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Recycled paper mill sludge (RPMS) was hydrothermally treated by subcritical water (SBW) in two modes of operation, namely semi-continuous and batch, at temperatures in the range 150–250 °C, and 100 bar. The performance of both systems was analyzed in terms of degree of hydrolysis, product yield and formation of degradation products. The highest degree of RMPS hydrolysis was achieved using the batch reactor configuration, while in the semi-continuous system higher yields of water soluble compounds (WSC) and monosaccharides were achieved. By using the semi-continuous system at 100 bar, 250 °C and a water flow rate of 5 mL/min, 40% of the organic carbon content of RPMS was recovered in the form of soluble compounds. Additionally 20% of total carbohydrates and 75% of total lignin of RPMS were recovered as soluble material. Detailed mass balances performed for both operational modes revealed that under batch mode, the naturally occurring compounds found in RPMS underwent significant transformation, generating derivatives referred to as degradation products. An analysis of the severity factor was performed for both operational modes. It was concluded that significant values of WSC were only obtained for severity factors higher than four. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel, disposable and sensitive microfluidic paper-based electrochemical immunosensor (μ-PEI) was developed by using gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) decorated reduced graphene oxide-tetraethylene pentamine (rGO-TEPA/Au nanocomposite) as electrode materials. The rGO-TEPA greatly amplified the current response due to its excellent conductivity and large surface area. Au NPs was decorated on the surface of rGO-TEPA to increase the biocompatibility and retained good stability for rGO-TEPA/Au nanocomposite, which was used as an effective sensor platform for anchoring the capturing antibodies (Ab 1 ) and accelerating the electron transfer to the screen-printed electrodes (SPEs). The simple and disposable paper-based microfluidic channel patterned on the rGO-TEPA/Au nanocomposite modified SPEs (SPEs/rGO-TEPA/Au) was designed for combination of immunochromatography and immunofiltration simultaneously. With the combination of portable SPEs/rGO-TEPA/Au and simple paper-based microfluidic devices, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and labeled signal antibodies (Ab 2 ) co-immobilized gold nanorods (HRP-GNRs-Ab 2 ) was explored as the tracers for square wave voltammetry (SWV) detection. Using Alpha-Fetoprotein (AFP) as a model analyte, the proposed μ-PEI exhibited a satisfactory performance like simple fabrication, high stability, selectivity, wide linear range (0.01 ng mL −1 –100.0 ng mL −1 ) with a low detection limit (0.005 ng mL −1 ). Furthermore, human serum were applied to the obtained μ-PEI and determined with satisfactory results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the quality of paper and cardboard coated with different emulsions as food contact materials. The paper and cardboard were covered (impregnated) with a single layer of three different emulsions produced using paraffin and waxes, varying in content of dry matter, pH and emulsifiers. The organoleptic properties, overall and specific migration expressed as cadmium and lead content, were evaluated. Moreover, the water and oil contact angle and samples’ microstructure were analyzed in order to determine the resistance of materials to moisture and grease penetration. The analysis of scanning electron microscope (SEM) images indicated that some of the examined emulsions penetrated the material, and others created a layer of coating. Impregnation of paper and board caused a change in smell, but did not influence the taste of food used to test the impact on sensorial properties. It is worth emphasizing that overall migration limit was not exceeded in the case of all investigated samples. The samples impregnated with emulsions were characterized as having better water (including water vapour) and oil resistance in comparison with the non-coated ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Noncovalent side-wall functionalization of SWCNT with a pyrene bearing calix[4]pyrrole is reported. The modified SWCNT has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy, electron dispersive spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. This calix[4]pyrrole-decorated SWCNT based sensor was implemented on filter paper. The resistance change of SWCNT network upon VOC exposure was monitored in the chemiresistors approach. The calix[4]pyrrole-decorated SWCNT sensor on filter paper was found to show fast and selective sensing of acetone when compared with pristine SWCNT-on-paper sensor due to the binding of acetone by calix[4]pyrrole molecules. The sensor showed logarithmic response toward acetone in a concentration range between 20–500 ppm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we have developed a paper-based optical imaging material responding to visible light. This material consists of a thioxanthone (TX) derivative with the additional phenyl carbazole chromophore, namely 1-phenyl-11,12a-dihydrothiochromeno (3,2-b) carbazol-13 (5H)-one (TX-PC), and leuco crystal violet (LCV). TX-PC is newly synthesized and characterized by 1 HNMR, FTIR and high-resolution mass spectrometer. As a visible light absorbing Type II photoinitiator, TX-PC has an excellent absorption property in the visible region in the absence of an added co-initiator. In other words, TX-PC degrades into lively free radicals when irradiating under visible light which resulting in a color reaction on LCV. The degree of reaction is characterized by UV–vis spectrophotometer. In this study, this material is used for imaging within visible light because of the high efficiency color reaction. We coat a paper substrate with this TX-PC/LCV solution and cover with a pattern photomask. Under the irradiation of the visible light, color reaction occurs to irradiated area while the rest remains colorless. Thus the two areas are distinguished to obtain a clear image as same as the original version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The printable paper-based enzymatic biofuel cell (PBFC) to directly power small devices is an important objective for realizing cost-effective and disposable energy harvesting devices. In the present study, a screen-printed circular-type PBFC, composed of a series of 5 individual cells, was constructed. The PBFC exhibited the open circuit potential of 2.65 V and maximum power of 350 μW at 1.55 V, which were sufficient to illuminate an LED without requiring a booster circuit. The output voltage of this PBFC can also be easily adjusted as required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes for the first time the use of paper-based analytical devices at crime scenes to estimate the post-mortem interval (PMI), based on the colorimetric determination of Fe 2+ in vitreous humour (VH) samples. Experimental parameters such as the paper substrate, the microzone diameter, the sample volume and the 1,10-phenanthroline ( o -phen) concentration were optimised in order to ensure the best analytical performance. Grade 1 CHR paper, microzone with diameter of 5 mm, a sample volume of 4 μL and an o -phen concentration of 0.05 mol/L were chosen as the optimum experimental conditions. A good linear response was observed for a concentration range of Fe 2+ between 2 and 10 mg/L and the calculated values for the limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.3 and 0.9 mg/L, respectively. The specificity of the Fe 2+ colorimetric response was tested in the presence of the main interfering agents and no significant differences were found. After selecting the ideal experimental conditions, four HV samples were investigated on paper-based devices. The concentration levels of Fe 2+ achieved for samples #1, #2, #3 and #4 were 0.5 ± 0.1, 0.7 ± 0.1, 1.2 ± 0.1 and 15.1 ± 0.1 mg/L, respectively. These values are in good agreement with those calculated by ICP-MS. It important to note that the concentration levels measured using both techniques are proportional to the PMI. The limitation of the proposed analytical device is that it is restricted to a PMI greater than 1 day. The capability of providing an immediate answer about the PMI on the crime scene without any sophisticated instrumentation is a great achievement in modern instrumentation for forensic chemistry. The strategy proposed in this study could be helpful in many criminal investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Highly sensitive SERS substrates based on deposition of silver nanoparticles on commercially available filter paper were prepared in this work, and used to overcome problems found in analyses of aqueous samples. To prepare silver nanoparticle- (AgNP) doped filter substrates, a silver mirror reaction was used. The procedures for substrate preparation were systematically optimized. Pretreatment of filter paper, reaction time, temperature, and concentration of reagents for silver mirror reactions were studied. The morphologies of the resulting substrates were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and correlated with the SERS signals by probing with p-nitrothiophenol (pNTP). Filter papers with different pretreatments were found to have different sizes and distributions of AgNPs. The best performance was found when filter paper was pre-treated with ammonia solution before growth of AgNPs. Based on the SEM images, the resulting AgNPs had roughly spherical shape with a high degree of uniformity. The silver-coated filter paper substrates provide much higher SERS signals compared to glass substrates and the reproducibility was improved significantly. Based on statistical analyses, the relative standard deviations for substrate-to-substrate and spot-to-spot were both were less than 8% and the enhancement factors for the substrates were, in general, higher than 107. The SERS substrates were used to selectively detect tyrosine in aqueous solution. Results indicate that filter-based SERS substrates are highly suited to detection of tyrosine. Compared to glass-based SERS substrates, 50 times more SERS signal was observed in detection of tyrosine. The linear range can be up to 100μM with a detection limit of 625nM (SN−1 =3). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Phadebas® Forensic Press Test is routinely used for the detection of saliva. However, assessment of the use of Phadebas® paper for this purpose has not been studied extensively. The suitability of Phadebas® paper as a presumptive screening tool for saliva on forensic exhibits, was investigated by analysing the following: (1) sensitivity, (2) specificity, (3) effects of temperature on sensitivity and specificity, (4) detection of saliva in mixed body fluid samples, and (5) influence of substrate porosity. The results of this study demonstrated that Phadebas® paper is more sensitive to α-amylase activity and less specific for saliva than previously reported. The use of an examination temperature of 37°C had no effect on sensitivity, but increased the incidence of cross-reactivity with other forensically relevant body fluid stains. Blood, urine and vaginal secretions can inhibit the detection of α-amylase activity with Phadebas® paper in mixed stains of saliva and body fluid. Substrate porosity is a weak predictor for the time taken for a saliva stain to achieve a strong positive result on Phadebas® paper. Overall, this study demonstrated that the Phadebas® Forensic Press Test has limitations as a presumptive test for the accurate identification of saliva. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In the present work, thermal performance of two types of cellulosic pads (5090 and 7090) which were made from corrugated papers has been studied experimentally. Samples were tested in a sub sonic wind tunnel made from polyethylene. The pads areas are 0.5×0.5m2 with 75, 100 and 150mm thicknesses. Pressure drop, humidity variation, evaporated water and effectiveness have been investigated for several inlet air velocities. The results show that overall pressure drop and amount of evaporated water increase by increasing the inlet air velocity and thickness in both types of pads. On the other hand, effectiveness and humidity variation decrease by increasing inlet air velocity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Highlights • A new method to separate Cd(II) via MEUF-FF with TX-100/SDS mixture was developed. • As low as 0.15CMC of SDS was used in TX-100/SDS mixture. • High separation efficiency (98.4%) for Cd(II) was achieved. • The dosage of SDS was saved 50% in mixed system. Abstract Micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) is an effective method to remove cadmium ions (Cd(II)) with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The dosages of SDS in previous studies were often quite large. This paper investigated the synergism of anionic-nonionic surfactants and combined process of MEUF and foam fractionation (MEUF-FF), especially the influence of the mole ratio of Triton X-100 (TX-100) to SDS on the rejection factor of Cd(II). At the same time, the separation characteristics including residual ratio of SDS, TX-100 and total surfactants were also studied. Moreover, the performances of MEUF-FF in SDS/TX-100 mixed system were compared with those in SDS-only system. The results of MEUF-FF with SDS/TX-100 mixture showed that the rejection factor of Cd(II) reached the highest value (98.4%) when the dosage of SDS was 337.4 mg/L (0.15 CMC) and the molar ratio of Triton X-100 to SDS was about 0.5. Compared to the results in the SDS-only system, the mixed system saved the dosage of SDS more than 50% and reduced the residual ratio of SDS about 25% at the same Cd(II) rejection factor. This paper provides a promising method using SDS/TX-100 mixture in the MEUF-FF process to efficiently reduce the dosage and residual ratio of anionic surfactant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The paper proposes a methodology to design urban delivery bay system. • Freight operation scenarios are assessed through a simulation-based approach. • The architecture of an app-oriented tool to support transport operators is presented. • Tool enables real-time bay reservation and monitoring. • The results were validated on Rome's limited traffic zone. Abstract Delivery bay availability for loading and unloading operations is critical to reduce times and costs of logistics operations, as well as for improving city sustainability and liveability. Beyond defining the appropriate number and location of such bays, urban sustainability and liveability can be improved with telematics tools which enable real-time bay reservation and monitoring, integrating such information within freight routing solutions. This paper presents an architecture for such tools along with methodology integrating delivery bay planning with transportation demand modelling through simulation, allowing computation of performance indicators to be used for ex-ante assessment in planning delivery scenarios. The results were validated through a simulation-based approach on Rome's limited traffic zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The state-of-the-art research of energy demand flexibility of demand responsive building is reviewed. • The energy demand flexibility measures range from renewable energy to HVAC, energy storage, building thermal mass, appliances, and customer behavior are introduced. • Systematic methodology framework to evaluate energy demand flexibility in buildings are developed. Abstract This paper classifies and discusses the energy flexibility improvement strategies for demand responsive control in grid-interactive buildings based on a comprehensive study of the literature. Both supply and demand sides are considered. The flexibility measures range from renewable energy such as photovoltaic cells (PV) and wind to heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, energy storage, building thermal mass, appliances, and occupant behaviors. Currently, owing to the highly developed smart appliances and sensing communication techniques, DR is considered as an essential measure for improving energy flexibility in buildings without much additional investment. With the help of advanced demand response (DR) control strategies and measures, buildings can become more flexible in terms of power demand from the power grid. In this way, buildings achieve a better ability to balance differences in energy supply and demand. Furthermore, a synergistic approach with various measures is advisable, e.g., the use of energy storage technologies with PV and passive DR methods. This paper summarizes the measures for improving the flexibility of commercial and residential buildings, and develops a systematic methodology framework to evaluate energy demand flexibility in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is increasingly used as an early-stage design-decision tool to support choices of structural system. However LCA modellers must first make numerous methodological decisions, and the resultant wide variations in approach are often inadequately described by the modellers. This paper identifies, and quantifies, the three major areas of methodological variation. These are: temporal differences in the stages considered; spatial differences in the material boundaries; and physical disparities in the data coefficients. The effects are then demonstrated through a case study of a student residential building in Cambridge. The cross-laminated timber (CLT) structure is compared with concrete frame, steel frame and load-bearing masonry, considering the influence that varying the temporal boundaries, the data coefficients, and the spatial boundaries has on the choice. While for this building CLT is confirmed as the lowest impact material, the paper demonstrates that varying the methodological choices can change the results by an alarming factor of 10 or even more. The findings confirm the need for the utmost clarity and transparency with all LCA calculations. Making wider industry or policy decisions based on LCA results should be undertaken with extreme caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the use of air-driven abrasive jets as a lathe and as a means of machining helical patterns into rotating rods. The first part of the paper presents a model for the prediction of material removal during the machining of rotating and translating ductile (PMMA) and brittle (glass) rods using abrasive jet micromachining (AJM). The model predictions were in good agreement with the experimental measurements, showing that, for a given particle speed, the volumetric removal was only a function of the abrasive dose received by the surface, and was unaffected by the rod diameter, its rotational speed, and the axial feed speed. The second part of the paper presents a new experimental procedure for machining helical channels in glass and PMMA rods using a cylindrical steel spring as a mask. Such helical channels may have applications in microfluidic devices where they can be used to aid liquid mixing and the separation of particles from a flow. The use of spring masks at various pitches and the control of the exposure time of the jet to the workpiece made it possible to fabricate helical channels with a wide range of aspect ratios, from 0.09 to 1.2. High curvature, which is favorable in the microfluidic separation of particles, was achieved by machining rods of small diameter. In addition to microfluidic applications, the models and techniques can potentially be used to machine threads in glass and other difficult to machine materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the degree to which a large-scale datacenter employing lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries for demand response can learn the physics-based aging and degradation dynamics of the underlying batteries by measuring their input/output current/voltage data. Battery degradation dynamics are chemistry dependent and change significantly for newer chemistries. Moreover, characterizing these degradation dynamics requires time-consuming and expensive laboratory testing. Together, these facts motivate the following question: is it possible to use battery current and voltage measurements to learn battery degradation behavior in a datacenter where numerous distributed batteries are being used for demand response? If so, what are the benefits and challenges associated with such learning? The goal of this paper is to provide preliminary answers to these questions building on earlier work by authors on health-conscious stochastic battery control. Specifically, we show that when datacenters exploit its demand management flexibility at the rack-level to control different batteries in accordance with different management policies, the resulting data is sufficiently rich to the point where (1) the learning of degradation behavior is possible within the span of approximately 1 year, (2) with a reasonable number of cells, (3) even when the batteries are used simultaneously for degradation learning and demand response. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspection is vital in industrial plant construction and management. However, traditional inspection methods that rely on human involvement and paper documentation are becoming untenable as modern industrial plants are becoming larger and more complex than legacy facilities. Hence, an efficient and robust method is required to support the inspection of modern industrial plants. In this paper, an improved technique relying on terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) for data acquisition and normal-based region growing and efficient random sample consensus (RANSAC) for point cloud data processing is proposed for the on-site dimensional inspection of the piping systems of an industrial plant. Consequently, the as-built condition of the plant is assessed via a distance-based deviation analysis and a comparison of geometric parameters between the as-designed and as-built models. The method is validated using a dataset acquired from a compartment of a ship has verified the robustness and reliability of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The precise and efficient detection of semen and saliva in sexual assault case-work items is a critical step in the forensic pipeline. The outcome of this stage may have a profound impact on identifying perpetrators as well as on the investigation process and the final outcome in court. Semen detection is usually based on the activity of acid phosphatase (AP), an enzyme found in high concentration in the seminal plasma. Amylase, an enzyme catalyzing starch hydrolysis is found in high concentrations in saliva and therefore is a useful target for its detection. To screen case-work items, both presumptive tests require transfer of biological material from the item to paper in a moisturized environment. Since semen and saliva may appear in the same item, it is required in some cases to perform the tests one after the other. This may reduce the chances of identifying all stains on the item and obtaining a DNA profile. In the present study, we applied the AP biochemical test on a Phadebas® sheet, a commercial starch containing paper used to detect saliva. This approach was found to be sensitive enough to detect diluted semen (1:50) after performing the Phadebas® press test. In addition, it enabled detection of adjacent saliva and semen stains and stains containing a semen-saliva mixture. Finally, a DNA profile was successfully obtained from the Phadebas® sheets after semen detection, a useful feature if the original item is lost or damaged. Taken together, this method provides a practical, reliable and convenient tool for screening sexual assault items of evidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to address the issues of nonuniform feeding and high labor cost plaguing the process of farming Chinese river crabs, the present study proposes a multifunctional automatic river crabs feeding boat based on Advanced RISC Machine (ARM) and Global Positioning System / Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) integrated navigation. This paper proposes a new calculation method based on real time point insertion. This method calculates the current target position of the boat in the real time according to the position of the boat and the turning points of the current route. A new turning and route-switching strategy is also presented in this paper to improve the ship's operational efficiency and prevent the ship from veering off the target route due to its high speed. Considering the boat's unique movement characteristics including non-linearity, large delay and underdamped nature, a route-speed dual-loop control algorithm is designed based on fuzzy Proportion Integration Differentiation (PID) method. Through analyzing the bait distribution associated with the feeding machine, the present study proposes an inner-spiral-based full coverage traversal method and a travel distance optimization model so as to improve the uniformity of the automatic feeding. Results show that the speed overshoot is no more than 5% and the steady-state error can be kept within 3%. Compared with the finite point method, the real time point insertion method decreases the peak route deviation errors by 82.82% and 84.14% while turning and going straight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ocular artifacts (OAs) are one the most important form of interferences in the analysis of electroencephalogram (EEG) research. OAs removal/reduction is a key analysis before the processing of EEG signals. For classic OAs removal methods, either an additional electrooculogram (EOG) recording or multi-channel EEG is required. To address these limitations of existing methods, this paper investigates the use of deep learning network (DLN) to remove OAs in EEG signals. The proposed method consists of offline stage and online stage. In the offline stage, training samples without OAs are intercepted and used to train an DLN to reconstruct the EEG signals. The high-order statistical moments information of EEG is therefore learned. In the online stage, the trained DLN is used as a filter to automatically remove OAs from the contaminated EEG signals. Compared with the exiting methods, the proposed method has the following advantages: (i) nonuse of additional EOG reference signals, (ii) any few number of EEG channels can be analyzed, (iii) time saving, and (iv) the strong generalization ability, etc. In this paper, both public database and lab individual data for EEG analysis are used, we compared the proposed method with the classic independent component analysis (ICA), kurtosis-ICA (K-ICA), Second-order blind identification (SOBI) and a shallow network method. Experimental results show that the proposed method performs better even for very noisy EEG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medium Voltage DC (MVDC) distribution Power Systems for all-electric ships (AES) can be regarded as functionally composed of three subsystems, namely the power sources, the load centers and the distribution network. Extensive use of power electronics is required for connecting power sources and load centers to the MVDC bus and for protecting the MVDC power system through properly placed DC circuit breakers. In this paper, an overview is given of the power electronics equipment found in the literature and on the market that could be suitable for use in future AES MVDC power systems. Some industrial experiences regarding DC generator systems, energy storage apparatus and solid-state DC circuit breaker prototypes are reported in the paper as examples of state-of-the-art realizations. Different DC/DC converters, which can be employed as solid-state transformers, are also discussed and a structure obtained by combining them is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an approach for placement of voltage regulators (VRs) in traditional distribution systems by considering a local controller model is presented. The main aims of this paper are controlling the voltage level in its permitted range and decreasing the costs imposed to the distribution system companies, such as costs that stem from power losses, VRs’ investment and maintenance. Genetic algorithm (GA) has been used as a tool to determine the number, location and rated power of VRs. Since in traditional distribution systems, tap position determination of VRs is achieved by local controllers, local controller model is established to determine tap operations. A 70-bus distribution system is considered to prove the value of the presented approach. Effectiveness of the proposed approach and ineffectiveness and infeasibility of conventional approaches are presented in numerical studies. The presented approach allowed to eliminate voltage violation in all load conditions and a reduction of power losses of about 6% for the maximum load level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently China's wind power industry is challenged by many problems such as wind power integration and wind curtailment, which seriously hinders the development of onshore wind power. Since China's policy has a direct and significant influence on wind power industry, it is vital to analyze and evaluate published policies. This paper explores in detail 134 China's onshore wind power policies from 2005 to 2015 so as to provide analytical support for future formulation and implementation of wind power policy. Based on policy summary from equipment manufacturing industry, wind farms and power grid industry, this paper evaluates the policies from the perspective of overall plan, support policy and policy implementation using fitting method, game theory and empirical analysis. The results indicate that China's wind policy is gradually becoming perfected, for example, there are more reasonable objectives and improved support policies. However, many problems remain to be solved, like unreasonable planning, imperfect support policies, immature trading systems and uncoordinated actions among interest related parties. Furthermore, combined with international experiences, suggestions on improving China's wind power policy are proposed from seven aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research (KSTAR) Real-Time Data Archiving System (RTDAS) for a real-time network. In most fusion experiments, a stable and low latency real-time network is essential for achieving real-time controllability. Inspecting and supervising the operation of a real-time network is essential for ensuring its stability. Archiving the network data makes it possible to analyze the performance and status of a network. In the KSTAR, RTDAS has been developed to monitor and archive real-time network data that is used to control the plasma and send diagnostic data to Plasma Control System (PCS) in real-time to ensure the stable operation of the real-time network. The KSTAR adopts reflective memory (RFM) as a real-time network and this paper presents the algorithm of the real-time data archiving system and the experimental results of this system. The real-time data archiving system operates in two phases. During the experiment, the archiving system stores data from these real-time networks in real-time. After the experiment is finished the system sends this archived data to the MDSplus data server; this system stores all data in accordance with the KSTAR timing system. Therefore, all data is synchronized with the KSTAR timing system. This system is configured with Experimental Physics and Industrial Control System (EPICS) and Asynchronous Driver Support (AsynDriver). This system operates in real-time, was implemented on Messaging Realtime Grid -Real time (MRG-R) kernel 3.10, and uses Multi-Core Utilities (MCoreUtil). The system was tested to validate the performance of this archiving system; the test results show this system’s real-time performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the description of a cyber-physical system embedded on an FPGA for 3D measurement in structural health monitoring tasks. The implementation technique and performance evaluation demonstrate the contribution of this paper to the mathematical fundamentals adaptation of an on-site rotatory scanning system to a cyber-physical system. In particular, it is described in detail the design of a virtual angle measurement soft sensing technique based on the information conversion of an optoelectronic signal provided by a rotatory scanning system through an FPGA. Behaving the FPGA as the sensor controller and the actuator in the scanning system. Using the measurement of angles through the proposed embedded system, it can be calculated the coordinates and displacement of specific indicators distributed over a structure under observation. Providing online data exchange from on-site measurement to a remote computational station for real-time or posteriorly data analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whilst a well-established literature on metrics to assess innovation performance exists, relatively little work has linked it to the energy technology innovation process. This paper systematically brings together indicator sets and derives an indicator framework for measuring energy innovation, offering an important step forward in the quantitative evaluation of energy innovation performance. It incorporates input , output and outcome metrics that relate to different stages along the energy technology innovation chain, namely research , development , demonstration , market formation and diffusion . To test its efficacy, the indicator framework is applied to the case of wind energy in China, drawing comparisons against global market leaders such as Denmark, Germany and the USA. The paper finds that the framework enables a more rigorous comparative analysis of energy innovation between countries than currently offered by either the application of piecemeal indicators and complements contextually rich qualitative case studies. The empirical analysis shows that China has begun to lead across a range of innovation inputs (e.g. R&D expenditure) and outputs (e.g. publications) but lags considerably behind international competitors against other output and outcome indicators such as patents, revenue and exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems allow early detection of damage which allows maintenance planning and reduces the maintenance cost. The SHM system should be low cost, suitable for continuous monitoring, able to detect small levels of damage, and insensitive to ambient loading, changes in ambient temperature, and measurement noise. Neutral Axis (NA) location is a function of the condition of the structure alone and may be used as a damage sensitive feature. It has been shown that through proper signal processing, NA location is insensitive to measurement noise and ambient temperature changes. This paper aims at validating the use of NA as a damage sensitive feature through experimental study. This paper demonstrates the use of multi-rate Kalman Filter (KF) for accurate estimation of NA under different loading conditions. The methodology was employed on a composite beam instrumented with fiber optic strain sensors. Delamination was introduced in the beam and then progressively increased. The beam was subjected to different loading and temperature conditions for the different damage scenarios. The measured strains were then used for NA tracking. The results show that indeed the NA location may be used as a damage sensitive feature. Some of the loading scenarios were difficult to realise in the laboratory, so these loading scenarios were applied on a validated Finite Element (FE) model of the composite beam. The results indicate that under these dynamic loading scenarios, NA may be used for SHM. Based on the results it can be concluded that KF based NA tracking may be applied to structures for in-service SHM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, frequency sensitive-based virtual inertia control techniques are discussed, to extract the kinetic energy of the wind turbine and stored energy from the DC-link capacitor for short-term frequency regulation. This paper presents a comparative analysis between the permanent magnet synchronous generator and doubly fed induction generator-based wind power system on the basis of virtual inertia control. The gains of the kinetic energy-based and DC-link capacitor-based inertia controls are varied dynamically with system events to improve the primary frequency response of the wind energy system. Two control schemes are proposed on the basis of modulating the inertia gains, one is a dynamic equation-based scheme and other is an adaptive fuzzy-based scheme. The proposed schemes modulate the gains of inertia controls dynamically for a wide range of wind speeds on the perspectives of wind turbine stability and frequency security. The efficacy of the proposed control schemes are validated by MATLAB/SIMULINK platform. Further, the results based on hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulations are presented in support of the proposed schemes. The HIL is implemented with two units of the real-time simulator (RTS) manufactured by OPAL-RT Technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fatigue and rutting are the two major failure distresses in flexible pavement that affect significantly the serviceability of pavement. The properties of bitumen have a direct effect on controlling the fatigue and rutting distresses. Because of the increase in vehicular loading and repetitions, the modification of neat bitumens becomes a widespread practice to improve their mechanical properties. Any improvements obtained from developing modified binders need be reflected by fundamental testing parameters. The empirical testing methods and Superpave grading procedure that were developed mainly for unmodified bitumens have failed in many cases to predict the performance of modified bitumens. Evaluation the influence of such modifiers needs be based on characterising accurately the inherent resistance of binders to fatigue and rutting damage. The most advanced tests and fundamental analysis methods for characterising the fatigue and rutting properties of binders, are discussed and presented in this paper. These include fatigue and ductile fracture evaluation of binders using time sweep and double-edged notched tension (DENT) tests. For bitumen rutting evaluation, the SHRP rutting parameter, Shenoy rutting parameter, ZSV and MSCR are discussed. The dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) has been largely used to characterise fundamentally the viscoelastic properties of bitumens. A detailed description of the main elements associated with the DSR and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) are also presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents experimental results on injecting nanoparticles into a hardened oil well cement with electromigration technique. Oil well cement is a special cement type used in underground constructions to protect steel casing of oil wells, CO 2 storage wells or oil and gas platforms. Due to the technological reasons, the hardened cement is characterized with a high initial porosity. Further distressing and fracturing occurs in the hardened cement originating from the harsh underground environment which includes elevated pressure and temperature. This leads to severe leakages of the stored media and puts the steel casing to the risk of corrosion. The paper proposes to use a non-destructive remediation technique for the cement repair based on the electrokinetic injection of nanoparticles into the pore and crack space in the material. It shows the efficiency of the technique and presents results from injections with a variety of differently sized nanosilica, microsilica and nanoalumina particles. Characterization of the treated samples was based on microscopy observations, electrical measurements, the change in their open porosity and nanopore surface area assessed by the BET technique. It was found that the electrokinetic process and driving of particles in samples is very efficient and reduces the sample porosity by about 4–7% with respect to the initial porosity of intact specimens and 5–8% on aged samples. The BET analysis confirmed reduction of the inner pore surface area in the treated samples. Increasing level of agglomeration of particles on the surface as well as in the inner pores was observed during electrokinetic treatment and documented with the electric current measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author of the paper presents the practical, environmental and economical results of research studies carried out on a building component used for thermal insulation in horizontal partitions and in for other applications. The said building component is a flexible plate based on recycling materials, which for the case investigated in this paper is Styrofoam regranulate (the said development has been registered as industrial pattern issued for the Silesian University of Technology: Flexible insulation plate No 23621). The scope of the research studies comprised in-situ measurements of temperature and humidity in the layers of the ventilated flat roof insulated with the said plates. For comparison, a part of the roof has been insulated with a standard insulation material, commonly used, such as mineral wool (parameters are similar to the flexible plate made of Styrofoam granulate). In the course of the studies, the parameters of the internal and external environments were recorded (humidity and temperature). Having completed the measurements, numerical analyses were carried out, using the measured parameters of the environment. In the final part of the paper, selected results of the research studies and modeling were presented. The subject involving the application of recycling materials presented in this paper is a part of a larger research cycle carried out by the author. It involves the use of waste materials and their further reapplication in the production of insulation products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water electrolyzers are being developed as a way of storing renewable energy, as a way to produce hydrogen for fuel cell automobiles, and as a route to renewable fuels and chemicals. In this paper the performance of an alkaline water electrolyzers at 60 °C with 1 M KOH and iron/nickel/cobalt catalysts with several different membranes: Sustainion ® 37–50, Fumasep FAS-50, Fumasep FAPQ, Neosepta ACM, AMI 7001, Nafion ® 115, and Celazole ® PBI. Measured area specific resistances (ASR) at 60 °C with 1 M KOH varied from 0.045 Ω-cm 2 with Sustainion ® 37–60 to over 50 Ω-cm 2 with Neosepta ACM. The current at a cell potential of 1.9 V varied from 1 A/cm 2 with Sustainion ® 37, 0.5 A/cm 2 with Fumasep FAS-50, 0.17 A/cm 2 with Fumasep FAPQ and less than 0.1 A/cm 2 for Neosepta ACM, AMI 7001, Nafion 115 and Celazole ® PBI. Constant current runs at 1 A/cm 2 were done with the Sustainion ® 37 membranes and the Fumasep FAS-50. The cell with the Sustainion ® 37 membrane was very stable. The voltage to maintain 1 A/cm 2 rose only 3–5 μV/h over a 2000 hr run. In contrast, the voltage to maintain 1 A/cm 2 in the cell with the FAS-50 membrane showed over 200 μV/h increase and failed after 200 h. One Sentence Summary: The paper shows that one can double the current output of an alkaline water electrolyzer by using Sustainion ® 37 membranes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a collection of full-scale data selected from literature concerning measurements of cross-wind vibrations of chimneys. They belong to the original set of data, from which current codified methodologies - the Spectral Method by Vickery&Basu (1983) and the Effective Correlation Length Method by Ruscheweyh (1986) - were developed. The full-scale samples are critically reviewed; uncertain estimations and observations by eye are discarded. The application of the codified methodologies to the selection of full-scale chimneys reveals several inconsistencies in the prediction of cross-wind oscillations. The paper presents a novel Spectral Method, whose predictions reproduce very well the oscillations measured in full-scale. The method is developed through wind tunnel tests in forced-vibrations. The key is the modification of the aeroelastic damping model in the well-known Vickery Spectral Method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an approach to design a nonlinear controller for grid-connected fuel cell (FC) systems in order to provide ancillary services to low or medium voltage power networks. In this paper, these ancillary services mainly refer to the delivery of both active and reactive power from the FC to the grid under different operating conditions. The controller is designed based on the dynamical model of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) which is developed from the electrical equivalent circuit of a grid-connected PEMFC through a voltage source converter (VSC). Partial feedback linearization technique is then employed to obtain the control laws with an aim of regulating respective currents related to both active and reactive power through the switching action of VSCs. The stability of the internal dynamics of the PEMFC system is also analyzed in this paper as the proposed control scheme cannot be implemented for unstable internal dynamics. A rate limiter is used with the proposed partial feedback linearizing controller to ensure the suitability under the worst-case conditions as well as to prevent the over-modulation in the rate of change of power references. The applicability and performance of the proposed controller is justified on a simple system as well as on a 12-bus balanced test distribution system and the CIGRE low voltage test distribution network under different grid events. The simulation results show the superiority of the proposed controller as compared to the vector controller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel energy efficiency control method for a fan coil unit, the duty ratio fuzzy control method (DRFCM), which employs the concept of duty ratio on the electric valve control to fully utilize the cooling and dehumidifying capacity of a fan coil unit when the control valve is closed. This paper adopts a FCUs system with a three fan speed controls and an electric water valve on/off control in Chengdu, China. The application results show that DRFCM could obtain at least 10.3% energy savings over the conventional control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life management of operating equipment is always a preferred way for maximising its operating life effectively and safely. Many novel test techniques, based on hardness or indentation methods, are used for assessing the material properties of the equipment to ensure its safe operation. The novel test techniques are correlation based indirect test methods to provide tentative material properties, which help in determination of residual life of the equipment. In comparison to these indirect test techniques, residual life estimate based on miniature test techniques are unique and precise as they give direct material data from the equipment. This is achieved by conducting destructive test of miniature test specimens, which are made from the material scooped out from the operating equipment. The critical issue is reliability and acceptability of these results from miniature test specimens in absence of any international standards. Considerable work is going on in this direction for making the miniature test techniques as standard test techniques, which will make it acceptable to all concerned enabling them to exploit many of its advantages. Even though various applications of miniature test techniques are found in literature, this paper discusses one of the important industrial applications of the technique which is in the field of life management of operating equipment. Due to lack of standardisation, there are many issues with the miniature test techniques, which must be addressed prior to its application in any area. This paper discusses the issues with some of the miniature test techniques, viz. tensile test, fatigue test and small punch test techniques. These issues have been addressed using experimental, analytical and metallurgical methods to make the techniques suitable for application in life management of equipment. At the end, scope of application of miniature test techniques in development of a new material, named as functionally graded materials (FGM), has been discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are several advantages in keeping motor drive DC input voltage stable around its nominal value especially when it comes to minimize losses. This paper deals with the stability enhancement of the motor drive DC input voltage of an electric vehicle with on-board hybrid energy storage system. On one hand, the natural voltage variation at the output battery pack can be avoided by using a DC/DC converter connected between the battery and the motor drive. On the other hand, the incorporation of supercapacitors in small urban electric vehicles enables handling power peaks thus reducing the battery current root-mean-square value, which in turn increases the battery lifetime. Several topologies can be considered for the coupling of supercapacitors with the vehicle energy system. In this paper, three topologies are studied: battery-only, direct hybrid coupling, and active parallel hybrid coupling of batteries and supercapacitors. A reduced-scale power level hardware-in-the-loop test-bench has been built to analyze the performance of the hybrid topologies under the ARTEMIS driving cycle. Experimental results show the effectiveness of the active parallel configuration controlled by an improved energy management strategy that dynamically regulates the supercapacitors state-of-charge. The analysis performed demonstrates that the use of this configuration coupled with an improved management strategy can increase the power transferred by 80% compared with a battery-only configuration, and by 40% compared with direct hybrid coupling or active parallel coupling configuration with a traditional management strategy, keeping the voltage stability of the DC Link. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel hybrid energy harvester is investigated by using a rotational generator and a surface permanent magnet linear generator (SPMLG). The rotational generator that was developed by Hendijanizzaded [1] can harvest maximum power under the optimum design process with constrain on the relative displacement of the mass. The aim of adding the SPMLG is to increase electrical damping that will affect the displacement of the moving mass. This idea is different than the existing hybrid systems in which energy is harvested from two different sources, such as sunlight and sound or heat and light to increase power extracted. The interactions between different electromechanical parameters can be taken advantages of to improve the power harvesting of the device. By adding SPMLGs to a rotational generator, electrical damping of the system will be increased while the mechanical parameters of the system, for example, the resonant frequency, the spring stiffness and the seismic mass are unchanged. The system model of the rotational and the hybrid harvesters will be established and numerically simulated. Also, the power extraction between the original rotational generator and the hybrid harvester under the same conditions will be compared to confirm the viability of the method. Obviously, the trade-off for this power increase is the additional weight of the SPMLGs that must be considered in the calculations of the power density which is outside the scope of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban energy consumptions growth has become an urgent topic that requires solutions for significantly reduce carbon emission in the next decades. This paper aims in exploring the integration of building performance improvement and low carbon district heat technological choices by considering the upgrade of conversion technologies, efficiency and the exploitation of local resources. The paper is based on a GIS-based model that spatially characterize the space heating demand of urban buildings. Starting from clustering buildings with similar thermo-physical characteristics, the total energy use of buildings can be depicted and compared with the energy balance data of the city in order to scale the bottom-up results for matching the total load. Reasonable energy efficiency measures are further proposed by considering three different scenarios up to 2050. Long-term building scenarios are applied to a district heating simulation model for investigating how the reduction of building heat demand will impact the district heating production and operations. In particular, the combination of the building model and the district heating model aims at exploring the effects of district network expansion or new low carbon investments from an economic and environmental perspective. The model has been successfully applied to the city of Turin, Italy and the city of Stockholm, Sweden. The flexibility of the approach may allow it to be easily adjusted to different urban areas for providing indications on cost-effective strategies for efficient, low-carbon heat solutions in integrated energy systems. Results highlight that finding synergies between the demand and supply sector will lead to environmental and economic benefits, in particular for district-heated cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power split devices designed as compound epicyclic four-speed gears are essential components of Hybrid Electric Vehicles both for passenger cars and heavy-duty trucks. There are numerous studies regarding power split models or numerical analyses including state variable choice and model variants. However, different approaches for each gear type are the typical procedure. So it is of generic and urgent interest to overcome diverse parameter definitions and various dynamical models. Generic modelling based on three shafts and numerical power ratio analyses specific to one special four-shaft gear were introduced. The key idea of this paper is to upgrade and generalize these approaches to any four-shaft devices. The objective is one generic power flow model and a generic power ratio research based on generic parameter definitions. Unified parameter sets based on gear construction and geometry assure easy customization and any choice of state variables. Two standard gears, three passenger car gears and one innovative device serve as examples. Gear comparison studies get more comprehensible. This paper applies Bond Graphs. Other power flow representations can be utilized for unified approach suggested as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth and development of power grids, optimal utilization of electric networks is very important. Because of the high cost of construction and development of power networks, mitigation of existing issues, such as excessive power losses, voltage profile problems, voltage instabilities, reliability problems and etc. is inevitable. To obviate these problems, Distribution Synchronous Static Compensator (D-STACTOM) as a shunt compensator device can be used in electric distribution networks. Optimal location and size of D-STACOM, should be determined on the basis of economic viability, required quality, reliability and availability. In recent years, several papers have concentrated on the techniques used for finding optimal location and size of the D-STATCOM units considering different aspects. However, to date, no review paper has been published in this field. This paper presents an up to date survey of the literature on the optimal allocation of D-STATCOM in distribution networks. The existing research works have been classified into five categories including analytical methods, artificial neural network-based approaches, metaheuristic methods, sensitivity approaches, and a combination of sensitivity approaches and metaheuristic methods. Moreover, it was found that in D-STATCOM allocation problem, the objectives may be alleviation of power loss, mitigation of voltage deviations, improvement of reliability metrics and enhancement of voltage stability. All methods, objectives and constrains have been compared and discussed in details. Eventually, an overall review on the reviewed works has been provided and some directions for future research were suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, most research achievements are about the response of two or three degrees of freedom vortex induced vibration. Responses of vortex induced motions (VIM) of marine structures with 6-DOF remain to be further studied. In this paper, a model test of a tethered cylinder in uniform flow was carried out. The 6-DOF motion responses with different mass ratios were measured and the motion trajectories, amplitudes and frequencies were investigated. Results show that, the vibration amplitude of the cylinder increases with the reduced velocity at first, and then remain relatively stable. In the “lock in” range, the cross-flow vibration frequency increases with the reduced velocity, and the in-flow vibration frequency increases in a ladder type. Yaw motion was also observed in this experiment, and a strong correlation between yaw motion and cross-flow vibration was found. In the initial branch, yaw motion has only one dominant frequency, while in the “lock in” range, yaw motion appears to have two dominant frequencies, the major frequency is equal to the cross-flow vibration frequency and the minor frequency is half of the transverse vibration frequency. It is also found that in the range of mass ratio applied in this paper ( 0.272 < m * < 0.431 ), the cross-flow vibration amplitude decreases and the yaw amplitude increases with the increase of the cylinder's mass ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conventional methods to assess human gait are either expensive or complex to be applied regularly in clinical practice. To reduce the cost and simplify the evaluation, inertial sensors and adaptive algorithms have been utilized, respectively. This paper aims to summarize studies that applied adaptive also called artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms to gait analysis based on inertial sensor data, verifying if they can support the clinical evaluation. Articles were identified through searches of the main databases, which were encompassed from 1968 to October 2016. We have identified 22 studies that met the inclusion criteria. The included papers were analyzed due to their data acquisition and processing methods with specific questionnaires. Concerning the data acquisition, the mean score is 6.1±1.62, what implies that 13 of 22 papers failed to report relevant outcomes. The quality assessment of AI algorithms presents an above-average rating (8.2±1.84). Therefore, AI algorithms seem to be able to support gait analysis based on inertial sensor data. Further research, however, is necessary to enhance and standardize the application in patients, since most of the studies used distinct methods to evaluate healthy subjects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review investigates current protocols using Inertial Measurement Units (IMUs) in shoulder research, and outlines future paths regarding IMU use for shoulder research. Different databases were searched for relevant articles. Criteria for study selection were (1) research in healthy persons or persons with shoulder problems, (2) IMUs applied as assessment tool for the shoulder (in healthy subjects and shoulder patients) or upper limb (in shoulder patients), (3) peer-reviewed, full-text papers in English or Dutch. Studies with less than five participants and without ethical approval were excluded. Data extraction included (1) study design, (2) participant characteristics, (3) type/brand of IMU, (4) tasks included in the assessment protocol, and (5) outcomes. Risk of bias was assessed using the Downs and Black checklist. Scapulothoracic/glenohumeral and humerothoracic kinematics were reported in respectively 10 and 27 of the 37 included papers. Only one paper in healthy persons assessed, next to scapulothoracic/glenohumeral kinematics, other upper limb joints. IMUs' validity and reliability to capture shoulder function was limited. Considering applied protocols, 39% of the protocols was located on the International-Classification-of-Functioning (ICF) function level, while 38% and 23% were on the 'capacity' and 'actual performance'-sublevel, of the ICF-activity level. Most available IMU-research regarding the shoulder is clinically less relevant, given the widely reported humerothoracic kinematics which do not add to clinical-decision-making, and the absence of protocols assessing the complete upper limb chain. Apart from knowledge on methodological pitfalls and opportunities regarding the use of IMUs, this review provides future research paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computational ship hydrodynamics has gained high popularity in shipbuilding industry in recent years because of its high efficiency and improved accuracy. Reliable performance prediction at design stage is essential for large structures, like ships, to ensure design conformance and buyer ‘s acceptance. Thus, shipbuilders are emphasizing and relying more and more on computational methods. This paper aims at providing a comparative study of added resistance and related motion prediction using a Reynolds averaged Navier -Stokes (RaNS) and potential flow (PF) based solver, for a very large crude career, KVLCC2. The used RaNS solver, SHIP Motion, solves overset structured mesh using finite volume method. The PF solver is a commercial solver named HydroSTAR that uses 3D panel method for simulation and prediction. The paper compares both the results and shows that the RaNS solver is better in predicting added resistance, however, in case of motion predicting, both show similar level of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy Efficiency Design Index (EEDI) [1] was introduced by the International Maritime organization (IMO) to stimulate innovation and technical development of all elements that increase the level of energy efficiency of a ship at design stage. Sea going ships over 400 gross tonnage are considered in the current regulation of EEDI. Inland ships are not covered by current EEDI regulations by IMO. As inland vessels share 0.6% of the global CO 2 emission [2] , the reduction attempt will not have bigger impact. But from the commercial point of view of a country the significance is very high, specially for under developed countries like Bangladesh. Inland self propelled ships face additional restrictions (shallow water/channel, low density water, restriction of ship's dimension, etc.) which increase the power requirement at the same speed, burning more fuel and emit more CO 2 . This paper is a continuation of the Ph.D research of the author where previous published paper's [3] results were updated and verified. The result of this paper would be one of the 1 st attempts in the world was made to establish EEDI baseline for different types of self-propelled inland ships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiphase electric machines can provide significant benefits over conventional three-phase machines. A drawback to multiphase machines is that they are known to have problems with stator current harmonics. The harmonics can be eliminated by various current harmonic control methods. However, there appears to be no clear agreement on the most suitable method for multiphase machines. This paper aims to compare different current harmonic controllers in terms of stability and performance under model uncertainty. A detailed theoretical analysis of the harmonic controllers is given by taking a modern multi-input multi-output approach based on a structured singular value analysis. Further, the performance of the harmonic controllers is studied with experimental results from a dual three-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine. The analysis and results of this paper show how to design robust high-performance current harmonic controllers for multiphase machines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the energy sector, significant investments were made to improve the characteristics of the existing integrated electrical system favoring the transition to a more sustainable, efficient, flexible, reliable and high quality system. Therefore, it is required to have reliable and robust metrics that try to include these concepts in the form of indicators for the KPI and its subsequent analysis. This paper addresses that problem and in order to tackle it introduces a novel methodology to measure the effectiveness of an integrated electrical system. Such methodology is based on the extension of the OEE concept to the energetic domain considering the multiple uncertain factors affecting OEE, and establishing a relation among them through the Planning Factor (PF), which relate strategic and operational concepts. In the experimental part of the paper, we have used this novel methodology to analyze and measure the effectiveness of the Spanish integrated electrical system without losing generality, and using a confidence interval of 95% an OOEE of 0.96 and SOEE of 0.652 have been obtained, which classifies the Spanish system as an advanced one. In this way, different settings or electrical systems can be compared an assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to develop a fault diagnostic meter for photovoltaic (PV) power generation systems. First, Solar Pro software package is used for a photovoltaic power generation system analysis, and then the power generation data of photovoltaic modules during normal operations and during malfunctions is collected. Then, this paper establishes a photovoltaic power generation system fault diagnosis method based on extension theory. The power generation data collected previously is used to construct a matter-element model for PV generation systems during normal operations and during malfunction. This matter-element model and the PV power generation system fault diagnosis program are implemented using a PIC microcontroller. The PV power generation system fault diagnosis based on extension theory discussed previously requires only small amounts of data in order to construct matter-element models for normal operations and different fault situations. This diagnosis method does not require learning procedures to be used in fault diagnosis of PV power generation systems. Moreover, the method provided high accuracy. As PV power generation systems are typically installed on outdoor roofs, this paper also utilizes the ZigBee wireless sensor network transmission technology to transmit the power generation data of outdoor PV power generation systems to the PIC microcontroller in order diagnose malfunctions in PV power generation systems in real time. Finally, testing results were used to ascertain the feasibility of the PV power generation fault diagnosis meter discussed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]