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Abstract Building energy performance is often inadequate given design goals. While different types of assessment methods exist, they either do not consider design goals and/or are not general enough to integrate new and innovative energy concepts. Furthermore, existing assessment methods focus mostly on the building and system level while ignoring more detailed data. With the availability and affordability of more detailed measured data, the increased number of measured data points requires a structure to organize these data. This paper presents the Energy Performance Comparison Methodology (EPCM), which enables the identification of performance problems based on a comparison of measured data and simulated data representing design goals. The EPCM is based on an interlinked building object hierarchy that structures the detailed performance data from a spatial and mechanical perspective. This research is developed and tested on multiple case studies that provide real-life context and more generality compared to single case studies.

Abstract Adsorbent-based carbon capture is only feasible if adsorption-desorption cycles are both fully regenerating and efficient. This work proposes a regenerative pH swing process and a pH swing regenerative adsorbent that are inspired by natural CO2 conversion by carbonic anhydrase biocatalysts found in mammalian red blood cells. The main objective is to develop, test and analyze a synthetic pH Swing Adsorption (pHSA) system as well as a pHSA compatible solid adsorbent to capture CO2 from a simulated ambient air gas stream. The lead developed adsorbent is a carbon black co-activated with potassium carbonate and nitrogenous copolymer that is impregnated with immobilized bovine carbonic anhydrase and thereby deemed “BCA/KN-CB”. BCA/KN-CB has preliminarily demonstrated both competitive CO2 adsorption capacity and limited regenerative ability under experimental pHSA conditions. In addition, BCA-based adsorbents achieved higher adsorption capacities than non-BCA adsorbent counterparts. The BCA/KN-CB adsorbent displayed both large point of zero charge (PZC) swings and regenerative stability. The proposed pHSA system requires essentially zero energy expenditure to achieve intended environments for capture and regeneration. With 1 kg of adsorbent, pHSA has the ability to capture 1 kg CO2 in less than 4 h of cycling. The tested pHSA adsorbent can also capture more than 96% of total CO2 in a given raw gas stream flowing through the capture chamber. This proof-of-concept study of a pH swing adsorption/biocatalytic adsorbent system suggests the potential to effectively operate under ambient conditions and exhibit advantageous operational efficiencies to other high-profile CO2 capture systems.

Two bacterial species were isolated from cultures of Methanobacillus omelianskii grown on media, containing ethanol as oxidizable substrate. One of these, the S organism, is a gram negative, motile, anaerobic rod which ferments ethanol with production of H2 and acetate but is inhibited by inclusion of 0.5 atm of H2 in the gas phase of the medium. The other organism is a gram variable, nonmotile, anaerobic rod which utilizes H2 but not ethanol for growth and methane formation. The results indicate that M. omelianskii maintained in ethanol media is actually a symbiotic association of the two species.

The diffusivity and solubility of fluorine in solid nickel were determined using the following solid-state electrochemical cells: Co + CoF2| BaF2| Ni | BaF2| Co + CoF2 Co + CoF2| CaF2| BaF2| Ni | BaF2| CaF2| Co + CoF2 In the temperature range 1023 to 1223 K, the diffusion coefficient of fluorine in solid nickel is given by: 1 $$D_F (cm^2 /s) = (2.13_{ - 1.54}^{ + 5.54} ) \times 10^{ - 3} \exp (( - 118,600 \pm 12,000J/mol)/RT)$$ The dissolution of atomic fluorine in solid nickel obeys Sieverts’ law; however, the solubility results showed considerable scatter. In the temperature range 1073 to 1223 K, the mean solubility of fluorine in solid nickel, corresponding to the equilibrium Ni + NiF2, follows the relationship: N -F S (at. pct) = 5.73 x 10-3 exp((10,850 J/mol)/RT)

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 The combination of biomass gasification with fuel cells, especially high temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs) promises sustainable and highly efficient (decentralized and modular) energy conversion systems. This review encompasses the components of biomass integrated gasification–SOFC technology including biomass characteristics, the thermochemical conversion in gasifiers and the factors affecting the gasification process, the cleaning technologies for raw producer gas and its conditioning and finally the integration of gasifier with SOFCs. The influence of impurities present in biomass producer gas such as particulates, tar, H 2 S, HCl and alkali compounds based on recent experimental studies and their tolerance limits towards SOFCs are presented. Even though analysis based on the probable tolerance limits of impurities towards SOFCs and a comprehensive overview of the cleaning technologies for producer gas impurities indicate that producer gas cleaning at various temperatures using current technologies to meet SOFC requirements is possible, more experimental studies are still needed to acquire the detailed information on the tolerance limits of impurities for SOFCs. The recent theoretical modeling and experimental studies of biomass integrated gasification–SOFC systems are also presented.

Abstract This paper investigates the performance of a variable ratio gearbox (VRG) used in a small fixed-speed wind turbine with active blades. The major components of the VRG-enabled drivetrain are an automatic-manual gearbox and squirrel cage induction generator that connects directly to the grid. The simplicity of this system may be appealing for applications when cost and reliability are of concern. It is an alternative to variable speed systems, which necessitate a modified generator and power conditioning equipment. During partial load operation the VRG provides a discrete set of rotor speeds. This allows the controller to track the wind speed and to achieve a greater efficiency. This study suggests three VRG ratios are sufficient to improve performance when used with active blades. A case study is presented where the performance is simulated using three different wind data sets. The study suggests that the VRG can improve production between 7 and 8.5% in low wind areas. The design procedure also illustrates a technique for finding the lowest and highest gear ratios needed for VRG design. These ratios allow the system to achieve the lowest cut-in and rated speeds. The approach also has useful implications for the design of a continuously variable transmission.

Consumer interest in food products, including fresh vegetables, with health promoting properties is rising. In fresh vegetables, these properties include vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and secondary compounds, which collectively impart a large portion of the dietary, nutritional or health value associated with vegetable intake. Many, including farmers, aim to increase the health-promoting properties of fresh vegetables on the whole but they face at least three obstacles. First, describing crop composition in terms of its nutrition-based impact on human health is complex and there are few, if any, accepted processes and associated metrics for assessing and managing vegetable composition on-farm, at the origin of supply. Second, data suggest that primary and secondary metabolism can be 'in conflict' when establishing the abundance versus composition of a crop. Third, fresh vegetable farmers are rarely compensated for the phytochemical composition of their product. The development and implementation of a fresh vegetable 'nutritional yield' index could be instrumental in overcoming these obstacles. Nutritional yield is a function of crop biomass and tissue levels of health-related metabolites, including bioavailable antioxidant potential. Data from a multi-factor study of leaf lettuce primary and secondary metabolism and the literature suggest that antioxidant yield is sensitive to genetic and environmental production factors, and that changes in crop production and valuation will be required for fresh vegetable production systems to become more focused and purposeful instruments of public health.