Optimal Location of Energy Storage Systems with Robust Optimization

The integration of intermittent sources of energy and responsive loads in distribution system make the traditional deterministic optimization-based optimal power flow no longer suitable for finding the optimal control strategy for the power system operation. This paper presents a tool for energy storage planning in the distribution network based on AC OPF algorithm that uses a convex relaxation for the power flow equations to guarantee exact and optimal solutions with high algorithmic performances and exploits robust optimization approach to deal with the uncertainties related to renewables and demand. The proposed methodology is applied for storage planning on a distribution network that is representative of a class of networks

Calibrated quantum thermometry in cavity optomechanics

Cavity optomechanics has achieved the major breakthrough of the preparation and observation of macroscopic mechanical oscillators in peculiarly quantum states. The development of reliable indicators of the oscillator properties in these conditions is important also for applications to quantum technologies. We compare two procedures to infer the oscillator occupation number, minimizing the necessity of system calibrations. The former starts from homodyne spectra, the latter is based on the measurement of the motional sidebands asymmetry in heterodyne spectra. Moreover, we describe and discuss a method to control the cavity detuning, that is a crucial parameter for the accuracy of the latter, intrinsically superior procedure

Collective traffic-like movement of ants on a trail: dynamical phases and phase transitions

The traffic-like collective movement of ants on a trail can be described by a stochastic cellular automaton model. We have earlier investigated its unusual flow-density relation by using various mean field approximations and computer simulations. In this paper, we study the model following an alternative approach based on the analogy with the zero range process, which is one of the few known exactly solvable stochastic dynamical models. We show that our theory can quantitatively account for the unusual non-monotonic dependence of the average speed of the ants on their density for finite lattices with periodic boundary conditions. Moreover, we argue that the model exhibits a continuous phase transition at the critial density only in a limiting case. Furthermore, we investigate the phase diagram of the model by replacing the periodic boundary conditions by open boundary conditions.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

Micellar Aggregates of Gemini Surfactants: Monte Carlo Simulation of a Microscopic Model

We propose a "microscopic" model of gemini surfactants in aqueous solution. Carrying out extensive Monte Carlo simulations, we study the variation of the critical micellar concentration (CMC) of these model gemini surfactants with the variation of the (a) length of the spacer connecting the two hydrophilic heads, (b) length of the hydrophobic tail and (c) the bending rigidity of the hydrocarbon chains forming the spacer and the tail; some of the trends of variation are counter-intuitive but are in excellent agreement with the available experimental results. Our simulations also elucidate the dependence of the shapes of the micellar aggregates and the magnitude of the CMC on the geometrical shape and size of the surfactant molecules and the electrical charge on the hydrophilic heads

Variable cavity volume tooling for high-performance resin infusion moulding

This article describes the research carried out by Warwick under the BAE Systems/EPSRC programme ‘Flapless Aerial Vehicles Integrated Interdisciplinary Research – FLAVIIR’. Warwick's aim in FLAVIIR was to develop low-cost innovative tooling technologies to enable the affordable manufacture of complex composite aerospace structures and to help realize the aim of the Grand Challenge of maintenance-free, low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle manufacture. This article focuses on the evaluation of a novel tooling process (variable cavity tooling) to enable the complete infusion of resin throughout non-crimp fabric within a mould cavity under low (0.1 MPa) injection pressure. The contribution of the primary processing parameters to the mechanical properties of a carbon composite component (bulk-head lug section), and the interactions between parameters, was determined. The initial mould gap (di) was identified as having the most significant effect on all measured mechanical properties, but complex interactions between di, n (number of fabric layers), and vc (mould closure rate) were observed. The process capability was low due to the manual processing, but was improved through process optimization, and delivered properties comparable to high-pressure resin transfer moulding

Anomalous transport in disordered exclusion processes with coupled particles

We consider one-dimensional asymmetric exclusion processes with a simple attractive interaction, where the distance between consecutive particles is not allowed to exceed a certain limit and investigate the consequences of this coupling on the transport properties in the presence of random-force type disorder by means of a phenomenological random trap picture. In the phase-separated steady state of the model defined on a finite ring, the properties of the density profile are studied and the exponent governing the decay of the current with the system size in the biased phase is derived. In case all consecutive particles are coupled with each other and form a closed string, the current is found to be enhanced compared to the model without coupling, while if groups of consecutive particles form finite strings, the current is reduced. The motion of a semi-infinite string entering an initially empty lattice is also studied. Here, the diffusion of the head of the string is found to be anomalous, and two phases can be distinguished, which are characterised by different functional dependences of the diffusion exponent on the bias. The obtained results are checked by numerical simulation.Comment: 20 pages, 11 figure

Global Opportunities to Increase Agricultural Independence Through Phosphorus Recycling

Food production hinges largely upon access to phosphorus (P) fertilizer. Most fertilizer P used in the global agricultural system comes from mining of nonrenewable phosphate rock deposits located within few countries. However, P contained in livestock manure or urban wastes represents a recyclable source of P. To inform development of P recycling technologies and policies, we examined subnational, national, and global spatial patterns for two intersections of land use affording high P recycling potential: (a) manure‐rich cultivated areas and (b) populous cultivated areas. In turn, we examined overlap between P recycling potential and nation‐level P fertilizer import dependency. Populous cultivated areas were less abundant globally than manure‐rich cultivated areas, reflecting greater segregation between crops and people compared to crops and livestock, especially in the Americas. Based on a global hexagonal grid (290‐km2 grid cell area), disproportionately large shares of subnational “hot spots” for P recycling potential occurred in India, China, Southeast Asia, Europe, and parts of Africa. Outside of China, most of the remaining manure‐rich or populous cultivated areas occurred within nations that had relatively high imports of P fertilizer (net P import:consumption ratios ≥0.4) or substantial increases in fertilizer demand between the 2000s (2002–2006) and 2010s (2010–2014). Manure‐rich cultivated grid cells (those above the 75th percentiles for both manure and cropland extent) represented 12% of the global grid after excluding cropless cells. Annually, the global sum of animal manure P was at least 5 times that contained in human excreta, and among cultivated cells the ratio was frequently higher (median = 8.9). The abundance of potential P recycling hot spots within nations that have depended on fertilizer imports or experienced rising fertilizer demand could prove useful for developing local P sources and maintaining agricultural independence

UAV Swarm Mission Planning in Dynamic Environment Using Consensus-Based Bundle Algorithm.

To solve the real-time complex mission-planning problem for Multiple heterogeneous Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in the dynamic environments, this paper addresses a new approach by effectively adapting the Consensus-Based Bundle Algorithms (CBBA) under the constraints of task timing, limited UAV resources, diverse types of tasks, dynamic addition of tasks, and real-time requirements. We introduce the dynamic task generation mechanism, which satisfied the task timing constraints. The tasks that require the cooperation of multiple UAVs are simplified into multiple sub-tasks to perform by a single UAV independently. We also introduce the asynchronous task allocation mechanism. This mechanism reduces the computational complexity of the algorithm and the communication time between UAVs. The partial task redistribution mechanism has been adopted for achieving the dynamic task allocation. The real-time performance of the algorithm is assured on the premise of optimal results. The feasibility and real-time performance of the algorithm are validated by conducting dynamic simulation experiments

Synthetic models of distribution networks based on open data and georeferenced information

Many planning and operation studies that aim at fully assessing and optimizing the performance of the distribution grids, in response to the current trends, cannot ignore grid limitations. Modelling the distribution system, by including the electrical characteristics of the network (e.g., topology) and end user behaviors, has become complex, but essential, for all conventional and emerging actors/players of power systems (i.e., system and market operators, regulators, new market parties as service providers, aggregators, researchers, etc.). This paper deals with a methodology that, starting from publicly available open data on the energy consumption of a region or wider area, is capable to obtain reasonable load and generation profiles for the network supplied by each primary substation in the region/area. Furthermore, by combining these profiles with territorial and socio-economic information, the proposed methodology is able to model the network in terms of lines, conductors, loads and generators. The results of this procedure are the synthetic networks of the real distribution networks, that do not correspond exactly to the actual networks, but can characterize them in a realistic way. Such models can be used for all the kind of optimization studies that need to check the grid limitations. Results derived from Italian test cases are presented and discussed

Instability of dilute granular flow on rough slope

We study numerically the stability of granular flow on a rough slope in collisional flow regime in the two-dimension. We examine the density dependence of the flowing behavior in low density region, and demonstrate that the particle collisions stabilize the flow above a certain density in the parameter region where a single particle shows an accelerated behavior. Within this parameter regime, however, the uniform flow is only metastable and is shown to be unstable against clustering when the particle density is not high enough.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jpn.; Fig. 2 replaced; references added; comments added; misprints correcte