• Energy Research
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• 2017 close

In this project proposal reversible solid-state chemical reactions (eutectoids, peritectoids) are proposed for the storing of thermal energy at high temperature (300-800 °C). The development of a novel heat storage concept, based on solid-solid reactions, proposed in this project, could contribute to open new scenarios in the thermal energy storage field. To the best of our knowledge, the use of this class of reactions for TES applications has not been explored so far. The goal of this study is the identification of solid-state reactions fulfilling a large number of scientific and technological requirements (high storage capacity, good thermal conductivity, mechanical and chemical stability, complete reversibility of a charging/discharging cycles etc.). For this scope, an interdisciplinary research strategy will be followed involving materials chemistry, physics and engineering disciplines to achieve a complete overview of their behaviour starting from basic research challenges, focused on the material development and characterization (reactivity, stability, kinetic, reversibility, heat and mass transfer etc.), up to arrive to the investigation of their feasibility in real applications (e.g. concentrated solar power technologies (CSP) and waste heat recovery). During the project a two direction transfer of knowledge will be applied. On one side, an intense training will be offered to the applicant by the host laboratory with the objective to increase his scientific and managerial skills. Secondment in one established European technological center with recognized international expertise in concentrating solar plants (CSP) technologies is also planned. On the other side, the applicant will make available the knowledge and competences matured along his career both to give an impulse to the scientific work and fulfil the objectives set in the project and to explore other funding opportunities and collaborations.

Semiconducting polymers have attracted extensive attention due to their potential applications in organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and organic photovoltaics (OPVs), but it is still a great challenge to modulate their microstructure in a controllable way. In this proposal, I will outline how the controllable growth of a fibrillar microstructure can be realized using diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) polymers. On the one hand, quasi polymer crystals such as fibers or wires will be deposited, leading to the fabrication of high-mobility transistors due to an almost complete elimination of grain boundaries. Such quasi polymer crystals will provide an ideal platform for the investigation of charge carrier transport. On the other hand, hierarchical microstructures of DPP polymers with two distinct characteristic fiber diameters will be grown in polymer/fullerene blend films in a controllable way, in which the thick fibrils (~100 nm) will be beneficial for the charge carrier transport and the thin fibrils (~10 nm) will facilitate the exciton generation and charge separation in polymer solar cells. The controllable growth of a fibrillar microstructure including quasi polymer crystals and hierarchical microstructures will allow me to systematically study the correlation between film microstructure and device performance in both OFETs and OPVs. This will open new prospects for the fabrication of high-performance polymer electronic devices and create the opportunity to reveal the intrinsic mechanism of charge carrier transport in semiconducting polymers.

In the search for renewable energy sources, solar energy shows great promise through its conversion to electricity and storable fuels using artificial photosynthesis. A detailed understanding of the energy conversion processes on the nanoscale is needed for the rational design and improvement of solar technology. This project is aimed at the development of a methodology for in-depth characterisation of spin-dependent processes in solar energy devices. The method will be based on a novel combination of pulse Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) and Electrically Detected Magnetic Resonance (EDMR) spectroscopy with arbitrarily shaped pulses. ESR by itself has already proven to be instrumental for advancing the understanding of natural photosynthesis and the increased sensitivity of EDMR allows the extension of this technique to assembled devices. The combination of both techniques and development of new pulse schemes based on arbitrarily shaped pulses will lead to significant advancements, enabling the simultaneous study of charge separation, charge transport and catalysis and their interdependence in fully assembled solar-to-fuel devices. The research will utilise cutting-edge instrumentation for simultaneous detection of magnetisation and photocurrent at FU Berlin. To fully exploit the advantages of this methodology, a theoretical description for the new experiments will be implemented in the widely used ESR simulation software EasySpin, providing a unified framework for the description of ESR and EDMR. The work on this project will serve to diversify the researcher’s competences and provide her with a broad skill set combining experimental and theoretical expertise, paving the way for an independent research career. The methodology developed for the characterisation of solar energy devices will provide new insights into artificial photosynthesis that will guide progress in solar technology with important implications for its commercialisation and industrial application.

HEART is a multifunctional retrofit toolkit within which different subcomponents – ICT, BEMS, HVAC, BIPV and Envelope Technologies – cooperate synergistically to transform an existing building into a Smart Building. Based on a whole-building performance approach, the toolkit is conceived to achieve extremely high levels of energy efficiency in the existing residential building stock, with particular reference to Central and Southern Europe, where climate change and energy transition have boosted electricity consumption peaks both during summer and winter seasons. However, it may be extended equally well to new residential and commercial buildings. The system’s central core consists of a cloud-based computing platform which concentrates managing and operational logic to support decision-making in planning and construction as well as energy performance enhancement and monitoring during operation. The Toolkit provide energy saving, energy fluxes optimization, data exchange, stakeholders’ active involvement and Smart Grid interactivity. Interoperable building technologies and installations are also integrated in the toolkit: envelope solutions (thermal insulation and windows) ensure a reduction of thermal loads, while technical systems (BEMS, BIPV, heat pump, fan-coils, power controller, storage systems) ensure energy efficiency and RES exploitation. All technical systems and building components are structured as a function of their affordability, interactivity, practicality, reduced installation time and non-invasiveness. HEART's contribution to the improvement of the building renovation process can be briefly summarized through its main features: • Retrofit planning and implementation optimization; • Reduction of total energy consumption; • Reinforcement of RES exploitation; • Rationalization of energy flows inside the building and between building and Smart Grids; • Active involvement of stakeholders; • Support to energy financing.

The building sector has been identified as one of the key sectors to achieve the 20/20/20 targets of the EU. Buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions. Studies show that renovations of existing buildings is one of the low-cost options to reduce emissions of CO2, and potentially improve energy security by reducing imports of fossil fuels. Additionally, the EU has set a target for all new buildings to be nearly zero-energy by 2020. Every building needs dowels to be constructed. Current dowels are an obstacle for the renovation of buildings, and addition of new technologies that support energy efficiency directives. INNOFIXX’s development, a new type of dowels for heavy duty loads and façades, has demonstrated to be fast and easy to assemble (it can reduce 20% of fixing costs in buildings), it can carry simultaneously vertical and horizontal loads, it covers a wide range of applications: fixing balconies, adding solar panels in the façades, repairing façades), it is able to add extra thermal insulation in buildings without the need to destroy current walls, it saves energy compared to existing dowels (it has demonstrated that INNOFIXX has lower heating bridges, which can save 2°C per dowel), it supports the European Energy directives in buildings (2010 Energy Performance of Buildings Directive, and the 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive), it can be recycled and re-used, and it has a long-life, they can last as long as the façade exists. INNOFIXX clearly supports the circular economy principle.

HYPER TOWER is a very promising project that will lead to a radical increase in the wind turbine tower height and consequently to an increase in the energy potential harvested by wind structures. The project reaches its aims of constructing taller, more robust and economical towers by realizing 6 work packages that are formulated and developed in 2 years. In approaching the "20-20-20" targets, more and more energy has to come from sustainable energy sources and since "The taller the wind tower is, the greener the energy is", a constant trend of taller wind energy structures is observed. The civil engineers' challenge of constructing taller structures, with heavier machinery hanging at greater heights has led to the need of evolution of a new tower configuration that can reassure the structure's robustness along with a feasible construction schedule. Hyper Tower proposes the elaboration of a new-age tower cross-section and construction methodology, which are elaborated within the project's work packages. Assessment of existing tower configuration is performed, the proposal of a new-age tower section is elaborated, numerical and experimental results are assessed and compared to traditional tower configuration results and the final tower configuration is formulated.

Airborne wind energy (AWE) is a renewable energy source with a huge potential, but remains yet to be harnessed at a commercial scale. Commercialization of AWE will contribute in reaching the committed share of 27% renewables in Europe by 2030. The wind energy is stronger and more steady at higher altitudes, which means that AWE can be installed in locations where wind turbines are not viable. AWE can also be used in locations where conventional wind turbines have a negative impact on the visual environment. Contrary to conventional wind turbines, kite turbines have a very small footprint on the ground and are hardly visible up in the air. A complete construction of a kite turbine requires only 10% the mass of a conventional wind turbine and yearly operational hours can double due to high altitude operation. The Norwegian based AWE producer, Kitemill has demonstrated autonomous operation of their 30-kW kite turbine in operational environment at their test site. Their unique features for succeeding in commercialization of kite turbines: • The first airborne wind energy supplier to feature vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) solution. The advantage with a VTOL system is a minimized landing platform since it only need to be as wide as the wingspan of the kite. • Customer secured for a demo park consisting of five 30-kW kite turbines. • The first company to have obtained permanent operating license in designated areas issued by National Aviation Authorities. • Commercialization strategy will start with the 30-kW kite turbine to obtain a high number of operational hours at a smaller scale, which will reduce risk for the customers when introducing a new energy technology. Full scale levelized cost of energy is calculated to 2,8 c€/kWh, which is much cheaper than current wind turbines.

Thermal energy storage is a useful method to adjust temporal mismatch between the demand and supply of solar energy systems, and latent thermal energy storage (LTES) using phase change material (PCM) has drawn increasing attentions for its high energy storage density and small temperature variation. Molten salt is a promising candidate for solar energy storage media at middle temperature range (140~300 oC). However, the low thermal conductivity of pure salt hampers the development of this technology. This proposal aims to introduce high conductive nanoparticles (NP) to improve the stability and thermo-physical properties of conventional PCMs for solar energy storage, termed as NPMSSES. Molten salts will be used as the matrix, and NPs (i.e., nickel, graphite platelet nanofibers and graphene) or expanded graphite (EG) will be introduced. It is a highly challenging yet exciting project that unites and advances the boundaries of three state-of-the-art disciplines: functional nanoparticles / nanocomposite, solar energy storage, and multiscale modelling. This work will address four main tasks: i) synthesis and characterization of NP-PCMs with good stability ii) identification thermo-physical properties of NP-PCMs under high temperature; iii) investigating their operational and heat transfer characteristics in a LTES system, including shell-tube and fluidized bed types, and iv) multiscale modeling thermo-physical properties of composite PCMs. My strong experience in experimentation with PCM and heat transfer and the vast knowledge on advanced nanomaterials synthesis and characterisation, and multiscale modelling of the host university will create the optimal environment to deliver the objectives of NPMSSES. The fellowship will be highly beneficial to establish myself as an independent researcher. It is expected that significant innovation should be made in the area of NP-PCM fabrication and mechanistic understanding of heat transfer mechanisms.