WORKED SOLUTIONS (May 2017)

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Module: DEN438/DENM035 Title: Renewable Energy Sources

First Dr HS Wang Second Prof James Busfield

examiner: examiner:

Question 1

a) Discuss the characteristics of the wind velocity, direction and frequency and their
effects on the annual power output of a wind turbine.

[10 marks]

Answer:

The characteristics of wind can be described by velocity, wind direction and frequency.
Wind velocity and direction vary from time to time. The probability of a certain value of
wind velocity appear in a direction is its frequency. The value of velocity can be measured.
The velocity increases with height due to the surface friction. The direction is represented
by the wind Rose (see figure below). For a specific location the high frequency appears in
certain velocity range and the frequency of the lower and higher velocities is lower (see
figure below)
[2 marks each for velocity, direction and frequency]
 [4 marks]

The annual power output of a wind turbine can be calculated by the wind characteristics
(wind direction, speed and frequency) at a given site using the data shown in Figure 7.30
and Betzs law
16 rV 3 A
Pmax =
27 2

Note: the power output also depends on the wind speed-power curve of the wind turbine.

b) Draw a diagram of the tested power performance of a wind turbine with wind
velocity.

[5 marks]

Answer:
Typical wind turbine wind speed-power curve:

c) Discuss the cut-in, rated and cut-off velocities and their effects on the performance
of a wind turbine.

[5 marks]

Answer:

The cut-in velocity is the minimum wind velocity that can overcome the friction in the
turbine.
[1 marks]

The rated velocity is the wind velocity that a wind turbine produces constant power.
[1 marks]

The cut-off velocity is the maximum wind velocity that a wind turbine must be shut down to
protest the turbine.
[1 marks]

As shown in the figure above, these velocities i.e. the tested power output vs velocity
curve affect the performance of a wind turbine.
[2 marks]

d) Briefly discuss the cost breakdown of a wind turbine.

[5 marks]

Answer:
Breakdown of costs per unit of energy (kWh).
Question 2

a) Figure Q2a illustrates a combined heat and power system. Describe the operating
principles of the system.

Figure Q2a Schematic of combined heat and power system

[6 marks]

Answer:

Firing fuel produces high temperature high pressure steam which drives the steam turbine
and the connected generator to produce electricity.
[3 marks]

The exhaust steam is still at high temperature which can be used for heating directly of
buildings or to heat water to provide hot water for heating of buildings.
[3 marks]

b) In summer an ice cold energy storage system is used together with an air
conditioning system to balance the peak cooling load. Describe the operating
principles of the system.

[7 marks]

Answer:

In summer the electricity demand for space air conditioning is very large in the day time
e.g. 2pm-5pm. An ice cold energy storage system can operate in the night (electricity
demand is lower) to store cold energy and supply the cold energy for air conditioning
during the peak time (i.e. 2pm-5pm).
[4 marks]
The advantages of the hybrid system are (1) to meet part of the cooling load. (2) to
significantly reduce the size of the air conditioning system hence the initial investment and
also increase the efficiency of the whole system. (3) to balance the electricity demand and
supply between the peak and non-peak periods of time.
[3 marks]

c) Analyse why a ground source heat pump has a higher COP (coefficient of
performance) compared with an air source heat pump.

[6 marks]

Answer:

[3 marks]

Air side convective heat transfer coefficient always lower than water side; Ground
water temperature always lower than air temperature in summer, higher than the air
temperature in winter.
[3 marks]

d) Why the condensing boiler has higher thermal efficiency?

[6 marks]

Answer:

The conventional boiler emits the exhaust flue gases which is at high temperature (about
150 oC) and contains steam.

[2 marks]

The condensing boiler recovers thermal energy from the flue gases at high temperature
(about 50 oC) and steam and hence increases the thermal efficiency.

[4 marks]
Question 3

b) Sketch the solar irradiation that a satellite would experience under full illumination
and the equivalent under AM1.5 at full illumination. Please comment on any
deviation from the black body pattern as delivered from our sun.

[6 marks]

Answer:

[3 marks]

A sketch of the above with commentary that indicates the deviation comes from two
sources interstellar absorption by gases and absorption by gases as the light passes
through our atmosphere.
[3 marks]

b) What assumptions are made about the relationship between solar radiation flux and
delivered electrical power in deducing the performance of an ideal photovoltaic
device?

[3 marks]

Answer:

Every photon generates an electron hole pair and every electron hole pair contributes to
the external circuit.

c) List four potential mechanisms that result in real photovoltaic devices deviating from
ideal performance?

[6 marks]

Answer:

There are a number of loss mechanisms that the device will deviate, these are, any four
from: auger, trap, radiative, reflection, transmission, below band gap irradiation and
recombination
[3+3 marks]
d) If the open circuit voltage for a photovoltaic device is 760 mV, the short circuit
current is 260 mA and the fill factor 0.67, what is the maximum power of the cell?

[5 marks]

Answer:
Pmax = FFVoc I sc

[3 marks]

Using the maximum power is 0.1324W

[2 marks]

e) Indicate what the IV curve for the cell would look like in the dark and under
illumination

[5 marks]

Answer:

[2 marks]

The figure should be correctly labelled with 760 mV as Voc and 260 mA as Isc for the
illuminated chart, with the dark trace showing normal diode behaviour. The answer is
acceptable in the inverted form.
[3 marks]
Question 4

a) Describe a solar hot water heating system and include diagrams where appropriate.

[6 marks]

Answer:

This involves a discrete solar collector device to gather the suns radiation for use as
heat.

Most collectors are simple systems and the generated heat will be below 100 C for use
as domestic hot water or swimming pool heating. Most common application is for
domestic hot water systems (DHWS).

[3 marks]

Typical system design involves

1) Solar Collector designed to maximize absorption of radiation and minimize heat

losses due to radiation

2) Hot Water Storage Reservoir of heated water is stored until needed at later time.

3) Liquid Handling Unit circulation of heated fluid to storage tank by natural convection
(Thermosyphon systems) or forced circulation using a pump.

4) Operator Controller activate fluid circulation from the collector only when useful heat
is available (not required for Thermosyphon systems)

5) Safety system involving freeze protection for operation during colder months or a
heat exchanger circuit
[3 marks]

b) Describe a device that extracts wave energy and discuss the operating principles of
the device.

[6 marks]
Answer:

[3 marks]

Air is compressed and decompressed by the oscillating water column. This causes air to
be forced through the wells turbine and then drawn back.
[3 marks]

c) Draw a sketch and discuss how to extract tidal energy and the operating principles.

[6 marks]

Answer:

[3 marks]

When the tide comes in, it is freely allowed to flow into the basin. When the tide goes out,
the water in the basin is held at the high tide level. When the sea returns to its low tide
level, the surface of the water held behind the barrage will be at a height R above the sea.
The potential energy can generate power by allowing the water to flow through a turbine to
the low tide level.
[3 marks]

d) Discuss the different types of biomass feeds and analyse their advantages and
disadvantages for energy production.
 [7 marks]

Answer:

Biomass feeds include woody crops, cereals, animal manures and wastes and algae.
[3 marks]

Advantages include naturally occurring resources, versatility in biomass feed and biofuel
product, product can fit easily into existing distribution networks (pipelines for oil and gas),
distributed resource (not geologically concentrated like fossil fuels)
[2 marks]

Disadvantages include lower energy density of biofuels and energy consumption in

processing, low capture efficiency requiring large land area
[2 marks]

End of solutions