A dual mode distributed economic control for a fuel cell– photovoltaic-battery hybrid power generation system based on marginal cost

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell system (PEMFCS) combining with photovoltaic and battery is now considered to be a promising alternative power generation. This paper presents a dual mode distributed economic control for a fuel cell-photovoltaic-battery hybrid power generation system (HPGS), which selects free control mode in normal situation, and the cooperative control mode is adopted when control precision declines or large state of charge (SoC) differences of battery energy storage devices (BESDs) appears. The droop control based on power generation cost by combining droop coefficient and marginal cost function considering line loss together is employed to minimize system power generation cost under free control mode. The system average voltage obtained by consensus algorithm is added to compensate bus voltage and reference power based on average marginal cost function considering line loss is calculated to correct output power under cooperative control mode. The challenge of further balancing SoCs of BESDs is implemented by internal control among BESDs. Results conducted on RT-LAB simulation platform verify effectiveness of the proposed method, indicating that cooperative control mode as a complementary way of free control mode can achieve economical operation of the studied HPGS, while maintaining bus voltage in reasonable range and balancing SoC.     

Size and power exchange optimization of a grid-connected diesel generator-photovoltaic-fuel cell hybrid energy system considering reliability,cost and renewability

In this paper, optimal size and power exchange of a grid-connected diesel generator-photovoltaic-fuel cell (diesel/PV/FC) hybrid energy system is investigated by multi-objective optimization for a community in Kerman, Iran. To optimally size hybrid system, number of system components (PV panels, diesel generators, electrolysers, FCs and hydrogen tanks) are considered as decision variables. In this paper, to optimize power exchange between the hybrid system and grid, two other decision variables are introduced: selling coefficient and purchase coefficient. Selling and purchase coefficients are defined to optimize the amount of electricity sold to the grid and the amount of electricity purchased from the grid, respectively. In order to optimally design the hybrid system, multi-objective optimization has been considered with respect to three objectives: levelized cost of energy (LCOE), loss of power supply probability (LPSP) and renewability. Based on simulation results, it can be drawn that when the hybrid system can sell/buy energy to/from the grid, (1) by decreasing non-renewable energy source usage, the value of LPSP increases, (2) by decrease of non-renewable energy usage, value of LCOE increases and (3) using FC system leads to increasing LCOE.     

Application concepts and evaluation of small-scale catalytic combustors for natural gas

Basic application concepts of catalytic combustion are roughly classified into three types, and the development of catalysts, combustion performance and applicability are stated. On the diffusive catalytic combustion method, completeness of methane combustion and its reaction mechanism have been demonstrated by detailed combustion analysis of the burner and reaction kinetics. On the adiabatic lean premixed catalytic combustion method, applicability of a high-temperature catalyst system based on Mn-substituted hexaaluminate monolithic honeycomb to a 1.5 MW gas turbine combustor has been investigated through pressurized combustion tests and prototype engine-rig tests. As a result, a good outlook of the basic technical problems to overcome including the catalyst durability and the combustor control method was obtained, but another problem was that of the combustor capacity. In view of the progress of the non-catalytic lean premixed combustion method, it was concluded that a hybrid catalytic combustion method limiting catalytic combustion to the low-temperature range in this concept might become efficient in the future, but that it would depend on the development of efficient catalysts initiating their activity at about 350°C and having durability at 1000°C.     

面向全局无功优化的变电站电压无功控制器的设计

通过对现有各种电压无功补偿装置的分析研究,针对它们的不足之处,提出了相应的解决方案,同时将混成自动电压控制理论应用到变电站电压无功综合控制装置的设计中,实现了电压无功的全局优化。     

The Tail Effect of Some Prepared Cationic Surfactants on Silver Nanoparticle Preparation and Their Surface,Thermodynamic Parameters,and Antimicrobial Activity

The surface parameters of some cationic surfactants having different hydrophobic alkyl chains were assessed in aqueous solution using different techniques; surface tension, ultraviolet-Visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy, and conductivity measurements. The obtained critical micelle concentration (CMC) for N-(2-((3,4-dimethoxybenzylidene)amino)ethyl)-N,N-dimethyloctan-1-aminium bromide (DBAO), N-(2-((3,4-dimethoxybenzylidene)amino)ethyl)-N,N-dimethyldodectan-1-aminium bromide (DBAD), and N-(2-((3,4-dimethoxybenzylidene)amino)ethyl)-N,N-dimethylhexadectan-1-aminium bromide (DBAH) in aqueous solution using three techniques are nearly the same. Increasing the hydrophobic chain length enhances micelle formation. Raising the solution temperature from 25 to 65 °C also shows the same trend. The thermodynamic calculations outlined the adsorption propensity of the surfactants at the surface compared to their affinity to form micelles. Both micellization and adsorption processes are enhanced with both the hydrocarbon elongation and with raising the solution temperature. The effect of the surfactant tail on the preparation process of the silver nanoparticles (AgNP) was assessed and confirmed using transmission electron microscope (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and UV–Vis spectra. Increasing the surfactant tail leads to a smaller particle size with a narrow distribution. The stability of the prepared AgNP is enhanced with hydrophobic surfactant tail elongation as proved with increasing the zeta-potential of the prepared AgNP colloid. The foaming power, interfacial tension, and emulsification stability of the DBAO, DBAD, and DBAH surfactants were determined. The DBAO, DBAD, and DBAH surfactants showed good antimicrobial activities against both bacteria (Gram positive and negative) and fungi, which have been enhanced because of incorporation of AgNP.     

A multi-step progressive fault diagnosis method for rolling element bearing based on energy entropy theory and hybrid ensemble auto-encoder

It is meaningful to efficiently identify the health status of bearing and automatically learn the effective features from the original vibration signals. In this paper, a multi-step progressive method based on energy entropy (EE) theory and hybrid ensemble auto-encoder (HEAE), systematically blending the statistical analysis approach with the deep learning technology, is proposed for rolling element bearing (REB) fault diagnosis. Firstly, a preliminary detection about the REB health status is performed by the statistical analysis technique integrated with the EE theory. Secondly, if fault exists in REB, a new HEAE is constructed based on denoising auto-encoder and contractive auto-encoder to strengthen the feature learning ability and automatically extract the deep state features from the raw data. Subsequently, a modified t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (M-tSNE) algorithm is developed to achieve the features reduction to further improve the diagnosis efficiency. Finally, the low-dimensional representations after features reduction are as the inputs of softmax classifier to recognize the fault conditions. The proposed method is applied to the fault diagnosis of REB. The results confirm the effectiveness and superiority of the proposed method, and it is more suitable for the actual engineering applications compared with other existing methods.     

Nonstationary convective drying of raspberries,assisted by microwaves and ultrasound

This study was conducted to investigate the drying characteristics and quality of raspberries dried in non-stationary conditions. Seven drying programs were carried out, including convective (CV) drying as a reference. The non-stationary-hybrid programs were based on continuous CV drying with intermittent microwave and ultrasound assistance. The Midilli–Kucuk model was used successfully to describe the drying kinetics of raspberry fruits. The comparison between moisture ratio, drying rate, diffusion coefficient, energy consumption, and quality analysis, showed that non-stationary-hybrid drying improves process kinetics and results in less color change, higher anthocyanin retention, and better texture profile analysis characteristics with optimal energy usage than other methods. In addition, the physical and microstructural changes occurred during different drying processes were discussed.     

The Role of Oil Phase in the Stability and Physicochemical Properties of Oil-in-Water Emulsions in the Presence of Gum Tragacanth

Different emulsions based on six types of vegetable oils (sunflower, canola, sesame, olive, coconut, and palm olein) were studied to investigate the role of the oil phase in the stability and physicochemical characteristics of oil-in-water emulsions prepared with gum tragacanth. The results indicated that the stability, rheological parameters, and size distribution of emulsions were dependent on the oil type. Based on the interfacial tension value, the type of oil did not have a significant effect on the gum tragacanth-emulsifying properties. The formulation based on sunflower and coconut oil led to producing more stable emulsion and a sample containing palm olein resulted in an unstable emulsion. Rheological analysis revealed that the sample based on palm olein showed the lowest consistency coefficient (2.10 ± 0.05 Pas ⁿ), elastic modulus (3.90 ± 0.21 Pa), and energy of cohesion (80.87 ± 1.1 J m⁻³). This study revealed that using oils with lower viscosity and higher density led to the higher stability of the emulsion samples.     

The effect of addition of flaxseed gum on the emulsion properties of soybean protein isolate (SPI)

The effect of addition of flaxseed gum on the emulsion properties of soybean protein isolate (SPI) were investigated in this study. Flaxseed gum with 0.05-0.5% (w/v) concentration was used together with 1% (w/v) SPI to emulsify 10% (v/v) soybean oil. The emulsion was analyzed for emulsion activity (turbidity), stability, particle size, surface charge, and rheological properties. The turbidity and absolute zeta-potential values decreased initially by the addition of flaxseed gum and subsequently increased with further increase in the gum concentration to reach their peak around 0.35% (w/v) gum. The particle size of the emulsion decreased and reached a minimum value at 0.1% (w/v) gum concentration. Any increase in gum concentration beyond this value resulted into increase in the particle size. This study would help to widen the application of SPI and flaxseed gum mixture, and also contribute to the understanding of protein-gum interaction in emulsion.     

Competitive displacement of oil body surface proteins by Tween 80 – Effect on physical stability

A concentrated oil body cream, prepared from maize germ by aqueous extraction, was dispersed in water to obtain a natural 5% o/w emulsion. To improve the emulsion physical stability, the hydrophilic surfactant Tween 80 (polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate) was incorporated at levels ranging from 0.25 to 2%, and the increase of the oil body mean diameter and the volume of serum separated from the emulsion system, was followed with storage time. In addition, the amount and composition of oil body surface proteins competitively displaced by the surfactant was studied. The improvement in oil body stability against coalescence and creaming, resulting from Tween addition, is discussed in terms of the development at the oil body surface of an adsorbed film of a mixed nature, made up of surfactant- and phospholipid-rich domains, with the non-displaced surfactant protein molecules, mainly oleosins, remaining embedded in the latter.