Advanced Modeling and Research in Hybrid Microgrid Control and Optimization

This book presents the latest solutions in fuel cell (FC) and renewable energy implementation in mobile and stationary applications. The implementation of advanced energy management and optimization strategies are detailed for fuel cell and renewable microgrids, and for the multi-FC stack architecture of FC/electric vehicles to enhance the reliability of these systems and to reduce the costs related to energy production and maintenance. Cyber-security methods based on blockchain technology to increase the resilience of FC renewable hybrid microgrids are also presented. Therefore, this book is for all readers interested in these challenging directions of research

Functional and Skeletal Muscle Impairments In Progressive Diabetic CKD

1-in-3 persons with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) develop chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is characterized by progressive renal dysfunction leading to end-stage renal disease. In response to elevated blood glucose and systemic inflammation of diabetes, a process of active thickening of the renal glomerular basement membrane ensues with concomitant damage to the structural supports (podocytes) of the kidneyճ filtration barrier. This results in impaired renal filtration. The metabolic sequelea of T2DM and CKD also, synergistically, alter skeletal muscleճ degradative pathways, satellite cell function (muscle reparative cells), and mitochondrial health (muscle energetic machinery) -- resulting in muscle breakdown, poor muscle quality, and exercise intolerance, and immobility that exacerbates CKD. The temporal nature and extent of these changes in CKD, however, remains unknown. With mandates from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) urging avenues of treatment that impede the progression of CKD, it is critical now, more than ever, to gain a better understanding of the factors that contribute to disease progression. This will inform more effective targeted interventions. We therefore aim to determine how renal dysfunction dictates the activity of muscle degredative pathways, the status of muscle reparative cells, and the energetic production of muscle, to ultimately influence muscle quality, performance and physical mobility. This will be determined across stages of CKD. In chapter 1, we examine how CKD progression in T2DM, impacts muscle performance and physical function. Our results suggest that muscle performance of the lower extremity, particularly the quadriceps, and physical function decline in-parallel with progression of CKD in T2DM, with these declines becoming clinically evident in stage 3. Moreover, we find that CKD-stage, and renal filtration/function (eGFR) are both significant predictors of overall physical function, with increasing CKD stage/worsening kidney filtration predicting worse functional mobility. In chapter 2, we examine the CKD-stage specific functional status of skeletal muscle mitochondrial ATP production, and electron transport chain kinetics, as these are critical cellular processes to fuel muscle cross-bridge cycling, contraction and movement. We find that intrinsic skeletal muscle mitochondrial electron transport chain function is reduced with progression of CKD, with significant reductions in ATP-production capacity emerging as early as stage 3 CKD. Moreover, these changes may derive from transcriptome-level alterations in gene networks governing muscle mitochondrial health and function. In Chapter 3, we examine muscle regenerative and maintenance capacity in relationship to CKD progression. We find the muscle-resident satellite cell pool to decline significantly with CKD progression, and exhibit impaired myogenic capacity with altered gene activation patterns, that relate strongly to findings of poor muscle quality with progressive CKD stage. Using transcriptomics, we report significant dowregulation in gene networks that influence muscle SC behavior and myogenesis. Overall, our data suggests that the progression of diabetes-induced chronic kidney disease, is paralleled by impairments in skeletal muscle ATP-producing capacity, and these energetic deficits are accompanied by CKD-associated reductions in muscle SC abundance, and reparative function. Both changes perhaps stem from alterations in gene pathway expression that is imparted by the altered uremic environment. These impairments may promote the development of poor muscle quality and performance that ultimately impairs functional capacity, even in middle-stage CKD

Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion

This Special Issue summarizes, in a single reference, timely emerging topics related to power electronics for sustainable energy conversion. Furthermore, at the same time, it provides the reader with valuable information related to open research opportunity niches

Emerging Power Electronics Technologies for Sustainable Energy Conversion

This Special Issue summarizes, in a single reference, timely emerging topics related to power electronics for sustainable energy conversion. Furthermore, at the same time, it provides the reader with valuable information related to open research opportunity niches

Mass and Charge Transport in Hydrated Polymeric Membranes

Mass and charge transport through hydrated polymer membranes has significant importance for many areas of engineering and industry. Multi-scale modeling and simulation techniques were used to study transport in relation to two specific membrane applications: (1) food packaging and (2) additives for polymer electrolytes. Chitosan/chitin films were studied due to their use as a sustainable, biodegradable food packaging film. The effects of hydration on the solvation, diffusivity, solubility, and permeability of oxygen molecules in these films were studied via molecular dynamics and confined random walk simulations. With increasing hydration, the membrane was observed to have a more homogeneous water distribution with the polymer chains being fully solvated. Insight from this work will help guide molecular modeling of chitosan/chitin membranes and experimental synthesis of these membranes, specifically highlighting efforts to chemically tailor chitosan membranes to favor discrete as opposed to continuous aqueous domains to help reduce oxygen permeability. Additives for proton exchange membranes (PEMs) were studied to aid in the developing next-generation membrane materials for fuel cell applications. We calculate and present predictions of our analytical model that describes the fundamental relationship between the nanoscale structure of PEMs and their proton conductivity using a set of structural descriptors, accounting for nanopore size, functionalization and connectivity in order to predict proton conductivities in PEMs. The model reproduces experimentally determined conductivities in two current PEM materials. To extend the model based on structural descriptors of PEMs, we studied polyethylene glycol (PEG), a polymer used in electrochemistry applications due to it hydrophilicity and pH-dependent behavior in aqueous environments. We conducted ab initio molecular dynamics simulations of an excess proton in bulk water and aqueous triethylene glycol (TEG) solution and reactive molecular dynamics simulations of an excess proton in bulk water, aqueous TEG solution, and aqueous PEG solution. We determined differences in protonic defect structures, kinetics, thermodynamics, and hydrogen-bond networks associated with structural diffusion between systems. Driving forces for polymeric membrane design goals include economics, efficiency, energy consumption and sustainable production. Insight from this work hopes to aid in determining key design parameters and reduce time-to-discovery for developing next-generation polymeric membranes

Summaries of FY 1997 Research in the Chemical Sciences

The objective of this program is to expand, through support of basic research, knowledge of various areas of chemistry, physics and chemical engineering with a goal of contributing to new or improved processes for developing and using domestic energy resources in an efficient and environmentally sound manner. Each team of the Division of Chemical Sciences, Fundamental Interactions and Molecular Processes, is divided into programs that cover the various disciplines. Disciplinary areas where research is supported include atomic, molecular, and optical physics; physical, inorganic, and organic chemistry; chemical energy, chemical physics; photochemistry; radiation chemistry; analytical chemistry; separations science; heavy element chemistry; chemical engineering sciences; and advanced battery research. However, traditional disciplinary boundaries should not be considered barriers, and multi-disciplinary efforts are encouraged. In addition, the program supports several major scientific user facilities. The following summaries describe the programs

ME-EM 2016-17 Annual Report

Table of Contents Undergrad Features Graduate Features Enrollment & Degrees Graduates Faculty & Staff Department News Alumni Donors Contracts & Grants Patents & Publicationshttps://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/mechanical-annualreports/1002/thumbnail.jp