Browsing by Author "Shepley, Paul"
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Item Open Access Heat recovery and thermal energy storage potential using buried infrastructure in the UK(Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), 2022-04-14) Loveridge, Fleur; Schellart, Alma; Rees, Simon; Stirling, Ross; Taborda, David; Tait, Simon; Alibardi, Luca; Biscontin, Giovanna; Shepley, Paul; Shafagh, Ida; Shepherd, Will; Yildiz, Anil; Jefferson, BruceDispersed space heating alone accounts for 40% of UK energy use and 20% of CO2 emissions. Tackling heating and building cooling demands is therefore critical to achieve net zero ambitions in the UK. The most energy efficient way to decarbonise heating and cooling is through the use of ground source heat pumps and district heating technology. However, capital costs are often high, sometimes prohibitively so. To reduce investment costs, it is proposed to use buried infrastructure as sources and stores of thermal energy. Barriers to this innovative approach include lack of knowledge about the actual net amount of recoverable energy, and impacts on the primary function of any buried infrastructure, as well as the need for new investment and governance strategies integrated across the energy and infrastructure sectors. Additional opportunities from thermal utilisation in buried infrastructure include the potential mitigation of damaging biological and/or chemical processes that may occur. This paper presents a first assessment of the scale of the opportunity for thermal energy recovery and storage linked to new and existing buried infrastructure, along with strategic measures to help reduce barriers and start the UK on the journey to achieving of its infrastructure energy potential.Item Open Access Potential influence of sewer heat recovery on in-sewer processes(IWA Publishing, 2020-02-13) Abdel-Aal, Mohamad; Villa, Raffaella; Jawiarczyk, Natalia; Alibardi, Luca; Jensen, Henriette; Schellart, Alma; Jefferson, Bruce; Shepley, Paul; Tait, SimonHeat recovery from combined sewers has a significant potential for practical renewable energy provision as sources of heat demand and sewer pipes are spread across urban areas. Sewers are continuously recharged with relatively hot wastewater, as well as interacting with heat sources from surrounding air and soil. However, the potential effects of modifying sewage temperature on in-sewer processes have received little attention. The deposition of fats, oils and greases (FOGs) and hydrogen sulphide formation are biochemical processes and are thus influenced by temperature. This paper utilises a case study approach to simulate anticipated temperature reductions in a sewer network due to heat recovery. A laboratory investigation into the formation of FOG deposits at temperatures varying between 5 °C and 20 °C provided mixed results, with only a weak temperature influence, highlighting the need for more research to fully understand the influence of the wastewater composition as well as temperature on FOG deposit formation. A separate modelling investigation into the formation of hydrogen sulphide when inflow temperature is varied between 5 °C and 20 °C showed considerable reductions in hydrogen sulphide formation. Hence, heat extraction from sewers could be a promising method for managing some in-sewer processes, combined with traditional methods such as chemical dosing