Optimization of the operation of smart rural grids through a novel rnergy management system

The paper proposes an innovative Energy Management System (EMS) that optimizes the grid operation based on economic and technical criteria. The EMS inputs the demand and renewable generation forecasts, electricity prices and the status of the distributed storages through the network, and solves with an optimal quarter-hourly dispatch for controllable resources. The performance of the EMS is quantified through diverse proposed metrics. The analyses were based on a real rural grid from the European FP7 project Smart Rural Grid. The performance of the EMS has been evaluated through some scenarios varying the penetration of distributed generation. The obtained results demonstrate that the inclusion of the EMS from both a technical point of view and an economic perspective for the adopted grid is justified. At the technical level, the inclusion of the EMS permits us to significantly increase the power quality in weak and radial networks. At the economic level and from a certain threshold value in renewables’ penetration, the EMS reduces the energy costs for the grid participants, minimizing imports from the external grid and compensating the toll to be paid in the form of the losses incurred by including additional equipment in the network (i.e., distributed storage).Postprint (published version

Smart grid architecture for rural distribution networks: application to a Spanish pilot network

This paper presents a novel architecture for rural distribution grids. This architecture is designed to modernize traditional rural networks into new Smart Grid ones. The architecture tackles innovation actions on both the power plane and the management plane of the system. In the power plane, the architecture focuses on exploiting the synergies between telecommunications and innovative technologies based on power electronics managing low scale electrical storage. In the management plane, a decentralized management system is proposed based on the addition of two new agents assisting the typical Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system of distribution system operators. Altogether, the proposed architecture enables operators to use more effectively—in an automated and decentralized way—weak rural distribution systems, increasing the capability to integrate new distributed energy resources. This architecture is being implemented in a real Pilot Network located in Spain, in the frame of the European Smart Rural Grid project. The paper also includes a study case showing one of the potentialities of one of the principal technologies developed in the project and underpinning the realization of the new architecture: the so-called Intelligent Distribution Power Router.Postprint (published version

Efficient tunable laser operation of Tm:KGd(WO4)2 in the continuous-wave regime at room temperature

Tm:KGd(WO/sub 4/)/sub 2/ is studied as a three-level laser on the /sup 3/F/sub 4/ /spl rarr/ /sup 3/H/sub 6/ transition and a tunable source in the 2-/spl mu/m spectral range, operating at room temperature. An overall tunability extending from 1790 to 2042 nm is achieved with maximum output powers of 400 mW for an absorbed pump power of 1 W. Various doping levels, pump wavelengths and polarization configurations are compared and the advantages of the monoclinic double tungstates over other Tm-hosts are outlined

Electrostática y EAO : una experiencia de simulación

In this work the inclusion of educational software in the teaching of physics is analyzed. The program used corresponds to the computer simulation of electrostatic fields, and it was applied to students of first year of universitary level in a Faculty of Chemistry

Short-term energy storage for power quality improvement in weak MV grids with distributed renewable generation

The intermittent and stochastic nature of renewable energy sources impose several challenges for the operation of electrical networks, and affect power quality levels as well. This paper addresses one of the issues associated to power quality in electrical networks: voltage flicker. The main contribution of the paper fall in the proposal of a methodology for addressing the location in the network and the sizing of an active filter for flicker filtering. The designed active filter is based on controllable and bidirectional power electronics. Also, it includes energy storage capability, so as to maximize flicker filtering effectiveness by performing both active and reactive power regulation.Postprint (author's final draft

PENGEOM - A general-purpose geometry package for Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport in material systems defined by quadric surfaces

The Fortran subroutine package pengeom provides a complete set of tools to handle quadric geometries in Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport. The material structure where radiation propagates is assumed to consist of homogeneous bodies limited by quadric surfaces. The pengeom subroutines (a subset of the penelope code) track particles through the material structure, independently of the details of the physics models adopted to describe the interactions. Although these subroutines are designed for detailed simulations of photon and electron transport, where all individual interactions are simulated sequentially, they can also be used in mixed (class II) schemes for simulating the transport of high-energy charged particles, where the effect of soft interactions is described by the random-hinge method. The definition of the geometry and the details of the tracking algorithm are tailored to optimize simulation speed. The use of fuzzy quadric surfaces minimizes the impact of round-off errors. The provided software includes a Java graphical user interface for editing and debugging the geometry definition file and for visualizing the material structure. Images of the structure are generated by using the tracking subroutines and, hence, they describe the geometry actually passed to the simulation code

PENGEOM A general-purpose geometry package for Monte Carlo simulation of radiation transport in complex material structures (New Version Announcement)

A new version of the code system pengeom, which provides a complete set of tools to handle different geometries in Monte Carlo simulations of radiation transport, is presented. The distribution package consists of a set of Fortran subroutines and a Java graphical user interface that allows building and debugging the geometry-definition file, and producing images of the geometry in two- and three-dimensions. A detailed description of these tools is given in the original paper [Comput. Phys. Commun. 199 (2016) 102-113] and in the code manual included in the distribution package. The present new version corrects a bug in the Fortran subroutines, and it includes various improvements of the Java graphical user interface

A power sharing algorithm for a hybrid energy storage system based on batteries

© 2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other worksThis paper presents a method to operate a hybrid Energy Storage System (ESS) based on a heterogeneous grouping of battery types. In particular, the system is composed by a lithium-ion battery pack and a lead-acid one. The operational method is based on an optimization Non Linear Problem (NLP), which takes the name of power sharing algorithm. The aim of this algorithm is to fit the output of the hybrid ESS to the profile setpoint while minimizing degradation and taking advantage of main performance of each battery type. An exemplary study case is offered so as to proof the validity of the algorithm.Postprint (author's final draft

Reflexiones sobre la percepción de los Destinos Turísticos Inteligentes españoles por parte de los actores turísticos

The aim of this paper is to debate the IT concept from the perception different agents of the tourism sector have about it and to see to what extent there is agreement or disagreement in the definition of the concept itself, its influence on the competitive improvement of destinations and future trends. In short, it intends to analyze the potential, but also to understand the risks and main challenges that the incorporation of IT can cause over current destinations. The work procedure involves asking experts in the tourism sector and in the academic world about the different thematic areas on IT and ITD: the definition of the concept and the welfare of its evolution in the immediate future, the characteristics and components of an ITD system, the role of the technological components in an ITD, the linking of IT with sustainability, the limits and risks of IT display, and the determinants and conditionings that destinations have for the development of IT strategies. The collected information has been obtained from the opinion of around thirty experts, with the purpose of gathering different points of view through the Delphi method: the academic specialists (belonging to national and international universities), those affected (from the case of study of the tourist municipalities of the province of Barcelona) and the facilitators (companies and organizations involved in the use of technologies to promote IT).El objetivo de este trabajo es debatir el concepto de TI a partir de la percepción que diferentes agentes del sector turístico tienen de él y ver hasta qué punto hay acuerdo o desacuerdo en la definición del propio concepto, su influencia sobre la mejora competitiva de los destinos y las tendencias de futuro. En definitiva, se trata de analizar el potencial, pero también de entender los riesgos y los retos principales que la incorporación del TI puede producir sobre los destinos actuales. El procedimiento de trabajo pasa por preguntar a diferentes expertos del sector turístico y del mundo académico en torno a diferentes ámbitos temáticos sobre el TI y las DTI: la definición del concepto y la previsión de su evolución en un futuro inmediato, las características y componentes de un sistema de DTI, el papel de los componentes tecnológicos en una DTI, la vinculación del TI con la sostenibilidad, los límites y riesgos al despliegue del TI y los determinantes y condicionamientos que tienen los destinos para el desarrollo de estrategias de TI. La información recogida se lha obtenido a partir de la opinión de una treintena de expertos, con el fin de recoger diferentes puntos de vista a través del método Delphi: los especialistas académicos (pertenecientes a universidades nacionales e internacionales), los afectados ( a partir del caso de estudio de los municipios turísticos de la provincia de Barcelona) y los facilitadores (empresas y organismos implicados en el uso de las tecnologías para fomentar el TI)

Reflexiones sobre la percepción de los Destinos Turísticos Inteligentes españoles por parte de los actores turísticos

The aim of this paper is to debate the IT concept from the perception different agents of the tourism sector have about it and to see to what extent there is agreement or disagreement in the definition of the concept itself, its influence on the competitive improvement of destinations and future trends. In short, it intends to analyze the potential, but also to understand the risks and main challenges that the incorporation of IT can cause over current destinations. The work procedure involves asking experts in the tourism sector and in the academic world about the different thematic areas on IT and ITD: the definition of the concept and the welfare of its evolution in the immediate future, the characteristics and components of an ITD system, the role of the technological components in an ITD, the linking of IT with sustainability, the limits and risks of IT display, and the determinants and conditionings that destinations have for the development of IT strategies. The collected information has been obtained from the opinion of around thirty experts, with the purpose of gathering different points of view through the Delphi method: the academic specialists (belonging to national and international universities), those affected (from the case of study of the tourist municipalities of the province of Barcelona) and the facilitators (companies and organizations involved in the use of technologies to promote IT)