• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.2
• /
• pp.248-257
• /
• 2020

This study presents an initial design for a novel system consisting in a coupled nuclear reactor and a phase change material-based thermal energy storage (TES) component, which acts as a buffer and regulator of heat transfer between the primary and secondary loops. The goal of this concept is to enhance the capacity factor of nuclear power plants (NPPs) in the case of high integration of renewable energy sources into the electric grid. Hence, this system could support in elevating the economics of NPPs in current competitive markets, especially with subsidized solar and wind energy sources, and relatively low oil and gas prices. Furthermore, utilizing a prismatic-core advanced high temperature reactor (PAHTR) cooled by a molten salt with a high melting point, have the potential in increasing the system efficiency due to its high operating temperature, and providing the baseline requirements for coupling other process heat applications. The present research studies the neutronics and thermal hydraulics (TH) of the PAHTR as well as TH calculations for the TES which consists of 300 blocks with a total heat storage capacity of 150 MWd. SERPENT Monte Carlo and MCNP5 codes carried out the neutronics analysis of the PAHTR which is sized to have a 5-year refueling cycle and rated power of 300 MW_th. The PAHTR has 10 metric tons of heavy metal with 19.75 wt% enriched UO₂ TRISO fuel, a hot clean excess reactivity and shutdown margin of $33.70 and -$115.68; respectively, negative temperature feedback coefficients, and an axial flux peaking factor of 1.68. Star-CCM + code predicted the correct convective heat transfer coefficient variations for both the reactor and the storage. TH analysis results show that the flow in the primary loop (in the reactor and TES) remains in the developing mixed convection regime while it reaches a fully developed flow in the secondary loop.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.402-412
• /
• 2014

This paper proposes a novel electric propulsion system for naval ships, which consists of Active Front End (AFE) converters directly connected to battery Energy Storage Modules (ESMs). Employing the proposed AFE converters with ESMs in the power systems of naval ships can enhance the reliability and quality of the electric power. Furthermore, the fuel-efficiency of the generator can be improved by a higher loading factor of the generator and its prime movers. The proposed AFE configuration does not require an additional dedicated DC/AC converter for the ESMs. Instead of that, the AFE converter itself can control the DC link voltage and the discharging and/or charging of the ESMs. A control scheme to achieve these control objectives is also presented in this paper. The overall power system, including the generators and electrical loads of a naval ship, is implemented by a small scaled Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) simulator. Through this experimental setup, the proposed system configuration and the power control strategies are verified. It is shown that the fuel-efficiency and transient dynamics can be improved in the normal and contingency operation modes.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.1864-1873
• /
• 2018

Energy shifting is an innovative method used to obtain the highest profit from the operation of energy storage systems (ESS) by controlling the charge and discharge schedules according to the electricity prices in a given period. Therefore, in this study, we propose an optimal charge and discharge scheduling method that performs energy shift operations derived from an ESS efficiency model. The efficiency model reflects the construction of power conversion systems (PCSs) and lithium battery systems (LBSs) according to the rated discharge time of a MWh-scale ESS. The PCS model was based on measurement data from a real system, whereas for the LBS, we used a circuit model that is appropriate for the MWh scale. In addition, this paper presents the application of a genetic algorithm to obtain the optimal charge and discharge schedules. This development represents a novel evolutionary computation method and aims to find an optimal solution that does not modify the total energy volume for the scheduling process. This optimal charge and discharge scheduling method was verified by various case studies, while the model was used to realize a higher profit than that realized using other scheduling methods.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.528-537
• /
• 2008

Primary frequency control(PFC) has the ability to regulate short period random variations of frequency during normal operation conditions and also to respond rapidly to emergencies. However, during the past decade, numerous significant sized blackouts occurred worldwide that resulted in serious economic losses. Therefore, the conclusion has been reached that the ability of the current PFC to meet an emergency is poor, and security of power systems should be improved. An alternative to enhance the PFC and thus security is to store excessive amounts of energy during off-peak load periods in efficient energy storage systems for substituting the primary control reserve. In this sense, superconducting magnetic energy storage(SMES) in combination with a static synchronous compensator(STATCOM) is capable of supplying power systems with both active and reactive powers simultaneously and very rapidly, and thus is able to enhance the security dramatically. In this paper, a new concept of PFC based on incorporating a STATCOM-SMES is presented. A complete detailed model is proposed and a new control scheme is designed, comprising an enhanced frequency control scheme, and a fully decoupled current control strategy in d-q coordinates with a novel controller to prevent dc bus capacitors voltage drift/imbalance. The performance of the proposed control schemes is validated through digital simulation carried out using MATLAB/Simulink.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.22 no.6
• /
• pp.466-477
• /
• 2023

The increasing demand for high-performance energy storage systems has highlighted the limitations of conventional Li-ion batteries (LIBs), particularly regarding safety and energy density. All-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) have emerged as a promising next-generation energy storage system, offering the potential to address these issues. By employing nonflammable solid electrolytes and utilizing high-capacity electrode materials, ASSBs have demonstrated improved safety and energy density. Automotive and energy storage industries, in particular, have recognized the significance of advancing ASSB technology. Although the use of Li metal as ASSB anode is promising due to its high theoretical capacity and the expectation that Li dendrites will not form in solid electrolytes, persistent problems with Li dendrite formation during cycling remain. Therefore, the exploration of novel high-performance anode materials for ASSBs is highly important. Recent research has focused extensively on alloy-based anodes for ASSBs, owing to their advantages of no dendrite formation and high-energy density. This study provides a comprehensive review of the latest advancements and challenges associated with alloy-based anodes for ASSBs.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.11 no.4
• /
• pp.479-489
• /
• 2011

The bidirectional dc-dc converter, being the interface between Energy Storage Element (ESE) and DC bus, is an essential component of the power management system for vehicle applications including electric vehicle (EV), hybrid electric vehicle (HEV), and fuel cell vehicle (FCV). In this paper, a novel multiphase bidirectional dc-dc converter interfacing with battery to supply and absorb the electric energy in the FCV system was studied with the help of real time digital simulator (RTDS). The mathematical models of fuel cell, battery and dc-dc converter were derived. A power management strategy was developed and first simulated in RTDS. A Power Hardware-In-the-Loop (PHIL) simulation using RTDS is then presented. The main challenge of this PHIL is the requirement for a highly dynamic bidirectional Simulation-Stimulation (Sim-Stim) interface. This paper describes three different interface algorithms. The closed-loop stability of the resulting PHIL system is analyzed in terms of time delay and sampling rate. A prototype bidirectional Sim-Stim interface is designed to implement the PHIL simulation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.578-584
• /
• 2013

Ice slurry that is a mixture of fine ice crystals and liquid water is a widely used working fluid in the ice thermal energy storage system due to its flowability and large latent heat of fusion. Generally ice slurry is made from supercooled water. But the excessive supercooling causes the water to freeze even worse to block the pipe. Additionally large degree of supercooling of water degrades the efficiency of the ice thermal energy storage system. Therefore the effective method to control the phase change from supercooled water to ice slurry is needed. In this paper we experimentally studied a novel method to generate the ice slurry from the supercooled water using the ultrasonic vibration. It was found that the cavitation impact of supercooled water by ultrasonic vibration can help the generation of ice slurry.

• The Transactions of The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers
• /
• v.65 no.12
• /
• pp.2251-2261
• /
• 2016

The use of renewable energy sources and energy storage systems is increasing due to new policies in the energy industries. However, the increase in distributed generation hinders the reliability of power systems. In order to stabilize power systems, a virtual power plant has been proposed as a novel power grid management system. The virtual power plant plays includes different distributed energy resources and energy storage systems. We define a core virtual power plant technology related to demand response and ancillary service for the cases of Korea, America, and Europe. We also suggest applications of the proposed virtual power plant to the vehicle-to-grid market for restructuring national power industries in Korea.

• Journal of Power Electronics
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.756-765
• /
• 2017

The control of the power conversion system (PCS) in a battery energy storage system has a challenge due to the existence of grid impedance. This paper studies an impedance model of an LCL-based PCS in the d-q domain. The feature of a PCS connected to a weak grid is unveiled by use of an impedance model and a generalized Nyquist criterion. It is shown that the interaction between grid impedance and the PCS destabilizes the cascaded system in certain cases. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel control method that adopts virtual resistors to overcome this issue. The improvement in the control loop leads the PCS to a more stable condition than the conventional method. Impedance measurement is implemented to verify the correctness of the theoretical analysis. Experimental results obtained from a down-scaled prototype indicate that the proposed control method can improve the performance of the PCS under a weak grid.

• Advances in Energy Research
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.85-100
• /
• 2020

Distributed energy resources (DERs) are essential for coping with growing multiple energy demands. A microgrid (MG) is a small-scale version of the power system which makes possible the integration of DERs as well as achieving maximum demand-side management utilization. Hence, this study focuses on the analysis of optimal power dispatch considering economic aspects in a multi-carrier microgrid (MCMG) with price-responsive loads. This paper proposes a novel time-based demand-side management in order to reshape the load curve, as well as preventing the excessive use of energy in peak hours. In conventional studies, energy consumption is optimized from the perspective of each infrastructure user without considering the interactions. Here, the interaction of energy system infrastructures is considered in the presence of energy storage systems (ESSs), small-scale energy resources (SSERs), and responsive loads. Simulations are performed using GAMS (General Algebraic modeling system) to model MCMG, which are connected to the electricity, natural gas, and district heat networks for supplying multiple energy demands. Results show that the simultaneous operation of various energy carriers, as well as utilization of price-responsive loads, lead to better MCMG performance and decrease operating costs for smart distribution grids. This model is examined on a typical MCMG, and the effectiveness of the proposed model is proven.