Imperial College London

DrAntonioPantaleo

Faculty of EngineeringDepartment of Chemical Engineering

Research Fellow
 
 
 
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C410City and Guilds BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Publication Type
Year
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125 results found

Pantaleo AM, Matteucci F, Cabeza LF, 2024, Research funded by EU in thermal energy storage: Outcomes from the Eurotherm Seminar #116 and role of the European Innovation Council, Journal of Energy Storage, Vol: 81

Journal article

Aunedi M, Olympios AV, Pantaleo AM, Markides CN, Strbac Get al., 2023, System-driven design and integration of low-carbon domestic heating technologies, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol: 187, ISSN: 1364-0321

This research explores various combinations of electric heat pumps (EHPs), hydrogen boilers (HBs), electric boilers (EBs), hydrogen absorption heat pumps (AHPs) and thermal energy storage (TES) to assess their potential for delivering cost-efficient low-carbon heat supply. The proposed technology-to-systems approach is based on comprehensive thermodynamic and component-costing models of various heating technologies, which are integrated into a whole-energy system optimisation model to determine cost-effective configurations of heating systems that minimise the overall cost for both the system and the end-user. Case studies presented in the study focus on two archetypal systems: (i) the North system, which is characterised by colder climate conditions and abundant wind resource; and (ii) the South system, which is characterised by a milder climate and higher solar energy potential. The results indicate a preference for a portfolio of low-carbon heating technologies including EHPs, EBs and HBs, coupled with a sizable amount of TES, while AHPs are not chosen, since, for the investigated conditions, their efficiency does not outweigh the high investment cost. Capacities of heat technologies are found to vary significantly depending on system properties such as the volume and diversity of heat demand and the availability profiles of renewable generation. The bulk of heat (83–97%) is delivered through EHPs, while the remainder is supplied by a mix of EBs and HBs. The results also suggest a strong impact of heat demand diversity on the cost-efficient mix of heating technologies, with higher diversity penalizing EHP relatively more than other, less capital-intensive heating options.

Journal article

Aunedi M, Al Kindi AA, Pantaleo AM, Markides CN, Strbac Get al., 2023, System-driven design of flexible nuclear power plant configurations with thermal energy storage, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol: 291, Pages: 1-14, ISSN: 0196-8904

Nuclear power plants are expected to make an important contribution to the decarbonisation of electricity supply alongside variable renewable generation, especially if their operational flexibility is enhanced by coupling them with thermal energy storage. This paper presents a system modelling approach to identifying configurations of flexible nuclear plants that minimise the investment and operation costs in a decarbonised energy system, effectively proposing a system-driven design of flexible nuclear technology. Case studies presented in the paper explore the impact of system features on plant configuration choices. The results suggest that cost-efficient flexible nuclear configurations should adapt to the system they are located in. In the main low-carbon scenarios and assuming standard-size nuclear power plants (1,610 MWel), the lowest-cost system configuration included around 500 MWel of additional secondary generation capacity coupled to the nuclear power plants, with 4.5 GWhth of thermal storage capacity and a discharging duration of 2.2 h. Net system benefits per unit of flexible nuclear generation for the main scenarios were quantified at £29-33 m/yr for a wind-dominated system and £19-20 m/yr for a solar-dominated system.

Journal article

Tafuni A, Giannotta A, Mersch M, Pantaleo AM, Amirante R, Markides CN, De Palma Pet al., 2023, Thermo-economic analysis of a low-cost greenhouse thermal solar plant with seasonal energy storage, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol: 288, Pages: 1-11, ISSN: 0196-8904

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is today mandatory to limit the increase of ambient temperature. This paper provides a numerical study of a thermal solar plant using a seasonal dual-media sensible heat thermal energy storage system for supplying the total energy demand of a greenhouse located in the South of Italy, avoiding the use of the gas boiler. The aim of the work is to assess the technical and economic performance of a low-cost pit storage system, made of gravel and water, placed under the greenhouse to save surface. The study provides an original analysis of the charging and discharging phases during one year of operation on the basis of the real hourly heating demand and on real weather data. A sensitivity analysis of the levelized cost of heat is carried on with respect to the solar-collector area and to the storage-pit volume. The analysis shows that a minimum-cost design solution exists to cover 100% of the heat demand with an estimated levelized cost of heat of 153.3 EUR/MWh. The results demonstrate that dual-media thermal energy storage systems with solar thermal collectors represent a viable solution for reducing the environmental impact of greenhouses.

Journal article

Arcasi A, Mauro AW, Napoli G, Pantaleo AMet al., 2023, Energy cost impact analysis on the total cost of the crop production for different operating conditions. A salad production case study, Pages: 2626-2636

Nowadays, with the constant global population growth, urbanization, pests use, climate change and resource degradation, the water-energy-food link is constantly stretched. In order to achieve water and food security, sustainable agriculture and energy production, the efforts of the next few years will be aimed to correctly balance these aspects. Therefore, it will be necessary both to improve the energy performance of traditional systems in the agricultural sector and at the same time to develop alternative and innovative ones. In this context, data from a local farm producing salad have been processed in order to relate the energy consumption of each processing phase to the produced kilogram of crop. In particular, thermal loads are attributed to the corresponding primary energy consumption. A thermo-economic analysis was carried out by considering different scenarios in terms of external ambient temperature and specific cost of electricity. Results show that the thermal load exchanged with the external ambient through the walls and the roof of the plant is about the ʹͲΨ of the outgoing thermal load of the evaporator during the lighting hours whereas the thermal load of the auxiliaries (including the production lines) is about its ͺͲΨ. Moreover, the variation of both the fourth range production lines operating time and the external daily temperature causes a variation in the total energy consumption related to the kilogram of processed product - up to 128%. Finally, several economic scenarios have been implemented in order to take into account the variation of the specific cost of electricity.

Conference paper

Arcasi A, Mastrullo R, Mauro AW, Napoli G, Pantaleo AM, Tariello Fet al., 2023, Assessment of the energy consumption of indoor farming for different climates and lighting system intensity, ISSN: 1742-6588

Nowadays, due to the energy, water, and arable land crises, as well as the constant global population growth and urbanization, water, energy, and food sources are strongly linked to each other, and a comprehensive analysis including all the influencing factors has to be carried out. In this context, the need to improve the energy performance of traditional cultivation systems, as well as to develop alternative and innovative ones, is causing a shift in interest from greenhouses to indoor farming methods (such as vertical farms) in the agricultural sector. In fact, they allow for completely controlled crop production without the use of chemical pesticides. Moreover, their productivity is independent of external conditions and improved compared to traditional systems. However, their energy consumption is larger than that of greenhouses. To evaluate the techno-economic feasibility of such systems, a comprehensive model of a vertical farm, including air conditioning, lighting systems, and plant evapotranspiration, has been developed to quantify the energy share for the different elements of the system (air conditioning and lighting) and to relate the energy consumption to the kilogram of produced crop, analysing exclusively the growth phase. The analysis is carried out for different cities and considers different scenarios in terms of lighting and electricity costs.

Conference paper

Wasser HP, Lombardi PA, Mattepu SY, Richter M, Komarnicki P, Pantaleo AMet al., 2023, Design of dairy systems as active Net-Zero Energy Factories. Technical and economic analysis of the German decarbonization process

Industrial plants designed as net-zero energy factories (NZEF) and functioning as prosumers provide the grid operator the opportunity to serve as an additional instrument besides conventional control measures to support grid stability. The planning and implementation of own flexibility measures for the grid operator are associated with high costs, risks and efforts. Accessing the external flexibility capacities of companies or groups of companies in industrial energy hubs offers a more cost-effective control measure for grid operators. In this paper, a cheese factory in Germany is modelled as an NZEF to analyse the potential of flexibility that the cheese dairy factory could provide to the grid operator. The electrification of thermal treatment methods using a heat pump system result in a dairy system with a maximum annual power demand of 581kW (including a 324kW heat pump system), resulting in an annual energy consumption of 2.25GWh for the factory. The redesign of the production chains for drinking milk, yogurt, and cheese enables a significant increase in flexibility of 30.2% over a five-hour period from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. This enhancement allows the daily energy demand to be reduced below its nominal value, while providing an additional increase of energy demand of 86.8% for another five hours, starting from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The extrapolation of the production volume of the dairy products drinking milk, yogurt and cheese for the whole of Germany shows that there are daily load shifts of up to -2.38 GWh and 2.5GWh by maximum power -540MW and 930MW, which could be offered daily to the grid operator as external flexibility.

Conference paper

Aunedi M, Olympios AV, Pantaleo AM, Mersch M, Markides CNet al., 2023, Role of energy storage in residential energy demand decarbonization: system-level techno-economic comparison of low-carbon heating and cooling solutions, Pages: 2309-2321

This paper explores various combinations of electric heat pumps (EHPs), hydrogen boilers (HBs), electric boilers (EBs), hydrogen absorption heat pumps (AHPs) and energy storage technologies (electric and thermal) to assess their potential for matching heating and cooling demand at low cost and with low carbon footprint. Thermodynamic and component-costing models of various heating and cooling technologies are integrated into a whole-energy system cost optimisation model to determine cost-effective configurations of heating and cooling systems that minimise the overall investment and operation cost for both the system and the end-user. Case studies presented in the paper focus on two archetypal systems that differ in terms of heating and cooling demand and availability profiles of solar and wind generation. The proposed approach quantifies how the cost-efficient portfolios of low-carbon heating and cooling solutions are driven by the characteristics of the system such as share of variable renewables or heating and cooling demand. Modelling results suggest that capacity choices for heating and cooling technologies will vary significantly depending on system properties. More specifically, air-to-air EHPs, with their cost and efficiency advantages over air-to-water EHPs, could make a significant contribution to low-carbon heat supply as well as cooling, although their contribution may be constrained by the compatibility with existing heating systems. They are found to be a useful supplementary source of space heating that is able to displace between 20 and 33 GWth of capacity of other heating technologies compared to the case where they do not contribute to space heating.

Conference paper

Pio L, Sandeep Yadav M, Hannes W, Bartlomiej A, Marc R, Antonio P, Komarnicki Pet al., 2023, Net-Zero Energy Factories as active players in the decarbonization process. An application for blockchain, IEEE Belgrade PowerTech Conference, Publisher: IEEE

Conference paper

Arcasi A, Mastrullo R, Mauro AW, Pantaleo AMet al., 2022, State of the art of evapotranspiration models for plant cultivation in open fields, greenhouse systems and plant factories, ATI Annual Congress, Publisher: IOP Publishing, Pages: 1-8, ISSN: 1742-6588

The scarcity of water, the need to reduce of pesticides, the demand for on-site production of vegetables are moving the interest from greenhouse cultivation to indoor farming. Compared to greenhouses, indoor farms allow to reduce considerably the water consumption, requiring more energy, which could be provided by renewable sources. In order to assess the convenience of such a system, accurate preliminary calculations are needed for productivity, energy requirements and costs as a function of the type of cultivation and the operating conditions. While some knowledge (e.g. production rate or cooling system performance) are available from open literature, some specific predictive methods are required. Based on the few works available in literature about indoor farming, evapotranspiration rate resulted as a critical term. An assessment of different methods based on literature data with a critical analysis of their effectiveness based on several aspects (level of fidelity of the model, complexity in the calibration and use, potential strengths and weaknesses) is proposed in this work.

Conference paper

Al Kindi A, Sapin PAUL, Pantaleo A, Wang KAI, Markides Cet al., 2022, Thermo-economic analysis of steam accumulation and solid thermal energy storage in direct steam generation concentrated solar power plants, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol: 274, Pages: 1-27, ISSN: 0196-8904

In direct steam generation (DSG) concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, a common thermal energy storage (TES) option relies on steam accumulation. This conventional option is constrained by temperature and pressure limits, and delivers saturated or slightly superheated steam at reduced pressure during discharge, which is undesirable for part-load turbine operation. However, steam accumulation can be integrated with sensible-heat storage in concrete to provide higher-temperature superheated steam at higher pressure. In this paper, this conventional steam accumulation option (existing) and an integrated concrete-steam TES option (extended) are described and analysed, and their thermo-economic performance are compared taking the 50-MW Khi Solar One DSG CSP plant in South Africa as a case study. The results show that the extended option with five 10-m long, square cross-section concrete blocks, each with 3600 equally spaced tubes, provides an additional TES capacity of 177 MWh compared to the existing configuration as a result of utilising most of the available thermal power in the solar receivers. Moreover, the extended option delivers 58 % more electricity with a 13 % enhancement in thermalefficiency during TES discharging mode. With an estimated additional investment of $4.2M, the levelised costs of storage and electricity for Khi Solar One with the extended TES option are, respectively, 29 % and 6 % lower than those obtained with the existing TES option. With the extended TES option, the projected net present value of Khi Solar One increases by 73 %, from $41M to $71M, at an average electricity price of 280 $/MWh.

Journal article

El Nemr A, Hassaan MA, Elkatory MR, Ragab S, El-Nemr MA, Tedone L, De Mastro G, Pantaleo Aet al., 2022, Enhancement of biogas production from individually or co-digested green algae Cheatomorpha linum using ultrasound and ozonation treated biochar, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry, Vol: 90, ISSN: 1350-4177

This paper proposes the use of modified biochar, derived from Sawdust (SD) biomass using sonication (SSDB) and Ozonation (OSDB) processes, as an additive for biogas production from green algae Cheatomorpha linum (C. linum) either individually or co-digested with natural diet for rotifer culture (S. parkel). Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET), Fourier-Transform Infrared (FTIR), thermal-gravimetric (TGA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were used to characterize the generated biochar. Ultrasound (US) specific energy, dose, intensity and dissolved ozone (O3) concentration were also calculated. FTIR analyses proved the capability of US and ozonation treatment of biochar to enhance the biogas production process. The kinetic model proposed fits successfully with the data of the experimental work and the modified Gompertz models that had the maximum R2 value of 0.993 for 150 mg/L of OSDB. The results of this work confirmed the significant impact of US and ozonation processes on the use of biochar as an additive in biogas production. The highest biogas outputs 1059 mL/g VS and 1054 mL/g VS) were achieved when 50 mg of SSDB and 150 mg of OSDB were added to C. linum co-digested with S. parkle.

Journal article

Elkatory MR, Soliman EA, El Nemr A, Hassaan MA, Ragab S, El-Nemr MA, Pantaleo Aet al., 2022, Mitigation and Remediation Technologies of Waxy Crude Oils' Deposition within Transportation Pipelines: A Review, POLYMERS, Vol: 14

Journal article

El-Nemr MA, El Nemr A, Hassaan MA, Ragab S, Tedone L, De Mastro G, Pantaleo Aet al., 2022, Microporous Activated Carbon from <i>Pisum sativum</i> Pods Using Various Activation Methods and Tested for Adsorption of Acid Orange 7 Dye from Water, MOLECULES, Vol: 27

Journal article

Aunedi M, Yliruka M, Dehghan S, Pantaleo AM, Shah N, Strbac Get al., 2022, Multi-model assessment of heat decarbonisation options in the UK using electricity and hydrogen, Renewable Energy, Vol: 194, Pages: 1261-1276, ISSN: 0960-1481

Delivering low-carbon heat will require the substitution of natural gas with low-carbon alternatives such as electricity and hydrogen. The objective of this paper is to develop a method to soft-link two advanced, investment-optimising energy system models, RTN (Resource-Technology Network) and WeSIM (Whole-electricity System Investment Model), in order to assess cost-efficient heat decarbonisation pathways for the UK while utilising the respective strengths of the two models. The linking procedure included passing on hourly electricity prices from WeSIM as input to RTN, and returning capacities and locations of hydrogen generation and shares of electricity and hydrogen in heat supply from RTN to WeSIM. The outputs demonstrate that soft-linking can improve the quality of the solution, while providing useful insights into the cost-efficient pathways for zero-carbon heating. Quantitative results point to the cost-effectiveness of using a mix of electricity and hydrogen technologies for delivering zero-carbon heat, also demonstrating a high level of interaction between electricity and hydrogen infrastructure in a zero-carbon system. Hydrogen from gas reforming with carbon capture and storage can play a significant role in the medium term, while remaining a cost-efficient option for supplying peak heat demand in the longer term, with the bulk of heat demand being supplied by electric heat pumps.

Journal article

Olympios AV, Aunedi M, Mersch M, Krishnaswamy A, Stollery C, Pantaleo AM, Sapin P, Strbac G, Markides CNet al., 2022, Delivering net-zero carbon heat: technoeconomic and whole-system comparisons of domestic electricity- and hydrogen-driven technologies in the UK, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol: 262, ISSN: 0196-8904

Proposed sustainable transition pathways for moving away from natural gas in domestic heating focus on two main energy vectors: electricity and hydrogen. Electrification would be implemented by using vapour-compression heat pumps, which are currently experiencing market growth in many countries. On the other hand, hydrogen could substitute natural gas in boilers or be used in thermally–driven absorption heat pumps. In this paper, a consistent thermodynamic and economic methodology is developed to assess the competitiveness of these options. The three technologies, along with the option of district heating, are for the first time compared for different weather/ambient conditions and fuel-price scenarios, first from a homeowner’s and then from a whole-energy system perspective. For the former, two-dimensional decision maps are generated to identify the most cost-effective technologies for different combinations of fuel prices. It is shown that, in the UK, hydrogen technologies are economically favourable if hydrogen is supplied to domestic end-users at a price below half of the electricity price. Otherwise, electrification and the use of conventional electric heat pumps will be preferred. From a whole-energy system perspective, the total system cost per household (which accounts for upstream generation and storage, as well as technology investment, installation and maintenance) associated with electric heat pumps varies between 790 and 880 £/year for different scenarios, making it the least-cost decarbonisation pathway. If hydrogen is produced by electrolysis, the total system cost associated with hydrogen technologies is notably higher, varying between 1410 and 1880 £/year. However, this total system cost drops to 1150 £/year with hydrogen produced cost-effectively by methane reforming and carbon capture and storage, thus reducing the gap between electricity- and hydrogen-driven technologies.

Journal article

Bianco N, Mauro AW, Mauro GM, Pantaleo AM, Viscito Let al., 2022, A semi-empirical model for de-watering and cooling of leafy vegetables, APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING, Vol: 208, ISSN: 1359-4311

Journal article

Al Kindi A, Aunedi M, Pantaleo A, Strbac G, Markides Cet al., 2022, Thermo-economic assessment of flexible nuclear power plants in future low-carbon electricity systems: Role of thermal energy storage, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol: 258, ISSN: 0196-8904

The increasing penetration of intermittent renewable power will require additional flexibility from conventional plants, in order to follow the fluctuating renewable output while guaranteeing security of energy supply. In this context, coupling nuclear reactors with thermal energy storage could ensure a more continuous and efficient operation of nuclear power plants, while at other times allowing their operation to become more flexible and cost-effective. This study proposes options for upgrading a 1610-MWel nuclear power plant with the addition of a thermal energy storage system and secondary power generators. The total whole-system benefits of operating the proposed configuration are quantified for several scenarios in the context of the UK’s national electricity system using a whole-system model that minimises the total system costs. The proposed configuration allows the plant to generate up to 2130 MWel during peak load, representing an increase of 32% in nominal rated power. This 520 MWel of additional power is generated by secondary steam Rankine cycle systems (i.e., with optimised cycle thermal efficiencies of 24% and 30%) and by utilising thermal energy storage tanks with a total heat storage capacity of 1950 MWhth. Replacing conventional with flexible nuclear power plants is found to generate whole-system cost savings between £24.3m/yr and £88.9m/yr, with the highest benefit achieved when stored heat is fully discharged in 0.5 h. At an estimated cost of added flexibility of £42.7m/yr, the proposed flexibility upgrades to such nuclear power plants appears to be economically justified with net system benefits ranging from £4.0m/yr to £31.6m/yr for the examined low-carbon scenarios, provided that the number of flexible nuclear plants in the system is small. This suggests that the value of this technology is system dependent, and that system characteristics should be adequately considered when evaluating the benefits of diffe

Journal article

Romanos P, Al Kindi A, Pantaleo AM, Markides CNet al., 2022, Flexible nuclear plants with thermal energy storage and secondary power cycles: Virtual power plant integration in a UK energy system case study, e-Prime - Advances in Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Energy, Vol: 2, Pages: 1-24, ISSN: 2772-6711

Electricity markets are fast changing because of the increasing penetration of intermittent renewable generation, leading to a growing need for the flexible operation of power plants to provide regulation services to the grid. Previous studies have suggested that conventional power plants (e.g., nuclear) may benefit from the integration of thermal energy storage (TES), as this enables greater flexibility. In conventional Rankine-cycle power plants, steam can be extracted during off-peak periods to charge TES tanks filled with phase-change materials (PCMs); at a later time, when this is required and/or economically favourable, these tanks can feed secondary thermal power plants to generate power, for example, by acting as evaporators of organic Rankine cycle (ORC) plants. This solution offers greater flexibility than TES-only solutions that store thermal energy and then release this back to the base power plant, as it allows both derating and over-generation. The solution is applied here to a specific case study of a 670 MW el nuclear power plant in the UK, which is a typical baseload power plant not intended for flexible operation. It is found a maximum combined power of 822 MW el can be delivered during peak demand, which is 23% higher than the base plant’s (nominal) rated power, and a maximum derating of 40%, i.e., down to 406 MW el during off-peak demand. An operational energy management strategy (EMS) is then proposed for optimising the charging of the TES tanks during off-peak demand periods and for controlling the discharging of the tanks for electricity generation during peak-demand periods. An economic analysis is performed to evaluate the potential benefits of this EMS. Profitability in the case study considered here can result when the average peak and off-peak electricity price variations are at least double those that occurred in the UK market in 2019 (with recent data now close to this), and when TES charge/discharge cycles are performed more than

Journal article

Al Kindi A, Aunedi M, Pantaleo A, Strbac G, Markides Cet al., 2021, Thermo-economic assessment of flexible nuclear power plants in the UK’s future low-carbon electricity system: role of thermal energy storage, 16th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems, Publisher: SDEWES

Nuclear power plants are commonly operated as baseload units due to their low variable costs, high investment costs and limited ability to modulate their output. The increasing penetration of intermittent renewable power will require additional flexibility from conventional generation units, in order to follow the fluctuating renewable output while guaranteeing security of energy supply. In this context, coupling nuclear reactors with thermal energy storage could ensure a more continuous and efficient operation of nuclear power plants, while at other times allowing their operation to become more flexible and cost-effective. This study considers options for upgrading a 1610-MWel nuclear power plant with the addition of a thermal energy storage system and secondary power generators. The analysed configuration allows the plant to generate up to 2130 MWel during peak load, representing an increase of 32% in nominal rated power. The gross whole-system benefits of operating the proposed configuration are quantified over several scenarios for the UK’s low-carbon electricity system. Replacing conventional with flexible nuclear plant configuration is found to generate system cost savings that are between £24.3m/yr and £88.9m/yr, with the highest benefit achieved when stored heat is fully discharged in 0.5 hours (the default case is 1 hour). At an estimated cost of added flexibility of £42.7m/yr, the proposed flexibility upgrade to a nuclear power plant appears to be economically justified for a wide range of low-carbon scenarios, provided that the number of flexible nuclear units in the system is small.

Conference paper

Richter M, Lombardi P, Arendarski B, Naumann A, Hoepfner A, Komarnicki P, Pantaleo Aet al., 2021, A Vision for Energy Decarbonization: Planning Sustainable Tertiary Sites as Net-Zero Energy Systems, ENERGIES, Vol: 14

Journal article

Hassaan MA, El Nemr A, Elkatory MR, Ragab S, El-Nemr MA, Pantaleo Aet al., 2021, Synthesis, characterization, and synergistic effects of modified biochar in combination with alpha-Fe2O3 NPs on biogas production from red algae pterocladia capillacea, Sustainability, Vol: 13, Pages: 1-22, ISSN: 2071-1050

This study is the first work that evaluated the effectiveness of unmodified (SD) and modified biochar with ammonium hydroxide (SD-NH2) derived from sawdust waste biomass as an additive for biogas production from red algae Pterocladia capillacea either individually or in combination with hematite α-Fe2O3 NPs. Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller, Fourier transform infrared, thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Raman, and a particle size analyzer were used to characterize the generated biochars and the synthesized α-Fe2O3. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements confirmed the formation of amino groups on the modified biochar surface. The kinetic research demonstrated that both the modified Gompertz and logistic function models fit the experimental data satisfactorily except for 150 SD-NH2 alone or in combination with α-Fe2O3 at a concentration of 10 mg/L. The data suggested that adding unmodified biochar at doses of 50 and 100 mg significantly increased biogas yield compared to untreated algae. The maximum biogas generation (219 mL/g VS) was obtained when 100 mg of unmodified biochar was mixed with 10 mg of α-Fe2O3 in the inoculum.

Journal article

Olympios A, Krishnaswamy A, Stollery C, Mersch M, Pantaleo A, Sapin P, Markides Cet al., 2021, Techno-economic comparison of hydrogen- and electricity-driven technologies for the decarbonisation of domestic heating, 16th Conference on Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems (SDEWES 2021)

Sustainable transition pathways currently being proposed for moving away from the use of natural gas and oil in domestic heating focus on two main energy vectors: electricity and hydrogen. The former transition would most likely be implemented using electric vapour-compression heat pumps, which are currently experiencing market growth in many industrialised countries. Electric heat pumps have proven to be an efficient alternative to gas boilers under certain conditions, but their techno-economic potential is highly dependent on the local climate conditions. Hydrogen-based heating systems, which could potentially utilise existing natural gas infrastructure, are being proposed as providing an attractive opportunity to maximise the use of existing assets to facilitate the energy-system transition. In this case, hydrogen can substitute natural gas in boilers or in thermally driven absorption heat pumps. Both heating system transition pathways may involve either installing new technologies at the household level or producing heat in centralised hubs and distributing it via district-heating systems. Although the potential of hydrogen in the context of heating decarbonisation has been explored in the past, a comprehensive comparison of electricity- and hydrogen-driven domestic heating options is lacking in literature. In this paper, a thermodynamic and economic methodology is developed to assess the competitiveness of a domestic-scale ammonia-water absorption heat pump driven by heat from a hydrogen boiler compared to a standalone hydrogen boiler, a classic vapour-compression heat pump and district heating, all from a homeowner’s perspective. Using a previously developed electric heat pump model, the different systems are compared for various climate conditions and fuel-price scenarios under a unified framework. The coefficient of performance of the absorption heat pump system under design conditions and the total system cost are found to be 1.4 and £5400, resp

Conference paper

Fermo P, Artinano B, De Gennaro G, Pantaleo AM, Parente A, Battaglia F, Colicino E, Di Tanna G, da Silva Junior AG, Pereira IG, Garcia GS, Goncalves LMG, Comite V, Miani Aet al., 2021, Improving indoor air quality through an air purifier able to reduce aerosol particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs): Experimental results, ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH, Vol: 197, ISSN: 0013-9351

Journal article

Todaro L, Liuzzi S, Pantaleo AM, Lo Giudice V, Moretti N, Stefanizzi Pet al., 2021, Thermo-modified native black poplar (<i>Populus nigra</i> L.) wood as an insulation material, IFOREST-BIOGEOSCIENCES AND FORESTRY, Vol: 14, Pages: 268-273, ISSN: 1971-7458

Journal article

Palmitessa OD, Pantaleo MA, Santamaria P, 2021, Applications and Development of LEDs as Supplementary Lighting for Tomato at Different Latitudes, AGRONOMY-BASEL, Vol: 11

Journal article

Hassaan MA, El Nemr A, Elkatory MR, Eleryan A, Ragab S, El Sikaily A, Pantaleo Aet al., 2021, Enhancement of Biogas Production from Macroalgae <i>Ulva latuca</i> via Ozonation Pretreatment, ENERGIES, Vol: 14

Journal article

Calise F, Cappiello FL, Vicidomini M, Song J, Pantaleo AM, Abdelhady S, Shaban A, Markides CNet al., 2021, Energy and economic assessment of energy efficiency options for energy districts: case studies in Italy and Egypt, Energies, Vol: 14, Pages: 1-24, ISSN: 1996-1073

In this research, a technoeconomic comparison of energy efficiency options for energy districts located in different climatic areas (Naples, Italy and Fayoum, Egypt) is presented. A dynamic simulation model based on TRNSYS is developed to evaluate the different energy efficiency options, which includes different buildings of conceived districts. The TRNSYS model is integrated with the plug-in Google SketchUp TRNSYS3d to estimate the thermal load of the buildings and the temporal variation. The model considers the unsteady state energy balance and includes all the features of the building’s envelope. For the considered climatic zones and for the different energy efficiency measures, primary energy savings, pay back periods and reduced CO2 emissions are evaluated. The proposed energy efficiency options include a district heating system for hot water supply, air-to-air conventional heat pumps for both cooling and space heating of the buildings and the integration of photovoltaic and solar thermal systems. The energy actions are compared to baseline scenarios, where the hot water and space heating demand is satisfied by conventional natural gas boilers, the cooling demand is met by conventional air-to-air vapor compression heat pumps and the electric energy demand is satisfied by the power grid. The simulation results provide valuable guidance for selecting the optimal designs and system configurations, as well as suggest guidelines to policymakers to define decarbonization targets in different scenarios. The scenario of Fayoum offers a savings of 67% in primary energy, but the associated payback period extends to 23 years due to the lower cost of energy in comparison to Naples.

Journal article

Hassaan MA, Pantaleo A, Tedone L, Elkatory MR, Ali RM, El Nemr A, De Mastro Get al., 2021, Enhancement of biogas production via green ZnO nanoparticles: experimental results of selected herbaceous crops, CHEMICAL ENGINEERING COMMUNICATIONS, Vol: 208, Pages: 242-255, ISSN: 0098-6445

Journal article

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