Renewable Energy Systems

Other Renewables

Source: Rashid (Chapter 16)

Electrical Engineering
Muhammad Jafar
Introduction
Quite a few of them
Ocean energy
Micro hydro
Fuel Cells
Geothermal energy
Biomass energy
Solar thermal

We will cover some of these topics in brief

Ocean energy
A vast area and vast energy resource
Energy types
Thermal energy (under water volcanoes also)
Mechanical energy from tides (due to moon’s gravitational pull)
Mechanical energy from waves
Mechanical energy from ocean currents
Wave energy
A number: All waves can produce 2 terawatt power
Global installed capacity: around 8 terawatts
Location specific
Scotland
Northern Canada
Southern Africa
Australia
Northeastern and northwestern US

Conversion systems
Offshore
Onshore
Offshore systems
Situated in deep water (>40 m depth)
Various types
Oscillating columns
Wave activated bodies
Overtopping
Point absorbers
Onshore systems
Waves break on arrival at the coast
This breaking energy is captured by onshore wave energy stations
Oscillating water columns
Tapchans
Pendular devices
Tapchans
Tapered channel
Oscillating water columns
A partially submerged concrete or steel structure
Opening below sea level
Some air is trapped above the sea water in the structure
Turbine moves under the force of pressure difference in the air
Tapchans
Water enters the reservoir because of waves
Power generated when using another passage
Pendular devices
Waves hit a moveable flap
It oscillates
Drives a hydraulic pump
The water drives a turbine-generator system
Mechanism of wave generation
Waves generated due to friction between
wind and water surface
Swells created by wind
Water under the waves moves in circles
As the wave reaches shore, shallow obstacles
break the wave
A very good video
Water particle orbits under a wave
Wave power
Assume an ideal sinusoidal water wave
Water mass in half sine wave

Height of center of gravity (CG) in the crust above the sea level
Height of center of gravity (CG) in the trough below sea level
Change in potential energy during one cycle

Or

Wave frequency in deep ocean

 Power developed by waves

A wave with
Wavefront length
height
And wavelength
Contains: 130 MW of water power
An efficiency as small as 2% can generate 2.6 MWe per km of coastline
Important to note
Wave power is a function of frequency
Frequency is a random variable
Most energetic wave fall in the frequency
range 0.1 to 1 Hz
Maximum energy in 0.3 Hz waves

Ocean waves are also non-sinusoidal

Multiple frequencies added together
Fourier analysis!
Energy from multiple frequency waves
can be approximated by superposition
Tidal energy
Tides
Daily swell and sag of coastal waters due to gravitational pull of the moon and the sun
The moon attracts the ocean waters which rise
The rotation of earth is faster than the speed of moon around earth
i.e. why the moon appears to lag the position it had the last night
The swells follow moon and thus move in a direction opposite to that of rotation of the
earth
Frequency quite predictable: every 12 hours (why not every 24 hours!)

All coastal areas experience this

Current technology demand 5 meters difference between high and low tide
Limited number of sites
Tidal energy extraction systems
Tidal stream or tidal mill
Dam system (also called barrage or basin system)
Tidal stream
Turbine blades immersed in oceans or
rivers in the path of strong tidal currents
Blades rotate with the incoming water
Also when the water recedes
Tidal turbines produce much more
power than wind turbines
Because water is 800-900 times more
dense than air
Power equation

Power density is very high

Tidal turbines quite similar in shape to wind turbines

Best performance where water speeds are 3.6 to 4.9 knots (4-5.5 mph)
A 15 m diameter tidal turbine would produce the same amount of power as a 60 m
diameter wind turbine
Ideal locations are close to shore with water depths between 20 – 30 m
Barrage system
Best suited when a lagoon is connected to the ocean through a thin channel
Dam is built
Water allowed in and the KE generates power
More power generated from the stored water when the tide recedes
Barrage system
Equation of generated power by the water on its way out
Net head
Barrage system
Potential energy

Needs larger head (location specific)

Environmental impacts of tidal energy
Dams impede sea life migration
Silt buildup can effect local ecosystems
New facilities being designed keep in view all of these environmental impacts

High construction costs

Longer payback periods
Per-unit cost is more than fossil fuel generated energy
Example
Ocean thermal energy conversion
Heat energy stored in the ocean
Surface waters hotter
Deeper waters colder

Temperature difference can drive a generator

Work best at a temperature difference of 20 C

Such conditions exist in tropical coastal seas
Between tropic of Cancer and tropic of Capricorn
Working principle

Needs a long and large dia. pipe to

bring cold water up to plant depth

Quite expensive right now

Would produce a nearly endless
supply of energy if cost is reduced
Small scale hydropower
Small but not so small
Power ratings upto MW level

Types
Diversion type (doesn’t need a dam, relies on water velocity)
Reservoir type (needs a small dam, not really renewable)
Diversion-type hydropower
Concept
Diversion-type hydropower
Depends upon water velocities in the stream
Means kinetic energy is converted

The KE entering a turbine

Mechanical power entering the turbine

Fuel cells
Electrochemical devices deploying chemical reactions to produce energy
Just like a battery but without
 Wear and tear
 Recharging

Can produce electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied

Need
 Fuel: Hydrogen
 Oxygen

Produce
 DC electricity
 Water
 Heat
History
First fuel cell developed by Sir William Grove in 1839
Francis Bacon developed one in 1939
NASA used these in Apollo spacecraft

Advantages
Very clean (clean water is the byproduct)
Compact storage of Hydrogen
Competitive in terms of energy density with gasoline and diesel in transportation
applications

Functional characteristics
Output voltage very low (can be boosted)
Several FCs connected in series and parallel to increase voltage and power
Layout
Hydrogen generation and fuel cells
The hydrogen atom and molecule
The gas molecule gives away two electrons if stripped (free electrons!)
Hydrogen available abundantly in nature
Doesn’t occur naturally here on Earth
Found as a compound (guess!)
Water
Hydrocarbons

We need to extract it

Some fuel cells extract it from CH4

Hydrogen generation and fuel cells
Hydrogen extraction process from its parent compound is called reforming
Types of fuel cells
Hydrogen production possible in several ways
Thermal
• Reaction between steam and hydrocarbon
• Natural gas (accounts for 95% of all produced hydrogen)
• Diesel
• Gasified coal
• Gasified biomass

Electrolytic
• Water is electrolyzed to produce hydrogen

Photolytic
• Photobiological
• Photosynthetic properties of bacteria and algae used to produce hydrogen
• Photoelectrochemical
• Special semiconductors separate hydrogen from oxygen in water
Fuel cells normally use electrolytic process with different electrolytes
Process
2 hydrogen molecules split into
• 4 hydrogen ions (4H+)
• 4 electrons (4e-) at the anode plate
Electrons flow through an external load and return to cathode plate
Hydrogen ions flow within the electrolyte to the cathode plate
Hydrogen ions go through a chemical reaction at the cathode to produce water and heat

Heat can be used for other applications

• Hot water
• Space heating

Combined electric and heat efficiency can be up to 90%

Fuel cell types
Regenerative (or reversible) fuel cells
Produce electricity from hydrogen and oxygen
Can produce hydrogen and oxygen from water

A possible method of energy storage (as opposed to electrochemical batteries)

Can utilize low-priced electricity from renewables to produce gases

Can generate electricity when price is high

A very good compliment for intermittent renewables such as

• Wind
• solar
Thermal and electrical processes of fuel cells
As discussed, fuel cell process produces
Heat
Electricity

There must be
Thermal process
Electrical process

Both processes are non-linear

Means electrical characteristics are also non-linear

Thermal process
Heat production calculated on a per-
mole basis (measure of any substance)

1 mole of a substance contains

avogradro’s number of entities

Enthalpy: input energy

Entropy: waste heat

Electricity produced: Gibb’s free

energy equation
Thermal process
Electricity produced: Gibb’s free
energy equation

Hydrogen enthalpy = 285.83 kJ/mol,

and entropy = 48.7 kJ/mole; under
standard conditions of
1 atmosphere pressure
298 K temperature
Available for electric conversion
Thermal efficiency

Compare with fossil fuel thermal efficiency (<50%)

Electrical process
Charge in a mole of electrons

2 electrons are released per molecule of hydrogen

Electrons released in a mole of hydrogen gas

Total charge from a mole of hydrogen gas

Electrical energy (ideal means Gibb’s energy is all converted to electricity)

Voltage of an FC (energy per unit charge)

Example

Solution
Polarization curve (I-P-V curve)
Similar to I-V curve of solar PV
FC operated in the ohmic region
at maximum power point
Example

Solution
Cell power

Maximum power occurs when derivative of power is zero

Solve numerically or with a computer tool

Put in voltage equation and solve

Maximum power
Geothermal energy
Utilization of heat of the earth

Resources
Heat retained in shallow ground
Hot water and rock a few km below the ground level
Extremely high temperature molten rock deep in the earth

Heat in shallow ground

Typically between 10 and 20 C warmer than air in the winters
Typically between 10 and 20 C cooler than air in the summers

Magma
Very hot and very useful for generating large quantities of power
Applications of heat in shallow ground
 Heat pumps for heating and cooling

Application of magma heat

 Large power plants employing steam turbines
 Every magma heat source is unique, different design

Basic design for geothermal power plants

 Dry steam power plants
• Resrevoir temp. is around 300 C and steam is available in abundant quantities
 Flash steam power plants
• Reservoir temp. above 200 C,
• Drawn into an expansion tank, low pressure creates steam
 Binary-cycle power plant
• Reservoir temp below 200 C
• A heat exchanger is used (the fluid called binary has a lower boiling point)
• This binary is used to drive the turbines
Heat pump
Geothermal power station
Source of heat in the earth
Number: approximately 47 TW (=47000 GW) power coming out
Installed power capacity worldwide: 8000 GW
Average lightning strike (1000 GW for 30 microseconds)

Sources (roughly equal)

Radioactive decay in the mantle and core
Primordial heat left over from the formation of earth
Biomass energy
Biomass is organic matter
Types
 Plants
 Residue from agriculture and forestry
 Organic component of municipal waste
 Organic component of industrial waste

Conversion possible to
 Fuels
 Chemicals
 Power

Example
 Electricity generation from garbage burning
Burning done in incinerators
Biomass volume reduced by 90%
Combustion provides heat
Heat produces steam
Steam powers turbine

Residue from biomass burning: ash

Spread over landfills

Complication
Production of heavy metals and dioxins during combustion
Dioxins are carcinogenic
Heavy metals are poisonous
Energy in biomass?
Comes from stored solar energy (photosynethesis)
An example in Copenhagen