Volume 10 (2014): Issue 1 (March 2014)

The purpose of this research is focused on the evaluation of short term global solar irradiation forecasting performance in order to assess the outcome of photovoltaic power stations. The paper presents a comparative analysis between the predicted irradiation obtained by numerical simulation and measurements. The simulation data is obtained from WRF-ARW model (Weather Research Forecasting-Advanced Research WRF), whose initial and boundary conditions are provided by the global forecasting model GFS. Taking into account the complexity of options for the physics models provided with WRF, we embarked upon a parametric analysis of the simulated solar irradiance. This complex task provides a better insight among the coupling of various physics options and enables us to find the best fit with the measured data for a specified site and time period. The present preliminary analysis shows that the accuracy of the computed global solar irradiance can be improved by choosing the appropriate built-in physics models. A combination of physics models providing the best results has been identified.

Pre-polymerized inorganic aluminum coagulants have high efficiency in reducing turbidity, total, dissolved, biodegradable organic carbon and microbiological content of surface waters used for drinking, while obtaining low concentrations of residual aluminum after the coagulation phase. Correlation between turbidity raw water and coagulant dose is logarithmic being influenced by temperature and organic content of surface waters. The coagulant’s effect on the organic content of the raw water is closely related to the microbiological concentration and can thus determine the mathematical correlations between the two types of parameters after the coagulation-flocculation stage that can be used to assess the water biostability coagulant action.

Phase change materials (PCMs) selection and prioritization for comfort application in buildings have a significant contribution to the improvement of latent heat storage systems. PCMs have a relatively large thermal energy storage capacity in a temperature range close to their switch point. PCMs absorb energy during the heating process as phase change takes place and release energy to the environment in the phase change range during a reverse cooling process. Thermal energy storage systems using PCMs as storage medium offer advantages such as: high heat storage capacity and store/release thermal energy at a nearly constant temperature, relative low weight, small unit size and isothermal behaviour during charging and discharging when compared to the sensible thermal energy storage. PCMs are valuable only in the range of temperature close to their phase change point, since their main thermal energy storage capacity depend on their mass and on their latent heat of fusion. Selection of the proper PCMs is a challenging task because there are lots of different materials with different characteristics. In this research paper the principles and techniques of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) are presented, discussed and applied in order to prioritize and select the proper PCMs for comfort application in buildings. The AHP method is used for solving complex decisional problems and allows the decision maker to take the most suitable decisions for the problem studied. The results obtained reveal that the AHP method can be successfully applied when we want to choose a PCM for comfort application in buildings.

Atmospheric pollutants concentration forecasting is an important issue in air quality monitoring. Qualitair Corse, the organization responsible for monitoring air quality in Corsica (France), needs to develop a short-term prediction model to lead its mission of information towards the public. Various deterministic models exist for local forecasting, but need important computing resources, a good knowledge of atmospheric processes and can be inaccurate because of local climatical or geographical particularities, as observed in Corsica, a mountainous island located in the Mediterranean Sea. As a result, we focus in this study on statistical models, and particularly Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) that have shown good results in the prediction of ozone concentration one hour ahead with data measured locally. The purpose of this study is to build a predictor realizing predictions of ozone 24 hours ahead in Corsica in order to be able to anticipate pollution peaks formation and to take appropriate preventive measures. Specific meteorological conditions are known to lead to particular pollution event in Corsica (e.g. Saharan dust events). Therefore, an ANN model will be used with pollutant and meteorological data for operational forecasting. Index of agreement of this model was calculated with a one year test dataset and reached 0.88.

Increasing the share of renewable energy sources is one of the core policies of the European Union. This is because of the fact that this energy is essential in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions and securing energy supplies. Currently, the share of wind energy from all renewable energy sources is relatively low. The choice of location for a certain wind farm installation strongly depends on the wind potential. Therefore the accurate assessment of wind potential is extremely important. In the present paper an analysis is made on the impact of significant possible parameters on the determination of wind energy potential for relatively large areas. In the analysis the type of measurements (short- and long-term on-site measurements), the type of instrumentation and the terrain roughness factor are considered. The study on the impact of turbulence on the wind flow distribution over complex terrain is presented, and it is based on the real on-site data collected by the meteorological tall towers installed in the northern part of Bulgaria. By means of CFD based software a wind map is developed for relatively large areas. Different turbulent models in numerical calculations were tested and recommendations for the usage of the specific models in flows modeling over complex terrains are presented. The role of each parameter in wind map development is made. Different approaches for determination of wind energy potential based on the preliminary developed wind map are presented.