International Summit on Conventional and Sustainable Energies March 30-31, 2018 Orlando, Florida, USA

Biography:

Bjørn Kvamme obtained his MSc in Chemical Engineering (1981) and PhD in Chemical Engineering (1984) from the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences. After a short period with SINTEF and two years at Bergen University College, he was appointed as full Professor in 1987 and started education of MSc and PhD in Process Technology in Telemark. He is appointed as a Professor in Gas Processing at the Department of Physics, University of Bergen in March 2000. He is the author/co-author of 445 publications during last 15 years, of which 154 are in good international scientific journals. He has 2526 citations as per Feb 1, 2018, and has presented numerous papers at international conferences.

Abstract:

Natural gas hydrates are crystalline structures of water and CH₄, containing up to 14% CH₄. These hydrate structures are distributed all over the world in permafrost regions or in deep offshore sediments and may contain as much as twice the amounts of all other known reserves of conventional fossil fuels. CO₂ hydrate is more stable than CH₄ hydrate over most regions of temperature and pressure and mixed hydrate in which CH₄ fills part of the structure (the 25% small cavities in the structure) is more stable than CH4 hydrate over all  conditions  of  temperature and pressure. Injection of CO₂ into natural gas hydrates will therefore lead to release of CH₄ for energy while at the same time storing CO₂ in solid form. Steam cracking of the produced CH₄ over to hydrogen and CO₂ gives the option of a zero emission cycle for producing energy. Experiments, as well as theoretical aspects of the concept are discussed in detail. Technical solutions for the various stages of the cycle is also presented and discussed. Special focus is on the various mechanisms for the conversions and how to optimize the concept.

Biography:

Abdelrahman A. Karrar, PhD, IEEE Senior member.  Associate Professor at the Electrical Engineering Department, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Received the B.Sc. and M.Sc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Khartoum, Sudan, 1985 and 1989, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Loughborough University, UK, 1992. He also served as head of Electrical Engineering department at the University of Khartoum and a consultant for the National Electricity Corporation, Sudan. His research interests include power systems stability and control, in particular voltage stability and related areas. Additionally he is interested in power system stabilizers, power system PMU’s for smart relaying, and his expertise generally covers power systems operation, and power systems modelling and simulation

Abstract:

Voltage stability assessment for electrical grids has had a long history. Researches have tackled the problem over more than three decades; yet accurate and reliable predictors still defy the power industry. Phil Harris, PJM President and CEO famously said, “Voltage collapse is still the biggest single threat to the transmission system. It’s what keeps me awake at night.” The increase in automation and wide area measurements have produced an improvement in following the progress of the network into potential proximity to voltage collapse, but many questions remain unanswered. Proper load behavior and modeling is a formidable problem, understanding reactive resource limitations and behavior under stressed conditions is another, but the main obstacle remains proper topology processing and modeling of the network under potential voltage collapse conditions. A contingency leading to a voltage emergency situation would have to be captured in a time-frame that is fast enough to avoid deterioration into an irreversible collapse, yet which gives opportunity to carry out the necessary calculations and state estimations. Two types of modeling approaches are discussed – both based on PMU measurements and status indicators; simplified Thévenin based models, which typically require tracking and time displaced measurements to improve the model and obtain more degrees of freedom, and single-shot measurements which require more network model complexity and assistance from topology processing algorithms. The problem is not unique to inter-area high voltage networks and has found increased interest and discussion in the context of microgrids and isolated distribution networks with distributed generation components

Biography:

Bjørn Kvamme obtained his MSc in Chemical Engineering (1981) and PhD in Chemical Engineering (1984) from the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences. After a short period with SINTEF and two years at Bergen University College, he was appointed as full Professor in 1987 and started education of MSc and PhD in Process Technology in Telemark. He is appointed as a Professor in Gas Processing at the Department of Physics, University of Bergen in March 2000. He is the author/co-author of 445 publications during last 15 years, of which 154 are in good international scientific journals. He has 2526 citations as per Feb 1, 2018, and has presented numerous papers at international conferences

Abstract:

Worldwide there are huge amounts of methane trapped in water as hydrate. These ice-like hydrate crystals contains up to 14% methane in a highly concentrated form. Unlike conventional oil and gas, hydrates are spread all over the world in permafrost region or deep offshore sediments. Many countries depend on import of fossil fuel and in many cases on various qualities of contaminating coal. Simple and inexpensive ways to produce these hydrates are available and in this work we demonstrate by state of the art reservoir modeling of some of these production methods. This includes pressure reduction as well as replacement of CH4 hydrate by CO2 hydrate. The latter option is discussed in more details since it represents an interesting concept for CO2 utilization and safe long terms storage of CO2. Injection of pure CO2 in natural gas hydrates involves low permeability and rapid formation of new hydrate than can block the sediments. Various ways to modify the concept by addition of other gases as well as environmentally friendly surfactants are discussed. Results from reservoir simulations related to real hydrate reservoirs are presented. These hydrate reservoirs span the range from shallow hydrate reservoir in the Barents Sea to very deep reservoirs offshore Taiwan.

Biography:

Y. S. Mok received the B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, in 1989, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in chemical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejon, Korea, in 1991 and 1994, respectively. He has been with the Department of Chemical Engineering, Jeju National University, Korea, since 2000. He has studied applications of non-thermal plasma to pollution (air/water) control, energy production and material syntheses, and he is widening his plasma research horizon to meet various industrial needs, including plasma-mediated hydrophobic coating of powdery materials, sterilization of microorganisms, heterogeneous catalyst preparation, etc.
 

Abstract:

Uniform nanosheet and nanoflower NiMoO₄ structures have successfully been grown on γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst support using solvothermal method. The NiMoO₄ structure could be controlled by varying the catalyst preparation temperature and precursor concentration. The conversion of propane and carbon dioxide into synthesis gas (CO+H₂) was performed in an atmospheric-pressure plasma reactor packed with the NiMoO₄/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts at different temperature. The plasma substantially enhanced the propane and carbon dioxide conversion and increased the hydrogen yield. The nano-structured catalysts exhibited good catalytic activity and selectivity for the strongly endothermic dry reforming, and were chemically stable, resulting in enhanced resistance to coke formation and sintering. Notably, the catalytic activity of the NiMoO₄/γ-Al₂O₃ led to stoichiometric reaction and negligible byproducts. The post-characterization of the used catalysts were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, temperature programmed oxidation, and Raman spectroscopy, which confirmed the less carbon formation and no structural deformation after the reforming reactions.

Biography:

Zeynep Zaimoglu, earned her PhD in the field of Agricultural Structures and Ä°rrigation at Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. She has published , in English and Turkish languages, more than 40 international and national articles as well as two educational textbooks. Her expertise includes watershed management, water resources development, constructed wetlands and water treatment in constructed wetlands, soil and ground water pollution and renewable energy and climate change issues.

She is an ERA-NET on Sustainable Animal Production evaluation committee.  She is currently Professor at Cukurova University since 2013 and engaged extensively in teaching and leading research projects.

Abstract:

Current energy policies address environmental issues including environmentally friendly technologies to increase energy supplies, usage of sustainable energy and encourage cleaner, more efficient energy use, with special attention to air pollution, greenhouse effect, global warming, and climate change. The biofuel policy aims to promote the use of fuels made from biomass, as well as other renewable fuels in transport and to produce electricity. Although biofuels do not have the potential to overcome the escalating oil problem, for some people it is the forerunner of a new and environment-friendly life style. This apprehension is partly true because, like everything else, biofuels have their advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, before presenting new policies regarding biofuels, their effects should be meticulously and carefully examined. Biofuels have negative effects on food safety, in two ways. First and the most important of these effects is biofuel sector’s high demand of agricultural produce, which would result in shortage of global food supply. Secondly, it is understood that biofuel sector’s agricultural produce demand play an important role in the rise of food prices, and it poses a threat to food availability and accessibility. Concerning biofuel and agricultural environment interaction, increased land usage and intense agricultural production of biofuels cause soil erosion and pollution. While increased land usage and intense agricultural production causes the organic and inorganic components to be depleted in the soil and the minerals become deficient, agricultural processes that use fertilizers, pesticides and similar chemicals cause the soil to be polluted faster. According to the data acquired, more than 20 million hectares of agricultural land worldwide is marked as areas for biofuel raw material production. This results in additional land use and intensive agricultural production, which also has negative effects on soil quality. Moreover, agricultural production needs water. Water is an essential part of agricultural production, and as an environmental concern, it faces depletion. Additional agricultural processes to produce especially sugar cane, sugar beet, palm oil and corn for biofuel production, which consume more water compared to other agricultural processes, result in excessive amount of water consumption, which will result in water scarcity. Additionally, in the process of biofuel production, agricultural products are washed and dried using vapor, which also results in excessive amount of water requirement, which also results in water scarcity problem to deepen.

Biography:

Akram Abu-aisheh is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Hartford. He is a Senior IEEE Member, and he has ten years on industry experience in the area of fiber optic telecommunication systems and power electronics. His research interests include optical communications and power electronics. He has a MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida and a PhD in from the Florida Institute of Technology.

Abstract:

The primary objective of this paper is to present the design and optimization of a power converter for a hybrid wind-solar energy conversion system with an implementation of Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT). The power converter can transfer the power from a wind generator and photovoltaic panel and improve the safety and stability of the hybrid system. This system design consists of Permanent Magnet Synchronous Generator (PMSG), a full wave AC-DC bridge rectifier, a DC-DC boost converter, a bidirectional DC-DC converter, and a full bridge DC-AC inverter. The wind generator and the photovoltaic panel are used as the primary power sources of the system, and a battery is used for energy storage and to compensate for the irregularity of the power sources. This paper also presents the structure of the beginning rectifier stage for the hybrid wind- solar energy power conversion system. This structure thereby provides two energy sources simultaneously yet independently, according to their respective availability. The rectifier stage fosters the maximum from wind and solar energy when an adaptive MPPT algorithm is used in the system. The analysis for the system will be discussed in this paper and will give an introduction to the design of the hybrid wind/solar converter circuit.

Biography:

Bjørn Kvamme has obtained his MSc in Chemical Engineering (1981) and PhD in Chemical Engineering (1984) from the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences. After a short period with SINTEF and two years at Bergen University College, he was appointed as Full Professor in 1987 and started education of MSc and PhD in Process Technology in Telemark. He has appointed as a Professor in Gas Processing at the Department of Physics, University of Bergen in March 2000. He is the author/co-author of 445 publications during last 15 years, of which 154 are in good international scientific journals. He has 2526 citations as per Feb 1, 2018 and has presented numerous papers at international conferences

Abstract:

Natural gas hydrates are crystalline structures of water and CH₄, containing up to 14% CH₄. These hydrate structures are distributed all over the world in permafrost regions or in deep offshore sediments and may contain as much as twice the amounts of all other known reserves of conventional fossil fuels. CO₂ hydrate is more stable than CH₄ hydrate over most regions of temperature and pressure and mixed hydrate in which CH₄ fills part of the structure (the 25% small cavities in the structure) is more stable than CH₄ hydrate over all conditions of temperature and pressure. Injection of CO₂ into natural gas hydrates will therefore lead to release of CH₄ for energy while at the same time storing CO₂ in solid form. Steam cracking of the produced CH₄ over to hydrogen and CO₂ gives the option of a zero-emission cycle for producing energy. Experiments, as well as theoretical aspects of the concept are discussed in detail. Technical solutions for the various stages of the cycle is also presented and discussed. Special focus is on the various mechanisms for the conversions and how to optimize the concept

Biography:

Zeynep Zaimoglu has earned her PhD in the field of Agricultural Structures and Ä°rrigation at Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey. She has published, in English and Turkish languages, more than 40 international and national articles as well as two educational textbooks. Her expertise includes watershed management, water resources development, constructed wetlands and water treatment in constructed wetlands, soil and ground water pollution and renewable energy and climate change issues. She is an ERA-NET on Sustainable Animal Production evaluation committee. She is currently Professor at Cukurova University since 2013 and engaged extensively in teaching and leading research projects

Abstract:

Energy, which is one of the basic indicators of social development, the socio-political approaches which developed from supply to demand change and this change also effects the policies of the countries, effects also global warming and environmental pollution. These new political approaches cannot be ignored. In this context, EU and Turkey have created energy policies in which renewable energy sources are supported to combat environmental pollution. Turkey while trying to take place in this changing conjuncture, so many efforts have been made to acquire renewable energy resources on the basis of energy diversity and to take a place in the world energy sector by taking steps on energy saving and efficiency fields. Also Turkey has begun liberalization of the energy market structure, just as it is in EU and start to pursue a strong and transparent policy by opening it to the competitive financial market. In this study, strategies about energy policies in Turkey those can be taken as a result of Paris summit are studied. Turkey is making the necessary arrangements in harmony with the renewable energy targets, improving the cooperation with other fossil sources and contributing the effective participation into the national and international studies in order to prevent previous negative effects of the increasing of the energy consumption, prepare a clean environment for the next generations.

Biography:

Tareq Kareri has completed his MS from Northern Illinois University School of Engineerin. He is pursuing his education by studying the PhD program at University of South Florida School of Engineering.

Abstract:

Many parts of remote areas in the world are not connected to the electrical grid even with current advanced technology. Photovoltaic energy systems (PV) are very suitable and effective solution to supply electricity to remote and isolated areas. Furthermore, in order to meet the needs of the consumers, these systems should be connected to a battery storage system, especially for off-grid systems, to supply electricity at night. This paper focuses on the modeling, analysis, and simulation of a PV energy system with battery storage system. The PV energy system is used as a primary energy system, and the battery storage system is used as a backup energy system. The battery storage system is applied to store extra power from PV system and to supply continuous power to load when the PV system power is less than load power. A bidirectional DC-DC converter controlled by a fuzzy logic controller (FLC) is used to manage and regulate the energy system. A control technique, which is maximum power point tracking (MPPT), has been applied to capture the maximum power point from the PV energy system. A DC-DC converter is applied with MPPT controller to reduce losses in the PV system. The photovoltaic energy system is studied under changing environmental conditions. MATLAB/Simulink software is used to model, simulate, and analyze the entire PV/battery system.

Biography:

Bjørn Kvamme has obtained his MSc in Chemical Engineering (1981) and PhD in Chemical Engineering (1984) from the Norwegian University of Technology and Natural Sciences. After a short period with SINTEF and two years at Bergen University College, he was appointed as full Professor in 1987 and started education of MSc and PhD in Process Technology in Telemark. He is appointed as a Professor in Gas Processing at the Department of Physics, University of Bergen in March 2000. He is the author/co-author of 445 publications during last 15 years, of which 154 are in good international scientific journals. He has 2526 citations as per Feb 1, 2018, and has presented numerous papers at international conferences.

Abstract:

Worldwide there are huge amounts of methane trapped in water as hydrate. These ice-like hydrate crystals contains up to 14% methane in a highly concentrated form. Unlike conventional oil and gas, hydrates are spread all over the world in permafrost region or deep offshore sediments. Many countries depend on import of fossil fuel and in many cases on various qualities of contaminating coal. Simple and inexpensive ways to produce these hydrates are available and in this work we demonstrate by state of the art reservoir modeling of some of these production methods. This includes pressure reduction as well as replacement of CH₄ hydrate by CO₂ hydrate. The latter option is discussed in more details since it represents an interesting concept for CO₂ utilization and safe long terms storage of CO₂. Injection of pure CO₂ in natural gas hydrates involves low permeability and rapid formation of new hydrate than can block the sediments. Various ways to modify the concept by addition of other gases as well as environmentally friendly surfactants are discussed. Results from reservoir simulations related to real hydrate reservoirs are presented. These hydrate reservoirs span the range from shallow hydrate reservoir in the Barents Sea to very deep reservoirs offshore Taiwan.

Biography:

Jonathan Aaron Franco is currently a senior Aerospace Engineering student at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. He is the Project Manager of this multi-disciplinary senior project including three Electrical Engineering teams. He has aided the project as an Underclassmen Assistant for the past four academic quarters prior to achieving senior standing.

Abstract:

Aeroelasticy Induced Power Generation: This is a multi-disciplinary undergraduate research project consisting of one Aerosapce Engineering team and three Electrical Engineering teams. The ultimate goal for this multi-year project is to fly a 3-D printed UAV electric propulsion aircraft that generates power from multiple environtemental sources to facilitate a new world record for the longest flight time. Regenerative braking is currently being used in the automotive industry to charge hybrid vehicle batteries; the goal of this project is to research and develop new regenerative power mechanisms for the Aerospace industry. The system is designed to generate electrical power from multiple sources; oscillatory vibrations of a flexible wing due to aeroelastic flutter and gust response exciting motor generators, piezoelectric devices, with additional solar power generation. Light weight power storage devices are being developed including 3-D printed batteries and graphine super-capacitors. The motor generation mechanisms are stored in a pod attached to the bottom of the wing and the piezos are attached to the wing spar. A long term goal of the project is to enable simultaneous 3-D printing of the power generation and storage devices within a 3-D printed composite structural wing. The manufacturing of the composite 3D printed wing and power storage devices are currently under development. These generation and storage mechanisms are interfaced with a power management circuit capable of collecting electrical power inputs from multiple power sources, charging the batteries to drive the electric motor propeller.

Biography:

Dr. Jay Kapat is currently the Pegasus Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF). He received his doctoral degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and has been at UCF since 1997. Since 2012, he has been the founding director of the Center for Advanced Turbomachinery and Energy Research (CATER) at UCF. He has supervised and graduated 20 doctoral students, most of whom are currently at various OEM’s such as Siemens Energy and Mitsubishi. He has over 200 journal and peer-reviewed conference publications.

Abstract:

Steady penetration of solar and wind energy into US electric generation has brought significant changes to the industry. This has happened at a time when natural gas remains abundant and inexpensive. In fact, gas turbines running on natural gas are quite often touted as renewable-enabler as their fast start-up characteristics make them ideal for meeting grid demands when generation from solar and wind energies fall off. The combination of enhanced electric grid and back-up power generation would work nicely, except that carbon dioxide would still be emitted while using the back-up power generation. Of course, that can change when affordable, grid-scale battery storage is available. This presentation covers two different power production scenarios, where direct solar electricity generation can be complemented by alternative modes of power generation such that no carbon dioxide gets released to the atmosphere even when natural gas is used to complement the renewable generation. The first scenario covers solar thermal power generation hybridized with super-critical carbon dioxide (sCO₂) power cycle with oxy-combustion of natural gas. Here, carbon dioxide will be naturally captured even when natural gas is used as the heat source, and in addition, water will be produced in the oxy-combustion process that will be available for consumption. The second scenario involves solar PV array to be complemented by a salinity-gradient-solar-pond (SGSP) that acts as a thermal storage to store the solar energy when available. When sun is not shining, stored thermal energy is converted to electricity through an Organic Rankine Cycle.

Biography:

My name is Abdullatif Hakim and I am a graduate Electrical Engineering student at the University of South Florida with emphasis on power systems. I have five years of experience at the Jazan power plant. I’ve completed my bachelor’s degree in 2016 at Gannon University, PA and my master’s degree in 2017 at University of South Florida, FL. I'm in the Ph.D. program at University of South Florida in Electrical Engineering

Abstract:

Reduced-order beholder for rotor flux estimation of generalization motor s are considered. The “electric current” model and “voltage” model are obtained as special cases. It is shown that the flux dynamics variant a nonlinear closed-loop scheme when the flux estimate is used for study orientation course. The beholder increase survival of the fittest is extremely critical for goodness behavior of this system. A human body work is developed, in which the dimension of any gain selection easily can be assessed. Four candidates gain selections are considered, two of which proceeds schemes that do not use the rotor speed in their equations (inherently sensor less schemes). It is also shown that for any gain selection, an equivalent synchronous-frame implementation (i.e., indirect field orientation) always exists. Forefinger Terms—Field orientation, flux estimation, generalization motor, senseless control. Induction machines (IMs), unlike synchronous machines, do not allow the flux position to be easily measured. For vector control, one must resort to flux estimation. The “current” model (CM) and “voltage” model (VM) are the traditional solutions, and their benefits and drawbacks are well known. (Due to their respective parameter sensitivities, they are useful at low and nominal speeds, respectively.) Various observers for flux estimation were analyzed in the pioneering work by Verghese and Sanders. Over the years, several other have been presented, many of which also include speed estimation.

Biography:

Rahwa Gebre Tesfahuney is working as an assistant professor in institute of Environment, Gender and Development Studies in Mekelle University, Ethiopia. She did her MSc in consumers Studies-Marketing and Consumer Behavior in Wageningen University.

Abstract:

Biogas has micro and macro benefits which require sound investigation. Hence, this study was to assess costs and benefits of biogas at household level in three Weredas of Tigray in which the project is widely adopted. The study used both primary via questionnaire and secondary data from literatures. The sample size included 150 households selected via purposive sampling. The collected data were analyzed using cross tab with phi and Cramer’s value and spear man rho’s correlation. Most of the Female household heads that live in rural areas with no access to electricity and other modern alternative sources of energy are using Biogas. The size of digester of the biogas ranges from 6 meter cubic to 8 meter cubic. 6 meter cubic is common at household level. The total construction costs of biogas ranges from ETB 12,300 to 14,000 out of which only ETB 2,300 to 3,500 is covered by the users and remaining is covered by Government Organizations and NGOs. Biogas is used for lighting; baking; Boiling; cooking; and coffee making activities at household level. Location, owing cattle, feeding way of cattle, source of income and subsidy are main decision elements for adoption of biogas. Sustainable waste management, saving cooking and cleaning time, fertilizer production, saving kerosene and labor are benefits which differ as per size of digester of biogas. The benefiting capacity increases as size of digester of the biogas increases. The Biogas users are obtaining benefits while facing problems of biogas and its slurry. All concerned bodies need to give attention to female household heads in rural areas with regard to Biogas plants Development as this has a strong linkage with such part of the community and particularly the Government and NGOs need to adjust their incentives and interest rate of their loan including the Microfinance institutions to cover portion of Biogas initial cost as per the capacity and demand of the users. All stakeholders of Biogas need to focus on the decision elements and to recognize the Benefits of Biogas that differ as per the size of digester of the biogas so that to act accordingly.

Biography:

Belqasem Aljafari has completed his MS from Northern Illinois University School of Engineering. He is pursuing his education by studying currently the PhD degree school of engineering.

Abstract:

There has been concern over the commercially existing energy storage technologies over their capacities and efficiency. Supercapacitors are now being viewed as one of the most efficient energy technology alternatives. In fact, research engineers are now focusing on ways and means to boost its performance further hence it is being fortified with multi-walled carbon-based electrodes to increase its performance. This paper considers the emerging technologies and how it is shaping up the performance of electrochemical supercapacitors. Many research scientists and engineers have concentrated on the techniques and methodologies of ensuring that fortification of the supercapacitor using the multi-walled carbon nanotube material bears fruit. The investigation of correlation in characteristics between a purely made supercapacitor with ordinary carbon as a base material and that in which the multi-walled carbon nanotubes are embedded was carried out. The results obtained were positive as there was a marked improvement in the capacitive performance of the fortified supercapacitor. The carbon nanotubes provided a more significant electrode potential hence attracting more ions. In fact, the capacitance, due to this composition, jumped from four to 139F/g. Further agree that the desirable capacitive qualities in carbon nanotubes could be attributed to the fact they have higher specific surface area, greater thermal and electrical conductivity, and lower mass.

Biography:

Mutanga Shingirirai Savious is a well-established researcher in the fields of multi-disciplinary research, applied GIS, remote sensing and systems analysis. Currently, he is working as a research specialist at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), under the Africa Institute of South Africa’s (AISA) Science and Technology Programme. He holds a PhD in Industrial Systems Engineering from the University of Pretoria, South Africa. He holds an MSc in Geo-Information Science and Earth observation for environmental modelling and management, obtained from a consortium of four universities (Southampton (UK), Lund (Sweden), Warsaw (Poland) and ITC (Netherlands)) and an Honors degree in Geography and Environmental Science from Midlands University, in Zimbabwe.

Abstract:

Current global energy systems have proven unsustainable amid effects of the cumulative greenhouse emissions and climate change. The drive towards a low carbon future has precipitated the consideration of alternative energy sources. This paper captures the complex dimensions of scaling up energy supply with specific reference to bio-derived energy production. Within this sector sugar cane, grown widely in African countries, is known to be one of the most productive species in terms of its conversion of solar energy to chemical potential energy. However the supply of feedstock is limited to the harvest or crop season. More-so the sugarcane industry is faced a plethora of threats and challenges. The spatial system dynamics model (SSDM) of sugarcane industrial ecosystem presented in this paper is towards an integrated approach to simulate a bio refinery system suggesting directions for bagasse and trash-derived electricity generation. The model unpacks the complexity in bio-derived energy generation across the conversion pathways of the system from land use change, sugarcane production, and harvesting and electricity production amid a plethora of challenges in the system. Input data for land use and sugarcane production in the model were derived from remote sensing and spatial analysis. Simulated and validated results indicate that the alternative scenario of combined bagasse and trash with enhanced mechanisation and technology efficiency provides the highest efficiency in terms of electricity generation and emission avoidance compared to the business as usual or base case scenario. The applied SSDM demonstrates that modelling of feedback-based complex dynamic processes in time and space provide better insights crucial for decision making. This model provides a foundation for the broader study for cost benefit analysis of electricity production from a sugarcane industrial ecosystem.

Biography:

Richard Ohene Asiedu holds a PhD (construction management) from Bauhaus University, a Master’s Degree in Infrastructure Planning from the University of Stuttgart and Bachelor’s Degree in Building Technology from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. He has over ten years of experience in the Ghanaian Construction Industry with specialty in Construction Management and Quantity Surveying. He is a Senior Lecturer at the Koforidua Technical University and an Associate Member of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors. He can presently refer to a list of journal and conference papers

Abstract:

Cost overrun of projects has been a key concern for all stakeholders of projects for many decades now. However, the empirical evidence of the causes seem not be clear due to the silo approach in understanding the causes of project cost overrun. This study seeks to take the debate a step forward by providing an understanding of the causes of project cost overrun from a system’s perspective, especially from a less researched environment. Data was collected and analyzed from 131 respondents who were mainly involved in construction works in public procurement entities in Ghana. A two-staged approach was employed in collecting data from the respondents. The first stage involved an interview session with key informants in the construction industry in Ghana to ascertain the detailed causes of cost overrun of construction projects. The second stage focused on the validation of these detailed factors by a wider stakeholder group through questionnaires. Factor analysis was employed to consolidate these detailed factors into some main causes of project cost overrun. The results show that there are primarily four major causes of most public sector projects cost overrun. These four major causes of cost overruns are poor contract planning and supervision; change orders; lack of competence of the project team and lack of effective coordination among the contracting parties. The study sheds light on areas where public sector project planners and managers should focus on in order to alleviate projects cost overrun. In other words, it serves as a decision support system for planners and managers of public sector projects in effectively managing the challenge of projects cost overrun. The study provides more insights as to the critical factors that underpin public sector projects cost overrun and more importantly does so from a system’s perspective

Biography:

Dr. Anitha Subburaj is an Assistant Professor at West Texas A&M University. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 2014 from Texas Tech University, where she worked as a Research Assistant on the project, “Advanced Battery Modeling and Evaluation”. She received her ME degree from Anna University, India in 2007. She held a position as Assistant Professor, at Kumaraguru College of Technology, India for three years. Her areas of research interests are renewable energy, control systems, battery energy storage system, and battery connected to grid applications. She has published several technical papers in reputed journals

Abstract:

With the rapid growth of battery technologies in renewable energy production, it is essential to understand the battery type and the model, to achieve a coordinated control. The research provides the grid-connected battery modeling that integrates wind. The advanced battery model utilizes the electrical equivalent (dual polarization) model for the analysis. The research involves deploying a 1 MWh energy storage system (at Reese Technology Center in Lubbock, Texas) to understand the renewable energy sources and load management, including battery applications such as ramp control, frequency response, voltage response, emergency backup and peak load leveling, when connected to the grid. In order to develop the test bed of the grid-connected battery project at Reese, the research provides the simulation results using PSCAD software on discharge and charge characteristics of the 1 MWh Lithium Manganese Oxide battery under transient fault conditions when it is tied to the grid for wind integration. Initially vector control technique was used to control the current flow and the results were validated using the experimental data. Later an emerging technique on model predictive control (for three phase bi-directional converter to integrate a battery system with the grid) was developed to compare its performance with the vector controller. The model predictive control technique is analyzed to integrate the 1MWh battery system in PSCAD simulation environment for both steady state and fault scenarios. The simulation results show the effectiveness of model predictive control technology for battery system integration with the grid.

Biography:

Philip W. T. Pong is a chartered physicist, a chartered electrical engineer, a chartered energy engineer, and a registered professional engineer. He is working on magnetoresistive magnetic field sensors, smart grid, and smart living in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He received a B.Eng. in EEE of HKU in 2002 with 1st class honours. He obtained his PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge in 2005. After working as a postdoctoral researcher in the Magnetic Materials Group at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) for three years, he joined the HKU Faculty of Engineering where he is now an associate professor. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and also a Fellow of the NANOSMAT Society. He has published over 200 technical papers with over 100 SCI publications

Abstract:

A smart city is a sustainable urban center that interconnects and improves quality of life for its inhabitants which are ever increasing due to the rapid urbanization particularly in Asia. A smart city is composed of a number of components including smart buildings, smart grid, smart energy and smart transportation. Many of these components are supporting clean energy which is a promising solution to the threatening environmental problems such as pollution, carbon dioxide emission and ozone layer depletion. On the other hand, the integration and penetration of clean energy into smart cities poses challenges to the power systems that require sophisticated sensing in order to maintain power stability. Sensing is a major framework of a smart city as it gathers vital data and statistics to ensure the smooth operation of the city. Most of the smart city applications are created with the building blocks of sensors. Magnetic, being one of the six major sensor energy forms, plays an important technical role in both smart city and clean energy. Therefore smart city, clean energy and magnetic sensing form a trilateral relation that is shaping the current status as well as future prospect of smart living. In this talk we will discuss how magnetic sensing can be implemented to enable smart city with clean energy. We will look at the latest development of applications of magnetic sensors in smart city and clean energy. An overview picture of the technology trend will be presented to illustrate the contribution of magnetic sensing to sustainability and smart future.