Engineering Technology III

Lesson 2: Scientific principles of renewable energy

 Scientific principles of renewable energy
efficient use of renewable energy requires the correct application of certain
principles
• to realize that the potential for a particular renewable energy supply at a site
depends on first understanding and quantifying the natural environmental
energy flows at that site (e.g. wind speeds, solar irradiance).
• Requires at least a year of measurement
• Be evaluated from established records (e.g. meteorological records).
• Wastes (e.g. animal slurry for biogas).
 Dynamic characteristics
• End-use requirements for energy vary with time
• electricity demand on a power network
• peaks in the mornings and evenings
• minimum through the night.
• If power is provided from a finite source, such as oil, the input may be adjusted in
response to demand. Unused energy is not wasted, but remains with the source
fuel.
• Renewable energy systems natural supply in the environment varies.
• Renewable energy device must be matched
• The major periodic variations of renewable sources
 Quality of supply
Quality :the proportion of an energy source that can be converted to mechanical
work.
• electricity has high quality because when consumed in an electric motor, >90% of
input energy is converted to mechanical work
• thermal power station is moderate=33% of the calorific value of the fuel is
transformed into mechanical work
• combined cycle power station (e.g. methane gas turbine stage followed by steam
turbine), the quality is increased to ~50%.
• Annalise factors in terms of the thermodynamic variable exergy

variable exergy: the theoretical maximum amount of work obtainable, at a

particular environmental temperature, from an energy source
 Quality of supply
Renewable energy supply systems are divided into three broad classes.

• Mechanical supplies, such as hydro, wind , wave, and tidal power .

• The mechanical source of power is usually transformed into electricity at high
efficiency.
• The proportion of power in the environment extracted by the devices is
determined by the operational limits of the process
• The proportions are:
• wind ~35%,
• hydro ~80%,
• wave ~30%, and
• tidal (range) ~60%.
• These proportions relate to the capacity factor and load hours of the devices
 Quality of supply
Renewable energy supply systems are divided into three broad classes.

• Heat supplies, such as biomass combustion and solar collectors

• These sources provide heat at high efficiency.
• Maximum proportion of heat energy extractable as mechanical work
• Electricity, is given by the second law of thermodynamics and the Carnot
Theorem,

Carnot Theorem assumes reversible, infinitely long transformations. In practice,

maximum mechanical power produced in a dynamic process is about half that
predicted by the Carnot criteria.

• For thermal boiler heat engines and internal combustion engines, maximum
realizable quality is about 35%.
 Quality of supply
Renewable energy supply systems are divided into three broad classes.

• Photon processes, such as photosynthesis and photochemistry and photovoltaic

conversion
• Solar photons of a single frequency may be transformed into mechanical work
with high efficiency using a matched solar cell.
• In practice, the broad band of frequencies in the solar spectrum makes matching
difficult and photon conversion efficiencies of 25% are considered good.
 Dispersed versus centralized energy
• A pronounced difference between renewable and finite energy supplies is the energy
flux density at the initial transformation.
• Renewable energy commonly arrives with a flux density of about 1 kW/m2 (e.g. solar
beam irradiance, energy in the wind at 10m/s)
• finite centralized sources have energy flux densities that are orders of magnitude
greater.
• boiler tubes in gas furnaces easily transfer 100 kW/m2, and in a nuclear reactor the
first wall heat exchanger must transmit several MW/m2.
• At end-use after distribution, however, supplies from finite sources must be greatly
reduced in flux density.
• Apart from major exceptions both renewable and finite supplies are similar.
 Dispersed versus centralized energy
• finite energy is most easily produced and is expensive to distribute.
• Renewable energy is most easily ‘produced’ in dispersed locations and is expensive to
concentrate.
• Renewable energy technologies encourage dispersed and distributed energy systems.
• wind farms
• tidal current plant
• sugar cane mills (§9.6)
• smaller scale microgeneration of heat and/or electricity by individuals, small
businesses, and communities as alternatives or supplements to traditional
centralized grid-connected power.
Examples of microgeneration include:
• photovoltaic arrays
• Combined heat and power on industrial sites
• biogas on farms .
 Dispersed versus centralized energy
• A worldwide benefit, especially in developing countries, is that modern renewable
energy technologies enable remote communities to enjoy benefits and services (e.g.
lighting and telecommunications) previously confined to urban populations.

• When renewables installations are of a large scale of 500 MW or more (e.g. offshore
wind farms, hydro generation, biomass thermal plants), then special transportation
and electricity high-voltage transmission lines are needed; often these delivery
systems feed the energy to urban complexes.
 Complex (interdisciplinary) systems
• Renewable energy supplies are intimately linked to the natural environment,
• Environment not the preserve of just one academic discipline such as physics or
electrical engineering.
• Necessary to cross disciplinary boundaries
• example, modern sugar cane industries produce not only sugar but also liquid fuel
(ethanol).
• The complete process in a rural society requires input from agricultural science and
sociology, as well as chemical, mechanical, and electrical engineering
 Situation Dependence
• local environment supply the energy
• Suitability of society to accept the energy vary greatly.
• ‘prospect’ the environment for renewable energy
• to conduct energy surveys of :
• the domestic, agricultural, and industrial needs of the local community.
• End-use needs and local renewable energy supplies are matched, subject to economic
and environmental constraints.
• Planning for optimum renewables supply and use tends to apply to regions of distance
scale ~250 km,
• Unfortunately, large urban and industrialized societies have built up in ways that are
not well suited to such flexibility and variation for optimizing renewable supply and
demand
END