A real-time error correction operation model for an integrated energy system is proposed in this paper, based on the analysis of the real-time optimized operation structure of an integrated energy system and the characteristics of the system. The model makes real-time corrections to the day-ahead operation strategy of the integrated energy system, to offset forecast errors from the renewable power generation system and multi-energy load system. When unbalanced power occurs in the system due to prediction errors, the model comprehensively considers the total capacity of each energy supply and energy storage equipment, adjustable margin, power climbing speed and adjustment cost, to formulate the droop rate which determines the unbalanced power that each device will undertake at the next time interval, while taking the day-ahead dispatching goals of the system into consideration. The case study shows that the dispatching strategy obtained by the real-time error correction operation model... [more]

The aim of this manuscript is to define an operational pipeline of work, from data acquisition to the report creation, for the smart management of PV plants. To achieve such an ambitious result, we exploit the implementation of a conceptual model, deployed through a relational database to retrieve any kind of information related to the PV plant. The motivation that drove this research is due to the increasing construction of PV plants. In fact, following European and international investments that heavily stimulated the use of clean energy, the need to maintain PV plants in their maximum efficiency for their whole lifecycle emerged, to bring about benefits from both the ecological and the economic points of view. While the research community focuses on finding new and automatic ways to detect faults automatically, few efforts have been made considering the so-called Operation and Maintenance (O&M). A relational conceptual model may facilitate the management of heterogeneous sources of... [more]

This work provides technical and economic feasibility of installing a solar chimney power-water distillation plant (SCPWDP) in the port of Aqaba in Jordan. A mathematical model for the SCPWDP has been developed and validated. A full year of weather conditions data has been processed, where water and electricity productions have been estimated. The results show that the SCPWDP can produce 481,440 kWh of electricity and 123,753 ton of distilled water yearly simultaneously. The economic analysis shows that the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for the SCPWDP is $1.86/kWh. The cost estimate seems reasonable once compared with other studies. However, from economical point of view the LCOE of SCPWDP requires a further decrease in order to make it economically feasible. The sensitivity analysis shows that increasing the chimney height of the SCPWDP would increase the production of electricity, and hence, decreases the LCOE. However, increasing the chimney height would have a marginal improvemen... [more]

Recently, the operation of a mixed transmission system has increased due to rapid urbanization and the purpose of a good view. Therefore, a proper protection scheme for a mixed transmission system is required. Generally, when a fault occurs on a transmission line, auto reclosing is performed for the purpose of improving the continuity of service by clearing the fault and restoring the power system. However, the auto reclosing scheme should be applied to a mixed transmission system carefully because the mixed transmission system involves underground cable sections. When a fault occurs in the underground cable section, it is mostly a permanent fault. If auto reclosing is performed on a permanent fault condition, it may cause excessive overcurrent and switching surge, which can generate a serious impact on the whole transmission system and even cause an explosion. Due to this, many utilities worldwide do not allow auto reclosing or only apply it very restrictively on a mixed transmission... [more]

A novel interleaved high step-up DC−DC converter applied for applications in photovoltaic systems is proposed in this paper. The proposed configuration is composed of three-winding coupled inductors, voltage multiplier cells and a clamp circuit. The step-up voltage gain is effectively increased, owing to the voltage-stack and voltage-lift techniques using the voltage multiplier cells. The leakage inductor energy is recycled by the clamp circuit to avoid the voltage surge on a power switch. The low-voltage-rated power switches with low on-state resistances and costs can be used to decrease the conduction losses and increase the conversion efficiency when the voltage stresses of power switches for the converter are considerably lower than the high output voltage. The reverse-recovery problems of diodes are mitigated by the leakage inductances of the coupled inductors. Moreover, both the input current ripple and the current stress on each power switch are reduced, owing to the interleaved... [more]

The usage of electric vehicle batteries to assist the main electric grid for the storage of energy provided by intermittent sources should become an essential tool to increase the penetration of green energies. However, this service induces additional usage on the cells and, therefore, could degrade them further. Since degradation is path-dependent, it is of paramount importance to test the impact of all the different grid applications on the batteries. In this work, we tested the additional usage induced by using electric vehicle batteries for frequency regulation at moderate rates during rest or charge and found no detrimental effect after around 2000 cycles on the cells.

This paper presents the research results of the bidirectional multilevel resonant switched capacitor converter (MRSCC). The converter can achieve a high voltage ratio in multilevel topology, which limits the voltage stress on switches and is able to operate with high power efficiency. The converter can be applied as an interconnector between DC voltage systems used for various applications. This paper presents a method that significantly improves the efficiency of the MSRCC through topology modification. Furthermore, the feasibility of the converter was demonstrated with the use of SiC and Si MOSFET switches, together with suitable passive components. It was demonstrated that the proposed modification of the topology makes the converter very efficient in SiC-based ones and can significantly improve the efficiency of Si MOSFET converters. The series of test results of the SiC-based converter is a novel aspect presented in this paper and shows promising achievements of efficiency. The re... [more]

Due to the extremely low permeability and the excellent creep behavior, rock salt is the optimal surrounding rock of underground energy storage. The long-term safe operation of the rock salt energy storage is closely related to the creep behavior and long-term strength of rock salt, but few researches focus on the long-term strength of rock salt. In order to more accurately predict the long-term strength of rock salt, the isochronous stress−strain curve method and the volume expansion method for determining the long-term strength were analyzed and discussed based on axial compression tests and axial creep tests. The results show that the isochronous stress−strain curve method is intuitive but will greatly increase the test cost and test time to obtain a satisfactory result. The volume expansion method is simple, but the long-term strength obtained according to the inflection point of volumetric strain is much greater than the actual long-term strength of rock salt. Therefore, a new met... [more]

Energy-saving and energy-recovery strategies represent key factors to achieve operational cost reductions within rail systems’ management tasks. However, in altering service features, they also affect passenger satisfaction. This paper investigates the effect of implementing such measures in the case of rolling stock unavailability. Numerous operational scenarios were explored by analysing different planned headway and rolling stock configurations. The scenarios were simulated with and without the adoption of Energy-Saving Strategies (ESS), both in ordinary and in disruption conditions. Our results show that, in ordinary conditions, the optimal scenarios are those that minimise the planned headway. By contrast, in disrupted conditions, due to greater passenger inconvenience, the use of a time-optimal condition is preferable if a real-time adjustment of ESS is not feasible. However, if the ESS can be updated in real-time, use of ESS is preferable only if the adopted headway is the small... [more]

A systematic method to evaluate the economic operating performance of existing combined heat and power (CHP) or combined cooling heat and power (CCHP) generation systems is applied. Two key performance indicators are selected to evaluate both the technical and the economic performance, based on operating recording data; the capacity factor and the capital recovery. The case study for eight projects in Athens is presented with the purpose to reveal the current situation of CHP in Greece and identify reasons that are hindering its penetration. Interesting conclusions were reached from the analysis. Only two out of the eight projects managed to achieve the break-even point in less than four years since the beginning of their operation, while oversizing phenomena were noticed in many cases leading in extremely low capacity factors.

This paper presents the switching transients of medium-voltage low-harmonic filter banks, which have alower back-to-back inrush current and higher transient recovery voltage (TRV) compared with capacitor banks. The switching transients of the filter banks are described by the analytical approach and field measurements for 150 MVA back-to-back filter banks are provided to support the switching phenomena described in this paper. As a mitigation measure of the high transient recovery voltage, a double-breaker type switchgear is analyzed in terms of the operating sequence and the time of the upper and lower breakers. From the analyses, an operation scheme for the double-breaker switchgear is proposed to avoid insulation failure of the breaker during the interruption by mitigating the transient recovery voltage across each breaker.

Partly cloudy days possess two characteristics that can significantly increase the photovoltaic (PV) generator power: the operating temperature of the PV panels can cool down during the shade periods, and the irradiance can be enhanced due to the cloud enhancement phenomenon. If an overirradiance event is preceded by a long shade period, the maximum power of a PV generator can occasionally be much higher than the nominal nameplate power. During the overpower events, the inverter is operating in power-limiting mode whereby the operating voltage is increased to decrease the power of the PV generator. We created a simulation model of a 31.9 kW PV generator and used 12 months of irradiance and PV panel temperature measurement data to analyze its operation. We analyzed the PV generator power during the overirradiance events and applied various static power limits to calculate the operating voltage ranges in case of power curtailment. During the observation period, the maximum power produced... [more]

Electric locomotives in AC traction power systems represent a huge single-phase non-linear load and, detrimentally, affect the power quality and the efficiency of the three-phase power grid. Nevertheless, along the last decades, power electronics are being used to mitigate power quality problems in the three-phase power grid. In particular, Rail Power Conditioner (RPC) helps to increase the loading capacity of traction substations and improve the power quality of three-phase power grids. As the main characteristics, an RPC can supply reactive power, suppress current harmonics and overcome currents imbalance of the three-phase power grid. On the other hand, the traction substations may be constituted by different types of power transformers. For instance, single-phase power transformers and open-delta (V/V) power transformers are widely used, while Scott power transformers are less frequently used, since they are more complex and expensive. In this framework, this work presents a review... [more]

The Gordon-Ng models are tools that have been used to estimate and evaluate the performance of various types of chillers for several years. A 550 TR centrifugal chiller plant facility was available to collect data from July and September 2018. The authors propose rearranging variables of the traditional (GNU) model based on average electric consumption and through a thermodynamic analysis comparable to the original model. Furthermore, assumptions are validated. Then, by estimation of the parameters of the new model using least square fitting with field training data and comparing to the GNU model and Braun model (based on consumption), it was shown that the proposed model provides a better prediction in order to evaluate consumption of a centrifugal chiller in regular operation, by improving the coefficient of variation (CV), CV = 3.24% and R2 = 92.52% for a filtered sub-data. Through an algorithm built from steady-state cycle analysis, physical parameters (Sgen, Qleak,eq, R) were esti... [more]

The energy consumption of sheep milk cooling systems (MCSs) was quantified in this study to provide original information filling a literature gap on the impact of sheep milk cooling on the energy and economic balance in dairy farms. Performance and energy monitoring tests were conducted simultaneously on 22 MCSs in Sardinia (Italy). The results determined the cooling time as a function of the performance class and number of milkings. The Energy Utilization Index (EUI) was applied to measure the energy required to cool down the milk and estimate the incidence on its price. The average EUI was 1.76 kWh 100 L−1 for two-milkings and 2.43 kWh 100 L−1 for four-milkings MCSs, whereas the CO2 emissions ranged from 998 to 1378 g CO2 100 L−1 for two- and four-milkings MCSs, respectively. The estimated energy consumption for the storage of refrigerated sheep milk was 0.12 kWh 100 L−1. The malfunctioning MCSs averagely consumed 31% more energy than regular systems. The energy cost for cooling acco... [more]

Short rotation woody crops (SRWC) like shrub willow are highly productive biomass resources of interest for energy and fuel applications. Hot water extraction (HWE) as an upgrading tool to enable the use of willow biomass in pellet applications has been proposed, and is of increasing interest. This study treats willow and mixes of willow and conventional mixed hardwood feedstock with HWE in a tumbling laboratory reactor to elucidate the effects of time, temperature, feedstock mixes, and other process considerations (water:biomass ratio, presteaming, counter-current processing) on mass removals and other extraction outcomes (e.g., sugar, acetate, and furan yields). Results demonstrated alignment of extraction outcomes with P-factor from 155 °C to 175 °C, with a good compromise of removed mass and co-product potential in the range from 575−800 P-factor. The preferred condition was chosen as 575 P-factor. HWE of mixes of willow and hardwood feedstocks showed a linear response of extractio... [more]

Currently, linear discontinuous deformations in mining areas are an important issue, both due to the frequency of their occurrence and the threat they pose to general safety. This paper presents a case study of an occurrence of such a deformation. The analyses of the geological and mining conditions, as well as the conducted calculations presented herein, indicate that the cause of the deformation was the occurrence of high-value horizontal tensile strains. It was triggered by mining exploitation carried out with caving in three seams at depths between 200 and 545 m. An additional factor conductive to the creation of the deformation was the tectonic structure of the rock mass. The subject matter of the paper is significant given the growing number of discontinuous linear deformations occurring on the surface due to underground mining—even if the mining was conducted at great depths. They were formed as a result of intensive underground mining operations and the occurrence of high-value... [more]

As an important driving force to promote the energy revolution, the emergence of the energy internet has provided new ideas for the marketization and flexibility of multi-energy transactions. How to realize multi-energy joint trading is a key issue in the development of the energy market. An urban energy internet market trading model among energy suppliers, energy service providers and the large users in the urban area, based on tripartite game theory, is established in this paper. Considering the cost−income function of each market entity and the basic market trading mechanism, a new game-tree search method is proposed to solve the Nash equilibria for the game model. The Nash equilibria of the tripartite game can be obtained, and the market transaction status corresponding to the Nash equilibria is analyzed from the perspective of the market transactions. The multi-energy joint transaction and market equilibria can be easily implemented for the bids and offers of the multiple energy e... [more]

The operation feasibility of small hydropower plants in mountainous sites is subjected to the run-of-river flow, which is also dependent on a high variability in precipitation and snow cover. Moreover, the management of this kind of system has to be performed with some particular operation conditions of the plant (e.g., turbine minimum and maximum discharge) but also some environmental flow requirements. In this context, a technological climate service is conceived in a tight connection with end users, perfectly answering the needs of the management of small hydropower systems in a pilot area, and providing a forecast of the river streamflow together with other operation data. This paper presents an overview of the service but also a set of lessons learnt related to the features, requirements, and considerations to bear in mind from the point of view of climate service developers. In addition, the outcomes give insight into how this kind of service could change the traditional manageme... [more]

The article analyzes a ground-to-air heat exchanger (GAHE) for a mechanical ventilation system in a building. The heat exchanger’s performance was evaluated in northeastern Poland between May and August of 2016, 2017, and 2018. In spring and summer, the GAHE can be theoretically used to precool air for HVAC systems. The aim of the study was to compare the real-world performance of GAHE with its theoretical performance determined based on the distribution of ground temperature and the temperature at the GAHE outlet modeled in compliance with Standard PN-EN 16798-5 1:2017-07. The modeled values differed considerably from real-world data in May and June, but the model demonstrated satisfactory data fit in July and August. In all years, the modeled average monthly air temperature at the GAHE outlet was 8.3 °C below real-world values in May, but the above difference was only 1.1 °C in August. The developed mathematical model is simple and easy to use, and it can be deployed already in the p... [more]

In recent years, various types of power theft incidents have occurred frequently, and the training of the power-stealing detection model is susceptible to the influence of the imbalanced data set and the data noise, which leads to errors in power-stealing detection. Therefore, a power-stealing detection model is proposed, which is based on Improved Conditional Generation Adversarial Network (CWGAN), Stacked Convolution Noise Reduction Autoencoder (SCDAE) and Lightweight Gradient Boosting Decision Machine (LightGBM). The model performs Generation- Adversarial operations on the original unbalanced power consumption data to achieve the balance of electricity data, and avoids the interference of the imbalanced data set on classifier training. In addition, the convolution method is used to stack the noise reduction auto-encoder to achieve dimension reduction of power consumption data, extract data features and reduce the impact of random noise. Finally, LightGBM is used for power theft dete... [more]

A bridge type superconducting fault current limiter (SFCL) with simultaneous quench using two high-temperature superconducting (HTSC) elements and two coils was fabricated to analyze the fault current limiting characteristics. Before and after the fault occurrence, the current limiting operation and the voltage waveforms of each device were compared according to the change of the input voltage. We also analyzed flux linkages and instantaneous powers of the bridge type SFCL with simultaneous quench using flux-coupling composed of HTSC elements with different critical currents. During the fault period, the magnetization power area and the flux linkage’s operating range variation due to the magnetizing current were compared with each other.

This study proposes a methodology to develop adaptive operational strategies of customer-installed Energy Storage Systems (ESS) based on the classification of customer load profiles. In addition, this study proposes a methodology to characterize and classify customer load profiles based on newly proposed Time-of-Use (TOU) indices. The TOU indices effectively distribute daily customer load profiles on multi-dimensional domains, indicating customer energy consumption patterns under the TOU tariff. The K-means and Self-Organizing Map (SOM) sophisticated clustering methods were applied for classification. Furthermore, this study demonstrates peak shaving and arbitrage operations of ESS with current supporting polices in South Korea. Actual load profiles accumulated from customers under the TOU rate were used to validate the proposed methodologies. The simulation results show that the TOU index-based clustering effectively classifies load patterns into ‘M-shaped’ and ‘square wave-shaped’ lo... [more]

An impeller blade with a slot structure can affect the velocity distribution in the impeller flow passage of the centrifugal pump, thus affecting the pump’s performance. Various slot structure geometric parameter combinations were tested in this study to explore this relationship: slot position p, slot width b1, slot deflection angle β, and slot depth h with (3−4) levels were selected for each factor on an L16 orthogonal test table. The results show that b1 and h are the major factors influencing pump performance under low and rated flow conditions, while p is the major influencing factor under the large flow condition. The slot structure close to the front edge of the impeller blade can change the low-pressure region of the suction inlet of the impeller flow passage, thus improving the fluid velocity distribution in the impeller. Optimal slot parameter combinations according to the actual machining precision may include a small slot width b1, slot depth h of ¼ b, slot deflection angle... [more]

In contemporary power systems, the load shedding schemes are typically based on disconnecting a pre-specified amount of load after the frequency drops below a predetermined value. The actual conditions at the time of disturbance may largely differ from the assumptions, which can lead to non-optimal or ineffective operation of the load shedding scheme. For many years, increasing the effectiveness of the underfrequency load shedding (UFLS) schemes has been the subject of research around the world. Unfortunately, the proposed solutions often require costly technical resources and/or large amounts of real-time data monitoring. This paper puts forth an UFLS scheme characterized by increased effectiveness in the case of large disturbances and reduced disconnected power in the case of small and medium disturbances compared to the conventional load-shedding solutions. These advantages are achieved by replacing time-consuming consecutive load dropping with the simultaneous load dropping mechani... [more]