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Prof. Dr. Riccardo Amirante
Department of Mechanics, Mathematics and Management, Politecnico di Bari, via Orabona 4, 70126 Bari BA, Italy

Basic Info

Basic Info is private.

Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Construction of a small-scale combined-cycle prototype for energy generation from solid biomass and biogas
0 Innovative immersed particle heat exchangers for heat recovery
0 Development of an innovative open field wind tunnel for the testing of micro wind turbines
0 Design of a novel heat exchanger employing solid alumina particles as a heat transfer medium, with the aim of realizing externally fired gas turbines
0 Study of novel servovalves actuated by smart materials

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Design of a novel heat exchanger employing solid alumina particles as a heat transfer medium, with the aim of realizing externally fired gas turbines
Development of an innovative open field wind tunnel for the testing of micro wind turbines
Construction of a small-scale combined-cycle prototype for energy generation from solid biomass and biogas
Fluid dynamic design optimization of hydraulic valves
Design optimization of combined-cycle power plants and thermo-economic analyses by using genetic algorithms
Analysis of cavitation in hydraulic valves

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Review
Published: 09 August 2021 in Energies
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This paper is a thorough review of innovative architectures of electro-hydraulic servovalves that exploit actuation systems based on piezo-electric materials. The use of commercially available piezo-electric actuators, namely, piezo stacks, amplified piezo stacks, rectangular benders, and ring benders, is very promising for the actuation of the main stages and of the pilot stages of servovalves given the fast response and low weight of piezoelectric materials. The use of these actuators can also allow novel designs to be developed, thus helping manufacturers to overcome the typical drawbacks of commercial servovalves, such as the high complexity and the high internal leakage of the pilot stages of two-stage servovalves as well as the large size and weight of direct-drive servovalves. First, the piezoelectric actuators that can be used for driving servovalves are presented in the paper, and their characteristics are thoroughly discussed. The main novel architectures present in the literature are then explained and compared with the commercial ones, and their performance parameters are discussed to draw conclusions on the prospect that some of these architectures can be used by manufacturers as future designs.

ACS Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Francesco Sciatti; Andrew Plummer; Elia Distaso; Pietro De Palma; Riccardo Amirante. A Review of Novel Architectures of Servovalves Driven by Piezoelectric Actuators. Energies 2021, 14, 4858 .

AMA Style

Paolo Tamburrano, Francesco Sciatti, Andrew Plummer, Elia Distaso, Pietro De Palma, Riccardo Amirante. A Review of Novel Architectures of Servovalves Driven by Piezoelectric Actuators. Energies. 2021; 14 (16):4858.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Francesco Sciatti; Andrew Plummer; Elia Distaso; Pietro De Palma; Riccardo Amirante. 2021. "A Review of Novel Architectures of Servovalves Driven by Piezoelectric Actuators." Energies 14, no. 16: 4858.

Journal article
Published: 07 July 2021 in Actuators
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This paper presents a feasibility study using commercially available amplified piezo-stacks for the direct actuation of four-way three-position (4/3) direct drive servovalves. The prospect of using amplified piezo-stacks in place of linear force motors is very attractive by virtue of their fast response speed and low weight. Piezo-stacks equipped with mechanical amplification systems can give levels of displacement suitable for this application. A very effective amplification system has recently been produced by some manufacturers and is based on a temperature-independent diamond structure. This paper details simulations of a 4/3 servovalve directly actuated by such a piezoelectric actuator with a diamond structure. To this end, well-established equations, implemented in Simulink by means of the libraries of Simscape Fluids, are used. The proposed architecture shows simplicity of construction; in addition, very good step response speed and frequency response are predicted by the simulations.

ACS Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Elia Distaso; Andrew Plummer; Francesco Sciatti; Pietro De Palma; Riccardo Amirante. Direct Drive Servovalves Actuated by Amplified Piezo-Stacks: Assessment through a Detailed Numerical Analysis. Actuators 2021, 10, 156 .

AMA Style

Paolo Tamburrano, Elia Distaso, Andrew Plummer, Francesco Sciatti, Pietro De Palma, Riccardo Amirante. Direct Drive Servovalves Actuated by Amplified Piezo-Stacks: Assessment through a Detailed Numerical Analysis. Actuators. 2021; 10 (7):156.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Elia Distaso; Andrew Plummer; Francesco Sciatti; Pietro De Palma; Riccardo Amirante. 2021. "Direct Drive Servovalves Actuated by Amplified Piezo-Stacks: Assessment through a Detailed Numerical Analysis." Actuators 10, no. 7: 156.

Review
Published: 05 July 2021
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This paper is a thorough review of innovative architectures of electro-hydraulic servovalves that exploit actuation systems based on piezo-electric materials. The use of commercially available piezo-electric actuators, namely, piezo-stacks, amplified piezo-stacks, rectangular benders and ring benders, is very promising for the actuation of the main stages and of the pilot stages of servovalves, given the fast response and low weight of piezoelectric materials. The use of these actuators can also allow novel designs to be developed, thus helping manufacturers to overcome the typical drawbacks of commercial servovalves, such as the high complexity and the high internal leakage of the pilot stages of two stage servovalves, as well as the large size and weight of direct drive servovalves. Firstly, the piezoelectric actuators that can be used for driving servovalves are presented in the paper and their characteristics are thoroughly discussed. Then, the main novel architectures present in the literature are explained and compared with the commercial ones, and their performance parameters are discussed to draw conclusions on the prospect that some of these architectures can be used by manufacturers as future designs.

ACS Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Francesco Sciatti; Andrew R. Plummer; Elia Distaso; Pietro De Palma; Riccardo Amirante. A Review of Novel Architectures of Servovalves Driven by Piezo-Electric Actuators. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Paolo Tamburrano, Francesco Sciatti, Andrew R. Plummer, Elia Distaso, Pietro De Palma, Riccardo Amirante. A Review of Novel Architectures of Servovalves Driven by Piezo-Electric Actuators. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Francesco Sciatti; Andrew R. Plummer; Elia Distaso; Pietro De Palma; Riccardo Amirante. 2021. "A Review of Novel Architectures of Servovalves Driven by Piezo-Electric Actuators." , no. : 1.

Conference paper
Published: 22 October 2020 in E3S Web of Conferences
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After some hesitations, the scientific community is jointly converging on the benefits due to the ultrasound treatment by means of mechanical effects generated by acoustic cavitation phenomena occurring into the olive oil paste proposed initially by Amirante and Clodoveo. In recent works, many authors have now confirmed that this promising emerging technology produces relevant beneficial effects if applied to the extraction process under well-controlled conditions. In the last years, the industrial applications of ultrasound (US) in the Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) extraction process are changing the paradigm of the knowledge in this field of interest due to a great effort of the research activity. In the present work, the design of the device by means a Three-Dimensional (3D) Multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) analysis was performed, which describes the ultrasound effects in the olive paste, necessary to control the US waves propagation. Thus, fluid dynamic analysis allowed to predict the flow path in the ultrasound devices, to evaluate the flow parameters of the olive paste inside the SHE and the cavitation phenomenon, with the aim to find an optimal design, capable to ensure the best ultrasounds and mixing effects. Moreover, experimental results demonstrated that the machine can guarantee an actual simultaneous improvement of the olive oil extraction yield, as well as of the product quality. Finally, the results from sensory evaluations are summarized confirming the goodness of EVOO obtained by means of US.

ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano; Filomena Faustina Rina Corbo; Giuseppe Calò; Maria Lisa Clodoveo. Fluid dynamic-based Engineering design of a Full-Scale Device for the improvement of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Yield and Quality by means of Combined Acoustic Cavitation and Thermal Conditioning. E3S Web of Conferences 2020, 197, 08010 .

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Elia Distaso, Paolo Tamburrano, Filomena Faustina Rina Corbo, Giuseppe Calò, Maria Lisa Clodoveo. Fluid dynamic-based Engineering design of a Full-Scale Device for the improvement of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Yield and Quality by means of Combined Acoustic Cavitation and Thermal Conditioning. E3S Web of Conferences. 2020; 197 ():08010.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano; Filomena Faustina Rina Corbo; Giuseppe Calò; Maria Lisa Clodoveo. 2020. "Fluid dynamic-based Engineering design of a Full-Scale Device for the improvement of Extra Virgin Olive Oil Yield and Quality by means of Combined Acoustic Cavitation and Thermal Conditioning." E3S Web of Conferences 197, no. : 08010.

Journal article
Published: 11 August 2020 in Energy Conversion and Management
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Recent needs of reducing pollutant emissions of internal combustion engines have pushed the development of non-conventional ignition systems. One of the most promising techniques appears to be the so-called Turbulent Jet Ignition (TJI) system, in which a jet of high-energy reactive gases is generated by means of a pilot combustion in a pre-chamber and used to initiate the main combustion event in the cylinder. Considering the complex nature of some phenomena typical of TJI systems, 3D CFD studies are essential to provide a detailed analysis for an efficient design. In this study, numerical simulations of an active pre-chamber TJI system applied to a lean operating methane engine were performed to provide a thorough analysis of the combustion process that characterizes such a technology. The numerical model was validated against experimental measurements carried out on an optically accessible single cylinder spark-ignition engine equipped with the pre-chamber prototype. The numerical simulations provided an insight view of both physical and chemical phenomena occurring inside the pre-chamber otherwise difficult to achieve by experiments alone. The evolution of some species of interest was analyzed in order to study the main charge ignition process, as well as the overall combustion progress. The results show that the main charge ignition is made possible by the large amount of energy and active radicals released from the pre-chamber and this ensures an overall stable and faster combustion in lean conditions. The performance improvements of the TJI system with respect to a traditional spark-ignition engine were evaluated in terms of efficiency and pollutant emission levels.

ACS Style

Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante; Egidio Cassone; Pietro De Palma; Paolo Sementa; Paolo Tamburrano; Bianca Maria Vaglieco. Analysis of the combustion process in a lean-burning turbulent jet ignition engine fueled with methane. Energy Conversion and Management 2020, 223, 113257 .

AMA Style

Elia Distaso, Riccardo Amirante, Egidio Cassone, Pietro De Palma, Paolo Sementa, Paolo Tamburrano, Bianca Maria Vaglieco. Analysis of the combustion process in a lean-burning turbulent jet ignition engine fueled with methane. Energy Conversion and Management. 2020; 223 ():113257.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante; Egidio Cassone; Pietro De Palma; Paolo Sementa; Paolo Tamburrano; Bianca Maria Vaglieco. 2020. "Analysis of the combustion process in a lean-burning turbulent jet ignition engine fueled with methane." Energy Conversion and Management 223, no. : 113257.

Journal article
Published: 03 August 2020 in Energies
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An experimental study has been conducted to provide a characterization of the transformations that particle size distributions and the number density of soot particles can encounter along the exhaust line of a modern EURO VI compliant heavy-duty engine, fueled with compressed natural gas. Being aware of the particles history in the exhausts can be of utmost importance to understand soot formation and oxidation dynamics, so that, new strategies for further reducing these emissions can be formulated and present and future regulations met. To this purpose, particle samples were collected from several points along the exhaust pipe, namely upstream and downstream of each device the exhaust gases interact with. The engine was turbocharged and equipped with a two-stage after-treatment system. The measurements were carried out in steady conditions while the engine operated in stoichiometric conditions. Particle emissions were measured using a fast-response particle size spectrometer (DMS500) so that size information was analyzed in the range between 5 and 1000 nm. Particle mass information was derived from size distribution data using a correlation available in the literature. The reported results provide more insight on the particle emission process related to natural gas engines and, in particular, point out the effects that the turbine and the after-treatment devices produce on soot particles. Furthermore, the reported observations suggest that soot particles might not derive only from the fuel, namely, external sources, such as lubricant oil, might have a relevant role in soot formation.

ACS Style

Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante; Giuseppe Calò; Pietro De Palma; Paolo Tamburrano. Evolution of Soot Particle Number, Mass and Size Distribution along the Exhaust Line of a Heavy-Duty Engine Fueled with Compressed Natural Gas. Energies 2020, 13, 3993 .

AMA Style

Elia Distaso, Riccardo Amirante, Giuseppe Calò, Pietro De Palma, Paolo Tamburrano. Evolution of Soot Particle Number, Mass and Size Distribution along the Exhaust Line of a Heavy-Duty Engine Fueled with Compressed Natural Gas. Energies. 2020; 13 (15):3993.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante; Giuseppe Calò; Pietro De Palma; Paolo Tamburrano. 2020. "Evolution of Soot Particle Number, Mass and Size Distribution along the Exhaust Line of a Heavy-Duty Engine Fueled with Compressed Natural Gas." Energies 13, no. 15: 3993.

Journal article
Published: 22 July 2020 in Fuel
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Recent research highlights the influence of the presence of lubricant oil droplets on the combustion process in Direct Injection Spark Ignition (DISI) engines. Lubricant oil is considered to be the main responsible agent for the onset of pre-ignition phenomena, which can escalate highly undesired super-knock events. Moreover, lubricant oil plays a primary role in the generation of very fine soot particle emissions. In the present work, a reduced reaction mechanism is developed for modeling the combustion of gasoline-oil mixtures, allowing one to simulate the variation in ignitability of gasoline-like fuels induced by the presence of lubricant oil. In this study, a single hydrocarbon species, namely n-Hexadecane (n-C16H34), is shown to reproduce lubricant oil chemical and physical characteristics. Great effort has been performed to identify the most significant reaction pathways to reduce the complexity of the chemistry mechanism and the number of variables, while maintaining the important features of detailed mechanisms, for the highest computational efficiency. The proposed reduced mechanism has been validated for a wide range of operating conditions. It is employed for 3D simulations of experimental measurements in which iso-Octane was blended with different percentages of lubricant oil and its surrogates. Operating conditions representative of those of a typical turbocharged DISI engine are considered. The very good agreement obtained in the comparison with the experimental data confirms the effectiveness of the proposed “GasLube” mechanism in reproducing lubricant oil’s influence on ignition propensity of gasoline-like fuels. Furthermore, the 3D numerical simulations allowed a detailed analysis of the ignition phenomenon, providing more insight into the basic processes of lubricant oil induced pre-ignition events in DISI gasoline engines.

ACS Style

E. Distaso; R. Amirante; G. Calò; P. De Palma; P. Tamburrano; R.D. Reitz. Predicting lubricant oil induced pre-ignition phenomena in modern gasoline engines: The reduced GasLube reaction mechanism. Fuel 2020, 281, 118709 .

AMA Style

E. Distaso, R. Amirante, G. Calò, P. De Palma, P. Tamburrano, R.D. Reitz. Predicting lubricant oil induced pre-ignition phenomena in modern gasoline engines: The reduced GasLube reaction mechanism. Fuel. 2020; 281 ():118709.

Chicago/Turabian Style

E. Distaso; R. Amirante; G. Calò; P. De Palma; P. Tamburrano; R.D. Reitz. 2020. "Predicting lubricant oil induced pre-ignition phenomena in modern gasoline engines: The reduced GasLube reaction mechanism." Fuel 281, no. : 118709.

Journal article
Published: 04 May 2020 in Energies
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In part I of this study, we experimentally and numerically investigated the pilot stage of a novel two-stage servovalve architecture. The novelty of the proposed configuration is the torque motor being removed and replaced with two small two-way two-position (2/2) valves actuated by piezoelectric ring benders, which can effectively control the opening degree of a main spool valve. With this novel architecture, the typical drawbacks of two-stage servovalves can be overcome, such as the high complexity of the torque motor and the high internal leakage in the pilot stage when the main valve is at rest in the neutral position (null). The low complexity and the negligible internal leakage of the piezo-valves are accompanied by the high response speed typical of piezoelectric actuators. The valve assessment is completed in the present study, since the entire valve architecture (main stage + pilot stage) is investigated. In particular, a simplified numerical model is developed to provide a design tool that allows, for a given main stage spool, the values of the geometrical parameters of the pilot stage to be chosen along with the characteristics of the ring bender. This design procedure is applied to a 7 mm diameter main spool; afterward, a detailed numerical model of the entire valve, solved by SimScape Fluids software, is employed to demonstrate that the response of the main stage valve is very rapid while ensuring negligible internal leakage through the piezo-valves when the main stage is closed (resulting in lower power consumption). For this reason, the proposed valve can be regarded as a “clean” component for energy conversion, having lower energy consumption than commercially available servovalves.

ACS Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Andrew R. Plummer; Pietro De Palma; Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante. A Novel Servovalve Pilot Stage Actuated by a Piezo-Electric Ring Bender (Part II): Design Model and Full Simulation. Energies 2020, 13, 2267 .

AMA Style

Paolo Tamburrano, Andrew R. Plummer, Pietro De Palma, Elia Distaso, Riccardo Amirante. A Novel Servovalve Pilot Stage Actuated by a Piezo-Electric Ring Bender (Part II): Design Model and Full Simulation. Energies. 2020; 13 (9):2267.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Andrew R. Plummer; Pietro De Palma; Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante. 2020. "A Novel Servovalve Pilot Stage Actuated by a Piezo-Electric Ring Bender (Part II): Design Model and Full Simulation." Energies 13, no. 9: 2267.

Journal article
Published: 04 February 2020 in Energies
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Electrohydraulic servovalves are widely used for precise motion control in aerospace and other industries due to their high accuracy and speed of response. However, commercial two-stage servovalves have several undesirable characteristics, such as the power consumption caused by the quiescent flow (internal leakage) in the pilot stage, and the complexity and high number of parts of the torque motor assembly, which affect the cost and the speed of manufacture. The solution to these problems can help to reduce costs, weight and power consumption, and enhance the reliability and reproducibility as well as the performance of these valves. For these reasons, this paper proposes a novel configuration for the pilot stage: it is composed of two normally closed two-way two-position (2/2) valves actuated by two piezo-electric ring benders; the opening and closing of the two piezo-valves can generate a differential pressure to be used to control the displacement of the main spool. In this way, there is negligible quiescent flow when the main stage is at rest; in addition, the torque motor and all its components are removed. To assess the performance of this novel pilot stage concept, a prototype of the piezo-valve has been constructed and tested. The experimental results indicate that the response speed of the new piezo-valve is very high. Furthermore, a numerical model is employed to show that, by adjusting specific parameters, the performance of the piezo-valve can be further improved, so that the valve can be fully opened or closed in less than 5 ms.

ACS Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Andrew R. Plummer; Pietro De Palma; Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante. A Novel Servovalve Pilot Stage Actuated by a Piezo-electric Ring Bender: A Numerical and Experimental Analysis. Energies 2020, 13, 671 .

AMA Style

Paolo Tamburrano, Andrew R. Plummer, Pietro De Palma, Elia Distaso, Riccardo Amirante. A Novel Servovalve Pilot Stage Actuated by a Piezo-electric Ring Bender: A Numerical and Experimental Analysis. Energies. 2020; 13 (3):671.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Andrew R. Plummer; Pietro De Palma; Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante. 2020. "A Novel Servovalve Pilot Stage Actuated by a Piezo-electric Ring Bender: A Numerical and Experimental Analysis." Energies 13, no. 3: 671.

Journal article
Published: 31 January 2019 in Energy Conversion and Management
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The production of increasingly clean engines has become imperative. More stringent regulations for internal combustion engines are constantly proposed, and recent number-based regulations have become a new challenge, since historically only a mass-based regulation needed to be met. It is known that soot particles detectable at the exhaust of an engine are the results of the competition between the formation of soot precursor species and their oxidation. However, the attention is mainly focused on inhibiting soot precursors formation, and much less research is dedicated at elucidating the benefits achievable from enhancing soot oxidation rates. Soot oxidation can be enhanced by increasing the in-cylinder oxygen content. Oxygenated fuels, which are often added to gasoline in order to achieve more efficient combustion, can represent a possible way in the pursuit of this goal. However, chemical mechanisms are still uncertain for practical fuels, and ambiguous results can be produced when the effect of oxygenated fuels on gasoline engine combustion and soot emissions is considered. In the present study, 3-D Computational Fluid Dynamics simulations were performed and the numerical results were compared with existing experimental data, in which load increases were achieved by pure oxygen addition within the intake manifold of a single-cylinder Spark-Ignition (SI) engine. Studying the effects that an addition of 5% and 10% by volume (with respect to air) of additional oxygen produces on the combustion process, allowed to provide basic additional information on soot formation and oxidation, avoiding the uncertainties associated with chemistry models. A semi-detailed soot model and a chemical kinetic model, including poly-aromatic hydrocarbon formation, were coupled with the G-equation flame propagation model for the SI engine simulations and for predicting soot mass and particulate number density. Improvements in the modeling of gasoline premixed combustion were achieved, as well. Specifically, different approaches in the evaluation of the laminar flame speed of gasoline (which is a key factor for obtaining reliable SI engine simulations) were critically compared and analyzed. The numerical results showed aspects that were not possible to appreciate by only referring to the experimental results on which this work was based. It was possible to observe that the higher soot concentrations were located in regions characterized by lower temperatures and lower OH concentrations. Oxygen addition favored a faster burning velocity and produced higher in-cylinder temperatures. However, the production rates of both OH radicals and soot precursor species resulted enhanced. The analysis of these concurrent phenomena allowed to explain why in the experiments the soot mass per kg of fuel was lower for the oxygenated combustion cases.

ACS Style

E. Distaso; R. Amirante; P. Tamburrano; R.D. Reitz. Understanding the role of soot oxidation in gasoline combustion: A numerical study on the effects of oxygen enrichment on particulate mass and number emissions in a spark-ignition engine. Energy Conversion and Management 2019, 184, 24 -39.

AMA Style

E. Distaso, R. Amirante, P. Tamburrano, R.D. Reitz. Understanding the role of soot oxidation in gasoline combustion: A numerical study on the effects of oxygen enrichment on particulate mass and number emissions in a spark-ignition engine. Energy Conversion and Management. 2019; 184 ():24-39.

Chicago/Turabian Style

E. Distaso; R. Amirante; P. Tamburrano; R.D. Reitz. 2019. "Understanding the role of soot oxidation in gasoline combustion: A numerical study on the effects of oxygen enrichment on particulate mass and number emissions in a spark-ignition engine." Energy Conversion and Management 184, no. : 24-39.

Review
Published: 05 October 2018 in Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control
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This paper reviews the state of the art of directly driven proportional directional hydraulic spool valves, which are widely used hydraulic components in the industrial and transportation sectors. First, the construction and performance of commercially available units are discussed, together with simple models of the main characteristics. The review of published research focuses on two key areas: investigations that analyze and optimize valves from a fluid dynamic point of view, and then studies on spool position control systems. Mathematical modeling is a very active area of research, including computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for spool geometry optimization, and dynamic spool actuation and motion modeling to inform controller design. Drawbacks and advantages of new designs and concepts are described in the paper.

ACS Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Andrew R. Plummer; Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante. A Review of Direct Drive Proportional Electrohydraulic Spool Valves: Industrial State-of-the-Art and Research Advancements. Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control 2018, 141, 1 .

AMA Style

Paolo Tamburrano, Andrew R. Plummer, Elia Distaso, Riccardo Amirante. A Review of Direct Drive Proportional Electrohydraulic Spool Valves: Industrial State-of-the-Art and Research Advancements. Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control. 2018; 141 (2):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paolo Tamburrano; Andrew R. Plummer; Elia Distaso; Riccardo Amirante. 2018. "A Review of Direct Drive Proportional Electrohydraulic Spool Valves: Industrial State-of-the-Art and Research Advancements." Journal of Dynamic Systems, Measurement, and Control 141, no. 2: 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 June 2018 in Energy Conversion and Management
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This paper proposes the implementation of cost-effective commercially available automotive components in small-scale power plants for the energy generation from carbon-neutral biomass. Specifically, a turbocharger and a power turbine of turbo-compound systems are proposed to be coupled with an external combustor and a high temperature heat exchanger in order to obtain a cheap externally fired gas turbine capable of producing about 30 kW of electrical power from the combustion of pruning residues. The externally fired gas turbine cycle can be combined either with a final heat exchanger to generate useful thermal power or with a bottoming cycle to generate useful thermal power and an additional electrical power of about 15 kW. Two plant configurations are proposed for the bottoming cycle: the first is a water Rankine cycle employing the “green steam turbine” as the steam expander, whereas the second is an organic Rankine cycle using an axial turbine and toluene as the working fluid. The results of the simulations, obtained through a detailed thermodynamic model, show that the use of a combined cycle is fundamental to maximize the primary energy savings of the power plant. In the case of negligible pressure losses, the use of a bottoming water Rankine cycle leads to a maximum second law efficiency of about 0.25 and maximum primary energy savings of about 0.23. Instead, a bottoming organic Rankine cycle employing a single stage turbine can increase the second law efficiency and the primary energy savings up to about 0.27 and 0.26, respectively. It is also demonstrated that the use of a two-stage turbine for the organic Rankine cycle can further enhance the plant performance. The effects of the pressure drops in the system are investigated in detail to point out that the minimization of the pressure losses is fundamental to improve the performance parameters of all the proposed configurations.

ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; Pietro De Palma; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale externally fired gas turbines and combined cycles using turbo-compound components for energy generation from solid biomass. Energy Conversion and Management 2018, 166, 648 -662.

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Pietro De Palma, Elia Distaso, Paolo Tamburrano. Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale externally fired gas turbines and combined cycles using turbo-compound components for energy generation from solid biomass. Energy Conversion and Management. 2018; 166 ():648-662.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Pietro De Palma; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. 2018. "Thermodynamic analysis of small-scale externally fired gas turbines and combined cycles using turbo-compound components for energy generation from solid biomass." Energy Conversion and Management 166, no. : 648-662.

Journal article
Published: 01 September 2017 in Energy Conversion and Management
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ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. Novel, cost-effective configurations of combined power plants for small-scale cogeneration from biomass: Design of the immersed particle heat exchanger. Energy Conversion and Management 2017, 148, 876 -894.

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Elia Distaso, Paolo Tamburrano. Novel, cost-effective configurations of combined power plants for small-scale cogeneration from biomass: Design of the immersed particle heat exchanger. Energy Conversion and Management. 2017; 148 ():876-894.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. 2017. "Novel, cost-effective configurations of combined power plants for small-scale cogeneration from biomass: Design of the immersed particle heat exchanger." Energy Conversion and Management 148, no. : 876-894.

Article
Published: 19 December 2016 in European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology
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The road of scientific research from the pilot scale plant to the industrial applications is often long and winding. The introduction of an ultrasound device able to replace the malaxers into the virgin olive oil extraction plants is a matter deeply discussed. However, a full-scale industrial plant able to work in an effectively continuous mode is still lack in the market of olive oil extraction industrial plants. In order to overcome one of the main weaknesses of olive oil extraction plants, the discontinuity of the process due to the presence of the malaxer, a batch machine placed between the crusher and the decanter, effectively continuous ultrasonic full-scale solutions for the extra virgin olive oil industry have been developed. Practical applications: High power ultrasound for the treatment of olive paste represents a system to replace the malaxing phase, the weakest link of the chain in the VOO extraction process. The malaxer is a batch machine, which works between two continuous devices, the fruit crusher and the decanter. It is also a bad heat exchanger due to a not favorable ratio between the big volume of olive paste that should be warmed and the small surface for the heat exchange. New devices need to be developed in order to optimize the extraction plant, reducing the time of process, the resource consumption without compromise the oil quality, in order to guarantee a right profit for the olive millers. Shock waves and micro jets are produced when cavitation bubbles are collapsed. Cell layers of the fruit pericarp are destroyed by the cavitation effects.

ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; Maria Lisa Clodoveo. Developments in the design and construction of continuous full-scale ultrasonic devices for the EVOO industry. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 2016, 119, 1 .

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Maria Lisa Clodoveo. Developments in the design and construction of continuous full-scale ultrasonic devices for the EVOO industry. European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology. 2016; 119 (6):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Maria Lisa Clodoveo. 2016. "Developments in the design and construction of continuous full-scale ultrasonic devices for the EVOO industry." European Journal of Lipid Science and Technology 119, no. 6: 1.

Book chapter
Published: 26 October 2016 in Products from Olive Tree
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Ultrasound in Olive Oil Extraction | InTechOpen, Published on: 2016-10-26. Authors: Riccardo Amirante and Antonello Paduano

ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; Antonello Paduano. Ultrasound in Olive Oil Extraction. Products from Olive Tree 2016, 1 .

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Antonello Paduano. Ultrasound in Olive Oil Extraction. Products from Olive Tree. 2016; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Antonello Paduano. 2016. "Ultrasound in Olive Oil Extraction." Products from Olive Tree , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2016 in Energy Conversion and Management
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Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. Sliding spool design for reducing the actuation forces in direct operated proportional directional valves: Experimental validation. Energy Conversion and Management 2016, 119, 399 -410.

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Elia Distaso, Paolo Tamburrano. Sliding spool design for reducing the actuation forces in direct operated proportional directional valves: Experimental validation. Energy Conversion and Management. 2016; 119 ():399-410.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. 2016. "Sliding spool design for reducing the actuation forces in direct operated proportional directional valves: Experimental validation." Energy Conversion and Management 119, no. : 399-410.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2016 in Renewable Energy
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This paper presents the energetic and economic analysis of a virtuous example consisting of a tri-generation system fuelled only with olive tree pruning residues and planned to be located next to Bari Airport (Apulia, Italy). The main goal is to demonstrate the feasibility and convenience of producing cooling, heating and electrical power from olive tree pruning residues in those regions characterized by a high availability of this kind of biomass, such as Apulia. A strategic location was selected, namely Bari Airport (Apulia), and this paper demonstrates the economic convenience of installing a commercially available Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) unit of 280 kWe that is capable of satisfying the thermal demands of the airport, with the addition of an absorption chiller for air conditioning in the airport buildings. First it is verified that the quantity of oil tree pruning residues available in the area surrounding the airport fully can satisfy the plant demand of feedstock. Then a detailed description of the components of the plant is provided. The performance of the plant is therefore evaluated in order to assess the thermodynamic competitiveness of a tri-generative system fuelled with this type of biomass. Finally, a detailed economic analysis is carried out with the aim of demonstrating the advantages that the plant can assure in terms of payback period (PBP), net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR). Two different typologies of government incentives are considered. In both of which, the PBP is 6 years with an IRR of about 21% and this points out the great economic attractiveness of the project. From an ecological point of view, the plant can ensure a remarkable reduction in CO2 emissions.

ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; Maria Lisa Clodoveo; Elia Distaso; Francesco Ruggiero; Paolo Tamburrano. A tri-generation plant fuelled with olive tree pruning residues in Apulia: An energetic and economic analysis. Renewable Energy 2016, 89, 411 -421.

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Maria Lisa Clodoveo, Elia Distaso, Francesco Ruggiero, Paolo Tamburrano. A tri-generation plant fuelled with olive tree pruning residues in Apulia: An energetic and economic analysis. Renewable Energy. 2016; 89 ():411-421.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Maria Lisa Clodoveo; Elia Distaso; Francesco Ruggiero; Paolo Tamburrano. 2016. "A tri-generation plant fuelled with olive tree pruning residues in Apulia: An energetic and economic analysis." Renewable Energy 89, no. : 411-421.

Journal article
Published: 01 December 2015 in Energy Procedia
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Nowadays, the development of new power plants capable of effectively using non-conventional energy sources is strongly desirable in order to obtain a significant reduction in costs of energy. In this regard, this paper proposes a new small scale (about 100 kW) combined cycle plant which can be fired externally by any kind of biomass. Particularly, the research activity presented here is concerned with the preliminary design of this innovative plant, which will be built, by means of a project funded by “Apulia Region”, at the LabZero Research Centre of Polytechnic University of Bari in the south of Italy. The goal of the paper is to demonstrate the effectiveness of the plant in terms of energy efficiency and availability and reliability of its components. The plant is mainly composed of a centrifugal compressor and a centripetal turbine of an automotive turbocharger, with the working fluid (clean air) being heated in a high temperature heat exchanger (HTHE) by using hot flue gases produced in an external combustion chamber burning biomass. The clean hot air expands in the turbine and then feeds the combustion chamber, where biomass is burned. In order to increase the efficiency, the flue gases exiting the HTHE are delivered into a heat recovery steam generator to generate water steam which can finally expand through a rotary actuator. Two configurations, employing an open Rankine cycle and a close one respectively, are analysed, and the use of biomass is compared with methane.

ACS Style

Riccardo Amirante; C. Coratella; Elia Distaso; P. Tamburrano. A Small Size Combined System for the Production of Energy from Renewable Sources and Unconventional Fuels. Energy Procedia 2015, 81, 240 -248.

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, C. Coratella, Elia Distaso, P. Tamburrano. A Small Size Combined System for the Production of Energy from Renewable Sources and Unconventional Fuels. Energy Procedia. 2015; 81 ():240-248.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; C. Coratella; Elia Distaso; P. Tamburrano. 2015. "A Small Size Combined System for the Production of Energy from Renewable Sources and Unconventional Fuels." Energy Procedia 81, no. : 240-248.

Proceedings article
Published: 06 September 2015 in SAE Technical Paper Series
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Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano; Rolf D. Reitz. Measured and Predicted Soot Particle Emissions from Natural Gas Engines. SAE Technical Paper Series 2015, 1 .

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Elia Distaso, Paolo Tamburrano, Rolf D. Reitz. Measured and Predicted Soot Particle Emissions from Natural Gas Engines. SAE Technical Paper Series. 2015; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano; Rolf D. Reitz. 2015. "Measured and Predicted Soot Particle Emissions from Natural Gas Engines." SAE Technical Paper Series , no. : 1.

Conference paper
Published: 06 September 2015 in SAE Technical Paper Series
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Riccardo Amirante; Caterina Casavola; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. Towards the Development of the In-Cylinder Pressure Measurement Based on the Strain Gauge Technique for Internal Combustion Engines. SAE Technical Paper Series 2015, 1 .

AMA Style

Riccardo Amirante, Caterina Casavola, Elia Distaso, Paolo Tamburrano. Towards the Development of the In-Cylinder Pressure Measurement Based on the Strain Gauge Technique for Internal Combustion Engines. SAE Technical Paper Series. 2015; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Riccardo Amirante; Caterina Casavola; Elia Distaso; Paolo Tamburrano. 2015. "Towards the Development of the In-Cylinder Pressure Measurement Based on the Strain Gauge Technique for Internal Combustion Engines." SAE Technical Paper Series , no. : 1.