• Energy Research

In this research, the number of patients with Covid-19 and the number of deaths due to this disease in France, Germany, Iran, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, and Unites States America are considered. First, the relations between the considered countries are studied using Pearson’s correlation. Then, based on the spread rate of Covid-19, these countries are categorized using principal component analysis.

In the present study, water electrolysis was employed for Hydroxy gas (HHO) production as a gaseous additive. The engine test was performed using the Diesel, B5, and B20 as pilot fuels. HHO was imported into the engine's combustion chamber at three volumetric flow rates of 3, 4, and 5 cc/s through the inlet manifold as the low-level HHO rate.The engine test setup was a single-cylinder dual-fueled diesel engine at a constant speed (1500 rpm) and full load condition. According to the results, HHO by 3 and 4 cc/s did not have a significant effect on BP, BTE, and BSFC. Using HHO gas by 5 cc/s significantly increased BP by about 2.5, 3.1, and 0.5% compared with Diesel, B5 and B20, respectively, and decreased BSFC by about 11, 7.8, and 13.5% compared with Diesel, B5, and B20, respectively.HHO gas by 5 cc/s significantly decreased CO2 by about 7, 6.3, and 10.6% compared with Diesel, B5, and B20, respectively, and decreased CO emissions by about 6, 14.3, and 21.2% compared with Diesel, B5 and B20, respectively. However, the use of HHO gas and biodiesel increased NOx emission by about 16, 13.7, and 10.5% compared with Diesel, B5, and B20, respectively.

The MENA-CORDEX (the Middle East and North Africa-COordinated Regional Downscaling Experiment) wind speed data at the height of 10 m is converted to the turbine hub-height for estimating the mean wind power in the Gulf of Oman. The results show high spatial variability of the historical and future mean wind power projection. Furthermore, the impact of climate change on the mean wind power (under the representative concentration pathway 8.5, RCP8.5, scenario) is found to be less than 5%, which indicates the sustainability of wind renewable energy. Based on the wind power distribution, bathymetry, and distance from the coast, five sites are selected in the Gulf of Oman as tentative energy hotspots to provide a detailed assessment of the directional variability of wind power for the historical and future periods. Significant variability of the directional distribution of wind power is found in the five study sites, which make it imperative to optimally design wind turbines and farms to achieve the best efficiency. The findings also indicate that the main direction and magnitude of wind power in the five sites under the RCP8.5 climate change scenario will remain almost the same as those of the historical period. Overall, the sustainability of power production under climate change impacts is promising to plan for wind energy extraction in the Gulf of Oman.

For this paper, the problem of energy/voltage management in photovoltaic (PV)/battery systems was studied, and a new fractional-order control system on basis of type-3 (T3) fuzzy logic systems (FLSs) was developed. New fractional-order learning rules are derived for tuning of T3-FLSs such that the stability is ensured. In addition, using fractional-order calculus, the robustness was studied versus dynamic uncertainties, perturbation of irradiation, and temperature and abruptly faults in output loads, and, subsequently, new compensators were proposed. In several examinations under difficult operation conditions, such as random temperature, variable irradiation, and abrupt changes in output load, the capability of the schemed controller was verified. In addition, in comparison with other methods, such as proportional-derivative-integral (PID), sliding mode controller (SMC), passivity-based control systems (PBC), and linear quadratic regulator (LQR), the superiority of the suggested method was demonstrated.

Le Software-Defined Networking (SDN) et la Blockchain sont des technologies de pointe utilisées dans le monde entier pour établir une communication réseau sécurisée ainsi que pour construire des infrastructures réseau sécurisées. Ils fournissent une plate-forme robuste et fiable pour faire face aux menaces et aux défis tels que la sécurité, la confidentialité, la flexibilité, l'évolutivité et la confidentialité. Poussé par ces hypothèses, cet article présente un cadre IoT défini par logiciel optimisé, efficace sur le plan énergétique et sécurisé basé sur la Blockchain pour les réseaux intelligents. En effet, les technologies SDN et Blockchain se sont avérées capables de gérer de manière appropriée l'utilisation des ressources et de développer une communication réseau sécurisée dans l'écosystème IoT. Cependant, il y a un manque de travaux de recherche qui présentent une définition complète d'un tel cadre qui peut répondre aux exigences de l'écosystème IoT (c'est-à-dire une utilisation efficace de l'énergie et un retard de bout en bout réduit). Par conséquent, dans cette recherche, nous présentons une architecture hiérarchique en couches pour le déploiement d'un cadre SDN-IoT distribué mais efficace, compatible Blockchain, qui assure une sélection efficace des têtes de cluster et une communication réseau sécurisée via l'identification et l'isolation des commutateurs rouges. En outre, l'enregistrement des règles de flux compatibles Blockchain garde une trace des règles appliquées dans les commutateurs et maintient la cohérence au sein du cluster de contrôleurs. Enfin, nous évaluons les performances du cadre proposé dans un environnement de simulation et montrons qu'il peut optimiser l'utilisation de l'énergie, le retard de bout en bout et le débit par rapport aux lignes de base considérées, permettant ainsi d'atteindre l'efficacité et la sécurité dans le réseau intelligent. Las redes definidas por software (SDN) y Blockchain son tecnologías líderes utilizadas en todo el mundo para establecer una comunicación de red segura, así como para construir infraestructuras de red seguras. Proporcionan una plataforma sólida y confiable para abordar amenazas y enfrentar desafíos como la seguridad, la privacidad, la flexibilidad, la escalabilidad y la confidencialidad. Impulsado por estos supuestos, este documento presenta un marco optimizado de IoT definido por software basado en Blockchain y energéticamente eficiente para redes inteligentes. De hecho, las tecnologías SDN y Blockchain han demostrado ser capaces de gestionar adecuadamente la utilización de recursos y desarrollar una comunicación de red segura en todo el ecosistema de IoT. Sin embargo, faltan trabajos de investigación que presenten una definición integral de dicho marco que pueda cumplir con los requisitos del ecosistema de IoT (es decir, la utilización eficiente de la energía y la reducción del retraso de extremo a extremo). Por lo tanto, en esta investigación, presentamos una arquitectura jerárquica en capas para el despliegue de un marco SDN-IoT distribuido pero eficiente habilitado para Blockchain que garantiza una selección eficiente de la cabeza del clúster y una comunicación de red segura a través de la identificación y el aislamiento de los switches rouge. Además, el registro de reglas de flujo habilitado para Blockchain realiza un seguimiento de las reglas aplicadas en los switches y mantiene la consistencia dentro del clúster del controlador. Finalmente, evaluamos el rendimiento del marco propuesto en un entorno de simulación y demostramos que puede lograr una utilización optimizada de la energía, un retraso de extremo a extremo y un rendimiento en comparación con las líneas de base consideradas, pudiendo así lograr eficiencia y seguridad en la red inteligente. Software-Defined Networking (SDN) and Blockchain are leading technologies used worldwide to establish safe network communication as well as build secure network infrastructures. They provide a robust and reliable platform to address threats and face challenges such as security, privacy, flexibility, scalability, and confidentiality. Driven by these assumptions, this paper presents an optimized energy-efficient and secure Blockchain-based software-defined IoT framework for smart networks. Indeed, SDN and Blockchain technologies have proven to be able to suitably manage resource utilization and to develop secure network communication across the IoT ecosystem. However, there is a lack of research works that present a comprehensive definition of such a framework that can meet the requirements of the IoT ecosystem (i.e. efficient energy utilization and reduced end-to-end delay). Therefore, in this research, we present a layered hierarchical architecture for the deployment of a distributed yet efficient Blockchain-enabled SDN-IoT framework that ensures efficient cluster-head selection and secure network communication via the identification and isolation of rouge switches. Besides, the Blockchain-enabled flow-rules record keeps track of the rules enforced in the switches and maintains the consistency within the controller cluster. Finally, we assess the performance of the proposed framework in a simulation environment and show that it can achieve optimized energy-utilization, end-to-end delay, and throughput compared to considered baselines, thus being able to achieve efficiency and security in the smart network. تعد الشبكات المعرفة بالبرمجيات (SDN) وسلسلة الكتل (Blockchain) من التقنيات الرائدة المستخدمة في جميع أنحاء العالم لإنشاء اتصالات آمنة للشبكة بالإضافة إلى بناء بنى تحتية آمنة للشبكة. فهي توفر منصة قوية وموثوقة لمواجهة التهديدات ومواجهة التحديات مثل الأمن والخصوصية والمرونة وقابلية التوسع والسرية. وانطلاقًا من هذه الافتراضات، تقدم هذه الورقة البحثية إطارًا محسّنًا موفرًا للطاقة وآمنًا لإنترنت الأشياء للشبكات الذكية قائمًا على برامج البلوك تشين. في الواقع، أثبتت تقنيات SDN و Blockchain أنها قادرة على إدارة استخدام الموارد بشكل مناسب وتطوير اتصالات شبكة آمنة عبر النظام البيئي لإنترنت الأشياء. ومع ذلك، هناك نقص في الأعمال البحثية التي تقدم تعريفًا شاملاً لمثل هذا الإطار الذي يمكن أن يلبي متطلبات النظام البيئي لإنترنت الأشياء (أي الاستخدام الفعال للطاقة وتقليل التأخير من البداية إلى النهاية). لذلك، في هذا البحث، نقدم بنية هرمية متعددة الطبقات لنشر إطار SDN - IoT الموزع والفعال في الوقت نفسه والذي يضمن الاختيار الفعال لرأس المجموعة والاتصال الآمن بالشبكة عبر تحديد وعزل مفاتيح الحمر. إلى جانب ذلك، فإن سجل قواعد التدفق الذي يدعم البلوك تشين يتتبع القواعد المفروضة في المفاتيح ويحافظ على الاتساق داخل مجموعة التحكم. أخيرًا، نقوم بتقييم أداء الإطار المقترح في بيئة محاكاة ونظهر أنه يمكنه تحقيق الاستخدام الأمثل للطاقة والتأخير من البداية إلى النهاية والإنتاجية مقارنة بخطوط الأساس المدروسة، وبالتالي القدرة على تحقيق الكفاءة والأمن في الشبكة الذكية.

Solar radiation (SR) is considered as a critical factor in determining energy management. In this research, the potential of the Bayesian averaging model (BMA) was investigated for estimating monthly SR. The inputs were monthly average temperature, wind speed, relative humidity, and sunshine duration. The BMA model was employed to estimate SR by extracting information from multiple adaptive neuro-fuzzy systems (ANFIS) and multi-layer perceptron (MLP) models. In this study, Archimedes optimization algorithm (AOA), particle swarm optimization (PSO), genetic algorithm (GA), and bat algorithm (BA) were used to tune the parameters of the ANIFS and MLP. In addition, a multitude of error indices such as root mean square error (RMSE), and Nash Sutcliff efficiency (NSE), and several graphical tools were used to investigate the accuracy of the models. The results showed the better performance of the BMA model than other models for estimating solar radiation. For example, BMA with RMSE of 6.78, MAE of 5.25, and NSE of 0.96 had the best accuracy in the training stage of the Tabriz station. On the other hand, in the testing level of Tehran station, BMA (RMSE=7.89 MJ/ m2, MAE=6.89 MJ/ m2, NSE=0.95) gave the best accuracy, and the MLP model (RMSE= 14.12 MJ/ m2, MAE=12.23 MJ/ m2, and NSE=0.77) gave the worst performance, respectively.