Several models have been proposed in the literature to predict the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). These models have different levels of complexity and can be divided basically into two groups: (i) mechanistic (theoretical); and (ii) semi-empirical models. The...

Using semi-empirical equations for modeling a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is proposed for providing a tool for the design and analysis of fuel cell total systems. The focus of this study is to derive an empirical model including process variations to estimate the performance of fuel cell...

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were fabricated by using porous ZnO film electrodes derived from home-made ZnO nanoparticles. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and open-circuit voltage decay curve measurements were performed to investigate the photoelectrochemical characteristics of the...

This work is aimed at calculating the energy content of the residues from olive oil production. Olive pulp, olive husk and sludge (a mixture of olive pulp and husk) have been analyzed separately. Olive Mill Effluents (OME) are normally a problem for olive mill farms, yet they may be used as...

Organic Rankine cycles (ORCs) provide an alternative to traditional steam Rankine cycles for the conversion of low grade heat sources into power, where conventional steam power cycles are known to be inefficient. A large processing plant often has multiple low temperature waste heat streams...

Several rural farms have installed anaerobic digestion systems as manure management systems. Such systems are also used to provide electricity and heating. In these systems, biogas is generated from anaerobic digestion of biomass waste and combusted in a boiler and an engine-generator set, to...

We determine the threshold herd size at which a biomass waste to energy conversion system becomes commercially viable. The threshold herd size is found by optimisation of the biomass waste to energy conversion system for different herd sizes. Manure is co-digested with food waste. The...

Volatile oil price and growing emphasis on environmental conservation have stimulated the development and utilisation of biomass as a vital source of renewable energy. In reducing the global dependency on fossil fuels, rice husk and rice straw which are the widely abundant agricultural wastes...

This article presents an overview on the research and development and application aspects for the hybrid photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) collector systems. A major research and development work on the photovoltaic/thermal (PVT) hybrid technology has been done since last 30 years. Different types of...

A thermoacoustic heat engine (TAHE) is one kind of new power system which can simply convert heat into mechanical power in forms of acoustic wave without any moving mechanical components. This article focuses on using variable acoustical load method to study the energy conversion characteristics...