Technology Fundamentals for Sustainable Energy

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Ability to identify, classify, describe and interpret life cycle analysis for alternative energy supply and power generation options, accounting for different forms of environmental impact, working with information that may be incomplete or uncertain and quantify the effect of this on design.
• Evaluate the performance of wind turbines using basic aerodynamic analysis. Perform structure assessment of wind turbine blades. Conduct thermodynamic analysis of solar thermal power plant and relate this to the design of matching gas turbines, Rankine-cycle systems.
• Analyse electrochemical energy conversion processes and relate this in an integrated approach to practical application in fuel cells.
• Relate available wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, biofuel, and other chemical energy resources to the amount of power that can be produced.

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Assess sustainability across a range of applications, applying quantitative techniques where appropriate
• Apply thermodynamic analysis relevant to a wide range of chemical, energy, materials and environmental processes, to establish creative and rigorous solutions that are fit for purpose for all aspects of the problem, including production, operation, maintenance and disposal
• Use computational analysis in support of engineering design and decision making, showing the ability to work with technical uncertainty.

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The characteristics of alternative power generation and energy storage technologies, including photovoltaic, wind, hydro, nuclear, electrochemical, hydrogen liquefaction, and thermal solar generation
• Environmental, economic and technical requirements for energy supply.
• Fluid mechanics of wind and hydro power, thermodynamics of liquid hydrogen production, concept of band theory for solar cells, electrochemical and chemical energy systems

Subject Specific Practical Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Relate available wind, solar, hydro, nuclear, biofuel, and other chemical energy resources to the amount of power that can be produced.

Learning Outcomes

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• C1/M1 The fundamentals of sustainable energy technologies are developed through applications of fluid mechanics, aero dynamics, thermodynamics, electronic structures of semiconductors, and electrochemistry. They are core to the sustainable energy engineering. Students are required to gain both conceptual understanding and quantitative analysis. C2/M2 Students are required to design a wind turbine blade starting from researching the available airfoil shapes form standard collections, implementing beam element momentum (BEM) theory to calculate the power generation and aerodynamic load distribution on the blade of chosen shapes, calculate other centrifugal and gravitation loads, and finally selecting materials and designing the shell structure accordingly to sustain the mechanical loads. This is a comprehensive design task including applications of fundamental principles of natural sciences and engineering as well as making design decisions using own judgement C3/M3 Computational and analytical methods are used for the wind turbine blade design task. (see M2) C6/M6 A system approach is essential for the coursework on conceptual design of a 100% sustainable energy (micro)grid for a given location/setting. C16/M16 The wind turbine blade design is a group coursework and requires effective team work of up to 8 individual members C17/M17 The group coursework requires a substantial report as well as a group presentation

Introduction to Sustainable Energy Landscape and Generation vs Energy Storage (1 Lectures)

Macroscopic Processes for Sustainable Power/Energy Generation (10 Lectures)

• Wind power: rotor aerodynamic and performance, optimal rotor design, rotor structural materials and mechanics, mechanical transmission and electrical power generation, civil engineering
• Hydro and tidal power

Thermodynamic Processes for Sustainable Power/Energy Generation (7 lectures):

• Solar thermal power generation: heat transfer and energy harvesting, power generation cycles
• Thermodynamics of real gasses and phase transition
• Liquefaction of liquid hydrogen
• Biomass and combined cycles

Microscopic Processes for Sustainable Power/Energy Generation (10 Lectures)

• Functional materials: conceptual fundamentals of solid physics of photovoltaic materials, PV operation, performance and modern development, material fabrication, other energy materials
• Chemical processes: fundamental electro-chemistry for batteries, type of batteries and their uses
• Nuclear Energy: fusion and fission reactions and reactors

Sustainable Energy Systems (6 lectures):

• Balance of production and demand fluctuation with energy storage and distributed generation with optimal topology and combination of different technologies
• Student led case study of a microgrid using complimentary sustainable generation methods

Revision (3 lectures)

Teaching methods include

• Lectures including examples.

Learning activities include

• Set example questions
• Directed reading
• Group activities for case study

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.