International Scientific Journals
of Scientific Technical Union of Mechanical Engineering "Industry 4.0"

The use of renewable sources for energy purposes is very important from the global environmental perspective. Biomass is part of this group of fuels. This article focuses on the characteristics of wet biomass, a typical fuel source in the Albanian rural areas and not only. Thus, the most significant factor of biomass combustion is its moisture content in natural conditions. This property significantly influences the burning quality of biomass. Drying of this fuel using conventional methods or energy intensity processes aims to decrease the moisture content in biomass and meantime increase of its calorific value. The techniques of drying wet biomass vary significantly. Energy utilization of wet biomass is the main goal of this paper, considering it an important fuel source especially during winter season in Albanian rural areas. The variation of heating value to moisture content and other significant parameters have been investigated.

The building sector in our country has an important share of energy consumption. According to Eurostat data, final energy consumption in the residential sector was estimated about 35 % of the total consumption. On the other hand about 75% of the electricity consumption takes place in the building sector. It should be noted that currently this sector faces many challenge, as the quality of energy supply (heating) in public buildings and the residential sector remains at low rates. Nevertheless, reducing energy consumption is one of the main targets set in the National Energy Strategy 2018-2030. By 2030 this target suggests 15.5 % of the energy reduction. This study has at its core the assessment of energy consumption in a public building placed in the city of Durres. Determining the typology and thermophysical characteristics of the building is of primary importance. The evaluation of the energy performance of the building in the dynamic regime was carried out through the Hourly Energy Analysis (HAP) software. The implementation of energy efficiency measures is carried out taking into account the energy and cost criteria. A cost analysis of EE measures was performed using the dynamic Net Present Value method.

With time going by, industries have revolutionized, and continuous upgrade has taken place to strengthen its functionality of resources sharing and integration capabilities of functional units. The article aims to identify and suggest industrial models with the country’s potential in adapting Industry 4.0, and conceptual implementation in an Albanian company. The work clears the overall picture of Industry 4.0 in a country with modest adaptation potential, where technologies adapt to the country’s current needs. The study is based in an analysis of the most important indexes to understand the overall approach of adaptation. All the concepts and analysis are finalized with the Industry 4.0 principle and implementation in the Sideral company. The methods presented offer some good proposals for further
implementation policies in industrial companies

Handling with municipal solid waste nowadays is becoming a global challenge. Albania is facing equally this issue. Although, in recent years a considerable progress has been achieved, still the country is lagging behind the EU states. In generally, the overall progress is slow and the requirements set by the policy and legal framework are not met. However, in recent years in Albania there are some developments related to solve the waste treatment dilemma. Thus, the government chose the public-private partnership model to operate in this field. Therefore currently in Albania are proposed three waste firing plants, placed in Elbasan and Tirana, central Albania and Fier,
southwest of the country. The Elbasan waste to energy plant is in operation since June 2017. Another plant in Fier is projected to start operation soon. This article aims to optimize a 5.5 MWe waste to energy plant in the Albanian conditions. Parametric design of thermodynamic properties of the WtE plant based Rankine cycle model are presented in this study. Optimization of plant efficiency in relation to extraction pressure and feed-water temperature is some of the outputs of this study.