Infrastructure Engineering - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableSolar chilled drinking water sourced from thin air: Modelling and simulation of a solar powered atmospheric water generator(Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, 2013-12-01)It is expected that there will be water scarcity in the future under the changing climate. Therefore investigations of innovative and environmentally friendly ways to produce portable water are very much essential. Atmospheric water generators (AWGs) apply vapour compression refrigeration to extract water vapour from the surrounding air. They produce drinking quality water and they require moist air and electricity. The required electricity may be produced by solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. By using solar energy the environmental impacts of an AWG associated with electricity consumption could be substantially reduced. The availability of solar energy and high humidity of air coincide with the drinking water demand. As of today the performance characteristics of stand-alone solar PV powered AWG is unknown. To address this knowledge gap a simulation model of such system has been developed. The model focuses on an individual phenomenon such as solar radiation availability, solar PV electricity output, battery storage, moisture content in the air and heat and mass transfer at the vapour compression refrigeration. The aim of this paper is to present the transient model developed and the simulation results. Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India is selected as the study area. Drinking water availability is a major issue in this district during the months from February to early June. Daily climate variables like temperature, maximum and minimum relative humidity, wind speed and global solar radiation on horizontal plane and wind speed were obtained from a meteorological station located in Kasaragod. A simulation model has been developed in TRNSYS with the following components: PV modules, Batteries, Regulator, Inverter and Atmospheric Water Generator. By using the model developed the capacity of the AWG, the number PV modules, the capacity of the battery bank required were determined for minimum daily water production of 15 L. The water extraction efficiency of the AWG investigated varies between 5.4% and 9.3% for Kasaragod. The cooling CCOPs of the AWG investigated are between 4 and 5, which is better than conventional air-to-air heat pump. Based on the analysis it was concluded that the monthly average daily efficiency is strongly correlated to the monthly average relative humidity of the ambient air. The monthly average daily efficiency is defined as average of all the daily average efficiency for a month. The validation of the simulation model with experiments to enable practical system design optimisations, and the development of control algorithms to obtain better performance by using the validated model are recommended for the future studies.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableINVESTIGATING POTENTIAL COMFORT BENEFITS OF BIOLOGICALLY-INSPIRED BUILDING SKINS(INT BUILDING PERFORMANCE SIMULATION ASSOC-IBPSA, 2013-01-01)
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ItemAn analysis of the feasibility and implications of using crude palm oil as renewable fuel for electricity generation in Indonesia(Australian Solar Energy Society, 2014)This paper explores the use of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) as a renewable fuel for electricity generation in Indonesia to meet the government liquid biofuel target of 5% by 2025. Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning (LEAP) system was employed to model the Indonesian energy system and forecast the energy demand up to 2025. Annual energy demand was assumed to grow at 6% and PLN (Indonesia’s stateowned electricity company) business plan to meet a 94% electrification access in 2020 is used to forecast the electricity consumption. The results suggest that relying on CPO alone as the fossil fuel substitute in the electricity generation could not meet the biofuel target. However, combining the use of CPO in the power generation and implementing liquid biofuel blend in the demand consumption recommended by the engine manufacturers would increase the overall biofuel contribution to 5.8% of the total energy mix. This means meeting the national target by 2025 could be successful without compelling engine manufacturers to accommodate the higher biofuel to fossil fuel blending ratios. The target also requires a total liquid biofuel and CPO of about 27.1 GL in 2025. In energy terms, this is equivalent to 926 PJ or about 159 million barrels of crude oil. The results imply that it may have detrimental environmental impact, as it requires 5.5 Mha of land area for biofuel feedstock plantations. Preliminary estimate of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission due to land use alone could reach up to 62 Mt CO2-e annually. Such a release could be prevented and even promises a saving if the land sought for biofuel plantation comes from low carbon stock land cover. On the positive note, this could offer employment opportunities to about 3.57 million people as well as investment in the agricultural and biofuel processing industry.
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ItemA Scenario Analysis Approach to Distributed Energy System Optimisation(MODELLING & SIMULATION SOC AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND INC, 2013-01-01)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableWorking fluid selection for a facade integrated solar cooling system(Australian Solar Energy Society, 2014-05-08)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableWater-Energy-GHG emissions accounting for urban water supply: A case study on an urban redevelopment in Melbourne(E.W. Publications, 2013-07-01)This paper presents a conceptual accounting framework to quantify the life cycle energy use and GHG emissions of alternative urban water supply strategies. The framework enables the comparative analysis of alternative strategies to design a fit-for-purpose water supply system that takes into account water supply, energy use and GHG emissions and has been tested on the Fisherman’s Bend development site in Melbourne Metropolitan region and results are presented. This study does not include the environmental and social benefits incurred from deploying multiple water sources, which must be considered before making strategic decision about implementation of alternative sources of water supply.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableA field test to demonstrate the benefit of cool roof paints in a temperate climate(The Architectural Science Association, 2013)This volume contains the refereed papers of the 47th International Architectural Science Association Conference 2013, held at the School of Architecture, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, China, They provide a snapshot of current cutting ...
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ItemSustainable Prefabricated Modular Buildings(ICSB, 2014)Economy, speed of construction and improved environmental performance are critical variables that challenge the modern construction industry to strike a balance between. Employing innovative prefabricated modular structures is one key strategy used to achieve these goals. Therefore, there is an increasing demand for detailed scientific research that deals with the potential environmental benefits of prefabrication, particularly in areas of embodied energy savings resulting from waste reduction and improved efficiency of material usage. This paper gives a brief overview of prefabricated modular structures and aims to highlight the sustainability characteristics of this technology compared to conventional construction methods. A case study was carried out on an eight-storey, residential building. It was found that a steel-structured prefabricated system resulted in a significantly reduced material consumption of up to 78% by mass compared to conventional concrete construction. However, the prefabricated steel building resulted in an increase in embodied energy compared to the concrete building mainly due to the inherent characteristics of steel manufacturing processes. This form of construction has the potential to contribute significantly towards improved environmental sustainability in the construction industry while providing fast outputs with value for the investments.
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ItemFinancial analysis of solar cooling systems in Australia(The University of Melbourne, 2013)
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ItemTime-efficient post-disaster housing reconstruction with prefabricated modular structures(Open House International Association, 2014-09-01)With many natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, bushfires and tsunamis destroying human habitats around the world, post-disaster housing reconstruction has become a critical topic. The current practice of post-disaster recon- struction consists of various approaches that carry affected homeowners from temporary shelters to permanent hous- ing. While temporary shelters may be provided within a matter of days as immediate disaster relief, permanent hous- ing can take years to complete. However, time is critical, as affected communities will need to restore their livelihoods as soon as possible. Prefabricated modular construction has the potential to drastically improve the time taken to pro- vide permanent housing. Due to this time-efficiency, which is an inherent characteristic of modular construction, it can be a desirable strategy for post-disaster housing reconstruction. This paper discusses how prefabricated modular struc- tures can provide a more time-efficient solution by analysing several present-day examples taken from published post- disaster housing reconstruction processes that have been carried out in different parts of the world. It also evaluates how other features of modular construction, such as ease of decommissioning and reusability, can add value to post- disaster reconstruction processes and organisations that contribute to the planning, design and construction stages of the reconstruction process. The suitability of modular construction will also be discussed in the context of the guidelines and best practice guides for post-disaster housing reconstruction published by international organisations. Through this analysis and discussion, it is concluded that prefabricated modular structures are a highly desirable time-efficient solu- tion to post-disaster housing reconstruction.