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Exhaust air energy recovery system for electrical power generation in future green cities

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Abstract

This paper investigates a technology-driven solution to supply a portion of energy demand in future green cities. An idea on harnessing unnatural wind resources for electricity is presented. Two vertical axis wind turbines with an enclosure are mounted above a cooling tower to recover part of the energy from the exhaust air. Guide-vanes are designed to create a venturi effect and guide the wind before it interacts with the turbine blades. Diffuser-plates help to draw more wind and accelerate the exhaust airflow. Safety concerns that may result from blade failure are minimized by the design of the enclosure. From the laboratory test and field test results, there is no significant difference in the current consumption of the fan motor with the installation of the wind turbines. The integration of the enclosure has shown an improvement on the turbine’s rotational speed which is 30.4% higher. The electricity generated from this system can be fed into the electricity grid. For 3000 units of cooling tower (2 m outlet diameter powered by a 7.5 kW fan motor and operated for 16 hours/day), 13% of the energy to power the fan motor is expected to be recovered from this system which equals 17.5 GWh/year.

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Abbreviations

GHG:

Greenhouse Gas

TNB:

Tenaga Nasional Berhad

VAWT:

Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

RE:

Renewable energy

DAWT:

Diffuser Augmented Wind Turbine

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Wen Tong Chong, Sin Chew Poh & Ahmad Fazlizan

  2. UMPEDAC, Level 4, Wisma R & D, University Malaya, Jalan Pantai Baharu, 59990, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Sook Yee Yip & Wooi Ping Hew

  3. Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, 40450, Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

    Mei Hyie Koay

Authors
  1. Wen Tong Chong
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  2. Sin Chew Poh
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  3. Ahmad Fazlizan
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  4. Sook Yee Yip
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  5. Mei Hyie Koay
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  6. Wooi Ping Hew
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Correspondence to Wen Tong Chong.

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Chong, W.T., Poh, S.C., Fazlizan, A. et al. Exhaust air energy recovery system for electrical power generation in future green cities. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 14, 1029–1035 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-013-0138-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-013-0138-3

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