Gender Aspects in Driving Style and Its Impact on Battery Ageing

The long and tiring discussion of who are the best drivers, men or women, is not answered in this article. This article, though, sheds some light on the actual differences that can be seen in how men and women drive. In this study, GPS-recorded driving dynamics data from 123 drivers, 48 women and 75 men, are analysed and drivers are categorised as aggressive, normal or gentle. A total of 10% of the drivers was categorised as aggressive, with an even distribution between the genders. For the gentle drivers, 11% of the drivers, the men dominated. The driving style investigation was extended to utilise machine learning, confirming the results from statistical tools. As driving style highly impacts a vehicle\u27s fuel consumption, while switching over to battery electric vehicles it is important to investigate how the different driving styles impact battery utilisation. Two Li-ion battery cell types were tested utilising the same load cycle with three levels of current amplitude, to represent accelerations for the three drive categories. While one cell type was insensitive to the current amplitude, the highly energy-optimised cell proved to be sensitive to higher current amplitudes, corresponding to a more aggressive driving style. Thus, the amplitude of the dynamic current can for some cells be a factor that needs to be considered for lifetime predictions, while it can be neglected for other cells

Estimation of the radioactive aerosols capture in accidental sequences of nuclear power plants

The turbulent submerged jets can be found fairly frequently in a great variety of processes, their study is essential in many industrial processes and engineering applications, such as in underwater propulsion, in metallurgical processes, in chemical processes or in the nuclear industry, among others. Within the nuclear world the submerged jets can occur in light water reactors (LWR), in both pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and boiling water reactors (BWR). These submerged jets are usually associated with complex multiphase flows, so that all processes occurring after such injection will be essentially unstable and turbulent. A hypothetical severe accident in a reactor can cause deterioration of the core, so that the fission products can escape from the core and be transported through the primary system and, finally, can be released to the surrounding environment. But if there is a volume of water in the escape pathway of aerosols, a discharge in the shape of submerged jet can occur, whether in a suppression pool (during an accident with loss of power, SBO, in a water reactor boiling BWR) or in the secondary of a steam generator (in an accidental breakage sequence tube / s in U in a steam generator, SGTR, in a pressurized water reactor, PWR). So that there is a capture of aerosols in those volumes, being reduced the amount of them that escape outside. Usually these sequences have been considered only for BWRs and for low discharge velocities, but these may also take place at higher velocities and, as mentioned previously, in PWRs. Throughout this thesis there is a contribution to a better understanding and quantification of natural mitigation processes that occur when a jet is discharged into a volume of water, so that it can be applied to discharges in suppression pools in a SBO sequence (BWRs), and inside of a steam generator during a SGTR event (PWRs). Being the central activity the expansion of SPARC90 code capabilities, so as to be able to quantify the aerosol capture that occurs when the discharge takes place at high velocity (originally the code only was developed to study discharges under globular regime, i.e., injection at low velocity). So the process followed to carry out this work can be divided into several stages. The first one focuses on the literature search for available information, in a specific way on submerged jets and, given the scarce specific information, this has been extended to the literature search of processes with phenomenologies that present analogies with submerged jets. Within this part, it has on the one hand, finding aspects of jet hydrodynamics and on the other, those related to aerosol capture processes. In a second stage, there are aspects of the implementation into the new code subroutines of the expressions found and / or developed in the previous stage. While for the third stage, remains the assessment of the capabilities and behavior of the new models implemented in the code. For this last stage, first, it has been proceeded to conduct a verification process which has been tested the code robustness. And secondly, it has been proceeded to perform a validation process, which has been carried out through the comparison of the results predicted by the code against the limited experimental data that are available under similar conditions to those of the model. Being the comparison against the experimental data satisfactory, showing a marked improvement in the code capabilities.Los chorros sumergidos turbulentos se pueden encontrar con bastante asiduidad en muy diversos procesos, siendo esencial su estudio en gran cantidad de procesos industriales y aplicaciones ingenieriles, como por ejemplo, en la propulsión submarina, en procesos metalúrgicos, en procesos químicos o en la industria nuclear, entre otros. Dentro del mundo nuclear los chorros sumergidos pueden presentarse en los reactores de agua ligera (LWR), tanto en reactores de agua a presión (PWR), como en reactores de agua en ebullición (BWR). Estos chorros sumergidos llevan asociados complejos flujos multifásicos, de forma que los procesos que tienen lugar tras dicha inyección serán esencialmente inestables y turbulentos. Un hipotético accidente grave en un reactor puede causar el deterioro del núcleo, de forma que los productos de fisión pueden escapar del núcleo y ser transportados a través del sistema primario y, finalmente, pueden ser liberados al medio ambiente circundante. Pero si existe un volumen de agua en la vía de escape de los aerosoles puede tener lugar la descarga en forma de chorro sumergido, ya sea una piscina de supresión (durante un accidente con pérdida del suministro eléctrico, SBO, en un reactor BWR) o el secundario de un generador de vapor (en una secuencia accidental con rotura de tubo/s en U en un generador de vapor, SGTR, en un reactor PWR). De forma que se tiene una captura de los aerosoles en dichos volúmenes, viéndose reducida la cantidad que escapan al exterior. Habitualmente estas secuencias se han considerado solamente para reactores BWR y para descargas a bajas velocidades, pero estas podrían tener lugar también a velocidades mayores y, como se ha dicho con anterioridad, en reactores PWR. A lo largo de esta tesis se ha contribuido a una mejor compresión y cuantificación de los procesos naturales de mitigación que se producen cuando se descarga un chorro en un volumen de agua, de forma que puede ser aplicado para descargas en piscinas de supresión en una secuencia SBO (reactores del tipo BWR), como en el interior de un generador de vapor durante una secuencia SGTR (reactores del tipo PWR). Siendo la actividad central la ampliación de las capacidades del código SPARC90, de forma que sea capaz de cuantificar la captura de aerosoles que tiene lugar cuando la descarga se produce a alta velocidad (originalmente el código solamente fue desarrollado para el estudio de descarga en régimen globular, es decir, inyección a baja velocidad). De modo que el proceso seguido para llevar a cabo el presente trabajo se puede dividir en varias etapas. La primera se centra en la búsqueda bibliográfica de la información disponible, de una forma específica relativa a chorros sumergidos y, dada la escasa información específica existente, esta se ha extendido a la búsqueda bibliográfica de procesos con fenomenologías que presentan analogías con los chorros sumergidos. Dentro de esta parte, se tiene por un lado, la búsqueda de los aspectos relativos a la hidrodinámica del chorro y, por otro, los relativos a los procesos de captura de aerosoles. En una segunda etapa se tienen los aspectos relativos a la implementación dentro de las nuevas subrutinas del código de las expresiones halladas y/o desarrolladas en la anterior etapa. Mientras que para la tercera etapa resta la evaluación de las capacidades y el comportamiento de los nuevos modelos implementados en el código. Para esta última etapa, en primer lugar, se ha procedido a llevar a cabo un proceso de verificación con el que se ha comprobado la robustez del código. Y en segundo lugar, se ha procedido a realizar un proceso de validación, el cual ha sido llevado a cabo a través de la confrontación de los resultados predichos por el código frente a los limitados datos experimentales disponibles en condiciones similares a las introducidas en el modelo. Siendo la comparación frente a los datos experimentales satisfactoria, mostrando una meEls dolls submergits turbulents es poden trobar amb prou assiduïtat en molt diversos processos, sent essencial el seu estudi en gran quantitat de processos industrials i aplicacions enginyerils, com per exemple, en la propulsió submarina, en processos metal·lúrgics, en processos químics o en la indústria nuclear, entre altres. Dins del món nuclear els dolls submergits poden presentar-se en els reactors d'aigua lleugera (LWR), tant en reactors d'aigua a pressió (PWR), com en reactors d'aigua en ebullició (BWR). Estos dolls submergits solen portar associats complexos fluxos multifàsics, de manera que els processos que tenen lloc després de la dita injecció seran essencialment inestables i turbulents. Un hipotètic accident greu en un reactor pot causar el deteriorament del nucli, de manera que els productes de fissió poden escapar del nucli i ser transportats a través del sistema primari i, finalment, poden ser alliberats al medi ambient circumdant. Però si existeix un volum d'aigua en la via de fuita dels aerosols pot tenir lloc la descàrrega en forma de doll submergit, ja siga una piscina de supressió (durant un accident amb perduda del subministrament elèctric, SBO, en un reactor d'aigua en ebullició, BWR) o el secundari d'un generador de vapor (en una seqüència accidental amb trencament de tub/s en U en un generador de vapor, SGTR, en un reactor d'aigua a pressió, PWR). De manera que es té una captura dels aerosols en els anteriorment dits volums, veient-se reduïda la quantitat d'ells que escapen a l'exterior. Habitualment aquestes seqüències s'han considerat solament per a reactors BWR i per a baixes velocitats de descàrrega, però aquestes podrien tenir lloc també a velocitats majors i, com s'ha dit amb anterioritat, en reactors PWR. Al llarg d'aquesta tesi s'ha contribuït a una millor compressió i quantificació dels processos naturals de mitigació que es produeixen quan es descarrega un doll en un volum d'aigua, de manera que pot ser aplicat per a descàrregues en piscines de supressió en una seqüència SBO (reactors del tipus BWR), com a l'interior d'un generador de vapor durant una seqüència SGTR (reactors del tipus PWR). Sent l'activitat central l'ampliació de les capacitats del codi SPARC90, de manera que siga capaç de quantificar la captura d'aerosols que té lloc quan la descàrrega es produeix a alta velocitat (originalment el codi solament va ser desenvolupat per a l'estudi de descàrrega en règim globular, és a dir, injecció a baixa velocitat). De manera que el procés seguit per dur a terme el present treball es pot dividir en diverses etapes. La primera d'elles se centra en la cerca bibliogràfica de la informació disponible, d'una forma específica relativa a dolls submergits i, donada l'escassa informació específica existent, esta s'ha estés a la cerca bibliogràfica de processos amb fenomenologies que presenten analogies amb els dolls submergits. Dins d'aquesta part, es té d'una banda, la cerca dels aspectes relatius a la hidrodinàmica del doll i, per un altre, els relatius als processos de captura d'aerosols. En una segona etapa es tenen els aspectes relatius a la implementació dins de les noves subrutines del codi de les expressions trobades i/o desenvolupades en l'anterior etapa. Mentre que per a la tercera etapa resta l'avaluació de les capacitats i el comportament dels nous models implementats en el codi. Per a aquesta última etapa, en primer lloc, s'ha procedit a dur a terme un procés de verificació amb el qual s'ha comprovat la robustesa del codi. I en segon lloc, s'ha procedit a realitzar un procés de validació, el qual ha estat dut a terme a través de la confrontació dels resultats predits pel codi enfront de les limitades dades experimentals disponibles en condicions similars a les introduïdes en el model. Sent la comparació enfront de les dades experimentals satisfactòria, mostrant una millora ostensible en les capacitats del codi.Berna Escriche, C. (2017). Estimation of the radioactive aerosols capture in accidental sequences of nuclear power plants [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/90495TESI

Power Electronics and Energy Management for Battery Storage Systems

The deployment of distributed renewable generation and e-mobility systems is creating a demand for improved dynamic performance, flexibility, and resilience in electrical grids. Various energy storages, such as stationary and electric vehicle batteries, together with power electronic interfaces, will play a key role in addressing these requests thanks to their enhanced functionality, fast response times, and configuration flexibility. For the large-scale implementation of this technology, the associated enabling developments are becoming of paramount importance. These include energy management algorithms; optimal sizing and coordinated control strategies of different storage technologies, including e-mobility storage; power electronic converters for interfacing renewables and battery systems, which allow for advanced interactions with the grid; and increase in round-trip efficiencies by means of advanced materials, components, and algorithms. This Special Issue contains the developments that have been published b researchers in the areas of power electronics, energy management and battery storage. A range of potential solutions to the existing barriers is presented, aiming to make the most out of these emerging technologies

Dc Line-Interactive Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) with Load Leveling for Constant Power and Pulse Loads

Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) systems are usually considered as a backup power for electrical systems, providing emergency power when the main power source fails. UPS systems ensure an uninterruptible, reliable and high quality electrical power for systems with critical loads in which a continuous and reliable power supply is a vital requirement. A novel UPS system topology, DC line-interactive UPS, has been introduced. The new proposed UPS system is based on the DC concept where the power flow in the system has DC characteristic. The new DC UPS system has several advantageous with respect to the on-line 3-phase UPS which is extensively used in industry, such as lower size, cost and weight due to replacing the three-phase dual converter in the on-line UPS system with a single stage single phase DC/DC converter and thus higher efficiency is expected. The proposed system will also provide load leveling feature for the main AC/DC rectifier which has not been offered by conventional AC UPS systems. It applies load power smoothing to reduce the rating of the incoming AC line and consequently reduce the installation cost and time. Moreover, the new UPS technology improves the medical imaging system up-time, reliability, efficiency, and cost, and is applicable to several imaging modalities such as CT, MR and X-ray as well. A comprehensive investigation on different energy storage systems was conducted and couple of most promising Li-ion cell chemistries, LFP and NCA types, were chosen for further aggressive tests. A battery pack based on the LFP cells with monitoring system was developed to be used with the DC UPS testbed. The performance of the DC UPS has also been investigated. The mathematical models of the system are extracted while loaded with constant power load (CPL) and constant voltage load (CVL) during all four modes of operation. Transfer functions of required outputs versus inputs were extracted and their related stability region based on the Routh-Hurwitz stability criteria were found. The AC/DC rectifier was controlled independently due to the system configuration. Two different control techniques were proposed to control the DC/DC converter. A linear dual-loop control (DLC) scheme and a nonlinear robust control, a constant frequency sliding mode control (CFSMC) were investigated. The DLC performance was convincing, however the controller has a limited stability region due to the linearization process and negative incremental impedance characteristics of the CPL which challenges the stability of the system. A constant switching frequency SMC was also developed based on the DC UPS system and the performance of the system were presented during different operational modes. Transients during mode transfers were simulated and results were depicted. The controller performances met the control goals of the system. The voltage drop during mode transitions, was less than 2% of the rated output voltage. Finally, the experimental results were presented. The high current discharge tests on each selected Li-ion cell were performed and results presented. A testbed was developed to verify the DC UPS system concept. The test results were presented and verified the proposed concept

Mixed-Grass Prairie Canopy Structure and Spectral Reflectance Vary with Topographic Position

Managers of the nearly 0.5 million ha of public lands in North and South Dakota, USA rely heavily on manual measurements of canopy height in autumn to ensure conservation of grassland structure for wildlife and forage for livestock. However, more comprehensive assessment of vegetation structure could be achieved for mixed-grass prairie by integrating field survey, topographic position (summit, mid and toeslope) and spectral reflectance data. Thus, we examined the variation of mixed-grass prairie structural attributes (canopy leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content) and spectral vegetation indices (VIs) with variation in topographic position at the Grand River National Grassland (GRNG), South Dakota. We conducted the study on a 36,000-ha herbaceous area within the GRNG, where randomly selected plots (1 km2 in size) were geolocated and included summit, mid and toeslope positions. We tested for effects of topographic position on measured vegetation attributes and VIs calculated from Landsat TM and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data collected in July 2010. Leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content were lower at summits than at toeslopes. The simple ratio of Landsat Band 7/Band 1 (SR71) was the VI most highly correlated with canopy standing crop and height at plot and landscape scales. Results suggest field and remote sensing-based grassland assessment techniques could more comprehensively target low structure areas at minimal expense by layering modeled imagery over a landscape stratified into topographic position groups

Battery SMART charge controller/combined co-gen grid connected inverter design and simulation

Electricity generation and distribution is undergoing significant change under the influences of energy security, climate change, technological development, and economics. Technologies that have introduced two-way power flow onto a distribution grid that was designed for one-way power flow are creating challenges and opportunities for innovation in the electricity distribution sector. These technologies include solar photovoltaics (PV), wind turbines, and battery energy storage systems (BESS). As the newest technology, BESS present opportunities to both the electricity distribution network service provider (DNSP) and the consumer. This dissertation focused primarily on the consumer side of the switchboard, modelling and analysing the economics and some of the technical issues for an economic-mediated battery controller as part of a grid-tied residential hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) that consists of a BESS, 1 kW wind turbine, and 10 kW PV array. The geographical context of this project is Nambour, Queensland; PV and wind power calculations were based on Nambour’s meteorological history. Residential energy consumption was modelled as a ‘typical’ Nambour residential customer. The technological context was such that costs and choices applied at mid-2016. The tariff context used was the recently introduced TOU tariff 12, which played a significant role in the timing and logic development of the battery charge controller algorithm. From a technical standpoint, the charge controller algorithm was a major achievement of the present work. In developing the algorithm, it was found that the use of data from individual system components could be used to formulate the optimum mix of power sourced from or sunk to both the grid and the BESS. The output of this formulation was then demonstrated as a data input used for the control of the switching patterns of the BESS power electronics, a two-quadrant DC-DC converter (chopper). The other major achievement of the current work was the finding that although BESS economics continue to improve, they generally still need to achieve further cost reductions in order to realise economic feasibility for the modelled context. It was also found that economic feasibility is more likely to be reached more quickly under conditions of high energy consumption, high inflation, high peak TOU tariff, and low discount rate

Battery Systems and Energy Storage beyond 2020

Currently, the transition from using the combustion engine to electrified vehicles is a matter of time and drives the demand for compact, high-energy-density rechargeable lithium ion batteries as well as for large stationary batteries to buffer solar and wind energy. The future challenges, e.g., the decarbonization of the CO2-intensive transportation sector, will push the need for such batteries even more. The cost of lithium ion batteries has become competitive in the last few years, and lithium ion batteries are expected to dominate the battery market in the next decade. However, despite remarkable progress, there is still a strong need for improvements in the performance of lithium ion batteries. Further improvements are not only expected in the field of electrochemistry but can also be readily achieved by improved manufacturing methods, diagnostic algorithms, lifetime prediction methods, the implementation of artificial intelligence, and digital twins. Therefore, this Special Issue addresses the progress in battery and energy storage development by covering areas that have been less focused on, such as digitalization, advanced cell production, modeling, and prediction aspects in concordance with progress in new materials and pack design solutions

Advances in the Field of Electrical Machines and Drives

Electrical machines and drives dominate our everyday lives. This is due to their numerous applications in industry, power production, home appliances, and transportation systems such as electric and hybrid electric vehicles, ships, and aircrafts. Their development follows rapid advances in science, engineering, and technology. Researchers around the world are extensively investigating electrical machines and drives because of their reliability, efficiency, performance, and fault-tolerant structure. In particular, there is a focus on the importance of utilizing these new trends in technology for energy saving and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. This Special Issue will provide the platform for researchers to present their recent work on advances in the field of electrical machines and drives, including special machines and their applications; new materials, including the insulation of electrical machines; new trends in diagnostics and condition monitoring; power electronics, control schemes, and algorithms for electrical drives; new topologies; and innovative applications

Mixed-Grass Prairie Canopy Structure and Spectral Reflectance Vary with Topographic Position

Managers of the nearly 0.5 million ha of public lands in North and South Dakota, USA rely heavily on manual measurements of canopy height in autumn to ensure conservation of grassland structure for wildlife and forage for livestock. However, more comprehensive assessment of vegetation structure could be achieved for mixed-grass prairie by integrating field survey, topographic position (summit, mid and toeslope) and spectral reflectance data. Thus, we examined the variation of mixed-grass prairie structural attributes (canopy leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content) and spectral vegetation indices (VIs) with variation in topographic position at the Grand River National Grassland (GRNG), South Dakota. We conducted the study on a 36,000-ha herbaceous area within the GRNG, where randomly selected plots (1 km2 in size) were geolocated and included summit, mid and toeslope positions. We tested for effects of topographic position on measured vegetation attributes and VIs calculated from Landsat TM and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data collected in July 2010. Leaf area, standing crop mass, canopy height, nitrogen, and water content were lower at summits than at toeslopes. The simple ratio of Landsat Band 7/Band 1 (SR71) was the VI most highly correlated with canopy standing crop and height at plot and landscape scales. Results suggest field and remote sensing-based grassland assessment techniques could more comprehensively target low structure areas at minimal expense by layering modeled imagery over a landscape stratified into topographic position groups