Adrian Ilinca

École de Technologie Supérieure · Mechanical Engineering

The dwindling and scarcity of fossil energy sources is the basis of the energy transition, where renewable resources are increasingly valued. The purpose of the cogeneration system studied in this article is to recover the residual heat from the gases coming out of the chimneys of the cement kilns, to produce at the same time the electricity and th...

The primary requirement in designing air conditioning systems in healthcare facilities is eliminating contaminants. It is considered one of the crucial health elements in building design, particularly in the presence of many airborne diseases such as COVID-19. The purpose of this numerical research is to simulate various ventilation designs for a h...

Facing the exhaustion of fossil energy and in the context of sustainable development, strong incentives are pushing for the development of renewable energies. Nuclear energy and fossil fuels like petroleum, coal, and natural gas provide most of the energy produced today. As a result, greenhouse gases are released and climate change becomes irrevers...

Wind turbine icing has been the subject of intensive research over the past two decades, primarily focusing on applying computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to 2D airfoil simulations for parametric analysis. As a result of blades’ airfoils deformation caused by icing, wind turbines experience a considerable decrease in aerodynamic performance resulti...

Technological innovation constantly transforms and redefines the human element’s position inside complex socio-technical systems. Autonomous operations are in various phases of development and practical deployment across several transport domains, with marine operations still in their infancy. This article discusses current trends in developing aut...

Icing is a severe problem faced by wind turbines operating in cold climates. It is affected by various fluctuating parameters. Due to ice accretion, a significant drop in the aerodynamic performance of the blades' airfoils leads to productivity loss in wind turbines. When ice accretes on airfoils, it leads to a geometry deformation that seriously i...

With stricter IMO regulations on CO2 taking effect in 2023 and ambitious goals to reduce carbon intensity by 2030, the maritime industry is scrambling to clean up its act. Conventional methods and equipment are now being reevaluated, upgraded or completely replaced. The difference between a short-term fix and a long-term sustainable option is how f...

The energy sector is in the midst of a major transformation, driven by new climate regulations and a political tendency towards a nuclear phase‐out, aiming to achieve carbon neutrality for power generation and increased efficiency in electric grids. As a result, most power grids are encouraging higher integration of distributed energy resources and...

Renewable energy has known spectacular development in the last decades as a solution to the climate change effect. Wind energy is one of the most popular technologies for power generation. However, the variable operation and extreme meteorological conditions challenge integrating this technology, especially in cold climate regions. These conditions...

Variable valve timing systems control the opening and closure of intake valves and exhaust valves as a function of engine speed to increase useful power and reduce fuel consumption. This work’s novelty consists of designing and developing a numerical model for a diesel engine and studying the influence of different valve lift techniques on the dies...

The use of hydrogen as a future energy source to supply world fuel is essential. The storage problem is one of the main challenges facing the use of hydrogen as a fuel. In this study, we model and optimize the transient operation of a 2D metal hydride storage tank. A phase change material (PCM) is attached to a metal hydride tank for heat recovery...

Optimal management and planning of microgrids (MG) are the most important goals for operators. In this study, a Multiobjective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) is applied to the technical and economic problems of the MG. This stochastic programming considers demand response (DR) programs, reactive loads, and uncertainties due to renewable energies. Demand-...

In this paper, we explore the improvement of the aerodynamic characteristics of wind turbine blades under stall conditions using passive flow control with slots. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) Phase II rotor, for which detailed simulations and experimental data are available, served as a baseline for assessing the flow control syst...

The suitable use of hydrogen-containing industrial by-products such as coke oven gas (COG) leads to a reduction of environmental pollution and energy waste. This paper develops a novel integrated structure for the simultaneous production of portable and relatively clean liquid fuels from COG and power plant exhaust gases. The subsystems include a C...

Icing is a complex problem facing wind turbines operating in Nordic climates. It is affected by various instantaneously fluctuating parameters. Due to the deformation of blades' airfoil on account of icing, a significant drop in aerodynamic performance brings turbines to lose much of their productivity. Modelling and simulation became indispensable...

Reliable optimization of renewable energy system is the one that balances between electrical sizing of the system components in order to satisfy the load and the cost of that system. This techno-economic optimization can be assured by HOMER software through some sensitivity parameters such as capacity shortage. For Saharan villages in Africa, it is...

Nowadays, productivity challenges in modern manufacturing systems have been the driving force in generating energy-efficient technologies in every industry, including diesel–electric locomotives. The diesel–electric locomotive is one of the most widely used methods in rail transportation, especially in North America. More precisely, the evolution o...

Vibration is one of the most dangerous phenomena that happens to a structure. It leads to premature fatigue and eventually failure, with potentially fatal consequences. A smart structure is an excellent solution to this problem; it adds an actuator, a sensor, and an appropriate control law to the system to reduce/eliminate the vibration. This study...

This paper presents a literature review of recent research on introducing the Industry 4.0 approach to improving energy efficiency, especially in the wood industry. While researchers focus on processes, service, and customer concepts, the effect on energy consumption is less addressed in these studies and applications. This paper focuses on previou...

The energy efficiency of a renewable energy system is inextricably linked to the energy storage technologies used in conjunction with it. The most extensively utilized energy storage technology for all purposes is electrochemical storage batteries, which have grown more popular over time because of their extended life, high working voltage, and low...

Capacity shortage in renewable energy systems

The objective of this article is to review the methodologies used in the last 15 years to estimate the power loss in wind turbines due to their exposure to adverse meteorological conditions. Among the methods, the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) for the three-dimensional numerical simulation of wind turbines is highlighted, as well as the...

Considerable recent ecological and energy concerns have aroused the exploitation of sustainable resources and cost-effective production of green energy carriers such as liquid hydrogen. Despite the remarkable merits of the multi-component refrigerant cycle in enhancing the hydrogen liquefaction process efficiency, it contributes to problematic cont...

Wind energy has been playing a pivot role in replacing the traditional energy sources. This emerging paradigm has proved itself as a good candidate among all renewable energy sources. Although the exponential growth of the wind industry, wind turbines still suffer from blade icing especially in cold regions. Blade icing disturbs aerodynamic perform...

In this paper, a novel process is developed to cogenerate 4741 kg/h of methanol, 297.7 kW of electricity, and 35.73 ton/h of hot water, including a hydrogen purification system, an absorption–compression refrigeration cycle (ACRC), a regenerative Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), and parabolic solar troughs. The heat produced in the methanol reactor is...

In a context of energy abundance for industrial applications, industrial systems are exploited with minimal attention to their actual energy consumption requirements to meet the loads imposed on them. As a result, most of them are used at maximal capacity, regardless of the varying operational conditions. First, the paper studies pneumatic conveyin...

Diesel generators (DGs) are set to work as a backup during power outages or support the load in remote areas not connected to the national grid. These DGs are working at a constant speed to produce reliable AC power, while electrical energy demand fluctuates according to instantaneous needs. High electric loads occur only for a few hours a day in r...

A substantial share of the electric energy is generated with synchronous generators that provide sustained alternating current (AC) voltage and frequency energy to regional and national power systems, which subsequently transport and distribute it to diverse users. In an attempt to reduce environmental effects, electric energy markets have recently...

Rail transport, specifically diesel-electric trains, faces fundamental challenges in reducing fuel consumption to improve financial performance and reduce GHG emissions. One solution to improve energy efficiency is the electric brake regenerative technique. This technique was first applied on electric trains several years ago, but it is still consi...

Global economic growth, demographic explosion, digitization, increased mobility, and greater demand for heating and cooling due to climate change in different world areas are the main drivers for the surge in energy demand. The increase in energy demand is the basis of economic challenges for power companies alongside several socio-economic problem...

In this chapter, we will review the various configurations based on non-renewable energy systems (NRES). It addresses all storage systems interconnected with power converters, as well as fixed and variable speed diesel generators (DGs). Information will be given on modeling, control for NRES, and interfacing inverters, as well as on optimization te...

Industry 4.0 mainly refers to factories in which machines use smart and autonomous systems enhanced by the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and cyber-physical systems. But what reveals the true potential of Industry 4.0 is the established connection and communication between computers and machines that allow...

The application of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in wind turbine design and analysis is becoming increasingly common in research on wind energy, resulting in a better knowledge of the aerodynamic behaviour of rotors. Due to the deformation of blade airfoils on account of icing, a significant drop in aerodynamic performance brings wind turbines...

Connected objects are deployed all over the world. Thus, they are contributing to improving communications. In urban areas, technological challenges are gradually being overcome, and advances in this area are exponential. Unfortunately, isolated territories such as northern Quebec do not beneficiate from this technological progress. Yet, northern Q...

When operating in cold climates, wind turbines are vulnerable to ice accretion. The main impact of icing on wind turbines is the power losses due to geometric deformation of the iced airfoils of the blades. Significant energy losses during the wind farm lifetime must be estimated and mitigated. Finding solutions for icing calls on several areas of...

Moisture and temperature are the most important environmental factors that affect the degradation of wind turbine blades, and their influence must be considered in the design process. They will first affect the resin matrix and then, possibly, the interface with the fibers. This work is the first to use a series of metaheuristic approaches to analy...

This paper presents an efficient neural network-based method for fault diagnosis in photovoltaic arrays. The proposed method was elaborated on three main steps: the data-feeding step, the fault-modeling step, and the decision step. The first step consists of feeding the real meteorological and electrical data to the neural networks, namely solar ir...

The installation of wind energy increased in the last twenty years, as its cost decreased, and it contributes to reducing GHG emissions. A race toward gigantism characterizes wind turbine development, primarily driven by offshore projects. The larger wind turbines are facing higher loads, and the imperatives of mass reduction make them more flexibl...

This third volume of the handbook presents a representative sample of the population papers in the field of petrodiesel fuels. It covers crude oil spills in general, properties and removal of crude oils, biodegradation of crude-oil. Part XI presents a representative sample of the population papers in the field of petrodiesel fuels in general coveri...

Wind-generated electricity has increased continuously for the last decades and will continue to progress for the next years. Wind energy production is a mature technology with over 600GW installed capacity in the world. The operation of wind farms presents critical challenges to maintain the lowest possible cost of energy. It is essential to detect...

Smart objects are deployed globally, contributing to improved communications and the growth of industrial systems’ performances. Unfortunately, isolated territories are generally excluded from this progress. Remote areas in Canada are no exception. Thus, about two hundred thousand people are living in isolated regions in Canadian territory. The dev...

The use of a stilling basin with multiple horizontal submerged jets emerging from two layers has been suggested for use as an energy dissipation structure in hydropower stations. In this study, laboratory velocity measurement is performed to analyze the three-dimensional flow structure of submerged jets and to evaluate the effect of the downstream...

The increasing interest in renewable energy sources originates from the negative impacts of overexploitation and the use of fossil fuels with their damaging influence on climate change. Besides, the continuous population growth requires higher energy provision or related energy services (e.g., heated living spaces, electricity, information, mobilit...

A hybrid energy storage system, which consists of one or more energy storage technologies, is considered as a strong alternative to ensure the desired performance in connected and islanding operation modes of the microgrid (MG) system. However, a single energy storage system (SSES) cannot perform well during the transition because it is limited in...

Dust collection systems represent a significant portion of a wood product manufacturer’s total electricity use. The system fan works against the static pressure of the entire system—the blast gates, the ductwork, and the upstream or downstream cyclone and/or baghouse. A poor system design (e.g., sharp elbows or undersized ductwork) increases the to...

The increasing interest in renewable energy sources originates from the negative impacts of overexploitation and the use of fossil fuels with their damaging influence on climate change. Besides, the continuous population growth requires higher energy provision or related energy services (e.g., heated living spaces, electricity, information, mobilit...

Fluctuating prices of fossil resources, security of energy supply, and environment protection resulted in strong development of renewable energies, especially wind. Wind energy has been used as a power source for thousands of years for tasks such as propelling sailing ships, grinding grain, pumping water, and powering factory machinery. This chapt...

The power balance between the supply and demand sides of an electrical grid is one of most important issues in the grid operation. The forecasting of power generations and power demands is the essential premise for generation arrangement and power management. Historically the conventional power grids were designed with large centralized generation...

In this chapter, the control of AC/DC hybrid-MG configurations based on HES is discussed in detail. New AC/DC hybrid-MG configurations with less power converter based on two, three and four ESs are proposed for different locations. In all suggested MG configurations, VSDG is employed as backup ESs.The performance of the suggested AC/DC hybrid-MG co...

In the context of electricity production in remote areas, the use of diesel generators, either alone or in hybridization with renewable energy sources, faces many technical problems. Indeed, the electrical instability that often characterizes the isolated networks, due to the fluctuating character of renewable resources and the high variability in...

A CFD analysis using ANSYS Fluent software was conducted to study the effects of collector slope on solar chimney's performances. Three solar chimney configurations, named A, B, and C, which correspond, respectively, to an inclination angle of the collector roof of 0°, 2.5°, and 5°, were investigated. The results show that the thermodynamic perform...

This paper introduces a modular testbed to simulate AC/DC microgrids. The testbed is implemented in Matlab Simulink and is based on the energetic macroscopic representation (EMR) formalism. It is designed to be a tool to evaluate energy management strategies in AC/DC microgrids. The microgrid simulation model includes a photovoltaic generator, a fu...

Variable speed generators can improve overall genset performance by allowing the diesel engine to reduce its speed at lower loads. In this project, a variable speed diesel generator (VSDG) uses a rotating stator driven by a compensator motor. At lower loads, the stator turns in the opposite direction of the rotor, a process that can be used for pur...

In modern wind turbine blades industry, fiber-reinforced composites are mostly used for their good mechanical characteristics: high stiffness, low density and long fatigue life. Wind turbine blades are constructed in different structural elements from a variety of composite laminates, often including Unidirectional (UD) material in spars and multip...

Combined heat and power (CHP) plants (co-generation plants) using biomass as fuel, can be an interesting alternative to the predominant electrical heating in Canada. The biomass-fueled boiler provides heat for the steam cycle which in turn generates electricity from the generator connected to the steam turbine. In addition, heat from the process is...

In the maritime market, fossil-derived fuels have been dominated by heavy fuel oil (HFO), which is conventionally used in low-speed (main) engines, and more refined fuels such as marine diesel oil (MDO) which is used in fast or medium-speed engines. Nonetheless, rising fuel costs and regulatory pressure such as Sulphur content restrictions have inc...

Despite the enhancement in the wind energy sector, the wind turbine industry still faces certain limitations due to some manufacturing and environmental factors. Blades are one of the major components of the wind turbine. During their lifetime, these blades are susceptible to deterioration and normal wear and tear that limit their efficiency and re...

Fundamentally, two main methodologies are used to reduce the electric energy bill in residential, commercial, and even industrial applications. The first method is to act on the supply side by integrating alternative means of power generation, such as renewable energy generators, having a relatively low levelized cost of energy. Whereas, the second...

Remote and isolated communities in Canada experience gaps in access to stable energy sources and must rely on diesel generators for heat and electricity. However, the cost and environmental impact resulting from the use of fossil fuels, especially in local energy production, heating, industrial processes and transportation are compelling reasons to...

A hybrid system combines two or more energy sources as an integrated unit to generate electricity. The nature of the sources associated varies between renewable and/or non-renewable energies. Such systems are becoming popular as stand-alone power systems to provide electricity, especially in off grid remote areas where diesel generators act as prim...

Currently, fossil fuels such as oil, coal and natural gas represent the prime energy sources in the world. However, it is anticipated that these sources of energy will deplete within the next 40–50 years. Moreover, the expected environmental damages such as the global warming, acid rain and urban smog due to the production of emissions from these s...

This paper examines the feasibility of implementing a variable frequency drive based on real-time control of the stator speed for a standby diesel generating-set using Genset-Synchro technology. The controller algorithms are designed using the Code Composer Studio version 8.0 software in C code, which can be downloaded to the digital signal control...