Energies, Volume 9, Issue 12 (December 2016) – 116 articles

Since a representative dataset of the climatological features of a location is important for calculations relating to many fields, such as solar energy system, agriculture, meteorology and architecture, there is a need to investigate the methodology for generating a typical meteorological year (TMY). In this paper, a hybrid method with mixed treatment of selected results from the Danish method, the Festa-Ratto method, and the modified typical meteorological year method is proposed to determine typical meteorological years for 35 locations in six different climatic zones of China (Tropical Zone, Subtropical Zone, Warm Temperate Zone, Mid Temperate Zone, Cold Temperate Zone and Tibetan Plateau Zone). Measured weather data (air dry-bulb temperature, air relative humidity, wind speed, pressure, sunshine duration and global solar radiation), which cover the period of 1994–2015, are obtained and applied in the process of forming TMY. The TMY data and typical solar radiation data are investigated and analyzed in this study. It is found that the results of the hybrid method have better performance in terms of the long-term average measured data during the year than the other investigated methods. Moreover, the Gaussian process regression (GPR) model is recommended to forecast the monthly mean solar radiation using the last 22 years (1994–2015) of measured data. Full article

The aim of this research was to investigate how consumer behavior changes after application of dynamic electricity pricing and the persistence of those changes. Based on the investigation results, the authors also discuss the policy implications of demand management to shift consumption to days that have more solar radiation, while at the same time reducing overall consumption. The dynamic pricing experiment was implemented on Nushima Island, located in the center of Japan, with the participation of 50 households. The methodologies used in this study are panel analysis with random effects, and the difference in differences method. Several linear regression analyses are performed to predict hourly electricity usage from a number of explanatory variables, such as life-style factors, the frequency of access to the visualization website, control for weather factors (wind speed and temperatures), and other attributes of the households to predict the log of hourly electric energy consumption. The results show that dynamic pricing brought about 13.8% reduction of electric energy consumption in comparison with the pre-experiment period. Also, by applying a new experimental design approach, this study finds data supportive of habit formation by participants. Based on the findings, this research tries to develop a policy for sustainable energy conservation in remote islands. Full article

This paper proposed a fault-tolerant approach based on information fusion (IF) to automatically locate the transient voltage disturbance source (TVDS) in smart distribution grids. We first defined three credibility factors that will influence the reliability of the direction-judgments at each power quality monitor (PQM). Then we proposed two rules of influence and a verification factor for the distributed generation (DG) integration. Based on the two sets of direction-judgment criteria, a novel decision-making method with fault tolerance based on the IF theory is proposed for automatic location of the TVDS. Three critical schemes, including credibility fusion, conflict weakening, and correction for DG integration, have been integrated in the proposed fusion method, followed by a reliability evaluation of the location results. The proposed approach was validated on the IEEE 13-node test feeder, and the TVDS location results demonstrated the effectiveness and fault tolerance of the IF based approach. Full article

This work presents a comparison of three different modulation techniques applied to modular multilevel converters (MMCs). The three modulation strategies studied in this paper are the phase-shifted sinusoidal pulse width modulation (PS-SPWM), the space-vector modulation (SVM) and the nearest level modulation (NLM). This paper focuses on analysing the particularities and implementation of each modulation technique. The modulation technique largely defines the generated harmonic content, making this is a key point that must be studied in depth. The paper briefly describes the three modulation techniques and analyses the harmonics generated by each one of the methods. In addition, the paper presents and compares the digital implementation of the three modulation methods in a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). The proposed approaches are validated using a real processing platform and experimentally evaluated in a real high-power six-level MMC. Full article

The aim of this study was to develop an artificial neural network (ANN) prediction model for controlling building heating systems. This model was used to calculate the ascent time of indoor temperature from the setback period (when a building was not occupied) to a target setpoint temperature (when a building was occupied). The calculated ascent time was applied to determine the proper moment to start increasing the temperature from the setback temperature to reach the target temperature at an appropriate time. Three major steps were conducted: (1) model development; (2) model optimization; and (3) performance evaluation. Two software programs—Matrix Laboratory (MATLAB) and Transient Systems Simulation (TRNSYS)—were used for model development, performance tests, and numerical simulation methods. Correlation analysis between input variables and the output variable of the ANN model revealed that two input variables (current indoor air temperature and temperature difference from the target setpoint temperature), presented relatively strong relationships with the ascent time to the target setpoint temperature. These two variables were used as input neurons. Analyzing the difference between the simulated and predicted values from the ANN model provided the optimal number of hidden neurons (9), hidden layers (3), moment (0.9), and learning rate (0.9). At the study’s conclusion, the optimized model proved its prediction accuracy with acceptable errors. Full article

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) spot price shows high volatility and in 2014 and 2015 when quoted prices declined sharply, long-term prices in future markets were less volatile. These prices are different and diverge depending on how they process fundamental and transitory factors. US tight oil production has been a major innovation with significant macroeconomic effects. In this paper we use WTI spot prices and long-term futures prices, the latter calculated as the expected value with a stochastic model calibrated with the futures quotes of each sample day. These long-term prices are the long-term equilibrium value under risk neutral measurement. In order to analyze potential time-scale relationships between spots and future, we perform a wavelet cross-correlation analysis using a novel wavelet graphical tool recently proposed. To check the direction of the causality, we apply non-linear causality tests to raw data and log returns as well as to the wavelet transform of the spot and futures prices. Our results show that in the spot and futures markets for the period 24 February 2006–2 April 2016 there is a bi-directional causality effect for most time scales (from intra-week to biannual). This suggests that spot and futures prices react simultaneously to new information. Full article

With the exploitation of shale gas booming all over the world, more and more studies are focused on the core technology, hydraulic fracturing, to improve commercial exploitation. Shale gas resources in China are enormous. In this research, a series of tests were carried out with samples of black organic-rich shale from the Lower Silurian Longmaxi formation, south China. Samples were drilled from different directions and were subjected to uniaxial and triaxial condition with various confining pressures, aiming at studying its rock mechanics properties, so as to provide basis for research and breakthrough of hydraulic fracturing technology. According to the results of the study, the development and distribution of shale’s bedding planes significantly impact its mechanical properties. Shale samples show obvious brittle characteristics under low confining pressure, and its mechanical behavior begins to transform from brittle to plastic characteristics with increasing confining pressure. Shale samples with different inclinations (β) have different sensitivities to the confining pressure. As a result, samples with 45° inclinations (β) are least sensitive. The strength of bedding planes is significantly lower than that of shale matrix, and tensile failure and shear failure generally tend to occur along the bedding planes. When hydraulic fracturing was conducted in shale formation with depth less than 2.25 km, corresponding to original in-situ of 60 MPa, cracks will preferably occur at first along the inclination (β) angle of 45° from the maximum principal stress, and the failure mode is most likely to be shear failure without volumetric strain. And, different modes of failure will occur at different locations in the reservoir, depending on the orientation of bedding inclined from the principle stress, which can probably explain the phenomenon why there are fractures along and cross the bedding planes during hydraulic fracturing treatment. When hydraulic fracturing was conducted in shale formation with depth greater than 2.25 km, hydraulic fractures may not crack along the bedding surfaces to some extent. Full article

This paper discusses the near-field inductive coupling wireless power transfer (WPT) at the system level, with detailed analyses on each state-of-the-art WPT output voltage regulation topologies. For device miniaturization and power loss reduction, several novel architectures for efficient WPT were proposed in recent years to reduce the number of passive components as well as to improve the system efficiency or flexibility. These schemes are systematically studied and discussed in this paper. The main contribution of this paper is to provide design guidelines for WPT system design. In addition, possible combinations of the WPT building block configurations are summarized, compared, and investigated for potential new architectures. Full article

One way of increasing access to electricity for impoverished unconnected areas without adding significant amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere is by promoting renewable energy technologies. However, decision-makers rarely, if ever, take into account the level of in-built energy requirements and consequential CO₂ emissions found in renewable energy, particularly photovoltaic cells and related equipment, which have been widely disseminated in developing countries. The deployment of solar panels worldwide has mostly relied on silicon crystalline cell modules, despite the fact that less polluting material—in particular, thin film and organic cells—offers comparatively distinct technical, environmental and cost advantages characteristics. A major scientific challenge has thus been the design of a single decision-making approach to assess local and global climate change-related impacts as well as the socio-economic effects of low-carbon technology. The article focuses on the functions of the multi-criteria-based tool SURE-DSS and environmental impact analysis focused on greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions balance to inform the selection of technologies in terms of their impact on livelihoods and CO₂eq. emissions. An application in a remote rural community in Cuba is discussed. The results of this study show that while PV silicon (c-Si), thin film (CdTe) and organic solar cells may each equally meet the demands of the community and enhance people’s livelihoods, their effect on the global environment varies. Full article

With the proportion of air conditioners increasing gradually, they can provide a certain amount of frequency-controlled reserves for a micro-grid. Optimizing utilization of air conditioners and considering load response characteristics and customer comfort, the frequency adjustment model is a quadratic function model between the trigger temperature of the air conditioner compressor, and frequency variation is provided, which can be used to regulate the trigger temperature of the air conditioner when the micro-grid frequency rises and falls. This frequency adjustment model combines a primary frequency modulation method and a secondary frequency modulation method of the energy storage system, in order to optimize the frequency of a micro-grid. The simulation results show that the frequency modulation strategy for air conditioners can effectively improve the frequency modulation ability of air conditioners and frequency modulation effects of a micro-grid in coordination with an energy storage system. Full article

In this work, an effective field-modulated permanent-magnet (FMPM) machine was investigated, in which the spoke-magnet outer rotor and open-slot stator were employed. The objective of this paper is to provide the mathematical modeling analysis that was performed for the purpose of control research on this type of FMPM machine. The simulation results by means of finite element analysis (FEA) are given to verify the theoretical analysis and the validity of mathematical model. A prototype machine was also fabricated for experimentation. Both the analytical model and the FEA results are validated by experimental tests on the prototype machine. Full article

This paper presents a novel position and speed estimation method for low-speed sensorless control of interior permanent-magnet synchronous machines (IPMSMs). The parameter design of the position and speed estimator is based on the sampled current rather than the motor electrical parameters. The proposed method not only simplifies the parameter design, it enables the estimator to work normally even in the condition that the electrical parameters are uncertain or varied. The adaptive filters are adopted to extract the desired high frequency current. The structure and corresponding transfer function are analyzed. To address the shortage of insufficient stop-band attenuation, the structure of the adaptive filter is modified to provide suitable bandwidth and stop-band attenuation simultaneously. The effectiveness of the proposed sensorless control strategy has been verified by simulations and experiments. Full article

Due to the continuous increase in data demanded by end-users, an energy-efficient base station (BS) is a vital topic of interest that would not only result in a substantial economic impact on service providers, but would also reduce the carbon footprint of operating a network. In this regard, we propose the structure and systematic operation of a BS with a large-scale (LS) antenna system that can increase the energy efficiency (EE) of cellular systems. The proposed BS structure includes various power-related units, such as a central management apparatus, power controller, EE calculator, radio site-dependent parameter space (RSD-PS) and determiner. With the information provided from each unit, the decision unit determines how to adjust each component of the BS in order to maximize the EE. Extensive simulations show that the proposed BS improves the EE performance by about 83.05% relative to the reference BS. Full article

Most power transformers operating in a power system possess oil-paper insulation. A serious defect of this type of insulation, which is associated with long operation time, is an increase in the moisture content. Moisture introduces a number of threats to proper operation of the transformer, e.g., ignition of partial discharges (PDs). Due to the varying temperature of the insulation system during the unit’s normal operation, a dynamic change (migration of water) takes place, precipitating the oil-paper system from a state of hydrodynamic equilibrium. This causes the PDs to be variable in time, and they may intensify or extinguish. Studies on model objects have been conducted to determine the conditions (temperature, humidity, time) that will have an impact on the ignition and intensity of the observed phenomenon of PDs. The conclusions of this study will have a practical application in the evaluation of measurements conducted in the field, especially in relation to the registration of an online PD monitoring system. Full article

Chemical flooding has been widely utilized to recover a large portion of the oil remaining in light and viscous oil reservoirs after the primary and secondary production processes. As core-flood tests and reservoir simulations take time to accurately estimate the recovery performances as well as analyzing the feasibility of an injection project, it is necessary to find a powerful tool to quickly predict the results with a level of acceptable accuracy. An approach involving the use of an artificial neural network to generate a representative model for estimating the alkali-surfactant-polymer flooding performance and evaluating the economic feasibility of viscous oil reservoirs from simulation is proposed in this study. A typical chemical flooding project was referenced for this numerical study. A number of simulations have been made for training on the basis of a base case from the design of 13 parameters. After training, the network scheme generated from a ratio data set of 50%-20%-30% corresponding to the number of samples used for training-validation-testing was selected for estimation with the total coefficient of determination of 0.986 and a root mean square error of 1.63%. In terms of model application, the chemical concentration and injection strategy were optimized to maximize the net present value (NPV) of the project at a specific oil price from the just created ANN model. To evaluate the feasibility of the project comprehensively in terms of market variations, a range of oil prices from 30 $/bbl to 60 $/bbl referenced from a real market situation was considered in conjunction with its probability following a statistical distribution on the NPV computation. Feasibility analysis of the optimal chemical injection scheme revealed a variation of profit from 0.42 $MM to 1.0 $MM, corresponding to the changes in oil price. In particular, at the highest possible oil prices, the project can earn approximately 0.61 $MM to 0.87 $MM for a quarter five-spot scale. Basically, the ANN model generated by this work can be flexibly applied in different economic conditions and extended to a larger reservoir scale for similar chemical flooding projects that demand a quick prediction rather than a simulation process. Full article

Nowadays conventional district heating and cooling (DHC) systems face the challenge of reducing fossil fuel dependency while maintaining profitability. To address these issues, this study examines the possibility of retrofitting DHC systems with refuse-derived fuel (RDF) gasifiers and gas upgrading equipment. A novel system is proposed based on the modification of an existing DHC system. Thermodynamic and economic models were established to allow for a parametric analysis of key parameters. The study revealed that such an upgrade is both feasible and economically viable. In the basic scenario, the retrofitted DHC system can simultaneously produce 60.3 GWh/year of heat, 65.1 GWh/year of cold, 33.2 GWh/year of electricity and 789.5 tons/year of synthetic natural gas. A significant part of the heat load can be generated from the waste heat of the upgrading equipment. The investment in retrofitting the polygeneration DHC system presents a payback period of 3 years. Full article

Atomization spray of non-Newtonian liquid plays a pivotal role in various engineering applications, especially for the energy utilization. To operate spray systems efficiently and well understand the effects of liquid rheological properties on the whole spray process, a comprehensive model using Euler-Lagrangian approaches was established to simulate the evolution of the atomization spray for viscoelastic liquid. Based on the Oldroyd model, the viscoelastic linear dispersion relation was introduced into the primary atomization; an extended viscoelastic version of Taylor analogy breakup (TAB) model was proposed; and the coalescence criteria was modified by rheological parameters, such as the relaxation time, the retardation time and the zero shear viscosity. The predicted results are validated with experimental data varying air-liquid mass flow ratio (ALR). Then, numerical calculations are conducted to investigate the characteristics of viscoelastic liquid atomization process. Results showed that the evolutionary trend of droplet mean diameter, Weber number and Ohnesorge number of viscoelastic liquids along with axial direction were qualitatively similar to that of Newtonian liquid. However, the mean size of polymer solution increased more gently than that of water at the downstream of the spray, which was beneficial to stable control of the desirable size in the applications. As concerned the effects of liquid physical properties, the surface tension played an important role in the primary atomization, which indicated the benefit of selecting the solvents with lower surface tension for finer atomization effects, while, for the evolution of atomization spray, larger relaxation time and zero shear viscosity increased droplet Sauter mean diameter (SMD) significantly. The zero shear viscosity was effective throughout the jet region, while the effect of relaxation time became weaken at the downstream of the spray field. Full article

A new type of solar tower was developed through laboratory experiments and numerical analyses. The solar tower mainly consists of three components. The transparent collector area is an aboveground glass roof, with increasing height toward the center. Attached to the center of the inside of the collector is a vertical tower within which a wind turbine is mounted at the lower entry to the tower. When solar radiation heats the ground through the glass roof, ascending warm air is guided to the center and into the tower. A solar tower that can generate electricity using a simple structure that enables easy and less costly maintenance has considerable advantages. However, conversion efficiency from sunshine energy to mechanical turbine energy is very low. Aiming to improve this efficiency, the research project developed a diffuser-type tower instead of a cylindrical tower, and investigated a suitable diffuser shape for practical use. After changing the tower height and diffuser open angle, with a temperature difference between the ambient air aloft and within the collector, various diffuser tower shapes were tested by laboratory experiments and numerical analyses. As a result, it was found that a diffuser tower with a semi-open angle of 4° is an optimal shape, producing the fastest updraft at each temperature difference in both the laboratory experiments and numerical analyses. The relationships between thermal updraft speed and temperature difference and/or tower height were confirmed. It was found that the thermal updraft velocity is proportional to the square root of the tower height and/or temperature difference. Full article

Conventional contact-based train power transfer systems have high maintenance costs and safety issues and cause noise and additional aerodynamic drag. Instead of the conventional system, a loosely coupled online wireless power transfer (WPT) system for a train is proposed in this paper. The operating frequency of the proposed design is 60 kHz to ensure a low flux density and a high-efficiency system with a large air gap. In addition, a new transmitter track and pick-up geometry for 60 kHz operation are designed using finite element analysis (FEA). The proposed design is evaluated theoretically and experimentally. By using the simulated results, a new 180 kW, 15 m test-bed for a tram is constructed. The total power transfer efficiency is greater than 85% at the rated output power, and the loss distribution in the system is identified. Electromagnetic field (EMF) radiation and the voltage induction at the rail are measured for safety evaluation. The measured EMF satisfied international guidelines. Full article

This paper presents a systematic framework to evaluate the performance of conservation voltage reduction (CVR) by determining suitable substations for CVR in operations planning. Existing CVR planning practice generally only focuses on the energy saving aspect without taking other underlying attributes into account, i.e., network topology and reduced voltage effects on other substations. To secure the desired operating reserve and avoid any adverse impacts, these attributes should be considered for implementing CVR more effectively. This research develops a practical decision-making framework based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) to quantify several of the aforementioned attributes. Candidate substations for CVR deployment are prioritized such that performances are compared in terms of power transfer distribution factor (PTDF), voltage sensitivity factor (VSF), and CVR factor. In addition, to meet a specified reserve requirement, an integer programming approach is adopted to select potential substations for CVR implementations. Case studies for a Korean electric power system under diverse operating conditions are performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Full article

The kinetics of hydrogen absorption/desorption can be improved by decreasing particle size down to a few nanometres. However, the associated evolution of activation energy remains unclear. In an attempt to clarify such an evolution with respect to particle size, we electrochemically deposited Mg nanoparticles on a catalytic nickel and noncatalytic titanium substrate. At a short deposition time of 1 h, magnesium particles with a size of 68 ± 11 nm could be formed on the nickel substrate, whereas longer deposition times led to much larger particles of 421 ± 70 nm. Evaluation of the hydrogen desorption properties of the deposited magnesium nanoparticles confirmed the effectiveness of the nickel substrate in facilitating the recombination of hydrogen, but also a significant decrease in activation energy from 56.1 to 37.8 kJ·mol⁻¹ H₂ as particle size decreased from 421 ± 70 to 68 ± 11 nm. Hence, the activation energy was found to be intrinsically linked to magnesium particle size. Such a reduction in activation energy was associated with the decrease of path lengths for hydrogen diffusion at the desorbing MgH₂/Mg interface. Further reduction in particle size to a few nanometres to remove any barrier for hydrogen diffusion would then leave the single nucleation and growth of the magnesium phase as the only remaining rate-limiting step, assuming that the magnesium surface can effectively catalyse the dissociation/recombination of hydrogen. Full article

In this paper we report a new development in the numerical model for aluminum-steam combustion. This model is based on the diffusion flame of the continuum regime and the thermal equilibrium between the particle and the flow field, which can be used to calculate the aluminum particle combustion model for two phase calculation conditions. The model prediction is in agreement with the experimental data. A new type of vortex combustor is proposed to increase the efficiency of the combustion of aluminum and steam, and the mathematical model of the two phase reacting flow in this combustor is established. The turbulence effects are modeled using the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM) with Linear Pressure-Strain approach, and the Eddy-Dissipation model is used to simulate the gas phase combustion. Aluminum particles are injected into the vortex combustor, forming a swirling flow around the chamber, whose trajectories are traced using the Discrete Phase Model (DPM). The simulation results show that the vortex combustor can achieve highly efficient combustion of aluminum and steam. The influencing factors, such as the eccentric distance of the inlet of aluminum particles, particle size and steam inlet diameter, etc., are studied. Full article

Aims and background: Mining and energy complexes in Serbia are recognized as a major source of a large number of pollutants. Serbia’s environmental performance reports clearly indicate that large mining and energy complexes are the dominant source of air pollution. It is difficult to determine which of them remarkably threaten the quality of the environment, as all the basic elements of the environment (air, water, and soil) are threatened, not just one. Mining and energy complexes significantly reduce the quality of the immediate environment, as the distance areas throughout water and air pollution propagation. Additional motivation for this study lies in the fact that large mining and energy complexes are particularly interesting because they are located in the immediate vicinity or large rivers (mostly the Danube), which are protected in many national and international legislation acts (particularly the Danube). The basis for the preservation of environmental quality is an effective environmental management system (EMS) in mining and energy complexes. The aim of this study is to promote and elaborate the possibility for improving the mining and energy complex environmental protection/management system by applying the basic principles of sustainable development. Methodology: Project management methodology is selected as a tool. Project management is based on the application of a network planning technique (Critical Path Method), because of its suitability for representing the logical structure of environmental protection system. The survey was conducted in the area of the city of Kostolac. The examined area included mining and energy complexes in Kostolac, which incorporate three surface mines (Ćirikovac, Klenovik, and Drmno) and two thermal power stations (TE “Kostolac A” (100 MW) and TE “Kostolac B” (2 × 348.5 MW)). The PSR model (Pressures, State, Response) was used for the organization of the interactions within “society–environment” system as the basis for indicator selection. Results: Procedures to identify and determine the significance of the environmental aspects should be established by executive staff in mining and energy plants and complexes. Identification of environmental aspects is the first part of the planning system of environmental management and the activities related to them. The accomplishment of critical path activities represents the basis for improving the environmental protection system in mining and energy complexes. Discussion: Application of sustainable development principles depends on the country’s energy potential and the application of the adopted environmental policy regarding mining and energy complexes. Strict enforcement of existing laws and regulations presents an opportunity to rectify many shortcomings while providing economic benefits, restoring the usable value of ravaged land, and preserving air and water quality. Full article

This paper presents a decentralized control method for distributed generations (DGs) in an islanded direct current (DC) microgrid. In most typical DC microgrids, a decentralized control method is based on a voltage droop control method. However, the grid voltage differs from node to node due to line voltage drop, and hence the power sharing ratio among DGs cannot be matched with as desired value. Especially in an islanded DC microgrid including an energy storage system as a voltage source, it is difficult for DGs to maintain the charge state of the ESS in a decentralized way. To overcome this problem, state of charge (SOC)-voltage droop control is applied to the ESS. By using the proposed droop method, the SOC information can be assigned to the grid voltage, and hence the other DGs are able to support the SOC in a decentralized way. For DGs to enhance the accuracy of the SOC estimation, voltage drop is compensated for based on forecasting data and line impedance data. The simulation is modeled and implemented using Power System Computer Aided Design/Electromagnetic Transients for DC (PSCAD/EMTDC, version 4.2, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) and the simulation results show that the capability to maintain SOC as well as the system voltage profile are improved by using the proposed method. Full article

Deregulated electricity markets encourage firms to compete, making the development of renewable energy easier. An ordinary parameter of electricity markets is the electricity market price, mainly the day-ahead electricity market price. This paper describes a new approach to forecast day-ahead electricity market prices, whose methodology is divided into two parts as: (i) forecasting of the electricity price through autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models; and (ii) construction of a portfolio of ARIMA models per hour using stochastic programming. A stochastic programming model is used to forecast, allowing many input data, where filtering is needed. A case study to evaluate forecasts for the next 24 h and the portfolio generated by way of stochastic programming are presented for a specific day-ahead electricity market. The case study spans four weeks of each one of the years 2014, 2015 and 2016 using a specific pre-treatment of input data of the stochastic programming (SP) model. In addition, the results are discussed, and the conclusions are drawn. Full article

Many of the recent projects for new transmission line have considered the high-voltage direct current (HVDC) system, owing to the many advantages of the direct current (DC) system. The most noteworthy advantage is that a cable can serve as a substitute for the overhead transmission line in residential areas; therefore, the HVDC system application is increasing, and as the number of DC systems in the power system increases, the interaction assessment regarding the HVDC system gains importance. An index named multi-infeed interaction factor (MIIF) is commonly used to estimate the interaction between power converters; however, the HVDC system is composed of two converters and a transmission line. The MIIF represents the interaction between the rectifiers and inverters, but not for the whole system. In this work, a method to assess the interaction of the whole system was therefore studied. To decide on the location of the new HVDC transmission system at the planning stage, in consideration of the interaction of the existing DC system, the line flow change distribution factor, according to the HVDC-transmission capacity change, was examined. Also, a power system transient -stability analysis was performed with different HVDC system locations, depending on the distribution factor. The simulation results indicate that when the factor is higher, two HVDC systems have a stronger interaction and are less stable in the transient state. Full article

This paper proposes a decoupling design approach for a free-piston linear generator (FPLG) constituted of three key components, including a combustion chamber, a linear generator and a gas spring serving as rebounding device. The approach is based on the distribution of the system power and efficiency, which provides a theoretical design method from the viewpoint of the overall power and efficiency demands. The energy flow and conversion processes of the FPLG are analyzed, and the power and efficiency demands of the thermal-mechanical and mechanical-electrical energy conversion are confirmed. The energy and efficiency distributions of the expansion and compression strokes within a single stable operation cycle are analyzed and determined. Detailed design methodologies of crucial geometric dimensions and operational parameters of each key component are described. The feasibility of the proposed decoupling design approach is validated through several design examples with different output power. Full article

As higher performance is demanded in 5G networks, energy consumption in wireless networks increases along with the advances of various technologies, so enhancing energy efficiency also becomes an important goal to implement 5G wireless networks. In this paper, we study the energy efficiency maximization problem focused on finding a suitable set of turned-on small cell access points (APs). Finding the suitable on/off states of APs is challenging since the APs can be deployed by users while centralized network planning is not always possible. Therefore, when APs in small cells are randomly deployed and thus redundant in many cases, a mechanism of dynamic AP turning-on/off is required. We propose a device-assisted framework that exploits feedback messages from the user equipment (UE). To solve the problem, we apply an optimization method using belief propagation (BP) on a factor graph. Then, we propose a family of online algorithms inspired by BP, called DANCE, that requires low computational complexity. We perform numerical simulations, and the extensive simulations confirm that BP enhances energy efficiency significantly. Furthermore, simple, but practical DANCE exhibits close performance to BP and also better performance than other popular existing methods. Specifically, in a small-sized network, BP enhances energy efficiency 129%. Furthermore, in ultra-dense networks, DANCE algorithms successfully achieve orders of magnitude higher energy efficiency than that of the baseline. Full article

Currently, the electric power production by wind energy conversion systems (WECSs) has increased significantly. Consequently, wind turbine (WT) generators are requested to fulfill the grid code (GC) requirements stated by network operators. In case of grid faults/voltage dips, a mismatch between the generated active power from the wind generator and the active power delivered to the grid is produced. The conventional approach is using a braking chopper (BC) in the DC-link to dissipate this active power. This paper proposes a fault-ride through (FRT) strategy for variable-speed WECSs based on permanent magnet synchronous generators (PMSGs). The proposed strategy exploits the rotor inertia of the WECS (inertia of the WT and PMSG) to store the surplus active power during the grid faults/voltage dips. Thus, no additional hardware components are requested. Furthermore, a direct model predictive control (DMPC) scheme for the PMSG is proposed in order to enhance the dynamic behavior of the WECS. The behavior of the proposed FRT strategy is verified and compared with the conventional BC approach for all the operation conditions by simulation results. Finally, the simulation results confirm the feasibility of the proposed FRT strategy. Full article