• Energy Research
• 2016-2025close
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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.

In order to enhance the efficiency and benefits of the sludge anaerobic digestion process, K2FeO4 was added to a sludge anaerobic digestion system, and its effects on the system were comprehensively investigated. Results showed that sludge anaerobic digestion was greatly improved by adding 500 mg/L K2FeO4. Biogas and methane productions were increased by 26.6 and 28.4%, respectively. Sludge reduction, protein removal, and the conversion efficiency of dissolved organics were all improved. The mechanism revealed that the disintegration of sludge flocs, enhancement of protease activity, and decrease of soluble sulfide toxicity on microorganisms contributed to biogas production and sludge reduction. Biogas quality was improved, benefitting from the decreasing H2S content in biogas; as additionally, the cost of biogas desulfuration was reduced. In the biogas slurry treatment, the PO43--P concentrations were decreased by 39%, which also reduced the cost of the dephosphorization processes at certain extent.

Abstract Natural gas vehicles offer the benefits of reducing oil use, CO2 emissions and air pollutants. Promoting the use of natural gas vehicles is considered as one of the most important strategies towards sustainable transportation. China made remarkable progress in promoting natural gas vehicles over recent years, and its 4.6 million natural gas vehicles in 2014 represented the world׳s largest natural gas vehicle fleet. In this paper, the development of natural gas vehicles in China is reviewed based on a triple-perspective (Fuel-Vehicle-Infrastructure) technical–economical framework. The review indicates that (a) pricing of vehicle-use Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is essential in determining natural gas vehicle development. A pricing principle similar to the fixed CNG/gasoline price ratio (0.75:1) should be applied to LNG/diesel price ratio; (b) for CNG passenger vehicles, the modified CNG vehicles, with ¥3000–5000 additional cost, is more attractive to consumers than originally manufactured CNG vehicles, with about ¥10,000 additional cost. Vehicle retrofit should be permitted by the government with the precondition that retrofit standards are strictly enforced; (c) for CNG/LNG transit buses, the deployment is strongly affected by local government׳s preference. In regions with sufficient natural gas supply, the government should prioritize the deployment of CNG/LNG transit buses rather than other technologies; (d) for LNG commercial vehicles, with ¥60,000–80,000 higher cost than their counterpart diesel vehicles, financial incentive is critical for their development. China׳s current vehicle subsidy scheme should be extended to cover LNG commercial vehicles; (e) regarding refueling infrastructures, interference with urban land-use planning and long-time administrative approval are the major barriers. Local governments should launch dedicated plans and strategies to support the further deployment of CNG/LNG refueling infrastructures.

Abstract In this paper, a finned heat pipe assisted passive heat sink based on a newly emerging high performance phase change material (PCM), the low melting point metal (LMPM), was developed for thermal buffering of high power electronics which works intermittently with heat generation rate up to 1000 W (10 W/cm2). Firstly, thermal performances of the PCM heat sink under different thermal shocks (from 200 W to 1000 W) were experimentally evaluated, in comparison with that of an organic PCM which has similar melting point. It was found that, the former one can prolong the working duration 1.4–2.4 times that of the latter one. Then, the performance of the heat sink was improved through reducing the contact thermal resistance and by increasing the fin number. Furtherly, an air cooling radiator was configured to accelerate the solidification process of the PCM module, which makes it capable of maintaining its highest temperature below 85 °C under 1000 W periodic thermal shock (10 min on and 15 min off). Moreover, energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) analysis was conducted to verify the compatibility of the LMPM PCM and the structural materials. Finally, a simplified numerical model was developed and validated for the currently constructed finned heat pipe assisted LMPM PCM heat sink, which can be much helpful for future practical thermal design and optimization of this kind of thermal buffering module.