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Abstract In this study, the effects of the different concentrations of hydrochloric acid, hydrofluoric acid, and acetic acid and a surfactant on the physicochemical characteristics of coal, such as pore diameter distribution, pore fractal dimension, and chemical structures were studied. The wettability performance of the reagent-modified coal was proposed. The results demonstrated that the mineral dissolution rate of HF in the coal sample was much higher than those by HCl and HAC treatment, which increases the surface roughness of coal. With the increase in the concentration of a multicomponent acid solution, the number of micropores decreased and the number of macropores increased. Moreover, both fractal dimensions D1 and D2 of the coal sample treated with the multicomponent acid comprising 6% HCl, 6% HF, and 6% HAC (#3) were the smallest. This shows that compound reagent #3 is available to enhance the pore size distribution with a better effect than the other five ones. Compared with the raw coal (#7), treatment with high concentrations of HCl (#4) significantly decreased the contact angle on coal (#4), whereas treatment with high concentrations of HF or HAC (#6 or #5), significantly increased it.

Abstract The objective of this work is to evaluate the surge characteristics of an axial compressor operating under surge conditions, by using a hybrid BDF/harmonic balance method. During a surge event, a large amount of backflow occurs in the compressor. Consequently, the airflow oscillates along the axial direction at a low frequency, which can considerably damage the compressor. In this paper, a numerical investigation is performed to examine the effects of the system volume and average mass flow on the surge characteristics of a transonic high speed single stage axial compressor (stage 35) designed and evaluated at the NASA Glenn Center. The results show that the oscillation frequency of the airflow in the compressor generally ranges from 14.32–26.04 Hz during surge conditions, and both the system volume and average mass flow considerably influence the surge characteristics. For a constant average mass flow, as the system volume decreases, the oscillation frequency of the airflow in the compressor increases slightly, while the oscillation amplitude of the exit static pressure decreases significantly, and the maximum static pressure at the outlet remains nearly constant. In the case of a constant system volume, with the decrease in the average mass flow, the oscillation frequency of the airflow in the compressor gradually decreases, and the oscillation amplitude of the exit pressure increases significantly. With a further decrease in the average mass flow, the oscillation frequency stabilizes at a certain point and does not change thenceforth. Furthermore, the surge frequency obtained using the numerical method shows a same tendency with the Helmholtz frequency, but there is a considerable difference between them.

Abstract Flow behavior of particles in a two-dimensional spouted bed with a draft tube is studied using a continuous kinetic-friction stresses model. The kinetic stress of particles is predicted from kinetic theory of granular flow, while the friction stress is computed from a model proposed by Johnson et al. (1990) . A stitching function is used to smooth from the rapid shearing viscous regime to the slow shearing plastic regime. The distributions of concentration and velocities of particles are predicted in the spouted bed with a draft tube. Simulated results compare with the vertical velocity of particles ( Zhao et al., 2008 ) measured and in the spout bed with draft plates and solid circulation rate ( Ishikura et al., 2003 ) measured in the spouted bed with a draft tube. The impact of the friction stress of particles on the spout, annulus, fountain and entrancement regions is analyzed in gas–solid spouted bed with a draft tube. Numerical results show that the gas flow rate through the annulus increases with the increase of the entrainment zone. The solids circulation rate decreases with the decrease of inlet gas velocity and the height of the entrainment zone. The effect of spouting gas velocity on distributions of concentration, velocity and particle circulation is discussed.

Abstract In this paper, we present the use of different mathematical models to forecast electricity price under deregulated power. A successful prediction tool of electricity price can help both power producers and consumers plan their bidding strategies. Inspired by that the support vector regression (SVR) model, with the e -insensitive loss function, admits of the residual within the boundary values of e -tube, we propose a hybrid model that combines both SVR and Auto-regressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models to take advantage of the unique strength of SVR and ARIMA models in nonlinear and linear modeling, which is called SVRARIMA. A nonlinear analysis of the time-series indicates the convenience of nonlinear modeling, the SVR is applied to capture the nonlinear patterns. ARIMA models have been successfully applied in solving the residuals regression estimation problems. The experimental results demonstrate that the model proposed outperforms the existing neural-network approaches, the traditional ARIMA models and other hybrid models based on the root mean square error and mean absolute percentage error.

Short term load forecasting plays an increasingly important role in Smart Grid. Short term load forecasting is also an important part of enterprise power system management. Providing accurate load time series data for a certain period of time in the future can enable enterprises to ensure the smooth operation of production while making a reasonable power plan, reducing power consumption and basic electricity charges, thus reducing the production cost of enterprises. In addition, lower electricity consumption means lower carbon dioxide emissions, which has far-reaching implications for sustainable development strategies. This paper presents a short-term load forecasting method based on time series. The model divides the time series data into four parts: trend item, period item, holiday item and error item. In the experiment part, this paper provides a set of preprocessing method flow. Aiming at the problem that the sampling rate of the current smart grid data is not constant, a data smoothing algorithm is proposed.

Abstract The central role of occupants for achieving energy savings in residential buildings is increasingly recognised. Simulation programmes able to take into account occupant behaviour are considered to be powerful tools for bridging the gap between the predicted and the actual energy consumption for new buildings. Nevertheless, the majority of residential buildings that will constitute the housing stock in 2050 have already been built today, therefore occupant behaviour and building simulation tools need to be fully exploited for supporting the renovation of existing housing stock. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of occupant behaviour modelling in supporting decision-makers dealing with the design of renovation strategies for residential buildings. An Italian multi-family public housing building is assumed as case study to estimate the influence of three dimensions linked with occupant behaviour – management of the thermostat, management of the heating system, variation of building characteristics – on energy heating consumption. The results show that, while the occupant behaviour influences the heating loads up to 1/3 in case of high level of building retrofit, the less the building is renovated, the higher is the behavioural impact in absolute terms of energy reduction. Therefore, in order to be effective, renovation strategies are required to design appropriate informative instruments at an early stage to support behaviour changes towards responsible energy consumption.

The main objective of this paper is to illustrate the current state of the art of the newborn smart gas grid concept. We provide a detailed discussion of the envisaged features of the smart gas grid, giving attention to both the related academic literature and to the ongoing world-wide projects. In doing so, we also discuss the potentialities of rethinking the smart grid paradigm from the perspective of a whole energy system, that both encompasses the electrical and the gas grid, and identify some critical key aspects that must be handled while developing the new smart energy paradigm.

Abstract A CFD modelling study has been undertaken to examine the co-firing of pulverised coal and biomass with particular regard to the burnout of the larger diameter biomass particles. Computations were based on a research combustion facility that replicates an industrial coal-fired power station. Three percent, by mass, of pinewood was blended with a bituminous UK coal, and the effects of the wood particle size and shape on the burnout of the combined wood and coal char were investigated. The effect of varying the devolatilisation and char combustion rate constants for the biomass component in the blend was also investigated. It was concluded that the combustion of small (200 μm) wood particles was rapid but the rate of combustion of larger particles was dependent on their composition, size, and shape.