The continuous growth of the concrete industry requires an increased quantity of cement and natural aggregates year after year, and it is responsible for a major part of the global CO2 emissions. These aspects led to rigorous research for suitable raw materials. Taking into account that these raw materials must have a sustainable character and also a low impact on environmental pollution, the replacement of the conventional components of concrete by residual waste can lead to these targets. This paper’s aim is to analyze the density, compressive strength and the thermal conductivity of nine concrete compositions with various rates of waste: four mixes with 10%, 20%, 40% and 60% chopped PET bottles aggregates and 10% fly ash as cement partial substitution; a mix with 60% waste polystyrene of 4–8 mm and 10% fly ash; a mix with 20% waste polystyrene of 4–8 mm, 10% waste polystyrene of 0–4 mm and 10% fly ash; a mix with 50% waste polystyrene of 4–8 mm, 20% waste polystyrene of 0–4 mm and 20% fly ash two mixes with 10% fly ash and 10% and 40% waste sawdust, respectively. Using 60% PET aggregates, 60% polystyrene granules of 4–8 mm, or 20% polystyrene of 0–4 mm together with 50% polystyrene of 4–8 mm led to the obtainment of lightweight concrete, with a density lower than 2000 kg/m3. These mixes also registered the best results from a thermal conductivity point of view, after the concrete mix with 40% saw dust. Regarding compressive strength, the mix with 10% PET obtained a result very close to the reference mix, while those with 20% PET, 40% PET, 30% polystyrene, and 10% saw dust, respectively, registered values between 22 MPa and 25 MPa, values appropriate for structural uses.

One of the biggest challenges the world is facing these days is to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions in order to prevent the global warming. Since a significant quantity of CO2 emissions is the result of the energy producing process required in industry or buildings, the waste heat recovery is an important aspect in the fight for preserving the planet. In this study, an innovative waste heat recovery system which can recover waste heat energy from cooling liquids used in industry or in different processes, was designed and subjected to experimental investigations. The equipment uses heat pipes to capture thermal energy from the residual fluids transiting the evaporator zone and transfer it to the cold water transiting the condenser zone. The efficiency of the heat exchanger was tested in 9 scenarios, by varying the temperature of the primary agent to 60, 65 and 70 °C and the volume flow rate of the secondary agent to 1, 2 and 3 L/min. The temperature of the secondary agent and the volume flow rate of the primary agent were kept constant at 10 °C, respectively 24 L/min. The results were later validated through numerical simulations, and confirmed that the equipment can easily recover waste thermal energy from used water with low and medium temperatures at very low costs compared to the traditional heat exchangers. The results were promising, revealing an efficiency of the equipment up to 76.7%.

The subject of buildings energy efficiency has gained increased interest in modern society. Recently, researchers aiming to reduce the energy demand of buildings have studied the implementation of phase change materials (PCMs) in various building elements. At the same time, researchers studied the implementation of unconventional technologies such as heat pipes (HP) in the buildings’ heating system. This paper combines both of these technologies in order to take advantage of the thermal storage properties of PCMs and overcome their reduced conductivity with heat pipes. Through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, this paper studies and highlights that with the implementation of a PCM, a reduction of the daily energy demand is achieved through the increase in the discharge phase time.

This study presents an experimental and numerical investigation into the efficiency of a two-stage heat recovery–storage system for reducing the thermal energy losses in the industry. The system is designed to recover and store waste thermal energy from residual fluids using heat pipes for recovery and an environmentally friendly phase change material for heat storage. Experimental investigation was conducted using water as the primary agent and varying the temperature between 60 °C, 65 °C, and 70 °C at a constant flow rate of 24 L/min. The secondary agent, also water, was used at an initial temperature of 10 °C and the flow rate was varied between 1 L/min, 2 L/min, and 3 L/min. The results show that the system had a peak efficiency of 78.1% and was able to recover a significant amount of thermal energy. This study demonstrates the potential of this system to reduce the thermal energy losses in the industry and highlight the importance of further research and development in this field, as the industry is responsible for approximately 14% of the total thermal energy losses and finding efficient ways to recover and store waste thermal energy is crucial to achieving sustainable energy consumption.

The aim of the study is to develop a system for converting, accumulating, and delivering solar energy that is based on the development of an innovative solar panel with heat pipes and a heat storage wall, for the construction of passive structures. The novel aspect of this experiment is the utilization of concrete walls that have different recyclable materials added to their structure in various proportions. The solar energy from the sunny façades is transformed by this system into thermal energy, which is then transferred by integrated heat pipes in a massive element with high thermal inertia. Using insulated shutters, thermal energy can be stored during the day and released at night to keep the room at a comfortable temperature. In order to integrate the modules into the solar recovery system, four concrete samples were cast with a blend of standard and waste aggregates. Four heat fluxes of 100 W/m2, 150 W/m2, 200 W/m2, and 250 W/m2 were applied to each global system. Thermal imaging data and numerical simulations both supported the findings of temperature sensors. The most effective mixture, fly ash and chopped PET, delivered temperatures that were, on average, 3.3% higher at the end of the charging cycle than those measured for the control sample. The discharging cycle of the concrete block with fly ash and sawdust was the most effective, with an average temperature loss of 5.0 °C as compared to 5.5 °C for the control sample, on average.