In this paper, the optimal operation of a stationary sub-critical 11 kW el organic Rankine cycle (ORC) unit for waste heat recovery (WHR) applications is investigated, both in terms of energy production and safety conditions. Simulation results of a validated dynamic model of the ORC power unit are used to derive a correlation for the evaporating temperature, which maximizes the power generation for a range of operating conditions. This idea is further extended using a perturbation-based extremum seeking (ES) algorithm to identify online the optimal evaporating temperature. Regarding safety conditions, we propose the use of the extended prediction self-adaptive control (EPSAC) approach to constrained model predictive control (MPC). Since it uses input/output models for prediction, it avoids the need for state estimators, making it a suitable tool for industrial applications. The performance of the proposed control strategy is compared to PID-like schemes. Results show that E... [more]

Advanced biomass-based motor fuels and chemicals are becoming increasingly important to replace fossil energy sources within the coming decades. It is likely that the new biorefineries will evolve mainly from existing forest industry sites, as they already have the required biomass handling infrastructure in place. The main objective of this work is to assess the potential for increasing the profit margin from sawmill byproducts by integrating innovative downstream processes. The focus is on the techno-economic evaluation of an integrated site for biomass-based synthetic natural gas (bio-SNG) production. The option of using the syngas in a biomass-integrated gasification combined cycle (b-IGCC) for the production of electricity (instead of SNG) is also considered for comparison. The process flowsheets that are used to analyze the energy and material balances are modelled in MATLAB and Simulink. A mathematical process integration model of a typical Nordic sawmill is used to analyze the... [more]

In this study, the design and simulation of a combination of a photovoltaic (PV) array with an alkaline electrolyzer is performed to maximize the production of hydrogen as a reliable power resource. Detailed electrical model of PV system, as long as thermal and electrochemical model of electrolyzer is used. Since an electrolyzer is a non-linear load, its coupling with PV systems to get the best power transfer is very important. Solar irradiation calculations were done for the region of Miami (FL, USA), giving an optimal surface slope of 25.7° for the PV array. The size of the PV array is optimized, considering maximum hydrogen production and minimum excess power production in a diurnal operation of a system using the imperialistic competitive algorithm (ICA). The results show that for a 10 kW alkaline electrolyzer, a PV array with a nominal power of 12.3 kW The results show that 12.3 kW photvoltaic system can be utilized for supplying a 10 kW electrolyzer. Hydrogen production and Farad... [more]

Considering the increasing global demand for energy and the harmful ecological impact of conventional energy sources, it is obvious that development of clean and renewable energy is a necessity. Since the Sun is our only external energy source, harnessing its energy, which is clean, non-hazardous and infinite, satisfies the main objectives of all alternative energy strategies. With attractive features, i.e., good performance, low-cost potential, simple processibility, a wide range of applications from portable power generation to power-windows, photoelectrochemical solar cells like dye-sensitized solar cells (DSCs) represent one of the promising methods for future large-scale power production directly from sunlight. While the sensitization of n-type semiconductors (n-SC) has been intensively studied, the use of p-type semiconductor (p-SC), e.g., the sensitization of wide bandgap p-SC and hole transport materials with p-SC have also been attracting great attention. Recently, it has been... [more]

This paper investigates a novel recurrent neural network (NN)-based vector control approach for single-phase grid-connected converters (GCCs) with L (inductor), LC (inductor-capacitor) and LCL (inductor-capacitor-inductor) filters and provides their comparison study with the conventional standard vector control method. A single neural network controller replaces two current-loop PI controllers, and the NN training approximates the optimal control for the single-phase GCC system. The Levenberg⁻Marquardt (LM) algorithm was used to train the NN controller based on the complete system equations without any decoupling policies. The proposed NN approach can solve the decoupling problem associated with the conventional vector control methods for L, LC and LCL-filter-based single-phase GCCs. Both simulation study and hardware experiments demonstrate that the neural network vector controller shows much more improved performance than that of conventional vector controllers, including faster resp... [more]

To deal with the problem of generation rate constraint (GRC) during load frequency control (LFC) design for a multi-area interconnected power system, this paper proposes an anti-windup controller design method. Firstly, an H ∞ dynamic controller is designed to obtain robust performance of the closed-loop control system in the absence of the GRC. Then, an anti-windup compensator (AWC) is formulated to restrict the magnitude and rate of the control input (namely power increment) in the prescribed ranges so that the operation of generation unit does not exceed the physical constraints. Finally, the anti-windup LFC is tested on the multi-area interconnected power systems, and the simulation results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed LFC design method with GRC.

This work proposes a scalable architecture of an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) system, with predictive diagnosis capabilities, for safety critical applications. A Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) has identified the faults occurring in the energy storage unit, based on Valve Regulated Lead-Acid batteries, and in the 3-phase high power transformers, used in switching converters and for power isolation, as the main bottlenecks for power system reliability. To address these issues, a distributed network of measuring nodes is proposed, where vibration-based mechanical stress diagnosis is implemented together with electrical (voltage, current, impedance) and thermal degradation analysis. Power system degradation is tracked through multi-channel measuring nodes with integrated digital signal processing in the transformed frequency domain, from 0.1 Hz to 1 kHz. Experimental measurements on real power systems for safety-critical applications validate the diagnostic unit.

The paper proposes two mathematical models of a photo-voltaic (PV) cell—the complete model and the simplified model—which can be used also for modeling a PV module or a PV string under any environmental condition. Both of them are based on the well-known five-parameters model, while the approach allows to write a new descriptive equation, whose terms are functions of the information always available in the modern datasheet of a PV module’s manufacturer. This implies that no pre-processing of the datasheet parameters is needed to use the proposed model, whichever the solar irradiance and the cell/module temperature are. Moreover, these models are interpreted from a circuital point of view, providing the electrical circuits constituted only by basic electrical components. Particularly, in order to take into account the variability of the environment parameters, several variable resistors and voltage-controlled sources are used. The proposed models are tested with the datasheet parameters... [more]

This paper establishes a general methodology to calculate the life-cycle cost of floating offshore renewable energy devices, applying it to wave energy and wind energy devices. It is accounts for the contributions of the six main phases of their life-cycle: concept definition, design and development, manufacturing, installation, exploitation and dismantling, the costs of which have been defined. Moreover, the energy produced is also taken into account to calculate the Levelized Cost of Energy of a floating offshore renewable energy farm. The methodology proposed has been applied to two renewable energy devices: a floating offshore wave energy device and a floating offshore wind energy device. Two locations have been considered: Aguçadoura and São Pedro de Moel, both in Portugal. Results indicate that the most important cost in terms of the life-cycle of a floating offshore renewable energy farm is the exploitation cost, followed by the manufacturing and the installation cost. In additi... [more]

Wind generation systems require mechanisms that allow optimal adaptation of the generator to varying wind speed and to extract maximum energy from the wind. Robust and affordable high-performance methods are also needed for isolated sites. This paper takes this approach, in which an AC switched reluctance generator is used as a generator with a variable rotor speed. Although the voltage obtained is of insufficient quality to connect the generator directly to the power grid, this kind of generator can be used in isolated sites to charge a battery bank with a simple bridge rectifier. Due to the nonlinear behavior of the machine with the position and current, along with the alternating nature of the current that circulates through its phases, the machine experiences cyclical energy transformations of a mechanical, electrical and magnetic nature. This paper analyzes these transformations for the purpose of providing guidelines for machine design and optimization as a wind turbine in isolat... [more]

Multiple-factor analysis and optimization play a critical role in the the ability to maximizethe stimulated reservoir volume (SRV) and the success of economic shale gas production. In this paper, taking the typical continental naturally fractured silty laminae shale in China as anexample, response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize multiple hydraulic fracturing parameters to maximize the stimulated area in combination with numerical modeling based on the coupled flow-stress-damage (FSD) approach. This paper demonstrates hydraulic fracturing effectiveness by defining two indicesnamelythe stimulated reservoir area (SRA) and stimulated silty laminae area (SLA). Seven uncertain parameters, such as laminae thickness, spacing, dip angle, cohesion, internal friction angle (IFA), in situ stress difference (SD), and an operational parameter-injection rate (IR) with a reasonable range based on silty Laminae Shale, Southeastern Ordos Basin, are used to fit a response of SRA and SL... [more]

A multiphase motor has several major advantages, such as high reliability, fault tolerance, and high power density. It is a critical issue to develop a reliable and efficient multiphase motor drive system. In this paper, a transformerless voltage source converter-based drive system for a medium-voltage (MV) multiphase motor is proposed. This drive converter employs cascaded H-bridge rectifiers loaded by H-bridge inverters as the interface between the grid and multiphase motor. The cascaded H-bridge rectifier technique makes the drive system able to be directly connected to the MV grid without the phase-shifting transformer because it can offset the voltage level gap between the MV grid and the semiconductor devices, provide near-sinusoidal AC terminal voltages without filters, and draw sinusoidal line current from the grid. Based on a digital signal processor (DSP), a complete improved Phase Disposition Pulse Width Modulation (PD-PWM) method is developed to ensure the individual DC-lin... [more]

For zeotropic mixtures, the temperature varies during phase change, which is opposed to the isothermal phase change of pure fluids. The use of such mixtures as working fluids in organic Rankine cycle power plants enables a minimization of the mean temperature difference of the heat exchangers, which is beneficial for cycle performance. On the other hand, larger heat transfer surface areas are typically required for evaporation and condensation when zeotropic mixtures are used as working fluids. In order to assess the feasibility of using zeotropic mixtures, it is, therefore, important to consider the additional costs of the heat exchangers. In this study, we aim at evaluating the economic feasibility of zeotropic mixtures compared to pure fluids. We carry out a multi-objective optimization of the net power output and the component costs for organic Rankine cycle power plants using low-temperature heat at 90 ∘ C to produce electrical power at around 500 kW. The primary outcomes... [more]

Bioethanol production from sugarcane represents an opportunity for urban-agricultural development in small communities of Ecuador. Despite the fact that the industry for bioethanol production from sugarcane in Brazil is fully developed, it is still considered expensive as a small rural business. In order to be able to reduce the costs of monitoring the production process, and avoid the application of expensive sensors, the aim of this research was modeling the kinetics of production of bioethanol based on direct measurements of Brix grades, instead of the concentration of alcohol, during the process of cane juice bio-fermentation with Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This avoids the application of expensive sensors that increase the investment costs. Fermentation experiments with three concentrations of yeast and two temperatures were carried out in a laboratory reactor. In each case Brix grades, amount of ethanol and alcoholic degree were measured. A mathematical model to predict the quality... [more]

A suitable model of coordinated control system (CCS) with high accuracy and simple structure is essential for the design of advanced controllers which can improve the efficiency of the ultra-super-critical (USC) power plant. Therefore, with the demand of plant performance improvement, an improved T-S fuzzy model identification approach is proposed in this paper. Firstly, the improved entropy cluster algorithm is applied to identify the premise parameters which can automatically determine the cluster numbers and initial cluster centers by introducing the concept of a decision-making constant and threshold. Then, the learning algorithm is used to modify the initial cluster center and a new structure of concluding part is discussed, the incremental data around the cluster center is used to identify the local linear model through a weighted recursive least-square algorithm. Finally, the proposed approach is employed to model the CCS of a 1000 MW USC one-through boiler power plant by using... [more]

The cooling performance of the stack radiator of a fuel cell electric vehicle was evaluated under various actual road driving conditions, such as highway and uphill travel. The thermal stability was then optimized, thereby ensuring stable operation of the stack thermal management system. The coolant inlet temperature of the radiator in the highway mode was lower than that associated with the uphill mode because the corresponding frontal air velocity was higher than obtained in the uphill mode. In both the highway and uphill modes, the coolant temperatures of the radiator, operated under actual road driving conditions, were lower than the allowable limit (80 °C); this is the maximum temperature at which stable operation of the stack thermal management system of the fuel cell electric vehicle could be maintained. Furthermore, under actual road driving conditions in uphill mode, the initial temperature difference (ITD) between the coolant temperature and air temperature of the system was... [more]

Groundwater flow is one of the most important factors for the design of a ground heat exchanger (GHEX) since the thermal environment of the ground around the buried GHEX is significantly affected by heat convection due to the groundwater flow. Several preceding studies have been conducted to develop analytical solutions to the heat transfer model of GHEX with consideration of groundwater flow. One of these solutions is the combined heat transfer model of conduction and convection. However, the developed combined analytical models are inapplicable to all of the configurations of ordinary GHEXs because these solutions assume that the inner part of the borehole is thermally inert or consists of the same material as that of the surrounding ground. In this paper, the applicability of the combined solid cylindrical heat source model, which is the most suitable to energy piles until now, was evaluated by performing a series of numerical analyses. In the numerical analysis, the inner part of t... [more]

Nowadays, an increasing penetration of utility-scale photovoltaic plants (USPVPs) leads to a change in dynamic and operational characteristics of the power distribution system. USPVPs must help to maintain the system stability and reliability while implementing minimum technical requirements (MTRs) imposed by the utility grid. One of the most significant requirements is about frequency regulation (FR). Overall production of USPVPs is reduced significantly by applying FR curves, especially in weak grids with high rate of frequency faults. The introduction of a battery energy storage system (BESS) reduces losses and improves the grid system reliability. Experimental frequency and irradiance data of several weak grids have been used to analyse USPVPs losses related to FR requirements and benefits from the introduction of a BESS. Moreover, its economic viability is showen without the need for any economic incentives.

Data from phasor measurement units (PMUs) may be exploited to provide steady state information to the applications which require it. As PMU measurements may contain errors and missing data, the paper presents the application of a Kalman Filter technique for real-time data processing. PMU data captures the power system’s response at different time-scales, which are generated by different types of power system events; the presented Kalman Filter methods have been applied to extract the steady state components of PMU measurements that can be fed to steady state applications. Two KF-based methods have been proposed, i.e., a windowing-based KF method and “the modified KF”. Both methods are capable of reducing noise, compensating for missing data and filtering outliers from input PMU signals. A comparison of proposed methods has been carried out using the PMU data generated from a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) experimental setup. In addition, a performance analysis of the proposed methods is pe... [more]

Axial-flow turbines represent a well-established technology for a wide variety of power generation systems. Compactness, flexibility, reliability and high efficiency have been key factors for the extensive use of axial turbines in conventional power plants and, in the last decades, in organic Rankine cycle power systems. In this two-part paper, an overall cycle model and a model of an axial turbine were combined in order to provide a comprehensive preliminary design of the organic Rankine cycle unit, taking into account both cycle and turbine optimal designs. Part A presents the preliminary turbine design model, the details of the validation and a sensitivity analysis on the main parameters, in order to minimize the number of decision variables in the subsequent turbine design optimization. Part B analyzes the application of the combined turbine and cycle designs on a selected case study, which was performed in order to show the advantages of the adopted methodology. Part A presents a... [more]

In the traditional paradigm, large power plants provide active and reactive power required for the transmission system and the distribution network purchases grid power from it. However, with more and more distributed energy resources (DERs) connected at distribution levels, it is necessary to schedule DERs to meet their demand and participate in the electricity markets at the distribution level in the near future. This paper proposes a comprehensive operational scheduling model to be used in the distribution management system (DMS). The model aims to determine optimal decisions on active elements of the network, distributed generations (DGs), and responsive loads (RLs), seeking to minimize the day-ahead composite economic cost of the distribution network. For more detailed simulation, the composite cost includes the aspects of the operation cost, emission cost, and transmission loss cost of the network. Additionally, the DMS effectively utilizes the reactive power support capabilities... [more]

The computational thermodynamic analysis of a samarium oxide-based two-step solar thermochemical water splitting cycle is reported. The analysis is performed using HSC chemistry software and databases. The first (solar-based) step drives the thermal reduction of Sm₂O₃ into Sm and O₂. The second (non-solar) step corresponds to the production of H₂ via a water splitting reaction and the oxidation of Sm to Sm₂O₃. The equilibrium thermodynamic compositions related to the thermal reduction and water splitting steps are determined. The effect of oxygen partial pressure in the inert flushing gas on the thermal reduction temperature (TH) is examined. An analysis based on the second law of thermodynamics is performed to determine the cycle efficiency (ηcycle) and solar-to-fuel energy conversion efficiency (ηsolar−to−fuel) attainable with and without heat recuperation. The results indicate that ηcycle and ηsolar−to−fuel both increase with decreasing TH, due to the reduction in oxygen partial pre... [more]

If a turbine loses its electrical load, it will rotate freely and increase speed, eventually achieving that rotational speed which produces zero net torque. This is known as a runaway situation. Unlike many other types of turbine, a marine current turbine will typically overshoot the final runaway speed before slowing down and settling at the runaway speed. Since the hydrodynamic forces acting on the turbine are dependent on rotational speed and acceleration, turbine behaviour during runaway becomes important for load analyses during turbine design. In this article, we consider analytical and numerical models of marine current turbine runaway behaviour in one dimension. The analytical model is found not to capture the overshoot phenomenon, while still providing useful estimates of acceleration at the onset of runaway. The numerical model incorporates turbine wake build-up and predicts a rotational speed overshoot. The predictions of the models are compared against measurements of runaw... [more]

This paper presents and compares the possible energy savings in various approaches to outdoor lighting modernization. Several solutions implementable using currently-available systems are presented and discussed. An innovative approach using real-time sensor data is also presented in detail, along with its formal background, based on Artificial Intelligence methods (rule-based systems) and graph transformations. The efficiency of all approaches has been estimated and compared using real-life data recorded at an urban setting. The article also presents other aspects which influence the efficiency and feasibility of intelligent lighting projects, including design quality, design workload and conformance to standards.

Dissolved gas analysis (DGA) is attracting greater and greater interest from researchers as a fault diagnostic tool for power transformers filled with vegetable insulating oils. This paper presents experimental results of dissolved gases in insulating oils under typical electrical and thermal faults in transformers. The tests covered three types of insulating oils, including two types of vegetable oil, which are camellia insulating oil, Envirotemp FR3, and a type of mineral insulating oil, to simulate thermal faults in oils from 90 °C to 800 °C and electrical faults including breakdown and partial discharges in oils. The experimental results reveal that the content and proportion of dissolved gases in different types of insulating oils under the same fault condition are different, especially under thermal faults due to the obvious differences of their chemical compositions. Four different classic diagnosis methods were applied: ratio method, graphic method, and Duval’s triangle and Duv... [more]