The introduction of modern aftertreatment systems in marine diesel engines call for accurate prediction of exhaust gas temperature, since it significantly affects the performance of the aftertreatment system. The scavenging process establishes the initial conditions for combustion, directly affecting exhaust gas temperature, fuel economy, and emissions. In this paper, a semi-empirical zero-dimensional three zone scavenging model applicable to two-stroke uniflow scavenged diesel engines is updated using the results of CFD (computational fluid dynamics) simulations. In this 0-D model, the engine cylinders are divided in three zones (thermodynamic control volumes) namely, the pure air zone, mixing zone, and pure exhaust gas zone. The entrainment of air and exhaust gas in the mixing zone is specified by time varying mixing coefficients. The mixing coefficients were updated using results from CFD simulations based on the geometry of a modern 50 cm bore large two-stroke marine diesel engine. This increased the model’s accuracy by taking into account 2-D fluid dynamics phenomena in the cylinder ports and exhaust valve. Thus, the effect of engine load, inlet port swirl angle and partial covering of inlet ports on engine scavenging were investigated. The three-zone model was then updated and the findings of CFD simulations were reflected accordingly in the updated mixing coefficients of the scavenging model.

Despite the intensive research carried out in the last two decades, the actual performance of piezoelectric energy harvesters needs significant improvement for widespread applicability. Custom designed experimental set-ups and methods can be applied for the evaluation of new piezoelectric energy harvesters or modified design versions of existing transducers, in terms of efficiency and specific power. In this context, two representative types of commercial cantilever piezoelectric transducers, made of PZT and PVDF material respectively, were tested in various combinations of aerodynamic and harmonic base excitation. A line type laser was used along with long exposure photography for the visualisation of the piezofilm’s mode shapes, tip deflection and the digitization of the elastic line at the oscillation extrema. The harvested power was measured at on-resonance conditions and studied relative to the excitation combinations and the mode shapes. Energy conversion efficiency, defined as the ratio of the electric-field energy accumulated by the supercapacitors, over the total elastic strain energy change of the material during the oscillations is measured and compared. Design improvements are proposed for both transducer types to extract and absorb higher amounts of energy and improve their bandwidth to match the available excitation source characteristics.

The establishment of near-autonomous micro-grids in commercial or public building complexes is gaining increasing popularity. Short-term storage capacity is provided by means of large battery installations, or, more often, by the employees’ increasing use of electric vehicle batteries, which are allowed to operate in bi-directional charging mode. In addition to the above short-term storage means, a long-term storage medium is considered essential to the optimal operation of the building’s micro-grid. The most promising long-term energy storage carrier is hydrogen, which is produced by standard electrolyzer units by exploiting the surplus electricity produced by photovoltaic installation, due to the seasonal or weekly variation in a building’s electricity consumption. To this end, a novel concept is studied in this paper. The details of the proposed concept are described in the context of a nearly Zero Energy Building (nZEB) and the associated micro-grid. The hydrogen produced is stored in a high-pressure tank to be used occasionally as fuel in an advanced technology hydrogen spark ignition engine, which moves a synchronous generator. A size optimization study is carried out to determine the genset’s rating, the electrolyzer units’ capacity and the tilt angle of the rooftop’s photovoltaic panels, which minimize the building’s interaction with the external grid. The hydrogen-fueled genset engine is optimally sized to 40 kW (0.18 kW/kWp PV). The optimal tilt angle of the rooftop PV panels is 39°. The maximum capacity of the electrolyzer units is optimized to 72 kW (0.33 kWmax/kWp PV). The resulting system is tacitly assumed to integrate to an external hydrogen network to make up for the expected mismatches between hydrogen production and consumption. The significance of technology in addressing the current challenges in the field of energy storage and micro-grid optimization is discussed, with an emphasis on its potential benefits. Moreover, areas for further research are highlighted, aiming to further advance sustainable energy solutions.