Theo Elmer

State of the Art Review: Fuel Cell Technologies in the Domestic Built Environment

The paper provides a state-of-the-art review of fuel cells operating in the domestic built environment. Fuel cells produce heat when generating electricity, thus they are of particular interest for combined heat and power (CHP) applications. As this paper’s focus is the domestic built environment, only micro-CHP applications are considered.

Liquid Desiccant Air Conditioning System Modelling and Analysis

This chapter provides a theoretical performance investigation of the liquid desiccant air conditioning technology that will be integrated alongside the SOFC in the tri-generation system.

Component Evaluation of a Novel Integrated Liquid Desiccant Air Conditioning System (IDCS)

This chapter presents component evaluation, based on experimental data, of a novel ‘integrated’ liquid desiccant air conditioning system (IDCS) operating with a potassium formate solution.

Tri-generation System Integration and Evaluation

This chapter evaluates the novel tri-generation system concept that is the focus of this thesis. It seeks to address, or at least narrow, the current research gap with an evaluation based on experimental evidence generated in a laboratory setting. In so doing the evaluation quantifies the performance of the system and offers suggestions for future work in the field.

Component Evaluation of a Separate Liquid Desiccant Air Conditioning System (SDCS)

This chapter aims to evaluate the performance of a separate liquid desiccant air conditioning system (SDCS) under a variety of environmental and operating conditions.

Economic and Environmental Assessment

The aim of this chapter is to conduct an assessment as to whether the SOFC liquid desiccant tri-generation system is economically and environmentally viable. It builds upon the tri-generation system integration evaluation presented in Chap. 7 with an economic assessment in Sect. 8.2 and an environmental assessment in Sect. 8.3. Section 8.4 contextualises the presented results and concludes the chapter. A published journal article, by the author, on the economic and environmental assessment of the novel tri-generation system can be referred to here; Elmer et al. (2016a).

SOFC Tri-generation System Modelling and Analysis

In recent years, the dramatic increase in fossil fuel prices and the accompanying concerns regarding their environmental impact have driven governments, business and consumers towards cleaner energy resources and to use alternative methods for more efficient energy utilisation.