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Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems

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A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2016) | Viewed by 53235

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Paul Stewart

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Guest Editor

Institute for Innovation in Sustainable Engineering, University of Derby, Lonsdale House, Derby DE1 3EE, UK
Interests: complex system simulation, design and optimization; engineering applications of artificial intelligence; advanced control systems; power and energy architectures; electrical machines, drives and systems; energy conversion and storage; remote monitoring and sensing; prognostics and diagnostics; low carbon and low emissions operations
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Chris Bingham

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering, University of Lincoln, Brayford Pool Lincoln, Lincoln LN6 7TS, UK
Interests: aircraft dynamics and advanced control; impact of driver behavior on energy efficiency of EVs/HEVs; electrical power distribution for deep-sea ROVs; power electronic servo-drive systems; real-time prognostics and diagnostics for industrial systems; sensor validation and fault detection; high-efficiency power supplies for domestic products; active magnetic bearings for high-speed energy storage
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Following on from our highly successful Special Issue, “Electrical Power and Energy Systems for Transportation Applications” (https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies/special_issues/Electrical_Power_Energy_Systems), we are inviting submissions to a further Special Issue of Energies on the subject area of "Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems".

This Special Issue will focus on the components of power and energy and, additionally, the development of optimized, robust systems; for example, more-electric and all-electric aircraft, electric and hybrid road vehicles, marine propulsion applications, energy conversion, renewable energy, energy storage and transmission and low emission combustion. It is the integration of these technologies and control methods into optimized systems, which is crucial to achieving critical global targets in energy efficiency, low-carbon, and low-emissions operations. The greatest challenges occur when we combine new technologies at large-scales and often complex system levels.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to:

Novel Electrical Power Systems architectures and technologies;
Energy vectors, integration with renewables, power and energy dense machines, converters and energy storage;
Air, land and sea vehicles; electrical propulsion and actuation for land, sea and air vehicles;
Electrical Machines, Drives, Systems and Applications—AC and DC machines and drives;
Multiscale systems modeling; remote monitoring and diagnosis;
Power Electronic Systems—Converters and emerging technologies;
Modeling simulation and control, reliability and fault tolerance, safety critical operation;
Electrical Power Generation Systems—Modeling and simulation of electrical power systems;
Load management; power quality; distribution reliability; distributed and islanded power systems, sensor networks, communication and control;
Electrical Power Systems Modeling and Control—Modeling and control methodologies and applications;
Intelligent systems; optimization and advanced heuristics; adaptive systems; robust control.

Prof. Dr. Paul Stewart
Prof. Dr. Chris Bingham
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. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2600 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

electrical power and energy systems
energy management
energy storage
electrical machines and drives
power electronics
energy conversion
power generation
distributed power systems
hybrid and electric vehicles
more-electric aircraft
all-electric aircraft
electrical propulsion and actuation
power distribution architectures
low-carbon energy systems

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Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2177 KB

Open AccessArticle

Primary and Albedo Solar Energy Sources for High Altitude Persistent Air Vehicle Operation

by Tim Smith, Michele Trancossi, Dean Vucinic, Chris Bingham and Paul Stewart

Energies 2017, 10(4), 573; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10040573 - 22 Apr 2017

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6808

Abstract

A new class of the all electric airship to globally transport both passengers and freight using a ‘feeder-cruiser’ concept, and powered by renewable electric energy, is considered. Specific focus is given to photo-electric harvesting as the primary energy source and the associated hydrogen-based energy storage systems. Furthermore, it is shown that the total PV output may be significantly increased by utilising cloud albedo effects. Appropriate power architectures and energy audits required for life support, and the propulsion and ancillary loads to support the continuous daily operation of the primary airship (cruiser) at stratospheric altitudes (circa 18 km), are also considered. The presented solution is substantially different from those of conventional aircraft due to the airship size and the inherent requirement to harvest and store sufficient energy during “daylight” operation, when subject to varying seasonal conditions and latitudes, to ensure its safe and continued operation during the corresponding varying “dark hours”. This is particularly apparent when the sizing of the proposed electrolyser is considered, as its size and mass increase nonlinearly with decreasing day-night duty. As such, a Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell is proposed. For the first time the study also discusses the potential benefits of integrating the photo-voltaic cells into airship canopy structures utilising TENSAIRITY®-based elements in order to eliminate the requirements for separate inter-PV array wiring and the transport of low pressure hydrogen between fuel cells. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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20 pages, 14003 KB

Open AccessArticle

New Approaches to Circulating Current Controllers for Modular Multilevel Converters

by Miguel Moranchel, Emilio Bueno, Inés Sanz and Francisco J. Rodríguez

Energies 2017, 10(1), 86; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10010086 - 13 Jan 2017

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 8029

Abstract

In the next years, modular multilevel converters (MMCs) are going to be a next generation multilevel converters for medium to high voltage conversion applications, such as medium voltage motor drives, medium voltage flexible AC transmission systems (FACTS) and high voltage direct current transmission. They provide advantages such as high modularity, availability, low generation of harmonics, etc. However, the circulating current distorts the leg currents and increases the rated current of power devices, which further increases system cost. This paper focuses on analysis and suppression of these currents in a MMC using two algorithms for tracking of harmonics. For this work resonant controllers and repetitive controllers have been selected. Both controllers are analyzed and simulations results are presented. Moreover, the controllers have been tested and validated for a three phase MMC operating as an inverter using a real processing platform based on Zynq by Xilinx and designed to control large multilevel converters and in a real MMC prototype. These results are provided to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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17 pages, 5437 KB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Analysis and Full Prediction Model of a 5-DOF Motorized Spindle

by Weiyu Zhang, Huangqiu Zhu, Hengkun Yang and Tao Chen

Energies 2017, 10(1), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10010075 - 10 Jan 2017

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4754

Abstract

The cost and power consumption of DC power amplifiers are much greater than that of AC power converters. Compared to a motorized spindle supported with DC magnetic bearings, a motorized spindle supported with AC magnetic bearings is inexpensive and more efficient. This paper studies a five-degrees-of-freedom (5-DOF) motorized spindle supported with AC hybrid magnetic bearings (HMBs). Most models of suspension forces, except a “switching model”, are quite accurate, but only in a particular operating area and not in regional coverage. If a “switching model” is applied to a 5-DOF motorized spindle, the real-time performance of the control system can be significantly decreased due to the large amount of data processing for both displacement and current. In order to solve this defect, experiments based on the “switching model” are performed, and the resulting data are analyzed. Using the data analysis results, a “full prediction model” based on the operating state is proposed to improve real-time performance and precision. Finally, comparative, verification and stiffness tests are conducted to verify the improvement of the proposed model. Results of the tests indicate that the rotor has excellent characteristics, such as good real-time performance, superior anti-interference performance with load and the accuracy of the model in full zone. The satisfactory experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the “full prediction model” applied to the control system under different operating stages. Therefore, the results of the experimental analysis and the proposed full prediction model can provide a control system of a 5-DOF motorized spindle with the most suitable mathematical models of the suspension force. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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19 pages, 12018 KB

Open AccessArticle

Design, Modeling and Control of Magnetic Bearings for a Ring-Type Flywheel Energy Storage System

by Chow-Shing Toh and Shyh-Leh Chen

Energies 2016, 9(12), 1051; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9121051 - 14 Dec 2016

Cited by 14 | Viewed by 11317

Abstract

This study is concerned with the magnetic force models of magnetic bearing in a flywheel energy storage system (FESS). The magnetic bearing is of hybrid type, with axial passive magnetic bearing (PMB) and radial hybrid magnetic bearing (HMB). For the PMB, a pair of ring-type Halbach arrays of permanent magnets are arranged vertically to support the rotor weight. For the HMB, a set of ring-type Halbach array is placed on the rotor side, which corresponds to coil sets on the stator side. The HMB can produce both attraction and repulsion forces on the radial direction, depending on the direction of the coil currents. It is found that the ring-type configuration and the differential winding scheme for coil sets can yield linear magnetic force models for both PMB and HMB. Based on the obtained magnetic force model, an integral sliding mode controller is designed for the stable rotor levitation in the radial direction. The experimental results show that the rotor can be stabilized to the bearing center, verifying the accuracy of the magnetic force models and effectiveness of the levitation controller. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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16 pages, 7398 KB

Open AccessArticle

Improving the Stability and Accuracy of Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation Using Virtual Impedance Method

by Xiaoming Zha, Chenxu Yin, Jianjun Sun, Meng Huang and Qionglin Li

Energies 2016, 9(11), 974; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9110974 - 22 Nov 2016

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 6711

Abstract

Power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) systems are advanced, real-time platforms for combined software and hardware testing. Two paramount issues in PHIL simulations are the closed-loop stability and simulation accuracy. This paper presents a virtual impedance (VI) method for PHIL simulations that improves the simulation’s stability and accuracy. Through the establishment of an impedance model for a PHIL simulation circuit, which is composed of a voltage-source converter and a simple network, the stability and accuracy of the PHIL system are analyzed. Then, the proposed VI method is implemented in a digital real-time simulator and used to correct the combined impedance in the impedance model, achieving higher stability and accuracy of the results. The validity of the VI method is verified through the PHIL simulation of two typical PHIL examples. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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12 pages, 2127 KB

Open AccessArticle

Novel Interleaved Converter with Extra-High Voltage Gain to Process Low-Voltage Renewable-Energy Generation

by Chih-Lung Shen, Po-Chieh Chiu and Yan-Chi Lee

Energies 2016, 9(11), 871; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9110871 - 25 Oct 2016

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5291

Abstract

This paper presents a novel interleaved converter (NIC) with extra-high voltage gain to process the power of low-voltage renewable-energy generators such as photovoltaic (PV) panel, wind turbine, and fuel cells. The NIC can boost a low input voltage to a much higher voltage level to inject renewable energy to DC bus for grid applications. Since the NIC has two circuit branches in parallel at frond end to share input current, it is suitable for high power applications. In addition, the NIC is controlled in an interleaving pattern, which has the advantages that the NIC has lower input current ripple, and the frequency of the ripple is twice the switching frequency. Two coupled inductors and two switched capacitors are incorporated to achieve a much higher voltage gain than conventional high step-up converters. The proposed NIC has intrinsic features such as leakage energy totally recycling and low voltage stress on power semiconductor. Thorough theoretical analysis and key parameter design are presented in this paper. A prototype is built for practical measurements to validate the proposed NIC. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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19 pages, 6544 KB

Open AccessArticle

Structure Optimization of Stand-Alone Renewable Power Systems Based on Multi Object Function

by Jae-Hoon Cho, Myung-Geun Chun and Won-Pyo Hong

Energies 2016, 9(8), 649; https://doi.org/10.3390/en9080649 - 17 Aug 2016

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 8041

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology for the size optimization of a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind/diesel/battery system while considering the following factors: total annual cost (TAC), loss of power supply probability (LPSP), and the fuel cost of the diesel generator required by the user. A new optimization algorithm and an object function (including a penalty method) are also proposed; these assist with designing the best structure for a hybrid system satisfying the constraints. In hybrid energy system sources such as photovoltaic (PV), wind, diesel, and energy storage devices are connected as an electrical load supply. Because the power produced by PV and wind turbine sources is dependent on the variation of the resources (sun and wind) and the load demand fluctuates, such a hybrid system must be able to satisfy the load requirements at any time and store the excess energy for use in deficit conditions. Therefore, reliability and cost are the two main criteria when designing a stand-alone hybrid system. Moreover, the operation of a diesel generator is important to achieve greater reliability. In this paper, TAC, LPSP, and the fuel cost of the diesel generator are considered as the objective variables and a hybrid teaching–learning-based optimization algorithm is proposed and used to choose the best structure of a stand-alone hybrid PV/wind/diesel/battery system. Simulation results from MATLAB support the effectiveness of the proposed method and confirm that it is more efficient than conventional methods. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Next-Generation Low-Carbon Power and Energy Systems)

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