Water utilities are facing pressure to continue to provide high-quality potable water in an increasingly energy constrained world; managing the ageing infrastructure that exists in many countries is a challenge in and of itself, but recently this has been coupled with political and public attention to the environmental impacts of the distribution system. Utility managers need to take a holistic approach to decision-making in order to determine all of the impacts of their plans. The intention of this thesis is to present a set of considerations for utility planners and managers to provide clarity to the trade-offs associated with any pipe replacement decision. This research has examined the energy relationships between operational energy reduction and the embodied energy tied to replacing deteriorated pipes in water distribution networks. These relationships were investigated through the development and application of a life-cycle energy analysis (LCEA) for three different pipe replacement schedules developed with the intent to reduce leakage in the system. The results showed that the embodied energy for pipe replacement is significant even when compared against the large amount of energy required to operate a large-scale water utility. The annual operational energy savings of between 8.9 and 9.6 million kWh achieved by 2070 through pipe replacement comes at a cost; 0.88-2.05 million kWh/mile for replacement with ductile iron pipes with diameters of 6” to 16” respectively. This imbalance resulted in a maximum energy payback period of 17.6 years for the most aggressive replacement plan in the first decade. Some of the assumptions that were used to complete the LCEA were investigated through a sensitivity analysis; specific factors that were numerically queried in this chapter include the break rate forecasting method, pumping efficiency, the leakage duration and the flow rate per leakage event. Accurate accounting of energy requirements for pipe replacement will become even more important as energy and financial constraints continue to increase for most water utilities, this thesis provides guidance on some of the complex relationships that need to be considered. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-08-21 16:51:18.963

Fiber reinforced plastics are composite materials that offer a lower weight, while still mechanically perform at least as good as conventional materials such as steel. This makes them attractive for the automotive industry since the implementation of them in e.g. a car frame would enable the manufacturers to sell a more fuel efficient vehicle to the customer. The manufacturing of composites is however more energy intense than for steel and the recycling capabilities are limited. This encourages the car designer to regard the product from a macro-perspective, spanning from the extraction of the resources needed to produce the material, to the phase where the product which the material constitutes is disposed. By analyzing such a macro-perspective, the life cycle energy of a product system can be estimated. Since the life cycle energy is correlated to the component design, an optimization problem can be established where the objective function to be minimized is the total life cycle energy. The component design can be expressed in terms of optimization design variables, yielding that the minimum energy is achieved by the optimal design. This methodology is called life cycle energy optimization (LCEO). The aim of this thesis is to apply this method and present a comparison between different materials and recycling strategies for a load carrying frame component provided by Volvo Cars. The materials studied are carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP), glass fiber sheet moulding compound (GF-SMC) and conventional steel. A Python model consisting of five life cycle phases where each phase was described by a function was implemented. Each function uses the component geometry and material properties as an input and gives the energy of the phase as an output. By summing the outputted energies, the life cycle energy is obtained. The distribution of the results is visualized with bar plots. The results show that the least energy demanding option is to manufacture the component in GF-SMC and process the end-of-life product mechanically. If the fiber degradation is taken into account, the most efficient strategy is to manufacture the component in CFRP and recycle it using solvolysis. This thesis shows that the LCEO methodology can be used as a tool for designers to include the recyclability in an early phase of the product development. Future challenges concern the development of industrial recycling of fiber reinforced plastics where the fiber degradation is minimized. / Fiberförstärkta polymerplaster är kompositmaterial som erbjuder en lägre vikt än konventionella material som stål, samtidigt som de bibehåller den mekaniska prestandan. Detta gör dem intressanta för fordonsindustrin då nyttjandet av dem skulle möjliggöra tillverkare att sälja bränsleeffektivare bilar. Tillverkningen av sådana kompositer är dock mer energikrävande än den för stål och deras återvinningsmöjligheter är begränsade. Detta skapar för fordonsformgivaren ett incitament att beakta produkten i ett makroperspektiv som sträcker sig från utvinningen av naturresurserna för att skapa materialet, till slutskedet av produktens avsedda användning. Genom att bestämma hur den ackumulerade energin är fördelad i ett sådant makroperspektiv kan den total livscykelenergin beräknas. Eftersom livscykelenergin är kopplad till komponentens formgivning, kan ett optimeringsproblem med livscykelenergin som målfunktion att minimeras ställas upp. Komponentens formgivning kan uttryckas som optimeringsproblemets designvariabler. Den design som ger den lägsta livscykelenergin blir därmed den optimala formgivningen. Denna metod kallas livscykelenergioptimering (LCEO). Målet med detta examensarbete är att tillämpa denna metod på en lastbärande bilkomponent tillhandahållen av Volvo Cars och genomföra en jämförelseanalys mellan olika material samt återvinningsstrategier. Materialen som undersöks är kolfiberförstärkt härdplastkompist (CFRP), sheet moulding compound med glasfiber (GF-SMC) och konventionellt stål. Den Pythonimplementerade modellen består av fem livscykelfaser där varje fas uttrycks om en funktion med komponentgeomterin samt materialegenskaperna som indata och ger energiåtgången för fasen som utdata. Genom att summera energierna erhålls livscykelenergin och genom att presentera resultaten i ett stapeldiagram kan livscykelenergidistributionen visualiseras. Resultaten visar att det minst energikrävande alternativet är att tillverka komponenten i GF-SMC och återvinna produkten genom mekanisk bearbetning. Om hänsyn tas till fiberslitage blir den optimala lösningen att tillverka komponenten i CFRP och återvinna den genom solvolys. Detta arbete visar att LCEO- metoden, i ett tidigt skede, kan användas som ett verktyg av formgivare för att inkludera hur väl en produkt kan återvinnas. Framtida utmaningar består av att utveckla återvinningen av fiberförstärkta härdplaster industriellt, så att fiberslitaget minimeras.

This thesis reports on the research undertaken to minimise energy consumption within the production phase of a product lifecycle through modelling, monitoring and improved control of energy use within manufacturing facilities. The principle objective of this research is to develop a framework which integrates energy data at plant and process levels within a manufacturing system so as to establish how much energy is required to manufacture a unit product. The research contributions are divided into four major parts. The first reviews relevant literature in energy trends, related governmental policies, and energy tools and software. The second introduces an Embodied Product Energy framework which categorises energy consumption within a production facility into direct and indirect energy required to manufacture a product. The third describes the design and implementation of a simulation model based on this framework to support manufacturing and design decisions for improved energy efficiency through the use of what-if scenario planning. The final part outlines the utilisation of this energy simulation model to support a Design for Energy Minimisation methodology which incorporates energy considerations within the design process. The applicability of the research concepts have been demonstrated via two case studies. The detailed analysis of energy consumption from a product viewpoint provides greater insight into inefficiencies of processes and associated supporting activities, thereby highlighting opportunities for optimisation of energy consumption via operational or design improvements. Although the research domain for this thesis is limited to the production phase, the flexibility offered by the energy modelling framework and associated simulation tool allow for their employment other product lifecycle phases. In summary, the research has concluded that investment in green sources of power generation alone is insufficient to deal with the rapid rise in energy demand, and has highlighted the paramount importance of energy rationalisation and optimisation within the manufacturing industry.

A water distribution system (WDS) design deals with achieving the desired network performance. WDS design can involve new and / or existing network redesigns in order to keep up with the required service performance. Very often, WDS design is expensive, which encourages cost effectiveness in the required investments. Moreover, WDS design is associated with adverse environmental implications such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions due to energy consumption. GHGs are associated with global warming and climate change. Climate change is generally understood to cause reduction in water available at the sources and increase water demand. Urbanization that takes into account factors such as demographics (population ageing, household occupancy rates, etc.) and other activities are associated with water demand changes. In addition to the aforementioned issues, the challenge of meeting the required hydraulic performance of WDSs is worsened by the uncertainties that are associated with WDS parameters (e.g., future water demand). With all the factors mentioned here, mitigation and adaptive measures are considered essential to improve WDS performance in the long-term planning horizon. In this thesis, different formulations of a WDS design methodologies aimed at mitigating or adapting the systems to the effects of future changes such as those of climate change and urbanization are explored. Cost effective WDS designs that mitigate climate change by reducing GHG emissions have been investigated. Also, water demand management (DM) intervention measures, i.e., domestic rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems and water saving appliance schemes (WSASs) have been incorporated in the design of WDSs in an attempt to mitigate, adapt to or counteract the likely effects of future climate change and urbanization. Furthermore, flexibility has been introduced in the long-term WDS design under future uncertainty. The flexible methodology is adaptable to uncertain WDS parameters (i.e., future water demand in this thesis) thereby improving the WDS economic cost and hydraulic performance (resilience). The methodology is also complimented by strategically incorporating DM measures to further enhance the WDS performance under water demand uncertainty. The new methodologies presented in this thesis were successfully tested on case studies. Finally, conclusions and recommendations for possible further research work are made. There are potential benefits (e.g., cost savings, additional resilience, and lower GHG emissions) of incorporating an environmental objective and DM interventions in WDS design. Flexibility and DM interventions add value in the design of WDSs under uncertainty.

O consumo de energia embutida nas edificações acontece ao longo do seu ciclo de vida nas atividades relacionadas com a construção e manutenção. Trata-se de um consumo de cálculo complexo uma vez que o seu valor está contabilizado em outros setores econômicos como o setor industrial de produção de materiais construção e o setor de transportes. A contribuição da energia embutida nas edificações do Brasil chega a 40% do seu ciclo de vida energético. Para além disso as necessidades de infraestrutura no país, em particular no setor residencial, deverão resultar em elevados consumos energéticos para a sua construção, contribuindo para pressionar as necessidades de expansão dos sistemas de oferta de energia. Neste contexto, o objetivo central desta pesquisa é calcular a energia embutida na construção de um condomínio residencial na cidade de Campo Grande no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Para tal foi utilizada um metodologia baseada em Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida Energético (ACVE) tendo sido considerados dois cenários que diferem quanto à eficiência energética na etapa do transporte. Obteve-se um consumo de energia embutida inicial por unidade de área de 4,99 GJ/m2 para o cenário 1 e 5,52 GJ/m2 para o cenário 2, com participações de energia não renovável de 61,2% e 64,2%, respectivamente. No cenário 1 a etapa de fabricação dos materiais respondeu por 96,1% do consumo de energia embutida, o transporte contribuiu com 3,2% e a construção com 0,7%. Já no cenário 2, a participação de cada etapa foi de 86,8%, 12,6% e 0,6% respectivamente. Os resultados do estudo de caso apresentado e o panorama elaborado sobre a energia embutida nas edificações brasileiras realizado nesta tese reforçam a necessidade de incluir a energia embutida como critério de eficiência energética no desenvolvimento de políticas públicas que contribuam para reduzir o consumo de energia no setor de edificações. / The embodied energy in buildings is an energy consumption that happens throughout its life cycle in the activities related to construction and maintenance. Embodied energy calculation is a complex process since its value is accounted for in other economic sectors such as the manufacture of building materials and transportation. The contribution of embodied energy in Brazilian buildings reaches 40% of its energy consumption life cycle. In addition, infrastructure needs in the country, particularly in the residential sector, should result in high energy consumption for its construction, contributing to put pressure on the expansion needs of the energy supply system. In this context, the main objective of this research is to calculate the embodied energy in the construction of a residential condominium in the city of Campo Grande in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. A methodology based on Life Cycle Energy Assessment (LCEA) was used considering two scenarios that differ in terms of energy efficiency at the transportation stage. Initial Embodied Energy per unit area was 4.99 GJ/m2 for scenario 1 and 5.52 GJ/m2 for scenario 2, with a non-renewable energy share of 61.2% and 64, 2%, respectively. In scenario 1, the material manufacturing stage accounted for 96.1% of the initial embodied energy value, transportation contributed with a share of 3.2% and the construction stage with 0.7%. In scenario 2, the share of each stage was 86.8%, 12.6% and 0.6%, respectively. The results of the presented case study and the elaborated panorama on the embodied energy in Brazilian buildings carried out in this thesis reinforce the need to include embodied energy as a criterion of energy efficiency in the development of public policies that contribute to reduce energy consumption in the building sector.

O consumo de energia embutida nas edificações acontece ao longo do seu ciclo de vida nas atividades relacionadas com a construção e manutenção. Trata-se de um consumo de cálculo complexo uma vez que o seu valor está contabilizado em outros setores econômicos como o setor industrial de produção de materiais construção e o setor de transportes. A contribuição da energia embutida nas edificações do Brasil chega a 40% do seu ciclo de vida energético. Para além disso as necessidades de infraestrutura no país, em particular no setor residencial, deverão resultar em elevados consumos energéticos para a sua construção, contribuindo para pressionar as necessidades de expansão dos sistemas de oferta de energia. Neste contexto, o objetivo central desta pesquisa é calcular a energia embutida na construção de um condomínio residencial na cidade de Campo Grande no Estado de Mato Grosso do Sul. Para tal foi utilizada um metodologia baseada em Avaliação de Ciclo de Vida Energético (ACVE) tendo sido considerados dois cenários que diferem quanto à eficiência energética na etapa do transporte. Obteve-se um consumo de energia embutida inicial por unidade de área de 4,99 GJ/m2 para o cenário 1 e 5,52 GJ/m2 para o cenário 2, com participações de energia não renovável de 61,2% e 64,2%, respectivamente. No cenário 1 a etapa de fabricação dos materiais respondeu por 96,1% do consumo de energia embutida, o transporte contribuiu com 3,2% e a construção com 0,7%. Já no cenário 2, a participação de cada etapa foi de 86,8%, 12,6% e 0,6% respectivamente. Os resultados do estudo de caso apresentado e o panorama elaborado sobre a energia embutida nas edificações brasileiras realizado nesta tese reforçam a necessidade de incluir a energia embutida como critério de eficiência energética no desenvolvimento de políticas públicas que contribuam para reduzir o consumo de energia no setor de edificações. / The embodied energy in buildings is an energy consumption that happens throughout its life cycle in the activities related to construction and maintenance. Embodied energy calculation is a complex process since its value is accounted for in other economic sectors such as the manufacture of building materials and transportation. The contribution of embodied energy in Brazilian buildings reaches 40% of its energy consumption life cycle. In addition, infrastructure needs in the country, particularly in the residential sector, should result in high energy consumption for its construction, contributing to put pressure on the expansion needs of the energy supply system. In this context, the main objective of this research is to calculate the embodied energy in the construction of a residential condominium in the city of Campo Grande in the State of Mato Grosso do Sul. A methodology based on Life Cycle Energy Assessment (LCEA) was used considering two scenarios that differ in terms of energy efficiency at the transportation stage. Initial Embodied Energy per unit area was 4.99 GJ/m2 for scenario 1 and 5.52 GJ/m2 for scenario 2, with a non-renewable energy share of 61.2% and 64, 2%, respectively. In scenario 1, the material manufacturing stage accounted for 96.1% of the initial embodied energy value, transportation contributed with a share of 3.2% and the construction stage with 0.7%. In scenario 2, the share of each stage was 86.8%, 12.6% and 0.6%, respectively. The results of the presented case study and the elaborated panorama on the embodied energy in Brazilian buildings carried out in this thesis reinforce the need to include embodied energy as a criterion of energy efficiency in the development of public policies that contribute to reduce energy consumption in the building sector.

The Life Cycle Energy Optimisation (LCEO) methodology aims at finding a design solution that uses a minimum amount of cumulative energy demand over the different phases of the vehicle's life cycle, while complying with a set of functional constraints. This effectively balances trade-offs, and therewith avoids sub-optimal shifting between the energy demand for the cradle-to-production of materials, operation of the vehicle, and end-of-life phases. This work further develops the LCEO methodology and expands its scope through three main methodological contributions which, for illustrative purposes, were applied to a vehicle sub-system design case study. An End-Of-Life (EOL) model, based on the substitution with a correction factor method, is included to estimate the energy credits and burdens that originate from EOL vehicle processing. Multiple recycling scenarios with different levels of assumed induced recyclate material property degradation were built, and their impact on the LCEO methodology's outcomes was compared to that of scenarios based on landfilling and incineration with energy recovery. The results show that the inclusion of EOL modelling in the LCEO methodology can alter material use patterns and significantly effect the life cycle energy of the optimal designs. Furthermore, the previous model is expanded to enable holistic vehicle product system design with the LCEO methodology. The constrained optimisation of a vehicle sub-system, and the design of a subset of the processes which are applied to it during its life cycle, are simultaneously optimised for a minimal product system life cycle energy. In particular, a subset of the EOL processes' parameters are considered as continuous design variables with associated barrier functions that control their feasibility. The results show that the LCEO methodology can be used to find an optimal design along with its associated ideal synthetic EOL scenario. Moreover, the ability of the method to identify the underlying mechanisms enabling the optimal solution's trade-offs is further demonstrated. Finally, the functional scope of the methodology is expanded through the inclusion of shape-related variables and aerodynamic drag estimations. Here, vehicle curvature is taken into account in the LCEO methodology through its impact on the aerodynamic drag and therewith its related operational energy demand. In turn, aerodynamic drag is considered through the estimation of the drag coefficient of a vehicle body shape using computational fluid dynamics simulations. The aforementioned coefficient is further used to estimate the energy required by the vehicle to overcome aerodynamic drag. The results demonstrate the ability of the LCEO methodology to capitalise on the underlying functional alignment of the structural and aerodynamic requirements, as well as the need for an allocation strategy for the aerodynamic drag energy within the context of vehicle sub-system redesign. Overall, these methodological developments contributed to the exploration of the ability of the LCEO methodology to handle life cycle and functional trade-offs to achieve life cycle energy optimal vehicle designs. / Livscykelenergioptimerings-metodologin (LCEO) syftar till att hitta en designlösning som använder en minimal mängd av energi ackumulerat över de olika faserna av en produkts (i detta arbete i formen av ett fordon) livscykel, samtidigt som den uppfyller en förutbestämd uppsättning funktionella begränsningar. Genom detta kan avvägningar balanseras effektivt, och därmed undviks suboptimala förskjutningar mellan energibehovet för vagga-till-produktion av material, fordonets användningsfas samt hantering av det uttjänta fordonet, på engelska kallad End-Of-Life (EOL). Detta arbete vidareutvecklar LCEO-metodologin och utvidgar dess omfattning genom tre huvudsakliga metodologiska bidrag, som, för illustrativa syften, har applicerats på en fallstudie av ett fordons sub-systemdesign. En EOL-modell baserad på substitution med korrigeringsfaktorer, är inkluderad för att uppskatta energikrediter och bördor som härrör från hanteringen av det uttjänta fordonet. Flera olika scenarier som beskriver återvinning med olika nivåer av antagen degradering av egenskaper hos de återvunna materialen har definierats, och deras respektive LCEO utfall har jämförts med motsvarande resultat för scenarier baserade på deponering och förbränning med energiåtervinning. Resultaten visar att införandet av en EOL-modell i LCEO-metodologin kan ändra flöden och mönster kring materialanvändning och har en signifikant påverkan på den totala livscykelenergin i de optimala fordonsdesignen Då valet av EOL-modell har signifikans för LCEO utfallet, har de föregående, statiska modellerna kompletterats med en utvidgning mot en mer holistisk systemstudie utifrån LCEO. I denna utvidgning studeras frågor kring optimerade produktsystem, framförallt avseende en delmängd av EOL processernas parametrar som har inkluderats i form av kontinuerliga designvariabler med antagna barriärfunktioner som modellerar deras genomförbarhet. Resultaten visar att LCEO kan användas för att finna den optimala designen av en fordonskomponent tillsammans med dess associerade, ideala, syntetiska EOL-scenario. Dessutom demonstreras metodens förmåga att identifiera de underliggande mekanismer som möjliggör den optimala lösningens avvägningar. För att utöka komplexiteten i de ansatta funktionella begränsningarna har även form-relaterade variabler och aerodynamiska motståndsberäkningar tagits med. I det här fallet används krökningen på den studerade fordonskomponenten som ytterligare en variabel i LCEO analyser, med dess inverkan på det aerodynamiska motståndet och i och med detta variationer i användningsfasens energibehov. I detta fallet har det aerodynamiska motståndet tagits med i analysen genom uppskattning av motståndskoefficienten av en fordonskomponent framtagen genom strömningsmekaniska beräkningar. Denna uppskattning används sedan för att modellera den energi som krävs av fordonet för att övervinna det aerodynamiska luftmotståndet. I detta sammanhang visas också på behovet av en strategi för allokering av den aerodynamiska motståndsenergin hos en sub-komponent i relation till helheten, när fokus ligger på design av ett sub-system hos ett fordon. Resultaten visar att LCEO beskriver den underliggande funktionella synergin mellan de ansatta strukturella och de aerodynamiska kraven. Detta arbete bidrar till att LCEO utvecklas i flera olika avseenden som utgör väsentliga steg mot en pro-aktiv metod som kan hantera livscykel- och funktionella avvägningar i en optimal fordonsdesign ur ett livscykelenergiperspektiv.

Buildings are directly responsible for 40% of the final energy use in most developed economies and for much more if indirect requirements are considered. This results in huge impacts which affect the environmental balance of our planet.<p>However, most current building energy assessments focus solely on operational energy overlooking other energy uses such as embodied and transport energy. Embodied energy comprises the energy requirements for building materials production, construction and replacement. Transport energy represents the amount of energy required for the mobility of building users.<p>Decisions based on partial assessments might result in an increased energy demand during other life cycle stages or at different scales of the built environment. Recent studies have shown that embodied and transport energy demands often account for more than half of the total lifecycle energy demand of residential buildings. Current assessment tools and policies therefore overlook more than 50% of the life cycle energy use.<p>This thesis presents a comprehensive life cycle energy analysis framework for residential buildings. This framework takes into account energy requirements at the building scale, i.e. the embodied and operational energy demands, and at the city scale, i.e. the embodied energy of nearby infrastructures and the transport energy of its users. This framework is implemented through the development, verification and validation of an advanced software tool which allows the rapid analysis of the life cycle energy demand of residential buildings and districts. Two case studies, located in Brussels, Belgium and Melbourne, Australia, are used to investigate the potential of the developed framework.<p>Results show that each of the embodied, operational and transport energy requirements represent a significant share of the total energy requirements and associated greenhouse gas emissions of a residential building, over its useful life. The use of the developed tool will allow building designers, town planners and policy makers to reduce the energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions of residential buildings by selecting measures that result in overall savings. This will ultimately contribute to reducing the environmental impact of the built environment. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished