Engineering Commons^™

Constrained Discrete Phase Control Of A Heaving Wave Energy Converter In Irregular Seas Using Reinforcement Learning, Praveen D. Malali

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Designed for offshore deployment in irregular seas, the point absorber wave energy conversion (WEC) system is promisingly attractive amongst the currently available WEC technologies. The effectiveness of phase control when applied to a heaving point absorber through a hydraulic power take-off (PTO) system is systematically investigated in both regular and irregular waves. For this purpose, two phase control accumulators are utilized in the hydraulic PTO system. Simulations are performed in MATLAB® using the Cummins equation to model the dynamics of the heaving point absorber in the time domain.

For a given sea state, the opening instant of the control valves …

The Effects Of Algae Pre-Treatment On The Biomethane Potential Of Swine Wastewater, Joe Barrett Carter

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Anaerobic digestion is a common method of waste treatment in the agro-industrial and municipal sectors, which utilizes microbial metabolisms that take place in an environment closed to the atmosphere to convert the organic content of wastewater into gas composed of approximately 65% methane and 35% carbon dioxide. This gas can be used as a combustible fuel for the production of heat and/or electricity. Anaerobic digestion is not typically used to treat swine waste because of its low carbon to nitrogen ratio being below the ideal range of 20-30:1. This high nitrogen content of swine waste results in ammonia inhibition of …

Vanadium Trichloride Thermochemical Solar Energy Storage System Analysis., Caleb Michael Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As annual energy consumption grows, developing renewable solar energy conversion systems, storage systems, and high density electrical energy production systems is growing increasingly important. The proposed system utilizes vanadium trichloride thermal decomposition to produce chlorine gas and vanadium dichloride. A second reaction combines gaseous hydrogen chloride and the product vanadium dichloride to reform vanadium trichloride and produce hydrogen gas. Hydrogen gas and chlorine gas can be stored indefinitely and electrical energy is obtained from the chemicals by a non-humidified dry membrane hydrogen – chlorine fuel cell. The fuel cell produces the gaseous hydrogen chloride needed to reform vanadium trichloride. The …

Synchrophasor Sensing And Processing Based Smart Grid Security Assessment For Renewable Energy Integration, Huaiguang Jiang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the evolution of energy and power systems, the emerging Smart Grid (SG) is mainly featured by distributed renewable energy generations, demand-response control and huge amount of heterogeneous data sources. Widely distributed synchrophasor sensors, such as phasor measurement units (PMUs) and fault disturbance recorders (FDRs), can record multi-modal signals, for power system situational awareness and renewable energy integration.

An effective and economical approach is proposed for wide-area security assessment. This approach is based on wavelet analysis for detecting and locating the short-term and long-term faults in SG, using voltage signals collected by distributed synchrophasor sensors.

A data-driven approach for fault …

Improving Flow Distribution In Small-Scale Water-Supply Systems Through The Use Of Flow-Reducing Discs And Methods For Analyzing The Effectiveness Of Solar Powered Pumping For A Drinking Water Supply In Rural Panama, Briana I. Drake

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

As continued global funding and coordination are allocated toward the improvement of access to safe sources of drinking water, alternative solutions may be necessary to expand implementation to remote communities.

This report evaluates two technologies used in a small water distribution system in a mountainous region of Panama; solar powered pumping and flow-reducing discs. The two parts of the system function independently, but were both chosen for their ability to mitigate unique issues in the community. The design program NeatWork and flow-reducing discs were evaluated because they are tools taught to Peace Corps Volunteers in Panama.

Even when ample water …

Stargrazer One: A New Architecture For Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking Of Solar Photovoltaic Sources, Edgard Munoz-Coreas

Theses and Dissertations--Electrical and Computer Engineering

The yield from a solar photovoltaic (PV) source is dependent on factors such as light and temperature. A control system called a maximum power point tracker (MPPT) ensures that the yield from a solar PV source is maximized in spite of these factors. This thesis presents a novel implementation of a perturb and observe (PO) MPPT.

The implementation uses a switched capacitor step down converter and a custom digital circuit implementation of the PO algorithm. Working in tandem, the switched capacitor step down converter and the custom digital circuit implementation were able to successfully track the maximum power point of …

A Technical And Cultural Feasibility Assessment Of Household Microbial Fuel Cells For Use In Hanan'g District, Tanzania, Erinn Kunik

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are an emerging electricity generation technology that has the potential for use in developing countries. This study assessed the feasibility of using MFCs in Tanzania through technical analysis of a MFC prototype alongside with interviews with Tanzanians for a cultural feasibility assessment of MFCs. For the technical analysis, this study evaluated the inputs needed for a household MFC to operate and produce electricity with cattle manure as a fuel and evaluated the electrochemical and chemical performance as well as the fecal coliform reduction of the manure during MFC operation. For this study, a MFC was built …

Process Design, Dynamics, And Techno-Economic Analysis Of A Sustainable Coal, Wind, And Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Hybrid Energy System, Kyle Lee Buchheit

Doctoral Dissertations

"The availability of cheap electricity is one of the biggest factors for improving quality of life. With the debate on the effects of carbon dioxide emissions continuing, several countries have either implemented or are considering the reduction of emissions through various economic means. The inclusion of a monetary penalty on carbon emissions would increase the prices of electricity produced by carbon-based sources. The push for large-scale renewable sources of energy has met problems with regards to energy storage and availability. The proposed coal, wind, and nuclear hybrid energy system would combine a renewable energy source, wind, with traditional and stable …

A Comprehensive Optimization Framework For Designing Sustainable Renewable Energy Production Systems, Aryan Geraili Nejadfomeshi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As the world has recognized the importance of diversifying its energy resource portfolio away from fossil resources and more towards renewable resources such as biomass, there arises a need for developing strategies which can design renewable sustainable value chains that can be scaled up efficiently and provide tangible net environmental benefits from energy utilization. The objective of this research is to develop and implement a novel decision-making framework for the optimal design of renewable energy systems. The proposed optimization framework is based on a distributed, systematic approach which is composed of different layers including systems-based strategic optimization, detailed mechanistic modeling …

Optimisation Of Stand-Alone Hydrogen-Based Renewable Energy Systems Using Intelligent Techniques, Adel Brka

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Wind and solar irradiance are promising renewable alternatives to fossil fuels due to their availability and topological advantages for local power generation. However, their intermittent and unpredictable nature limits their integration into energy markets. Fortunately, these disadvantages can be partially overcome by using them in combination with energy storage and back-up units. However, the increased complexity of such systems relative to single energy systems makes an optimal sizing method and appropriate Power Management Strategy (PMS) research priorities.

This thesis contributes to the design and integration of stand-alone hybrid renewable energy systems by proposing methodologies to optimise the sizing and operation …