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Applied Sciences
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Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization
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Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 December 2022) | Viewed by 12224

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Andrea Baccioli

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, 56122 Pisa, Italy
Interests: computational simulation; power generation; simulation tools; advanced energy systems; waste heat recovery; seawater desalination; natural gas liquefaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Lorenzo Ferrari

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy, Systems, Territory and Construction Engineering, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Toscana, Italy
Interests: measurement techniques in turbomachinery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

It is our pleasure to invite submissions to a Special Issue of the journal Applied Sciences on the topic of “Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization”.

The increase of greenhouse gas emissions has been leading to deep challenges in energy production, mobility, and industrial sectors. Despite the expected growth of renewable energies and the wide spread of different types of energy vectors in light mobility, traditional fossil fuels still represent the largest share of primary energy sources worldwide. Several industrial processes and most of the vehicles equipped with internal combustion engines or gas turbines release heat into the environment, due to heat transfer losses and hot fluids or material dump. In addition, LNG regasification processes, both on stationary and mobile applications, and several food factories dissipate the cold energy potential in the environment without any recovery for electricity or cooling production. Thermal energy recovery of both waste heat or cold energy is a key point to improve the conversion efficiency of existing systems, reduce greenhouse gas emission, and limit the spread of fossil fuels.

Several technologies have been proposed for waste heat and cold recovery, but issues regarding high capital investment, low conversion efficiency, layout on mobile applications, and limited flexibility in following heat source fluctuations should still be addressed.

This Special Issue would like to encourage original contributions regarding recent developments and concepts related to waste heat and cold energy recovery. Potential topics include but are not limited to advanced thermodynamic cycle architectures, improvement in part load operation of recovery system, advances in thermoelectric and thermoionic generators, advanced production processes reaching high energy efficiency, progress in waste heat and cold recovery system for marine and terrestrial propulsion, and utilization of waste heat or cold energy for trigenerative or polygenerative applications.

Dr. Andrea Baccioli
Prof. Dr. Lorenzo Ferrari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • advanced cycles for thermal energy recovery
  • improvement of system flexibility
  • applications of heat and cold recovery
  • efficient use of heat in production processes
  • trigeneration and polygeneration
  • thermoelectric and thermoionic generators

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5685 KiB  
Article
NOx Emissions below the Prospective EURO VII Limit on a Retrofitted Heavy-Duty Vehicle
by Joan Ximinis, Albert Massaguer and Eduard Massaguer
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1189; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12031189 - 24 Jan 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2710
Abstract
In this study, a EURO VI heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) has been retrofitted with an exhaust gas heater (EGH) with the objective to reduce its NOx emissions below the current EURO VI and EURO VII limits. Results show that an EGH of 5 kW [...] Read more.
In this study, a EURO VI heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) has been retrofitted with an exhaust gas heater (EGH) with the objective to reduce its NOx emissions below the current EURO VI and EURO VII limits. Results show that an EGH of 5 kW is enough to produce a significant NOx emissions abatement below the EURO VI and EURO VII limits. A conventional after-treatment system heated using a 5 kW EGH could work at its maximum catalytic conversion efficiency of 95% regardless of the engine operating speed. Consequently, exhaust gas heaters are a potential solution to high NOx emission at low engine regimes. With the use of an EGH, urea can be injected sooner, and catalytic reactions could cut much more NOx emissions. However, its incorporation would increase the vehicle’s fuel consumption by 1.47% if it is connected directly to the vehicle’s electrical system. Finally, it is also demonstrated that an automotive thermoelectric generator (ATEG) can supply the energy required by the EGH through the conversion of the waste heat from exhaust gases into electricity. This system could work electrically autonomous so there is no extra consumption of fuel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization)
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19 pages, 4458 KiB  
Article
Actual Measurement and Evaluation of the Balance between Electricity Supply and Demand in Waste-Treatment Facilities and Development of Adjustment Methods
by Daiki Yoshidome, Ryo Kikuchi, Yuki Okanoya, Andante Hadi Pandyaswargo and Hiroshi Onoda
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(22), 10747; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app112210747 - 14 Nov 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1544
Abstract
In Japan, breakthroughs to improve the share of renewable energy in the energy mix have become an urgent issue. However, the problem could not be solved by simply adding more power plants for various technical reasons, such as the unsuitability of using renewable [...] Read more.
In Japan, breakthroughs to improve the share of renewable energy in the energy mix have become an urgent issue. However, the problem could not be solved by simply adding more power plants for various technical reasons, such as the unsuitability of using renewable energy as baseloads due to its intermittency. Furthermore, establishing the required cooperative systems for regionally distributed power adjustment is also tricky. Based on these backgrounds, this paper constructs an operation plan that minimizes CO2 emissions by correcting the generation and load patterns of the renewable energy of solar power, utilizing power generation from waste as a substitute for baseload power, and estimating the power demand of each facility. The result shows that by adjusting the operation plans, the model can reduce CO2 emission by 20.95 and 8.30% in weeks with high and low solar power generation surpluses, respectively. Furthermore, these results show that it is possible to reduce CO2 emissions in regions that have power sources with low CO2 emission coefficients by forecasting the amount of power generation and power load in the region and appropriately planning the operation in advance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization)
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13 pages, 3078 KiB  
Article
Using CO2 as a Cooling Fluid for Power Plants: A Novel Approach for CO2 Storage and Utilization
by Tran X. Phuoc and Mehrdad Massoudi
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(11), 4974; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11114974 - 28 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2217
Abstract
To our knowledge, the potential use of CO2 as a heat-transmitting fluid for cooling applications in power plants has not been explored very extensively. In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis to explore the use of CO2 as the heat [...] Read more.
To our knowledge, the potential use of CO2 as a heat-transmitting fluid for cooling applications in power plants has not been explored very extensively. In this paper, we conduct a theoretical analysis to explore the use of CO2 as the heat transmission fluid. We evaluate and compare the thermophysical properties of both dry air and CO2 and perform a simple analysis on a steam-condensing device where steam flows through one of the flow paths and the cooling fluid (CO2 or air) is expanded from a high-pressure container and flows through the other. Sample calculations are carried out for a saturated-vapor steam at 0.008 MPa and 41.5 °C with the mass flow rate of 0.01 kg/s. The pressure of the storage container ranges from 1 to 5 MPa, and its temperature is kept at 35 °C. The pressure of the cooling fluid (CO2 or dry air) is set at 0.1 MPa. With air as the heat-removing fluid, the steam exits the condensing device as a vapor-liquid steam of 53% to 10% vapor for the container pressure of 1 to 5 MPa. With CO2 as the heat-removing fluid, the steam exits the device still containing 44% and 7% vapor for the container pressure of 1 MPa and 2 MPa, respectively. For the container pressure of 3 MPa and higher, the steam exits the device as a single-phase saturated liquid. Thus, due to its excellent Joule–Thomson cooling effect and heat capacity, CO2 is a better fluid for power plant cooling applications. The condensing surface area is also estimated, and the results show that when CO2 is used, the condensing surface is 50% to 60% less than that when dry air is used. This leads to significant reductions in the condenser size and the capital costs. A rough estimate of the amount of CO2 that can be stored and utilized is also carried out for a steam power plant which operates with steam with a temperature of 540 °C (813 K) and a pressure of 10 MPa at the turbine inlet and saturated-vapor steam at 0.008 MPa at the turbine outlet. The results indicate that if CO2 is used as a cooling fluid, CO2 emitted from a 1000 MW power plant during a period of 250 days could be stored and utilized. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization)
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24 pages, 5817 KiB  
Article
ORC Optimal Design through Clusterization for Waste Heat Recovery in Anaerobic Digestion Plants
by Guido Francesco Frate, Andrea Baccioli, Elena Lucchesi and Lorenzo Ferrari
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(6), 2762; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11062762 - 19 Mar 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2130
Abstract
Waste heat recovery (WHR) systems through organic rankine cycles (ORCs) in anaerobic digestion plants may improve cogeneration efficiency. Cogeneration unit power output, flue gas temperature, and mass flow rate are not constant during the day, and the thermal load requested by digesters shows [...] Read more.
Waste heat recovery (WHR) systems through organic rankine cycles (ORCs) in anaerobic digestion plants may improve cogeneration efficiency. Cogeneration unit power output, flue gas temperature, and mass flow rate are not constant during the day, and the thermal load requested by digesters shows seasonal variations. For this reason, a proper design of the ORC is required. In this study, a design methodology is proposed, based on the clustering of the boundary conditions expected during one year of operation and the anaerobic digestion plant operation. The design has to be a compromise between part-load operation and nominal power rating. In this study, the ORC design boundary conditions were partitioned into four representative clusters with a different population, and the centroid of each cluster was assumed as a potential representative boundary condition for the cycle design. Four different ORC designs, one for each cluster, were defined through an optimization problem that maximized the cycle net power output. ORC designs were compared to those resulting from the seasonal average boundary conditions. The comparison was made based on the ORC off-design performance. Part-load behavior was estimated by implementing a sliding-pressure control strategy and the annual production was therefore calculated. ORC off-design was studied through a detailed Aspen HYSYS simulation. Simulations showed that the power output of each design was directly connected to the cluster population. The design obtained from the most populated cluster generated 10% more energy than that from a system designed by taking into account only the year average conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization)
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31 pages, 12189 KiB  
Article
Component-Oriented Modeling of a Micro-Scale Organic Rankine Cycle System for Waste Heat Recovery Applications
by Ramin Moradi, Emanuele Habib, Enrico Bocci and Luca Cioccolanti
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(5), 1984; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11051984 - 24 Feb 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1911
Abstract
Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems are some of the most suitable technologies to produce electricity from low-temperature waste heat. In this study, a non-regenerative, micro-scale ORC system was tested in off-design conditions using R134a as the working fluid. The experimental data were then [...] Read more.
Organic Rankine cycle (ORC) systems are some of the most suitable technologies to produce electricity from low-temperature waste heat. In this study, a non-regenerative, micro-scale ORC system was tested in off-design conditions using R134a as the working fluid. The experimental data were then used to tune the semi-empirical models of the main components of the system. Eventually, the models were used in a component-oriented system solver to map the system electric performance at varying operating conditions. The analysis highlighted the non-negligible impact of the plunger pump on the system performance Indeed, the experimental results showed that the low pump efficiency in the investigated operating range can lead to negative net electric power in some working conditions. For most data points, the expander and the pump isentropic efficiencies are found in the approximate ranges of 35% to 55% and 17% to 34%, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum net electric power was about 200 W with a net electric efficiency of about 1.2%, thus also stressing the importance of a proper selection of the pump for waste heat recovery applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Thermal Energy Recovery and Utilization)
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