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Abstract This work aims to predict the general performances of a pilot parabolic trough collector during transient periods. To do so, a one-dimensional thermal model has been developed. It has been validated with experimental results from two different experimental setups, in steady-state conditions, with a transmitted power maximum error of 3.4%. Since the model only predicts the collector's thermal behavior, the parabolic trough collector has been first optically qualified. Then, optical efficiencies were used as input for the model. Experimental results were obtained in steady-state conditions and compared to the model. Then, experimental and numerical results were compared during two period of time with varying inlet conditions (i.e. dynamic condition tests): the first one with stable conditions, and the other one with harsh conditions. The developed model showed a good capability of predicting the thermal behavior of the parabolic trough collector with unstable environment (DNI, mass flow, inlet temperature), with a 9.6% relative standard error in the worst case. As a conclusion, while previous studies only focused on steady-state conditions, it has been showed that this kind of model can be used to precisely predict the dynamic behavior of large power plants.

Abstract In a passive nuclear plant, the main control room must provide self-support functions for 72 h after an accident occurs. In this isolation mode, the heat generated by indoor occupants and equipment should be removed by using concrete walls that are 610 mm thick, and the finned ceiling made of concrete should maintain thermal habitability. However, the finned ceiling design has not been studied in normal buildings, and the cooling storage effect of plate-shaped fins is usually ignored during the design phase. In this study, a novel parametric resistance–capacitance thermal network is proposed to simulate the thermal performance of different fin-plate layout forms in the case of an accident. An experiment was conducted on a 1200 mm × 1200 mm × 610 mm fin-concrete module for 72 h to validate the model under constant air temperature conditions. Based on the model, multi-objective optimization was conducted to obtain optimal solution sets by using a radial basis function approximation model. The results show that the optimal performance indicators can be classified into unsteady and quasi-steady states, in which the dominant factors for heat transfer include the heat transfer area and the thickness of the finned plate, respectively. Further, the optimal solution sets for different convection and heating conditions obtained through an optimization process are used to design a fin layout based on actual temperature control demands and cooling storage.

The paper deals with the development of a self-adaptive extended horizon non-linear predictive controller for a multiple input and single output process that allows the realization of the individual controls made by equivalent generation sources of the interconnected electrical Egyptian power system, finally the performance of this controller is compared with the results obtained in a MPC under constraints controller previously studied.

In grounding fault of DC system, overvoltage will appear on equipment nodes in converter station. Due to different operation mode and equipment type, it is very different from overvoltage in AC system. Based on Shanghaimiao–Linyi​ ±800kV Ultra High Voltage Direct Current (UHVDC) transmission project, this paper studies the converter station overvoltage characteristics under the conditions of DC pole line grounding, DC bus grounding and converter transformer valve side grounding fault, then analyzes the influence of smoothing reactor, filter capacitor and grounding pole line on overvoltage. In grounding fault at DC pole line near the converter station, the maximum overvoltage occurs on the inductance of DC filter, which is 592.75kV; In grounding fault at the top of the high voltage converter valve, the maximum overvoltage occurs on the neutral bus, which is 272.17kV. Increasing the inductance or capacitance of the smoothing reactor and filter capacitor, shortening the length of grounding electrode wire can significantly reduce the amplitude and steepness of overvoltage. The calculation results provide a reference for the internal overvoltage suppression of DC converter station with layered access at the inverter side.

Abstract This paper highlights the load frequency control using dual mode Bat algorithm based scheduling of PI controllers for interconnected power systems. The bat inspired algorithm based on the echolocation of bats has been developed in 2010. In this study, the bat inspired algorithm based dual mode PI controller is applied to the multi-area interconnected thermal power system in order to tune the parameter PI controllers. The proposed controller is simple in structure and easy for implementation. The proposed controller was compared with those from conventional the PI controllers and Fuzzy gain scheduling of PI controllers. The simulation results show the point that the proposed bat inspired algorithm, based dual mode gain scheduling of PI controllers (BIDPI), provides better transient as well as steady state of response. It is also found that the proposed controller is less sensitive to the changes in system parameters.

The steady-state phase distribution and the structural parameters have been taken as the input for the nuclear physics calculation in the ADS windowless spallation target. The distribution of the extreme large power density of the heat load is imported back as the source term in the energy equation. Then temperature distribution is obtained based on the flow process and heat transfer. The preliminary results show that the temperature distribution reaches the steady-state and its shape is like the broken wings of the butterfly. This is very important for the further design and optimization of the ADS windowless spallation target. So the two-way coupling simulation of the heat transfer process is successfully performed between the computational fluid dynamics and the nuclear physics simulation.

This research enhances the previous control method by utilizing an embedded controller (EC) to create a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) to reduce the power consumption of a notebook or netbook and to lengthen the battery life. Our control methods are all written in assembly language, so that there is no need to rely on any high-level application program for the FLC. Thus our design has greater efficiency and accelerates the pace of operations. We add a CPU throttle function in connection with the FLC to control the clock frequency of the CPU. This design reduces power consumption and lengthens battery life. The low-power embedded controller in a notebook is a device to assist the onboard power management system which consists of the cooling fan, the keyboard, the LCD backlight brightness and the battery recharging functions. By using the fuzzy control rule as a replacement of the default method, the fan speed becomes variable so as to maintain a certain range of temperature of the mobile computer. The LCD backlight brightness is adjusted and based on the keystroke frequency or the touchpad controlled by the FLC of our design.

Recent geomorphic evidence from the inner shelf and shoreface to the east of Long Island's barrier island system indicates that reworking of glacial outwash deposits at the inner shelf-shoreface transition, as sea level rises, may be supplying much of the sediment needed to maintain barrier islands to the west. A conceptual model describing sediment dispersal from outwash source areas was developed from this hypothesis. It was reasoned that outwash sediments ranging from silts to coarse gravels would be subject to differential transport paths across and along the shoreface upon reworking. Coarser grain sizes would move onshore toward the intertidal beach, whereas finer sediments would move offshore. Sand of intermediate grain size would be concentrated in the surf zone an move alongshore in wave-generated longshore currents. To test this model, 400 samples from the beach and shoreface of Long Island were analyzed for grain-size frequency distribution and each grain-size class was examined for frequency of occurrence in the cross-shore and alongshore directions. On a spatially averaged basis, grain-size classes displayed peak abundance in specific zones across the shoreface as predicted by the model, but alongshore trends could not be recognized among the "noisy" data. Therefore, empirical orthogonal functions (EOF) were used to examine uncorrelated (orthogonal) modes of variability in the occurrence of each grain-size class in the alongshore direction. The first function, representing more than 60% of the variability among the data, showed that grain sizes subject to longshore transport in the surf zone i crease in frequency in the alongshore direction relative to coarser grain sizes. Results also show that peak concentrations of coarse sediments correspond to zones subject to frequent overwashing. It is concluded that EOF analysis of individual grain-size classes holds promise for extracting trends from noisy data sets. End_of_Article - Last_Page 318------------

The aim of this research study was to investigate the energy recovery potentials in ventilation systems under different climatic conditions. The well-known heating degree day from the literature was updated using the weather data of cities with different climates from the past 40 years. As the novelty of this research with the developed procedure drawn up in this study, the energetic possibilities of heat recovery under various climate and operating conditions may be examined in more detail and more realistically than with the methods and available information of current engineering practices. To achieve this long-term and high definition the weather data of several cities are processed in order to evaluate the possibilities of heat recovery on a daily and annual basis.