08 Steam raising (boiler operation~design)

05101153 The early adoption of green power by Dutch households, An empirical exploration of factors influencing the early adoption of green electricity for domestic purposes Arkesteijn, K. and Oerlemans, L. Energy" Policy, 2005, 33, (2), 183-196. The results of this study provide empirical insight into factors influencing the early adoption of green electricity by Dutch residential users. Earlier research revealed that early adoption is closely related to social visibility, which is lacking in the case of green power. This raises the question of which factors influence adoption in the absence of visibility. The contributions of this study are threefold. First, a theoretical perspective was used in which a cognitive approach was combined with an economic approach leading to a more comprehen- sive framework. Second, the empirical focus on residential users of renewable resources is relatively new. Third, the results of the analyses provide insights into factors influencing early (non-)adoption, knowl- edge which could be valuable to market actors and governments stimulating the adoption of sustainable consumer products. For the theoretical framework, three sets of independent variables were identified: factors related to (1) the technical system, (2) individuals, and (3) economic issues. Data collection took place among households just 1 month before the liberalization of the Dutch green electricity market, creating a unique database of residential (non-)users. The results show that the proposed extended model is more powerful than partial models. Moreover, the findings suggest that cognitive and economic intentional variables, as well as variables indicating basic knowledge and actual environmental behaviour in the past, are strong predictors of the probability of adoption. The paper closes with research-based recommendations for practitioners.

05101154 The production of environmental services in rural areas: institutional sectors and proximities Oliver, A. and Perrier-Cornet, P. International Journal of Sustainable Developments, 2004, 7, (3), 257-272. This paper proposes an analysis of environmental services produced in rural areas and their links with the notions of organized proximity and geographical proximity. Among the different concepts of environmen- tal services, that suggested by service economics is used to focus on the forms of production of environmental services. Here an institutional sector is defined as a group of economic agents and institutions, based on organized proximity, having a precise common purpose. This study highlights the different institutional sectors that take part in the production of environmental services. The empirical application, carried out on three rural communities of Auvergne (France), focuses on a particular category of environmental services: the upkeep and management of rural areas. This application reveals the role and the position of different institutional sectors in the production of environmental services.

05/01155 Thermodynamic aspects of renewables and sustainable development Dincer, I. and Rosen, M. A. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 2005, 9, (2), 169-189. Achieving sustainable solutions to modern energy and environmental problems requires long-term planning and actions. Energy issues are particularly prevalent at present and renewable energy resources appear to provide one component of an effective sustainable solution. An understanding of the thermodynamic aspects of sustainable development can help in taking sustainable actions regarding energy. Discussed in this article are possible future energy-utilization patterns and related environmental impacts, potential solutions to current environmental problems, renewable energy technologies and their relations to sustainable development, and how the principles of thermodynamics via exergy can be beneficially used to evaluate energy systems and technologies as well as environmental impact. Throughout the article, current and future perspectives regarding thermodynamics and sustainable development are considered. The results will likely be useful to scientists and engineers as well as decision and policy makers.

05/01156 Wave powered desalination system Sharmila, N. et al. Energy, 2004, 29, (11), 1659-1672. The Indian wave energy plant is based on the oscillating water column (OWC) principle at Vizhinjam, Kerala and has been a technology demonstration plant. A scheme was envisaged wherein the impulse turbine existing on the caisson is connected to a variable speed alternator to run a desalination plant as load. A methodology has been established to forecast the performance of the turbine, alternator, battery and inverter by means of a simulated wave profile and differential pressure. Actual testing of the scheme was carried out in the laboratory and the scheme was found to be successful. New control logic was introduced, whereby the desalination plant can be run using either the supply from wave power or, during low wave conditions, by electricity board supply or a diesel generator to ensure a continuous supply of fresh water. The scheme for running the reverse osmosis (RO) based desalination plant using wave power has thus been proved and the system has been successfully commissioned.

174 Fuel and Energy Abstracts May 2005

08 STEAM RAISING

Boiler operation/design

05101157 A modern injected steam gas turbine cogeneration system based on exergy concept Soufi, M. G. et al. International Journal of Energy Research, 2004, 28, (13), 1127-1144. Factors such as low capital cost, good match of power and heat requirements and proven reliability can sometimes lead an end user into purchasing gas turbines for use in a modern cogeneration plant. The steam-injected gas turbine is an attractive electrical generating technology for mitigating the impacts of rising energy prices. According to such mentioned above this paper is to provide results of an optimization study on cogeneration power cycle, which works by gas turbine with recuperator and injection steam added to the combustor of the gas turbine. The performance characteristics of the cycle based on energy and exergy concepts and based upon practical performance constraints were investigated. The effect of the recuperator on the cycle was greatly clarified. Results also show that the output power of a gas turbine increases when steam is injected. When extra steam has to be generated in order to be able to inject steam and at the same time to provide for a given heat demand, power generating efficiency increases but cogeneration efficiency decreases with the increasing of injected steam.

05/01158 An experimental study on an inferential control scheme for optimising the control of boilers in multi-zone heating system Liao, Z. and Dexter, A. L. Energy and Buildings, 2005, 37, (1), 55-63. An experiment was carried out over two heating seasons to test the performance of an inferential control scheme (ICS), which was designed to optimize the control of boilers in multi-zone heating systems, in a real installation. This paper presents the development of the prototype controller, method and result of the experimental testing. The experimental results show that the ICS can significantly improve the long-term performance, i.e. energy efficiency and thermal comfort, of the multi-zone heating system compared with conventional control schemes. It also demonstrates that the ICS can be implemented in a microprocessor-based controller and be commissioned using short- term monitoring data, which makes it a practical control technique.

05101159 Energy consumption during Refractance Window ® evaporation of selected berry juices Nindo, C. I. et al. International Journal of Energy Research, 2004, 28, (12), 1089-1100. The Refractance Window ® evaporator represents a novel concept in the design of evaporation systems for small food processing plants. In this system thermal energy from circulating hot water is transmitted through a plastic sheet to evaporate water from a liquid product flowing concurrently on the top surface of the plastic. The objectives of this study were to investigate the heat transfer characteristics of this evaporator, determine its energy consumption, and capacity at different t i l t angles and product flow rates. The system performance was evaluated with tap water, raspberry juice, and blueberry juice and puree as feed. With a direct steam injection heating method, the steam economy ranged from 0.64 to 0.84, while the overall heat transfer coefficient (U) was 666 W m -1 °C -1. Under this condition, the highest evaporation capacity was 27.1 kg h i m-2 for blueberry juice and 31.8 kg h -1 m -2 for blueberry puree. The energy consumption was 2492 2719 kJ kg 1 of water evaporated. Installation of a shell and tube heat exchanger with better temperature control minimized incidences of boiling and frequent discharge of condensate. The steam economy, highest evaporation rate and overall heat transfer coefficient increased to 0.99, 36.0 kg h -1 m 2 and 733 W m -2 °C-1, respectively.

05/01160 Functional reliability simulation for a power- station's steam-turbine Shu, L. et al. Applied Energy, 2005, 80, (1), 61-66. A new method and algorithm for functional reliability simulation for a steam-turbine's behaviour is proposed and a degeneration model is established based on the laws of the steam-turbine. By taking a power- station steam-turbine as an example, the turbine's functional reliability is simulated.

05/01161 Temperature prediction in a coal fired boiler with a fixed bed by fuzzy logic based on numerical solution Biyikoglu, A. et al. Energy Conversion and Management, 2005, 46, (1), 151-166.