A Brief Review on Mathematical Tools Applicable to Quantum Computing for Modelling and Optimization Problems in Engineering

Since its emergence, quantum computing has enabled a wide spectrum of new possibilities and advantages, including its efficiency in accelerating computational processes exponentially. This has directed much research towards completely novel ways of solving a wide variety of engineering problems, especially through describing quantum versions of many mathematical tools such as Fourier and Laplace transforms, differential equations, systems of linear equations, and optimization techniques, among others. Exploration and development in this direction will revolutionize the world of engineering. In this manuscript, we review the state of the art of these emerging techniques from the perspective of quantum computer development and performance optimization, with a focus on the most common mathematical tools that support engineering applications. This review focuses on the application of these mathematical tools to quantum computer development and performance improvement/optimization. It also identifies the challenges and limitations related to the exploitation of quantum computing and outlines the main opportunities for future contributions. This review aims at offering a valuable reference for researchers in fields of engineering that are likely to turn to quantum computing for solutions. Doi: 10.28991/ESJ-2023-07-01-020 Full Text: PD

Performance assessment of a 20 MW photovoltaic power plant in a hot climate using real data and simulation tools

The present study aims to evaluate the aptness of two commercial simulators, HOMER Pro and RETScreen Expert, as predictors of the performance of a large-scale photovoltaic power plant designed to deliver up to 20 MW in a hot climate, for which 26 months of real operational data are available. The power plant is located in the province of Adrar in the south of Algeria and classified as one of the hot regions worldwide. Performance parameters were reference yield, performance ratio, capacity factor, temperature loss and statistical indicators. The results showed that photovoltaic power plant performance depends on cell technology, insolation, and environmental conditions, especially temperature. The deviations between the simulation results and real monitoring data were found to be smaller in the case of HOMER Pro simulation tool. The total annual energy supplied in 2018 by the power plant was 36364MWh, whereas RETScreen Expert predicted 42339 MWh, or about 14% more and HOMER Pro predicted 34508 MWh or about 5.1% less. The influence of temperature on the power plant output was strong, causing a 40% drop during the summer, due to the limitations of the polycrystalline cell technology. This needs to be considered in the design of future photovoltaic power plants to be operated in hot climates. HOMER Pro and RETScreen Expert predicted an average annual final yield of 5.128 h/day, a module efficiency of 15% and an inverter efficiency of 98%. The t statistics were 3.75 for HOMER Pro and 6.12 for RETScreen Expert. The analysis shows that the 20 MW photovoltaic plant in hot climate experiences high losses compared to an equivalent plant based on thin-film photovoltaic cells

A New Quantum-computing-based Algorithm for Robotic Arms ‎and Rigid Bodies

Quantum computing model of robotic arm orientation is presented. Spherical and vector coordinates, a homogenous rotation matrix, Pauli gates and quantum rotation operators are used to formulate the orientation model and establish a new algorithm. The quantum algorithm uses a single qubit to compute orientation and has the advantage of operation reversibility. This was validated for a SCARA robot and a five-joints articulated robotic arm. The obtained results show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology

Use of thermoelectric generators to harvest energy from motor vehicle brake discs

The challenge of reducing vehicle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions has become a major orientation of automotive industry research throughout the world. Improving and optimizing power consumption by electric vehicles is of special concern. A novel use of thermoelectric generators in vehicle braking is presented. Thermal analysis of brake pads and discs using finite elements was applied to evaluate the energy potentially available in the form of heat produced by the friction involved in braking. We present stimulations of disc heating during and after braking at three ambient temperatures and reflect on the possibilities of energy recovery in warm as well as cold climates. The results show that although the yield of electrical energy from typical thermoelectric generators is about 0.3% of the total thermal energy associated with braking, at least 4 W can be made available, enough to power on-board instrumentation and vehicle devices and thereby improve the energy efficiency of motor vehicles