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Fundamentals of Renewable Energy Processes

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This book examines the fundamentals of some nontraditional energy processes. Little effort is made to describe the state of the art of the technologies involved because, owing to rapidity with which these technologies change, such description would soon become obsolete. Nevertheless, the underlying principles are immutable and are essential for the comprehension of future developments. An attempt is made to present clear physical explanations of the pertinent principles.rnEnergy problems are only partially technical problems – to a large extent economics and politics dominate the picture. In a limited fashion, these considerations are included in the discussions presented here.rnThe organization of the book is arbitary and certainly not all encompassing. Processes that can be considered traditional are generally ignored. On the other hand, the list of nontraditional processes considered is necessarily limited. rnThe public’s widespread desire to become informed about energy has been in part, satisfied by excellent media coverage and by a plethora of good books on the subject. Most of these books are, quite naturally, journalistically slanted and treat technology superficially. Granted, of the various components of the problem-technology, economics, politics-technology represents only a small fraction of the total, but it is the one fraction that must be tackled first.rnThose who need to understand the limitations of technical solutions require a good scientific grasp of what is being proposed. This book tries to explain how each energy process discussed actually works. A reasonable degree of mathematics is used to unify and clarify the explanations. By discussing fundamentals more than the state of art, it is hoped to delay the obsolescence of this writing, especially in this time of very fast evolution of ideas. Those who want to labor in this field may find this book useful in preparing themselves to comprehend more specialized articles on whatever energy process especially interests them.rnIn spite of its fundamentalists approach, this book will eventually become dated, not because fundamentals change but because different fundamentals will be invoked. This second edition discusses several scientific areas that only recently have been recruited to resolve energy problemns. rnAfter more than two centuries of intens development, even very mature technologies such as heat engines (Chapter 2) can still find new and improved forms. This is the case of the free-piston stirling engine a high efficiency and very long maintenance free life has made it a new favorite for generating electricity in remote, unmanned locations, such as in spacecraft and in planetary exploration. This second edition expands the seven pages of the first edition dedicated to stirling engines, and these ultramodern free-piston devices are included.rnThermoelectrics (Chapter 5) has also progressed in recent years with a better understanding of artificially created nano materials and superlattices that, in a way, get around the limitations of the Wiedemann-Franz-Lorenz law, allowing the synthesis of materials that have large electric conductivity but small heat conductivity.rnFuel cells have matured substantially. Those described in the first edition, though adequately light and efficient, were short-lived and expensive. Catalysis problems were responsible for these shortcomings. The second edition has a much expanded discussion of chemical kinetics and describes very recent work (late 2008) that completely avoids prcious metals as catalysts, while substantially outperforming these metals.rnHydrogen production, a fairly old technique, is now beginning to lean on photolytic processes that were of only marginal interest when the first edition was prepared.rnIt is perhaps in biomass that the most dramatic evolution has occurred. Public enthusiasm for ethanol and biodiesel has propelled biomass from a minor energy source into one that can contribute markedly to the fueling of our vehicles. Biomass will be firmly entrenched in such a role if the economical hydrolysis of cellulose can be achieved. The second edition delves deeper into the mysteries of the required biochemistry.rnUtility-size photovoltaic plants expanded in the last few years at a sustained rhythm of over 40% per year. They now face a moment of decision: to continue with efficient but expensive silicon devices or to adopt cheap, though much less efficient, plastic cells. It may all hinge on finding a way to improve the life span of plastic cells. The second edition discusses the chemistry and technology of these polymer cells.rnFinally, wind energy has established itself as a major player in energy production. Wind farms are expanding at the same 40% per year rate as photovoltaics, but having started from a much higher base are now beginning to make significant contributions to the energy mix. When the first edition was prepared, wind energy played a minro role, and it was not entirely clear which type of turbine (horizontal or vertical axis) would win out. It is now clear that the horizontal axis (propeller-type) is the dominant solution. The second edition treats the fundamentals of these machines (Betz limit, Rankine-Froud law, wake rotation, etc.), subjects that were omitted in the first edition.rnThis book is based on class notes created in the teaching of fundamentals of energy processes at Stanford since 1976. As both the cost of energy and our dependence on foreign suppliers have risen, so has the interest in these lectures, reflecting the mood of the American people.rn

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Ketersediaan

090101125

Tersedia

Informasi Detil

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

620.9 ROS f

Penerbit

Elsevier Academic Press : Amsterdam., 2005

Deskripsi Fisik

xvii, 689 p.

Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

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Klasifikasi

620.9 ROS f

Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subyek

Renewable Energy

Info Detil Spesifik

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Pernyataan Tanggungjawab

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Versi lain/terkait

Lampiran Berkas

Komentar

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