Finite Set-Model Predictive Current Control of Three-Phase Voltage Source Inverter for RES （Renewable Energy Systems） Applications

This paper focuses on a combination of three-phase VSI （voltage source inverter） with a predictive current control to provide an optimized system for three-phase inverters that control the load current. A FS-MPC （finite set-model predictive control） strategy for a three-phase VSI for RES （renewable energy systems） applications is implemented. The renewable energy systems model is used in this paper to investigate the system performance when power is supplied to resistive-inductive load. With three different cases, the evaluation of the system is done. Firstly, the robustness of control strategy under variable DC-Link is done in terms of the THD （total harmonic distortion）. Secondly, with one prediction step, the system performance is tested using different sampling time, and lastly, the dynamic response of the system with step change in the amplitude of the reference is investigated. The simulations and result analyses are carried out using Matlab/Simulink to test the effectiveness and robustness of FS-MPC for two-level VSI with AC filter for resistive-inductive load supplied by a renewable energy system.     

Design of a Mobile Photovoltaic Module System for Demonstration and Experimentation

In Mexico, owing to solar radiation conditions, there is great potential for PV （photovoltaic） systems. Besides, since 2007, the solar electricity interconnection agreement became official which allowed for an important growth of the photovoltaic industry. Due to the important development of the PV industry, there is a need for engineers trained to design, install, and evaluate PV systems The UAEMEX （autonomous university of the state of Mexico） offers a new bachelor degree of engineering program which dedicated to the development of sustainable energy systems. This kind of programs requires special equipment for experimentation and practice Specialists at UAEMEX also detected the need for a system to evaluate and demonstrate the application of PV modules, but they also found that most of the systems on the market are very expensive and unable to evaluate different arrangements. The goal of this paper is to present the design of a mobile system to evaluate PV modules and arrangements. This system is useful, not only for demonstration practices, but also for experimentation with different materials and types of PV panels. The design allows for two or four PV modules to be assembled in different positions and inclinations. The prototype is equipped with a data acquisition system that will be used to obtain the PV module performance curves. It will also be used to evaluate the atmospheric, interference and shadow effects on these modules. This prototype will be used to complement the practice learning of solar PV systems, but also to demonstrate the use of PV modules. The prototype is being design and constructed by a group of mechanical and electronic engineering students and this fact will be useful to meet the needs of basic science, math, and engineering teaching objectives in an integrated and hands-on way project. The essential features of system are described. A comparative analysis of the systems on the market is carried out. Also presented are the learning advantages for the students involved in the     

A New Control Strategy for Modeling Wind Energy Systems Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Wind energy is currently a fast-growing interdisciplinary field that encompasses many different branches of engineering and science. Modeling and controlling wind energy systems are difficult and challenging problems. The basic structure of wind turbines and some wind control system methods are briefly reviewed. The need for using advanced theories from fuzzy and intelligent systems in studying wind energy systems is identified and justified. FCMs （fuzzy cognitive maps） are used to model wind energy systems. Simulation studies are performed and obtained results are discussed. A new mathematical approach has been proposed to model dynamical complex systems, the DYFUKN （dynamic fuzzy knowledge networks）. Many open problems in the areas of modeling and controlling wind energy systems are outlined.     

Limiting Use of Potential Energy Storage Compared to Batteries for a Lebanese Hybrid Wind/PV System

In l,ebanon, hybrid wind/PV systems are used to provide electricity when the public electricity is cut off This paper treats the storage problems of electrical energy generated by the used renewable sources. A theoretical study on two types of electrical energy storage systems is given. These systems are the electrochemical energy storage devices （batteries） and the potential （or hydraulic） energy storage system. In order to find the limiting case of use between these two energy storage systems, economical study and comparison between them are discussed and analyzed.     

Development and Implementation of GSM-Based Distribution Automation System with Graphic User Interface in Nigeria Electric Power Distribution Network

Lack of up-to-date information on efficient operation and maintenance of EPDS （electric power distribution systems）, Nigeria is addressed by designing and implementing an indigenous real-time monitoring and diagnosis system. The system encompasses the development of software driven hardware positioned at the remotely located sub-stations at the low voltage level to keep track of the network in real-time. The detection of faults exploits threshold passing algorithm through continuous monitoring of the network power quality. Communication between the RTU （remote terminal unit） and the DCC （distribution control center） which is based on GSM is initiated by disturbance. The DCC performs fault evaluation processing using the received data and predetermined faults signatures to determine the nature of disturbance and presents the result in graphic user interface environment. A fault reporting time of 2 s was achieved. The developed system exhibits a high degree of accuracy and manifests no spurious reports during testing. The resultant system limits the effects of interruption and increases power availability by reducing the down time. The system strengthens engineering and management capabilities required to enhance reliability by providing information about the network health status.     

Multi-variable Optimization of HVAC System Using a Genetic Algorithm

Geothermal is a fast-growing alternative heat source for HVAC systems, however, the initial cost of using a ground source HVAC system is higher compared to an air source system. Studies about system design and operation are necessary to reduce the initial cost and ensure that the ground source heat pump system has high efficiency, resulting in a lower total life-time cost. In this study, a multi-variable evolutionary computation algorithm is proposed for generating optimal parameters for a geothermal source HVAC system. The system was modeled and simulated using MATLAB. The design parameters were calculated by minimizing the energy consumption, Based on an experimental building, a case study was presented. Using this model, the optimal set points were calculated and used as a designed system. Energy consumption of this system was reduced by about 10% compared to the system operated with a fixed supply cold water temperature （7 ℃）.     

Experimental Study for the Performance of the Solar Distiller

This article describes the experimental results obtained by the solar distiller by specifying the radiative properties of materials, the analysis of various types of losses in the system and the establishment of the energy assessment of the system being the main question to consider. The experiment was undertaken in Tlemcen-Algeria by working out a solar distiller in order to measure the various temperatures of the system. Salt was added to study the negotiable effect of the salinity of water on solar distillation and it is noted that the production of distilled water decreases with salinity. The distiller is forwarded to a constant global solar flow. Experimental results obtained in heat transfer of natural convection in the pure and simultaneous heat and mass transfer, proven that these phenomena are in the boundary layer. This enables people to admit that the existence of a stagnant zone inside of distiller is called the ＂buffer zones＂.     

A study on the gas-solid particle flows in a needle-free drug delivery device

Different systems have been used over the years to deliver drug particles to the human skin for pharmaceutical effect. Research has been done to improve the performance and flexibility of these systems. In recent years a unique system called the transdermal drug delivery has been developed. Transdermal drug delivery opened a new door in the field of drug delivery as it is more flexible and offers better performance than the conventional systems. The principle of this system is to accelerate drug particles with a high speed gas flow. Among different transdermal drug delivery systems we will concentrate on the contour shock tube system in this paper. A contoured shock tube is consists of a rupture chamber, a shock tube and a supersonic nozzle section. The drug particles are retained between a set of bursting diaphragm. When the diaphragm is ruptured at a certain pressure, a high speed unsteady flow is initiated through the shock tube which accelerates the particles. Computational fluid dynamics is used to simulate and analyze the flow field. The DPM (discrete phase method) is used to model the particle flow. As an unsteady flow is initiated though the shock tube the drag correlation proposed by Igra et al is used other than the standard drag correlation. The particle velocities at different sections including the nozzle exit are investigated under different operating conditions. Static pressure histories in different sections in the shock tube are investigated to analyze the flow field. The important aspects of the gas and particle dynamics in the shock tube are discussed and analyzed in details.     

Damage Assessment of Existing Transmission Structures Using ANFIS （Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference） Model

This paper introduces a new methodology for the damage assessment of existing-transmission structures using six layers, zero order Sugeno model. The model is a hybrid fuzzy-neural system that combines the power of neural networks and fuzzy systems. It is a learning expert system that finds the parameters of the fuzzy sets and fuzzy rules by exploiting approximation techniques from neural networks. The condition ratings of the structural components are determined based on visually observed deterioration-symptoms and the severity of those symptoms. A supervised learning process using training data and expert opinions is used to develop the expert system rules and determine the ratings of the structural components. For the learning from training data, the model uses a combination of least-square estimator and gradient descent method. A sequential least square algorithm is used to determine the weighting factors that minimized the errors. A test case is given to illustrate the power of the proposed fuzzy-neural system. It is concluded that the Sugeno model＇s ability to tune the parameters based on the training data makes it superior to the rules produced by an expert in the conventional fuzzy logic systems.     

Unplanned Shutdown Frequency Prediction of FBR MONJU Using Fault Tree Analysis Method

In order to evaluate the operational reliability of Japanese FBR （fast breeder reactor） MONJU, frequencies of important intermediate events and equipment failures resulting during reactor automatic trip are predicted using FTA （fault tree analysis） technique for the plant system model. The targeted devices are the following： PHTS （primary heat transport system）, SHTS （secondary heat transport system）, WS （water and steam system）, PPS （plant protection system） and PCS （plant control system）. In this paper, the frequency of automatic reactor trips was estimated by extracting and analyzing the important intermediate events and equipment failures covering all the derived fault trees of these systems. The analyses predicted 1.2/RY （reactor year） the value of unplanned shut down frequency by the internal factor of the system. The largest contributed event was function failure of SHTS accounting for 42.6% of total events followed by PHTS with 40.1%. The contribution factor of WS was only 4.4%.     

Global Evaluation of Energy in Hybrid M-HTFC/MGT Systems in Cogenerative Arrangement

This work concerns the study of HSs （Hybrid Systems） that are made up of the integration of M-HTFC （Medium and High Temperature Fuel Cell） and MGT （Micro-Gas-Turbine）. Different typologies of hybrid systems are taken into account, which differ from each other in their plant layouts. The plants are considered in cogenerative arrangement. The aim of this study is to carry out an energetic analysis of the HS considered to obtain an analytical expression to depict the system operating in cogenerative arrangement. An energetic comparison among the systems analyzed based on some indexes is effected, which allows an evaluation of the plants performances in cogenerative arrangement. An energetic analysis is carried out, which is based on a ＂black box＂ depiction of the plant in which the components and the mutual interactions are highlighted. The fuel cell component of the plant is not analyzed as a black box, but each element that constitutes it, is elaborated as a subsystem.     

Software Tool for the Implementation of the Methodology for Revitalization of High-Voltage Overhead Power Lines

In power systems, a large number of OPLs （overhead power lines） are more than 40 years old and some even exceed 50 years old. The key issue for power systems managers, public utilities companies and electrical engineers today concerns the manner in which available financial resources should be invested in these OPLs to provide the greatest impact on the power system as a whole and to address the OPLs that require urgent revitalization. This paper presents the application of the software tool RevOPL, developed using Microsoft Access utilizing the ＂methodology for revitalization of high-voltage OPLs＂. The aim is to present both the methodology and software to objectively evaluate the condition of an OPL and determine its remaining service life. The application of this software tool provides a proposal for the scheduling and scope of planned revitalization activities, which are obtained through the optimization of the technical characteristics while remaining within the available budget.     

Natural Convection of Nanofluid in Cylindrical Enclosure Filled with Porous Media

A numerical study has been carried out to investigate the effect of aspect ratio on heat transfer by natural convection of nanofluid taking Cu nano particles and the water as based fluid. The flow is laminar, steady state, axisymmetric two-dimensional in a vertical cylindrical channel filled with porous media. Heat is generated uniformly along the center of the channel with its vertical surface remain with cooled constant wall temperature and insulated horizontal top and bottom surfaces. The governing equations which used are continuity, momentum and energy equations using Darcy law and Boussinesq＇s approximation which are transformed to dimensionless equations. The finite difference approach is used to obtain all the computational results using the MATLAB-7 program. The parameters affected on the system are Rayleigh number ranging within （10≤ Ra ≤ 103）, aspect ratio （1 ≤ As 〈 5） and the volume fraction （0 ≤0 〈 0.2）. The results obtained are presented graphically in the form of streamline and isotherm contour plots and the results show that as ~ increase from 0.01 to 0.2 the value of the mean Nusselt number increase 50.4% for Ra = 1,000.     

Experimental Evaluation of Thermal Properties of Grouting Materials

This study is aimed at the thermal analysis of sealant mortar （usually a mixtures of bentonite and cemem with addition of sand） used in geothermal cooling and heating. In particular, thermal conductivity and diffusivity measurements were performed on differem sealant mixtures by using Hot Disk thermal constants analyzer in order to identify the interesting thermal properties of grouting materials. The grouting materials that we considered are of porous nature and, if used in the presence of groundwater, have different levels of imbibitions. It is important to know the thermal behavior of these materials at different water content. A first set of measurements was performed on a not-tinted material at room temperature; then the samples were led to saturation conditions by contact capillary imbibitions with a cotton wool layer moistened in water. The determination of thermal conductivity in these test conditions appears to be critical compared to the measuremems on non-timed sample. The thermal conductivity tests have revealed how the thermal behavior of the samples analyzed is essentially determined by the density and water content of the material： in fact, the thermal conductivity increases of two to three times the value of the not-tinted material.     

A Numerical Analysis of Turbulent Compressible Radial Channel Flow with Particular Reference to Pneumatic Controllers

A numerical analysis of turbulent axisymmetric radial compressible channel flow between a nozzle and a flat plate is presented in this paper. In particular, the application of this type of flow situation in pneumatic dimensional control systems is considered. The Spalart-Allmaras one-equation turbulence model is used. The resulting highly coupled PDE system has been solved using the control volume based numerical approach where the power-law scheme was used extensively to compute the diffusive and convective fluxes of momentum. Results show that local Mach numbers can easily achieve and surpass unity for typical industrial configurations. Also, in the case of a standard industrial nozzle geometry, the presence of a toroidal recirculation zone that moves radially outward is clearly identified in most cases. Separated flow areas are of particular concern as it has been shown previously that they can cause nozzle fouling in industrial applications. It has been shown that the size of this region is dependant on feed pressure. Considerable differences between results obtained using the Spalart-Allmaras and standard k- εturbulence models have also been noticed.     

Wind-power estimating model based on the experimental data in laboratory

Wind-power （WP） estimation is necessary for power system in several operations, which are as the optimal power flow between conventional units and wind farms, generators scheduling, and electricity market bidding. Estimating the output power of a wind energy conversion unit （WEC） mainly bases on the incident wind speed at the unit site by using the power characteristic curve. In addition, several time-series models have been using in wind speed forecasting. These models are characterized with requiring a large set of data. In order to prevent from the wind speed measurement and the need of a precise wind turbine model, an novel method basing on neural network and the grey predictor model GM （1,1） is proposed. Though the method, the estimating model can be built only by using the experimental data, which are obtained from the WP system in laboratory. The effectiveness of the estimating model is confirmed by the simulation results.     

Prototype Line Crawler for Power Line Inspection

In South Africa, electricity is supplied through thousands-of-kilometers of overhead power cables, which is owned by Eskom the national energy supplier. Currently monitoring of these overhead power cables are done by means of helicopter inspection flights and foot patrols, which are infrequent and expensive. In this paper, the authors present the design of a prototype power line crawler （inspection robot） for the monitoring of these overhead power lines in South Africa. The designed prototype power line crawler is capable of driving on the wire, balancing on the wire and is capable of maneuvering past certain obstacles found on the overhead power cables. The prototype power line crawler is designed to host a monitoring system that monitors the power line as the inspection robot drives on it. Various experimental tests were performed and are presented in this paper, showing the capability of performing these tasks. This prototype inspection robot ensures a platform for future development in this area.     

Renewable Energy Sources and Pricing of Electrical Power

This report deals with some characteristics of the electric power system of Bulgaria. Emphasis is put on the benefits of joining the small photovoltaic plants in the tourist areas of the country. As an example of that the town of Pomorie is examined. Data on the quality of the consumed electric energy and the price per a four-member family are presented. The amount of the solar radiation for the town of Pomorie is audited through the PVGIS （Photovoltaic Geographical Information System）. Discussed are the types of photovoltaic panels offered on the market by manufacturers in terms of the received power efficiency. Developed is a model of creating a photovoltaic system on the roof of a house, inhabited by several families. Calculations are made on the cost of the electricity generated by the proposed system. Compared is the cost of the electricity supplied by the electricity provider EVN （Energie Verntinftig Nutzen） in the town of Pomorie to the one that will be obtained using the proposed PV-system.