Torrefaction is a thermochemical pre-treatment process for upgrading the properties of biomass to resemble those of fossil fuels such as coal. Biomass properties of particular interest are chemical composition, physical property and combustion characteristics. In this work, torrefaction of beech...

The production of fermentable sugar solutions for bioethanol production is optimized. The process of acid hydrolysis using dilute H₂SO₄ was selected. Suitable lignocellulosics which are abundant in the Mediterranean (corn stover, hardwood and wheat straw) were investigated, and therefore their...

In this study, gamma irradiation induced degradation of orange peels (OP) was investigated. The lignocellulosic biomass degradation was carried out at doses of 0 (control), 600, 1800 and 3500 kGy using a Co-60 gamma radiation source. The samples were tested for total and reducing sugars. The...

The power converter is one of the essential elements for effective use of renewable power sources. This paper focuses on the development of a circuit simulation model for maximum power point tracking (MPPT) evaluation of solar power that involves using different buck-boost power converter...

Low enthalpy geothermal systems exploited with ground source heat pumps or groundwater heat pumps present many advantages within the context of sustainable energy use. Designing, monitoring and controlling such systems requires the measurement of spatially distributed temperature fields and the...

As the demand for cloud computing continues to increase, cloud service providers face the daunting challenge to meet the negotiated SLA agreement, in terms of reliability and timely performance, while achieving cost-effectiveness. This challenge is increasingly compounded by the increasing...

A high penetration of wind energy into the electricity market requires a parallel development of efficient wind power forecasting models. Different hybrid forecasting methods were applied to wind power prediction, using historical data and numerical weather predictions (NWP). A comparative study...

Form finding describes the process of finding a stable equilibrium shape for a system under a specific set of loads, for a set of boundary conditions and starting from an arbitrary initial geometry. However, form finding does not traditionally involve performance constraints such as...

Efficient systems for high performance buildings are required to improve the integration of renewable energy sources and to reduce primary energy consumption from fossil fuels. This paper is focused on sensible heat thermal energy storage (SHTES) systems using solid media and numerical...