The control of the use of fossil fuels, major cause of greenhouse gas emissions and climate changes, in present days represents one of Governments' main challenges; particularly, a significant energy consumption is observed in buildings and might be significantly reduced through sustainable...

Renewable energy is defined as the contribution of renewables to total primary energy supply (TPES). Renewables include the primary energy equivalent of hydro (excluding pumped storage), geothermal, solar, wind, tide and wave sources. Energy derived from solid biofuels, biogasoline, biodiesels,...

This paper describes the design and implementation of zero voltage transition (ZVT) pulse width modulated (PWM) bidirectional buck–boost converter. The simplicity of the control and the reduction of voltage and current stresses on the main switches are the main features of the proposed...

Thermodynamic and thermoeconomic investigations of a small-scale integrated gasification solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and Stirling engine for combined heat and power (CHP) with a net electric capacity of 120kWe have been performed. Woodchips are used as gasification feedstock to produce syngas,...

The impact of the sampling time interval for energy demands on the optimal operational planning of residential cogeneration systems without electric power export was analyzed. To improve their operational flexibility, focus was also placed on battery installation. First, an optimal operational...

The idling of heavy-duty trucks results in additional emissions, fuel consumption, and cost. Small fuel cell auxiliary power units (APUs) (now in development) are promising alternatives to idling the main engine. A solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) APU is particularly attractive, because in...

This study investigates the performance of hybrid renewable microgeneration systems in load sharing application between a detached residential house and a small office building. Two renewable energy systems are investigated: a ground source heat pump (GSHP) system and a hybrid GSHP/fuel cell...

Plant characteristics of a system containing a solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cycle on the top of a Rankine cycle were investigated. A desulfurization reactor removes the sulfur content in the fuel, while a pre-reformer broke down the heavier hydrocarbons in an adiabatic steam reformer (ASR). The...

Fuel cells are still undergoing intense development, and the combination of new and optimized materials, improved product development, novel architectures, more efficient transport processes, and design optimization and integration are expected to lead to major gains in performance, efficiency,...

Fuel cells are clean generators that provide both electrical and thermal energy with a high global efficiency level. The characteristics of these devices depend on numerous parameters such as: temperature, fuel and oxidizer pressures, fuel and oxidizer flows, etc. Therefore, their influence...