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Sustainable and Intelligent Energy Systems and Processes: Recent Advances and Challenges

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A special issue of Processes (ISSN 2227-9717). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2024 | Viewed by 5707

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Mateo Bašić

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Guest Editor

Department of Power Engineering - Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture, University of Split, Rudjera Boskovica 32, HR-21000 Split, Croatia
Interests: induction machines; vector control; power electronics; microgrids; renewable generation

Dr. Dejan Jokić

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Guest Editor

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, InteRnational Burch University, Francuske Revolucije bb, Ilidža, 71210 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Interests: programmable devices; embedded systems; AI hardware; intelligent control system; mechatronics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The past few decades have seen a significant rise in investments in clean, renewable, and sustainable energy technologies as a result of concerns about current and emerging environmental issues and dangers, the depletion of fossil fuel supplies, and the rapidly escalating global energy demand. In addition, the topic of reliability and resilience has recently drawn a lot of attention in an effort to lessen community vulnerability to temporary power outages or total collapse of the main grid brought on by natural disasters, wars, technical issues, physical and cyberattacks, etc. Hence, policymakers have prioritized developing new action plans to address these concerns, including the use of renewable energy and improving energy conversion efficiency and management. Although it is often challenging to put these new action plans into practice due to issues with technology, the economy, or society, process systems engineers continuously strive to enhance systems of all types, from large industrial to small household.

Future energy systems are expected to include many different types of energy storage technology and renewable sources of energy. The availability of renewable resources, in particular, has a significant impact on economic growth potential. However, despite the fact that they can assist with energy issues, the challenges associated with managing, controlling, and monitoring renewable energy sources prevent them from being fully integrated into power systems. The use of sophisticated control algorithms, such as those based on machine learning, artificial intelligence, or cloud computing, can help solve these problems.

Original research papers, reviews, case studies, and technical notes relevant to the scope of this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

Integration of renewable energy sources;
Solar and wind energy technology and applications;
Hybrid renewable energy systems;
Grid stability;
Power electronics in renewable energy systems and smart grids;
Modeling of energy systems and processes;
Policy issues related to sustainability;
Energy conversion and storage technologies;
System reliability and resilience;
Techno-economic and energy/exergy analyses;
Edge computing in smart grids and other applications;
Artificial intelligence applications in smart grids;
PLC and SCADA systems;
Increasing energy efficiency in industrial motor drives.

Dr. Mateo Bašić
Dr. Dejan Jokić
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Processes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainability
intelligent control
renewable energy
reliability and resilience
smart grid
energy storage
edge computing
SCADA

Published Papers (6 papers)

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23 pages, 3527 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermodynamic Modeling of a Solar-Driven Organic Rankine Cycle-Absorption Cooling System for Simultaneous Power and Cooling Production

by José C. Jiménez-García, Isaías Moreno-Cruz and Wilfrido Rivera

Processes 2024, 12(3), 427; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12030427 - 20 Feb 2024

Viewed by 805

Abstract

Humanity is facing the challenge of reducing its environmental impact. For this reason, many specialists worldwide have been studying the processes of production and efficient use of energy. In this way, developing cleaner and more efficient energy systems is fundamental for sustainable development. The present work analyzed the technical feasibility of a solar-driven power-cooling system operating in a particular location in Mexico. The theoretical system integrates organic Rankine and single-stage absorption cooling cycles. A parabolic trough collector and a storage system integrated the solar system. Its performance was modeled for a typical meteorological year using the SAM software by NREL. The analyzed working fluids for the organic cycle include benzene, cyclohexane, toluene, and R123, while the working fluid of the absorption system is the ammonia-water mixture. The cycle’s first and second-law performances are determined in a wide range of operating conditions. Parameters such as the energy utilization factor, turbine power, COP, and exergy efficiency are reported for diverse operating conditions. It was found that the highest energy utilization factor was 0.68 when the ORC utilized benzene as working fluid at ORC and ACS condensing temperatures of 80 °C and 20 °C, respectively, and at a cooling temperature of 0 °C. The best exergy efficiency was 0.524 at the same operating conditions but at a cooling temperature of −10 °C. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Intelligent Energy Systems and Processes: Recent Advances and Challenges)

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0 pages, 4468 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Method for Estimating the State of Charge and Identifying the Type of a Lithium-Ion Cell Based on the Transfer Function of the Cell

by Ivan Radaš, Luka Matić, Viktor Šunde and Željko Ban

Processes 2024, 12(2), 404; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr12020404 - 17 Feb 2024

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 515 | Correction

Abstract

This paper proposes a new method for assessing the state of charge (SoC) and identifying the types of different lithium-ion cells used in the battery systems of light electric vehicles. A particular challenge in the development of this method was the SoC estimation time, as the method is intended for implementation in the control system of a bicycle charging station, where the state of charge must be determined immediately after the bicycle is plugged in in order to start the charging process as quickly as possible according to the appropriate charging algorithm. The method is based on the identification of the transfer function, i.e., the dynamic response of the battery voltage to the current pulse. In the learning phase of this method, a database of reference transfer functions and corresponding SoCs for a specific type of battery cell is created. The transfer functions are described by coefficients determined through the optimization procedure. The algorithm for estimating the unknown battery cell SoCs is based on the comparison of the measured voltage response with the responses of the reference transfer functions from the database created during the learning process to the same current signal. The comparison is made by calculating the integral of the square error (ISE) between the response of the specific reference transfer function and the measured voltage response of the battery cell. Each transfer function corresponds to a specific SoC and cell type. The specific SoC of the unknown battery is determined by quadratic interpolation of the SoC near the reference point with the smallest ISE for each battery type. The cell type detection algorithm is based on the fact that the integral squared error criterion near the actual SoC for the actual cell type changes less than the squared error criterion for any other battery cell type with the same SoC. An algorithm for estimating the SoC and cell type is described and tested on several different cell types. The relative error between the estimated SoC and the actual SoC was used as a measure of the accuracy of the algorithm, where the actual SoC was calculated using the Coulomb counting method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Intelligent Energy Systems and Processes: Recent Advances and Challenges)

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12 pages, 1618 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Methods of Measuring Air Pollution in Cities and Correlation of Air Pollutant Concentrations

by Milan Bodić, Vladimir Rajs, Marko Vasiljević Toskić, Jovan Bajić, Branislav Batinić and Miloš Arbanas

Processes 2023, 11(10), 2984; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11102984 - 15 Oct 2023

Viewed by 1296

Abstract

The monitoring of air quality continues to be one of the most important tasks when ensuring the safety of our environment. This paper aims to look at correlations between different types of pollutants, so that robust air quality measurement systems can be deployed in remote, inaccessible areas, at a reduced cost. The first matter at hand was to design an affordable and portable system capable of measuring different air pollutants. A custom PCB was designed that could support the acquisition of readings of, among others, particulate and CO sensors. Then, correlations between the concentrations of different pollutants were analyzed to identify if measuring the concentration of one type of pollutant can allow the extrapolation of the concentration of another. This particular study focuses on the correlations between the concentrations of particulate matter and CO. Finally, after observing a moderate correlation, it was proposed to measure the concentrations of pollutants that require less expensive sensors, and to extrapolate the concentrations of pollutants that require a more expensive sensor to measure their concentration. The link between particulate pollution and CO concentrations was identified and discussed as the result of this study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Intelligent Energy Systems and Processes: Recent Advances and Challenges)

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25 pages, 7983 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Model Predictive Current Control of an Induction Motor Considering Iron Core Losses and Saturation

by Mateo Bašić, Dinko Vukadinović and Ivan Grgić

Processes 2023, 11(10), 2917; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11102917 - 05 Oct 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 990

Abstract

The paper considers the model predictive current control (MPCC) of an induction motor (IM) drive and evaluates five IM models of different complexities—from conventional to magnetic saturation, iron losses, and stray-load losses—for the MPCC design. The validity of each considered IM model and the corresponding MPCC algorithm is evaluated by comparison of the following performance metrics: the total harmonic distortion of the stator current, the average switching frequency, the rotor flux magnitude error, the rotor flux angle error, and the product of the first two metrics. The metrics’ values are determined in wide ranges of the rotor speed (0.1–1 p.u.) and load torque (0–1 p.u.) through simulations performed in the MATLAB Simulink environment. The obtained results allow us to identify the IM model that offers the best tradeoff between the practicability and accuracy. Furthermore, a control effort penalization (CEP) is suggested to reduce the average switching frequency and, hence, the power converter losses. This involves constraining the simultaneous switching to a maximum of two branches of the three-phase power converter, as well as inclusion of the weighted switching penalization term in the cost function. Finally, the performance—both steady-state and dynamic—of the proposed MPCC system with CEP is compared with that of the analogous field-oriented controlled (FOC) IM drive. The inverter switching frequency is reduced more than twice by including the frequency-dependent iron-loss resistance in the MPCC. It is additionally reduced by implementing the proposed CEP strategy without sacrificing many other performance metrics, thus achieving a performance comparable to the FOC IM drive. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Intelligent Energy Systems and Processes: Recent Advances and Challenges)

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16 pages, 2761 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

Exergy and Energy Analysis of the Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger for a Poultry Litter Co-Combustion Process

by Samuel O. Alamu, Seong W. Lee and Xuejun Qian

Processes 2023, 11(8), 2249; https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11082249 - 26 Jul 2023

Viewed by 1200

Abstract

Increasing production of poultry litter, and its associated problems, stimulates the need for generating useful energy in an environmentally friendly and efficient energy system, such as the use of shell-and-tube heat exchangers (STHE) in a fluidized-bed combustion (FBC) system. A holistic approach which involves the integration of the First Law of Thermodynamics (FLT) and Second Law of Thermodynamics (SLT) is required for conducting effective assessment of an energy system. In this study, the STHE designed by the CAESECT research group, which was integrated into the lab-scale FBC, was investigated to determine the maximum available work performed by the system and account for the exergy loss due to irreversibility. The effects of varying operating parameters and configuration of the space heaters connected to the STHE for space heating purposes were investigated in order to improve the thermal efficiency of the poultry litter-to-energy conversion process. Exergy and energy analysis performed on the STHE using flue gas and water media showed higher efficiency (75–92%) obtained via energy analysis, but much lower efficiency (12–25%) was obtained when the ambient conditions were factored into the exergy analysis, thus indicating huge exergy loss to the surroundings. From the obtained experimental data coupled with the simulation on parallel arrangement of air heaters, it was observed that exergy loss increased with increasing flue gas flow rate from 46.8–57.6 kg/h and with increasing ambient temperature from 8.8 °C to 25 °C. To lower the cost of STHE during final design, a larger temperature difference between the hot and cold flue gas is needed throughout the exchanger, which further increases the exergetic loss while maintaining an energy balance. In addition, this study also found the optimal conditions to reduce exergy loss and improve energy efficiency of the designed STHE. This study shows the possibility to evaluate energy systems using integration of exergy and energy analysis. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable and Intelligent Energy Systems and Processes: Recent Advances and Challenges)

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