Recommendations for Energy–Water–Food Nexus Problems

2015 ◽  
Vol 137 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaufui Vincent Wong ◽  
Charles Pecora
Keyword(s):  
Water Scarcity ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Geothermal Power ◽  
Sub Saharan

Around the world, climate change has brought about seemingly more incidences of climate extremes. Sub-Saharan Africa is a prime example of a region with many countries suffering from water scarcity. Water scarcity is quite possibly the most important issue that exists, seeing as it is the one essential resource for humans and all other life. Water scarcity in this region is somewhat ironic because of the numerous freshwater rivers that run throughout the region. The main reason for this water problem is the mismanagement and lack of energy required to redistribute the water. The water issue is inevitably linked to both energy resources and food resources. Water is the basis for all agriculture and is required for livestock. Water is also needed for almost any type of energy conversion. In a fossil fuel power plant, water is both the working fluid of the system and the coolant used in the condenser. In dams, the potential stored in flowing water is the basis of the creation of energy. Water, conversely, requires power to be transported and treated for drinking and agriculture. Sub-Saharan Africa has nearly maximized the energy of its large rivers, thus new sources of energy must be implemented to help with the energy crisis. A couple of the possibilities are fossil fuel power plants, geothermal power plants, and solar panels. Solar panels require a large amount of capital to build, but are nearly free to maintain, and can be cheaper in the long run. Solar power is an undeniably renewable resource and does not adversely affect the environment. Solar power can be utilized both for electricity generation and for irrigation and cooking in remote communities. Geothermal power plants utilize the potential stored in the earth's crust in places with volcanic activity. East Africa has an especially large potential for geothermal energy due to its many volcanoes. As for thermal power plants, combined cycle power plants paired with a salt water cooling system would greatly improve efficiency and drastically decrease water usage. By replacing Rankine cycle power plants that are used in most of Sub-Saharan Africa with either combined cycle plants or gas cycle plants, efficiencies would improve and far less water for cooling would be used in the system.

scholarly journals Pilot Low-Cost Concentrating Solar Power Systems Deployment in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Case Study of Implementation Challenges

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (15) ◽  
pp. 6223
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Wendsongre Ramde ◽  
Eric Tutu Tchao ◽  
Yesuenyeagbe Atsu Kwabla Fiagbe ◽  
Jerry John Kponyo ◽  
Asakipaam Simon Atuah
Keyword(s):  
Electricity Generation ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Tracking Systems ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
Sub Saharan

Electricity is one of the most crucial resources that drives any given nation’s growth and development. The latest Sustainable Development Goals report indicates Africa still has a high deficit in electricity generation. Concentrating solar power seems to be a potential option to fill the deficit. That is because most of the components of concentrating solar power plants are readily available on the African market at affordable prices, and there are qualified local persons to build the plants. Pilot micro-concentrating solar power plants have been implemented in Sub-Saharan Africa and have shown promising results that could be expanded and leveraged for large-scale electricity generation. An assessment of a pilot concentrating solar power plant in the sub-region noticed one noteworthy obstacle that is the failure of the tracking system to reduce the operating energy cost of running the tracking control system and improve the multifaceted heliostat focusing behavior. This paper highlights the energy situation and the current development in concentrating solar power technology research in Africa. The paper also presents a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art solar tracking systems for central receiver systems to illustrate the current direction of research regarding the design of low-cost tracking systems in terms of computational complexity, energy consumption, and heliostat alignment accuracy.

Off-grid solar power will spur African electrification

2017 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phones ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mobile Money ◽  
Solar Systems ◽  
Sub Saharan

Significance Home solar panels are providing electricity to households in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that otherwise may not link to grids in the near-to-medium term. Just as households managed to bypass formal financial penetration through the introduction of mobile money and landline telephones by the proliferation of mobile phones, home solar systems are poised to offer affordable electricity as costs drop. Impacts Off-grid solar power will improve the health of households that move away from burning fuels for energy. Growth in electricity could improve economic growth while also providing benefits not captured by GDP. While home solar panels could reduce carbon emissions, large-scale power projects will play a bigger role in overall emissions.

The Role of Internal Irreversibilities in the Performance and Stability of Power Plant Models Working at Maximum ϵ-Ecological Function

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel Valencia-Ortega ◽  
Sergio Levario-Medina ◽  
Marco Antonio Barranco-Jiménez
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Heat Engine ◽  
Combined Cycle ◽  
Ecological Function ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Engine Model ◽  
Improved Stability ◽  
The Stability

Abstract The proposal of models that account for the irreversibilities within the core engine has been the topic of interest to quantify the useful energy available during its conversion. In this work, we analyze the energetic optimization and stability (local and global) of three power plants, nuclear, combined-cycle, and simple-cycle ones, by means of the Curzon–Ahlborn heat engine model which considers a linear heat transfer law. The internal irreversibilities of the working fluid measured through the r-parameter are associated with the so-called “uncompensated Clausius heat.” In addition, the generalization of the ecological function is used to find operating conditions in three different zones, which allows to carry out a numerical analysis focused on the stability of power plants in each operation zone. We noted that not all power plants reveal stability in all the operation zones when irreversibilities are considered through the r-parameter on real-world power plants. However, an improved stability is shown in the zone limited by the maximum power output and maximum efficiency regimes.

Pengembangan Sistem Pengaturan Suplai Beban (Ats) Pada Pembangkit Listrik Tenaga Hibrid Berbasiskan Mikrokontroler

Kilat ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 261-271
Author(s):  
Sugeng Purwanto
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Alternative Energy ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Solar Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Solar Power Plant ◽  
Solar Panels ◽  
Hybrid Power ◽  
Solar Power Plants ◽  
One Year

ABSTRACT Renewable energy is potential alternative energy to replace the central role of fossil energy which has been going on since the early 20th century. The solar power plant is alternative energy, especially for households and industry, and can be designed as a hybrid power plant consisting of solar panels, batteries, an automatic transfer switch (ATS), and a grid. This research will focus on developing ATS based on a microcontroller. It functions to regulate the load supply automatically from the three sources of electrical energy, like solar panels, batteries, and grid while the microcontroller functions to monitor the transfer of power from the solar power plant to grid and voltage movements in the system so that current and voltage data can be recorded from time to time to improve system reliability, effectiveness, and efficiency of the tool. ATS components consist of MCB, magnetic contactor, timer H3CR, relay, 2000VA inverter, solar charge controller 100A, NodeMCU ESP8266 IoT, and battery 12V 100AH. This research is conducted in one year to produce ATS based on a microcontroller that can automatically regulate the supply of loads from the three sources of electrical energy with a good level of efficiency and stability.  Keywords: solar power plants, hybrid power plants, an automatic transfer switch.  ABSTRAK Energi baru terbarukan merupakan energi alternatif yang potensial untuk menggantikan peran sentral dari energi fosil yang telah berlangsung sejak awal abad ke 20. PLTS merupakan salah satu energi alternatif penyedia energi listrik untuk rumah tangga dan industri serta dapat dirancang sebagai sistem pembangkit listrik tenaga hibrid (PLTH) yang terdiri dari panel surya, baterai, sistem pengaturan beban atau ATS (automatic transfer switch) dan jaringan PLN. Peneltian difokuskan pada pengembangan sistem ATS berbasiskan mikrokontroler. ATS berfungsi untuk mengatur suplai beban secara otomatis dari ketiga sumber energi listrik yaitu panel surya, baterai dan PLN sedangkan mikrokontroler berfungsi memonitor perpindahan daya dari PLTS ke sumber PLN dan pergerakan tegangan pada sistem sehingga dapat dilakukan pencatatan data arus dan tegangan dari waktu ke waktu sehingga dapat meningkatkan keandalan sistem, efektifitas dan efisiensi alat. Komponen ATS terdiri dari MCB, magnetic contactor, timer H3CR, relay, inverter 2000VA, solar charge controller 100A, NodeMCU ESP8266 IoT, dan baterai 12V 100Ah. Penelitian ini akan dilakukan dalam periode satu tahun menghasilkan ATS berbasiskan mikrokontroler yang dapat mengatur suplai beban secara otomatis dari ketiga sumber energi listrik dengan tingkat efisiensi dan kestabilan yang baik. Tim penelitian ini tediri dari 3 orang dan berasal dari program studi teknik elektro, IT PLN.  Kata kunci: pembangkit listrik tenaga surya, pembangkit listrik tenaga hibrid, pengaturan suplai beban.

scholarly journals Impact of political and economic barriers for concentrating solar power in Sub-Saharan Africa

Energy Policy ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 102 ◽  
pp. 52-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercè Labordena ◽  
Anthony Patt ◽  
Morgan Bazilian ◽  
Mark Howells ◽  
Johan Lilliestam
Keyword(s):  
Solar Power ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Concentrating Solar Power ◽  
Economic Barriers ◽  
Sub Saharan

Effects of Various Types of Binary Cycles on Thermal and Exergy Efficiency of Combined Flash-Binary Power Plants

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahshid Vatani ◽  
Masoud Ziabasharhagh ◽  
Shayan Amiri
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Organic Rankine Cycle ◽  
Internal Heat ◽  
Rankine Cycle ◽  
Exergy Efficiency ◽  
Maximum Efficiency ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Internal Heat Exchanger ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Geothermal Power

With the progress of technologies, engineers try to evaluate new and applicable ways to get high possible amount of energy from renewable resources, especially in geothermal power plants. One of the newest techniques is combining different types of geothermal cycles to decrease wastage of the energy. In the present article, thermodynamic optimization of different flash-binary geothermal power plants is studied to get maximum efficiency. The cycles studied in this paper are single and double flash-binary geothermal power plants of basic Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), regenerative ORC and ORC with an Internal Heat Exchanger (IHE). The main gain due to using various types of ORC cycles is to determine the best and efficient type of the Rankine cycle for combined flash-binary geothermal power plants. Furthermore, in binary cycles choosing the best and practical working fluid is an important factor. Hence three different types of working fluids have been used to find the best one that gives maximum thermal and exergy efficiency of combined flash-binary geothermal power plants. According to results, the maximum thermal and exergy efficiencies both achieved in ORC with an IHE and the effective working fluid is R123.

Geothermal Power Cycle Analysis for Commercial Applicability Using Sequestered Supercritical CO2 as a Heat Transfer or Working Fluid

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian Janke ◽  
Thomas Kuehn
Keyword(s):  
Heat Transfer ◽  
Binary System ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Power Production ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Heat Transfer Fluid ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Direct System ◽  
Geothermal Power ◽  
The Impact

Thermodynamic analysis has been conducted for geothermal power cycles using a portion of deep ground sequestered CO2 as the working fluid. This allows energy production from much shallower depths and in geologic areas with much lower temperature gradients than those of current geothermal systems. Two different system designs were analyzed for power production with varying reservoir parameters, including reservoir depth, temperature, and CO2 mass flow rate. The first design is a direct single-loop system with the CO2 run directly through the turbine. This system was found to provide higher system efficiency and power production, however design complications such as the need for high pressure turbines, two-phase flow through the turbine and the potential for water-CO2 brine mixtures, could require the use of numerous custom components, driving up the cost. The second design is a binary system using CO2 as the heat transfer fluid to supply thermal energy to an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC). While this system was found to have slightly less power production and efficiency than the direct system, it significantly reduces the impact of design complications associated with the direct system. This in turn reduces the necessity for certain custom components, thereby reducing system cost. While performance of these two systems is largely dependent on location and operating conditions, the binary system is likely applicable to a larger number of sites and will be more cost effective when used in combination with current off-the-shelf ORC power plants.

The thermodynamic cycle models for geothermal power plants by considering the working fluid characteristic

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cukup Mulyana ◽  
Reza Adiprana ◽  
Aswad H. Saad ◽  
M. Ridwan H. ◽  
Fajar Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Power Plants ◽  
Thermodynamic Cycle ◽  
Working Fluid ◽  
Geothermal Power ◽  
Fluid Characteristic
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