• Energy Research
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There are two types of wind turbines, a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine (HAWT) and a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT). A HAWT has high efficiencies, but also high costs of materials, transportation, installation and maintenance. A VAWT has low efficiency, but lower costs of materials, transportation, installation and maintenance. In comparison, a VAWT also offers a subtler design with reduced shadow flicker, bird strike, and noise. However, due to the low efficiency of a VAWT, it is not an economically commercial method of producing renewable energy. AB Power has developed a technology to increase the efficiency of a VAWT close to that of a HAWT without sacrificing the cost savings. This has led to a far cheaper method of harnessing energy from the wind than ever before. Due to the affordability of the VAWT, it will have a dramatic impact on the fight against climate change. The technology being developed at AB Power will make renewable energy available to more customers than ever before. Through the growth of AB Power, there will be a direct relationship with the reduction of UK emissions.

Awaiting Public Project Summary

Soil is a fundamental resource yet every year some 10 million ha of cropland are lost to soil erosion, mostly due to unsustainable agricultural and forestry practices. Erosion impacts overall sustainability in two ways: (a) reduction in farmland for food production, and (b) discharge of sediments and associated contaminants into water courses polluting water supply, fisheries and aquaculture, and reducing hydropower capacity due to reservoir siltation. Soil erosion and its environmental impacts sit centrally within the Energy-Food-Water-Environment Nexus. New approaches to land management change are required to reduce socio-economic impacts of soil erosion but in spite of its significance, soil erosion is insufficiently understood in its social dimensions, and is almost non-governed in Latin American DAC countries. Two factors may explain this: (a) erosion is often slow and "invisible", or accepted as the norm, and (b) erosion is highly complex, emerging from interaction of socio-economic and natural processes, with interconnected feedbacks between external and internal drivers. Working in collaboration with researchers from Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico, the Chile-UK partnership aims to develop a new integrated approach for understanding and governing soil erosion at the river basin scale. Our multidisciplinary team combines innovative scientific measuring methods and advanced Latin American approaches for socio-cultural intervention to provide a new framework within which soil erosion challenges in Latin America can be addressed.

Although renewable energy has always been a priority in UK, the incentives cuts for solar have slowed down new investments. There is a need for more efficient technologies to make the PV market more self-sustainable and preserve the thousands related jobs. Bifacial solar panels (BFPV) is one such technology: light can enter from both sides, thus generating more electricity. Unfortunately, there are issues limiting the wide adoption of the new, more efficient technology, the main one being the uncertainty in the forecast of energy output of BFPV. High uncertainty increases the risk for investors, limiting the proliferation of BFPV. The project builds on the cooperation between RINA and the National Physics Laboratory (NPL) developed during our A4I Round 3 Feasibility Study and aims to develop an innovative method to perform yield studies, with reduced uncertainty on the output of BFPV systems. The project focuses on a key problem in assessing the energy output of BFPV plant: the accurate evaluation of bifacial gain. In our Round 3 work, NPL introduced "effective" albedo (light reflected from the ground) as an input to RINA's energy output assessment method, which incorporates the varying light spectrum of the reflected light as well as the spectral response of solar panels into the analysis. The impact of this method on significantly reducing uncertainty on BFPV energy output estimations was demonstrated, and the energy estimates themselves rose for example sites. They key objectives of the current Round 5 project are: Develop the Round 3 methodologies to be applicable globally; Specify the hardware and procedural requirements for on-site albedo monitoring including uncertainty analysis. Incorporate uncertainties due to additional PV module factors into the bifacial gain estimation. Develop typical effective albedo datasets as a guide when site-specific data are unavailable. Feed into the working group for the improvement of the IEC 616724-1 standard. Determine the impact on financial risk by using different measurement and data analysis methods within BFPV energy forecasts. Benefits from the project will affect the whole value chain of energy, from generation to consumption. More reliable and better-understood measurements and data validation reduce the technical and financial risks of investors, consequently boosting BFPV investments. As a result, more power generated and higher efficiency guaranteed by the BFPV technology will favour a decrease in electricity price for consumers. This will also contribute towards reducing CO2 emissions and the UK's environmental impact.

The latest report of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 'Global warming of 1.5C' emphasises the need for 'rapid and far-reaching' actions now to curb carbon emission to limit global warming and climate change impact. Decarbonising heating is one of the actions which is going to play a key role in reducing carbon emission. The Committee on Climate Change states that insufficient progress has been made towards the low carbon heating homes target that requires immediate attention to meet our carbon budget. It is well known fact that the ground is warmer compared to air in winter and cooler in summer. Therefore our ancestors build caves and homes underground to protect them against extreme cold/hot weather. Geothermal energy pile (GEEP) basically consists of a pile foundation, heat exchanging loops and a heat pump. Heat exchanging loops are usually made of high density polyethylene pipes and carry heat exchanging fluid (water and/or ethylene glycol). Loops are attached to a reinforcement cage and installed into the concrete pile foundations of a building to extract the shallow ground energy via a heat pump to heat the building during winter. The cycle is reversed during summer when heat is collected from the building and stored in the ground. GEEP can play an important role in decarbonising heating as it utilises the sustainable ground energy available under our feet. High initial cost remains the main challenge in deploying heat pump technology. In the case of GEEP, the initial cost can be reduced, if the heat capacity of the concrete is improved and loop length can thus be decreased. This can be achieved by incorporating phase change material (PCM) in the concrete. PCM has a peculiar characteristic that it absorbs or releases large amount of energy during phase change (solid to liquid or liquid to solid). This project aims to develop an innovative solution by combining two technologies GEEP and PCM to obtain more heat energy per unit loop length which would reduce the cost of GEEP significantly. PCM has never been used with GEEP in the past, therefore obvious research questions that come to the mind are (1) how to inject PCM in concrete (2) what would be the effect of PCM on concrete strength and workability (3) how PCM would affect load capacity of GEEP as primary objective of the GEEP is to support structure (4) how much heat energy would be available (5) what would happen to the ground temperature surrounding GEEP (6) how much it would cost (7) whether it would reduce carbon footprint of concrete. We aim to answer all the above research questions by employing sustainable and environmental friendly PCM and impregnate it in light weight aggregates (LWAs) made with waste material (e.g. fly ash, slag, glass). There are three advantages of using LWAs made from waste: first LWAs will replace natural aggregate in concrete as natural aggregates are carbon intense, second LWAs are porous and light so they can absorb large amount of PCM and reduce the weight of concrete, third reuse the waste. Laboratory scale concrete GEEP will be made with PCM impregnated LWAs and tested under heating and cooling load to investigate thermal (heat transfer) and mechanical (load capacity) performance. Extensive experimental and numerical study will be carried out to design and develop novel PCM incorporated GEEP which can provide renewable ground energy for heating and cooling.

"Offshore wind turbines operate in harsh and extreme environments such as the North Sea. As blades continue getting larger, their tip speeds can exceed 100m/s. At these speeds, any particulates in the air such as rain, dust, salt, insects, etc. can wear away the surface of a blade's leading edge, a phenomenon known as ""leading edge erosion"" (LEE). This, in turn, alters the blade's aerodynamic shape, affecting its efficiency and potentially exposing the blade to further and more serious damage, thereby reducing its working life. Whilst the extent and nature of contributing factors to LEE are not yet fully understood, it can be said that at some point in their lifespan, all wind turbine blades will suffer from some form or degree of LEE which will need to be addressed. Maintaining blades in the offshore wind sector is an expensive and dangerous job where, typically, highly skilled rope access technicians are required to scale down the blades to carry out leading edge repairs. Having successfully proven the concept in Phase 1 of the Innovate UK funding round, in this project, BladeBug Limited will continue its work with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult to develop, build and test a complete, walking robotic system designed specifically to carry out a number of these detailed inspections and repetitive repairs on the leading edges of wind turbine blades. The ability to perform these tasks remotely will free up time of skilled rope access technicians to undertake specialist repairs or upgrades to blades that only they can do. More blades could then be inspected and treated in the same time frames, maximising the electrical output of the turbines and, as a result, increasing revenues to turbine owners as well as the environmental benefit to everyone in CO2 savings."

Solar PV and energy storage systems have been widely recognised as one of most effective ways to address energy and environmental issues. Several power electronic converters are required to manage the power flow from solar PV panels to energy storage and power grid. As a result, such converters can determine the overall performance, e.g., efficiency and power density, of the solar energy storage system. Numerous control methods, topologies, and modulation strategies have been recently proposed to improve power density, efficiency, reliability, and costs of the converters. However, two major challenges remain as critical obstacles to further advance these. The first challenge is the bulky electrolytic capacitors used to reduce voltage ripples, which are the most vulnerable components in the converters. They can cause about 30% of failures, and occupy 83% of the volume in a small power converter. The second challenge is the inefficient and bulky isolation transformers used to isolate leakage currents. Such transformers can account for about 3% of system power losses, over 60% of weight, and over 50% of volume in a 6 kW PV inverter. In this project, we aim to develop a 5 kW highly efficient, reliable and small-sized converter system for solar PV energy storage systems through 1) advanced design of power topologies to remove isolation transformers and electrolytic capacitors; 2) design of high-frequency inductors to reduce system size and weight; 3) control system design to improve system dynamics; 4) simulation and experimental verification of the developed power converters. With the commitment from Solar Ready Solutions, routes to commercialization of the developed converters will be included as a part of this project.

"EPSRC : Elisangela Jesus D'Oliveira : EP/S023836/1" - Research council that the student is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). - The student's name: Elisangela Jesus D'Oliveira - Training Grant Reference Number: EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU), EP/S023836/1 Heat represents almost half of the use of energy in the UK, and around 80% of domestic heat is supplied by natural gas. Therefore, we must reduce the heating demand by increasing the efficiency and decarbonisation of the space and hot water heating systems. The adoption of low-carbon domestic heating technologies is one of the biggest challenges in the decarbonisation of the UK's energy system because 80% of the homes are already built. The retrofitting of households is one of the most cost-effective routes to reduce carbon emissions. The use of LHTES has the potential to reduce the space heating energy use by storing excess energy and bridge the gap between supply/demand mismatch characteristic of renewable energy sources or electricity peak-load. The efficiency of domestic or residential radiator could be increased using a compact LHTES, and it could be implemented as a retrofit measurement to reduce energy consumption. There are some studies of LHTES in domestic heating. Campos-Celador et al. (2014) designed a finned plate LHTES system for domestic applications using water-paraffin, allowing a volume reduction of more than 50%, comparing to a conventional hot water storage tank. Dechesne et al. (2014) studied the coupling of an air-fatty acids heat exchanger in a building ventilation system; the module could be used either for space heating or cooling. Bondareva et al. (2018) studied a finned copper radiator numerically with paraffin enhancing with Al2O3 nanoparticles, and their results demonstrated that the addition of fins and nanoparticles increases the melting rate. Sardari et al. (2020) investigated the application of combined metal foam and paraffin for domestic space heating by introducing a novel energy storage heater; their results showed that the solidification time was reduced by 45% and the heat recovery was enhanced by 73%. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the enhancement of the thermal conductivity of the PCMs with the incorporation of high conductive nanomaterials, as they increase the heat transfer rate of the PCM to tailor the application charging and discharging rates. However, a study evaluating the feasibility of the nano-enhanced PCMs (NEPCMs) applications on domestic radiators to improve the efficiency and energy-savings through heat recovery has not been conducted. Therefore, a dedicated investigation was planned with the focus on deepening the knowledge and understanding of such a technology. The lack of proper design guidelines, cost and the rate problem have delayed the deployment of LHTES devices. Therefore, this study will build and experimentally evaluate the performance of the LHTES system proposed contributing to the development of the design guidelines. References Bondareva, N. S., Gibanov, N. S., & Sheremet, M. A. (2018, November). Melting of nano-enhanced PCM inside finned radiator. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 1105, No. 1, p. 012023). IOP Publishing. Campos-Celador, A., Diarce, G., Zubiaga, J. T. V., Garcia-Romero, A.M., Lopez, L. & Sala, J. M. 2014. Design of a finned plate latent heat thermal energy storage system for domestic for domestic applications. Energy Procedia, 48, 300-308. Dechesne, B., Gendebien, S., Martens, J., & Lemort, V. (2014). Designing and testing an air-PCM heat exchanger for building ventilation application coupled to energy storage. Sardari, P. T., Babaei-Mahani, R., Giddings, D., Yasseri, S., Moghimi, M. A., & Bahai, H. (2020). Energy recovery from domestic radiators using a compact composite metal Foam/PCM latent heat storage. Journal of Cleaner Production, 257, 120504.