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Sustainability
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Advanced Heat System for Sustainable Energy Usage in Winter Condition
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Advanced Heat System for Sustainable Energy Usage in Winter Condition

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (26 March 2023)

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Mengjie Song

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China
Interests: frosting; icing; heat pump; thermal comfort; advanced cooling; flow boiling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tianzhuo Zhan

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Comprehensive Research Organization, Waseda University, Tokyo 1698555, Japan
Interests: nanoscale thermal transport; thermoelectric devices; thermal management in VLSI and power semiconductor devices
Prof. Dr. Yaxiu Gu

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Building Environment and Energy Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Chang'an University, Xi'an 710061, China
Interests: frosting; heat pump; thermal comfort; enhanced heat transfer
Prof. Dr. Sungjoo Hong

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Jeonju University, Jeonju-si 55069, Jeonbuk, Korea
2. Department of Carbon Convergence Engineering, Jeonju University, Jeonju-si 55069, Jeonbuk, Korea
Interests: thermally driven absorption system; heat and mass transfer; membrane-based air-conditioning; carbon nanocomposite-based heat transfer
Prof. Dr. Zhihua Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Human Settlements and Civil Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, Shaanxi, China
Interests: air source heat pump technologies; defrosting; transcortical co2 cycle; system optimization; thermal energy storage
Dr. Wei Yang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia
Interests: thermal comfort; building energy management; sustainable building energy efficiency
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Ammar M. Bahman

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Mechanical Engineering Department, College of Engineering and Petroleum, Kuwait University, P.O. Box 5969, Safat 13060, Kuwait
Interests: heat exchanger design; applied thermodynamics; energy efficiency; energy conversion; exergy analysis; techno-economic; exergo-economic; gas dynamics; HVAC&R; alternative refrigerants; advanced heat pumping technologies; dynamic and steady-state system modeling; thermal system optimization; machine learning; two-phase; nanofluids
Prof. Dr. Limei Shen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Refrigeration and Cryogenics, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China
Interests: thermal management; energy recovery; dehumidify; heat exchanger
Dr. Long Zhang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy and Power Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100811, China
Interests: frosting mechanism and characteristics on cold surfaces; defrosting performances for air source heat pumps; energy efficiency; advanced heat pump technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Hai Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, Zhaoqing University, Zhaoqing 526061, Guangdong, China
Interests: solar thermal conversion and efficient utilization technology; characteristics of phase change materials and the application in the buildings

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The demand for energy used in the winter has increased rapidly in recent decades. A series of advanced heat systems for sustainable energy usage in the winter have been widely developed, including not only for the requirements of space heating and hot water supply, but also for industrial drying and equipment cooling, etc. High-efficiency energy systems have consistently faced problems linked to frosting, icing, lack of energy sources, complicated systems, big space, high cost, etc. In heat pumps, for example, frosting always causes operational issues in the winter. There has been a great deal of efforts focused on applying and studying emerging sustainable and energy-efficient technologies. For example, compact structures, innovative design of multistage cycles, and the development of new refrigerants have been proposed to increase efficiency and reduce cost and space. Efforts have also been made to develop hybrid heat pump systems which can integrate multiple types of heat pumps or apply various heat sources, such as solar energy or industrial waste thermal energy. Meanwhile, air source heat pumps, aircraft, wind turbine blades, high voltage wire, pulverized coal transportation, and food cold storage are highly influenced by frosting and icing. In recent years, fundamental studies around refrigeration and fluid and heat and mass transfer have been widely reported—for example, frosting processes on the surface of a cold plate, the profile from a water droplet to its solidification, and high-accuracy measurements of frost layers. Advanced heat pipes are used to optimize thermal management by transferring thermal energy to the necessary positions. Efforts have also been made to develop huge low-cost sensors for data collection and develop robust dynamic models for optimum control or advanced intelligent control.

The aim of this Special Issue is to present the leading edge of high energy efficiency technologies and sustainable methods used in advanced heat systems for sustainable energy usage in the winter. Original papers on, but not limited to, the following potential topics are welcomed:

  1. Fundamental studies around refrigeration, fluid, and heat and mass transfer;
  2. Frosting/icing process, such as the profile of water droplets, and droplet freezing;
  3. Technology progress in antifrosting, defrosting, anti-icing, deicing, antifouling, and descaling;
  4. Advanced heat exchanger techniques applied to heat systems, such as heat pumps or heat pipes;
  5. New materials or technologies for smart sensors, such as thermoelectric materials;
  6. Integration of heat pumps with multienergy systems and drying/dehumidity technologies;
  7. Optimization of existing thermal cycles, development of new refrigerants or mixtures;
  8. Modelling of heat pump systems, such as physical-based models and data-based models and new application of artificial intelligence (AI) techniques for dynamic operation;
  9. Advanced solar energy usage technologies, as well as new materials for PV/PVT systems;
  10. Fault detection, diagnosis strategies, and big data analysis;
  11. Life cycle environmental and cost assessments;
  12. Reviews and opinions on research needs in the field.

The overall purpose of the Special Issue is to understanding the problem of frost or ice in the winter for different heat systems, and to improve the available technologies and methods for sustainable energy usage. It is hoped that this Special Issue will help to address the knowledge gap and lack of understanding of the issues icing and frosting cause to different heat systems. We are specifically interested in fundamental studies around winter and invite papers that test new technologies in winter conditions.

Prof. Dr. Mengjie Song
Dr. Tianzhuo Zhan
Prof. Dr. Yaxiu Gu
Prof. Dr. Sungjoo Hong
Prof. Dr. Zhihua Wang
Dr. Wei Yang
Dr. Ammar M. Bahman
Prof. Dr. Limei Shen
Dr. Long Zhang
Dr. Hai Wang

Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • heat system
  • heat pump
  • heat exchanger
  • ice/frost
  • drying
  • dehumidify
  • thermal management
  • thermal comfort
  • thermal material. energy recovery
  • smart technology

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 9581 KiB  
Article
Study on Frost-Suppression Characteristics of Superhydrophobic Aluminum Surface Heat Exchanger Applied in Air Source Heat Pump
by Yaxiu Gu, Guixiang He, Shuaipeng Li, Weiqi Ding, Hanlin Li and Jiahui Duan
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 1954; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14041954 - 9 Feb 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 1933
Abstract
In order to solve the frosting problem of air source heat pump (ASHP) outdoor heat exchange under low-temperature and low-humidity conditions, a superhydrophobic aluminum (Al) surface with a contact angle (CA) of 158.3° was prepared by chemical etching. The microscopic characteristics of droplet [...] Read more.
In order to solve the frosting problem of air source heat pump (ASHP) outdoor heat exchange under low-temperature and low-humidity conditions, a superhydrophobic aluminum (Al) surface with a contact angle (CA) of 158.3° was prepared by chemical etching. The microscopic characteristics of droplet condensation and the freezing process of a superhydrophobic surface were revealed through visual experiments and theoretical analysis. On this basis, the frost-suppression effect of a superhydrophobic Al-based surface simulating the distribution of actual heat exchanger fins was preliminarily explored. The results demonstrated that, due to the large nucleation energy barrier and the coalescence-bounce behavior of droplets, the condensed droplets on the superhydrophobic surface appeared late and their quantity was low. The thermal conductivity of the droplets on a superhydrophobic surface was large, so their freezing rate was low. The frosting amount on the superhydrophobic Al-based surface was 69.79% of that of the bare Al-based surface. In turn, the time required for melting the frost layer on the superhydrophobic Al-based surface was 64% of that on the bare Al-based surface. The results of this study lay an experimental and theoretical foundation for the application of superhydrophobic technology on the scale of heat exchangers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Heat System for Sustainable Energy Usage in Winter Condition)
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25 pages, 7747 KiB  
Article
Optical Performance Comparison of Different Shapes of Cavity Receiver in the Fixed Line-Focus Solar Concentrating System
by Hai Wang, Mengjie Song and Haoteng Li
Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1545; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031545 - 28 Jan 2022
Viewed by 2365
Abstract
To optimize the fixed-focus solar concentrating system (FLSCS) and linear cavity receiver of better optical performance, the effects of receiver parameters (geometric shape, receiver position f, receiver internal surface absorptivity αab, and end reflection plane reflectivity ρr) on [...] Read more.
To optimize the fixed-focus solar concentrating system (FLSCS) and linear cavity receiver of better optical performance, the effects of receiver parameters (geometric shape, receiver position f, receiver internal surface absorptivity αab, and end reflection plane reflectivity ρr) on the relative optical efficiency loss ηre-opt,loss, the maximum value of the local concentration ratio Xmax, and the non-uniformity factor σnon were studied in the present study. The results showed that the increases of sun declination angle δ in the range of 0–8° have a weak effect on the ηre-opt,loss. The ηre-opt,loss are 2.25%, 2.72%, 12.69% and 2.62%, 3.26%, 12.85%, respectively, when the solar hour angle ω is 0°, 30°, 60° as δ = 0° and 8° for linear rectangular cavity receiver. The Xmax mainly depends on the energy flux distribution of first intercepted sunlight on the cavity absorber inner wall. Increasing the distance between the cavity absorber inner wall and the focal line Δf can affect the Xmax. The smaller the Δf, the greater the Xmax, and vice versa. The changing trend of σnon is basically consistent with that of the Xmax. When the f is 600, 625, 650, 675, 700 mm and the ω = 0°, the σnon are 0.832, 0.828, 0.801, 0.747, and 0.671, respectively, for linear rectangular cavity receiver. This work could establish the foundation for further research on the optical to thermal energy conversion in the FLSCS. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Heat System for Sustainable Energy Usage in Winter Condition)
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22 pages, 5438 KiB  
Article
Performance Optimization and Economic Evaluation of CO2 Heat Pump Heating System Coupled with Thermal Energy Storage
by Zhihua Wang, Yujia Zhang, Fenghao Wang, Guichen Li and Kaiwen Xu
Sustainability 2021, 13(24), 13683; https://doi.org/10.3390/su132413683 - 10 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2352
Abstract
CO2 air source heat pump (ASHP), as a kind of clean and efficient heating equipment, is a promising solution for domestic hot water and clean heating. However, the promotion of CO2 ASHP encounters a great resistance when it is used for [...] Read more.
CO2 air source heat pump (ASHP), as a kind of clean and efficient heating equipment, is a promising solution for domestic hot water and clean heating. However, the promotion of CO2 ASHP encounters a great resistance when it is used for space heating; namely, the return water temperature is too high that cased higher throttle loss, which decreases the COP of the CO2 ASHP unit. To solve this problem, a heating system of CO2 ASHP coupled with thermal energy storage (TES) is developed in this work. The simulation model of the studied system is established using TRNSYS software, and the model is verified by experimental data. Additionally, the performance of the studied system is optimized, and its economy is analyzed by life cycle cost (LCC). The results showed that, compared with the system before optimization, the cost of the optimized system increased, the annual operating cost of the system was reduced, and the COP of the system (COPsys) increased by 7.4%. This research is helpful in improving the application of the CO2 ASHP unit in cold server and cold areas. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Heat System for Sustainable Energy Usage in Winter Condition)
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21 pages, 6267 KiB  
Article
Effects of Receiver Parameters on Solar Flux Distribution for Triangle Cavity Receiver in the Fixed Linear-Focus Fresnel Lens Solar Concentrator
by Hai Wang, Yanxin Hu, Jinqing Peng, Mengjie Song and Haoteng Li
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6139; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116139 - 29 May 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 3842
Abstract
The objective of the study is to investigate and optimize the solar flux uniformity of a fixed linear-focus Fresnel lens solar concentrator using a triangle cavity receiver. The effects of receiver parameters including the vertical distance from the cavity opening plane to the [...] Read more.
The objective of the study is to investigate and optimize the solar flux uniformity of a fixed linear-focus Fresnel lens solar concentrator using a triangle cavity receiver. The effects of receiver parameters including the vertical distance from the cavity opening plane to the Fresnel lens f, receiver internal surface absorptivity αab, end reflection plane reflectivity ρr, solar declination angle δ and solar angle ω on the uniformity factor (UF) of a triangle cavity receiver were carried out. The effects of receiver parameters are evaluated with a significance test of critical factors. The results showed that the increase in f and δ would result in an increase in the UF. The average UF with f = 600, 625, 650, 675 and 700 mm, respectively, are 0.5030, 0.5858, 0.6337, 0.6576 and 0.6784 for ω in range of 0–60°. Moreover, the UF increases as αab decreases when other receiver parameters are constant for the δ of 0–8°. The ρr has a limited effect on the UF until δ becomes relatively larger and ω becomes relatively smaller. Furthermore, ω effects are most significant on the UF, followed by δ, f and αab. Setting a suitable f is the most economical and effective way to improve the UF. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Heat System for Sustainable Energy Usage in Winter Condition)
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