Power sector development in India with CO2 emission targets: Effects of regional grid integration and the role of clean technologies

The power sector in India at present comprises of five separate regional electricity grids having practically no integrated operation in between them. This study analyses the utility planning, environmental and economical effects of integrated power sector development at the national level in which the regional electric grids are developed and operated as one integrated system. It also examines the effects of selected CO₂ emission reduction targets in the power sector and the role of renewable power generation technologies in India. The study shows that the integrated development and operation of the power system at the national level would reduce the total cost including fuel cost by 4912 million $, total capacity addition by 2784 MW, while the emission of CO₂, SO₂ and NO_x would be reduced by 231.6 (1.9%), 0.8 (0.9%), 0.4 (1.2%) million tons, respectively, during the planning horizon. Furthermore, the study shows that the expected unserved energy, one of the indices of generation system reliability, would decrease to 26 GWh under integrated national power system from 5158 GWh. As different levels of CO₂ emission reduction targets were imposed, there is a switching of generation from conventional coal plants to gas fired plants, clean coal technologies and nuclear based plants. As a result the capacity expansion cost has increased. It was found that wind power plant is most attractive and economical in the Indian perspective among the renewable options considered (Solar, wind and biomass). Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Small-scale CDM projects in a competitive electricity industry: How good is a simplified baseline methodology?

Setting baseline emissions is one of the principal tasks involved in awarding credits for greenhouse gas emission (GHG) mitigation projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). An emission baseline has to be project-specific in order to be accurate. However, project-specific baseline calculations are subject to high transaction costs, which disadvantage small-scale projects. For this reason, the CDM-Executive Board (CDM-EB) has approved simplified baseline methodologies for selected small-scale CDM project categories. While the simplified methods help reduce the transaction cost, they may also result in inaccuracies in the estimation of emission reductions from CDM projects. The purpose of this paper is to present a rigorous economic scheduling method for calculating the GHG emission reduction in a hypothetical competitive electricity industry due to the operation of a renewable energy-based power plant under CDM and compare the GHG emission reduction derived from the rigorous method with that obtained from the use of a simplified (i.e., standardized) method approved by the CDM-EB. A key finding of the paper is that depending upon the level of power demand, prices of electricity and input fuels, the simplified method can lead to either significant overestimation or substantial underestimation of emission reduction due to the operation of renewable energy-based power projects in a competitive electricity industry.     

Snowpack response in the Assiniboine-Red River basin associated with projected global warming of 1.0 °C to 3.0 °C

This study assesses snow response in the Assiniboine-Red River basin, located in the Lake Winnipeg watershed, due to anthropogenic climate change. We use a process-based distributed snow model driven by an ensemble of eight statistically downscaled global climate models (GCMs) to project future changes under policy-relevant global mean temperature (GMT) increases of 1.0 °C to 3.0 °C above the pre-industrial period. Results indicate that basin scale seasonal warmings generally exceed the GMT increases, with greater warming in winter months. The majority of GCMs project wetter winters and springs, and drier summers, while autumn could become either drier or wetter. An analysis of snow water equivalent (SWE) responses under GMT changes reveal higher correlations of snow cover duration (SCD), snowmelt rate, maximum SWE (SWE_max) and timing of SWE_max with winter and spring temperatures compared to precipitation, implying that these variables are predominantly temperature controlled. Consequently, under the GMT increases from 1.0 °C to 3.0 °C, the basin will experience successively shorter SCD, slower snowmelt, smaller monthly SWE and SWE_max, earlier SWE_max, and a transition from snow-dominated to rain-snow hybrid regime. Further, while the winter precipitation increases for some GCMs compensate the temperature-driven changes in SWE, the increases for most GCMs occur as rainfall, thus limiting the positive contribution to snow storage. Overall, this study provides a detailed diagnosis of the snow regime changes under the policy-relevant GMT changes, and a basis for further investigations on water quantity and quality changes.     

Assessing terrestrial wildlife populations in the Toronto and Region Area of Concern

Beneficial use impairments (BUIs) under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement identify environmental issues requiring remedial action within the Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs). We conducted this study to support the assessment of the wildlife component of BUI 3: degradation of fish and wildlife populations. We compared bird and amphibian (frogs and toads) data from the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority’s Terrestrial Long-term Monitoring Program in the Toronto and Region AOC to an adjacent, but otherwise similar, reference watershed, Duffins Creek. Twelve of 13 targets were met within the AOC for forest bird, wetland bird, meadow bird and amphibian populations based on averages of mean annual values at sites within the AOC that were within two standard deviations of averages at sites in the Duffins Creek reference watershed between 2008 and 2017. Even though wildlife populations within the AOC were within the normal range of variability expected from a reference watershed, they were often at lower levels than within the Duffins Creek reference watershed. In addition, forest bird and amphibian populations were negatively affected by urbanization within the AOC and meadow bird indices declined. We conclude that while wildlife populations within the AOC currently meet targets for BUI 3, they continue to be negatively impacted by numerous stressors that are primarily related to past and ongoing urbanization. Thus, continued restoration of wildlife habitat and protection of existing habitat within the AOC is highly recommended.     

Seasonal variation in light penetration and subsurface chlorophyll-α in southern Lake Michigan observed by a glider

The Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research (CIGLR) in collaboration with the Great Lakes Observing System and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (NOAA GLERL) deployed an autonomous underwater glider in southern Lake Michigan several times per year between 2012 and 2019 to collect offshore (>30 m depth) limnological measurements, including temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (beginning during 2015), and chlorophyll-α fluorescence. From these data, we calculated mixed layer depth, several measures of light penetration (diffuse attenuation coefficient, first optical depth, euphotic zone depth), and depth of the subsurface chlorophyll-α maxima. During summer, mean offshore mixed layer depth was typically 10–15 m, K_d for PAR was 0.1–0.17 m^?1, first optical depth was 6–9 m, euphotic zone depth was 35–40 m, and depth of subsurface chlorophyll-α maxima was 30–35 m. We also observed substantial spatial and temporal variation in these values across the basin and within and among seasons. Glider-based observations provide a wider horizontal and vertical perspective than other methods (e.g., ship- and satellite-based observations, buoys, and fixed moorings), and are therefore a valuable, complementary tool for Great Lakes limnology. The set of observations reported here provide seasonal and basin-scale information that may help to identify anomalies useful for future glider-assisted investigation into the role of biophysical processes in Great Lakes limnology and ecology.     

Artificial intelligence techniques and their application in oil and gas industry

Artificial Intelligence Review - Data are being continuously generated from various operational steps in the oil and gas industry. The recordings of these data and their proper utilization have...     

MODELING AND PREDICTIVE CONTROL OF MIMO NONLINEAR SYSTEMS USING WIENER-LAGUERRE MODELS

In this work, a Weiner-type nonlinear black box model was developed for capturing dynamics of open loop stable MIMO nonlinear systems with deterministic inputs. The linear dynamic component of the model was parameterized using orthogonal Laguerre filters while the nonlinear state output map was constructed either using quadratic polynomial functions or artificial neural networks. The properties of the resulting model, such as open loop stability and steady-state behavior, are discussed in detail. The identified Weiner-Laguerre model was further used to formulate a nonlinear model predictive control (NMPC) scheme. The efficacy of the proposed modeling and control scheme was demonstrated using two benchmark control problems: (a) a simulation study involving control of a continuously operated fermenter at its optimum (singular) operating point and (b) experimental verification involving control of pH at the critical point of a neutralization process. It was observed that the proposed Weiner-Laguerre model is able to capture both the dynamic and steady-state characteristics of the continuous fermenter as well as the neutralization process reasonably accurately over wide operating ranges. The proposed NMPC scheme achieved a smooth transition from a suboptimal operating point to the optimum (singular) operating point of the fermenter without causing large variation in manipulated inputs. The proposed NMPC scheme was also found to be robust in the face of moderate perturbation in the unmeasured disturbances. In the case of experimental verification using the neutralization process, the proposed control scheme was found to achieve much faster transition to a set point close to the critical point when compared to a conventional gain-scheduled PID controller.     

Effect of marangoni stresses on the deformation and coalescence in compatibilized immiscible polymer blends

The effect of physical compatibilization on the deformation and coalescence of droplets in immiscible polymer blends is discussed. Evidence is provided for the existence of concentration gradients in block copolymers along the interface during deformation. This causes complex changes in droplet shapes during deformation and relaxation. These concentration gradients also result in Marangoni stresses, which stabilize the droplets against deformation and breakup. Coalescence experiments have been performed, varying both the compatibilizer concentration and the shear rate. Existing coalescence models have been evaluated. An empirical extension of Chesters' partially mobile interface model is presented, that treats the effects of Marangoni stresses on the coalescence process as a higher effective viscosity ratio.     

Review:Mg and Its Alloy——Scope, Future Perspectives and Recent Advancements in Welding and Processing

镁/镁合金焊接与加工的最新进展与未来展望

Sachin Kumar,武传松

（山东大学 材料科学与工程学院,济南 250061）

中文说明：

该文非常详细地综述了镁及镁合金的生产、加工及焊接的研究现状。尤其是在镁合金焊接部分,作者比较详细地阐述了熔化焊、激光焊、固相焊及钎焊等方法在镁合金焊接中的研究现状、存在问题与发展动向。该文对于镁合金焊接研究人员具有重要的参考价值。

关键词：镁;镁合金;加工;焊接;连接;最新进展