The primary objective of this research is to develop an energy management system for the Co-creation center (CCC) that maximizes the use of passive energy sources while maintaining indoor thermal comfort. Passive energy sources have the potential to significantly reduce the energy consumption of the building. However, to achieve optimal energy savings, it is necessary to integrate multiple passive energy sources and develop a control strategy that can manage them effectively.

Model Predictive Control (MPC) strategies have been extensively researched in the literature as a means of optimizing energy consumption in buildings. However, most studies only consider a single passive energy source or energy distribution in multiple zones. There is limited research on the optimal management of multiple passive energy sources. To address this gap, this thesis investigates the use of an MPC strategy to optimize the operation of multiple passive energy sources in a building. Specifically, the research focuses on four solar blinds, a Phase Change Material (PCM) battery, sky windows, heat recuperation, natural ventilation, and an active energy source.

Grey-box modeling is used to model the building, and the model is calibrated using experimental data. The MPC problem is then set up to minimize energy supplied by Heat pump (HP) while ensuring indoor thermal comfort during occupied periods. An adaptive comfort model is used as a criterion to satisfy during occupied periods. The proposed MPC control is then implemented in the building.

The results show that the proposed MPC outperforms the rule-based controller in terms of energy consumption and maintaining thermal comfort. The research further provides insights into the potential of MPC strategy to increase the energy flexibility of buildings. The final parts of this research focused on varying the PCM temperatures and using a more flexible thermal comfort model and studying its effects on the energy demand of the building. The findings could be used to inform the design of energy-efficient buildings and the development of smart energy management systems ... Read more

Every year large quantities of plastic waste accumulate in Bali’s environment. This has a negative impact on Bali’s environment, local society and its tourist driven economy. With lacking waste management facilities and local awareness plastic waste enters Bali’s rivers, through which the waste ends up in the ocean. A concept small-scale recycling business, aiming to improve local waste management and awareness, is proposed to solve the problem at the source. The goal of this research is to investigate the technological, social and financial feasibility of the concept recycling business and to find a target location. The research first aims to choose three potential locations with different social-demographics through a literature study on Bali’s regional social-demographics and the results of previous ”Pantai” Project researches. Based on this three locations are chosen: Denpasar, Canggu and Pulukan. For better understanding of the areas of interest, the crucial steps for setting up a business on Bali and its local waste management are investigated. A detailed stakeholder analysis is therefore also conducted. This is researched through participatory observation, literature study and interviews with local inhabitants, local businesses and governmental institutions. Surveys are conducted in the areas of interest to analyze how to Balinese handles their plastic waste, their mentality towards the plastic problem and their willingness to participate in the concept recycling plan. The results of the survey show enthusiasm of the local people towards the concept recycling business in the target areas. However, not all stakeholders are represented in conducted surveys, thus care must be taken when concluding the social feasibility. To investigate the technological feasibility literature study is done on plastics and different techniques in all steps of the recycling chain. Through this, feasible techniques for all steps of the recycling chain are chosen, regarding the concept recycling business. Plastic waste is to be sorted by hand and processed by easy operable machinery based on the open-source designs of Precious Plastic. A conceptual model of the small-scale recycling business is introduced for better understanding of the plastic and money streams involved in the concept recycling facility. To investigate the financial feasibility, first the plastic stream is evaluated. In each location households separated and collected all their plastic from the rest of their waste for one week to estimate the composition and quantity of their weekly plastic waste production. From this result the plastic input per location is estimated through calculations. A model is presented to evaluate financial stability of the concept recycling business. Input values for the model are the results from own waste collection measurements and the values acquired from connected parties. Calculations show, although being a rough estimate, financial feasibility. However more in-depth market study has to be performed for more detailed results. Taking everything into account it can be concluded that it is indeed feasible to start a small-scaled recycle business on Bali in Pulukan or similar areas, which is determined by a multi criteria trade-off. However close consideration of local conditions should always be taken into account. ... Read more

In the search for new forms of renewable energy production, an interesting option is to make use of the energy stored in the ocean in tropical areas. The sun heats up the surface water in these areas to a point it is feasible to generate electricity, using the temperature difference between the hot surface water and the cold ocean water at around 1 [km] depth. This form of renewable energy production is called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). As the water temperature in these areas is quite constant, the electricity generation is quite constant as well, which is a big advantage as no inefficient energy storage or unsustainable base load generation is needed. To make OTEC power generation more economically attractive, design optimization and technology up-scaling need to be done, lowering the costs of the components and making sure the components work as efficiently as possible. A crucial component is the condenser. In the condenser, heat is transferred from the working fluid in the cycle (most commonly ammonia or ammonia-water) to the cold water. The working fluid is condensed, which can then be pumped around. The process of pumping the water up from 1 [km] depth is a costly operation (Kirkenier, 2014) and the condenser itself is a significant part of the cost of an OTEC-plant. It is relevant to gain more insight in the transport phenomena in the condenser by executing experiments, so the cost can be reduced. The experimental set-up is a small scale OTEC cycle prototype (OTEC-demo), located in the Process & Energy laboratory at the Delft University of technology. For this research, a gasketed plate heat exchanger is added to the set-up, which can be used as a condenser. On the gasketed plate heat exchanger it is possible to apply some modifications and to change the number of plates, as the heat exchanger can be disassembled. Nine miniature temperature sensors are placed along the flow direction of one of the heat transfer plates for local temperatures measurements. For future research on the flow patterns in the condenser, a transparent corrugated plate was designed and fabricated for visualization purposes. First, the plate was designed with 3D CAD software. Then, the plate was constructed by milling, at the central workshop of the Delft University of Technology. A single phase convective heat transfer coefficient correlation and a pressure drop correlation for the cold water side in the condenser were proposed, by executing experiments with water on both sides of the heat transfer plates in the gasketed plate heat exchanger. In order to research the influence of the vapour quality and the mass flux on the convective heat transfer coefficient on the working fluid side, ammonia-water mixture condensation experiments were executed. During the experiments, the measured cold water temperature profiles were linear for all the set mass flows. This means the convective heat transfer coefficient did not change much along the flow direction of the plate, which can be explained by the small change in vapour quality during the ammonia-water mixture experiments. The convective heat transfer coefficient on the working fluid side increases for increasing mass flux and also increases for increasing vapour quality. The results of these experiments were compared to the theory. A numerical condenser model, which can predict the measured data, was developed. The numerical condenser model is a modification of the numerical condenser model by Goudriaan (2017) and Kuikhoven (2017). By comparing the results of the experiments to the results from the model, the assumptions made in the model can be validated. The model can predict the cold water inlet temperature and the working fluid outlet temperature of the experimental data within an accuracy of 4%. However, this only applies to the measured range of experiments. More experiments are required to propose correlations that are valid in a higher range of mass flows and vapour qualities. Furthermore, pure ammonia experiments were executed. The results were compared to the ammonia-water mixture experiments. The convective and overall heat transfer coefficients decreased for increasing mass flux during the pure ammonia experiments, while the convective and overall heat transfer coefficients increased for increasing mass flux during the ammonia-water mixture experiments. More experiments are needed to investigate this phenomenon. The pressure drop of the pure ammonia flow is slightly higher than the pressure drop of the ammonia-water mixture, due to the lower density of pure ammonia. ... Read more