organic dyes from 11 diverse chemical families explicit to iodine electrolyte. The direct quantitative structure-property relationship models enable identification of the essential electronic and structural attributes necessary for quantifying the molecular prerequisites of 11 classes of arylamine organic dyes, responsible for high power conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cells. Tetrahydroquinoline, N,N'-dialkylaniline and indoline have been least explored classes under arylamine organic dyes for dye-sensitized solar cells. Therefore, the identified properties from the corresponding quantitative structure-property relationship models of the mentioned classes were employed in designing of "lead dyes". Followed by, a series of electrochemical and photo-physical parameters were computed for designed dyes to check the required variables for electron flow of dye-sensitized solar cells. The combined computational techniques yielded seven promising lead dyes each for all three chemical classes considered. Significant (130, 183, and 46%) increment in predicted %power conversion efficiency was observed comparing with the existing dye with highest experimental %power conversion efficiency value for tetrahydroquinoline, N,N'-dialkylaniline and indoline, respectively maintaining required electrochemical parameters.

  12. High Excitation Transfer Efficiency from Energy Relay Dyes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

    KAUST Repository

    Hardin, Brian E.; Yum, Jun-Ho; Hoke, Eric T.; Jun, Young Chul; Péchy, Peter; Torres, Tomás; Brongersma, Mark L.; Nazeeruddin, Md. Khaja; Grätzel, Michael; McGehee, Michael D.

    2010-01-01

    The energy relay dye, 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4- dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), was used with a near-infrared sensitizing dye, TT1, to increase the overall power conversion efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) from 3

  13. Conversion of thermall energy to mechanical work in the oscillations with steam condensation in pool water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aya, Izuo; Nariai, Hideki.

    1988-01-01

    Pressure and fluid oscillations with steam injection into pool water were discussed from the view point of the conversion of thermal energy into mechanical work. When the change of fluid state moves clockwise in the p-V diagram, the oscillation sustains since the thermal energy changes into positive work. The equations difining the mechanical work at the condensation oscillations were presented. The oscillation threshold determined by the condition that mechanical work became zero, coincided with the values derived by the linear oscillation theory. The changes of pressure and specific volume during chugging were also shown with one dimensional simulation analysis. The p-V diagrams at various chugging modes were presented with the movement of steam water interface, and the conversion efficiency of thermal energy to mechanical work was also discussed. (author)

  14. Methods for locating ground faults and insulation degradation condition in energy conversion systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agamy, Mohamed; Elasser, Ahmed; Galbraith, Anthony William; Harfman Todorovic, Maja

    2015-08-11

    Methods for determining a ground fault or insulation degradation condition within energy conversion systems are described. A method for determining a ground fault within an energy conversion system may include, in part, a comparison of baseline waveform of differential current to a waveform of differential current during operation for a plurality of DC current carrying conductors in an energy conversion system. A method for determining insulation degradation within an energy conversion system may include, in part, a comparison of baseline frequency spectra of differential current to a frequency spectra of differential current transient at start-up for a plurality of DC current carrying conductors in an energy conversion system. In one embodiment, the energy conversion system may be a photovoltaic system.

  15. Demonstrating Energy Conversion with Piezoelectric Crystals and a Paddle Fan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rakbamrung, Prissana; Putson, Chatchai; Muensit, Nantakan

    2014-01-01

    A simple energy conversion system--particularly, the conversion of mechanical energy into electrical energy by using shaker flashlights--has recently been presented. This system uses hand generators, consisting of a magnet in a tube with a coil wrapped around it, and acts as an ac source when the magnet passes back and forth through the coil.…

  16. Optimal Materials and Deposition Technique Lead to Cost-Effective Solar Cell with Best-Ever Conversion Efficiency (Fact Sheet)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2012-07-01

    This fact sheet describes how the SJ3 solar cell was invented, explains how the technology works, and why it won an R&D 100 Award. Based on NREL and Solar Junction technology, the commercial SJ3 concentrator solar cell - with 43.5% conversion efficiency at 418 suns - uses a lattice-matched multijunction architecture that has near-term potential for cells with {approx}50% efficiency. Multijunction solar cells have higher conversion efficiencies than any other type of solar cell. But developers of utility-scale and space applications crave even better efficiencies at lower costs to be both cost-effective and able to meet the demand for power. The SJ3 multijunction cell, developed by Solar Junction with assistance from foundational technological advances by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has the highest efficiency to date - almost 2% absolute more than the current industry standard multijunction cell-yet at a comparable cost. So what did it take to create this cell having 43.5% efficiency at 418-sun concentration? A combination of materials with carefully designed properties, a manufacturing technique allowing precise control, and an optimized device design.

  17. Study on Millimeter-Wave Vivaldi Rectenna and Arrays with High Conversion Efficiency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Guan-Nan Tan

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available A novel Vivaldi rectenna operated at 35 GHz with high millimeter wave to direct current (MMW-to-DC conversion efficiency is presented and the arrays are investigated. The measured conversion efficiency is 51.6% at 35 GHz and the efficiency higher than 30% is from 33.2 GHz to 36.6 GHz when the input MMW power is 79.4 mW. The receiving Vivaldi antenna loaded with metamaterial units has a high gain of 10.4 dBi at 35 GHz. A SIW- (substrate integrated waveguide- to-microstrip transition is designed not only to integrate the antenna with the rectifying circuit directly but also to provide the DC bypass for the rectifying circuit. When the power density is 8.7 mW/cm2, the received MMW power of the antenna is 5.6 mW, and the maximum conversion efficiency of the rectenna element is 31.5%. The output DC voltage of the element is nearly the same as that of the parallel array and is about half of the series array. The DC power obtained by the 1 × 2 rectenna arrays is about two times as much as that of the element. The conversion efficiencies of the arrays are very close to that of the element. Large scale arrays could be expended for collecting more DC power.

  18. Corrosion and biofouling on the non-heat-exchanger surfaces of an ocean thermal energy conversion power plant: a survey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Castelli, V.J. (ed.)

    1979-05-01

    Of the many foreseeable problems confronting economical ocean thermal energy conversion operation, two major items are the deterioration of the structural and functional components, which prevents efficient operation, and the biofouling of the surfaces, which adds excess weight to the floating ocean platform. The techniques required for effective long-term control of deterioration and corrosion have been investigated actively for many years, and successful solutions for most situations have been developed. For the most part, these solutions can be directly transferred to the ocean thermal energy conversion plant. The majority of problems in these areas are expected to be associated with scale-up and will require some advanced development due to the immensity of the ocean thermal energy conversion platform. Current antifouling control systems are not effective for long-term fouling prevention. Commercially available antifouling coatings are limited to a 3-year service life in temperate waters, and even shorter in tropical waters. However, underwater cleaning techniques and some fouling-control systems presently being used by conventional power plants may find utility on an ocean thermal energy conversion plant. In addition, some recent major advances in long-term antifouling coatings sponsored by the Navy may be applicable to ocean thermal energy conversion. 132 references.

  19. Energy-Efficient Capacitance-to-Digital Converters for Smart Sensor Applications

    KAUST Repository

    Alhoshany, Abdulaziz

    2017-12-01

    One of the key requirements in the design of wireless sensor nodes and miniature biomedical devices is energy efficiency. For a sensor node, which is a sensor and readout circuit, to survive on limited energy sources such as a battery or harvested energy, its energy consumption should be minimized. Capacitive sensors are candidates for use in energy-constrained applications, as they do not consume static power and can be used in a wide range of applications to measure different physical, chemical or biological quantities. However, the energy consumption is dominated by the capacitive interface circuit, i.e. the capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC). Several energy-efficient CDC architectures are introduced in this dissertation to meet the demand for high resolution and energy efficiency in smart capacitive sensors. First, we propose an energy-efficient CDC based on a differential successive-approximation data converter. The proposed differential CDC employs an energy-efficient operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) based on an inverter. A wide capacitance range with fine absolute resolution is implemented in the proposed coarse-fine DAC architecture which saves 89% of silicon area. The proposed CDC achieves an energy efficiency figure-of-merit () of 45.8fJ/step, which is the best reported energy efficiency to date. Second, we propose an energy efficient CDC for high-precision capacitive resolution by using oversampling and noise shaping. The proposed CDC achieves 150 aF absolute resolution and an energy efficiency of 187fJ/conversion-step which outperforms state of the art high-precision differential CDCs. In the third and last part, we propose an in-vitro cancer diagnostic biosensor-CMOS platform for low-power, rapid detection, and low cost. The introduced platform is the first to demonstrate the ability to screen and quantify the spermidine/spermine N1 acetyltransferase (SSAT) enzyme which reveals the presence of early-stage cancer, on the surface of a

  20. Conversion Efficiency of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Into Acacia mearnsii Biomass

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elder Eloy

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT The objective of this experiment was to determine the conversion efficiency of intercepted photosynthetically active radiation into biomass of Acacia mearnsii De Wild. seedlings. A forest species, plastic tubes (90 cm3, and 11 evaluation periods (up to 180 days after emergence were used in this study. The leaf area index (LAI, total dry biomass (BIO, global solar radiation (GSR, cumulative intercepted photosynthetically active radiation (PARic, and conversion efficiency of radiation (εb were determined using a pyranometer (LI200X, LICOR. The value of εb in BIO seedlings of Acacia mearnsii was 7.76 g MJ-1. LAI was directly related to the efficiency of PARic, and this influenced the development, production potential and accumulation of BIO. The value of GSR flow was 11.81 MJ m-2 day-1, while the value inside the greenhouse was 6.26 MJ m-2 day-1.

  1. Reconsidering energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goldoni, Giovanni

    2007-01-01

    Energy and environmental policies are reconsidering energy efficiency. In a perfect market, rational and well informed consumers reach economic efficiency which, at the given prices of energy and capital, corresponds to physical efficiency. In the real world, market failures and cognitive frictions distort the consumers from perfectly rational and informed choices. Green incentive schemes aim at balancing market failures and directing consumers toward more efficient goods and services. The problem is to fine tune the incentive schemes [it

  2. High Excitation Transfer Efficiency from Energy Relay Dyes in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

    KAUST Repository

    Hardin, Brian E.

    2010-08-11

    The energy relay dye, 4-(Dicyanomethylene)-2-methyl-6-(4- dimethylaminostyryl)-4H-pyran (DCM), was used with a near-infrared sensitizing dye, TT1, to increase the overall power conversion efficiency of a dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) from 3.5% to 4.5%. The unattached DCM dyes exhibit an average excitation transfer efficiency (EÌ?TE) of 96% inside TT1-covered, mesostructured TiO2 films. Further performance increases were limited by the solubility of DCM in an acetonitrile based electrolyte. This demonstration shows that energy relay dyes can be efficiently implemented in optimized dye-sensitized solar cells, but also highlights the need to design highly soluble energy relay dyes with high molar extinction coefficients. © 2010 American Chemical Society.

  3. Analyses of electromagnetic and piezoelectric systems for efficient vibration energy harvesting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadas, Z.; Smilek, J.; Rubes, O.

    2017-05-01

    The paper deals with analyses and evaluation of vibration energy harvesting systems which are based on electromagnetic and piezoelectric physical principles off electro-mechanical conversion. Energy harvesting systems are associated with wireless sensors and a monitoring of engineering objects. The most of engineering objects operate with unwanted mechanical vibrations. However, vibrations could provide an ambient source of energy which is converted into useful electricity. The use of electromagnetic and piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters is analyzed in this paper. Thee evaluated output power is used for a choice of the efficient system with respect to the character of vibrations and thee required power output.

  4. Energy conversion processes for the use of geothermal heat

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Minder, R. [Minder Energy Consulting, Oberlunkhofen (Switzerland); Koedel, J.; Schaedle, K.-H.; Ramsel, K. [Gruneko AG, Basel (Switzerland); Girardin, L.; Marechal, F. [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), Laboratory for industrial energy systems (LENI), Lausanne (Switzerland)

    2007-03-15

    This comprehensive final report for the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) presents the results of a study made on energy conversion processes that can be used when geothermal heat is to be used. The study deals with both theoretical and practical aspects of the conversion of geothermal heat to electricity. The report is divided into several parts and covers general study, practical experience, planning and operation of geothermal power plants as well as methodology for the optimal integration of energy conversion systems in geothermal power plants. In the first part, the specific properties and characteristics of geothermal resources are discussed. Also, a general survey of conversion processes is presented with special emphasis on thermo-electric conversion. The second part deals with practical aspects related to planning, construction and operation of geothermal power plant. Technical basics, such as relevant site-specific conditions, drilling techniques, thermal water or brine quality and materials requirements. Further, planning procedures are discussed. Also, operation and maintenance aspects are examined and some basic information on costs is presented. The third part of the report presents the methodology and results for the optimal valorisation of the thermodynamic potential of deep geothermal systems.

  5. Determination of the nuclear induced electrical conductivity of 3He for magnetohydrodynamic energy conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bitteker, L.; Scheuer, J.; Howe, S.

    1996-01-01

    This is the final report for a one-year, Laboratory-Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The continual need for more efficient, high-output energy conversion techniques has renewed interest in nuclear-driven magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) energy conversion. To provide the fundamental knowledge required to evaluate the potential value of this concept, a one-year project aimed at measuring the nuclear-induced electrical conductivity of a 3 He/ 4 He gas mixture under thermodynamic conditions consistent with the MHD flow conditions was carried out. The range of bulk gas conditions to be considered were: pressure = 0.1 to 3800 Torr and temperature = 300 to 1500 K. The maximum neutron flux to be considered was 10 16 /cm 2 sec. The range of parameters considered surpassed previous experiments in all aspects

  6. A Numerical Study on Mass Transfer and Methanol Conversion Efficiency According to Porosity and Temperature Change of Curved Channel Methanol-Steam Reformer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Seong, Hong Seok; Lee, Chung Ho; Suh, Jeong Se [Gyeongsang Nat’l Univ., Jinju (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-11-15

    Micro methanol-steam reformer for fuel cell can effectively produce hydrogen as reforming response to steam takes place in low temperature (less than 250℃). This study conducted numerical research on this reformer. First, study set wall temperature of the reformer at 100, 140, 180 and 220℃ while methanol conversion efficiency was set in 0, 0.072, 3.83 and 46.51% respectively. Then, porosity of catalyst was set in 0.1, 0.35, 0.6 and 0.85 and although there was no significant difference in methanol conversion efficiency, values of pressure drop were 4645.97, 59.50, 5.12 and 0.45 kPa respectively. This study verified that methanol-steam reformer rarely responds under the temperature of 180℃ and porosity does not have much effect on methanol conversion efficiency if the fluid flowing through reformer lowers activation energy by sufficiently contacting reformer.

  7. A Numerical Study on Mass Transfer and Methanol Conversion Efficiency According to Porosity and Temperature Change of Curved Channel Methanol-Steam Reformer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seong, Hong Seok; Lee, Chung Ho; Suh, Jeong Se

    2016-01-01

    Micro methanol-steam reformer for fuel cell can effectively produce hydrogen as reforming response to steam takes place in low temperature (less than 250℃). This study conducted numerical research on this reformer. First, study set wall temperature of the reformer at 100, 140, 180 and 220℃ while methanol conversion efficiency was set in 0, 0.072, 3.83 and 46.51% respectively. Then, porosity of catalyst was set in 0.1, 0.35, 0.6 and 0.85 and although there was no significant difference in methanol conversion efficiency, values of pressure drop were 4645.97, 59.50, 5.12 and 0.45 kPa respectively. This study verified that methanol-steam reformer rarely responds under the temperature of 180℃ and porosity does not have much effect on methanol conversion efficiency if the fluid flowing through reformer lowers activation energy by sufficiently contacting reformer.

  8. Power Electronics as Efficient Interface of Renewable Energy Sources

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Blaabjerg, Frede; Chen, Zhe; Kjær, Søren Bækhøj

    2004-01-01

    The global electrical energy consumption is steadily rising and consequently there is a demand to increase the power generation capacity. A significant percentage of the required capacity increase can be based on renewable energy sources. Wind turbine technology, as the most cost effective...... renewable energy conversion system, will play an important part in our future energy supply. But other sources like microturbines, photovoltaics and fuel cell systems may also be serious contributor to the power supply. Characteristically, power electronics will be an efficient and important interface...... to the grid and this paper will first briefly discuss three different alternative/ renewable energy sources. Next, various configurations of the wind turbine technology are presented, as this technology seems to be most developed and cost-effective. Finally, the developments and requirements from the grid...

  9. Improved laser-to-proton conversion efficiency in isolated reduced mass targets

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Morace, A. [Center for Energy Research, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States); Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy); Bellei, C.; Patel, P. K. [Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Avenue, Livermore, California 94550 (United States); Bartal, T.; Kim, J.; Beg, F. N. [Center for Energy Research, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States); Willingale, L.; Maksimchuk, A.; Krushelnick, K. [University of Michigan, 2200 Bonisteel Blvd. Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States); Wei, M. S. [Center for Energy Research, University of California, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093 (United States); General Atomics, 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, California 92121 (United States); Batani, D. [Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, CEA, CELIA (Centre Lasers Intenses et Applications), UMR 5107, F-33405 Talence (France); Piovella, N. [Dipartimento di Fisica, Università degli Studi di Milano, via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy); Stephens, R. B. [General Atomics, 3550 General Atomics Court, San Diego, California 92121 (United States)

    2013-07-29

    We present experimental results of laser-to-proton conversion efficiency as a function of lateral confinement of the refluxing electrons. Experiments were carried out using the T-Cubed laser at the Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, University of Michigan. We demonstrate that the laser-to-proton conversion efficiency increases by 50% with increased confinement of the target from surroundings with respect to a flat target of the same thickness. Three-dimensional hybrid particle-in-cell simulations using LSP code agree with the experimental data. The adopted target design is suitable for high repetition rate operation as well as for Inertial Confinement Fusion applications.

  10. Effect of end reflections on conversion efficiency of coaxial relativistic backward wave oscillator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Teng, Yan; Chen, Changhua; Sun, Jun; Shi, Yanchao; Ye, Hu; Wu, Ping; Li, Shuang; Xiong, Xiaolong [Science and Technology on High Power Microwave Laboratory, Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology, Xi' an 710024 (China)

    2015-11-07

    This paper theoretically investigates the effect of end reflections on the operation of the coaxial relativistic backward wave oscillator (CRBWO). It is found that the considerable enhancement of the end reflection at one end increases the conversion efficiency, but excessively large end reflections at both ends weaken the asynchronous wave-beam interaction and thus reduce the conversion efficiency. Perfect reflection at the post end significantly improves the interaction between the electron beam and the asynchronous harmonic so that the conversion efficiency is notably increased. Based on the theoretical research, the diffraction-CRBWO with the generated microwave diffracted and output through the front end of the coaxial slow wave structure cavity is proposed. The post end is conductively closed to provide the perfect reflection. This promotes the amplitude and uniformity of the longitudinal electric field on the beam transmission line and improves the asynchronous wave-beam interaction. In numerical simulations under the diode voltage and current of 450 kV and 5.84 kA, microwave generation with the power of 1.45 GW and the conversion efficiency of 55% are obtained at the frequency of 7.45 GHz.

  11. Energy conversion device with support member having pore channels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Routkevitch, Dmitri [Longmont, CO; Wind, Rikard A [Johnstown, CO

    2014-01-07

    Energy devices such as energy conversion devices and energy storage devices and methods for the manufacture of such devices. The devices include a support member having an array of pore channels having a small average pore channel diameter and having a pore channel length. Material layers that may include energy conversion materials and conductive materials are coaxially disposed within the pore channels to form material rods having a relatively small cross-section and a relatively long length. By varying the structure of the materials in the pore channels, various energy devices can be fabricated, such as photovoltaic (PV) devices, radiation detectors, capacitors, batteries and the like.

  12. Nonlinear effects and conversion efficiency of free electron laser in compton regime

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taguchi, Toshihiro; Mima, Kunioki; Mochizuki, Takayasu

    1980-01-01

    Nonlinear evolutions of free electron laser are analyzed by using quasi-linear theory. By the analysis, the energy conversion rates and the spectral width of the emitted radiations are calculated self-consistently. Moreover, it is found that the energy conversion rate is remarkably improved, when a RF field is applied to reaccelerate electron beam. (author)

  13. Fundamental kinetics and innovative applications of nonequilibrium atomic vibration in thermal energy transport and conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Seungha

    All energy conversion inefficiencies begin with emission of resonant atomic motions, e.g., vibrations, and are declared as waste heat once these motions thermalize to equilibrium. The nonequilibrium energy occupancy of the vibrational modes can be targeted as a harvestable, low entropy energy source for direct conversion to electric energy. Since the lifetime of these resonant vibrations is short, special nanostructures are required with the appropriate tuning of the kinetics. These in turn require multiscale, multiphysics treatments. Atomic vibration is described with quasiparticle phonon in solid, and the optical phonon emission is dominant relaxation channel in semiconductors. These optical modes become over-occupied when their emission rate becomes larger than their decay rate, thus hindering energy relaxation and transport in devices. Effective removal of these phonons by drifting electrons is investigated by manipulating the electron distribution to have higher population in the low-energy states, thus allowing favorable phonon absorption. This is done through introduction, design and analysis of a heterobarrier conducting current, where the band gap is controlled by alloying, thus creating a spatial variation which is abrupt followed by a linear gradient (to ensure directed current). Self-consistent ensemble Monte Carlo simulations based on interaction kinetics between electron and phonon show that up to 19% of the phonon energy is converted to electric potential with an optimized GaAs/AlxGa1-xAs barrier structure over a range of current and electron densities, and this system is also verified through statistical entropy analysis. This direct energy conversion improves the device performance with lower operation temperature and enhances overall energy conversion efficiency. Through this study, the paradigm for harvesting the resonant atomic vibration is proposed, reversing the general role of phonon as only causing electric potential drop. Fundamentals

  14. Epp's energy strategy keys on conversation, efficiency research

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    While energy industry players on both sides of the border were busy last week digesting the long-awaited United States National Energy Strategy, Canadian Energy Minister Jake Epp was unveiling his own plans to curb this country's appetite for hydrocarbons

  15. All passive architecture for high efficiency cascaded Raman conversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Balaswamy, V.; Arun, S.; Chayran, G.; Supradeepa, V. R.

    2018-02-01

    Cascaded Raman fiber lasers have offered a convenient method to obtain scalable, high-power sources at various wavelength regions inaccessible with rare-earth doped fiber lasers. A limitation previously was the reduced efficiency of these lasers. Recently, new architectures have been proposed to enhance efficiency, but this came at the cost of enhanced complexity, requiring an additional low-power, cascaded Raman laser. In this work, we overcome this with a new, all-passive architecture for high-efficiency cascaded Raman conversion. We demonstrate our architecture with a fifth-order cascaded Raman converter from 1117nm to 1480nm with output power of ~64W and efficiency of 60%.

  16. Titanium dioxide nanotube membranes for solar energy conversion: effect of deep and shallow dopants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ding, Yuchen; Nagpal, Prashant

    2017-04-12

    Nanostructured titanium dioxide (TiO 2 ) has been intensively investigated as a material of choice for solar energy conversion in photocatalytic, photoelectrochemical, photovoltaic, and other photosensitized devices for converting light into chemical feedstocks or electricity. Towards management of light absorption in TiO 2 , while the nanotubular structure improves light absorption and simultaneous charge transfer to mitigate problems due to the indirect bandgap of the semiconductor, typically dopants are used to improve light absorption of incident solar irradiation in the wide bandgap of TiO 2 . While these dopants can be critical to the success of these solar energy conversion devices, their effect on photophysical and photoelectrochemical properties and detailed photokinetics are relatively under-studied. Here, we show the effect of deep and shallow metal dopants on the kinetics of photogenerated charged carriers in TiO 2 and the resulting effect on photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical processes using these nanotube membranes. We performed a detailed optical, electronic, voltammetry and electrochemical impedance study to understand the effect of shallow and deep metal dopants (using undoped and niobium- and copper-doped TiO 2 nanotubes) on light absorption, charge transport and charge transfer processes. Using wireless photocatalytic methylene blue degradation and carbon dioxide reduction, and wired photoelectrochemical device measurements, we elucidate the effect of different dopants on solar-to-fuel conversion efficiency and simultaneously describe the photokinetics using a model, to help design better energy conversion devices.

  17. Achieving sustainable biomass conversion to energy and bio products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matteson, G. C.

    2009-01-01

    The present effort in to maximize biomass conversion-to-energy and bio products is examined in terms of sustain ability practices. New goals, standards in practice, measurements and certification are needed for the sustainable biomass industry. Sustainable practices produce biomass energy and products in a manner that is secure, renewable, accessible locally, and pollution free. To achieve sustainable conversion, some new goals are proposed. (Author)

  18. Water-energy nexus: Impact on electrical energy conversion and mitigation by smart water resources management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gjorgiev, Blaže; Sansavini, Giovanni

    2017-01-01

    Highlights: • The issues to energy conversion stemming from the water-energy nexus are investigated. • The objective is to minimize power curtailments caused by critical river water conditions. • A water-energy nexus model for smart management of water resources is developed. • Systemic risks to energy conversion stem from critical temperature and flow regimes. • Full coordination of the hydrologically-linked units provides the most effective strategy. - Abstract: The water-energy nexus refers to the water used to generate electricity and to the electric energy used to collect, clean, move, store, and dispose of water. Water is used in all stages of electric energy conversion making power systems vulnerable to water scarcity and warming. In particular, a water flow decrease and temperature increase in rivers can significantly limit the generation of electricity. This paper investigates the issues to energy conversion stemming from the water-energy nexus and mitigates them by developing a model for the smart utilization of water resources. The objective is to minimize power curtailments caused by a river water flow decrease and a temperature increase. The developed water-energy nexus model integrates the operational characteristics of hydro power plants, the environmental conditions, the river water temperature prediction and thermal load release in river bodies. The application to a hydraulic cascade of hydro and a thermal power plants under drought conditions shows that smart water management entails a significant reduction of power curtailments. In general, the full coordination of the power outputs of the units affected by the hydrological link provides the most effective mitigations of the potential issues stemming from the water-energy nexus. Finally, critical temperature and flow regimes are identified which severely impact the energy conversion and may cause systemic risks in case the generators in one region must be simultaneously curtailed.

  19. Engineering graphene and TMDs based van der Waals heterostructures for photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical solar energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Changli; Cao, Qi; Wang, Faze; Xiao, Yequan; Li, Yanbo; Delaunay, Jean-Jacques; Zhu, Hongwei

    2018-05-08

    Graphene and two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have attracted significant interest due to their unique properties that cannot be obtained in their bulk counterparts. These atomically thin 2D materials have demonstrated strong light-matter interactions, tunable optical bandgap structures and unique structural and electrical properties, rendering possible the high conversion efficiency of solar energy with a minimal amount of active absorber material. The isolated 2D monolayer can be stacked into arbitrary van der Waals (vdWs) heterostructures without the need to consider lattice matching. Several combinations of 2D/3D and 2D/2D materials have been assembled to create vdWs heterojunctions for photovoltaic (PV) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) energy conversion. However, the complex, less-constrained, and more environmentally vulnerable interface in a vdWs heterojunction is different from that of a conventional, epitaxially grown heterojunction, engendering new challenges for surface and interface engineering. In this review, the physics of band alignment, the chemistry of surface modification and the behavior of photoexcited charge transfer at the interface during PV and PEC processes will be discussed. We will present a survey of the recent progress and challenges of 2D/3D and 2D/2D vdWs heterojunctions, with emphasis on their applicability to PV and PEC devices. Finally, we will discuss emerging issues yet to be explored for 2D materials to achieve high solar energy conversion efficiency and possible strategies to improve their performance.

  20. Evaluation of the Wave Energy Conversion Efficiency in Various Coastal Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eugen Rusu

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The main objective of the present work was to assess and compare the wave power resources in various offshore and nearshore areas. From this perspective, three different groups of coastal environments were considered: the western Iberian nearshore, islands and an enclosed environment with sea waves, respectively. Some of the most representative existent wave converters were evaluated in the analysis and a second objective was to compare their performances at the considered locations, and in this way to determine which is better suited for potential commercial exploitation. In order to estimate the electric power production expected in a certain location, the bivariate distributions of the occurrences corresponding to the sea states, defined by the significant wave height and the energy period, were constructed in each coastal area. The wave data were provided by hindcast studies performed with numerical wave models or based on measurements. The transformation efficiency of the wave energy into electricity is evaluated via the load factor and also through the capture width, defined as the ratio between the electric power estimated to be produced by each specific wave energy converters (WEC and the expected wave power corresponding to the location considered. Finally, by evaluating these two different indicators, comparisons of the performances of three WEC types (Aqua Buoy, Pelamis and Wave Dragon in the three different groups of coastal environments considered have been also carried out. The work provides valuable information related to the effectiveness of various technologies for the wave energy extraction that would operate in different coastal environments.

  1. Graphene rectenna for efficient energy harvesting at terahertz frequencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dragoman, Mircea; Aldrigo, Martino

    2016-09-01

    In this paper, we propose a graphene rectenna that encompasses two distinct functions in a single device, namely, antenna and rectifier, which till now were two separate components. In this way, the rectenna realizes an efficient energy harvesting technique due to the absence of impedance mismatch between antenna and diode. In particular, we have obtained a maximum conversion efficiency of 58.43% at 897 GHz for the graphene rectenna on n-doped GaAs, which is a very good value, close to the performance of an RF harvesting system. A comparison with a classical metallic antenna with an HfO2-based metal-insulator-metal diode is also provided.

  2. Energy efficient design

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    Solar Applications and Energy Efficiency in Building Design and Town Planning (RER/87/006) is a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) project of the Governments of Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, The Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, France, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Turkey, United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. The project began in 1988 and comes to a conclusion at the end of 1991. It is to enhance the professional skills of practicing architects, engineers and town planners in European countries to design energy efficient buildings which reduce energy consumption and make greater use of passive solar heating and natural cooling techniques. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) is the Executing Agency of the project which is implemented under the auspices of the Committee on Energy, General Energy Programme of Work for 1990-1994, sub-programme 5 Energy Conservation and Efficiency (ECE/ENERGY/15). The project has five main outputs or results: an international network of institutions for low energy building design; a state-of-the-art survey of energy use in the built environment of European IPF countries; a simple computer program for energy efficient building design; a design guide and computer program operators' manual; and a series of international training courses in participating European IPF countries. Energy Efficient Design is the fourth output of the project. It comprises the design guide for practicing architects and engineers, for use mainly in mid-career training courses, and the operators' manual for the project's computer program

  3. Energy technology sources, systems and frontier conversion

    CERN Document Server

    Ohta, Tokio

    1994-01-01

    This book provides a concise and technical overview of energy technology: the sources of energy, energy systems and frontier conversion. As well as serving as a basic reference book for professional scientists and students of energy, it is intended for scientists and policy makers in other disciplines (including practising engineers, biologists, physicists, economists and managers in energy related industries) who need an up-to-date and authoritative guide to the field of energy technology.Energy systems and their elemental technologies are introduced and evaluated from the view point

  4. Electrohydrodynamics: a high-voltage direct energy conversion process; L'electrohydrodynamique: Un procede de conversion directe d'energie a haute tension

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brun, S [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, Grenoble (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1967-04-15

    This analysis consists of a theoretical and practical study of a high-tension electrical power generator based on the Van de Graaff generator principle, the main difference being that the charges produced are transported by a gas in motion and not by a belt. The electrical and thermal properties of such a generator are studied, as well as the difficult problem of the production of the ionised particles used in the conversion. A certain number of results already published on this process for converting kinetic energy into electrical energy is given, as well as some possible applications in the field of space technology. (author) [French] Cette analyse est une etude theorique et pratique d'un generateur de puissance electrique a haute tension, base sur le principe du generateur Van de Graaff, la difference principale etant que les charges produites sont transportees pur un gaz en mouvement et non par une courroie. Les proprietes electriques et thermiques d'un tel generateur sont etudiees ainsi que le probleme delicat de la production des particules ionisees utilisees dans la conversion. Un certain nombre de resultats publies sur ce procede de conversion d'energie cinetique en energie electrique sont reproduits, ainsi que les applications possibles aux problemes spatiaux. (auteur)

  5. Mode conversion efficiency to Laguerre-Gaussian OAM modes using spiral phase optics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Longman, Andrew; Fedosejevs, Robert

    2017-07-24

    An analytical model for the conversion efficiency from a TEM 00 mode to an arbitrary Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) mode with null radial index spiral phase optics is presented. We extend this model to include the effects of stepped spiral phase optics, spiral phase optics of non-integer topological charge, and the reduction in conversion efficiency due to broad laser bandwidth. We find that through optimization, an optimal beam waist ratio of the input and output modes exists and is dependent upon the output azimuthal mode number.

  6. Dye-sensitized solar cell module realized photovoltaic and photothermal highly efficient conversion via three-dimensional printing technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Huang Qi-Zhang; Zhu Yan-Qing; Shi Ji-Fu; Wang Lei-Lei; Zhong Liu-Wen; Xu Gang

    2017-01-01

    Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is employed to improve the photovoltaic and photothermal conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) module. The 3D-printed concentrator is optically designed and improves the photovoltaic efficiency of the DSC module from 5.48% to 7.03%. Additionally, with the 3D-printed microfluidic device serving as water cooling, the temperature of the DSC can be effectively controlled, which is beneficial for keeping a high photovoltaic conversion efficiency for DSC module. Moreover, the 3D-printed microfluidic device can realize photothermal conversion with an instantaneous photothermal efficiency of 42.1%. The integrated device realizes a total photovoltaic and photothermal conversion efficiency of 49% at the optimal working condition. (paper)

  7. Energy efficiency. A textbook and handbook; Energieeffizienz. Ein Lehr- und Handbuch

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pehnt, Martin (ed.) [IFEU Institut fuer Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg GmbH, Heidelberg (Germany)

    2010-07-01

    Apart from renewable energies, energy efficiency and energy conservation are the fundament for an economically optimized energy strategy. Energy efficiency involves different ranges: the energy and heating market for households and trades, the traffic sector and industrial production. Along the value creation chain energy efficiency signifies an effective conversion of raw materials, a use of by-products, a reduction of consumption and a modification of the behaviour. This text book offers a comprehensive overview of all ranges of energy efficiency. It interdisciplinary it gives an engineering understanding of the technologies for the reader and connects this with economic, sociological, energy political and ecological fundamentals. The manual is not only suitable for the teachings in relevant courses of studies (e.g. energy, environmental or process engineering, architecture, industrial engineering, geography and political economy, physics), but also offers a clear, intimate insight of the topic energy efficiency to specialists of neighbouring disciplines. [German] Energieeffizienz und Energieeinsparungen sind - neben erneuerbaren Energien - die Basis fuer eine volkswirtschaftlich optimierte Energiestrategie. Energieeffizienz betrifft unterschiedliche Bereiche: den Strom- und Waermemarkt fuer Haushalte und Gewerbe, den Verkehrssektor und die industrielle Produktion. Energieeffizienz entlang der Wertschoepfungskette bedeutet, Rohstoffe wirksam umzuwandeln, Nebenprodukte zu nutzen, Verbrauch zu reduzieren und Verhalten zu aendern. Dieses Lehrbuch bietet einen umfassenden Ueberblick ueber alle Bereiche der Energieeffizienz. Interdisziplinaer vermittelt es dem Leser ein ingenieurtechnisches Verstaendnis der Technologien und verknuepft dieses mit oekonomischen, sozialwissenschaftlichen, energiepolitischen und oekologischen Grundlagen. Das Handbuch ist nicht nur fuer die Lehre in einschlaegigen Studiengaengen (z. B. Energie-, Umwelt- oder Verfahrenstechnik, Architektur

  8. Transport Energy Efficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2010-07-01

    Transport is the sector with the highest final energy consumption and, without any significant policy changes, is forecast to remain so. In 2008, the IEA published 25 energy efficiency recommendations, among which four are for the transport sector. The recommendations focus on road transport and include policies on improving tyre energy efficiency, fuel economy standards for both light-duty vehicles and heavy-duty vehicles, and eco-driving. Implementation of the recommendations has been weaker in the transport sector than others. This paper updates the progress that has been made in implementing the transport energy efficiency recommendations in IEA countries since March 2009. Many countries have in the last year moved from 'planning to implement' to 'implementation underway', but none have fully implemented all transport energy efficiency recommendations. The IEA calls therefore for full and immediate implementation of the recommendations.

  9. Energy-efficient biomass processing with pulsed electric fields for bioeconomy and sustainable development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Golberg, Alexander; Sack, Martin; Teissie, Justin; Pataro, Gianpiero; Pliquett, Uwe; Saulis, Gintautas; Stefan, Töpfl; Miklavcic, Damijan; Vorobiev, Eugene; Frey, Wolfgang

    2016-01-01

    Fossil resources-free sustainable development can be achieved through a transition to bioeconomy, an economy based on sustainable biomass-derived food, feed, chemicals, materials, and fuels. However, the transition to bioeconomy requires development of new energy-efficient technologies and processes to manipulate biomass feed stocks and their conversion into useful products, a collective term for which is biorefinery. One of the technological platforms that will enable various pathways of biomass conversion is based on pulsed electric fields applications (PEF). Energy efficiency of PEF treatment is achieved by specific increase of cell membrane permeability, a phenomenon known as membrane electroporation. Here, we review the opportunities that PEF and electroporation provide for the development of sustainable biorefineries. We describe the use of PEF treatment in biomass engineering, drying, deconstruction, extraction of phytochemicals, improvement of fermentations, and biogas production. These applications show the potential of PEF and consequent membrane electroporation to enable the bioeconomy and sustainable development.

  10. One-dimension-based spatially ordered architectures for solar energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Siqi; Tang, Zi-Rong; Sun, Yugang; Colmenares, Juan Carlos; Xu, Yi-Jun

    2015-08-07

    The severe consequences of fossil fuel consumption have resulted in a need for alternative sustainable sources of energy. Conversion and storage of solar energy via a renewable method, such as photocatalysis, holds great promise as such an alternative. One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures have gained attention in solar energy conversion because they have a long axis to absorb incident sunlight yet a short radial distance for separation of photogenerated charge carriers. In particular, well-ordered spatially high dimensional architectures based on 1D nanostructures with well-defined facets or anisotropic shapes offer an exciting opportunity for bridging the gap between 1D nanostructures and the micro and macro world, providing a platform for integration of nanostructures on a larger and more manageable scale into high-performance solar energy conversion applications. In this review, we focus on the progress of photocatalytic solar energy conversion over controlled one-dimension-based spatially ordered architecture hybrids. Assembly and classification of these novel architectures are summarized, and we discuss the opportunity and future direction of integration of 1D materials into high-dimensional, spatially organized architectures, with a perspective toward improved collective performance in various artificial photoredox applications.

  11. Design and fabrication of a high performance inorganic tandem solar cell with 11.5% conversion efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amiri, Omid; Mir, Noshin; Ansari, Fatemeh; Salavati-Niasari, Masoud

    2017-01-01

    Tandem solar cell is a design that combines two types of solar cells to benefit their advantages. We show a new concept for achieving highly efficient dye sensitized and quantum dot tandem solar cells. The new tandem cell further enhances the performance of the device, leading to a power conversion efficiency more than 11% under 1.5 Air Mass. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the efficiency over 11 percent is achieved based on tandem solar cell. X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Current-Voltage measurments, Intensity modulated photocurrent spectroscopy, intensity modulated photovoltage spectroscopy, Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller, Barrett-Joyner-Halenda and absorption spectroscopy were used to characterize the fabricated solar cells.

  12. ZnTe Semiconductor-Polymer Gel Composited Electrolyte for Conversion of Solar Energy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wonchai Promnopas

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Nanostructured cubic p-type ZnTe for dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs was synthesized from 1 : 1 molar ratio of Zn : Te by 600 W and 900 W microwave plasma for 30 min. In this research, their green emissions were detected at the same wavelengths of 563 nm, the energy gap (Eg at 2.24 eV, and three Raman shifts at 205, 410, and 620 cm−1. The nanocomposited electrolyte of quasisolid state ZnO-DSSCs was in correlation with the increase in the JSC, VOC, fill factor (ff, and efficiency (η by increasing the wt% of ZnTe-GPE (gel polymer electrolyte to an optimum value and decreased afterwards. The optimal ZnO-DSSC performance was achieved for 0.20 wt% ZnTe-GPE with the highest photoelectronic energy conversion efficiency at 174.7% with respect to that of the GPE without doping of p-type ZnTe.

  13. Energy Efficiency Model for Induction Furnace

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dey, Asit Kr

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, a system of a solar induction furnace unit was design to find out a new solution for the existing AC power consuming heating process through Supervisory control and data acquisition system. This unit can be connected directly to the DC system without any internal conversion inside the device. The performance of the new system solution is compared with the existing one in terms of power consumption and losses. This work also investigated energy save, system improvement, process control model in a foundry induction furnace heating framework corresponding to PV solar power supply. The results are analysed for long run in terms of saving energy and integrated process system. The data acquisition system base solar foundry plant is an extremely multifaceted system that can be run over an almost innumerable range of operating conditions, each characterized by specific energy consumption. Determining ideal operating conditions is a key challenge that requires the involvement of the latest automation technologies, each one contributing to allow not only the acquisition, processing, storage, retrieval and visualization of data, but also the implementation of automatic control strategies that can expand the achievement envelope in terms of melting process, safety and energy efficiency.

  14. Polymeric Materials for Conversion of Electromagnetic Waves from the Sun to Electric Power

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SK Manirul Haque

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Solar photoelectric energy converted into electricity requires large surface areas with incident light and flexible materials to capture these light emissions. Currently, sunlight rays are converted to electrical energy using silicon polymeric material with efficiency up to 22%. The majority of the energy is lost during conversion due to an energy gap between sunlight photons and polymer energy transformation. This energy conversion also depends on the morphology of present polymeric materials. Therefore, it is very important to construct mechanisms of highest energy occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs and the lowest energy unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs to increase the efficiency of conversion. The organic and inorganic solar cells used as dyes can absorb more photons from sunlight and the energy gap will be less for better conversion of energy to electricity than the conventional solar cells. This paper provides an up-to-date review on the performance, characterization, and reliability of different composite polymeric materials for energy conversion. Specific attention has been given to organic solar cells because of their several advantages over others, such as their low-energy payback time, conversion efficiency and greenhouse emissions. Finally, this paper provides the recent progress on the application of both organic and inorganic solar cells for electric power generations together with several challenges that are currently faced.

  15. Energy efficient policy impact in India: case study of investment in industrial energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, M.

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to identify the effectiveness of energy policy and capital investment in energy efficiency technologies in the industrial sector in India. Indian energy policies relating to industrial energy efficiency over the past 25 years are briefly reviewed, and a comparison study of these energy efficiency policies and strategies in India and China has been carried out. Interviews were conducted with a number of government policy-making institutions and a national industrial development bank. The accounts of 26 industrial enterprises which applied and used a loan of the Asian Development Bank were audited for data collection. Field-visits to seven industrial entrepreneurs were undertaken in a case study. Methodologies used in this study include documentation, cross-country reviews on energy policies, questionnaire design and distribution in the industrial sector, and on-site auditing of energy efficiency technologies. This paper concludes that current energy policies and strategies in India need further improvement to promote energy efficiency investment and energy efficiency technology development in the industrial sector. This paper will interest those policy makers and industrial entrepreneurs who are willing to finance energy efficiency projects and improve energy efficiency in the industrial sector. (author)

  16. Energy efficiency policy impact in India: case study of investment in industrial energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang Ming

    2006-01-01

    The objective of this paper is to identify the effectiveness of energy policy and capital investment in energy efficiency technologies in the industrial sector in India. Indian energy policies relating to industrial energy efficiency over the past 25 years are briefly reviewed, and a comparison study of these energy efficiency policies and strategies in India and China has been carried out. Interviews were conducted with a number of government policy-making institutions and a national industrial development bank. The accounts of 26 industrial enterprises which applied and used a loan of the Asian Development Bank were audited for data collection. Field-visits to seven industrial entrepreneurs were undertaken in a case study. Methodologies used in this study include documentation, cross-country reviews on energy policies, questionnaire design and distribution in the industrial sector, and on-site auditing of energy efficiency technologies. This paper concludes that current energy policies and strategies in India need further improvement to promote energy efficiency investment and energy efficiency technology development in the industrial sector. This paper will interest those policy makers and industrial entrepreneurs who are willing to finance energy efficiency projects and improve energy efficiency in the industrial sector

  17. Online optimization of a multi-conversion-level DC home microgrid for system efficiency enhancement

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boscaino, V.; Guerrero, J. M.; Ciornei, I.

    2017-01-01

    stages, three paralleled DC/DC converters are implemented. A Genetic Algorithm performs the on-line optimization of the DC network’s global efficiency, generating the optimal current sharing ratios of the concurrent power converters. The overall DC/DC conversion system including the optimization section......In this paper, an on-line management system for the optimal efficiency operation of a multi-bus DC home distribution system is proposed. The operation of the system is discussed with reference to a distribution system with two conversion stages and three voltage levels. In each of the conversion...

  18. Graphene-based photovoltaic cells for near-field thermal energy conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Messina, Riccardo; Ben-Abdallah, Philippe

    2013-01-01

    Thermophotovoltaic devices are energy-conversion systems generating an electric current from the thermal photons radiated by a hot body. While their efficiency is limited in far field by the Schockley-Queisser limit, in near field the heat flux transferred to a photovoltaic cell can be largely enhanced because of the contribution of evanescent photons, in particular for a source supporting a surface mode. Unfortunately, in the infrared where these systems operate, the mismatch between the surface-mode frequency and the semiconductor gap reduces drastically the potential of this technology. In this paper we propose a modified thermophotovoltaic device in which the cell is covered by a graphene sheet. By discussing the transmission coefficient and the spectral properties of the flux, we show that both the cell efficiency and the produced current can be enhanced, paving the way to promising developments for the production of electricity from waste heat.

  19. New energy conversion processes and neglected auxiliary systems - a treasure trove for energy service providers; Neue Techniken und vernachlaessigte Nebenanlagen - eine Fundgrube fuer Energiedienstleister

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jochem, E.

    1998-12-31

    The paper shows that apart from the risks, the deregulation of the energy sector also offered new chances, which recently materialized in three emerging independent trends, initiating innovative approaches for energy conversion and applications and demand for new knowledge-based, near-production energy services as a new field for engineers: Providers of energy efficiency-related technology widen their capabilities by adding the new business segment of energy service marketing. Industrial energy users more strongly consider outsourcing of energy conversion systems and the relevant contracting schemes as an option for reducing energy costs. Public enterprise as energy users started following this trend, all the more as insufficient financial resources do not permit them to reinvest. The paper discusses the conversion processes which currently open up promising chances for energy service producers. (orig./CB) [Deutsch] Neben Gefahren, die inhaerentes Merkmal der Liberalisierung sind, zeichnen sich drei unabhaengige Entwicklungen ab, die innovative Initiativen in der Energiewandlung und -nutzung staerken und wissensintensive produktionsnahe Dienstleistungen als zentrale Aufgabe fuer den Ingenieur initieren: - Die Energieeffizienz-Technologieanbieter nehmen die Energiedienstleistungen in ihre Angebotspalette auf. - Die betrieblichen Energieanwender beginnen zunehmend, ueber das Outsourcing energiewandelnder Anlagen Energiekosten zu senken. - Die oeffentliche Hand als Energieanwender beginnt aehnlich zu denken, zumal sie infolge der hohen Verschuldung unzureichende finanzielle Mittel fuer Reinvestitionen hat. Hierueber sei kurz berichtet, bevor auf die Techniken eingegangen wird, die sich besonders aus heutiger Sicht fuer Energiedienstleister eignen. (orig./RHM)

  20. Energy Efficiency Improvement and Cost Saving Opportunities for the Dairy Processing Industry: An ENERGY STAR? Guide for Energy and Plant Managers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brush, Adrian [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Masanet, Eric [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Worrell, Ernst [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

    2011-10-01

    The U.S. dairy processing industry—defined in this Energy Guide as facilities engaged in the conversion of raw milk to consumable dairy products—consumes around $1.5 billion worth of purchased fuels and electricity per year. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs and to increase predictable earnings, especially in times of high energy price volatility. There are a variety of opportunities available at individual plants in the U.S. dairy processing industry to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in a cost-effective manner. This Energy Guide discusses energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at the component, process, facility, and organizational levels. A discussion of the trends, structure, and energy consumption characteristics of the U.S. dairy processing industry is provided along with a description of the major process technologies used within the industry. Next, a wide variety of energy efficiency measures applicable to dairy processing plants are described. Many measure descriptions include expected savings in energy and energy-related costs, based on case study data from real-world applications in dairy processing facilities and related industries worldwide. Typical measure payback periods and references to further information in the technical literature are also provided, when available. Given the importance of water in dairy processing, a summary of basic, proven measures for improving water efficiency are also provided. The information in this Energy Guide is intended to help energy and plant managers in the U.S. dairy processing industry reduce energy and water consumption in a cost-effective manner while maintaining the quality of products manufactured. Further research on the economics of all measures—as well as on their applicability to different production practices—is needed to assess their cost effectiveness at individual plants.

  1. Dye-sensitized solar cell module realized photovoltaic and photothermal highly efficient conversion via three-dimensional printing technology

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Qi-Zhang Huang; Yan-Qing Zhu; Ji-Fu Shi; Lei-Lei Wang; Liu-Wen Zhong; Gang Xu

    2017-01-01

    Three-dimensional (3D) printing technology is employed to improve the photovoltaic and photothermal conversion efficiency of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSC) module.The 3D-printed concentrator is optically designed and improves the photovoltaic efficiency of the DSC module from 5.48% to 7.03%.Additionally,with the 3D-printed microfluidic device serving as water cooling,the temperature of the DSC can be effectively controlled,which is beneficial for keeping a high photovoltaic conversion efficiency for DSC module.Moreover,the 3D-printed microfluidic device can realize photothermal conversion with an instantaneous photothermal efficiency of 42.1%.The integrated device realizes a total photovoltaic and photothermal conversion efficiency of 49% at the optimal working condition.

  2. Enhanced Passive RF-DC Converter Circuit Efficiency for Low RF Energy Harvesting.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaour, Issam; Fakhfakh, Ahmed; Kanoun, Olfa

    2017-03-09

    For radio frequency energy transmission, the conversion efficiency of the receiver is decisive not only for reducing sending power, but also for enabling energy transmission over long and variable distances. In this contribution, we present a passive RF-DC converter for energy harvesting at ultra-low input power at 868 MHz. The novel converter consists of a reactive matching circuit and a combined voltage multiplier and rectifier. The stored energy in the input inductor and capacitance, during the negative wave, is conveyed to the output capacitance during the positive one. Although Dickson and Villard topologies have principally comparable efficiency for multi-stage voltage multipliers, the Dickson topology reaches a better efficiency within the novel ultra-low input power converter concept. At the output stage, a low-pass filter is introduced to reduce ripple at high frequencies in order to realize a stable DC signal. The proposed rectifier enables harvesting energy at even a low input power from -40 dBm for a resistive load of 50 kΩ. It realizes a significant improvement in comparison with state of the art solutions.

  3. Energy Conversion at Micro and Nanoscale

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gammaitoni, Luca

    2014-01-01

    Energy management is considered a task of strategic importance in contemporary society. It is a common fact that the most successful economies of the planet are the economies that can transform and use large quantities of energy. In this talk we will discuss the role of energy with specific attention to the processes that happens at micro and nanoscale. The description of energy conversion processes at these scales requires approaches that go way beyond the standard equilibrium termodynamics of macroscopic systems. In this talk we will address from a fundamental point of view the physics of the dissipation of energy and will focus our attention to the energy transformation processes that take place in the modern micro and nano information and communication devices

  4. Photovoltaic conversion efficiency of InN/InxGa1-xN quantum dot intermediate band solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben Afkir, N.; Feddi, E.; Dujardin, F.; Zazoui, M.; Meziane, J.

    2018-04-01

    The behavior of InN/InxGa1-xN spherical quantum dots solar cell is investigated, considering the internal electric field induced by the polarization of the junction. In order to determine the position of the intermediate band (IB), we present an efficient numerical technique based on difference finite method to solve the 3D time-independent Schrödinger's equation in spherical coordinates. The resultant n × n Hamiltonian matrix when considering n discrete points in spatial direction is diagonalized in order to calculate energy levels. Thus, the interband and intersubband transitions are determined, taking into consideration the effect of the internal electric field, size dots, interdot distances, and indium content on the energy levels, optical transition, photo-generated current density, open-circuit voltage and power conversion efficiency of the QD-IBSCs.

  5. 7.9 pJ/Step Energy-Efficient Multi-Slope 13-bit Capacitance-to-Digital Converter

    KAUST Repository

    Omran, Hesham

    2014-08-01

    In this brief, an energy-efficient capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) is presented. The proposed CDC uses digitally controlled coarse-fine multi-slope integration to digitize a wide range of capacitance in short conversion time. Both integration current and frequency are scaled, which leads to significant improvement in the energy efficiency of both analog and digital circuitry. Mathematical analysis for circuit nonidealities, noise, and improvement in energy efficiency is provided. A prototype fabricated in a 0.35-μm CMOS process occupies 0.09 mm2 and consumes a total of 153 μA from 3.3 V supply while achieving 13-bit resolution. The operation of the prototype is experimentally verified using MEMS capacitive pressure sensor. Compared to recently published work, the prototype achieves an excellent energy efficiency of 7.9 pJ/Step. © 2004-2012 IEEE.

  6. 7.9 pJ/Step Energy-Efficient Multi-Slope 13-bit Capacitance-to-Digital Converter

    KAUST Repository

    Omran, Hesham; Arsalan, Muhammad; Salama, Khaled N.

    2014-01-01

    In this brief, an energy-efficient capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) is presented. The proposed CDC uses digitally controlled coarse-fine multi-slope integration to digitize a wide range of capacitance in short conversion time. Both integration current and frequency are scaled, which leads to significant improvement in the energy efficiency of both analog and digital circuitry. Mathematical analysis for circuit nonidealities, noise, and improvement in energy efficiency is provided. A prototype fabricated in a 0.35-μm CMOS process occupies 0.09 mm2 and consumes a total of 153 μA from 3.3 V supply while achieving 13-bit resolution. The operation of the prototype is experimentally verified using MEMS capacitive pressure sensor. Compared to recently published work, the prototype achieves an excellent energy efficiency of 7.9 pJ/Step. © 2004-2012 IEEE.

  7. Direct energy conversion for IEC fusion for space applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Momota, Hiromu; Nadler, Jon; Miley, George H.

    2000-08-01

    The paper describes a concept of extracting fusion power from D- 3 He fueled IEC (Inertia Electrostatic Configuration) devices. The fusion system consists of a series of fusion modules and direct energy converters at an end or at both ends. This system of multiple units is linear and is connected by a magnetic field. A pair of coils anti-parallel to the magnetic field yields a field-null domain at the center of each unit as required for IEC operation. A stabilizing coil installed between the coil pairs eliminates the strong attractive force between the anti-parallel coils. Accessible regions for charged particle trajectories are essentially isolated from the coil structure. Thus, charged particles are directed along magnetic field lines to the direct energy converter without appreciable losses. A direct energy converter unit designed to be compatible to this unique system is also described. It basically consists of a separator and a traveling wave converter. A separator separates low energy ions and electron from the 14.7 MeV fusion protons and then converts their energy into electricity. In the traveling wave direct energy converter, fusion protons are modulated to form bunches. It couples with a transmission line to couple AC power out. The overall conversion efficiency of this system, combined with E- 3 He IEC cores, is estimated as high as 60%. (author)

  8. Direct energy conversion for IEC fusion for space applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Momota, Hiromu; Nadler, Jon [National Inst. for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu (Japan); Miley, George H. [Fusion Studies Laboratory, Urbana, IL (United States)

    2000-08-01

    The paper describes a concept of extracting fusion power from D-{sup 3}He fueled IEC (Inertia Electrostatic Configuration) devices. The fusion system consists of a series of fusion modules and direct energy converters at an end or at both ends. This system of multiple units is linear and is connected by a magnetic field. A pair of coils anti-parallel to the magnetic field yields a field-null domain at the center of each unit as required for IEC operation. A stabilizing coil installed between the coil pairs eliminates the strong attractive force between the anti-parallel coils. Accessible regions for charged particle trajectories are essentially isolated from the coil structure. Thus, charged particles are directed along magnetic field lines to the direct energy converter without appreciable losses. A direct energy converter unit designed to be compatible to this unique system is also described. It basically consists of a separator and a traveling wave converter. A separator separates low energy ions and electron from the 14.7 MeV fusion protons and then converts their energy into electricity. In the traveling wave direct energy converter, fusion protons are modulated to form bunches. It couples with a transmission line to couple AC power out. The overall conversion efficiency of this system, combined with E-{sup 3}He IEC cores, is estimated as high as 60%. (author)

  9. Power recovery method for testing the efficiency of the ECD of an integrated generation unit for offshore wind power and ocean wave energy

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    CHEN WeiXing; GAO Feng; MENG XiangDun; REN AnYe; HU Yan

    2017-01-01

    Offshore wind power and ocean wave energy are clean,renewable and rich resources.The integrated generation unit for the two kinds of energy is introduced.The energy conversion device (ECD) is utilized to convert the mechanical energy absorbed from the wind power and wave energy into the hydraulic energy,the conversion efficiency of which is significant.In this paper,a power recovery method for testing the efficiency of the ECD is proposed.A simulation desktop is developed to validate the proposed method.The efficiency of the ECD is influenced by the hydraulic cylinders and the mechanical transmission.Here,the static efficiency of the hydraulic cylinders of the ECD is tested first.The results show that the static mechanical efficiency is about 95 % and that the volumetric efficiency is over 99%.To test the effects induced by the mechanical transmission of the ECD,each hydraulic cylinder of the ECD is substituted with two springs.Then the power loss of the ECDM under different rotational speeds is obtained.Finally,a test platform is built and the efficiency of the ECD under different rotational speeds and pressures is obtained.The results show that the efficiency is about 80%.

  10. Reduced SnO2 Porous Nanowires with a High Density of Grain Boundaries as Catalysts for Efficient Electrochemical CO2 -into-HCOOH Conversion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Bijandra; Atla, Veerendra; Brian, J Patrick; Kumari, Sudesh; Nguyen, Tu Quang; Sunkara, Mahendra; Spurgeon, Joshua M

    2017-03-20

    Electrochemical conversion of CO 2 into energy-dense liquids, such as formic acid, is desirable as a hydrogen carrier and a chemical feedstock. SnO x is one of the few catalysts that reduce CO 2 into formic acid with high selectivity but at high overpotential and low current density. We show that an electrochemically reduced SnO 2 porous nanowire catalyst (Sn-pNWs) with a high density of grain boundaries (GBs) exhibits an energy conversion efficiency of CO 2 -into-HCOOH higher than analogous catalysts. HCOOH formation begins at lower overpotential (350 mV) and reaches a steady Faradaic efficiency of ca. 80 % at only -0.8 V vs. RHE. A comparison with commercial SnO 2 nanoparticles confirms that the improved CO 2 reduction performance of Sn-pNWs is due to the density of GBs within the porous structure, which introduce new catalytically active sites. Produced with a scalable plasma synthesis technology, the catalysts have potential for application in the CO 2 conversion industry. © 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  11. Molecular approaches to solar energy conversion: the energetic cost of charge separation from molecular-excited states.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durrant, James R

    2013-08-13

    This review starts with a brief overview of the technological potential of molecular-based solar cell technologies. It then goes on to focus on the core scientific challenge associated with using molecular light-absorbing materials for solar energy conversion, namely the separation of short-lived, molecular-excited states into sufficiently long-lived, energetic, separated charges capable of generating an external photocurrent. Comparisons are made between different molecular-based solar cell technologies, with particular focus on the function of dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical solar cells as well as parallels with the function of photosynthetic reaction centres. The core theme of this review is that generating charge carriers with sufficient lifetime and a high quantum yield from molecular-excited states comes at a significant energetic cost-such that the energy stored in these charge-separated states is typically substantially less than the energy of the initially generated excited state. The role of this energetic loss in limiting the efficiency of solar energy conversion by such devices is emphasized, and strategies to minimize this energy loss are compared and contrasted.

  12. Electrical Systems for Wave Energy Conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bostroem, Cecilia

    2011-07-01

    Wave energy is a renewable energy source with a large potential to contribute to the world's electricity production. There exist several technologies on how to convert the energy in the ocean waves into electric energy. The wave energy converter (WEC) presented in this thesis is based on a linear synchronous generator. The generator is placed on the seabed and driven by a point absorbing buoy on the ocean surface. Instead of having one large unit, several smaller units are interconnected to increase the total installed power. To convert and interconnect the power from the generators, marine substations are used. The marine substations are placed on the seabed and convert the fluctuating AC from the generators into an AC suitable for grid connection. The work presented in the thesis focuses on the first steps in the electric energy conversion, converting the voltage out from the generators into DC, which have an impact on the WEC's ability to absorb and produce power. The purpose has been to investigate how the generator will operate when it is subjected to different load cases and to obtain guidelines on how future systems could be improved. Offshore experiments and simulations have been done on full scale generators connected to four different loads, i.e. one linear resistive load and three different non-linear loads representing different cases for grid connected WECs. The results show that the power can be controlled and optimized by choosing a suitable system for the WEC. It is not obvious which kind of system is the most preferable, since there are many different parameters that have an impact on the system performance, such as the size of the buoy, how the generator is designed, the number of WECs, the highest allowed complexity of the system, costs and so on. Therefore, the design of the electrical system should preferably be carried out in parallel with the design of the WEC in order to achieve an efficient system

  13. Energy efficiency: 2004 world overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2004-01-01

    Since 1992 the World Energy Council (WEC) has been collaborating with ADEME (Agency for Environment and Energy Efficiency, France) on a joint project 'Energy Efficiency Policies and Indicators'. APERC (Asia Pacific Energy Research Centre) and OLADE (Latin American Energy Organisation) have also participated in the study, which has been monitoring and evaluating energy efficiency policies and their impacts around the world. WEC Member Committees have been providing data and information and ENERDATA (France) has provided technical assistance. This report, published in August 2004, presents and evaluates energy efficiency policies in 63 countries, with a specific focus on five policy measures, for which in-depth case studies were prepared by selected experts: - Minimum energy efficiency standards for household electrical appliances; - Innovative energy efficiency funds; - Voluntary/negotiated agreements on energy efficiency/ CO 2 ; - Local energy information centres; - Packages of measures. In particular, the report identifies the policy measures, which have proven to be the most effective, and can be recommended to countries which have recently embarked on the development and implementation of energy demand management policies. During the past ten years, the Kyoto Protocol and, more recently, emerging concerns about security of supply have raised, both the public and the political profile of energy efficiency. Almost all OECD countries and an increasing number of other countries are implementing energy efficiency policies adapted to their national circumstances. In addition to the market instruments (voluntary agreements, labels, information, etc.), regulatory measures are widely introduced where the market fails to give the right signals (buildings, appliances). In developing countries, energy efficiency is equally important, even if the drivers are different compared to industrialized countries. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution often have a

  14. Simple and Efficient System for Combined Solar Energy Harvesting and Reversible Hydrogen Storage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Lu; Mu, Xiaoyue; Liu, Wenbo; Mi, Zetian; Li, Chao-Jun

    2015-06-24

    Solar energy harvesting and hydrogen economy are the two most important green energy endeavors for the future. However, a critical hurdle to the latter is how to safely and densely store and transfer hydrogen. Herein, we developed a reversible hydrogen storage system based on low-cost liquid organic cyclic hydrocarbons at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. A facile switch of hydrogen addition (>97% conversion) and release (>99% conversion) with superior capacity of 7.1 H2 wt % can be quickly achieved over a rationally optimized platinum catalyst with high electron density, simply regulated by dark/light conditions. Furthermore, the photodriven dehydrogenation of cyclic alkanes gave an excellent apparent quantum efficiency of 6.0% under visible light illumination (420-600 nm) without any other energy input, which provides an alternative route to artificial photosynthesis for directly harvesting and storing solar energy in the form of chemical fuel.

  15. Energy efficiency; Energieffektivisering

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    2009-06-15

    The Low Energy Panel will halve the consumption in buildings. The Panel has proposed a halving of consumption in the construction within 2040 and 20 percent reduction in the consumption in the industry within 2020. The Panel consider it as possible to gradually reduce consumption in buildings from the current level of 80 TWh with 10 TWh in 2020, 25 TWh in 2030 and 40 TWh in 2040. According the committee one such halving can be reached by significant efforts relating to energy efficiency, by greater rehabilitations, energy efficiency in consisting building stock and stricter requirements for new construction. For the industry field the Panel recommend a political goal to be set at least 20 percent reduction in specific energy consumption in the industry and primary industry beyond general technological development by the end of 2020. This is equivalent to approximately 17 TWh based on current level of activity. The Panel believes that a 5 percent reduction should be achieved by the end of 2012 by carrying out simple measures. The Low Energy Panel has since March 2009 considered possibilities to strengthen the authorities' work with energy efficiency in Norway. The wide complex panel adds up proposals for a comprehensive approach for increased energy efficiency in particular in the building- and industry field. The Panel has looked into the potential for energy efficiency, barriers for energy efficiency, assessment of strengths and weaknesses in the existing policy instruments and members of the Panel's recommendations. In addition the report contains a review of theoretical principles for effects of instruments together with an extensive background. One of the committee members have chosen to take special notes on the main recommendations in the report. (AG)

  16. Energy Efficiency Center - Overview

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Obryk, E.

    2000-01-01

    Full text: The Energy Efficiency Center (EEC) activities have been concentrated on Energy Efficiency Network (SEGE), education and training of energy auditors. EEC has started studies related to renewable fuels (bio fuel, wastes) and other topics related to environment protection. EEC has continued close collaboration with Institute for Energy Technology, Kjeller, Norway. It has been organized and conducted Seminar and Workshop on ''How to Reduce Energy and Water Cost in Higher Education Buildings'' for general and technical managers of the higher education institutions. This Seminar was proceeded by the working meeting on energy efficiency strategy in higher education at the Ministry of National Education. EEC has worked out proposal for activities of Cracow Regional Agency for Energy Efficiency and Environment and has made offer to provide services for this Agency in the field of training, education and consulting. The vast knowledge and experiences in the field of energy audits have been used by the members of EEC in lecturing at energy auditors courses authorized by the National Energy Efficiency Agency (KAPE). Altogether 20 lectures have been delivered. (author)

  17. Recent Progress in Piezoelectric Conversion and Energy Harvesting Using Nonlinear Electronic Interfaces and Issues in Small Scale Implementation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Guyomar

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper aims at providing an up-to-date review of nonlinear electronic interfaces for energy harvesting from mechanical vibrations using piezoelectric coupling. The basic principles and the direct application to energy harvesting of nonlinear treatment of the output voltage of the transducers for conversion enhancement will be recalled, and extensions of this approach presented. Latest advances in this field will be exposed, such as the use of intermediate energy tanks for decoupling or initial energy injection for conversion magnification. A comparative analysis of each of these techniques will be performed, highlighting the advantages and drawbacks of the methods, in terms of efficiency, performance under several excitation conditions, complexity of implementation and so on. Finally, a special focus of their implementation in the case of low voltage output transducers (as in the case of microsystems will be presented.

  18. Energy efficiency; Efficacite energetique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2006-06-15

    This road-map proposes by the Group Total aims to inform the public on the energy efficiency. It presents the energy efficiency and intensity around the world with a particular focus on Europe, the energy efficiency in industry and Total commitment. (A.L.B.)

  19. A comparison of energy conversion systems for meeting the power requirements of manned rover for Mars missions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Genk, M.S.; Morley, N.; Cataldo, R.; Bloomfield, H.

    1990-01-01

    Minimizing system mass for interplanetary missions is of utmost importance in order to keep launch cost within reasonable bounds. For a manned Mars rover, powered by a nuclear reactor power system, the choice of the energy conversion system can play a significant role in lowering the overall system mass. Not only is the mass of the conversion unit affected by the choice, but also the masses of the reactor core, waste heat rejection system, and the radiation shield which are strongly influenced by the system conversion efficiency and operating condition. Several types of conversion systems are of interest for a nuclear reactor Mars manned application. These conversion systems include: free piston Stirling engines, He/XE closed Brayton cycle (CBC), CO 2 open Brayton, and SiGe/GaP thermoelectric. Optimization studies are conducted to determine the impact of the conversion system on the overall mass of the nuclear power system as well as the mobility power requirement of the Rover vehicle

  20. Proceedings of the 30. intersociety energy conversion engineering conference. Volume 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goswami, D.Y.; Kannberg, L.D.; Somasundaram, S.

    1995-01-01

    This conference provides a forum to present and discuss the engineering aspects of energy conversion, advanced and unconventional energy systems and devices, energy conversion and utilization, environmental issues and policy implications on research, development, and implementation of technologies. The solution for a sustainable future will lie in a mix of all of the available energy resources (renewable and non-renewable) and diverse energy conversion technologies that will maintain quality of life in a sustainable manner. The 100 papers in Volume 2 are divided into the following topical sections: (1) Environmental impact--Impacts and technologies; (2) Energy systems--Electric/hybrid vehicle technology; Transportation system assessments; Simulation and modeling of systems; Cogeneration and other energy systems; Thermal energy storage applications; Fluids and heat transfer topics; Demand-side management in buildings; and Energy management; (3) Policy impacts on energy--Developing countries and Global; (4) Renewable energy sources--Solar and geothermal power; Solar thermal power; Photovoltaics; Biomass power; Solar thermal; and Renewable energy--status and future. All papers have been processed separately for inclusion on the data base

  1. Energy efficiency in Swedish industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Shanshan; Lundgren, Tommy; Zhou, Wenchao

    2016-01-01

    This paper assesses energy efficiency in Swedish industry. Using unique firm-level panel data covering the years 2001–2008, the efficiency estimates are obtained for firms in 14 industrial sectors by using data envelopment analysis (DEA). The analysis accounts for multi-output technologies where undesirable outputs are produced alongside with the desirable output. The results show that there was potential to improve energy efficiency in all the sectors and relatively large energy inefficiencies existed in small energy-use industries in the sample period. Also, we assess how the EU ETS, the carbon dioxide (CO_2) tax and the energy tax affect energy efficiency by conducting a second-stage regression analysis. To obtain consistent estimates for the regression model, we apply a modified, input-oriented version of the double bootstrap procedure of Simar and Wilson (2007). The results of the regression analysis reveal that the EU ETS and the CO_2 tax did not have significant influences on energy efficiency in the sample period. However, the energy tax had a positive relation with the energy efficiency. - Highlights: • We use DEA to estimate firm-level energy efficiency in Swedish industry. • We examine impacts of climate and energy policies on energy efficiency. • The analyzed policies are Swedish carbon and energy taxes and the EU ETS. • Carbon tax and EU ETS did not have significant influences on energy efficiency. • The energy tax had a positive relation with energy efficiency.

  2. Steady-state analysis of the integrated natural gas and electric power system with bi-directional energy conversion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zeng, Qing; Fang, Jiakun; Li, Jinghua

    2016-01-01

    Nowadays, the electric power system and natural gas network are becoming increasingly coupled and interdependent. A harmonized integration of natural gas and electricity network with bi-directional energy conversion is expected to accommodate high penetration levels of renewables in terms of system...... flexibility. This work focuses on the steady-state analysis of the integrated natural gas and electric power system with bi-directional energy conversion. A unified energy flow formulation is developed to describe the nodal balance and branch flow in both systems and it is solved with the Newton......–Raphson method. Both the unification of units and the per-unit system are proposed to simplify the system description and to enhance the computation efficiency. The applicability of the proposed method is demonstrated by analyzing an IEEE-9 test system integrated with a 7-node natural gas network. Later, time...

  3. High-efficiency ballistic electrostatic generator using microdroplets

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Yanbo; Bos, Diederik; de Vreede, Lennart J.; de Boer, Hans L.; van der Meulen, Mark-Jan; Versluis, Michel; Sprenkels, Ad J.; van den Berg, Albert; Eijkel, Jan C. T.

    2014-04-01

    The strong demand for renewable energy promotes research on novel methods and technologies for energy conversion. Microfluidic systems for energy conversion by streaming current are less known to the public, and the relatively low efficiencies previously obtained seemed to limit the further applications of such systems. Here we report a microdroplet-based electrostatic generator operating by an acceleration-deceleration cycle (‘ballistic’ conversion), and show that this principle enables both high efficiency and compact simple design. Water is accelerated by pumping it through a micropore to form a microjet breaking up into fast-moving charged droplets. Droplet kinetic energy is converted to electrical energy when the charged droplets decelerate in the electrical field that forms between membrane and target. We demonstrate conversion efficiencies of up to 48%, a power density of 160 kW m-2 and both high- (20 kV) and low- (500 V) voltage operation. Besides offering striking new insights, the device potentially opens up new perspectives for low-cost and robust renewable energy conversion.

  4. Nitrogen-doped graphene by ball-milling graphite with melamine for energy conversion and storage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xue, Yuhua; Chen, Hao; Qu, Jia; Dai, Liming

    2015-01-01

    N-doped graphene was prepared by ball milling of graphite with melamine. It was found that ball-milling reduced the size of graphite particles from 30 to 1 μm and facilitated the exfoliation of the resultant small particles into few-layer N-doped graphene nanosheets under ultrasonication. The as-prepared N-doped graphene nanoplatelets (NGnPs) exhibited a nitrogen content as high as 11.4 at.%, making them attractive as efficient electrode materials in supercapacitors for energy storage and as highly-active metal-free catalysts for oxygen reduction in fuel cells for energy conversion. (paper)

  5. Gross efficiency and energy expenditure in kayak ergometer exercise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gomes, B B; Mourão, L; Massart, A; Figueiredo, P; Vilas-Boas, J P; Santos, A M C; Fernandes, R J

    2012-08-01

    We purposed to study energy expenditure, power output and gross efficiency during kayak ergometer exercise in 12 elite sprint kayakers. 6 males (age 24.2±4.8 years, height 180.4±4.8 cm, body mass 79.7±8.5 kg) and 6 females (age 24.3±4.5 years, height 164.5±3.9 cm, body mass 65.4±3.5 kg), performed an incremental intermittent protocol on kayak ergometer with VO2 and blood lactate concentration assessment, a non-linear increase between power output and energy expenditure being observed. Paddling power output, energy expenditure and gross efficiency corresponding to VO2max averaged 199.92±50.41 W, 75.27±6.30 ml.kg - 1.min - 1, and 10.10±1.08%. Male kayakers presented higher VO2max, power output and gross efficiency at the VO2max, and lower heart rate and maximal lactate concentration than females, but no differences were found between genders regarding energy expenditure at VO2max. Aerobic and anaerobic components of energy expenditure evidenced a significant contribution of anaerobic energy sources in sprint kayak performance. Results also suggested the dependence of the gross efficiency on the changes in the amount of the aerobic and anaerobic contributions, at heavy and severe intensities. The inter-individual variance of the relationship between energy expenditure and the corresponding paddling power output revealed a relevant tracking for females (FDγ=0.73±0.06), conversely to the male group (FDγ=0.27±0.08), supporting that some male kayakers are more skilled in some paddling intensities than others. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

  6. Proceedings of the 25th intersociety energy conversion engineering conference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nelson, P.A.; Schertz, W.W.; Till, R.H.

    1990-01-01

    This book contains the proceedings of the 25th intersociety energy conversion engineering conference. Volume 1 is organized under the following headings: space power systems requirements and issues, space power systems; space power systems 2; space nuclear power reactors space nuclear reactor technology I; space nuclear reactor technology II; reactor technology; isotopic fueled power systems I, isotopic fueled power systems II, space power automation; space power automation II, space power automation III; space power automation IV; space power automation V; power systems hardware and design selection, power components, pulse power, power management and distribution, power management and distribution II, power management and distribution III; space energy conversion: solar dynamic, space energy conversion: static and dynamic, space solar array technology, advanced space solar cells

  7. Realizing Efficient Energy Harvesting from Organic Photovoltaic Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zou, Yunlong

    Organic photovoltaic cells (OPVs) are emerging field of research in renewable energy. The development of OPVs in recent years has made this technology viable for many niche applications. In order to realize widespread application however, the power conversion efficiency requires further improvement. The efficiency of an OPV depends on the short-circuit current density (JSC), open-circuit voltage (VOC) and fill factor (FF). For state-of-the-art devices, JSC is mostly optimized with the application of novel low-bandgap materials and a bulk heterojunction device architecture (internal quantum efficiency approaching 100%). The remaining limiting factors are the low VOC and FF. This work focuses on overcoming these bottlenecks for improved efficiency. Temperature dependent measurements of device performance are used to examine both charge transfer and exciton ionization process in OPVs. The results permit an improved understanding of the intrinsic limit for VOC in various device architectures and provide insight on device operation. Efforts have also been directed at engineering device architecture for optimized FF, realizing a very high efficiency of 8% for vapor deposited small molecule OPVs. With collaborators, new molecules with tailored desired energy levels are being designed for further improvements in efficiency. A new type of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite material is also included in this study. By addressing processing issues and anomalous hysteresis effects, a very high efficiency of 19.1% is achieved. Moving forward, topics including engineering film crystallinity, exploring tandem architectures and understanding degradation mechanisms will further push OPVs toward broad commercialization.

  8. Energy efficiency networks; Energieeffizienz-Netzwerke

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gruber, Anna [Forschungsgesellschaft fuer Energiewirtschaft mbH (FfE GmbH), Muenchen (Germany)

    2011-07-01

    Energy efficiency networks are an attractive method to increase the energy efficiency and to reduce the costs and CO{sub 2} emissions of the companies operating in this network. A special feature of the energy efficiency networks is the exchange of experiences and training of the energy managers. Energy efficiency networks consist of about ten to fifteen locally domiciled companies. During the project period of three to four years, there are two main phases. In the first phase, the initial consultation phase, the actual state of a company is captured, and measures to increase the efficiency and energy conservation are identified. Parallel to this, in the second phase every three months a meeting with the participating companies takes place. Experience exchange and implementation of energy efficiency measures are the focus of these meetings. Initial studies show that the increase of the energy efficiency during participating in the energy efficiency network almost can be doubled in comparison to the average of the industry.

  9. USE Efficiency -- Universities and Students for Energy Efficiency

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Melandri, Daniela

    2010-09-15

    Universities and Student for Energy Efficiency is a European Project within the Intelligent Energy Programme. It intends to create a common stream for energy efficiency systems in university buildings. Universities and students are proposed as shining examples for energy efficiency solutions and behaviour. The Project involves 10 countries and has the aim to improve energy efficiency in university buildings. Students are the main actors of the project together with professors and technicians. To act on students means to act on direct future market players in diffusion of public opinions. A strong communication action supports the succeeding of the action.

  10. District heating and energy efficiency in detached houses of differing size and construction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Joelsson, Anna; Gustavsson, Leif [Ecotechnology, Department of Engineering, Physics and Mathematics, Mid Sweden University, SE-831 25 Oestersund (Sweden)

    2009-02-15

    House envelope measures and conversion of heating systems can reduce primary energy use and CO{sub 2} emission in the existing Swedish building stock. We analysed how the size and construction of electrically heated detached houses affect the potential for such measures and the potential for cogenerated district heating. Our starting point was two typical houses built in the 1970s. We altered the floor plans to obtain 6 houses, with heated floor space ranging between 100 and 306 m{sup 2}. One of the houses was also analysed for three energy standards with differing heat loss rates. CO{sub 2} emission, primary energy use and heating cost were estimated after implementing house envelope measures, conversions to other heating systems and changes in the generation of district heat and electricity. The study accounted for primary energy, including energy chains from natural resources to useful heat in the houses. We showed that conversion to district heating based on biomass, together with house envelope measures, reduced the primary energy use by 88% and the CO{sub 2} emission by 96%, while reducing the annual societal cost by 7%. The choice of end-use heating system was decisive for the primary energy use, with district heating being the most efficient. Neither house size nor energy standard did significantly change the ranking of the heating systems, either from a primary energy or an economic viewpoint, but did affect the extent of the annual cost reduction after implementing the measures. (author)

  11. District heating and energy efficiency in detached houses of differing size and construction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Joelsson, Anna; Gustavsson, Leif

    2009-01-01

    House envelope measures and conversion of heating systems can reduce primary energy use and CO 2 emission in the existing Swedish building stock. We analysed how the size and construction of electrically heated detached houses affect the potential for such measures and the potential for cogenerated district heating. Our starting point was two typical houses built in the 1970s. We altered the floor plans to obtain 6 houses, with heated floor space ranging between 100 and 306 m 2 . One of the houses was also analysed for three energy standards with differing heat loss rates. CO 2 emission, primary energy use and heating cost were estimated after implementing house envelope measures, conversions to other heating systems and changes in the generation of district heat and electricity. The study accounted for primary energy, including energy chains from natural resources to useful heat in the houses. We showed that conversion to district heating based on biomass, together with house envelope measures, reduced the primary energy use by 88% and the CO 2 emission by 96%, while reducing the annual societal cost by 7%. The choice of end-use heating system was decisive for the primary energy use, with district heating being the most efficient. Neither house size nor energy standard did significantly change the ranking of the heating systems, either from a primary energy or an economic viewpoint, but did affect the extent of the annual cost reduction after implementing the measures

  12. Energy efficiency

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marvillet, Ch.; Tochon, P.; Mercier, P.

    2004-01-01

    World energy demand is constantly rising. This is a legitimate trend, insofar as access to energy enables enhanced quality of life and sanitation levels for populations. On the other hand, such increased consumption generates effects that may be catastrophic for the future of the planet (climate change, environmental imbalance), should this growth conform to the patterns followed, up to recent times, by most industrialized countries. Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, development of new energy sources and energy efficiency are seen as the major challenges to be taken up for the world of tomorrow. In France, the National Energy Debate indeed emphasized, in 2003, the requirement to control both demand for, and offer of, energy, through a strategic orientation law for energy. The French position corresponds to a slightly singular situation - and a privileged one, compared to other countries - owing to massive use of nuclear power for electricity generation. This option allows France to be responsible for a mere 2% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Real advances can nonetheless still be achieved as regards improved energy efficiency, particularly in the transportation and residential-tertiary sectors, following the lead, in this respect, shown by industry. These two sectors indeed account for over half of the country CO 2 emissions (26% and 25% respectively). With respect to transportation, the work carried out by CEA on the hydrogen pathway, energy converters, and electricity storage has been covered by the preceding chapters. As regards housing, a topic addressed by one of the papers in this chapter, investigations at CEA concern integration of the various devices enabling value-added use of renewable energies. At the same time, the organization is carrying through its activity in the extensive area of heat exchangers, allowing industry to benefit from improved understanding in the modeling of flows. An activity evidenced by advances in energy efficiency for

  13. EFFICIENT POLYMER PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES BASED ON POLYMER D-A BLENDS

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xian-yu Deng; Li-ping Zheng; Yue-qi Mo; Gang Yu; Wei Yang; Wen-hua Weng; Yong Cao

    2001-01-01

    Recent work demonstrated that efficient solar-energy conversion could be achieved in polymer photovoltaic cells (PVCs) based on interpenetrating bi-continuous networks[1,2]. In this paper we present a comprehensive study on improving energy conversion efficiencies of PVCs based on composite films of MEHPPV and fullerene derivatives. Carrier collection efficiency of ca. 30% el/ph and energy conversion efficiency of 3.9% were achieved at 500 nm. At reverse bias of 15 V, the photosensitivity reached 0.8 A/W, corresponding to a quantum efficiency over 100% el/ph. These results suggest that high efficiency photoelectric conversion can be achieved in polymer devices with M-P-M structure. These devices are promising for practical applications such as plastic solar cells and plastic photodetectors.

  14. Energy Conversion Loops for Flux-Switching PM Machine Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Ilhan

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Induction and synchronous machines have traditionally been the first choice of automotive manufacturers for electric/hybrid vehicles. However, these conventional machines are not able anymore to meet the increasing demands for a higher energy density due to space limitation in cars. Flux-switching PM (FSPM machines with their high energy density are very suitable to answer this demand. In this paper, the energy conversion loop technique is implemented on FSPM for the first time. The energy conversion technique is a powerful tool for the visualization of machine characteristics, both linear and nonlinear. Further, the technique provides insight into the torque production mechanism. A stepwise explanation is given on how to create these loops for FSPM along with the machine operation.

  15. Energy efficiency and its relationship with milk, body, and intake traits and energy status among primiparous Nordic Red dairy cattle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mäntysaari, P; Liinamo, A-E; Mäntysaari, E A

    2012-06-01

    Existing variation in energy efficiency and its relationship with milk yield and milk composition, body weight and body condition, feed intake, and energy status was studied in primiparous Nordic Red dairy cattle with data including 3,752 weekly records from 145 cows. Energy efficiency was defined as energy conversion efficiency (ECE) and as residual energy intake (REI) estimated based on Finnish feeding standards (REI₁) or from the current data (REI₂). The results indicated true phenotypic variation in energy efficiency of the cows. The proportion of total variance due to the animal was 0.35 for REI₁, 0.30 for REI₂, and 0.50 for ECE. The high efficiency based on ECE was associated with increased mobilization of body reserves (r = -0.50) and decreased dry matter intake (r = -0.51). With REI as an energy efficiency measure, the increased efficiency was associated with a large decrease in feed intake (REI₁: r = 0.60; REI2: r = 0.74) without any effect on body weight change (REI₁: r = 0.13; REI2: r = 0.00). Increased efficiency based on ECE and REI₁ was associated with increased milk yield (ECE: r = 0.58; REI₁: r = -0.41). A clear effect of stage of lactation on REI was found, which could be caused by true differences in utilization of metabolizable energy during lactation. However, it might also be related, in part, to the lack of knowledge of the composition of body weight change in the beginning of lactation. Copyright © 2012 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Efficient delivery of 60 J pulse energy of long pulse Nd:YAG laser ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    2014-02-09

    Feb 9, 2014 ... Most of today's industrial Nd:YAG lasers use fibre-optic beam delivery. ... optical fibre and successfully delivered up to 60 J of pulse energy with .... and electrical pump input to laser output conversion efficiency is about 5%. ... [3] W Koechner, Solid state laser engineering, 5th edn (Springer, Berlin, 1999).

  17. Energy Efficiency Resources to Support State Energy Planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Office of Strategic Programs, Strategic Priorities and Impact Analysis Team

    2017-06-01

    An early step for most energy efficiency planning is to identify and quantify energy savings opportunities, and then to understand how to access this potential. The U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy offers resources that can help with both of these steps. This fact sheet presents those resources. The resources are also available on the DOE State and Local Solution Center on the "Energy Efficiency: Savings Opportunities and Benefits" page: https://energy.gov/eere/slsc/energy-efficiency-savings-opportunities-and-benefits.

  18. A perspective on direct conversion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lewis, W. B.

    1963-10-15

    As flowing energy, electricity is sought for its versatility. Its generation from some other flow or release of energy without mechanical power, or even sometimes heat, as intermediary is called direct conversion. The objective is high electrical output for minimum total cost and not always high conversion efficiency. The wide range of techniques embracing cryogenics and hot plasma derives from the special requirements of source, environment and application. Sources include solar and other radiation, nuclear fission and fusion, chemical energy and heat. Environments and applications range from space vehicles to submarines and from giant power networks to isolated buoys and pocket devices. (author)

  19. A perspective on direct conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lewis, W.B.

    1963-10-01

    As flowing energy, electricity is sought for its versatility. Its generation from some other flow or release of energy without mechanical power, or even sometimes heat, as intermediary is called direct conversion. The objective is high electrical output for minimum total cost and not always high conversion efficiency. The wide range of techniques embracing cryogenics and hot plasma derives from the special requirements of source, environment and application. Sources include solar and other radiation, nuclear fission and fusion, chemical energy and heat. Environments and applications range from space vehicles to submarines and from giant power networks to isolated buoys and pocket devices. (author)

  20. 76 FR 6488 - Notice of Submission of Proposed Information Collection to OMB Conversion of Efficiency Units to...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-02-04

    ... Proposed Information Collection to OMB Conversion of Efficiency Units to One-Bedroom Units Multifamily... lists the following information: Title of Proposal: Conversion of Efficiency Units to One-Bedroom Units... efficiency units into one bedroom units in certain types of HUD assisted and/or insured housing. The...