Biography:

Anuar Kulmagambetov has graduated with honor in 1974 from Karaganda Polytechnic Institute. He is a Specialist in Automated information systems. In 1978, he pursued his postgraduate from Institute of Mathematics and Mechanics of Kazakhstan. From 1978 to 1990 he worked as a junior sci. worker and then senior sci. worker in Institute of Control Science of the USSR Academy of Sciences (lab.59, lab.37) (http://www.ipu.ru). In 1980 he has completed his PhD in Model parallel management of databases. He has to his credit 25 works written and published till that period. From 2007, he has been involved in invention business and has patented four inventions, one more patent is pending.

Abstract:

Our civilization is facing an urgent need to include innovative, large-scale sources of energy and raw materials into its technological cycles. Alternative energy is not only the use of solar, wind and tidal seas, it is also the energy of volcanic magma, which potential is underestimated and not yet used. This potential source is still inspires awe. To find ways to control the outflow of lava and use it for the needs of humans is a task of the nearest future. We propose a method of remote control of lava flow which is based on a special design of a pipe which is lowered into the crater of a volcano. The magma is raised with the help of a well-known method for raising liquids, the airlift. This article includes description of the new opportunities to use magma energy to obtain: a cheaper electricity from the superheated steam; hydrogen by electrolysis as energy storage method; variable dimension materials for construction with density from 150kg/m3 to 3000 kg/m3 by using it as raw material; fertilizers from the cooled magma; heat to transport by tankers thermos. There is potential for the establishment of a whole new industry that will produce cheap electricity, hydrogen, rare metals, fertilizers and innovative construction materials.

Biography:

Tesfaye Meseret Abebe has completed his M.Sc. at the age of 24 years from Bahirdar University and now he is studying his PhD at Otto-Von-Guericke University Magdeburg,Germany.  He is the director of University Industry Linkage of Dire Dawa University.

Abstract:

The basic principle of a wind turbine which converts wind energy into electricity comes from the lift force produced by the flow of air through the rotor. In this paper the aerodynamic profile of a small scale wind turbine rotor blade is designed based on a surveyed meteorological data for a site location   called (Aysha dawale, ETHIOPIA).  To design this blade the blade element momentum theory (BEM) is used, and based on this theory a code is developed using MATLAB to facilitate the design process.  Types of airfoils which are used in the small scale wind turbine  industry were investigated  and compared  based on optimum aerodynamic  performance  and thickness  to chord ration for structural stability. According to this criterion the NREL airfoil families suited for small scale wind turbine blades in the range 2-5m blade length are selected and simulated using XFOIL to be an input for the design. After deciding the above initial parameter (airfoil type), the essential geometrical parameters such as twist angle and chord distribution along the blade span is optimized. The final values of this parameters decide the amount of power that can extracted from the wind, which is defined by the power coefficient.

An optimum power coefficient result requires optimizing the twist angle and chord distribution. In this design the chord distribution is designed to follow a  linear shape tapering from the root to the tip  of  the  blade.  The  remaining  parameter  (twist  angle)  is  optimized  using  gradient  based optimization technique coupled with the BEM program coded in  MATLAB. This optimization technique is an automated process which receives variables to be optimized from the MATLAB solver (fmincon) and feeds through the BEM code, while the BEM code simultaneously access the simulated  data’s  of  the  airfoils  and  validate  the  optimum  variables  when  a  maximum  power coefficient result is achieved. Based on this design technique a blade is designed for wind speeds which occurs most frequently  weighted  by the weighbull  distribution.  Simulation  results of this design using QBLADE yields a minimum capacity of 1.4KW: at 4m/s wind speed, 50RPM rotor angular  speed  and a maximum  capacity  of  12.8KW:  at  8m/s  wind  speed,  80RPM  rotor  speed efficient wind power conversion capacity is achieved. Further increasing the rotor angular speed to 200RPM increases the power capacity  to  94.3KW  at  16m/s  wind  speed,  but  according  to the wind  speed  distribution   in  the selected region, for an average annual wind speed of 8.3m/s the rotor angular speed should be no more  than  80RPM  for  efficient  power  conversion   purpose. Within  this  bound  the  turbine  can achieve a rated output power of 12.8KW.

Biography:

Dr. Katsutoshi Shirasawa is a staff scientist of the OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University). He received his Ph.D. from Hiroshima University in 2004. His thesis focused on the polarization control using insertion device in soft X-ray region. After graduation, he joined the Japanese X-ray Free Electron Laser project. In 2012, he joined the OIST and started R&D work on an ocean-current turbine.

Abstract:

Ocean currents have an important potential for future renewable energy. Japan is in suitable location for harnessing the power of ocean currents because the Kuroshio ocean current runs steadily near the Japanese seaside. The Kuroshio current is a strong ocean current in the western North Pacific Ocean. The current flow is approximately 500 m deep and 100 km wide with a flow speed of 1—1.5 m/s. This seems to be rather slow flow, but it is sufficient for generating electricity because the water density is 800 times higher than air. In order to harness the kinetic energy of ocean currents, we propose a novel ocean-current turbine [1]. The turbines are moored to the seabed and function like kites in the water flow. To operate a turbine at the middle layer of a marine current, it is necessary to cancel the rotor torque. Therefore, our turbine is designed with a float at the top and a counterweight at the bottom. Owing the buoyancy and gravity, the turbine maintains a stable body. In this presentation, we describe laboratory and at-sea towing experiments and show that results confirm the float and counterweight configuration’s high hydrostatic stability and reliable electric power generation.

Biography:

Hong Sun has completed his PhD at the age of 29 years from Xi’an Jiaotong University, China. He is the director of School of Transportation Engineering, Shenyang Jianzhu University, China. He has published more than 160 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

Although all-vanadium redox flow battery (VRB) is very suitable for massive storage energy, its disadvantages such as low energy density, limited operating temperature and electrolyte solution imbalance, hinder its application. To improve the charge/discharge characteristics and AC impedance of single vanadium redox flow battery, a flow battery test system is developed and a single all vanadium redox flow battery is assembled in this paper. The charge/discharge performance and AC impedance of this assembled flow battery are measured by this test system. Equivalent circuit and equivalent resistance elements are investigated by using the equivalent circuit method and based on AC impedance spectroscopy of this all vanadium redox flow battery. The effects of current density, electrolyte solution flow rate and concentration on the charge/discharge characteristics and AC impedance are analyzed. These results show that the equivalent resistance elements of this flow battery consist of ohmic resistance in whole battery, Faraday resistance and capacitive reactance in both positive and negative electrode; the Faraday resistance of the positive electrode is more than that of the negative electrode; the increase of the electrolyte solution concentration increases the ohmic resistance and Faraday resistance, especially increases the Faraday resistance of the positive electrode.

Biography:

Masjono has completed his Master Degree in Electrical and Electronic at the age of 28 years from Auckland University New Zealand. He attended doctoral studies started in 2013 at the Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hasanuddin University, Makassar - Indonesia. Currently, he is a doctoral candidate and Senior Lecturer at Politeknik ATIM Makassar, Ministry of Industry, Republic of Indonesia.

Abstract:

To date there were few studies of wave height reduction after interacting with one way gear wave energy converter developed at Hydraulic Laboratory Hasanuddin University and Politeknik ATI Makassar Indonesia. In this work, wave height reduction after interacting with physical model of one-way gear wave energy converter under various wave condition was investigated. Experiment was conducted at Hydraulic Laboratory Hasanuddin University, Makassar Indonesia. The physical model of wave energy converter be made up of connecting chain, gravity weight container (M_g), counter weight (M_c), rotating shaft, gear box and flywheels. This physical model has been investigated at wave tank simulator (flume) under various converter variables and wave variations. Experiment result indicated that wave height reduction is strongly determined by the number of gravity weight container that was set perpendicular to wave direction with determination coefficient of R² = 0.9474. However, gravity weight mass has less impact on wave height reduction with R² = 0.0622. In this experiment five gravity weight pairs were employed that yield cumulative wave height reduction by 35 %. This preliminary result showed that the proposed one-way gear wave energy converter could be utilized as a multipurpose floating wave breaker to protect beach erosion by reducing the wave energy and converted into new source of renewable energy.

Biography:

She has completed her PhD in the year of 2004 from the Department of Industrial Chemistry (IC), University of Yangon (YU), Myanmar and postdoctoral studies from School of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE), Seoul National University (SNU), Republic of Korea. She had conducted her PhD reseach work for 3 years and 6 months at the Division of Water  Chemistry and Water Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. She had served as a Lecturer, IC, YU for about 15 years, and has been working as a senior researcher at the CBE, SNU since May 2010 to date. She has published 6 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

As cellulosic ethanol has achieved economic viability, the development of valuable products aside from biofuels from all main components of woody biomass, including cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, has gained traction. However, refining of woody biomass on industrial scales has not been realized because the accompanying lignin, hemicellulose, and extractives hinder enzyme and microbial degradation. Hence, the development of new fractionation technologies to separate woody biomass into its core components and for the facilitation of research on the production of specific marketable downstream products are of great importance to ensure a profitable biorefineries on the industrial scale. Here, a novel method has been developed for fractionating cellulose microfibrils from forest residue (tulip tree sawdust) to enhance cellulose digestibility, particularly at minimum enzyme loading. This method involved three main stages: selective hemicellulose solubilization by subcritical water (subCW) pretreatment, delignification of the subCW-pretreated solids using the formosolv process, and deformylation/bleaching of the cellulose pulp with alkaline hydrogen peroxide solution. In the subCW pretreatment process, the efficiency of process was assessed by using the severity factor, R₀, which describes the combined effect of temperature and time. The chemical composition, physicochemical properties and enzymatic digestibility of the pretreated products can be characterized and strongly correlated with the pretreatment severity. This study clearly showed that the removal of structural barriers to the enzyme attack was the dominant factor affecting enzyme accessibility to the substrate. Additionally, cellulose swelling had the greatest effect on the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of delignified pulp obtained by the Formosolv process.

Biography:

Nyun-Bae has completed his PhD from Seoul National University. He is a senior researcher in the energy policy team, Korea Institute of Energy Research. He has published more than 12 papers in the energy and environment policy journals in Korea.

Abstract:

Energy saving potential and carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction potential of boiler technologies in the Korean industrial sector up to 2035 were analyzed using TIMES (The Integrated MARKAL-EFOM System) model based on bottom-up optimization. Final energy consumption by industrial indirect heating boilers in 2013 accounts for 7% of Korea’s industrial energy consumption and 8% of the manufacturing sector’s consumption. Energy consumption of industrial indirect heating boilers is expected to increase about 25% between 2013 and 2035 in the baseline scenario. Economic potential against the baseline scenario through market competition between existing and new technologies is 5.6% for energy saving and 6.1% for CO₂ reduction by 2035. Technical potential against the baseline scenario by deploying only the most efficient technologies in new installation demand is 7.9% for energy saving and 20.7% for CO₂ reduction by 2035. The most efficient technologies by boiler technology categories were gas-firing super boilers. CO₂ reduction potential is higher than energy-saving potential because fuel substitution toward gas was added to the energy-saving effect due to efficiency improvement. Regulation, incentives, information disclosure, and research and development of high-efficiency boiler technologies are necessary to realize technical potential beyond economic potential in industrial indirect heating

Biography:

Pan received his Master (2011) and PhD (2016) degrees in Environmental Engineering from National Taiwan University, mentored by Professor Pen-Chi Chiang. Currently, he is a research assistant at Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory (USA), and serves as an adjunct researcher at Carbon Cycle Research Center at National Taiwan University (Taiwan). Pan was recently elected as one of the Green Talents from BMBF, Germany in 2013 due to his achievement on sustainable development. He has dedicated his research efforts to CO₂ fixation and utilization, and water reuse process. Moreover, he has published more than 25 papers in reputed SCI journals.

Abstract:

An integrated approach to establishing a waste-to-resource supply chain within an industrial park was developed for CO₂ fixation, wastewater neutralization and product utilization using high-gravity carbonation (HiGCarb) process. Several alkaline wastes, such as steel slag and byproduct lime, were gathered for performance evaluation operated under various levels of reaction temperature, rotation speed, and liquid-to-solid (L/S) ratio. A high CO₂ capture efficiency (i.e., >95%) can be achieved via the HiGCarb process with a relatively short reaction time at ambient temperature and pressure. These alkaline wastes were found to be successfully carbonated with CO₂ in the high-gravity carbonation process, where calcite (CaCO₃) was identified as the main product.  In addition, the results indicated that the rates of metal ion leaching from the alkaline solid wastes can be prohibited by the high-gravity carbonation process. Moreover, blended cements containing 5%, 10% and 20% replacements of ordinary Portland cement with carbonated solid wastes were tested for compressive strength development and autoclave soundness. The mortars were casted into 50 mm × 50 mm × 50 mm molds, and then tested at 3, 7 and 28 days. Since the carbonated product can be used as supplementary cementitious materials, CO₂ emissions from the cement industry can be avoided if a green waste-to-resource supply chain between the petrochemical and cement industries is established. It suggests that an integrated approach to the proper treatment of alkaline wastes that permanently fixes CO₂ from industries while producing valuable supplementary cementitious materials for the cement industry can be achieved via the HiGCarb process.

Biography:

Seoyong Shin received B.S. degree in 1987 from Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea in Control and Instrumentation Engineering. He received M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1989 from Florida Institute of Technology, Florida, USA. He received a Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 1992 from Texas A&M University, Texas, USA. In 1994 he joined the faculty of the Department of Information and Communication Engineering, Myongji University, where he became a full professor in 2003. His research areas include solar daylighting system,  photovoltaic system, and optical communication functional modules.

Abstract:

The use of artificial light such as electric lighting in a building makes up a significant proportion of the electric energy consumption. In commercial buildings, 40% to 50% of energy consumption is accounted for by artificial lighting. Efficient daylight buildings are estimated to reduce the energy consumption needed for electric lighting by 50% to 80%. An optical fiber daylighting system (OFDS) that captures high intensity direct component of solar light, focuses it into an optical fiber and distributes the visible part of it into buildings would be an ideal lighting supplement to artificial lights in commercial buildings. Breakthroughs of this technology have been, however, delayed due to technical problems related to optical fiber: limited light transport distance, too high price. In this paper, we introduce a modified optical fiber daylighting system (M-OFDS) which can eliminate the disadvantages of optical fiber. Sunlight is concentrated through a Fresnel lens, and then focused onto a piece of large core POF. The output light from POF is collimated by a collimator attached at the end of fiber. The collimated and high condensed sunlight beam travels in the free space. The redirecting flat mirrors are utilized to change the direction of beam into the room. Because the transport medium is the air, the transmission loss becomes trivial. The high condensed beam with small size can be reached to the inside of the building easily through the entrances, windows, or vents of building.  Some limitations of conventional OFDS such as transmission loss and high cost of POF are eliminated by using the proposed M-OFDS. The system was designed and simulated using LightTools^TM software. A prototype of MOFDS was fabricated and experimented under real condition. The simulation and experiments results shown that, system can achieve an optical efficiency of >50%, and 30 m of sunlight transport distance. This study is the first to use the method of light transmission in free space to overcome the limitation of high installation cost of conventional OFDS. It shows great potential for commercial and industrial scale daylighting fields.

Biography:

About Silvia Titotto: PhD at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) in the field of "Technological Innovation for the Built Environment" (2010-13). Research on biomimetics, in particular: robotic sensory structures inspired by nature. Doctorate at University of São Paulo / USP (Brazil) in the field of "Architecture and Design" (2009-2013) with reserach about chaos theory and fractals. Master at USP in the area of "Architecture and Design" (2006-08). Research on design and lighting of cables, inspired by the dew on spider webs. Professional Degree/Bachelor in Architecture and Urbanism at USP (2000-04). Researcher of lightweight structures (cables and membranes) at Polytechnic School of USP (2002-04). Awarded in Germany for research in non-wovens by NRA / EDANA (2010). Recognized by the Fundación Carolina (Spain) among the TOP 50 young leaders recently graduated in Ibero-America (2005). Art exhibitions and lectures on her three-dimensional creations with their support and / or sponsorship (2003-2013), in Latin America and the European Union. Young full professor the fields of Architecture and Engineering at University Anhanguera and Univeristy Paulista and a temporary professor of Design course at UNESP.Fluent in English and Italian and reasonable communication in German, French and Spanish. Currenlty a Postdoctoral researcher at UFABC about Bio-inspired Deployable Structures.

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: There is strong evidence of openings of possibilities for new paradigms for construction projects from recent research results that found that termites act as a lung that breathes once a day, driven by temperature changes between day and night, expelling carbon dioxide that accumulates activity of subterranean termites. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: This research examines biomimetic mechanisms of thermoregulation in termite mounds and aims to develop technological innovations for the built environment for greater energy efficiency, promoted by the thermoregulatory processes of these social insects. The methods of this research have been based on verifications at experimental modeling via computer graphics and by rapid prototypes that have been built from recent literature data. Findings: The preliminary results contrasts with longstanding assumptions biologists had that the termite mounds existed both to dissipate heat from the nest or ventilation in response to external air flux and confirms the recent trend in the field. Conclusion & Significance: This research has also reached social dimension when it aimed technical solutions that could also be applied in the future to emergency situations resulting from natural disasters, for example, or even cultural events in areas without energy infrastructure. Possible expansion of future proposals energy grid high performance, following non-linear geometry branches, which probably could significantly reduce costs for the local populations.

Biography:

The main author is Mechanical Engineer of the Engineering Faculty at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. This work presents the results of his Master's thesis in Energy. The author is an expert in mechanical design for end users and real applications.

Secondary author is professor-researcher at the Engineering Faculty and his research is based on the Production and use of biofuels . The author is Chemical Engineer, Masters and Doctorate degree in Engineering at the National Autonomous University of Mexico. Her doctoral studies were in a program between Germany, the Netherlands and Mexico. Currently, she has 12 international publications on the subject of biogas.

Abstract:

A biogas plant at semi-industrial level was installed to one of the 23 restaurants of University City. The biogas substitutes 6% of the total heat energy consumption of the restaurant. The crushing machine investment represented 80% of the total investment cost of the biogas plant. The efficiency of the anaerobic degradation process depends on an efficient system of crushing. For the operation of the biogas plant were needed 3 people, because the crushing of organic waste could take up to 3 hours. 50 kg/day of organic matter are processed to reduce their size from 25 to 3cm. The crushing time represented around of 90% of work in the plant. In Mexico, the crushing machine must to be imported and the high cost reduces the economic viability of the plant, so we decided to design and construct a prototype of crushing machine with the following characteristics: size reduction by cutting with  engine power of 1.5 Hp, speed of 425 rpm, manufacture material of stainless steel 304, 3 rotors and 3 blades coupled to the rotor; and 2 fixed blades in the crushing chamber. This new crushing machine decreased its investment in 95% of the cost of a imported machine. This crushing machine and its components are in the process of obtaining a patent. The optimum operation of the crushing machine reduced the hydraulic residence time in the hydrolysis and methanogenesis process from 30 to 18 days. Therefore also helps to reduce the size of the digester reactor for future designs for organic waste anaerobic treatment of a restaurant.

Biography:

Yulin Deng received his Ph.D. at Manchester University, United Kingdom in 1992. He worked as a postdoc research fellow at McMaster University in Canada, and then was appointed as an assistant professor at Institute of Paper Science and technology (IPST) in 1995. He was appointed as an associate professor at Georgia institute of Technology in 2003, and promoted as a full professor in 2008. Dr. Deng is a Fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science, a member of ACS, AIChE and TAPPI. He received AIChE Chase Award in 2013. He is also the associate editor of 2 journals, and serves as the editorial board member for five journals. He published more than 200 peer reviewed papers covering biomass, biofuel, fuel cell, nanosceince and nanotechnology, and nanoelectronics.

Abstract:

A novel fuel cell which can directly use native polymeric biomasses, such as starch, cellulose, lignin, and even switchgrass and wood powders will be discussed. This fuel cell combines some features of solar cells, fuel cells, and redox flow batteries. Specifically, the polyoxomatelate is used as catalyst which forms a charge transfer complex with the biomass by either absorbing solar light or heat energy. The power density of the solar-induced hybrid fuel cell powered reached ~50 mW/cm2. Unlike most cell technologies that are sensitive to impurities, the cell reported in this study is inert to most organic and inorganic contaminants present in the fuels. The fuel cell is completely noble metal free. The similar system was investigated for low temperature hydrogen production using native biomass directly.

Biography:

Meilin Liu is a Regents' Professor and B. Mifflin Hood Chair of the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Georgia Tech, Atlanta, Georgia. He received his MS and PhD from University of California at Berkeley. His research interests include design, fabrication, in situ characterization, and modeling of membranes, thin films, coatings, porous electrodes, and devices for electrochemical energy storage and conversion, aiming at achieving rational design of novel materials and structures with unique functionalities. Dr. Liu is an elected fellow of the American Ceramic Society (ACerS) and the Electrochemical Society (ECS). He was the winner of many professional awards.

Abstract:

While large, centralized power generation systems offer excellent economy of scale, they suffer from efficiency losses and vulnerability to power outage due to required long-distance power transmission; it is also challenging to manage the mismatch between power generation and demands and to integrate renewable energy sources into centralized systems. Fuel cells are ideally suited for distributed power generation, producing power where it is used. Among all types of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) are the cleanest and most efficient option for direct conversion to electricity of a wide variety of fuels, from hydrogen to hydrocarbons, coal gas, and bio-derived fuels. However, their commercialization hinges on rational design of novel materials of exceptional functionalities at lower temperatures to dramatically reduce the cost while enhancing performance and durability. To accomplish this goal, it is imperative to gain a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms of charge and mass transport along surfaces, across interfaces, and through porous electrodes. Further, new protocols must be developed to control materials structure, composition, and morphology over multiple length scales, thus producing nano-porous materials with more accessible surfaces of much higher functionalities and with shorter diffusion distances for greatly enhanced rate capabilities. This presentation will highlight the critical scientific challenges facing the development of a new generation of intermediate-temperature fuel cells for distributed generation, the latest developments in modeling, simulation, and in situ characterization techniques for unraveling charge and mass transport mechanisms, and the outlook for future-generation fuel cells that exploit nano-scale materials of significantly improved performance.

Biography:

Jagannadh Satyavolu works as Theme Leader, Biomass conversion and Biofuels, Conn Center for Renewable Energy Research, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY. Dr. Satyavolu earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH and has 30 years of experience in commercial business leadership roles, operations and capital project management, intellectual asset development and management, product and process technology development, industrial application research, and academia. He holds 20 US and international patents and has steered multiple projects from concept to commercialization. Prior to joining Conn Center, he worked at Cargill, Georgia Institute of Technology, Battelle Labs, and the Ohio State University.

Abstract:

Integrated bio-refinery concepts are developed with the ultimate goal of reducing the cost of biofuels. This integrated concept allows for logistic success through an efficient co-product utilization strategy that creates multiple product streams from one source. In a C5 sugar based integrated biorefinery, our earlier work showed that the residual fibers after hydrolysis of agricultural biomass can be used for feed application. In this paper, we discuss the production of high specific surface area containing activated carbon fibers (ACF) as another value added co-product made from the residual fibers. Such ACF can be produced at low cost and are sustainable and renewable. Preliminary testing showed that the ACF produced from residual fiber yielded high surface area with minimal treatment and delivered high performance in energy storage applications such as supercapacitors and Li-S batteries comparable to commercially available ACF.

Biography:

Chaoyang Jing is the President and Principal Engineer at eMIT, LLC, in Pasadena, California, USA. His research areas include power system analytical tools development, smart grid, and state-of-the-art IT technologies and applications for power system. He has been an Adjunt Professor with Cal Poly Pomona since December 2011. His direct industry experience includes senior/principal power system engineer at Siemens and Oracle. He has about 30 years experience in electric power systems and software engineering. He has served as consultant for Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and involved in multiple key research projects with EPRI and US DOE.

Abstract:

China Southern Power Grid （CSG）has become the world's largest and most complex AC and DC hybrid power grid. The CSG is very complex due to HVDC, FACTS, and other high-voltage power electronic equipment operating characteristics and control strategies. Growing environmental concerns and continuing efforts to reduce dependency on fossil fuel energy resources are bringing renewable energy resources to the generation portfolio of CSG. Among the various renewable resources, wind and solar power are assumed to have the most favorable technical and economic prospects. To be effective, integration of wind and solar energy in power system operations requires a comprehensive approach to simulate the electromagnetic process in great details. The power electronic devices also greatly influence the dynamic characteristics of the grid. With the continuous advancement in power electronics, the increasing number of HVDC and renewable generations that are being built within CSG’s footprint, the need for accurate and intuitive simulation tools becomes more and more important at CSG. CSG developed an Electromagnetic Simulation Program (ESP) which includes an electromagnetic- transient hybrid simulation interface. ESP is able to complete the electromagnetic transient simulation for large scale AC and DC system with large penetration of renewable energy with fast speed and high accuracy. While ESP was being developed, CSG used PSCAD (Power Systems Computer Aided Design) to simulate electromagnetic transients and built all the models using PSCAD. This required tremendous effort. During the course of ESP development, in order to utilize all of the modeling effort asscoiated with PSCAD, an automatic conversion program (ESPCVT) was developed to automatically convert most of the PSCAD transmission model into the ESP model. The most difficult challenge of the conversion is that the PSCAD model is graphically based and the topology information of all elements is realized via the closeness of the coordinates of the element. This paper describes the PSCAD modeling methodology, how to map the PSCAD model into the ESP model, and all the conversion details. This automatic process eliminates the human errors occurring when the data is converted manually. ESPCVT was tested successfully on several systems including a real CSG electromagnetic simulation system of 1390 network nodes and 5133 network branches. Using the converted data, ESP’s simulation results agree with what is obtained using PSCAD.

Biography:

Katsutoshi Shirasawa is a staff scientist of the OIST (Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University). He received his Ph.D. from Hiroshima University in 2004. His thesis focused on the polarization control using insertion device in soft X-ray region. After graduation, he joined the Japanese X-ray Free Electron Laser project. In 2012, he joined the OIST and started R&D work on an ocean-current turbine.

Abstract:

Ocean currents have an important potential for future renewable energy. Japan is in suitable location for harnessing the power of ocean currents because the Kuroshio ocean current runs steadily near the Japanese seaside. The Kuroshio current is a strong ocean current in the western North Pacific Ocean. The current flow is approximately 500 m deep and 100 km wide with a flow speed of 1—1.5 m/s. This seems to be rather slow flow, but it is sufficient for generating electricity because the water density is 800 times higher than air. In order to harness the kinetic energy of ocean currents, we propose a novel ocean-current turbine. The turbines are moored to the seabed and function like kites in the water flow. To operate a turbine at the middle layer of a marine current, it is necessary to cancel the rotor torque. Therefore, our turbine is designed with a float at the top and a counterweight at the bottom. Owing the buoyancy and gravity, the turbine maintains a stable body. In this presentation, we describe laboratory and at-sea towing experiments and show that results confirm the float and counterweight configuration’s high hydrostatic stability and reliable electric power generation.

Biography:

Chul Hee Jo has finished his Mater degree at Stevens Institute of Technology, USA and Ph.D at Texas A&M University in 1991. After working for Intec Engineering, Houston USA and Hyundai Heavy Industries, Korea, he has joined to Inha University in Korea. His main research area is tidal current energy and he has been involved in many government advisory bodies and committees in ocean energy policy, development planning and research since 1998. Prof. Jo has been conducted numerous government and industry projects developing tidal current generation system. He is currently the director of the Ocean Energy and Environmental Research Center and the Executive committee member for AWTEC (Asian Wave and Tidal Energy Conference).

Abstract:

The importance of renewable energy has been increased with the great concern for global climate changes and intranational agreement to reduce the carbon emission. Among various renewable energy sources, the ocean energy has a great potential to substitute the fossil fuel in the future considering the great amount being present in the earth. The tidal energy however is considered as very reliable, sustainable and predictable energy among ocean energies. Even tidal barrage is also very predictable energy, many project over the world have been delayed or cancelled due to the significant environmental impacts. The tidal current power (TPC) is now regarded as the one of best ocean energies with the minimum environment impact. It is ideal to apply TPC in the areas with strong current. As the energy is proportional to cube of current speed, the duct implementation can increase the inflow velocity resulting in higher power production. This approach can extend the application of TPC in relatively low current regions. The effect of duct is dependent on various parameter including its configurations of inlet and outlet, inner and outer diameters, overall length, etc. In this research study, the duct design was optimized for a floating TCP system and the extensive CFD analyses together with the physical model test in a circulating water channel (CWC) are presented. Even the floating concept for TCP can improve the economic feasibility, it is very important to understand the dynamic behavior for various attack flow conditions. The analysis results from the 6 degrees of freedom movement in time domain based on the hydrodynamic coefficients in frequency domain using impulse response function (IRF) method, Orcaflex software and Matlab are introduced in this paper.

Biography:

Currently, Badr Altarhuni is a PhD student at the University of Dayton (Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering/Renewable and Clean Energy) with his dissertation titled “Measuring the effectiveness of a home energy reduction program for national deployment”. The objective of this research is to use an expanded set of building characteristic data to predict savings from the adoption of individual measures-based upon actual building data-not on energy models. He also has a Master’s degree in Mechanical Design from University of Tripoli, Tripoli-Libya. , Prior to beginning the PhD program, Badr worked as a lecturer assistant at university of Zawia, Zawia-Libya.

Abstract:

Upgrading and replacing inefficient energy-consuming equipment in both the residential and commercial building sectors offers a great investment opportunity, with significant impacts on economic, climate, and employment. Cost effective retrofits could yield savings of approximately 30 percent of the annual electricity spent in the United States. Energy-saving investments will lead to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Energy. Further, investment in energy efficiency can create millions direct and indirect jobs throughout the economy for manufacturers and service providers that supply the building industry. Unfortunately, the prediction in savings, which has been generally based upon energy models, has been circumspect, with energy savings typically over-predicted. Investor confidence as a result can degrade. The objective of this study is to use an expanded set of building characteristic data to predict savings from the adoption of individual measures – based upon actual building data – not on energy models. Key to this study will be the use of a large number of buildings / residences for which all energy characteristics are known and for which there is reasonable variation in input parameters. The specific case considered addresses hundreds of student residences owned by the University of Dayton. The housing stock includes houses generally constructed in the early 1900s. Energy saving upgrades have been adopted on many of these houses, but not in a coherent way; thus, this housing set offers a diverse set of energy characteristics. In this study, these energy characteristics have been documented for each house. Historical energy consumption (gas and electric) data for each residence has also been collected. A machine-learning approach is used to correlate energy consumption to the energy characteristics and to account for residential variation. The resulting neural net is used to predict savings associated with a small subset of houses in the study which have already been upgraded from a variety of measures. The estimated savings are compared to the actual savings realized. The results show that the predicted savings match the actual savings within 2.5 percent of the actual savings for most of the measures considered. These results show the potential for establishing larger public databases of building energy characteristics in order to strategically implement energy reduction strategies for greatest energy savings per cost to implement.

Biography:

S. Kulkarni is currently affiliated to Texas A&M University- Kingsville, USA.

Abstract:

The rapidly increasing demand for sustainable energy source coupled with the need for a green energy has currently called for a heightened global attention, and “Hydrogen Economy” has been considered as a potential solution to this problem. There are several sustainable processes of hydrogen production that have and are being developed. Hydrogen production is currently being carried out by steam reforming of natural gas on an industrial-scale. However, steam methane reforming (SMR) method is again carbon and energy intensive and leads to addition of CO2 to the atmosphere. Splitting of water using renewable energy sources is one of the cleanest techniques of hydrogen production that does not require any additional hydrogen purification. The main challenge in this route being harvesting of renewable energy sources for hydrogen generation in such a way that the energy costs would compare with that of fossil fuels. Direct photolysis of water using light as the source of energy has great potential to overcome the problems associated with hydrogen economy [3]. In this process, a stable molecule of water is split into hydrogen and oxygen using light as the source of energy. A total of 237 KJ/mol of energy is required for the reaction to take place. Apart from the thermodynamic limitations, the kinetic barriers also play a significant role in photolysis. In order to overcome these barriers photocatalysts are required, which reduce the activation energy needed to carry out the chemistry. Some of the nano-photocatalysts used today are metal oxides such as TiO2 and ZrO2, metal sulfides, metal phosphides, sub-nm Au clusters etc. Although several nano-photocatalysts have been developed, more research is required in the design of a robust photocatalyst with high photonic efficiencies and long-term stability. Photocatalysts available today can be activated only by the UV spectrum of the solar irradiation, although it is desired that these catalysts absorb from the wide solar spectra. Recently, cobalt oxide nano-particles have been demonstrated to efficiently split water under visible light irradiation without the use of sacrificial reagents or co-catalysts [4]. This paper reviews the various synthesis techniques available today to design and synthesize various nano-photocatalysts with an emphasis on CoO nano-particle synthesis. This article serves as a prelude to the work on the activation of carbon dioxide at extreme pressures to methane using hydrogen produced by photolysis of water.

Biography:

She has completed her PhD in the year of 2004 from the Department of Industrial Chemistry (IC), University of Yangon (YU), Myanmar and postdoctoral studies from School of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE), Seoul National University (SNU), Republic of Korea. She had conducted her PhD reseach work for 3 years and 6 months at the Division of Water  Chemistry and Water Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Germany. She had served as a Lecturer, IC, YU for about 15 years, and has been working as a senior researcher at the CBE, SNU since May 2010 to date. She has published 6 papers in reputed journals.

Abstract:

As cellulosic ethanol has achieved economic viability, the development of valuable products aside from biofuels from all main components of woody biomass, including cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, has gained traction. However, refining of woody biomass on industrial scales has not been realized because the accompanying lignin, hemicellulose, and extractives hinder enzyme and microbial degradation. Hence, the development of new fractionation technologies to separate woody biomass into its core components and for the facilitation of research on the production of specific marketable downstream products are of great importance to ensure a profitable biorefineries on the industrial scale. Here, a novel method has been developed for fractionating cellulose microfibrils from forest residue (tulip tree sawdust) to enhance cellulose digestibility, particularly at minimum enzyme loading. This method involved three main stages: selective hemicellulose solubilization by subcritical water (subCW) pretreatment, delignification of the subCW-pretreated solids using the formosolv process, and deformylation/bleaching of the cellulose pulp with alkaline hydrogen peroxide solution. In the subCW pretreatment process, the efficiency of process was assessed by using the severity factor, R₀, which describes the combined effect of temperature and time. The chemical composition, physicochemical properties and enzymatic digestibility of the pretreated products can be characterized and strongly correlated with the pretreatment severity. This study clearly showed that the removal of structural barriers to the enzyme attack was the dominant factor affecting enzyme accessibility to the substrate. Additionally, cellulose swelling had the greatest effect on the enzymatic hydrolysis efficiency of delignified pulp obtained by the Formosolv process.

Biography:

Rodwan Elhashmi is a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering, and will finish in December, 2016. His research has focused on developing economically feasible deep energy reduction in multifamily residences. Rodwan’s research has involved leveraging unit level real-time or interval metering of power and water consumption. The partner for this research has been SageEnergy in Columbus. Rodwan’s research has involved: optimization of stored solar energy systems to meet all heating and water heating needs in multifamily residences; and aplicaiton of machine learning approaches to both estimate and actualize occupancy-driven energy reduction.

Abstract:

Borehole Thermal Energy Storage (BTES) has slowly emerged in heating dominated regions as a cost effective means to utilize solar energy. A handful of applications worldwide have been reported. In this study, a large-scale BTES system is uniquely designed and developed as a retrofit solution for an apartment complex in the Midwest U.S. Historical interval electrical and water demand data for this site was used to estimate real time heating and hot water demand needed to develop an optimal BTES system. In analyzing the BTES system, normal design considerations associated with the optimal spacing of the boreholes was relaxed in order to potentially develop a more compact BTES that would be needed for retrofit applications. Ultimately, a typically-recommended borehole spacing of 20 feet was not shown to be optimal. In addition, the impact of BTES use on real-time grid demand was considered, in order to quantify the impact of BTES use on grid power cost. The results emerging are striking. The cost-optimal BTES system designed offers an internal rate of return (IRR) of 29.3 % while reducing apartment-wide carbon by 46%. Moreover, were the apartment complex owner to implement this project, they would be able to advertise the apartment as “green”. A higher rental fee would be likely.