Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course aims
This module aims to give a very broad overview into the range of issues relevant
to energy as a commodity. Given the vast range of topics and disciplines this
covers, it will miss out many important aspects but the aim is to equip the reader
with enough background information the engage fully with the more detailed
modules which follow in the course, and to provide enough information and
pointers to be able to join the current debate on energy with some confidence.
The expected learning objectives are:
• You will gain a broad appreciation of the global and national patterns of
energy use.
• You will acquire an overview over current energy resources and the
technological extraction, conversion, and transmission.
• Issues of appropriate energy use, energy saving and energy efficiency will
be addressed.
• The main current activities to formulate and implement global and
national policies will be addressed, and
• The impacts of energy use on society and the environment will be
introduced.
• With the insight gained, you will be able to assess critically, and
contribute constructively to, the ongoing debates and strategies for a
sustainable energy production.
i
Course material
This course is based on basic material supplied by us, some of which is contained in this
booklet and some of which is available from the web-based Virtual Learning
Environment, http://webct.eps.hw.ac.uk. Take your time to familiarise yourself with the
online material, as it contains material to be learned, for example in the folder ‘Basic
Notes’, other material gathered by previous students, links to online resources, as well
as places where you have to complete course work.
Other material is gathered by you during your studies for this module. It is expected
that you use the following resources in your research as much as possible:
- this booklet
- the online notes
- standard text books on Energy, Thermodynamics, Fluid Mechanics, and other
engineering topics relevant to Energy. A list of some basic text books is given below
and in the ‘Library and Resources’ section in the online module.
- Professional and scientific journals, as available in your library or work place
- Online library resources provided to you from Heriot Watt Library through internet
connection and Athens Authentication, in particular:
o The Encyclopedia of Energy. C. C. Cleveland, Elsevier, 2004
o ISI World of Knowledge, probably the most comprehensive citation index for
engineering, science, and other research journal publications
o Electronic scientific journals
o The websites of organisations, e.g the International Energy Agency.
Links to these resources are all available from the ‘Library and Resources’ section in
the online module.
Textbooks
The last few years have seen the publication or revision of a good number of textbooks
on various aspects energy, and any recommendation will be based on personal
preference. Books I have used include
G. Boyle, B. Everett and J. Ramage (Editors) (2003). Energy systems and sustainability. Open University.
J. Ramage. Energy: a guidebook. Oxford University Press, 1997, 2nd edition.
G. J. Aubrecht. Energy. Prentice-Hall, 1995, 2nd edition, and
E. S. Cassedy and P. Z. Grossman. Introduction to Energy – Resources, Technology, and Society.
Cambridge University Press, 1998, 2nd edition.
James A McGovern: The essence of Engineering Thermodynamics, Prentice Hall
Y. A. Çengel and R. H. Turner (2001). Introduction to Thermal-Fluid Sciences, McGraw-Hill
B.S. Massey (now B.S. Massey and Ward-Smith). Mechanics of Fluids, Chapman&Hall or Stanley
Thornes, now 7th or 8th edition.
Edward Hughes (2002). Hughes electrical and electronic technology. Prentice Hall, 8th edition
ii
Course assessment
The course is assessed by a combination of coursework and examination:
2.) A critical essay for Distance Learners or an oral presentation for On-campus
students, worth 30%.
As a Distance Learner, you will have a high freedom to choose a topic of your
interest. Based on your research, drawing on the resources outlined above, you will
discuss a particular issue relevant to the theme of the module. You will find more
detailed information in the online module
iii
1 The energy challenge
Introduction
The aim of the chapter is to give a very brief, and broad-brush, overview of the role energy plays
in life and how energy is generated and consumed. While we will require increasing amounts of
energy to sustain the world's population, the demand must be met in a way which can be
sustained by the world, not only in economic but also social and environmental terms.
Once you have read this section and the online notes, you are ready to complete the first set of
online exercises
Energy matters. Many of us pay good money for it, and many more of us
walk for miles every day to find it. Some of us become very cross when we
can’t get it, and some of us even got to war over it. None of us could survive
without it..
There is not much more to say about the importance of energy. Just a few illustrations
from recent history may underline these statements:
• The fuel bill is the second-largest item on an average UK resident’s monthly bill
after their mortgage or rent.
• Farmers and lorry drivers in the UK managed to affect seriously daily life when
they protested in 2000 over what they felt were excessive fuel prices.
• Life and the economy in California were seriously affected when the energy
industry was unable to supply uninterrupted electricity to its customers in 2001.
1
1. The energy challenge
• While countries tried to avoid military action in many parts of the world, swift
action was taken, especially by the USA and UK, when Kuwait was invaded by
Iraq, which obviously had serious implications on global oil supplies.
Serious interest in energy as global ‘problem’ resulted from the oil crisis in the 1970s,
and many textbooks were written in the late 70s or early 80s. At that time many
predictions of doom were published and discussed – fuel running out within the lifetime
of the current generation etc., but life did not stop and many returned to life as usual,
putting energy on the backburner. More recently, it has returned to the headlines, this
time in connection with its impact on our environment. Opinions to the severity (or
existence) of the problems or which actions should be taken are as divided as ever.
2
1. The energy challenge
While the average energy demand per person varies, one can probably relate it roughly to the standard
of living of a person living in a specific country. Using such an estimate, together with the total
population will give an estimate for the total energy demand, either for a country or the whole world.
The total annual energy requirement is linked to the population and the per-capita requirement by
R = E N.
The standard of living and the per-capita energy requirement are related by the empirical factor f,
S = f E.
The factor f might be interpreted as an efficiency of how much energy consumption contributes to the
standard of living. Combining these two equations gives
R = S N / f.
Currently the world’s population is roughly N0= 6 billion (6×109), and the energy consumption in 1997
was approximately 9500Mtoe. With this, the per capita consumption was E0= 1.58toe. This equals the
ratio S/f.
Current predictions are that the population grows by 2 to 3% per year, and that the standard of living
increases by 2 to 5%.
Let us normalise the measure of the standard of living, S, such that f=1toe–1 in 1997. Then, the standard
of living in 1997 was S0= 1.58. If we assume 2% for both quantities, then the population by 2020 will be
N = N0×1.0223= 9.5×109, and the standard of living will be S= 2.49. If there is no increase in the
efficiency of the energy used, then f will remain constant, and the total energy demand for 2020 will be
R= SN/f= 23,700Mtoe!
Exercise:
Assume a population increase of 2% per year, but an increase in the standard of living by 4%. Advances
in technology, however, have quadrupled the efficiency of energy conversion to f= 4toe–4. Calculate the
energy requirement for the year 2020. Could today’s energy production satisfy the demand?
3
1. The energy challenge
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimated the energy consumption in 1997 to
be 9521Mtoe (Mega tonnes oil equivalent), of which 26% could be allocated to the USA
and Canada, 18% to Europe, and 11% to Russia. A rough estimate of the projected
energy requirement by 2020 is estimated to be over 12000Mtoe compared to
6000Mtoe in 1973 and 9500Mtoe in 1997 (See Figure 1). Energy statistics for a few
selected countries are shown in Table 1.
50
45
40
35
Energy [EJ]
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
1980 1990 2000 Year 2010 2020 2030
Figure 1. Energy supply by fuel from 1971 to 2020 (Source: IEA, 2006)
Table 1. Energy statistics for the USA, UK, Norway, India, China, and Zambia for 1997.
Country Population Total Energy Energy Coal Oil Gas Nuclear Renewable Combustible
Renewable
(106) (Mtoe) Per cap. % % % % %
%
(toe/capita)
USA 269 2182 8.1 23.6 38.9 22.8 8.5 1.8 3.5
UK 59 233 3.9 17.5 35.9 34.2 11.3 0.2 0.8
Norway 4.4 25.4 5.8 4.3 34 17.1 0 39.5 5
India 980 476 0.5 33.7 19 4.1 0.6 1.5 40.1
China 1239 1031 0.8 56.9 18.8 1.9 0.4 1.7 20.3
Zambia 9.7 6.1 0.6 1.6 9.1 0 0 10.8 78.5
4
1. The energy challenge
For electricity production which must balance the demand minute by minute, the
instantaneous load, or rate of energy consumption, is more relevant than the accumulated
energy supplied or used. The rate of change of energy is measured in joule/second =
watt (W), or kW. For accounting purposes, the accumulated energy is then calculated
in kWh (1kWh= 3600kJ= 3.6MJ).
Since the vast majority of our energy consumption is based on the burning of fossil
fuels, it is customary to base energy on the energy released by that fuel. A major
difficulty with this is that due to differences in the quality of fuels from different mines
or reservoirs varies substantially, it is strictly speaking not possible to give an exact
figure of the energy contained in a tonne of coal or oil.
The energy supplied in the form of fossil fuels is measured in tonnes of oil equivalent
(toe) or Mtoe. The corresponding energy content of electricity is given as
1TWh (= 109kWh)= 0.086Mtoe (Source: IEA).
5
1. The energy challenge
• Heat
• Potential energy
• Kinetic energy
• Work
W= F d = force × distance
• Pressure work
This is the same as applying on an area, A, a pressure force, F= pA, and moving it by
a distance d. This will change the volume within the boundary by d×A:
W= F d= p A d = p V
• Electrical energy
• Radiation
energy of a photon: h ν= h c / λ,
• 'Chemical' energy
The heat released in a chemical reaction. This is specific to each reaction and is
usually given as energy unit mass (e.g. kJ/kg) or number of molecules (e.g. kJ/mol)
• Atomic energy
6
1. The energy challenge
To gain a measure of the difference between the different forms of energy, the concept
of quality is defined:
1. Mechanical supplies are those energy sources, which provide directly work from
potential or kinetic energy for extraction. Examples of mechanical supplies are
hydro, wind, waves, and tides. The conversion of the kinetic or potential energy
into electricity is usually quite high, and so is the proportion of the energy
extracted from the available energy current. Typical proportions are for wind 30%,
hydro 60%, and wave and tidal about 75%.
2. Heat supplies are those which in the first instance provide heat—either for direct
consumption or further conversion into work or electricity. Examples are all the
fossil fuels and nuclear energy, together with biomass combustion and solar heating.
Even in ideal situations, the conversion of the heat to other forms is limited by the
second law of thermodynamics, and in practice the efficiency of conversion
processes is about half of the ideal maximum. For example, for thermal boiler heat
engines, a realistic maximum quality is about 0.35 or 35%.
3. Photon processes convert the solar radiation into other forms of energy. Examples
are photosynthesis and photochemistry used for the production of biofuels and
photovoltaic conversion to electricity. In theory, a photovoltaic cell matched to a
single photon frequency can convert the solar radiation by absorption into
7
1. The energy challenge
Example: Based on the second law statement above we can expect that a particular
but common use of fossil fuels is a very inefficient use of the current energy flow
chain: Heating of water or buildings by electricity generated by burning of fossil fuels
or nuclear fission. These types of electricity generation convert heat to electricity in
turbines. Since the conversion of heat to mechanical energy requires substantial
waste heat, much heat is usually lost (a typical efficiency is of the order of 30%).
Therefore, most of the energy potentially available in heat has been lost already at the
first stage. An improvement of practice becomes immediately obvious: Combined
Heat and Power (CHP) generation.
This is usually used in 1 kW= 1000 W; 1 MW= 106 W and higher powers.
8
1. The energy challenge
4 ‘Energy’ as a commodity
Resources
Coal Nuclear
Oil Sun Hydro
etc
Refinery Generator
Trasnmission,
Thermal
Conversion
plant
Transport Manufacture
Parameters Users
Figure 2. Schematic diagram of the ‘energy world’ with the flow of energy from the resource to the consumer
embedded in the wider issue of society and the environment.
9
1. The energy challenge
Figure 3. Spaghetti diagram for the flow of energy from primary source to end use (taken from Twidell
and Weir, 19).
10
1. The energy challenge
Minimisation of losses
It is obvious that energy savings could contribute to meeting the increasing demand. A
very obvious and practical approach is to insulate buildings adequately against heat loss
(in cold weather) or overheating (in hot weather). Examples of bad practice are
excessive use of heating in poorly built houses, or the excessive use of air conditioning.
11
1. The energy challenge
Summary
In a short overview of current and projected energy use, it was stated that the global
annual energy consumption in 1997 was around 9,500Mtoe, compared to an expected
consumption of 12,000Mtoe by 2020. It became clear that the average energy per
person use for different countries varied over two orders of magnitude, with the US
citizen requiring about twice the amount as a European, and 100 times the amount of a
citizen of a poor developing country. The different forms of energy were discussed,
with the definition of quality of energy as the proportion of energy that can be converted
to mechanical energy.
The second section of the chapter concentrated on environmental and health impacts
of combustion of fossil fuels, an aspect of energy policies and planning which has gained
significant importance in the recent years. The importance, and debate about its
relative importance to national economic interests were highlighted by an outline of a
few of the major international energy policy bodies and their progress.
12
1. The energy challenge
Reading
Main textbook
J. Ramage. Energy: a guidebook. Oxford University Press, 1997, 2nd edition.
Other textbooks
G. J. Aubrecht. Energy. Prentice-Hall, 1995, 2nd edition.
E. S. Cassedy and P. Z. Grossman. Introduction to Energy – Resources, Technology, and Society. Cambridge
University Press, 1998, 2nd edition.
International organisations
International Energy Agency: http://www.iea.org
Monthly Oil Market Report; Biannual World Energy Outlook;
Global and national Statistics; Country Studies
UK organisations
Department of Trade and Industry.(DTI) : http://www.dti.gov.uk/energy/index.htm
Energy Digest 2000 ; Energy in Brief; Statistics; Policies
13
2 Energy resources
Introduction
The aim of this section is to provide a definition of ‘energy resource’ and ‘fuel’ and to give a very
brief overview over the main fuels and some other energy resources.
Once you have read this section and the online notes, you are ready to complete the first set of
online exercises
Energy stores are fuels, such as wood, coal, oil and gas but also nuclear fuel.
Energy currents can be found in sun light, flowing rivers, the wind, or in the sea, such as
waves or tides. All these, apart from the tides are energy currents which are ultimately
driven by the sun; the sun drives the hydrological cycle by evaporating water to be
transported from sea levels to higher levels in the mountains; the sun drives the
atmospheric circulation, ie the winds; and the winds in turn generate ocean waves.
Another energy current is the flow of heat from the Earth’s interior to the Earth’s
surface. This ‘geothermal energy’ is a remnant of energy stored during the formation
of the Earth.
If you look at all these resources closely, you will see that the distinction between
stores and currents is a bit fuzzy: wood (and other biomass) is a store in that you can
harvest and store, but it is formed in a continuous way on an annual basis. Geothermal
energy is really a store of energy deep within the planet’s interior deposited during the
planet’s formation (from the gravitational collapse of galactic matter into a planet), but
14
2. Energy resources
we can only access it through the current of heat from the hot interior to the surface
as the planet is gradually cooling down. As you can see, our distinction is made on the
way we can access the particular form of energy.
As energy stores can be seen as ‘lying around and waiting to be used’, they are always
quantified in terms of the energy content, i.e. in units of joule, million tonnes of oil
equivalent, quad, or other energy units.
As energy currents are naturally occurring fluxes of energy, they are quantified in
terms of the energy flux or power, i.e. in units of watt or similar.
1. Energy stored in the Earth crust during the formation of the Earth,
3. Energy released from gravitational potential by the orbits of the Earth and
Moon,
4. Energy emitted by the sun and absorbed the Earth’s atmosphere and surface.
If we look at this list critically, we see that the most common sources for our daily
energy consumption, namely oil, gas, and coal do not seem to be included here. All
three resources are the remains of prehistoric vegetation which grew using primarily
the fourth energy category, sun light. During geological process, involving to a larger
or lesser degree all energy sources, this solar energy stored in the plants was then
concentrated in the deposits of coal, oil, and gas.
In a most pedantic definition, all energy sources are finite but the time scales associated
with the consumption of some of the energy sources is so much larger than even the
evolution of humans, that they can be regarded as effectively infinite. In the following
section a practical differentiation between finite and infinite energy resources will be
developed.
15
2. Energy resources
The resources, which we would intuitively classify as finite, are the fossil fuels and
nuclear fuels. The nuclear fuel reserves date back to the formation of the Earth and
belong to the first source, while the fossil fuse, namely coal, oil, and gas, derive from
the last category, as they are the remains of plants which grew using solar radiation.
These stores of energy are obviously of finite size, even if they ultimately originated
from the infinite source of solar radiation. However, the time scale it took to create
them is again very large, so that it will be impossible to renew these stores on a human
time scale.
Renewable resources, on the other hand, are usually associated with something that
happens anyway in the environment. The naturally occurring energy current is merely
accessed to extract a small portion of it for conversion to useful energy. Examples are
placing wind turbines in windy places, or covering roofs with photovoltaic cells.
Finite Energy is energy obtained from stores of energy that remain bound
unless released by human activity.
In contrast to the definition of Twidell and Weir, I have changed ‘stores of static energy’
to ‘stores of energy’. The distinction lies in the difference between hydrocarbons and
radioactive stores. While hydrocarbon reserves are indeed static stores, the
radioactive elements do decay naturally while they remain in storage. The common
16
2. Energy resources
factors are that they both a laid down in reserves in the Earth’s crust, and that they are
mined and transported to a convenient location before the conversion of the chemical
or nuclear energy to heat, work, or electricity is initiated.
A clear advantage of such stores is that the energy resource can be traded and
transported to arbitrary locations, such as power stations or petrol tanks in cars,
before its energy potential is realised.
Figure 4. Comparison
of Renewable Energy
Resource use with
Finite Energy
Resource use (taken
from Twidell and
Weir).
17
2. Energy resources
There is one awkward energy resource, which does not seem to fit easily into either
category of energy, namely biomass. Biomass is a fuel, which can be stored, traded, and
transported to a convenient location, and thus does not really occur as a naturally
occurring flow of energy. On the other hand, the store of biomass is such that it is
created in a very short time scale, and is therefore not limited. Also, if one does a
energy and product balance over the time scale of the renewal of a biomass store, the
main energy derives from the sun, and the waste product, e.g. CO2, is released into the
atmosphere during use but then re-absorbed by the next season of biomass generation.
Because biomass is renewable on a human time scale, and because the effect on the
sink could theoretically be balanced in the source, biomass should clearly be classified
as a renewable. Another way of justifying this classification is to use the sun light as the
‘source’, the biomass creation as the ‘device’, and the combustion and further use as
the ‘use’ in Figure 4.
Apart from the case of biomass, all other current renewable energy resources are in
the form of naturally occurring energy currents. This obviously implies that one cannot
use, for example, the common way of producing electricity, which is the generation at
relatively few, very large power station, from where the electricity is distributed by a
grid. Electricity from renewable sources comes necessarily from a much larger number
of much smaller generators which are located where the energy is available.
Furthermore, as is immediately obvious from the nature of the winds, the energy
current itself is often not steady or even predictable. Two of the main problems faced
nowadays by renewable electricity generation are the integration of the many
generators into a stable grid, and the management of supply and demand when the
supply cannot be influenced (at least not to react to increased demand). The problem
of integration is a severe one, and a long-term solution has not been found yet. The
management of supply and demand requires additional devices, either to store excess
energy, or to actually control the supply not merely on a demand basis, but on a
prioritised demand basis where priority networks are guaranteed a steady supply but
18
2. Energy resources
where other networks are only supplied if the supply exceeds the demand of the
priority network.
• How much was ever created? This would give us an absolute limit of energy
available from those sources, the ’ultimate resource’.
While we may have a fairly good idea of the reserves we know about and how much it
would cost to extract them, we cannot know about the total resource or even the
remaining recoverable resource. We do, however, have to acknowledge that we
continue to find new reserves on a regular basis. To predict our energy balance based
on the reserves alone would therefore be unrealistically pessimistic. A simple model is
now widely used to estimate the ultimate recoverable resource for any finite energy
resource.
19
2. Energy resources
1
This model, which was initially proposed by Hubbert based on a simple statistical
curve, the normal curve or Gaussian curve, for the rate of production, and its cumulative
form, the logistic curve, for the accumulated production. The normal curve is a smooth
curve with a maximum production rate in the middle of the curve and starting with a
zero production rate at the beginning before the resource was seriously exploited. As
the resource becomes an established and reliable source of energy, the production will
increase rapidly while the reserves are abundant. As the resource becomes scarce, it
will become harder and more expensive to extract it and consequently the production
rate and consumption reduces again until virtually nothing is left. The accumulated
production is an S-shaped curve which also starts at zero before industrial use and
increases sharply if the production rate is large, becomes less steep if the production
rate falls, and eventually levels off at the ultimate recoverable resource, Qp, when the
production rate has dropped to virtually zero again.
1
M.K. Hubbert, U.S. Energy Resources, a Review as of 1972, U.S. Senate Committee on Interior and Insular
Affairs report, Washington, D.C.: GPO, 1974.
M.K. Hubbert, Am. J. Phys. 49, 1007 (1981).
M.K. Hubbert, Chapter 8 in Resources and Man. Freeman, San Francisco, 1969
20
2. Energy resources
dQ p
The production rate, P= , is the amount of resource extracted in a given time interval. The
dt
assumptions that the curve describing this is the normal curve, or logistic equation, are
− If the past production has been successful, we expect that the demand is high and therefore the
production rate; in a simple model, the production rate is proportional to the cumulative
production, Qp.
− If the resource becomes scarce, it will be harder to extract the resource; the production rate is
proportional to the remaining fraction of recoverable resource, (Q∞–Qp)/ Q∞ or (1 – Qp /Q∞).
This gives us
dQ p Qp
P= = rQ p 1 −
dt Q∞
The factor r measures the potential for increase.
Dividing the equation by the ultimate resource, q = Q p / Q∞ , we can rewrite this equation as a
relatively simple ordinary differential equation,
dq dq
= r q (1 − q ) , or, after separation of variables, = r dt
dt q (1 − q )
which can easily be integrated by
referring to standard mathematical 1 1
ln
∞
∞
Q /Q
0.5 0.5
p
q q0 − 1
If we take our reference time, t0, to be 0.25 ← 0.25
the time of peak production, we
recognise that the production is
symmetric around this time with the
result that we have recovered half of 0 0
-10 -8 -6 -4 -2 0 2 4 6 8 10
2
for example I.N. Bronstein, K.A.Semendjajew, G.Musiol, and H. Mühlig. Taschenbuch der Mathematik.
Harri Deutsch, 2001
or M. Abramowitz and I. A. Stegun (eds). Handbook of mathematical functions with formulas, graphs and
mathematical tables. National Bureau of Standards, 1964
21
2. Energy resources
Example: You switch on a 100W light bulb: you are consuming electricity at a
rate of 100W. If you leave the light on for 100s, then you have used
100W×100s= 10,000Ws= 10,000J= 10kJ. If you leave the light on for 10 hours,
then you have used 100W×36000s= 3,600,000J= 3.6MJ. Since these are rather
large numbers, electricity is usually charged by the kWh: 100W×36000s=
100W×10h= 1,000Wh= 1kWh.
In short, if you consume or receive energy at a constant rate, then the accumulated
energy is equal to the product of the rate and the time. If the rate changes, then this
turns into the integral of the instantaneous power over the time interval of interest:
E = ∫ P dt
Example: One square meter on the equator during equinox, the sun is directly
overhead at 12 noon, and the length of the day is 12 hours. At other times, the
surface make an angle between the sun of 90° or π at 6am, 45° at 9am, and so
22
2. Energy resources
× [ sinθ ]
π /2
= 1kW × 24
2π
h
−π / 2 = 1kW × 24
2π
h
×2
≈ 7.6kWh
This estimate compares well with the measured annual average of solar insolation
–2 –1
of about 6.2kWh m day for Al-Khartoum near the equator.
For a location at a higher latitude, this value is again reduced by the fact that
there is always a higher angle between the surface and the sun. We can estimate
the average clear day energy received per day on a latitude of 56° by multiplying
the equator value by the cosine of the latitude. This gives about 4.3kWh per
metre-square per day. As you can imagine, the sun does not always shine in
–2 –1
Scotland (not even in Edinburgh), and the actual value is about 2.3 kWh m day .
5.b Wind
Wind is a very tricky energy resource as it is never constant. However, one can
measure an annual average wind speed. Taking this average wind speed, we know that
the energy flux through an area, A, facing the wind is given by
P = 21 ρAU 3 ,
–3
where ρ= 1.225kg m is the air density.
One can then estimate the energy going through that area in a year by multiplying.
However, as the wind is fluctuating, this estimate has to be reduced by what is called
the capacity factor, which is about 30% (= 0.3) for wind power. Furthermore, no wind
turbine can extract 100% of the power flowing through the rotor, and the power going
through the rotor has to be multiplied by the efficiency or performance factor of the
turbine. Very good modern turbines reach a performance factor of about 50% at their
design point.
23
2. Energy resources
–1
Example: For Bremen in northern Germany, the average wind speed is 5.3m s .
P = 21 ρAU 3 = 96Wm −2
–1
For a location in Scotland with an average wind speed of 7 m s , we get
–2 –2
210W m and 276 kWh m , respectively.
6 Fuels
This section summarises the most common type of energy resource, namely fuels. For
the purpose of this course, I use the word in the following meaning:
The only primary form of energy extracted from such a resource is heat which can
then be used either directly or converted to other forms, such as work in an engine or
electricity in a generator. This section includes both finite and renewable fuels in a
somewhat unorthodox order, starting with biomass, then moving on to coal before
arriving at the two giants, oil and gas.
Fuels are all energy stores. That means that they store energy as chemical energy
(except for nuclear fuel). This energy is then usually released in the form of heat by
combustion, and the fuel is characterised by how much heat is released in the quantity
–1
called calorific value or heat content. Its base unit is J kg but it is usually given in
–1
MJ/kg or GJ/tonne (1000 J kg = 1 MJ/kg = 1 GJ/tonne).
24
2. Energy resources
For all common fuels, such as wood, coal, oil, and gas, the combustion involves turning
a molecule which contains one or more carbon atoms into carbon dioxide (and usually
water) and energy. The very simplest fuel is coal.
6.a Biomass
As the name suggests, this is fuel which is derived from living organisms, and it includes
a vast variety of fuels, ranging from cow dung (used in Africa and India for heating and
3
cooking) and chicken litter (used in Scotland in a power plant ), wood, straw (used in
4
England in a power plant ) to biogas (mainly methane) being produced in farming and
landfill sites. This wide range brings with it obviously a wide range of energy contents
and techniques of burning the stuff.
While biomass has been used as a fuel more many tens of thousands of years and is still
for many people the primary fuel supply (currently estimated to be between 10 and
20% of the world’s energy consumption), it is also becoming increasingly used as an
alternative to the fossil fuels introduced above in commercial applications. In the UK
alone, there are many power stations using a range of biofuels, such as straw or poultry
litter. Another by-product of human waste generation is the gas generated by
microbial activities in landfill sites. This biogas can be collected and used in the same
way as natural gas. Biodiesel as a renewable alternative to vehicle fuel from petroleum
oil is also increasingly used. Since biofuels cover such a vast range of origins it is
impossible to do anything other than a few sweeping statements about them as energy
resources.
The vast majority of biofuels are of the solid kind, and range from waste products of
human activity (eg the straw and poultry litter mentioned already) to energy crops which
are planted specifically for the purpose of energy production. Willow, for example is a
plant which grows fast enough to produce enough fuel at a reasonable rate. All biofuels
have the potential to be renewable resources. Since the generation of these fuels
3
http://www.william-siemens.co.uk/powgen_westfield.htm and http://www.eprl.co.uk/west1.htm
4
http://www.eprl.co.uk/ely1.htm
25
2. Energy resources
depends on human activity or intervention, the actual ‘renewability’ (if that is a word)
depends on proper planning of the production and consumption of these fuels.
All solid biofuels are based on plant material and thus come in a broad range of
chemical compositions. The main useful component of plants, the sugars, starch,
cellulose etc., are more complex molecules than the hydrocarbons. A good
representative of the fuel molecules are carbohydrates, which are long chains containing
carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms with the generic chemical composition of
Cx(H2O)y. It is sufficient to just look at one unit of such a chain to appreciate what is
going on:
We can estimate the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere by
burning 1kg of a carbohydrate of the formula [C(H2O)]x but considering the reaction
outlined above and the molecular weight of the constituents (C: 12, H: 1, O: 16). The
carbohydrate unit on the left side of the reaction has a total molecular weight of 30
while the carbon dioxide molecule has a molecular weight of 44. Therefore, using up
30kg of carbohydrate releases 44kg of carbon dioxide, or 1.47kg of carbon dioxide per
kg of carbohydrate fuel. To appreciate why biofuels can be truly renewable and
carbon-friendly energy resources, it is useful to see, how plants make the
carbohydrates when they are growing in the process called photosynthesis,
26
2. Energy resources
which is exactly the reverse reaction from the combustion. The energy supply for
photosynthesis is the sun’s light.
Therefore, each carbon dioxide molecule released by the burning is used exactly to
make the fuel again. This obviously does not take into account energy used in the
growing process, transporting it to the point of consumption, or any prior treatment
required.
6.b Coal
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel, with estimates of reserves to last us over another
millennium, and the entire industrial revolution and industrialisation of the world was
largely built on coal as the primary energy source, and it is still a relatively cheap
resource. Yet it has become very unpopular for several reasons. It comes in solid bits
– much less easy to burn than a liquid or gaseous fuel, it is dirty – ‘a large coal-fired
power-station can produce enough ash in a year to cover an acre of ground to the
height of a six-storey building’ (Ramage, p.71), its combustion releases lots of
unpleasant and toxic substances as by-products, its extraction leads to unsightly open-
cast mines or deep mines which cause subsidence. In short, it is a very dirty energy
resource.
Coal is a dirty resource because it has a complex chemical composition — after all, it
has derived from decayed plants. No easy chemical formula can be given for coal, but it
is the carbon within coal which provides the energy. One of the major elements of
coal are rings of 6 carbon atom which also incorporate hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen,
with about equal numbers of carbon and hydrogen atoms. Up to ten percent of coal
may be other material which does not burn but remains as ash. The release of energy
occurs by oxidising the carbon to CO2. Therefore, whatever one does, using coal
generates CO2, whose presence in the atmosphere the world is trying to limit. The
actual combustion is not a simple of process of taking the carbon atoms burning them
to get carbon dioxide and energy but, because of the complex composition of coal,
involves several steps:
• First all moisture from the coal must be removed (up to 10%). This obviously
requires energy in the form of heat.
27
2. Energy resources
• As it heats up, several gases are released from the solid piece of coal, the so-
called volatile matter. This removes most of the hydrogen and oxygen, together
with carbon monoxide (CO) and some hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons are
fuels and release energy in their combustion, up to half of the energy content of
the coal
• The remainder consists to the largest part of the so-called fixed carbon, which
does the direct chemical conversion of
C + O2 → CO2 + energy.
Table 3. Comparison of energy content and composition of different types of coal. A representative
sample of wood is included for comparison.
Type Energy content fixed carbon volatile matter Moisture Ash
(MJ/kg) (%) (%) (%) (%)
Wood ~20 ~10 ~40 ~45 ~5
Peat ~20 ~10 ~20 ~65 ~5
Lignite <20 ~30 ~30 ~35 ~5
Sub-bituminous 19–27 ~40 ~25 ~25 ~5
Bituminous 25–33 50–80 10–30 5–10 ~5
Anthracite ~30 >75 ~5 ~5 ~15
Graphite ~35 ~90 <5 <5 ~5
28
2. Energy resources
The coal with the highest calorific value contains about 90% of carbon and has a
calorific value of 34MJ/kg (or 34GJ/tonne); taking this into account, we have about
34/0.9= 38MJ/(kg of C), this then can be represented as
We can see that a natural result of burning coal is the release of carbon dioxide to the
amount of about 0.1kg CO2 per MJ converted.
Considering that the efficiency of coal-fired power stations is about 33%, we produce
about 0.3kg CO2 per MJ electricity generated. Converting this to kWh (ie multiplying
by 3.6), gives us about 1kg of CO2 emitted per kWh generated – ie leaving your 100W
light bulb on for 10 hours adds 1kg of carbon dioxide to the air.
The simplest hydrocarbon is methane, CH4. Longer examples of simple chains can be
written as H3C–CH2–…–CH2–CH3 , or shortened to CnH2n+2.
The combustion and mass and heat balance of methane with a calorific value of 55MJ/kg
can be written as
16 + 64 → 44 + 36 + 55MJ/kg × 16
29
2. Energy resources
Because methane has a much higher heat content or calorific value than coal, we get
55MJ/kg heat and only 0.05kg per MJ converted.
The oil-based products, such as petrol and diesel are still the dominant fuel for
transport. The petrol can be reasonably well described by octane, C8H18, and diesel by
cetane, C16H34, both with a calorific value of about 48MJ/kg or about 35MJ per litre
(with a density of 0.7kg per litre for octane and 0.75kg per litre for cetane). The
chemical structure of methane and octane are shown in Figure 5.
We can extend the combustion equation for methane to the generic chain
• 2.5kg CO2 per litre petrol and 2.7kg CO2 per litre diesel
30
2. Energy resources
Table 4. Energy content and carbon dioxide emission for different hydrocarbons.
Name Composition Molecular Energy Mass of CO2 Mass of CO2
weight content released per kg released per
(MJ / kg) fuel (kg) energy (kg/MJ)
Methane CH4 16 55
Ethane C2H6 30 51
Propane C3H8 44 50
Butane C4H10 58 46
Pentane C5H12 72 48
Hexane C6H14 86 48
Heptane C7H16 100 48
Octane C8H18 114 48
Again, looking at the CO2 release of this process, we can see that each carbon atom
ends up in a CO2 molecule with a molecular weight of 44. With methane as the
example, the complete combustion of 16kg of methane releases 44kg of carbon
dioxide, or each kg of methane releases 44/16= 2.75kg of CO2.
Exercise:
Complete Table 4, and show in a graph how the carbon dioxide emission varies for the
different hydrocarbons in terms of amount of fuel (kg CO2 / kg fuel) and in terms of
the energy released by that fuel (kg CO2 / MJ). Compare the results with the
corresponding figures for burning coal.
31
2. Energy resources
Nuclear fission is a well-developed technology albeit, the disposal of its waste products
is not yet as well developed as most people would like to see….
The attraction of nuclear fission is that the reaction itself does not release carbon
dioxide, and that the fuel has a very high heat content: the energy release of uranium-
235
235, U , is 82TJ/kg (= 82 million MJ/kg). This obviously has to be seen in the context
235
that natural uranium only contains about 0.72% of U and enriched uranium between
2% and 5%. Taking these numbers, we get an energy content of the base material,
natural uranium of 600,000 MJ/kg – still a factor of over 10,000 higher than the carbon-
based fuels –, and between 1.6 and 4 million MJ/kg of enriched fuel.
The actual output of a nuclear reactor can be about twice that amount, which is caused
by the fact that the products of the uranium fission themselves are radioactive and
release further energy as they undergo fission. This fact also result in the highly
radioactive waste a nuclear reactor produces…
Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, has been hailed as one of the ‘holy grails’ of energy
supply: its fuel, deuterium and tritium (the two heavy isotopes of hydrogen) can be
isolated from ordinary water, and its reaction products, hydrogen and helium in an
ideal life, are not only harmless but also useful – hydrogen is the other ‘holy grail’ if one
is allowed to have two...
Real life is not as simple: in reality there is usually some radioactive material produced
in fusion reactions due to the interaction of the released energy in the form of
neutrons and the material of which the reaction chamber is made, and nobody has as
yet achieved a sustained and effective fusion in a practical version.
32
3 Energy statistics:
Introduction
The aim of the chapter is to introduce the way energy data are collected and presented in
national or global energy statistics. Some potential problems in their interpretations are
highlighted. The second part uses some energy statistics to discuss the link between energy
and living standard.
1 Energy statistics
Almost every single country on Earth collects and publishes data of their national
energy production and consumption. The data are usually published by (or on behalf
of) government departments. Digests of these national data are also compiled in
international databases, most notably by the International Energy Agency6 and by BP7, and
also by the UN and the OECD.
5
While no direct source for this ‘quasi’-quote can be given, it is a caution frequently raised!
6
http://www.iea.org
7
BP Statistical Review of World Energy
33
3. Energy statistics
organisation closely founded by OECD countries, who represent the major oil-
consuming countries. As a result, one of their underlying tenets is to ensure a reliable
and affordable supply of oil and gas. Following the IEA World Energy Outlook report
in 2005 (which was in addition to its regular bi-annual reports during even years)
criticism was raised by several people that the IEA attempted to steer world policy
decisions to support oil and gas investment at the expense of investing in sustainable
renewable energy development8. You might ask yourself the question why the EIA felt
obliged to publish an World Energy Outlook report in 2005 when there was to be one
due in 2006.
Another example can be found in the wind debate. Some groups, either truly trying to
protect wildlife using wildlife and the country side in addition to a strong financial
involvement in the nuclear industry present all evidence that wind turbines are
unreliable, an eye-sore, and killing birds, whereas the respective national wind energy
association will present evidence that wind turbines have produced a substantial
amount of energy, that they attract tourists, and that bird fatalities are so much small
than other human activities that not installing wind power will kill more birds in the
resulting climate change….
• The energy which we put into the society/economy, the ‘primary energy’,
probably broken down into the different types of energy resources.
• Possibly some intermediate stages of the energy, for example when converting
it from, eg, coal to electricity.
8
EIA (2005). World Energy Outlook 2005 -- Middle East and North Africa Insights. EIA report summary:
http://www.iea.org/textbase/npsum/WEO2005SUM.pdf
Criticism raised by R. Rechsteiner (MP in Switzerland), Energy Bulletin, 26 Nov 2005:
http://www.energybulletin.net/11701.html
34
3. Energy statistics
• How do we account for energy used in the energy generation, for example
getting the oil from the reservoir up, to shore, and refined into useful fuel?
• Where does the chain stop, or who is the final consumer? After all, the first
law of thermodynamics states quite firmly that energy cannot be ‘consumed’.
Before we go into the details of what exactly we put in the tables and figures, it is
useful to see a few of such figures. In Chapter 1, we have already seen some energy
graphs. It seems quite intuitive that the spaghetti diagram, Figure 4, is a clear graphical
description of the input and output of the energy, both by type and by end-user
category. The relative contribution of each energy resource, or energy form, is
represented by the thickness of each strand. Unfortunately, such a diagram only works
for very simple cases, such as Norway, which only used four types of resources and
used almost exclusively hydropower to generate electricity.
Figure 5 Spaghetti diagram of energy balance in Norway (from Twidell and Weir, Renewable Energy
Resource, 1986, first edition)
For most countries, the primary input into electricity generation comes from a
multitude of sources, resulting in a true bowl of spaghetti where it is almost impossible
35
3. Energy statistics
to untangle individual strands. Often, a number of pie charts are used instead. Over
the next few sections, we will establish some statistics on the example of the
information about the energy balance in the UK for 1998. Unless stated otherwise, all
information are taken from DTI (1999) Energy in Brief9.
2 Primary energy
What is primary energy? Generally, it is the energy content of the original resource. In
the case of natural gas, it is the amount of gas extracted from the reservoir. Once it
has left the ground and thus entered the market, this primary energy resource could be
used for a variety of applications, ranging from cooking in the domestic kitchen to
electricity generation in a power station.
Simple!, but?
How do we count the water flowing down a river which may be used in a hydropower
scheme? After all, it cannot be used for anything other than electricity generation at
that particular location10?
In most statistics, we are given the energy content of the fuels and, in addition to that,
‘primary electricity’. Primary electricity is the form of electricity which derives from a
source which cannot be used for anything else. This includes, among others,
hydropower, wind power, and nuclear energy. This opens up a substantial difference
between the electricity produced by a nuclear power station and by a coal-fired power
station. For the nuclear power station, the output is used to fill in the energy
production while for the coal-fired station it is the input which goes in the statistics.
Problem: We expect less energy to come out of a coal-fired power station than we
put in (a typical proportion is that about 30% of the energy released by the burning of
the coal is converted to electricity). There is a fundamental unfairness in measuring the
input for one scheme but the output for another scheme. On the other hand, the
input into a primary electricity plant cannot be used for anything else, so the amount
we lose may be irrelevant, whereas coal could be used for something else where we
use the energy contained in the coal more efficiently.
9
http://www.dti.gov.uk/epa/
10
The possibility of using a water mill to extract mechanical energy directly is ignored since this is not
used to any noticeable extent anywhere in the world.
36
3. Energy statistics
Illustration 1: If a coal power station generates 1000kWh in a day, the primary coal
energy input on that day is 3000kWh and 2000kWh are lost as heat. If we were to
replace the coal power station by a hydro power station, we only need to generate the
1000kWh of energy and very little heat is generated (maybe about 100kWh). As a
result, the same contribution to the electricity will look very different in the energy
input side, depending on where we use it. In the first case, the entry is 3000kWh but
in the second case, it is only 1000kWh.
Illustration 2: If the same coal power station is replaced by a nuclear power plant,
the entry in the statistics will only be 1000kWh, but a nuclear power plant generates
the same amount of waste heat as a coal power station. While the entry in the primary
statistics is only 1000kWh, we still generate the waste heat of 2000kWh. If we were
able to use this waste heat constructively, we could use energy further down the line
which had never entered in the primary column.
Solutions: Three conventions to deal with this imbalance between primary fuels and
primary electricity can be found:
• acknowledge that they are very different sources of energy, and stick to the
simple output from the primary electricity generators as the input to the
statistics.
• multiply only the output from nuclear power stations by a factor of 3, since they
also produce the same waste heat as other fuel-operated power stations. This
waste heat might be useful at some stage.
The UK statistics11 and the BP Statistical Review, for example, use the third policy in their
statistics, while the UN use the first option. Even though the choice of convention
affects the numbers, there is often no clear indication as to which convention is used in
many publications.
11
as explained in Appendix A in the DTI’s Energy Digest, see http://www.dti.gov.uk/epa/
37
3. Energy statistics
The primary energy production in the UK for 1998 is summarised in the table and
illustrated in a pie chart as
(Mtoe) % Petroleum
24.1
Petroleum 145.1 51 26
Natural Gas
Natural Gas 90.2 32 145.1
Coal
Coal 26.0 9 90.2
Primary electricity 24.1 8 Prim ary
electricity
Total 285.4 100
This is obviously only a snapshot for 1998. It is very instructive to compile data from
several years to see a trend in the energy production. The UK, for example, shifted
dramatically from a coal-based country to an oil-and-gas based country.
Exercises:
1. Compile comparative primary energy data for the UK from different years,
including the 1970s and the most up-to-date data available from the dti website.
38
3. Energy statistics
3 Energy consumption
Since most government statistics are interested in the energy market, it is universally
agreed that the ‘final consumer’ of energy is that person or company who pays for the
energy while it is in energy form. For example, the energy consumed in the process of
making a light bulb is counted against the manufacturer of the light bulb, the energy
consumed while transporting it to the customer is counted against the haulage
company filling up their lorries with diesel, but the energy consumed while the light
bulb is producing light in a house, is included in the energy bill of that domestic
customer.
Problem: Some countries, e.g. Switzerland and India, use to a noticeable degree
wood or other biomass to heat their building or do the cooking, where this biomass
has not been bought but collected free of charge by the individual (by felling a tree in a
communal forest or by picking up cow dung from the street). Because nobody pays for
this energy resource it cannot easily measured or included in the statistics.
Answer: Estimate....
Problem: Where do we count energy used by the energy industry: the energy
required to extract the fuel, the energy lost in the conversion to a useful energy, the
energy lost in transporting the energy...?
39
3. Energy statistics
Mtoe %
Oil 66 42
27
Gas 56 36 6.5 Oil
66
Coal 6.5 4 Gas
Coal
Electricity 27 17 Electricity
56
Total 155.5 99
70 60
60 50
50 Domestic Electricity
40
40 Coal
Mtoe
Transport
Mtoe
30
30 Services Gas
20 20
Industry Oil
10 10
0 0
ty
l
il
as
oa
tic
y
t
es
O
or
ci
tr
G
es
ic
us
tri
sp
rv
om
ec
an
Se
In
El
Tr
40
3. Energy statistics
• Conversion losses: 51.7Mtoe, which is the energy lost as waste heat in the
electricity generation, and the energy lost in the refinement of crude oil to
ready-to-use fuels, ie petrol etc.
300
Electricity
250
Coal
200
Mtoe
Gas
150
Oil
100
50
0
Production Conversion Consumption
This figure shows the national production of the UK for 1998 in the left column, and
the national consumption in the right column. The middle column accounts for the
conversion losses and the energy used by the energy industry to provide the energy for
consumption. A few things can be noted by comparing all figures prepared so far.
• Much more oil is produced than consumed: the UK is an oil exporting country.
• More coal is used and lost in the conversion than produced: the UK is a coal
importer.
41
3. Energy statistics
• Gas is used in similar amounts as a final energy provider (heating, cooking etc.)
and as a fuel for electricity generation (visible in the conversion loss)
• While a large part of the primary electricity is ‘lost’ (this is due to incorporating
the waste heat into the nuclear electricity), more electricity is consumed.
Almost all of the electricity consumed has come with the penalty of about twice
the energy amount lost in the energy conversion.
• By far, the largest contributions to the energy consumption are in the fossil fuels
of oil and gas.
300
Electricity
250 1970 1998 Coal
Gas
200
Mtoe
Oil
150
100
50
0
P ro ductio n Co nversio n Co nsumptio n P ro ductio n Co nversio n Co nsumptio n
• The total consumption has increased very little, but the production has
increased dramatically
42
3. Energy statistics
The UK has a population of about 59 million. Converting the final consumption in 1998
to a per-capita consumption, the figures become those in the table to the right.
Exercise: Complete the table. The last column is the number of people which could
subsist on that energy if all they need is a daily food ration with an energy content of
2000Cal.
MJ per
£ GDP
6.b Energy and GDP Industry 1.7
A fairly common step to include the wealth generation Service sector 1.1
— which to a large degree depends on the energy Transport 2.6
consumption — is to measure the per-capita energy Domestic 2.3
consumption against the national Gross Domestic Subtotal 7.7
Produce (GDP). The GDP is the total inland production Losses 3.9
Total 11.6
43
3. Energy statistics
of the national economic system, or the value of everything that the country has
produced in that year. For the year 1998, the UK National Office for statistics12 quotes
a GDP of £859,384 million, or £859×109. Dividing the annual total energy consumption
data by this figure, we obtain the amount of energy expended on generating one
pound of GDP.
12
http://www.statistics.gov.uk
13
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Human Development Report 1999, Oxford
University Press, New York and Oxford, 1999. See also http://hdr.undp.org/
44
3. Energy statistics
argue that any electricity consumption below 2MWh per year per person is directly
used for the development of that country. Above 4MWh, however, there is not gain at
all by using more and more electricity. As an example, Spain and Italy have a
development index of about 0.9 at a per-capita consumption of about 4MWh, and the
USA and Canada have an index of about 0.93 but consume over three times that
amount of electricity. At first sight, there seems to be plenty of scope for increased
energy efficiency even when only using current technology.
Figure 6. Human Development index against annual per-capita electricity use (from Pasternak (2000)14
14
A.D. Pasternak (2000). Global Energy Futures and Human Development: a Framework for Analysis.
US Department of Energy, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Report UCRL-ID-140773;
http://www.llnl.gov/tid/lof/documents/pdf/239193.pdf
45
3. Energy statistics
The mean Earth radius is 6371km → the surface area is 4πR2= 5.1×1014 m2
Using the pressure force and gravity in Newton’s second law, pA= F= mg, we can
estimate the mass of the atmosphere as m= pA/ g= 5.2×1018 kg.
Exercise: Refer back to the combustion products of the fossil fuels, coal, oil products,
and natural gas. These are mainly water and carbon dioxide. Consider the fact that
well over three quarters of our total energy consumption is based on these fuels,
estimate the anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. From
the total emission, calculate its contribution to the total atmosphere in ppm (parts per
million). Then, looking at the following graphs, think about the observation that the
carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere has increased in line with the
industrial revolution and energy consumption.
The following graphs were copied from reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC):
46
3. Energy statistics
Figure 7. Measured mean surface temperature over the past 140years and 1000 years, respectively. (Source:
IPCC,2001; Figure 2-3)15
Figure 8. Measured mean surface temperature over the past 140years and 1000 years, respectively. (Source:
IPCC,2001; Figure 9-1a)
15
From IPCC Third Assessment Report: Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. Available from
http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/reports.htm : pdf at http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/un/syreng/spm.pdf ;html at
http://www.ipcc.ch/pub/syreng.htm
47
3. Energy statistics
Figure 9. Time series of atmospheric concentrations over the past 1000 years. (Source: IPCC,2001; Figure 2-1)
48
3. Energy statistics
Summary
Some ways of displaying energy statistics, both as data on their own and within the
concept of energy use related to other national characteristics were presented. Some
points which became apparent are
1. The current energy balance is very much dominated by oil and gas
2. A substantial fraction of the energy of gas and coal are lost in the conversion to
electricity in power plants
3. Moderate electricity use contributes to the development of a country, but above a
finite value of electricity consumption, no apparent gain in the country’s
development can be detected.
4. In many countries, the energy consumption is split into three parts of similar
proportions: transport, domestic, and industry (both manufacturing and service
industry). In the UK, and many other countries, transport is the largest of the
energy users. Transport is to over 90% based on oil.
5. The use of fossil fuels results necessarily in carbon dioxide emissions of the order
of 3kg of CO2 for each kg of fossil fuel
Task:
Gather energy production and consumption data for your country of origin, or a
country of your choice. Put this into context of the development of that country (how
much has energy been linked to improvement in standard of living, how much is energy
a source of income or expenditure/ dependence on others). Find out what the national
policies and legislation are to guarantee a secure energy supply, yet comply with
international agreements (such as the Kyoto protocol), and how much those policies
are compatible with sustainable development. Think about your findings
49
4 Heat Transfer
Introduction
The aim of this section is to provide the basic concepts of heat transfer.
Once you have read this section and the online notes, you are ready to complete the third set
of online exercises
The rate of heat transfer is measured in watt, i.e. it has the unit of power.
As the process of heat transfer always involves a rate at which this is happening, there
is always the time dimension involved. Thermodynamic cycles and processes are
analysed assuming thermodynamic equilibrium at any point in the process. This
removes any time dimension and a power cycle, for example, can be analysed by using
only energy or enthalpy values at a the beginning and end of each process. This cannot
be done in heat transfer. Heat transfer occurs if and only if the system is not in
thermodynamic equilibrium – i.e. if there is a temperature difference between different
parts of the system. The analysis of the heat transfer can tell us how long it will take to
achieve thermodynamic equilibrium, or at what rate energy is being transferred
between different parts of the system if each of these parts is kept away from
thermodynamic equilibrium.
50
4. Heat Transfer
An example for the former case is: How long does it take for your hot coffee to cool
down to a drinking temperature.
An example for the latter case is: What is the transfer rate through the outside wall of
a building between the room (heated to a comfortable temperature) and the cold
outside. This rate of heat transfer is equal to the power requirement on the heater in
that room to maintain the room temperature.
Space heating and transport are the two biggest energy consumers. Yet, looking at
heat losses and potential for energy savings is not a very popular subject to study.
Using very simple, and frequently cheap, insulation and heat saving measures, it is
possible to achieve substantial reductions in energy consumption. However, to
estimate the heating load for a room or building and the effectiveness of energy
efficiency and energy saving measures, one needs to have an understanding of heat loss
mechanisms. This section will briefly introduce the three main mechanisms for heat
transfer. In other applications, such as heat exchangers, you would obviously want to
maximise the heat transfer rate rather than minimise it..
• Conduction: heat diffuses through a solid (or stagnant fluid). This requires a
mass but no motion of the mass
• Convection: heat is physically moved by a moving fluid. The motion can either
be externally enforced, e.g., by a fan, or it can be a result of the temperature of
the fluid. Convection due to an externally imposed flow is called forced
convection, and that due to the temperature variations in the fluid is called either
free convection or natural convection.
For the first and the last, we can write down a complete theory, and solve them in
principle, but convection involves fluid motion and is therefore very much harder to
describe completely.
51
4. Heat Transfer
2 Heat conduction
We can derive an expression which tells us how much heat we transfer given the
temperature drop, the type of material, its thickness, and the surface over which we
conduct the heat:
• The higher the temperature difference, the larger the heat loss
'If it is colder outside, we need more heating'
Q ∝ ∆T
• The larger the area is over which we can transfer heat, the larger the heat loss
'If the window is larger, we lose more heat through it'
Q∝A
Q ∝ d–1
• If the material is better at conducting heat, the larger the heat loss,
'Aluminium is a good thermal conductor, wool a poor conductor'
Q∝k
NB: Note that there are two conventions to denote the rate of heat transfer. One is
to use the symbol Q with a dot over it to denote that it is a rate of change or a rate of
transfer of heat. Since prehistory, however, people have also simply used the symbol Q
without the dot to denote the heat transfer rate – because it is so much to type in
52
4. Heat Transfer
text. Do not confuse this with the amount of heat. The amount of heat, also Q, has
units joule, the heat transfer rate, Q, has units joule per second or watt.
Q = k A DT / d
If we reduce the thickness towards an infinitesimal distance and realise that the heat
goes in the direction against the temperature gradient (ie., the temperature gradient
point to the hot place and the heat goes to the cold place), this turns into
Q = – k A dT/dx
3 Convection
Real convection is a very complicated process which depends on the imposed or self-
excited fluid flow, the fluid properties which affect both the flow (such as viscosity) and
heat transfer (such as thermal conductivity or thermal diffusivity), but for many
practical purposes, one can express the heat transfer by convection in an equation
which is similar to the conduction equation.
Since the convection does not occur by conduction over a fixed distance, the ratio of
k/d in Fourier's law is simply replaced by an empirical factor, the heat transfer
coefficient. The symbol for that is usually h or α, and has units watt per metre-squared
per Kelvin, W m− 2 K −1:
Q = h A ∆T
Typical ranges of the heat transfer coefficient (from Çengel and Turner 2001).
Type of convection h W/m2/K
Free convection of gases 2 - 25
Free convection of liquids 10 - 1000
Forced convection of gases 25 - 250
Forced convection of liquids 50 - 20,000
Boiling and condensation 2,500 - 100,000
53
4. Heat Transfer
4 Radiation
Radiation occurs both in vacuum and in transparent media (glass, air, etc...)
Each object emits radiation according to its temperature and surface condition. The
most radiation emitted at any particular temperature is that emitted by a black body.
This radiation occurs over a wide range of frequencies of this radiation (see Planck's
distribution law, and the total amount emitted is given by the Stefan-Boltzmann law:
Q = σ A T4
where
Very few bodies are black, but most are 'grey', which means that the emission and
absorption are simply reduced by a factor, ε, called emissivity.
Sometimes, as in glass or air, the emissivity is very low at one range of frequencies (i.e.
the visible light), but very large (i.e. close to 1) at other ranges (e.g. the infrared)
The amount of heat transferred by radiation from one surface to the other does not
only depend on the surfaces and their temperatures, but also how much one surface
'can see' the other. This is expressed by the View factor:
The view factor from a surface i to a surface j, Fi→j is the fraction of the radiation leaving
surface i that strikes surface j directly.
Everything together, then results in a net heat transfer between surface i and surface j
as
54
4. Heat Transfer
1. First it needs to get near the wall and then into the wall; this happens by
convection
2. Then it goes either through the plaster or the glass by conduction (and maybe
radiation)
5. There it leaves the wall/window and is carried away by convection and radiation
In the following, I will ignore radiation or assume that it has been incorporated in the
heat transfer coefficient, h.
We can treat the heat going through the wall section of the room separately from the
windows. They are obviously linked because they start with the same room and outside
temperatures
Even this has three stages. Since the amount of heat flow rate through each of the
stages is the same, and the surface areas are the same, we can work out what it is:
The expression for the several layers looks much easier, if we express Fourier's law
using the thermal resistance, R:
Q= A ∆T / R
55
4. Heat Transfer
For a single layer, R= d/k, and for a convective heat transfer, R=1/h
Looking back at the several layers, we now see, that the total thermal resistance of
several layers is the sum of the individual layers.
Often, you might find something called the U-value. This is simply the inverse of the
thermal resistance, U= 1/R, so that
Q= A ∆T / R = U A ∆T
Reading
This section is best revised with a standard textbook on Thermodynamics and Heat
Transfer, such as the Eastop and McConkey, or the Çengel and Turner book
mentioned
56
5 Heat machines
Introduction
The aim of this section is to provide the very basic principles of the common types of engines
and turbines which operate by combusting fuel. To provide the required basic thermodynamic
concepts, the basic processes, such as isentropic expansion are briefly revised. These are then
applied to the range of engines and turbines from the internal combustion engine to gas
turbines.
2.) one cannot convert heat completely into work, i.e. there is always some waste heat
returned by the process.
2. some work input (to get the fuel into the combustible state), Win,
1.a Efficiency
Because of the required work input and the waste heat, we never get as much energy
out as we put in. In other words, the efficiency, η, is always less than 1 (or 100%). The
basic definition is the ratio of the net useful work output over the required heat input:
57
5. Heat machines
Since over a cycle Qin - Qout + Win - Wout= 0, we can write the definition of efficiency
also as:
We have the zero on the right because we are looking at a cycle: the fluid returns at
the end of the process to its original state, and therefore must have the same internal
energy.
Examples are the Otto and Diesel engines, where the fluid throughput and the
combustion are two separate processes: they open some valves to take in the fuel but
then close the valves, do the compression, combustion and expansion while the
cylinder is closed.
58
5. Heat machines
where the dash ' denotes the rate of change (usually denoted by a dot over the
symbol), v the fluid velocity, and z the vertical position of the fluid. Because they are
open, they don't really operate on a 'cycle' but one can close the loop if the outlet
conditions and inlet conditions are the same. Examples of flow system cycles are the
steam turbine (Rankine cycle) and the Gas turbine (Brayton cycle)
Since heat is defined as the integral ∫ T ds, the heat input is the area enclosed by the
graph of the temperature against the entropy.
p= ρ R T,
where p is the pressure, ρ the density, T the absolute temperature (in K) and R the
specific gas constant which is specific to each particular gas. In fact, the specific gas
constant can be expressed as the product of a universal gas constant,
Ru= 8.4133 KJ kmol– 1 K– 1, and its molar mass (in kg kmol– 1).
∆U = m cV ( T2 – T1 )
∆u = cV ( T2 – T1 ) .
59
5. Heat machines
∆h = cp ( T2 – T1 ).
The factors cV and cp are the specific heat capacities of the gas at constant volume and
pressure, respectively. The ratio of those two values is usually denoted by the symbol γ
: γ= cp/cV
If such an ideal gas expands without exchanging heat with the environment in an
isentropic way, the pressure, density, or temperature of the gas change as
p2 / p1 = ( V1 / V2 )γ
V2 / V1 = ( p1 / p2 )1 / γ
T2 / T1 = ( V1 / V2 ) γ - 1
T2 / T1 = ( p2 / p1 )( γ - 1 ) / γ
• an isothermal heat rejection (where the waste heat is dumped to return the
system to the beginning of the cycle)
1
4
0
0 1 2 3
s
60
5. Heat machines
The area enclosed by this cycle is the area under the upper line, T2 (s2–s1), minus the
area taken away again under the lower line, T1 (s2–s1)
However, the original heat input was that added in stage 2, i.e. the upper line, and the
area under the upper line is T2 (s2–s1)
No real machine actually simulates the Carnot cycle but some get fairly close. In a
sense, this is the ultimate yard stick for heat-power cycles, whereas each real engine
has its own ideal cycle.
61
5. Heat machines
3. Isentropic expansion as the piston moves back the cycle does the work:
T3 / T4 = ( v4 / v3 )( γ – 1 ) ,
4. Constant volume heat rejection. This is a bit of a fudge, since in the real cycle, the
exhaust valve is opened, and the piston moves forward again to expel the exhaust
gases, and then draws in the fresh air-fuel mix. To indicate this a horizontal line
denotes this piston movement. Since this does not enclose any area, we assume
that it does not cost any work. In real life, the pressure in the cylinder is slightly
above atmospheric when it expels the exhaust gas and slightly below atmospheric
when it draws the new fuel in. It then will enclose an area and the cycle goes round
the loop in a counter-clockwise direction whereas the other path form a clockwise
path. This means that this expulsion and drawing in of new fuel is in the other
direction of the main cycle - i.e. it is a work input reducing the net work output:
qwaste= cv (T4 – T1).
Since the volume is constant in stages 2 and 4, and the compression and expansion
cover the same range, we can introduce the volume ratio, r, or compression ratio. For
a typical petrol engine, the compression ratio is between 7 and 10.
As a result, we can write: T1/T2 = T4/T3 = 1 / r( γ – 1 ) ,
62
5. Heat machines
15
10 2
p
3
5
1
4
0
0 1 2 3 4 5
v
η = 1 – 1/ r( γ – 1 ) .
Example:
A petrol engine operating on an ideal Otto cycle has a maximum cylinder volume of
1.6 litres, a compression ratio of 10, and a peak cycle temperature of 2500 K. The
minimum cycle temperature and pressure are 300 K and 1 bar, respectively. The gas is
an ideal gas with γ = 1.4 and cv = 0.7 kJ/ (kg K) . Calculate
7. The net power output if the engine operates at 3000 cycles per minute
63
5. Heat machines
Solution:
• Isentropic expansion as the piston moves back the cycle does the work:
T3 / T4 = ( v4 / v3 )( γ – 1 ) ,
64
5. Heat machines
15
10
1
p
3
5
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
v
Because we have one constant pressure and one constant volume heat exchange
process, we need to define to ratios:
• The compression ratio, r= V2 / V1, which is typically between 12 and 23, and
• The cut-off ratio, rc= V3 / V2, which is the ratio of the volumes at the beginning
and end of the combustion stage. This is typically between 2 and 4.
65
5. Heat machines
The steam turbine is a closed system because the water/steam fluid is recycled back
from the turbine outlet to the boiler by the feed pump, but it is modelled by an open
cycle because the steam never finds itself trapped in any part of the cycle, and it is an
external combustion machines because the heat is supplied through a heat exchanger in
the boiler by an external heat source.
The gas turbine is an open system because it draws in fresh air from the environment,
does its bit to the air/fuel mixture, and then spits it out at the end. It is also an open-
cycle system but it is an internal combustion turbine because the combustion occurs
within the working fluid in the (open) combustion chamber between the compressor
and the turbine.
66
5. Heat machines
The steam turbine consists of different parts which carry out the different parts of the
cycle of work input in the shape of a feed pump moving the fluid into the boiler, the
heat addition in the boiler, the work output in the turbine, and the heat rejection in a
condenser. As a result, we need to model the steam turbine as an open system (which
means that we need to look at enthalpy of the fluid, h, rather than the internal
energy, u.
This can now be summarised in the same way as the Carnot cycle (keeping the same
stage numbers) as
1. The work input: a feed pump moves the water from the condenser to the boiler:
wpump = ∆p v,
where pis the pressure difference across the pump and v the specific volume of the
liquid in the pump (i.e. 1/density).
The power requirement by the (ideal) pump can then be calculated from this and
the mass flow rate through the pump:
W'pump = m' wpump = m' ∆p vliquid
(this corresponds to the adiabatic temperature increase of the Carnot cycle)
2. The heat input into the fluid in the boiler (and superheater)
This is summarised by the enthalpies at the beginning and end of the total heating
stage: qinput= h3 - h2.
3. An adiabatic temperature decrease (by expansion in the turbine where the cycle
does the work): wout = h3 - h4,
The power output can then be calculated from this and the mass flow rate through
the turbine:
W'out = m' wout = m' ( h3 - h4 ).
67
5. Heat machines
2b
1.5
T
2a
1 liquid
1
4
0.5
evaporation/condensation
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
s
or
Since all these involve enthalpies, one has to resort to steam tables to find the
corresponding enthalpies of the working fluid at a particular pressure and temperature..
68
5. Heat machines
Example: (This is very abbreviated and should be followed by referring to a Thermodynamics book)
An ideal steam turbine operates with a boiler pressure of 5MPa and a condenser
pressure of 0.015 MPa. Steam leaves the superheater at a temperature of 400 degrees
C. The mass flow rate of the steam through the turbine is 0.5 kg/s. Calculate
The steam tables give us at 5 MPa and 400oC an enthalpy for the steam of h3= 3198
kJ/kg, and an entropy of s3= 6.65 kJ/ (kg K).
At 0.015 MPa we find an enthalpy for the steam-liquid mixture of h4= 2155 kJ/kg, and an
entropy of s4= s3.
At 0.015 MPa we find an enthalpy for the liquid of h1= 226 kJ/kg, and an entropy of s1=
0.755 kJ / (kg K).
2. The density of water is 1000kg/m3, i.e. the specific volume is 0.001 m3/kg, and the
power consumption by the pump is
W'pump = m' ∆p vliquid = 0.5 kg/s * ( 5,000,000 Pa - 15,000 Pa ) * 0.001 m3/kg= 2.5 kW
4. The efficiency is
η = [ (h3-h4) - (p2-p1)vliquid ] / [ h3-h2 - (p2-p1)vliquid) ]
= [ 3198 - 2155 - 5 ] / [ 3198 - 226 - 5 ] = 1038 / 2967 = 0.35
69
5. Heat machines
This can now be summarised in the same way as the Carnot cycle (keeping the same
stage numbers) as
1. Isentropic compression (The work input): a compressor at the front moves the air
into the combustion chamber of the turbine:
T2 / T1 = ( p2 / p1 )( γ – 1 ) / γ ,
If the specific heat remains constant, the work input per kg of air is win= cp (T2 – T1 )
3. Isentropic expansion in the turbine where the cycle does the work:
T3 / T4 = ( p3 / p4 )( γ – 1 ) / γ ,
If the specific heat remains constant, the work output per kg of air is
wout= cp (T3 – T4 )
Since the pressure is constant in stages 2 and 4, the pressure in stage 3 reduces from p2
to p1 again. We only encounter one pressure ratio in the cycle:
rp= p2 / p1.
70
5. Heat machines
10 3
2.5
8
2
2
6 2
3 1.5 1 3
T
p
4
1
4
2 4
1 0.5
0 0
0 1 2 3 0 1 2 3 4 5
s v
η = 1 – 1/ rp( γ – 1 ) / γ .
A typical range of pressure ratios is between 5 and 20 and a typical efficiency of a real
Gas turbine is around 40%.
71
5. Heat machines
Example: A power plant operating on an ideal Brayton cycle has a pressure ratio of 8.
The gas temperature at the compressor is 300 K and at the turbine inlet 1300 K. The
mass flow rate is 2 kg/s, and the gas is an ideal gas with γ = 1.4 and cp = 1.1 kJ/ (kg K) .
Calculate
Solution
2. The gas temperature at the compressor exit is T2= T1 r( γ - 1 ) / γ = 300 * 80.4/1.4= 543 K
3. the gas temperature at the turbine exit T4= T3 / r( γ - 1 ) / γ = 1300 / 80.4/1.4= 718 K
4. The heat input is qinput= cp (T3 - T2) = 1.1 kJ/(kg K)* (1300 K - 543 K)= 833 kJ/kg.
With a flow rate of 2 kg/s, this is a rate of heat supply of 1.67 MW.
5. The heat rejection is qwaste= cp (T4 - T1) = 1.1 kJ/(kg K)* (718 K - 300 K)= 460 kJ/kg.
With a flow rate of 2 kg/s, this is a rate of heat supply of 920 kW.
6. The power output is woutput= cp (T3–T4) = 1.1 kJ/(kg K)* (1300 K - 718 K)= 640 kJ/kg.
With a flow rate of 2 kg/s, this is a rate of heat supply of 1.28 MW.
72
5. Heat machines
Reading
This section is best revised with a standard textbook on Thermodynamics, such as the
Eastop and McConkey, or the Çengel and Turner book mentioned.
73
6 Fluid machines
Introduction
The aim of this section is to provide the very basic principles of the common types of engines
and turbines which exploit fluid motion or pressure. To provide the required basic fluid dynamic
concepts, the basic processes, such as Bernoulli’s equation are briefly revised. These are then
applied to the range of engines and turbines from reaction turbines to wind turbines.
Once you have read this section and the online notes, you are ready to complete the fourth set
of online exercises, which is based on the material covered here and in the previous section.
3. Power requirement
74
6. Fluid machines
3. Power requirement
2. Available head
Important quantities
2. Flow rate, Q.
3. Power:
this can be either the hydraulic power in cases where the static head is exploited:
p= ρgH,
or the power carried in an open stream, of velocity U, through the cross-section, A,
of the turbine facing the stream (in the case of a wind turbine, this is the circle
3
swept by the rotor blades of diameter D): P= ½ ρ AU .
75
6. Fluid machines
ρ1 Q1 = ρ2 Q2
Q1 = Q2
U1 A1 = U2 A2 ,
where Q is the volume flow rate, A the cross-sectional area through which the fluid
flows, and U the average velocity through that cross-sectional area.
76
6. Fluid machines
The Change of momentum in our control volume is equal to the net gain of
momentum by momentum flowing into the control volume plus any forces
applied to the fluid within the control volume or at its surfaces.
By convention, one calculates the momentum flowing out of the control volume. This
gives a minus sign which disappears if we move that term to the left of the 'iis equal'.
Also, the forces can be divided into those which apply throughout the bulk of the
volume, 'body forces' (e.g. gravity), and those which contribute only at the outer surfaces
of the control volume (They are described by a stress tensor which includes forces due
to pressure and stress). With this, the momentum equation for a control volume can
be rephrased as
You could also visualise the different meanings of the terms by realising that the
momentum carried by the fluid is carried by the mass flow rate = rate of change of
mass:
2
F= d(mv)/dt. = m dv/dt + v dm/dt = m a + v m’ = m a + ρ v Q= m a + ρ A U .
Remember that this is more of an illustration than a derivation. In particular, any force
applied is given by the difference between the value of ρ v Q at the inlet and the outlet.
77
6. Fluid machines
1. Potential energy: m g z
2
2. kinetic energy: ½ m U
3. flow work or pressure energy: p V.
2
(all having the base unit: 1 joule= 1J= 1 kg m s −2)
3
In fluid mechanics one often uses energy per unit volume: 1 joule per m = 1 kg m−1 s−2.
Note that this has the same units as pressure: 1 pascal= 1 Pa= 1 kg m−1 s−2.
1. Potential energy: ρ g z
2
2. kinetic energy: ½ ρ U
3. flow work or pressure energy: p
Using the hydrostatic pressure equation, p= ρ g H, this pressure is equivalent to a
stationary column of fluid above the point you are looking at with a height of H.
1. Elevation: z
2. dynamic head: 1 ρU 2
2
p
3. static head: H =
ρg
In terms of energy per volume (unit pascal: 1 J/m3= kg m–1 s–2= Nm= Pa):
78
6. Fluid machines
2 –2
In terms of energy per mass (unit J/kg= m s )
p1 p
+ gz1 + 21 U12 = 2 + gz 2 + 21 U 22
ρ ρ
p1 U2 p U2
+ z1 + 1 = 2 + z 2 + 2
ρg 2g ρg 2g
The last can be rewritten using the hydrostatic pressure due to a fluid column of height
h1: p= ρgh:
U12 U2
h1 + z1 + = h2 + z 2 + 2 ,
2g 2g
giving us Bernoulli’s equation using elevation, static head, and dynamic head.
Taking into account losses and work done on or by the fluid, the energy balance at
point 2 can be worked out in terms of the energy balance at point 1 and what has been
lost or gained in between. If energy is added to the fluid the work term is positive if
energy has been extracted, HW is negative:
U12 U 22
h1 + z1 + = h2 + z 2 + + H L + HT − H P ,
2g 2g
where HL is the head loss (e.g., due to friction) between points 1 and 2, HT the head
extracted by a turbine, and HP the head added by a pump.
The head loss is usually due to a combination of friction and ‘minor losses’, quantified
by a friction factor, f, and minor loss coefficients, K, which result in a head loss of
U2
(
H L = 4f L
D
)
+ ΣK
2g
U 22 − U12 U2
HP = h2 − h1 + z 2 − z1 +
2g
+ 4f ( L
D
+ ΣK)2g
.
79
6. Fluid machines
As the left-hand side only quantifies the pump and the right only the two endpoints of
the fluid system, the right-hand side is called the system head, HS.. This equation is used
to calculate what flow rate and pressure one finds if one puts a given pump into a
pipeline system.
U12 − U 22 2
HT = h1 − h2 + z1 − z 2 +
2g
(
− 4f L
D
+ ΣK ) U2g
Note that in the torque only the component of the force is counted which is at right
angles to the distance vector from the axis of rotation.
Euler’s turbomachine equation states that, in the absence of losses etc., the change in
hydraulic power across the turbine is fully transferred into shaft power by means of the
fluid applying a torque on the shaft in the form of the tangential velocity. In short, it
states that the three columns in the bottom row of the table above are all equal.
80
6. Fluid machines
The procedure is to gather all relevant parameters, and then to reduce them to a
minimum set of nondimensional parameters using a set of base units. If we have
different situations where all nondimensional parameters are the same, then the
dynamics is the same, and we have similarity. Similarity is usually split into geometric
similarity, i.e. the shape is the same, and dynamic similarity, i.e. the other parameters are
the same. To have a truly similar situation, we need both geometric and dynamic
similarity.
The relevant parameters are the size and geometry of the car, the fluid properties of
the air through which the car is moving, the speed at which it is moving, and the drag
force: Size L, air density ρ, air viscosity µ, speed U, Force F. The base units are length,
m, mass, kg, and time, s.
The first condition is that we test the car using a scale model; trying to measure the
drag force on a Ferrari will be different to that on a minibus…
Secondly, we have 5 parameters and 3 base units. Since the procedure boils down to a
simultaneous set of equation for the five parameters, we know that we will end up with
5–3 = 2 nondimensional parameters.
One parameter to characterise the drag force will have the form Fa UbLcρdµe
We can safely start with a=1. Putting this into the base units:
1 1 –2 b –b c d –3d e –e –e
kg m s ×m s × m × kg m × kg m s = 0
f –2f g h –3h i –i –i
and ×m s × m × kg m × kg m s = 0
kg: 1 +d +e=0
m: 1 +b +c – 3d –e = 0
s: –2 –b –e=0
81
6. Fluid machines
This reduces to :
b=–e–2
c= – 2e – 2
d= – e – 1
We can now choose to set e=0, and get b= –2, c= –2, and d=–1:
F F
The force parameter is F U –2L–2ρ –1 or, CD = = , the drag coefficient.
ρL2U 2 1
2
ρAU 2
Repeat the exercise for the second parameter (and making sure you don’t choose i=0!)
ρUL
to get the Reynolds number, Re = .
µ
As you saw, we had a choice to set one of the unknown exponents to zero. One can
end up with a different set of equally valid nondimensional parameters….
82
6. Fluid machines
ρQ
a Reynolds number, Re =
µD
gH
a head coefficient, Π H =
N 2D 2
Q
a flow coefficient, Π Q = , and
ND 3
P
a power coefficient, Π P = .
ρN 3 D 5
This particular set is correct but has not been adopted as the most useful one. As there
is always some freedom in choice of nondimensional parameters, and because any
product of two nondimensional parameters is still a nondimensional parameters, we can
find one parameter which expresses the power in terms of head and flow rate, and
another parameter which in some way characterises the machine by its operating speed
without any reference to its size:
ΠP P
The new power coefficient becomes: Π = = . Recognising that the term
Π H Π Q ρgHQ
at the bottom is the hydraulic power, we see that we have derived an expression for the
efficiency.
A turbine with a high specific speed will provide a high power output for a low head,
where as a turbine with a low specific speed will provide power at a high head. Another
rule of thumb not immediately obvious from the equation is that of two turbines
providing the same power, the one with the higher specific speed will be more compact.
83
6. Fluid machines
Because the specific speed has been found to be very useful for many years, it has been
adopted in all sorts of units, from the standard SI units to Imperial units but also
‘practical units’ which then resulted in the specific speed not being a nondimensional unit
at all. Because all the turbines have almost exclusively been used for water (ρ
3
= 1000kg/m ), and on the Earth’s surface, (g= 9.81m/s), engineers have adopted the
specific speed using the short form N S = N H −5P/ 4 (where I have used NS to distinguish it
from the nondimensional version derived above. Often, the speed is also taken in rev/s
rather than rad/s, which changes the specific speed value by a factor of 2π.
Exercise: Try to find the units of N S = N H −5P/ 4 if you take N in rev/s (rather than
3 Types of turbines
Depending on the size of the rotor and its orientation with the main flow direction,
they are classified into radial flow, axial flow, and mixed flow machines.
84
6. Fluid machines
electricity demand, the power station operates the machines as pumps to fill up its
reservoir, and when electricity demand rises, the same machines are used as turbines
to generate electricity.
Bulb turbine, usually with horizontal axis but with generator in bulb in line with
runner. Used at very low heads, such a tidal power stations.
85
6. Fluid machines
Because the size of the buckets at the rim of the runner limit the size of the jet, Pelton
Wheels operate best at fairly low flow rates. They are therefore best suited for high
heads. This is reflected in a specific speed range of 0.01 – 0.1.
• The values in the various specific speeds are only approximate ranges. The
usual conversion is Kn= 2π Kn (rev) = 0.0052 NS (metric)= 0.023 NS (British)
• The specific speed for the Pelton Wheel applies to a single jet. For multiple jet,
the power output is proportional to the number of jets.
86
6. Fluid machines
Turgo turbine
(cross flow)
steam turbine
(axial flow)
87
6. Fluid machines
Reaction turbines
Radial flow reaction turbines
Francis 500 – 30 0.25 – 0.04 – 50 – 10 –
1.3 0.2 250 60
88
6. Fluid machines
Bulb or Pit < 20 >3 > 0.5 > 600 > 150
Wells
89
6. Fluid machines
A new 150MW hydropower station is to be built at a site where the available head is
estimated at 350m. The generators require the turbine to rotate at 10Hz.
3. If the only available turbines are Francis turbines with KN= 0.08 rev, find the power
output from one turbine, and the number of turbines required to generate 150MW.
Solution
Ph 150,000,000
1. Q = = = 43.7m 3 s −1
ρgH 9810 × 350
P 150,000,000
2. K n = N = 10 = 0.147
ρ ( gH ) 1000 ( 3434 ) 1.25
5
4
90
6. Fluid machines
where
• To find the tangential velocities, we need to know the radial fluid velocities and
the rotor blade velocities
91
6. Fluid machines
m
• The radial fluid velocity, Vr, is found from the mass flow rate: Vr =
ρ 2πr b
where b is the 'height' of the blade, i.e. 2πrb is the cross-section of the
cylindrical opening through which the fluid flows
To be able to find relationships between all velocities, we assume that the fluid is
always flowing parallel to the blades.
The control volume is the space between two blades, which is moving with the rotating
runner . In this moving frame of reference, the fluid whirl/tangential velocity is
apparently reduced by blade velocity, U = Rω
U: blade velocity,
By the mass flow rate, the radial component of the fluid velocity is specified, by
m
Vr = ρA , where A is the cross-sectional area of the inlet or outlet, respectively.
An inlet whirl velocity can be added by deflecting the water before it enters the
turbine. This is done by guide vanes surrounding the runner
92
6. Fluid machines
The outlet whirl velocity is determined by the outlet radial velocity, the blade speed,
and the orientation of the blade. (‘blade angle’ refers to the angle between the blade
tangent and the blade motion, U)
β1 Blade, moving
at velocity U
β1
U
U Vt
β2 β
W
W Vr
Vr
V
Vt
Figure 10.Control volume for the Francis turbine: the space between two turbine blades
Using velocity vectors, we can locally fit a Cartesian co-ordinate system to a fluid
particle near a blade with the x-axis in the tangential direction and the y-axis in the
radial direction.
− Vt U
The fluid velocity is then V = and the blade velocity is U = , but we also
V 0
r
know that the fluid is moving along the blade, which has an angle of β with the
tangential direction. Therefore, the fluid velocity relative to the blade is
− cos β
W = W . The combination of the fluid moving along the blade while the blade
sin β
U − W cos β
is moving, happens at a velocity of W + U = , which describes the fluid
W sin β
velocity. Therefore, we have two expressions for the fluid velocity, which obviously
93
6. Fluid machines
U − W cos β − Vt
have to be equal: W + U = = = V . The second component gives
W sin β V
r
Vr
us W = , which we can use in the first component to get:
sin β
cos β
− Vt = U − Vr = U − Vr cot β
sin β
or, in terms of the rotation rate and flow rate, and using only the magnitude of the
velocities:
Q
Vt = Rω − A
cot β
Ideal operation
It is usually the best to have the water leave the turbine with relatively little tangential
velocity. However, it is not possible to have zero outlet whirl for all flow rates.
= (
ρω 2 R 22 − R12 Q − ) ρω
1
−
1 2
Q
2π b2 tan β 2 b1 tan β1
Q
have no whirl, the outlet blade can be designed by setting 0 = Vt 2 = R 2ω − A2 cot β 2
Q
or tan β 2 =
R 2ωA2
94
6. Fluid machines
(
P = − ρωQ R1Vt 1 = − ρωQ R1 R1ω − Q
A1
cot β1 ) or cot β 1 =
A1P
ρωR1Q 2
−
ωR1A1
Q
tan α = =
( Q
=
)
Vt 1 A1 R1ω − A1 cot β1 A1R1ω
− cot β1 =
2πb1R12ω
− cot β1
Vr 1 Q Q Q
800 90%
Q (m3/ s)
50% to 110% of the rated power
of the turbine.
Figure 12. Power input (blue diamonds), Power output
(red squares), and efficiency (triangles) for a typical Francis
turbine
95
6. Fluid machines
5.b Example
A small Francis turbine, turning at 11rev/s, has a runner diameter of 0.5m, a constant
blade height of 60mm, and an outlet diameter of 0.3m. At maximum efficiency it
delivers 200kW and has a specific speed of 0.09rev.
2. Calculate the inlet angle, assuming that the best efficiency is 95%.
4. Calculate the guide angle and power output at 75% and 50% of the flow rate,
assuming an efficiency of 90% and 75%, respectively.
Solution
1. For the optimum blade angle, we want that the fluid leaves the turbine without any
whirl, ie Vt is zero: tan β2= Q/(ωR2A2)
We know
ω= 11 rev/s= 69rad/s
R2= 0.15m
2
A2= 2πbR2= 2π×0.06×0.15=0.0566m
From the specific speed, we can get the head at which the turbine delivers 200kW:
4/5 2/5 4/5 2/5
H= (N/KN) (P/ρ) / g= (11/0.09) (200) / 9.81= 39.7m
If the turbine has an efficiency of 95% at this point, we know that the (hydraulic) power
going in is 200kW/0.95= 210.5kW.
The hydraulic power, Ph= ρgHQ, gives us then the flow rate:
3
Q= Ph / (ρgH)= 210500/ (1000×9.81×39.7)= 0.541m /s.
96
6. Fluid machines
2. To calculate the inlet angle, we use Euler's equation which relates the difference of
the fluid's angular momentum at the inlet and outlet. Since we know from 1. that we
have designed the outlet so that the fluid has no angular momentum when it leaves the
turbine, the entire angular momentum at the inlet is available for power generation, and
we can use the equation for the inlet blade angle,
2
cot β1= A1P/ (ρωR1Q ) − ωR1A1/Q.
We know
ω= 69rad/s
R1= 0.25m
2
A1= 2πbR1= 2π×0.06×0.25=0.0942m
P= 200kW
3
Q= 0.541m /s,
and we get
2
cot β1= 0.0953×200000 / (1000×69×0.25×0.541 ) − 69×0.25×0.0942/ 0.541= 0.7174
3. For the angle of the guide vanes, we need to work out the radial fluid velocity and
the tangential fluid velocity.
The radial velocity is given from the inlet area, A1, and the flow rate, Q:
3 2
Vr,1= Q/ A1= 0.541m /s / 0.0942m = 5.74m/s.
The tangential velocity can be found from re-arranging Euler’s equation, P= ωρQ R1Vt,1,
to Vt,1= P/ (ωρQ R1)= 200,000/ (69.1× 1000× 0.541× 0.25)= 21.4m/s.
If we take the angle with respect to the tangential direction (ie the same as the blade
angle), we get tan α= Vr,1/ Vt,1= 5.74/21.4= 0.268, or α= 15°.
97
6. Fluid machines
4. For the power output, we use the hydraulic power at the reduced flow rate and the
efficiency.
For the guide vane, we use the reduced radial velocity and the tangential velocity to get
the ideal (hydraulic) power out.
Q= 75% Q= 50%
Q 0.541*0.75= 0.406 0.541*0.5= 0.270 m3/s
efficienc η 90% 75%
y
Pin =ρgHQ 9810*39.7*0.406= 158 9810*39.7*0.270= 105.3 kW
Pout = η Pin 0.90*158= 142 0.75*105.3= 78.9 kW
Vr,1 = Q/A 0.406/0.0942= 4.30 0.270/0.0942= 2.87 m/s
Vt,1 =P/ 158,000/ (69.×1000× 22.5 105,300/ (69.×1000× 22.5 m/s
• Wind (and tidal stream) turbines generate power by converting kinetic energy
of the fluid flow into rotation of the rotor.
98
6. Fluid machines
• Simple wind mill designs may have flat rotor blades which act like deflector
plates. The torque on the rotor is given by how much the air stream is
deflected by the blades. The real efficiency is much reduced because one cannot
have ideal flow conditions across a moving deflector blades if it is to do work
(use the velocity triangles: because the entry angle and the exit angle of the
blade are the same, we cannot do the work gradually along the blade.
99
6. Fluid machines
• The disk is very thin: A3 = A2 = A , where A is the swept area of the rotor.
• By continuity, Au 2 = Au 3 : u 2 = u 3
• The force on the disk by the flow is the pressure difference across the disk:
F = ( p 2 − p3 ) A
•
2
( 2
Bernoulli before disk: p2 = 21 ρ u1 − u 2 )
• ( 2 2
Bernoulli after disk: p3 = 21 ρ u 4 − u 2 )
• Inserting pressures gives force: F = 1
2
(
ρA u12 − u 42 )
• Force on disk is also the net change in the momentum flow rate:
( u1 − u 4 )
F =m
100
6. Fluid machines
• ( )
Equating both forces, using u12 − u 42 = ( u1 − u 4 )( u1 + u 4 ) ,
P = Fu 2 = 1
4
(
ρAU 3 1 − χ 2 (1 + χ ) = ) 1
4
ρAU 3 1 + χ − χ 2 − χ 3 ( )
0.4
Efficiency
0.2
therefore:
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
χ=u4/U
η=
P
Pair
= 1
2
(1 + χ − χ 2
− χ3 )
0.8
conversion between actuator disk and fluid is 0.7
η
0.5
0.3
that which is related to the actual speed of 0.2
0.1
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
χ=u4/U
101
6. Fluid machines
the aircraft, which is U, but the force is obviously still the same. So the useful output is
(
Pout = FU = 21 ρAU 3 1 − χ 2 . )
Pout 2
The efficiency is η = = .
Pturbine 1 + χ
Solution
U= 300mph= 185m/s.
χ= 1.5=3/2
2 2 1
1. η = 1 + χ = 5 = 5 = 0.2 = 20%
2
2. F= 50,000N
u2= ½(U+u4)= 1.25U= 231m/s.
P= Fu2= 11.55MW
( 2
) 2
3. F = 12 ρAU 1 − χ --> A= 2.92m and D= 1.93m.
F
4. δp = = 17kPa = 0.17bar = 170mbar
A
102
6. Fluid machines
A helicopter design requires from the rotor that it can carry a mass of 5,000kg. The
diameter of the rotor is not to exceed 8m. Assume that actuator disk theory gives a
3
useful indication of the situation. Near ground, the air density is 1.2kg/m .
1. Sketch a diagram of the helicopter rotor as an actuator disk, and outline the
slipstream boundary and the velocities at crucial points.
2. Determine the air velocity through the disk required to produce the force to
balance the weight of the helicopter.
3. Calculate the power requirement for the motor powering the rotor.
4. Estimate the torque on the rotor shaft if the rotor rotates at 300rpm
Solution
The upstream velocity, u1, is zero, and the velocity through the disk, u2, is therefore half
of the downstream velocity, u4.
( u 4 − u1 ) = 2 ρAu 22 .
The force generated by the change in velocity is F = m
The force required to counteract the weight of 5,000kg is F= mg= 49kN.
F
The air velocity through the rotor is then u 2 = = 20m / s .
2 ρA
u 2 = Fu 2 = F F F3 2F 3 1
P = 12 m = = = 980kW
4 2 ρA 2 ρA πρ D
P 980,000
The torque is T = = = 31kNm .
ω 2π × 5
103
6. Fluid machines
In fact, two other constraints limit the useful speed of such a turbine or propeller:
1. If any part of the rotor is moving at speeds approaching the speed of sound, the
compressibility of air will affect the performance
2. If the rotor is moving too fast (or if the blades are too close together), a blade will
follow in the wake of the previous blade rather than receive 'fresh' air.
While the first is more relevant to aircraft propellers, the second is important for wind
turbines. As a result, smaller turbines may turn faster and/or have more blades, while
larger ones tend to have fewer blades and turn slower. Equally, if you want to reduce
the number of blades for a given rotor radius or diameter, you must increase the
rotation rate to achieve the same output.
Most current large wind turbines have three blades, and operate at a tip speed ratio of
about 8:1. This means that the tips move about 8 times faster than the mean wind.
Reading
This section is best revised with a standard textbook on basic Fluid Mechanics, such as
that by Massey.
104
7 Electricity generation and transmission
Introduction
The aim of this section is to provide the bare bones of the basic principles of electricity
generation and transmission.
7 Generation
The voltage (electromotive force) induced in a coil is proportional to the rate of change
of the magnetic flux. Since this voltage is set up across a single coil, we can add up the
voltage if a wire makes several coils:
dφ
V =N
dt
where V is the voltage induced, N the number of windings, φ the magnetic flux.
Generation in a generator or alternator follows this principle where the motion of the
coils is rotational, and where the magnetic field is not generated by a permanent
magnet but by an electromagnet. So, a generator has rotor coils which provide the
magnetic flux, and stator coils around the rotating shaft which generate the voltage.
The voltage induced in each stator coil alternates in polarity as the magnetic poles of
the rotor passing through change polarity. If they are designed not too badly, the
induced voltage can be described by a sine function – giving the an AC voltage. If that
voltage is linked to an electric circuit, it results in an AC current.
105
7. Electricity generation and transmission
The power output from a generator coil is P= VI, where V is the voltage (in volt) and I
the current (in ampere). Each coil will also result in a sinusoidal power output. To
provide more control over the output, a generator consists of many stator coils which
are wired such that there are three sets of coils, all the coils in one set generating in
phase but the three sets at different phases. The average power at any time provided
by those three phases is almost constant:
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
P
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
-1
Figure 11. Power output from three phases individually (blue thin solid line, red dash-dotted line, and
green dotted line), and the average power output from all three phases together.
N2
V2 = V1 ,
N1
where V1 is the voltage in coil 1, and N1 and N2 are the number of windings in coils 1
and 2, respectively.
106
7. Electricity generation and transmission
If the transformer works without any losses, then the power, P= VI, will not change,
and consequently, the current will change in the inverse relation as the voltage.
A transformer with 10 windings in coil 1 and 100 windings in coil 2, receiving a current
of 1A at a voltage of 240V in coil 1, will turn this into a current of 0.1A at 2400V.
Losses in an electric conductor are given by Ohms law, which states that the voltage
drop (or loss), VR, due to its resistance along a conductor is proportional to the
current:
VR = RI
This can be used to express the power dissipated, PR, due to resistance in that
conductor is
PR = VR I = RI 2 .
We can see that the power loss is proportional to the square of the current;
decreasing the current by a factor 2 will decrease the losses by a factor 4. If we want
to minimise losses, then we need to minimise the current.
In the example of the previous section, let us assume we had lost 10% of the power
had we used the low voltage to transmit the power from the generator to the
consumer. With the 1:10 transformer, we have reduced the losses by a factor of
2
1:10 = 1:100. As a result, we would only lose 0.1% of the power.
Reading
This section is best revised with a standard textbook, such as Hughes electrical and
electronic technology.
107
8 Outlook
Introduction
This section highlights some of the very many points not even touched upon in the previous
sections. If I were to discuss, or even provide answers, to some of the questions raised in this
chapter, I would fill many more hundreds of pages… I have therefore decided to pose
questions and leave it up to you to find out more using newspapers, professional journals, and
scientific articles address, and, above all, your critical mind.
Apart from nuclear, they all were originally produced as biomass. If we make a rough
estimate that one can get about 50t/ha/year as a theoretical maximum (Wheat
productivity in the UK is a little under 50t/ha/year), using a typical net calorific value of
10GJ/t, we can estimate proportion of annual biomass production we are currently
14 2
using up. The total land surface is about 13 billion hectares = 1.3×10 m of which
9
about 1/3 is arable, say 4×10 ha. This makes a global maximum energy supply of
9 9 21
TPES= 10×10 J/t×50t/ha/yr×4×10 = 8×10 J. A more realistic value will be closer to
20
1% than 10% of that figure. Our current annual energy consumption is around 5×10 J.
Are our current consumption patters compatible with the principle of sustainable
development?
108
8. Outlook
True energy saving is if we actually use less energy, regardless of what we get for it.
Should we priorities economic development using highest energy efficiency technology,
or should we prioritise energy reduction? The latter is obviously completely anathema
to the modern philosophy of achieving economic development and growth. This can
always be justified by saying that economic development will result in wealth, health,
and new technologies.
However, technological fixes tend to have their own problems; look at recent
technological fixes, e.g. drugs to address one illness usually come with side effects
which may result in decades of scarred people (example thalidomide); nuclear power is
a wonderful technological fix to supply vast quantities of electricity without vast
amounts of carbon dioxide emissions; just a pity that no real solution to the waste
problem has been found.
109
8. Outlook
On the face, they are a good way of reducing emissions and reducing reliance on fossil
fuels. However, they also have some problems attached. One of the main problems is
that their energy density tends to be much lower than that of the fuels. One needs so
many installations and requires so much land that they do more damage the landscape
than a compact power station (be it in the form of nuclear, or coal/gas fired power
station which captures the CO2 for secure storage; only problem is how to store it
practically and securely at the scale required?)
Wind energy, for example, is controversial among nature lovers: they argue that wind
turbines kill birds – but then, how many birds are going to be killed by climate change?
It is argued that wind cannot really supply enough energy: once there is more than
10% or 20% of the electricity supplied by wind, the fluctuating nature of the wind
resource makes the entire electricity network unstable; required backup generation in
the form of fossil generators must be on stand-by and may cause as much emissions as
if they were the energy supplier without wind power.
Biomass has another problem associated with it: sustainable production of it. While
the use of waste and residue seems reasonable, what about biomass crop. Since the
UK’s potential for biofuel (ethanol as a petrol substitute and biodiesel) currently seems
to be able to cover may be up to 20% of the current fuel consumption, developing
countries are now proposing to chop down their tropical rain forest to produce biofuel
for the West while destroying habitat for endangered species as well as tinkering with
an important part of the climate system.
110
8. Outlook
Even assuming we could find more and more oil and gas if we just look hard enough
and invest enough (as the EIA implicitly assumed in its 2005 World Energy Outlook), we
are still facing the problem that we are rapidly heading to a climate situation with CO2
levels never seen before.
Climate change is not just an academic debate. Results of measured and predicted
climate change at present include: increased droughts in dry areas, increased likelihood
of flooding and other areas, increased occurrence of sever storms, general rise of sea
level. All this is expected to lead to a substantial and rapid shift in habitats for our
fauna and in growing patterns and yield of crops. This in turn will lead to global shift
and uncertainty of national economies and security.
A small UK example is the rise in house insurance premiums as buildings are more
likely to suffer from flooding of nearby rivers.
6 Costing energy
Currently, the price of energy contains the investment required to extract it from the
ground, process it ready for end-use, transport it to the consumer and support this
entire chain. In addition, it is more or less heavily taxed to provide the government
with income, to invest in supporting this infrastructure, e.g. by building roads, or invest
in the nation’s welfare, e.g. health, education, defence, or to invest in development of
technological solutions to provide energy security. With the carbon tax in the UK, an
attempt has been made to include an environmental cost.
Task
Read the newspapers critically. Follow up controversial stories by doing background
research. Read the material you find in your research critically – there is no such thing
as a truly objective or unbiased account. Try to be objective by looking at both sides of
the argument.
111
Appendix A: Energy units and conversions
J cal BTU
J 1 0.239 9.48×10–4
cal 4.19 1 3.97×10–3
BTU 1055 252 1
112
Appendix A: Energy units and conversions
113
Appendix B: Example exam
A large coal-fired power station has a generating capacity of 600MW. Its turbines
operate with an efficiency of 35%.
It has operated during one month at a capacity factor of 0.8 using coal with a heat
content of 29 GJ/t, a carbon content of 88% of carbon and an ash content of 7%.
Calculate
a) Calculate the heating load to maintain the room at 20°C if the outside
temperature is 5°C.
d) Calculate the heat loss if a second pane of glass of 3mm thickness is added
to the windows, leaving an air gap of 10mm. Assume the only form of heat
transfer through the air gap is conduction. Thermal conductivity of air is
–1 –1
0.026Wm K .
114
Appendix A: Energy units and conversions
f) Estimate the net radiative heat transfer between the two glass panes, if both
surfaces have an emissivity of 0.8, and comment on the validity of ignoring
radiation in part (d)
–8 –2 –4
Stefan-Boltzmann constant: σ= 5.67×10 Wm K .
g) Comment on the respective savings made in parts (b), (c), and (d).
An ideal gas turbine operates by burning natural gas (72% methane and 19% ethane
by volume) such that it combusts with 27% of the oxygen present in the air (assume
this is 5.4% of the air). The air is drawn in from the environment at atmospheric
pressure and a temperature of 296K. The combustion chamber can withhold
temperatures of up to 1827 K.
Assume the following constant properties for the air and air-gas mixtures
f) Calculate the mass flow rate of the air-fuel mix required to generate a net
power output of 100MW.
115
Appendix A: Energy units and conversions
Describe the situation of energy production and consumption for a country of your
choice. Discuss this in view of its role in the economic development of that country
over recent history. Mention steps this country has undertaken or planned to meet
forthcoming challenges such as oil prices, security of supply, or compliance with
international treaties, such as the Kyoto Protocol.
Discuss a topical issue for the field of Energy. Briefly describe the issue and explain
what is topical or controversial about it. Discuss some alternative proposals or
solution to address this issue, making reference to literature you have read.
116
2. Energy resources
The coal with the highest calorific value contains about 90% of carbon and has a
calorific value of 34MJ/kg (or 34GJ/tonne); taking this into account, we have about
34/0.9= 38MJ/(kg of C), this then can be represented as
We can see that a natural result of burning coal is the release of carbon dioxide to the
amount of about 0.1kg CO2 per MJ converted.
Considering that the efficiency of coal-fired power stations is about 33%, we produce
about 0.3kg CO2 per MJ electricity generated. Converting this to kWh (ie multiplying
by 3.6), gives us about 1kg of CO2 emitted per kWh generated – ie leaving your 100W
light bulb on for 10 hours adds 1kg of carbon dioxide to the air.
The simplest hydrocarbon is methane, CH4. Longer examples of simple chains can be
written as H3C–CH2–…–CH2–CH3 , or shortened to CnH2n+2.
The combustion and mass and heat balance of methane with a calorific value of 55MJ/kg
can be written as
16 + 64 → 44 + 36 + 55MJ/kg × 16
29
2. Energy resources
Because methane has a much higher heat content or calorific value than coal, we get
55MJ/kg heat and only 0.05kg per MJ converted.
The oil-based products, such as petrol and diesel are still the dominant fuel for
transport. The petrol can be reasonably well described by octane, C8H18, and diesel by
cetane, C16H34, both with a calorific value of about 48MJ/kg or about 35MJ per litre
(with a density of 0.7kg per litre for octane and 0.75kg per litre for cetane). The
chemical structure of methane and octane are shown in Figure 5.
We can extend the combustion equation for methane to the generic chain
• 2.5kg CO2 per litre petrol and 2.7kg CO2 per litre diesel
30