Michael Nitefor’s scientific contributions

What is this page?


This page lists works of an author who doesn't have a ResearchGate profile or hasn't added the works to their profile yet. It is automatically generated from public (personal) data to further our legitimate goal of comprehensive and accurate scientific recordkeeping. If you are this author and want this page removed, please let us know.

Publications (7)


A new renewable energy system integrated with compressed air energy storage and multistage desalination
  • Article

April 2023

·

46 Reads

·

36 Citations

Energy

Ali Erdogan Karaca

·

·

Michael Nitefor

A Unique Biomass Based Integrated Energy System for Cleaner Production of Multiple Energy Derivatives for Sustainable Communities

December 2022

·

50 Reads

·

15 Citations

Sustainable Cities and Society

Development of integrated energy systems where food wastes are converted into useful forms of energy is critical for establishing sustainable communities. In this study, a unique integrated energy system is developed and comprehensively analyzed to provide clean and sustainable electricity, biomethane, hydrogen, and heating from organic biomass energy and off-peak period excess electricity. An application of the developed system is considered for the Durham Region in Ontario, Canada. The organic food wastes collected under the Durham's green bin program are anaerobically digested to produce biogas. A high-pressure water scrubbing technique is utilized to upgrade the produced biogas to high purity biomethane. Excess electricity available during off-peak energy periods in the region is utilized for hydrogen production via proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. The produced biomethane and hydrogen is blended to synthesize an energy-dense fuel that is considered for power and heat generation via a combined regenerative gas-steam power cycle as well as a cleaner fuel for public transit buses in the region. On an annual basis, the proposed system provides about 1966 tons of biomethane from food wastes and about 298 tons of H2 from excess off-peak electricity in the Durham Region. Furthermore, the current integrated system is capable of producing 10.72 MW of electricity and 7.5 MW of heat for space heating and hot water applications. The overall energetic and exergetic efficiencies of the system are obtained as 67.25% and 45.16%, respectively.


Development of an integrated solar and wind driven energy system for desalination and power generation

August 2022

·

39 Reads

·

19 Citations

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

Energy and water are clearly recognized by people as two primary life-sustaining commodities. In terms of current global environmental initiatives, it is important to provide them both in a nature-friendly manner. This study develops a new renewable-based integrated energy system for power generation and desalination and investigates it specifically for Antigua and Barbuda, a Caribbean island nation, to reduce the region’s reliance on a volatile and polluting fossil fuel-based energy infrastructure. Solar and wind, abundantly available in the region, are considered and utilized as the two energy sources enabling electricity and potable water production in a nature-friendly manner. The excess power generated by photovoltaic solar panels and wind turbine arrays is mechanically stored by compressing air into off-shore underwater balloons to provide a reliable renewable-based energy infrastructure for Antigua and Barbuda. The system’s performance is investigated energetically and exergetically by using thermodynamic approaches. In this regard, it is evaluated that the proposed system is capable of operating with energy and exergy efficiencies of 45.4% and 37.6%, respectively. The system’s annual electricity production is evaluated as 316 GWh corresponding to 102.6% of annual electricity requirement of Antigua and Barbuda. In addition, the system supplies 124 tons of fresh water on a daily-basis and compressed air to fuel 140 short-range (80 km) pneumatic vehicles. It is, furthermore, found that potential system implementation can reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the region by 88%.


Development and analysis of new pneumatic based powering options for transit buses: A comparative assessment

March 2022

·

33 Reads

·

6 Citations

Energy Conversion and Management

Carbon dioxide reduction has been the central focus of current climate change public policy and largely determines procurement of next generation ‘clean’ transit buses. Development of alternative nature-friendly systems for clean transportation is critical in the transition of the sector from conventional fossil fuel-based powertrains. The current study undertakes the design and analysis of a newly-developed hybrid pneumatic powertrain concept for fourty-foot public transit buses using liquid nitrogen and compressed natural gas as a secondary fuel. Various fuel types for system hybridization are investigated comparatively in terms of fuel economy and well-to-wheel carbon dioxide emission ratios. A pure pneumatic configuration is also considered as a base case and discussed accordingly. The performance of the proposed system is evaluated through parametric studies by considering primary design and operational parameters. In similar operational conditions, the performance of a conventional diesel bus, a plug-in hybrid electric bus, a battery-electric bus and a hydrogen fuel cell electric bus is considered in the further comparative assessment of the proposed system. From a well-to-wheel point of view, the emission ratio of the developed hybrid pneumatic system is evaluated at 0.1452 kg carbon dioxide equivalent per kilometer of city driving, which corresponds to a 95% emission reduction compared to conventional diesel buses. The present study results indicate that a hybrid pneumatic configuration carries significant potential for a green transition in the public transit sector. Furthermore, eliminating the need for charging infrastructure, grid upgrading and additional infrastructure capacity, the system can be assembled with readily available off-the-shelf components.


Analysis of a newly developed hybrid pneumatic powertrain configuration for transit bus applications

February 2022

·

21 Reads

·

6 Citations

Energy

In the current study, a new hybrid compressed natural gas, liquid nitrogen-based powertrain configuration is developed and analyzed for more environmentally-benign transit buses. The concept extracts power from high-pressure nitrogen via three-stage expansion air motors. When the high-pressure LN2 tank level is critically low, a hydraulic pump powered via a CNG-based internal combustion engine is utilized to repressurize the liquid nitrogen. At the end of the expansion process, low pressure nitrogen is condensed via a helium-based cryocooler system and stored in a low-pressure tank. The performance of the configured system is evaluated via energy and exergy approaches. Power requirements, fuel consumption ratios and CO2 emission ratios are presented with respect to driving modes. Use of different fuel types as a secondary energy source for the powertrain is comparatively evaluated. The impact of various design and operational parameters on performance is investigated through parametric studies. The proposed system can operate with energy and exergy efficiencies of 46.6% and 67.5%, respectively while emitting 0.0768 kg CO2 eq per kilometer in city driving at a speed of 40 km/h (11.11 m/s).


An integrated renewable energy based plant with energy storage for a sustainable community

June 2021

·

23 Reads

·

11 Citations

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

Development and deployment of nature-friendly power technologies are recognized as vital to liberate humankind from disputes spinning around the production, consumption, and sharing of hydrocarbon-based energy sources. In this study, a novel integrated renewable energy plant is developed, simulated and analyzed for the Caribbean Island Nation of Antigua and Barbuda. In this regard, energy is produced from free, clean and abundant wind and solar via wind turbine and concentrated solar power tower technologies. The system’s annual electric energy production is evaluated at around 341 GWh corresponding to 110% of the country’s current annual electricity consumption. The proposed system comprises underwater balloons to store excess energy from wind and solar arrays via compressed air for later power generation. In addition, stored compressed air in underwater balloons is a source of energy to fuel 140 city-driving pneumatic vehicles with a range of 80 km on a daily basis. As well, the proposed system employs a multistage desalination unit to provide 376 tons of fresh water to the region daily. Furthermore, the integrated energy system is scalable to deliver additional potable water production and compressed air to power additional pneumatic vehicles. Overall energy and exergy efficiencies of the proposed system are computed as 52.53% and 43.65%, respectively.


Citations (6)


... Reference [80] looked at the feasibility and performance of a compressed air storage system integrated into a hybrid solar-wind-driven energy system with multi-stage desali- nation. Mechanically stored energies in the underwater balloons of the compressed air storage system were utilized to generate electricity via gas turbines in multiple stages. ...

Reference:

Storage Is the New Black: A Review of Energy Storage System Applications to Resolve Intermittency in Renewable Energy Systems
A new renewable energy system integrated with compressed air energy storage and multistage desalination
  • Citing Article
  • April 2023

Energy

... Options for valorization encompass extracting bioactive compounds, synthesizing bioplastics and biopolymers, generating enzymes and exopolysaccharides, and producing biofuels within integrated biorefineries [21]. Agricultural biomass wastes can be handled in situ through differentiated sorting of municipal wastes and food wastes [22,23] to separate various organic fractions. The re-use of biomass wastes in local production cycles through onfarm composting, landfilling, and its liquid derivatives, and AD to produce biomethane, biogas, along digestate, is a new challenge [24]. ...

A Unique Biomass Based Integrated Energy System for Cleaner Production of Multiple Energy Derivatives for Sustainable Communities
  • Citing Article
  • December 2022

Sustainable Cities and Society

... Solar energy and wind energy which are two abundant renewable energy sources are being considered as keys to carbon emission reduction [1][2][3][4]. In recent years, the electricity generation capacity from the two sources has grown rapidly by using photovoltaic (PV) cells [5], wind-driven generators, etc. [6]. However, the electricity generated from PV and wind power is high fluctuating due to the intermittent solar irradiation and wind, which is highly expected to be solved by energy storage technology [7,8]. ...

Development of an integrated solar and wind driven energy system for desalination and power generation
  • Citing Article
  • August 2022

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments

... Their experimental results showed that the hybrid compressed natural gas-pneumatic bus emitted 0.80 kg of carbon dioxide per kilometer, making it the second-friendliest choice after the hydrogen fuel cell bus (0.312 kg of carbon dioxide per km). The cooling and heating loads of the developed system were 25 and 15 kW, respectively, and its exergy and energy efficiencies were 67.5% and 46.6%, respectively [37]. Al-Zareer et al. [38] developed a compressed liquid-air cooling system for fast vehicle cabin cooling. ...

Analysis of a newly developed hybrid pneumatic powertrain configuration for transit bus applications
  • Citing Article
  • February 2022

Energy

... The work [27] presents that sliding mode-controlled SMES can effectively make the dc link voltage constant, thus improving the system's stability. In investigation [28], the fractional order PI technique has been used for the superconducting coil placed between the rotor side and grid side converter of DFIG for low voltage ride-through improvement. The innovation in ESS and advancement in power electronics technology-based FACTS devices have created an opportunity for the PS to provide more flexibility and controllability in its evolution toward smart grid. ...

An integrated renewable energy based plant with energy storage for a sustainable community
  • Citing Article
  • June 2021

Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments