Car Industry developments – oil industry challenges

Automotive industry of Europe is one of the greatest economical powers, the „engine of Europe”. It employs directly 2.2 million people and 10 million in related industries and services. Combined turnover of automotive manufacturers reaches 700 billion EUR (retail another 520 billion EUR). The industry is the largest R&D investor in EU. On the other hand the transport sector carries a huge safety and environmental risk. Thanks to this fact the automotive industry is one of the most regulated sectors in the EU. As a result of these regulations: one average car built in 1970s produced as many pollutant elements as one hundred cars manufactured today. These achievements are based on struggles of both the auto and oil industry as parallel with technology development in car industry fuel quality developments achieved by the oil industry drove to a much “cleaner” fuel quality (unleaded sulphur free petrol, reduction of aromatics, benzene; sulphur free diesel, reduction of density, poly-aromatics, etc.). In the end of the 1990s, and especially for the last few years new challenges came into the focus of the auto and oil industry of the EU and the world. Concerns about high energy prices and price volatility, security of worldwide oil supply and climate change became a main policy agenda of the EU and the world. This new policy is reflected in new regulatory initiatives requiring cars using less energy more efficiently, emitting less carbondioxide and using growing proportion of renewable fuels. The European Commission declared the idea of “Cars for Fuels” instead of “Fuels for Cars”. This article discusses in detail the regulations and challenges that rose towards oil and car industry during the recent years. It describes the possible solutions in order to fulfil the requirements of the EU. After that a wide picture is presented without going into much detail on developments of the automotive industry. Developments are divided between vehicle level, engine level and fuel level technologies, also paying attention to technologies that are less known or rather futuristic

On the Evaluation of Plug-in Electric Vehicle Data of a Campus Charging Network

The mass adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) requires the deployment of public charging stations. Such facilities are expected to employ distributed generation and storage units to reduce the stress on the grid and boost sustainable transportation. While prior work has made considerable progress in deriving insights for understanding the adverse impacts of PEV chargings and how to alleviate them, a critical issue that affects the accuracy is the lack of real world PEV data. As the dynamics and pertinent design of such charging stations heavily depend on actual customer demand profile, in this paper we present and evaluate the data obtained from a $17$ node charging network equipped with Level $2$ chargers at a major North American University campus. The data is recorded for $166$ weeks starting from late $2011$. The result indicates that the majority of the customers use charging lots to extend their driving ranges. Also, the demand profile shows that there is a tremendous opportunity to employ solar generation to fuel the vehicles as there is a correlation between the peak customer demand and solar irradiation. Also, we provided a more detailed data analysis and show how to use this information in designing future sustainable charging facilities.Comment: Accepted by IEEE Energycon 201

Thermodynamic investigation of a shared cogeneration system with electrical cars for northern Europe climate

Transition to alternative energy systems is indicated by EU Commission as a suitable path to energy efficiency and energy saving in the next years. The aims are to decrease greenhouses gases emissions, relevance of fossil fuels in energy production and energy dependence on extra-EU countries. These goals can be achieved increasing renewable energy sources and/or efficiency on energy production processes. In this paper an innovative micro-cogeneration system for household application is presented: it covers heating, domestic hot water and electricity demands for a residential user. Solid oxide fuel cells, heat pump and Stirling engine are utilised as a system to achieve high energy conversion efficiency. A transition from traditional petrol cars to electric mobility is also considered and simulated here. Different types of fuel are considered to demonstrate the high versatility of the simulated cogeneration system by changing the pre-reformer of the fuel cell. Thermodynamic analysis is performed to prove high efficiency with the different fuels

Index to 1984 NASA Tech Briefs, volume 9, numbers 1-4

Short announcements of new technology derived from the R&D activities of NASA are presented. These briefs emphasize information considered likely to be transferrable across industrial, regional, or disciplinary lines and are issued to encourage commercial application. This index for 1984 Tech B Briefs contains abstracts and four indexes: subject, personal author, originating center, and Tech Brief Number. The following areas are covered: electronic components and circuits, electronic systems, physical sciences, materials, life sciences, mechanics, machinery, fabrication technology, and mathematics and information sciences

Development of a renewable hybrid power plant with extended utilization of pumped storage unit equipment

The scheme of a renewable hybrid power plant with the extended use of the installed equipment of the pumped storage unit for the conversion of the photovoltaic and wind generators direct current to the alternating one is proposed. The scheme is based on existing components with widely used proven technology. To output the power of solar and wind generators to the grid and for DC to AC conversion, a synchronous generator of the pumped storage unit is used in addition to grid inverters. An induction motor, powered through a variable frequency drive from a common DC bus, is used together with a hydraulic turbine to rotate the generator. In addition, batteries and capacitors banks are connected to the DC bus. The possibility of using various types of electric machines to drive a synchronous generator is analyzed and the preference of an induction motor is shown. The response of an induction motor to rotational speed fluctuations is modeled and its capability to participate in the network frequency regulation is shown. With the example of a typical daily load and generation profile, it is shown that the proposed solution for DC to AC conversion has an efficiency close to that of the grid inverter. The proposed scheme of the hybrid power plant can increase the reliability of renewable energy sources and the stability of the network frequency. This is achieved due to increasing the inertia of the rotating masses in the power system, the power factor control capabilities of the synchronous generator and the proper response of induction motor to rapid fluctuations of the rotation speed. The creation of such hybrid power plants opens the way for a further increase in the share of renewable energy sources in the power system.Запропоновано схему гібридної відновлюваної електричної станції з розширеним використанням встановленого обладнання гідроакумулюючого блока для перетворення постійного струму фотоелектричних та вітрових генераторів в змінний. Схема базується на наявних компонентах з широко використовуваною відпрацьованою технологією. Для видачі потужності та перетворення постійного струму сонячних та вітрових генераторів в змінний окрім мережевих інверторів використовується синхронний генератор гідроакумулюючого блоку. Для обертання генератора крім гідротурбіни також використовується асинхронний двигун, підключений через частотно-регульований привод до загальної шини постійного струму станції. Крім того, до шини постійного струму підключені електрохімічні акумулятори і батареї конденсаторів. Проаналізовано можливість використання різних типів електричних машин для приводу синхронного генератора і показано перевагу асинхронного двигуна. Змодельовано реакцію асинхронного двигуна на коливання швидкості обертання і показано його здатність брати участь в регулюванні частоти мережі. На прикладі типового добового графіка навантаження і генерації показано, що запропоноване рішення по перетворенню постійного струму в змінний має ККД, близький до ККД мережевого інвертора. Запропонована схема гібридної станції дозволяє підвищити надійність роботи відновлюваних джерел енергії і стабільність частоти мережі. Це досягається завдяки збільшенню інерції обертових мас в енергосистемі, можливості управління коефіцієнтом потужності синхронного генератора і властивій асинхронному двигуну реакції на коливання швидкості обертання. Створення таких гібридних станцій відкриває шлях до подальшого збільшення частки відновлюваних джерел в енергосистемі

Urban and extra-urban hybrid vehicles: a technological review

Pollution derived from transportation systems is a worldwide, timelier issue than ever. The abatement actions of harmful substances in the air are on the agenda and they are necessary today to safeguard our welfare and that of the planet. Environmental pollution in large cities is approximately 20% due to the transportation system. In addition, private traffic contributes greatly to city pollution. Further, “vehicle operating life” is most often exceeded and vehicle emissions do not comply with European antipollution standards. It becomes mandatory to find a solution that respects the environment and, realize an appropriate transportation service to the customers. New technologies related to hybrid –electric engines are making great strides in reducing emissions, and the funds allocated by public authorities should be addressed. In addition, the use (implementation) of new technologies is also convenient from an economic point of view. In fact, by implementing the use of hybrid vehicles, fuel consumption can be reduced. The different hybrid configurations presented refer to such a series architecture, developed by the researchers and Research and Development groups. Regarding energy flows, different strategy logic or vehicle management units have been illustrated. Various configurations and vehicles were studied by simulating different driving cycles, both European approval and homologation and customer ones (typically municipal and university). The simulations have provided guidance on the optimal proposed configuration and information on the component to be used

Ancillary Services in Hybrid AC/DC Low Voltage Distribution Networks

In the last decade, distribution systems are experiencing a drastic transformation with the advent of new technologies. In fact, distribution networks are no longer passive systems, considering the current integration rates of new agents such as distributed generation, electrical vehicles and energy storage, which are greatly influencing the way these systems are operated. In addition, the intrinsic DC nature of these components, interfaced to the AC system through power electronics converters, is unlocking the possibility for new distribution topologies based on AC/DC networks. This paper analyzes the evolution of AC distribution systems, the advantages of AC/DC hybrid arrangements and the active role that the new distributed agents may play in the upcoming decarbonized paradigm by providing different ancillary services.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad ENE2017-84813-RUnión Europea (Programa Horizonte 2020) 76409

Impact of hybrid renewable energy systems on short circuit levels in distribution networks

The effects of the distributed generation can be classified as environmental, technical and economical effects. It is playing a very vital role for improving the voltage profiles in electrical power systems. However, it could have some negative impacts such as operating conflicts for fault clearing and interference with relaying. Distribution system is the link between the utility system and the consumer. It is divided into three categories radial, Loop, and network. Distribution networks are the most commonly used to cover huge number of loads. The power system reliability mainly depends on the smooth operation and continuity of supply of the distribution network. However, this may not always be guaranteed especially with the introduction of distributed generation to the distribution network. This paper will examine the impact of hybrid renewable energy systems (using photovoltaic and doubly fed induction generators) on short circuit level of IEEE 13-bus distribution test system using ETAP software

Design and performance analysis of electric vehicles fed by multiple fuel cells

Recent advances in fuel cell developments have introduced them to many applications such as hybrid electric vehicles and heat/power cogenerations. They bring the advantage of clean energy and decrease the dependency on imported oil by providing fuel efficient devices in many applications such as electric vehicles. Conventional designs of hybrid fuel cell vehicles make use of a single fuel cell power source and a storage device to provide the base load and transients in various driving cycles. This thesis proposes a new configuration of multiple fuel cell power sources in hybrid fuel cell vehicles. Fuel cells are downsized in this new configuration to provide the same amount of power, which brings the advantage of a highly fuel economic design. The power control algorithm for this new configuration is presented and simulation results are studied for a case of double fuel cell power sources. Efficiency analysis for this new configuration is presented and compared with the conventional configuration. The main objective of this thesis is to achieve a higher efficiency in urban driving cycle. In conventional configurations, the fuel cell is not efficiently loaded in urban driving cycles, where small powers were required from the single fuel cell power source. Reliability analysis is also presented for this configuration

Comparison between unipolar and bipolar single phase grid-connected inverters for PV applications

An inverter is essential for the interfacing of photovoltaic panels with the AC network. There are many possible inverter topologies and inverter switching schemes and each one will have its own relative advantages and disadvantages. Efficiency and output current distortion are two important factors governing the choice of inverter system. In this paper, it is argued that current controlled inverters offer significant advantages from the point of view of minimisation of current distortion. Two inverter switching strategies are explored in detail. These are the unipolar current controlled inverter and the bipolar current controlled inverter. With respect to low frequency distortion, previously published works provide theoretical arguments in favour of bipolar switching. On the other hand it has also been argued that the unipolar switched inverter offers reduced switching losses and generates less EMI. On efficiency grounds, it appears that the unipolar switched inverter has an advantage. However, experimental results presented in this paper show that the level of low frequency current distortion in the unipolar switched inverter is such that it can only comply with Australian Standard 4777.2 above a minimum output current. On the other hand it is shown that at the same current levels bipolar switching results in reduced low frequency harmonics