Enabling Competing Energy Storage Technologies: Towards a Carbon-Neutral Power System

Assessment of energy storage technologies at a macro-scale for grid integration, has often focused on singular technologies and neglected competition between them, thus leaving out of the optimization the decision of which energy storage to prioritize. We present a systematic deployment analysis method that enables system-value evaluation in perfect competitive markets and demonstrate its application to 20 different energy storage technologies across 40 distinct scenarios for a representative future power system in Africa. Our results demonstrate the significant benefits of optimizing energy storage with competition compared to without (+10% cost savings) and highlight the relevance of several energy storage technologies in various scenarios. This work provides insights into the role of multi-technology energy storage in carbon-neutral power systems and informs future research and policy decisions

Energy Production Analysis and Optimization of Mini-Grid in Remote Areas: The Case Study of Habaswein, Kenya

Rural electrification in remote areas of developing countries has several challenges which hinder energy access to the population. For instance, the extension of the national grid to provide electricity in these areas is largely not viable. The Kenyan Government has put a target to achieve universal energy access by the year 2020. To realize this objective, the focus of the program is being shifted to establishing off-grid power stations in rural areas. Among rural areas to be electrified is Habaswein, which is a settlement in Kenya’s northeastern region without connection to the national power grid, and where Kenya Power installed a stand-alone hybrid mini-grid. Based on field observations, power generation data analysis, evaluation of the potential energy resources and simulations, this research intends to evaluate the performance of the Habaswein mini-grid and optimize the existing hybrid generation system to enhance its reliability and reduce the operation costs. The result will be a suggestion of how Kenyan rural areas could be sustainably electrified by using renewable energy based off-grid power stations. It will contribute to bridge the current research gap in this area, and it will be a vital tool to researchers, implementers and the policy makers in energy sector

Optimal sizing of energy communities with fair revenue sharing and exit clauses: value, role and business model of aggregators and users

Energy communities (ECs) are essential policy tools to meet the Energy Transition goals, as they can promote renewable energy sources, demand side management, demand response and citizen participation in energy matters. However, to fully unleash their potential, their design and scheduling requires a coordinated technical operation that the community itself may be ill-equipped to manage, in particular in view of the mutual technical and legal constraints ensuing from a coordinated design. Aggregators and Energy Service COmpanies (ESCOs) can perform this support role, but only provided that their goals are aligned to those of the community, not to incur in the agency problem. In this study, we propose a business model for aggregators of ECs, and its corresponding technical optimization problem, taking into account all crucial aspects: i) alleviating the risk of the agency problem, ii) fairly distributing the reward awarded to the EC, iii) estimating the fair payment for the aggregator services, and iv) defining appropriate exit clauses that rule what happens when a user leaves the EC. A detailed mathematical model is derived and discussed, employing several fair and theoretically-consistent reward distribution schemes, some of which are, to the best of our knowledge, proposed here for the first time. A case study is developed to quantify the value of the aggregator and compare the coordinated solution provided by the aggregator with non-coordinated configurations, numerically illustrating the impact of the reward distribution schemes. The results show that, in the case study, the aggregator enables reducing costs by 16% with respect to a baseline solution, and enables reaching 52.5% renewable share and about 46% self/shared consumption, whereas these same numbers are only 28-35% for the non-coordinated case. Our results suggest that the aggregator fair retribution is around 16-24% the added benefit produced with respect to the non-coordinated solution, and that stable reward distribution schemes such as Shapley/Core or Nucleolus are recommended. Moreover, the results highlight the unwanted effect that some non-cooperative ECs may have an added benefit without providing any positive effect to the power system. Our work lays the foundations for future studies on business models of aggregators for ECs and provides a methodology and preliminary results that can help policy makers and developers in tailoring national-level policies and market-offerings

Integration of on-board systems preliminary design discipline within a collaborative 3rd generation MDO framework

The integration of the on-board systems design discipline in a collaborative Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDO) framework is presented in this paper. The collaborative MDO framework developed within the context of the EU funded H2020 AGILE project is selected as reference. The technologies developed or made available in the context of the AGILE project are employed for the integration within the MDO framework of ASTRID, an on-board systems design tool owned by Politecnico di Torino. The connection of the tool with a common namespace (i.e. CPACS) and its implementation within two Process Integration and Design Optimization (PIDO) environments are described. An application study is eventually presented, showing the benefits and the potentialities of the integration of the on-board systems design discipline within a collaborative MDO framework

Effect of the application of an electric field on the performance of a two-phase loop device: Preliminary results

In the last decade, the continuous development of electronics has pointed out the need for a change in mind with regard to thermal management. In the present scenario, Pulsating Heat Pipes (PHPs) are novel promising two-phase passive heat transport devices that seem to meet all present and future thermal requirements. Nevertheless, PHPs governing phenomena are quite unique and not completely understood. In particular, single closed loop PHPs manifest several drawbacks, mostly related to the reduction of device thermal performance and reliability, i.e. the occurrence of multiple operational quasi-steady states. The present research work proposes the application of an electric field as a technique to promote the circulation of the working fluid in a preferential direction and stabilize the device operation. The tested single closed loop PHP is made of a copper tube with an inner tube diameter equal to 2.00 mm and filled with pure ethanol (60% filling ratio). The electric field is generated by a couple of wire-shaped electrodes powered with DC voltage up to 20 kV and laid parallel to the longitudinal axis of the glass tube constituting the adiabatic section. Although the electric field intensity in the working fluid region is weakened both by the polarization phenomenon of the working fluid and by the interposition of the glass tube, the experimental results highlight the influence of the electric field on the device thermal performance and encourage the continuation of the research in this direction

A Modular Rack for Shared Thermo-Fluid Dynamics Experiments in Reduced Gravity Environment

Abstract Parabolic flights represent an important tool for short space-related experiments under reduced gravity conditions. During the ballistic flight manoeuvres, the investigators have the possibility to operate their experiments, in a laboratory-like environment, where the level of gravity subjected to the experiments repetitively in a series of periods of reduced gravity, preceded and followed by periods of hypergravity. Aboard large aircraft, the duration of this phases varies from approximately 20 s for a 0g flight up to up to 32 s for a Martian g level. A parabolic flight rack able to host experiments concerning thermo-fluid dynamics, has been designed, realized and qualified during the ESA 66th Parabolic Flight Campaign. This microgravity research platform, is the first UK facility available for such investigations, providing a data acquisition system, cooling system and heating system compliant with Novespace requirements

Open source modeling for planing sustainable power development in resource-rich economies: case study for Kazakhstan

Power sector decarbonization is currently seen as a necessary condition of sustainable development in the modern world. options of resources-rich economies. Energy modeling is an effective measure to elaborate long-term decarbonisation policies. However, energy modeling evidence available for resources-rich economies remain up to the date limited, especially in part of realistic representation of the power system operation. We apply open code and open data approach to fill this gap considering a case study for Kazakhstan power system. The modeling input datasets have been validated against independent data sources with a satisfactory result. The simulation outputs are plausible both in terms reproducing the main features of the “pragmatic” scenario and in providing useful insights for the implementation of net-zero pathways. Renewable energy sources have been found to be economically viable even under the considered “pragmatic” scenario with quite conservative assumptions. Existing coal generation has been shown to dominate the investments costs hampering implementation of renewable power. A role of the power interconnection has been demonstrated for an economically optimal generation mix and a level of marginal electricity costs across the country. The results are intended to support energy transition implementation in the resources-rich economies under realistic technological assumptions

Fair Least Core: efficient, stable and unique game-theoretic reward allocation in Energy Communities by row-generation

Energy Communities are increasingly proposed as a tool to boost renewable penetration and maximize citizen participation in energy matters. These policies enable the formation of legal entities that bring together power system members, enabling collective investment and operation of energy assets. However, designing appropriate reward schemes is crucial to fairly incentivize individuals to join, as well to ensure collaborative and stable aggregation, maximizing community benefits. Cooperative Game Theory, emphasizing coordination among members, has been extensively proposed for ECs and microgrids; however, it is still perceived as obscure and difficult to compute due to its exponential computational requirements. This study proposes a novel framework for stable fair benefit allocation, named Fair Least Core, that provides uniqueness, replicability, stability and fairness. A novel row-generation algorithm is also proposed that allows to efficiently compute the imputations for coalitions of practical size. A case study of ECs with up to 50 members demonstrates the stability, reproducibility, fairness and efficiency properties of proposed model. The results also highlight how the market power of individual users changes as the community grows larger, which can steer the development of practical reliable, robust and fair reward allocations for energy system applications

Integration of on-board Systems preliminary design discipline within a collaborative 3rd Generation MDO framework

The integration of the on-board systems design discipline in a collaborative Multidisciplinary Design and Optimization (MDO) framework is presented in this paper. The collaborative MDO framework developed within the context of the EU funded H2020 AGILE project is selected as reference. The technologies developed or made available in the context of the AGILE project are employed for the integration within the MDO framework of ASTRID, an on-board Systems design tool owned by Politecnico di Torino. The connection of the tool with a common namespace (i.e. CPACS) and its implementation within two Process Integration and Design Optimization (PIDO) environments are described. An application study is eventually presented, showing the benefits and the potentialities of the integration of the on-board systems design discipline within a collaborative MDO framework

SINGLE LOOP PULSATING HEAT PIPE WITH NON-UNIFORM HEATING PATTERNS: FLUID INFRARED VISUALIZATION AND PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS

Abstract. A novel Single Loop Pulsating Heat Pipe (SLPHP) filled at 60% filling ratio with pure ethanol, with an inner diameter of 2mm is tested in Bottom Heated mode varying the heating power. The system is designed with two sapphire tubes mounted between the evaporator and the condenser allowing simultaneous fluid flow high-speed visualizations and IR analysis. Furthermore, two highly accurate pressure transducers carry out local pressure measurements just at the ends of one of the sapphire inserts. Additionally, three heating elements are controlled independently, in such a way to heat up the device varying the distribution of the heating location at the evaporator. It is found that peculiar heating distributions promote the slug/plug flow motion in a preferential direction, increasing the overall performance of the device. Pressure measurements point out that the flow patterns are strictly related to the pressure drop between the evaporator and the condenser. Furthermore, the IR visualization highlights interesting phenomena related to the liquid film dynamics during the device operations, which represent a very useful information for future numerical modeling of Pulsating Heat Pipes