Proceeding REMOO 2018 With ISBN 978-3-9818275-8-3

Proceeding
ISBN 978-3-9818275-8-3
QUEST FOR ENERGY
The 8th International Conference & Workshop
REMOO-2018
VENICE / ITALY 29-31 May
The 8th International Conference & Workshop REMOO–2018
29-31 May 2018, VENICE / ITALY
Quest for Energy
Proceeding
July 2018
ISBN 978-3-9818275-8-3
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REMOO–2018
VENICE / ITALY 29-31 May
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CONTENT
T01 Power Plants Technologies and Engineering

01.032 G. Krasniqi / KOSOVO, C. Dimitrieska / MACEDONIA, Sh. Lajqi, K. Krasniqi / KOSOVO
“Investigation of Wind Potential in two Different Locations, Kosovo”
01.035 K. Komljenović, B. Marčić / CROATIA
“Additional Increasing Efficiency and Reducing Energy Losses of El-To Zagreb Power Plant”
01.038 K. Krasniqi / KOSOVO, D. Tashevski / MACEDONIA, Sh. Lajqi, G. Krasniqi / KOSOVO
“Influence of the Outside Heating Surfaces Fouling on the Steam Generator Performance in Power
Plant – Kosovo B”
01.041 D. Krasniqi / KOSOVO, R. Filkoski / MACEDONIA, M. Krasniqi, F. Krasniqi / KOSOVO
“The Role of Energy and Exergy Efficiency in Thermodynamic Analysis”
01.048 K. Komljenović, S. Gabrić / CROATIA
“Reduction of Heat and Water Losses Through Errection of New Waste Water Pit in the El-To Zagreb
Cogeneration Power Plant”
01.071 M. Valjak, K. Komljenović / CROATIA
“Optimization of the El-To Power Plant with District Heating Demand”
01.085 Sh. Lajqi / KOSOVO, B. Đurin / CROATIA, N. Lajqi, D. Meha / KOSOVO, L. Baić / CROATIA
“Study of the Hydropower Potential for Construction of Small Hydro Power Plant Study Case:
“Prizreni 4”, Kosovo”
T02 Advanced Energy Concepts and Technologies

02.084 S. A. Ghoreishi-Madiseh, A. F. Kuyuk / CANADA
“Developing Large-Scale Mine-Coupled Geothermal Systems for Surface and Underground Heating
Applications”
02.087 G. Lastovicka-Medin / MONTENEGRO
“Hidden Energy in Embedded and Ubiquitous Computing”
“Review on Energy Harvesting for Low-Power Applications and for Wireless Communication: Past
and Future Trends including Challenges”
T03 Materials and Structural Analyses

03.036 H. K. Namburi, O. Libera, J. Růžička / CZECH REPUBLIC
“Study of Ferritic/Martensitic Steels Mechanical Properties at Elevated Temperatures using High
Temperature Nanoindentation”
03.037 H. K. Namburi / CZECH REPUBLIC, C. Han Ho, F. Yi Chuang / TAIWAN
“Assessment of Material Properties by Lateral Compression Testing in Nuclear Grade Fuel Claddings”
03.056 K. Heckmann, J. Sievers / GERMANY
“Limits and Challenges of Leak-Before-Break”
03.093 Z. Hlaváč, R. Mohyla, Z. Špirit, J. Patera, M. Schulc, J. Koťátková / CZECH REPUBLIC
“Nuclear Grade Concrete Behavior under Gamma Irradiation and Loss of Coolant Accident
Conditions”
03.103 M. S. Demirtas, M. C. Saha / USA
“Electrospun Nanofibers for Energy Applications”
REMOO–2018
T04 Mathematical Modelling and Computer Simulations
04.004 J. Li, H. Hao / AUSTRALIA
“Internal and External Overpressure Calculation of Vented Vapour Cloud Explosion by Using
Combined Computational Fluid Dynamics Methods”
04.007 M. Ahmadi, H. Khaleghi / IRAN
“Turbulent Dispersion of Fuel Droplets in Diesel Engine Sprays”
04.011 N. Uddin / BRUNEI
“Numerical Simulation of V-Shaped Flame-Holder”
04.027 P. Riffat, C. Hirsch, T. Sattelmayer / GERMANY
“Calibration of the Parameters of the RPI Boiling Model for Novec™649 Refrigerant”
04.053 S. Maharshi, P. Gupta / INDIA
“Computational Simulation of the Influence of the Shroud Blade Angle on the Cavitation in the
Impeller of a Centrifugal Pump”
04.068 A. Schaffrath, A. Wielenberg / GERMANY
“Adaption of the GRS Simulation Chain for Conventional and Renewable Applications”
04.098 C. Boyd, J. Thompson, S. Bible, C. Triece / USA
“Evaluation of CFD Model Uncertainty for Stratified Mixing Benchmark”
T05 Heat & Mass Transfer and Turbulence

05.013 H. Farani Sani, H. Khaleghi / IRAN
“A Modification for Droplets Secondary Breakup Models”
T06 Experimental Support and Techniques

06.024 O. Mahdavi Keshavar, A. Jafarian Dehkordi, Ma Rezaei, S. Deldar / IRAN
“Experimental and Analytical Investigation of a Small Scale Heat Recovery Steam Generator”
06.045 M. Lang / AUSTRIA
“Layout, Installation and Operation of a Test Bench for the Investigation of Rankine-Cycle Waste
Heat Recovery Systems”
06.046 M. Zimina, T. Adamíková, O. Srba / CZECH REPUBLIC
“Innovative Mechanical and Microstructural Testing of Irradiated Materials in Hot Cells”
06.054 S. Maharshi, N. Agrawal / INDIA
“An Experimental and Numerical Study of the Flow Behind an Equilateral Triangular Prism”
06.107 M.A. Bolshukhin, A.V. Budnikov, A.A. Barinov, D.N. Patrushev / RUSSIA
“Experiment-Calculated Studies on Steady State Mixing of Turbulent Flows in Large Scale Model of
Reactor Pressure Chamber for Validation of CFD-Codes”
T07 Data Analysis

07.078 A. Gazzoli, A. Nascimento, M. H. Mathias, J. L. Goncalves / BRAZIL
“Advantages of Applying Drill-Rate Test Dynamically using the Similarity of the Trend Curves
Generated by Drilling Data”
07.079 D. Bezrukovs, S. Aniskevich, V. Bezrukovs/ LATVIA
“Forecasting the Efficiency of Small Wind Turbine Generators”
T08 Alternative Powertrain Modelling and Simulation

08.076 E. Qorraj, N. Lajqi, E. Qorraj, Sh. Qorraj / KOSOVO
“Energy Efficiency in Road Transport for Passenger in Republic of Kosovo”
REMOO–2018
“Virtual Human Interaction Lab towards Energy Sustainable Behaviours and as a Tool of Learning by
Doing: Sustainability Science as A Room of Its Own”
T09 Energy Storage

09.070 T. Weitzel, M. Schneider, C. Glock, S. Rinderknecht, G. Franke / GERMANY
“Sizing and Operating a Hybrid Electric Energy Storage System using Meta Heuristics”
T10 Electrical Grids

10.012 T. Plösser, B. Niersbach, C. Schweinsberg, J. Hanson / GERMANY
“Power Quality Assessment of an Urban Medium Voltage Grid”
10.025 E. Bashar, W. Shao, L. Ran, R. Wu, H. Qin / UK
“An Appraisal of Possible Protection Schemes of Static Series Compensators in Medium Voltage
Power Networks”
10.031 B. Niersbach, T. Plösser, J. Hanson / GERMANY
“Influence of Active Components in LV-Networks on Short-Circuit Currents in Distribution Grids”
T11 Commodities / Energy Mix and Environmental Engineering

11.028 Ç. Yilmaz, G. Kayakutlu / TURKEY
“Economic Evaluation of Urban Electric Bus Charge Stations: Case of Eindhoven, The Netherlands”
11.044 M. Lang, R. Kirchberger / AUSTRIA
“Waste Heat Recovery for Commercial Vehicles: Basics and the Main Challenges”
“CO2 Emissions and Energy Consumption of Data Centers: Case Study of CERN, Google Cloud &
Facebook”
T12 Energy Management

12.051 S. Zambotti / ITALY, I-T. Tsai / UAE, S. Pezzutto / ITALY
“A Framework Process for Regional Variation and Implications for Urban Sustainability”
REMOO–2018
REMOO 2019
16-18 April 2019 HONG KONG
16 November 2018: Abstracts submission
23 November 2018: Notification of Abstracts acceptance
30 November 2018: Registration Forms of Authors
14 December 2018: Registration payment of Authors
29 March 2019: Full Papers submission
Source: http://de.123rf.com; Copyright: Wong Yu Liang
ENERGY RELIABILITY
QUEST FOR ENERGY
29–31 May 2018, VENICE / ITALY
INVESTIGATION OF WIND POTENTIAL

IN TWO DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, KOSOVO
Gazmend KRASNIQI1, Cvete DIMITRIESKA2, Shpetim LAJQI3*, Korab KRASNIQI3
1
University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics
70 000 Ferizaj, Kosovo
2
“St. Kliment Ohridski” University – Bitola, Faculty of Technical Sciences
7 000 Bitola, Macedonia
3
University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
10 000 Pristina, Kosovo; shpetim.lajqi@uni-pr.edu
Abstract
The purpose of this paper is an investigation of wind potential in two different locations in the
area of Skenderaj, to show and compare wind data measured for these two locations with
wind data given from satellite.
As a developing country, Kosovo is still developing paths to produce energy from renewables.
While one of the possibilities to produce energy from renewables is producing energy from
the wind, there is not enough information for the wind data in the area of Kosovo. So far,
Hydro-meteorological Institute of Kosovo only gives information for three locations, and for
any other location, new measurements are required. Knowing that investments in the area of
wind energy are very expensive, more accurate wind data information are always required
before investing in wind farms in any location. One very well-known possibility to get
approximate wind data are the satellite data given online from a number of web pages. Having
the results of measured data for two locations in the area of Skenderaj, the main purpose of
this paper is to show the wind velocity, direction and distribution, especially wind potential
and power density for these two locations. This investigation also includes analyses of
differences between measured data and satellite data for these locations, if any. If there are
differences between data of these two locations, the margins of these differences will be
shown in this paper, including differences of wind velocity, direction, and distribution. This
way, the accuracy of these data for further scientific research will be confirmed.
Keywords: Wind potential; Renewable; Wind speed; Satellite wind data;

Wind direction; Specific power
1 Introduction
The industrialization done during past years and decades without taking in consideration the
environmental consequences, caused, among others, a very big problem – known as
POLLUTION. The continuity of technology development brought with itself many challenges.
The main one now tries to undo what it was done, and it requires the technology used to be
so called “Environmental Friendly”. While there is not an exact definition of its meaning, it
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.1
Proceeding of the 8th International Conference & Workshop REMOO-2018
“QUEST FOR ENERGY” 29–31 May 2018, VENICE / ITALY
requires the technology to be less harmful to the environment, in short, to release as less
amount of pollution as possible. Anyhow, the pollution limits that can be released change
quite often by those who make the rules. And that’s the reason why “Environmental Friendly”
term doesn’t actually have an exact definition. Nevertheless, in the world of energy
technology there is one and only huge challenge to fulfil: It requires the energy source to be
“Environmental Friendly”. As friendly as possible.
A very well-known way to produce energy doing less harm to environment is using renewable
energy resources. Availability of renewable energy resources is depended by many factors and
differs a lot from a region to another. Among others, wind energy is a great energy resource
to be used in the areas where its potential is sufficient. Combination of wind and solar energy
is one of mostly used combination of renewable resources, since it provides energy production
throughout the whole year.
To know the potential of energy production from any of the resources, many studies are
required. For the case of wind energy, wind velocity and direction must be known, while for
solar energy irradiation is crucial.
The potential of energy production from the wind in many regions remains yet to be known.
There is a known fact that installing wind turbines in an area is very expensive. And of course,
before installing such an expensive technology somewhere, assurance is needed that
investments will be worthy. An approximate wind data for any region are satellite data given
online by different sources. The purpose of this paper is to conclude if these data are accurate,
reliable and can be used for further investigations.
Differences between measured and satellite data were studied by Garmashov [1] in 2015,
where he together with other authors studied the difference between Satellite and
Meteorological Data on Wind Velocity over the Black Sea. Prior to that similar studies have
been done by W. J. Plant [2] in 2000. Together with other meteorological data, wind velocity
differences were studies also by Elizabeth C. Kent [3] in 2013. All the above mentioned authors
found differences between measured and satellite data, some of them were quite high.
The study in this paper will be done for two different locations, for which both, measured and
satellite data are in possession. Measured data are taken from Wind Energy Assessment done
in those two regions, while satellite data are taken online from NASA POWER Data Access
Viewer webpage.
2 Measured and Satellite Wind Data

Two studies for Wind Energy Assessment have been made in two different locations of
Skenderaj, Kosovo. These studies gave as results for wind velocities and directions for one
year. Both studies were done from June 2012 to June 2013 where monthly average wind
velocity and direction were shown. Studies for these two locations have been made at a
certain height above the ground. For location 1, it has been done at 43 meters of height and
for location 2, 61 meters of height from the ground. Table 1 shows the locations and height
above the ground where data are measured.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.2
Table 1: Locations of installed measuring equipment for the two locations

Location Parameters Skenderaj 1 Skenderaj 2
Latitude 42.724697 42.736310
Longitude 20.685610 20.684664
Height 61 [m] 43 [m]
Table 2 shows the average monthly wind velocity in meters/second.

Satellite data are taken from NASA POWER Data Access Viewer webpage. Data are taken for
the same locations to make the comparison. While satellite data are taken only for 50 and 100
meters of height, we will do the analyses for the height of 50 meters due to more approximate.
The online data from the mentioned source only provides average data for wind velocity and
direction. The wind parameters for these two locations will be compared to see the
differences of average data, and in the end tell the margins of the differences between the
data of the locations, if any difference appears.
Satellite data for both locations are shown in Table 3, in the same design as done in Table 2,
where wind velocity values are in meters/second.
Table 2: Average monthly wind velocity experimentally measured for two locations
Wind Velocity for two locations [m/s]
Months Skenderaj 1 Skenderaj 2
January 3.59 3.34
February 4.12 4.06
March 4.82 4.95
April 4.67 4.64
May 4.72 4.85
June 4.18 3.11
July 4.15 4.81
August 3.88 4.11
September 4.05 4.13
October 3.41 3.55
November 3.50 3.50
December 3.32 3.19
Average of months 3.97 4.02
As can be seen from the Tables 2 and 3, because the two locations are near to each other,
data taken from NASA satellites are almost the same. The data will be compared to see the
differences in wind velocity firstly.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.3
Table 3: Average monthly wind velocity taken from NASA satellite for the same locations
Wind Velocity for two locations [m/s]
January 4.90 4.90
February 4.45 4.45
March 4.78 4.78
April 3.78 3.78
May 4.18 4.18
June 3.06 2.86
July 3.17 3.17
August 3.30 3.30
September 3.30 3.30
October 3.48 3.48
November 3.78 3.78
December 4.04 4.04
Average for all months 3.85 3.84
In Figure 1 are shows diagrams of the measured and satellite wind velocities for Location 1 in
Skenderaj. There can easily be seen the differences for every month. The similar differences
are shown in Figure 2 for location 2 of Skenderaj.
5,50
Measured data
5,00 Satellite data
Wind speed [m/s]
4,50
4,00
3,50
3,00
2,50
July
September
December
November
March
August
October
January
May
June
April
February
Months
Figure 1. Measured and Average monthly wind velocities for location 1
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.4
5,00
Measured Data
Wind Velocity [m/s]
4,50 Satellite Data
4,00
3,50
3,00
2,50
September
October
May
January
August
November
December
April
June
March
July
February
Months
Figure 2. Measured and Average monthly wind velocities for location 2
Table 4 shows the monthly differences of average wind velocity for both locations and the
overall difference for measured and satellite data.
Table 4: Differences of measured and satellite average monthly wind velocities

Differences of wind velocities for two locations [m/s]
January -1.31 -0.84
February -0.33 0.5
March 0.04 -0.14
April 0.89 1.07
May 0.54 -1.07
June 1.125 1.95
July 0.98 0.94
August 0.58 0.83
September 0.75 0.25
October -0.07 0.02
November -0.28 -0.59
December -0.72 -0.7
Absolut difference for all months 0.63 0.74
As can be seen, there are differences between data, and at some points they reach more than
1 [m/s]. These differences have to be expressed in power generation to see the margins of the
error in energy generation. Anyhow, as can be seen from table 4, there are not very high
differences when yearly average data are compared.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.5
3 Wind Energy Potential

To know the wind energy potential for a certain location, either mathematical calculations
need to be done, or appropriate equipment need to be installed on that location. For this case,
mathematical calculations will be used to show the real energy production and difference of
this production when measured data are replaced with satellite data.
3.1 Wind Turbines Maths

Wind turbines capacity up to more than 10 [MW]. The amount of energy that one turbine can
produce is in function of the wind velocity and swept area of the turbine. Wind turbines
convert kinetic energy of the wind into rotation kinetic energy of the turbine, from where it
can be converted into electricity using a generator. Kinetic energy can be written:
m ⋅ v2
Ek = (1)
2
Power of energy given by a wind turbine is written with the energy change or, which is actually
the first derivate:
dEk d m ⋅ v 2 v 2 dm (2)
P= = =
dt dt 2 2 dt
The mass flow formula can be written here as follows:
dm dx
= ρ ⋅ A⋅ (3)
dt dt
where are:
ρ [kg/m3] - Density of air

A [m2] - Swept area of the turbine.
From the derivative of x the velocity formula can be written:
dx
=v (4)
dt
Putting two last equations into equation (2) we get:
ρ ⋅ A ⋅ v3
P= (5)
2
Albert Betz in 1920 discovered that the maximum power efficiency of a turbine can be 59%.
The wind turbine converts 70% of the Betz Limit into electricity. Good wind turbines generally
vary between 35-45% ranges. The Betz factor is written with Cp. Adding Betz Law into equation
(5), we get:
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.6
ρ ⋅ A ⋅ v3
P= ⋅ Cp (6)
2
Hence, the energy produced from a wind turbine depends on the air density (which is ρ =1.23
[kg/m3], swept area of the turbine, cubic velocity and Betz Law.
3.2 Measured and Satellite Wind Potential

Knowing the average wind velocity for every month we can calculate the wind potential from
a turbine that we choose to install. For example, we will calculate the power production from
a chosen turbine for the January. Turbine has the following characteristics:
Blades length: = 40
Turbine efficiency: = 45%
Knowing the air density ρ = 1.23 kg / m 3 and average wind velocity for January for location 1,
v = 3.59 m / s we can calculate the power production potential for January. Firstly, we calculate
the swept area of the turbine:
A = π ⋅ l 2 = 3.141⋅ 402 = 5025.6 m2 (7)

Then we can calculate the potential power production from the chosen turbine:
ρ ⋅ A ⋅ v3 1.23 ⋅ 5025.6 ⋅ 3.593

P= ⋅Cp = ⋅ 0.45 = 64351.53 W = 64.35 kW (8)
2 2
The potential power production for other months for both locations is shown in table 5.
Table 5: Measured and satellite average potential power production

Measured Energy Production Satellite Energy Production
Potential [kW] Potential [kW]
Months Skenderaj 1 Skenderaj 2 Skenderaj 1 Skenderaj 2
January 64.35 93.08 163.63 163.63
February 97.27 168.69 122.56 122.56
March 155.75 138.94 151.90 151.90
April 141.65 158.67 75.12 75.12
May 146.25 41.84 101.58 101.58
June 101.58 154.78 39.66 32.54
July 99.41 96.56 44.31 44.31
August 81.24 97.98 49.98 49.98
September 92.39 62.22 49.98 49.98
October 55.15 59.63 58.62 58.62
November 59.63 45.15 75.12 75.12
December 50.90 51.82 91.71 91.71
Average 87.03 90.36 79.37 78.45
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.7
Differences in energy production potential are not that low, so these differences must be
taken in consideration. The data will be compared to see the differences of potential energy
production.
Figure 3 shows the potential energy production from the wind for above written conditions
for location 1 of Skenderaj, while Figure 4 shows these data for location 2 of Skenderaj.
375,00
Measured Potential
Satellite Potential
300,00
225,00
150,00
75,00
0,00
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
JANUARY
AUGUST
OCTOBER
APRIL
MARCH
JUNE
MAY
JULY
SEPTEMBER
FEBRUARY
Figure 3. Measured and Average monthly energy production potential for Location 1
195,00
Measured Potential
Satellite Potential
160,00
125,00
90,00
55,00
20,00
November
December
June
September
October
March
May
January
August
April
July
February
Figure 4. Measured and Average monthly energy production potential for Location 2
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.8
Table 6 shows the monthly differences of average wind velocity for both locations and the
overall difference for measured and satellite data.
Table 6: Differences of measured and satellite average monthly Power Production
Differences of energy production potential in kilowatts [kW]

January -99.28 -70.55
February -25.29 46.13
March 3.85 -12.96
April 66.53 83.55
May 44.67 -59.74
June 61.92 122.24
July 55.10 52.26
August 31.26 47.99
September 42.41 12.24
October -3.47 1.02
November -15.49 -29.97
December -40.81 -39.89
Absolut difference for 40.84 48.21
all months
As can be seen the monthly energy production potential differs quite a lot between measured
and satellite data. Again, yearly differences are not very high.
4 Conclusion and future investigation

For many regions in the world, meteorological data are taken from the satellites. When it
comes to wind data, they can be also taken from satellites, or can be measured, so wind
potential will be known. It is necessary to know the exact wind potential before installing wind
turbines, since wind turbines technology is very expensive.
Having in possession measured data for 2 location in the area of Skenderaj, the main purpose
of this paper was to tell the differences between measured and satellite data, if any. After
taking the satellite data, the comparison of wind velocity data and potential were done. As
can be seen, wind data differ in quite a range between measured and satellite. Average
monthly wind velocity differs up to 1.3 m/s in some months, where in some month’s satellite
data are higher and in some others measured data are. This results also in differences of
turbines potential, which differences are shown for a chosen turbines with specific
dimensions.
In future, it is crucial to tell which of these technologies is more accurate. It is necessary to
tell if measured data are more accurate or satellite ones. Even though in these cases, satellite
data are the data that should be marked as “wrong”, a third part technology is needed to tell
if the margin of differences is at this level, or both of technologies have a margin of error.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.9
References
[1] A. V. Garmashov, “Comparing Satellite and Meteorological Data on Wind Velocity over
the Black Sea,” Springer May 2016, Volume 52, Issue 3, pp 309–316.
[2] W. J. Plant, “Effects of wind variability at low wind speed” Journal of Geophysical
Research: Oceans. 105. pp 134 - 137 vol.1.
[3] Elizabeth C. Kent, “A comparative assessment of monthly mean wind speed products
over the global ocean” International Journal of Climatology. 33. pp2520–2541.
[4] K. D. Aps, “Wind and Energy Assessment for the 32 MW Skenderaj Wind Project,” 2013.
[5] P. Ruti, S. Marullo, F. D'Ortenzio and M. Tremant, “Comparison of analyzed and

measured wind speeds in the perspective of oceanic simulations over the
Mediterranean basin: Analyses, QuikSCAT and buoy data,” 2008 Journal of Marine
Systems. 70. pp 33-48.
[6] D. W. Draper and D. G. Long, “An assessment of SeaWinds on QuikSCAT wind retrieva,”
2002 J. Geophys. Res. 107.
[7] https://power.larc.nasa.gov/data-access-viewer/
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.10
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ADDITIONAL INCREASING EFFICIENCY AND REDUCING

ENERGY LOSSES OF EL-TO ZAGREB POWER PLANT
Krešimir KOMLJENOVIĆ,Boris MARČIĆ*
HEP Proizvodnja, EL-TO Zagreb power plant, 1 Zagorska Str., 10 000, Zagreb, Croatia;
kresimir.komljenovic@hep.hr, boris.marcic@hep.hr
Abstract
In the light of the arising natural gas prices used in the thermoelectric plants, the demand for
high efficiency of the plant is set. One of these is EL-TO Zagreb power plant, owned by
Hrvatska elektroprivreda d.d., which produces electricity and heat (primary). In EL-TO Zagreb
are installed two gas-turbine cogeneration units. These two gas turbine generator sets are
equipped with boilers heated with flue gases (built in 1999). The fuel which is used is only
natural gas, and utilization boilers are marked with technology tags UT1 and UT2. In boilers
UT1 and UT2 industrial steam is produced for steam consumers and heat for the district
heating system of the city of Zagreb.
In 2015, EL-TO Zagreb has successfully installed additional water heaters of 3.8 MW, which
are in serial connection with existing heaters (currently two water heaters per boiler). Based
on the guarantee measurements from 2015, proven success of previous project and on the
basis of an additional feasibility study in 2016, it was concluded that it is possible to upgrade
the existing boilers UT1 and UT2 with additional hot water heat exchanger system (heat
exchanger: flue gas / return of hot water supply) each heat duty 2.8 MW for further reducing
the temperature of the flue gas. According to the feasibility study return on investment is
relatively short - under 2 years of average unit working hours, which justifies the investment.
New pumps, piping, regulation and measurement systems are required where additional
heat exchangers will be in parallel connection with the previous two water heaters and
above them.
The system of all heaters is designed in such a way that the main inlet water from the city
district heating system backflow is taken, and before entering the central heat station of
power plant it is additional heated in order to increase the utilization of the entire plant i.e.
the utilization of the waste heat. The return of heated hot water from boilers UT1 and UT2 is
also done jointly before entering the central heat station.
The expected commissioning of two new heaters is November 2018, and in the end there
will be a total of 3 flue gases / district water heaters in each boiler.
Keywords: Efficiency; Heat; Flue; Exchanger; Upgrade
1 Introduction
In 1907 the production of electricity began in the power plant in Tresnjevka in Zagreb,
Croatia. Throughout its history, the plant has expanded and gained importance also in the
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.1
production of thermal energy as a central source of supply for the western part of the city.
Heat generation is nowadays the primary function of the plant and mainly includes hot
water system for heating and sanitary water and to a lesser extent the production of steam.
Although investing in new production units is much easier, the reality is that existing plants,
although technologically outdated, still may be working with measures that increase their
effectiveness. For this reason, in 2014 the Elektrana toplana (EL-TO) Zagreb plant initiated
the work on conceptual design to increase the efficiency of the energy conversion process at
its site by means of utilization of waste heat from boiler units by installing additional heat
exchangers. That heat exchangers transfer heat from flue gases to water of district heating
grid. Lowering of flue gas outlet temperature is possible due to the fact fuel oil is no more
used at the site and thus the flue gas outlet temperatures could be reduced without the risk
of sulphuric acid condensation. By the end of May 2016 heaters were successfully
commissioned and with proven excellent results from production EL-TO initiated the work
on additional district water heat exchangers. This time with special care on loading existing
structure and allowable backpressure load on gas turbine. By the end of May 2018 detailed
design and permitting have been made and in November 2018 heat exchangers will be
installed at reconstructed channel of existing boiler units.
2 Project Background
EL-TO Zagreb plant (Figure 1) is complex and characterized by old production units.
Electricity is generated in the back-pressure unit A, unit B with heating condenser and two
gas-turbine cogeneration units H and J. In addition to the aforesaid units there are also units
with direct heat production: NTK1, NTK2 and K7 as auxiliary steam boiler and two peak
shaving hot water boilers: VK3 and VK4. Flue gas ducts of boilers VK3, VK4, K6, K7, K8 and K9
are connected to a common reinforced concrete chimney with height of 200 meters. Newly
commissioned NTK1 and NTK2 boilers have standalone chimneys with flue gas temperature
below 70°C. Each hot steam recovery generator of unit H and unit J has its own chimney with
total height of 60 m.
Figure 1. Gas-turbine cogeneration units H and J (site installation of last heaters)
Industrial (process) consumers of thermal energy are supplied via steam line, while heating
consumers (households and business premises) of thermal energy are supplied via district
heating grid (hot water line). Two DN300 and one DN400 steam lines exit EL-TO plant as well
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.2
as two district heating hot water lines: DN500 and DN800. The plant total installed capacity
is 88.8 MWe / 439 MWt while production of steam amounts 160 t/h.
Given that the protection of the environment and increasing energy efficiency is a priority
task of Croatian energy sector, EL-TO Zagreb plant continuously performs many actions for
energy efficiency (energy consumption, heat consumption, water consumption and energy
wasted in drainage and sewage etc.). A large part of the losses on which it is possible to
implement energy efficiency measures is applicable to the energy contained in the flue
gases. First rough estimate showed that the loss in the form of sensible heat amounts
approximately 10% of the energy contained in fuel that enters the plant. Most certainly,
most of this potential cannot be used because of the problems of chimney’s buoyancy,
possible condensation of sulfuric acid, and extremely large heat exchanger surfaces that
would be required for the heat transfer and thus further burden the steel structure or even
prevented installation of heat exchanger. There is also the problem of the energy levels of
the potential heat recipient which can receive the heat energy.
Feasibility study for plant energy efficiency increase in 2016, showed that an additional
upgrade of the existing system of district heating water heaters (heat exchanger: flue gas /
district heating water in return to plant) on unit H and unit J requires some process changes
such as:
• detail analysis of existing structure
• minor reconstruction of flue duct in the crossing point of boiler duct and diverter
duct on level +35,00 m
• new pumps dedicated only to new heat exchangers with accompanying pipeline,
heat energy measurement, power supply etc.
The analysis also showed that the return on investment is rather short, just under 2 year of
average operation of units and in fully justifies the decision of EL-TO plant to invest and
commence the project in 2018.
The system of heaters is designed in a way that it takes the water from return line of district
heating system grid before entering the district heating station within the plant (pump
station) and performs additional heating to increase the efficiency of the plant, i.e. the
utilization of waste heat. Connection for return of heated water into the network is made on
the same return line prior to entering the pump station (including all district water heaters
installed). Hot water return line of district heating system grid enters the plant in the
temperature range 50-60°C, and it is used to decrease the output temperature of flue gases
in range 70 - 75 °C.
Additional water heaters have been installed in following locations:
• Unit H – at the exit of vertical HRSG, just beneath weather damper
• Unit J – at the exit of vertical HRSG, just beneath weather damper
2.1 Technical description

Heaters for unit H and unit J share the same design (Fehler! Verweisquelle konnte nicht
gefunden werden.) with one difference - they are symmetrical with respect to the central
axis of the boiler room. Heaters have its own casing which will be used as duct steel sheets
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.3
and will be installed together with steel framing in the output part of the HRSGs. Steel frame
is supported on existing HRSG’s hot beams at +35 m above the ground (Fehler!
Verweisquelle konnte nicht gefunden werden.). The majority of site works are expected on
boiler steel frame reconstruction and leveling up the intersection of boiler duct and diverter
duct at level +35 m for additional 2 m. By that it also includes the relocation of existing
weather damper. In design phase the biggest task was to define where to place the new heat
exchanger in relevance to weather damper and intersection of diverter duct with boiler duct.
There were 2 options:
1. To place it into the intersection point of diverter and boiler duct without relocation of
weather damper and bigger reconstruction of flue gas duct lines. The consequence of
that decision is to make the whole heat exchanger out of high thermo resistant
material because the temperature of flue gas which is expected in diverter duct (500
°C).
2. To place it into boiler duct with relocation of weather damper and reconstruction of
intersection point of diverter and boiler duct to accommodate new heat exchanger
beneath the weather damper / intersection point. The consequence of that decision
is to have a bigger scope of work on flue gas duct lines and possibility of choosing
lower thermo resistant material for heat exchanger and its steel frame. This was the
chosen option which will be further elaborated in detail design.
Besides the defined location another challenge, which is related to location, was how to
define the dimensions of new heat exchangers which have to be satisfactory to 2 criteria’s:
1. Each heat exchanger has to have heat duty at least 2.8 MW
2. Maximum allowed backpressure of flue gases at the exhaust of gas turbine has to be
maximum 30 mbar (including noise suppressors).
Figure 2. Block scheme of all district water heaters within one HRSG
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.4
After installing last heat exchangers in 2016. the DCS measured backpressure value was
around 17 mbar (Figure 3). According to the manufacturer's (General Electric) available
public datasheets and directly inquired the manufacturer of gas turbine (PG5371(PA)) EPC
Contractor was issued a positive GE’s opinion and Clients permission to continue with
exchangers pre-assembly. Expected backpressure, according to detail design, will be 22
mbar.
Figure 3. DCS with HRSG screen (within red square backpressure on gas turbine value)
District heating water flows through tube bundles which are heated from the outside from
flue gases of gas turbines. Tube bundles are made with serrated finned tubes Ø31.8 x 2.6
mm while whole heater package is 3 m wide, 5.7 m long and 1 m in height with weight
around 13 t each. It is important to note that the currently there is no available space for
entrance in the boiler duct (due to the hot beams and boiler steel structure) so a
reconstruction of duct and steel framework is necessary for final installation. This requires
extremely precise load manipulation which will be done by experienced Contractor.
Figure 4. Cross section of intersection point – diverter and boiler duct

(before on left, after on right)
Since the connection (inlet, outlet) to hot water system is common for all water heat
exchangers, in both boiler ducts, the replacement of existing pipeline with larger diameter is
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.5
necessary (from DN 250 to DN 350) to gain defined minimum water flow for all exchangers
and maintain low velocity inside the pipeline (laminar flow). Hence, the new heat exchangers
are connected in parallel with existing exchangers (separate pumps) the T-section will be
made inside boiler house for inlet side of water supply and on the outlet side (towards
central heating station). Also, the new heat exchangers will be accompanied with self-
dedicated control system (PLC) which will also gather information of production of all water
heat exchangers. The temperature of condensation of flue gases on gas turbines are below
55°C so to reduce the value of investment pumps (468 m3/h each, one duty – one stand by)
are used without frequency regulation. On top of that gas turbines in EL-TO are almost
always driven on base load with constant temperature of flue gases.
Given the spot for installation specific calculations and the reinforcement of the bearing
structure of the HRSG and boiler house steel structure have to be done separately for the
assembly phase and final position phase.
3 Heat Exchanger Guarantee Performance

Guarantee and non-guarantee measurements will be performed on all heat exchangers and
reference values are shown in Table 1. It is important to note that new heat exchangers
which will be installed on unit H and unit J will probably give slightly different heat duty,
among each other than planned, but minimum 2.8 MW. Although those units share the
same design, during the years of exploitation a variation of parameters occurred, mainly due
to maintenance issues like plugged boiler tubes, noise silencers, etc. Given that new heaters
(on unit H and unit J) are connected in parallel prior to existing ones, it will not have an
impact on heat duty of heaters installed upstream.
Table 1: Heat exchanger performance
Item Unit Expected values
Temperature of the flue gas entering the heater °C 95
Temperature of the flue gas exiting the heater °C 72
Temperature of the DH water entering the heater °C 55
Temperature of the DH water exiting the heater °C 66

The mass flow of DH water through the through the
t/h 234
heater (each)
Heat duty of the heat exchanger kW 2800 *
Backpressure of flue gases on gas turbine (each) mbar 30 *
Permissible pressure drop on inlet/outlet DH water
bar 0.5
through the heater (each)
Total expected heat duty of DW installed MW 14 – 15 / each
*Values which are taken as a guarantee measurement
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.6
4 Energy Balance and Economic Indicators

Since fuel is used as an input for the thermal power conversion to the final product of power
plant: thermal and electric energy, its price significantly affects the economy of operation. As
the price of natural gas is in constant growth, the goal is to increase its utilization to the
maximum. Plants on which the heaters are going to be installed have limited lifespan due to
emissions issues and hence the goal is to install the heat exchangers as soon as possible on
units with enough working hours. At the EL-TO plant a monthly energy balance overview is
made, which in one place includes measurable, computable or estimable energy flows in the
plant and is the basis for all further calculations. In energy production process a part of the
input energy contained in the fuel is spent on own consumption of electricity and heat and
energy contained in the water added to the district heating system which includes
condensate and demineralized water. Based on this document it is possible to see what the
losses are in the system.
Energy balance of the EL-TO Zagreb plant for 2017 shows the data provided in Table 2. The
total energy consumption of the fuel (fuel oil, natural gas) to drive the overall plant is
4,474,428 GJ corresponding to 1,242,896 MWh. Installation of additional heat exchangers in
the boiler flue ducts increases the efficiency of the boiler (in terms of input energy) which
reduces the annual consumption of natural gas. Considering the planned hours of operation
of all units on which heat exchangers were installed, proven thermal energy savings of new
heaters amounts 31,864 MWh, which ultimately represents an increase in annual fuel
efficiency.
Table 2: EL-TO energy balance for 2017

Description Value
Energy consumption of fuel to power EL-TO power plant 1,242,896 MWh
The total energy consumption of natural gas to produce heat at El-TO 759,412 MWh
site
Total heat input to district heating system 531,233 MWht
Total heat duty of new heat exchangers (minimal) 5.6 MWt
The price of the heat 45.5 EUR/MWh
The value of heat produced from new heat exchangers 254.8 EUR/h
Investment value 1,450,000 EUR
Duration of return on investment expressed through the engagement 5,690 h or 3
of units months
Thermal energy savings 31,864 MWht
EL-TO plant efficiency in 2017 79,61 %
5 Status of the project and conclusion

Design activities and obtaining permits is in progress. Production and installation of heaters
and related equipment will be carried out in June and July 2018. Commissioning and
guarantee measurements within trial operation will be done in October 2018, just before
new district heating season (2018/2019). Although a very tight schedule is laid out all the
works must be carried out within the foreseen dynamic, and the most important thing that
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.7
during construction there must be no injuries and downtime, especially regarding

simultaneous work with regular maintenance work on gas turbines and HRSG.
Maximum heat duty of heat exchangers satisfies the heating requirements of about 800
apartments of 60 m2 with an average heat duty of 7 kW per apartment. Regarding the
energy efficiency, realized heat duty means savings of approximately 0,347 kg/s of natural
gas under ideal burning conditions. In view of value, saving on natural gas which is achieved
by increasing energy efficiency is 737 EUR/h. For a minimum of 1000 operating hours per
year (41 days) with full capacity, fuel saving amounts 737,550 EUR, but one should know that
heaters are used all year around with variable amounts of flue gas. By using the sensible
heat from flue gases, and considering how much energy would be needed to produce 5,6
MW of heat, 1217 kg/h less CO2 is released into the atmosphere.
Hence lower temperatures of flue gas are at disposal but they are going to have bigger heat
exchange surfaces and thus the steel structure of the building would require some upgrades.
Regarding the life expectancy of gas turbines this will be the last upgrade on HRSG side.
Project has officially commenced by EL-TO Zagreb plant at the ending of year 2017.
References
[1] Valjak, Marino, Detailed mechanical and process design for EL-TO Zagreb: Additional
heat exchangers and measuring equipment, Elektroprojekt Consulting Engineers,
Zagreb, Croatia, 2018.
[2] Komljenović, Krešimir; Valjak, Marino, Increasing efficiency and reducing energy losses
of el-to zagreb power plant, REMOO, Venice, Italy, 2017.
[3] Komljenović, Krešimir, EL-TO Zagreb energy balance, HEP Proizvodnja, EL-TO plant,
Zagreb, Croatia, 2017.
REMOO–2018 — 01.035.8
QUEST FOR ENERGY
INFLUENCE OF THE OUTSIDE HEATING SURFACES FOULING

ON THE STEAM GENERATOR PERFORMANCE
IN POWER PLANT- KOSOVO B
Korab KRASNIQI1, Done TASHEVSKI2, Shpetim LAJQI1*, Gazmend KRASNIQI3
1
University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
10 000 Pristina, Kosovo; shpetim.lajqi@uni-pr.edu
2
“St. Cyril and Methodious Ohridski” University – Skopje
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Skopje, Macedonia
3
University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics
70 000 Ferizaj, Kosovo
Abstract
The main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the problem of fouling on
heating surfaces from the scientific and technological point of view. A better understanding
of the problem and mechanisms that lead to accumulation of deposits on the heating
surfaces will provide opportunities for reducing or even eliminating the problem in certain
situations.
One of the new energy resources these days is also the energy efficiency – reducing energy
losses. One of the options to increase the energy efficiency is to reduce the losses occurring
in equipment used for energy production. Knowing the power plants efficiency is around 30-
40%, improving the efficiency of power generation in power plants will lead in more
significant energy savings. One of the main reasons for the low efficiency of power plants is
the continuous fouling of heating surfaces and channels of combustion gases.
The effect of fouling and slag in reducing the boiler performance at Power Plant - Kosovo B
is the main factor. These effects manifests themselves in various forms, starting with the
difficulty of equipment operation, to stopping and disabling the equipment usage.
Keywords: Heating Surfaces; Fouling; Power Plant; Efficiency
1 Introduction
Energy is one of the most influential products in the lives of citizens and the stability of a
state. Demand for it is growing steadily, while resources for its production are smalle and
smaller. One of the new energy resources these days is also the energy efficiency – reducing
energy losses. One of the options to increase the energy efficiency is to reduce the losses
occurring in equipment used for energy production. Knowing the power plants efficiency is
around 30-40%, improving the efficiency of power generation in power plants will lead in
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.1
more significant energy savings. One of the main reasons for the low efficiency of power
plants is the continuous fouling of heating surfaces and channels of combustion gases.
Fouling is generally defined as accumulation and formation of undesirable materials on the
surfaces of equipment, which can seriously exacerbate surface capacity for heat transfer
under the temperature change conditions for which it is designed. Fouling of heat transfer
surfaces is one of the most important problems in heat transfer equipments.
Fouling is an extremely complex phenomenon. It can be characterized as combined,
unstable, instantaneous, chemical problem with mass and heat transfer, corrosion and can
also include biological processes, so it is not a simple process but it is made up of several
processes together.
In the industry, the fouling of heat transfer surfaces has always been a known phenomenon,
though poorly understood. Fouling of heat transfer surfaces occurs in most of the chemical
and industrial processes, including petroleum refineries, paper products, polymers and fiber
production, drinking water production, food processing, dairy industry, energy production.
The ability to transfer heat efficiently remains a central trait of many industrial processes. As
a consequence, great attention has been devoted to improving the understanding of heat
transfer mechanisms and the development of suitable indicators and techniques that can be
applied to the design of heat exchangers. On the other hand, relatively little attention has
been given to the problem of fouling in heat exchangers.
The main purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the problem of pollution from
the scientific and technological point of view. A better understanding of the problem and
mechanisms that lead to accumulation of deposits on the surfaces will provide opportunities
for reducing or even eliminating the problem in certain situations.
In most applications, fouling occurs despite good design, effective operation, and
maintenance. For this reason, heat exchangers and related equipment should be cleaned to
restore the efficient operation of the heat exchanger.
2 Types of Heating Surfaces

To have heat transfer between two bodies, there must always be a temperature difference
between them.
Heat transfer between bodies with different temperatures can be done in three ways that
differ significantly from the aspect of the physical mechanism of heat transfer. Thus, the
heat transfer can be done by mechanism that depends on material such as conductivity and
convection, but also through radiation which does not depend on the nature of matter [1].
The boiler consists of these heat surfaces are [1]:
− Furnace,
− Evaporator,
− Superheater,
− Water heater, and
− Air heater.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.2
3 Causes of Outside Heating Surfaces Fouling

3.1 Fouling and slagging
Fouling and slaging are major problems, especially in coal boilers. Fouling is the formation of
deposits connected to the tube. Slaging usually occurs when the deposits are melted. Both
fouling and slaging cover the heating surfaces, reducing heat absorption in that region.Such
a reduction of heat absorption not only reduces the thermal output of the boiler, but also
increases the gas temperature in the stream line area, thus increasing the potential for
corrosion in that part. Deposits on the pipes also cause corrosion around the firebox. In
extreme cases, gas flow may be limited, which affects the fluid dynamics of the boiler.
The slaging occurs in the boiler section with the highest temperature, and the fouling occurs
in the part where the temperatures are lower, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Schematic presentation of Figure 2. Slagging of Plate superheater tubes

the Steam generator, as well as the
space where the slagging and the
fouling occur respectively
3.2 Impact of Ffuel Composition

Fuel is the most important contributor to fouling deposits. When coal burns in the air,
inorganic and organic mineral substances in coal remain as solid waste or as ash. Ash
contains oxides of silicon, aluminum, iron, titanium, calcium, magnesium, magnesium,
potassium, sodium, sulfur, phosphorus such as SiO2, A1203, Fe203, Ti02, CaO, MgO, Mn304,
V2O5, SO3, dhe P2O5. Except these, some of the elements can be found as complex
compounds such as silicate, alumino-silicate, sulfate, etc. The ash composition for Kosovo
coal is given in Table 2. However, the composition of coal varies just as its geographic origin
varies.
Fouling
Fouling usually occurs in the cold part of the boiler. Volatile inorganic elements such as
alkaline metals are evaporated from the high flame temperatures of burning powder coal.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.3
Gas stream carries these for the convective coolant section of the boiler. So as soon as these
come into contact with the cold absorbing heat surfaces they are condensed as compounds.
Ash and these alkaline compounds form solid adhesive composition. Unlike slagging, fouling
substances are not melted. Some of them can only be sintered. [2]
Slagging
Slag hard or ever formed on a clean tube surface. So a deposition process like fouling should
precede this. In powder coal burning boilers, the flame temperature is high enough to melt
the ashes. When the molten ash hits a relatively cold tube surface it is restored to it. Certain
parts of hardened ash remain on the surface as deposits (Figure 3.a). This deposit thickness
increases and they join together. The temperature of the outer surface of the deposit at a
distance from the coolant medium (steam and water) within the tube slowly increases,
eventually exceeds the melting point or at least some of the ash components exceeds it.
This process accelerates gradually, and almost everything that hits the deposit remains
there. Thus the surface temperature continues to increase, and molten deposits begin to
flow (Figure 3.b). With time, deposit becomes as heavy as it falls from the tube as a result of
its weight [2].
Figure 3. The process of slagging formation on the wall of the heating surface
Ash fusibility
The temperature, at which ash melts or starts softening, gives a good indication of the
slagging and other behavior of ash at elevated temperatures. In the United States a
procedure is outlined in ASTM standard D 1857 (fusibility of coal and coke ash) for
measurement of these properties. Other countries have their standards for measurement of
these properties.
They are as follows According to the ASTM method, coal is burnt in an oxidizing condition at
800-900 °C to produce the ash. The ash is then pressed into a triangular pyramid [I9 mm
high (H) x 6.35 [mm] triangular base (B)]. It is then heated slowly at the rate of B°C/min.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.4
Then one observes the shape of the cone to define the temperature corresponding to the
shapes shown in Figure 4 [2].
They are as follows:
− Initial deformation temperature-ITD (pyramidal leak calculation, Figure 4),
− The softening temperature-ST (spherical shape of the roof, ie H = W),
− Hemi-spherical temperature-HT (semi-spherical gauge, pp. H = W/2), and
− Flow temperature-FT (melting near the flat side, eg H = 1.59 [mm]).
Figure 4. The ash cone shape shows initial deformation temperatures (IDT),
softening (ST), hemisphere (HT) and flow (FT) of the ash sample
3.3 Effect of Mineral Matter of Ash

The higher the alkaline mineral matter content of ash, the greater its slagging tendency and
the lower is its softening point. At high flame temperature the sodium compounds are likely
to evaporate and react to form vapors containing oxides, chlorides, hydroxides, or sulfates.
Then they condense on low-temperature heating surfaces where they react with the metal
to form viscous pyrosulfates and complex alkaline ferrous sulfates. This covers the tube
surface. Alkali salts like NaCl and KC1 contribute to the formation of alkali sintered ashes [2].
In bituminous coal ash [Fe2O3 > (MgO + CaO) iron has a dominant effect on the slagging
characteristics. The iron generally remains as pyrite (FeS2). In an oxidizing furnace
environment the pyrite is converted into hematite [2].
2ˑFes2 + 11/2O2 → Fe2O3 (1)

This form of iron raises each of the four characteristic temperatures of the ash. However, in
a reducing region of the furnace it forms FeS, FeO, or Fe. These reduce all characteristic
temperatures, and hence increase the slagging propensity. The slagging propensity may also
be described by another index called the slagging index, Fs derived from characteristic ash
temperatures [2].
4 ⋅ IDT + HT
Fs = °C (2)
5
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.5
3.4 Effects of Outside Fouling

Barrier for heat transfer
Deposits insulate the heating surfaces and thus exacerbate the heat transfer from the gas
stream to steam - the water cycle [3].
Figure 5. Fouling and slagging in boilers with one phase and two phase flow
Contraction of gase stream path

In an extreme case, the deposition and overcoming of solid materials make the path of gas
flow in the convective part of the heat tranfer so close that the boiler must be stopped to
remove the deposits manually. This phenomen we can see in Figure 5.
Blocking ash discharge
Formed deposits in the furnace may detach and block the ash discharge at the bottom
through the funnel of furnace. If necessary, the boiler must be stopped.
Covered of materials through erosion or corrosion
Metal materials of heat exchangers may be covered with corrosion and erosion. In the case
of excessive covered of materials, the replacement of the heat surfaces becomes necessary.
Cost of Fouling
Fouling affects both the capital costs and the operating costs of the heat exchanger. As a
result of thefouling, the additional heat transfer surfaces should be provided during the
design.
Total fouling-related costs can be divided into four main areas [4]:
1. High capital costs for over-estimating equipment that include additional surface
(10-50 %), cost for additional space, increased transport and installation cost,
2. Energy losses due to reduced thermal efficiency and increased pressure drop,
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.6
3. Production losses, as a result of planned and unplanned of devices to clean those

from fouling, and
4. Maintenance, including cleaning of heat transfer equipment and use of antidote.
The total cost of heating surfaces fouling in industrialized countries is about 0.25% of Gross
Domestic Product (GDP). Table 1 shows the annual fouling costs in several different
countries based on the estimates of 1992 [4].
Table 1: Annual fouling cost in some countries (1992 estimates)

Country Cost of Fouling [milion $] Cost of Fouling/GDP
GREAT BRITAIN 2500 0.25
GERMANY 4875 0.25
FRANCE 2400 0.25
JAPAN 10000 0.25
AUSTRALIA 463 0.15
NEW ZELAND 64.5 0.15
Capital Investments Increase

In order to compensate fouling potential, the heat transfer surface is greater than that for
clean conditions. To suit the fall in heat transfer rate as a cause offouling, tubular
exchangers are generally designed with an increased surface area of 20-50%, while compact
heat exchangers are designed with an increased surface area of 15-25%. Except the cost
associated with surface growth, other costs may also be incurred by the heat exchanger. For
example, when it is anticipated that a heat exchanger can be affected by high fouling,
continuous cleaning is required. Moreover, if the problem of fouling is thought to be
excessive, it may be necessary to install a standby heat exchanger with all connected
working tubes and other supporters so that one of them can operate while the other is
being cleansed and serviced. Under these circumstances, the additional cost of capital is
likely to be doubled and with reservations for heavy deposits the final cost may be 4-8 times
higher compared to the corresponding cost of the exchanger operating in clean conditions.
4 Treatment of Fouling in Heating Surfaces at Steam Boilers in

Power Plant Kosovo B
4.1 Kosovo Power Plants
Power plant "Kosova A" consists of five working blocks known as A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5.
Block A1 of this power plant was released to work in 1962 with power of 65 [MW], A2 in
1965 with power of 65 [MW], A3 in 1970 with 200 [MW] power, A4 in 1971 with 200 [MW]
and A5 power in 1975 with a power of 210 [MW] [5], Figure 6.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.7
Figure 6. Energy production complex located in Kastriot (Kosova A and Kosova B)
The Kosovo B power plant consists of two working blocks known as B1 and B2. The first
block of this power plant was relased to work in 1983 with a power of 340 [MW], while B2 in
1984 with the same power, 340 [MW]. Both of these blocks are functional. Annual
electricity production is around 4500 [GWh] [5], Figure 5.
4.2 Technical Properties of the Steam Generator

− Permanent maximal steam flow (constant) 1000 [t/h],
− 182.4 bar steam pressure in the exit of superheater is 182.4 [bar], and
− Temperature of steam in output of boiler during the production of 1000 [t/h] and
500 [t/h], is 542 ± 5 [°C].
Table 2: Ash and slag properties

SiO2 21.65 ÷ 31.76%
Fe2O3 9.5 ÷ 12.21%
Al2O3 5.95 ÷ 9.5%
CaO 28.56 ÷ 45%
MgO 2.96 ÷ 9%
CO3 0.5 ÷ 10.35%
P2O5 0.2 ÷ 0.5%
Ash meltening temperature in the oxidized atmosphere
Start of sintering 910 ÷ 1020 [°C]
Softening temperature 1130 ÷ 1240 [°C]
Hemisphere temperature 1170 ÷ 1270 [°C]
Fluid temperature 1175 ÷ 1360 [°C]
Ash Flow
Flow from the funnels to the luvo 1.5 ÷ 4.5 [t/h]
Flow from funnels to the electro-filters 45 ÷ 100 [t/h]
Average ash for block 63 [t/h]
Slag flow
Slag flow with blow of soot 7.17 [t/h]
Average slag for block 11 [t/h]
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.8
4.3 Fouling of Heating Surfaces in Power Plant Kosovo B

Steam Generator
Below are shown some photographs showing the condition of the heating surfaces before
and after the cleaning, Figure 8, Figure 9, Figure 10 and Figur 11.
Figure 8. Heating surfaces before and after cleaning
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.9
4.4 Influence of the Outside Heating Surfaces Fouling and Slagging on

the Steam Generator Performance in Power Plant – Kosovo B
As we have seen above, the effect of fouling and slagging in steam generator performance is
quite pronounced. This effect is manifested in various forms and starting from the difficulty
work of the equipment as a result of their fouling up to the complete shutdown and removal
of these devices.
The biggest problem is the decrease of heat transfer, which results in a change of working
parameters throughout the system. This is because higher temperatures are required to
achieve the required heat transfer, and this also changes the required amount of fuel. On
the other hand, the increase of fuel consumption results in the largest ash production, thus
increasing the presence of pollutants in the equipment.
Another problem that comes as a result of fouling and slagging is the variation of the fluid-
dynamic characteristics of the gas stream, which means the drop in gas flow pressure
increases. As a consequence, greater pumping will be required, and the costs will increase,
greater pumping equipment will be exploited, and all of this will affect the life of the
pumping equipment.
The biggest problem, and which comes as a result of the problems presented above, is the
increase of the cost of the maintenance of the power plant and, in general, the increase of
the overall cost of energy production.
All these problems are faced daily by the staff that maintains and operates the Kosovo B
Power Plant.
Below will be presented some data, which shows how fouling and slagging affect the
process, Table 3. Here are comparing the data from the steam generator and the associated
parts before cleaning, and after the cleaning was done. From these comparisons it can be
clearly seen how great the impact offouling is.
If we compare the data from the below two tables, the case before the cleaning was done
and after the cleaning was done, we notice that a larger amount of fuel is required for the
same production capacity in the case before cleaning. Specifically before the cleaning was
done, for the production of 1 [kWh] of electricity, 3.23 [kg] of coal was needed, whereas
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.10
only 3.17 [kg] of coal was needed after the cleaning of the steam generator walls for the
production of the same quantity.
Table 3: The data obtained from the measurements made before the cleaning
and after the cleaning was done
Before cleaning After cleaning
h.sp.av.kg/kWh
h.sp.av.kg/kwh
2JE20C321_
2RA02T011
2RA02T011
2RA01T011
2RA01T011
2RA99F001
2RA99F001
2JE20C321
Time
hour MW t/h °C °C kg/kWh MW t/h °C °C kg/kWh

Designed
315 909 540 540 2.89 315 909 540 540 2.89
values
Designed
252 716 540 540 2.84 252 716 540 540 2.84
values
1:00 280 867 530 527 3.1 297 932 541 540 3.14
2:00 280 899 528 525 3.21 267 842 541 539 3.16
3:00 283 905 527 524 3.19 247 777 540 537 3.15
4:00 280 869 526 524 3.11 241 764 541 537 3.17
5:00 282 919 533 531 3.26 244 764 540 536 3.13
6:00 282 906 531 528 3.21 241 755 544 542 3.13
7:00 285 917 528 527 3.22 279 876 544 541 3.14
8:00 289 922 528 525 3.2 292 922 540 537 3.15
9:00 285 920 527 524 3.23 286 901 540 537 3.15
10:00 285 914 525 521 3.21 292 912 540 536 3.13
11:00 283 925 532 529 3.26 295 922 539 535 3.12
12:00 280 904 529 527 3.23 289 912 539 536 3.16
13:00 283 911 528 525 3.21 288 924 535 531 3.21
14:00 283 919 527 524 3.25 294 938 541 537 3.19
15:00 280 904 525 521 3.23 291 924 542 540 3.17
16:00 291 944 532 530 3.25 295 937 541 537 3.17
17:00 291 938 530 527 3.23 286 892 540 537 3.12
18:00 292 937 528 525 3.21 289 921 540 536 3.18
19:00 291 942 526 524 3.24 300 945 538 536 3.16
20:00 291 936 526 524 3.22 292 927 544 541 3.17
21:00 290 936 531 528 3.23 296 935 541 538 3.16
22:00 291 939 530 529 3.23 263 817 541 538 3.11
23:00 291 936 529 526 3.22 239 748 541 538 3.13
00:00 284 909 528 526 3.2 257 815 539 537 3.18
285 917 528 526 3.21 277 875 540 538 3.15
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.11
Another very interesting comparison that shows out the problems that cause fouling is the
comparison between the vapor temperature in the heat exchanger when they operate
before cleaning and in the case after cleaning. In the first case, a lower vapor temperature is
observed. This means that we have a reduction - a barrier to heat transfer, which, as a
result, has a further rise in the temperature in the furnace, and in this case the even worse
deterioration of the fouling problem. Since it is known that one of the main factors of slag
formation on the heat transfer surfaces is the high temperature in the furnace.
From these data we can conclude that fouling and slagging are a big problem that directly
affects production and energy costs.
Below will be presented graphically the effect of fouling and slagging in the Kosovo B power
plant.
400 Production before

Production of energy [MW]
cleaning in MW
350 Production after cleaning in MW
300
250
200
150
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
00:00
Measuring time
Figure 12. Production of electricity before ad after cleaning in

power plant Kosova B in [MW]
575 Temp.in °C of 2RA02T011 Temp. in °C of 2RA01T011

Before Cleaning in °C Before Cleaning
560 Temp. in °C of 2RA02T011 Temp. in °C of 2RA01T011
Temperature [0C]
After Cleaning After Cleaning

545
530
515
500
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
00:00
Measuring time
Figure 13. Chaning of temperature in heating surfaces, before ad after cleaning in

power plant Kosova B in [0C]
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.12
3,40
Consumption after Consumption after
Consumption [kg/kWh]
cleaning in kg/kwh cleaning in kg/kwh

3,30
3,20
3,10
3,00
01:00
02:00
03:00
04:00
05:00
06:00
07:00
08:00
09:00
10:00
11:00
12:00
13:00
14:00
15:00
16:00
17:00
18:00
19:00
20:00
21:00
22:00
23:00
00:00
Measuring time
Figure 14. Consumtion of coal, before ad after cleaning in power plant Kosova B in [kg/kWh]
4.5 Methods for Cleaning of Heating Surfaces in Kosovo B Power Plant

Due to soldering of ash on the heat exchangers comes because of melting of ash particles
due to high temperature in the furnace, which in some cases reaches 950 [°C]. In the first
contact with the heating surfaces, the ash is soldering to them and gradually stratified in
large quantities, which also lead to the change in the amount of transfered heat.
Soot blower has a dominant role in ash cleaning, and this process will be repeated every 8
working hours, will steam pressure up to 15 [bar]. There are a total of 102 soot blower
steam generators, the vapor temperature is 350-425 [0C].
The required time for cleaning is 25 calendar days.
Remove of the ash that is attached to the heating surfaces it is done with equipment that
are gentler than the hardness of the pipes (mesing hammer), but can also be used
mechanical abrasion.
After mechanical cleaning is done, the heating surfaces exposed to the water pressure up to
100 [bar]. As a result of this process, most of the ash that is attached to these surfaces falls,
and thus gains almost completely clean surface.
In some areas such as screens (evaporators), HTS (high temperature superheater), and HTR
(high temperature reheater) due to the large amount of attached ash, Cleaning with water
jet is not enough, so these surfaces will have an aditional cleaning with gravel, until the
external surfaces of the pipes are clean.
With mechanical cleaning all steam generator parameters will be nearly to those designed,
which means that the exploitation coefficient will be close to the projected one.
5 Conclusions
Knowing the great importance of electricity in our lives, the claims of engineers and
scientists are to find methods that will enable the increase the performance of equipment
and processes for producing energy in general. There is constant effort to find ways to avoid
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.13
harmful occurrences occurring in equipment, one of which is fouling, which by participating

is among the most influential phenomenon and plays a key role in the functioning and
performance of equipment.
In this papper has been shown that fouling is a global problem affecting all sectors of the
industry, regardless of the level of technology development or the preparation of operating
staff. It affects to a lesser or greater extent these sectors depending on their development,
but its total elimination is impossible. At the same time, it is a costly problem, which causes
every country huge financial losses, so a slight reduction of fouling would have a huge
impact on the overall cost of maintenance.
In Kosovo, also, this phenomenon is very present, namely in the Kosovo B power plant,
especially due to the age of the equipment and because of low quality fuel. Undoubtedly,
the fouling of heating surfaces increases the cost of operating of the power plant, and thus
the total cost of energy production, which in the end should be paid by the customer -
citizen of Kosovo. There are attempts by staff to minimize its impact, mainly through
periodic cleaning, but as we have said above, fouling always is present on the heating
surfaces.
References
[1] N. Sahiti: Kaldajat e avullit, UP&WUS Austria, Prishtinë, 2013
[2] P. Basu, C. Kefa, L. Jestin: Boilers and Burners, Springer, 2000.
[3] H. Splitthof: Power Generatio from Solid Fuels, Springer, 2010.
[4] S. Kakac: Boilers, Evaporators & Condensers, John Wiley & Sons, 1991.
[5] Data from the Kosovo Energy Corporation.
REMOO–2018 — 01.032.14
QUEST FOR ENERGY
THE ROLE OF ENERGY AND EXERGY EFFICIENCY IN

THERMODYNAMIC ANALYSIS
Drenusha KRASNIQI1*, Risto Filkoski2, Marigona KRASNIQI1, Fejzullah KRASNIQI1
1
University ,,HasanPrishtina’’, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering 10000, Prishtina, Kosovo;
drrenusha@gmail.com, r-rushe@hotmail.com, fejzullah@yahoo.com
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, University ,,Sts Cyril and Methodius’’ 1000 Skopje,
2
Macedonia; risto.filkoski@mf.edu.mk
Abstract
It is known that energy, in the conditions of our planet, may appear as the sum of the exergy
and anergy. Exergy is the convertible energy and this means that it can be transformed into
other types of energy. Anergy is the non-convertible energy; it is permanently connected to
the surroundings and as such cannot be used. Exergy can be defined as the working ability of
the thermodynamic case.
Some types of energy such as kinetic energy, the potential energy, electrical energy,
electromagnetic energy etc. can be transformed completely into other types of energy. For
example, electricity can principally be transformed completely into thermal energy but the
reverse does not apply because the thermal energy can only partially be transformed into
electricity.
The paper elaborates the energy and exergy analysis of different working modes respectively
different cases. At the beginning, it emphasizes the role of the heat exergy, for the stationary
mode, and then for the non-stationary regime when working substance flows to the working
turbine equipment.
The problematic relating to the concerning optimization methodology is presented by
mentioning thermal efficiency, exergy efficiency, and operational field to determine the
integration factor and to determine the coefficient of elasticity.
In relation with thermal and exergy analysis can be defined respective efficiencies, like
thermal and exergy efficiency.
Keywords: Energy; Exergy, Anergy, Energy and exergy efficiency
1 Introduction
For the terms of our planet, energy can be represented as the sum of exergy and anergy, it
means:
= + (1)
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.1
Some types of energy, such as kinetic energy, the potential energy, electrical energy, the
electromagnetic energy, and others, can completely be transformed into other types of
energy. For example, principally electricity can completely be transformed into thermal
energy, but the reverse does not apply, because the thermal energy can only partially be
transformed into electricity.
For thermal processes and cycles, primary importance is the methodology of determining
the exergy and the anergy.
Heat exergy is determined by:
 T 
e =  1 − 0 dq
 T  (2)
For working flux of matter, for example, for steam flow within the turbine, the exergy of
working matter is given by:
e = i − i0 − T0 (s − s0 )
(3)
where i0, s0 and T0 respectively are specific enthalpy, specific entropy and absolute
temperature of environment.
It is known that specific enthalpy, specific entropy and absolute temperature are parameters
of the state, and that specific entropy and absolute temperature are the fundamental
parameters of the state, while specific enthalpy is the combined parameter of the
conditions. Absolute temperature is not only the fundamental parameter of the state, but it
also plays the role of the integrator, meaning that it connects the thermodynamic
parameters that have the total differential with the ones that don’t have such an attribute.
Equation 3 means that exergy of the working matters provided in the leak may be taken as
the combined quantity of the state, only when the surrounding temperature is constant size.
But the reality is known to the surrounding temperature changes and only conditionally
exergy can be taken as the combined size of the state.
So, in reality can be determined related operational areas in functional dependence of
exergy performance and absolute temperature of the surroundings.
Of course, the optimal regime of work, for a given work parameters, is closely related to the
maximum value of the output from exergy retrieved.
Certain operational areas in this way are related to the possibility of application of linear
programming.
2 Exergy Analysis for Different Cases

In the first case is taken that the average temperature of the steam entering the turbine
device is 3300C, while taking the temperature of 290C of surrounding. It is required to set the
thermal efficiency of the device, as well as that exergy, for theoretical cycle.
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.2
Below are given the calculations of the thermal and exergy efficiency for a working cycle
realised with the burning of fuel in the furnace of the steam boiler which is realized in
atmospheric pressure the maximum flame temperature is 1350 C, while the thermal capacity
0
of the fuel is constant. Surrounding temperature is 29 C. And the thermal losses of steam
0
boiler were neglected.

Thermal efficiency of the device in question is:
,
= =1 − =1− = 0.499 (4)
, ,
Exergy efficiency is:
(5)
l is theoretical work of cycle as specific quantity, while ex is the heat of the exergy, which is
obtained during the combustion of fuel.
So it is obtained:
∙ (6)
∙ ∙
Thus concrete value is obtained:
.
.
(7)
∙ ∙
It may be noted that the exergy efficiency is higher than the thermal efficiency. This is
explained by the fact that in the relations (4) and (6) heat exergy, which is given in the
denominator of the report, is smaller in relation to exergy performance.
In the Figure 1, are given energy and exergy efficiencies like function of surrounding
temperature.
With analysis of diagram for Figure 1 can be concluded:
• With the increase in the ambient temperature (T0), energy and exergy efficiency
decreases in their value, as well as the relationship between energy and exergy
degrees of utility.
• The trend of decreasing the energy and exergy efficiency is more pronounced in
relation to the downward trend in their relation.
• The efficiency level of the exergy efficiency is higher than the energy efficiency, and
the explanation is given a bit earlier.
In fact, Figure 1 presents the operational area to characteristic efficiencies, for surrounding
temperature. This means that the operational field in question can be applied to linear
programming methodology in conjunction with process optimization.
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.3
Figure 1. Energy and exergy efficiencies for the first case
Figure 2 presents the scheme of a power plant with regenerative heat exchangers.
Thermal efficiency to cycle with regenerative heating of feeder water is:
lc i1 − i6 + (1 − α1 )(i6 − i7 ) + (1 − α1 − α 2 )(i7 − i2 )
ηt = = =
qin i1 − i10
(8)
i − i − α1 (i6 − i2 ) − α 2 (i7 − i2 )
= 1 2
i1 − i10
In the scheme may be noted the regenerative heat in two grades, so that the respective
consumption given are the α1 and α2.
Figure 2. Power plant with regenerative heat exchangers
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.4
Considering that applies:
i8 − i4 i4' − i2'
α1 = ; α 2 = (1 − α 1 )
i6 − i 4 i7 − i 2 ' (9)
1
ηt = (i1i 2 i4 + i1i2 i6 + i1i 4 i7 + i1i6 i7 − i 22 i6 − i2 i6 i7 − 2i 4 i6 i7 −
(i2 + i7 )(i4 + i6 )(i1 − i10 )
− i2 i6 i8 − i6 i7 i8 + i22 i8 + i2 i7 i8 − i2 ' i6 i7 + i2 ' i2 i6 − i2 ' i7 i8 + i 2 ' i2 i8 − i 4 i7 i8 + i2 i4 i8 ) (10)
Figure 3. Regenerative heating process in diagram (s,T)
For optimal working regimes:
P0 P Pm1 Pm 2
= m1 ; =
Pm1 Pm 2 Pm 2 PK (11)
Related to (11) can be written:
Pm1 = ( P02 PK )1 / 3 ; Pm 2 = ( P0 PK2 )1 / 3 (12)
For the given values: P0 = 100(bar), t1 = 500( C), PK = 0.05(bar), is obtained:

0
α 1 = 14.6(%) ; α 2 = 7.7(%) ; η t = 39.2(%) (13)
For exergy efficiency is given:
lT − l P + ex10
η ex =
ex1 (14)
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.5
where lT - is useful work which is obtained from turbine, lP - is work which is spent in the
pump, ex1 - is exergy of steam inlet the turbine, ex10 – exergy of the steam inlet in the steam
generator.
For this case is:
i1 − i2 − α 1 (i6 − i2 ) − α 2 (i7 − i 2 ) + i8 − T0 s10 + 2.5

η ex =
i1 − T0 s1 + 2.5 (15)
where:
− i0 + T0 s0 = −84,2 + 293.0,296 = 2,5( kJ / kg )
Thus, the following is obtained:
(i6 − i2 )2 + (i7 − i2 )2
2 2
 ∂η   ∂η 
η ex,max =  ex  +  ex  = 2
 ∂α 1   ∂α 2  2(i1 − T0 s1 ) + 5 (16)
On the other hand, considering Eq. (8), exergy efficiency can be determined by (after
substitutes the corresponding values):
1491.190 − 3.36T0 2 63162

η ex = ; η ex ,max = (17)
3374.5 − 6.596T0 6749 − 13.192T0
According to Figure 4 is defined the operational areas while changing the value of the exergy
efficiency. So at the operational field, through linear programming can be set the optimal
regime of operation of the power plant.
For diagram in Figure 4, can be concluded:
• With the rise in ambient temperature To, ηex,max decreases, ηex grows.
• Trend of grows ηex is more pronounced in relation to the decline for ηex,max .
• At the same environmental temperature To value ηex,max is greater than ηex, which is
clear by the nature of the matter.
Next, for various regimes of the thermal power plant "Kosovo B" are presented the analysis
related to the determination of appropriate efficiency. In Figure 5 is given technological
scheme of thermal power plant Kosovo B for nominal working-regime, and in Figure 6 is
given the work flow in (s,i) diagram for the same power plant.
Taking into consideration the thermal power plant Kosovo B for nominal mode, can be
constructed Rankin cycle in diagram (s, i) according to Figure 7.
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.6
Figure 4. Operational areas while changing the value of the exergy efficiency
Figure 5. Technological scheme of the thermal power plant Kosovo B

for nominal operation
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.7
The High Pressure Turbine Power:
− = 252.589 3390.7 − 3031.5 = 90730 = 90.73 (18)
From the high pressure turbine, steam is introduced into the intermediate pressure turbine
with power calculated below:
Figure 6: Working cycle of thermal power plant Kosovo B
− − − − − + − − − − +
− − − − − = 141300 = 141.3 (19)
− + − − = 91419 = 91.41 (20)
The power of turbine is equal to the sum of the forces of the turbine:
= + + 90.73 + 141.3 + 91.41 = 323.4 (21)
If mechanical and electric generator efficiency is considered:
Mechanical efficiency: ηm=0.97-0.99

Electric generator efficiency: ηm=0.97-0.99
And if adopted:
ηm=0.987 ηm=0.987
Then for the nominal power plant Kosova B:
= = 323.4 ∙ 0.987 ∙ 0.987 = 315.053
Exergy Efficiency for Electrical Power Plants (EPP) Kosovo B is determined by:
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.8
(22)
Exergy efficiency for nominal regime is given in Figure 7.
So the operational field, through linear programming can be set for the optimal regime of
operation of the EPP Kosovo B.
For nominal regime:
. . ∙ . ∙
= (23)
. . ∙
Figure 7. Exergy efficiency for nominal regime (Figure 3)
3 Conclusions
The paper elaborates energy and exergy analysis for different working modes, respectively
for different cases. Firstly is emphasizised the role of heat exergy, for stationary mode
working cases, and then for no-stationary regime when working substance flows in turbine
equipment.
The accompanying analysis shows that energy analysis mainly relies on the First Law of
Thermodynamics, while the exergy analysis relies on the Second Law of Thermodynamics,
and that these analyzes are supplemented in terms of content.
Exergetic analysis is of special importance because it can find the energy loss in the power
plant. This provides the opportunity for engineers, technologists and constructors to work
on improving performance and power plant design.
Optimization methodology of the issue in question is presented by the attribution of thermal
efficiency, exergy efficiency.
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.9
Discussed issues are important in relation with performance optimization of power plants.
References
[1] Abdel-Rahim YM. Exergy analysis of radial inflow expansion turbines for power
recovery. Heat Recovery System & CHP, 1995;15(8):775–85.
[2] Aljundi, I.H.Energy and exergy analysis of a steam power plant in Jordan-Applied
Thermal Engineering, Volume 29, Issues 2-3, February 2009, Pages 324-328.
[4] Brayton/Rankine combined power cycle with reheat- Applied Energy 78 (2004) 179–
197.
[5] Cengel, Y.A., Boles, M.A.,Thermodynamics-An Engineering Approach fifth ed. McGraw-
Hill, New York. 2006.
[6] Dincer I, Rosen M. Exergy, Oshawa, Canada, 2007.
[7] Krasniqi, Fejzullah. Kosova Power Plants, Kosova Academy of Sciences and Arts,
Prishtina, 2014.
[8] Kwak, H.Y, Kim,D.J. and Jeon, J. S. Exergetic and thermo-economic analyses of power
plants,Energy 28 (2003) 343–360.
[9] Baehr,H., Thermodynamik, Berlin, Heidelberg- New York, Springer-Verlag, 2006.
REMOO–2018 — 01.041.10
QUEST FOR ENERGY
REDUCTION OF HEAT AND WATER LOSSES THROUGH

ERECTION OF NEW WASTE WATER PIT IN THE EL-TO ZAGREB
COGENERATION POWER PLANT
Krešimir KOMLJENOVIĆ, Sandra GABRIĆ
HEP Proizvodnja, EL-TO Zagreb power plant, 1 Zagorska str., 10 000, Zagreb, Croatia;
kresimir.komljenovic@hep.hr, sandra.gabric@hep.hr
Abstract
EL-TO Zagreb is a cogeneration power plant, owned by “Hrvatska elektroprivreda”, located
at the heart of the City of Zagreb. In the last 5 years many measures regarding energy
efficiency and water savings were undertaken. Some of the measures, like specified water
savings, are coming to the theoretical limit of possible future gains. Namely, from 800 000
m3 of annual discharge in 2008, yearly discharge in 2017 was only 110 000 m3.
As one of the last remaining possibilities for further saving, idea for a new waste water
collection pit was developed. The goal was to have a bigger, more accessible pit, where
pump maintenance could be performed without endangering people.
A new project was made, with the goal of separating quality waste waters (coming from
water/steam cycle) from real waste waters. Quality waste waters will be injected into the
warm water system, as it has substantial leakages. It is expected that the simple payback
period will be less than 1 Year. The project will raise overall power plant efficiency, reduce
heat and water losses and enable measurements of the achieved savings.
Keywords: Efficiency; Heat and water savings; Waste water
1 Introduction
EL-TO Zagreb combined heat and power (CHP) plant is one of the two existing CHP plants for
district heating in the city of Zagreb, Croatia, producing electrical energy, steam and warm
water. The total installed capacity is around 90 MWe and 392 MWt , with a possibility of
160t/h of steam production. Natural gas is used practically as the only fuel. In the power
plant, an enduring effort in lowering of all possible costs is present. So, e.g. the quantities of
waste water released were decreased by more than 80%, from 2010 to 2016. (from 1 000
000m3 to 200 000m3/a). The places of excessive exhaust have been known for some time.
Some of locations were difficult to solve. One of these locations is an existing waste water
pit.
Due to the increasing production of subsidized electricity from renewable sources, a
continuous decline in electricity prices is present while natural gas prices are rising. There is
also a decreasing requirement for process steam and increasing of energy efficiency both in
industry and in buildings and households and EL-TO plant needs to adjust to these new
circumstances. EL-TO plant has several rather old production units which still operate till
new units are built, but their reliability is questionable:
REMOO–2018 01.071.1
2 Existing Waste Water Pit

An existing waste water pit is situated in the lowest point in the power plant. It is designated
for collection of all waters which can occur at this point. Its elevation is -5,80m. It consists of
a concrete pit, where atmospheric condensate from water-steam system is collected from
the whole district heating station. In addition to that, some pressurized condensate is
gathered in the pit as well. On top of that, some canal drainages and any possible waters
which can be found on the floors are led to the pit. It means that the waters that can be
found in the pit must be regarded as polluted. Consequently, all waters from the pit are
eventually led to the public sewage, through the internal power plant sewage system. The
system itself consists of:
• The pit itself;
• 2 vertical pumps (one with an electrical motor, other driven by the compressed
air) with the quantity of 20m2/hour
In this situation, it is clear that some potential for savings of at least part of the waters that
occur in the pit is given. Namely, the quality of the waters coming from the closed water-
steam cycle, e.g. condensate drainages is such, that the injection in the warm water district
heating system is possible. Drainages that occur during starts and stops of heating vessels
can also be led into the district heating system. During drainages, some steam is produced all
over the district heating station which raises the moisture percentage in the air thus favoring
STVARANJE HRĐE. The existing waste water pit was a clear candidate for refurbishment, as
many similar projects with the goal of reducing waste water discharge in El-TO were already
successfully undertaken. Technological difficulties in planning and realization were
substantial. Namely, the position of the existing pit is in the lowest point in the power plant,
but also in the furthest corner. Additionally, the access to the pit was very difficult as a lot of
district heating equipment was positioned around the pit, e.g. low pressure and high
pressure expanders. In the pit there were 2 pumps. One was an electrical pump and the
other was an air driven pump. Although the redundancy was theoretically provided, both
pumps were often out of operation due to malfunction, and maintenance needed to be
undertaken. These maintenance activities were especially difficult, as the removal of the
pumps was performed usually in a very moist atmosphere, because the ventilation was very
poor. If entrance into the pit itself was necessary, it was very dangerous, as escape routes
were very crowded with equipment. As the waste waters very often polluted with debris,
repairs of the pumps were frequent. The security of the working place was difficult to
guarantee as many different pipes lead to the pit, some of them pressurized even to 110 bar,
meaning that many valves needed to be shut off, which was difficult to arrange and later
check. This was a high security risk for personnel.
If the pumps were not running, or if the capacity was not enough to remove the water
entering the pit (which also sometimes happened), the floor of the heating station was
flooded. This did not happen often, but as the ground water level is generally above the level
of the top of the pit, any cracks or ruptures in the walls of the power plant led to higher
influx of water into the pit. As the machine room is more than 110 years old, there were
such circumstances, especially in 2014. This also had repercussions on the bills that the
power plant paid for the waste water removal, as from 2014, these bills are paid by the
measured quantities towards the city’s sewage company. It is necessary to notice, that the
introduction of waste water measurements was the first signal that there is a ground water
REMOO–2018 01.071.2
ingress through the walls and channels, which was unnoticed until then, as there were
practically no measurements of waste waters. Here, an additional danger of undermining of
building structures, as through time, waters tend to weaken the concrete, especially if they
are warm, as was the case here. Because of this, a first effort to remedy ground water
ingress through channels and walls was undertaken in 2014. It was impossible to perform it
without removing all pipes that were running through these channels, which lasted more
than a year to achieve, as it needed to be performed during low heating season in the
summer. First then, all prerequisite for final solution of the waste water pit were achieved.
Figure 1. Layout of the energy channel, position of old and new pit
3 Project for a New Pit

First, a place for the new pit needed to be defined. As the location is generally crowded, it
was not a simple task. After some considerations, the decision was made to remove a sand
filter, and to put a new pit to its place, right next to the closed cooling system pumps. It was
from the beginning clear, that the new pit must be protected from any leakages, e.g. from
the ground water through its walls. It is why the decision was made to build it from stainless
steel, what should also guarantee durability against warm, sometimes hot, bat also
sometimes very polluted waters. A new steel container is compounded of 2 chambers.
• The first chamber is open, and all potentially dirty waters are collected in it (drainage
from the channels, spills from the floors, water from washing, general leakages
etc...).
• The second is dedicated for waters that have a higher quality. As explained, warm
water system of Zagreb has substantial leakages, so all collected waters can be led
into the system without problems. The prerequisite is that water has some quality.
This criteria is not that high, as e.g. for fresh waters for low pressure boilers, and can
be fulfilled by practically all waters coming from closed water/steam circuits,
including samples (if cooled by demi water, then also the cooling media), salty boiler
waters, all condensates, etc.. The closed chamber has two connections:
1) Condensate from steam turbines TA1 and TA2 and part of drainage next to the
northern wall
REMOO–2018 01.071.3
2) Drainage from warm water heaters, condensate pipelines, pumps and general
equipment in the western part
The closed chamber has an overflow into the open chamber in case of pump malfunction or
is a low quality condensate appears which is than led into the sewage through the open
chamber.
Collected waters from the open chamber are led into the sewage (dirty waters) and district
heating system in the expander Ex3 (for clean waters).
As the total depth of the chambers is 1,75 m, and ground water level is about 0,75m under
the floor level, some measures to assure that the chambers stay in the fixed position needed
to be provided during erection.
3.1 Pump Operation Dynamics

In the chamber for dirty waters, which is an open chamber, two pumps are built in, in the
mode of operation working pump / spare pump. When the level of water reaches the first
designated level, working pump is engaged. If, from any reason, water level continues to
rise, the second pump will be engaged at somewhat higher level. The operation of both
pumps starts at a level a bit lower than the lowest points of the channels connected to the
pit.
Picture 2. Order of switching on and off the pumps
Elevation Height from bottom

( mm)
Working pumps switch on level -1070 680
Spare pumps switch on level -970 780
All pumps switch off level -1370 380
REMOO–2018 01.071.4
3.2 Execution
During execution works, most operations went according to the project documentation. As
the whole EL-TO location is quite old, most often, some unexpected structures are found
underground, relicts from the past. Here, it was also the case with the discovery of very hard
concrete foundations that needed diamond cutting to be removed.
Picture 3. Demolition of the existing Picture 4. Diamond cutting of

concrete foundation concrete blocks
Picture 5 and 6. Concrete blocks
Picture 7. Transport of concrete blocks Picture 8: Watertight new waste water pit
REMOO–2018 01.071.5
Picture 9 and 10. Finished works of new waste water pit with installed pumps and metering
control equipment
4 Results and Conclusion

By successful erection of new waste water pit following goals were achieved:
• Reduction of quantities of fresh water used for cooling purposes;
• Reduction of new (demi) water necessary for filling of leaking warm water system;
• Reduction of quantities of waste waters coming into the sewage system;
• Reduction of moisture content in the machine room;
• Prevention of in operation of waste water pit because of higher redundancy;
• Better cost control are also possible because of the installed measurement for waters
that are led into the district heating system;
By the achieved savings of technological water, big savings and an ecological benefit were
achieved. It is important to notice that a big security risk for personnel was also removed, as
the pit is now easily accessible with open and short escape routes.
Our first results show that from the 1th of January.2018. since the pit is in operation,
4257,05 m3 (on the 24.05.2018.) cubic of healthy condensate was returned to the system,
which means about 17.500 euros in savings for 6 months.
The complete return on investment is expected for about three or four years.
References
[1] The article from “HEP Vjesnik”
[2] Technical specification from the project: Removing the existing waste water pit for the
use of clean condensate in the EL-TO Power plant
REMOO–2018 01.071.6
QUEST FOR ENERGY
OPTIMIZATION OF THE EL-TO POWER PLANT WITH

DISTRICT HEATING DEMAND
Marino VALJAK*1, Krešimir KOMLJENOVIĆ2
1
Elektroprojekt Consulting Engineers, 4 Alexander von Humboldt str., 10 000, Zagreb,
Croatia; marino.valjak@elektroprojekt.hr
2
HEP Proizvodnja, EL-TO Zagreb power plant, 1 Zagorska str., 10 000, Zagreb, Croatia;
kresimir.komljenovic@hep.hr
Abstract
EL-TO Zagreb power plant, owned by Croatian Electric Utility (HEP) is a CHP plant which
primarily produces heat for district heating (DH) and process steam both for consumers
located in western part of city of Zagreb, Croatia. During the summer season this powerplant
can also provide heat to the eastern part of district heating grid which is usually supplied from
the TE-TO Zagreb power plant. Present connection point has certain hydraulic limitations
which are also imposed on the heat transfer potential. The intention is to provide additional
connection which could prolong the period in which EL-TO plant could supply heat to the
larger number of consumers. Water loss occurs in DH grid due to old pipes therefore
additional amounts are added at the ELTO site. Due to largely developed grid and great
distance to the furthermost consumer the power plant has also has a challenge to ensure
reliable supply of heat to all consumers. To ensure an optimal operation of the power plant in
these circumstances many technical and economical parameters and limitations are used to
optimize this plant.
Keywords: Optimization; Efficiency; District heating; Energy losses; EL-TO
1 Introduction
EL-TO Zagreb combined heat and power (CHP) plant is one of the two existing CHP plants for
district heating in the city of Zagreb, Croatia. Cogeneration units and auxiliary boilers of the
EL-TO Zagreb power plant produce heat, process steam and electricity. Total installed capacity
is around 88.8 MWe and 439 MWt with possibility to produce about 160 tons of process steam
per hour. Natural gas is used as the main operating fuel. Although this CHP plant produces
electricity, its primary purpose is heat supply to residential and commercial consumers and
process steam supply to industrial and public consumers. Due to continuous increase in
production of subsidized electricity from renewable sources, a continuous decline in electricity
prices is present while natural gas prices are rising. Furthermore, demand for process steam
is declining and the energy efficiency has to be increased at all stages of energy chain including
industry, buildings and households. Therefore, EL-TO power plant needs to adjust to these
new circumstances. EL-TO plant has several rather old production units which still operate till
new units are built, but their reliability is questionable:
• Unit A, cogeneration unit commissioned in 1970, 11 MWe + 100 t/h,
• K-7, auxiliary steam boiler commissioned in 1971, 64 MWt
REMOO–2018 01.071.1
• Unit B, cogeneration unit commissioned in 1980, 30 MWe + 2x 100 t/h,

Newer units include:
• VK-3, auxiliary hot water boiler commissioned in 1991, 65 MWt,
• Units H & J, combined-cycle cogeneration unit with two gas turbines commissioned in
1998, each has: 25,2 MWe + 10,2 MWt + 64 t/h,
• VK-4, auxiliary hot water boiler commissioned in 2011, 116 MWt NTK-1/ NTK-2,
auxiliary steam boilers commissioned in 2016/2017, 29,1 MWt, 39 t/h,
• NTK-1/ NTK-2, auxiliary steam boilers commissioned in 2016/2017, 29,1 MWt, 39 t/h.
New units that are going to be built soon:
• Thermal energy storage tower (heat accumulator), 150 MWt / 1000 MWh,
• Unit L, combined-cycle cogeneration power plant, 130-150 MWe and heat output up
to 130 MWt.
Figure 1 shows existing and planned units.
Figure 1. EL-TO CHP diagram
REMOO–2018 01.071.2
2 Zagreb District Heating (DH) Grid

The district heating (DH) grid in Zagreb is divided into the five DH areas, as shown in Figure 2.
Three of them, DH “West” (green), DH “North” (Yellow) and DH “South” (Red) are ahot water
DH networks, and two of them, DH steam “West” (Grey) and DH steam “East” (Blue), are
steam DH networks. First DH system, on today’s location of EL-TO Zagreb, was built and
commissioned in 1954 and since then the DH system expanded continuously, with biggest
expansion occurring in 1970’s after the new cogeneration units were constructed in both of
today’s thermal power plants (EL-TO Zagreb and TE-TO Zagreb). EL-TO Zagreb supplies green
and grey parts of the DH grid while the TE-TO Zagreb supplies the rest. Total pipeline length
of hot water DH grid sums up to over 274 km with a total volume of 20.000 m3 and installed
capacity of 722 MWt. Heat energy production is approximately 1.837 GWH/year, which covers
the heated area of 8.012.293 m2. Part of the hot water DH grid supplied by the EL-TO plant
includes 100 km of pipes and 928 heating stations and serves the district heating customers
with engaged capacity of 379 MWt.
Hot water DH system in Zagreb is a two-pipe system (major part as pre-insulated system) with
supply/return water temperature dependent on outside air temperature, at pressure of 10,5
bar. An existing connection of the west network (EL-TO Zagreb part) and east network (TE-TO
Zagreb part) enables the use of only one thermal power plant in the summer period when
heat energy from the DH grid is used only for domestic hot water (DHW) preparation. In such
a way both units are optimally utilized. The limitations of an existing connection marked as a
red dot on the Figure 2 are approx. 50 MWt. There is an intention to explore possibility of an
additional connection, so as to enable a flexible operation from both power plants serving the
common grid.
Figure 2. Zagreb DH grid
REMOO–2018 01.071.3
Most parts of the network are quite old and laid in channels as classic steel pipes (without
leakage detection) with mineral wool insulation. Furthermore, life expectancy of pipelines laid
in the ducts is around 35 to 40 years and thus it is clear that the efficiency of such system is
low due to the failures in case of higher demands during low temperatures in winter and
everyday water losses in DH grid.
3 Mathematical Model
A mathematical model of EL-TO Zagreb power plant as well as the TE-TO Zagreb power plant
production facilities along with the district heating connection between them has been
developed in the PLEXOS® Integrated Energy Model. This software is primarily used to model
electricity market but with some modifications and imposed constraints it is possible to
introduce heat production, distribution and optimization. Primarily it is necessary to differ
process steam from hot water used for district heating. Following characteristics were used
as input data for the simulation and finding the optimal production management strategy:
electricity price (EUR/MWh), natural gas price (EUR/MWh), the price of CO2 emissions
(EUR/tCO2), the price of subsidizing renewables (EUR/MWh), start-up costs (EUR/start),
specific consumption of fuel for the production of electricity in cogeneration (GJ/MWhe),
specific consumption of fuel for the production of heat energy in cogeneration (GJ/MWht),
technical minimum of cogeneration or peak unit (MWe/MWt), CO2 emissions generation per
unit of fuel consumed (tCO2/GJ), own consumption (% of produced electricity or heat),
availability of units (-), minimum unit time in operation (h), heat consumption (MWht), the
consumption of process steam (MWht), heat accumulator capacity (MWht), charging/
discharging power (MWt) and demand for heat on hourly basis. Based on the input data
entered, a mathematical model has provided following results: electricity production for each
cogeneration unit on an annual, monthly, daily and hour basis (MWhe), production of heat for
DH/process steam for each cogeneration/peak unit on an annual, monthly, daily and hourly
basis (MWht), number of hours in operation of each unit (h), load factor of each unit of
production on annual, monthly, daily and hourly basis (%), the number of starts and
shutdowns for each production unit (-), fuel consumption on annual, monthly, daily and hourly
basis (MWh), the amount of CO2 emissions on annual, monthly, daily and hourly basis (tCO2),
the amount of electricity consumed for its own consumption (MWhe), electricity consumption
for own consumption (EUR), expenditures of each production unit, i.e. all units in the analyzed
scenario (EUR), revenues of each production unit, i.e. all units in the analyzed scenario (EUR),
the amount of thermal energy transferred through the connection between EL-TO Zagreb and
TE-TO Zagreb power plant. Fore mentioned amount of thermal energy transferred through a
connection between two DH grids is a mathematical result. Mathematical model done in
Plexos cannot calculate hydraulic conditions which are therefore calculated in Flite FluidFlow
software. Hydraulic conditions on the DH grid limit the calculated mathematical (ideal)
amount of heat transferred.
3.1 Electricity prices

The price of electricity today is a highly volatile, whose value may vary considerably on a daily
basis, and there are also some differences between the electricity prices between working
days and weekend and between different months during the year. Prices have been modeled
on an hourly basis with corresponding hourly (Figure 3) and monthly coefficients, derived from
historical data from Hungarian Power Exchange and BSP Regional Energy Exchange. Hour
REMOO–2018 01.071.4
electricity price rates change is extremely important when simulating the operation of
cogeneration units, especially if they are connected to a heat accumulator, which is the
present case. Namely, in the operation with the heat accumulator the direct link between the
production of electricity and heat energy in the cogeneration units is not maintained i.e.
cogeneration facilities can adjust the operation strategy to the requirements from the
electricity market. Fore mentioned is additionally emphasized if a new connection to another
part of DH grid is achieved thus enabling to distribute the excess heat produced to another
part of DH grid (which is not regularly operated by the “domicile” plant).
Figure 3. Daily electricity price change pattern
3.2 Other Input Data

Natural gas is the only fuel used by production units, and in this analysis, it is considered as
constant through the year with the price of 23 EUR/MWh. CO2 emissions are defined as
specific value per unit of fuel used i.e. 56,1 kg/GJ burned natural gas. Technical data and
constraints on units, as described in the first chapter, were entered in a model with a note
that unit A and unit B were not modelled due to their life span coming to an end soon. New
unit L is considered as a highly efficient production plant (annual fuel primary energy saving
of 10% or more). Heat demand from consumer side is highly dependent on outside air
temperature. This model has been based on historical data and no direct correlation was made
to air temperature due to the specifics of DH grid operation. As it is shown on the following
picture (Figure 4), it can be noted that in the morning, between 5 and 8 o’clock, there is no
significant change in air temperature. But, if Figure 5 is observed at 4 o’clock in the morning a
steep increment of heat input to the DH grid is required lasting till 8 o’clock. Due to spread DH
grid and long distance to the farthest consumer, and limitations set by the hydraulics (flow
velocity) it takes some time for the heat to reach the end consumer. Therefore, a DH operator
deliberately increases the parameters and overheats the grid in the morning so that the
farthest consumer could get required parameters at 6 o’clock, when daily operation of DH is
active, to achieve the designed ambient temperatures of the final customer's room according
to the technical regulations. Figure 7 shows the variation of average ambient temperature
through the year.
REMOO–2018 01.071.5
Figure 4. Average daily temperatures through the day during the heating season
Figure 5. Requirement for heat through the day
Hourly based data on DH grid consumer requirements is given as a historic set of data. On that
basis the annual heat load duration curve has been created as displayed on the Figure 6.
Figure 6. EL-TO Zagreb typical annual heat load duration curve
REMOO–2018 01.071.6
Figure 7. Average daily temperatures period through the year
3.3 Connection between two DH Grids

Connection between two DH grids has the role of satisfying the demand for heat set by
consumers flexibly. Transfer of heat requires some transfer time because of limited pipe flow
velocity and therefore the mathematical model had to limit the usage of DH grid connection
so that hourly based mathematical model reflects physical limitations of hydraulics. It is not
possible to transfer for example 200 MWt in first hour from EL-TO to TE-TO, and in next hour
vice versa. A limitation of 12 h for usage of DH connection in one direction is set since it takes
some time to stabilize DH grid hydraulic properties to achieve relatively static hydraulic
parameters. During this time DH connection was considered as open and able to transfer all
surplus of heat generated by one plant to DH grid of another plant.
3.4 Results
Four different modes of operation were analyzed: parallel operation with open DH grid
connection, DH connection closed i.e. island operation, EL-TO covers both DH grids, TE-TO
covers both DH grids. This paper deals with parallel operation of both power plants with a
focus on the EL-TO plant. From the results shown in Table 1 it is visible that the new unit L
has the priority since it is considered as highly efficient cogeneration production plant. Other
units are used depending on the heat demand.
REMOO–2018 01.071.7
Table 1: EL-TO Zagreb production units engagement and results for parallel operation
Production unit
Measure
Designation EL-TO EL-TO EL-TO EL-TO EL-TO EL-TO EL-TO TOTAL
unit
Unit H Unit J Unit L WK 3 WK 4 PK M PK N
Produced
GWhe 45,42 47,37 927,69 - - - - 1.020,47
electricity
Produced heat GWht 91,26 95,24 425,93 0,00 20,94 67,22 75,80 776,39
Own consumption GWhe 0,91 0,95 23,19 0,00 0,15 0,47 0,53 26,20
Net delivered
GWhe 44,51 46,42 904,49 - - - - 995,42
electrical energy
Number of starts - 21 26 10 0 9 27 29 -
Number of
h 3.205 3.504 8.033 0 211 2.457 2.792 20.202
operating hours
Load factor % 20,6 21,5 90,9 0,0 2,1 26,4 29,7 -
Fuel used GWh 179,89 187,71 1.658,74 0,00 23,31 70,74 79,78 2.200,17
Electricity sale
EUR 2.372.039 2.469.366 63.917.931 - - - - 68.759.336
revenue
Fuel cost EUR 4.137.580 4.317.270 38.151.031 0 536.138 1.627.095 1.834.924 50.604.036
Own consumption
EUR 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
cost
Variable cost EUR 48.140 50.208 983.348 - - - - 1.081.696
CO2 emission cost EUR 444.697 464.010 4.100.383 0 57.623 174.876 197.213 5.438.803
Start-up cost EUR 6.930 8.580 10.000 0 1.170 3.510 3.770 33.960
Figure 8 shows the usage of DH grid connection in parallel operation with energy flow from
EL-TO Zagreb towards the TE-TO Zagreb. Maximum amount of transferred energy is limited to
100 MWt, but in majority of cases transferred energy is up to 50 MWt.
Figure 8. Usage of DH grid connection EL-TO -> TE-TO
4 Hydraulic results
A task of hydraulic calculation is to ensure that a minimum pressure difference of 0,8 bar
between supply and return line is achieved at farthermost heat station i.e. consumer and that
supply and return pressure at power plant pump station are within prescribed operating
REMOO–2018 01.071.8
conditions. Results have shown that all three variants of additional connection (routes and
diameters) enable transfer of surplus heat produced at EL-TO plant to another part of DH grid
while operating parallel with TE-TO plant. If a requirement for single coverage of a whole DH
grid is set on EL-TO plant than the hydraulic conditions of an existing DH grid limit further
engagement.
5 Conclusion
With constant and swift changes in power plant operation requirements it is necessary to
fulfill the heat demand whilst minimizing the related costs which should be driving factor for
optimum plant management. As previously described, DH grid consumers heat demand is
closely related to outside air temperature and therefore any future model for the plant
optimization should be linked to weather forecast in order to plan the engagement of
production units in an optimal manner on hourly basis with manageable operating
parameters. Purpose of this model was to quantify and verify the long-term possibility of
distributing an extra produced heat to another part of DH grid which is not usually served by
this power plant i.e. other part of the DH grid acts as a buffer. A requirement for electricity
production, can be achieved in most situations but in addition to heat accumulator on site, an
additional connection to eastern DH grid should exist to enable the usage of extra heat
produced due to increased electricity production while there is no sufficient heat consumption
in “own” DH grid.
References
[1] Valjak M., Crnkovic M., Saban A.: Prefeasibility study for district heating connection
between EL-TO Zagreb and TE-TO Zagreb powerplant, Elektroprojekt Consulting
Engineers, Zagreb, Croatia, 2018.
[2] Biscan D., Androcec I., Petek J., Komljenovic K.: Possibilities for Modelling, Simulation
and Optimization of CHP Plant EL-TO Zagreb, PowerGen Europe, Cologne, Germany,
2017.
[3] Biscan D., Komljenovic K., Androcec I.: Doprinos daljnjoj optimizaciji Pogona EL-TO
Zagreb, The 13th International Symposium Power and Process Plants, Rovinj, Croatia,
2016.
[4] Zeljko M., Komljenović K., Jakšić D., Milinković Turalija I., Keko H.: Optimization of the
CHP Plant “EL-TO Zagreb” Operation, 10th Jubilee International Conference on
Deregulated Electricity Market Issues in South Eastern Europe (DEMSEE), Budapest,
Hungary, 2015.
REMOO–2018 01.071.9
QUEST FOR ENERGY
STUDY OF THE HYDROPOWER POTENTIAL FOR

CONSTRUCTION OF SMALL HYDRO POWER PLANT
STUDY CASE: “PRIZRENI 4”, KOSOVO
Shpetim LAJQI1, Bojan ĐURIN2, Naser LAJQI1*, Drilon MEHA1, Lucija BAIĆ2
1
University of Prishtina “HASAN PRISHTINA”, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Bregu i Diellit p.n., 10 000 Prishtina, Kosovo; naser.lajqi@uni-pr.edu
2
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Geotechnical Engineering, Hallerova aleja 7,
42 000 Varaždin, Croatia
Abstract
Improving the quality of living has increased the need for sustainable energy production at
the lowest price, due to the sustainability of the environment and at the same time with the
highest efficiency of energy used. For the industrialized society, meeting of the energy
requirements and reducing of the global warming can be achieved by increasing the energy
efficiency and with the use of renewable energy sources.
The study of the hydropower potential of the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, located in the
Republic of Kosovo was motivation for the designing and construction of Small Hydro Power
Plant “Prizreni 4”, in order to reduce using of the coal.
The current paper is focused on water resources of the river basin of “Lumëbardhi i
Prizrenit” with their respect to the hydrological and meteorological conditions, the
topography of the terrain and determination of the water intake in the village of Reçan,
Municipality of Prizren. The study of the hydropower potential of the river “Lumëbardhi i
Prizrenit” takes into account many factors, i.e. water flows from different water sources,
precipitation of rainfall and snow, sustainability of water flow etc, in order to justify the
construction of the Small Hydro Power Plant “Prizreni 4”. Paper also presents the
determination of ecological flow, by analyzing and comparing several legislation methods
between the Republic of Kosovo, Croatia, Slovenia, Switzerland etc.
Keywords: Sustainable energy; Hydropower potential; Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit;

Small Hydropower Plant “Prizreni 4”, Kosovo
1 Introduction
Hydrological analysis of the water flow has been done for construction of Small Hydropower
Plant (SHPP) called “Prizreni 4”. From the measurements done in the River of “Lumëbardhi i
Prizrenit” which are conducted by the Ministry of Economic Development, the generating
capacity of the actual hydropower plant is defined as the Run of River, respectively with not
using any accumulative reservoir. Hydropower is produced by the water that runs through
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.1
the River Basin “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, from the sea level of 588 [m] to 532 [m] in the first
tunnel of village Reçan, where is planned to be installed the powerhouse.
The power produced by SHPP “Prizreni 4” after analyzing the flow rate of water, has resulted
in the production of 2.70 [MW] [1]. An important parameter for designing this small
hydropower plant was the average of precipitation of rainwater and snow in the total flow
of rivers, while in the following will be analyzed the measured values of such parameters
that have been researched by [1] and which are presented in a tabular form for some
regions of the Republic of Kosovo. Kosovo had applied such measurements since 1925, and
after that period there were some interactions that resulted in obstruction of the
measurements. Currently, the Republic of Kosovo has rainwater and rainfall measurement
stations, from which 13 stations show values automatically, and 53 of them rain-gage
manually [2].
Since the river analyzed in this paper is “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, from literature [1], [3] it has
been shown the exploration of the hydropower potentials. Another research, for instance,
reference [4] addresses the impact of Small Hydropower Plant to the environment by
assessing the alternatives to a specific hydraulic structure by quantitative evaluation from
the point of view of the character of the impacts, their significance, and their duration.
Authors among others [4] concluded that selection and the optimal alternative of the
assessed construction and proposed measurement can reduce the negative impacts to the
environment in the planning phase. Another research which provided a survey of different
innovative technologies applied to micro hydropower plant systems for making them cost-
effective for rural energy supply was investigated in the literature [5]. They concluded that
technologies such as low-cost penstock, micro-hydro turbines, induction generators and
controllers, hydrokinetic systems, hydro aero power, battery-based systems or micro
effectiveness and applicability of microsystems will increase the viability of micro-
hydropower plants for South Africa's rural electrification. A review of hydropower plant with
different capacities is given in the literature [6, 7]. Article [6] discusses a review of work
performed on the generation of hydroelectric power by using various water turbine
including already existing and also newly designed by different researchers as per specific
need. In an article [7] the authors have tried to broadly categorize the research work done
so far on the basis of hydro plant model development and its controller design under
different sections.
2 Hydrology Overview
The hydrography of the water flow of Kosovo Rivers is divided into 4 river basins such as
“Drini i Bardhë”, “Ibëri”, “Morava e Binçës”, and “Lepenci”, Figure 1. This study is oriented in
the river basin "Drini i Bardhë", which has a length within the territory of Kosovo 122 [km]
with a catchment area of 4649 [km2], and the flow of water over 61 [m3/s] [1], [3].
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.2
Figure 1. River basins and hydrometeorological stations in the Republic of Kosovo [2]
2.1 Hydrology of the River "Drini i Bardhë"

The river "Drini i Bardhë" has a basin with larger catchment area compared with other basins
of the rivers of the Republic of Kosovo. Flow of the river "Drini i Bardhë" start from its source
in the mountains of Radavc near city Peja, then spilling into the rivers of "Istog", "Klina",
"Lumëbardhi i Pejës", "Lumëbardhi i Deçanit", "Mirusha", "Ereniku", "Rimniku", "Tolluhë"
and “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, (Figure 2). Water quality along the river "Drini i Bardhë" varies
depending on the extent of it. Quality varies mainly due to wastewater not treated that
drains into the rivers mentioned above, as well as water pollution that comes from runoff of
the agricultural lands. In general, the water quality is very good.
The monitoring of the flow of the rivers in the Republic of Kosovo is monitored through the
hydrometeorological station, which consists of a certain number of measuring stations
across rivers, where are measured water flow Q [m3/s], and level h [m] (Figure 1). River basin
"Drini i Bardhë" is monitored on 12 measuring points, where minimal, maximal and average
flow along the river basin "Drini i Bardhë" in Prizreni hydro-meteorological station is
presented in Table 1.
Table 1: Minimal, average and maximal annual values of flow Q [m3/s] of the
hydrometeorological station in Prizren in the River Basin “Drini i Bardhë” [2]
River flows, Q [m3/s]
Nr. Basin Measuring station River Name
Qmin Qaverage Qmax
1 Drini i Bardhë Prizren Prizren Bistrica 0.03 4.44 424
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.3
Figure 2. River basin of “Drini i Bardhë”
2.2 Hydrology of the River “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”

Figure 2 present River Basin “Drini i Bardhë”, while the place where is planned the
construction SHPP “Prizreni 4” belongs to the River Basin of “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”.
Figure 3. Spatial disposition of the River Basin “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.4
In Figure 3 is shows configuration of the location for construction of SHPP "Prizreni 4" in
relation to the hydrometeorological station in the River of “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, which is
taken as a reference station for determining the legality flow of the receiving power in the
SHPP "Prizreni 4". The project area lies within the basin of the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”
which springs near the border of Kosovo and Macedonia in the southern part of Kosovo.
River Basin “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” lies in the territory of Kosovo, Prizren.
In Table 2 are presented characteristic perennial values of water flow in the profile of water
measuring stations in Prizren. Besides data on the average perennial flow, with special
importance are data on annual maximum flow, which are presented in (Figure 4), which are
given in the sources [1], [3] and [8].
Table 2: Perennial characteristic values of water leakage profiles in water measurement

stations (1948-1978) Prizren obtained from the Water Master Plan 1983 Kosovo
Statistical data Reduced values
Hydrom.
F Q σ Q q
River Station Cv Cs K
[km2] [m3/s] [m3/s] [m3/s] [l/s/km2]
Lumëb. i
Prizren 158 4.64 1.42 0.307 1.612 0.995 4.69 29.7
Prizrenit
Since SHPP “Prizreni 4” will be installed in the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, in (Figure 4) are
presented the maximum, average and minimum annual flow by years, which values are
measured in the Hydrometeorological station in Prizren.
Moreover, a special importance is the balance of water surfaces for the design of SHPP
Prizreni 4, where we get some important hydrological data. Surface water balance of the
hydrometeorological station in Prizren is shown in Table 3.
Table 3: Prizren surface water balance in Kosovo by the Water Master Plan
Effective Annual Averag
Hydro. F Q q W
River rainfall average e coeff.
station [km2] [m3/s] [l/s/km2] [mil.m3/yr.]
[mm] rainfall [mm] of flow
Lumëbar.
Prizren 158 4.64 29.68 147.74 935.1 960 0.974
i Prizrenit
2.3 Processed Data from the Hydrometeorological Station in Prizren

From the hydrometeorological Institute of Kosovo are received data of yearly flows, which
are measured in the hydrometeorological station in Prizren. In Figure 4 are presented the
average values of flow recorded through observed years 1925 to 1940, 1952 - 1986, and
from 1991 to 1998 to the bridge of river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” sea level 483.72 [m].
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.5
Figure 4. Minimal, average and maximal water flow recorded in the hydrometeorological
station in Prizren for the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” for observed years
2.4 Sustainability of the Monthly average River Flow “Lumëbardhi i

Prizrenit”
In Figure 5 is introduced the sustainability curve of monthly average flow for the river
“Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, observed for the years: 1925-1940, 1952-1986, and 1991-1998.
From Figure 5 it can be seen that the stability of river flow “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, is quite
stable and about 60% of the time or 220 days of the year has a flow of about 4.2 [m3/s], and
for the next part of the year the flow 1.73 [m3/s] is permanent.
14,00
13,00 Measured curve
12,00
Poly. (Measured curve)
Anual average flow [m3/s]
11,00
10,00
9,00
8,00
7,00
6,00
5,00
4,00
3,00
2,00 y = 1E-07x6 - 2E-05x5 + 0,0011x4 - 0,033x3 + 0,5129x2 - 3,8444x + 15,83
1,00 R² = 0,9685
Sustainability of annual average flows
Figure 5. Sustainability of annual average flow duration curve for many years
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.6
2.5 Processed Data from the Hydrometeorological Station in Prizren

River Basin “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, is formed from side spills, but there are some branches,
which are very rich with water like the river Lubinja, Manasterica, Figure 6.
The river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” has stable flow rate Q [m3/s] throughout the year, and a
satisfied slope of the river, which creates considerable fall of water head H [m]. Therefore,
the amount of water that goes to waste must be carefully analyzed by identifying the
possibility of achieving the best way for generating electricity, without causing any negative
impact on the environment and respecting all European criteria for the minimum Accepting
Ecological in the River “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”.
From Figure 6, it can be seen that the amount of water, which can be used by the catchment
area of the River Basin “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” to the water intake is 588 [m] above sea
level with the water intake catchment surface Sintake = 144.83 [km2], while the catchment
area of the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” is: Soverall = 158.00 [km2].
Figure 6. River watershed “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” [8]

For determining the flow rate of the average perennial profile of collection based on the law
of distribution of surface catchment of the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” in the axis of the
water intake and River Basin “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” is applied the following equation:
K = Sint ake / S overall = 144.83 / 158.0 = 0.92 (1)
The average flow of the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit for 57 years observation is:
Qint ake = K ⋅ Qaverage = 0.92 ⋅ 4.4 = 4.05 [m3/s] (2)

Water from the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” will be taken in the sea level 588 [m], while
water discharge will be in 532 [m] above sea level by creating a gross drop of water
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.7
Hbruto= 56 [m]. In Figure 7 is presented the year regime of the monthly average flow by the
distribution of perennial catchment areas for observed years: 1925-1940, 1952-1986, and
1991-1998 in water intake in village Reçan.
8,00
7,50
7,00
Mounthly average flows Qaverage [m3/s]
6,50
6,00
5,50
5,00
4,50
4,00
3,50
3,00
2,50
2,00
1,50
1,00
0,50
-
Jan Feb March April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Qaverage 4,31 3,65 4,34 5,45 7,92 5,59 2,97 1,98 1,99 2,59 4,04 3,70
Figure 7. The monthly average of water flow in Reçan

From Figure 5 and Figure 7 it can be seen that the stability of the river water flow
“Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” is quite high, wherein the maximum is 30 days with Qmax = 7.92
[m3/s] and 365 days are with minimum flow of Qmin = 1.985 [m3/s], or the average annual
flow for 365 days observed by taking into consideration the percentage of the maximum and
minimum flow is water intake of SHPP “Prizreni 4” is Qaverage = 4.05 [m3/s].
3 Legislation for Determining Acceptable Ecologically Flow

3.1 Acceptable Ecologically Flow according to the Legislation of the
Republic of Kosovo
Legislation of the Republic of Kosovo - Law No.04/L-147 through article no. 65 in an
ecological aspect until the strengthening of the relevant regulation for acceptable ecological
flow, which is defined in the terms of hydrology, hydraulic, habitats for seasonal
characteristic and 95% of monthly average flow. So, Kosovo's legislation besides setting a
minimum annual administrative does not specify other methodology and criteria for
protection of the aquatic river system.
3.2 Acceptable Ecologically Flow according to the Legislation of Republic

of Slovenia
According to the regulation “Uredbo za dolcevitev ter nacin spremljanja in porocanja
kolosko spremljivega protoka” St. 00719-25/2009/20, Ljubljana, 19 November 2009, the
Accepting Ecological Flow (AEF) is given by the following expression:
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.8
n
sQnp =  Qnp,i / N (3)
i =1
n
sQs =  QSi / N (4)
i =1
Qes = f ⋅ sQnp (5)
where:
sQnp [m3/s] – Minimal average flow (arithmetic average minimal value of daily flow),
Qnp.i [m3/s] – Minimal daily average flow in the calendar year in N-years of observation,
typically in the last 30 years,
sQS [m3/s] – Average flow,
QSi [m3/s] – Minimal annual average flow in the calendar year in N-years of observation,
typically in the last 30 years,
Qes [m3/s] – Acceptable Ecological Flow,
f – Dependent factor from the type of ecological water body (the value of this
factor depends on the season if is a dry or wet and the size of the
watershed). For the present case, where the accumulation is 10-100 [km2]
area, f- factor, when the season is dry, has a value of 1.0 to 1.5, while for the
wet season f, has a value of 0.4 to 1.9.
3.3 Acceptable Ecological Flow according to the GEP Method

GEP method is the method of a seasonal character and ecological flow boundary conditions,
which is determined by the cold period (October - March) and warm period (April -
September) as follows:
 0.1 ⋅ QAver for MinQ95% < QAver < 0.15 ⋅ QAver 

 
QAEF cold (October − March ) =  Min Q95% for 0.1 ⋅ QAver < Min Q95% < 0.15 ⋅ QAver 
 0.15 ⋅ Q 
 Aver for MinQ95% > 0.15 ⋅ QAver  (6)
 0.15 ⋅ Q Aver for Min Q80% < 0.15 ⋅ Q Aver 

 
QAEF warm ( April − September ) =  Min Q80% for 0.15 ⋅ QAver < Min Q80% < 0.25 ⋅ QAver  (7)
 0.25 ⋅ Q 
 MES for Min Q80% > 0.25 ⋅ QAver 
3.4 Acceptable Ecological Flow according to the Legislation of the

Republic of Croatia
According to the legislation of the Republic of Croatia, AEF is defined as:
Q0 = MNQ (8)
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.9
where:
MNQ [m3/s] – arithmetic average of minimum flow of the annual minimum value of
daily flow.
3.5 Acceptable Ecological Flow according to the legislation of the

Switzerland Confederation
According to the Swiss federal legislation AEF is adopted Matthey method (CH), which is
calculated by the following expression:
Q300
QAEF = 15 ⋅
ln(Q300 ) 2 [l/s] for Q300 > 50 [l/s] (9)
3.6 Acceptable Ecological Flow according to TENNAT Method

Determination of AEF according to the TENNAT Method has seasonal character and
hydrological access with restrictions as is presented in Table 4. It is a method of United
States of America and is often applied in all the World Bank projects.
Table 4: The critical minimum of ecological flow by Tenant Method (all downloads are under
the percentage of average annual flow), Tenant, 1976
The base of recommended flow regimes
Flow Description
October – March (dry seasons) April – September (wet seasons)
Maximum flow rate 200%
Flow with optimal range 60-100%
Outstanding flow 40% 60%
Excellent flow 30% 50%
Good flow 20% 40%
Degraded flow 10% 30%
Poor or minimal flow 10% 10%
Flow with severe degrade. 0-10%
4 Flow Processing of hydrological data for determining of

Acceptable Ecological Flow
Based on the fact of the theoretical basis presented above, it is clearly seen that as the basic
data that precede the determination of AEF, are flow data of annual and monthly minimum.
In addition, according to the above-mentioned methods, in the following are presented the
calculated results of the AEF for the observation years from 1925 to 1940, 1955-1986, and
1991-1998.
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.10
Table 5: Minimum average monthly flows

Year Minimum monthly flows received from the yearbooks of average daily flow Min.
Hydro meteorological station in Prizren, flow Qmin [m3/s] Annual
Months I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII
1.19
sQnp.Pr 0.71 0.65 1.56 2.88 2.83 2.11 0.73 0.44 0.37 0.23 0.87 0.87
Perennial average minimum flow presented in Table 5 for the hydrometeorological station in
Prizren in the river “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” has value:
sQnp.Priz.= 1.19 [m3/s] (10)
Based on the same analogy for determining the average flow, through the transposition of
data from the referent hydro-meteorological station in Prizren, we can determine an analogy
coefficient of transposition separately for the water intake axes in village Reçan, which is
given by the expression:
Qint ake 4.05
K= = = 0.92 (11)
Qaverage Pr izren 4.40
In Table 6 is presented the method of calculation and the determination of the minimum
annual flow in water intake axes of SHPP “Prizreni 4”.

QAnual-verage sQnp = K⋅sQnp
Name of river Measuring station K
[m3/s] [m3/s]
Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit Intake SHPP “Prizreni 4” 4.05 0.92 1.09
Hydrometeorological
Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit 4.40 1.0 1.19
station Prizren
From Table 6 is concluded that the perennial minimum flow specified for the SHPP "Prizreni
4" in Reçan is:
sQnpSHPP Pr izreni 4 = 1.09 (12)
In the context of data processing according to the requirements specified in this study is
needed the determination of certain sustainability of minimum flows in the axis of intake
them MinQ80%, MinQ95% and other parameters to the character of the annual average flow as
0.1⋅Qaverage, 0.15⋅Qaverage and 0.25⋅Qaverage.
5 Determination of Acceptable Ecological Flow

5.1 Acceptable Ecological Flow according to the Legislation of Republic of
Kosovo
According to the theoretical elaboration regarding the determination of AEF and restrictive
criteria to them, based on the data processed on monthly and annually minimums, and
based on the calculations of results and conditions, in the following are presented the results
of EAF by: 95% of minimums (Kosovo legislation), MNQ (Croatia legislation), GEP Method
and Slovenian Method, Figure 8.
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.11
4,00
5%; 2,79
3,50
9%; 2,24
14%; 2,04
3,00
18%; 1,95
23%; 1,78
27%; 1,74
2,50
Flows, [m3/s]
32%; 1,61
36%; 1,44
41%; 1,43
45%; 1,41
2,00
50%; 1,30
55%; 1,19
59%; 1,17
64%; 1,13
68%; 1,04
73%; 1,04
77%; 0,90
82%; 0,87
86%; 0,73
95%; 0,54
91%; 0,65
1,50
100%; 0,21
1,00
0,50
-
2%
7%
11%
16%
20%
25%
30%
34%
39%
43%
48%
52%
57%
61%
66%
70%
75%
80%
84%
89%
93%
98%
Sustainability of minimal daily flow [%]
Figure 7. Sustainability curve for daily minimum flow for 57 years of observation
In the context of above-mentioned methods, it is worth noting that, GEP - method is based
on the parameters of minimum flow MinQ80%, MinQ95% and 0.1⋅Qaverage, 0.15⋅Qaverage and
0.25⋅Qaverage, also has periodic character. Moreover, the method of determining the AEF
according to the Swiss law is based on regional factors and the ecological status of the
derivation type by length.
To determine the ecologically acceptable flow into the river at any time, we will rely on the
curve of the sustainability of daily minimum flow and will determine the minimum ecological
flow that is 95% of the minimum annual of necessary exceedance to sustain without
significant degradation of the ecosystem, (Figure 8). By analyzing the stability curve of daily
flow for the year with less water MinQ95% we arrive at the conclusion that ecologically
acceptable flow in Reçan has the value: minMinQ95% = 0.54 [m3/s].
So, according to the Republic of Kosovo legislation, AEF should be MinQ95% = 0.54 [m3/s].
5.2 Acceptable Ecologically Flow according to the Legislation of the Republic

of Slovenia
According to the federal legislation of the Republic of Slovenia, AEF is:
QAEF = f ⋅ sQnp
3
QAEF = 0.8 ⋅1.09 = 0.872 [m /s] (13)
AEF according to the Republic of Slovenia legislation is: QAEF = 872 [l/s] = 0.872 [m3/s].
5.3 Acceptable Ecologically Flow according to GEP Method

Taking into consideration the relation between two periods of time like the cold period
(October-March) and the warm period (April-September), where for each period we have
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.12
three equations, and based on the data and the criteria of GEP-method, through
programming language Mathcad is calculated AEF.
After substitution the data in the expressions (6) and (7), the determination of AEF according
to the GEP-Method in the water intake was done and expressed in expressions (15) and (16)
and also in Table 7:
0.41 for 0.54 < 4.05 < 0.61  FALSE 

   
QAEF cold (October − March ) =  0.54 for 0.41 < 0.54 < 0.61  =  0.54  (14)
 0.61 for 0.54 > 0.61   FALSE 

 0.61 for 0.890 < 0.61  FALSE 
   
QAEF warm ( April −September ) = 0.890 for 0.61 < 0.890 < 1.01 =  0.89  (15)
 1.01 for 0.890 > 1.01   FALSE 

So, according to the GEP Method, AEF through the Cold period (October – March) should be
QAEF-Cold = 0.54 [m3/s] which is same with the legislation of Republic of Kosovo MinQ95% = 0.54
[m3/s], while during the warm period QAEF-warm= 0. 98 [m3/s].

MinQ80% MinQ95% 0.1⋅QMES 0.15⋅QMES 0.25⋅QMES QMES
Measuring place 3 3 3 3 3 3
[m /s] [m /s] [m /s] [m /s] [m /s] [m /s]
Water intake of SHPP 0.89 0.54 0.41 0.61 1.01 4.05
Hydr. station Prizrenit 0.97 0.59 0.44 0.66 1.10 4.40
QAEF-cold (October – March) QAEF-warm(April – September)
Water intake of SHPP FALSE 0.54 FALSE FALSE 0.89 FALSE
Hydr. station Prizrenit FALSE 0.59 FALSE FALSE 0.97 FALSE
MinQ80%, MinQ95%, represent the sustainability of minimum monthly flow of daily average flow.
5.4 Ecologically Acceptable flow according to the Legislation of the

Republic of Croatia
According to the Republic of Croatia legislation, AEF is:
QAEF Pr izren = 1.190

QAEF SHPP = 1.095 [m3/s] (16)
So, according to the Republic of Croatia legislation, AEF should be: QAEF–SHPP =1.095 [m3/s].
5.5 Acceptable Ecologically Flow according to the Legislation of Swiss

Confederation
According to the Swiss federal legislation is adopted method Matthey (CH), which is
calculated by the following expression: for Q300> 50 [l/s], we have
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.13
Q300 Prizren = 590 [l / s[

Q300 SHPP = 540 [l / s ]
Q300 Pr izren 590
Q AEF MATTHEY Prizren = 15 ⋅ 2
= 15 ⋅ = 693.56 [l / s ] (17)
ln(Q300 Pr izren ) ln 590 2
Q300 Pr iz 4 540
QPPE MATTHEY SHPP = 15 ⋅ 2
= 15 ⋅ = 643 [l / s ]
ln(Q300 Pr iz 4 ) ln 540 2
So, according to Swiss legislation the AEF should be: QAEF – MATTHEY - SHPP =0.643 [m3/s].
5.6 Acceptable Ecologically Flow according to TENNAT Method

The TENNAT Method is used to check how the status of AEF is. In Table 8 is determined AEF
by TENNAT Method 1976 by using AEF from GEP Method.
From the analyzed results of AEF, the presented ecological status of TENNAT Method 1976
and based on adopted AEF through the elaborated methodology is concluded that AEF in the
hydrological aspect is fully justified.
Considering the natural monthly average water flow in the water intake in Reçan (Qnatural =
Qaverage), as well as results of AEF, the concessional regime (Qconcessional = Qnatular – QAEF ) is
presented in Figure 9, the water balance in intake for SHPP “Prizreni 4” in Reçan, Prizren.
Table 8: Determination of AEF according to TENNAT method 1976 in water intake of SHPP
QAEF % of mean month % of the mean
Time period Ecologic statute
[m3/s] flow annual flow
January 0.540 13.00% 13.30% fair or degr.
February 0.540 14.80% 13.30% fair or degr.
March 0.540 12.40% 13.30% fair or degr.
April 0.890 16.31% 21.97% good
May 0.890 11.24% 21.97% good
June 0.890 15.91% 21.97% good
July 0.890 29.95% 21.97% good
August 0.890 44.99% 21.97% good
September 0.890 44.79% 21.97% good
October 0.540 20.89% 13.30% fair or degr.
November 0.540 13.37% 13.30% fair or degr.
December 0.540 14.60% 13.30% fair or degr.
Qannual-average.= 4.05 [m3/s]
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.14
8,00
7,50 Natural flow
Monthly average flow Qmes [m3/s] 7,00 Concessional flow
6,50
6,00 AEF
5,50
5,00
4,50
4,00
3,50
3,00
2,50
2,00
1,50
1,00
0,50
-
Mar
Jan Feb April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
ch
Natural flow 4,31 3,65 4,34 5,45 7,92 5,59 2,97 1,98 1,99 2,59 4,04 3,70
Concessional flow 3,77 3,11 3,80 4,56 7,03 4,70 2,08 1,09 1,10 2,05 3,50 3,16
AEF 0,54 0,54 0,54 0,89 0,89 0,89 0,89 0,89 0,89 0,54 0,54 0,54
Figure 9. Water balance for SHPP “Prizreni 4”
6 Calculation of Yearly Hydropower Energy

The power output of the turbine axis (Pturb) is determined by equation [9]:
Pturb = ρ ⋅ g ⋅ H netto ⋅ Q ⋅ηturb (18)
While the power output of the generator (Pgen) is determined by expression:
Pgen = Tturb ⋅η gen (19)
where are:
ρ = 1000 [kg/m3] – Water density
Hnetto [m] – Net water head
ηturb [%] – Efficiency of hydro turbine (ηturb = 0.93)
ηgen [%] – Generator efficiency (ηgen = 0.97)
For SHPP “Prizreni 4” is selected Francis Turbines. The efficiency of selected turbine
performed various range of efficiency depending on the flow of water in turbine, which took
values from 86.3 to 93%, while the efficiency of the selected generator was 97% [10].
In Table 9 is presented predicted energy generation in SHPP „Prizreni 4” based on the
monthly flow rate shown in Figure 9.
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.15
Table 9: Prediction of energy generation in SHPP “Prizreni 4”

Average Netto water Production Monthly production
Months
flow [m3/s] head [m] [kWh] [kWh] [MWh] [GWh]
January 3.77 54.50 1,768.83 1,316,009.52 1,316.01 1.32
February 3.11 54.70 1,474.04 990,554.88 990.55 0.99
March 3.80 54.13 1,782.01 1,325,815.44 1,325.82 1.33
April 4.56 53.38 2,108.79 1,518,328.80 1,518.33 1.52
May 6.00 51.64 2,684.57 1,997,320.08 1,997.32 2.00
June 4.70 53.22 2,167.39 1,560,520.80 1,560.52 1.56
July 2.08 55.38 998.06 742,556.64 742.56 0.74
August 1.09 55.81 527.08 392,147.52 392.15 0.39
September 1.10 55.80 531.88 382,953.60 382.95 0.38
October 2.05 55.40 983.96 732,066.24 732.07 0.73
November 3.50 54.39 1,649.33 1,187,517.60 1,187.52 1.19
December 3.16 54.67 1,496.68 1,113,529.92 1,113.53 1.11
Total Qaver = 3.24 HNetto [m] Pgen [kW] 13,259,321.04 13,259.32 13.26
7 Conclusions
From the hydrological analysis of the River “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit”, which is part of the
River “Drini i Bardhë”, the measurements carried out over the years have resulted in suitable
values of the flow rates for maintaining a stable energy generation by small hydropower
plant Prizreni 4. From the topographic and hydrological analysis, it is shown that the river
“Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” has good hydro potential for generation of energy. The annual
average sustainability of the water flow supplied by the River “Lumëbardhi i Prizrenit” is very
stable, which accounted about 60% of the year (or 222 days) an average flow of 4.2 [m3/s],
while for the rest of the year the average flow of water was estimated to be 1.73 [m3/s].
From the yield results of elaborated methods for the determination of Acceptable
Ecologically Flow is drawn the conclusion that, according to the GEP Method, AEF to the cold
period (October – March) should be QAEF-Cold = 0.54 [m3/s]. The same results are drawn with
the Legislation of Republic of Kosovo MinQ95% = 0.54 [m3/s], while during the warm period
QPPE-Hot = 0.98 [m3/s]. According to legislation of Republic of Slovenia, QAEF = 0.872 [m3/s],
Swiss federal legislation QAEF = 0.643 [m3/s], and from the legislation of Croatia Republic
QAFE = 1.095 [m3/s].
For SHPP “Prizreni 4” is proposed installation of two Francis hydro turbines that have best
fitted to the topographic and hydrological conditions of the location. The annual average
energy production capacity is estimated to be about 13.26 [GWh] which is 55% of installed
capacity. Overall, from the elaborated study, it can be concluded that the working regime of
SHPP “Prizreni 4” is very efficient and the net return of investment is very short.
References
[1] Lajqi Shpetim, Elezaj Zenun, Dakaj Sylejman. The feasibility study for building SHPP
“Prizreni 4”, Prizren, 2016.
[2] http://www.ammk-rks.net/repository/docs/Resurset_ujore_te_Kosoves.pdf
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.16
[3] Lajqi Shpetim, Elezaj Zenun, Dakaj Sylejman. The feasibility study for building SHPP
“Lubinjë”, Prizren, 2015.
[4] http://www.ammk-ks.net/repository/docs/Veprimtaria_Hidrologjike.pdf/05/04/2015/
[5] Martina Zeleňáková, Rastislav Fijko, Daniel Constantin Diaconu and Iveta Remeňáková.
Environmental Impact of Small Hydro Power Plant—A Case Study, Environments, vol.
5, pp. 12; doi:10.3390/environments5010012, 2018.
[6] Kanzumba Kusakana. A survey of innovative technologies increasing the viability of

micro-hydropower as a cost effective rural electrification option in South Africa,
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 37 pp. 370–379, 2014.
[7] Urmila Zope, Prof.Dr. P.S.Pingle. Micro hydropower turbines designs: A Review,
International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 5, Issue 12,
December, 2014.
[8] Nand Kishor, R.P. Saini, S.P. Singh. A review on hydropower plant models and control,
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 11 pp. 776–796, 2007.
[9] Lajqi Shpetim, Lajqi Naser, Hamidi Beqir. Design and Construction of Mini Hydropower
Plant with Propeller Turbine. International Journal of Contemporary ENERGY, Volume
2, Nr. 1, pp. 1-13, 2016.
[10] Lajqi Shpetim, Lajqi Naser, Hamidi Beqir. Analysis of the Mini Turgo Hydro Turbine
Performance for different Working Regimes. International Journal of Contemporary
ENERGY, Volume 3, Nr. 1, pp. 1-8, 2017.
REMOO–2018 — 01.085.17
QUEST FOR ENERGY
DEVELOPING LARGE-SCALE MINE-COUPLED GEOTHERMAL

SYSTEMS FOR SURFACE AND UNDERGROUND HEATING
APPLICATIONS
Seyed Ali GHOREISHI-MADISEH* and Ali Fahrettin KUYUK
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada;
ali.madiseh@ubc.ca
Abstract
Extraction of geothermal heat from a subsurface mine water is an environmentally remarkable
way of supporting the surface facilities of the mine as well as its local community with low-
cost and sustainable energy. The amount of extractable geothermal heat flux is controlled by
a different parameters such as; thermo-hydraulic properties of the underground rock mass,
availability of underground water and the extent of underground workings. In most Canadian
underground mines, the combination of these effects, creates favourable conditions for
extraction of geothermal heat from mine waters at the surface. This makes subsurface mine
workings prominent facilities for green energy harvesting purposes, thanks to their exposure
to this valuable energy sources. However, this geothermal heat carrying water affluent of the
mine is commonly discarded for operational reasons, without taking advantage of its true
thermo-economic potential. This heat energy capacity, however, can be effectively utilized via
using mine-coupled geothermal systems. One substantial factor that governs the viability of
such heat pump systems is the variations in the ambient air temperature. Performance of such
mine-coupled geothermal systems can ramp up quite significantly in the cold climatic
conditions. In addition to the conventional residential heating applications of the harvested
geothermal energy, this study proposes a viable engineering solution for integration of this
heat into the energy streams of the mine. It establishes a system level design for large-scale,
mine coupled geothermal systems as a feasible solution for heating purposes in cold climates.
To facilitate the appraisal of such implementations in arctic climates, this paper investigates
previously studied field examples and similar studies. Recommendations based on the results
of this research work are also oriented to aspire decision makers in analogous heat mining
projects.
Keywords: Geothermal; Energy; Renewable Energy; Sustainability
1 Introduction
The minerals and metals sector is a vital part of our economy. In 2015, mining sector
contributed $56 billion to Canada's Gross Domestic Product (19% of Canadian goods exports)
and employed 563,000 people across the country (of which 373,000 were direct) [1]. However,
several studies predict that soon the economic and regulatory factors will require the mining
industry to significantly reduce its energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions [2]. Mining
and metals sector is faced with techno-economic and techno-environmental challenges which
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.1
need to be addressed to guarantee the sustainable growth of this important industry [3, 4].
First challenge rises from the significant energy intensity of mining operations. A big portion
of these operations, specifically those of in Canada, rely on fossil fuels (i.e. diesel, natural gas
and pro-pane) for material handling and heating along with use of electricity for hoisting,
ventilation and mineral processing [5]. This fossil fuel dependency is even heavier in remote
mining operations where reliance on diesel power dominates. Furthermore, to dilute and
carry away diesel equipment exhaust gases, underground mines must be continuously
ventilated with considerable amounts of fresh air. For example, a typical Canadian
underground mine is ventilated by 500 to 1000 m3/s of fresh air, de-pending on the ambient
and operational conditions [6, 7]. To prevent the freezing of underground mine and the
consequent damage to the equipment during winter, pre-heating this intake air flow is a
necessity which would cost between $2 to 7 million of natural gas (or propane) [6]. Also,
during summer in deep underground mines (deeper than 1500 meters), using refrigeration for
air conditioning is a common practice which comes at an up-front (capital) cost of $40 to 50
million as well as $1 to 3 mil-lion per annum of operating (electricity) costs [4]. Also, diesel
power costs usually make up to 15% of the operating costs of off-grid base metal open pit
operations in Canada [4]. Energy cost already represents a significant part of the operating
costs of Canadian mines (14% to 21%) [4]. Moreover, mines are beginning to extend to depths
beyond current norms and their energy demand is growing even higher. Last but not the least
is the emergence of surplus costs of emerging carbon tax regulations and the expected drastic
change in status quo of underground mine ventilation by recognition of diesel particulates as
carcinogenic agents [8]. Canadian mining companies recognize the importance of turning into
more energy efficient technologies with lower carbon emissions.
This study aims to assess how inexpensive, renewable geothermal energy resources available
at mine sites can be developed to mitigate production costs and prevent carbon emissions by
developing a novel mine ventilation system. This system is based on using a geothermal chiller
equipment. In winter, the evaporator of this system extracts heat from the water discharged
from mine sumps and its condenser conveys the heat to the mine ventilation air stream(s).
This system can alternatively cool the air flow during the summer. The second system is a
novel large-scale closed-loop heat exchanger capable of cooling mine intake air and discarding
the heat in its coils which are submerged in a nearby lake.
The first steps towards extracting geothermal energy from abandoned mines are taken during
1980’s [9]. One of the first successful implementations can be considered as the Springhill
mine geothermal project located in Nova Scotia. This project can be extensively referred in [9-
11]. Similar projects have been also studied in Marienberg, Germany [12], in Freiburg,
Germany [13], in Heerlen, Netherlands [14], in Pittsburg, USA [15], in Yellowknife, Canada [16],
in Gaspé, Canada [17], and in Britannia Mine, Canada [18]. Over the last few years researchers
specialized in this field have developed tangible numerical assessment tools to better
apprehend the geothermal potential of underground mines. Rodriguez and Diaz, for example,
put forward a semi-empirical approach to asses the geothermal heat capacity of underground
mines and/or tailing ponds [17, 19, 20]. The authors have conducted substantial numerical
and experimental studies on energy extraction from underground mine galleries,
underground petroleum wells, mine stopes and tailing ponds [21-24]. While the bulk of the
existing literature on this subject has focused on delivering the geo-thermal energy to
communities neighbouring the mine, this study offers a new solution for the application of
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.2
this energy at the mine site (e.g. mine ventilation purposes) with significant financial and
environmental benefits to the mine.
2 Nomenclature
αe Cost – $/kW (per kW of electricity)
αH Cost – $/kW (per kW of non-renewable)
β Non-dimensional ratio of αe over αh
COP Non-dimensional (coefficient of performance)
c Specific heat – J/(kg.K)
γ Savings – $
IRR Non-dimensional – (internal rate of return)
m Mass flow rate – kg/sec
NPV Net present value ($)
Q Geothermal input – kWh
Q Overall output – kWh
Tg,in Source-side heat pump entering temperature (C˚)
Tg,out Source-side heat pump exit temperature (C˚)
W Power required for compressor – kW
W Power required for pump(s) – kW
W Net power needed to run the system – kW
3 Geothermal Chiller System

A geothermal chiller is basically a large-scale industrial chiller operating on a geo-thermal
source. Fig. 1 shows a schematic view of a typical geothermal chiller system. Its evaporator is
used to extract the low grade geothermal heat (~10 to 18 ºC) of the mine water with the help
of its compressor. The geothermal heat together with the electric power of the compressor
are then upgraded to a higher temperature (~40 to 60 ºC) and delivered to an ‘end-user’ at
the condenser. The heat collected on the condenser side could now be either transferred to a
water stream or an air stream. Depending on the end-user’s need, this could be either done
by deploying a direct or an indirect heat exchanging units. This units differ based on their heat
transfer mechanism and instrumentation. While direct heat exchangers are usually in the form
of cooling towers or spray chambers the indirect ones are insulated with different tubing
methods. Once the condenser side of the following loop transfers the heat to the downstream
flow, heat carrying water or air stream can be effectively utilized by a wide variety of ‘end-
users’ on site i.e. heat requiring mine facilities or intake shaft ventilation.
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.3
Figure 1. A diagram of a geothermal system
The total mechanical work needed to run the chiller is comprised of the electricity
consumption of the compressor and the pumps and can be summarized as below,
W =W W W (1)
Also, first law of thermodynamics dictates that the following energy balance equation is valid
for the entire process,
W = (2)
Note that , power input rate of the geothermal process, can be identified as presented
below in equation (3);
= ( , , ) (3)
For a chiller unit the efficiency of the unit is denoted as Coefficient of Performance and
mathematical definition of COP is shown below,
= =1 (4)
The economic parameters can be introduced to the model as follows. If one says the money
($) spent for old heating system per unit heat is αH and αe is the cost for obtaining one
equivalent unit of electricity power from the line then, consequently, when a new geothermal
system is deployed over the old heating system, the profit obtained per unit of time becomes
as follows,
( )= ( ). ( ). W (5)
Please note that, γ(t) represents savings associated with time t and integration of equation
(5a) over the predefined time will result in the total savings associated. Therefore, by
modifying the equation (5) with following modifications, equation (5a) can be obtained:
( ) ( )
( )= ( )W = ( ). . (5a)
( )
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.4
The final modification in the notation can be made by dividing αe over αH and calling it β (i.e.
β = αe / αH). This process is essential to see the relative economic performance of two systems.
As a result, one might estimate the savings over a time “t” with the following integration.
( )
( ) = ( ). . (5b)
In the following financial model, equation (5b) is utilized for IRR and NPV analyses. It is
important to mention that, only heating days and their hourly equivalents are used and
represented in the model. All terms and conditions are set according to British Columbia,
Canada conditions and regulations.
4 Economic Analysis
To achieve a better appreciation of the current market conditions, an industrial scale actual
project located in Canada is studied and it relevant characteristics are implemented into the
following financial model. To illustrate different cost dimensions of the same application, four
separate cost models are constructed including the base cost and probable top-ups. These
models are separately considered and applied into a wholistic analysis. Table 1 shows the
assumed CAPEX scenarios along with the geothermal heat and power data. Each of these 4
scenarios represent a real-life case. CAPEX1 is associated with cases in which all the
infrastructures and facilities are ready for implementation of the geothermal chiller with no
installation costs. CAPEX2 is when some installation costs are involved as well. Addition of
some infra-structure and construction costs to CAPEX2 will lead to CAPEX3. Finally, CAPEX4
will involve the drilling and excavation costs. These costs usually include proper drilling,
excavation and mucking out the extracted material. Excavation and drilling processes are
strongly project dependent and usually held to facilitate the exposure of geothermal resource
in case the current thermal exposure is found to be insufficient. The drilling/excavation costs
are significantly high, and they rise as the main reason for infeasibility of most geothermal
projects. The major advantage of implementation of a large-scale geothermal chiller in a mine
environment is due to the exclusion of drilling/excavation costs. To highlight this better, a
scenario with excavation costs are also considered. Considering mines that doesn’t have the
right geothermal exposure and require some excavation the financial impacts related to
potential excavation/drilling work shall as well be observed. Shortly, a mine-coupled
geothermal chiller is usually expected to fit in either CAPEX2 or CAPEX3, depending on the
conditions of the mine infrastructure, however, in rare cases it is possible to see CAPEX4
scenario also holds. It is worth to note that; Table 1 indicates the heat pro-duction capacity
and corresponding electricity consumption for the proposed unit. This unit is assumed to
provide same heating over its operation for 120 days in BC conditions.
Table 1: List of possible costs to install a geothermal unit with yearly average COP of 6
Options CAPEX ($) Overall Electricity
Qout (kW) Wnet (kW)
CAPEX 1 (Chiller Unit Only) $ 125,000
CAPEX 2 (CAPEX 1 + Installation) $ 156,250
774 129
CAPEX 3 (CAPEX 2 + Infrastructure & Construction) $ 187,500
CAPEX 4 (CAPEX 3 + Drilling or Excavation) $ 218,750
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.5
The proposed chiller unit can deliver max 774 kW of heat with 129 kW of electricity, yielding
a yearly average COP of ~6. As for BC conditions, yearly heating days are selected as 120 days
and overall heat gain is resulted in as 2,230 MWh over the heating season with some 371.5
MWh of net overall electric power drawn. In the financial model, a 10-years-period of cash
flow model is assumed and studied with 10% discount and 1.51% inflation rate. Additionally,
0.1% contingency and maintenance cost are considered and fixed for every year. Table 2
shows the annual operational parameters of the proposed chiller system. Financial
performance of the proposed system is tested over a conventional natural gas burner with
moderate efficiency of 81.5%.
Table 2: Operational characteristics of the proposed

Property Value
Specific heat of geothermal source (J/Kg.K) 4,187.0
Tgeo,in (K) 291.2
Tgeo,out (K) 286.2
Geothermal fluid mass flow (liters/sec) 30.8
Qin (kW) 645.0
Qout (kW) 774.0
Qout (kW.h) yearly 2,229,120
Power drawn by compressor, Wc (kW) 129.00
Yearly net power drawn, Wnet (kW.h) 371,520
Days of operation 120
Average seasonal COP 6
5 Results and Discussion

Notably, effect of fuel market prices is examined by assessing the effect of β on NPV and IRR
which is shown in Figure 2. Logically, higher β values results in either higher electricity prices
(αe) or lower heating fuel prices (αH) based on the ratio. So, it is observed that, technically,
when β increases the resulting IRR and NPV values will decrease. BC energy market conditions
for this example is shown with a red-dashed-line with αH = 2.53 ₵ and αe = 8.40 ₵ yielding a β
= 3.32. Thus, one can derive the fact that, current energy market in BC is not allowing the
feasibility of CAPEX3 and CAPEX4.
$150,0 25%
(a) (b)
NPV - 10 YEARS (X1000)
Strongly-feasible
$125,0 20%
IRR - 10 YEARS
$100,0
15%
$75,0
10% Fairly-feasible
$50,0
$25,0 5% Weakly-feasible
$0,0 0% Infeasible
0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5 4,0 4,5 0,5 1,5 2,5 3,5 4,5
β β
Figure 2. Behaviour of NPV (a) and IRR (b) based on varying β (Constant yearly average COP=6)
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.6
To investigate the effect of COP of the geothermal system on the economic feasibility of the
project, Figure 3 (a) and (b) summarizes the impact of COP on NPV and IRR respectively. It is
interesting to see that economic impact of performance factor caps down with enhancing COP
values. This effect can be understood by remembering that in equation (5b), increasing COP
decreases the impact of β by limiting the value of the corresponding ratio to unity. In other
words, even with the best chiller technology which can operate at very high COP values with
an elevated performance, the economic feasibility of the proposed geothermal heat pump
systems will continue to be quite fragile based on the other factors stated in equation (5b).
$140,0 25%
(a) (b) Strongly-feasible
$120,0
20%
IRR - 10 YEARS
$100,0
$80,0 15%
$60,0 10% Fairly-feasible
$40,0
Weakly-feasible
$20,0 5%
Infeasible
$0,0 0%
4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 8,0 9,0 10,0 4,0 5,0 6,0 7,0 8,0 9,0 10,0
C.O.P. C.O.P.
Figure 3. Behaviour of NPV (a) and IRR (b) based on varying COP (Fixed αH =2.53₵ and β = 3.32)
Last parameter to study is the prospective carbon taxation to which Canadian and other
governments are paying a keen attention. It is significantly important to take its impact into
account on the economic viability of future geothermal implementations. For the Canadian
province of British Columbia, currently applied carbon tax rate is $30/tonne of eCO2 emissions
[25] and as it stated by the Canadian Federal Government, the carbon taxation rates will
increase to the amount of $50/tonne of eCO2 by the year 2022 [25]. Fig. 4 here, represents
the indispensable economic impact of provincial carbon taxes in the case of prior examples.
According to Figure 4, with the help of carbon taxes, in just 5 years, the feasibility of the CAPEX
1 scenario can be significantly improved (up to an IRR of 45%). Also, introduction of carbon
taxes can help transitioning the CAPEX 3 and CAPEX 4 scenarios from the infeasible zone with
no return to the feasible status.
40%
$200,0 Strongly-feasible
35%
$180,0
$160,0 30%
IRR - 10 YEARS
$140,0
25%
$120,0
$100,0 20%
Fairly-feasible
$80,0 15%
$60,0
10% Weakly-feasible
$40,0
$20,0 5%
Infeasible
$0,0 0%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
CARBON TAX RATE ($/TONNE) CARBON TAX RATE ($/TONNE)
Figure 4. Behaviour of NPV (a) and IRR (b) based on varying carbon taxes
(Fixed αH =2.53₵, β = 3.32 and constant yearly average COP=6)
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.7
6 Conclusion
The results of this study help engineers and decision makers to draw the guidelines needed to
assess the economic feasibility of a large-scale mine-coupled geothermal heating projects. The
results show that a combination of technical and economic parameters play significant role in
the overall feasibility of such geothermal projects. One of the major findings of this study is to
underline the fact that, compared to conventional geothermal heating systems which involve
high drilling/excavation costs, mine-coupled geothermal projects can stand out economically
by avoiding such capital costs. It was also found that electricity price, heating fuel price and
COP are the main factors which contribute the most to the overall feasibility of a geothermal
system in long-term. A new dimensionless parameter, β, was introduced which could better
represent the effects of energy prices for both electricity and heating fuel. It was shown that
while a higher COP will improve the feasibility of a project but there is a limit to this
improvement. Finally, a carbon taxed market was studied, and it was found that levying
carbon taxes can have a sizeable positive impact on the economic feasibility of large-scale
geothermal project.
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intensive industries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 2010. 18(12): p. 1125-1133.
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Washington, DC, 2007.
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processing of copper and gold ores. Minerals Engineering, 2014. 65: p. 109-114.
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thermal energy storage for application in underground mine ventilation. Applied Energy,
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exhausts and some nitroarenes. 2012, Elsevier.
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Geothermics, 1991. 20(5-6): p. 369-386.
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.8
10. Watzlaf, G.R. and T.E. Ackman, Underground mine water for heating and cooling using
geothermal heat pump systems. Mine Water and the Environment, 2006. 25: p. 1-15.
11. Jessop, A.M., J.K. Macdonald, and H. Spence, Clean energy from abandoned mines at
Springhill, Nova Scotia. Energy Sources, 1995. 17(1): p. 14.
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and installation of a technical plant for geothermal mine water use, in Water in mining
environments. 2007: Cagliari, Italy.
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Germany: determination of hydrogeological and thermophysical rock parameters. Mine
Water and the Environment, 2010. 29(1): p. 68-78.
14. Hall, A., J.A. Scott, and H. Shang, Geothermal energy recovery from underground mines.
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geothermal heat pump systems. Mine water and the Environment, 2006. 25(1): p. 1-14.
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NWT. 2007, Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering: Yellowknife. p. 18.
17. Raymond, J. and R. Therrien, Low-temperature geothermal potential of the flooded

Gaspé mines, Quebec, Canada. Geothermics, 2008. 37(2): p. 189-212.
18. Ghomshei, M.M. and J.A. Meech, Useable Heat from Mine Waters: Coproduction of
Energy and Minerals from "Mother Earth", in Intelligence in a Materials World, J.A.
Meech, et al., Editors. 2003, CRC Press. p. 5.
19. Rodriguez, R. and M.B. Diaz, Analysis of the utilization of mine galleries as geothermal
heat exchangers by means a semi-empirical prediction method. Renewable Energy,
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20. Hamm, V. and B.B. Sabet, Modelling of fluid flow and heat transfer to assess the
geothermal potential of a flooded coal mine in Lorraine, France. Geothermics, 2010.
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22. Ghoreishi-Madiseh, S., et al., A transient natural convection heat transfer model for
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REMOO–2018 — 02.084.9
24. Templeton, J., et al., Abandoned petroleum wells as sustainable sources of geothermal
energy. Energy, 2014. 70: p. 366-373.
25. Government of BC. (n.d.). Environmental Protection & Sustainability. British Columbia’s
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action/carbon-tax. Information retrieval date: April, 2017.
REMOO–2018 — 02.084.10
QUEST FOR ENERGY
HIDDEN ENERGY IN EMBEDDED SYSTEMS, UBIQUITOUS

COMPUTING AND MACHINE VIRTUALISATION
Gordana LAŠTOVIČKA-MEDIN
University of Montenegro, Podgorica, Montegro; gordana.medin@gmail.com
Abstract
Embedded systems present the backbone of digital technology and thus, cloud computing.
Furthermore, embedded energy and embedded carbon of embedded system are complex
concepts. The complexness originates from the fact that both hardware and software have to
be optimised mutually, and fabrication of the system which integrates all parts and
interconnections between them, depends on the final aim and final purpose/function. The
question is if hidden energy pace out the functional purpose of device? Another question is
how optimise energy consumption. To optimise energy consumption, one has to understand
the functionality of each components but also to grasp the holistic view of the system. Namely,
system architecture requires multidisciplinary research efforts to achieve holistic energy
efficient design and management. Advances in computer architecture must be carried out in
two information propagation directions: The first direction is bottom-up where technology
related parameters are propagated from modern technologies and chip level to the large-scale
data centre level. Circuit-level technological parameters will be used in the server and data
centre architecture explorations, while the chip-level parameters will be exploited by the
large-scale requirements. The second direction is top-down where the target large-scale
operation characteristics within cloud computing (in terms of runtime workload variations at
software level and infrastructure operating conditions), has to be exploited to tune further
the lower-level architectural, and technological design aspects. There are also conflicting
demands for high performance and energy efficiency. Circuit architectures to deliver these
conflicting performance requirements must be addressed through the heterogeneous
integration of a range of embedded core. In this paper we look at the published reports in
order to bring together all sources that contribute to embedded carbon and embedded energy
in an embedded system.
Keywords: Embedded systems; Ubiquitous computing; Embedded energy
1 Introduction
Originally, Ubiquitous Computing (coined by Mark Weiser in 1991, "The Computer for the 21st
century", Figure 1a) referred to a paradigm shift in which a general purpose machine (the PC)
will be replaced by a large number of specialized computers, which are embedded into
everyday objects. A typical application for this is the smart home. So Ubiquitous Computing
as a vision was much more than technology - it dealt with the question of how users would
interact with a environment that is physical but enriched with computing, i.e. digital
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.1
functionality. Pervasive computing is pretty much the same thing, just coined by somebody
else (and after Mark Weiser). Cloud computings is overlaping wih ubiqutious coputing.
The Internet of Things was originally thought as extending the principles of the Internet as a
network organisaion concet to physical things. Ths means that physical things get a unique ID,
which is machine readable and an associated digital representation on the web. The term was
coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999. A great deal of work on this has been done by the Auto-ID
Labs at MIT and University of St. Gallen, especially with relation to Radio-Frequency
Identification (RFID) and its applications, especially in logistics (tracking & tracing). Many
relevant standards have been developed by GS1 under the EPC (Electronic Product Code)
umbrella. Some of them clearly carry the concept of transferring Internet Standards to the
physical world, such as EPC as adressing scheme (like IP) or the Object Naming Service (ONS),
similar to DNS.
So, whereas UbiComp was designed to make objects intelligent and create richer interaction,
the Internet of Things was much more focussed on virtual representations of automatically
identifiable objects. Obviously, both concepts are important pieces of a future Internet. Both
concepts were subsequently enhanced, which is why these terms are used interchangeably
today. And there are new ones, like Internet of Everything, Cyber-Physical Systems, Industrial
Internet, Physical Web, Web 3.0, and Web of Things, which are also part of the general
phenomenon.
An embedded system (Figure 1) is subset of Internet of Things.
Figure 1. a) Elements of ubiquitous computing as proposed by Mark Weiser in 1991

(published in Scientific American). b) An modern embedded system on a plug-in card with
processor, memory, power supply, and external interface
It is an application-specific computer system which is built into a larger system or device (see
Figure 2). Using a computer system rather than other control methods (such as non-
programmable logic circuits, electro-mechanical controls, and hydraulic control) offers many
benefits such as sophisticated control, precise timing, low unit cost, low development cost,
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.2
high flexibility, small size and low weight. The most frequently used embedded system is
microcontroller.
Figure 2. Embedded systems’ applications [Source[1])
Carbon footprint is embedded into ICT through manufacturing. The UNFCCC measures
emissions according to production, rather than consumption (UK Parliament, 2010)[2].
Consequently, embedded emissions on imported goods are attributed to the exporting, rather
than the importing, country. The question of whether to measure emissions on production
instead of consumption is partly an issue of equity, i.e., who is responsible for emissions [3]
Another provoking question »who owns China's carbon emissions?« was set in briefing note
by authors [4]. In their study, they suggested that nearly a quarter of China's CO emissions
might be a result of its production of goods for export, primarily to the USA but also to Europe.
Based on this, they suggested that international negotiations based on within country
emissions (i.e., emissions measured by production) may be "[missing] the point". Another
research reported in [5] claims that, in 2004, 23% of global emissions were embedded in
goods traded internationally, mostly flowing from China and other developing countries to the
U.S., Europe and Japan. Furthemore, research by the Carbon Trust in 2011 revealed that
approximately 25% of all CO emissions from human activities 'flow' (i.e. are imported or
exported) from one country to another. The flow of carbon was found to be roughly 50%
emissions associated with trade in commodities such as steel, cement, and chemicals, and
50% in semi-finished/finished products such as motor vehicles, clothing or industrial
machinery and equipment.
In this paper we scafold origins of embedded carbon in embedded systems and its role in cloud
computing.
2 Key Terms
Following table lists a few terms used frequently in paper. The terminology is included too.
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.3
Cores A multi-core chip may have several cores. With the advent of multi-core
technology, the term "processor" has become context-sensitive, and is
largely ambiguous when describing large multi-core systems.
Chips Chip refers to a physical integrated circuit (IC) on a computer. A chip in the
context of this document refers to an execution unit that can be single- or
multi-core technology.
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an

IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat
piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, normally silicon. The
integration of large numbers of tiny transistors into a small chip results in
circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, cheaper, and faster than
those constructed of discrete electronic components.
Process & A process is an independent program running on a computer. A process has

Processor a full stack of memory associated for its own use and does not depend on
another process for execution. MPI (Message Passing Interface) processes
are true processes because they can run on independent machines or the
same machine.
A processor could describe either a single execution core or a single physical

multi-core chip. The context of use will define the meaning of the term
An Embedded Processor is a microprocessor that is used in an embedded

system.
3 Electric Demands in the ICT Ecosystem – Global Manufacturing

Manufacturing ICT requires a lot of energy. The faster ICT products are obsolete, the greater
is the manufacturing energy. It is also the fact that the obsolescence rate is accelerating.
Semiconductors dominate energy in ICT manufacture. They also dominate the detector
industry (used for space, nuclear and particle physics). Moreover, military industry heavily
employs semiconductors. Minimisation of electronics brings a new military weapon – swarm
robotics. Data centres, data servers and energy management system are based on
semiconductor materials. However, the total energy used in manufactory is seldomly
reported.
Published data claims that It takes 1 -2 KWh to make a square centimetre of microprocessor.
The world’s $300 billion/year semiconductor industry produces hundreds of billions of square
centimetres (Figure 3). The embodied energy can’t be recycled; it has been consumed. Figure
shows cumulative capital investment in 2014 in U.S.
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Figure 3. IEEE Cumulative capital investment in the hardware of U.S [Data source:
IEEE Cumulative capital investment in the hardware of U.S.]
AS new more complex ICT technologies are adopted, embodied energy increasingly dominates
the total life-cycle energy picture. As pointed out frequently, “As system operators accelerate
equipment upgrades and expansion to bring new features and to reduce electricity costs,
those expenditure not only increase manufacturing energy use, but have the effect of shifting
future operational energy savings to immediate, possibly greater, energy used in
manufacturing”.
4 Growing Numbers: How Connected Device Impacts C02 Foot

Print and Energy Consumption/Production
Embedded systems are at heart of ICT technology and the chip is at hart of embedded system
(Figure 4). Embedded systems can be microprocessor or microcontroller based. In either case,
there is an integrated circuit (IC) at the heart of the product that is generally designed to carry
out computation for real-time operations. Microprocessors are visually indistinguishable from
microcontrollers, but whereas the microprocessor only implements a central processing unit
(CPU) and thus requires the addition of other components such as memory chips,
microcontrollers are designed as self-contained systems. The integration of a whole CPU (for
example of microprocessor) onto a single chip or on a few chips greatly reduced the cost of
processing power, increasing efficiency. Integrated circuit processors are produced in large
numbers by highly automated processes resulting in a low per unit cost. Single-chip processors
increase reliability as there are many fewer electrical connections to fai.
Figure 4. Images of chips selected for different purposes (server, interface, software,
network etc)
To grasp ubiquities of embedded systems and the integrated impact (before we scaffold the
embodied energy into embedded systems) we collected a few provoking visual presentations
of ICT behavioural pattern in CO2 emission and presented it in Figure 5 [6]. It is obvious that
CO2 contribution from ICT technology is rapidly increasing. However, ICT developers are also
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claiming that ICT technology will enable rapid CO2 reduction in coming decades. However, it
is difficult to predict with certainty an outcome due to huge uncertainties, in particular since
each new product would push aggressively a new approach which will in turn exchange an old
one (infrastructure), and consequently cause (push) a new manufacturing. Old devices will be
kept as a waste, or recycled (which does environmental damage too), and a new will be
implemented (here we have question if life-cycle of device which has to re-balance CO2
embedded foot print) was completely used.
Figure 5. Carbon footprint development of CO2 [6]
5 The key challenge at the microarchitecture level: the power

consumption through architecture design
Figure 6 shows functional block diagram of an ICT device (in the context of this paper –
embedded system. An ICT device is a machine that inputs information and energy (under the
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form of work) and processes both and outputs information and energy (mostly under the form
of heat).
Figure 6. An ICT device is a machine that inputs information and energy (under the form of
work) and processes both and outputs information and energy (mostly under the form of
heat) [7]
The side effect of the advances in the computation process is the increasing heat production.
The field effect transistor (FET) has been mostly used. In the meantime an impressive increase
in size of CMOS has been achieved increasing the computational density of microprocessors.
New types of scaling rules as well as new designs and materials were introduced to reduce the
energy dissipation following the breakdown of the Dennard scaling rules (where a number of
fixed parameters in the transistor did not scale in a standard linear, quadratic or cubic way
with the gate length of the transistor, e.g., the voltage threshold at which the transistor is
switched on into a digital “1” state). Some other echnologis such as BiCMOS are bridging old
concept and giving birth to a new one, using less energy and offering loerr energy disippation.
BiCMOS circuits use the characteristics of each type of transistor most appropriately.
Generally this means that high current circuits use metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect
transistor (MOSFETs) for efficient control, and portions of specialized very high performance
circuits use bipolar devices. Bipolar junction transistors offer high speed, high gain, and low
output resistance, which are excellent properties for high-frequency analog amplifiers,
whereas CMOS technology offers high input resistance and is excellent for constructing
simple, low-power logic gates.
Working performances and energy consumption of chips and thus embedded systems
depends on supply voltage VDD and band gap. FETs, however, have fundamental power and
speed limits, and these cannot be overcome even by switching to new materials. For example,
in order to avoid leakage at room temperature due to a finite height of the potential barrier,
the voltage cannot be scaled as rapidly as the physical dimensions and the resulting power
density for these switches at maximum packing density would be on the order of 1 MW/cm2
[7]. The steep increase in CPU power density is mirrored by the increasing fraction of energy
spent in cooling activities. Whereas there is still significant progress to be achieved by
advanced CMOS, only by moving to a radically new technology can lower power dissipation
potentially be achieved. Figure 7 provides a comparison of present and future high-
performance and low-power CMOS against future proposed device technologies.
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Figure 7. The intrinsic power dissipation per device switch versus delay time for CMOS and
future devices as proposed in the ITRS future emerging technology roadmap. The diagonal
grey lines are lines of constant energy
Solution to mentioned problems is continued scaling of conventional transistor devices

(termed as More Moore) and adding new device concepts for computation (termed beyond
More Moore or beyond CMOS). The concept is More Moore is that circuit architecture will be
like present CMOS architectures and only the devices, voltage, or currents are changed. The
solution “More Moore” is looking at the challenges of scaling CMOS devices to dimensions
below 10 nm; this requires a new channel materials and devices architecture such as gate-all-
around nanowires that allow higher performance with lower voltage for reduced power
potential. The materials include Ge, III–Vs, semimetals, carbon-based materials, magnetic
materials, and phase-change materials are used now. Many more innovative architectures
were designed: steep sub-threshold slope transistors, devices with learning capability, e.g.,
devices that learn logic configurations and devices that learn by example, Integration of RF
devices and components, optical devices, e.g., Si photonics for communications and optical
sensing modalities, micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS) and nano electro mechanical
systems (NEMS), integration of unintelligence of subsystems into one platform – aiming for
more intelligent system (holistic approach).
Microarchitecture characteristics can be grouped into four areas as it was done in paper
referred in [7]: deeply embedded, embedded/mobile, general purpose, and servers/high-
performance. These are not necessarily strict boundaries and properties. An example of
deeply embedded system is smart autonomous sensors, which due to their ability to
seamlessly integrate with the environment have given rise to cyber-physical systems (CPS) and
IoT platforms. This requires integration of heterogeneous components dedicated to signal
acquisition (e.g., analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs)), processing (digital signal processors),
and environment manipulation (actuators). The embedded system may also typically include
wireless communication and run on batteries together with energy harvesters. Hence, one or
more of the following constraints may apply (and are relevant in the energy context): small
physical size and operating temperature. An example of an embedded device is the controller
chip on a hard disk or a solid-state disk. They cannot be replaced, so their failure effectively
renders the entire disk useless. The software running on them is difficult or undesirable to
update in the interests of data security.
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A key challenge at the microarchitecture level is that energy efficiency advancements must
take the form of a synthesis of improvements at lower levels and respond to the evolving
needs at higher levels. We must strive to provide predictable, transparent behaviour, not just
functionally, but for properties such as energy consumption. As discussed later, the cost of
data movement must also be more readily exposed and significant effort must be put into
efficiently moving (or avoiding moving) data around a system as its contribution to energy
consumption will continue to increase. This must be complemented by novel, intuitive
methods for presenting the increasingly heterogeneous resources that form emerging multi-
core (processing units) systems across the various device classes so that higher levels of the
system stack can fully understand and exploit the underlying hardware. Opportunities for
improvement at the microarchitecture level are along three main directions: Increased
heterogeneity, with specialized functional blocks for particular tasks; many-core systems, with
various heterogeneous blocks as described above, combined with groups of homogeneous
clusters. network-based interconnects or complex, multi-layered buses, to connect these
many components, along with caches, memory, and peripherals, together. To get an
impression about rapid grows of manufactured transistors we show evolving path of
transistors and multi-core processors in Figure 8.
Figure 8. a) Evolution of transistors; b) Processor trends from 1970s up to the present day.
Up until the early 2000s, computer architects used additional transistors available with
More’s Law scaling to increase the performance of a single core/thread. At thus point a
power wall was reached, requesting the move to multi-core computing. The number of cores
on a die is currently increasing at an exponential rate commensurate with More’s law [8]
Similarly, to the scenario of circuit architecture, system architecture are will require
multidisciplinary research efforts to achieve holistic energy-efficient design and management.
In particular, circuit-level technological parameters will be used in the server and data centre
architecture explorations, while the chip-level cooling parameters will be exploited by the
large-scale cooling and energy reuse technologies.
There are few ways to reduce the power consumption through architecture design such as:
dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, clock gating and clock distribution, dynamic partial
reconfiguration, power domains, caches and interconnects. In the context of data centers and
HPC advance cooling infrastructure and energy reuse is studied. Innovative procedures such
as a passive thermosiphon (gravity driven) cooling system for servers and racks, using energy
only to remove the waste heat out of the data centre room, and innovative systems able to
re-convert generated heat into electricity, such as the pressure reverse osmosis (PRO) process
are studied. The objective is to provide data centres a solution to absorb a part of their waste
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.9
heat and reproduce electricity. New 3-D chip combines computing and data storage are
emerging too (Figure 9 [9]). Instead of relying on silicon-based devices, researchers and
Stanford University and MIT have built a new chip that uses carbon nanotubes and resistive
randomaccess memory (RRAM) cells. The two are built vertically over one another, making a
new, dense 3-D computer architecture with interleaving layers of logic and memory. This
work was funded by DARPA, NSF, SRC, STARnet SONIC, and member companies of the
Stanford SystemX Alliance. The key in this work is that carbon nanotube circuits and RRAM
memory can be fabricated at much lower temperatures, below 200 C. Researchers took
advantage of the ability of carbon nanotubes to also act as sensors. In addition to improved
devices, 3-D integration can address another key consideration in systems: the interconnects
within and between chips.
Figure 9. New 3-D chip combines computing and data storage (credit: MIT)
6 Embedded Software within Energy context

The most significant is that many facilities in a system operate at the request of software,
meaning that processor cores and system-level consumers such as data communication or
displays can consume more or less energy, depending on software algorithms. Accepted
wisdom states that because of this, the best energy efficiency is achieved by having all
software operate as quickly as possible, meaning that facilities can be disabled (minimizing
their consumption) for longer periods. This is known as reducing static power. In addition,
software also causes energy consumption through dynamic power, the cost of circuits
charging and discharging as they signal digital information. Examples include the activation of
different banks of memory.
Given a program to be implemented in some programming language and a hardware platform
on which it is to be executed, we may ask whether it is energy-optimal. The energy limit for a
software is a relative and pragmatic one; what is the least energy a given program should
consume on a given hardware platform? We assume that in answering this question, the
program could be redesigned to use a more energy-efficient algorithm (for that hardware
platform). Software designers and developers typically first target functionality (getting the
program to do what it is supposed to do), then performance (doing it as fast as possible), and
third, minimization of code development costs (productivity). Optimization of performance is
highly important in some fields, especially in HPC. This usually means optimizing for
minimizing the time of a computation (i.e., optimizing performance and high speed). However,
there has not been significant work on optimizing the energy consumption or understanding
the ultimate energy consumption limits. Energy consumption of software is not subject to
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.10
fundamental limits in the same sense as hardware. A software is written using programming
languages and translated into codes that are executed by hardware. This provides significant
opportunities for optimizing energy consumption. Large-scale integration (LSI) logic suggests
that dedicated low-power hardware circuitry may save 20%, while changes to software to
better control the power states could provide power savings of a factor of 3–5. In short, more
energy is wasted by software than by hardware so extensive work on optimization is needed.
Standard interfaces and application programming interfaces (APIs) for collecting power and
energy information have to be developed, supported by accurate measurements through
built-in hardware counters and sensors or external measurement devices; avoiding data
transfer (Data transfer at all levels including local memory to cache, within local memory,
read/write to storage, and transfer through the network is expensive both in terms of time
and energy compared to floating point operations. Algorithms need to be investigated that
reduce the need for data transfer and which exploit and improve data locality); Data
compression—The volume of transferred data can be reduced if the data is compressed.
However, the compression itself is an additional computation that consumes time and energy;
Multiple precision algorithms; Randomization and sampling algorithms; Adaption to load
imbalance—Ill-balanced codes can infer substantial penalties on performance and energy
consumption; Scheduling and memory management—In order to efficiently use the massively
parallel and heterogeneous platforms, power and energy-aware runtimes, scheduling, and
memory techniques are required; tuning algorithms—Complementing the scheduling and
memory management on the runtime level, algorithms need to be able to detect and tune
themselves to the architecture.
More generalized hardware leads to lower cost, but typically greater energy consumption. The
most significant factor in improving the energy efficiency of software is the developer.
Developers can adjust their software to be more efficient on their chosen platform; however,
this requires detailed understanding and creativity. It is currently impossible for automated
processes to fully customize an algorithm to take full advantage of available hardware
features. Better software design for hardware should also enable better selection of
hardware. Understanding precisely how a piece of software consumes energy would allow
more informed selection of heterogeneous systems, particularly if the heterogeneous
hardware’s features could be characterized in a way that can be matched against software
features. Such a process would greatly simplify the benchmarking and evaluation required
when selecting a platform to develop on. In summary, new paradigms and tools for the design
of software, based on energy transparency, are required if the energy consumption is to be
reduced. Currently, the main drivers for software production are high performance,
minimizing time for operation, and minimizing production cost. These drivers must include
minimizing energy.
7 Chip as Backbone of Embedded System: Computer Chip Life

Cycle Embedded Energy & Embedded Carbon
Generally speaking, the embodied CO2 of a material is a calculated value of the quantity of
carbon derived due to the extraction, processing and transportation of the material to the
product. This value is typically expressed as the mass in kg of embodied CO2 from producing
1 kg of material, shown as kg CO2/kg. The life cycle analysis of the CO2 of a system includes a
cradle- to- grave investigation or a as described by the source as life cycle analysis (LCA) as
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shown in Figure 10. The figure illustrates the four stages in the system life which will be
analysed in this thesis by looking at each stage individually. The materials and manufacture
stage include the embodied CO2 for each material that it used for the turbine. The assembly
and installation include the transport of the turbine from manufacturing plant. These first two
stages tend to have the highest level of associated CO2. The operations and maintenance have
the lowest level of CO2 especially if the power required for the turbine is assumed to be from
a renewable source. The decommissioning and disposal is the final stage of the turbine life, in
which this thesis analyses several disposal options.
Figure 10. Embedded C02 and energy “life stages”
The energy used to produce electronic gadgets is considerably higher than the energy used
during their operation. An obvious barrier at present is that very few software developers
have much idea of how much power their programs dissipate or which parts of a program are
energy hotspots. This might even be different for the same program from one platform to
another. Since the backbone of embedded system is chip, to grasp the concept of embedded
carbon and embedded energy in embedder system, we will analyze in this Chapter the
computer chip life cycle.
Most computer chips are primarily composed of crystalline silicon. The first step, therefore,
is silicon mining and purification (Figure 11). Among many other things, this requires energy.
Energy is one of the inputs of the mining and purifying process. The output is purified silicon,
which gets shipped to a computer chip factory.
Figure 11. Chip’s manufacturing
The computer chip factory then takes the purified silicon and makes it into a crystal wafer
form. The purified silicon is an input of the manufacturing process. Only about 43% of the
pure silicon crystal used in the process becomes part of the chip. The silicon that does not
end up in a chip either comes out as a recyclable output or as waste.
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Then the factory “etches” circuits on the silicon wafer and cleans the etched wafer and places
the transistors and other circuits on the chips. The inputs to these processes are, among other
things, chemicals to etch the silicon and water to flush it out. For a 2-gram, 32-megabyte
memory chip and its plastic package, about 70.5 pounds (1 pound = 453.59237 g) of water is
used. The water used in the process must be purified before it can be used. It is then used to
wash the silicon wafers and is passed out of the system as waste, or effluent. This effluent
contains the chemicals it washed off the wafers, and therefore has to be disposed according
to federal and state regulations. About 0.16 pounds of chemicals are used for each 0.004
pound chip produced, which is about 40 times the weight of the chip.
Finally, the factory cuts the wafer up into the actual chips that are packaged in a
form ready for assembling in other products. Thus to manufacture a computer chip,
we have to deal with raw material extraction: inputs, outputs and processes required to
produce a supply of energy and silicon, including mining of materials; material production:
inputs, outputs and processes to produce crystalline silicon, including the crystallization of
purified liquid silicon; part Production: inputs, outputs and processes to manufacture a chip,
including etching circuits on a silicon wafer; and with assembly: inputs, outputs and processes
to produce the final packaged chip, including the plastic or ceramic case with metal pins that
encases the chip. This is just the beginning of the life of a computer chip. Once it is put into
the electronic device and turned on, the chip consumes electricity (energy). When the device
that the chip is in has outlived its usefulness, the chip is disposed of, either as waste or recycled
material. This is the “disposal” phase of the chip and is the last phase of its life cycle. Computer
chips have a high environmental impact relative to their weight. For every gram of a microchip,
630 grams of fossil fuels are used, whereas for every gram of an automobile, only 2 grams of
fossil fuels are used. This is due to the fact that making very pure, organized and hence low
entropy structures from high entropy materials require large energy inputs. Automobiles,
while made with heavy materials, do not require the level of purity and sophistication of
materials as a microchip. The energy used in producing nine or ten computers is enough to
produce an automobile.
8 Embedded Carbon & Energy in Multicore processor
Figure 12. Many ICs (Integral circuits) on board
One trend in recent years is the introduction of “multicore processors” and “multi-CPU
systems”. Personal computers can now contain 2, 3 or 4 microprocessors. Servers, game
consoles and embedded systems can have many more. Each of these “cores” is capable of
handling its own task independently of the others.
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Microprocessors (the “brains” of all digital devices) are more advanced than memory chips
(Figures 12& 13) and thus contain at least as much embodied energy. Unfortunately, no life
cycle analysis of a microprocessor has been published. Certain is that modern computers
contain ever more of them. As written in [12] another trend is the rise of the “Graphics
Processing Unit” or GPU. This is a specialized processor that offloads 3D graphics rendering
from the microprocessor. The GPU is indispensable to play modern videogames, but it is also
needed because of the ever higher graphical requirements of operating systems. GPU’s do not
only raise the energy consumption of a computer while in use (GPU’s can consume more
energy than current CPU’s), but they also stand for more embodied energy. A GPU is very
memory-intensive and thus also increases the need for more RAM-chips.
The amount of materials embedded in the product might be small, but it takes a lot of
processing (and thus machine energy use) to lay down a complex and detailed circuit like that.
While the electricity requirements of machines used for semiconductor manufacturing are
similar to those used for older processes like injection molding, the difference lies in the
process rate: an injection molding machine can process up to 100 kilograms of material per
hour, while semiconductor manufacturing machines only process materials in the order of
grams or milligrams [12].
Figure 13. Multicore/multiplexed board with many chips on the board [12]
The manufacture of nanotubes is as energy-intensive as the manufacture of microchips.

Nanotechnology operates on an even smaller scale than micro-electronics, but its energy
requirements are comparable. Carbon nanofiber production, which is based on many of the
same techniques used by semiconductor manufacturing, requires 760 to 3,000 MJ of
electricity per kilogram of material, while carbon nanotubes and single-walled nanotubes
(SWNTs) manufacturing requires a hefty 20,000 to 50,000 MJ per kilogram. The manufacture
of nanotubes is thus as energy-intensive as the manufacture of microchips (36,000 MJ). Many
of the large-scale applications proposed for nanotubes will simply not be possible because of
energy requirements (information retrieved from [12]).
Encouraging recycling is often proposed as a way to lower the embodied energy of products.
Unfortunately, this does not work for micro-electronics (or nanomaterials). For instance,
producing 1 kilogram of plastic out of crude oil requires 62 to 108 MJ of energy, while a typical
mix of virgin and recycled aluminum requires 219 MJ [12].
According to Smart 2020 [9], the emissions from Information and Communications
Technology (including the energy use of data centers, which the IEA report does not include)
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will rise from 0.5 Gt CO2-equivalents in 2002 to 1.4 Gt CO2-equivalents in 2020, assuming that
the sector will continue to make the “impressive advances in energy efficiency that it has done
previously”. By enabling energy efficiencies in other sectors, however, ICT could deliver carbon
savings 5 times larger: 7.8 Gt CO2-equivalents in 2020. But even if we assume that all these
savings will materialize (the report acknowledges that this will not be an easy task), this
conclusion does not take into account the energy needed to manufacture all this equipment.
Technological obsolescence: The ecological footprint of digital technology described above is
far from complete. As author emphasized in [12] his article was focused exclusively on energy
use and does not take into account the toxicity of manufacturing processes and the use of
water resources, both of which are also several orders of magnitude higher in the case of both
semiconductors and nanomaterials (if water used in semiconductor manufacturing is taken
into account and extremely short lifecycle of most gadgets). If digital products would last a
lifetime (or at least a decade), embodied energy would not be such an issue. technological
obsolescence would be the most powerful approach to lower the ecological footprint of digital
technology. One should not forget miniaturization trend which request more sophisticated
technology Progress of miniaturization, and comparison of sizes of semiconductor
manufacturing process nodes with some microscopic objects and visible light wavelengths is
displayed in Figure 14. Taking into account an area of thousands of transistors per square cm
we can come to an extreme number of embedded carbon and embodied energy of an
embedded system. A new technologies and approaches are emerging but also more embodied
energy. Abundant data computing are now supported by N3XT that improves the energy
efficiency of abundant-data applications 1,000-fold by using new logic and memory
technologies.
Figure 14. Progress of miniaturisation, and comparison of sizes of semiconductor

manufacturing process nodes with some microscopic objects and visible light wavelengths
[11]
Notable, in today’s system-on-chip (SoC) platforms containing multiple heterogeneous

processors, the system architect needs to know how to deal with power management facilities
provided with different operating systems (OSes) running on them to balance the overall
system power policies. Solution of adding more virtual layers will save further consumption of
embedded energy.
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9 Embedded Virtualisation
Beside embedded systems, and embedded energy of embedded systems, a new concept,
embedded virtualisation on embedded systems is introduced by ICT developers. Virtual
Machine (VM) is a relatively new concept. Virtualisation of servers will reduce costs and CO2
emission of data servers and as well energy consumption (as suggested and planned by ICT
developers). Any Virtual machine (VM) is an abstract machine, making the interface between
platform independent applications and the hardware, through a possible operating system.
Thus, the use of interpreter language can be seen as adding one more layer, the virtual
machine, between the hardware and software layers. We suggest that the energy
consumption of an embedded virtual machine can be assigned to machine interpreter
mechanism. As an increasingly essential component of the emerging cloud computing model,
virtualized environments bill their users based on processor time or the number of virtual
machine instances. However, accounting based only on the depreciation of server hardware
is not sufficient because the cooling and energy costs for data centers will exceed the purchase
costs for hardware as reported in [10] where authors suggest a model for estimating the
energy consumption of each virtual machine without dedicated measurement hardware. The
model estimates the energy consumption of a virtual machine based on in-processor events
generated by the virtual machine. Based on this estimation model, authors propose a virtual
machine scheduling algorithm that can provide computing resources according to the energy
budget of each virtual machine. They also identify the relationships between in-processor
activities and processor energy consumption.
10 Conclusion
The key message that has become clear from investigating each of the levels of the system
stack is that overall energy efficiency can be optimized more aggressively when the design at
one level understands the energy issues at another level. This is especially true for levels that
control the behaviour of another level, e.g., circuit architecture on devices or software on
circuit architecture. As each level has become more complex and the number of transistors
and lines of code have moved from thousands into many billions, it has become more difficult
for people to understand all levels of the system. A clear message is that only through the joint
understanding of how different levels of the stack must be designed to reduce energy
consumption will optimum ICT solutions that minimize the use of energy be found. It should
be pointed out that in some circumstances minimizing communication is not the lowest
energy solution—e.g., the processing required for heavy compression can cost more energy
than you save under most transmission scenarios. If significant energy reductions are to be
achieved, suitable education and tools are essential where an expert (e.g., in software) is
provided with sufficient knowledge to understand the energy impact (of code) at the other
levels of the stack. Realizing this vision requires interdisciplinary research at the boundaries
of multiple scientific domains (materials science, physics, electrical engineering, software
engineering, and mathematics), as well as developing and integrating innovations in several
research areas, e.g., materials modelling and fabrication, device and computer engineering,
cooling design, large-scale computing system simulation, software generation and
optimization, statistical network modelling, and model predictive control theory. Next-
generation information technologies will process unprecedented amounts of loosely
structured data that overwhelm existing computing systems. N3XT improves the energy
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.16
efficiency of abundant-data applications 1,000-fold by using new logic and memory

technologies, 3D integration with fine-grained connectivity, and new architectures for
computation immersed in memory.
Acknowledgements
Author gratefully acknowledge the support of organizer of Conference.
References
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mpactAssessmentsofICT/ERICSSON_Malmodin.pdf
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[10] Nakku Kim, Jungwook Cho, Euiseong Seo, Energy-credit scheduler: An energy-aware
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technology.html
REMOO–2018 — 02.087.18
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ENERGY HARVESTING FOR LOW-POWER, WIRELESS

EMBEDDED DEVICES AND WIRELESS CHARGES OF SENSORS
Abstract
Energy harvesting allows low-power embedded devices to be powered from naturally-
occurring or unwanted environmental energy (e.g. light, vibration, or temperature difference).
While several systems incorporating energy, harvesters are now available commercially, they
are specific to certain types of energy source. Energy availability can be a temporal as well as
spatial effect. To address this issue, ‘hybrid’ energy harvesting systems combine multiple
harvesters on the same platform, but the design of these systems is not straightforward. This
paper surveys their design, including trade-offs affecting their efficiency, applicability, and
ease of deployment. This survey, and the taxonomy of multi-source energy harvesting systems
that it presents, will be of benefit to designers of future systems. Furthermore, we identify
and comment upon the current and future research directions in this field. Particularly, the
architecture of power conditioning is analysed. System architecture and system circuitry for
wireless charging as well as different working scenarios are also included.
Keywords: Wireless sensors; Energy harvesting; Power conditioning; Energy managing

system; Wireless charging; System and circuitry architecture
1 Introduction
Extracting power from ambient sources (see Figure 1) is generally known as energy harvesting,
or energy scavenging. This approach has recently attracted a great deal of interest within both
the academic community and industry, as a potential inexhaustible source for low-power
devices. Generally, energy harvesting suffers from low, variable, and unpredictable levels of
available power.
Figure 1. Various ambient energies available in the environment for powering small
scale electronics and systems. Retrieved from [1], originally adapted from [2]
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.1
Figure 2. The large reductions in power consumption achieved in electronics along with the
increasing numbers of mobile and other autonomous devices, are continuously increasing
the attractiveness of harvesting techniques. Image credit: Mike Hayes, “Synergy between
energy harvesting and Power Electronics”, Tyndall National Institute, 2016
However, the large reductions in power consumption achieved in electronics (see Figure2),
along with the increasing numbers of mobile and other autonomous devices, are continuously
increasing the attractiveness of harvesting techniques (Figure 3) and its market (Figure 4).
Consequently, the amount of research in the field, and the number of publications appearing,
have risen greatly.
Figure 3. The large reductions in power consumption achieved in electronics is compared to

the power supply needed for Texas instruments MSP430RF2500
Figure 3a. Few examples of energy harvesting applications
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.2
Figure 4. Energy harvesting market (2017) [3]
In this paper we analyse challenges related to the design of the conditioning circuitry and
energy management as parts of the energy harvesting systems. There are two key reasons
why conditioning of the output power of a micro-power generator is called for. First, it is very
unlikely that the unprocessed output of the transducer will be directly compatible with the
load electronics. Secondly, in most cases it is desirable to maximize the power transfer from
the transducer by optimizing the apparent impedance of the load presented to it. It may also
be necessary to provide energy storage for sources that are intermittent or for relatively high-
power loads that run in burst mode. It is clear from the literature to date that much more
attention has been paid to the transducer itself than the power conditioning. Most
researchers have used a simple resistive load to determine the electrical power output of their
transducers. Some perform simple processing by bridge rectifiers and smoothing capacitors,
and only a small number of publications describe more sophisticated power processing stages
with voltage regulation or power transfer optimization.
This paper is organized as follows. In the next Chapter (2) we set out hypothesis. In chapter 3
different harvesting techniques were introduced. An example of power conditioning from
literature is given in Section 4, and problems emphasized. A few ‘System Design Taxonomy’
for Multisource Harvesting reported in literacy were briefly introduced in Chapter 5. Wireless
networks with RF energy harvesting is analysed in Chapter 6. A few commercial products are
analysed in Chapter 8. Challenges are emphasised in Chapter 7. Paper is concluded with
Chapter 9.
2 Universal Energy Harvesting Solution that serves all Purposes?

The research in this paper is based on the hypothesis that a universal energy harvesting
solution that serves all purposes does not exist because the energy excitation conditions differ
from application to application. To dimension such a system correctly, all important boundary
conditions must be known and considered. Furthermore, one needs to distinguish between
continuous and pulsed motions. The requirements o the electric load must also be taken into
consideration too. The important parameters here include the voltage required, the power
and the input impedance, i.e. capacitive or resistive. Moreover, the electronics has to be
matched to the power requirement of the load. Importantly, due to the repeating phases of
“charging”, “storing”, “energy output”, charging, the solution such as supercapacitor as
storage device, for instance, is paticularly suitable for aplications which do not have a
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.3
continuius power requirement e.g. in wireless sensor network where the charge where the
charge is generated and stored in measurement breakes and the nergy is rerieved for the
measurement and data transmision. Notable, the design of the piezoelectric transducer, the
electronics and the kind of excitation used substaintly determine the outcome and need o be
matched individually for a certain task. By compaing strength and weakness, we also look if
some electronic componets used in power conditining have more significant role then othes.
3 Energy Harvesting: Power, Availability, Comparison

The average solar insulation at the top of the earths atmosphere is approximately 1370W·m−2
[4]. The energy available for harvesting at a particular location on the earth’s surface clearly
varies with time of day, latitude and atmospheric conditions and the efficiency of conversion
depends on the incidence angle to the PV device. Annually averaged surface received energy
varies between around 300 W·m−2 near the equator to around 100 W·m−2 near the poles. For
temperate regions, the daily average available shortwave energy varies from around 25
MJ·m−2day−1 in summer to 1–5 MJ·m−2·day−1 in midwinter [5]. This does however depend on
prevailing atmospheric conditions with heavy cloud cover resulting in a drop in available
energy of approximately an order of magnitude. Given that commercially available PV cells
provide a typical efficiency of around 15%, the minimum average electrical power over a 24h
period in a temperate location is around 2 W·m−2. An important consideration in solar energy
harvesting is that the energy is delivered for only part of the day and, assuming the sensor
network is required to operate at the same level at all times, the energy gathered during the
day must be stored for night time operation. Considering the same temperate location as
considered above, a total electrical energy of 0.15 MJ·m−2 is harvested over an 8h period
during the day in winter and must be stored to provide for the remaining 16h of the day.
Commercially available supercapacitors have energy densities of around 5kW·h·m−3. Thus,
over a 24h period, an average power of approximately 200W·m−3 could be stored. For a
10×10×10mm capacitor, this figure would correspond to an average power of 0.2mW, a figure
that lies within the range of typical WSN nodes operating with extensive periods in sleep
mode.
A miniature turbine designed for use in air flow is described in [7]. This device used a 13mm
diameter, 1mm thick turbine disk and was capable of producing 1mW of electrical power. A
larger device designed for use in heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) ducts is
described in [7]. A turbine with a diameter of approximately 10cm was shown to produce
around 27mW for an air flow rate of 1000 feet per minute, which is within the range found in
an HVAC duct but greater than that found in most other environments.
Piezo electric materials exhibit the property that if they are mechanically strained, they
generate an electric field proportional to the strain (Figure 5). Conversely, when an electric
field is applied the material undergoes strain. The design of a piezoceramic vibration-based
energy harvesting device has to overcome a number of conflicting aims. Because
piezoceramics possess high stiffness, structures in which they are formed tend to have high
resonant frequencies while, ambient vibrations tend to have greatest amplitude at relatively
low frequencies.
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.4
Figure 5. a) Magnetic induction transducer model; b,c) Vibration energy harvester (Inertial
generators are more flexible than direct-force devices because they require only one point
of attachment to a moving structure, allowing a greater degree of miniaturization; d)
conditioning circuitry
The piezoelectric material such as PZT, is a well-known and well characterized material with a
high piezoelectric coefficient. Vibration energy harvesters must be able to respond to the low
frequency and low acceleration vibrations that usually exist in the environment. Moreover,
the energy harvester should generate as much energy as possible in order to supply enough
power for the follow-up loads. Recently, MEMS technology has been applied toward the
development of energy harvesters, and many piezoelectric MEMS energy harvesters have
been developed. Renaud et al. proposed a fabricated MEMS-based PZT cantilever micro-
generator with an integrated proof mass that can generate an average power of 40 μW at 1.8
kHz vibration frequency [8]. Jeon et al. developed a d33 mode thin film PZT power generating
device with interdigitated electrodes that can generate an average power of 1.0 μW from 108
m/s2 vibration accelerations at its resonant frequency of 13.9 kHz [9]. However, the above
two energy harvesters’ resonant frequencies are very high. Fang et al. fabricated a MEMS-
based PZT cantilever power generator with a non-integrated Ni proof mass that can generate
2.16 µW from 10 m/s2 vibration acceleration at its resonant frequency of 609 Hz. The nickel
metal mass on the tip of the cantilever is used to decrease the structure's resonant frequency
for the application under low-frequency vibration, but it cannot to be micro-machined by
MEMS technology [10]. Similar to the previous work, Liu et al. used the previous cantilever
structure to construct a power generator array to improve power output and frequency
flexibility. Although they demonstrated that power density was high, the proof mass was not
also integrated with the cantilever which will be an additional difficulty in production [11].
Muralt et al. designed and fabricated a micro power generator of thin film PZT laminated
cantilever with proof mass and interdigitated electrodes which could generate a voltage of 1.6
V and power of 1.4 µW when excited under 20 m/s2 vibration acceleration at 870 Hz resonant
frequency [12]. Over the past two years, some new structures or new piezoelectric materials
have been applied in energy harvesters, which attain lower resonant frequency and more
output power, but the power conditioning circuit for the improvement of high internal output
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.5
impedance about piezoelectric energy harvester has rarely been discussed in these references
[13]. From these previous studies, at least three conclusions can be reached and summarized
as follows: Firstly, most MEMS vibration energy harvesters usually work under high frequency
environment conditions, which limits the scope of application for these devices, because the
frequencies of available ambient vibration sources are relatively low. Secondly, the delivered
power output of those MEMS micro-generators is relatively low, so the architecture and
parameters of energy harvester must be optimized as far as possible in order to increase
output power. Thirdly, a power conditioning circuit is absolutely necessary for piezoelectric
energy harvesters in order to extract the maximum power from the harvester, store energy
and then regulate the voltage for meeting the demands of the loads, such as wireless sensor
nodes. In this paper, a complete design flow of a self-powered MEMS PZT vibration energy
harvesting system for wireless sensor nodes is presented, which includes the design method
of how to increase the output power and voltage of the energy harvester. [14-15]. The main
goal of the power conditioning circuit is highly efficient energy transfer and energy
accumulation between the harvester and the electric load, because the typical output power
of a MEMS vibration energy harvester is in the μW range. Furthermore, the interest of the
community in designing the conditioning electronics for the capacitive transducers started to
grow in the beginning of 2000th with the development of mature MEMS technologies and
progress in CMOS technologies that shrank enough in size and power.
4 Power Conditioning
Figure 6 shows one example of schematic of the power conditioning circuit, which includes
AC-DC rectifying, impedance matching, energy storage, instantaneous bleed-off and voltage
regulator circuits. The basic design idea is to enable maximum power extraction from the
piezoelectric energy harvester by using the impedance matching circuit, store the energy in a
super-capacitor and supply power to the load when enough energy is accumulated in super-
capacitor.
Figure 6. Power conditioning circuit for PZT energy harvester [14]
The rectifying bridge circuit consists of four small-signal diodes. These diodes are chosen
specifically for rectification because they must have the smallest forward voltage drop and
leakage current. As authors [14] emphasized, the discontinuous control mode (DCM) buck-
boost converter is chosen for the second stage because of its ability to accommodate a wide
range of input voltage and behave as a lossless resistor to match the source impedance for
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.6
the maximum power point tracking), An ultra-low power oscillator with an RC network is used
to generate the pulse width modulation (PWM) signal for turning the power switch Q1 on or
off. The duty cycle and switching frequency can be adjusted by choosing appropriate R1, R2
and C2 to achieve the maximum power delivery. If the comparator output is high, the voltage
at the non-inverting input of the comparator is two-thirds of the supply voltage. Furthermore,
authors pointed out that capacitor C2 is charged through resistor R1. As soon as the capacitor
voltage reaches two-thirds of the supply voltage, the comparator output acts and goes low.
The voltage at the non-inverting input of comparator is one-third of the supply voltage.
Capacitor C2 is discharged through resistor R2. The power supply of the chip connects to the
cathode of diode D5. Once the capacitor voltage decreases one-third of the supply voltage,
the comparator output becomes high, Capacitor C2 is charged again and the whole cycle
repeats. The super-capacitor should be disconnected from the load during the energy
accumulation stage to prevent energy leakage to the load and is supposed to be connected to
the load only if the accumulated energy is large enough to drive it. The instantaneous bleed-
off circuit is composed of an ultra-low power voltage comparator U2 with hysteresis, the
switching Q2, and Q3. The comparator monitors the super-capacitor’s voltage and controls
the super-capacitor’s charging and discharging process. The role of switch and voltage
regulator adoption is described as follows: is in charge of powering on or off the wireless
sensor node. The hysteresis of a comparator creates two threshold voltage points: the upper
one for super-capacitor charge voltage and the other lower one for the super-capacitor
discharge voltage, which can control how much energy discharging from the super-capacitor.
A voltage regulator is adopted as the output unit providing a stable voltage supply to the
wireless sensor node. In order to improve the efficiency of the voltage regulator, two key
design points are applied in the circuit. One is to reduce inductor power loss and the other is
set to enable start-up signal for DC-DC converter. If input voltage of the voltage regulator (i.e.,
the super-capacitor’s voltage) is lower than a defined start-up voltage, the voltage regulator
consumes unnecessary power because it is not able to boost the output voltage. Thus, to
overcome this drawback, authors introduce a supervisory unit that continuously checks the
super-capacitor’s voltage and enables the voltage regulator output stage only when it can be
equal to the value of start-up voltage.
Besides full wave rectifying with 4 diodes there are more advanced rectifiers. Rectifiers are
crucial devices in energy harvesting systems, particularly regarding energy loss at minimum
level. Rectifying as well as other stags can be cascades. However, the size of the circuit is
affected by the number of stages and size of the capacitors. This determines the size of the
chip, affects the cost of production and limiting its manufacturability, volume and
applications. Therefore, designing a small circuit with small number of stages and smaller
capacitors is preferred. An interesting ultra-low power voltage regulator system for wireless
sensor networks powered by energy harvesting is given in [1]. For further reading we suggest
comprehensive study given in [24].
Another work [25] which we want to recommend and has educational value too is
comprehensive study on a vibration-dependent variable capacitor where charge pump with a
flyback circuitry were implemented. This work is focused on investigations of the reported by
MIT in 2006 [26] auto-synchronous conditioning circuit, which combines the diode-based
charge pump and the inductive flyback energy return driven by the switch. This architecture
is very promising since it eliminates precise gate control of transistors employed in
synchronous architectures, while a unique switch turns on rarely.
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.7
5 ‘System Design Taxonomy’ for Multisource Harvesting

Authors in [16] presented two Illustrative examples of two multi-source energy harvesting
systems, developed by the authors of this paper, as shown in Fgure 7, the ‘Smart Power Unit’
[17], ‘Sustem A’ and the ‘Plug-and-Play Architecture’ [18], ‘System B’ (Figure 8). System A is
intended for outdoor operation, harvesting energy from wind and light and also using a fuel
cell as energy backup; its power budget is of the order of a few milliwatts. Conversely, System
B is intended for indoor use, harvesting energy opportunistically from a selection of modules
as appropriate to the available energy in the deployment environment; its power budget is
<1mW.
An input power conditioning circuit is required to go between the harvester and the storage
device – to prevent the backflow of energy to the harvester, and in many cases to rectify and
regulate its output (Figure 9).
Figure 7. Multi-source energy harvesting systems -‘Smart Power Unit’ [16]
Figure 8. Multi-source energy harvesting systems – ‘Plug-and-Play Architecture’ [16]
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Figure 9. Role of input and output power conditioning circuit
6 Wireless Networks with RF Energy Harvesting:

A Contemporary Issue
A typical centralized architecture of an RF-EHN, as shown in Figure, has three major
components, i.e., information gateways, the RF energy sources and the network
nodes/devices. The information gateways are generally known as base stations, wireless
routers and relays. The RF energy sources can be either dedicated RF energy transmitters or
ambient RF sources (e.g., TV towers). The network nodes are the user equipment’s that
communicate with the information gateways. Typically, the information gateways and RF
energy sources have continuous and fixed electric supply, while the network nodes harvest
energy from RF sources to support their operations. In some cases, the information gateway
and RF energy source can be the same. As shown in Figure 10, the solid arrow lines represent
information flows, while the dashed arrow lines mean energy flows.
The information gateway has an energy harvesting zone and an information transmission zone
represented by the dashed circles in Figure. The devices in the energy harvesting zone are able
to harvest RF energy from the information gateway. The devices in the information
transmission zone can successfully decode information transmitted from the gateway.
Generally, the operating power of the energy harvesting component is much higher than that
of the information decoding component. Therefore, the energy harvesting zone is smaller
than the information transmission zone.
Figure 10. A general architecture of an RF energy harvesting network [23]
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.9
Figure 10 also shows the block diagram of a network node with RF energy harvesting
capability. An RF energy harvesting. node consists of the following major components: the
application, a low-power microcontroller, to process data from the application, A low-power
RF transceiver, for information transmission or reception, an energy harvester, composed of
an RF antenna, an impedance matching, a voltage multiplier and a capacitor, to collect RF
signals and convert them into electricity, a power management module, which decides
whether to store the electricity obtained from the RF energy harvester or to use it for
information transmission immediately, and an energy storage or battery.
The power management module can adopt two methods to control the incoming energy flow,
i.e., harvest-use and harvest store-use. In the harvest-use method, the harvested energy is
immediately used to power the network node. Therefore, for the network node to operate
normally, the converted electricity has to constantly exceed the minimum energy demand of
the network node. Otherwise, the node will be disabled. In the harvest-store-use method, the
network node is equipped with an energy storage or a rechargeable battery that stores the
converted electricity. Whenever the harvested energy is more than that of the node’s
consumption, the excess energy will be stored in the battery for future use. Figure illustrates
the block diagram of an RF energy harvester: the antenna can be designed to work on either
single frequency or multiple frequency bands, in which the network node can harvest from a
single or multiple sources simultaneously. Nevertheless, the RF energy harvester typically
operates over a range of frequencies since energy density of RF signals is diverse in frequency.
The impedance matching is a resonator circuit operating at the designed frequency to
maximize the power transfer between the antenna and the multiplier. The efficiency of the
impedance matching is high at the designed frequency. The main component of the voltage
multiplier is diodes of the rectifying circuit which converts RF signals (AC signals in nature) into
DC voltage. Generally, higher conversion efficiency can be achieved by diodes with lower built-
in voltage. The capacitor ensures to deliver power smoothly to the load. Additionally, when
RF energy is unavailable, the capacitor can also serve as a reserve for a short duration.
The efficiency of the RF energy harvester depends on the efficiency of the antenna, the
accuracy of the impedance matching between the antenna and the voltage multiplier, and the
power efficiency of the voltage multiplier that converts the received RF signals to DC voltage.
For the general node architecture introduced above, the network node has the separate RF
energy harvester and RF transceiver. Therefore, the node can perform energy harvesting and
data communication simultaneously. In other words, this architecture supports both in-band
and out-of-band RF energy harvesting. In the in-band RF energy harvesting, the network node
can harvest RF energy from the same frequency band as that of data communication. By
contrast, in the out-of hand RF energy harvesting, the network node harvests RF energy from
the different frequency band from that used for data communication. Since RF signals can
carry energy as well as information, theoretically RF energy harvesting, and information
reception can be performed from the same RF signal input. This is referred to as the
simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) concept. This concept allows
the information receiver and RF energy harvester to share the same antenna or antenna array.
Ambient RF sources refer to the RF transmitters that are not intended for RF energy transfer.
This RF energy is essentially free. The transmit power of ambient RF sources varies
significantly, from around 106 W for TV tower, to about 10 W for cellular and RFID systems,
to roughly 0.1 W for mobile communication devices and WiFi systems. Ambient RF sources
can be further classified into static and dynamic ambient RF sources: static ambient RF
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.10
sources. Static ambient RF sources are the transmitters which release relatively stable power
over time, such as TV and radio towers. Although the static ambient RF sources can provide
predictable RF energy, there could be long-term and short-term fluctuations due to service
schedule (e.g., TV and radio) and fading, respectively. Normally, the power density of ambient
RF sources at different frequency bands is small. As a result, a high gain antenna for all
frequency bands is required. Moreover, the rectifier must also be designed for wideband
spectrum. An interesting finding is that when the distribution of ambient RF sources exhibits
stronger repulsion, larger RF energy, harvesting rate can be achieved at the sensor. Dynamic
ambient RF sources can also play important role. Dynamic ambient RF sources are the RF
transmitters that work periodically or use time-varying transmit power (e.g., a WiFi access
point and licensed users in a cognitive radio network). The RF energy harvesting from the
dynamic ambient RF sources has to be adaptive and possibly intelligent to search for energy
harvesting opportunities in a certain frequency range.
An example of integrated receiver architecture where energy harvester is integrated with
information receiver system is shown in Figure 11a) [23]. The current circuit designs are not
yet able to extract RF energy directly from the decoded information carrier. In other words,
any energy carried by received RF signals sent for an information receiver is lost during the
information decoding processing. General block diagram of a wireless sensor node (WSN) is
shown in Figure 11b).
Figure 11. a) An example of integrated receiver architecture where energy harvester is

integrated with information receiver system [23]. b) Block diagram of a wireless sensor node
(WSN)
Another block diagram of management circuitry architecture where power management

module interacts with lower-power microcontroller is shown in Figure 12. A RF energy
harvesting system block diagram with an operation of a charge pump DC-DC converter ([19],
[1]) is presented in Figure 13.
Figure 12. An example of architecture of an RF energy harvesting device [23]
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.11
Figure 13. a) A RF energy harvesting system block diagram; b) Operation of a charge pump
DC-DC converter [19] [1]
Figure 14. Thermal transducer as harvester and power conditioning line (Step-up DC-DC
convertor- input power conditioning circuit), and energy management line (supercapacitor
and Back-boost convertor as output power conditioning circuit)
Thermal transducer as harvester and power conditioning line (Step-up DC-DC convertor- input
power conditioning circuit), and energy management line (supercapacitor and Back-boost
convertor as output power conditioning circuit) is shown in Figure 14. Energy flow, data flow
and signal control are clearly distinguished in developed architecture for the sensor node
reported in [20] (Figure 15a). Figure 15b) shows a block diagram of an electrostatic vibration
energy harvester assisted by a ’charge pump and flyback’ conditioning circuit [26]. As it can
be seen, all presented block diagrams for energy harvesting and power conditioning has
similar and distinctive features. Distinctive features depend mostly on the strength and
reliability of the harvested signal. Magnetic resonance coupling is based on evanescentwave
coupling which generates and transfers electrical energy between two resonant coils through
varying or oscillating magnetic field. RF radiation utilizes diffused RF/microwave as a medium
to carry radiant energy.
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.12
Figure 15. a) Energy flow, data flow and signal control are clearly distinguished in developed
architecture for the sensor node reported in [20]; b) Block diagram of an electrostatic
vibration energy harvester assisted by a ’charge pump and flyback’ conditioning circuit [26]
Wireless charges
Figure 16. a) Wireless technologies; b) Far-field wireless charging; c) Models of wireless

charging systems for inductive coupling and magnetic resonance coupling [28]
As illustrated in Figure 16, wireless charging technologies can be broadly classified into non-
radiative coupling-based charging and radiative RF-based charging [28]. For instance,
inductive coupling is based on magnetic field induction that delivers electrical energy between
two coils. Figure 16c shows the reference model. Inductive power transfer (IPT) happens when
a primary coil of an energy transmitter generates predominantly varying magnetic field across
the secondary coil of the energy receiver within the field, generally less than a wavelength.
The near-field magnetic power then induces voltage/current across the secondary coil of the
energy receiver within the field. This voltage can be used for charging a wireless device or
storage system. The operating frequency of inductive coupling is typically in the kilo Hertz
range. A few different scenarios for wireless charging is shown in Figure 17.
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.13
Figure 17. Few models of wireless charger deployment scenarios [28]
7 Challenges
Firstly, load regulation is one of the key issues. Load is where the produced power is delivered
to. The load could be resistive, capacitive, inductive, or a combination of all. Ideally, the output
voltage is independent on the load current. However, in reality because of the finite gain of
the error amplifier, the output voltages at different load currents are different even though
the difference is subtle. Load regulation denotes the output voltage change at a given load
current change. Second, the quiescent current is issue too. The quiescent current is composed
of the reference current, the tail current of the error amplifier and the current flowing through
the feedback resistors. Third, the output capacitors play important role when the supply
voltage changes, for instance, when the supply voltage suddenly increases. Fourth, a power
consumption of DC-DC converter is critical too. A DC-DC converter (Zener diode regulator,
linear regulator, charge pump and inductor-based switching converter) often resides at the
last stage of the whole energy harvesting system just before the empowering load, and it
provides a stable output voltage to the load despite the change in the input voltage or load
resistance. Since the power levels of the energy sources are low, when designing a voltage
regulator for wireless sensor nodes powered by harvesting energies from the environment it
is important to minimize the power consumption of the linear regulator. The power
consumption of DC-DC converter should be as low as possible that there is enough energy left
for sensor node (alternatively speaking the power efficiency of DC-DC converter should be as
high as possible). The input voltage and output voltage of a DC-DC converter are
predetermined by the system (the input voltage is determined by the battery voltage and the
output voltage is determined by the applications), besides, the load current is also determined
by the application, as a result, the only parameter one can play with to increase the DC-DC
converter power efficiency is its quiescent current. Notable, considering the low power
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.14
density level of the RF signal, on needs to limit quiescent current of a DC-DC converter in the
sub- microAmper level. The charge pump DC-DC converters (also called switched capacitor
converters use capacitors to store energy temporarily and then release energy to the output.
There exist several different charge pump topologies. The Cockcroft-Walton charge pump is
shown in Figure. Moreover, since, sensor node often switches among different working modes
(e.g., high power mode and low power mode) to optimize its power consumption. In those
different modes, the load resistance and current are quite different (the current level may
range over several orders of magnitude), and they change frequently and rapidly when the
sensor node switches from one mode to another. Thus, it requires the DC-DC converter to
respond fast enough with small output voltage overshoot/undershoot over an enormous
current range. The circuit response is greatly affected by the quiescent current of the DC-DC
converter. Therefore, low quiescent current requirement could result in a slow response
speed and large output voltage variation when the load current changes. As a result, power
management issues need to be addressed carefully to make optimal usage of the harvested
energy, and special attention should be taken to design an ultra-low power DC-DC converter.
Careful comparison of DC-DC characteristics, operating features, strength and weakness one
can summarize it as follows: Zenner diode is very simple, it is easy to use, but drawback is that
it is very inefficient. Linear regulator has low noise, large PSRR and it is not very efficient too.
Charge pump is relatively simple; however not very efficient, and not noisy. Contrary, inductor
based DC-DC has high efficiency, but it is bulky, costly and has high noise. Which one to use
depends on the available financial support and needs. One should not forget that to make a
charge pump regulating the output voltage, one needs to use feedback control.
Further, when AC signal is produce (RF, vibrations, etc), a choice of rectifier effects the energy
efficiency of the whole harvesting system. Thus, before DC-DC an active rectification is
needed. Active rectification is a technique where diodes are replaced by transistor switches in
rectification circuits. This can improve efficiency by elimination the 0.7 volt drop across the
diode and reducing the series resistance. Electronic circuits turn on the transistor switch at
the appropriate time thus the name synchronous or active rectification. A rectifier can be
implemented also using a Schottky diode because of its low turn on voltage and fast transit
time as compared to PN junction diodes. A rectenna can be better choice since it harnesses
signal and convert it into DC signal. It is an antenna/rectifier assembly which can capture RF
signals and generate a DC voltage. A rectenna array has been fabricated is characterized over
a frequency range of 2-18 GHz. Since we are aiming at harvesting a wide frequency range RF
signals in the environment, a wideband antenna is desirable. According to [V. H. Rumsey,
"Frequency independent antenna," IRE International Convention Record, vol. 5, pp. 114-118,
Mar. 1966.], the antenna performance is independent of the frequency if its shape is specified
entirely by its angles.
Noise or ripple voltage superimposed on DC voltage cause problem too. Any DC voltage
obtained from AC source is carrying certain noise or ripple voltage superimposed on it. The
DC voltage obtained form RF is no exception. The amount of the ripple depends on the load
current. This ripple can be reduced by employing large, smoothing capacitors. In RF power
harvesting for RFID application large capacitors are not easily implementable due to a limit of
the space inside the chip. Another way of reducing the ripple is using multistage cascade
circuit; as the ripple passes through multiple stages, it becomes smoother. This approach
though is not practical, since multiple stages increase the size of the circuit, power loss, as well
as causing system to slow down and degrading the efficiency.
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.15
Notable, in energy-constrained systems low power design is vital for expanding the battery
and system’s life span. Lowering voltage supply decreases energy dissipation to one quarter
but also increases the delay in the system response. The issue here is that the ratio of
threshold voltage scale down with the supply voltage is not proportional. The zero Vth
transistors could be solution but however application of such transistor has proven to be not
a cost effective implementation. The maximum output power can be obtained with smaller
load, however high output voltage will be obtained through a larger output load. The following
parameters characterize a high quality RF to DC converter: High Power Conversion Efficiency
(PCE), small circuit size (low number of stages), shorter rise time or start up time, Low input
power threshold (the sensitivity term used in literature), Low ripple or noise, High Voltage
Conversion Efficiency (VCE). The trade-off is inevitable: voltage conversion efficiency (VCE)
versus power conversion efficiency (PCE), high power conversion efficiency /high output
voltage vs. small circuit size and shorter rise (start-up) time have to be considered carefully.
There is no general solution.
Last but not least is the effect of internal resistance which should not be ignored. Load
resistance is equivalent resistance/impedance of the device attached to the output of a given
circuit or system. For instance, the equivalent input impedance of a loudspeaker is the "load
impedance" of the audio amplifier driving the loudspeaker. The three conditions of internal
resistance are as follow: purely linear system, referring to the condition that the load
resistance is linear and there is no internal resistance in the system; linear system, referring
to the energy harvester with internal resistance in series with linear load resistance; and
purely cubic system, referring to the system with cubic load resistance and negligible internal
resistance. The comparisons between systems are carried out for both variable amplitude and
variable frequency input excitation. It is seen that, similar to the linear systems, the internal
resistance of the energy harvester provides an upper limit for the electrical damping of a
device with cubic load resistance. By increasing the amount of the internal resistance,
employing the cubic damping to increase the output power of system becomes less effective
since the system behaves in a more linear manner.
A key issue for these wireless node designs is that they achieve high degrees of power-
efficiency for autonomous and maintenance-free operation. For driving multiple loads, such
as WSN applications, the supplementary regulators or switching controllers not only increase
the complexity of the charger but also decrease the efficiency of the energy harvesting
systemChip as harvester seems to be good solution. Using for instance the chip embedded
magnetic component, a miniature transformer with micro-structured solenoids, it works as a
multi-output constant voltage transformer [27]. By storing energy into the chip embedded
transformer, the DC to DC conversions from photovoltaic to electric power can be stabilized.
By adjusting the Duty Cycle of switching ON/Off, the amount of power transferred can be
controlled. As the main switch connected to the primary side is turned on, all switches on the
second side are cut off, and the transformer stores energy into the magnetic core of the micro-
structured solenoids. Then the energy harvesting chip starts to partition its functions into time
slices according to the time-division multiplex of the loads and (for example) solar cell powers
by switching on the switches on the second side [27].
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.16
8 Commercial Devices
In this section a few commercial devices will be analysed. The first one is LTC3588-1 and
LTC3588-2 piezoelectric energy harvesting power supplies. It is a Linear Technology's
complete energy harvesting solution optimized for high output impedance energy sources.
Linear Technology's LTC3588-1 and LTC3588-2 integrate a low-loss full-wave bridge rectifier
with a high efficiency buck converter to form a complete energy harvesting solution optimized
for high output impedance energy sources such as piezoelectric transducers. With the
LTC3588-1, an ultralow quiescent current undervoltage lockout (UVLO) mode with a wide
hysteresis window allows charge to accumulate on an input capacitor until the buck converter
can efficiently transfer a portion of the stored charge to the output. In regulation, the
LTC3588-1 (Figure 18) enters a sleep state in which both input and output quiescent currents
are minimal. The buck converter turns on and off as needed to maintain regulation. With the
LTC3588-2, an ultralow quiescent current undervoltage lockout (UVLO) mode with a 16 V
rising threshold enables efficient energy extraction from piezoelectric transducers with high
open circuit voltages. This energy is transferred from the input capacitor to the output via a
high efficiency synchronous buck regulator. The 16 V UVLO threshold also allows for input to
output current multiplication through the buck regulator. The buck features a sleep state that
minimizes both input and output quiescent currents while in regulation.
Figure 18. List of the features and applications of the LTC3588-1 [21]
Another example is Silicon Labs’ Energy Harvesting Reference Design (see Figure 19)[22]. Low-
power wireless sensors are becoming increasingly common in industrial and medical
applications, remotely measuring stresses on bridges and buildings and even cardiac stress in
humans. The sensor nodes need to be ultra-low power, since battery replacement may be
costly, impractical, or even impossible. In these applications, harvesting of ambient energy
sources becomes a high priority, even a necessity. If you are considering such a design, Silicon
Labs makes an inexpensive energy harvesting board that serves as both proof of concept and
a springboard for designing your own applications. Silicon Labs’ Energy Harvesting Reference
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.17
Design (see Figure ) consists of a wireless sensor node and a USB wireless adapter. The wireless
sensor node is powered by a solar cell, though there is an auxiliary input that will allow power
to be sourced from other energy harvesting alternatives such as thermal, piezo or RF. The
sensor node uses a Silicon Labs Si1012A wireless MCU (Fig 19) to measure temperature, light
level, and charge level, transmitting this data wirelessly to the EZRadioPro® USB dongle, which
in turn uses a separate Silicon Labs C8051F342 MCU and an Si4431 radio. This review will put
the board through its paces, recommending where energy harvesting sources make sense in
wireless sensor nodes. The sensor node is powered entirely by a solar cell, with energy stored
in an Infinite Power Solutions’ THINERGY™ thin-film battery with power management handled
by Linear Technology’s LTC4071 regulator chip (see Figure 20). The system is designed for
ultra-low power operation, with the Si1012 consuming only 50 nA when it is not transmitting
data. The leakage current of the energy harvesting supply is approximately 3 µA, which can be
overcome by as little as 50 lux shining on the solar cell. When the battery is fully charged, the
system can operate for approximately seven days in total darkness or indefinitely when
exposed to light. The system can operate using either indoor lighting (200 lux) or sunlight
(10,000 lux). Silicon Labs puts the life expectancy of the sensor board at 15 years, over which
time it can deliver 7000 mA-H.
Figure 19. Si1012 Sensor Node (Courtesy of Silicon Labs)
An example of energy harvesting block diagram with Si1012 is shown in Figure 20.
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.18
Figure 20. Wireless Sensor Node with USB wireless Adapter block diagram with Si1012
9 Conclusion
This paper explores the power conditioning for energy harvesting systems aimed to supply
wireless sensor nodes. A few typical conditioning architectures were examined together with
harvesting system’s architecture. Harvesting ambient energies from the environment allows
the system to run without batteries, but the low power density requires developer and
designer to minimize the power consumption of the system. Our aim was to figure out
challenges, obstacles and solutions in designing the harvester for energy in order to supply
wireless sensor nodes. Each stage (mechanical part, circuitry (power conditioning and energy
management systems), wireless transition of signal has issues on its own and each system has
to be adapted (matched) to each other. All these requirements request an intelligent and
comprehensive (holistic) view and an intelligent integration of parts so that the wholeness of
the system means more/has better function then each part separately. The harnessing of low
energy has to be proceeded further through different stages (RF-DC, DC-DC, voltage
regulation, voltage inverter, storage etc) and there is investable loss in energy conversion,
particularly all those stages needs also energy supply for their functioning. To match ‘stage’ s
impedances to each other, its voltage/current is not easy task and there is no general
solutions. Wireless charging is discussed too, How to mitigate the heating effect to diminish
power loss is challenging. Full-Duplex Self-Energy Recycling Information Transmitter is an
interesting approach reported in [28]. However, with the capability of harvesting RF energy,
self-interference can facilitate energy saving and, in particular, as pointed out in [28] part of
the energy used for information transmission can be captured by the receive antenna(s) for
future reuse, referred to as self-energy recycling. This paradigm benefits both energy
efficiency and spectrum efficiency.
Notable, the review of various research papers has revealed the lack of consistency in the
results of the published work in terms of characteristic parameters and clear tests. However,
energy harvesting for wireless sensors and wireless charging become very exiting areas
REMOO–2018 — 02.088.19
offering rich pool for designing a new solutions towards intelligent integrations of many
devices into more intelligent one. The challenge is to balance drawbacks and benefits.
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REMOO–2018 — 02.088.22
QUEST FOR ENERGY
STUDY OF FERRITIC/MARTENSITIC STEELS MECHANICAL

PROPERTIES AT ELEVATED TEMPERATURES USING HIGH
TEMPERATURE NANOINDENTATION
Ondřej LIBERA*, Jan RŮŽIČKA, Hygreeva Kiran NAMBURI
Research Center Řež
250 68, Husinec-Řež, Czech Republic, ondrej.libera@cvrez.cz
Abstract
Instrumented nanoindentation technique has become commonly used method for
determining material hardness and elastic modulus. It has also tremendously contributed to
the understanding of the elasto-plastic mechanics of the studied systems. In the field of
nuclear materials analysis, nanoindentation is gaining importance to estimate the structural
integrity of materials, in particular to study irradiation induced mechanical property changes.
Therefore, implementation of this technique also helps to assess the component lifetime. In
recent years, various nanoindenter instruments have been commercialized. Each of them is
equipped with its own data analysis software to determine material properties and
characteristic operation mode. In this work, mechanical properties of the ferritic/martensitic
steel EUROFER 97 (EU97) were analysed at elevated temperatures. TI 950 TriboIndenter from
Hysitron with high temperature heating stage xSol 800 was used as an instrument for
nanoindentation. The calibration was performed only at room temperature, while the
indenter parameters were assumed as constant at elevated temperatures. The indentation
tests were performed on EU97 at temperatures up to 700 °C under loads of 5, 50 and 100 mN
with a Berkovich tip. The results were analysed using the Oliver-Pharr method. Results
describe the trend of mechanical properties with temperature and reveal an influence of
sample preparation on the measurement. A load control measurement approach was
selected. Sample preparation, test methods and data analysis procedures will be presented.
Keywords: High temperature; Nanoindentation; Nuclear materials
1 Introduction
Ferritic/martensitic (F/M) steels are being considered as a structural material for Generation
IV and fusion nuclear reactors. Such application is associated with harsh operating conditions
including temperatures around 700°C and high energy neutron fluxes. Therefore, material
properties must be validated, ideally under conditions as close as possible to operating
environment. High-temperature nanoindentation enables to determine the damage and
changes induced inside the material by both mentioned degradation mechanisms. Structure-
targeted material testing conducted within the temperature range of 23-700°C reveals an
existence of precipitates and structural defects, while directly showing their influence on
material behaviour. Meterial properties determined by the nanoindentation are generally
higher than bulk properties measured by conventional methods of material testing. This is due
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.1
to a very localized volume of indentation affected material, that is often within one grain or
only a few grains of tested material. Therefore, the nanoindentation is considered as a
complementary testing method, which is more suitable for characterization of changes in
material properties than for a determination of exact values. The importance of
nanoindentation during material research and development, as well as during the evaluation
of residual life of components is becoming more significant.
2 Experimental Procedure
2.1 Specimen Preparation
Sample preparation method is a crucial part of the nanoindentation. Sufficiently visible
structure and minimal average surface roughness (less than 30 nm) are the two most
important goals of metallographic preparation. Furthermore, the preparation procedure
introduces a mechanically hardened layer, which, in synergy with oxidic layer, might severely
distort measurement data if not taken into account. The quality of prepared surface is then
examined by optical, contact and electron microscopy. Same methods are later used for post
indentation analysis to determine factors that must be regarded during data processing.
At first, a specimen 1 mm thick was cut from the bulk material and embedded in polymer resin
for better handling during the preparation. Thickness of 1 mm was selected regarding a limited
space inside the xSol 800 heating stage and minimal temperature gradient in sample volume.
Sample was grinded on silicon carbide sandpapers up to 2000 grit. Subsequently, the specimen
was polished with 3 µm and 1 µm diamond suspension and finished with 0.04 µm oxide
polishing suspension (OPS) to achieve minimal surface roughness. Afterwards, two different
methods were compared for sample finishing - electrolytic polishing (EP) and electrolytic
etching (EE), both enhancing the visibility of individual grains and reducing the hardened layer
induced by mechanical grinding. A solution of 10% oxalic acid with water was used as an
etching agent for EE and EP. Both methods were conducted on Lectropol 5 (Struers) etching
machine. Finally the samples were cleaned from residual debris in high quality ethanol (98%)
ultrasonic bath and washed with acetone to remove dried ethanol maps. Structure visibility
was monitored on light optical microscope in between single polishing intervals. Final surface
roughness was evaluated by scanning probe microscopy (SPM) and atomic force microscopy
(AFM) to obtain more precise results. Grain orientation and phase distribution were analysed
on scanning electron microscope (SEM).
2.2 Experimental Setup

Indentation tests were performed on Hysitron TI 950 triboindenter with dual transducer head
setup. High load transducer head has an indentation load range from 10 mN to 2 N, while a
standard transducer head is capable of indentation within the load range from 0.1 mN to 10
mN. Berkovich type indenters (three sided pyramid; 65.3° side angle) were used on both
transducer heads. Diamond tips were used for room temperature measurements up to 300°C
with high load head, and sapphire indenters were used for nanoindentation with standard
transducer up to 700°C. Sapphire was chosen to prevent diamond to graphite transition on
steels at temperatures higher than 400°C [1]. The heating device used for high temperature
nanoindentation was xSol 800 from Hysitron, capable of heating up to 800°C with 0,1°C
heating step precision. Heating apparatus consists of top and bottom steel plates with ceramic
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.2
heating elements and water loop cooling. Specimen is placed on the bottom plate’s heating
element and is covered with the top heating element. Temperature control is done by
thermocouples connected to heating elements, therefore specimen temperature
measurement is indirect. However, due to small specimen thickness (1 mm) and direct contact
with both heaters, we assume the thermal gradient across the specimen to be minimal.
Oxidation rate in high temperatures is reduced by surrounding inert atmosphere, in our case
Argon 6.0 (99.999999% purity) was used with 1.5 l/min flow rate. The indenter tip was covered
by environmental enclosure with pressurized air flow along the indenter axis protecting the
transducer from heat rising from the heating stage. Shielding air flowrate of 1 l/min was
selected as a balanced value between heat shielding effectivity and acceptable drift rate
caused by the stream.
2.3 Nanoindentation Tests

All nanoindentation tests were performed using custom load function with 30s constant
loading rate period to reach the maximum load, which was held constant for 10s to evaluate
the creep behaviour of the material. Following step was 30s unloading at constant rate to a
10% of maximum load, which was held for 60s. Final step was constant unloading to zero load.
Default drift measurement was performed automatically by TriboScan software in the pre-
indentation testing period. Indentation tests were conducted using both standard transducer
head and high load transducer head to observe the continuity from surface to bulk mechanical
properties, or in another words the indentation size effect (ISE) [2]. Standard transducer head
indentation load force was selected after a load optimization was performed on prepared
samples at room temperature. Load optimization was conducted in 0.1 – 10 mN maximum
load force range (image of load optimization). The goal was to obtain stable results (less than
10% error) with the smallest indentation depth/ imprint size possible which would lead to
denser indentation matrix with uniform results. The indentation load of choice was 5 mN,
lower loads were heavily affected by the surface roughness, thus with higher inconsistency in
the results. High load nanoindentation tests were performed at 50 mN and 100 mN at room
temperature (23°C) and at elevated temperatures. Arrays of 2x8 indents with 20 µm spacing
were used for room and high temperature measurements at all loads.
High temperature 5 mN measurements were performed at 100°C, 200°C, 300°C, 500°C and
700°C with sapphire Berkovich indenter while 50 mN and 100 mN measurements were done
only at 100°C, 200°C and 300°C due to previousy mentioned limitation of the diamond tip. All
measurements were conducted at a constant heating/cooling rate of 10°C/min in order to
prevent structural changes during temperature changes. Calibrations of frame stiffness and
tip area function for both diamond and sapphire indenter tips were performed on fused quartz
calibration specimen only at room temperature. The reason was that high-temperature
properties of calibration material and tip shaft were not provided by the supplier and
therefore had to be assumed as constant.

3.1 Surface Evaluation
Quality of prepared surface was evaluated by means of contact microscopy. Two methods
with different resolutions were used – Atomic Force Microscopy and in situ Scanning Probe
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.3
Microscopy. The tip radius of first mentioned method is approximately 10 nm while the radius
of nanoindenter is around 100 nm. Due to smaller tip radius AFM measurement offers higher
image quality than SPM. Therefore, the AFM was selected as a preferred method of contact
microscopy. Figure 1 shows the surface after OPS polishing. OPS provides sufficient surface
roughness but does not reveal steel microstructure enough.
120
Topography [nm]
80
40
0
-40
-80
-120
0 10 20 30 40 50
Lateral position [µm]
Figure 1. AFM scan of OPS area with

topography profile
120
80
Topography [nm]
40
0
-40
-80
-120
0 10 20 30 40 50
Figure 2. AFM scan of EE area with

topography profile
AFM image of EE area (Figure 2) shows enhanced visibility of individual grain boundaries
compared to OPS, while achieving similar roughness values, as shown in Table 1. AFM results
from EP area (Figure 3) show good visibility of grain boundaries as well as on EE treated
surface. However, its surface roughness is nearly twice as high with occasional spikes reaching
up to 100 nm, which may result in larger spread of measured mechanical properties.
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.4
120
Topography [nm]
80
40
0
-40
-80
-120
0 10 20 30 40 50
Figure 3. AFM scan of EP area with

topography profile
Table 1: Surface roughness results

Roughness/Area SPM Ra [nm] AFM Ra [nm]
OPS 14,7 19,2
EE 13,3 16,1
EP 26.I 23,3
All surface preparation methods were evaluated as suitable for EBSD crystallography analysis.
Nevertheless, grain visibility in SE was generally worse on OPS treated surface than on both
electrolytically finished samples. The structure of the martensitic phase is the most visible on
EE sample, as shown on Figure 3. Number of zero solutions (table 2) was below 10% on all
samples, which is considered as sufficient.
Figure 4. SE images with EBSD map of all areas with orientation key
Table 3: EBSD phase distribution results of all areas

Phase Name/Area OPS Electro etched Electro polished
martensite bct (%) 11,23 9,2 12,25
Iron bcc (%) 81,58 84,53 80,93
Zero Solutions (%) 7,19 6,27 6,82
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.5
3.2 Nanoindentation Results

All nanoindentation tests were performed on EE treated sample, as it was selected as the
optimal way of preparation. Figure 6 shows the increase in distribution of 5 mN load
displacement curves with increasing temperature. While room temperature and 100°C
indentations were in tight range of 30 nm, 700°C indentations were spread across 100 nm
depth range. Wider spread of indentation depths at higher temperatures is supported by
growing oxidation layer, created due to the presence of residual air desorpted from ceramic
heating elements [3]. Thermal drift rate was the highest at 700°C measurements, reaching
almost 1 nm/s (table 3). Figures 7 and 8 display stable high load nanoindentation load
displacement curves. Analysis of hardness and reduced modulus was performed according to
Oliver-Pharr method. Results from standard load high temperature nanoindentation
conducted at 5 mN shown in graph 1 exhibit increased room temperature hardness compared
to 50 mN and 100 mN results (graph 2 and 3). This may be caused by the influence of present
mechanically hardened layer from sample preparation. Hardness gradually decreases with
increasing temperature following similar trend for all loads. Reduced modulus at 5 mN
decreases with increasing temperature as well, although at a smaller pace. Hardness values
measured at 5 mN are generally more distorted than 50 mN and 100 mN measurements,
however, reduced modulus values at 5 mN are more consistent than at high loads. 50 mN and
100 mN measurements both exhibit the same reduced modulus behaviour at elevated
temperatures. Initially, with temperature increased from room temperature to 100°C the high
load reduced modulus decreases, but with further temperature increase the modulus
increases. These results might be different if a proper high temperature calibration of the
device is performed [4], however, existing data are still very limited or non-existing.
Furthermore, partial degradation of diamond tip at 300°C might have its role in the shift of
measured results. Further investigation of this phenomena has to be done. LOM analysis of
high temperature indentation imprints shown on Figure 5, does not show any significant
difference in the microstructure for all three areas, therefore structural influence on modulus
results is omitted.
H and Eeff vs. T at 5 mN

5 450
4 350
Eeff [GPa]
H [GPa]
3 250
2 R² = 0,8147 150
1 R² = 0,7027 50
0 -50
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800
T [°C]
Graph 1. Hardness and reduced modulus results of high temperature indentations at 5 mN
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.6

5 500
4 400
Eeff [GPa]
R² = 0,7656
H [GPa]
3 300
2 R² = 0,9943 200
1 100
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
T [°C]

5
400
4 R² = 0,998
300
Eeff [GPa]
H [GPa]
3
2 R² = 0,9206 200
1 100
0 0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350
T [°C]
Table 4: Drift rate analysis at all temperatures
50 mN 100 mN
100 µm 100 µm
Figure 5. LOM image of high load indents performed at high temperatures

(100°C top, 200°C middle, 300°C bottom)
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.7
Figure 6. Load displacement

curves of high temperature 5 mN
measurements

curves of high temperature 50
mN measurements

curves of high temperature
100 mN measurements
4 Conclusions
On the contrary to the OPS polishing, the electrolytically prepared specimens showed
good visibility of microstructure. LOM results showed well visible microstructure at low
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.8
and high magnifications to identify the grains, grain boundaries and precipitates, which is
crucial for site specific nanoindentation.
The average surface roughness evaluated by contact microscopy (SPM, AFM) is within the
limit of Ra < 30 nm required for nanoindentation
The nanoindentation at room temperature under various loads (depths) have shown the
decreasing trend of hardness values with increasing load, while the reduced modulus
behaved in exactly the opposite way. In both cases the values tend to level up for greater
indentation depths. This might be explained by the presence of the work hardened surface
layer that was induced by the mechanical grinding and OPS polishing, or a thin oxidic layer
caused by oxidation. Also, degradation of diamond indenter at 300°C has to be further
examined.
High temperature calibration is to be performed to obtain optimal results at high
temperatures.
Acknowledgements
The presented work was financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport
Czech Republic - project LQ1603 Research for SUSEN. This work has been realized within
the SUSEN Project (established in the framework of the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) in project CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0108 and of the European Strategy Forum on Research
Infrastructures (ESFRI) in the project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_008/0000293, which is financially
supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports - project LM2015093 Infrastructure
SUSEN.
This project has received funding from the Euratom research and training programme 2014-
2018 under grant agreement No 755039
References
[1] J. C. Trenkle, C. E. Packard, and C. A. Schuh, “Hot nanoindentation in inert
environments,” Rev. Sci. Instrum., vol. 81, no. 7, 2010.
[2] G. Z. Voyiadjis and R. Peters, “Size effects in nanoindentation: An experimental and

analytical study,” Acta Mech., vol. 211, no. 1–2, pp. 131–153, 2010.
[3] Y. Li, X. Fang, S. Lu, Q. Yu, G. Hou, and X. Feng, “Effects of creep and oxidation on reduced
modulus in high-temperature nanoindentation,” Mater. Sci. Eng. A, vol. 678, pp. 65–71,
2016.
[4] A. Maxwell and L. M. Alvarez, “Guidelines for high temperature nanoindentation.”
REMOO–2018 — 03.036.9
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ASSESSMENT OF MATERIAL PROPERTIES BY LATERAL

COMPRESSION TESTING IN NUCLEAR GRADE FUEL
CLADDINGS
Hygreeva Kiran NAMBURI1*, Chuan HAN HO2, Fan Yi CHUANG3,
Chocholoušek MICHAL1, Adamíková TATIANA1
1
Research Center Řež, 250 68, Husinec-Rez, Czech Republic
2
Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science, National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan
3
Department of Engineering and System Science, National Tsing-Hua University, Taiwan
Abstract
In the nuclear safety, the multiple barriers is one of the most important principle. Act as the
first barrier, the integrity of the cladding is a crucial issue in the related research. Concerning
the mechanical properties, it has difficulty in obtaining the mechanical property along the
transversal direction due to the geometry of fuel cladding. In the present study, the Ring
Compression Test has been adopted. The method avoids numerous drawbacks and limitations
of traditional testing approach, the simpler experimental setting and easier analysis can
therefore be introduced, and could further be applied on testing the mechanically irradiated
tube sections in hot cell. Candidate material in the study is Titanium stabilized 1.4970 ’15-15Ti’
stainless steel owing to its outstanding radiation resistance ability. 24% cold-worked materials
were compressed at room temperature, 300°C, 500°C and 700°C, respectively. Post
experimentation mathematical analysis and data processing were developed to properly
interpret the load-deflection curves. The preliminary results showed that the tensile strength
of 24% cold work tubular samples decreases with the increasing temperature.
Keywords: Nuclear grade steel fuel cladding; Ring compression testing;

Mechanical properties; Elevated temperatures
1 Introduction
Mechanical properties of cladding materials are vital factors in the aspect of nuclear safety.
However, the geometry of the fuel cladding is usually a thin-walled tube, which makes it hard
to obtain the mechanical properties in the hoop direction. To date, most of the traditional
tensile tests only provide the mechanical properties in longitudinal direction and otherwise
have the size confinement [1]. To get rid of this requirement, T. M. Link et al [2] have
developed the ring tension test to determine the mechanical properties in the hoop direction.
The sample is designed with reduced section part and two D-blocks are set inside the ring
sample. Thus the tensile force is applied along the hoop direction and the elongation only
occurs on the reduced section, which means the extensometer can be utilized. However, the
complex friction modes are involved in this methodology and more complicated procedures
are needed for sample preparation. In fact, these two drawbacks are inevitably introduced in
REMOO–2018 — 03.037.1
the tensile test. The friction coefficients and gaps between the sample and load devices have
strong influence in the results. Also, multi-step machining of sample preparation may cause
critical problems in performing the irradiated material test such as producing irradiated
wastes and requiring more specially-designed apparatus. Regarding the easier and simpler
methodology in the future mechanical properties, especially for cladding materials
embrittlement experiment in the hot cell, Ring Compression Test (RCT), in which a tubular
sample is compressed between two rigid flat under displacement control, has been proposed.
By means of the RCT, it is no need to consider the friction between testing devices and
samples. Besides this, the sample preparation would be more concise, as mentioned
previously, this is important for preparing the irradiated samples. In this report, the
mechanical properties in hoop direction of the MYRRHA candidate cladding material, ‘15-15Ti’
stabilized austenitic stainless steel (ASS) is investigated by performing the RCT in room
temperature, 300°C, 500°C and 700°C.
The uniform outlook will help the reader to follow the proceedings. This can be obtained most
easily if the authors use this template file to construct their manuscripts. Please note the
following details: this template is an A4 format with 25 mm margins on the left, right, top and
bottom.
All text paragraphs should be single spaced. The position and style of headings and
subheadings should follow this example. No spaces should be placed between paragraphs or
headings and paragraphs.
2 Material and Methods

Based on the better radiation resistance and the reliability proved in past sodium-cooled fast
reactors programs, 1.4970 ‘15-15Ti’ stabilized ASS has been considered as a proper choice of
cladding material in the latest report released by SCK·CEN [3][4]. Therefore, 24% cold work
tubular samples were provided by SCK·CEN for RCT of this study, and the composition is shown
in Table 1. In order to obtain the mechanical properties of the material, RCTs were performed
with 1mm/min load-line displacement rate by the testing machine Z250, and repeated four
times in each testing temperature (room temperature, 300, 500, and 700℃) to obtain the
average result.
Figure 1 shows typical load-displacement curve and the macroscopic structure of the sample
recorded during the RCT. After initial elastic deformation, the sample underwent plastic
deformation and started to deform as two circular arcs with the forming of hinges until the
contact between the upper and lower hinges. As the first step to estimate the targeted
properties, the collapse force P , at which large plastic deformation occurred, can be obtained
directly from the curve by the intersection of the lines extended from elastic and plastic region
as shown in Figure 2. Then, based on the theoretical models of plastic theory and basic
mechanical theories, some previous works [5][6] have shown that the collapse stress of the
sample can be calculated by the following correlation;
σ = αP R/t L (1)
Where the outer radius (R) is 6.54-6.56 mm, the wall thickness (t) is 0.45 mm, and the length
(L) is 6.7-6.9 mm for the sample of this study. Note that α equals 0.866 in this work because
the length is not less than one diameter, which means that the sample was assumed to be in
REMOO–2018 — 03.037.2
a plane strain state during compression process [7]. After estimating the collapse stress σ ,
the tensile strength can also be defined with linear correlation through the following
coefficients;
σ
R = (2)
K
To compare the results from different laboratories, ENEA set the 20 mm long tubes of 24%CW
material under room temperature as the calibration point, which states K = 1.18.
Table 1: Chemical composition of ’15-15 Ti’ stabilized ASS

Component,%
C Si Mn Cr Mo Ni Ti B P
0.096 0.57 1.86 15.06 1.21 15.05 0.44 0.0031 0.013
S Co N V Ta Cu Ca Fe
<0.001 0.02 0.011 0.034 <0.02 <0.05 <0.03 bal
Figure 1. Stages if sample in RCT Figure 1. Approach of obtaining collapse force

It is obvious that at all temperatures, load-displacement curve can be approximately divided
into three stages, namely linearly-elastic region, work-hardening deformation region and the
last rapid crushing region. In the beginning, whole tube sample was in the elastic condition,
load increased with the increasing displacement in this region. Then it entered the elbow part
which is also known as the start of plastic deformation region. After passing the elbow part,
the load kept increasing due to the effect of work hardening within the materials until the
whole sample was completely crushed. Some signal processing skills, such as first-differential
and signal-smoothing, were introduced to assess the analysis of defining the linearly-elastic
region and plastic deformation region more easily. Note that only the flat part of the work-
hardening deformation region was regarded as the plastic deformation region in our analysis,
REMOO–2018 — 03.037.3
while any part that behaved a huge change of trend or even decline of the load was dismissed
in the following data processing and the calculation, since there must be certain variation of
the materials microstructure during large amount displacement. This approach can also be
applied on any other kinds of behavior of load-displacement curves since it was conservatively
designed. The tensile strength, Rm, which could be obtained by converting the collapse load
with Eq. (1), are shown in Table 2, and load-displacement curves obtained from the RCT are
also shown Figure 3. Basically, the higher the testing temperature, the lower the tensile
strength was obtained. On the other hand, each test condition was conducted four times to
estimate the reproducibility of RCT. Further detail comparison of each test condition can be
found in Figure 4 and it is clearly acceptable with all the test conditions demonstrated less
than 5 % difference.
Table 1: Rm at different test temperatures

Test Conditions RT 300oC 500oC 700oC
Rm (MPa) 759 (±11) 676 (±13) 629 (±13) 455 (±7)
Test Conditions RT 300oC 500oC 700oC

Rm (MPa) 759 676 629 455
STDEV ±11 ±13 ±13 ±7
Figure 2. Load-displacement curves of RCT Figure 3. Average strength at various

at various temperatures temperatures
Conclusion
Based on the preliminary results, Ring Compression Test can easily be operated and set, which
also makes the test of mechanical properties in hoop direction of tube-shape materials more
REMOO–2018 — 03.037.4
convenient. In this study, 24% cold work tubular samples were tested and showed that tensile
strength decreases with the increasing temperature.
References
[1] ASTM A370, Standard Test Methods and Definitions for Mechanical Testing of Steel
Products.
[2] T. M. Link, D. A. Koss, A. T. Motta. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 186 (1998) 379-
394.
[3] H. A. Abderrahim, P. Baeten, D. D. Bruyn, R. Fernandez. Energy Conversion and

Management. 63 (2012) 4-10.
[4] H. Aït. Abderrahim, V. Sobolev, E. Malambu. Technical Meeting on use of LEU in ADS.
October 10-12, 2005, IAEA, Vienna, Austria.
[5] T. Yella Reddy, S.R. Reid. Nuclear Engineering and Design. 52 (1979) 257-263.
[6] Mahmoud Nemat-Alla. International Journal of Mechanical Sciences. 45 (2003) 605-

621.
[7] T. Yella Reddy. Impact energy absorption using laterally compressed metal tubes’ Ph.D.
Thesis, University of Cambridge (1978).
REMOO–2018 — 03.037.5
QUEST FOR ENERGY
LIMITS AND CHALLENGES OF LEAK-BEFORE-BREAK

Klaus HECKMANN*, Jürgen SIEVERS
GRS
Schwertnergasse 1, 50667 Cologne, Germany; Klaus.Heckmann@grs.de
Abstract
For highly reliable piping components of nuclear power plants, a lot of measures are taken
to prevent large ruptures. Leak-before-break (LBB) assessment is one possible analysis of
such lines, which investigates if a leak is formed in prior to a rupture, which can be detected
by leak monitoring systems in a plant so that shut down and repair can take place. Two
prominent LBB assessment standards are the standard review plan (SRP) of US NRC and the
German KTA standard. While details differ, both rely on the comparison of the critical size of
a leak which could break suddenly with the size of a detectable leak and the corresponding
leakage rates. This approach makes LBB an intrinsic property of a pipe rather than a
consequence of flaw postulates and damage mechanisms.
This contribution discusses the limits and challenges of LBB assessment. One is the
consideration of corrosive damage mechanisms in the assessment. One other is the effect of
weld residual stresses in the leak evolution. However, the focus of this paper is on the
prediction of the leakage rate discharged through a wall-penetrating defect.
Several experimental and theoretical investigations of leak flow rates through slits resulted
in a good understanding of the phenomena. For the calculation of leakage rates GRS has
developed and validated the code WinLeck which includes several models for determination
of leak areas and mass flow. While it is clear to consider the complexity of critical two-phase
flow, it is of equal importance to model the flow resistance with consideration of the rough
fracture surfaces as accurately as possible. There are still open questions, since
computational and experimental research focussed more on large leaks than on small leaks
close to typical detection thresholds of monitoring systems. Furthermore the focus was
often on large piping diameters and consequently the behaviour of thick-walled components
seems to be settled more than thin-walled components. In addition, leakage prediction of
crack-like leaks is quiet established, while the assessment of non-crack like leaks remains
difficult.
Keywords: Leakage; Leak-Before-Break; Piping; Friction; WinLeck
1 Introduction to Leak-Before-Break
Large-diameter piping components of the primary circuit of nuclear power plants play a
crucial role for the safe operation. A sudden rupture of such a pipe is considered to be a
threat for the control of the system. Therefore, many defensive measures are taken to
prevent such large ruptures, or to render them as extremely improbable.
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.1
In the German break preclusion concept, subsequent measures are implemented to prevent
such ruptures. Special care is taken concerning the plant design, and the material fabrication
(basic safety concept). In principle, this concept impede that any defect due to
manufacturing or ageing can be present. However, in the next level, requirements are also
imposed to operational practices and in-service inspection, in order to prevent that any
defect can form under operation (integrity concept). On top of that, a flaw in the pipe is
postulated regardless the previous efforts, and an assessment is required that it cannot
become large enough to cause any wall penetration (fracture mechanical analysis). At the
very last step, a leak-before-break analysis is foreseen: A leak is postulated despite the
preceded postulated crack assessment; further it has to be shown that any leak can be found
by the leak monitoring system before they become so large that a rupture can occur. These
subsequent measures are visualized in Figure 1.
Figure 1. The role of LBB in the break preclusion concept
The previous paragraph explained that leak-before-break behaviour is rather subordinate in

the total safety verification of an installation. However, the study of leak-before-break
behaviour is conceptionally very interesting, since it does not require the assumption of a
defect of a special size, as in the fracture mechanical evaluation of the postulated surface
flaw does. This renders the presence of LBB behaviour to an intrinsic property of the pipe,
which is rather independent of additional hypotheses. The typical quantities are shown in
Figure 2.
The LBB assessment consists of the comparison of two quantities: The leak rate and the
stability of a leak. There are special challenges in the leak-before-break verification, and
mainly related to the assessment which leak can be detected reliably. This topic is in the
focus of this paper, which discusses different aspects in the following sections. In section 2.1,
damage mechanisms are in the focus, while weld joint problems are discussed in 2.2. The
approaches and their limits of acceptance criteria and safety margins are compared in
section 3.1, with an emphasis on thick-walled structures in 3.2, and on thin-walled structures
in 3.3. The paper concludes with a summary and outlook in section 4. The computations
were done with the GRS-developed codes PROST and WinLeck [1].
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.2
Figure 2. Leakage rate-extended structural integrity diagram
2 Limits and Challenges: Defects and Structures

2.1 Damage Mechanisms
In the discussion of LBB procedures, one might argue that the scope is too narrow, since only
a special type of fatigue cracks is investigated. Is an LBB-assessment still possible in the
presence of other damage mechanisms and other defect types? This subsection is dedicated
to a discussion of this possibility, which can become of interest with specific materials,
components of new reactor types or application to other systems.
In the operation of piping components of plants, operational experience shows that several
damage mechanisms are observed in practice. Sources of information can be national
databases like the German (GRS) KomPass and others, see [2] for an evaluation. Relevant for
ageing of pipes in power plants that leads to leaks and ruptures are fatigue (due to
alternating loads), corrosion (due to chemical reactions of the metal and the medium),
erosion (mechanical excavation) and mixed forms of damage mechanisms. For the LBB
discussion, the resulting damage type is most relevant.
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.3
Figure 3. Damage mechanisms causing leaks in pipes according to the GRS-operated

database KomPass
In Figure 3, the statistics of the documented root causes for leak events from German
operational experience in the time period 1972-2013 is evaluated. The GRS-operated event
data base KomPass is used for this analysis [3]. Even though this result only represents the
German situation, it can be deduced that fatigue is not the only damage mechanism relevant
for leaks in light water reactor piping. In this context we adapt and advance a diagram (see
Figure 4) proposed in [2] to illustrate the defect types caused by the different mechanisms.
Figure 4. Damage mechanisms and defect types
Beside cracks, there could be material loss damage types like: small pinholes, larger holes,
and wall thinning. A special case is the seal leakage, which is caused due to defects of
dynamical or static seals. With respect to LBB, one can ask which damage type reported in
the operational experience has a certain structural criticality (i.e. ruptures are expected
consequences). Cracks are critical due to the stress concentrations at the tips. Pinhole-like
defects, however, are more localized, and hence there is a lower concern about ruptures.
Wall thinning due to erosion-corrosion can be spread along a larger area, which makes it
more likely to cause a rupture failure if undetected.
But the structural criticality is one of two criteria; the other is the expected leakage rate that
is released by the defect. Taking the above defect types, they can be put in a qualitative
diagram, as shown in Figure 5.
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.4
Figure 5. Defect types, sorted according to leakage rate and structural criticality
According to this diagram, corrosion-erosion induced wall thinning is the worst case from
the LBB point of view: The defect is extended and grows in depth on a larger area, no
leakage may occur before a significant reduction of material. Crack-like leaks are specific,
since a tight wall-penetrating crack only releases a relatively small amount of leakage, and
the detectability is the crucial point. Seal leaks do not have a structural impact, and hole-like
defects cause larger release rates due to the material loss, which makes them easier to
detect.
LBB procedures such as those of SRP 3.6.3 [4] or KTA 3206 [5] require the preclusion of
certain corrosive damage mechanisms. Based on the evaluation of Figure 5, in principle a
tailored LBB procedure could even be used for the assessment of pinhole corrosion types as
well as possibly stress corrosion cracking. Of course, such a procedure would require
individual assessment methods including validation.
2.2 Weld Residual Stresses

The role of weld residual stresses in LBB assessment is the matter of different studies. The
presence of weld residual stresses at a position with a through-thickness crack affects the
LBB behaviour in three ways: It affects the crack growth and crack form, it affects the
opening, and it affects the rupture assessment.
The development of a surface crack to a wall-penetrating defect is driven by the crack tip
parameters, which are influences by the stress distribution in the wall. One important
argument is given in [6][7]: If weld residual stresses are compressive at the outer part of the
wall and tensile at the inner parts of the wall, a growing crack has the tendency to grow
further in length and less in depth.
As a demonstration of this effect, we consider a known fracture mechanical test case
proposed in [8]: A pipe of outer diameter 144 mm and wall thickness 8 mm is loaded under
internal pressure of 7 MPa (BWR conditions), and a total bending bending stress of 29 MPa.
In addition, a simplistic linear residual stress distribution of 233 MPa is assumed. Within
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.5
probabilistic fracture mechanical test cases, this case is known to have strong assumptions
concerning weld residual stresses influencing its behaviour [9]. We study a fixed initial crack
and its evolution (due to a crack growth rate proportional to with a saturation plateau for
low , where is the stress intensity factor) with and without residual stresses. The results
obtained with PROST are shown in Figure 6 – they are interrupted when the depth of the
crack has reached 90 % of wall thickness.
Figure 6. Evolution of a crack in the BWR example case

with and without weld residual stresses
The result shows that the developed crack is clearly influenced by the presence of weld
residual stresses. The tensile weld residual stresses at the inner part of the wall lead to a
larger growth in length-direction, compared to the situation without the linear stress
variation. Although the crack growth velocity differs, in both cases the crack continues to
grow through the thickness.
Residual stresses also influence the opening of a wall-penetrating crack, thus crack opening
area (COA) and crack opening displacement (COD). Attempts for a description of the crack
opening have been proposed recently [10]. The general effect is that the opening becomes a
function of the flow direction coordinate. This, in turn, has an effect of the pressure loss
description, which is usually dependent on the crack wall separation and the roughness
characterization. The effect of such a variation of flow cross section, hydraulic diameter, and
friction was studied in [11].
Finally, the residual stresses have an impact on the rupture assessment of wall-penetrating
cracks. Besides the possibility of finite elements analysis, there is also a suitable analytical
formulation of -factors [12].
3 Limits and Challenges: Leakage Rates

The prediction of the leakage rate of a postulated wall-penetrating crack involves the
prediction of opening, the modelling of flow resistance and the fluid motion description,
which usually involves two-phase flow and critical conditions. Nowadays, it seems that the
fluid motion in crack-like leaks is relatively good understood, and the understanding of flow
resistance is at least of equal importance [13]. Therefore, this section concentrates on the
flow resistance , which has the important contributions from form losses (i.e. at the inlet)
and frictional losses.
= + ( , ) (1)
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.6
In that equation, denotes the wall thickness, the hydraulic diameter of a leak, and the
friction factor. A best-estimate formula for was proposed in the SQUIRT computer code
[14], while the standard KTA 3206 proposes its own (conservative) formulation [5].
3.1 Acceptance Criteria and Safety Margins

In the LBB assessment, the assessment of the expected leakage rate of a crack should be
conservative with respect to its detectability. This means that detectability of the leakage
rate should be assessed conservatively, resulting in an overestimation of the detection
threshold or an underestimation of the leakage rate. Two different strategies exist to ensure
this conservatism, which are indicated also in Figure 2. The first is the best-estimate
computation of the leakage rate, with a fixed safety factor multiplied on it. The second is a
conservative approach for the modelling of the leakage rate itself and its contributions. The
impact of the two assessment strategies has been compared in [15].
A recent overview of leakage rate measurements in literature is given in [13]. This data set is
evaluated according to the measured leakage rate. The logarithmic histogram is shown in
Figure 7.
Figure 7. Logarithmic histogram of leakage measurements reported in [13]
The analysis reveals that most of the measurements are not performed in the direct vicinity
of the classical leak detection threshold of 1 gal/min. LBB was not the only motivation for
performing experiments. This has been a motivation to study more carefully and controlled
with contemporary equipment this region below 0.1 kg/s, in order to reduce unnecessary
safety margins. First results are shown in [16].
3.2 Tight Cracks in Thick Walls

Large LWR piping components, such as main coolant lines of PWR, are designed with large
safety margins, resulting in thick walls and low stresses. Postulated leaks in a LBB verification
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.7
analysis see only low opening stresses and thus are very tight. Tight cracks in thick structures
are expected to have large flow resistance values; hence the expected leakage rates are very
low.
How good is the prediction of leakage rate through those narrow flow channels? Is the
prediction still reliable, especially in the KTA procedure, which leads to very large flow
resistance values? This question is related to the topic of the behaviour of closing cracks.
How does the flow resistance increase and the leakage rate decrease as a crack becomes
tighter? The improved crack morphology approach [17] points in this direction; in this article,
the focus is on the verification by experiments. From the literature, three experimental
programs are identified which study the resistance of slit-like flow channels with the same
roughness but different tightness: Button et al., [18], Gardner et al. [19], and Westphal [20].
Their results are compared with model prediction in Figure 8.
Figure 8. Change of the flow resistance when a crack-like slit closes or opens. The colour
indicates a constant ratio / while the opening varies
The figure reveals that the increase of predicted by the elongation of the relative flow
length / and consequently when a crack closes by decreasing / is confirmed by
experiments. Further a best-estimate model prediction based on the SQUIRT approach [14]
is shown in the figure and shows at least partially agreement with the experimental findings.
However, the data is sparse for very high flow resistance values ≫ 10 and originates from
experiments with nitrogen flow rather than water.
3.3 Thin Walls and Small Structures

The exactly opposite situation is present for thin walls, and rather wide defects. Those
conditions can be expected in smaller structures; the prominent cases are steam generator
tubes in PWR and CANDU reactors. Is it possible to understand the leakage behaviour of
wall-penetrating flaws in such structures with the same models as for the LBB assessment of
thick components?
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.8
To answer this question, the flow resistance for cracks with short relative flow length is
investigated. As friction is supposed to play a minor role, the major contribution should be
, see Eq. (1). In this context a discharge coefficient which represents the effective cross
section reduction can be used, with = − 1. Measurements of slit-like flow channels in
thin walls of pipes and plates are found in [21] and [22], the flow resistance was derived
from the measurements and plotted in Figure 9. The bars in the figure indicate the range of
derived from different measurements for the same relative flow length.
Figure 9. Flow resistance of leaks in thin walls, measured data from [21], [22]
The measurements indicate that the measured flow resistance values of leaks in thin walls
are higher than expected. Assuming form losses like for the flow through an orifice with
associated vena contracta (area reduction to the fraction of the discharge coefficient )
leads to a maximal resistance of some 1.6 (sharp edges), even lower for smooth transitions.
These form losses values are indicated by blue dashed lines.
4 Summary and Outlook

In this paper, LBB approaches and their limits are discussed. Limits of LBB occur when a
defect causes structural degradation without leakage. Damage types threating the LBB
concept are especially large area wall thinning (as caused by corrosion-erosion) and long
shallow cracks (which could be favoured by weld residual stresses). Further investigations
will include also the use of other pipe damage data bases, like the international CODAP
(Component Operational Experience, Degradation and Ageing Program) data base run by
NEA/CSNI (Nuclear Energy Agency/Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations).
For the assessment of leakage rates and detectability, the limits are showing up for tight
cracks as well as for thin walls. The reduction of uncertainties in a conservative assessment
of detectability will be gained by new experiments in the vicinity of typical detection
thresholds.
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.9
Furthermore, it is promising to develop LBB procedures for further applications and to

reduce uncertainties in current approaches. In both cases, a combined investigation of
experimental measurements and theoretical modelling is required.
Acknowledgements
This work was performed in the framework of the German Reactor Safety Research and is
funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi, project no.
RS1551).
References
[1] Heckmann, K. und Sievers, J., Code development for integrity assessment with respect
to new German safety standard, Transactions SMiRT23, Manchester, United Kingdom,
2018, Division II, Paper ID 148
[2] Ballesteros, A., Sanda, R., Peinador, M., Zerger, B., Negri, P., Wenke, R, Analysis of
events related to cracks and leaks in the reactor coolant pressure boundary, Nuclear
Engineering and Design 275 (2014), pp. 163-167,
DOI 10.1016/j.nucengdes.2014.05.014
[3] Elmas, M., Private communication, GRS, 2018
[4] US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Leak-before-break evaluation procedures. NUREG-

0800, 3.6.3, Revision 1, March 2007
[5] KTA Program of Standards: Verification Analysis for Rupture Preclusion for Pressure
Retaining Components in Nuclear Power Plants, KTA 3206, November 2014
[6] Bergman M., Brickstad B., A Procedure for Analysis of LBB in Pipes subjected to Fatigue
or IGSCC Accounting for Complex Crack Shapes, Fatigue Fract. Engng. Mater. Struct. 18
(1995), 10, pp. 1173-1188
[7] Brickstad, B., Sattari-Far, I., Crack Shape Developments for LBB Applications, Eng. Fract.
Mech. 67 (2000), pp. 625-646
[8] Simola, K., Cronvall, O., Männistö, I., Gunnars, J., Alverlind, L., Dillström, P., Gandossi,
L., Studies on the effect of flaw detection probability assumptions on risk reduction at
inspection, NKS-208, Nordic nuclear safety research, Roskilde, Denmark, 2009
[9] Heckmann, K. und Saifi, Q.: Comparative analysis of deterministic and probabilistic
fracture mechanical assessment tools, Kerntechnik 81 (2016), 5 pp. 484-497,
DOI 10.3139/124.110725
[10] Olson, R., A Simple Approach for Including Weld Residual Stresses in the Calculation of
Pipe Circumferential Through-Wall Crack Opening Displacements, Proceedings of the
ASME 2016 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada, 2016, PVP2016-63169
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.10
[11] Gill, P., Sharples, J., Budden, P., Leakage Rates Through Complex Crack Paths Using an
ODE Method, Proceedings of the ASME 2015 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference,
Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 2016, PVP2015-45468
[12] Zang, W., Stress Intensity Factor Solutions for Axial and Circumferential Through-Wall
Crack in Cylinders, SINTAP/SAQ/02, SAQ Kontroll AB, Sweden, 1997
[13] Heckmann, K., Sievers, J., Weyermann, F., Leak rate computation: flow resistance vs.
thermal-hydraulic aspect, accepted draft for the Proceedings of the ASME 2018
Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Prague, Czech Republic, 2018, PVP2018-84534
[14] Paul, D.D., Ahmad, J., Scott, P.M., Flanigan, L.F., Wilkowski, G.M., Evaluation and
refinement of leak-rate estimation models. Revision 1, NUREG/CR-5128-Rev.1, BMI-
2164-Rev.1, Battelle, Columbus, Ohio, United States, 1994
[15] Heckmann, K., Sievers, J., Leak-before-break analyses of PWR and BWR piping
concerning size effects. Nuclear Engineering and Design, 326, (2018), pp. 383-391, DOI
10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.11.027
[16] Silber, F., Schuler, X., Weihe, S., Laurien, E., Kulenovic, R., Schmid, S., Heckmann, K.,
Sievers, J., Investigation of Leakage Rates in Pressure Retaining Piping, Proceedings of
the ASME 2017 Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference, Waikoloa, Hawaii, United
States, 2017, PVP2017-65360
[17] Rahman, S., Ghadiali, N., Paul, D., Wilkowski, G., Probabilistic Pipe Fracture Evaluations
for Leak-Rate-Detection Applications, NUREG/CR-6004, BMI-2174, Battelle, Columbus,
Ohio, United States, 1995
[18] Button, B.L., Grogan, A.F., Chivers, T.C., Manning, P.T., Gas Flow Through Cracks,
Journal of Fluids Engineering, 100, (1978), 4, pp. 453-458, DOI 10.1115/1.3448707
[19] Gardner, G.C., Tyrrell, R.J., The Flow Resistance of Experimental Models of Naturally
Occurring Cracks, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C:
Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 200, (1986), 4, pp. 245-250,
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[20] Westphal, F., Computational model for leakage rates through cracks in walls of
pressure retaining components and pipes (in German), Doctoral thesis, Dortmund
University, Dortmund, Germany, 1991
[21] Revankar, S. T., Wolf, B., Vadlamani, A., Assessment of Leak Rates through Steam
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United States, 2013
[22] Grebner, H., Höfler, A., Hunger, H., Investigation of flow through leaks in piping
systems with small nominal diameters (in German), PHDR 125-94 HDR safety program,
Karlsruhe, Germany, 1994
REMOO–2018 — 03.056.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
NUCLEAR GRADE CONCRETE BEHAVIOR UNDER GAMMA

IRRADIATION AND LOSS OF COOLANT ACCIDENT CONDITIONS
Zbyněk HLAVÁČ*, Roman MOHYLA, Zbyněk ŠPIRIT, Jan PATERA,
Martin SCHULC, Jaroslava KOŤÁTKOVÁ
Research Center Řež
250 68, Husinec-Rez, Czech Republic; zbynek.hlavac@cvrez.cz
Abstract
World nuclear power plants NPPs are designed for any case of exceptional state. LOCA, Loss
of Coolant Accident is one of the severe accidents.
There are three types of LOCA: LOCA inside the reactor when the core melts due to the loosing
of the coolant; LOCA inside the containment and LOCA outside the containment vessel. Huge
expansion of the temperature and air pressure follows after the loosing of the coolant.
It is important to sustain the durability of all the NPP’s components during severe accidents
as LOCA. Concrete components designed as pre-stressed reinforced concrete wall or
reinforced concrete floor of the containment vessel must resist elevated temperatures, steam
and air pressure.
The in-containment-vessel LOCA will be studied in the article. Its parameters were selected to
be similar to Czech NPP Temelin which has a nuclear reactor VVER 1000. For this experiment
the cumulative dose 1.6 to 1.8 ⋅106 Gray of gamma radiation was applied during 21 + 27 days
of irradiation in the gamma irradiation chamber. Then, after non-destructive tests,
temperature was rapidly increased onto +250°C and the pressure to +9 bars. It happened
during several seconds.
Concrete samples were fabricated from the mixed-Portland cement and fine silica aggregates
in the laboratory. All samples were tested non-destructively and after one year they were
treated by the high flux gamma radiation. LOCA and Post-LOCA conditions followed
afterwards in order to simulate the real conditions in NPP.
The results showed that concrete can resist to gamma radiation but during the LOCA condition
the material suffer a lot. All studied properties deteriorated after LOCA.
The experiment showed the LOCA effect on concrete durability.
Keywords: Loss of coolant accident; Concrete; Gamma radiation; Nuclear power plant
1 Introduction
Pre-stressed containment structures of nuclear power plants with water-pressurized reactors
(PWR, VVER) are designed to withstand the most severe project accident – Loss of coolant
accident (LOCA). In such case the concrete containment serves as the major barrier against
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.1
the release of radioactive substances into the environment [1]. LOCA is caused by the failure
of primary cooling pipe system. The cooling medium of high temperature and pressure is then
expanded into the containment and transformed to the steam of high temperature and
pressure. The structures are therefore exposed to thermal and pressure shock. The
temperature and pressure increase up to 220°C and 4 bars in a few seconds, respectively. To
mitigate these conditions, the emergency system activates the showering of the containment
with the solution of boric acid. After that, Post-LOCA takes place, which is flooding of the lower
parts of containment. Such rapid changes of temperature and pressure make significant
changes in the microstructure of the concrete. This cause deterioration of material properties.
Degradation is even worse due to irradiation for a long period.
Several numerical analyses were made to assess the effects of LOCA on the containment
structures [1,2,3]. These should be calculated with the significant changes in material
properties.
The article presents the investigation of the material properties changes due to the gamma
irradiation of a concrete and subsequent exposition to LOCA and Post-LOCA conditions.
2 Experimental Methods
2.1 Samples Preparation and Curing
For each set of samples three concrete specimen were manufactured. Portland cement
CEM II 32,5 was used as a binder and silica sand of fractions 0 – 2.5 mm was used as filler. The
samples of dimensions 40x40x160 mm were prepared following the Czech standard ČSN EN
206-1 [4]. After setting and hardening the samples were left in laboratory conditions for one
year maturation.
2.2 Irradiation
After the maturation the samples were inserted into gamma radiation chamber with a gamma
source 60Co of the activity 172 TBq (see Figure 1). The rate of irradiation was 0.5 to 4.5 kGy
per hour and the temperature within the cell was 24 ± 3°C due to the outer temperature. The
distribution of radiation rates inside the concrete samples is presented in Figure 2. There is
clear, that the quasi-point gamma source was situated among the concrete sample in the
lower position, near to the external edge (left hand side in case of Figures 1 and 2b). Figure
2a) belongs to the coordinate z = 8 cm whereas the Figure 2b) is situated to x = 2 cm.
Samples were irradiated for 21 days. Then they were tested by non-destructive measurements
and afterwards put into the cell for another 27 days irradiation but in different position to
mitigate the various dose lay-out. Than the overall exposition dose was from 1.6 to 1.8 ⋅106
Gy (1.6 to 1.8 ⋅108 rad).
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.2
Figure 1. Samples prepared for irradiation
0 5 10 15 20 x [cm] 20 15 10 5 0 z [cm]
a) b)
Figure 2. Gamma radiation rate in concrete samples in two perpendicular sections
2.3 LOCA and Post-LOCA

A set of samples was exposed to the LOCA and Post-LOCA after the irradiation by gamma
source. During the experiment, the temperature grew up to 250°C and the pressure up to
9 bars within 25 seconds. Post-LOCA conditions were simulated by a slow cooling of the
concrete samples, which was achieved when showering them by a solution of boric acid in a
three-days period of time. Figure 3 shows the inside space of experimental vessel with
concrete samples. The development of temperature and air/steam pressure in the vessel is in
Figure 4.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.3
Figure 3. Three concrete samples prepared for LOCA and Post-LOCA experiment
300
14
250
12
Relative Pressure (bar)
200 10
Temperature (°C)
8
150
6
100
Temperature 4
50
Pressure 2
0 0
1 10 100 1000 10000
Time (s)
Figure 4. Profile of LOCA experiment: temperature 250 °C, steam pressure 9 bar
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.4
2.4 Destructive and Non-Destructive Testing

All sets of samples, i.e. reference samples, irradiated samples and samples exposed to both
irradiation and LOCA experiments were tested non-destructively and destructively.
Destructive tests were conducted to obtain the mechanical properties of the samples, namely
the flexural strength and the compressive strength. The procedures followed the Czech
standard ČSN EN 1015-11 [5]. Experiment where was the flexural strength fct determined is
shown in Figure 5.
Figure 5. Destructive determination of flexural concrete strength fct
Non-destructive testing was made by both conventional linear acoustic testing methods –
ultrasound impulse method and resonance method as well as by novel Nonlinear wave
modulation spectroscopy NWMS [6].
Ultrasound impulse method gave values of dynamic modulus of elasticity Ebu [MPa] and was
conducted according to ČSN 73 1371 [7].
= ∙ ∙ , (1)
here µ – Poisson’s coefficient of concrete; ρ – specific weight of the concrete; v - ultrasonic

pulse velocity measured by ultrasonic instrument PUNDIT PL 200, see Figure 6.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.5
Figure 6. Non-destructive determination of ultrasonic pulse velocity v
Resonance method provided values of longitudinal and flexural dynamic moduli of elasticity
EbrL [MPa], Ebrf [MPa], respectively, shear modulus Gbr [MPa] and Poisson ratio µ [-], which
followed ČSN EN 73 1372 [8]. Dynamic Poisson ratio µ was expressed using formula (2).
= − 1. (2)
Here dynamic E-modulus EbrL is determined according formula (3) and shear modulus Gbr
according to equation (4),
= 4 ∙ ∙ ∙ , (3)
= 4 ∙ 1.187 ∙ ∙ ∙ , (4)
Here ρ– specific weight of concrete; L – sample’s length; fL and ft – longitudinal and torsion
fundamental frequencies of the samples, respectively, determined using resonance method
impact-echo [9].
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.6
For prisms 40 x 40 x 160 mm, the flexural dynamic E-modulus Ebrf can be evaluated by the
expression (5),
(5)
here h – the hight of prism’s cross-section; ff – fundamental frequency determined in flexed

prism using resonance method impact-echo. The ratio (EbrL – Ebrf )/ EbrL may not exceed 10 %.
It is caused according to the difference in formulas (3) and (4), considering various cross-
section of tested prisms.
Nonlinear wave modulation spectroscopy (NWMS) present a more sensitive tool for non-
destructive testing, although the method is quite new and still not well-established. It is based
on the subsequent transmission of two signals differing in their frequencies, which interacts
with nonlinearities (cracks, defects etc.) inside the material. The obtained parameter β
presents the degree of damage inside the structure of the material. Nonlinear development
of the stress σ in the concrete depends not even on the relative deformation ε as in its linear
behaviour using Hook’s law but also on the nonlinear coefficient beta,
= ∙ 1− ∙ , (6)
where E0 – linear E-modulus; β – nonlinear parameter characterizing the hysteresis behaviour.
3 Results of the experiments

All the results are presented in the following figures which are in the same shape, i.e.:
1) the results of the reference samples or the samples before irradiation, both are
marked as samples before irradiation,
2) the result of the samples after irradiation in gamma chamber for 21 + 27 days with
cumulative dose from 1.6 to 1.8 MGy,
3) the results after gamma irradiation (1.6 to 1.8 MGy) and subsequent LOCA (250°C, 9
bars) and Post-LOCA (boron acid shower) experiments marked as after LOCA.
3.1 Destructive Testing

Figure 7 shows the change of tensile and compressive strengths of reference samples, samples
after irradiation and samples after irradiation, LOCA and Post-LOCA. It is obvious that tensile
strength decreased after gamma and after following LOCA and Post-LOCA.
The decrement of compressive strength was not so credible due to high discrepancy (6 ± 7 %)
in the case of testing after gamma. It was more convictive after LOCA, where the residual
strength was 82 ± 4 %.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.7
45 42,9
40,1
40
35,3
35
Strength (MPa)
30
25
20
15
10 7,1
5,1
5 2,6
0
Strength fct MPa Strength fc MPa
samples before irradiation samples after irradiation samples after LOCA
Figure 7. Mechanical properties – flexural strength fct and compressive strength fc
3.2 Non-Destructive Testing

In Figure 8, the specific gravity is shown for all three cases 1), 2) and 3). It is clear, that the
gravity didn’t change much after gamma irradiation but considerably after LOCA experiment
where the temperature reached 250°C .
2,20
2,15
Specific gravity (g/cm3)
2,09 2,08
2,10
2,05
2,01
2,00
1,95
1,90
1,85
1,80
Specific gravity
Figure 8. Specific gravity of studied concretes
The results of non-destructive testing are provided in Figure 9. Although the discrepancies
of all three E-moduli, i.e. Ebu, EbrL and Ebrf, are relatively high in case 3), it can be seen that the
effect of gamma irradiation in not essential whereas the effect of LOCA and Post-LOCA shower
has a significant consequences. All 4 observed magnitudes decreased by 1.5 ± 1.5 % after
gamma irradiation but then by 42 ± 2 % after LOCA and Post-LOCA.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.8
45
40
35
30,1 29,2 30,9 30,2 30,0 30,0
30
E-modulus (GPa)
25
20
16,31 16,30 15,79
15 12,8 12,6
10 7,41
0
E-modulus Ebu GPa E-modulus EbrL GPa E-modulus Ebrf GPa Shear modulus GPa
Figure 9. Values obtained from non-destructive testing
Comparison of dynamic Poisson ration µ is in Figure 10. The great change of µ after LOCA is
caused by the way of its expression (2). EbrL decreased less than Gbr.
0,25
0,20 0,20
0,20
Poisson's coefficient (-)
0,15
0,10
0,10
0,05
0,00
Poisson coefficient
Figure 10. Values of Poisson ratio µ obtained from non-destructive testing
The evolution of nonlinear coefficient β is evident in Figure 11. There β before and after
gamma irradiation are nearly the same. This means gamma irradiation didn’t cause any
noticeable micro- or mezzo-cracks. On the other hand, β after LOCA has significant increment
even when considering its discrepancy ± 6 %. This says that there occurred few micro- or
mezzo-cracks in the cement matrix or aggregate particles.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.9
0,40
0,35 0,34
0,30
Nonlinear coefficient β
0,25
0,20
0,15
0,10
0,05
0,02 0,02
0,00
COEFFICIENT BETA
Figure 11. Parameter β as a degree of damage obtained by Nonlinear wave modulation

spectroscopy NWMS
3.3 Microscopy
Microstructural changes were observed by Scanning electron microscopy SEM and Energy-
dispersive spectroscopy EDS.
In Figure 12, the position of EDS line-scan is situated into the SEM image of a sample after
LOCA and Post-LOCA. It is marked by the dark-yellow line. No cracks were observed by SEM in
spite of the high increment of beta coefficient (Figure 11).
The line-scan of all interesting elements is in Figure 13. There you can see distribution of silicon
Si, carbon C, oxygen O, calcium Ca and aluminium Al within the linear section of the analysed
sample. It shows that quartz aggregate particles (SiO2) and cement (SiO2 & CaCO3 & Al2O3) are
presented. Higher presence of carbon at the edge of the sample is caused by epoxy resin. It
was applied to fix the concrete surface for its cutting and polishing before SEM and EDS
analysis. By contrast, oxygen has lower concentration close to the surface showered by solved
boron acid. Even though also this effect could be caused by the epoxide resin, where the basic
compound, ethylene, needs oxygen for its epoxidation.
However, the presence of boron (5B), originated from the Post-LOCA shower, was not
confirmed because its energetic spectrum was hidden under the carbon’s (6C). Moreover,
boron 5B is just at the limit of EDS method, i.e. since boron 5B until uranium 92U.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.10
Figure 12. Position of the line-scan in the SEM image at the edge of the concrete sample
after LOCA and Post-LOCA
Figure 13. Element distribution in the line-scan made by EDS analysis
4 Conclusion
Regarding to the set-up and the results of the experiments, there can be made several
conclusions.
4.1 The Effects of Gamma Radiation

The high dose irradiation (more than 0.5 kGy per hour) had a significant effect solely on the
flexural strength, which remained in 73 ± 9 % of the reference samples’. Deterioration of all
other magnitudes, concrete physical or chemical properties, was not considerable. Although,
lower compressive strength was found in 2 out of three tested samples after gamma
irradiation. The third tested sample had higher value than the reference samples.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.11
4.2 The Effects of LOCA and Post-LOCA

The damage caused by sudden increment of temperature and pressure while Lost of Coolant
Accident (LOCA) simulation was much higher than in the case of pure gamma irradiation.
Both observed strengths decreased considerably. Residual flexural and compressive strengths
were 37 ± 9 % and 82 ± 4 % of the reference samples’, respectively.
Specific gravity (volume weight) decreased during LOCA so much that even the subsequent
boron acid solution shower (Post-LOCA) didn’t change it back to the initial value 2.09 g/cm3.
All dynamic attributes of concrete samples investigated non-destructive testing decreased
due to LOCA and Post-LOCA. Dynamic moduli of elasticity or shear modulus were lowered by
42 ± 2 %.
The dynamic Poisson’s coefficient µ changed markedly. Nevertheless, it needn’t be in good
correlation with the destructive test (with the static value).
Nonlinear coefficient β shows that there occurred several micro- or even mezzo-cracks in the
concrete structure during the LOCA simulation. However no microscopic observation
confirmed this statement.
Energy-dispersive spectroscopy discovered lower oxygen but higher carbon concentration
near to the surface, -45 % but +250 %, respectively. Dissipation of the oxygen can be explained
by the chemical reaction with the boron acid H3BO3 or with an ethylene. The extreme rise of
the carbon was surely caused by the surface treatment using epoxy resin.
Acknowledgements
Both, irradiation and LOCA experiments were financially supported by the Ministry
of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic, Projects LQ1603 Research for SUSEN and
were made with the infrastructure funded by the project CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0108 SUSEN,
established in the framework of the European Regional Development Fund ERDF.
Destructive and non-destructed tests took place thanks to the project VI20152018016
of Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic.
References
[1] Wang, S., Analytical evaluation of the dome-cylinder interface of nuclear concrete
containment subjected to internal pressure and thermal load, Engineering Structures,
2018, 161, pp. 1–7.
[2] Jafarikia, S., Feghhi, S. A. H., Study of in-containment source term behavior for VVER-
1000 under LOCA conditions using the IRBURN code system. Annals of Nuclear Energy,
2018, 112, pp. 17–29.
[3] Yu, S., Yan, M., Wang, J., Yan, C., and Guo, X., Numerical investigations on the response
of the passive containment cooling system and containment under a DELB LOCA
scenario. Progress in Nuclear Energy, 2017, 97, pp. 26–37.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.12
[4] ČSN EN 206-1: Concrete - Part 1: Specification, performance, production and conformity,
2001.
[5] ČSN EN 1015-11: Testing methods for mortar for masonry - part 11: Determination
of compressive and flexural strength of hardened mortars, 2000.
[6] Van den Abeele, K., Johnson, P., Sutin, A., Nonlinear Elastic Wave Spectroscopy (NEWS)
Techniques to Discern Material Damage, Part I: Nonlinear Wave Modulation
Spectroscopy (NWMS), Res Nondestr Eval, 12 (2000), pp. 17–30.
[7] ČSN 73 1371: Non-destructive testing of concrete – Method of ultrasonic pulse testing of
concrete, 2011.
[8] ČSN EN 73 1372: Non-destructive testing of concrete – Testing of concrete by resonance

method on prisms, 2012.
[9] Sansalone, M., Street, W. B. Impact–echo. Nondestructive evaluation of concrete

and masonry, Bulbrier Press, Ithaca NY, 1997.
REMOO–2018 — 03.093.13
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ELECTROSPUN NANOFIBERS FOR ENERGY APPLICATIONS

Mehmet S. DEMIRTAS, Mrinal C. SAHA*
University of Oklahoma
School of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, USA;
msaha@ou.edu
Abstract
Nanofibers with their small size, large surface area, and light weight improve performance for
many applications including structures (reinforcements), energy (solar cells, batteries), and
environments (filter). This paper investigates the electrospinning method in the production of
high-quality, aligned carbon nanofiber membrane as potential high-performance energy
material. A special electrospinning set-up with environmental control is designed to achieve
aligned carbon nanofiber films using 10-wt% PAN polymer solution. Rotating disks with
different types of collector geometries are investigated on nanofiber diameter distribution,
porosity, and orientation. Furthermore, a 2-dimensional finite element analysis is performed
to investigate the electric field distribution around the collector. A unique approach is adopted
to test the nanofiber films in tension using a dynamic mechanical analyser. It is observed that
the speed of the rotating disk helped improve the alignment of nanofibers in the film. It is also
observed that the electric field is more intense and uniform for wire and mesh collector as
compared to foil collector. Nanofibers with wire type collector show the highest alignment as
well as tensile properties of carbonized nanofibers film.
Keywords: Electrospinning; Carbon nanofibers; Finite element analysis;

Tensile properties; Electric field
1 Introduction
Clean energy sources, energy storage, and energy harvesting have been increasing due to
global climate issues and insufficiency of fossil fuel sources. Development of high performance
energy materials is significantly important to overcome this problem [1]. There are numerous
studies on nanotechnology to enhance performance of energy storage devices. Advanced
nanofibers have been developed as energy materials for energy conversion and storage
applications such as, supercapacitors, rechargeable batteries, fuel cell [2-7]. Overall, the
performance of the energy storage device relies on the characteristic of the electrode
materials. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are widely used as electrode due to not only high surface
area but also superior electric conductivity, thermal stability, mechanical strength, and high
chemical resistance [8].
Fabrication of CNFs can be achieved using vapor phase growth method. The approach is to
grow CNFs from carbon-containing gases by using metallic catalysts [9, 10]. CNFs are generally
short and not well aligned. Furthermore, this method requires complicated equipment and
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.1
residual catalyst significantly affect electrical properties of CNFs [8]. However, electrospinning
method is a versatile method that higher yield continuous and aligned nanofibers.
Traditional spinning methods such as dry spinning, melt spinning, wet spinning utilize
mechanical force to reduce the fiber diameter limited to a few microns. In contrast the
electrospinning technique employs an electrical force to reduce fiber diameter in the range of
couple hundred nanometres [11, 12]. This approach requires a high voltage source applied to
a polymer solution and when the electrical force is sufficient enough to overcome surface
tension of the liquid droplet, a jet forms in the form of Taylor cone at the end of the tip. The
jet is experienced bending and whipping instability resulting of in excessive stretching and
creation of nanofiber.
Process parameters such as flow rate, potential difference, solution properties, distance
between electrode and collector plate, environmental conditions (temperature, relative
humidity) have an important role on properties of nanofibers. Barua and Saha [12] reported
optimum conditions for continuous flow jet and investigated electric field and flow rate effects
on fibre diameter. They have found that flow rate in the range between10-20 µl at 15kV
resulted in continuous jet formation. Above this range, dripping and jet with drops occurs, and
below this range discontinuous jet flow is obtained].
Aligned nanofibers by electrospinning is commonly fabricated by employing specially designed
collectors such as a fast-rotating disc collector [13, 14] or a parallel electrode collector [15]. In
a parallel-electrode configuration, the insulating gap between two parallel electrodes acts as
the collector, and the charged fibres are aligned across the gap by the electric field near the
electrodes. The length of the aligned fiber is limited by the width of the insulating gap in a
rotating collector configuration, the produced polymer fibres are deposited on around a
rotating mandrel. The fiber alignment and diameter largely depend on the mandrel rotational
speed. Kiselev et al. [14] investigated that an increase in the collector speed yielded in
reduction in fiber diameter and improved alignment. Also, Haidar et al. [15] achieved reduced
fiber diameter from 164 to 137 nm by increasing collector surface speed from 2.1 to 21.98
m/s [15].
In this study, collector configuration and speed have been enhanced to fabricate highly aligned
electrospun nanofiber. We investigate the collector geometry and surface speed on nanofiber
alignment, fiber diameter distribution, and porosity using solution containing 10%
polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in N, N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution. Two-dimensional electric
field analysis is performed to investigate electric field distribution near the collector. Different
collector geometries such as foil, mesh, and wire with rotating speed in the range om 9.9- 29.8
m/s are investigated. The as-spun PAN nanofibers are stabilized at 260°C in air followed by
carbonization at 1000°C in nitrogen. The diameter distribution, and alignment are investigated
by analysing the photomicrographs using open source image processing software ImageJ
software.
2 Electric Field Analysis

Electric field distribution and electric field strength are significantly important to manipulate
fibre orientation and fiber quality. FEM analysis is commonly used to investigate electric field.
In this study, we adopted FEMM 4.2 open source software to study electric field distribution
for different types of collector geometries. Boundary conditions were simulated from
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.2
experimental setup. The electrospinning setup box was assumed fully insulated. The distance
between collector and needle was 18 cm. The needle was charged with a 15kV positive current
and the collector was simulated as the ground (0 V). Electric field distribution, voltage was
investigated 2D for all collector types.
3 Experimental
3.1 Materials and Processing
Solvent N-dimethylformamide (DMF) and polyacrylonitrile (PAN) average molecular weight of
about 150,000 g/mol were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. PAN was dried in a vacuum oven
24h to remove moister. PAN and DMF were mixed with magnetic stirrer where temperature
was 80°C and at 400 rpm continuously for 5 hours. All air bubbles in the solution were
removed before electrospinning. The 10% PAN in DMF (by weight) solution was electrospun
inside an electrically isolated closed chamber. The spinning solution was held in a vertical
syringe with a stainless-steel needle which is connected to a DC power supply. To control all
environmental parameters (relative humidity, temperature), the electrospinning setup was
placed in an electrically and environmentally isolated acrylic box. Dry or moisturized air was
sent in the box to maintain the relative humidity level constant. Figure 1 shows the schematic
view of the electrospinning setup. The collector wheel was supported from two ends with ball
bearings and the core shaft was made by aluminium to keep the collector concentric at high
speed. Also, two disks are employed to adjust collector thickness and supported by ribs. It
aided to reduce weight of rotated parts. A belt drive speed control motor system was
employed to minimize vibration.
Figure 1. Schematic view of the electrospinning setup
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.3
Figure 2 shows three types of collectors. Coper was preferred as collector material. Foil
collectors were 0.1mm thick and 12 mm wide, mesh collector with wire diameter of 0.3 mm
and opening space of 1.3 mm, wire collector of diameter 0.3mm. Collectors were placed by
glue on a 20 cm plastic disc and soldered to ground. The needle was located 18 cm above of
the surface of the disk. In our previous study, the optimum flow rate was reported to be 15
μl/min at applied voltage of 15 kV for continuous and stable flow jet [12]. We adopted the
same parameters to achieve continuous and stable jet during electrospinning process. The
relative humidity was kept constant 22% for optimum mechanical properties [16].
Electrospinning was performed at constant temperature of 20°C for different collector surface
speeds of 9.9, 14.8 and 29.8 m/s. Collectors were removed from the disc after depositing
desired amount of solution which is 50 μl.
Figure 2. Foil, mesh and wire collector types
3.2 Stabilization and Carbonization

After drying process, the collector plate with nanofibers were cut into 10 cm long pieces and
fixed by gluing both ends using ceramic glue [17]. A programmable air convection oven was
performed for stabilization. The collector plate was heated in the oven with a 5 °C/min ramp
from room temperature to 260°C for 180 min. Barua and Saha [18] reported that the optimum
stabilization time at 260 °C is 180 min.
3.3 Characterization
Fiber orientation and diameter distribution were investigated using scanning electron
microscopy (SEM). Deposited nanofibers are mounted on the SEM sample holder with
collectors. The samples were sputter coated with iridium and examined under a Tescan VegaII
SEM. Dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) Q800 from TA Instruments was employed for
mechanical testing. A method has been developed to measure tensile properties with high
accuracy. Sample preparation method was developed to investigate mechanical properties of
nanofiber films. Samples were collected on collector directly with a paper window frame to
avoid fiber damage and misalignment during mechanical testing. A stainless-steel punch
system was designed to cut all paper window frames identically the same and allows mounting
fibres on the paper window frame along deposition direction. Double sided tape was placed
on the window frame. Samples were peeled on double sided tape on the paper window frame
and extra fiber trimmed. The gauge length was 6 mm and the strain rate was 0.001 s-1 for as-
spun fibers. Carbonized and stabilized samples were tested at force control mode where the
force ramp was 0.5 N/min. The cross-sectional area of the as-spun nanofiber yarn sample was
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.4
calculated by dividing the mass of the yarn by the length of the sample and the density of PAN
polymer. The density of the PAN was taken 1.18 g/cc [16].
The cross-sectional area was calculated from sample volume. The total number of fibers in the
as-spun film sample was found from the mean diameter extracted from the SEM image using
the equations below:
= (1)
4
= , = (2)
4 4
where N is number of fibers in the film, dam is the mean diameter of as-spun nanofibers, Aa is
total cross section area of as-spun yarn [18]. The cross-sectional areas of the stabilized and
carbonized samples have been calculated by the equation from the fiber diameter
distribution. The number of fiber is assumed constant in the film. Once obtaining N from
Equation 1, the cross-sectional areas of stabilized and carbonized films were calculated using
Equation 2. dsm, dcm are the mean diameter of stabilized and carbonized nanofibers, As, Ac are
total cross section area of stabilized and carbonized nanofibers. Fiber diameter distribution
and orientation analyses have been done via ImageJ software. SEM images were taken for
each sample and 100 individual fiber diameters and orientation angles have been obtained.
Porosity is calculated using two different methods. SEM images are employed to determine
porosity by image analysis [19] using ImageJ software. Images are converted to binary and
total area of dark spots are taken as p. The porosity is derived by proportional to the total
area. Figure 3 shows the transformation of the image into binary. Second method is to
calculate the porosity by apparent density. of the fiber mat. 200 µl solution is deposited at
different rpms and mat thickness is measured with high accuracy micrometer. The apparent
density and porosity are derived from Equation 3 and 4:
= (3)
= 1− 100 (2)
where is apparent density, is the mat mass, is the average thickness of the mat,
is the total mat area, is the bulk density of PAN [20].
Figure 3. Image analysis method that followed for porosity calculation by converting
the SEM images to binary
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.5
4 Result and Discussion

Figure 4 shows 2D FEM simulation result of electric field distribution for foil, mesh, and wire
type of collector. According to the simulation results, collector geometry effects electric field
distribution significantly. Highest electric field value on collector surface is obtained for wire
type of collector. Wire and mesh type of collectors also show more uniform electric field
distribution comparing foil type. Electric field is accumulated on corners for foil type of
collector. Figure 5 shows electric field distribution along the collector surface. The data is
taken from 2D FEM analysis at collector along collector surface. Highest values are obtained
on the side of the collectors. However, wire and mesh type of collectors have much more
intensive electric field comparing foil type of collector.
Table 1 shows porosity, alignment, and diameter as a function of collector speed and
geometry. Highest porosity is obtained 55.7 % for foil type of collector at 500 rpm. Lower
speed yields with higher porosity. Fiber alignment influences porosity. Better aligned
nanofiber film shows less porosity due to packing affect. Nanofiber mat thicknesses were
measured at 100 rpm to 1500 rpm.
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.6
2,50E+06
Foil Mesh Wire
2,00E+06
Electric Field |E|, V/m
1,50E+06
1,00E+06
5,00E+05
0,00E+00
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Length (mm)
Figure 5. Electric field change along the collector surface for foil,
mech and wire type of collector
Table 1: Summary of diameter, orientation, and porosity of carbon nanofibers films

for different collector geometries
Collector Speed (rpm)
As-spun
500 1000 1500
Foil Diameter (nm) 272 (±55) 257 (±54) 245(±51)
Alignment 18.1o (±13.8o) 5.6o (±5.1o) 3.2o (±3.4)
Porosity 55.7% (±5.7) 52.5% (±5.2) 48.7% (±4.6)
Mesh Diameter (nm) 291 (±55) 267 (±47) 259 (±58)
Alignment 5.2o (±5.8o) 4.4o (±5.2o) 3.2o (±4.1o)
Porosity 47.4% (±4.6) 43.8% (±5.8) 37.4% (±3.2)
Wire Diameter (nm) 290 (±62) 262 (±48) 258 (±51)
Alignment 4o (±3.6o) 3.2o (±2.7o) 2.7o (±2.5o)
Porosity 46.3% (±6.2) 44.1% (±5.3) 35.3% (±5.6)
Figure 6 shows porosity calculation result by apparent density method as a function of

collector speed. Collector speed also effects porosity of nanofiber films. Up to 70% porosity
was obtained at lower speed.
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.7
80
70
60
Porosity %
50
40
30 Apparent Density
Method
20 Image Analysis
10 Method
0
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
RPM
Figure 6. Porosity of nanofiber film as a function of collector speed for foil type of collector
a b c
c d e
Figure 7. As-spun nanofiber produced from 10% PAN/DMF solution, (a-c) copper foil
collector, (d) metal mesh collector, (e) metal wire collector (red arrows indicate rotation
direction)
Figure 7 shows a few SEM images of as-spun nanofibers produced at different RPM and
collector geometry. SEM results show that nanofibers at this low magnification seem uniform
and defect free. At least 100 measurements of different fiber diameter are measured from
the SEM images taken from different locations of the nanofiber tows and plotted to show
degree of alignment. The angle distribution seems more widespread at 9.9 m/s compared to
29.8 m/s. At low rpm, foil type collector showed poor fiber alignment. Significant
improvement is obtained by increasing collector speed. Mesh type of collector mean angle at
low rpm showed significantly improved fiber alignment comparing with foil type of collector.
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.8
Figure 8 shows stress-strain curves of as-spun nanofiber films fabricated at 1500 rpm. Wire
and mesh type of collectors improve tensile properties of as-spun nanofiber films. However,
nanofiber film deposited on foil shows higher slightly higher failure strain due to more
misaligned fibers in the film. Figure 9 summarizes the tensile properties of carbonized
nanofiber films at different RPM and collector types. As seen all nanofiber yarns produced at
1500 RPM exhibit the highest tensile properties. Although foil type of collector improves
mechanical properties by increasing RPM, the wire type shows the best mechanical
properties. Degree of alignment is related with tensile properties. Additionally, Sadrjahani et
al. [21] reported that increase in collator surface speed causes improvement on molecular
level alignment. As a result, an improvement in mechanical properties is obtained by higher
RPM conditions. Wire and mesh type of collectors improve degree of alignment in comparing
foil type.
Figure 8. Stress-strain curve of as-spun fibers fabricated at 1500 rpm
701 56 2,9
2,5
671 2,3
53
632 50,5
Tensile Strength (MPa ) Tensile Modulus (GPa) Failure Strain (%)

Foil Mesh Wire
Figure 9. Tensile properties of carbonized nanofiber films fabricated at 1500 rpm
REMOO–2018 — 03.103.9
5 Conclusion
Collector geometry effects electric field distribution. 2D FEM simulation shows that wire and
mesh type of collectors has more intense and uniform electric distribution near the surface.
This explains improvement on reduction on fiber diameter and higher degree of alignment.
Collector speed has an important role on fiber alignment as well corresponding tensile
properties of as-spun, stabilized and carbonized nanofibers. Lower RPM shows wider fiber
angle distribution. Wire type collector shows better fiber alignment compare to mesh and foil.
Moreover, RPM influences mechanical properties of as-spun, stabilized and canonized
nanofiber films. Lower fiber alignment is believed to be possible reasons for lower mechanical
properties of the film. Highest tensile strength of about 701 MPa is observed for carbon
nanofiber produced at 1500 RPM with wire collector compared to about 512 MPa at 500 RPM.
Collector speed and geometry influence porosity of the nanofiber film, while collector speed
increases, porosity reduces. At low rpms, porosity is obtained as high as 70%.
Acknowledgements
The authors thanks Republic of Turkey, Minister of National Education for awarding the
scholarship enabling to participate in this research.
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REMOO–2018 — 03.103.12
QUEST FOR ENERGY
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL OVERPRESSURE CALCULATION OF

VENTED VAPOUR CLOUD EXPLOSION BY USING COMBINED
COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS METHODS
Jingde LI*, Hong HAO
Center for Infrastructure monitoring and protection, School of Civil and Mechanical
Engineering, Curtin University, Kent St, Bentley WA 6102, Australia;
jingde.li@curtin.edu.au, hong.hao@curtin.edu.au
Abstract
Recent oil and gas accidents have reminded us the severe consequences of gas explosion on
structure damage and financial loss. In order to protect the structures and personnel,
engineers and researchers have been working on numerous different explosion mitigation
methods. Amongst, venting is the most economical approach to mitigate gas explosion
overpressure. In this paper, venting is used as the overpressure alleviation method. A
numerical technique combined with two different Computational Fluid Dynamics approaches
are presented to predict the internal and external pressure from vented gas explosion in a
large enclosure. For turbulent combustion inside a confine chamber, the commercial software
FLACS provides accurate simulation results, whereas the blast wave with low velocity outside
the chamber is significantly underestimated by using FLACS. Therefore, an alternative CFD tool
- ANSYS Fluent is employed to model the external flame propagation. For both of internal and
external overpressure calculation of vented gas explosion, satisfactory agreement between
CFD simulation results and experimental data is achieved.
Keywords: Vented gas explosion; Internal pressure; External pressure; CFD simulation
1 Introduction
Gas explosion, which is also known as vapour cloud explosion, can happen in different
enclosed spaces such as the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tank, tanker trucks and commercial
combustion engines, etc. [1]. In the oil and gas industry, numerous gas explosions have
occurred globally [2-4] in the past decades, which have been drawing great attention of
engineers and researchers. The gas/vapour cloud explosion is defined as an explosion
resulting from an ignition of cloud with flammable gas-air mixture. During a gas explosion, the
hot flames accelerate to subsonic or/and sonic velocities to generate great overpressures [5].
The sufficiently great internal and external overpressures rise from gas explosions can
eventually threaten structures and people.
There have been a number of existing explosion mitigation measures to protect oil and gas
facilities and human life [6-8]. So far, the most economic and practical method is using a
venting. A well-designed venting has low vent activation pressure, which allows high velocity
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.1
flame releasing in the early stage of combustion. Consequently, the fast venting leads to
reasonably low overpressures of a gas explosion.
In order to design a proper venting, a series of theoretical and empirical approaches have been
proposed [9-11] along with engineering design codes [12, 13]. However, most of the studies
are based on the understanding of internal pressure from vented gas explosion. Whereas very
few studies have been carried out on external pressure prediction. For instance, only some
general conclusions of the impact of external explosion on internal overpressure were
provided for the experimental investigation conducted on a 30 m3 vented chamber [14].
Simply fitted equations for external overpressure prediction were derived by Palmer and
Tonkin [15], while fundamental mechanisms of external explosion were not discussed.
Although, more experiments have been conducted on external explosion study nowadays [16,
17], the testing enclosures were in small scales. For these small-scale experiments, the
explosion pressures due to Helmholtz oscillations and the Taylor instability cannot be well-
observed, therefore the interaction effect between internal and external explosions cannot
be well-understood.
In order to accurately estimate the external overpressures in near and far fields from a vented
explosion, large-scale tests and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are requisite.
By far, CFD is the most accurate approach to model gas explosions in different scales, and the
flame propagation direction, congestion and confinement effects are taken into account in
the calculation. For example, the widely-accepted CFD tool FLACS has been expected to
provide accurate overpressure prediction for different types of gas explosion under different
geometry conditions. A large number of tests have been conducted to validate FLACS’
accuracy [18-20]. However, the accuracy of FLACS is valid only within the gas coverage region
with a certain level of congestions. While the blast wave simulation outside the leading edge
of congestion becomes untrustworthy [21], which is due to the fact that the front of blast
wave will be smeared in standard FLACS modelling procedure.
Although a new guideline has been provided for FLACS simulation to address the under/over-
prediction of external pressures in far field [22], the pressure estimation of vented gas
explosion in open space is not within its accuracy improving scope. Alternatively, ANSYS Fluent
can be used to model the external blast wave with low velocity flame. So far, there are limited
studies on external gas explosion modelling by using ANSYS Fluent, while most of available
literatures are regarding internal overpressure estimation.
In this study, two widely-accepted CFD tools – FLACS and ANSYS Fluent are used to model the
vented gas explosion. Since the accuracy of FLACS in internal overpressure prediction of
vented explosion has been approved in the Authors’ previous study [23], FLACS is firstly
employed to predict the internal overpressure, which is resulted from a combination of Taylor
instability, external gas explosion and Helmholtz. By using the data of pressures at the venting
as pressure inlet input, the blast wave modelling is conducted by using ANSYS Fluent.
Experiments in large scale are used to calibrate the CFD simulation results.
2 CFD Modelling and Calibration

So far, numerous vented gas explosions have been tested by researchers. However, the
number of large-scale tests are still limited due to the high cost of testing facilities and high
risk. In order to better understand the relationship between the external overpressure and
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.2
the flame propagation distance from venting, the large-scale explosions carried out by Palmer
and Tonkin [15] are chosen as the CFD calibration benchmarks in this study.
2.1 Experiment Setup

As seen in Figure 1, the experimental chamber has dimensions of 3.9 × 3.0 × 2.4 m3. The total
volume is 28 m3. The roof and walls of the chamber are made of steel plates, and the floor is
concrete. A lightweight polyethylene sheet is used as venting material on the right side wall
of 3.0 × 2.4 m2 in Figure 1. The venting varying from 0.3 to 1.2m depth is arranged downwards
from the roof, while the remaining of the wall is made of steel. A 10 per cent by volume
methane-air mixture was used in the experiments. The 10 vol % mixtures with different layer
depths from 0.5m to 1.8m were tested. Due to the fact that methane-air mixture is lighter
than air, the mixture layer is located on the top of the room chamber.
Table 1 tabulates the gas mixture and venting conditions of 7 different tests.
Figure 1. Large room with dimensions of 3.9 × 3 × 2.4 m3

in vented explosion experiments[15]
Table 1: Gas mixture layer depths and venting conditions of the tests [15]
Case Methane-air mixture Ratio of venting Vent area (m2)
Number depth(m) depth to wall height
1 0.50 1/8 0.90
2 0.60 1/8 0.90
3 0.72 1/4 1.80
4 1.25 1/2 3.60
5 1.50 1/8 0.90
6 1.80 1/8 0.90
7 1.80 1/4 1.80
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.3
2.2 Gas Explosion Simulation by using FLACS

The CFD-coded commercial software FLACS [24] is used to model the of the above vented gas
explosion experiments. FLACS utilizes the Navier-Stokes based k-ε model for turbulence
modelling. The Simple Interface Flame (SIF) model is applied to simulate the flame generation
during the vented gas combustion.
Figure 2 shows the vented chamber with different vent areas from 12.5% to 50% opening of
the wall. The steel roof, walls and concrete floor in experiments are assumed as rigid in FLACS
simulation. A POPOUT relief panel type is assigned in FLACS to model the lightweight
polyethylene sheet at venting. As indicated in Figure 3, the ignition is centrally placed on the
back wall of the chamber. To be precise, the location of ignition is at the interface between
the methane-air mixture layer and free air layer on the bottom.
Figure 2. Three-dimentional models of vented chambers with different vent areas
Figure 3. Methane-air mixture volume, vent area location and ignition location
The boundary condition used in this study is Euler, 26 degree temperature and 1 bar ambient
pressure are initial conditions before explosion. Same as the experimental setup, 10 vol % gas
mixture concentration is applied. The mesh grids are kept cubical inside the chamber, while
other grids are stretched with 1.1 increment ratio from the vent to all boundaries. Sensitivity
study is conducted, and 0.05 mesh size is determined in the center of explosion.
Case number 6 in
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.4
Table 1 is chosen as a demonstration example. The combustion progress in 3D and 2D lateral

view is shown in Figure 4 and Figure 5. It is seen that the fuel mass fraction consumption
starting from the ignition to the external explosion are well captured in FLACS simulation.
Figure 4. Three-dimensional view of fuel mass fraction during vented explosion of case No.6
Figure 5. 2D lateral view of fuel mass fraction during vented explosion of case No.6
Due to the fact that only peak pressures were recorded in Palmer and Tonkin’s work [15], the
validation of FLACS simulation is conducted by comparing the CFD calculated peak pressures
with the experimentally recorded peak pressures. The internal overpressures monitored at
the vent and external overpressures in the far field (e.g. 9.1m and 18.3m) in experiments are
tabulated in Table 2. For CFD simulation, the pressure-time curve of case number 6 is
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.5
extracted from FLACS and shown in Figure 6. As compared with the experimental data, the
peak pressure of 12.11kPa in FLACS is close to the testing data of 11.66kPa.
Table 2: Peak internal and external pressures for different cases
Case Ratio of venting Peak internal Peak internal Peak internal
Number depth to gas mixture pressure (kPa) pressure at pressure at
depth 9.1m (kPa) 18.3m (kPa)
1 0.60 4.27 0.66 0.31
2 0.50 5.58 0.78 0.48
3 0.83 1.94 0.50 0.22
4 0.96 1.32 0.44 0.19
5 0.20 9.33 3.19 1.53
6 0.17 11.66 3.37 2.00
7 0.33 6.68 1.40 0.71
Figure 6. Pressure-time curve for monitor near the vent of case No.6 in FLACS modelling
All peak internal pressures from case No. 1 to case No. 7 care extracted from FLACS and
compared with testing results, as shown in Figure 7. It is seen that the agreement between
the internal pressures of two counterparts is satisfactory. It is also worth noting that the
increase of peak pressures is consistent with the increase of the ratio of fuel depth to vent
opening depth.
The improved far-field blast prediction guideline[22] is used in this study. The sound speed
and flame speed based CFLV and CFLV numbers are both decreased to 0.1 in FLACS. In addition
to the new guideline, the data-dump technique [21] is also used. However, compared to the
experimentally recorded external pressures of 3.37 kPa and 2.00 kPa at 9.1m and 18.3m, the
far-field overpressures in FLACS are greatly under-predicted, as shown in Figure 8. The main
reason is that the new guideline is proposed based on Deflagration-To-Detonation (DDT)
phenomenon combustion, whereas the experiments done by Palmer and Tonkin are vented
explosion with low pressure and the corresponding CFD simulations are with much smaller
DPDX magnitude. Therefore, for vented gas explosion with slow deflagration, the guideline by
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.6
Hansen and Johnson [22] cannot be applied. In order to accurately model the low turbulent
combustion outside the venting, the ANSYS Fluent is employed in the following section.
Figure 7. Comparison between test results and FLACS prediction data

of peak pressures near vent
Figure 8. 3D view and 2D view of the maximum overpressure in gas explosion of case No.6
by using the far-field pressure guideline of [22]
2.3 Gas explosion simulation by using ANSYS Fluent

Same as the k-ε turbulence model used in FLACS, the standard Navier-stokes equations are
used for combustion modelling in ANSYS Fluent. The internal pressures calculated by using
FLACS have been approved to be accurate in the above section. Hence, the pressure inlet data
at venting in ANSYS Fluent is imported from FLACS. The subsequent blast wave propagation
in the free air is modelled in ANSYS Fluent.
The chambers are also modelled by using the ANSYS CFD preprocessor – ICEM. Figure 9
demonstrates the 3D geometry and mesh of the vented chamber with dimensions of 3.9 × 3
× 2.4 m. Mesh sensitivity study is conducted, the smallest hexahedral grid size is determined
to be 0.1m at the vent area. Minimum of 100 mesh grids are guaranteed for venting. The
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.7
entire simulation domain size is 50 × 30 × 15m. The stretching ratio of 1.01 is used for meshing.
Overall, the number of mesh cells is 1 × 106, the number of interior faces is 3 × 106. The
maximum Ortho Skew of 9.6 × 10-10 is guaranteed in the mesh quality.
Figure 9. 3D Geometry of the vented room with 1/8 vent area on the front wall in ANSYS Fluent
To simulate the blast wave propagation, the pressure inlet boundary is set at the vent area.
Zero initial gauge pressure is utilized. The wave propagates normal to the outlet boundary
with intensity and hydraulic diameter estimation method. The vented explosion Case No. 6 in
Table 1 is also chosen as demonstration example in ANSYS Fluent study. The overpressure-
time curve data from Figure 6 is simplified and imported as the pressure inlet input.
Figure 10 shows the 3D simulation results of external pressure at time of 0.49s (peak pressure
time), which is corresponding to the pressure-time data in Figure 11(a). It is seen that the peak
pressures at 9.1m and 18.3m in ANSYS Fluent are 3.25 kPa and 1.81 kPa, which are close to
testing data in Table 2. Precisely, the differences between the CFD simulated results and the
experimentally recorded data are 3.56% and 9.15% at two far-field locations, respectively. The
comparison of all data between CFD simulation and experiments is shown in Figure 11(b).
Overall, the agreement between the peak external pressures predicted by ANSYS Fluent and
those by experiments is satisfactory.
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.8
Figure 10. Total pressure in atmosphere from the vent in 3D simulation of ANSYS Fluent
(a) Pressure input and output in ANSYS Fluent for case No.6 (b) Comparison between CFD simulation and testing
Figure 11. Pressure-time curve in ANSYS Fluent simulation and final comparison between
CFD simulation results and experimental data
3 Conclusion
In this paper, a combined CFD simulation approach is used to study the realistic vented gas
explosion from a large-scale chamber.
The CFD-coded solver - FLACS is firstly used to simulate the vented explosion. The variables,
such as different vent areas, gas mixture depths and ignition locations are well modelled in
FLACS explosion simulation. The peak internal pressures near the vent area predicted by FLACS
satisfactorily agree with the experimental data. However, the external pressures outside the
venting in far field are significantly under-calculated by FLACS. It is included that the improved
far-field blast calculation guideline is not applicable for vented gas explosion simulation with
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.9
low pressure development. The issue of FLACS’ underestimation on flame propagation in open
space is therefore addressed by using ANSYS Fluent.
The pressure inlet input at vent opening is modelled by using an UDF file in ANSYS Fluent. The
UDF file consists of overpressure-time history data exported from FLACS simulation. By means
of using the standard k-ε model, accurate mesh cells and correct initial condition setups, etc.,
the external pressures outside the vent opening are well calculated by using ANSYS Fluent.
Overall, the prediction of peak internal pressure by using FLACS and the estimation of peak
external pressure by using ANSYS Fluent are in good agreement with 7 different experimental
results.
References
[1] O.J. Ugarte, V. Akkerman, and A.S. Rangwala, "A computational platform for gas
explosion venting," Process Safety and Environmental Protection.vol. 99, pp. 167-174,
2016
[2] Daily-News, "Nigerian president ‘shaken and shocked’ by gas tank explosion," 2015,
http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2015/12/25/nigerian-president-shaken-and-
shocked-by-gas-tank-explosion/.
[3] Trend.News.Agency, "Explosion at oil depot in Russia's Far East kills three," 2011,
http://en.trend.az/world/other/1883483.html.
[4] Firehouse, "Lightning Causes Fire at Kansas Fuel Plant," 2008,

http://www.firehouse.com/news/10503342/lightning-causes-fire-at-kansas-fuel-plant.
[5] W.P.M. Mercx and A.C. van den Berg, Chapter 5: Vapour Cloud Explosion, TNO Yellow
Book: Methods for the calculation of physical effects due to releases of hazardous
materials (2nd Edition). TNO – The Netherlands Organisation of Applied Scientific
Research. 2005, Rijswijk,The Netherlands.
[6] M. Mitu, et al., "Influence of inert gas addition on propagation indices of methane–air
deflagrations," Process Safety and Environmental Protection.vol. 102, pp. 513-522, 2016
[7] Y.T. Liang and W. Zeng, "Numerical study of the effect of water addition on gas
explosion," J Hazard Mater.vol. 174 (1-3), pp. 386-392, 2010
[8] G. Ferrara, et al., "Venting of gas explosion through relief ducts: Interaction between
internal and external explosions," J Hazard Mater.vol. 155 (1-2), pp. 358-368, 2008
[9] D. Bradley and A. Mitcheson, "The venting of gaseous explosions in spherical vessels. I—
Theory," Combustion and Flame.vol. 32, pp. 221-236, 1978
[10] M.G. Cooper, M. Fairweather, and J.P. Tite, "On the Mechanisms of Pressure Generation
in Vented Explosions," Combustion and Flame.vol. 65 (1), pp. 1-14, 1986
[11] V. Molkov, et al., "Modeling of vented hydrogen-air deflagrations and correlations for
vent sizing," J Loss Prevent Proc.vol. 12 (2), pp. 147-156, 1999
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.10
[12] NFPA-68, "Standard on Explosion Protection by Deflagration Venting, 2013 Edition,"

National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, 2013
[13] EN-14994, "Gas Explosion Venting Protective Systems," European Standard, 2007
[14] A.J. Harrison and J.A. Eyre, "External Explosions as a Result of Explosion Venting,"
Combust Sci Technol.vol. 52 (1-3), pp. 91-106, 1987
[15] K. Palmer and P. Tonkin. External pressures caused by venting gas explosions in a large
chamber. in Proceedings of the 3rd International Loss Prevention Symposium. 1980.
[16] B. Fan, et al., "Investigation on external explosions during venting," Fire Safety
Science.vol. 8, pp. 1365-1374, 2005
[17] S. Qi, et al., "The effect of vent size and concentration in vented gasoline-air explosions,"
J Loss Prevent Proc.vol. 44, pp. 88-94, 2016
[18] P. Middha, et al., "CFD calculations of gas leak dispersion and subsequent gas explosions:
Validation against ignited impinging hydrogen jet experiments," J Hazard Mater.vol. 179
(1-3), pp. 84-94, 2010
[19] H. Pedersen, et al. Comparison of FLACS simulations against large-scale vented gas
explosion experiments in a twin compartment enclosure. in Ninth International
Symposium on Hazard, Prevention and Mitigation of Industrial Explosions. 2012.
[20] A. Bleyer, et al., "Comparison between FLACS explosion simulations and experiments
conducted in a PWR Steam Generator casemate scale down with hydrogen gradients,"
Nucl Eng Des.vol. 245, pp. 189-196, 2012
[21] G.W. Ma, J.D. Li, and M. Abdel-Jawad, "Accuracy improvement in evaluation of gas
explosion overpressures in congestions with safety gaps," J Loss Prevent Proc.vol. 32, pp.
358-366, 2014
[22] O.R. Hansen and D.M. Johnson, "Improved far-field blast predictions from fast
deflagrations, DDTs and detonations of vapour clouds using FLACS CFD," J Loss Prevent
Proc.vol. 35, pp. 293-306, 2015
[23] J.D. Li, et al., "Vented Methane-air Explosion Overpressure Calculation—A simplified
approach based on CFD," Process Safety and Environmental Protection.vol. 109, pp. 489-
508, 2017
[24] Gexcon, "FLACS v10.4 User's Manual, Norway," 2015
REMOO–2018 — 04.004.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
TURBULENT DISPERSION OF FUEL DROPLETS

IN DIESEL ENGINE SPRAYS
Masoud AHMADI, Hassan KHALEGHI*
Mechanical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modares University,
Jalal AleAhmad-Nasr, 14115-111, Tehran, Iran;
ahmadimasoud@modares.ac.ir, khaleghi@modares.ac.ir
Abstract
The aim of this work is to investigate the results of an in-house three-dimensional CFD code
designed for diesel engine spray calculations. This paper discusses the importance of using
various turbulent dispersion models, which are responsible for considering the effects of
turbulence of gas phase on the fuel droplet trajectory and final spray structure. The droplet
trajectory and other information are compared by the implementation of the droplet
dispersion models and the importance of selecting an appropriate turbulence closure model
are highlighted in this work.
Keywords: Turbulent dispersion; Turbulence modulation; Diesel engine;

Two-way coupling
1 Introduction
Growing concerns about the emission that comes out of diesel engines, created a trend in
improving the efficiency of them. One of the key factors affecting the combustion process is
the efficiency of fuel-air mixture formation. Using CFD codes is one of the ways for gaining
insight into the in-cylinder flows. These three-dimensional calculations give enough detailed
descriptions of the turbulent flows shaped inside the combustion chamber. Injection of fuel
droplets into this turbulent flow exacerbates the complexities of the problem. One of these
additional complexities is the lack of understanding in the underlying physics of the interaction
between the droplets and the gas flow. So, a high level of accuracy is mandatory for the
models used in these calculations.
In turbulent spray flows, the carrier phase path is not followed completely by the droplets. It
is the interaction of droplets with turbulent velocity fluctuations, which disperse them quickly.
In order to have the instantaneous fluid velocity at the droplet position (when using RANS
equations), one should somehow model the RMS values via dispersion models. It has been
indicated [1, 2, 3] that nonphysical results can be attained by using inappropriate dispersion
and turbulence models.
Yuu et al. [4] applied a stochastic model which includes empirical correlation of mean and
turbulent properties. For considering the relative velocity between the eddy and the particle,
Gosman and Ioannides [5] improved the Yuu et al. [4] model. This model is called “eddy life
time model” where the fluid velocity fluctuation is kept constant on the Lagrangian time scale
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.1
[6]. It is the simplicity of this model that make it popular in most commercial CFD codes. But
this model is insufficient in anisotropic turbulent flows because it does not account for spatial
and time correlation of the fluctuation along the particle path [7]. For considering the time
correlation, Hunt and Nalpanis [8] suggested the reconstruction of the fluctuation velocity
from a temporally correlated random-walk model. This model uses the Lagrangian time-scale
of the flow seen by the particle which is called “crossing trajectory effect”. Another model
which considers both the spatial and time correlations is the Sommerfeld [9] model. It is
obtained from a Markov-chain random-walk model. In this model, the evolution of fluctuation
velocity along the streamline is expressed by a Lagrangian correlation factor (time correlation),
while the fluid velocity fluctuation at the droplet location is correlated with the fluid location
using the Eulerian correlation factor (spatial correlation).
This work is devoted to droplet dispersion and evaporation of diesel engine fuel spray which
are important in predicting the performance of energy systems utilizing the spray ignition.
2 Governing Equations
This section gives details of models used in the in-house CFD code for solving the spray
injection of fuel droplets in a diesel engine combustion chamber. The Eulerian-Lagrangian
approach has been selected for solving the two-phase flow. In this method, the continuous
phase (air-fuel vapor mixture) is solved based on Eulerian equations and the dispersed phase
(fuel droplets) are treated by a Lagrangian set of equations. The spray is described by a finite
number of parcels which represent droplets with the same diameter, velocity, temperature,
and location. The following sections provide more details of equations used for solving both
phases and their interactions.
2.1 Gas-Phase Equations

The equations that ought to be solved for gas phase in order to have a complete analysis of
the problem are introduced in this section. Eight partially differential equations of
conservation of mass, momentum (in three directions), turbulent kinetic energy, turbulent
dissipation rate, energy, and also the fuel vapor mass fraction are solved for the continuous
phase. As mentioned above, the RANS models have been used for solving the turbulent flow.
Two models have been chosen to make a comparison between them: Standard − and
− models. By assuming that the in-cylinder processes can be adequately described
by their statistically-averaged properties, we used equations in ensemble-averaged form. It
should be noted that the averaging used here is that of density-weighted or Favre averaging.
Because of the piston movement with a local absolute value ( ), there is a change in the
volume of computational cells which should be considered in equations. So, the general
transport equation used is as:
( )
+ ∇. ( ) = ∇. ∇. + + , (1)
In which = − is the relative velocity between the frame and the fluid, =∆ Δ Δ
is a computational cell volume. Also, is the void fraction of the cell which is the portion of it
that is filled with the gas mixture, is the mixture density, is the transported variable, is
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.2
the source term, and , is the source term because of the droplet phase interactions. , Γ,
and are as stated in Table 1.
Table 1: Transport equation variables

Variable
mass 1 0 0
velocity /( )
energy ℎ 0
Turbulent kinetic energy −
Eddy dissipation rate ( )( )− ( )
Fuel vapor mass fraction 0
The interactions between the particles and the gas phase are accounted for by adding the
source terms in proper equations.
2.2 Droplet Equations

The second phase equations are written in the Lagrangian frame which is natural for tracking
droplets.
The droplet momentum and trajectory equations adopted in this work are as follows:
,
= − , − = ( ) − , (2)
,
= , (3)
The Reynolds number is used to evaluate the drag coefficient , Thus:
0.44 > 1000

= . (4)
(24 + 3.6 )/ ≤ 1000
Where particle Reynolds number is defined as: = − / .

In equation (5) two important forces considered in this work are drag and pressure difference
forces. In the equations (6), , represents the spatial coordinate and represents temporal
coordinate, and , is droplet velocity. Also, and are the gas and droplet density
respectively, is the pressure, is the drag coefficient, and is the droplet diameter.
In equation (5), we should calculate the relative velocity between the gas phase and
droplet − , . Because of using RANS equations for solving the turbulent flow, just the
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.3
averaged velocities are obtained. Because the main focus of this work is on dispersion models,
details of the three models adopted for comparison will be discussed in a separate section.
Droplet temperature and mass histories are calculated from equations of Borman and Johnson
[10] equations:
( )
=− − { ⁄( − 1)} + (5)
=− ln { − , ⁄( − . )} ℎ/ (6)
Where is the diffusivity, is the total pressure, , is the vapor pressure far from the
droplet surface, , is the vapor pressure at the droplet surface, is the global gas constant,
is the temperature, the subscripts denotes a mean of gas and droplet values, is the
specific heat at constant pressure, is the thermal conductivity and is the latent heat of
evaporation.
in equation (5) is the argument of a function which corrects the heat transfer coefficient
when the mass transfer is simultaneously taking place, and is defined as:
=− (7)
Where is the fuel vapor specific heat. The Nusselt number, and Sherwood ℎ are
evaluated from the following expressions [11]:
. /
= 2.0 + 0.6 (8)
. /
ℎ = 2.0 + 0.6 (9)
Where = ,= , and is the gas viscosity.
In this work, a fully atomized model has been used and the initial droplets diameters are
calculated based on Rosin-Rammler probability density function.
Two active forces on droplets are aerodynamic forces and forces due to surface tension. The
condition, which the droplet goes under certain deformation, is when the aerodynamic forces
overcome surface tension forces. One of the models which is very famous for modeling
breakup process is Ritz-Diwakar model [12]. This model considers two modes of breakup: Bag
breakup for low Weber numbers and stripping breakup for higher Weber numbers. The
threshold for the start of breakup is = 6 which this model decides which mode of the
breakup will happen for the parcel of droplets.
2.3 Turbulent Dispersion Models

Taking advantage of simplicity while the accuracy of RANS equations provides us with time-
averaged velocities of the flow field. But for calculating the trajectory of droplets as accurate
as possible, we should incorporate appropriate models for attaining velocity fluctuations at
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.4
the droplet location. In this work, three models have been chosen to assess their capability of
predicting the fuel droplet trajectory, accurately.
The first and most known model is the model of Gosman and Ionnadies [5] which considers a
constant fluctuation velocity in the integration time scale period. This model generates a
random number from a normal distribution, which has a zero mean and a unit standard
deviation (Γ) and multiplies it in the square root of gas flow’s turbulent kinetic energy:
=Γ (10)
Here is the fluctuation velocity, which will be added to a time averaged velocity, Γ is a
random number and is the turbulent kinetic energy of gas mixture in droplet cell.
The second model used in this work is Hunt and Nalpanis [8] model which calculates the
fluctuation velocity from a temporally correlated random-walk model as:
( )
( +Δ )= ( ) (Δ ) + 1 − (Δ ) Γ(t) (11)
Where the auto-correlation function is defined as:
(Δ ) = exp − (12)
And is the Lagrangian time-scale of the continuous phase seen by the particle, which is
related to the turbulence time-scale of the gas phase ( ( ) ) by
( ) | | ( ) /
= 1+ and = (13)
( ) ⁄
This autocorrelation function produces a new fluctuation velocity based on the previous time
step fluctuation velocity and takes into account the temporal variation of it by (Δ ).
The third model is the Sommerfeld [9] model which uses both temporal and spatial
correlations to produce the fluctuation velocity in this time step as:
2 ( ) (14)
( +Δ )= ( ) (Δ , Δ ) + Γ (t) 1 − (Δ , Δ )
3
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.5
The solution of equation (14) for an initial condition represents a sequence of successive
velocities. In this equation, Δ represents the spatial displacements during the Δ interval and
(Δ , Δ ) is a correlation for computing the fluctuation velocity:
(Δ , Δ ) = (Δ ) ∗ (Δ ) (15)
The evolution of the fluid velocity along the path is declared by the Lagrangian correlation
factor (Δ ), while the fluid velocity is correlated with the fluid element location by using
the Eulerian correlation factor (Δ ). They are expressed as:
(Δ ) = exp − (16)
Δ Δ
(Δ ) = exp − − 1− exp −
2 Δ
(17)
+ (Δ ) 1 − exp −
2
represents the Lagrangian integral time scale which is calculated as = 0.3 ⁄ and =
0.3 √ represents the turbulent length scale.
3 Validation and Results

This section begins with presenting the mesh independency results. Then a comparison
between the numerical results and experimental ones is depicted for making sure of the
validity of CFD results. Next section will be on the single parcel injection in a quiescent flow
(constant volume) and the final section will represent the effect of using different dispersion
models in a full spray structure.
3.1 Grid Independence Results

Three different computational meshes which have a different number of cells are chosen to
assess the grid independent results. Both the single-phase and two-phase characteristics are
compared to reach grid independent results.
For single phase mesh independency study, both the axial and radial velocity in a distance
from the nozzle is shown in Figure 1.
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.6
140 1.5
130 In 4 cm distance from Nozzle In 4 cm distance from Nozzle

120 1
110
0.5
100
Radial Velocity (m/s)

90
Axial Velocity (m/s)
0
80
70
-0.5
60
50
(70*30*50) -1
40 (90*36*60)
(120*40*70) (70*30*50)
30 (90*36*60)
-1.5
(120*40*70)
20
10 -2
0
-10 -2.5
0 0.005 0.01 0.015 0.02 0.025 0 0.002 0.004 0.006 0.008 0.01 0.012 0.014 0.016 0.018 0.02 0.022
Radial Distance (m) Radial Distance (m)
a) b)
Figure 1. Mesh independent results a) axial velocity b) radial velocity in 4 cm from nozzle
3.2 Validation
The experimental data set that is used for validating the computed results is for SANDIA
experiments [13]. This set of data is the injection of n-Heptane fuel in a constant volume
chamber. The conditions of this experiment were applied in an in-house CFD code. Details of
the case chosen for comparison are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2: Transport equation variables

Data Type Quantity (unit) Data Type Quantity (unit)
Ambient
Injection duration 1.5 (ms) 440 (K)
temperature
Fuel temperature 363 (K) Ambient pressure 2.93 (MPa)
Ambient Nitrogen
Injected mass 3.46 (mg) 100.0 (%)
mole fraction
Fuel type n-Heptane Nozzle diameter 0.084 (mm)
Spray tip penetration results of three different computational meshes were compared to
experimental data in order to choose grid independent results. The first grid has 105000 cells,
the second grid has 194400 cells and the third one has 336000 cells (Figure 2).
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.7
65
60
55
50
Spray Tip Penetration (mm)

45
40
35
30
25 [13]
Experimental Data [54]
(50*30*70)
20 (60*36*90)
(70*40*120)
15
10
0
0 0.25 0.5 0.75 1 1.25 1.5
Time (ms)
Figure 2. Validated spray tip penetration results
The results are promising when compared to experimental data and the second
computational mesh has been chosen because of fewer computational efforts and at the same
time having a high level of accuracy that shows in Figure 1 and 2.
3.3 Single Parcel Injection

This section presents the differences in choosing three different dispersion models on the
behaviour of a single parcel which is injected in a constant volume chamber. In figures of this
section, model of Gosman and Ionnadies [5] is declared as “simple random walk model”.
First, the trajectory of a single parcel is studied under the same injection and chamber
condition with different dispersion models (Figure 3). This shows some differences in
prediction of particle position between the random walk model and other models. But two
more advanced models predict somehow the same path for the particle.
0.0943 Z
0.0942 0.0943
Y
0.0942
0.0941
0.0941
Z (m)
0.094
Z (m)
0.094
0.0939
0.0939
0.0938 0.0938
0.0113
0.0112 0.0937
0.011 0.0111 0.0112
0.0937
0.0113 X(
m)0.0111
X (m) 0.011
a) b)
Figure 3. Single parcel trajectory a)Z-X plane b) three-dimensional domain
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.8
Figure 4 is the droplet evaporation history which shows a longer life time predicted by two
more advanced dispersion models. Figure 4 a) shows two stages in droplet diameter versus
time diagram. The first stage is an increase in droplet’s diameter because of being in a hot
environment which reduces the density. The second stage is a linear decrease in diameter
which is also dictated by analytical solutions. This shows the importance of selecting proper
dispersion model in both droplet’s trajectory and evaporation.
3.5E-11 100
3E-11
80
Evaporation (%)
2.5E-11
60
D2 (m2)
2E-11
40
1.5E-11
20 Simple Random Walk Model

1E-11 Simple Random Walk Model Hunt and Nalpanis Model
Hunt and Nalpanis Model Sommerfeld Model
Sommerfeld Model
5E-12 0
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35
Time (ms) Time (ms)
a) b)
2
Figure 4. a)D vs. time b) evaporation history by three different dispersion models
For assessing the performance of models in various chamber conditions, different initial
turbulent kinetic energy has been chosen. The initial value for turbulent kinetic energy in cells
has been increased to show the change in models’ performance in higher turbulence levels. It
should be mentioned that the ratio of ( / ) is remained constant in all cases.
It can be inferred from figure 5 that increasing the turbulence level of flow field does increase
the penetration, but at the same time, it increases the evaporation rate. It is the reason that
in some cases ( = 5 / ), the parcel travel fewer distances to evaporate completely.
0.0943 0.0943
0.0944
0.0942
0.0942
0.0942
0.0941
0.0941
0.094
0.094
0.094
0.0939
Z(m)
Z(m)
0.0939
Z(m)
0.0938 0.0938
0.0938 0.0937
0.0936
0.0936
0.0937
0.0935
0.0934
0.0936
0.0934
0.0935 0.0932
0.011 0.0111 0.0112 0.0113 0.011 0.0111 0.0112 0.0113 0.0933
0.011 0.0111 0.0112
X(m) X(m) X(m)
a) b) c)
Figure 5: a) Simple random walk model b) Hunt & Nalpanis model c) Sommerfeld model
Trajectory prediction with increasing initial turbulent kinetic energy
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.9
3.4 Full Spray Injection

By noticing differences in using different dispersion models for single parcel injection mode,
it is conceivable that it should be an important factor in a complete spray of fuel. Figure 6 is
the pathways of a full spray injected vertically into the combustion chamber in injection
duration.
T (K) T (K) T (K)
a) b) c)
Figure 6: a) Simple random walk model b) Hunt & Nalpanis model
c) Sommerfeld model Trajectory prediction in full spray mode
Figure 6 shows that Sommerfeld model (Figure 6 c) predicts a more dispersed structure of
spray and fuel droplets travel more distances in the radial direction in comparison to two other
models. But the spray tip penetration is predicted almost the same, using different models.
4 Conclusions
The main aim of this paper is to assess the potential of using different dispersion models for
predicting droplet behavior in turbulent diesel engine sprays.
First, the dispersion of a single parcel of droplets in a constant volume chamber was studied.
It was found that using three different models chosen in this article, can lead to different
behavior because of involving more parameters of the flow by more complex models to
calculate the fluctuation velocity at the droplet position. It was shown that the Sommerfeld
model predicts shorter droplet life time and the droplet traverse a longer path which can be
a sign of higher fluctuation velocity.
Next step was to find about the effect of different models in calculation of a complete diesel
engine spray. It was shown that overall behavior is not affected drastically by choosing various
models; but the Sommerfeld model (as it was the case for single parcel mode) predicts a more
dispersed behaviour for full spray.
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.10
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[11] Ranz, W, Marshall, W, Evaporation from drops, Chem. Eng. Prog, 48, (1952), 3, pp. 141-
146.
[12] Reitz, Rolf, Diwakar, R, Effect of drop breakup on fuel sprays, SAE Technical Paper, . No.
860469, 1986.
[13] Sandia National Laboratories. Engine Combustion Network (ECN), Accessed 8 Nov,
2017; https//:ecn.sandia.gov/ecn-data-search/.
REMOO–2018 — 04.007.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF V-SHAPED FLAME-HOLDER

Naseem UDDIN
Universiti Teknologi Brunei
Jalan Tungku Link, Gadong, BE1410, Brunei Darussalm;
naseem.uddin@utb.edu.bn
Abstract
In high-velocity stream combustion systems such as ramjet combustors and afterburners V-
gutter are used to stabilize the flame. It has been found that flow structure of the near-wake
flow behind a V gutter has a crucial influence on the mechanism of the flame holding. Also the
pressure distribution inside wake flow is found to be influencing the drag force exerted on the
flame-holder. Jing-Tang Yang and Go-Long Tsai [1] investigated experimentally the cold-flow
characteristics of a V-shape flame holder with flow bleed from a slit located at the leading
edge. The focus of their work was on aerodynamic aspects of this system, as they found that
nonsymmetrical wake structures developed behind the symmetric slit v-gutter. The
experimental data is graciously made available by ERCOFTAC as CASE C 68 [6]. In this paper
the cold-flow characteristics of a near wake flow structure behind a v-gutter with 2mm
thickness, is investigated numerically in commercial CFD code ANSYS-FLUENT using two
different turbulence models. It is found that k-omega SST model can predict well this case.
Keywords: V-Shaped flame-holder; CFD; Turbulence Models
1 Introduction
V-gutter are employed to stabilize the flame in high-velocity stream combustion systems such
as ramjet combustors and afterburners. Flame stabilization mechanism is important for the
performance of combustors such as ramjet, turbofan after-burners or turbojet engines. The
wake flow structures behind a V gutter can have a crucial impact on the mechanism of the
flame holding and flame stability. Also the shape of flame holder will dictate the pressure drop
in the flow and associated drag force exerted on the flame holder. The periodic vortex
shedding would also cause flow-induced vibration [2].
Recently, Combustion characteristics and NOx emissions of propane and air mixture were
investigated experimentally by Umyshev et al [3]. They investigated the effects of the angle
and type of the flame-holder on the NOx emissions, blow-off limit, combustion efficiency, and
exhaust gas temperatures. It is found that the NOx emissions are dependent on flame-holder
type and angle and the perforated V-gutters considerably increases the blow-off performance.
Heinati et al. [4] numerical investigated the reacting flow behind the V-gutter with strong
swirl. The explored the effect of inlet temperature on the recirculation zone, component
distributions, drag coefficient and Strouhal number. Gong, F., Huang [5] numerically and
experimentally investigated the lean premixed flame base characteristics of the flames after
a small V-gutter in a confined passage for methane-air combustion. In their work the inlet
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.1
velocity and equivalence ratio varies respectively to study the variation of flame base
characteristics with different inlet velocities and equivalence ratios. It is found that as the
flame base moves downstream, the flame is not sustained and the flame blowout occurs.
In this paper the simulations are conducted in commercial CFD code to study the behavior of
a near wake flow structures behind an open slit v-gutter with 2mm opening. Only cold flow
runs are simulated without reactions or combustions. The purpose is to gauge the efficacy of
turbulence models for simulation of this case and to do recommendations for suitable
turbulence model for further analysis. For sake of numerical investigations the ERCOFTAC
Turbulence database Case C68 is used where the experimental data of Yang and Tsai [1] is
graciously made available[6].
2 Problem Description
The simulation is conducted using ANSYS-FLUENT 17.2 commercial CFD package. The
experimental setup used by Yang and Tsai [1] is demonstrated in Fig. 1. The computed domain
is 10 cmx 150 cm. The V gutter simulated has a 2 mm open slit at leading edge. Sketch of
spacing of the V gutters are shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. Experimental setup used by Yang and Tsai [1]
Figure 2. V-gutter with (LS) 2mm open slit
The angle of attack was 0°, and the span angle of the V gutters was 30°. The test of flow
visualization were conducted at a flow velocity of 20m/s. The Reynolds number (Re) are 2.7 x
104, where LB is the side width of the V gutter.
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.2
2.1 Numerical Setup

As in the span-wise direction the geometry of V-gutter remains the same it is decided to
simulate this problem as two dimensional case and only the cross section of this test section
in lengthwise direction is simulated. Figure 3 shows the geometry of domain computed.
Figure 3. Geometry of the setup
The dimension used are listed in Table 1 below.
Table 1: List of geometry of the duct
Parameters Symbol Unit
Wall length l1 1500 mm
Wall to v-gutter tip l2 200 mm
Inlet diameter Di 100 mm
Outer diameter Do 100 mm
Figure 4. Grid used in simulations
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.3

As the geometry around V-gutter is complex the grid over there is unstructured however in
rest of domain structured grid is used. Simulations are conducted with Shear Stress Transport
(k-ω SST) model and Reynolds Stress model [7]. Some of the comparison of the velocities are
shown in Figure 5. Note that S is horizontal distance in mm from trailing edge of V-Gutter. The
axial velocities in wake region predicted by k- and Reynold Stress are compared with
experimental data.
Figure 5 also shows the turbulent kinetic energy predicted by k- SST and Reynold Stress
model along with comparison with Yang and Tsai [1] experimental data. It is found that k-
SST model is capable of predicting turbulent kinetic energy with reasonable accuracy.
Whereas Reynolds Stress Model not only over predicted turbulent kinetic energy but also the
distribution trend is very different.
The SST k–ω model uses a blending function for gradual transition from the standard k–ω
model in the near-wall region to a high-Reynolds-number k–ε model, which is used in the
outer region of the boundary layer. Also the model contains a modified turbulent viscosity
formulation to account for the transport effects of the principal turbulent shear stress. The
good correlation between simulations and experimental data in the wake region of V-gutter
indicates that the model is capable of performing well in adverse pressure gradient.
4 Conclusions
In this paper the simulations are conducted in commercial CFD code to study the behaviour of
a near wake flow structures behind an open slit v-gutter with 2mm opening. Two turbulence
models are used for investigations. It is found that overall Shear Stress Transport Model
performed well. It is observed through simulations that a non-symmetric wake structure is
developed behind the symmetric slit v-gutter. The flow through the slit induces greater
reverse flow and greater back pressure in the near wake region causing extensive transport
across the shear layers and leading to reduction in turbulent intensity. This indicates that the
slit v-gutter can have a better flame holding ability and less pressure loss.
References
[1] Yang, J.T and Tsai, G.L ., Near-wake flow of a v-gutter with slit bleed. Journal of Fluid
Engineering, Vol. 115, (1993) pp.13.
[2] Lefebvre, A. H., Ballal, D. R., Gas Turbine Combustion: Alternative Fuels and Emissions,
CRC Press USA (2010).
[3] Umyshev, D. R., Dostiyarov, A. M., Tumanov, M. Y., Wang, Q. Experimental

investigation of V-gutter flame-holders, Thermal Science, 21(2), 2017, pp. 1011-1019.
[4] Heinati, A., Li, Z., Wu, Y., Zhang, Z., Study on the combusting flow behind the V-gutter
bluff body with strongly swirling flow, Proceedings of 7th International Conference on
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, ICMAE 2016, pp. 327-331.
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.4
S Axial Velocity Transverse Velocity Turbulence kinetic Energy
50 50 50,00
40 40 40,00
30 30 30,00
20 20 20,00
10 10 10,00
2 0 0 0,00
-20-10 0 20 40 60 -20 -10 0 20 40 -20
-10,00 0 20 40 60
-20 -20 -20,00
-30 -30 -30,00
-40 -40,00
-40
-50,00
-50 -50
50
50 50,00
40 40 40,00
30 30 30,00
20 20 20,00
10 10 10,00
6 0 0 0,00
-50 -10 0 50 -20 -10 0 20 -50
-10,00 0 50 100
-20 -20 -20,00
-30 -30 -30,00
-40 -40 -40,00
-50 -50,00
-50
50 50 50,00
40 40 40,00
30 30 30,00
20 20 20,00
10 10 10,00
10 0 0 0,00
-20 -10 0 20 40 -40 -20-10 0 20 -50
-10,00 0 50 100
-20 -20 -20,00
-30 -30 -30,00
-40 -40 -40,00
-50 -50 -50,00
Figure 5. Distribution of Axial velocity (m/s), Transverse velocity (m/s) and Turbulence kinetic
energy (m2/s2) at 2 to10 mm after V-gutter. S is horizontal distance in mm from trailing edge
of V-Gutter
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.5
S Axial velocity Transverse velocity Turbulence kinetic energy
50,00 50,00 50,00

40,00 40,00 40,00
30,00 30,00 30,00
20,00 20,00 20,00
10,00 10,00 10,00
14 0,00 0,00 0,00
-50 -10,00 0 50 -40 -20-10,00 0 20 -50-10,00 0 50 100
-20,00 -20,00 -20,00
-30,00 -30,00 -30,00
-40,00 -40,00 -40,00
-50,00 -50,00 -50,00
50,00 50,00 50,00

40,00 40,00 40,00
30,00 30,00 30,00
20,00 20,00 20,00
10,00 10,00 10,00
18 0,00 0,00 0,00
-50 -10,00 0 50 -20 -10,00 0 20 -50-10,00 0 50 100
-20,00 -20,00 -20,00
-30,00 -30,00 -30,00
-40,00 -40,00 -40,00
-50,00 -50,00 -50,00
50,00 50,00 50,00

40,00 40,00 40,00
30,00 30,00 30,00
20,00 20,00 20,00
10,00 10,00 10,00
22 0,00 0,00 0,00
-50,00
-10,00 0,00 50,00 -10 -10,00 0 10 -50,00
-10,00 0,00 50,00 100,00
-20,00 -20,00 -20,00
-30,00 -30,00 -30,00
-40,00 -40,00 -40,00
-50,00 -50,00 -50,00
50,00 50,00 50,00

40,00 40,00 40,00
30,00 30,00 30,00
20,00 20,00 20,00
10,00 10,00 10,00
26 0,00 0,00 0,00
-50 -10,00 0 50 -20,0000
-10,000,000020,0000
40,0000 -50,0000
-10,000,000050,0000
100,0000
-20,00 -20,00 -20,00
-30,00 -30,00 -30,00
-40,00 -40,00 -40,00
-50,00 -50,00 -50,00
Figure 6. Distribution of Axial velocity (m/s), Transverse velocity (m/s) and Turbulence
kinetic energy (m2/s2) at 14 to 26 mm after V-gutter. S is horizontal distance in mm from
trailing edge of V-Gutter
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.6
[5] Gong, F., Huang, Y., Experimental and numerical study on the flame base of premixed
flame after a small size V-gutter, 46th AIAA Thermophysics Conference 2016,
Washington; United States.
[6] http://cfd.mace.manchester.ac.uk/ercoftac/index.html
[7] F. R. Menter, F. R., Two-Equation Eddy-Viscosity Turbulence Models for Engineering

Applications, AIAA Journal, Vol. 32, No. 8 (1994), pp. 1598-1605.
REMOO–2018 — 04.011.7
QUEST FOR ENERGY
CALIBRATION OF THE PARAMETERS OF THE RPI BOILING

MODEL FOR NOVEC™ 649 REFRIGERANT
Paul RIFFAT*, Moritz BRUDER, Christoph HIRSCH, Thomas SATTELMAYER
Institute of Thermodynamics, Technical University of Munich
Boltzmannstraße 15, 85748 Garching, Germany;
riffat@td.mw.tum.de
Abstract
The RPI wall boiling model implemented in ANSYS CFX 18.0 has been used to simulate vertical
upward subcooled flow boiling experiments using the fluid NovecTM 649. Combining experi-
mental data, an optimization algorithm and CFD the parameters of the RPI sub models were
calibrated. Boiling curves up to CHF match for four cases out combining two inlet mass fluxes
(1000 kg/m²s, 2000 kg/m²s) and two subcoolings (20K, 9K). Experimental bubble size profiles
allow the assessment of the submodels of the two-fluid model.
Keywords: CFMD; NovecTM 649; Optimization; RPI; Subcooled flow boiling
1 Introduction
Nucleate subcooled flow boiling is used to achieve high wall heat flux density. The wall heat
flux density is limited by Critical Heat Flux (CHF). For a given system this is the maximum heat
flux at a certain wall superheating before a vapor film starts to cover the heated surface. This
may cause a critical increase in the surface material temperature and might lead to damage.
Thus many empirical correlations or lookup tables have been developed to predict CHF [1].
For further improvement current research focuses on the development of CFD codes for two-
phase boiling flow. The wall boiling model implemented in ANSYS CFX 18.0 is the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute (RPI) model by Kurul and Podowski in an extended version for dry out
and CHF [2]. The RPI model parameter set restricts its use to a certain fluid and range of con-
ditions. To adapt it to a new fluid this paper describes a procedure to calibrate the standard
RPI sub models to match an atmospheric pressure vertical flow boiling experiment made with
the refrigerant NovecTM 649 from single-phase up to CHF.
2 CFD Approach to Compute Subcooled Flow Boiling

The RPI wall boiling model is based on the partitioning of the total wall heat flux into four
shares as described in Eq.(1). The fluxes represent separate heat transfer mechanism which
are summed to form the total heat flux density transferred from the wall .
= ( ) 1 , + ( + ) + 1 − ( ) , (1)
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.1
The indices and refer to the liquid and the vapor phase. , is the heat flux density
transferred to the liquid by single phase convection. gives the direct heat transfer due
to evaporation while describes the unsteady heat transfer associated with bubble de-
parture. and are area partitioning functions weighing the contributions of the individual
heat transfer mechanisms in the nucleate boiling regime (square brackets). In pure convection
= 1 and = 0 and for fully developed boiling → 0. The blending function ( ) con-
trols the switchover to film boiling heat transfer which is assumed to occur as the void fraction
α at the wall cell increases beyond a critical value as given in Eq. (2)
1 − 0.5exp  −20 ⋅ (α crit − α )  ∧ α ≤ α crit


f (α ) =   1−α 
20(1−α crit )
 0.5 ⋅   ∧ α > α crit (2)

  1 − α crit 
α crit = 0.9
The current experiments indicate that CHF occurs already at much lower values of . So
keeping this high value during optimization avoids undesirable feedback from this model on
the boiling model optimization results. Each of the terms in Eq.(1) is closed by sub models
which are given in detail in [3] and [4]. Below we show only those which are changed by the
proposed calibration procedure to subcooled flow boiling of NovecTM 649.
The first is the sub model for the bubble departure diameter given in Eq. (3).
∆

∆
= . , , (3)
The subcooling ∆ = − is the difference between the saturation temperature and

the liquid inlet temperature. Tl is the liquid temperature obtained from the extrapolation of
the law of the wall to = 250 [4]. To avoid stability problems in CFD is bounded
with which marks the latter as a numerical choice w.o. deeper physical meaning.
The second optimized sub model is the nucleation site density as given in Eq. (4).
∆
=
∆
(4)
,
The wall superheat ∆ = − [ ] is defined as the difference between the wall tem-
perature and the saturation temperature. ΔTref ,n = 10K to get a non-dimensional argument of
the exponential term. nref , p are the parameters containing all effects of surface finish and
material property effects which are very specific to the setup. But arguing that the exponent
p relates to the roughness distribution of a “smooth” surface it should not be varied. This
leaves nref to be optimized.
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.2
The third optimized parameter is the area of influence of the nucleating bubble. Kurul and
Podowski stated it as twice the departure diameter . This is expressed by the non-dimen-
sional parameter = 2 in the flux area fraction A2 given in Eq. (5) [4].
= = , A 2 = min [1,A2′ ] (5)
The last optimized parameter is the waiting time constant Ftw = tw ⋅ f in the quenching flux
heat transfer coefficient hq Eq. (6).
tw Prl f ⋅ Ftw Prl

hq = 2λl ⋅ f ⋅ ⋅ = 2λl ⋅ ⋅ (6)
π νl π νl
In Eq. (6) λl is the heat conductivity, ν l is the kinematic viscosity, Prl = ν l ρl cl / λl is the Prandtl
number, ρ l is the density and cl is the specific heat capacity of the liquid while f is the
bubble departure frequency. The waiting time tw is interpreted as the time interval between
the departure of a bubble and the formation of the next from the same nucleation site. This
restricts the range of Ftw < 1 . In the existing implementation of the model in ANSYS CFX 18.0
however Ftw is used to tune the contribution of the quench heat transfer model as necessary
during optimization.
The Two Fluid Model (TFM) developed by Ishii has become the standard way to simulate dis-
persed flow configurations for void fractions above 0.1. Two sets of three ensemble averaged
conservation equations (mass, momentum and energy) are solved for each of the phases: liq-
uid and vapor. Both phases are described in an Eulerian framework of interpenetrating con-
tinua. Due to the ensemble averaging process of the local instantaneous conservation equa-
tions, interfacial and geometrical information are lost. As a result the inter-phase transfer
models are needed in the equations to close the system. The inter-phase transfer models
setup used in these calculations are listed in
Table 1.
Table 1: TFM setup used in ANSYS CFX 18.0 [3]

Exchange Term Model
Drag Coefficient Ishii-Zuber
Lift Coefficient Tomiyama
Turbulent Dispersion Burns
Bubble Induced Turbulence Sato
Bubbles are considered as spheres based on the Sauter diameter as shown in Eq. (7)
represents the diameter of a spherical bubble having the same volume to surface ratio as a
non-spherical bubble and a value of has to be specified to the CFD code by the user.
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.3
= (7)
Interfacial area density is present in all exchange terms and is computed as in Eq. (8).
= (8)
In case of a highly dispersed flow a constant value for might be accurate enough. Krepper
et al. [4] proposed a relation for bubble size in the bulk depending on the local subcooling
level Eq. (9).
∆ −∆ , ∆ , −∆
= (9)
∆ , ∆ ,
with = 0.1 , = 2 ,∆ , = 5 and ∆ , = 13.5 . In this study was

calculated with a smooth variant of Eq. (9) given by [2].To model bulk condensation, the To-
miyama model has been used [3].
3 Experimental Setup
Below the experimental test rig and the measurement techniques are sketched, details are
given in Bruder et al. [5]. The fluid used for the experiments is NovecTM 649 from 3MTM. At
1bar the fluid boils at 49°C and has an enthalpy of vaporization of 88 kJ/kg.
Figure 1. Boiling test loop [5].
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.4
The fluid is pumped through the test loop indicated in blue in Figure 1. A preheater sets the
inlet subcooling. The boiling channel has a length of 500 mm and a square cross section of
40×40 mm2. Heat transfer and boiling occurs on a 15×200 mm2 copper surface which is
mounted flush in the center of one of the channel side walls. The surface is the end of a short
fin extending from a massive copper block with 6 embedded heater cartridges. The fin is in-
strumented with 12 thermocouples in 3 rows to determine the temperature and the wall heat
flux distribution. A flow straightener upstream of the heated strip ensures a developed veloc-
ity profile. Mass flux densities ranging from 500 kg/m2s to 2000 kg/m2s and subcooling from
4 K to 27 K are feasible. The thermal inertia and high conductivity of the copper block allow to
cover the complete boiling curve up to film boiling at a constant temperature wall boundary
condition. For the optimization the operation points given in Table 2 were used.
Table 2: Investigated Operation Points

Case Number G [kg/m2·s] Tsub [K]
1 2000 20
2 2000 9
3 1000 20
4 1000 9
To obtain the phase distribution three optical double fiber probes are inserted into the flow
in the center of the heated strip at the locations of the thermocouple rows. These probes
provide local void fraction and ligament size profiles normal to the wall starting from a minimal
distance of 50 μm. The profiles used in this paper were all taken at the onset of CHF. The
experimentally determined heat flux and wall temperature, i.e. the boiling curves are used
optimize the RPI model for NovecTM 649, while the fiber probe data serves to assess the TFM
model with the optimized wall boiling model.
4 RPI Model Calibration Procedure

Figure 2 sketches the geometry and boundary conditions of the 2D CFD calculations in the
optimization workflow. The domain covers the channel height and includes the channel wall
and a cut through the copper fin. Constant mass flux density and subcooling are applied at the
inlet. The pressure at the outlet is fixed to 1 bar.
Figure 2. 2D computational domain
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.5
Conjugate Heat Transfer (CHT) has been used because an inverse simulation based on the
experimental data shows that though wall temperature remains almost constant along the
heater length a non-uniform heat flux profile develops. Furthermore the inverse simulation
shows that a constant heat flux density at the base of the fin is sufficient to capture the devel-
opment of the heat flux distribution at the surface. Between the copper fin and the steel chan-
nel wall there is a gasket modelled by thermal resistance. The remaining boundaries are set
to adiabatic. The CHT approach also improves the stability and convergence simulation since
it eliminate local unphysical temperature excursions. The mesh has 28×80 hexahedral cells in
the fluid domain. The steel parts are meshed with five layers of cells. The copper domain was
meshed with homogeneous mesh conforming to the axial distribution of the fluid domain and
the vertical distribution of the steel domain. Turbulence is modelled using the Shear Stress
Transport (SST) k−ω model for the mixture. Experimental (Figure 6) was used to set the diam-
eter range in Eq. (9). During the optimization it was observed that the wall heat flux in the
single phase heat transfer regime was systematically underpredicted by the law of the wall
heat transfer model Eq.(10) that is implemented in the wall boiling model.
y+
ρl cl uτ dy + Prt
q&conv ,l = ⋅ (Tw − Tl ) ; +
T =  ≈ ln y + + ß ( Prl )
T +
0
1
+
νt κ
Pr Prt ν l (10)
τw u y
uτ = ; y + = τ ; ß ( Prl ) = 14.822 Prl2/3 − 10 Prl1/3 + 2.12 ⋅ ln ( Prl ) + 1.69
ρl νl
Here τ w is the wall shear stress based on the liquid phase, ν t ≈ ν l ⋅ κ y + the turbulent kine-
matic viscosity, Prt ≈ 0.9 the turbulent Prandtl number, κ = 0.41 the von Karman constant
and y the wall normal distance. The underprediction of the heat flux could be due to the
thermal development of the boundary layer in the experiment but an analysis of the equa-
tion showed that for Pr = 9 (Saturated Novec 649 @ 1bar) the ß ( Pr ) equation blocks the
TM
shear stress sensitivity of . Besides the inability to predict the single phase convective heat
flux this further leads to unrealistic estimates of the subcooled liquid temperature in Eq. (3)
for the boiling regime. Considering only the convective heat transfer data points from the
measured boiling curve it was found that adjusting Pr = 1.71 all experimental cases could be
calculated with good accuracy. But reducing Prandtl number will decrease the quench heat
transfer coefficient in Eq.(6). Since the liquid heat conductivity λl enters only there, it was
multiplied by 9 1.71 = 2.29 to make up for the Pr adjustment. Formally in Eq. (1) the boiling
terms are both weighed by . In CFX however the evaporation and the quenching fluxes have
separate limiters to allow that multiple bubbles may depart from a nucleation site. Developing
the optimization procedure it was found that the boiling curves behave well until ′ weighing
the evaporation heat flux reaches its default limiter = 5 [3]. Then a wall temperature
excursion occurs unlike what is seen in the experiment. Increasing the limiter to = 10
got rid of this numerical disturbance.
The optimization workflow is illustrated in Figure 3. Initially a set of 9 x 4 = 36 calculations are
performed for the 4 experimental mass flux and subcooling conditions and the corresponding
9 imposed heat flux densities taken from the respective boiling curves. In the initial simulation
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.6
the default values of the parameters of the RPI sub models are used as given in the ANSYS CFX
18.0 Theory Guide [3]. The calculations are post processed by averaging the necessary quan-
tities in the wall cells along the heater length. This provides estimates for the wall shear stress,
the wall void fraction and the heat flux density as well as the liquid temperature in a “repre-
sentative” wall cell. For this “representative” wall cell the 0D RPI model heat flux is calcu-
lated in Microsoft Excel 2016 using the wall boiling model equations [3], the experimental wall
temperature and the estimated average values from the CFD solution. Then the optimization
of the RPI model parameters is done by minimizing the sum of the residuals defined in Eq.(11)
or the 36 points taken from the 4 boiling curves.
Figure 3. Optimization Workflow
= (11)
The optimization solver used is the GRG Nonlinear from Microsoft ExcelTM 2016. Since the
experiment provided measured data of the bubble departure diameter and they
were set to the measured values 0.5 mm and 5 mm. Following the parameter optimization in
Excel the 36 CFD simulations are repeated with the optimized model parameters. This pro-
vides updated values for the “representative” wall cell as well as the CFD boiling curve. Given
that the relative changes of the values for the “representative” wall cell are below a set thresh-
old value, the optimization workflow is completed. The optimized RPI model parameters, their
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.7
default and the optimized values obtained by the proposed procedure are summarized in
Table 3.
Table 3: Comparison between default [3] and optimized RPI sub model parameters
RPI Sub model Parameters Default Values Optimized Values
[ ] 7.93 × 10 1.434488 × 10
∆ , [ ] 45 125.55
d ref [ mm ] 0.6 0.5
d max [ mm] 1.4 5
[−] 2 1.04
Ftw [ − ] 0.8 1.78
[-] 5 10
5 Plausibility Check of the Optimized Parameters

The largest difference in the material properties between water and NovecTM 649 is the much
smaller evaporation enthalpy of 80kJ/kg vs. 1630kJ/kg typical for pressurized boiling water
(e.g. 45bar, 258°C). Therefore the quenching heat flux becomes the major contributor to heat
transfer in the boiling regime of NovecTM 649. In order to have sufficient heat transfer Ftw had
to be increased by a factor of 2.22 which corresponds to a 2.22 =50% increase of the flux
weight with respect to the original model. Considering that for water with similar bubble sizes
and frequencies this change will make only about 8% difference the adjustment seems plau-
sible. Concerning the nucleation site density, the optimized parameter increases by a
factor of 1.8. From a Clausius-Clapeyron critical cavity size scaling based on the properties of
saturated water at 45bar and NovecTM 649 at 1bar a factor of 3 is obtained which confirms the
plausibility of the increase of the optimized value. The bubble influence factor reflects the
feedback from the bubble heat transfer onto the thermal situation of the wall substrate. For
similar bubble departure frequencies and boiling liquid this is expected to scale to first order
with the thermal effusivity b = λ ρ c of the substrate. For boiler steel and copper the ratio
is bSt / bCu ≈ 0.39 vs. Kopt / K = 0.5 . Finally the large ∆ , in the -correlation Eq. (3) im-
plies that varies little with subcooling which is in agreement with experimental observa-
tions from [5].
6 Boiling Curves
Comparison between experimental and CFD boiling curves (left axis) is presented in Figure 4.
The CFD boiling curves have been obtained by averaging the superheat values for each cell
over the complete heater length. In total nine points per case have been computed, the last
one with the experimentally determined CHF heat flux value. It can be seen that all boiling
curves are very well predicted up to CHF. On the right axis of the plots the maximum wall void
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.8
fraction is displayed. The dashed line shows the experimental wall void fraction at CHF to com-
pare with the CFD value. But for the case shown in Figure 4a, the wall void fraction at CHF heat
flux is met to within 10% of the experiment. For high mass flux density and large subcooling
shown in Figure 4a it is largely underpredicted while the boiling curve matches very well. This
probably reflects the influence of the Two-Phase-Flow model.
a) Case One, G=2000 kg/m²s, Tsub= 20 K c) Case Three, G=1000 kg/m²s, Tsub=20 K
b) Case Two, G=2000kg/m²s, Tsub= 9 K d) Case Four, G=1000 kg/m²s, Tsub=9 K
Figure 4. CFD versus experimental boiling curves
7 Influence of the Two-Fluid Model

The comparison of calculated and measured void profiles are shown in Figure 5 for void frac-
tion and Figure 6 for the bubble sizes at 34 mm, 84 mm and 154 mm from the leading edge
and referred to as Low, Middle and Up. For all cases the computed values are smaller than the
experimental ones especially for Low and Middle positions. For Case 4 the wall void fraction
has exceeded the experimental critical one ((see Figure 4d) at the upper position. The thick-
ness of the void layer is comparable with the experiment up to 2.5 mm away from the wall
and then quickly decays. This indicates that the bulk condensation seems to be too strong in
the monodisperse model which is only governed by liquid temperature and does not consider
coalescence. A more sophisticated model for bulk bubble size seems necessary.
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.9
QUEST FOR ENERGY
a) Case One, G=2000 kg/m²s, Tsub= 20 K c) Case Three, G=1000kg/m²s, Tsub= 20 K
b) Case Two, G=2000kg/m²s, Tsub= 9 K d) Case Four, G=1000kg/m²s, Tsub= 9 K
Figure 5. CFD versus experimental void fraction profiles
8 Conclusion
An optimization procedure has been developed to calibrate the RPI model implemented in
ANSYS CFX 18.0 for NovecTM 649. Four cases have been investigated varying inlet mass flux
and subcooling. The results show very good agreement between experimental and CFD boiling
curves. Comparison of the void fraction and bulk bubble size profiles at CHF points it is found
that the CFD the simple bulk bubble size correlation used to determine the interfacial area
density is insufficient in this case.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from the German Federal Ministry of
Education and Research (BMBF) in the project NUBEKS (FKZ 15011473A).
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.10
QUEST FOR ENERGY
a) Case One, G=2000 kg/m²s, Tsub= 20 K c) Case Three, G=1000kg/m²s, Tsub= 20 K
b) Case Two, G=2000kg/m²s, Tsub= 9 K d) Case Four, G=1000kg/m²s, Tsub= 9 K
Figure 6. CFD versus experimental bulk bubble size
References
[1] S. Kandlikar, "Critical heat flux in subcooled flow boiling – an assessment of
current understanding and future directions for research," Multiphase Science and
Technology, vol. 13, pp. 207-232, 2001.
[2] Lifante, C.; Frank, Th.; Burns, A., "Wall boiling modeling extension towards
critical heat flux," in 15th International Topical Meeting on Nuclear REactor
Thermohydraulics, NURETH-15, Pisa, Italy, 2013.
[3] ANSYS Inc., ANSYS CFX 18.0: Solver Theory Guide, 2017.
[4] E. Krepper, B. Končar and Y. Egorov, "CFD modelling of subcooled boiling—
Concept, validation to fuel assembly design," Nuclear Engineering and Design, no.
237, pp. 716-731, 2007.
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.11
[5] M. Bruder, L. Sembach, D. Lampl, C. Hirsch and T. Sattelmayer, "Local

measurements on vertical subcooled flow boiling of refrigerant Novec 649 at a
copper wall," sumbitted to International Journal of Multiphase Flow, 3/2018.
REMOO–2018 — 04.027.12
QUEST FOR ENERGY
COMPUTATIONAL SIMULATION OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE

SHROUD BLADE ANGLE ON THE CAVITATION IN THE IMPELLER
OF A CENTRIFUGAL PUMP
Subhash MAHARSHI*, Punit GUPTA
Graphic Era Deemed to be University
Department of Mechanical Engineering. Graphic Era Deemed to be University, 566/6 Bell
Road, Clement town, Dehradun 248002, India; maharshisubhash@gmail.com
Abstract
In this paper, we present the influence of the shroud blade angle on the cavitation
phenomenon of the impeller of a centrifugal pump. CFD simulations have been done on a
six-bladed backward-curved impeller by using the ANSYS CFX software. The grid
independence has been established and appropriate grid size has been chosen to solve. The
simulations have been carried out by considering the bulk mass flow rate boundary
condition at the inlet and static pressure was prescribed at the outlet. Rotational periodicity
is applied to the curved sides of the inlet to simulate the flow in the entire domain. The
cavitation regions have been identified as those with a vapor mass fraction greater than or
equal to 1% and the total volume of such regions has been calculated. Five turbulence
models k-ω model, SST model, k-epsilon EARSM, SSG RSM and RNG K-epsilon have been
used to model the turbulence in the flow inside the impeller. Two different regions of
cavitation had observed one close to the inlet of the blade and another in the central region
of the blade extending into the flow passage. It has been observed that there is decrease in
the cavitation volume for blade angles between 10 and 16 deg and then the trend reverses
for shroud blade angles up to 19 deg. Beyond this the cavitation volume has been observed
to decreases up to 40 deg. The cavitation region at the centre of the blade shrinks vary
rapidly beyond 34 deg. Thus choosing the right blade angle is critical to the optimized
operation of the pump, which will result in lower overall power consumption.
Keywords: Cavitation; Shroud blade angle; Centrifugal pump;

Optimization of blade angle
1 Introduction
Centrifugal pumps are work absorbing turbo machines that are used to transport liquids by
the conversion of rotational kinetic energy to the hydrodynamic energy of fluid flow. They
are used widely in domestic, commercial and industrial applications to transport liquids over
large distances and for storage and retrieval of the liquids [1-3]. For energy efficient design
operation of these devices, it is necessary to understand the fluid flow behaviour inside the
pump. The flow inside the pump is very complex with large velocity and pressure gradients
[4]. There are a number of challenges that are faced in the design, manufacture, installation
and operation of centrifugal pumps. The phenomenon of cavitation, which is the formation
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.1
of vapour bubbles when the liquid pressure falls below the saturation pressure, is widely
observed in centrifugal pumps. Cavitation is very harmful to the operation of the pumps as it
gives rise to undue vibrations, erosion of blade material, sound and decrease in efficiency
leading to replacement of the impeller [5]. It is therefore necessary to mitigate the harmful
effects of cavitation by proper design and operating procedures and thus improve the
overall efficiency of the pump.
The flow inside the impeller has been simulated by experimental and numerical techniques
as the complex nature of the flow makes analytical solutions very difficult, if not impossible
[6], [7]. There have been several numerical studies to individually characterize the effect of
the geometry and the operating conditions on pump performance[8]. In these numerical
studies, the flow domain has been suitably discretized and the flow conditions are input
along with other boundary conditions and solution parameters [9]. The obtained results
have also been compared and validated with experimental observations, as applicable, and
there has been reasonable agreement between the two.
The flow inside the impeller is highly turbulent and appropriate models of turbulence[10]
need to be used In order to computationally determine spatial and temporal distribution of
the flow parameters. In this study we have used the k-ω model [11], Shear Stress Transport
(SST) model [12], k-Ԑ Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress Model (EARSM) [13], SSG Reynolds
stress model [14] and the Re-Normalization Group (RNG) k-Ԑ model [15]. To simulate the
effect of cavitation, there have been several models of that have developed and these
models have been validated with experimental data as well[16], [17]. Numerical and
experimental studies have established a dependence of the cavitation in the pump to
geometric and flow parameters.
The impeller blade geometry has a major influence on the cavitation of centrifugal pump.
The blade geometry parameters that have been reported to have an effect include the
number of blades, thickness of blades, inlet angle, outlet angle and the hub and shroud
blade angles [18-21]. In this study, the effect of the shroud blade angle on the cavitation
phenomenon has been studied for blade angle varying from 10 degrees to 40 degrees.
2 Governing Equations
The general form of the governing equations is:
Continuity equation
( )
+ =0 (1)
Momentum equation
( ) ( ) ( ) )
+ = − + ( μ + μ ) + − (2)
where u is the velocity in m/s; t is the time in seconds, δ ij is the Kronecker delta; m is
the mixture density; μ is the mixture dynamic viscosity, respectively; and p is the pressure.
The liquid and vapour volume fractions are governed by the equations
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.2
( )
+ = + (3)
αv is the vapour volume fraction; + represent condensation and evaporation rates,

respectively.
The mixture density m and the viscosity µ are defined as
= + (1 − ) (4)
μ = μ + μ (1 − ) (5)
For cavitation modelling the Rayleigh Plesset equation[22] as used is:
2
PB (t)-P¥ (t) d 2 R 3  dR  4n L dR 2S
=R 2 +   + + (6)
rL dt 2  dt  R dt rL R
2
PB (t)-P¥ (t) d 2 R 3  dR  4n L dR 2S
=R 2 +   + + (6) (6)
rL dt 2  dt  R dt rL R
2.1 Turbulence Models

Two-equation turbulence models are limited to an eddy viscosity assumption of the
Reynolds shear stresses. The Reynolds stresses, τij, are related to the mean rates of strain
via:
˜
=2 T − , − ̅ (7)
and the eddy viscosity νt is related to the turbulent kinetic energy k and specific dissipation
rate ω by νt = k/ω. The quantities k and ω are determined from the transport equations:
∗ ∗
,t + , = , − + (( + t) , ), , (8)
,t + , = , − + (( + t) , ), . (9)
The closure coefficients and auxiliary relations are given as
= = ∗ = = ∗ =
,
∗ ∗
= = ∗ = ,
= = , , , (10)
( ∗ )
1, ⩽ 0,
∗ =
> 0.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.3
The equations for the other models considered in this study are found in the references
Shear Stress Transport (SST) model [12], k-Ԑ Explicit Algebraic Reynolds Stress Model
(EARSM)[13], SSG Reynolds stress model [14] and the Re-Normalization Group (RNG) k-Ԑ
model [15].
3 Solution Methodology
The impeller geometry was created using the vista CPD module of Ansys 15.2. The operating
and geometric parameters are summarized in the Tables 1 and 2.
Table 1: Operating Conditions of the pump

Rotational Speed 2500 rpm
Volume flow rate 10 m3/hr
Density 1000 kg/m3
Head Rise 25 m
Inlet Flow angle 90 deg
Meridional Velocity Ratio 1.1
Hydraulic Efficiency 0.874
Volumetric efficiency 0.97
Mechanical efficiency 0.948
Pump efficiency 0.804
Table 2 : Geometric parameters of the impeller

Hub Blade angle 27 deg
Mean Blade angle 19 deg
Shaft Minimum Diameter factor 1.1
Dhub/Dshaft 1.5
Head Coefficient 0.46
Tip Diameter 160mm
Trailing edge Blade angle 22.5 deg
Number of Vanes 6
Thickness/ Tip diameter 0.03
Hub inlet Draft angle 30 deg
Shroud Blade angle 10 deg to 40 deg
The efficiency curves as generated are shown in Figure 1.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.4
Figure 1: Efficiency of the pump under different flow conditions
This curve shows the efficiency for different flow rates, speeds and heads.
Tetrahedral meshing was done by importing one sixth of the whole impeller into ICEM CFD
software and then specifying the meshing parameters. The number of layers, inflation rate,
rlevance, smoothing options and the minimum mesh size were varied to obtain the required
mesh.
For simulating the flow inlet mass flow rate was specified and pressure was specified at the
outlet. No slip conditions were specified at the solid boundaries and rotational periodicity
was prescribed to completely simulate the whole domain. The simulations were done in
ANSYS CFX [23] with the homogenous model. For the inlet the mass fractions of vapor and
liquid were 0 and 1 respectively. The convergence criteria was set to 1 X 10 -4 and the auto
timescale option was used. The post processing was done in CFX post where the the entire
geoemtry was first recrated using the instancing option and then an iso volume is specified
where the vapour mass fraction above 1%. The volume of this iso-volume is then considered
as the cavitaion volume.

(i) Grid Independence
In order to establish mesh independence[24], the number of nodes was varied from 18,504
to 158,118 and the corresponding elements from 93, 311 to 897,634 for the SST turbulence
model. The plots of difference in head, power, static pressure and cavitation volume are
plotted in Figures 2 to 5 respectively.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.5
DIFFERENCE IN HEAD VS NUMBER OF POWER VS NUMBER OF ELEMENTS

ELEMENTS
30 6000
5000
20
4000
3000
10
2000
0 1000
0 400000 800000 0
0 400000 800000
Figure 2. Difference in head vs Figure 3. Power developed vs

number of elements number of elements
STATIC PRESSURE VS NUMBER OF Cavitation Voulme vs number of Elements

ELEMENTS 7,00E-07
600000 6,00E-07
5,00E-07
400000 4,00E-07
3,00E-07
200000 2,00E-07
1,00E-07
0
0,00E+00
0 400000 800000
0 400000 800000
Figure 4. Static pressure vs Figure 5: Cavitation volume vs
number of elements number of elements
It was observed that the variations in the observed quantities practically diminish from mesh
configuration consisting of 420847 elements and thus this mesh configuration was chosen
for further simulations.
(ii) Effect of shroud blade angle on cavitation volume

The shroud blade angle was varied continuously from 10 degrees to 41 degrees and the
cavitation volume where the was defined as that volume where the vapor mass fraction is
above 1 % of the total volume. Figure 5 shows the cavitation region for the different shroud
blade angles.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.6
(a) 10 degrees (b) 13 degrees (c) 16 degrees
(d) 19 degrees (e) 28 degrees (f) 30.5 degrees
(g) 31 degrees (h) 31.5 degrees (i) 33 degrees
(j) 34 degrees (k) 37 degrees (l) 40 degrees
Figure 6. Cavitation volume for different shroud blade angles
It can be seen from (c), (f), (g), (h), (i) and (j) that there are two distinct regions that are
satisfying the cavitation criteria. A small region very close to the eye of the impeller and
another that is close to the center of the blade. At blade angles of 37 and 40 degrees there is
only one small cavitation region, the blade region does not exist.
The cavitation volume has been plotted for the different turbulence models that are
considered in this study as function of the shroud blade angle in Figure 7.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.7
7,00E-06
Cavitation Volume vs shroud blade angle
6,00E-06
SST
5,00E-06
k eps EARSM
4,00E-06
SSG Reynolds
3,00E-06 Stress
RNG k -epsilon
2,00E-06
k omega
1,00E-06
0,00E+00
10 15 20 25 30 35 40
Figure 7. Cavitation Volume versus shroud blade angle for the different turbulence models
It is evident from the figure that the predictions of all the models are very close to each
other and the cavitation volume continuously decreases from a blade angle of 19 degrees.
There is a local minimum value at 16 degrees and this could also be selected for ease of
fabrication. At blade angles above 34 degrees the cavitation is only observed in the blade
region close to the eye of the impeller and so this is a favorable condition .
(iii) Effect of shroud blade angle on stream wise total and static pressure
In Figure 8 the total and static pressures are plotted along the span of the blade from inlet
where the suction occurs to the outlet where the discharge occurs, for different shroud
blade angles. It can be seen that there is a similar trend for all geometries but the pressure
at the inlet is different for the different shroud blade angles.
Figure 8(a). Shroud blade angle of 10 degrees Figure 8(b). Shroud blade angle of 16 degrees
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.8
Figure 8(c). Shroud blade angle of 19 degrees Figure 8(d). Shroud blade angle of 32 degrees
Figure 8(e). Shroud blade angle of 37 degrees Figure 8(f). Shroud blade angle of 40 degrees
Figure 8 (a-f) Stream wise plots of total and static pressure for different shroud blade angles
(Pt: Total Pressure, Ps: Static Pressure).
If the total and static pressure at inlet (stream wise location 0) are plotted separately for the
different shroud blade angles, then we get very similar trends as shown in Figure 9.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.9
Variation of pressure with shroud blade angle at inlet
1,20E+07
1,00E+07
8,00E+06
Pressure in Pa
Static Pressure
6,00E+06 Total Pressure
4,00E+06
2,00E+06
0,00E+00
0 10 20 30 40 50
Shroud blade angle
Figure 9. Variation of pressure with shroud blade angle at inlet
The total pressure is always greater than or equal to the static pressure. The trend is very
similar to the one observed in figure 7. When the cavitation volume is large there is large
value of the pressure at inlet. As the cavitation volume changes with the shroud blade angle
so does the total and static pressure at inlet. Large values of pressure also mean that there
will be larger stresses at the solid surfaces and this can alter the design of the blades at inlet.
5 Conclusions and Further Study

The cavitation phenomenon has been simulated for different shroud blade angles using five
different turbulence models and there is similar trend in cavitation volume with all the
models. It is observed that for blade angles above 34 degrees the cavitation region is very
small and is very close to the eye of the impeller. The simulation results have also shown
that the trends in the total and static pressure at inlet with the shroud blade angle are also
similar to the trend of cavitation volume. It needs to be experimentally investigated further
in order to establish these observations in numerical simulations wit experimental data also.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the university and Prof. Dr. Pravin P Patil, Dean Research
and Development, for providing the computational facility to carry out the research.
References
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(2018), Elsevier, 2018, pp. 125–142,DOI10.1016/B978-0-12-811037-9.00007-2.
REMOO–2018 — 04.053.10
[3] D. P. Nolan and D. P. Nolan, Pump Types and Applications, in Fire Pump Arrangements
at Industrial Facilities, volume (2017), Elsevier, 2017, pp. 45–65,DOI10.1016/B978-0-
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[4] C. Brennen, Hydrodynamics of Pumps, volume (2011). 2011, p.

,DOI10.1017/CBO9780511976728.
[5] M. Binama, A. Muhirwa, and E. Bisengimana, Cavitation Effects in Centrifugal Pumps-A

Review, Journal of Engineering Research and Applications www.ijera.com, volume 6
(2016), number 51, pp. 2248–962252.
[6] O. Coutier-Delgosha, R. Fortes-Patella, J. L. Reboud, M. Hofmann, and B. Stoffel,

Experimental and Numerical Studies in a Centrifugal Pump With Two-Dimensional
Curved Blades in Cavitating Condition, Journal of Fluids Engineering, volume 125
(2003), number 6, p. 970,DOI10.1115/1.1596238.
[7] R. N. Pinto, A. Afzal, L. V. D’Souza, Z. Ansari, and A. D. Mohammed Samee,

Computational Fluid Dynamics in Turbomachinery: A Review of State of the Art,
Archives of Computational Methods in Engineering, volume (2016), pp. 1–
13,DOI10.1007/s11831-016-9175-2.
[8] C. Kang, N. Mao, W. Zhang, and Y. Gu, The influence of blade configuration on
cavitation performance of a condensate pump, Annals of Nuclear Energy, volume 110
(2017), pp. 789–797,DOI10.1016/j.anucene.2017.07.028.
[9] S. R. Shah, S. V. Jain, R. N. Patel, and V. J. Lakhera, CFD for Centrifugal Pumps: A Review
of the State-of-the-Art, Procedia Engineering, volume 51 (2013), pp. 715–
720,DOI10.1016/j.proeng.2013.01.102.
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Applications, AIAA journal, volume 32 (1994), number 8, pp. 1598–
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[13] H. L. Liu, M. M. Liu, L. Dong, Y. Ren, and H. Du, Effects of computational grids and
turbulence models on numerical simulation of centrifugal pump with CFD, IOP
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with twisted inlet vice blades, Journal of Hydrodynamics, Ser. B, volume 29 (2017),
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[20] C. Kang, N. Mao, W. Zhang, and Y. Gu, The influence of blade configuration on
cavitation performance of a condensate pump, Annals of Nuclear Energy, volume 110
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REMOO–2018 — 04.053.12
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ADAPTION OF THE GRS SIMULATION CHAIN

FOR CONVENTIONAL AND RENEWABLE APPLICATIONS
Andreas WIELENBERG*, Andreas SCHAFFRATH
Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH
Forschungszentrum, Boltzmannstraße 14, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany;
Andreas.Wielenberg@grs.de
Abstract
The Gesellschaft für Anlagen- und Reaktorsicherheit (GRS) gGmbH is Germany’s central
expert organisation in the field of nuclear safety. GRS uses different methods and computer
codes for simulating all relevant phenomena within a nuclear power plant (NPP) during
normal operation, incidents and (severe) accidents. Most of these codes are developed and
validated by GRS. These codes form the so called nuclear simulation chain covering
phenomena of neutron kinetics, thermal hydraulics as well as structural mechanics.
This article describes ideas as well as work already carried out for the adaption and applica-
tion of this simulation chain for conventional and renewable energy applications and for
process engineering. Simulating these plants and the relevant processes under such
conditions requires highly transient models. Nuclear codes used by GRS provide these
capabilities as they have been developed for design basis accidents with highly transient
events such as, e.g., a large, double ended break loss of coolant accident. Moreover, NPP
and conventional or renewable energy plants often use the same working media under
comparable conditions with similar basic processes and phenomena. The application of the
nuclear codes for conventional and renewable plants requires further model improvements
and validation as well as new models for processes and phenomena that do not exist in NPP
(for example furnaces or flue gas cleaning in coal-fired plants).
This and two other contributions illustrate how knowledge gained in nuclear engineering can
be used for simulating non-nuclear installations. This paper describes work on improving the
capabilities of ATHLET for the simulation of thermosiphons in collaboration with IKE,
University of Stuttgart. The second example discusses Limits and Challenges of Leak-Before-
Break assessments and the third the Implementation of an Advanced Numerical Method for
the Optimization of the ATHLET-OpenFOAM – Coupling Capabilities.
Keywords: Simulation of conventional or renewable applications; Thermal hydraulics;

System code; Nuclear energy; Heat pipe;
Condensation-inducted water hammer; Liquid Hydrogen
1 Introduction
Due to the high risk potential inherent to nuclear facilities, the safety of such installations
needs to be demonstrated. For nuclear power plants (NPP), this requires an investigation
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.1
into the complex interaction of relevant phenomena during normal operation, incidents and
(severe) accidents. It is good practice to analyse the behaviour of NPP with well validated
computer codes [1]. GRS as Germany’s central expert organisation in the field of nuclear
safety uses different methods and codes for simulating all relevant phenomena in a NPP,
which together form the nuclear calculation chain. Since its establishment in 1977, GRS has
developed its own simulation codes, which are central to GRS’s overall strategy and are
disseminated to national and international organisations [2].
The GRS’s codes can also be applied to non-nuclear facilities and have been distributed to
organisations doing research and development e.g. related to 2-phase flow phenomena for
water. Following the German decision to phase-out nuclear power after the Fukushima
Daiichi accident [3], GRS has reinforced its activities to adapt GRS’s codes for non-nuclear
applications. One main area of interest are applications in the field of conventional and
renewable energy production. The thermal hydraulics codes of GRS, ATHLET for phenomena
in the cooling circuit and COCOSYS for phenomena in the containment, already offer
relevant capabilities, as the same working media under comparable conditions with similar
basic processes and phenomena are used. However, further model improvements and new
models for processes and phenomena that do not exist in NPP (e.g., furnaces or flue gas
cleaning in coal-fired plants) are planned by GRS.
One field with a relevant overlap between nuclear and non-nuclear applications are passive
safety systems, for which there is increased interest especially after the Fukushima Daiichi
accident. GRS is involved in several activities for improving simulation capabilities both in
terms of model development and code validation with regard to passive systems [4].
In the following, we will first briefly present the current GRS nuclear simulation chain and
comment on the potential for the different codes developed and maintained by GRS to be
used for non-nuclear application. In section 3, we give a short description of the GRS system
code ATHLET and its current capabilities. In the following section 4, we give several specific
examples for adaptations of ATHLET hat are either highly relevant for its use in the non-
nuclear sector or that have been specifically performed for these purposes. The examples
with discuss in more detail are recent activities related to the simulation of heat pipes, for
the more realistic calculation of condensation-induced water hammers, and the
implementation of cryogenic hydrogen into a variant of ATHLET. In section 5, we draw our
conclusions and give an outlook on further adaptations of ATHLET that are under
consideration.
2 GRS Nuclear Simulation Chain

The nuclear simulation chain used at GRS [2] consists of a wide variety of codes covering the
fields of reactor physics, thermal hydraulics and severe accident phenomena, and structural
mechanics. The current structure of the simulation chain is depicted in Figure 1.
In the field of reactor physics, GRS uses several codes, both external and GRS developed
codes for detailed and high-fidelity reactivity calculations, burn-up and nuclide inventory
calculations and 3D neutronics calculations of reactivity transients. The GRS tools XSUSA and
SUnCISTT facilitate sensitivity and uncertainty calculations on reactivity and inventory
calculations. As these codes have no obvious application outside the nuclear field, this paper
does not discuss them further.
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.2
In the field of computational structural mechanics (CSM), GRS uses external finite elements
codes like ANSYS AUTODYN or ANSYS Mechanical or code_aster. In addition, GRS has
developed its own codes. The WinLeck code can calculate the leakage rate through a break
of a pipe for different leak opening characteristics. The ASTOR code predicts vessel or piping
failure under high temperature and under pressure loading as seen particularly in severe
accident scenarios. With the PROST code, GRS has a probabilistic fracture mechanics code
that can predict the probability of failure over time for metal structures given the initial
crack distribution and depending on load assumptions. While these codes have been
validated against data and experiments relevant to nuclear safety, the same methods and
tools can be used for non-nuclear applications. Indeed, GRS is actively pursuing such
applications. The paper on Limits and Challenges of Leak-Before-Break by Heckmann and
Sievers [5] presented in this conference gives further details on these GRS tools and
methods.
Figure 1. GRS nuclear simulation chain with programs for reactor physics, thermal hydraulics
and structural mechanics including couplings between different tools
In the field of thermal hydraulics, the lumped parameter codes ATHLET and COCOSYS form
the backbone of GRS’s nuclear simulation chain. The ATHLET code [6] is a one-dimensional
lumped parameter code developed by GRS for the simulation of normal operation,
transients and accidents in particularly in light water reactors. It simulates one- and two-
phase thermal hydraulics and heat transfer and can model instrumentation and control as
well as specific components like valves, pumps or heat exchangers. ATHLET-CD [7] is an
extension of ATHLET for simulating the progression of core damage and the behaviour of
molten core material within the cooling circuit during severe accidents. COCOSYS [8] is also a
one-dimensional lumped parameter code for the simulation of gas and water behaviour in
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.3
reactor containments during accidents. It includes modules for radionuclide transport,

containment chemistry during accidents, deflagrations and the interaction of molten core
material with concrete in the containment. For simulation of water pools in the
containment, COCOSYS is coupled to the CoPool code.
During the last years, GRS has been consolidating its lumped parameter codes for thermal-
hydraulics and severe-accident analysis in the code system AC² [9]. For postprocessing,
visualisation and interactive control of simulations with the AC² codes, GRS provides the
ATLAS graphical user interface. GRS is also improving the numerics in the AC² modules via
the GRS NuT tool [10] which enables access of these legacy codes to external open source
numerics libraries including PETSc. This demonstrably enhances ATHLET code performance.
GRS uses the commercial ANSYS CFX and the open source code OpenFoam for
computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of phenomena and process in the cooling
circuit and in the containment of nuclear reactors. For the open source code OpenFOAM,
GRS is also developing and validating solvers with additional models not available in the
basic OpenFOAM distribution.
One important feature of GRS’s nuclear simulation chain is its ability to perform multi-
physics simulations at different scales and with different degrees of resolution. For that
reason, GRS has invested in establishing and further extending couplings between the
different codes, both for GRS codes and for external software. One example would be the
coupling of the external 3D neutron physics code DYN3D to the AC² module ATHLET/ATHLET-
CD for performing 3D neutronics simulations of reactivity transients. Another example is the
coupling between the lumped parameter code ATHLET und the CFD-code OpenFOAM. The
paper on the Implementation of an Advanced Numerical Method for the Optimization of the
ATHLET-OpenFOAM – Coupling Capabilities by Herb and Iglesias Moreno [11] presented in
this conference, reports recent activities for improving the stability and performance of this
coupling.
In the remainder of this paper, we focus on activities for adjusting the ATHLET code for non-
nuclear applications. This is a particularly suitable code as one- and two-phase flow and heat
transfer also occur in conventional energy plants, industrial process plants and several other
applications, albeit sometimes with different working fluids. There are, however, also
potential non-nuclear applications for the COCOSYS code. As an example, it has been
validated against pyrolysis experiments [12].
3 Brief Description of the AC² Module ATHLET

Over several decades, the AC² module ATHLET [6] has been developed by GRS for the
analysis of the behaviour of nuclear power plants for all operating states, for incidents and
for design basis and beyond design basis accident conditions without core degradation. As a
lumped parameter code, ATHLET is based on a network of control volumes which are
connected via junctions. An illustration is given in Figure 2. Within each control volume, the
mass and energy conservation equations are solved separately for each phase. In the 5-
equation model, one additional mixture momentum equation with a drift flux approach for
phase velocity difference is applied. Alternatively, in the 6-equation model momentum
conservation is calculated for both phases separately. ATHLET considers the effects of meta-
stable phase conditions (i.e. subcooled or superheated). Moreover, the presence and
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.4
transport of non-condensable gases can be simulated. Working fluids aside from water
include helium, supercritical carbon dioxide, and sodium.
Figure 2. Displaced Grid of Control Volumes and

Junctions with Solution Variables for the ATHLET Thermal Hydraulics [10]
The code allows for free nodalisation of the geometry of a facility, giving flexibility in the
resolution of modelling and allowing for the consideration of the 3D properties via parallel
channels. Via the 2D/3D module of ATHLET, three dimensional momentum conservation
equations can be explicitly solved in such geometries. Structures (like piping) are treated in
ATHLET’s heat transfer module, which solves the one dimensional heat transport equations.
For heat transfer from liquid to structures, ATHLET employs different correlations for the
Nußelt number depending on a flow map for vertical, horizontal or inclined control volumes.
The flow map distinguishes between the different flow patterns and heat transfer regimes.
The presence of non-condensable gases on heat transfer involving condensation and
evaporation is taken into account.
ATHLET comes with specific models for the simulation of components like valves, pumps,
steam separators, accumulators or turbines. The actions of components can be controlled
via the GCSM module, which allows for a simulation of Instrumentation and control (I&C)
circuits based on basic building blocks of such I&C circuits like logic controllers, switches,
integrators, function generators and process signals. Moreover, the GCSM module can be
used to control a simulation. For heat generation, ATHLET is currently focused on nuclear
heat generation. The point kinetics module allows for simple calculations of power changes
and decay heat. For more challenging reactivity transients, ATHLET provides an interface to
3D neutronics codes like QUABOX-CUBBOX for coupled calculations. Electrical heating can be
simulated as well.
ATHLET uses a fully implicit Euler scheme for numerical integration that is implemented in
the code. Shortly, an alternative solver (NuT) based on the open source PETSc library will be
available in a stable release. Importantly, ATHLET can be controlled interactively, giving
flexibility for the performance of simulations. Interactive simulations can be set-up easily via
the GRS graphical user interface ATLAS (see Figure 3). Via the ATLAS interface, GCSM
controllers can be triggered and their values can be set and re-set by analysts. ATHLET also
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comes with an interface implemented in python, which allows callbacks to user provided
code. This enables the coupling of external models via a plug-in technique.
ATHLET has been extensively validated against single effect and integral effect test results
for all the phenomena expected to be relevant during operation and accidents without core
degradation in pressurized water reactors, boiling water reactors, Russian type VVER and
RBMK designs, sodium cooled fast reactors and several SMR and Gen IV designs.
Figure 2. Interactive Graphic for an ATHLET simulation of a three loop PWR in ATLAS
4 Adaption of the AC² Code ATHLET for Non-Nuclear

Applications
While the focus of the AC² code ATHLET has been on nuclear reactors, there is a long history
of ATHLET applications for non-nuclear applications. For example, already in the 1990s, GRS
developed an ATHLET variant with cryogenic hydrogen as a working fluid. Over the years, the
ATHLET code has regularly been applied to non-nuclear facilities. Interest in using ATHLET for
non-nuclear facilities has partly been driven by its capabilities in realistically simulating two-
phase flow with interfacial mass transfer, particularly for the system water-steam. Feedback
from these applications has influenced the further development of the code. In the following
sections, we will give an overview of selected adaptations of the ATHLET code for or with
particular relevance for non-nuclear applications.
4.1 Improved Simulation of Large Heat Pipes

Heat pipes are widely used in non-nuclear applications if a low cost, low maintenance and
reliable heating or cooling device is needed and the heat flux between two heat reservoirs
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.6
needs to be increased. Conceptually, they consist of a closed pipe or tube that is partially
filled with a liquid. At the heated end, the liquid is evaporated. The vapour then flows to the
cooled end, where it condenses again and flows along the pipe walls back to the heated end.
There are multiple technical applications for heat pipes, e.g. as small cooling devices for
electronic components, heat exchangers in spacecraft or for maintaining permafrost
conditions at pipelines and other structures under artic conditions.
Thermosiphons are wickless, vertical heat pipes that have a preferred direction of heat
transfer. They work effectively only if the condenser section is located above the evaporator
section. Figure 4 gives a conceptual overview. In the last years, interest in heat pipes as
passive safety systems for heat removal, e.g. from the spent fuel pool of nuclear power
plants in decommissioning, has increased. Being able to realistically simulate such a device
with a system code like ATHLET would be advantageous both for informing design and for
confirming the effectiveness of the thermosiphon under all operating and transient
conditions.
Figure 4: Operating Principle of a Thermosiphon [13]
Against this background, GRS has teamed up with IKE of University of Stuttgart in a research
project on thermosiphon designs. IKE performed tests and experiments on the proposed
thermosiphons. Respective results are reported in Graß et al. [14]. Complementing that, GRS
has used the test data to validate the AC² code ATHLET, identify code weaknesses and
implement model improvements. Details of this work so far are reported in Krüssenberg at
al. [15]. Summarising these insights, the following adaptations to the ATHLET code were
necessary.
During the initial test calculations with ATHLET is was found that results were not fully
satisfactory. This was traced to specific gaps in the ATHLET modelling of friction losses for
counter-current flow. Consequently, the friction loss models of ATHLET were improved so
that wall friction losses consider only the liquid film flow at the wall and not the steam flow
in the centre of the pipe. The model was further extended so that the interfacial friction
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.7
losses for counter-current annular flow are explicitly considered. Finally, it has been found
that heat transfer correlations previously implemented in ATHLET were not fully applicable
to the conditions in the evaporator zone of the thermosiphon. Therefore, improved models
have been implemented in ATHLET. These changes improved simulation results.
One major challenge identified by GRS are fluid properties at low temperatures and
pressures for evaporation and condensation. The large change in specific volumes from
water to steam poses specific challenges to numerical stability and code performance. This
will be partly addressed via the new numerical toolkit developed for ATHLET [10]. Moreover,
the water properties package of ATHLET has provided less accurate values in these regions.
GRS has teamed up with Hochschule Zittau/Görlitz for upgrading the water/steam properties
package. First results are expected to be available for the ATHLET code in mid-2018 and will
be made available to ATHLET users after testing, improvements and validation.
For simulating other working fluids, an interface to the open-source library CoolProp has
been implemented in ATHLET. This allows applying ATHLET for a wide range of working fluid
in principle. In the next development cycles of ATHLET, improved heat transfer and pressure
loss correlations are scheduled to be implemented so as to better simulate the behaviour of
such working fluids. However, using an external library as Coolprop comes at the cost of loss
of code performance as it increases calculation times by factors of more than 100. Fast
computations of working fluids with ATHLET require the implementation of a table look-up
scheme based on spline coefficients for the calculation of thermophysical properties of the
working fluids [16]. GRS will successively implement spline coefficients for further working
fluids.
Overall, GRS will remain active in the field of thermosiphons and heat pipes and upgrade the
models in its codes, particularly ATHLET, for a simulation of such systems.
4.2 Simulation of Water Hammers

Condensation-induced water hammers can occur if subcooled liquid comes into close
contact with steam in an enclosed environment like a pipe. The potentially violent
condensation of steam will lead to large local pressure changes. If the accelerated water
column hits structures like e.g. pipe walls, the resulting forces might exceed the design limits
and lead to structural failures. While GRS has investigated this phenomenon against the
background of nuclear safety, this phenomenon is also relevant to non-nuclear applications
like e.g. in the (chemical) process industry.
In the last years, GRS has implemented an improved heat transfer model for direct
condensation, which is based on surface renewal theory and considers the impacts of both
microscopic as well as macroscopic eddies for a one-dimensional modelling approach.
Details on the model and its implementation are reported in Ceuca, Austregesilo and
Macian-Juan [17]. The model has been successfully validated against experimental data
obtained at a facility operated by the Lithuanian Power Institute. Details on these activities
are reported in Ceuca and Laurinavičius [18]. This work demonstrated that ATHLET has
strong capabilities in simulating condensation-induced water hammer scenarios for a wide
range of facilities. In the next development cycle of ATHLET, GRS will be working on fully
integrating this improved direct condensation model into the overall heat and interfacial
mass transfer package so that the direct condensation model is automatically initiated
whenever its application is necessary and does not interfere for other conditions.
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.8
4.3 Extension of ATHLET for Cryogenic Hydrogen

In the early 1990s, GRS entered into a collaboration with MBB (now ArianeGroup) for
developing a variant of ATHLET that could simulate cryogenic hydrogen as working fluid. The
main objective of this work was a tool that could simulate two-phase flow behaviour in the
liquid hydrogen feed system for predicting the hydrogen propellant rate injected into the
combustions chamber [19]. Specifically, the code had to be able to correctly simulate these
conditions under transient conditions, i.e. for cases that deviate for some reason from the
design start-up procedure or steady state operation. This variant of ATHLET has been
successfully developed and validated and is currently being maintained and still applied by
ArianeGroup.
Recently, GRS has re-established contact with ArianeGroup and is currently re-implementing
cryogenic hydrogen as a working fluid for the current ATHLET version. In addition, heat
transfer correlations needed for cryogenic fluids will be implemented in ATHLET. In this way,
the numerous improvements in the ATHLET code, its models, and the tools available for the
AC² code package can be made available for cryogenic two-phase-flow applications. In the
next years, GRS intends to integrate cryogenic oxygen and possibly other, innovative rocket
fuels such as liquid methane as working fluids for ATHLET as well.
5 Summary and Outlook

In this paper, we have given an overview over the GRS nuclear simulation chain and its
potential for application to non-nuclear facilities. As the GRS tool with a particularly high
potential we have briefly described ATHLET and its existing capabilities. Illustrating current
activities of GRS for adapting ATHLET to non-nuclear applications and extend its capabilities,
we have briefly discussed three relevant examples.
For the simulation of large thermosiphons, ATHLET models for interfacial friction losses were
improved. In addition, GRS is enhancing the accuracy of ATHLET’s water-steam properties
package. The extant ATHLET version is already successfully validated for a realistic
calculation of condensation-induced water hammers. Outstanding is work on the final
integration the dedicated direct condensation model into the overall heat and mass transfer
package of ATHLET. Finally, we described recent activities for re-implementing cryogenic
hydrogen as a working fluid for ATHLET.
With the next release of AC² codes including ATHLET before the end of the year, several of
these improvements will be available to users. However, some work like the extension of
working fluids will be done over several development cycles. Other activities planned for or
under discussion include the implementation of a mixture model for working fluids (e.g. for a
water – alcohol system), the provision of a generic interface to CFD and CSM codes via a
preCICE interface or the creation of an interface to a chemical kinetics calculation tool.
Acknowledgements
The development of the GRS nuclear simulation chain and particularly the AC² codes
ATHLET, ATHLET-CD and COCOSYS has been funded by numerous grants by the German
Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) based on decisions by the German
REMOO–2018 — 04.068.9
Bundestag including for the projects RS1538, RS1543, RS1544, RS1546, RS1548, and RS1561
that funded some of the work presented in this paper.
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Developed and Used at GRS, Vol. 1, Reactor Safety, GRS, Cologne, 2011.
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Safety, Convention on Nuclear Safety Report by the Government of the Federal
Republic of Germany for the 7th Review Meeting in March/April 2017, Berlin, 2016.
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Passive Safety Systems and their Validation, Kerntechnik 81 (2016) 5, p. 535-542, DOI
10.3139/124.110720.
[5] K. Heckmann, J. Sievers, Limits and Challenges of Leak-Before-Break, Proceedings,

Proceedings of the 8th International Energy Conference REMOO, REMOO 2018, Venice,
Italy, 2018, to be published.
[6] G. Lerchl et al, ATHLET User’s Manual, GRS-P-1/Vol. 1, Rev. 7, GRS, Cologne, 2016.
[7] H. Austregesilo et al., ATHLET-CD User’s Manual, GRS-P-4/Vol 1, GRS, Cologne, 2017.
[8] W. Klein-Heßling et al, COCOSYS V2.4 User’s Manual, Rev. 1, GRS, Cologne, 201
[9] A. Schaffrath, et al., Scientific Codes Developed and Used at GRS – Nuclear Simulation
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[10] T. Steinhoff, V. Jacht, Ausbau und Modernisierung der numerischen Verfahren in den
Systemcodes ATHLET, ATHLET-CD, COCOSYS und ASTEC, GRS-469, GRS, Cologne, 2017.
[11] J. Herb, A. Iglesias Moreno, Implementation of an Advanced Numerical Method for the
Optimization of the ATHLET-OpenFOAM Coupling Capabilities, Proceedings,
Proceedings of the 8th International Energy Conference REMOO, REMOO 2018, Venice,
Italy, 2018, to be published.
[12] M. Pelzer, W. Klein-Heßling, Validation of COCOSYS Pyrolisis Models on OECD PRISME

Fire Experiments, Fire Safety Journal 62 (2013) Part B, p. 174-191, DOI
10.1016/j.firesaf.2013.01.016.
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Two-phase Closed Thermosiphons Related to Passive Spent-fuel Pool Cooling,
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Proceedings of the 26th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering ICONE26,

London, 2018, to be published.
[15] A. Krüssenberg, et al., Validation of AC² for calculation of passive residual heat removal
with heat pipes, Proceedings of the 19th International Heat Pipe Conference and the
13th International Heat Pipe Symposium, Pisa, Italy, 2018, to be published.
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Flow Calculations, Nuclear Engineering and Design 149 (1994), p. 449-458 DOI
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induced Water Hammer in Horizontal Pipes With the System Analysis Code ATHLET,
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REMOO–2018 — 04.068.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
CFD MODELING UNCERTAINTY FOR MIXING BENCHMARK

C. BOYD*1, J. THOMPSON1, S. BIBLE2, C. TRIECE2
1
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, USA;
Christopher.Boyd@nrc.gov, Jason.Thompson@nrc.gov
2
Resolved Analytics, Durham, NC 27701
sab@resolvedanalytics.com; cdt@resolvedanalytics.com
Abstract
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) participated in an Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) / Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) sponsored blind
benchmark activity based on testing in the Generic Mixing Experiment (GEMIX) facility. The
NRC is interested in methods for the evaluation of uncertainty in large computer simulations.
In these tests, two parallel streams with matched velocity and different densities form a stably
stratified mixing layer. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) predictions using the STARCCM+
code are compared to data from 3 open tests to select a suitable modelling approach.
Sensitivity studies are used to identify and rank key phenomena, boundary conditions, and
modelling options. Top ranked parameters include the upper and lower channel velocity
profiles, the upper and lower channel mass flow, the average inlet turbulence intensity, and
the turbulent Schmidt number. An uncertainty distribution is assigned to each and used to
quantify model uncertainty using a Latin Hypercube sampling method as well as a sensitivity
coefficient approach. Model uncertainty determined from the Latin Hypercube approach and
the combination of individual uncertainties from the sensitivity coefficients yielded similar
results for this case which was found to have linear variations in the sensitivities with respect
to each parameter. Uncertainty resulting from the use of the specific computational mesh is
estimated using a grid convergence index (GCI) and added to the model input uncertainty.
The blind predictions are found to be in good agreement with the final test data. This effort
demonstrates the determination of CFD modelling uncertainties and the potential savings in
computational effort achieved using a sensitivity coefficient approach when appropriate.
Keywords: Uncertainty; CFD; Stratified; Mixing layer; GEMIX
1 Background
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is interested in developing expertise and
guidelines for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools in anticipation of utilizing these
methods for specific safety and confirmatory analyses. This includes using CFD to study
generic safety issues, extend limited test data, and in support of the review of regulatory
safety issues. CFD tools typically have a high cost associated with verification and validation
and work is needed to demonstrate efficient approaches in this area.
The NRC has had modest efforts underway for over 30 years to develop and benefit from CFD
methods. One effort in this area is our participation in international collaborations such as
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.1
those sponsored by the Nuclear Energy Agency under the Organization for Economic and
Cooperative Development (OECD/NEA). The OECD/NEA best practice guideline for CFD [1]
provides guidance for the application of CFD in nuclear reactor safety analysis. Even with CFD
best practice guidelines, however, there is still a lack of consistency in CFD predictions as
evidenced by past benchmark studies sponsored by the OECD/NEA [2], [3], [4].
Confidence in CFD methods can be developed through the process of verification and
validation (V&V). One example of a V&V method is outlined in the ASME V&V 20 standard [5].
This method builds confidence that the code is solving the equations correctly and that the
equations being solved are appropriate for the application. Determination of the uncertainty
in the predictions is a key aspect of the approach. The OECD/NEA recently published a review
of uncertainty methods appropriate for CFD analyses [6] and conducted a blind benchmark
study in the GEMIX facility focused on the estimation of uncertainties. The NRC efforts related
to the OECD/NEA blind benchmark study are the focus of this report.
2 GEMIX Benchmark and General Approach

The GEMIX (GEneric MIxing eXperiments) facility is a square cross section horizontal flow
channel with an upstream splitter plate. The facility is located at the Paul Scherrer Institute in
Switzerland. The cross section of the channel downstream of the splitter plate is 50 x 50 mm.
The upstream legs have a 25 x 50 mm cross section. Inlet flows pass through flow conditioning
honeycombs and grids. The last conditioning grids are located 80 mm upstream of the splitter
plate tip. Measurements are made at 50, 150, 250, 350, and 450 mm downstream of the tip.
Figure 1 illustrates the regions of interest. The coordinate system for the benchmark is
centered at the tip of the splitter plate with the x-axis oriented along the flow direction and
the y-axis is vertical.
Figure 1. GEMIX test Section
GEMIX has been used to study turbulent mixing of two parallel, horizontal, co-flowing streams.
The streams are typically isokinetic (equal velocity) and either unstratified or stably stratified.
Measurements are made at several downstream locations. These include wire mesh sensors
(WMS) and laser induced fluorescence (LIF) for measuring concentration and particle image
velocimetry (PIV) and laser Doppler anemometry (LDA) for measuring velocities.
This GEMIX benchmark was focused on uncertainty quantification in CFD predictions.
Participants computed the velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and concentration along with
uncertainty intervals at several locations for a blind test. Three open tests were included as
part of the study which included unstratified flow conditions of 0.6 and 1.0 m/s (i.e. uniform
density) and a stably stratified test at 0.6 m/s (density difference of 1 % and a temperature
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.2
difference of 2.5K). The blind benchmark test conditions consisted of a stably stratified test at
1.0 m/s with a density difference of 1 % and a 2.5K temperature difference.
Inlet velocity and turbulence was measured at 36 points in a quadrant of the upper inlet
channel 50 mm upstream of the splitter plate tip. Symmetry was assumed and these
measurements were applied to the entire inlet plane. Mean values and uncertainty for
velocity and concentration were requested on vertical lines at 5 downstream locations.
2.1 General Approach to Uncertainty

Inaccuracies in CFD results due to “structural” or “model form” errors associated with the
imperfect foundation of the RANS model and indeterminate coefficients are expected. But, it
has been observed, even with the same code and general options applied, results can differ.
It is suspected that subtle differences in the application of boundary conditions, mesh design,
and solver options further impact the results. These undocumented differences are
sometimes referred to as the “user effect.” In this project, we use a calibration and ensemble
methodology that addresses uncertainties arising from both structural and user effect errors
to produce a probabilistic RANS prediction. The general approach is outlined below.
The three open tests were used to create a suitable base model. This included a series of basic
sensitivity studies to understand the impact of key model options. Once a reliable set of base
model options was identified, a series of computational grids were used to ensure adequate
grid convergence. This led to the determination of a grid convergence index (GCI). With a
final grid selected, an additional set of sensitivity studies were completed to identify and rank
the key uncertain parameters that could impact the final predictions. These parameters were
ranked based on the magnitude of the impact. Highest ranked parameters were ultimately
selected for use as the uncertain inputs to the model. These parameters were treated as
random variables and assigned normally distributed probability density functions (PDFs) for
the purposes of this study. Two methods were used to assess the uncertainty. A Latin
Hypercube approach used a form of Monte-Carlo Sampling of the identified input parameters
for a large number of simulations. Mean values for quantities of interest and their PDFs were
obtained from the resulting predictions. A second approach involved computing sensitivity
coefficients for each uncertain input parameter and a simple combination of individual
uncertainties was used to determine the solution uncertainty due to the input parameters.
The input uncertainties from each method were combined with the uncertainty estimates
from the GCI to determine upper and lower bounds of the total uncertainty at each point.
3 Base Model Assumptions

The base model was developed through a series of sensitivity studies that included the mesh,
domain size, models, options, coefficients, and boundary conditions. The goal was to develop
a best estimate model formulation through comparisons to the open test data. A hexagonal
mesh was created using the GAMBIT meshing tool. This mesh file was imported into the STAR-
CCM+ solver. Wall cell size was established so that wall y+ values were close to 1.
The turbulence model was a key consideration. Each turbulence model available in the STAR-
CCM+ code was considered and tested against the available benchmark test data. Certain
models did not support a low y+ wall mesh design and were eliminated. The Elliptic Blending
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.3
k-epsilon model was found to good agreement with the magnitude and shape of the
downstream velocity and concentration profiles and was selected for the base model.
Upstream boundary conditions were based on velocity and kinetic energy measurements from
a single quadrant of the upper inlet leg. The upstream boundary condition was established at
this upstream measurement location. Symmetry was assumed and the limited data were
mirrored down and across to cover the entire upper channel. Symmetry between the upper
and lower legs was also assumed. A second-order spline fit routine was utilized to create a
table of inlet conditions at the cell face center locations based upon the limited measurements
at the inlet measurement plane. Only the stream wise component of velocity was applied at
the inlet boundary. Turbulent kinetic energy profiles were not used. A single value of 4.5 %
for the turbulence intensity was ultimately used along with a length scale of 0.00125 m which
corresponded to the size of the openings in the flow straightener just upstream of the inlet
measurement plane.
It was observed that the downstream open test data were not symmetric from top to bottom.
This was observed from the 0.6 m/s and 1.0 m/s test cases with zero density difference. The
CFD predictions in these cases were symmetric as expected. This non-symmetry in the data
raised questions about the assumption of symmetry on the inlet condition. Sensitivity studies
using lateral and vertical velocity components at the inlet did not explain the variation. With
limited experimental information available, we postulated a simplified asymmetry for the inlet
conditions in order to partially account for the observed results. A linear multiplier with a +/-
1 % variation in the vertical direction was applied to the x-velocity component at the inlet to
create an asymmetry at the inlet. At the central height of each inlet channel, the multiplier
was 1.0. Moving from the wall of the splitter plate to the outer wall, the multiplier varied
linearly from 0.99 to 1.01 and was defined in our approach as a -1 % skew. This vertical skew
in the velocity profile was applied to both the upper and lower inlet boundary condition and
the value of -1 % was used for the base case to partially account for observed asymmetries.
The concentration profile was impacted by the turbulence models and turbulence intensity
but a key parameter driving the width of the mixing layer was the turbulent Schmidt number.
Turbulent Schmidt numbers can vary significantly and depend on the local flow characteristics.
No specific reference was found to determine a best estimate values for this flow field. A
value of 0.475 was found to provide the best prediction in the open benchmark tests.
The best estimate assumptions and modeling options determined from the open benchmark
testing and prior experiences are listed in Table 1.
Table 1: Model Setup

Model Description
Solver STAR-CCM+ v10.06, steady RANS
Turbulence Model elliptic blending k-epsilon, all y+ wall treatment
Species tracking two-fluid solution, segregated species solver
Energy equation yes, segregated solver
Differencing scheme 2nd order
Mesh 100% hexagonal, 1.64 million cells
Inlet Velocity table input, normal component, -1 % vertical skew
Inlet Turbulence intensity (4.5 %) and length scale (0.00125m)
Turbulent Sct number 0.475
Outlet Condition flow split outlet with 1.0 ratio for mass flow
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.4
4 Grids and Convergence

A series of grids were considered in this analysis to optimize the grid design for efficiency and
accuracy. The base mesh consisted of 1.6 million hexagonal cells and is illustrated in Figure 2.
Wall cell height is 0.15 mm. Cell to cell growth outward from the upper and lower walls is 20
% until a maximum vertical dimension of 1.1 mm is reached. Similar growth rates are applied
from the side walls until a maximum lateral cell dimension of 2.2 mm is reached. In the flow
direction, the cells are reduced to 0.15 mm at the tip of the splitter plate. Cell to cell growth
downstream is 10 % until a streamwise length of 1.1 mm is reached. This dimension is
constant until x=150 mm. From x=150 to 250 mm, the cell size in the streamwise direction is
slowly increased to 2.2 mm. This maximum dimension is maintained for the remainder of the
test section. Additional stream wise growth is applied beyond the test section.
Figure 2. Mesh design (1.6 million cells)
A grid convergence study was completed on the base mesh using a refinement ratio of 2. Each
cell dimension was cut in half resulting in a refined mesh with 8 times the number of cells.
This refinement was completed twice resulting in a medium and fine mesh.
The three mesh designs (base, medium, and fine) were used to make predictions with similar
assumptions and boundary conditions. Fig. 3 illustrates a sample of the results for x-velocity,
turbulent kinetic energy, and concentration on a vertical line at the x=50 mm location. The
boundary conditions utilized for this test came from the blind benchmark case. There is little
difference between the base, medium, and fine mesh cases. The peak velocities associated
with the upper and lower flow paths show the biggest differences near +/- 12.5 mm. The
mesh size impact on the turbulent kinetic energy and concentration profiles was very small.
Figure 3. Grid convergence example at x = 50mm
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.5
4.1 Grid Convergence Index

The Grid Convergence Index (GCI) was used to estimate numerical uncertainty, following the
methodology outlined in ASME V&V 20. GCI was calculated for the base mesh (coarse) using
Eq.(1).
GCIcoarse= rp ( Fs |φ3-φ2| ) / (rp-1) (1)
Using the grid refinement, r=2, the order of convergence, p, was calculated using Eq. (2).
p = ln [(φ3 - φ2) / (φ2 - φ1 )] / ln(r) (2)
The values φ1, φ2, and φ3 are the local solution values for the fine, medium, and coarse meshes
respectively. The factor of safety, Fs, was set at 1.25 based on the use of structured grid
refinement and the observed value for p as recommended in the ASME V&V 20 guidelines.
The GCI was found for the coarse (base) mesh since this mesh was used for the input
parameter uncertainty studies. GCI values were computed at each measurement point.
When applying the GCI for point values, the interpolation scheme is a consideration. Locations
typically don’t coincide with computational cell centers. In addition, mesh refinement shifts
the cell center locations. For this study, GCI values were computed at the coarse mesh cell
center locations. Medium and fine mesh solutions were interpolated to the coarse mesh cell
locations. The ASME V&V 20 guide notes that the interpolation scheme should be of at least
the order of accuracy of the differencing scheme. By default, the STAR-CCM+ post processing
uses zeroth-order interpolation to output point values. This limitation should be considered.
Data were retrieved from the CFD predictions at cell center locations surrounding the points
of interest and seperate three and one-directional (vertical axis) second-order interpolations
were used to obtain the results from the medium and fine mesh at the coarse mesh cell
centers. Both of these results, along with the standard output from the zeroth-order
interpolation scheme to evaluate the GCI values on the vertical center line at the 50 mm
downstream location (three separate GCI evaluations, one for each interpolation scheme).
The choice of interpolation scheme was found to be significant for the order of convergence
calculation. Three-directional, second-order interpolation resulted in the most consistent
predictions for the order of convergence. A single second-order interpolation in the y-
direction was sufficient to calculate the GCI once the p value was known. Example grid
convergence plots are shown in Fig. 4 for 3 points at the 50 mm downstream location. The
plot at y = 0.023 m highlights the type of oscillations that were sometimes observed when
using zeroth-order interpolation. All final results reported for this study utilized second-order
interpolation in the vertical direction.
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.6
Figure 4. Grid convergence examples for 3 Points at x = 50mm
The calculated order of convergence varied significantly with position. Second-order

differencing schemes were used. The results for p, however, varied to include imaginary and
negative values. These results represent non-monotonic and non-convergent behavior,
respectively. The differences in the three solutions were typically minimal in these cases and
it was assumed that these relatively small differences made it difficult to calculate consistent
p-values. Values of p near unity were observed more frequently in regions where the grid
refinement significantly affected the solution. For example, the grid showed the largest
impact on velocities in the regions surrounding the peak velocities at y = +/- 12.5 mm. In this
region, the average order of convergence (p) was 0.9. It’s not clear why the expected 2nd
order convergence was not observed since the model utilized all second-order differencing
schemes, a second-order interpolation of results, a pure hexagonal mesh, and an ideal grid
refinement ratio of 2. It is suspected that the application of a hybrid all y+ wall treatment is
impacting the order of convergence. The ASME V&V standard notes that a p value of 1 may
be appropriate when calculated p-values are less than 1 so a p-value of 1 was assumed for all
locations. Fig. 5 shows the GCI values plotted as a 95 % confidence interval on the predicted
variables at x = 50 mm. Similar results were found for the other downstream locations.
Figure 5. Numerical uncertainty (GCI) at x = 50mm
5 Parameter Identification and Ranking

Modeling options as well as the boundary conditions were considered as potential sources of
uncertainty in the final results. Parameters were considered individually using sensitivity
studies. Items that are considered discrete choices, such as the selection of a k-epsilon over
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.7
a k-omega turbulence model, were selected earlier in the base model development and were
held constant for the uncertainty evaluations. Parameters that have been demonstrated to
have a range of potential values in open literature, such as the turbulent Schmidt number,
were considered for sensitivity studies in order to quantify their significance. The model
boundary conditions and symmetry assumptions are another source of uncertainty that have
been identified. In total, approximately 50 sensitivity studies were completed.
Parameters that were found to be significant, based on the impact they had on the
predictions, were then assigned an uncertainty value. This task relied on some engineering
judgement due to our lack of information for some parameters. For instance, the uncertainty
related to the symmetry assumption on the upstream boundary condition could not be
quantified due to a lack of experimental data. Likewise, there was not enough data available,
nor were appropriate references found, to quantify the uncertainty in the turbulent Schmidt
number. It is acknowledged that this process is dependent on the author’s judgement. Given
that our goal for the benchmark study was to demonstrate and compare uncertainty methods,
it was not a worthwhile to complete a more rigorous investigation of input uncertainties.
Table 2 summarizes the highest ranking input parameters for this study along with the
estimated uncertainty. These are the parameters utilized to estimate model input
uncertainties. It was assumed that parameter variations are Gaussian distributions and that
the mean and standard deviation, σ, define the distribution. The base values were optimized
during the benchmark analysis of the open test data.
Table 2: Top ranked parameters and estimated uncertainty

Parameter Base Value 2 Sigma Uncertainty
upper channel profile skew -1 % +/- 2% absolute
upper channel mass flow from experiment +/- 2% absolute
inlet turbulence intensity 4.5 % +/- 2% absolute
turbulent Schmidt number 0.475 +/- 0.175
lower channel mass flow from experiment +/- 2% absolute
lower channel profile skew -1 % +/- 2% absolute
6 Latin Hypercube Application

In the ensemble prediction methodology, input uncertainties are propagated through a
collection of model runs, based on the probability density functions of the input variables. The
choice of how the inputs are chosen from the input PDFs is known as sampling. The so-called
Latin Hypercube Sampling (LHS) method [7], where samples are chosen randomly from the
bins of equal probability according to their PDF, was utilized. In this approach, populations
converge upon true PDFs more rapidly than traditional Monte Carlo methods.
For this study a total of 300 unique simulations were completed. Statistical values of the mean
and error were determined from the results. Fig. 6 illustrates the 300 velocity profiles at x=50
mm along with the average and 2σ error bars at selected points of interest.
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.8
7 Sensitivity Coefficient Application

The Latin Hypercube approach outlined above has the benefit of yielding a stable output using
potentially fewer simulations than a full Monte Carlo approach. The number of simulations,
however, is still relatively large for typical CFD simulations.
In a review paper on water quality modeling [8], the authors highlight that first-order
sensitivity coefficient approaches can yield almost identical results to Monte Carlo (Latin
Hypercube) methods. This seems to be the case when certain criteria are met. The criteria
include mean values from the Latin Hypercube approach that are the same as the
deterministic mean values, the first-order sensitivities that are good approximations (i.e. lack
of strong non-linearity), and near normal distributions observed from the output of the Monte
Carlo approach. These criteria are generally met in the Latin Hypercube results from this study
which makes it a good candidate for a first-order sensitivity coefficient approach.
The sensitivity coefficient approach is outlined in the ASME V&V 20 standard. Coefficients are
computed to obtain the impact of each input parameter on each output variable at each data
location. A second-order central difference approach was used to obtain the coefficient
values using Eq. (3) where P is the value of the sensitivity parameter and Output represents
the prediction of interest.
( ∆ ) ( ∆ )
= (3)
∆
One question is the size of the variation (ΔP) to be used for the sensitivity studies and how
this choice impacts the results. This choice affects the calculation of sensitivity coefficients in
cases of non-linear sensitivities. Using a 2σ value has been suggested [9] to obtain an average
sensitivity coefficient over the range of interest. The ASME V&V 20 standard recommends
numerical experimentation. In this study, sensitivity coefficients were computed using ΔP
values of +/- 0.2σ and +/- 2σ. No significant differences were observed. The output response
to the given input parameters was linear. In the final analysis, the sensitivity coefficients were
computed using ΔP = 0.2σ.
Once all sensitivity coefficients were computed, the standard deviation of each input variable
(σP,i) was multiplied by the corresponding sensitivity coefficient (∂ Output / ∂ Pi) to get a
standard deviation of the output due to the particular input. All such output deviations were
combined in a root sum square to get a total (σinputs) standard deviation value at that location
due to all input parameters. See Eq.(4).
σinputs = ∑ (4)
This process is repeated for each output value (x-velocity, turbulent kinetic energy, and
concentration) at each location. A 95 % confidence interval for the final predictions is defined
as two standard deviations. Results from the linear sensitivity coefficient approach are
compared to the Latin Hypercube approach in Fig. 6 for the x-velocity profile 50 mm
downstream of the splitter plate. This profile showed some of the largest uncertainties. The
plot shows the 300 simulation results from the Latin Hypercube modeling as grey lines. The
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.9
Latin Hypercube mean value and error bars (+/- 2σ) are shown along with the base case result
and error bars predicted from the sensitivity coefficients. The sensitivity coefficient approach
yields results that are nearly identical to the Latin Hypercube approach.
Figure 6. Comparison of Latin Hypercube and Sensitivity Coefficient Approach
Figure 6 demonstrates that for this particular model, the first-order sensitivity coefficient
approach is a good alternative to the more costly Latin Hypercube approach. The Latin
Hypercube approach was completed using 300 runs. Assuming adequate predictions could be
obtained from the LHC method with 125 simulations, the Latin Hypercube approach would
still require an order of magnitude more computer time than the 13 simulations (2n +1)
needed to complete a second-order central difference sensitivity coefficient approach. Using
a first-order approach to compute the coefficients would have required only 7 (n+1)
simulations. The sensitivity coefficient approach provides a practical option for determining
input uncertainty for large models where the total number of simulations is limited.
8 Final Prediction with Uncertainty Compared to Data

A validation uncertainty in the ASME V&V 20 standard is defined in Eq. (5) which combines
the input, numerical and data uncertainties.
σvalue = (5)
The standard deviation from the inputs was obtained by a sensitivity coefficient approach.
The GCI method was utilized to assess numerical uncertainty. The test data uncertainty was
unknown and was assumed to be zero for this exercise. The standard deviation (σvalue) was
computed for each predicted variable at each location prior to the release of the test data.
Once the blind test data were released, comparisons between the final predictions and test
data were completed. The CFD predictions are shown with error bars representing +/- 2 σvalue
at each location. The test data are shown with no error bars. Velocity and concentration
profiles are shown at downstream locations of 50, 250, and 450 mm in Figure 7.
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.10
Generally speaking, the predictions are considered to be a good representation of the test
data. The predictions with the 95 % confidence interval generally cover the data. There are a
few exceptions in the downstream velocities near the center of the upper half of the channel.
Without knowledge of the uncertainty in the test data, the statistical significance of these
differences is unknown.
Figure 7. CFD predictions and uncertainty compared to blind benchmark data
The concentration results are well predicted. The discrepancy in the test data in the upper
half of the channel at x=50 mm is assumed to be a testing bias since concentrations of 1.0 are
expected in this region.
9 Conclusions
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission used the OECD GEMIX benchmark exercise to study
uncertainty methods including grid convergence testing. A base case model was developed
after carefully benchmarking the code against a set of open tests. Sensitivity studies were
completed to identify key input parameters and boundary conditions that would impact the
uncertainty. The numerical uncertainty was computed using the GCI method. Final predictions
with combined uncertainties were in good agreement with test data.
Determining the uncertainty in CFD predictions is a challenge and requires significant
knowledge of the model and boundary conditions. In this simple example, the uncertainty of
the boundary conditions had to be estimated and uncertainty in the test data was not
documented. Although some assumptions were made, the work demonstrates the practicality
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.11
of a sensitivity coefficient approach for determining input uncertainties as well as some of the
challenges with using the GCI method.
References
[1] Mahaffy, J. et. al, “Best Practice Guidelines for the use of CFD in Nuclear Reactor Safety
Applications,” NEA/CSNI/R(2014)11 (2015).
[2] Smith, B. et. al., “The Nuclear Energy Agency/Paul Scherrer Institue Computational Fluid
Dyanmics Benchmark Exercise,” NEA/CSNI/R(2016)2 (2016).
[3] Smith, B. et. al., “Report of the OECD/NEA KAERI Rod Bundle CFD Benchmark Exercise,”
NEA/CSNI/R(2013)5 (2013).
[4] Smith, B. et. al., “Report of the OECD/NEA – Vattenfall T-Junction Benchmark Exercise,”
NEA/CSNI/R(2011)5 (2011).
[5] ASME, “Standard for Verification and Validation in Computational Fluid Dynamics and
Heat Transfer,”, VV20 (2009).
[6] Bestion, D. et. al., “Review of Uncertainty Methods for Computational Fluid Dynamics
Application to Nuclear Reactor Thermal Hydraulics,” NEA/CSNI/R(2016)4 (2016).
[7] RL Iman, WJ Conover, “Small sample sensitivity analysis techniques for computer
models, with an application to risk assessment,” Communications in Statistics, Part A.
Theory and Methods, Vol. 17, pp. 1749 - 1842, 1980.
[8] Beck, M., “Water Quality Modeling: A Review of the Analysis of Uncertainty,”, Water
Resources Research, Vol 23, no. 8, pg. 1393-1442, August 1987.
[9] Water Resources Systems Planning and Management, “Chapter 9: Model Sensitivity and
Uncertainty Analysis,”, ISBN 92-3-103998-9, 2005.
REMOO–2018 — 04.098.12
QUEST FOR ENERGY
A MODIFICATION FOR DROPLETS

SECONDARY BREAKUP MODELS
Hossain FARANI SANI, Hassan KHALEGHI*
Mechanical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;
hoseinfarani@modares.ac.ir; khaleghi@modares.ac.ir
Abstract
In this paper, a new model of spray secondary breakup has been introduced. This model which
firstly has been presented by Omidvar and Khaleghi, is a modification to other breakup models
by which the gas turbulence effect in droplet secondary breakup is taken into consideration
by relating changes in droplet’s surface energy to the turbulent intensity. In this model, a new
criterion for the breakup is presented and the breakup time is modified to introduce a new
hybrid breakup time. In this work, three breakup models have been compared. The first model
is TAB model which has been presented by O’Rourke and Amsden, which is based on an
analogy between an oscillating and distorting droplet, and a spring-mass system. The second
model presented by Reitz and Diwakar considers two different mechanisms for breakup
process: (a) bag breakup and (b) stripping breakup. The third model is breakup model of
Hsiang-Faeth which expresses an empirical correlation in the prediction of droplet breakup
time and diameter of the stable droplet. This new modification has been applied in all three
models and the results have been compared to the original ones. The computations have been
achieved by using transient and three-dimensional code that uses Lagrangian-Eulerian
approach on a staggered grid. The code has various spray sub-models such as collision, droplet
dispersion and droplet heat and mass transfer. Moreover, the PISO algorithm has been used
to solve pressure and velocity coupling of two-phase flow. Results have shown that our
modified models are in better agreement with experimental data.
Keywords: Turbulence intensity; Turbulent breakup; Diesel engine; Secondary breakup
1 Introduction
Nowadays, the increasing usage of fuel, especially oil and petroleum is one of the inseparable
features in developing countries. The high price of fuel, as well as limited resources of fossil
fuels, has forced scientists to find a way to consume the fuel in a more optimized way. One of
the major efforts that has been done by scientists in internal combustion engine industries is
to use fuel sprays, making the combustion process closer to the ideal complete combustion.
Reaching to the best performance needs a lot of experimental studies which are expensive
and time-consuming processes. Spray modelling is one of the best ways in studying the spray
process because of eliminating the need for further experimental studies. Breakup
phenomenon is an important process which affects spray behaviour and it can change the size
of droplets, influencing combustion process, consequently. So, breakup phenomenon should
be modelled correctly and all contributing factors should be considered. On the other hand,
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.1
the turbulence of the flow is one of the most effective phenomena that has great effects on
the other processes. For example, the drag force of a droplet changes dramatically when the
flow over particle enters into a turbulent regime.
simulation of breakup process has been done by many different researchers. In 1987, Reitz
and Diwakar [1] presented a breakup model by distinguishing between bag breakup and
stripping breakup regimes. In 1987, O’rourke and Amsden [2] presented a theoretically based
breakup model which constructs an analogy between droplet deformation and spring-mass
system. In 1997, this model was developed by Tanner [3] and ETAB model was introduced.
This model predicts diameter distribution of droplet more realistic than original TAB method.
Schmehl et al. [4] presented a breakup model based on experimental findings of Hsiang et al.
and Pilch et al. in 2013, Marek [5] derived equations of TAB model with a higher degree of
freedom of droplet deformation and derived equations which are a criterion for the breakup
of droplets in the flow. In mentioned breakup models, it is assumed that the droplets are in a
laminar flow; while experimental results show that the critical Weber number is highly
influenced by turbulence intensity of the flow. The goal of this paper is to make the simulations
of spray process more accurate than previous studies, by taking into account the gas
turbulence effects on the secondary breakup.
2 Theory and Equations

Eulerian-Lagrangian approach for modelling two-phase flow is used by a computer code
utilized in this paper. In Other words, two sets of equations have been used in the code: for
the continuous phase and dispersed phase. In the following, these sets of equations are
further described.
2.1 Continuous Phase

In this paper, equations in continuous phase are shown in a Favre averaged form due to
density change because of pressure fluctuations. This averaging method eliminates density
fluctuations in the gas phase equations. the general transport equation is shown in the
following form:
+ ∇. = ∇. Γ ∇ + + ,
(1)
Where represents the volume of the computational cell, and are density and velocity
of the gas, respectively. is the transport parameter and can be substituted by different
parameters. The other terms on the RHS such as Γ , , . and represent diffusion
coefficient, source terms of gas phase, source terms caused by the presence of discrete phase
and void fraction, respectively. Final form of the gas phase equation is shown in Table 1.
Where , in different equations can be evaluated from Table 2.
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Table 1: Possible variables in continuous N-S model

parameter Symbol(dimension)
mass m (Kg) 1 0 0
m
velocity u u μ θ ∂p/(∂x )
s
KJ μ
energy E h 0
Kg σ
KJ μ
Turbulent energy k k P −ε
Kg σ
1 μ
Emissive rate ε ε
σ C (ε k)(P ) − C (ε k)
s
Fuel vapor mass
F f D 0
fraction
Table 2: Possible substitution for ,
equation
mass , =− , , − ,
6
velocity =− , , − ,
, 6 , ,
Energy , =− ∑ , , , − , ,
2.2 Discrete Phase

The equations in this phase contain droplet trajectory, momentum, mass, and energy as well
as sub-models which are discussed in this part.
Droplet trajectory
The dominant forces considered in this work which act on droplets are drag and pressure
gradient forces. So, the momentum equation can be written in the following form:
, 1 3 1
= , − , − , = ( ) , − , (2)
4
And drag coefficient can be calculated using equation 3
0.44 > 1000 −

= . , = (3)
(24 + 3.6 )/ ≤ 1000
which is droplet’s Reynolds number. The droplets’ trajectory will be calculated by solving
the following equation
,
= , (4)
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Mass and energy transfer

In this paper, Borman and Johnson's [6] equations are used for calculating of heat and mass
transfer phenomenon:
=− ln − , − , ℎ/ (5)
( )
=− − ⁄( − 1) + (6)
where and , represent total pressure and vapor pressure in far distances from droplet,
respectively. , represents the vapor pressure on the surface of the droplet and represents
the diffusion coefficient. In equation 6, and are heat capacity and heat conduction
coefficients and , represent temperature and latent heat of vaporization, respectively. The
parameter corrects the heat transfer coefficient when the mass transfer is simultaneously
taking place and is defined by:
=− (7)
where is the fuel vapor specific heat. The Nusselt number and Sherwood number ℎ
are evaluated from the following equations:
. / (8)
ℎ = 2 + 0.6
. / (9)
=2+
where = /( ) and = / .
Spray sub-models
The Radius Of Influence collision model of Reitz and Munnannur is used for this study[7]. In
this model, droplet collision is considered to occur when the distance between centres of
droplets is less than the radius of influence( ):
= max( , ) (10)
In addition, the collision frequency can be evaluated from the following equation:
+
= (11)
where is the number of drops in the parcel, U is the relative velocity between parcels and
is the radius of droplets. The subtitles and account for more populated and less
populated parcels, respectively. The collision control volume can be calculated from the
equation below
4 ( + )
= (12)
3
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.4
The other parameters such as collision probability, collision parameter, and collision efficiency
can be obtained according to O’Rourke’s (reference) collision model.
Fully atomized model is considered for the primary breakup process. The spray comes into the
chamber in an atomized form and also, the size of the droplets follows Rosin-Rammler
distribution function.
In secondary atomization process, three secondary breakup models have been used. These
models are Reitz-Diwakar (R&D)[1], Taylor Analogy Breakup (TAB) [2] and Hsiang-Faeth(H&F)
[8].
In R&D model, diameter change considered to be continuous in time, which means:
− (13)
=−
where and are stable diameter after breakup and characteristic time of the breakup,
respectively. This model distinguishes between two breakup modes: Bag breakup for low
Weber numbers and stripping breakup for higher Weber numbers. It is assumed that droplet
breakup initiation will occur in droplets with Weber number ( = /2 ) greater than
6.
TAB breakup model is one of the breakup models in spray modelling. It has been introduced
by O’Rourke and Amsden[2]. This model considers an analogy between droplet deformation
and spring-mass system. Same as a spring-mass system, the equation of motion can be
rewritten as:
m = − − (14)
where is the lateral distance of droplet deformation from the stable shape (sphere), is the
sum of external forces, is the surface tension and is damping parameter (viscosity).
According to Taylor analogy, these parameters can be defined in the following form:
F (15)
= , = , =
where , , are dimensionless constants. Hence, the droplet deformation equation can
be rewritten as:
y= − − , = / (16)
The condition for the initiation of breakup in one droplet is that its deformation exceeds the
limit ( > 1).
In H&F breakup model, breakup occurs when droplet’s Weber number is higher than 6. Like
R&D breakup model, the diameter of droplet changes continuously in time. The characteristic
breakup time and stable diameter can be evaluated by the following equations:
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.5
5
= (17)
ℎ
1−
7
.
= 6.2 (18)
where ℎ is Ohnesorge number, is viscosity and D is the droplet’s diameter. Indexes and
denote liquid and gas phase, respectively.
The present model is a new modification for almost all secondary breakup models. It was
introduced for the first time by Omidvar and Khaleghi[9]. This model takes into account the
effect of gas phase turbulence on the secondary breakup process. According to Prevish[10],
the critical Weber number is influenced by the intensity of turbulence in the ambient flow.
Considering this effect, make the results of this method to be more realistic in comparison to
previous models. This modification enhances the critical Weber number by changing breakup
characteristic time.
Total frequency of the breakup is assumed to be the sum of laminar and turbulent frequencies:
. = . + . (19)
So
. = . + . (20)
. .
(21)
. =
. .
This model proposed a new critical Weber number which can be evaluated as:
. = (
.
) (22)
.
Omidvar and Khaleghi proposed to calculate . , by considering the surface energy

difference between parent and child droplets. They claimed that this surface energy
difference is provided mainly by the turbulence energy:
= (23)
(24)
=
Δ = − = = (25)
The average energy of an eddy with characteristic length can be evaluated from the following
equation:
̅ = (26)
where is the fluctuating velocity therefore we can rewrite it as:
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.6
= (27)
Rewriting the above equation in the dimensionless form:
= / ℎ (28)
The characteristic turbulent time scale can be found through the characteristic length scale
and turbulent intensity of the flow
= = = (29)
.
3 Method and Assumption

In this paper, models which were mentioned in earlier sections are incorporated in a PISO
based in-house CFD code to compute three-dimensional flow in a diesel engine configuration.
For evaporation calculations, Bormann and Johnson[6] model is used. The collision between
droplets is modeled using Radius of Influence (ROI) method[7]. This code also uses random
walk method (reference) to consider the droplet dispersion phenomenon. In general, the
Lagrangian-Eulerian approach is employed for this code, utilizing finite volume discretization
method for discretization of continuous phase (Eulerian) transport equations. Also, parcel
modeling is used for the sake of time-saving in calculation of dispersed phase (Lagrangian);
where each parcel represents a group of droplets possessing the same size, temperature, and
velocity.
The computational domain has been shown in Figure 1.
The calculations have been done in a constant volume chamber and at CA=180 which the
engine is wide open and the volume of the engine is in its maximum state.
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.7
Y
Z
Z X
Y X
a) Front view b) Top view

Z Z
X
Y
X
c) Sliced Isometric view 1 d) Sliced Isometric view 2

Figure 1. Views of the computational domain

In order to evaluate the CFD code, the first step is to investigate results’ mesh independency.
For this purpose, three sizes of the grid have been used. These meshes have been shown in
more details in Table 3.
Table 3: Details of the different grids

Specification Mesh No.1 Mesh No.2 Mesh No.3
Number of divisions in the radial direction 50 60 70
Number of divisions in the axial direction 70 90 120
Number of divisions in the tangential direction 30 36 40
Number of total cells 153000 267300 436000
Some data such as fuel spray tip penetration and the gas axial velocity at a vertical distance of
4 cm from nozzle exit using different mesh sizes were compared. The gas axial velocity profile
has been depicted in Figure 2. It can be seen that the maximum axial velocity is at a radial
position which the nozzle is placed. By moving away from the nozzle location in the radial
direction, the axial velocity is decreased and in distances far from the nozzle, this velocity is
reaches almost to zero. It can be seen that results from meshes number 2 and 3 are so close
together. Hence mesh number 2 can be selected as a grid which produces mesh independent
results.
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.8
Figure 2. Comparison of axial velocity at time t=1.428ms

at distance 4 cm from injection plane
The spray tip penetration with different size of grids is shown in Figure 3. Again in this figure
like the diagram of the gas axial velocity results of meshes 2 and 3 are in a very close bond.
Figure 3. Comparison of fuel spray tip penetration with different grid sizes
The next step is to compare the results of CFD code to a set of experimental data. in order to
do so, the fuel spray tip penetration in injection duration is compared to SANDIA national
laboratories data [11]. Details of injection conditions are shown in Table 4.
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.9
Table 4: Experimental condition taken from SANDIA

parameter quantity(dimension) parameter quantity(dimension)
Fuel temperature 363 ( ) Injection duration 1.5 ( )
Fuel chemical name n-Heptane Mass injected 3.46 ( )
Chamber
Chamber pressure 2.93 ( ) 440 ( )
temperature
Nitrogen mass
Nozzle diameter 0.084 ( ) 100%
fraction
Chamber gas
Injection pressure 150 ( ) 22.8 ( / )
density
By setting the experimental data’s injection condition in the code and getting the results of
spray tip penetration, figure 4 is attained. It is clear that the results produced by EPISO code
are realistic and also it is correspondent to the one obtained through experiments. At the
beginning of spray injection, it can be seen that there is an under-prediction in fuel spray tip
penetration in comparison to experimental data. This happens due to the primary atomization
model that has been implemented in the code which does not take into account the dense
core of injection jet. It should be noted that results in figure 4 is produces using Reitz-Diwakar
model of secondary breakup.
Figure 4. Comparison of fuel tip penetration in simulated and experimental results
Breakup models
In figure 5, spray tip penetration is depicted using different breakup models. It can be seen
that Reitz-Diwakar breakup model shows a better correspondence with experimental data.
Also, results from Hesiang-Faeth model have more deviation from experimental results in
comparison to other breakup models. It is worth mentioning that these results are achieved
without considering the gas turbulence effects. Later on, the effect of turbulence will be
considered and discussed in more detail.
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.10
Figure 5. Comparison of fuel tip penetration using different breakup models

(T=440 K and P=2.93MPa)
Turbulence modification
Taking into account the effect of turbulence in Hesiang-Faeth model by using Omidvar-
Khaleghi(OK) modification, it can be seen that the fuel spray tip penetration will be decreased
while the rate of evaporation is increased. The reason is that, by considering the effect of
turbulence, a new force will be added to equations, making the droplet more unstable, which
leads the droplet into a path that ends with breakup in a shorter period of time. This means,
the size of droplets decreases and these droplets will travel shorter distances which results in
a reduction in prediction of fuel spray tip penetration. The fuel spray tip penetration and
evaporation rate of spray before and after the modification of Hsiang-Faeth model are
depicted in Figure 6.
Total evaporation as function of time Fuel tip penetration

Figure 6. Comparison of effect of turbulence on Hsiang-Faeth breakup model
( = 440 , = 2.93 )
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.11
It can be seen in figure 6 that by using mentioned modifications, the results are shifted to a
closer bond of experimental data, leading to a more realistic and accurate simulation.
This effect has the same effect on Reitz-Diwakar breakup model. The results are shown in
Figure 7.
Total evaporation as function of time Fuel tip penetration

Figure 7. Comparison of effect of turbulence on Reitz-Diwakar breakupmodel
( = 440 , = 2.93 )
5 Conclusion
In this paper, the main aim is to simulate diesel spray in a more realistic way. For this purpose,
an in-house computer code is utilized. This code can simulate three-dimensional flow in a
diesel engine and also can compute two-phase flow using PISO algorithm and Lagrangian-
Eulerian approach. The code contains various different subroutines. For the primary breakup,
fully atomized model has been used and random walk model is implemented for droplet
dispersion model. Also, three secondary breakup models were used for comparison. By
comparing the results of spray tip penetration with experimental data it can be concluded that
Reitz-Diwakar breakup model produces results which are in a closer bond to the experimental
data in comparison to other breakup models. Next, the effect of gas turbulence is taken into
account in the secondary breakup model. This is done by modifying both the critical Weber
number and characteristic breakup time which was proposed by Omidvar and Khaleghi at the
first place. It can be concluded that after imposing these modifications, the results showed a
better correspondence with experimental data.
References
[1] Reitz , R. D., R. Diwakar, Structure of high-pressure fuel sprays, SAE Technical Paper,
(1987), 10.4271/870598.
[2]. O'Rourke, P.J. ,Amsden, A.A. , The TAB method for numerical calculation of spray droplet
breakup, SAE Technical Paper, (1987), 10.4271/872089.
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.12
[3] Tanner F., Liquid jet atomization and droplet breakup modeling of non-evaporating
diesel fuel sprays, SAE Technical Paper. , (1997), 10.4271/970050.
[4] Schmehl R., G. Maier, S. Wittig, CFD analysis of fuel atomization, secondary droplet
breakup and spray dispersion in the premix duct of a LPP combustor, Eighth
International Conference on Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems. (2000).
[5] M. Marek, The double-mass model of drop deformation and secondary breakup, Applied
Mathematical Modelling, 37, (2013), 16-17, pp. 7919-7939, 10.1016/j.apm.2013.03.025
[6] Borman, G. , Johnson, J.H. , Unsteady vaporization histories and trajectories of fuel drops
injected into swirling air, SAE Technical Paper, (1962), 10.4271/620271.
[7] Munnannur, A. Reitz, R.D. , Droplet collision modeling in multi-dimensional spray

computations, cell, 3, (2007).
[8] Hsiang, L.-P. ,Faeth, G.M. ,Drop properties after secondary breakup., International
Journal of Multiphase Flow, 19, (1993), 5, pp. 721-735, 10.1016/0301-9322(93)90039-
W
[9] Omidvar, A. and H. Khaleghi, An analytical approach for calculation of critical weber
number of droplet breakup in turbulent gaseous flows. Arabian Journal for Science and
Engineering, 37, (2012), 8, pp. 2311–2321, 10.1007/s13369-012-0319-x
[10] Prevish, T.D., Secondary droplet breakup in highly turbulent flowfields, Pennsylvania
State University, Philadelphia, United States, 1998.
[11] Sandia, N.L. Engine Combustion Network (ECN). [cited 2017 8 Nov]; Available from:
https://ecn.sandia.gov/ecn-data-search/.
REMOO–2018 — 05.013.13
QUEST FOR ENERGY
EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION OF A SMALL

SCALE HEAT RECOVERY STEAM GENERATOR
Omid MAHDAVI KESHAVAR1, Ali Jafarian DEHKORDI1*,
Masoud REZAEI2, Saber DELDAR1
1
Mechanical Engineering Department, Tarbiat Modares University,
Jalal AleAhmad Highway, Nasr, 14115-111, Tehran, Iran;
o.mahdavi@modares.ac.ir, jafarian@modares.ac.ir, saberdeldar@modares.ac.ir
2
Fan Niroo co, No 36, Negar Alley, Vanak Sq., Vali-e-Asr St., 14155-1864, Tehran, Iran;
m.rezaei@fanniroo.com
Abstract
Heat recovery steam generator plays a fundamental role in improving efficiency and energy
utilization of the plants; as a result, studying the heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) and
its components and behavior, paves the way to access more efficient and economical energy.
A small scale HRSG uses the waste energy from the Distributed Generation (DG) plants exhaust
to produce useful heat to be supplied to industrial users such as industrial chillers, district
heating, desalination, etc. In this study based on the thermodynamic and heat transfer
principles, a code has been developed to simulate a once through HRSG. A proper two-phase
heat transfer coefficient was used in the developed code to model the heat transfer. A small
scale HRSG unit was designed and constructed to verify the developed code results. The
distinctive feature of the constructed HRSG is possessing hot gas simulator that makes it
possible to apply a wide range of temperatures, velocities and different conditions from the
DG exhaust to the HRSG inlet. Parametric study has been done under different conditions like
steam pressure, inlet gas temperature and availability of preheater to evaluate HRSG’s
performance. According to the results, the developed code, predicts 30 % lower heat transfer
surface required to produce steam with same conditions of experiments.
Keywords: Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG); Experimental study;

Hot gas simulator; Small scale; Developed code; Preheater
1 Introduction
Due to the increase in energy demand, world population, increasing prices of fossil fuels and
public awareness on environmental issues, to supply electricity for mankind’s needs in the
future, waste energy recovery has been increasing in popularity in recent decades [1]. As a
result, using small scale power plants also known as “Distributed Generation” plants to
generate power in small scale has increased significantly. This method of power generation
allows the users to generate the amount of power they require. Distributed Generation is
defined as the production of electricity from small energy sources. One of the important
applications of the DG is cogeneration systems. A heat recovery steam generator uses the
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.1
waste energy from the DG exhaust to produce useful heat to be supplied to users. Heat
recovery steam generator (HRSG) is the link between the gas and steam cycle or downstream
cycle in the combined cycle and cogeneration power plants. Combustion products exiting a
gas turbine still have potential for energy recovery due to their high temperature at exhaust.
Therefore, these products flow into a heat exchanger (HRSG) and are used to heat water and
generate steam to recover their heat. The generated steam can finally be used in various
industrial uses, such as absorption chillers, desalination units, papermaking and petrochemical
applications; or alternatively, used to generated electricity in a steam turbine. Therefore,
precision and accuracy in designing a recovery steam generator not only prevents energy
waste from consumption products, but also plays an important role in providing lots of
required high quality steam.
Among the conducted studies on heat recovery steam generators Reddy and Butcher [2]
presented the second law analysis of a waste heat recovery in a power generation plant. Their
results show that the second law efficiency with an increase in pinch point temperature will
be reduced. Lee et al. [3] conducted flow and heat transfer simulation in gas side of a heat
recovery steam generator with vertical and horizontal tube bundles to obtain simple
modifications of internal configuration to uniform gas side stream.The results indicated that
modifications had considerable effects. Behbahaninia et al. [4] considered a fire tube heat
recovery steam generator in a cogeneration system using genetic algorithm to optimize HRSG
based on exergy and cost analysis. They indicate that the thermodynamic optimization didn’t
have a significant effect on total cost of HRSG. Sheen et al. [5] conducted an experimental and
numerical simulation to analyze flow pattern to find suitable changes for uniforming of the
flow in the intake area in a vertical HRSG. Flow correction devices such as guide vane and mesh
grid were used to achieve this. Mansouri et al. [6] investigate the effect of different
configurations and pressure levels of HRSG on combined cycle power plants efficiency. Alobaid
et al. [7] proposed a dynamic simulation model for a subcritical triple pressure HRSG by
employing simulation software Aspen plus Dynamics. The results were validated with the
dynamic measurements during warm start-up procedure. Mirzakhani [8] studied the flow field
in a HRSG duct numerically and experimentally with different angles and lengths of inlet duct
to investigate the flow uniformity. After choosing the optimum model for each angle, the least
pressure drop was measured experimentally. Feng et al. [9] have presented a new general
model of multi-pressure HRSG under three different layouts in order to evaluate
thermodynamic performance of HRSG. They concluded that the optimizing heat exchangers
layout of HRSG has a great significance on thermodynamic performance and thermal
efficiency. Hanafizadeh et al. [10] conducted several studies on inlet duct geometry using PELS
method. This is a new method on improving the inlet duct to uniform stream velocity on duct
outlet. Cheng et al. [11] proposed a novel once-through HRSG for using at low temperature
heat recovery. To investigate HRSGs thermal performance such as heat utilization and exergy
of HRSG, experimental work have been done in a cement plant under different conditions.
Their results show that the HRSG is highly efficient in recovering energy from low temperature
heat source.
In this study a code has been developed to simulate a once through HRSG based on the
thermodynamic and heat transfer principles by considering proper two-phase heat transfer
coefficient to model heat transfer. In order to verify the developed code, a small scale HRSG
unit was designed and constructed in advanced energy systems laboratory(AESL) of Tarbiat
Modares University. The distinctive feature of the constructed HRSG is possessing hot gas
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.2
simulator that makes it possible to apply a wide range of temperatures, velocities and
different conditions from the DG exhaust to the HRSG inlet. Availability of installing preheater
to HRSG has been investigated to evaluate HRSG’s performance. Prediction of heat transfer
surface required to produce steam by the developed code and comparing with same
conditions of experiments has been proposed as well.
2 Analytical Modelling
The HRSG consists of three main components: Economizer, Evaporator and Superheater. In
the water tube HRSG, hot gas passes over the tube bundle of the three aforementioned parts,
transferring energy from the hot gas to the water and steam inside the tubes. The water
entering the economizer passes through the exits in a single phase. Economizer exit
temperature is lower than that of saturated water in its pressure. The water then enters the
evaporator. The HRSG utilizes a once through design, so while water enters the evaporator in
liquid form, it exits after it has all turned into saturated steam, and then enters the
superheater. The steam is present in the superheater in single phase form. The exhaust hot
gas from simulator first passes over the superheater tube bundle, then over the evaporator,
and finally transfers its heat with the economizer.
Generally, heat transfer coefficient is higher in the liquid and two phase states. Therefore,
tube side heat transfer in the evaporator and economizer sections is higher than that of the
gas side (outside the tubes). Increasing heat transfer surface can compensate for this deficit,
so economizer and evaporator use extended surfaces. The utilized extended surfaces in this
design are fin tubes. The following shows the design procedure for different sections.
Initially, using energy conservation equation and the available heat, the amount of generated
steam is calculated. Design assumptions are as follows:
1. Superheater output temperature is considered 20 ᵒC higher than saturated pressure.
2. Evaporator pinch temperature (temperature difference between the entering water
and the exhaust gas) equals 15 ᵒC.
3. The temperature of water entering the HRSG equals 25 ᵒC.
4. Minimum exhaust temperature is 120 ᵒC to prevent corrosion.
Energy conservation equation for the evaporator and superheat sections as shown in Eq. (1)
below.
, , , − , , = (ℎ , −ℎ, ) (1)
where Wg is gas mass flow rate, cp,g is specific heat at mean temperature, Ti,g,sup is the
temperature of hot gas entering the superheater, and To,g,ev is the gas temperature exiting the
evaporator, equal to water saturated temperature plus the pinch temperature. s represents
steam flow rate, ho,sup shows steam enthalpy exiting the superheater, and hi,ev shows water
enthalpy entering the evaporator.
After determination of the generated steam by Eq. (1), the hot gas exhaust temperature can
be obtained by following the energy equation in the economizer by Eq. (2); as mentioned
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.3
before, the temperature cannot be below 120 ᵒC to prevent corrosion. Otherwise, pinch
temperature should be increased to reach the desirable conditions.
, , , − , , = (ℎ , −ℎ, ) (2)
where Ti,g,ec and To,g,ec represent the temperature of input and output gas from the economizer
respectively, w is water flow rate which is equal to s, and finally, hi,ec and ho,ec show water
enthalpy while entering and exiting the economizer, respectively.
So far, the amount of heat transfer for each part is determined, making the heat transfer
equation below applicable [12].
= ∆ (3)
where Q is heat transfer rate, U is total heat transfer coefficient, A is heat transfer area, and
finally ΔT is logarithmic mean temperature difference; which is combination of input and
output temperatures from a heat exchanger. The corresponding equation and the related
figure are shown as Figure (1) and Eq. (4).
Figure 1. Hot and cold fluid in a heat exchanger related to temperature difference
, − , − , − ,
∆ =
, − , (4)
, − ,
Total heat transfer coefficient of each part needs to be calculated in order to calculate the
required heat transfer surface. Total heat transfer coefficient equation for extended surfaces
is as Eq. (5) [12].
1 1
= + + + × × + (5)
ℎ 24 ℎ
where At shows the surface area of fin tubes per unit of length, Ai represents tube internal
surface area per unit of length, and ffi and ffo are internal and external fouling factors
respectively (assumed as equal to 0.001). The rest of the nomenclature includes Aw as tube
wall surface area with mean internal and external diameter, km as tube wall thermal
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.4
conductivity, d and di representing the respective external and internal diameters, ɳ showing
fin effectiveness factor and ho standing for heat transfer coefficient outside of the tubes.
The surface area At for tubes without fins equals , simplifying Eq. (5) as the following Eq. (6):
1 1
= + + + × + (6)
ℎ 24 ℎ
Heat transfer coefficient of the gas side (outside of the tubes), water flow heat transfer
coefficient inside the economizer, the heat transfer coefficient of the two phase flow inside
the evaporator and finally, the steam flow heat transfer coefficient inside the superheater
need to be calculated in order to calculate total heat transfer coefficient.
2.1 Calculating Heat Transfer Coefficients

Heat transfer of the gas side is divided to two sections:
1. Radiation heat transfer, which is deemed negligible due to its insignificance below 800 ᵒF
(426 ᵒC).
2. Convective heat transfer, which is dependent on several different parameters, as follows.
2.1.1 Superheater
Grimson’s correlation was used to calculate outer heat transfer coefficient of the superheater,
where tubes are used without fins. This correlation it widely used to calculate convective heat
transfer coefficient [12].
= ∗ (7)
where Nu and Re stand for Nusselts and Reynolds numbers respectively; N and B depend on
tube arrangement (in-line or staggered), the distance between the tubes, and tube diameter,
which is available in the reference.
The heat transfer coefficient inside of the tubes with the flowing steam current is determined
with the equation below.
.
ℎ = 2.44 ∗ .
. . (8)
= .
where W is steam mass velocity, dt is tube internal diameter, k is steam thermal conductivity,
Cp is specific heat capacity, and finally, is steam dynamic viscosity is superheater mean input
and output temperature.
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.5
2.1.2 Evaporator
ESCOA correlation [12] is usually used to calculate heat transfer coefficient over fin tubes in a
staggered arrangement (Figure 2) as seen in Eq. (9).
. . .
+ 2ℎ + 460
ℎ = × ×
+ 460
=
−
12
ℎ
= +
12 6
.
= 0.091
. (9)
= 0.35 + 0.65
.
= 0.7 + 0.7 − 0.8
=
12
1
= −
where h represents fin height, tg is mean gas temperature, tα is mean fin temperature, G
stands for gas mass velocity, and Wg is gas mass flow rate. The rest of the parameters are SL
and ST as tube length and width respectively, Ao as flow cross section, Nw as number of tubes
against the hot gas flow, L as tube length, n as number of fins per inch, b as fin thickness, Re
as Reynolds number, and finally Nd is the number of find in depth (It’s worth noting that the
correlations regarding the c factor is regarded as solid for the fins).
Gas flow
Figure 2. Evaporator fin arrangement and the cross section of gas flow over the tubes[12]
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.6
The heat transfer coefficient acquired in the gas side of the fin tubes must be multiplied by
fins’ effectiveness factor (refer to Eq. (5)) which is a number less than 1. Fin effectiveness
factor is calculated as follows [12]:
= 1 − (1 − )
4 ℎ + 4ℎ + 2 +4 ℎ
= ×
24
(1 − )
= + (10)
12
1
= .
+ 2ℎ
1 + 0.002292 ℎ
.
24ℎ
=
Correlation proposed by Kandlikar [13] is used in this work to calculate heat transfer
coefficient inside of the vertical evaporator tubes where boiling occurs as shown in Eq. (11):
. .
0.23
ℎ =
ℎ =ℎ[ × (25 ) + ]
. .
1−
=
= (11)
2
=
ℎ
= [1.1360, 0.9, 667.2, 0.7, 0.0] ; < 0.65
= [0.6683, −0.2, 1058.0, 0.7, 0.0] ; ≥ 0.65
where hl is liquid phase heat transfer coefficient, Prl is liquid phase Prandtl number, Co is the
convection number, Fr is the Froud number, Bo is the boiling number, and F is a correction
factor dependent on the type of liquid, which for water it is 1. X represent mean vapor quality
along the tube, and finally, ρv and ρl stand for vapor and liquid phase densities, respectively.
2.1.3 Economizer
The flow in the economizer is in single phase form. Economizer must preheat the water inlet
of the HRSG, by increasing its temperature from 25 ᵒC to 10 ᵒC below saturated temperature
at operating pressure. The equation used to calculate heat transfer coefficient is similar to the
one used with the evaporator, however, the water side utilizes the Eq. (12) provided as below
[12]:
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.7
(155 + 1.55 ) .
ℎ = . (12)
Where t is mean water temperature in the economizer and V is water flow velocity. This
equation is applicable to mean temperatures up to 300 ᵒF (150 ᵒC).
2.2 Developed Code Algorithm

The developed design code has different sections. The first section is Energy Balancing; in this
section exhaust mass flow rate and its temperature are known and by consider evaporator
pinch point temperature (15-20℃) the energy conservation equation has been derived, the
result of this section is the steam mass flow rate. In the latter code sections, superheater,
evaporator and economizer heat transfer areas have been obtained. In the last section the
stack temperature (stack temperature should be more than 120 ℃ to avoid corrosion by
condensing acid on the stack wall) and pressure drop have been checked. If each one of them
exceed of the allowed quantity, the design must be revised. The design procedure is illustrated
in Figure 3 (the developed code flowchart).
Figure 3. The developed code flowchart for HRSG design
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.8
3 Experimental Section
It is aforementioned that a small scale once through HRSG unit was designed and constructed
in advanced energy systems laboratory (AESL) of Tarbiat Modares University. An experimental
study of a HRSG was also carried out in AESL. This section reviews HRSG specifications,
measurement instruments and experiment method (test design).
3.1 Constructed HRSG Specs

Schematics and flow diagram of the HRSG is depicted in the Figure 4. The parts and equipment
of HRSG as inlet and exhaust duct, gas simulator, air damper, evaporator, superheater,
collectors, steam trap, demister, silencer, feed water tank and pump, safety valve, and
preheater are shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4. Schematics and flow diagram of constructed HRSG
The specifications of the studied and constructed HRSG can be seen in the Table 1.
Table 1: Designed HRSG characteristics
Characteristic Value
HRSG width(cm) (constant in all sections) 30

No. of Evaporator / Superheater tubes 30 / 4
Inlet duct and HRSG internal length(cm) 250
Evaporator height(cm) 100
Exhaust duct length(cm) 150
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.9
Figure 5 shows the desinged and constructed once through HRSG in two different views. The
distinctive feature of the constructed HRSG is possessing hot gas simulator that makes it
possible to apply a wide range of temperatures, velocities and different conditions from the
DG exhaust to the HRSG inlet.
Figure 5. Desinged and constructed HRSG in AESL
3.2 HRSG Operation Description

Figure 4 shows the placement of different experiment components. According to Figure 4, the
Feed water is transferred by pump from the feed water tank to the bottom collector. It should
be noted that the water first enters the preheater tubes embedded in the exhaust duct and
preheated; entering HRSG tubes at a higher temperature. A rotameter has been placed in the
path of the water towards the coil to make sure of the presence of water inside the copper
coils. The water exiting the rotameter is preheater first, and then sent towards the evaporator
tubes. The water counter measures the flow rate incoming into the tubes. The water is
distributed among the evaporator tubes by the bottom collector. The water rising inside the
evaporator tubes and absorbing the heat from the gas passing on the tube bundle, changes
the water to steam at the tube exit. The steam generated by different tube rows is collected
by the top collector, entering the superheater through it. After passing through the
superheater, the superheated steam now enters the final collector. A valve is installed on the
collector, closing of which can set the pressure of the generated steam. A silencer is also used
to reduce noise pollution created by the steam exiting the final collector. A level meter is used
to control the level of water inside the evaporator tubes. A control system controls all of the
equipment. The duty of this control system is overviewing the entire equipment, to reassure
if all of the components are operating properly, and prevent any issues with HRSG operation.
This system can also detect undesirable events and shut the power to the entire system to
prevent any physical damage inflicted to the HRSG. These events can be categorized as
follows:
 In case of superheater exit valve being closed, considering the HRSG is designed to
operate at 6 bars of pressure; also pressure rising above this value will also warrant a
shutdown command, as well as releasing the safety valve.
 The most important matter considered by the control system is the tubes’ water
level. If the water falls below the defined level for the HRSG, the pump starts feeding
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.10
water into the tubes to raise the water level. But in case the water level inside the
tubes reaches zero for any reason, the control system issues a shutdown command;
since too much excess heat could increase the chance of tube failure.
3.3 Measurement Instruments Used

This section defines the main measurement instruments used on the HRSG.
3.3.1 Thermocouple
This instrument is used to measure the temperature in the gas side of the HRSG. Due to the
high temperature of different parts in this experiment, a k-type thermocouple has been
utilized to measure gas temperatures as seen in Figure 6 (a). The measurement range of this
thermocouple is between 0 to 1200 ᵒC. This thermocouple can used to measure inlet and
outlet temperatures of the gas side in the HRSG.
3.3.2 Vane anemometer

Measuring the velocity of the hot gas is done by the vane anemometer. This device is depicted
in Figure 6 (b). Since the rotational velocity of the blades is proportional to the velocity of the
flow, its flow rate can be calculated by measuring the rotational velocity of the blades. It
should be noted that, as the velocity in the exhaust section of the HRSG is determined, gas
side flow rate can be measured using the cross section area of the flow and the measure
temperature. The HT10X device of the heat transfer service unit was used to record the
velocity values.
3.3.3 Pressure indicator

Pressure indicator was used to measure HRSG operational pressure. The pressure range of
this pressure indicator that shown in Figure 6 (c), is up to 10 bars.
3.3.4 Laser thermometer

This device is used to measure water temperature before being pumped towards HRSG tubes.
This temperature can be used to determine the effectiveness and the performance of the
preheater. Figure 6 (d) illustrates the laser thermometer used in measuring the temperature
of the preheated water.
3.3.5 Water counter
Figure 6 (e) shows the water counter. In the experiment study, a counter was used to calculate
the amount of generated steam with the help of a stop watch.
3.3.6 Preheater coils
Hot gases after going over the evaporator tubes, exit the HRSG through the exhaust duct. A
coil (preheater) is placed in the exhaust duct to absorb the remaining thermal capacity of the
gas, transferring to the water provided from the feed tank prior to being pumped to the
bottom collector and distributed among the evaporator tubes. The coils are made of copper
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.11
tubes of 0.5 inch diameters. The tubes have 1.5 meters of length as well as 3 passes. As evident
in Figure 6 (f), the preheater coils are placed in the exhaust duct.
(a) (b) (c)
(d) (e) (f)

Figure 6. Main measurement instruments of studied HRSG
3.4 Test Design and Application Method

After starting the HRSG and passing some time to let the HRSG reach its steady state, first the
HRSG inlet temperature is measured by the thermocouple. Afterwards, exhaust outlet velocity
is measure by the vane anemometer. It’s worth noting that the exhaust gas velocity is
measured in the top, middle and bottom sections of the exhaust duct, and the average of the
three values is regarded as the exhaust gas velocity. The desired HRSG operational pressure
can be set by closing the pressure valve. Regarding the tubes’ water levels as well as
confidence in the presence of water in preheater tubes, the water volume in the counter is
recorded after the first pump start-up; the time is simultaneously measured by the stop watch.
During these stages, water temperature after passing through the preheater and before being
pumped are measured several times using the laser thermometer and then averaged. The
measurement time is considered almost 30 minutes using the stop watch. During this process,
boiler water levels must be checked and made sure that the feed tank is not depleted. Before
the last pump start-up, the stop watch is stopped, and the volume of water passed through
the counter is recorded. Therefore, the flow rate of the generated steam can be measured. It
should be noted that the measured flow rate is only correct if the pump is feeding the HRSG.
Otherwise, the recorded the flow rate is different from the real value. It’s worth noting that
during the pump operation, other parameters such as exhausted gas temperature and
preheated water temperature are recorded. This experiment and process can be carried out
with different generated steam pressures.
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.12

With regard to the experimental setup, the experiments were done at several steam pressure
and different exhaust inlet condition. In the primary tests there wasn’t preheater and the
water after a tank was entered to the evaporator by a pump. The results are presented in the
Table 2.
Table 2: The experiments results before preheater installation

Exhaust(gas side) Water side
No. Mass flow rate Inlet Mass flow rate Evaporator Inlet
Pressure (bar)
(kg/s) Temperature (℃) (kg/h) Temperature (℃)
1 0.26 411 3.1 25 25
2 0.34 273 3.1 15 25
3 0.27 280 2 23 25
4 0.26 411 1.4 37 25
Figure 7 (a) and (b) show that almost in the similar condition increasing in steam pressure
makes reducing steam production. This is due to water saturation temperature increased,
therefore larger surface is required to reach subcooled water to saturation temperature and
boiling process occurs.
According to Table 2 and Figure 7 (a) and (b), at the pressure 3.1 bar, a 30% increase in the
exhaust mass flow rate leads to gas(exhaust) inlet temperature decrease by about 34% due to
change in damper position, however steam production decreases by almost 40%. This result
shows that effect of the inlet gas temperature is more important than its mass flow rate in the
amount of generated steam of HRSG.
(a) (b)
Figure 7. Steam production flow rate vs. pressure (a) at the inlet temperature equal 411 ℃
(b) at the inlet temperature almost 280℃
After preheater installation inlet water temperature to evaporator increases and the results
are presented in the Table 3.
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.13
Table 3: The experiments results after preheater installation

Exhaust(gas side) Water side
No.
Mass flow rate Inlet Mass flow rate Evaporator Inlet
Pressure (bar)
(kg/s) Temperature (℃) (kg/h) Temperature (℃)
1 0.345 259 2 38 77.4
2 0.345 259 3 29 88.9
3 0.345 259 4 26 76.8
4 0.345 259 5 23 82.1
According to tables Table 2 and Table 3 after preheater installation, the steam production
increases strongly due to more of the evaporator heat transfer surface is used for evaporation,
and isn’t used for increase the water temperature. For example by installing the preheater,
the amount of generated steam increased significantly by two times at pressure 3 bar. As well
as the steam production at pressure 2 bar with preheated temperature equal to 77.4oC, 1.65
as high as without preheater.
Increasing operating pressure, increases its saturated temperature. Therefore, by assuming a
constant inlet temperature, the temperature difference between the passing hot gas over the
tube bundle and the saturated temperature at the operational pressure falls, increasing the
temperature of the exhausted gas, as illustrated in Figure 8; by increasing pressure from 2 to
5 bar, the steam production flow rate is decreases 40%.
Figure 8. The steam production flow rate vs. pressure after the preheater installation
The developed code was evaluated with the results of experiments. The evaluation has been
done by applying thermodynamic condition such as exhaust mass flow rate, inlet
temperatures, steam mass flow rate and then required heat transfer surface is calculated. The
results show that the code predicts evaporator required heat transfer surface on average, 70%
existent area. This is due to heat transfer coefficient correlations, construction limits, heat loss
ignoring and measurement error in the instruments.
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.14
5 Conclusion
Heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) is one of the most important parts of cogeneration
plants. In this study, based on the thermodynamic and heat transfer principles code has been
developed to simulate a once through HRSG. The developed code is capable to predict the
heat transfer surface required to produce steam. As well as, a small scale HRSG unit was
designed and constructed in advanced energy systems laboratory of Tarbiat Modares
University to verify the developed code. Experiments have been done under different
conditions. Availability of installing preheater in HRSG has been investigated to evaluate
HRSG’s performance. Results show that by increasing HRSGs operating pressure from 2 to 5
bar, the steam production decreased significantly almost 40% at the similar operating
condition. In addition, after preheater installation, the steam production increases strongly
due to more of the evaporator heat transfer surface is used for evaporation. By installing the
preheater, the amount of generated steam increased significantly by two times. The
developed code base on heat transfer correlations predicts required heat transfer surface 30%
lower than existent surface, on average. It is suggested that HRSG designers should consider
heat transfer surface almost 30% higher in designing and constructing procedure.
References
[1] Erdem Ersayin and Leyla, Performance analysis of combined cycle power plants, Elsevier,
Energy, Vol. 43, (2015), pp. 832-842.
[2] C.Butcher, B.Reddy, Second law analysis of a waste heat recovery based power
generation system, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, Vol. 50, (2007), No.
11, pp. 2355-2363.
[3] N.Hegde, I.Han, T.Lee, R.Roy, Flow and heat transfer in heat recovery steam generators,
Journal of Energy Resources Technology, Vol. 129, (2007), No. 3, pp. 232-242.
[4] A. Behbahani-Nia, M. Bagheri, R. Bahrampoury, Optimization of fire tube heat recovery

steam generators for cogeneration plants through genetic algorithm, Applied Thermal
Engineering, Vol. 30, (2010), No. 16, pp. 2378-2385.
[5] Shin H, Kim D, Ahn H, Choi S, and Myoung G, Investigation of the Flow Pattern in a
Complex Inlet Duct of a Heat Recovery Steam Generator. Energy and Power, Vol. 2,
(2012), No. 1, pp. 1-8.
[6] M. T. Mansouri, P. Ahmadi, A. G. Kaviri, M. N. M. Jaafar, Exergetic and economic

evaluation of the effect of HRSG configurations on the performance of combined cycle
power plants, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 58, (2012), pp. 47-58.
[7] F. Alobaid, K. Karner, J. Belz, B. Epple, H. G. Kim, Numerical and Experimental Study of a
HRSG During Start-Up Procedure, Energy, Vol. 64, (2014), pp. 1057-1070.
[8] M. Mirzakhani Siahkalroudi, Analysis and simulation of Heat Recovery Steam Generator
of semi industrial gas turbine used in process industries, University of Tehran, Iran, 2014.
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.15
[9] H.Feng, W.Zhong, Y.Wu, and S.Tong, Thermodynamic performance analysis and
algorithm model of multi-pressure heat recovery steam generators based on heat
exchangers layout, Energy Conversion and Management, Vol. 81, (2014), pp. 282-289.
[10] P. Hanafizadeh, S. Falahatkar, P. Ahmadi, M. Mirzakhani Siahkalroudi, A novel method

for inlet duct geometry improvement of heat recovery steam generators, Applied
Thermal Engineering, Vol. 89, (2015), pp. 125-133.
[11] Li, Jinbo, Kunyu Wang, and Lin Cheng, Experiment and optimization of a new kind once-
through heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) based on analysis of exergy and
economy, Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 120, (2017), pp. 402-415.
[12] V. Ganapathy, Steam generators and waste heat boilers: for process and plant
engineers, CRC Press, United Sates of America, 2014.
[13] S. G. Kandlikar, A general correlation for saturated two phase flow boiling heat transfer
inside horizontal and vertical tubes, Journal of heat transfer, Vol. 112, (1990), pp. 219-
228.
REMOO–2018 — 06.024.16
QUEST FOR ENERGY
LAYOUT, INSTALLATION AND OPERATION OF A TEST BENCH

FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF RANKINE-CYCLE WASTE HEAT
RECOVERY SYSTEMS
Michael LANG
Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics,
Graz University of Technology
Inffeldgasse 25b, 8010 Graz, Austria; michael.lang@ivt.tugraz.at
Abstract
Recent discussions concerning propulsion systems for commercial vehicles as well as
passenger cars are mainly dominated by emissions issues, tending to forget the important
role of efficiency. In the latter field, combustion engines have undergone a long evolutionary
improvement during the last decades. Now, technology has reached a level where advances
can only be made in small steps. For a further reduction of fuel consumption, the use of
waste heat is the next logical step.
Investigation and development of such waste heat recovery systems, based on the Rankine
Cycle (RC), are preferably carried out on dedicated test benches providing reproducible
boundary conditions and versatile measurement options. For this purpose, a test bed has
been installed at the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics at Graz
University of Technology, providing superheated steam of various media, ranging from water
to alcohols and other organic working fluids. The facility serves as a means for the
investigation of single elements of RC waste heat recovery systems, such as the expansion
engine, pumps, valves, heat exchangers or other components. This requires a modular and
flexible design. The measurement of all relevant variables of state, efficiencies and output
values is a challenging task, requiring some special approaches. Additionally, the system
control is especially demanding, considering the complexity of the cycle.
The layout, installation and the following commissioning and operation of this system at
Graz University of Technology will be treated in this paper, focusing particularly on
requirements for reliable and accurate measurements.
Keywords: Waste Heat Recovery; Rankine Cycle; Superheated Steam Test Bench;
Water; Organic Working Fluid
1 Introduction
The conversion from heat to power, as used not only in mobile propulsion systems such as
passenger cars and commercial vehicles, but also in stationary power devices, as well as
other industrial processes, inevitably lead to heat energy at rather low temperature levels
that is not used any further and thus is “lost”. This so called “waste heat”, however, still
contains a not negligible amount of exergy which can, in one way or another, be retrieved
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.1
via a Waste Heat Recovery System (WHR). A promising technology for this purpose is the use
of a Rankine Cycle (RC) (or, depending on the medium used, an Organic RC (ORC)), cf. Figure
1. Therein the heat is used to evaporate and superheat the working medium, which is
relaxed in an expansion engine; during this expansion, power is generated which can be
used, and overall efficiency of the system is increased. The working medium is then being
condensed, pressurized and used again (cf. [2], [3]).
The development and testing of RC systems for waste heat recovery requires a special test
environment: As the source of the heat is of secondary importance, the focus can be laid on
the steam cycle. A test bench for this very use has been designed, installed and brought into
operation at the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics (IVT) at Graz
University of Technology, which is described in detail below concerning the layout, the
possible test procedure and the special demands. Additionally, results of test bench
operation with a water steam expander are shown. Finally, some exemplary findings are
presenting, especially concerning the investigation of expansion engines on the test bench.
feed- heat
water exchanging ex- ICE
pump device pander
water tank condenser

Figure 1. Typical steam cycle as used for waste heat recovery in ICE powered vehicles (cf. [1])
2 Layout, Installation and Operation of a Steam Test Bench for the

Investigation of WHR Systems
In order to test, develop and improve WHR systems as well as single parts of the WHR cycle
such as valves, pumps, heat exchangers or, most importantly, the expansion engine itself, it
is important to provide a suitable test environment. Of course, the final proof of the
complete system has to be done in the vehicle itself with the complete drivetrain, but for the
development phase, it is crucial to have a flexible, modular and reproducible test bench; this
was the goal for the build-up of a dedicated steam test bench at the Institute of Internal
Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics at Graz University of Technology.
The basic question was, to which extent the test bench should resemble the final layout of
the WHR system, and where the cut should be made to the “real” system (compare Figure
1). One of the main decisions was to replace the heat source, i.e., in reality, the waste heat
of the ICE (mainly exhaust gas (EG) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) gas) or another
industrial process, by another heat source. In order to be able to still use the heat
exchangers of the real circle, the hot exhaust gases were simply replaced by hot air which
could be heated via gas burners or, in the present case, via electric heaters (cf. Figure 2).
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.2
One of the key advantages of this layout, apart from the saved space that a complete ICE
test bench would require, is the easier handling, as the electric heater allows much more
convenient application than an ICE. Apart from this, the reliability is higher and
reproducibility is enhanced, with little disadvantages (when only considering the WHR cycle
and not the complete drivetrain). The input parameters, such as the “exhaust gas” mass flow
and temperature, still have to be retrieved from the ICE test bench, but this way the
interface is clearly defined.
Figure 2. Basic, simplified layout of the steam test bench at IVT
Of course, due to the missing ICE and for the precise evaluation of the expansion engine, an
electric brake is used for measuring the output power. The WHR circuit itself, on the other
hand, was modelled as close as possible to the final circuit, but, as no packaging
requirements had to be fulfilled on the test bench, much more flexible and discrete.
2.1 Basic Components of the Test Bench

Air path (cf. Figure 2): The cold ambient air is sucked in and pressurized via a side channel
blower, with a maximum mass flow of about 1500 kg/h. The pressurized air is warmed up in
an electrically powered heater to a temperature of up to over 500 °C, in order to simulate
the hot exhaust gas. Afterwards, the airflow is divided in two separate streams which can be
regulated concerning mass flow and temperature (via mixing fresh air to one of the airflows)
and guided to two separate heat exchangers (i.e. the evaporators). This way, the use of a
separate EG heat exchanger and an EGR heat exchanger is enabled. The used air is being
ejected to the environment.
Working fluid path (cf. Figure 2):

• The working medium, be it water, alcohols (e.g. ethanol) or other organic media or
refrigerants, is pressurized in liquid phase from the tank via a pump to a pressure of
up to 40 bar. The pump is, in the basic layout, electrically driven and can withstand
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.3
most common fluids. Alternatively, the pump can be simply replaced by any other
pump that shall be tested.
• After the pump, the working medium flow is split via a valve unit in two separate
flows, one to be heated via the “exhaust gas” (the so called EG mass flow) and one
that will be heated by the exhaust recirculation gas (EGR mass flow). In order to
reliably regulate the single flows, each path is supplied with a Coriolis type mass flow
meter.
• The heat exchangers, one for the EGR gas flow and one for the EG flow, can be
exchanged easily as they use a common flange system. Generally, evaporators similar
to the ones used in the later vehicle application are used. As air instead of exhaust
gas is used on the hot side (which shows very similar characteristics), the results are
highly significant and an evaporator development can be carried out, if needed. This
special arrangement, in contrast to 2-phase steam boilers, allows the generation of
superheated steam (instead of saturated steam only) which significantly influences
the versatility, allowing the testing of various WHR systems. The superheated steam
can reach temperatures of up to 400 °C (depending on the working medium).
• The two steam flows are merged again and flow through another valve unit, which
can be set in two states: The first one sends the superheated steam to the expansion
engine, the second one bypasses the expander, sending the steam directly to the
condenser. This second path is important for heating up the cycle or for emergency
stops of the expansion engine.
• The expansion engine is fed by live steam and transforms it to mechanical energy
which is measured via an electrical brake; the brake is an asynchronous machine
with 4-quadrant operation, being able to simulate towing operation of the expander
as well. In directly coupled operation, up to 7000 rpm can be used, with a maximum
power of 65 kW and a maximum mean torque of 205 Nm at 3000 rpm.
• In standard configuration, a stainless steel water cooled condenser is used to liquefy
the waste steam. It can manage of course the complete, unused live steam mass flow
as well.
• After the condenser, an optional condensate scavenge pump can be installed in
order to keep backpressure low.
• The tank for the liquid working medium can be set at overpressure if needed, which
is set via a coupled air vessel with controlled outlet pressure.
The cycle is closed, with the option of installing media separation devices if needed.
The control of the cycle is done via a centralized control device using KS Engineer’s Tornado
Software Suite. Due to the high pressure steam contained in the system, all elements are
monitored and overpressure valves are installed in relevant areas.
For enabling reliable measurements of the single components as well as the complete cycle,
several sensors are needed:
• Pressure and temperature are measured after all relevant cycle components such as
pumps, valve units, heat exchangers, expander etc..
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.4
• Mass flows of the working medium are measured before the heat exchangers,
separately for the EGR and the EG working medium flows.
• Measurement of all relevant pressures and temperatures in the expansion engine
(“slow” measurement of mean values) and indicated pressures in the expansion
chambers and before the inlet (“fast” measurement, crank angle resolved) for the
calculation of indicated work.
• The expander brake can set the speed, and the torque can be measured crank angle
resolved via a torque measuring flange.
• Measurement of pressures, temperatures and mass flows for both air paths on the
hot side (“exhaust gas”).
• Measurement of ambient values (temperature, pressure, humidity).
2.2 Main Challenges

The measurement of WHR cycles and their components differs significantly from the
measurement of ICE:
• The cycle is closed, so all contaminations in the working medium or the lubricant lead
to significant deterioration of the measurement, or even damage of the components.
• Again, through the closed cycle, the operating state of each component, especially
the expansion engine, influences the state of all other components. Therefore, the
control and steady measurement becomes difficult. A sophisticated test bench
control is needed.
• When using an expander concept with mixed lubrication, i.e. lubricant that is
dissolved in the working medium, the thermal decomposition of the lubricant at hot
spots in the evaporators has to be prevented. Therefore, the maximum temperature
of the heating air has to be limited, and an even flow of the working medium within
the evaporators has to be ensured by design measures. Additionally, the distribution
of the lubricant in the cycle has crucial influence on the trouble free operation of the
expansion engine: The local lubricant concentration can differ due to flow effects,
thermal effects, gravity- and pressure effects, as a cause of the 2-phase flow and
probably other influences. This way, it might happen that at important friction areas,
the lubricant concentration is too low, although the overall lubricant content should
be sufficient. Therefore, local lubricant concentration measurement would be
needed, which poses high (and partially still unsolved) demands on the test bench
measuring technology.
• The thermal inertia of the test bench cycle, which is much higher than the vehicle
sized WHR cycle’s (due to the required modularity and accessibility), makes it harder
to measure transient operation; therefore, mainly steady state operation points are
being measured.
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.5
2.3 Exemplary Showcase of a Measuring Procedure by Means of an

Expansion Engine Measurement
The procedure, measurement strategy and some exemplary results are to be shown by
means of an expansion-engine investigation which was carried out in the course of a project
together with the Institute of Thermal Engineering at TU Graz. The considered engine (Figure
3) operates according to a rotating piston type, featuring the following characteristics:
• working principle: intermittent, displacing piston
• piston movement: rotating
• valve timing: fixed
• lubrication concept: oil free
• working medium: water (H2O)
• live steam pressure: 5-30 bar
• live steam temperature: 200-250 °C
The above data shows that high super heating cannot be applied, due to thermal limits of
the engine, caused by material (especially the non-metal seals) and tolerancing issues. A
higher overheating temperature, on the other hand, would probably lead to a more stable
operation, as the live steam could not so easily condensate on cooler spots and thus a more
linear behavior can be reached.
Figure 3. Setup of the expansion engine on the test bench (cf. [4])
During the measuring program, mainly steady state points are investigated. To keep waiting
time between measurement points short and reduce load jumps, points with similar
enthalpy flow should be investigated in succession, and temperature leaps should be
minimized.
When measuring a grid of operation points, some of them will be far off the design point. In
case of staying within the operating limits, the consequence will be reduced power or
efficiency only. One of the reasons for this can be seen in the indicated pressure – cylinder
volume chart of a characteristic off-point in Figure 4. Here, expansion below back pressure
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.6
occurs, leading to additional pumping losses. In contrary, Figure 5 shows the indicated
pressure of an operating point closer to the design point, clearly displaying the expansion to
(nearly) back pressure, using the steam to much higher degree.
Figure 4. Over-expansion at an off-point (cf. [5])
Figure 5. Operating point near the design point (cf. [5])
Typical results of a measuring grid can be seen in Figure 6 and Figure 7. The two measuring
sequences were carried out at approx. 11 bar/240 °C (displayed in red color) and
6 bar/210 °C (displayed in blue color) at varying engine speeds (the high load point at
700 rpm could not be measured due to a technical problem of the engine, which is why in
the graph two very similar points are shown). The nearly linear increase of power with
engine speed (at similar live steam states) can be observed, indicating that the working
process of the expansion engine is nearly independent of the available time for the inlet,
outlet and expansion process. This is due to the adequate port and valve cross sections of
the investigated engine, but it is also a consequence of the properties of (especially
superheated) water steam, in particular of the high speed of sound allowing fast gas
exchanges.
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.7
Figure 6. Effective expander power on expander speed for a typical test series (cf. [5])
Figure 7. Mass flow on expander speed for a typical test series (cf. [5])
The above test series of an expander show that the basic layout of the steam test bench with
its flexible design allows a quick and effective build up for an arbitrary test object. The
displayed investigations of an expander prove that stable and reproducible results can be
generated with manageable effort, demonstrating that the intended goal of the test bench
could be reached.
2.4 Typical Findings of Experimental Investigations

In the course of commissioning and operation, experimental investigations of various
expansion engines were carried out on the described steam test bench, as well as on a full
system test bench including an ICE as a heat source. Some important findings could be
acquired in this process, which are specific to steam cycles and significantly differ from ICE
test bench results. An interesting example shall be displayed below (cf. [6]).
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.8
Fitting in of the cylinder pressure signal:

Based on investigations of a 2-stroke reciprocating piston type steam expander, the issue of
fitting in the indicated cylinder pressure signal is to be discussed (cf. Figure 8).
The crank angle based measurement of the cylinder pressure was carried out via a piezo
quartz pressure transducer, as was the pressure before the intake port (“buffer volume”).
Additionally, absolute static mean pressures in the buffer volume and after the exhaust port
(“backpressure”) were measured.
Figure 8. Fitting in of the measured cylinder pressure signal (cf. [7])
An essential task is the fitting of the crank angle based pressure signals. The shifting in
relation to the top dead center (TDC), which is vitally important for the thermodynamic
evaluation, was done similar to ICE-measurements via a capacitive TDC-sensor during
motoring. The more critical part is the determination of the absolute pressure level and the
scaling of the pressure signal, which is required due to thermal drift. The following approach
was chosen:
• Fitting in of the cylinder pressure level by setting the pressure equal to the
backpressure in the sector where the exhaust valve is fully open (measurements of a
crank angle base backpressure have shown that in this sector, the fitting to the static
backpressure is sufficient).
• Fitting of the crank angle based buffer volume pressure signal to the absolute static
mean buffer volume pressure via linear regression.
• Now, it is assumed that in the sector where the intake valve is fully open (around
TDC) the cylinder pressure equals the (crank angle resolved) buffer volume pressure;
this is valid, as around TDC the volumetric cylinder volume change is slow, and the
steam provides fast pressure equalization, resulting in rather slow steam velocity and
small pressure differences between buffer volume and cylinder. This way, the scaling
factor for the pressure signal can be determined.
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.9
The need for this fitting in could be seen in several measurements, the results showed high
plausibility and good conformity with numerical simulations.
3 Summary / Conclusion
The use of waste heat of ICE-based propulsion systems of passenger cars, but even more so for
commercial vehicles, is one of the most promising technical approaches for saving fuel and thus
CO2 and other emissions. The possibilities are wide spread, with one of them with prospect for
series application being the Rankine cycle with water, alcohols or other organic working media.
In order to thoroughly develop a complete WHR cycle or single components, a suitable test
environment is indispensable. Such a WHR test bench has been designed, developed and
installed at the Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics at Graz
University of Technology. The basic demands differ significantly from those of an ICE test bed,
due to the closed cycle and the different media. Nevertheless, a very flexible, modular test
bench has been installed which enables the close-to-reality development of this promising
technology. The conducted investigations proved the chosen layout of the test bench and
showed reliable and dependent results, enabling effective analyses and optimizations of WHR-
cycles and their components, as well as new findings helping in the development process,
especially for expansion engines.
References
[1] Moran M.J., Shapiro H.N., Boettner D.D., Bailey M.B.: Principles of Engineering
Thermodynamics; 7. edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Asia), ISBN: 978-0-470-91801-2,
2012.
[2] Stephan P., Schaber K., Stephan K., Mayinger F.: Thermodynamik – Band 1:
Einstoffsysteme; 17. edition, Springer Berlin New York Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-540-
70813-1, 2007.
[3] Eichlseder H.: Thermodynamik – Vorlesungsskriptum; Institute for Internal Combustion

Engines and Thermodynamics, Graz University of Technology, 2012.
[4] Zotter G., Archan G., Rieberer R., Kalkgruber J.: Erste Untersuchungsergebnisse eines
Rotationskolbenexpanders für den Einsatz in einer pelletsbefeuerten Mikro-KWK; 14.
Symposium Energieinnovation, 10.-12.2.2016, Graz/Austria.
[5] Leibetseder K.: Experimentelle Untersuchung einer Expansionsmaschine für Rankine-

Prozesse kleiner Leistung. Master Thesis at the Institute of Thermal Engineering, Graz
University of Technology 2015.
[6] Lang M.: Design of a Steam Expander; Doctoral Thesis, Graz University of Technology,
2016.
[7] Kraxner T.: Konstruktion und Simulation eines Expanders zur Nutzung der Abwärme
von Verbrennungskraftmaschinen; Master Thesis, Graz University of Technology, 2013.
REMOO–2018 — 06.045.10
QUEST FOR ENERGY
INNOVATIVE MECHANICAL AND MICROSTRUCTURAL TESTING

OF IRRADIATED MATERIALS IN HOT CELLS
Mariia ZIMINA*, Tatiana ADAMÍKOVÁ, Petr ŠVRČULA, Ondřej SRBA
Research Centre Rez, Ltd.
Hlavni 130, 25068, Husinec-Rez, Czech Republic; mariia.zimina@cvrez.cz
Abstract
The paper describes the challenges connected with mechanical and microstructural testing of
highly irradiated materials and solutions available in Research Centre Rez, Czech Republic. The
variety of mechanical testing approaches allows to provide a complete analysis of the
radiation damage of metallic materials for nuclear power plants usage. Innovative methods
for e.g. fuel claddings and vessel components testing are described. The attention is paid to
selected experimental techniques improved to suit the radiation induced damage studies.
Namely, a corrosion cracks initiation testing in an autoclave with a water loop as well as a
mechanical testing of Zr fuel claddings are discussed. An acoustic emission signal collection
applied for a crack propagation and tensile testing as an auxiliary non-destructive technique
used for defects detection at initial stages is introduced.
Keywords: Hot cells; Irradiated materials testing; Mechanical testing;

Nuclear power plants
1 Introduction
The study of radiation damage of metallic materials is of a significant importance since it
enables to prolong the lifetime of existing nuclear power plants (NPP’s) and develop new
materials for the Generation III and IV. Steels are mainly used in NPP’s as they provide
sufficient stress, corrosion and high-temperatures resistance [1], [2]. Numeric studies of
radiation damage in steels and alloys has been published [3]–[6] and advanced methods of
radiation damage analysis were described [7]–[9]. Nevertheless, the development of new
experimental techniques for non-active materials arises the challenge to implement them for
irradiated ones. Thus, the electronics used in most of modern measurement devices should
be either shielded or avoided due to the severe damage caused by laser, neutron and gamma
radiation [10], [11]. Moreover, the manipulation with irradiated samples is rather difficult, so
that the special shielded areas should be used. These specially designed operation room are
called “hot cells”. Hot cells allow to operate with highly irradiated samples without any direct
contact with the source of ionizing radiation. Generally, hot cells can be used for the materials
study of the irradiated materials from the reactor core to monitor current state of the inner
parts of the reactor, such as reactor vessel, piping and welding parts. However, it is also used
for the development of new materials which are expected to be radiation resistant for nuclear
and space technology.
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.1
More than 20 hot cells complexes are located worldwide to support nuclear industry and
research. The facility in Research Centre Rez (CVR), in Czech Republic, is one of them. It has
been finished and put into operation in 2017. Innovative technologies are developing in CVR
to improve existing materials analyzing techniques and methods. This paper was designed to
introduce selected adjustments and improvements of existing technologies.
2 Hot Cells in CVR

In this part of the paper, the basic design of the CVR hot cell facility is described. Detailed
information about the instrumentation, construction and shielding testing can be found in
[12], [13].
CVR hot cells complex consists of eight gamma-, two alpha-, one semi-hot cells and “dry pool”
as is indicated in Figure 1. “Dry pool” is used for the initial raw operation with the source of
ionizing radiation entering the facility in a special shielded container. After the container is
opened the samples are transferred to the gamma hot cell where they are designated and
added to the internal database. After that, the preparation of the samples for mechanical
testing can be initiated. Gamma and alpha hot cells are designed for the maximum total
activity of the source of 300 TBq. Semi-hot cell is used for more sensitive technologies, such
as scanning electron microscope (SEM) and nanoindentation device and, thus, allows the
operation with significantly lower activities – maximum 250 GBq. The carriage of the samples
within the facility is realized using specially designed transportation device located on the top
of the hot cells.
Gamma HCs
Alpha HCs
Semi-hot cell
Hermetic box
Dry pool
Figure 1. Basic design of hot cells in CVR, Czech Republic
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.2
3 Mechanical Testing
3.1 Autoclave Testing
In CVR, a wide variety of equipment is present and enables to perform tensile, compression,
bending, creep, fatigue and corrosion resistance tests. All instrumentation is set up inside the
hermetic box which is then put into the hot cell (Figure 1). This unique design allows to easily
and quickly (in about 8 hours) change the instrumentation inside the hot cell. Selected
techniques are described further in more detail.
The autoclave with a water loop is used for studies of environmentally assisted corrosion
cracking (EACC) and allows to control the chemical composition, conductivity and activity of
the medium. The advantage of the CVR’s autoclave is a wide temperature range (up to 350 °C)
and in-situ control of parameters as well as ability of testing of irradiated samples. Thus, either
EACC and irradiation assisted corrosion cracking (IACC) experiments can be performed. The
water loop is housed out of the hot cell to facilitate access for the personnel. Figure 2 shows
the results of tensile testing of 316L stainless steel (SS) at selected temperatures under
depicted pressure ranging from room temperature to 350 °C. These measurements were
conducted in demineralized water with controlled conductivity and oxygen content. The initial
strain rate was 10-3 s-1 and crosshead speed of 0,014 mm/min. On contrary, the majority of
tests is performed in pressurized water reactor (PWR) or boiled water reactor (BWR) water
chemistry in order to simulate the relevant reactor conditions.
12 mm
Figure 2. Tensile testing of 316L SS in a demineralized water environment under

selected temperature/pressure conditions:
a) strain-stress curves, b) shape of the specimens
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.3
3.2 Fuel Cladding Testing

Fuel claddings testing is a large part of the research aimed for nuclear power plants. It includes
tensile and compression testing of the cladding in both axial and transverse direction. Fig. 3
shows the fuel cladding placement in an assembly. The cladding is surrounded by coolant to
avoid overheating. Thus, it is subjected to elevated temperatures, stress, radiation and
corrosion at the same time. It means that new complex experimental techniques are required.
In our lab, we are developing sample preparation techniques and specimens’ holders which
are then used in hot cells. Ring specimens are usually used for mechanical testing in transverse
direction (Fig. 4a), while tubes are utilized for axial testing. First, the holders are designed as
a sketch, after that it is processed to a drawing. Then its 3D model is printed and tested, voids
and manipulation issues are solved. Further, the original holder is produced in our workshop
according to the material and test conditions requirements. Fig. 4b shows various ring tensile
holders designed in CVR, which allows easier operation inside a hot cell using mechanical
manipulators. These holders are universal and can be used on tensile machines Instron 8802
and 8874, Zwick Roell Kappa DS 50 at temperatures up to 800 °C and in autoclave device up
to 350 °C. This design also allows to use extensometer and digital image correlation systems
during the test for accurate strain measurement.
Fuel pellet
Fuel cladding
Coolant
Figure 3. Schematic image of the fuel assembly in the VVER reactor core
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.4
(a)
(b) (c)
Figure 4. a) Ring test specimen, b) and

c) holders for ring test for distanced manipulation in hot cells
3.3 Acoustic Emission Monitoring

Detection of the macro- and microscale defects such as cracks, voids, dislocations, twins,
vacancies etc. is a subject of many scientific research groups. Non-destructive testing (NDT) is
one of the most reliable methods for the defects detection widely used in power plants, civil
constructions and space industry [14], [15]. Among NDT techniques is an acoustic emission
(AE) which allows not only to detect the formation of the listed defects but also to precisely
locate and distinguish them. This method is based on the fact, that when the structure is
subjected to a stress the defects occur resulting in a sudden release of energy, portion of
which is converted to elastic waves. They can be detected by piezoelectric transducers
(sensors) and by the means of triangulation can determine the position of the emitting
acoustic signal. Furthermore, the amplitude or these signals can bring an information about
the rate of growth of the detected defect. This method works properly for non-irradiated
materials as was indicated in a number of publications [16], [17]. In CVR, the AE system for
irradiated samples has been developed. It consists of the radiation resistant sensor and
shielding part covering preamplifier with a control unit distanced from the source of ionizing
radiation. AE sensor features a rugged cavity made from Inconnel 600 and an integral 1 m
long “hardline” cable. The sensor is tightly sealed by welding for use in harsh nuclear
environment. The sensor has a 100 kHz resonance frequency and 80 kHz to 560 kHz
bandwidth. All the materials used in this sensor have been proven for use in nuclear
environments. The Maximum operating temperature of the sensor is 540 °C and the soft-line
cable can be operated at a maximum temperature of 150 °C. Due to the longer lead and
increased number of connection points, because of the application inside the hot cells, the
signal loss increases. However, the signal is still sufficient for the detection. Among the
limitations are the size of the samples (the bigger the better), temperature and limited lifetime
of the sensor. The proposed arrangement of AE system inside the tensile testing machine is
shown in Figure 5.
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.5
Figure 5: Acoustic emission monitoring system in the CVR hot cells: a) arrangement of
the AE transducer and thermocouples in the tensile testing machine for testing at
elevated temperatures, b) AE signal detection system.
The sensor and thermocouples are attached to the samples automatically using pressurized
air from its back side and when the furnace is closed the extensometer is detached from the
front side. The sample is highlighted from the front side using the slit in the furnace. This
arrangement allows to perform different mechanical testing, e.g. three-point bending, tensile
tests of a variety of samples type and shapes including rings testing. The main benefit of the
system is the combination of in-situ detection methods and their comparison. Moreover,
described AE system has never been applied for the study of irradiated materials.
4 Summary
Brief introduction to new measurement systems for irradiated materials studies designed and
available in CVR is present in this paper. The development of new components, such as holders
and improved specimens design is ongoing. Further testing of these components as well as
new established AE system is performed. The major fields of experimental work cover
EACC/IACC, tensile/compression fuel claddings testing and expansion of an area of application
of currently used NTD methods for irradiated materials. The complex mechanical properties
studies can be completed also by microstructural analysis by SEM located in the semi-hot cell.
Acknowledgements
The presented work was financially supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport
Czech Republic - project LQ1603 Research for SUSEN. This work has been realized within
the SUSEN Project (established in the framework of the European Regional Development Fund
(ERDF) in project CZ.1.05/2.1.00/03.0108 and of the European Strategy Forum on Research
Infrastructures (ESFRI) in the project CZ.02.1.01/0.0/0.0/15_008/0000293, which is financially
supported by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports - project LM2015093 Infrastructure
SUSEN.
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.6
References
[1] B. Marini, X. Averty, P. Wident, P. Forget, and F. Barcelo, “Effect of the bainitic and
martensitic microstructures on the hardening and embrittlement under neutron
irradiation of a reactor pressure vessel steel,” J. Nucl. Mater., vol. 465, pp. 20–27, Oct.
2015.
[2] P. L. Andresen and G. S. Was, Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking, vol. 5.
Elsevier Inc., 2012.
[3] C. English and J. Hyde, Radiation damage of reactor pressure vessel steels, vol. 4. Elsevier
Inc., 2012.
[4] G. S. Was and R. S. Averback, Radiation damage using ion beams, vol. 1. Elsevier Inc.,
2012.
[5] R. E. Stoller, Primary radiation damage formation, vol. 1. Elsevier Inc., 2012.
[6] J. Šaroun, J. Kočík, and P. Strunz, “Investigation of radiation damage in VVER-440 reactor
vessel steels by SANS,” Phys. B Condens. Matter, vol. 350, no. 1–3 SUPPL. 1, pp. 755–
757, 2004.
[7] R. Halder Banerjee et al., “Understanding self ion damage in FCC Ni-Cr-Fe based alloy
using X-ray diffraction techniques,” J. Nucl. Mater., vol. 501, pp. 82–93, Apr. 2018.
[8] X. Zhang et al., “Radiation damage in nanostructured materials,” Prog. Mater. Sci., Mar.
2018.
[9] M. R. Tonks, A. Cheniour, and L. Aagesen, “How to apply the phase field method to
model radiation damage,” Comput. Mater. Sci., vol. 147, pp. 353–362, May 2018.
[10] T. Kalvas, A. Javanainen, H. Kettunen, H. Koivisto, O. Tarvainen, and A. Virtanen,

“Application and development of ion-source technology for radiation-effects testing of
electronics,” Nucl. Instruments Methods Phys. Res. Sect. B Beam Interact. with Mater.
Atoms, vol. 406, pp. 205–209, Sep. 2017.
[11] A. Huber et al., “Response of the imaging cameras to hard radiation during JET
operation,” Fusion Eng. Des., vol. 123, pp. 669–673, Nov. 2017.
[12] P. Švrčula et al., “Biological shielding test of hot cells with high active source 60 Co (300
TBq),” Radiat. Phys. Chem., vol. 140, pp. 328–334, Nov. 2017.
[13] CVR, “SUSEN hot cells,” RA4: Hot cells. [Online]. Available:
http://susen2020.cz/en/research/program-no-2-structural-and-system-
diagnostics/ra4-hot-cells/.
[14] M. B. Bakirov, V. P. Povarov, A. F. Gromov, and V. I. Levchuk, “Development of a

technology for continuous acoustic emission monitoring of in-service damageability of
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metal in safety-related NPP equipment,” Nucl. Energy Technol., vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 32–36,
2015.
[15] D. L. Carnì, C. Scuro, F. Lamonaca, R. S. Olivito, and D. Grimaldi, “Damage analysis of

concrete structures by means of acoustic emissions technique,” Compos. Part B Eng.,
vol. 115, pp. 79–86, 2017.
[16] M. Knapek et al., “Deformation of open-cell microcellular pure aluminum investigated

by the acoustic emission technique,” in TMS Light Metals, 2014.
[17] A. Yonezu and X. Chen, “Micro-scale damage characterization in porous ceramics by an

acoustic emission technique,” Ceram. Int., vol. 40, no. 7, pp. 9859–9866, 2014.
REMOO–2018 — 06.046.8
QUEST FOR ENERGY
AN EXPERIMENTAL AND NUMERICAL STUDY OF FLOW

BEHIND AN EQUILATERAL TRIANGULAR PRISM
Subhash MAHARSHI*, Namit AGRAWAL
Institute of Thermodynamics and Fluid Dynamics, Department of Mechanical Engg.
Graphic Era University, 566/6 Clement Town, Dehradun, India;
maharshisubhash@gmail.com
Abstract
Effect of orientation (0° and 180°) on flow past equilateral triangular prism in near wake region
at intermediate Reynolds number is studied in this paper. The orientation 0° corresponds to
apex pointing upstream (UP) and is equivalent to a fore-body attached to a flat plate. On the
other hand the orientation 180° corresponds to base pointing upstream (DOWN) acting like a
flat plate with an after body attached to it. The recirculation zone formed behind the flat plate
is penetrated by this after-body. These two configurations are explored for different Reynolds
numbers in intermediate regime. Factors affecting drag coefficient and Strouhal number differ
with orientation. In UP orientation fore-body modifies the flow before it gets separated in two
free shear layers. While in DOWN orientation, the two shear layers form first and then their
interaction is modified by the after-body in the near wake region. Particle Image Velocimetry
(PIV) and Hotwire anemometry is being used for validation of numerical model. The standard
k-ε model was used for numerical studies.
This geometry has several distinct features that pose a challenge to turbulence modelling
techniques. For example, the recirculation zone formed in the near wake flow, forced flow
separation, twin free shear layers resulting in von Karmen Vortex Street, etc. In addition, the
flow at intermediate Reynolds number is quite complex as it is in transition phase. Therefore,
the objective of this paper is to validate CFD results with experimental results and increase
understanding of near wake region behind an equilateral triangular prism at different
Reynolds numbers and different orientations.
Keywords: Flow behind equilateral triangular prism; Intermediate Reynolds Number;

PIV
1 Introduction
Bluff bodies have remained a hot topic of research for a long time due to lack of understanding
of flow phenomenon even after accumulation of extensive experimental and numerical data.
Flow past bluff bodies still has several aspects that require attention in order to gain in-depth
understanding of the phenomenon. Continued research efforts in this field are because of its
academic and practical importance. Out of several bluff body geometries, triangular prism is
one that satisfies both conditions. Flow past triangular prisms especially in near wake region
still has several unresolved issues that when addressed will have many practical applications.
Structural applications of triangular cylinders can be divided into two categories, one in which
REMOO–2018 — 06.054.1
they form the structure and second in which they are part of another structure. In addition to
structural applications, there is another set of applications that utilize the flow structure
properties of triangular prisms. For instance, flame holders used in combustion chambers
utilise recirculation region of bluff bodies for flame stabilization [1]. A bluff body placed in
vicinity of a main bluff body is a very effective method of passive flow control [2]. Due to
practical importance of flow past triangular prisms this phenomenon has been studied by
several researchers in past.
Various geometries including triangular prisms with apex angles of 30°, 60°, 90°, 120° were
studied extensively by Lindsey [1] for effects of geometry, orientation and Reynolds number
on drag. The study was performed at Reynolds number ranging from intermediate to high
range. Lindsey [1] found that drag increases as triangular prism, with base facing upstream,
approaches flat plate configuration. Nevertheless, drag coefficient remains almost unaffected
for apex angle above 60° for triangular prisms with apex facing upstream.
An attempt to define wake region close to cylinder in terms of universal Strouhal number as a
function of wake Reynolds number was made by Roshko [3] in an experimental study. In
addition to that, drag was calculated from measurement of shedding frequency by using this
result along with free-streamline theory. The results were tabulated for 90° prism along with
other bluff bodies for high Re range.
Nakagawa [4] found vortex strength to be inversely proportional with vortex shedding
frequency. A 53° triangular prism was investigated at high Reynolds number for two
orientations.
Luo et al. [5] experimentally investigated a 53° triangular prism with base facing upstream at
high Reynolds number for effects of after-body shape and angle of incidence on the flow
structure. The difference in flow structure was attributed to proximity of the separated shear
layers to their respective side faces.
End effects of 60° and 90° triangular prisms with apex pointing upstream and of different
heights at high Re were studied by Buresti et al. [6]. Effect of orientation on Strouhal number
was studied by El-Sherbiny [7] for 90° triangular prism at high Reynolds number. Structure of
flow past triangular prism at high Reynolds number was studied numerically by Zhang and
Perot [8] at high Reynolds number. Drag and lift coefficients at high Reynolds number were
computed in a numerical study performed by Djebdjian [9] for 45° wedge inclined at 45°.
Triangular prisms with apex angles 30°, 60°, 90° pointing upstream along with flat plate with
attached tail plate at high Re were studied by Suzuki and Kiya [10].
Flow characteristics around 60° triangular prism were studied by Yagmur et al. [11] using both
experimental and numerical methods. All PIV experiments were performed at Re=2.9 × 103 to
1.16 × 104 while all numerical experiments were performed at Re=2.9 × 103 to 1.16 × 105
Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) was used for experiments and large eddy simulation (LES)
was used for numerical experiments. The prism was kept in UP configuration. The authors
observed shrinkage in wake region with increase in Reynolds number. Strouhal number was
found to be independent of Reynolds number and all Strouhal number values were close to
0.22.
Ng. et al. [12] studied wakes behind equilateral triangular prism numerically for different
orientations and Reynolds numbers. Classical flow structure of flow past bluff body having
REMOO–2018 — 06.054.2
closed ‘cavity’ with twin recirculation zones was found to be valid only for symmetric cylinder
orientations.
Prasath et al. [13] numerically studied wake characteristics of different triangular prisms
(Aspect ratio = 0.5, 0.866, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in both UP and DOWN configurations at low Reynolds
numbers (Re = 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50). Recirculation bubble length was found to be directly
proportional to Reynolds number in sub-critical range for UP configuration, which decreases
exponentially with increase in aspect ratio. It was suggested to change aspect ratio and
orientation for a given Reynolds number as required in an application.
Agrawal et al. [14] experimentally studied the effect of orientation on flow over equilateral
triangular prism with both UP and DOWN configurations at intermediate Reynolds numbers
(Re=520, 640, 840 and 1040) using Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and Hot Wire
Anemometry (HWA). Drag coefficient was found to be more in DOWN configuration. Agrawal
et al. [15] performed an experimental study of different triangular prisms (apex angle=30°,
45°, 60° and 90° in UP configuration) at intermediate Reynolds number of 520. Vortex
shedding frequency was found to bear a linear relationship with apex angle. Minimum drag
coefficient with maximum Strouhal number was observed for an apex angle of 30°.
From above discussion, it is clear that flow past triangular cylinder especially in near wake
region is complex requires further understanding. The phenomenon becomes complex in
intermediate Reynolds number range. Orientation and Reynolds number are major factors
that affect flow structure, drag and vortex shedding frequency in case of triangular cylinders.
Hence, it is the objective of this paper to study the effect of orientation and Reynolds number
on flow structure, drag and vortex shedding on 60° triangular prism at intermediate Reynolds
number. Since, apex angles above 60° do not have appreciable effect on drag coefficient for
triangular prisms with apex facing upstream this apex angle was selected for present study.
Numerical k-epsilon model was validated with PIV experimental results for range of
parameters and then transient flow structure along with other parameters were studied using
numerical experiments.
2 Experimental Setup
2.1 Particle Image Velocimetry and Hot Wire Anemometry

The test section used for PIV measurements is 1500 mm long, 160 mm wide and 100 mm in
height. Acrylic sheet was for fabrication of test section. Triangular prism with 6 mm base was
used for the study. Aspect ratio was 26.7 (160/6) with a blockage ratio of 6%. Reynolds
numbers based on base were 520, 640, 840 and 1040 in intermediate range. Intermediate
Reynolds numbers were selected as limited studies exist for flow in this range [16]. Constant
free stream velocity was maintained by use of variable frequency drive.
The PIV system consisting of double pulsed Nd-YAG laser (New Wave lasers; wavelength = 532
nm; 50 mJ) is used for instantaneous velocity fields. Olive oil is used for seeding of particles
through a six-jet atomizer (TSI model 9306). Powerview Plus 4MP CCD camera (2048 × 2048
effective pixels) is used for image capture. Minimum frame straddling time for PIV capture is
200 ns. The velocity measured by PIV is validated by measurement through a pitot static tube
and digital micro-manometer.
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The flow structure depends on the corner radius of the cylinder. As r/d increases from 0 to
0.5, the maximum vorticity of the vortex attenuates and the circulation associated with
vortices drops progressively by 50% [17]. In order to minimize the corner effects on flow,
square prism was machined with sharp edges. The Strouhal number and the power spectra is
measured using hotwire anemometer (Dantec Streamline pro) velocity signal. The single wire
straight probe is used for measuring the velocity signal. The probe is calibrated using pitot
tube with micro manometer (Furness control, 19.99 mm of H2O). The power spectra of
velocity fluctuation are being determined by fast Fourier transform (FFT). The sampling
frequency is 1000 Hz and signal length is 20 sec. The peak frequency is estimated from the
spectra for determination of Strouhal number.
2.2 Numerical Techniques

Mesh generated for numerical experiments was 400 mm long, 160 mm wide and 100 mm in
height corresponding to PIV experiments. A mesh of 300 by 100 cells was used for the
numerical experiments. The standard k-epsilon model was used for numerical experiments. A
computer with two cores, 6 GB RAM running Linux operating system was used for the study.
OpenFOAM v2.3.0 was used in the study.
Grid independence test and time independence test were performed. A refined mesh of 500
by 100 cells was used for mesh refinement test. Simulation was then run on 300 by 100 cell
mesh for 7 seconds. Solution achieved steady state after 2 seconds.
Figure 1. Mesh used for numerical experiments
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Figure 2. Comparison of numerical data with experimental data. Time averaged x-

component of velocity (u) at Re 520 with apex facing upstream
A comparison between numerical and experimental data of x-component of velocity for apex
facing upstream configuration at Re = 520 is shown in Figure 2. At 2d and 4d down-stream
there is an excellent agreement between numerical and experimental data. However, at 6d
and 8d discrepancy between numerical and experimental data can be observed. The standard
k-ε model gives satisfactory results for boundary layer flows but is not suited for flows with a
high mean shear rate or a massive separation [18]. Therefore, the discrepancy observed at 6d
and 8d may be due to presence of high mean shear rate in these regions.
Results of present study can now be discussed having established the accuracy of current
numerical model.
3 Results and Discussions
3.1 Time-Averaged Turbulent Kinetic Energy

Figure 3 shows comparison of turbulent kinetic energy at Re = 520, 640, 840 and 1040 for both
apex facing upstream (UP) and apex facing downstream (DOWN) configurations at 2d, 4d, 6d
and 8d downstream.
For UP configuration, at 2d downstream the turbulent kinetic energy can be observed to
increase with increase in Reynolds number. At Re = 520, turbulent kinetic energy almost
stabilizes after 4d at 6d and 8d. At Re = 640 a similar phenomenon is observed but the value
of turbulent kinetic energy is increased. At Re = 840, turbulent kinetic energy breaks the trend
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and does not stabilize even after 8d. At Re = 1040, turbulent kinetic energy again shows a
similar trend and begins to stabilize after 6d but at a higher value.
For DOWN configuration, at Re = 520 the turbulent kinetic energy stabilizes after 4d at 6d and
8d similar to UP configuration. The phenomenon is repeated at Re = 640. But at Re = 840,
turbulent kinetic energy is not stabilized even after 8d which is similar to UP configuration
with difference in turbulent kinetic energy values and wake width. At Re = 1040, turbulent
kinetic energy again stabilizes after 4d at 6d and 8d. This trend is again similar to UP
configuration with only difference in value of turbulent kinetic energy which higher in UP
configuration.
Above observations, suggest that even though UP and DOWN configurations affect the flow
in different ways both configurations show similar trends at all four Reynolds numbers with
difference in turbulent kinetic energy values. It is interesting to note that at Re = 840 turbulent
kinetic energy does not stabilize even after 8d.
Figure 3. Time-averaged turbulent kinetic energy
3.2 Instantaneous Turbulent Kinetic Energy

The following plots show instantaneous turbulent kinetic energies for both apex facing
upstream and base facing upstream configurations. All figures were plotted at same scale for
comparison. All figures make a side-by-side comparison of two configurations in addition to
development of flow structure in near wake region.
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Figure 4. Instantaneous turbulent kinetic energy at Re = 520 for UP and DOWN

configurations
In Figure 4, it is observed that in UP configuration the geometry contributes to increase in
turbulent kinetic energy in recirculation zone behind the prism. While in DOWN configuration
the prism penetrates the recirculation zone and turbulent kinetic energy is reduced. However,
in DOWN configuration increased wake width is observed.
Figure 5 shows instantaneous turbulent kinetic energy at Re = 640. With increase in Reynolds
number increase in turbulent kinetic energy can be observed resulting in increase in size of
vortices although similar trend of increased energy in UP configuration and of increased wake
width in DOWN configuration is observed. Again the interaction of prism with recirculation
zone is clearly visible in DOWN configuration.
Figure 6 shows instantaneous turbulent kinetic energy at Re = 840. In addition to similar trend
in turbulent kinetic energy and wake width, turbulent kinetic energy generation at the base is
observed in DOWN configuration. Larger recirculation zone in DOWN configuration is also
observed.
REMOO–2018 — 06.054.7

configurations

configurations
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configurations
Figure 7 shows instantaneous turbulent kinetic energy at Re = 1040. Significant increase in

turbulent kinetic energy can be observed. The flow structure in UP configuration is similar in
for all Reynolds numbers with turbulent kinetic energy and vortex size proportional to increase
in Reynolds number. However, in case of DOWN configuration, turbulent kinetic energy that
was generated on base is disappeared with increase in Reynolds number. Other trends of
smaller but stronger recirculation zone in UP configuration while larger but weaker
recirculation zone and in DOWN configuration can still be observed.
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Figure 7. Instantaneous velocity magnitude at Re = 520 for UP and DOWN configurations
3.3 Instantaneous Velocity Magnitude

Figure 8 shows instantaneous velocity magnitude at Re = 520 for UP configuration and DOWN
configuration. Though the flow structure seems to be similar in both configurations, difference
in vortex size and strength between two configurations is clearly visible. Vortices formed in
DOWN configuration are larger but weaker in comparison to vortices formed in UP
configuration, which are smaller but stronger. Furthermore, due to flat plate effect larger
stagnation zone is visible in DOWN configuration.
Figure 9 shows similar flow structure with only change in strength of vortices with increase in
Reynolds number. Recirculation zone is observed to become smaller in UP configuration with
increase in Reynolds number. In addition, stagnation zone is reduced in DOWN configuration
with increase in Reynolds number.
Figure 10 shows increased strength of vortices in both configurations. Vortices take longer
time to form and eventually shed in DOWN configuration as compared to UP configuration. In
addition, stagnation zone is observed to be reduced with increase in Reynolds number.
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Figure 10 shows instantaneous velocity magnitude at Re = 1040 for both UP and DOWN
configurations. This figure shows similar flow structure of two configurations with major
difference in size and strength of vortices. Reduction in size of recirculation zones with
increase in Reynolds number can be observed in both configurations. Owing to high Reynolds
number both configurations shed vortices with higher strength that maintain their flow
structure to longer downstream length.
4 Conclusions
Both configurations show certain characteristic features in their flow structures. On
comparison of turbulent kinetic energies between UP and DOWN configurations at four
different Reynolds numbers a common trend was observed. Flow in UP configuration showed
increased turbulent kinetic energies behind prism resulting in stronger but smaller
recirculation zone. This phenomenon is found to be proportional to Reynolds number. Flow in
DOWN configuration showed reduced turbulent kinetic energies showing interaction of prism
with recirculation zone resulting in larger but weaker recirculation zone. This phenomenon is
also found to be proportional to Reynolds number. Flow for UP configuration is similar at all
Reynolds numbers. Flow remains similar for DOWN configuration at all Reynolds numbers but
Re = 840 turbulent kinetic energy generation is observed at the base.
Study of instantaneous velocity magnitude plots that flow in DOWN configuration is
accompanied with stagnation zone formed at base, which tends to reduce in size with increase
in Reynolds number. Recirculation zone formed behind prisms tends to reduce in size with
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increase in Reynolds number in both configurations. Increase in Reynolds number also results
in increased strength of vortices that take longer time to dissipate. This parameter allows one
to decide the position downstream at specific Reynolds number where the vortices start to
dissipate. Determination of distance has practical importance. For example, placement of
second bluff body behind first can be determined from this parameter that will allow
maintaining turbulence thereby increasing heat transfer rate. This phenomenon can be
utilized in design of heat exchangers for different applications.
Acknowledgement
Authors are highly indebted to the university to provide computational facility in order to carry
out the research.
References
[1] Lindsey, W. F., Drag of Cylinders of Simple Shapes, 619, National Advisory Committee
for Aeronautics, 1937.
[2] Agrawal, N., Dutta, S. and Gandhi, B.K., Control of flow field behind a square prism using
control cylinder at intermediate Reynolds numbers, Proceedings, Proceedings of IUTAM
Symposium on Bluff Body Flows, Blub of 2011, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,
India, 2011.
[3] Roshko, A., A New Hodograph for Free-Streamline Theory, 3168, National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics, 1954.
[4] Nakagawa, T., Vortex Shedding Mechanism From a Triangular Prism in a Subsonic Flow,
Fluid Dynamics Research ,5, (1989), pp. 69-81.
[5] Luo, S. C., Yazdani, Md. G., Chew, Y. T. and Lee, T. S., Effects of Incidence and After body
Shape on Flow Past Bluff Cylinders, J. Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 53,
(1994), pp. 375-399.
[6] Buresti, G., Lombardi, G. and Talamelli, A., Low Aspect-Ratio Triangular Prisms in Cross-
Flow: Measurements of the Wake Fluctuating Velocity Field, J. Wind Engineering and
Industrial Aerodynamics, 74-76, (1998), pp. 463-473.
[7] El-Sherbiny, S., Flow Separation and Reattachment Over the Sides of a 90° Triangular
Prism, J. Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 11, (1983), pp. 393-403.
[8] Zhang, X. and Perot, B., Turbulent Vortex Shedding From Triangle Cylinder Using the
Turbulent Body Force Potential Model, Proceedings, Proceedings of ASME Fluids
Engineering Division, FEDSM2000-11172, Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 2000.
[9] Djebedjian, B., Numerical Investigation on Vortex Shedding Flow Behind a Wedge,
Proceedings, Proceedings of the ASME Fluids Engineering Division, FEDSM2002-31275,
Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 2002.
REMOO–2018 — 06.054.13
[10] Suzuki, Y. and Kiya, M., Effect of Free-Stream Turbulence on Separated-Reattaching

Flows for Different Angles of Separation, Bulletin of JSME, 28, (1985), 243, pp. 1887-
1892.
[11] Yagmur, S., Dogan S., Aksoy, M.H., Goktepeli, I. and Ozgoren, M., Comparison of flow
characteristics around an equilateral triangular cylinder via PIV and Large Eddy
Simulation methods, Flow Measurement and Instrumentation, 55, (2017), pp. 23-36.
[12] Ng, Z.Y., Vo, T., Hussam, W.K., and Sheard, G.J., Two-dimensional wake dynamics behind
cylinders with triangular cross-section under incidence angle variation, Journal of Fluids
and Structures, 63, (2016), pp. 302-324.
[13] Prasath, S.G., Sudharsan, M., Kumar, V.V., Diwakar, S.V., Sundararajan, and Tiwari, S.,
Effects of aspect ratio and orientation on the wake characteristics of low Reynolds
number flow over a triangular prism, Journal of Fluids and Structures, 46, (2014), pp. 59-
76.
[14] Agrawal, N., Dutta, S. and Gandhi, B. K., An intermediate study on flow past an
equilateral triangular prism at intermediate Reynolds number and the effect of its
orientation, Proceedings, Proceedings of ASME Fluids Engineering Division, FEDSM2013-
16474, Incline Village, Nevada, USA, 2013.
[15] Agrawal, N., Dutta, S. and Gandhi, B. K., Experimental investigation of flow field behind
triangular prisms at intermediate Reynolds number with different apex angles,
Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science, 72, (2016), pp. 97-111.
[16] Agrawal, N., Dutta, S. and Gandhi, B.K., Experimental investigation of the flow field
behind a square prism at intermediate Reynolds number, Proceedings, Proceedings of
the 38th National Conference on Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power, FMFP2011, Manit,
Bhopal, India, 2011.
[17] Hu, J. C., Zhou, Y., and Dalton, C., Effects of the Corner Radius on the Near Wake of a
Square Prism, Experiments in Fluids, 40, (2006), pp. 106-1.
[18] Shih, T.-H, Liou, W.W, Shabbir, A., Yang, Z. and Zhu, J., A new k-epsilon eddy viscosity
model for high Reynolds number turbulent flows - model development and validation,
106721, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cleveland, Ohio, USA, 1994.
REMOO–2018 — 06.054.14
QUEST FOR ENERGY
EXPERIMENT-CALCULATED STUDIES ON STEADY STATE MIXING

OF TURBULENT FLOWS IN LARGE SCALE MODEL OF REACTOR
PRESSURE CHAMBER FOR VALIDATION OF CFD-CODES
M.A. BOLSHUKHIN1, A.V. BUDNIKOV1, A.A. BARINOV*1, D.N. PATRUSHEV1
S.M. DMITRIEV2, A.E. KHROBOSTOV2, V.G. GLAVNY3
1
JSC “Afrikantov OKBM”, 15 Burnakovsky Proyezd, Nizhny Novgorod, 603074, Russia;
barinov@okbm.nnov.ru
2
Nizhny Novgorod State Technical University n.a.
R.E. Alekseev, Minin str., 24, Nizhny Novgorod 603950, Russia
3
S.S. Kutateladze Institute of Thermophysics,
Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences,
Akademician Lavrentiev Ave. 1, Novosibirsk 630090, Russia
Abstract
CFD codes being actively introduced into the practices of solving applied problems and
safety analyses in the nuclear power industry over the last two decades, require their
validation and verification. For this purpose WGAMA has prepared a series of international
computational and experimental projects.
FLOMIX-R is one of the significant projects, being aimed at study flow-mixing processes in
large-scale models of reactor pressure vessels (RPV). The project resulted in generation of a
data bank, validation of CFD codes, which confirmed the possibility of using CFD codes to
describe mixing processes in reactor chambers.
Along with that, the following problematic issues have not been solved in the frame of the
FLOMIX-R project: the similarity between the mixing processes is not ensured because of
inequality of Froude numbers in the tests and full-scale; experiments are characterized by
negligible mixing degree (0.94:0.06); the Reynolds numbers in the experiments differ by
approximately two orders from the full-size values, which require additional justification for
the translation of the results to full-size conditions.
Considering the above-mentioned problematic issues, a series of computational and
experimental activities being accomplished by JSC “Afrikantov OKBM” jointly with NNSTU
n.a. R.E. Alekseev appears to be topical. Their purpose is to validate the approaches for
definition of the CFD-grid dimensions, selection of the turbulence models for adequate
modelling of mixing processes in reactor chambers and also to justify the feasibility of CFD-
results scaling from the model to the full-size RPV.
Keywords: Turbulent mixing; Scaling; CFD; Conductometry
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.1
1. Introduction: Experimental Facility

To achieve the goal, a multi-purpose large-scale experimental facility was built up at NNSTU
(Figure 1). The facility allows to carry out closed and open-circuit circulation modes through
different test models of the RPV. The facility is designed for wide range of flow parameters:
pressure up to 2 MPa, temperature – 180 °C, flow rates through the test model – up to 200
m3/hr, total heat power – 1 MWt , outer diameter of the test models – up to 1.5 m.
The test model (TM) simulates the common features of pressurized water reactor vessel,
such as: collector inlet plenum with radial coolant supply, annular gap downcomer, elliptical
bottom, core simulator, top mixing chamber (Figure 2). Considering the fact that the mixing
processes in the reactor chambers are mainly determined by the large coherent structures in
the flow, the special focus of the activities is upon the validation of the turbulence eddy-
resolving models. By this reason TM does not repeat any specific features of the definite RPV
type. However, it is specially designed to make the relative salt concentration at the outlet
≈0,5 and maximally simplify CFD-grids.
TM has four radial coolant inlet nozzles one of which supplies water with excessive tracer
(Na2SO4 admixture) content (“salty flow”), while other three supply bulk water (“bulk
flows”). Simulated “nonsymmetrical” mixing mode is represented by Figure 3. To make the
velocity profile at the nozzle inlets free of large-scale vortices long-enough straight tubes are
installed before the test model (L/D ≥ 10), with honeycomb installation intended inside
them. Small salt concentrations make the admixture «passive» i.e. with no influence on the
density and viscosity of the medium in the flow. Thus, influence of buoyancy forces was
excluded, both in experiments and calculations, because it was not a subject of examination
within the frames of this research.
AHE1,2 - air cooled heat exchangers HA1,2 - hydraulic accumulators

CP1,2 - circulation pumps of the circuits HE1 - heat exchanger of primary and secondary circuits
CU1 - compressor unit PR1,2 - pressurizers of the circuits
DT1 - drainage tank (15 m3) R1 - air receiver
EH1-4 - electrical heating units SCT - salt concentrate tank
FCV1-3 - fast check valves TM - reactor test model
FP1 - feed pump of the primary circuit
Figure 1. Simplified scheme of the experimental facility
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.2
Wire-mesh
sensors Rod-type
sensor belts
Figure 2. Test model with spatial conductivity sensors installed

(right figure – with the bottom removed)
Coolant flows supplied from the inlet nozzles of TM are mixed in the downcomer and the
bottom plenum. Then it is uniformly distributed to the core simulating channels with the
installed inlet restrictors. After that, it runs into the top chamber and is released from the
model through the outlet nozzles in the cover.
Figure 3. Simulated “nonsymmetrical” mixing mode of reactor operation
Distribution of the salt concentration in the downcomer is registered by the belts of rod-type
conductometric sensors, in bottom and top plenums – by flat wire-mesh sensors. Data
acquisition system LAD-36 (developed by the Institute of Thermophysics n.a S.S. Kutateladze
of SB RAS) was used to measure the conductivity fields. Normalization of the measured
conductivity values is performed by the following equation
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.3
C measured − c min
ϕ= (1)
c max − c min
where cmin – is the conductivity of the bulk flow (the same in GA2), and cmax –
conductivity of the salty flow (in GA1), Cmeasured – conductivity measured by any
conductometer (or by the cell of any spatial sensor) in a particular moment of time
(immediate local concentration).
2. Experiments
To achieve the goal – clarify the conditions and methods for CFD scaling and sufficient
dimensions of CFD-grids, it is necessary to identify the influence of various flow parameters
on mixing. To study the influence of the parameters included into the key criterion (Re
number) the experimental mode matrix was developed to vary Re from 104 up to 4.104 by
independent change of flow speed (by the flow rate variation through TM), and water
viscosity (by the temperature variation from 20 to 80 оС). Matrix of EMs is planned to be
expanded for variations of hydraulic diameter of the flow (using a TM of a larger sizes). Four
modes of mixing which present different combinations of flow parameters within the full
matrix are shown in the Table 1.
Table 1: Mixing modes from experimental matrix

Flow rate through
stationary mixing, sec

Flow velocity in
downcomer**, m/s
temperature**, оС
Experimental
TM **, m3/h
Duration of
Flow
mode *
10/20 19.1 20.0 0.079 240

10/40 12.5 40.0 0.052 180
30/40 37.6 40.0 0.156 180
30/60 27.1 60.0 0.112 120
Notes:
*
for all modes the value before slash – Re value in downcomer in thousands, value after
slash – temperature of the flow, оС
**
nominal values
Before each mixing mode calibration procedure was performed. It comprises the series of
flow rates (created by CP1, see Figure 1), correspondent to the flow rates of mixing modes,
but with uniform salinity in the whole volume of the test facility (“non-contrast” mixing
mode). The conductivity values, measured by reference conductometer for each calibration
procedure, were chosen as a calibration levels. Local conductivities, obtained in each
experiment (“contrast” mixing) were obtained with the help of interpolation over the vector
of calibration values. Random and systematic errors were estimated during calibration.
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.4
Maximum total relative measurement error comprises 5-7% (see Figure 4). Spectral analysis
of the realizations obtained from the LAD-36 system gives satisfactory signal-to-noise ratio
(SNR) at the characteristic frequencies of the processes examined (fchar < 2 Hz, SNR > 100:1,
see Figure 5) and may be improved by correspondent tuning of the system.
Figure 4. Calibration model and error field width estimate

(example correspondent to the cell of the bottom WMS)
Figure 5. PSD periodograms during “contrast mixing” (signal)

and “non-contrast calibration” (noise)
Some characteristics of the mixing process for the modes 10/20 and 30/60 (given as an
example) are summarized in the Table 2, averaged fields of salinity distribution are shown in
the Figure 6.
Power spectral density (PSD) periodograms of signal realizations for the bottom WMS and
rod-type sensors in TM’s downcomer (Figure 7) are drawn.
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.5
Table 2: Summarized data (normalized concentrations, top WMS)
exit of the core-simulator channels), %

of the averaged concentration, %
of the averaged concentration, %
Frequency of the largest vortices

(normalized averaged salinity at the
of dimensionless concentration
by TM channels with max/min
Max. instantaneous value
of the concentration (%)
(correspondent TM channel)
Concentration balance*
Integral nonuniformity,
from Sh≈0.2 estimate, Hz

averaged concentration,
Dispersion of values
Experimental mode
Maximum value
Minimum value
%
40.5 53.1
10/20 12.7 (9) 27.8 4.2 / 2.5 25,6 0.25
(14) (15)
38.9 61.7
30/60 13.9 (18) 25.0 7.4 / 2.9 23,7 0.35
(14) (15)
Notes:
*
nominal normalized balance value is 25.0% (flow rates of salty and bulk flows are
refered as 1:4). The acceptable imbalance level was taken at ±2%
10/20
30/60
Figure 6. Averaged concentration distributions in experiments

(left – bottom WMS, right – top WMS)
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.6
Figure 7. PSD graphs for the rod-type sensor realizations in the downcomer of TM
3. Calculations
Results of the experiments provide validation data for the pre-test CFD-calculations of the
flow in the TM. The calculation grid of the experimental model built in ICEM-CFD, is shown in
the Figure 8. It consists of 8 million hexahedral volumes. This dimension is established by the
results of preliminary tests on grid convergence. Integration step was selected under
condition of CFL≈1 for the downcomer flow. Calculation time for each task was selected
equal to not less than 25 times of coolant passing through the downcomer and bottom
plenum of the TM (“mixing zone”). Calculations of all the experiments were accomplished
with the “zonal LES” model (see Figure 8) with the Smagorinsky sub-grid viscosity used for
the same grid model. Orientation of the coolant inlet nozzles in CFD-simulation corresponds
to the experiment (Figure 3). Temperature of the flow is used in calculation as a contrast
admixture. Medium parameters were set constant and independent of the temperature to
exclude influence of the buoyancy forces.
Instantaneous concentration fields of the admixture were received and averaged by the time
of stationary mixing calculation. By-channel comparison of the averaged normalized values
at the input and output of the core imitator of TM shows quite stable distribution of the
concentration (differences between calculated modes do not exceed 4.4% for the top WMS
plane and 3.6% for the bottom). Figure 9 shows by-channel average values for several mixing
modes had been calculated.
As the result of the comparison between calculated and test data the following features can
be noted:
1. In all calculations the flow twists azimuthally around the core barrel of the TM while going
through the downcomer as it does in experiments, but in the reverse direction (clockwise
– in the experiment, counterclockwise – in CFD simulation). It takes place instead of fully
symmetrical 3D-model of the vessel in CFD and high quality of the experimental TM. The
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.7
salty water inlet corresponds to the Figure 3 orientation (from the “left” side). It can be
assumed, that the flow rotation comprises chaotic process, driven by non-stationary
forces in the collector zone and the direction of such a twist is the object of a matter. So,
for further comparison, the azimuthal direction of the twist in CFD may be reoriented
clockwise to be correspondent with the experiment.
2. CFD overestimates the twist angle. However, integral nonuniformity and band of the
relative concentration values are very close. The twist angle overestimation is about 80-
100 for different modes.
Figure 8. Calculation mesh model of the test model
Figure 9. By-channel distribution of normalized concentration

(CFD-calculations, bottom WMS plane)
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.8
3. Back-rotated normalized distributions in CFD may be compared with experimental results

by-channel (see the bar plot in the Figure 10). As the CFD-results show very close
behavior the distribution for 10/20 was selected for comparison. It can be stated, that the
experimental distributions are acceptable close to the calculations (maximal differences
are about 10%). However, the experimental results have higher dispersion (compared
with the dispersion of CFD results – see Figure 9). Even though the rotation angle
obtained from CFD is more than the experimental one, the degree of mixing (measured
by a nonuniformity of the field) is slightly underestimated by CFD (CFD gives higher
maximum and lower minimum averaged values).
Figure 10. CFD and experimental by-channel distributions of normalized concentration

(top WMS plane)
PSD estimates for calculations and experiments for two mixing modes (both tested and
calculated) are shown by the Figure 11. The signals for spectral analysis were normalized and
centered to make them comparable for different experiments.
It’s observed from the estimates, that CFD probably gives lower PSD values near the
characteristic frequencies (see table 2 for 10/20 and 10/40 modes), though the peak
locations show acceptable correspondence with the experiments performed.
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.9
a)
b)
Figure 11. PSD estimates for concentration realizations (normalized and centered)
in the middle rod-type sensor plane: a) mixing mode 10/20, b) mixing mode 10/40
4. Analysis of experimental and calculation research

Analysis of the experimental and calculation results gives the following:
1. Long term continuous registration of steady state mixing gives transient concentration
fields in the mixing area, that are suitable for averaging, statistical, correlation and
spectral analysis. Both measured and CFD-calculated fields prove twisting of the flow
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.10
inside the downcomer of the TM with the angle about 180° for all mixing modes. The
direction of the twisting in calculation is opposite to the experiment, the rotation angle is
overestimated by CFD (by the order of 80-100°). Calculations were performed using
zonal-LES approach with the Smagorinsky sub-grid viscosity model.
2. Comparison of averaged fields for different mixing modes shows stable integral
parameters of the field both in experiments and calculations (table 2, Figure 9 and 10).
Although by-channel distributions are less stable than the integral parameters, the
differences are at ≈10% level and repeatability analysis is needed (which requires more
experiments for the same modes).
3. Cross-correlation functions and PSD-periodograms show the acceptable accordance with
Sh≈0.2 estimates. Although it was observed that CFD underestimates PSD spectra at the
characteristic frequencies, even though the peaks locations are close to the experimental.
5. Conclusions
1. The capabilities of the NNSTU test facility make it possible to carry out steady state mixing
in large scale RPV-type models with the average mixing degree of ≈50%.
2. The applied spatial conductometers (WMS and rod-type) ensure measurements of non-
stationary concentration field for different mixing modes. The frequency band, signal-to-
noise ratio, and systematic errors are acceptable to obtain spectral estimates of the
examined process near the characteristic frequencies. Spatial resolution of the sensors is
sufficient for interpolation and may be improved by the sensors of advanced design.
3. Comprehensive clarification of the conditions and methods for CFD scaling and sufficient
dimensions of CFD-grids needs further investigation:
- extended repeatability improvement for the same modes;
- experiments and calculations within expanded matrix of mixing modes;
- using test models of larger scale (up to 1.5 m.
The data obtained from the experiments is suitable for CFD-validation purposes. Extended
validation and fulfilment of expanded experimental matrix may become a valuable reason to
organize international project.
References
[1] Fluid mixing and flow distribution in the reactor circuit, measurement data base / U.
Rohde [at al.] / Nuclear Engineering and Design – Vol.235 – 2005.
REMOO–2018 — 06.107.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ADVANTAGES IN DYNAMICALLY APPLYING DRILL-RATE TEST

THROUGH THE SIMILARITY ANALYSIS OF TREND CURVES
GENERATED FROM DRILLING DATA
Artur Selia GAZZOLI*1, Andreas NASCIMENTO1, Mauro Hugo MATHIAS2
1
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Departamento de Engenharias e Tecnologia -
Engenharia de Petróleo. Rodovia BR 101, km 60, Bairro Litorâneo, CEP 29932-900, São
Mateus-ES, Brazil; arturselia@hotmail.com
2
Universidade Estadual Paulista, Departamento de Mecânica. Av. Ariberto Pereira da Cunha
333, Portal das Colinas, CEP 12516-410, Guaratinguetá-SP, Brazil
Abstract
In the effort to meet the growing demand for energy in the world, the oil industry is challenged
every day to explore more inhospitable environments, such as pre-salt reserves. Nevertheless,
in order to produce oil from these regions, greater financial investments are necessary, which
can make them economically unviable. The solution to this setback is the development of new
technologies and methodologies that facilitate all the operations involved, from geophysical
exploration, drilling, to produced oil flow to the refineries. This paper aims to find similarities
between the curves generated by the drill-rate test and the curves generated by trend data
obtained during drilling. Therefore, being able to determine the best values for the
parameters weight on bit (WOB), rotation speed (RPM), and drilling fluid flow rate, in order to
maintain the highest penetration rate possible, reducing the well drilling time and implying a
lower cost. In addition to the gain in the penetration rate, knowing the ideal weight to operate
ensure that the equipment are not overloaded, possibly providing a longer life to them.
Keywords: Drilling; Drill-rate test; Rate of penetration; Cost
1. Introduction
The drilling of oil wells, since its beginning, is characterized as being an activity that involves
high complexity, risks, and huge financial costs. The past few years have been marked by the
expansion of exploratory and production boundaries, highlighting the deep-water layers and
the use of techniques that aim the assurance of maximum oil recovery in recent-discovered,
marginal and mature fields [1].
The Rate of Penetration (ROP) is an important factor that affects the general performance,
the operational costs, and it is a function of two other drilling parameters. It is known that
many factors can affect the drilling’s performance, such as the Weight on Bit (WOB), Rotation
Per Minute (RPM) speed, the flow rate, and even the type of drilling fluid [2] [3].
Nevertheless, the manipulation of certain parameters to control the ROP must be avoided
because it can affect other variables. The flow rate, for example, is used to maximize the well
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.1
cleanliness conditions and not to obtain a certain penetration rate. Therefore, the easiest and
more effective manipulation parameters to ROP control are the RPM speed and the WOB [4].
1.1. Pre-Salt
Discovered in 2006 in deep-water in the South of Brazil, pre-salt reservoirs consist in
heterogeneous carbonate rocks found beneath a significant salt layer, as it can be seen on
Figure 1, with thickness that can reach down to 2000 m [5]. It is likely that the biggest pre-salt
reserves in the world are on the coast of Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, and the west coast of Africa,
near the margins of Angola [6].
Figure 1. Layout scheme of the pre-salt layers [6]

Given the magnitude of the intrinsic difficulties related to the place where these oil reservoirs
occur, huge financial investments are necessary to allow the deposits' exploration, especially
considering the drilling wells and production equipment installation in ultra-deep-water
environments and reservoirs rocks buried more than 5000 m below the seabed [7]. In Brazil,
for instance, the depth of pre-salt exploration is between 5 and 7 km, 300 km distant from the
coast. Furthermore, the soil is extremely complicated due to the salt layer. Therefore,
exploring areas like pre-salt requires the use of sophisticated equipment and materials, tests,
and advanced modeling and simulations to ensure safety during the exploration and
production operations [8].
2. Drill-Rate Test (DRT)

The drill-rate test is defined as the test used to find the operational parameters settings that
lead to high ROPs. Usually, it is executed at the beginning of a section drilling and simply
consists in trying various combinations of WOB, RPM, and Total Flow Rate of All Active Pumps
(TFLO), observing results. In this test, drilling is started with low WOB, unable to promote drill
advancement. The weight is then increased until the ROP stops responding positively to the
additional weight. Thus, the parameters are subsequently used to find the highest penetration
rate [9]. The Figure 2 shows data from three drill-rate test curves for different RPMs values.
The point in which the ROP stops responding linearly with the increase of WOB is referred as
the founder point. Although there is a displacement between the curves, as the RPM increases
it is possible to notice the similarity in their forms.
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.2
Figure 2. Expected behavior of the ROP with WOB in a DRT
During drilling, part of the column’s weight is supported by a hook, located on the surface, on
the platform. The other part of the weight is directly transmitted to the bit. By reducing the
sustained weight fraction in the hook, the weight is increased on the bit and vice versa.This
parameter has the greatest influence on the penetration rate and therefore is the first to be
varied when it is desired to increase or reduce the drilling speed [10].
The efficiency loss in the penetration rate with the increase in the WOB is due to two factors.
The first one of them is the drop of the solids removal efficiency from the well. A high
penetration rate generates a very large amount of solids, which is not properly removed. Thus,
the bit needs to rework solids already drilled (and not removed), which diminishes its
efficiency. The second factor is that an excessively high weight on the bit causes buckling and
vibration of the column, dissipating part of the energy that should be transmitted to the bit to
cut the geological formations [11].
2.1. Curve Model of DRT

During the behavior analysis of a typical curve obtained during a DRT, is noticeable the
presence of a downwardly facing concavity. This fact implies that there is, at some point in the
curve, a maximum value point, which coordinates are the WOBoptimal and ROPmax. This
indicates that even varying the WOB, it will not be able to reach higher values for the ROP,
besides the ROPmax, when the other parameters are fixed.
Determining the coordinates of this point is fundamental to obtain an optimized drilling in
relation to its time. Thus, a DRT curve can be approximated, mainly its top, just to the right of
the founder point, by a second-degree polynomial ( ⋅ + ⋅ + = 0 | < 0), with
concavity facing down, as can be observed in Figure 3.
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.3
Figure 3. Behavior of a generic second-degree equation
The procedure to find the optimal point of the graph, found in [11], indicates the coordinates
of the maximum point of the curve given by equations (1) and (2).
−
= (1)
2⋅
= ⋅ + ⋅ + (2)
3. Costs
The costs involved in offshore exploration are highly sensitive to the time spent in drilling,
mainly due to the high cost of daily rental of a drilling rig [12]. Thus, it is essential to increase
the execution speed of drilling activities at sea [13]. The rental prices of a rig vary a lot.
According to [1], the daily cost of a rig varies from US$600 to US$700 thousand, therefore,
any stop or simply operating in an unoptimized way, automatically triggers expenses, which
makes projects even more costly. Still on prices of an oil well drilling rig, it is possible to find
values of services contracted by Petrobras (Petróleo Brasileiro S.A.), including the chartering
of drilling rigs, through the company’s own Transparency Portal. Table 1 shows values of rigs
contracted by Petrobras in the past few years, all with active contracts and capacity to operate
in deep-water environments (above 2000 m), such as in pre-salt reservoirs [14].
Table 1: Daily rent of drilling rigs contracted by Petrobras
Start and end of Contract Daily Cost

Provider Object
validity value (US$) (US$/day)
Odebrecht Drilling Chartering of the 01/08/2011 à 1 576 627
432 071
Norbe Eight GMBH Norbe VIII unit. 28/07/2021 686
Odebrecht Drilling Chartering of the 03/11/2011 à 1 479 780
405 530
Norbe Nine GMBH Norbe IX unit. 30/10/2021 390
Chartering of the Flut
Odebrecht Drilling 26/06/2012 à 222 103
Perf Norbe VI-LA 489 959 946
Norbe Six GMBH 11/07/2018
2000M unit
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.4
Based on [1] and in the table above, a good approximation to the daily rental of a drilling rig
utilized in deep-water, where pre-salt reservoirs are found, stays around US$450-500
thousand.
4. Total Drilling Time

In the beginning of pre-salt operations, in 2010, Petrobras used to spend more than 126 days,
in average, to drill a well. Due to the acquired experience and the introduction of new
technologies and best practices, the average drilling time in the pre-salt reduced to 60 days in
2013, which corresponds to a 55% reduction [15].
The drilling time can be divided in: optimal well, lost time, non-productive time. The optimal
well is interpreted as being the time spent in actual drilling, the times when well drilling is
going on. The lost time is the time that does not add any value to the penetration advance,
such as: slow maneuver time, coatings descents, inappropriate procedures, etc., and stays
between 20 and 30% of the total time. The non-productive time can be defined as the time in
which production is not occurring. This is the time lost through trapping of columns, breaking
of equipment, the wait for weather conditions, etc., in which this last can represent up to 20%
of the entire drilling time of a well [16]. In this way, is known that the optimal time usually
stays below 60% of the total time spend in drilling a well.
5. Methodology
This analysis is based on comparing the similarity of a trend curve generated from the data
obtained during the drilling with a curve generated in a drill-rate test, thus being able to
dictate to the driller what is the configuration of the parameters that allows obtaining the
largest penetration rate.
5.1. Data Processing

In a first approach, the data registered at the moment of the operation are subject to errors
due to faults in the sensors themselves, vibrations of the equipment, etc. Thus, data that were
incorrect, that is, presented values that did not correspond to reality for this scenario, such as
weights and negative torques, have to be excluded from the analysis. Figure 4 shows the
behavior of the DWOB and DTOR parameters with the incorrect values already removed.
25 6
20 5
DTOR (ft.klbf)
DWOB (klbf)
4
15
3
10
2
5 1
0 0
3422
3427
3432
3435
3439
3442
3447
3450
3457
3461
3464
3468
3471
3474
3478
3481
3485
3489
3492
3496
3500
3504
Depth (m)
DWOB DTOR
Figure 4. DWOB and DTOR after data processing
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.5
In making this data processing, about 92 out of 509 data were excluded from the analysis
because they presented out-of-reality data. Besides some punctual data were removed, the
sections with no constancy in the flow rate and rotation of the bit were also removed from
the analysis.
5.2. Data Analysis

As the methodology addresses the relationship between the DWOB and the ROP, the data
were separated by stretches where the other values, drilling fluid flow rate and column
rotation were not significantly altered. This way it is possible to identify the direct dependence
of ROP on DWOB.
The data from each section were plotted on dispersion plots (DWOB × ROP) and then the trend
curves that best described such points were exposed along with the equations describing
them. From the equations of each curve, the optimum points (WOBoptimal, ROPmax) of each
section were calculated.
6. Errors in Approximations and Trend Curves

To build the DWOB x ROP curves, which can be seen in Figures 6, 8, and 10, the linear
regression method was utilized. This method consists in obtaining the relation between the
variable ROP and the variable DWOB. Nevertheless, it can be verified that the points of the
dispersion diagram will not perfectly fit the curve of the proposed mathematical model. There
will be a distance between the points in the diagram and the curve of the mathematical model
at most points. Thus, the objective of the regression in this case is to obtain a mathematical
model that best adjusts to the observed ROP values as a function of the DWOB variation.
The coefficient of determination, also known as “ ”, provides an auxiliary information to the
result of the regression analysis of variance, as a way to verify if the proposed model is
adequate or not to describe the phenomenon. The value of varies from 0 to 1. In general,
values close to 1 indicate that the proposed model is adequate to describe the
phenomenon [17].
The literature states that values varying between 0.44 and 0.87 indicate consistent results
[18]. In this paper, as will be presented below, the values of are between 0.50 and 0.63,
which guarantees a satisfactory approximation.
7. Results
7.1. Interval 3433 to 3450
The first interval to be analyzed is contained between 3433 to 3450 meters deep. In this
section, the rotation averaged was 79 cycles per minute and the flow rate was around 757
gallons per minute.
In this section, it is noticed that the curve is decreasing, with concavity facing upwards, as can
be seen in Figure 5, contrary to the shape of a drill-rate test curve. The explanation for this
fact is that the drilling in this section probably occurred entirely with the DWOB above what
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.6
would be the DWOBoptimal, so Figure 5 is emphasizing the behavior to the right of the optimum
point of operation, and that the heavier the weight applied on the drill bit, the lower the
penetration rate.
6,0
5,0
y = 0.0577x2 - 2.0396x + 19.929
ROP (m/h)
4,0
r² = 0.6324
3,0
2,0
1,0
9 11 13 15 17 19 21
DWOB (klbf)
Figure 5. Dependency of ROP with the DWOB in the range 3433 to 3450
Figure 6 clearly shows the fact that a reduction in DWOB implied in a higher ROP, as can be
seen in the region highlighted by the red circle.
6 20
5
DWOB (klbf)
15
ROP (m/h)
4
3 10
2
5
1
0 0
3433,3
3434,3
3435,2
3436,0
3436,9
3438,0
3438,9
3439,7
3440,6
3441,5
3442,4
3443,5
3444,4
3445,6
3447,0
3447,7
3448,7
3450,0
Depth (m)
ROP DWOB
Figure 6. Variation of mechanical parameters along the depth

Working in conditions similar to this, with the DWOB above the ideal, is detrimental to the
operation, because in addition to producing lower penetration rates, it is shortening the useful
life of the equipment, as they are exposed to severe operating conditions, which would imply
in early stops to change the drill bit due to excessive wear.
7.2. Interval 3451 to 3457

The second interval to be analyzed is contained between 3451 to 3457 meters deep. In this
section, the rotation averaged was 109 cycles per minute and the flow rate was around 757
gallons per minute.
Because the concavity is facing down, in this section is possible to determine where the
optimum operational point for applied mechanical parameters is located. By applying the
trend curve equation from Figure 7 in the equations (4) and (5), it is possible to find a
DWOBoptimal of 8.53 klbf, while the ROPmax is around 4.18 m/h. The ROPs average in this section
is around 3.5 m/h, thereby, the ROPmax is 10% higher when compared to the average of ROPs
in this specific section.
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.7
5,0
4,5
4,0
ROP (m/h)
3,5
3,0
2,5
2,0
1,5
y = -0.0796x2 + 1.3582x - 1.6182
r² = 0.5088
1,0
8 10 12 14 16
DWOB (klbf)
Figure 8 shows that when the weight was close to the optimum weight, it was where the
highest values were obtained for the penetration rate. This region is highlighted with the red
circle.
5,0 15
4,0
DWOB (klbf)
ROP (m/h)
10
3,0
2,0
5
1,0
0,0 0
3451,7
3451,9
3452,0
3452,2
3452,3
3452,6
3452,9
3453,8
3454,0
3454,8
3456,6
3456,7
3457,0
3457,2
3457,3
3457,5
Depth (m)
ROP DWOB

Although in this section the curve found has the expected behavior and it was possible to find
de optimal operation point, most points are to right of this point. Which means that the
operation, as in the previous section, occurred with an excessive overload on the bit,
increasing the chances of problems due to equipment wear and vibrations of the column.
7.3. Interval 3502 to 3507

The third interval to be analyzed is contained between 3502 and 3507 meters deep. In this
section, the rotation averaged was 158 cycles per minute and the flow rate around 748 gallons
per minute.
Similarly to previous sections processes, the curve for this section, shown in Figure 9, has the
optimum point with the coordinates WOBoptimal = 14.23 klbf and ROPmax= 3.34 m/h.
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.8
4,5
4,0
3,5
ROP (m/h)
3,0
2,5
2,0
y = -0.2766x2 + 7.8719x - 52.681
1,5
r² = 0.5906
1,0
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
DWOB (klbf)
In this section, the ROPs’ average was close to 2.88 m/h, thus, the ROPmax found in this section
is about 16% above the ROPs’ average.
Figure 10 shows the highest ROP values when the weight was close to DWOBoptimal.
5 16
4 14
12
DWOB (klbf)
4
ROP (m/h)
10
3
8
3
6
2 4
2 2
1 0
Depth (m)
ROP DWOB
Differently from the previous curves, for this section, it is observed that the points are mostly
distributed to the left of the optimum point. This indicates that there was less weight excess
on the bit, which contributes to a longer equipment life, avoiding bit and other equipment
changes, due to early wear.
8. Final Considerations
Through analyses of this study, it was possible to observe similarities between the WOB x ROP
curves generated through a drill-rate test with curves obtained during an ordinary drilling
operation. Thus, a constant analysis of these parameters during drilling would provide to the
operator the best values for the weight on the bit, the bit speed rotation, and the flow rate to
be used.
Considering an average cost of US$450 to US$500 thousand to a daily rental of a drilling rig,
that a well is drilled in 60 days and that the effective drilling time is 60% of the total drilling
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.9
time of a well. A 10% increase on the penetration rate leads to a reductions of more than 3
days in this operation. Which will result in a US$ 1,350 to US$ 1,500 economy per well.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Federal University of Espirito Santo – UFES for providing the
necessary structure for the development of this study. In addition, they thank the SPE UFES
Student Chapter for the availability of access to the OnePetro platform <onepetro.org>, the
Universidade Estadual Paulsita – Brazil nd the Montanuniversität Leoben - Austria.
References
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Desenvolvimento, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, campinas, Brasil, 2010.
[2] Heng, L, et al., Experimental Investigation of Bit Vibration on Rotary Drilling Penetration
Rate, ARMA 10-426, American Rock Mechanics Association, Salt Lake City, UT., USA,
2010.
[3] Eren, T,. OZBAYOGLU, M, E,. Real-Time Drilling Rate of Penetration Performance
Monitoring, OMC-2011-076, Offshore Mediterranean Conference, Ravenna, Italy, 2011.
[4] Gandelman, R, A, Predição da ROP e Otimização em Tempo Real de Parâmetros

Operacionais na Perfuração de Poços de Petróleo Offshore, Universidade Federal do Rio
de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2012.
[5] Pinheiro, R, S, et al. Well Construction Challenges in the Pre-Salt Development Projects,
OTC 25888, Offshore Technology Conference, Houston, USA, 2015.
[6] Nascimento, A, et al. Mathematical Modeling Applied to Drilling Engineering: An

Application of Bourgoyne and Young ROP Model to a Presalt Case Study, Hindawi
Publishing Corporation, 2015.
[7] Johann, P, et al. Reservoir Geophysics in Brazilian Pre-Salt Oilfields, OTC 23681, Offshore
Technology Conference. Houston, TX. USA, 2012.
[8] Souza, K, F., Werneck, D,. Veritas, B, Risk Assessment Methodologies Applied to
Exploration and Production of Brazilian Pre-Salt Layer, OTC-26066-MS, Offshore
Technology Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2015.
[9] Nascimento, A. et al. Reverse Engineering: A New Well Monitoring and Analysis
Methodology Approaching Playing-Back Drill-Rate Tests in Real-Time for Drilling
Optimization. January, 2015.
[10] Aadnoy, B, S, et al. Advanced Drilling and Well Technolog, Society of Petroleum
Engineers, USA, 2009.
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.10
[11] Nascimento, A, et al. Dynamic Drill-rate Test Approach Applied to a Pre-Salt Study. Latin
American and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering Conference. Quito, Equador, 2015.
[12] Tavares, R, M, Interpretação e Análise de Dados de Perfuração em Poços de Petróleo,

Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil, 2006.
[13] Ifekaibeya, W, N, Estudo da Influência da Taxa de Penetração da Broca nos Custos da

Construção de Poços de Petróleo, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil,
2011
[14] Portal de Transparência / 08 dez 2017 / Petrobras,

http://transparencia.petrobras.com.br/licitacoes-contratos/contratos
[15] Reduzimos em 55% o tempo de perfuração de poços no pré-sal / 01 jul 2014 / Petrobras,
http://www.petrobras.com.br/fatos-e-dados/reduzimos-em-55-o-tempo-
deperfuracao-de-pocos-no-pre-sal.htm
[16] Guimarães, B, R, Modelo para Simulação do Tempo para Perfuração de Poços de

Petróleo, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, Brasil, 2011.
[17] Campos, F, F, Ajuste de Curvas, in Algoritmos Numéricos, (LTC – Livros écnicos e

Científicos Ltda), Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2007, pp. 177-211.
[18] Tamayo, G, A, V, Empirical PVT Correlations Applied for Colombian Crude Oils: A New
Approach. SPE-185565-MS, Latin America and Caribbean Petroleum Engineering
Conference, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2017.
REMOO–2018 — 07.078.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
FORECASTING THE EFFICIENCY OF

SMALL WIND TURBINE GENERATORS
Deniss BEZRUKOVS1*, Svetlana ANISKEVICH2, Valerijs BEZRUKOVS3,4
1
RigaTechnical University
Azenes Srt., 12/1, Riga, LV-1048, Latvia; dbezrukovs@gmail.com
2
Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre
165 Maskavas Str., Riga, LV-1019, Latvia; svetlana.aniskevica@lvgmc.lv
3
Institute of Physical Energetics
21 Krivu Str., Riga, LV-1006 Latvia
4
Ventspils University College
101 Inzenieru Str., Ventspils, LV-3601, Latvia; elmag@inbox.lv
Abstract
The paper performs a comparative analysis of the efficiency of two types of low-power wind
energy converters with horizontal and vertical axis in the meteorological conditions of Latvia.
The analysis is based on long-term wind speed measurements over the period of 2 years
conducted by a network of 22 observation stations at the height of 10 m above the ground.
The study shows that in the conditions of Latvia wind turbines with a horizontal axis tend to
work with greater efficiency than similar installations with a vertical axis. The paper presents
the models of the spatial distribution of average wind speed, Weibull wind speed frequency
distribution parameters and the value of operational efficiency for small wind turbine
generators. The modeling results are presented in the form of colour contour maps. Overall,
the results of the presented study can serve as a tool for forecasting annual energy production
and estimating the feasibility of commercial use of wind energy at the height of 10 m in the
territory of Latvia.
Keywords: Wind speed at 10 m height; Map; Wind energy; SWTG; AEP
1 Introduction
Due to the lack of significant resources of fossil fuels in Latvia, the needs of the national
economy are largely met through energy import. The dependence of the country's economy
on external supplies leads to the fact that the state is interested in supporting power stations
using available national natural resources and renewable energy sources [1, 2].
The favourable geographic location of the country on the shores of the Baltic Sea (Figure 1)
makes its territory open from the western direction for the prevailing southwestern winds in
this region. The western part of Latvia is dominated by plains covered with forest, and in the
east of the country, there are mountainous areas up to 300 m high.
Wind currents from the sea have significant reserves of wind energy, which can be used to
produce electricity on an industrial scale. Therefore, studies aimed at evaluating the efficiency
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.1
of wind converters depending on their location on the territory of the country are highly
relevant.
There is a number of publications devoted to the evaluation of the potential and the
distribution of the wind energy resource in the territory of Latvia [3, 4]. It is important to note
that reliable estimates of wind energy potential and the spatial distribution of the magnitude
of wind average speed over the surface of the country can be performed only based on
physical wind speed measurements performed simultaneously in different regions of the
country for a period of at least one year.
Figure 1. Map of Latvia with the location of 22 meteorological observation stations and
mean elevation above sea level m with a 1x1 km resolution.
The study uses the results of wind speed measurements, performed with 1 min increments
over a period from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2016 at a height of 10 m above the ground. All
measurements were performed using certified measuring sensors installed at 22 stations of
the National Hydrometeorological and Climatological Service of the Latvian Environment,
Geology and Meteorology Center (LEGMC). In order to estimate wind speed between the
stations and cover the entire information field throughout the country, spatial interpolation
based on the measured values was used.
Based on the obtained wind speed measurements data it is possible to calculate the specific
indicators of wind energy that characterize the wind flow in this region. This information can
be used to make an estimate of the average Annual Energy Production (AEP) for projected
wind power plants [5, 6].
The article presents the results of the analysis of the efficiency of using low-power wind
generators. A distinctive feature of these generators is that they transform the energy that
wind carries at an altitude of 10 - 25 m above the ground surface. In most cases, a Small Wind
Turbine Generator (SWTG) is used to power an autonomous load or serve as a backup power
source in a private farm, the operation of which does not depend on the power grid.
Forecasting the efficiency of work and determining the AEP of the SWTG can be done only on
the basis of long-term measurements of wind speed. However, the need to perform these
measurements and calculate the AEP creates a problem for small households.
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.2
The authors propose to use historical records of long-term measurements of wind speeds that
are available in the archive of the national meteorological observation service for forecasting
the efficiency of low-power wind generators. The study of the SWTG performance was
performed using the power curves of two types of SWTG: Horizontal Axis Wind Turbines
(HAWT) with rated power 0.75, 2.5, 5.0, 20.0 kW and Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT) 0.75,
2.5, 6.0 kW.
Based on the results of wind speed measurements and the estimation of the SWTG
performance on the territory of Latvia, the models of the spatial distribution of averaged wind
speed and wind energy density in the form of colour contour maps with a 1x1 km resolution
were created. The contour maps identify the areas beyond which the measured values change
with a certain step.
The developed models of the spatial distribution of the value of capacity factor Ce,
characterizing the effectiveness of the SWTG can serve as a convenient tool and reference
material for analysing the feasibility of the SWTG use in various regions of Latvia. The obtained
results allow estimating the prospects of commercial use of wind energy at a height of 10 m.
The rest of the paper is structured as follows: Section 2 provides the description of
meteorological stations in Latvia and results of wind speed measurements. Section 3 presents
the results of wind type analysis at the height of 10 m. Section 4 introduces the model of the
spatial distribution of wind energy resources in Latvia. Section 5 presents summarized results,
discusses their implications and makes conclusions on the prospects of estimating the SWTG
efficiency at the height of 10 m above the ground.
2 Meteorological Equipment and Wind Speed Measurements

A network of meteorological observation stations has been operating on the territory of Latvia
for more than 100 years. The stations collect and archive high quality representative
meteorological data using internationally certified equipment and calibrated sensors.
Observations of climate and weather conditions are conducted at 22 meteorological
observation stations, showed on Fig.1, most of which are currently operating in automatic
mode.
The stations continuously measure and record the speed and direction of the wind, measure
atmospheric pressure, humidity and air temperature, as well as other meteorological
parameters. In order to measure wind speed at the stations, Vaisala WAA 151 anemometers
and Vaisala WMT 702 ultrasonic sensors are used.
In order to calculate average wind speed with 1 min increments, anemometer measures actual
wind speed every 2 s, while ultrasonic sensor – every 3 s. All wind speed sensors are installed
at a height of 10 m, except for the Riga (36 m), Kolka (20 m) and Pavilosta (since December
2015 – 18 m) meteorological observation stations.
The uniform distribution of measuring stations on the territory of the country and a long
measurement period allow performing a spatial visualization of the obtained results. On Fig.
2 is presented the mean values of wind speed Vavg in the territory of Latvia.
The average wind speed value for the period of measurement at each measurement point is
calculated by Eq. 1:
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.3
= ∑ , (1)
where – average wind speed with 1 min increments, m/s,

n – the number of measurements for the entire period of observation from
01/01/2015 to 31/12/2016.
The models were developed using the method of spatial interpolation based on the historical
measurement results and presented in the form of colour contour maps with a 1x1 km
resolution [7]. In order to estimate meteorological parameter values between the observation
stations a spatial interpolation of measured data was performed and a geostatistical method
- universal kriging [8] was applied. In addition to observed values from the nearest stations,
this method also uses complementary spatial factors that influence meteorological
parameters. The most appropriate factors for average wind speed interpolation are
geographical coordinates in the metric system LKS-92, elevation above sea level and distance
from the Baltic Sea or the Gulf of Riga.
Figure 2.Model of the spatial distribution of average wind speed m/s at a height of
10 m above the ground
3 Wind Types in the Territory of Latvia

The nature of the wind is characterized by cyclic changes in the flow speed and the duration
of its gusts. On top of it, in various regions, wind fluctuations have characteristic features that
are determined by the landscape and geographic proximity to the sea.
The study of wind properties is typically based on the analysis of wind speed measurement
results obtained over a long period of time [9]. As a part of the analysis measurement results
are grouped into bins, which correspond to the selected speed intervals with a certain step.
For each bin, the total recurrence time of this rate is determined, which can be expressed as
a percentage of the total measurement time.
On Figure 3 frequency distribution functions for wind speed measuremt results obtained at
meteorological observation stadions in Ainazi, Daugavpils, Priekuli, Saldus and Ventspils areas
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.4
during the measurement period from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2016 are presented. The points
on the curves of the frequency distribution of wind speed correspond to the discrete values
of wind speed Vavg representig bins with the interval of 1 m/s. The figure shows that the type
of wind considerably varies depending on the area in the country.
Figure 3. Frequency distribution functions of average wind speed over the period
of observations from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2016 for five meteorological observation stations
at a height of 10 m above the ground
For the analysis of wind speed distribution the most often used approximation is Weibull
probability density function. This function is consider to be a good approximation of the wind
speed frequency distribution and is described by the following equation:
( )= exp for 0, (2)
where: - scale factor,

- shape factor,
V – wind speed, m/s.
Parameters and of the Weibull wind speed frequency distribution functions were
estimated using the Maximum Likelihood Method for 22 stations [10]. The maximum
likelihood estimator is found by maximizing the likelihood function [11] and was calculated
using functions from the R package MASS [12].
Once the distribution parameters are estimated, it is necessary to perform a goodness of fit
test, which checks the conformity between observations and theoretical distribution. This is
done by applying the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, which measures the maximum distance
between the empirical and the fitted distribution functions. The hypothesis that the two
distributions are equal is rejected if the distance exceeds a certain critical value [13]. Following
the estimation of the parameters of the fitted distribution, it is necessary to assess critical
values by applying the bootstrap procedure [14]. Hypothesis was not rejected for any of the
stations at 5% significance level, thus confirming the applicability of the Weibull distribution
for the average wind speed data.
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.5
The way properties of the wind flow differ across various regions of the country can be
represented in the form of a spatial distribution map of Weibull distribution function
parameters, as are shown in Figures. 4 and 5. The Weibull distribution parameter values
depend on regional topography and site proximity to the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Riga. The
scale parameter values (Figure 4), which stretch or shrink the distribution, are decreasing with
the distance from the sea, indicating that coastal stations have wider probability density
functions. The spatial distribution of the shape parameter values (Figure 5) is influenced by
topography as the lowest values are observed in the highlands. Overall, the shape parameter
values vary from 1.6 to 2.1, indicating that the density function has a positively skewed bell
shape.
Figure 4. Model of the spatial distribution values the scale parameter c of Weibull wind
speed probability density at a height of 10 m above the ground
Figure 5. Model of the spatial distribution values the shape parameter k of Weibull wind
speed probability density at a height of 10 m above the ground
The estimates of parameters с and к presented in the form of contour maps allows estimating
the frequency characteristics of the wind speed distribution for any point on the territory of
Latvia at an altitude of 10 m above the ground using Eq. 2. This greatly simplifies the
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.6
assessment of the amount of wind energy that can be produced when choosing the location
for the SWTG installation.
4 The spatial distribution of wind energy resource

Due to the cyclical nature of the wind and nonlinear relationship between wind speed and
energy it carries, it is not possible to perform assessment of the wind energy potential based
on Eq. 1. In order to perform more accurate assessment it is necessary to take into account
the frequency distribution function from Eq 2. In this case, the value of the average energy
density that the air flow carries over an area of 1 m2 is calculated from Eq 3 [10]:
= . , (3)
where: – air density (1.23 kg/m3 for standard condition at the sea level and
temperature 15°C),
. – average cubic wind speed, m/s.
Average cubic wind speed can be calculated either based on actual wind speed measurements
according to Eq. 4 or using the frequency of wind speed occurrence obtained in accordance
with Weibull distribution function following Eq. 5.
. = ∑ , (4)
where: – average wind speed for 1 min measurement interval, m/s,

n – the number of measurements for the entire measurement period,
i – the number of a measurement interval 1, 2, 3 … n.
. = ∑ ( ) , (5)
where: – wind speed in bin i, m/s,

( ) – Weibull cumulative distribution function for wind speed , %,
i – the number of bins with 1 m/s interval, 1, 2, 3 … n
As can be seen from equation (3), the amount of energy that the wind carries is proportional
to the value of the average cubic wind speed Eq. (4, 5). At the same time, the division of the
territory of Latvia into five regions according to the level of the average cubic wind speed
makes it possible to make an estimate of the resource of wind energy that these regions have.
Assuming that the maximum value of the average energy density, which the wind carries on
the shore of the Baltic Sea, is taken as 1.0, then the values of the average energy density in
relative units for each station will be determined by Eq. 6:
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.7
´ . .
. = , (6)
. .
where: . . –average cubic wind speed at Ventspils station,
. . – average cubic velocity at each of the 22 stations,

i – observation station 1, 2, 3 … 22.
By interpolating the obtained values, it is possible to create a map of the spatial distribution
of the average density of wind energy ´ . in the territory of Latvia in relative units, which
is shown in Figure 6.
Figure 6. Model of the spatial distribution of the average wind energy density in relative
units at a height of 10 m above the ground in the territory of Latvia
The values obtained using Eq (1), (3), (6) and the values of the parameters of the Weibull wind
speed frequency distribution function, calculated on the basis of measurements at the
meteorological observation station in Ainazi, Daugavpils, Priekuli, Saldus and Ventspils for the
measurement period from 01/01/2015 to 31/12/2016 are given in Table 1.
Table 1: The values of parameters с and к of the Weibull wind speed frequency distribution
function, average wind speed Vavg, Vavg.cub. and wind energy density in relative units ′ .
for selected meteorological observation stations
Measurement results
Stations
c k Vavg Vavg.cub ′ .
Ainazi 4.3 2.0 3.8 4.7 0.66

Daugavpils 2.8 1.6 2.5 3.3 0.23
Priekuli 3.9 1.8 3.4 4.5 0.58
Saldus 3.4 1.8 3.0 3.9 0.38
Ventspils 4.6 1.7 4.1 5.4 1.00
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.8
5 Forecasting the Efficiency of the SWTG at an Altitude of 10 m

Based on the above results of wind speed analysis, it is possible to make a forecast with
respect to the SWTG performance in the territory of Latvia. Current study considers two types
of wind power converters: HWAT with rated power 0.75, 2.5, 5.0, 20.0 kW and VAWT with
0.75, 2.5, 6.0 kW, which design is mean for operating at the height of 10 m. The two types of
generators are shown in Figure 7 and Figure 8 respectively.
Figure 7. Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Figure 8. Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT)
(HAWT) 0.75 kW Darrieus H-type 0.75 kW
The main technical and design characteristics of the SWTG wind power converters are
summarized in Table 2. Provided information is in line with the models presented in the
Catalogue of European Urban Wind Turbine Manufacturers [15].
Table 2: Technical characteristics of HAWT and VAWT Darrieus H-type SWTG with rated
power 0.75, 2.5, 5.0, 20.0 kW and 0.75, 2.5, 6.0 kW
Turbine Rated Rotor Rotor Rated wind
type power, kW height, m diameter, m speed, m/s
0.75 1.50 1.50 14.0
VAWT 2.50 2.88 1.99 14.0
6.0 5.00 3.30 14.0
0.75 2.40 12.0
2.50 5.00 11.0
HAWT –
5.0 5.40 11.0
20.0 8.00 12.5
The efficiency of a wind converter depends on the aerodynamic properties of the wind turbine
and the wind type prevailing in the region. Therefore, it is of interest to evaluate the
advantages of using both convector types in the specific conditions of the Latvian landscape.
For comparison, Figure 9 shows the power curves of HAWT 0.75, 2.5 kW and VAWT 0.75, 2.5
kW.
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.9
From the analysis of the power curves, it follows that a distinctive feature of a wind turbine
with a vertical axis of rotation is a low starting torque that is associated with the starting
turbine rotation speed of more than 3 m/s. At the same time, as it can be seen from Table 2,
the rated wind speed for VAWT type converters reaches 14 m/s, while for HAWT the rated
speed is 11-12.5 m/s. That means that the operating range of the considered VAWT type
generators is between 3 and 14 m/s while for HAWT type converters it is between 2 and 11-
12.5 m/s.
HAWT 0.75 kW VAWT 0.75 kW

0.9 0.8
0.8 0.7
0.7 0.6
Power curve, kW
Power curve, kW
0.6
0.5
0.5
0.4
0.4
0.3
0.3
0.2 0.2
0.1 0.1
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Wind speed, m/s Wind speed, m/s
HAWT 2.5 kW VAWT 2.5 kW

3 3
2.5 2.5
Power curve, kW
Power curve, kW
2 2
1.5 1.5
1 1
0.5 0.5
0 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Wind speed, m/s Wind speed, m/s
Figure 9. Power curves P(V) of HAWT 0.75, 2.5 kW and VAWT 0.75, 2.5 kW Darrieus H-type
The amount of power produce by a converter in a certain period is determined by the

equality:
( )=∑ ( ( ) ∙ ( )), (7)
where ( ) – generator power curve value for wind speed

F( ) – Weibull frequency distribution function value for wind speeds .
Weibull wind speed frequency distribution function F(V), corresponding to the wind type
observed in Ventspils region is presented in Fig. 10 along with the power curve Р(V) for HAWT
2.5 kW. In Fig. 10 the area, represented by Eq. 7, corresponds to the AEP of HAWT 2.5 kW in
Venspils region equal to W = 4.6 MWh. Functions P( ) and F( ) were used in the form of
discrete bins with 1.0 m/s step length. Wind speed for the i-th step is determined from the
expression:
Vi = Δ ⋅i, (8)
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.10
where: Δ – bin size 1 m/s,

– 1, 2… .
The efficiency of wind converters is characterized by the capacity factor Ce, which is defined
as a ratio of the estimated value of W to the potential value of the energy produced by the
generator Wr, assuming that it operates at the rated capacity during the entire consider
period. Thus, in order to calculate the value of the capacity factor, the following expression is
used:
Ce = 100 (%). (9)
Figure 10. Weibull wind speed frequency distribution function F(V), the power curve Р(V) for
HAWT 2.5 kW and the value of AEP W = 4.6 MWh, corresponding to wind type at Ventspils
meteorological observation station
The results of the SWTG operational efficiency forecasts, depending on the type of wind
turbine, rated generator power and the location of its installation for selected meteorological
observation stations: Ainazi, Daugavpils, Priekuli, Saldus and Ventspils are summarized in
Table 3.
Table 3: Capacity factor Ce, for HAWT and VAWT type of the SWTG with rated power 0.75,
2.5, 5.0, 20.0 kW and 0.75, 2.5, 6.0 kW at selected meteorological observation stations
Capacity factor Ce, %
Stations HAWT VAWT
0.75 kW 2.5 kW 5.0 kW 20.0 kW 0.75 kW 2.5 kW 6.0 kW
Ainazi 9.89 16.77 11.27 5.94 4.56 3.07 3.41
Daugavpils 3.08 5,53 3.84 1.87 1.60 0.67 1.10
Priekuli 8.06 13.67 9.25 4.88 3.79 2,49 2.82
Saldus 5.08 8.91 6.11 3.02 2.46 1.24 1.76
Ventspils 13.33 21.24 14.56 8.49 6.45 5.24 4.96
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.11
The summary of the estimates of capacity factor Ce for wind converters of HAWT and VAWT
type in Ventspils region are presented in Figure 11. The comparison shows that regardless of
the type, the efficiency of the wind turbine operation decreases with increasing converter
rated power. The results of the study suggest that the SWTG wind power converters of HAWT
type, mounted on a mast with the height of at least 10 m above the ground, are more suitable
for operating in the conditions of Latvia compared to VAWT type generators. Moreover, it is
expected that among the wind energy converters of HAWT type considered in the study,
generator with the rated power of 2.5 kW will tend to operate with the highest efficiency.
Figure 11. Forecasted values of capacity factor Ce and AEP for HAWT converters with rated
power 0.75, 2.5, 5.0, 20.0 kW and VAWT Darrieus H-type 0.75, 2.5, 6.0 kW for Ventspils site
The efficiency of wind energy converters in the territory of Latvia can be represented as a
model of the spatial distribution of the capacity factor Ce in relative units. Taking the maximum
value of the capacity factor Ce max to serve as the basis, the relative capacity factor ´ for each
meteorological observation station can be determined from Eq. 10:
´
= , (10)

where: – value of the capacity factor corresponding to the performance of HAWT 2.5
kW wind power converter for the type of wind observed at the Ventspils station,
– value of the capacity factor corresponding to the efficiency of the HAWT 2.5 kW

wind type converter for the wind type at each of the 22 stations.
In this case, the maximum value of the capacity factor corresponds to the SWTG of HAWT type
with rated power 2.5 kW, which technical characteristics are summarized in Table 2, operating
in the meteorological conditions observed at Ventspils observation station.
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.12
Figure 12. Model of the spatial distribution of the relative capacity factor for HAWT type
generator with rated power 2.5 kW at the height of 10 m above the ground
The developed model of the spatial distribution of factor in relative units is presented in
the form of a color contour map in Figure 12. The figure identifies areas within which HAWT
2.5 kW is expected to work with the certain level of efficiency relative to the one projected
for Ventspils region. Thus, the results of the presented study can serve as a tool for estimating
and forecasting the feasibility of the commercial use of small wind energy converters at an
altitude of 10 m in the territory of Latvia.
6 Conclusions
The existence of the national network of 22 meteorological stations in Latvia provides a unique
opportunity for compiling the map of the spatial distribution of wind energy potential in the
country at the height of 10 m above the ground.
The study presented the spatial distribution models of average wind speed, parameters of
Weibull wind speed distribution, relative wind energy density and operational efficiency of
the SWTG at the height of 10 m above the ground. The spatial models were presented in the
form of colour contour maps.
The study provided the comparative analysis of two type of the SWTG: HAWT type with rated
power 0.75, 2.5, 5.0, 20.0 kW and VAWT Darrieus H-type with rated power 0.75, 2.5, 6.0 kW.
The results of the comparison suggest that HAWT type generators with rated power 2.5 kW
tend to perform better than other considered wind energy converters under Latvian
meteorological conditions in terms of efficiency.
The results of the study can serve as a tool for forecasting AEP and estimating the feasibility
of the commercial use of wind energy at the height of 10 m in the territory of Latvia.
Acknowledgements
The work is carried out within the project New European Wind Atlas (NEWA),
ENER/FP7/618122/NEWA ERA-NET PLUS, supported by the EUROPEAN COMMISSION under
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.13
the 7th Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration
and supported by State Research program "LATENERGI".
References
[1] Shipkovs P., Kashkarova G., Lebedeva K., Migla L.: Use of renewable energy resources
for reduction of environmental pollutions. The Fourth IASTED African Conference on
Power and Energy Systems (AfricaPES 2012). Gaborone, Botswana, September 3-5,
2012. CD Proceedings: 79-85 pp, ISBN: 978-0-88986-929-5.
[2] Bobinaite, V., Priedite, I. RES-E ssupport policies in the Baltic States: electrisity price
aspect (par II) Latvian journal of physics and technical sciences 2015, N 2, 13 – 25.
[3] Ostapenko J., Gamalejevs A. Latvian wind energy guide. Riga 2004, 96 p. Windenergy.lv
[4] Bezrukovs, V., Zacepins, A., Bezrukovs, V., Komashilovs, V. “Investigations of wind shear
distribution on the Baltic shore of Latvia”. Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical
Sciences Volume 53, Issue 3, 1 June 2016, pp. 3-10.
[5] V P Bezrukovs, V V Bezrukovs and A J Zacepins: Comparative efficiency of wind turbines
with different heights of rotor hubs: performance evaluation for Latvia. 2014 J. Phys.:
Conf. Ser. 524 012113 doi:10.1088/1742-6596/524/1/012113.
[6] Godoy Simões, M., Farret, F.A. (2015). Modeling and Analysis with Induction Generators.
CRC Press. 3rd edition. p. P 434.
[7] Aniskevich S., Bezrukovs V., Zandovskis U., Bezrukovs D., (2017): Modelling the spatial
distribution of wind energy resources in Latvia. Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical
Sciences N 6 (Vol. 54) 2017. pp 10 – 20. . DOI: 10.1515/lpts-2017-0037.
[8] Bivand, R. S., Pebesma, E. J., & Gómez-Rubio, V. (2008). Applied Spatial Data Analysis
with R. New York: Springer. 2nd edition. p405.
[9] V. Bezrukovs, A. Zacepins, Vl. Bezrukovs, V. Komashilovs (2016): Comparison of methods
for evaluation of wind turbine power production by the results of wind shear
measurements on the Baltic shore of Latvia. Renewable Energy, Volume 96, Part A,
October 2016, pp. 765–774.
[10] Manwell, J. F., McGowan, J. G., & Rogers, A. L. (2009). Wind Energy Explained: Theory,
Design and Application. John Wiley & Sons Ltd. p68.
[11] Storch, H. von, Zwiers, F.W. (2003). Statistical Analysis in Climate Research. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
[12] Ripley, B. et al. (2017). Support Functions and Datasets for Venables and Ripley's MASS.
Retrieved 11.08.2017 from https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/MASS/
[13] Storch, H. von, Zwiers, F.W. (2003). Statistical Analysis in Climate Research. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2003, 484 pp.
[14] Kharin, V.V., Zwiers, F.W. (2000). Changes in the extremes in an ensemble of transient
climate simulations with a coupled atmosphere–ocean GCM. Journal of Climate. 13,
3760–3788.
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.14
[15] Catalogue of European Urban Wind Turbine Manufacturers. Retrieved 30.08.2017 from
http://www.urbanwind.net/pdf/CATALOGUE_V2.pdf
REMOO–2018 — 07.079.15
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN ROAD TRANSPORT

FOR PASANGER IN REPUBLIC OF KOSOVO
Egzon QORRAJ1, Naser LAJQI*1, Elza QORRAJ2, Shkelzen QORRAJ3
1
University of Prishtina “HASAN PRISHTINA”, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
10 000 Prishtina, Kosovo; naser.lajqi@uni-pr.edu
2
University of Gjilan, Faculty of Economics, 60 000 Gjilan, Kosovo
3
Institute of Science and Technology, 10 000 Prishtina, Kosovo
Abstract
Energy consumption in general and in transport sector in particular are interdependent from
developmental, economic, social and demographic factors.
Determining of the different economic and social indicators in relation to transport indicators
from the point of view of energy consumption requires a multi-dimensional analysis.
The gained indicators obtained in this paper are a viable tool to make the right decisions about
energy, transport, and environment policies.
The research methodology used in this paper has the aims to show the fuel consumption for
passenger transport vehicles with diesel, petrol as well as gas engine in function of transport
system indicators in Kosovo.
Keywords: Energy; Study; Transport; Consumption
1 Introduction
Energy efficiency in general and transport sector in particular are interdependent by
economic, social, demographic and other factors.
Transportation is a field that directly affects all areas. Therefore, it requires treatment in
different perspectives.
The importance of the transport sector from the energy aspect, its participation in final energy
consumption in relation to other sectors in Kosovo and the EU are presented in Figure 1 [1].
From Figure 1, it is noticed that transport in Kosovo is the second consumer of energy, while
in EU, transport is the highest consumer of energy.
Because it spends large amounts of energy, transport is one of the major environmental
pollutants and consequently it’s required to develop efficient environmental policy and
energy consumption studies of this sector are a good tool for placement up the combined
environmental policies with the energy efficiency and the application of new technologies for
the use of renewable energy sources used by this sector.
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.1
Figure 1. Sector participation in final energy consumption in Kosovo and EU [1]
Based on official statistical data of the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, the transport participates
with about 4% of the total family budget [1].
According to EUROSTAT data, in 2012 Macedonia had a motorized rate of 146 cars/1000
inhabitants; Croatia 339 cars/1000 inhabitants; Turkey 114 cars/inhabitants. While powerful
EU countries have a high degree of motorization. Germany in 2012 had a 530 motorized rate;
France 496; Italy 621. However, even in the EU countries there are countries with relatively
low rates (compared to other EU countries) such as Romania with 224, or Hungary with 301
cars per one thousand inhabitants.
According to the Kosovo Road Directorate [2], the length of all national, regional and
municipal roads in 2012 was 7039.5 km.
According to World Bank data, the ratio of cars/km [3] for 2011 was: Bosnia and Herzegovina:
36, Turkey 33, Serbia 42, Romania 42, Macedonia 25, Austria 44, Croatia 57, Germany 75 etc.
In 2013 in the Republic of Kosovo, this indicator had a value of 32 cars/km.
In the absence of accurate data on energy consumption in the transport sector, survey
method was used where 350.00 surveys were conducted in the cities of Kosovo:
the results obtained from these surveys are presented in this paper.
2 Used Methodology for Determining Fuel Consumption of

Vehicles
The number of vehicles for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 and the motorization rate of the
cars per 1000 inhabitants is presented in Table 1.
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.2
Table 1: Motorization rate
Year Vehicle [Nr] Vehicle/1000 Resident
2011 215,513 124

2012 219,741 121
2013 255,841 140
It’s used the survey method for measuring the cars consumptions, for different fuels: gasoline,
diesel and gas. The survey form is shown in Figure 2.
Column 1. Vehicle ordinal number: Each respondent may own more than one vehicle. Each row is
completed for a vehicle and so on.
Column 2. Type of ownership: Select the corresponding number (1. Family,
2. Private company, 3. Public company,
4. Local administration, 5. Central administration).
Column 3. Municipality: Indicates the digits of the respective municipality (surveyors
will be provided with the list of municipalities and their
digits).
Column 4. Sector-Activity: (1. Family, 2. Urban transport of passengers, 3. Transports
interurban and abroad, 4. Goods transport, 5. Commercial.
6. Public company, 7. Local administration,
8. Central administration).
Column 5. Type of vehicle: (1.motorcycle, 2. Automobile, 3. SUV, 4. Van, 5. Minibus,
6. Bus, 7. Trucking, 8. Truck, 9. Truck tankers, 10. Other).
Column 6. Fuel type: (1. Gasoline, 2. Diesel (Petroleum), 3. LPG).
Column 7. Year of production: Marks the year of production in four digits, e.g. 1995.
Column 8. Engine volume (cubic): Marks the data in [cm3].
Column 9. Number of seats: Number of Seats for Passenger.
Column 10. Up to 12: Desirable, but not necessarily desirable data.
Column 13. Past kilometers in 2013: Enter the number of kilometers for 2013 (if the exact number
is unknown, then as a monthly average multiplied by 12
months).
Column 14. up to 16. Consumptions in 2013: Fill in the column that is known more precisely (for research
needs, the quantity in liters is more desirable).
Column 17. Enumerator code: Not completed.
Figure 2. The form used for the survey
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.3
Table 2 shows some indicators related to the age of the vehicles by year of their production.
The grouping was made to identify the number of vehicles in circulation in Kosovo based on
the sample results.
Table 2: Vehicles by years of production
Generation Number of Vehicles Participation [%]
1980 – 1990 99 7.5

1991 – 1995 111 8.4
1996 – 2000 307 23.3
2001- 2005 573 43.6
2006-2010 133 10.1
2011-2013 90 6.8
TOTAL 1313 100
According to the survey results, cars produced over the years 2001-2005 accounted for the
largest number of vehicles in circulation in Kosovo during 2013, accounting for 43.60% of total
cars.
These cars belong to the age of 9 to 13 years. Next comes the car stock of the production year
within the 1996-2000 generation, i.e. older cars from 13 to 18 (23.3%).
New cars have occupied very little space in the stock of cars in circulation in Kosovo in 2013
with only 6.80%. Older generation stock have higher costs, as can be seen from the specific
spending indicators.
2.1 Fuel Consumption from Vehicles that Uses Gasoline in 2013

The results obtained from the survey for cars that use gasoline as fuel for 2013 are presented
in Table 3.
Table 3: Gasoline consumption by vehicles within the sample
Past Gasoline Gasoline Average Average

Sector / kilometers consumption consumption past kilometers fuel specific
Indicator during 2013 during 2013 during 2013 last year consumption
[km] [l] [ktoe] [1] [km/vehicle] [l/100 km]
Family 801,500 54,787.50 0.0424 16,357 6.84
Commercial 4,568,000 345,575.00 0.2677 22,502 7.57
Public Sector 1,850,342 164,407 0.1273 11,352 8.89
TOTAL 7,219,842 564,770 0.4374 17,397 7.82
From Table 3 it can be seen that the average annual kilometers for a car is 17,397 [km/year]
for 2013, while the average specific car gasoline cost is 7.82 liters per 100 km. The price of
one liter of retail gasoline, according to official price prices in 2013 was 1.27 [euros/liter]. So
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.4
the average cost per car is € 1,728. Meanwhile, the average annual cost per car in the
household sector was an annual cost of EUR 1,421.
Table 4: Fuel consumption of all vehicles for 2013
Past Gasoline Gasoline Average past Average fuel

Sector / kilometers consumption consumption kilometers for specific
Indicator during 2013 during 2013 during 2013 year consumption
[km] [l] [ktoe] [km/vehicle] [l/100 km]
Family 683,856,790 46,745,856 36.21 16,357 6.84

Commercial 271,889,422 20,568,780 15.93 22,502 7.57
Public Sector 23,900,251 2,123,590 1.64 11,352 8.89
TOTAL 979,646,463 69,438,226 53.78 17,397 7.09
Figure 4. Sector participation in the amount of gasoline spent by vehicles for 2013
2.2 Fuel Consumption from Diesel Vehicles During 2013

From the survey data are obtained the results for cars that use diesel as fuel, which are
Table 5: Fuel consumption- diesel, from vehicles within the sample.
Past Diesel Diesel Average fuel

Kilometers
Sector / kilometers consumption consumption specific
for year
Indicator during 2013 during 2013 during 2013 consumption
[km/vehicle]
[km] [l] [ktoe] [1] [l/100km]
Commercial 14,667,800 1,099,061 0.9435 24,446 7.49
Public Sector 2,332,183 185,899 0.1596 14,396 7.97
TOTAL 18,758,983 1,416,815 1.2163 21,269 7.55
From Table 4, in 2013, cars consuming gasoline as fuel, have consume 69,438,226 liters of
gasoline by a route of 979,646,463 kilometers.
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.5
As in the case of gasoline vehicles, diesel vehicles were also regrouped, and the extrapolation
calculation increased the number of commercial sector surveys to the number of surveys of
the three transport sectors ( urban, interurban and goods transport). This action was made
for the same reasons presented in the case of gasoline vehicles.
The survey results show that the average annual of kilometers per vehicle unit is 21,269 km,
while the average specific consumption of diesel for car is 7.55 liters per 100 km. The price of
one liter of retail diesel, according to official price statistics in 2013 was 1.26 euro/liter. So the
average annual cost per car is 2023 euros, while the family car has had an annual cost of 1,385
euros.
Table 6: Fuel consumption - diesel of all vehicles for 2013

Past Diesel Diesel Average fuel
Kilometers
SECTOR/ kilometers consumption consumption specific
for year
INDICATOR during 2013 during 2013 during 2013 consumption
[km/vehicle]
[km] [l] [ktoe] [1] [l/100 km]
Commercial 873,034,076 65,416,607 56.16 24,446 7.49
Public Sector 20,082,787 1,600,797 1.37 14,396 7.97
TOTAL 2,393,932,951 179,518,885 154.11 21,269 7.50
As it is seen from the table above, in 2013 cars that use diesel as fuel consumed 179,518,885
liters, and have done 2,393,932,951 [km].
Family and commercial vehicles are the biggest diesel consumption, compared to all other
motor vehicles.
PUBLIC
SECTOR
COMMERCIA 1%
L
37%
FAMILY
62%
Figure 5. Sector participation in diesel fuel consumption by vehicles for 2013
Family sector vehicles participate with 62% of diesel consumption, while commercial sector
vehicles participate with 37%. Public sector diesel vehicles have a very low participation 1 [%].
2.3 Fuel Consumption from Gas Vehicles during 2013

From the survey data are obtained the results for cars that use gas as fuel, which are
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.6
Table 7. Fuel consumption- gas, from vehicles within the sample

Past Gas Gas Average fuel
Kilometers
for year
Indicator during 2013 during 2013 during 2013 consumption
[km/vehicle]
[km] [l] [ktoe] [l/100 km]
Family 111,000 11,120 0.0061 15,857 10.02
Commercial 353,000 42,440 0.0233 27,154 12.02
TOTAL 464,000 53,560 0.0294 23,200 11.54
In the column 4 of Table 7 we can see the amount of gas in (GLN) on the physical value in
(liter) and energetic value in [ktoe]. 1 liter gas weight is 0.51 [kg]. The conversion factor: 1liter
gas consists an amount of energy 0.00000055 [ktoe].
The survey results show that the average annual of kilometers per vehicle unit is 23,200
km/year for 2013, while the average specific consumption of diesel for car is 11.54 liter per
100 km. Table 8 shows the results of exploration gas consumption for all vehicles in 2013.
Table 8. Fuel consumption - gas of all vehicles for 2013

Past Gas Gas Average fuel
Kilometers
for year
IndicatorR during 2013 during 2013 during 2013 consumption
[km/vehicle]
[km] [l] [toe] [l/100 km]
Family 94,707,553 9,487,820 5.22 15,857 10.02
Commercial 37,241,500 4,477,420 2.46 27,154 12.02
TOTAL 131,949,053 13,965,240 7.68 23,200 10.58
In 2013 cars that use diesel as fuel consumed 13,965,240 liters of gas, travelling so a road of
131,949,053 [km].
The survey has found only two sectors that use gas vehicles, the family sector and commercial
sector.
Family sector vehicles participate with 68% of diesel consumption, while commercial sector
vehicles participate with 32%, Figure 6.
Comercial
32%
Family
68%
Figure 6. Sector participation in gas fuel consumption by vehicles
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.7
3 Fuel Consumption from all Vehicles during 2013

Table 9 shows the results obtained from the survey from all vehicles sorted by year of
production.
Table 9: Specific consumption by year of production
For years Number of vehicles Specific consumption [l/100 km]
1980 – 1990 99 8.10

1991 – 1995 111 8.00
1996 – 2000 307 8.00
2001 – 2005 573 7.80
2006 – 2010 133 7.70
2011 – 2013 90 7.70
TOTAL 1313 7.88
4 Conclusions
There are only four types of fuels that are being used in Kosovo at the moment: diesel,
gasoline, gas and kerosene for air traffic.
Energy consumption for road traffic was:
- 66.73 [ktoe] fuel for Gasoline,
- 273.57 [ktoe] fuel for Diesel, and
- 7.68 [ktoe] fuel for Gas.
From these results we can conclude that, the road traffic participates with 95.40% of total
energy consumption in all traffic sectors, while as a fuel, diesel dominates with 75.28%
comparing with all other fuels.
Average consumption for gasoline vehicles is 7.09 [l/100 km], while for diesel 7.50 [l/100 km].
This including the vehicles of all production years. The low average of consumption for family
sector has indicated in the overall results.
Quality monitoring of energy consumption in traffic is necessary in the aspect of terms of
sustainable economic development, as well as to implement in the future the EU's obligations
towards reducing harmful gases and the obligation to maintain oil reserves and its products.
Import of new vehicles should be promoted by setting medium and long-term targets for
reducing the average age of vehicles. This can be done through discouraging policies for
importing old cars by increasing import taxes and then stopping the import of certain year of
production vehicles according to the government dynamic, being always balanced with the
opportunities and needs of the economy and the population.
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.8
References
[1] MED (Ministry of Economic Development) - Energy Balance of the Republic of Kosovo.
[2] KAS (Kosovo Agency of Statistics) - Results of the Household Budget Survey 2013.
[3] KAS (Kosovo Agency of Statistics) –Transport Statistics TM1 2014; TM2 2014.
[4] Asish Parajuly: Modeling road and rail freight energy consumption.
[5] Energy, transport and environment indicators.
[6] Department for Transport UK: National Travel survey 2012.
[7] Energy data: energy efficiency trend in the transport sector in the EU.
[8] FIA Foundation for the Automobile &Society: The automobile and Society-executive
summary.
REMOO–2018 — 08.076.9
QUEST FOR ENERGY
VIRTUALISATION OF REALITY AS ENERGY SOLUTIONS & THE

KEY CHALLENGE FOR VISUALIZING COMPLEXITY
Abstract
Virtual Reality (VR) is a powerful simulation tool that can allow users to experience the effects
of their actions in vivid and memorable ways. It also saves energy. However, explorations of
VR as a persuasive technology are rare. Also, VR is not extensively incorporated into science
and engineering lessons due to lack of systematic studies on this subject and due to lack of
evidences for pro and coins of VR use in energy education. Papers usually emphasize the
potential but not analyses of knowledge constructed by VR which would not be otherwise
achieved. Clear curriculum or syllabus on teaching with VR do not exist. In this paper we look
for VR features, potentials, challenges and obstacles in order to create VR and AR lab for
scientific research, designing energy solutions and virtual human interaction lab.
Keywords: Virtual reality; Energy solutions; Visualisation; Complexity; Big data,

Immersive technologies
1 Introduction
Virtual Reality Environments (VRE) are being increasingly deployed as means of displaying data
and controlling complex facilities. The exact origins of virtual reality are disputed, partly
because of how difficult it has been to formulate a definition for the concept of an alternative
existence. Elements of virtual reality appeared as early as the 1860s. French avant-garde
playwright Antonin Artaud took the view that illusion was not distinct from reality, advocating
that spectators at a play should suspend disbelief and regard the drama on stage as reality.
The first references to the more modern concept of virtual reality came from science fiction.
Modern days gave to VR many contents (Figure 1) and educational/ytaining purpose too,
beside entertainmet one.
It is known that energy consumption feedback plays a crucial role, not only as a tool to
visualize energy use, but also as an aid to help managers diagnose and reduce the overall
consumption of an entire building. Yet, to date no energy management system relies on VRE
to display energy data. In a virtual reality environment energy consumption has no standard
illustration. Consumption is not something visible in the real world, therefore an adequate
representation to visualize this kind of information is required. Displaying energy consumption
information introduces changes in the consumer’s behavior and helps them make better
decisions when it comes to reducing their overall expenses in energy.
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.1
Figure 1. a) The Sensorama was released in the 1950s; b) immersive VR
2 The Key Terminology

Firstly we will introduce the key terminology. Table 1 contain the key words and terminology
definition with some applications.
Table 1: Key words and terminology defined

Augmented (AR) is a technology that superimposes digital information and media,
Reality such as 3D models and videos, upon the real world through your
smartphone, tablet, PC, or connected glasses. AR enables firms to
visualize complex equipment and systems like gas pipes through
interactive 3D models. For instance
Virtual Reality “Virtual reality refers to immersive, interactive, multisensory, viewer-
centered, three dimensional computer generated environments and
the combination of technologies required to build these
environments.” [1]
“Computer simulations that use 3D graphics and devices such as the
DataGlove to allow the user to interact with[ the simulation.” [2]
As any digital technology there are drawbacks and benefits. Within the engineering field,
nowadays VR is being effectively used in engineering education since the use of VR presents
several advantages, namely: VR allows simulating in real time the use of otherwise unavailable
expensive laboratory equipment; the use of VR avoids potential damages to a real machine
caused by students’ misuse during practical classes; VR solves the difficulty of developing
practical classes in a real laboratory environment when the groups are overcrowded; VR
improves the prevention of occupation hazards; and VR allows the students to interact with
complete manufacturing processes, which would be practically impossible otherwise. Benefits
of using VR education and energy training are listed in Table 2.
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.2
Table 2. Benefits of using VR in education and energy training

Employee training AR facilitates the transfer of information. 2D diagrams of complex
components can be enriched with 3D models. Employees can
rotate and interact with the 3D models to gain a better
understanding of the equipment. This enables for more in-depth
training and faster information retention. Employees become
proficient quicker than conventional training methods.
Expedited equipment Expedited equipment maintenance is another one of the great
maintenance opportunities for AR. With augmented reality, technicians in the
field have immediate access expert knowledge. They can access
complete documentation for all the operation’s equipment on
their tablets. Technicians can overlay a 3D model on an actual
piece of equipment. They may also view the internal components
of a piece of equipment and explore its inner workings. System
repairs and upgrades are faster than ever before.
0perational safety AR also allows for better visualization of underground assets and
complex components, reducing accidents. Through AR technology,
protective equipment and safety protocols can be illustrated in
real time in the field.
However. virtual reality technology faces a number of challenges, including health and safety,
privacy and technical issues. Long-term effects of virtual reality on vision and neurological
development are unknown; users might become disoriented in a purely virtual environment,
causing balance issues; computer latency might affect the simulation, providing a less-than-
satisfactory end-user experience; navigating the non-virtual environment (if the user is not
confined to a limited area) might prove dangerous without external sensory information.
There have been rising concerns that with the advent of virtual reality, some users may
experience virtual reality addiction. From an economic and financial perspective, early
entrants to the virtual reality market may spend a significant amount of time and money on
the technology. If it is not adopted by enough customers, the investment will not pay off. The
challenges for augmented reality’s wider applications are summarized in Table 3.
Table 3: Lists of challenges for augmented reality

Augmented reality One of the most difficult challenges for AR is educating the broader
education market. Also, it is important to build a strong pipeline of rising talent
in the AR/VR community to continue to innovate and develop this
technology. It is critical that students have exposure to this
technology in the classroom. It is easy to be intimidated by emerging
tech, but with early exposure, AR/VR can become more accessible.
Augmented reality There is no systematic study on content for AR in education and
content training. For AR to be successfully incorporated in training one has to
set up appropriate and meaningful content.
Augmented reality The issue with our mobile devices is that they aren’t equipped with
hardware room mapping or depth sensing technology.
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.3
3 Classification of VR and the Key Components

The main difference between VR systems and traditional media (such as radio, television) lies
in three dimensionality of Virtual Reality structure. Immersion, presence (integration) and
interactivity are peculiar features of Virtual reality that draw it away from other
representational technologies. Virtual reality does not imitate real reality, nor does it have a
representational function. Human beings have inability to distinguish between perception,
hallucination, and illusions. Classification of VR resources according to visualization and
interaction devices is presented in Figure 2. We can group the VR systems accordingly to the
level of immersion they offer to the user: semi-Immersive and immersive systems. Semi-
immersive (Fish Tank VR) systems – improved version of Desktop VR. These systems support
head tracking and therefore improve the feeling of “of being there” thanks to the motion
parallax effect; Immersive systems – the ultimate version of VR systems. They let the user
totally immerse in computer generated world with the help of HMD that supports a
stereoscopic view of the scene accordingly to the user’s position and orientation. Immersion
means the extent to which high fidelity physical There are also few types of immersion inputs
(e.g., light patterns, sound waves) are provided to the different sensory modalities (vision,
audition, touch) in order to create strong illusions of reality in each. According to Ernest Adams
[3], immersion can be separated into three main categories: Tactical immersion Strategic
immersion, Narrative immersion, Spatial immersion and Sensory immersion.
Figure 2. Classification of VR resources according to visualization and interaction devices.

Specific device images are from the construction company Mammoet
(www.mammoet.com). Virtual cave image is from the Technical University of Zvolen,
Slovakia (http://etools.tuzvo.sk/cave). Image retrieved from source [4]
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.4
Figure 3 shows mixture of VR and AR.
Figure 3. Example of AR (augmented reality)
The key components in a Virtual Reality system are as follows: computer, head mounted
display and input devices (Table 4).
Table 4: The key components in a Virtual Reality including explanation

PC (PERSONAL HEAD-MOUNTED DISPLAY
COMPUTER)/CONSOLE/SMARTPHONE
A head-mounted display (also called HMD,
Virtual reality content, which is the what users view inside of a Headset, or Goggles) is a type of device that
virtual reality headset, is equally important as the headset itself. contains a display mounted in front of a
In order to power these interactive three-dimensional user’s eyes. This display usually covers the
environments, significant computing power is required. This is user's full field of view and displays virtual
where PC (Personal Computer), consoles, and smartphones reality content. Some virtual reality head
come in. They act as the engine to power the content being mounted displays utilize smartphone
produced. displays, including the Google Cardboard or
Samsung Gear VR. Head-mounted displays
are often also accompanied with a headset to
provide for audio stimulation.
INPUT DEVICES
Input devices are one of the two categories of components that provide users with a sense of immersion (i.e.
convincing the human brain to accept an artificial environment as real). They provide users with a more natural
way to navigate and interact within a virtual reality Environment. Some of the more common forms of virtual
reality input devices include: Joysticks, Force Balls/Tracking Balls, Controller Wands, Data Gloves, Trackpads, On-
Device Control Buttons, Motion Trackers/Bodysuit, Treadmill and Motion Platforms (Virtuix Omni)
Key Components Inside of a Virtual Reality Headset are as follows: sensors, display, screen
and processing. Table 5 shows lists of sensors generally used in VR, while Table 6 lists
possible processors.
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.5
Table5: Table shows lists of sensors generally used in VR

Magnetometer - Magnetometer - The magnetometer tells your device which direction it is
facing on the surface of the earth. The magnetometer acts as a sort of
compass for the device. As such, it is able to do this by measuring
magnetic fields.
Accelerometers Accelerometers - The accelerometer tells your device which way up it is.
To do this, your device will have several accelerometers to work together
measuring things like gravitational pull in relation the accelerometer
measuring the device’s orientation.
Gyroscopes Gyroscopes - A gyroscope calculates the orientation of your device. It
does this to either help your device maintain a particular orientation or
make sure it properly changes orientation when it should.
Table 6: Lists of processors usually used in VR

Input Input Processor – Controls the devices used to input information to the
Processor computer. They retrieve and distribute data to the rest of the system with
minimal lag time. Examples include keyboards, mousse, 3D position trackers,
and voice recognition systems.
Simulation Simulation Processor – Takes the user inputs along with any other tasks that
Processor are programmed from the natural world and determines the actions that will
take place in the virtual world. This is a core component of the VR system
Rendering Rendering Processor – Creates the sensations that are output to the user.
Processor These include visual, auditory, haptic and other sensory systems. Separate
rendering processes are used for each sensory system.
Other concepts important to understand how virtual reality headsets work are as follows:
Field of View (also called Field of Vision or FOV), a vital component used in virtual reality to
provide users with a realistic perception of their environmental landscape. Simply put, field of
view refers to how wide the picture is; Frame Rate that refer to the frequency (rate) at which
the display screen shows consecutive images, which are also called frames; Latency that refers
to the amount of time it takes for an image displayed in a user’s headset to catch up to their
changing head position; Audio (virtual reality audio works via positional, multi-speaker audio
that gives the illusion of a 3-dimensional world. Positional audio is a way of seeing with your
ears and is used in virtual reality because it can provide cues to gain a user’s attention, or give
them information that may not be presented visually. This technology is already quite
common and often found in home theater surround sound systems); Tracking (Tracking
handles the vital task of understanding a user’s movements and then acting upon them
accordingly to maintain full immersion in virtual reality). Below, we explore the three of the
main types of virtual reality tracking.
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.6
Figure 4. Head tracking Figure 5. Motion tracking
Head tracking refers to the way in which the view in front of you will shift as you look up, down
and side-to-side. A system called six degrees of freedom (6DoF) plots your head in terms of
your x, y and z axis to measure head movements forward and backwards, side-to-side and
shoulder to shoulder, otherwise known as pitch, yaw and roll. Head tracking utilizes a series
of sensors, vital to any virtual reality headset, which includes a gyroscope, accelerometer, and
magnetometer. Head-tracking technology must be low latency in order to be effective.
Anything above 50ms will cause a lag between the headset movement and virtual reality
environment changes.
Motion tracking (Figure 5) is the way in which user views and interacts with his/her own body
(e.g. hands, movements, etc). One of the most natural motion-related acts is to want to be
able to see your own hands (virtually) in front of you. To do this, virtual reality input
accessories such as gloves can be used. Other motion tracking devices such as wireless
controllers, joysticks, treadmills, and motion platforms are now being used to supplement the
headset and provide an even more immersive experience. Many of these input accessories
utilize sensors to detect gestures such as pointing and waving. Virtual reality systems such as
HTC’s Vive headset, utilize base stations to track the sensors from the headset and controllers.
Figure 6. Eye tracking
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.7
Eye tracking (Figure 6) technology is still maturing; however, it may be one of the most
important missing pieces to complete the virtual reality full immersion puzzle. Eye tracking
involves tracking the human eyes via an infrared sensor that monitors your eye movement
inside the headset. The main advantage to this type of tracking is that depth of field (i.e.
distance) becomes much more realistic. In a virtual reality headset, the objects that our eyes
focus on, need to look as life-like as possible. Without eye tracking, everything remains in
focus as you move your eyes - but not your head - around a scene, thus causing a greater
likeliness of simulation sickness.
4 Application in Energy Training

Table 7 shows a few approaches for integration of VR into scientific research, industry
design, manufacturing and control.
Table 7: A few distinctive professional application of VR & training of VR

Scientific Visualisation The navigation through the huge amount of data visualized in three-
dimensional space is almost as easy as walking. An impressive example
of such an application is the Virtual Wind Tunnel, developed at the NASA
Ames Research Center. Using this program, the scientists have the
possibility to use a data glove to input and manipulate the streams of
virtual smoke in the airflow around a digital model of an airplane or
space-shuttle. Moving around (using a BOOM display technology) they
can watch and analyze the dynamic behavior of airflow and easily find
the areas of instability
Virtual Reality in Virtual reality engineering includes the use of 3D modelling tools and
Engineering & Energy visualisation techniques as part of the design process. This technology
sector enables engineers to view their project in 3D and gain a greater
understanding of how it works. Plus they can spot any flaws or potential
risks before implementation. What is important is the ability of virtual
reality to depict fine grained details of an engineering product to
maintain the illusion. This means high end graphics, video with a fast
refresh rate and realistic sound and movement.
Technologically-based Conventional training methods to study disaster response are as follows:
approaches to disaster 1) classroom-based instructive teaching; 2) web-based training that
response training consists primarily of pre-recorded, user-paced presentation material;
through Virtual Reality and 3) real-life drills and tabletop exercises of varying scales. While all
(VR) environments are long-established and instructionally valid approaches, classroom-
appears based instructive teaching and web-based presentation material lack the
realism offered by drills and exercises. The advent of technologically-
based approaches to disaster preparedness through virtual reality (VR)
environments appears promising in its ability to bridge the gaps of other
commonly-held established training formats
Example of scientific visualization are shown in Figure 7. The navigation through the huge
amount of data visualized in three-dimensional space is almost as easy as walking. An
impressive example of such an application is the Virtual Wind Tunnel, developed at the NASA
Ames Research Center. Using this program the scientists have the possibility to use a data
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.8
glove to input and manipulate the streams of virtual smoke in the airflow around a digital
model of an airplane or space-shuttle. Moving around (using a BOOM display technology) they
can watch and analyze the dynamic behavior of airflow and easily find the areas of instability
[5].
Figure 7a. Example of scientific visualization
Figure 7b. Example non-immersive and immersive VR (combined wih AR)
Figure 8. Example of immersive VR (combined wih AR) [6]
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.9
Figure 9. Example of immersive VR (combined with AR)
Some other applications are shown in Figures 8-9. One successful example of using VR for
training engineers in nuclear industry is approach done by French GE 3D designer Kevin
Dubray in order to help GE Power to develop 3D representation of steam turbines that spin
generators inside nuclear power plants (Figure 10). His animations are helping young
engineers learn how to assemble and dismantle turbines that were often designed and
installed before they were born. Dubray’s VR experience enables them to “visit” a nuclear
power plant, see the equipment and learn how it operates. To build his VR plant, Dubray used
3D models of GE generators and steam turbines and combined them with models of other key
components like shut-off and control valves, pumps and moisture separator reheaters. He
then housed the entire simulation inside a virtual replica of the plant building.
Figure 10. Example of using VR for training engineers in nuclear industry is approach
done by French GE 3D designer Kevin Dubray [7]
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.10
5 University’s VR, AR & Human Interaction Lab emulated with the

3-D Web as a new World of Big Data
Can virtual reality emerge as a tool for conservation? Could virtual reality (VR) — immersive
digital experiences that mimic reality — save the environment and reduce energy
consumption? The answer is yes, if it is incorporated carefully and purposefully. Effective
visualization is the bridge between quantitative information and human intuition. For
instance, Bailenson’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) this year released a short VR
documentary and an interactive VR game that seek to explain the issue of ocean acidification,
the process by which excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere dissolves in the ocean, making
it more acidic and less healthy for ocean life. [8]. Embodying sensory-rich experiences of
animals in IVEs led to greater feeling of embodiment, perception of being present in the virtual
world, and interconnection between the self and nature compared to video. Heightened
interconnection with nature elicited greater perceptions of imminence of the environmental
risk and involvement with nature [9].
There is a more and more approaches/experimenting with immersive virtual reality (VR)
spaces as a data visualization platform. Thus, a scientist can “walk” into their data, while
interacting and collaborating with their colleagues in the same virtual space. Perhaps societal
solutions such as energy consumption can be found through the designing games based on
collected scientific data.
For dealing with scientific concepts as with objects, haptic technology and tactile interactions
can play crucial role. Haptic interactions via passive or active tools and machines, devices that
sense, enable, or create haptic interactions locally or at a distance, haptic rendering and its
association with graphic and auditory rendering in virtual reality, algorithms, controls, and
dynamics of haptic devices, users, and interactions between the two, human-machine
performance and safety with haptic feedback, haptics in the context of human-computer
interactions, systems and networks using haptic devices and interactions, including multi-
modal feedback – through sensing accelerate human immersion into a new discoveries and
deeper meaning of world around. Barriers such as psychological effects have still to be
cancelled.
Obstacles and challenging towards designing VR lab
The key role of data analysis is to replace the raw complexity seen in the data with a reduced
set of patterns, regularities and corrections, leading to their theoretical understanding.
However, the complexity of data sets and interesting, meaningful constructs in them is staring
to exceed the cognitive capacity of the human brain. Thus, the key challenge is to visualize
complexity. For instance, hyper dimensional structures (clusters, correlations, etc) are likely
present in many complex data sets. And will further grow. It is not only the matter of data
understanding but also of choosing the appropriate data mining algorithm. Mechanics of
fluids, and phenomena such as turbulence and laminar currents are very complex concepts
whose understanding is of crucial impact in nuclear physics (for instance). This 3D web od data
emulated into VR can be beneficial for fundamental scientific research and a new energy
solution. To enable students to take role and for democratization of immersive experiences a
new VR application and a new pedagogy models based on VR & AR labs are welcomed.
Students will not only have the opportunity to observe unseen phenomena but to prototype
solutions to complex problems.
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.11
The VR lab should apply research methods from social science, human-computer interaction,
and data visualization to address the challenge of including social, emotional, and
communication factors into modelling and simulation of crowd behaviour. Notable,
Laboratory has to consist of VR Software Lab and VR Hardware Lab in Room. The hardware
lab should provide students and researchers with high quality 3D gaming workstations,
stereoscopic displays (corner cave, 3D wall), head mounted displays (HTC Vive, HoLo lens,
Oculus) motion trackers, 3D input devices, and force feedback devices. Research projects can
be extended from simple applications in areas of Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR),
and Software Engineering (SE) to emergency response, multi user virtual environment
(MUVE), augmented reality (AR), and VR classroom environment. Exploring agent-based
modeling and simulation (ABMS) and multi-agent system (MAS) for evacuation and decision
making systems should be set as task. Study of crowd behaviour during evacuations due to
emergency and terror events is important for any decision in, for instance, nuclear accidents.
We strongly believe in testing our research with practice and actively seek collaboration with
industry. To design VR & AR lab, University has connect experts from different fields, and build
environment for knowledge dissemination. It is not enough to have technology but not to
understand he potential and how to upgrade it. Learning with VR prototyping is needed if
University wants to grow up and educate future engineers and scientists.
6 Conclusions
Virtual reality and virtual manufacturing often concentrate on an interface between VR
technology and manufacturing and production theory and practice. Visualisation of scientific
concepts are crucially important. For many decades research in particle physics, namely
construction of detectors and accelerators relied on 3D simulation. When simulation is
integrated with immersion and interaction, a new tool is created. So, modern VR emulate
different concepts of technologies which will bring deeper (immersed) understanding and a
new discovery (imaginative leap). In particular VR is useful in nuclear industry, for scientific
research, manufacturing, control and for preparedness for eventual accidents. VR is also
example of energy solution too since energy can be saved (instead t build expensive labs smart
virtual lab can reduce costs and CO2 emission as well. However, there is little done towards
VR integration into schools and Universities. The reason could be that content for VR is not
well developed and that teaching staff is not skilled to use it. Perhaps the most beneficial
would be for Universities to work on both, building and using VR and AR. This would accelerate
knowledge about VR potential and its applications. Currently at Montenegro University we do
not use VR in teaching and we hope it will be soon successfully integrated.
Acknowledgements
Author gratefully acknowledge the support of organisers of the REMOO-2018 Conference.
References
[1] C. Cruz-Neira, Virtual Reality Overview, SIGGRAPH’93 Course, No. 23, pp. 1.1-1.18
(1993)
[2] Jargon: Jargon Dictionary. http://www.fwi.uva.nl/~mes/jargon/ (1995)
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.12
[3] Sharmistha Mandal, Brief Introduction of Virtual Reality & its Challenges, International
Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 4, Issue 4, April-2013, pp: 304, ISSN
2229-5518
[4] Diego Vergara, Manuel Pablo Rubio and Miguel Lorenzo, On the Design of Virtual Reality
Learning Environments in Engineering, Multimodal Technologies and Interact. 2017, 1,
11; doi:10.3390/mti1020011
[5] Jozef Novák-Marcinčin, Marcela Kuzmiaková, Khaled Al Beloushy, Virtual reality

technologies and virtual manufacturing, BULETIN ŞTIINŢIFIC, Seria C, Volumul XXIII,
Fascicola: Mecanică, Tribologie, Tehnologia Construcţiilor de Maşini SCIENTIFIC
BULLETIN, Serie C, Volume XXIII, Fascicle: Mechanics, Tribology, Machine Manufacturing
Technology ISSN 1224-3264
[6] http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Eon-Reality-
iCube.jpg
[7] https://www.ge.com/reports/thats-powerful-ge-using-virtual-reality-train-nuclear-
engineers/
[8] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/jun/28/can-virtual-reality-emerge-
as-a-tool-for-conservation
[9] Ahn S.J., Bailenson J.N., Environmental Behaviour, Immersion/Presence, McGillicuddy

K., Nowak K., Ogle E., Publications, Aug 01, 2016
REMOO–2018 — 08.090.13
QUEST FOR ENERGY
SIZING AND OPERATING A HYBRID ELECTRIC ENERGY

STORAGE SYSTEM USING META HEURISTICS
Timm WEITZEL*1,2, Maximilian SCHNEIDER1, Georg FRANKE1,
Christoph GLOCK2, Stephan RINDERKNECHT1
Technische Universität Darmstadt,
weitzel@pscm.tu-darmstadt.de
1
Institute for Mechatronic Systems in Mechanical Engineering,
Otto-Berndt-Straße 2, 64287 Darmstadt, Germany
2
Institute of Production and Supply Chain Management,
Hochschulstraße 1, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany
Abstract
The need for electric energy storages in modern energy supply systems with large shares of
fluctuating generation from renewable energy sources is uncontroversial. Many different
storage technologies with widely varying properties are available, but rarely can a single
technology fulfil all requirements. The concept of Hybrid Energy Storages (HES) consisting of
a Battery Energy Storage (BES) and a Flywheels Energy Storage (FES) is introduced to combine
the strengths of different technologies while at the same time compensating their
weaknesses. Decision problems around such HES typically involve sizing the HES components
and operating the system by dividing the power between the two technologies to maximize
their benefits. Handling both tasks, this work will firstly describe a power dividing approach in
the frequency domain using filters and rule based components. Secondly, we determine the
operating strategy’s parameter and the FES and BES sizing parameters using two meta-
heuristic approaches. The developed method is tested using real data from existing prototypes
and a multi-building district with a high share of renewable energy.
Keywords: Hybrid energy storage; Design optimization; Operation strategy
1 Introduction
Electric Energy Storages (EES) play a major role in modern energy supply systems with large
shares of fluctuating generation from renewable energy sources. A variety of different storage
technologies exist with widely varying properties, but rarely can a single technology fulfil all
requirements. The concept of Hybrid Energy Storages (HES) was introduced to combine the
advantages of different technologies while at the same time compensating their weaknesses.
For applications with dynamic fluctuations and high energy demand a combination of Battery
Energy Storages (BES) and Flywheels Energy Storages (FES) is promising. Magnetically
suspended FES provide high power and moderate energy density as well as very low cyclical
degradation and calendrical aging. BES provide very high energy capacity, but suffer from
significant usage dependent cyclical and calendrical aging effects. In this work, a real world
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.1
HES application based on these technologies is investigated. The FES is an outer carbon fiber
rotor, fully magnetically suspended and running at very high speeds up to 20,000 rpm to
realize high energy density. The installed BES is a lithium-ion system with high specific energy
and power at moderate costs. Both are coupled via a DC link to increase the degree of
integration. Decision problems around such HES typically involve sizing the HES components
and defining an operating strategy for the system that divides the power between the two
components to maximize their benefits. Handling both tasks, this work will firstly describe an
operating strategy using a Filtration-Based Control (FBC) combined with a Rule-Based Control
(RBC) approach to handle the systems’ capacity constraints. Secondly, we determine the
operating strategy’s parameter together with the HES sizing parameters using a meta-
heuristic approach. The developed method is tested using real data from existing prototypes
and a multi-building district with a high share of renewable energy. In addition to the local
energy management, the task of the HES is also to provide grid services to increase its
utilization and thus its value.
2 Related Work
In a recent meta-study, authors synthesized 17 studies on the future development of EES
dissemination ([1]). The authors concluded that the demand for energy storage will increase
linearly in terms of power capacity and exponentially in terms of energy capacity with the
growing amount of energy generated from renewable generation, underlining EES major role
in modern energy systems. Main contribution of EES is their potential to decouple local energy
production and consumption time-wise for customer energy management services and
contributing to ancillary services. Besides their strategic value, the worldwide use of EESs, and
BESs in particular, is still in its infancy due to high battery aging costs, caused by high
investment costs and short lifetimes as a consequence of heavy wear ([2, 3]).
HES is an organizational concept to combine at least two types of EESs with vastly different
characteristics in joint operations. The characteristics of EESs differ in cycle durability, round-
trip efficiency, power and energy related investment costs, and feasible power-energy-ratios.
A typical configuration combines short-term storages with high power-to-energy ratio and
high cycle durability such as FESs with mid-term storages with mediocre power-to-energy
ratios and lower cycle durability such as BESs. Thereby, advantages of different technologies
can be leveraged (see [4]). Another variant could combine long-term hydrogen energy storage
with mid-term storages such as BES as described in [5]. The authors present a control strategy
to use BES for covering low energy needs and prevent the hydrogen energy storage from
unnecessary and harmful startups.
Typically three tasks are differentiated in this context ([6, 7]); (1) choosing type, number and
location of components (design problem), (2) selecting the size of components (sizing
problem), (3) scheduling the components operations (control problem). Optimization
techniques have become useful tools for all three tasks ([8]) and the literature has discussed
such problems for years (e.g., [9]). All three tasks can be optimized for economic,
environmental, and technical objectives ([10]). Most publications in the field consider single
economic objectives ([11]), such as minimizing costs or maximizing profits (e.g., [12, 13]). This
work concentrates on the latter two and will discuss related literature in the following. The
operation strategy is applied to solve the control problem and is essential to realize the
prospective advantages associated with the HES. It is required to be a continuous function
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.2
applied to the local controller. Approaches for operation strategy of HESS can be
differentiated into RBC and optimization-based approaches such as FBC ([4, 14]).
RBC is based on heuristics (rules) that strictly connect measured inputs (such as voltage or
EES’s state-of-charge (SOC)) with a predefined output (e.g. reference power). These
approaches often utilize lookup tables and are simple to implement. In [15], the authors
present a recent example with a BES and a Supercapacitor (SC) in a grid connected microgrid
including a Photovoltaic (PV) generation system. The system effectively defines power flows
to minimize peak power at the BES and thus improves power quality of the energy produced.
[16] compare different stand-alone PV systems with hydrogen storages and BES to minimize
system costs. A RBC design is presented that uses excess energy (i.e. PV generation exceeds
local consumption) to first fed the BES until an upper threshold is reached before feeding the
hydrogen storage. Excess load is served vice-versa. The operation strategy is not considering
startups nor BES cycles.
However, HES are often applied to combine storages of different cycle-durability to make use
of that advantage. Since reference signals generated from real-world applications consists of
components with different dynamics, FBC approaches use low-pass or moving average filters
to decompose these reference signals in the frequency-domain. The dynamic components are
then send to the highly durable, low capacity EES. This approach is often applied to systems
with short-term focus such as FES or SCs and mid-term focus such as BES. [17] consider an in
an islanded microgrid system with a SC added to a BES to reduce stress and increase BES cycle
life. A low-pass filter is applied to set reference signals for the two systems and control the DC
bus voltage. The authors demonstrate that the system is capable of limiting current and stress
levels for BES. [18] also investigate an application for SC and BES for residential applications
with local, domestic scale combined heat and power plant (CHP). In addition to [17], authors
further reduce the high frequency current ripple at SC reference to lower its thermal wear and
increase its efficiency. A FBC approach is proposed to generate battery reference current and
an additional FBC strategy implemented afterwards to limit the high frequency current ripple.
Further examples for FBC can be found in [19] and [20].
The sizing problem is closely related to the operating strategy as assumption on the latter are
required to evaluate a set of component sizes. Besides analytical approaches as described in
[21], heuristics and meta-heuristics such as genetic algorithms (GAs) are favourable
approaches for this kind of problem as they often allow separate handling of the underlying
control problem. [22] present a sizing strategy for a three storage HES in an islanded microgrid.
The authors use pinch analysis and design space approach as heuristics for sizing with an RBC
approach on operations. In addition to sizing components, heuristics and meta-heuristics can
also be used to select parameters in the operating strategy. [23] describe a particle-swarm
optimization to determine membership functions in a fuzzy logic controller, but also in FBC
approaches, a filter constant can be selected as adjustable parameters. One problem
associated with using meta-heuristics in optimization is that underlying simulation models for
system operations show long evaluation times due to the high degree of details needed to
characterize the necessary physical phenomena. Selecting a fast approach is necessary.
The article at hand will contribute to current literature in two ways. Firstly, it will present an
operation strategy based on FBC approach that is extended with RBC to handle capacity
constraints of the FES. Secondly, the article outlines an application of two meta-heuristics to
minimize total costs by changing sizes and parameters of the operating strategy.
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.3
3 Hybrid Energy Storage System and Use Case

As discussed before, a HES combines two different storage technologies to use their specific
advantages and overcome their drawbacks. This contribution proposes a hybrid system based
on a Li-Ion-Battery and an innovative flywheel concept.
3.1 System Design and Control Concept

Several electrical coupling alternatives exist for hybrid concepts. These range from solely
communication based connections to using the same inverter hardware (see also [17]). The
proposed HES (see Figure 1) is coupled at the DC link of the involved power electronics
resulting in one common power supply unit that operates as the connection to the power grid.
The BES is connected to this DC link via a DC/DC converter. The FES is connected using an
inverter that modulates frequency and amplitude of the AC voltage for the electric drive of
the FES. In case of any errors the FES can be directly connected to a breaking resistor that is
in this case added to the circuit via a contactor.
Figure 1. System Design of the HES
The local controller is responsible for the operating strategy of the HES including the
generation of BES- and FES-specific setpoint signals for their electric power. There is a
bidirectional link to the microgrid energy management and a unidirectional link to a high
frequency power measurement at the Point of Common Coupling (PCC). The energy
management provides setpoint signals to the HES and receives operating conditions such as
State of Charge (SOC) or temperature information.
Figure 2 shows the general structure of the presented control concept. The required power of
the HES , consists of two different components and , with being the
residual storage power demand of a multi-building district application and being the
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.4
primary reserve power that is used to stabilize the grid frequency. The summation of these
two results in the setpoint of the storage power requested from the HES , . Since two
different storage technologies are involved in the HES concept, it is necessary to divide this
power signal into two parts, , and , , where , is the required power of the
BES and , is the required power of the FES. For this dividing process this paper
introduces a dual operating strategy combining FBC and RBC as shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2. Implementation of the power dispatch strategy
The central part of the FBC is a low-pass filter with a cut-off frequency . The transfer function
( ) of this filter can be written as Eq. (1) with being the Laplace operator.
2
( )= (1)
2 +
This low-pass filter divides the incoming , into a part of frequency components above
and a part of frequency components below . The high frequency components of ,
form the first element of , . The second element of , results from a SOC controller
that is designed as proportional controller with the constant factor , . This controller aims
at keeping the FES , at a pre-set SOC of 50%. The component is necessary due to the
generally low capacity of the FES and the relatively high self-discharging losses. A third
important component is the SOC compensation element that provides two functions. Firstly,
the output of the SOC controller is compensated by the BES because otherwise it would
generate unwanted control errors from the requested HES power , . Secondly, in case
of very low or high SOC levels of the FES an energy shift from the BES to the FES or vice versa
is initiated. This shift consists of a continuous power that is set as a fraction of the
FES’s maximum energy, e.g. 10%/h. The SOC compensation prevents the FES’s SOC from
reaching its boundaries to ensure its functionality and lower BES stress levels.
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.5
After the dispatching, both , and , are handled by additional power controllers
(regular PI controllers) that minimize the difference between the required and the actual
power due to conversion losses of the storage technologies.
3.2 Storage Components

For the HES application an innovative outer-rotor flywheel concept is used as a FES. The rotor
is a hubless hollow cylinder made of fibre reinforced plastic. All functional components are
fully integrated into this rotor. For the radial suspension homopolar active magnetic bearings
are used. A permanent magnetic bearing provides axial levitation. To increase the systems
robustness, a newly developed backup bearing system in a planetary arrangement with
multiple independent bearing elements is integrated. The motor generator unit is a
permanent magnet synchronous machine which is connected to the gird via a frequency
inverter (see Figure 1). The system is operated in high vacuum to reduce air friction. With this
concept high energy densities and low losses are theoretically possible. The concept is
currently tested in various applications [24]. For the further discussed simulations, the FES is
modelled using look-up tables coming from detailed finite element system simulations and
measurements form prototypes. The dynamic behaviour is accounted for using simple
transfer function blocks that are fitted from measurement data. Table 1 summarizes main
storage input parameters.
Table 1: Overview of storage input parameters

Parameter FES BES
Average single-sided conversion 93.1% 94.1 %
efficiency incl. inverter efficiency
Self-discharge rate 5 %/h 2 %/month
Power specific costs 200 €/kW -
Energy specific costs 2000 €/kWh 700 €/kWh
Maximum Lifetime 20 years 8 years
Cycle life-time >1 Mill. 6.000 cycles
(at 80% DOD)
The BES is of the type lithium nickel manganese cobalt oxide (NMC) that is known for its
versatile advantages such as high specific energy and power as well as comparably low costs.
The used modelling approach in MATLAB Simulink for the BES is an equivalent circuit model
using two serial RC circuits and a serial voltage source to model the open circuit voltage. The
reduction of BES lifetime during operation needs to be evaluated to adequately compare costs
for the application and can be predicted by battery aging models. These models are generated
from accelerated lifetime tests under defined conditions. Typically, a time-dependent
component (calendrical aging) and a usage-dependent component (cyclical aging) of lifeloss
(LL) are differentiated ([25]) and superimposed subsequently (Eq. (2)). Cyclical aging occurs
when a BES is actively used. Main influencing factor is the number of cycles augmented by
other stress factors such as the cycle’s depth of discharge (DOD), the difference between
maximum and minimum SOC. Cycle-counting methods are a widely applied technique (e.g.
[26], [27], [28], [29], and [30]). Given the BESS’s SOC trajectory over time, Downing’s
“Rainflow” counting algorithm (see [31]) is used to count number of cycles CYC and identify
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.6
the cycle specific . The relative accumulated lifeloss is calculated according to Eq. (3)
by adding up cycle-specific lifelosses . In this article, we apply the model of [32] for
lithium-ion batteries shown in Eq. (4).
LL = LL + LL (2)
LL = ∑ ( ) (3)
SL = ∙ ( ) (4)
/
( ⋅ ⋅ )⋅ ⋅
LL =∑ ⋅Δ (5)
%
Calendrical aging in lithium-ion batteries results from complex mechanisms ([33]). These
mechanisms are moderated by the potential of a battery, represented by the SOC, and the
cell temperature . From Eq. (5), an estimation of the percentage, calendrical lifeloss that the
battery faces due to staying at a certain SOC at temperature for the time interval Δ at time
can be derived. The underlying assumption is that at end of life, a capacity loss of 20 % has
been reached (see also [34]).
3.3 Use Case for HES

The HES application under consideration is a residential micro grid consisting of a multi-
building district. The modelled district includes photovoltaic generation, a combined heat and
power plant and the power demand of the residents. The main goal for the energy
management is to economically optimize the self-consumption of locally produced energy.
The HES is connected to this energy management system and receives a desired load profile
form it. The difference between residual load profile and desired load profile has to be
provided by the HES. Additionally, the HES provides grid services in form of primary reserve
as part of a pooled decentralised group of storage systems to increase its added value. Figure
3 shows the resulting load profiles for an exemplary day in April 2015. The data was acquired
by onsite measurements with a resolution of 0.5 seconds. The primary reserve power is
calculated using the current frequency-power curve for German primary reserve.
According to the introduced power dispatch strategy the load profiles coming from the
application are aggregated and then again separated by frequency. To show the effect of the
filter, an exemplary filter with a cut-off frequency = is applied to the primary reserve

and the district profiles separately. Figure 4 shows the resulting high and low frequency parts.
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.7
Figure 3. Load profiles for primary reserve (top) and district energy management (bottom)
Figure 4. Frequency dependent split of load profiles

for primary reserve (top) and district load management (bottom)
It can be seen that both inputs contain elements above and below the cut-off frequency. This
manifests the potential benefits of a centrally controlled HES that is served with the combined
input signal and distributes signals to the storages depending on their characteristics.
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.8
4 Application of Meta-Heuristic and Computational Results

For the described HES and its specific use case an optimal size of the contributing storage
technologies as well as a parametrisation of the necessary controller is needed. This problem
is addressed using the approach of meta-heuristics.
4.1 Formulation of Design Problem and Application of Meta-Heuristics

The overall objective of the design problem is minimizing the yearly costs for the HES when
fulfilling the aforementioned use-case (see Eq. (6)). Investment costs for both systems are
calculated in Eq. (7), according to system parameters shown in
Table 1, and the yearly share estimated considering the fixed lifetime for FES of 20 years and
the estimated lifeloss for BESS as outlined in section 3.2.
min = LL ∙ + (6)
20
= ∙ (7)
= ∙ + ∙ (8)
For solving the described problem, many different approaches can be used. A main
characteristic of the problem is that the time simulation that is necessary to determine the
dynamic performance of the HES contains many non-linearities (e.g. efficiency lookup tables,
SOC compensation). Therefore, only black box solvers such as meta-heuristics are suitable for
the problem. Many of these approaches are inspired by phenomena of nature. One very
common approach is a classical genetic algorithm (GA) that is used as a reference for the
problem at hand. A recent developed algorithm for complex engineering optimisation
problems named Lion Optimisation Algorithm (LOA, see [35]) is also applied to the problem.
It defines different genders and prides of lions in order to combine local and global search
strategies.
We will not go into greater detail about the technicalities of the approaches and refer to the
respective literature. The LOA itself was implemented in MATLAB and the configuration
parameters were chosen as described in [35]. The GA was implemented using the MATLAB
Optimization Toolbox and is used in its standard configuration.
Within the application of both algorithms genes or individuals determine a set of design
parameters which are then simulated for a representative period and evaluated using a fitness
function. The set of design parameters in our application is a combination of three sizing
parameters and three operating parameters. The sizing parameters are the capacity of the
storages and as well as the maximum power of the FES . For the BES a fixed
ratio of 1 is assumed between capacity and power. Concerning the operating parameters, we
have chosen the three parameters that determine the outlined control concept , ,
and , (see Section 3.1). For both approaches a fitness function is needed to evaluate the
developed solutions within the algorithm as in Eq. (9). Based on Eq. (6) we added a penalty
term which is a linear cost function of the integrated deviations between , and the
realized output of both systems , .and , to ensure the functionality of the HES.
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.9
= LL ∙ + + (9)
20
As the stopping condition for convergence we limited the maximum number of iterations
without improvement to 5.
4.2 Computational Results

The design problem formulated under 4.1 is solved using MATLAB on a standard desktop
computer with a Quad-Core i5 CPU clocking with 3.30 GHz and 16 GB of RAM for one
representative day. Figure 5 shows the performance of LOA and GA in terms of best individual
found for every iteration (often called generation in evolutionary algorithms). Significant
differences of the converging behaviour is visible. Due to the combined local and global search
based on genders the LOA manages to reach lower levels of the fitness function but needs
more iterations than the standard GA.
Figure 5. Optimization performance of LOA and GA
Table 2 gives an overview of the performance details. The stopping criterion for both heuristics
was chosen to five stall generations without significant changes in the fitness value.
Table 2: Comparison of results of LOA with GA

LOA GA
Individuals 50 100
Iterations 22 20
Total function evaluations 30051 2000
Computation time 48 h 32 h
Best result 29 056 € 29 412 €
Best configuration ( , , (22, 132, 291.5, 27, 5, 3.7) (16.4, 80, 308, 16,
, , , , ) 1.8, 2.4)
1
LOA executes additional function evaluations per iteration leading to the higher number.
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.10
Figure 6 shows time domain results for the best configuration found by the LOA heuristic. The
frequency dependent split of the power signals becomes obvious when looking at the storage
power curves. The SOC compensation logic is active in two situations at around 2:00 and 15:00
and ensures that the FES does not reach its SOC boundaries and remains active to serve the
high frequency power requests. As a result, the SOC curve of the BES is much smoother and
contributes to its improved lifetime compared to the solution with a single battery with the
same size.
Figure 6. FES and BES behavior of best HES configuration

(electric power – top and state of charge – bottom)
Additional to the optimized HES solution Table 3 juxtaposes two variants without FES. The first
variant applies an equally sized BES as in the optimal HES solution. The results reveal that the
BES lifetime is reduced dramatically to 4 years due to the heavy wear. This effect can be
alleviated, as shown in variant 2, by increasing the BES size to above 390.5 kWh. At this range
DOD of cycles caused by the high frequent application is reduced and effects on wear is
minimized.
Table 3: Comparison of results of best HES with scenario only with BES
Optimized HES Variant 1: BES only Variant 2: Cost-optimal
solution (LOA) (taken from opti- BES only scenario
mized HES solution)
Size BES 291.5 kWh, 291.5 kW 291.5 kWh, 291.5 kW 390.5 kWh, 390.5 kW
Size KES 22 kWh, 132 kW - -
Total costs p.a. 29 056 € 50 939 € 34 169 €
Costs BES p.a. 25 536 € 50 939 € 34 169 €
Investment BES 204 050 € 204 050 € 273 350 €
Lifetime BES 8 years 4 years 8 years
Costs KES p.a. 3 520 € - -
Investment KES 70 400 € - -
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.11
5 Conclusion and Outlook

The important role that electric energy storages hold within modern energy supply systems
with large shares of renewable energy generation can partly be answered by hybrid energy
storages. These systems combine advantages of different storage technologies especially the
combination of mid-term and short-term storages shows promising results. The work at hand
presents a filtration based control approach enhanced with rule based components or an
exemplary field of application. The HES consists of an innovative FES and BES system. The
parametrisation of the HES is carried out using meta-heuristic approaches for the sizing and
for the operating strategy for one representative day.
This contribution addresses several methodical questions: firstly, the dispatch of requested
storage power to different storage technologies within a HES, and secondly, the configuration
of an overall design problem including parameters for sizing and operating the HES. However,
due to the small scale of the simulation, no general conclusions can be drawn from the specific
optimisation results. An extensive investigation would require simulating several consecutive
days or weeks. Also the underlying cost model for the FES and BES should be further
investigated. The considered FES technology is still in an early phase of its development and
has not been commercialised yet. The assumed cost function thus underlies high uncertainty.
Future work should address the revenue side of the HES and the resulting selection of use
cases. Only a complete economical assessment including all costs and revenues can finally
answer the question what HES components are the most suitable for a certain application. In
addition to the economical perspective also an ecological perspective should be applied to the
design problem. Since the integration of a suitable FES into the HES can reduce the BES size
significantly, the question remains if this swap in storage technologies has a beneficial effect
on the ecological life cycle assessment.
List of Abbreviations
BES Battery Energy Storage
CHP Combined Heat and Power Plant
DOD Depth of Discharge
EES Electric Energy Storage
FBC Filtration Based Control
FES Flywheel Energy Storage
GA Genetic Algorithm
HES Hybrid Energy Storage
LOA Lion Optimisation Algorithm
NMC Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt Oxide
PV Photovoltaic
RBC Rule Based Control
SC Supercapacitor
SOC State of Charge
REMOO–2018 — 09.070.12
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the sponsors for their support.
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REMOO–2018 — 09.070.16
QUEST FOR ENERGY
POWER QUALITY ASSESSMENT OF AN URBAN

MEDIUM VOLTAGE GRID
Tim PLÖSSER, Carl SCHWEINSBERG, Benjamin NIERSBACH, Jutta HANSON
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Landgraf-Georg-Straße 4, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany;
tp@e5.tu-darmstadt.de
Abstract
The increasing levels of harmonics within electrical power grids caused by inverter-connected
equipment is getting more attention by the research community. In order to get a better
understanding of the situation within real grid structures, this paper displays the planning,
implementation and evaluation of a power quality (PQ) assessment of a real distribution grid.
Firstly, the grid structure including all measurement points is presented. Secondly, the
measuring equipment and the setup of the designated measurement points are described.
Thirdly, the measured data is presented and evaluated according to the relevant German
guidelines for power quality.
Keywords: Power quality measurement; Medium voltage; Field study; Urban grid;
Flexibility
1 Introduction
The amount of distributed renewable electricity generation and novel electronic equipment
connected to the power grid is increasing in recent years, mainly driven by the need of
reducing CO2 emissions worldwide. Both photovoltaic systems and electric cars as examples
of distributed generation and novel equipment have in common that they interface with the
grid by means of a converter.
Converter might contribute to a poor PQ, which describes all aspects related to frequency,
phase and amplitude of the voltage and current waveforms present within the power grid [1].
Because of their functionality, the operation of converters might cause distortions of the ideal
voltage and current sine waveform. As a result, some electric devices connected to the grid,
which are sensitive to waveform distortions, may not work properly anymore as they are
designed for operation under sinusoidal voltage conditions [2], [3].
With the perspective of a future increasing share in power electronic devices within the power
grid, the problems related to this might be increasing as well. Hence, there is a need for
approaches to deal with waveform distortions within the power grid, which can be separated
into harmonics, interharmonics and with regard to modern power electronic devices
superharmonics [2].
In the literature, some technologies are examined for achieving better PQ. The work of Mahela
et al. [4] for example gives an overview of technologies for reducing harmonic emissions. As
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.1
cost-effective technology, passive filters are mentioned, which deliver good results in
mitigating harmonic emissions. However, the filter settings cannot be changed anymore once
the passive filter is installed in the power grid. For more demanding applications, active power
filters (APF) provide a sophisticated sink for critical harmonic orders. Current research is
carried out mainly on APF. In principle, each modern VSC is able to act as APF. Examples can
be photovoltaic converters or many converter-based devices installed within modern
production facilities.
2 Research Project PHI-Factory

The research project PHI-Factory, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic
Affairs and Energy (BMWi), is an approach to display the potential of demand side
management within the industrial sector. The PHI-Factory project is a follow-up project of the
ETA-Fabrik project, which has demonstrated the potential of an energy efficient factory by
planning and constructing a model factory located on campus Lichtwiese of TU Darmstadt.
Modern construction materials and advanced techniques have been used for the construction
of the ETA-Fabrik in order to create an example of how a modern, energy efficient factory
could look like [5].
The PHI-Factory project uses the ETA-Fabrik as an example for how an information and control
network could be used within a factory to enable it behaving as just one single entity from an
external point of view. This allows the factory to take part in energy markets such as the
provision of balancing power. Until now, almost exclusively large consumers such as big
refrigerated warehouses with just one single process step are used to provide balancing
power. This caused by the complexity of adapting a single process step within complex
production lines. The centralized control system, which is planned and implemented as part
of the PHI-Factory project, monitors and controls the processes of the factory and allows an
external entity e.g. a TSO requesting balancing power without getting further involved into
the particular process steps [6].
The ETA-Fabrik contains a typical metal-processing production line including typical process
steps such as tempering, milling and cleaning. The installed rated power within the factory can
be divided into the following categories: 150 kVA for machine tools, 85 kVA for cleaning tools
and 20 kVA for the hardening oven. The average electrical power demand of a production
cycle is approximately 100 kW while the base load is approximately 20 kW and the peak load
is expected to be around 200 kW. In addition to the production machines, there is also a hybrid
energy storage system (HESS) installed within the factory. This system uses a kinetic energy
storage in conjunction with a chemical storage. The rated power of the converter connecting
the HESS to the factory grid amounts to 100 kVA. Furthermore, the energy capacities are
100 kWh for the chemical and 1.4 kWh for the kinetic storage. Moreover, the difference
between average power consumption and installed power indicates a huge potential to use
these free capacities. One possible use case, which is explored within the project, is the use of
the idle converter capacities of the machine tools and the HESS in order to improve power
quality, firstly within the factory grid and secondly within the grid of campus Lichtwiese. To
evaluate this possible use, it is necessary to determine the current status of power quality
within the campus grid and the factory grid. The status of the factory grid can be observed
using the monitoring system of the factory, which has been installed during the initial phase
of the PHI-Factory project. Since such a monitoring system is not implemented in the campus
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.2
grid, the temporary installation of measurement equipment at predefined measuring points

throughout the whole campus grid is necessary for determining the status of power quality.
3 Electrical Grid of Campus Lichtwiese
Figure 1. Overview of the electrical grid of campus Lichtwiese
Figure 1 shows an overview of the electrical grid of campus Lichtwiese. The grid has two
medium voltage levels: the 6-kV-level and the 20-kV-level. Two identical transformers that are
equipped with tap changers interconnect both voltage levels. In addition to the two main
transformers, a third spare transformer exists. A fourth transformer is used for connecting the
large, single consumers of the mechanical engineering department (L1-02 A) to the grid. This
transformer is necessary to allow individual voltage control of the bus. That allows for starting
large medium voltage motors by increasing the local voltage. Furthermore, all transformers
are star-star-connected. The neutral point of the 6-kV-voltage level is isolated while the
neutral point of the 20-kV-level is grounded via an arc suppression coil, controlled by the
upstream-grid operator. In the centre of the campus grid, the power plant is located, which
houses the 6 kV and 20 kV double busbar station. The line lengths of the grid ranges from
100 m to 750 m. All connections are realized by cables.
As depicted in Figure 1, the power plant mainly consists of three combined heat and power
(CHP) units, which are used to generate electricity and heat for the whole campus of TU
Darmstadt. Each CHP unit has a rated apparent electrical power of 2.4 MVA while the
corresponding gas motor has a rated power of 1.8 MW. Since all three CHP units are heat lead,
the generation varies throughout the year: during winter, all three units are operated, during
spring and fall two units are operated, whereas during summer only one unit is operated.
Moreover, the excitation of the generators is power factor controlled (cos 0.98 . In
addition to the three existing, a fourth CHP unit is planned to be installed later this year. This
fourth unit will have an apparent power of 3.25 MVA and will be used in conjunction with an
absorption refrigerator. Furthermore, it will be operated during the whole year.
Additionally, the loads of campus Lichtwiese are connected to the 400-V-level. The LV-
transformers are generally delta-star-connected with rated powers from 400 kVA to 2,000
kVA. Overall, the whole consumption of campus Lichtwiese fluctuates between 2.5 MW during
the night and 4.7 MW during the peak hours of the day. The seasonal differences between
summer and winter are very small [7]. The load of the campus is distributed to five
departments, which are located on the campus: architecture, chemistry, civil engineering,
material science and mechanical engineering. Within these five departments, the mechanical
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.3
engineering and the chemistry department are the biggest consumers with a peak
consumption of 1.1 MW and 1.2 MW respectively.
The ETA-Fabrik is connected to the 400-V-level of the power plant, which is directly connected
to the 6 kV busbar by means of a cable with 150 m of length.
4 Power Quality Measurement

In order to get a better understanding of the current status of PQ on campus Lichtwiese, a grid
wide measurement campaign was conducted on all medium voltage stations shown in Figure
1. Each of the 15 stations was equipped with a mobile PQ-measurement device manufactured
by the German company a-eberle. Apart from the 15 medium voltage stations, the connection
to the external grid as well as the three generators of the power plant and the connection to
the neighbouring campus Botanischer Garten were measured. For this, the following devices
has been used: one PQ Box 150 [8] device, two PQ Box 300 [9] devices and 17 PQ Box 100 [10]
devices. These devices have not only measured all relevant electrical values such as voltage,
current and power during a period of one week but also the relevant PQ data such as voltage
and current harmonics up to the 50th harmonic order. Besides, the PQ Box 300 devices are
able to measure superharmonics up to a frequency of 170 kHz. Furthermore, for all
measurements a time resolution of 5 seconds has been chosen.
5 Power Quality Evaluation

5.1 Evaluation Criteria
With regard to limits for harmonic emissions within the power grid, two standards should be
mentioned in particular. Firstly, the European Standard EN 50160 [11] “Voltage characteristics
of electricity supplied by public distribution systems”, which gives the relevant limitations of
harmonic voltage emissions. Secondly, the Standard IEC 61000-3-2 [12] “Electromagnetic
compatibility (EMC) - Part 3-2: Limits - Limits for harmonic current emissions (equipment input
current ≤ 16 A per phase)”, which defines harmonic current limits for the emission of grid
connected devices. For this paper, the EN 50160 standard is relevant in order to assess the
measured harmonic voltage emissions within the campus grid [13].
5.2 Detailed Analysis for one exemplary Feeder
Figure 2. Topology and measurement setup for the feeder for HMZ and CSI
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.4
This section presents a detailed analysis for one exemplary feeder, which interconnects two
substations to the 20-kV-level (see Figure 2). The stations of the feeder are named HMZ
(Hörsaal- und Medienzentrum, engl.: lecture hall and media center) and CSI (Center of Smart
Interfaces). The HMZ building is a multipurpose building on campus Lichtwiese that includes
three big lecture halls, a part of the university library and seminar rooms. There is also a
photovoltaic (PV) system installed on the roof of the building. The PV system has a rated active
power of 28.8 kW and is connected to the 400-V-busbar of the substation. The CSI building is
a typical institute and research building; it consists of office spaces for different research
groups and houses different experimental setups for a variety of research activities. The HMZ
is connected to the 20-kV-bus bar of the power plant by a 260 m long cable. The CSI again is
connected to the HMZ by a 360 m long cable. Hence, the feeder has a total length of 620 m.
After the evaluation of the exemplary feeder, the section ends with an analysis of PQ within
the whole grid.
Figure 3 shows the active and reactive power measurement of the HMZ and the CSI as well as
the voltage between phase 1 and phase 2. The voltage fluctuates between 20.5 kV and
21.2 kV. The voltage levels of both, the voltage between phase 2 and phase 3 and between
phase 3 and phase 1 has been neglected for the sake of visibility. It can also be observed that
the voltage appears to be more or less independent of the current load of HMZ and CSI and is
rather a global variable, which is determined by the overall grid situation and not by one single
feeder. The power consumption of the HMZ fluctuates between 70 kW during the night and
250 kW during weekdays. The reactive power is constant at around 54 kvar during the night
and increases to 73 kvar during the day. Both dates, January 20th and January 27th on the x-
axis of Figure 2 have been Saturdays and show a decrease in active power consumption due
to the closing times of the building. The active power consumption of CSI fluctuates between
45 kW during the night and 100 kW during the weekdays.
Figure 3. Measured active and reactive power consumption (top) and voltage profile
(bottom) during the period of measurement for HMZ and CSI
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.5
Figure 4. Total harmonic distortion during the period of measurement for HMZ (top)
and CSI (bottom)
Figure 4 shows the total harmonic distortion (THD) for both substations during the period of
measurement. The value for the THD of HMZ varies between 1.13 % during the weekend and
2.54 % during the week. The THD of CSI shows an equivalent course over time as seen for
HMZ; it fluctuates between 1.11 % and 2.50 %. The increased line length between HMZ and
CSI as well as the corresponding dampening effect explain the difference. It is important to
note that the highest values of the THD are reached during the night time and not as expected
during the peak time of the respective substation’s load consumption. In contrast to the
assumption, the THD level decreases during the period of high load for both substations. This
behaviour is a first indication for the overall PQ level is not dictated by the two substations,
which are shown in this section.
For a better evaluation of the two substation’s influence on the voltage within the campus
grid, the most relevant voltage harmonics and the corresponding current harmonics are
shown in the next step.
Figure 5 shows the voltage and current harmonics for HMZ substation. As expected, the 5th
and 7th harmonics (for voltage and current alike) reach the highest value of all shown
harmonics. The harmonics of the higher orders has been analysed as well, but their levels are
very low compared to the ones of the 5th and 7th harmonics and therefore insignificant. It is
noticeable, that the current harmonics follow the general time course of the load (see Figure
3), whereas the time course of the voltage harmonics is independent of the load. Apart from
that, it appears that an increase of the 5th current harmonic leads to a decrease of the
corresponding voltage harmonic while an increase of the 7th current harmonic leads to an
increase of the corresponding voltage harmonic. This can be an indication that the 5th voltage
harmonic is caused by the other consumers in the grid and is not directly coupled with the
current harmonic injection of the load. Moreover, the 5th voltage harmonic shows distinct
peaks occurring every day around midnight and 5 am. Since these peaks can be observed on
a daily basis, they are likely to be emitted by a large consumer, which is active regularly during
the night time. In order to find the source for the emissions, further investigations must be
conducted that are not covered by this paper. Furthermore, the trend of the seventh order
voltage harmonic correlates with the corresponding current harmonic during the week, but
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.6
increases to high levels during the weekend, whereas in contrast the harmonic current is close
to zero. That indicates for a low impact of the HMZ on the 7th order voltage harmonic
fluctuating within the grid.
Figure 5. Harmonic voltages between phase L1 and phase L2 (top) and harmonic currents in
phase L1 (bottom) at HMZ during the measurement period
Figure 6 shows the voltage and current harmonics for CSI substation at the end of the feeder.
The general behavior of the harmonic voltages correspond to the ones measured at the HMZ.
The 5th and 7th harmonics show the same time course as observed in the HMZ measurement
data. However, a difference in the amplitude of the voltage and current harmonics can be
examined. This effect is especially significant for the 7th voltage harmonic order, whereas it is
less noticeable for the 5th harmonic order. Regarding the current harmonics, both orders show
significant lower amplitudes with both time courses and amplitudes converging. This again
indicates that the main source for the 5th voltage harmonic is not located at both of the
substations, but somewhere else in the grid. With respect to the 7th voltage harmonic order,
some sources at the CSI substation likely contribute to the overall fluctuation of that order
within the grid; the main source however cannot be found here.
Furthermore, the 11th harmonic order for both voltage and current is slightly increased at the
CSI substation compared to the HMZ substation. This indicates that the source is likely to be
located within the CSI.
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.7
Figure 6. Harmonic voltages between phase L1 and phase L2 (top) and harmonic currents in
phase L1 (bottom) at CSI during the measurement period
5.3 Overview
Table 1: Overview of harmonic voltages within the grid up to the 21st harmonic order
Limit for 95%-
Order Location value acc. to
95%-value [%] 100%-value [%]
EN 50160 [%]
THD L5-08 HLR 8 2.09 2.6
2 L2-06 CSI 2 0.01 0.53
3 L2-06 CSI 5 0.34 0.68
4 L4-02 HMZ 1 0.01 0.49
5 L1-70 MB 1/3 CO2 6 1.89 2.56
6 L4-02 HMZ 0.5 0.02 0.57
7 L1-02 A MB 1/2 Vers 5 1.17 1.4
8 L4-02 HMZ 0.5 0.01 0.68
9 L2-06 CSI 1.5 0.32 0.43
10 L1-70 MB 1/3 CO2 0.5 0.01 1.2
11 L2-06 CSI 3.5 0.58 0.64
12 L2-06 CSI 0.5 0.01 0.17
13 L2-06 CSI 3 0.29 0.33
14 L1-70 MB 1/3 CO2 0.5 0.01 0.21
15 L2-06 CSI 0.5 0.15 0.25
16 External Grid 0.5 0 0.12
17 L2-06 CSI 2 0.18 0.24
18 L2-06 CSI 0.5 0 0.08
19 L2-06 CSI 1.5 0.09 0.22
20 L2-06 CSI 0.5 0 0.04
21 L2-06 CSI 0.5 0.08 0.13
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.8
Table 1 gives a brief overview of the maximum harmonic levels measured for each harmonic
order and also at which location the particular value has been measured.
The first line of the table with the index “THD” indicates the location where the largest THD
value of all THD values within the campus grid was measured. The given percentage values
equates to the ones measured between phase 1 and phase 2 of the particular feeder. As can
be seen, the measured 100 %-value of 2.6 % is clearly below the limit value of 8 %.
Overall, the network is robust without any violations of limit values (see columns 3 and 4).
However, there are violations for the 6th, 8th and 10th harmonic order with regard to the 100 %-
values shown in red in Table 1. Especially the value of the 10th order, which was measured at
the L1-70 MB 1/3 CO2, shows a considerable difference between the 95 %-value and the
100 %-value (0.01 % to 1.2 %). An explanation for that might be resonance effects at the
coupling point of the unit for the 10th harmonic order, which is 500 Hz. However, further
analyses are not part of the paper at hand.
5.4 Measurement of superharmonic Oscillations
Figure 7. Frequency spectrum of the supra harmonic voltage oscillations at the CSI
substation
During the period of measurement, also the superharmonics of orders higher than the 50th
order were recorded at the CSI substation. The results of this measurement are shown in
Figure 7. The figure displays the voltage amplitudes of the harmonic oscillations above 8 kHz
during the period of measurement in which five clearly separated bands of high frequency
oscillations at 80 kHz, 100 kHz, 120 kHz, 140 kHz and 160 kHz can be detected. These
frequencies correspond to typical switching frequencies of modern IGBTs and are therefore
common to be found in grids with a high amount of converters as it is the case for the campus
Lichtwiese grid. The amplitude of the voltages are rather low with values up to 13 V. However,
it is important to consider the high energy amount due to the very high frequency of those
oscillations and other problems such as electromagnetic interferences of nearby
communication equipment.
6 Conclusion & Outlook

This paper presents the status of PQ at campus Lichtwiese of the Technical University
Darmstadt in the context of the PHI-Factory project. The unique features of the ETA-Fabrik as
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.9
benchmark for future manufacturing facilites are presented. This is followed by the measuring
methodology and the analysis of the measurements in the course of the measurement
campaign conducted within the campus grid. The analysis itself is based on the current
German regulations. With regard of the results, it could be observed that the 95 %-values of
the relevant harmonic orders are all within the limits. In contrary, the analysis of the data also
showed that some of the 100 %-values are very high. Generally, the 5th and the 7th harmonic
orders have the highest magnitude. The detailed analysis for one exemplary feeder suggests
that the emission of the 5th voltage harmonic order origins somewhere else within the grid
and not within the exemplary feeder. Further analysis about this phenomenon will be done in
future analysis of the data. Moreover, the measured data of the PQ of campus Lichtwiese will
be used for the implementation of PQ improvement measures within the PHI-Factory project.
As indicated in the beginning of this paper, it is planned to start another measurement cycle
in the late summer of 2019 in order to show the effects of the implemented PQ improvement
abilities of the ETA-Fabrik as well as the influence of the number of CHP units connected to
the grid on PQ.
Acknowledgements
The research presented in this paper is part of the PHI-Factory project that is funded by the
German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).
References
[1] Acha, Enrique and Madrigal, Manuel, Power system harmonics, J. Wiley & Sons, Chichester,
England, 2002
[2] Dugan, Roger; McGranaghan, Mark; Santoso, Surya and Beaty, Wayne, Electrical Power System
Quality, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York City, USA, 2012
[3] Hardie, Stewart and Watson, Neville, The effect of new residential appliances on Power Quality,
IEEE, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2010
[4] Prakash Mahela, Om and Gafoor Shaik, Abdul, Topological aspects of power quality
improvement techniques: A comprehensive overview, Renewable and Sustainable Energy
Reviews, 58, 2016, pp. 1129-1142, 10.1016/j.rser.2015.12.251
[5] Abele, Eberhard; Junge, Felix, Betrachtung energieeffizienzter Produktionsbetriebe: ETA-Fabrik,

in Maschinenbau und Metallbearbeitung, Kuhn Fachverlag, Villingen-Schweningen, Germany,
2013, pp. 36-38
[6] Plößer, Tim; Niersbach, Benjamin; Hanson, Jutta and Roloff, Nils, PHI-Factory: Provision of
network services by a flexible factory, Proceedings, International ETG Congress 2017, Bonn,
Germany, 2017, pp. 544-549
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.10
[7] Maihöfner, Dominik; Plößer, Tim; Hanson, Jutta; Sauerwein, David; v. Stein, Theresia and Kuhn,
Christoph, Comparison of University Departments Regarding Their Area and Load Profile of an
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Conference and Exposition (T&D), Denver CO, USA, 2017
[8] a-eberle, Data sheet for PQ-Box 150

https://www.a-eberle.de/sites/default/files/media/TD_PQ-Box%20150_en_20160506.pdf
[9] a-eberle, Data sheet for PQ-Box 300,

https://www.a-eberle.de/sites/default/files/media/db_PQ-Box%20300_en_201710.pdf
[10] a-eberle, Data sheet for PQ-Box 100,

https://www.a-eberle.de/sites/default/files/media/TD_PQ-Box%20100_en_201607.pdf
[11] EN 50160, Voltage characteristics of electricity supplied by public distribution networks, DKE,
German version, 2010
[12] IEC 61000-3-2, Limits for harmonic current emissions equipment input current <= 16 A per
phase, IEC, English Version, 2015
[13] Verhelst, Bart; Van Ryckeghem, Jurgen and Desmet, Jan, Influence of grid-connected inverters
on the power quality of the distribution grid, Proceedings, 2014 International Symposium on
Power Electronics, Electrical Drives, Automation and Motion, Ischia, Italy, 2014, pp. 670-675
REMOO–2018 — 10.012.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
AN APPRAISAL OF POSSIBLE PROTECTION SCHEMES

OF STATIC SERIES COMPENSATORS IN MEDIUM VOLTAGE
POWER NETWORKS
Erfan BASHAR*1, Robert WU1, Weihua SHAO2, Li RAN1,2, Han QIN1
1
School of Engineering, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK;
E.Bashar@warwick.ac.uk, L.Ran@warwick.ac.uk
2
School of Electrical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, China
ABSTRACT
Due to the increase in dynamic load demand and embedded generation for low carbon
footprint, operators of medium voltage distribution networks have been facing a series of
challenges in order to manage the power quality and short circuit level during normal and
fault conditions. Power electronic converters are being proposed to provide the control and
fault current limiting functionalities, but their applications have been hindered by concerns in
the cost, efficiency and reliability aspects. Back-to-back voltage source converters can be used
as a soft open point (SOP) between network feeders and the power electronic control
technology is matured. However, the solution suffers from high cost and relatively low
efficiency. A static series compensator is inherently more cost effective due to partial voltage
rating for the same control capability during normal operation. The power losses are also
lower due to fewer power semiconductor switches involved in the switching and conduction
of current. However, a major challenge is to protect the series compensator during a short
circuit in the network when the voltage applied to the series compensator will rise to the full
voltage. This paper will first demonstrate, through circuit simulation, the potential benefits of
using static series compensator, and then evaluate the possibilities of protection using gaps,
varistors and thyristor crowbars, Figure 1. The surge current capability of the thyristor is
evaluated using electro-thermal simulation. The feasibility for the compensation and
protection scheme as shown below is established which means each feeder can keep its
original relay settings.
Keywords: Index term- Power compensator; Protection schemes;

Power electronic devices; Thyristor; Varistor
1. Introduction
Figure 1 shows a typical medium voltage (MV) distribution network which is required to
accommodate distributed generation (DG) from low carbon resources. The feeders are usually
isolated at the primary busbars, and the further ends are connected only when one of the
feeders has lost connection to the supply. In order to accommodate more DG, it is now
desirable to join the feeders at appropriate positions through controllable devices based on
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.1
power electronics, such as a static series compensator (SSC) as shown in the figure. Power
quality, power flow and fault level in distribution networks have already been concerns in
operation, and it is more difficult to operate the system with increasing DG. Other network
management techniques include UPFC, SVC, soft open point and transformer on-load tap
changers. Back to back voltage source converters (B2B-Converter) operating as a soft open
point can not only control the power flow and compensate the voltage but also restrict the
fault current thus isolating the fault. However, it suffers from high cost and relatively low
efficiency. UPFC is a universal device due to its capability of controlling both the real and
reactive power [1]. The series insertion of a voltage, like in an SSC, is most effective and a lots
of studies have been carried out to find the optimal application in terms of costs and dynamic
response [2]. But both the SSC and the series part of the UPFC themselves lack the capability
of surviving a fault. Hence, the protection of control devices with series voltage insertion has
been a challenge during network faults. Mechanical switches are slow. Therefore solid-state
circuit breakers or other power electronic based schemes have attracted research attention
in recent years, involving thyristors, GTOs or IGBTs [3],[4],[6]. Cost and power loss in operation
are the focus in many developments [5],[6], some of which will be discussed in this paper.
With increasing capacity of DG, its behaviour during a fault will affect the protection. For
instance, local synchronous generators may cause DC offset which may delay the zero-crossing
of the fault current and affect the current duties of the power semiconductors [7]. Estimating
the dynamic response is potentially very important in designing a protection scheme [8],[9].
Such information is scattered in literatures reporting individual studies. For the benefit of
future development, it is necessary to coherently examine the progresses made in different
aspects.
This paper firstly presents a comparison between back to back voltage source converter and
SSSC on the performance and efficiency. Then a protection scheme is proposed to address the
SSSC’s drawback on dealing with grid faults. The main objective of this paper is to provide a
cost-effective solution to increase the network capability of accommodating increasing DG
without extensively upgrading the infrastructure.
11kV primary
busbar/Feeder 1 Busbar 3
DG
Normally open point
Load
Normally closed points
132kV main grid
SSSC
11kV primary DG
busbar/Feeder 2 Busbar 4
Load
Figure 1. Typical MV network with multiple feeders including SSSC
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.2
2. Series Compensators
2.1 Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC)
Static Synchronous Series Compensator (SSSC), shown in Figure 2 and also known as a series
STATCOM, is a controllable voltage source that by employing a voltage-source converter (VSC)
controls the magnitude and phase of an injected voltage irrespective of the current in series
with a line. In fact, by inducing both capacitive and inductive voltage it is capable of affecting
the active and reactive power flow by either increasing or decreasing reactive voltage/flow on
the line [10], [11], [12], [13].
An SSSC can be used to improve the stability and damp out the electromechanical oscillations.
The subsynchronous resonance due to series capacitor could be diminished by using SSSC [14],
[15]. In addition to the mentioned applications for SSSC, in the recent years many papers have
been published in order to study the way of modelling SSSC in networks in order to ease the
simulation and analyze the SSSC behaviour in the network [16], [17], [18], present an energy
function of SSSC [19] and consider the dynamic respond of SSSC by using a fuzzy controller
[20].
Moreover, controlling the power flow by using SSSC in a distribution network [21], control and
improve voltage stability and power flow in an offshore wind plant [22], combine the
distribution SSSC (D-SSSC) with FCL devices in distribution networks in order to limit short-
circuit current as well as control power flow [23] are some of the other applications of SSSC
that have been studied in the recent years.
Busbar 4 Series Busbar 3

Transformer
Voltage Sourced
E
C
Coventer
G
DC Source
Figure 2. A schematic diagram of the SSSC
2.2 Back to Back System

In the recent years, the back to back (B2B) system due to their abilities of providing the full
power flow control and limiting the grid fault current has been received a great attention.
Moreover, their resistance against cascading outages enables them not to be overloaded.
Voltage Source Converter (VSC) - link can be used in synchronous networks to control both
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.3
the reactive and active power independently, power flow balancing, increasing the network
capacity, and to support weak AC system or even a passive network. In fact, the B2B VSC-link
device consists of two converters with the same DC link that allows the system to interconnect
two AC grids with either the same or different frequencies. The VSC-link system employs
either a pulse-width modulation (PWM) strategy or a multi-bridge topology for both the
rectifier and inverter components due to its symmetric converter configurations [24], [25],
[26], [27], [28], [29]. Some studies on VSC-link have been carried out in terms of modelling
[30], [31], [32] and control [33], protection [34], [35], application [35], [36], reliability and
evaluation [37], [38], [39], power transfer into the modular multilevel converter (MMC) [40]
and multiterminal VSC-link systems [41], [42].
Back-to-back static synchronous compensator (B2B STATCOM), without long DC transmission
[43], has an asymmetrical control structure. In fact, the rectifier using PWM techniques to
control the active and reactive powers and the inverter controls the reactive power by using
multipulse techniques. Therefore, small space, low cost, less switching loss, and low harmonic
distortion in multipulse converters are of the advantages over a VSC-HVDC system [25], [26],
[27], [28], [29], [44]. Some researches have been conducted on increasing the transmissibility
of line and voltage stability [45], [46], [47], utilising B2B VSC - link as a transfer switch [48],
and for connecting a wind turbine to the grid [49].
Furthermore, different back to back technologies and topologies which in recent years have
been studied and proposed for different purposes are B2B MVDC [50], [51], B2B converters
[52], [53] could also be used in distribution networks and microgrid systems, respectively.
Busbar 4 Busbar 3
Vdc
AC DC
DC AC
DC link
AC-DC DC-AC
Converter Converter
Figure 3. A Schematic of the back to back Coveter system
3. Comparison Between B2b vsc-Link and a Series Compensator

3.1 Compensating Performance and Power Loss
The network topology shown in Figure 1 is selected as the target system. Feeder 1 has 3 load
groups evenly distributed along the 5km cable and Feeder 2 has 3 load groups evenly
distributed along the 10km cable. The resistance and inductance of the cables are 0.06
ohm/km and 0.134 mH/km. A power electronic based device, B2B VSC - link or SSSC, is
implemented between busbar 3 and 4 as the connection at the ends of two adjacent networks.
An extreme case with Feeder 2 heavily loaded, 17MW with the power factor of 0.98, and
Feeder 1 lightly loaded, 1MW load with the same power factor, is selected to evaluate the
compensating performance. In this case, a load of 8MW is to be transferred from Feeder 2 to
Feeder 1 to balance the two.
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.4
For the B2B VSC - link, two three-phase 8MVA, 11kV to 690V transformers are used for
implementing the device. To transfer the active power of 8MW from one feeder to the other,
at the converter side - 690V voltage level, the magnitude of current is about 9500A. The ‘ABB
HiPak IGBT Module 5SNE 0800M170100’ which has the rating of Vce=1700V and Ic=800A’ is
selected for building the converters. Considering 100% current margin, the converter will be
2-level and consist of 144 modules. The situation for SSSC is different, SSSC is a partially-rated
device which by injecting a voltage orthogonal to the current to manipulate the power flow.
The required injecting voltage is determined by the network, in this study a 690V converter is
more than sufficient to control the power flow. The current flowing through the SSSC is much
less than that in a fully-rated device like the B2B VSC - link. A three-phase 600kVA, 2000V to
2000V transformer is used for implementing the device. When transferring the active power
of 8MW, the converter is at the maximum operating point and its output current magnitude
is about 600A. Therefore, with 100% current margin, two IGBT modules for each arm and 12
modules in total are sufficient.
With compensation in the extreme case, the results are shown in Figure 4. Before t=1s, the
two networks are operated separately and the voltage at the end of the heavily-loaded Feeder
2 is below the lower boundary of 0.94 p.u.. At t=1s when the B2B VSC - link or SSSC is enabled,
the voltage at the end of Feeder 1 rises meanwhile the voltage at the end of Feeder 2 drops
because of the 8 MW active power flow from Feeder 1 to Feeder 2. The voltages are within
the limits and the B2B VSC - link gives higher voltage amplitudes because the converters not
only transfer the active power but also compensate the reactive power to both feeders.
Figure 4. Voltage magnitudes at each feeder end before and

after compensation by SSSC and B2B VSC – link
In terms of power losses, when an active power of 1 MW to 8 MW is transferred, the power

losses of the B2B VSC - link and SSSC are calculated by simulation and shown in Figures 5 and
6. The power losses on filters and transformers are assumed to be 0.65% and 0.5%
approximately. The device loss consists of the IGBT and diode conduction losses, the IGBT turn
on and off losses and the diode reverse recovery loss. In the simulation, the junction
temperature is always assumed to be at 125 degC. Thus, the losses are functions of the
current. The calculation is shown as below:
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.5
1
Etotal =  ( vce ⋅ ic + v f ⋅ i f ) +  eon +  eoff +  erec (1)
0
where , , , and are the IGBT on-state voltage, diode forward voltage, IGBT
turn on energy loss, turn off energy loss and the diode reverse recovery energy. Currents
and are measured in simulation and the functions are obtained by curve fitting the
characteristic plots from the product datasheets.
Figure 5. Power losses of B2B VSC – link
Figure 6. Power losses of SSSC
As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the power loss of SSSC is much smaller compared to that of the
B2B VSC - link in all circumstances because it has significantly lower current rating. Therefore,
it can be said that the SSSC scheme is more economical and cost-effective. Thus, using the
SSSC in medium voltage networks would be more attractive. However a major challenge is to
protect the series compensator during a short circuit fault in the network when the voltage
applied to the series compensator will rise to the full voltage. A protection method will be
proposed and evaluated in the next section.
3.2 Disadvantages of Series Capacitor Compensation

Compensation by using series capacitors intends to reduce the series reactance along of the
line in order to enhance the network power flow and increase the power transfer capability,
reduce the power angle and improve the maximum loading capability. That will improve the
system stability and voltage regulation as well as the damping effect. But, series capacitor
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.6
increases the level of fault currents by decreasing the line reactance. Also, the possibilities of
sub-synchronous resonance, ferro-resonance and mal-operation of distance relays will rise.
Moreover, due to installation of protective devises and circuit breaker/ isolator and control
circuit for series compensation, the cost of installation will increase as well [10, 54-57].
Furthermore, as with SSSC, this equipment is vulnerable to grid faults because the
components used in this structure are not able to withstand the fault current passing through
them in medium voltage network. Therefore, a way of protecting them during the fault will be
discussed in this paper.
4. A Protection Scheme
4.1 Thyristor-Based Protection with Varistor
Using SSSC to connect two adjacent networks is a cost-effective method to improve the
networks voltage profile and capability of accommodating DG. However, the increased fault
level due to the contribution from both feeders during a grid fault gives rise to a vital safety
issue to the device. When a three-phase-to-ground fault occurs close to the SSSC as shown in
Figure 7, the voltage across SSSC will immediately increase from a few hundreds to the full
voltage which is about 9kV per phase but the voltage rating of the converter is only 563V per
phase; the current will surge rapidly to over several thousand amperes but the current rating
of the converter is only 1600A. Both the over voltage and current can easily destroy the
converter and conventional circuit breakers are not able to respond. Therefore, the most
critical challenge is to protect these devices during the fault event. In this case, using the
thyristor devices instead of conventional mechanical circuit breaker due to their faster
respond could be a potential solution. In this paper, a new thyristor-based protection scheme
with varistor, as shown in Figure 7, to protect the SSSC in the MV distribution network is
proposed. The thyristor crowbars create another pass to the ground for the fault current from
Feeder 1 if the fault location is on Feeder 2 and vice versa, so that it prevents the fault current
from passing through the SSSC during the fault. Before the thyristor crowbar is turned on due
to a small delay, the voltage across the SSSC will be limited by the varistor and most of the
fault current will be driven through the varistor. For this topology, the protection process is as
following: 1) voltage across SSSC is limited by the varistor and most of the fault current is
pushed through the varistor; 2) both thyristor crowbars are switched on after a small delay
(<1ms); 3) circuit breakers ① and ② are opened to cut out the SSSC; 4) the thyristor
crowbars are gated down; and 5) circuit breakers ③ and ④ are opened to cut out the whole
equipment. The first three steps are most critical to the survival of the power electronic
device.
4.2 Simulation Results

A case study has been considered with parameters shown in Table 1. At first, it is supposed
that no thyristor has been used in the network in order to observe the fault current passing
through the SSSC and the fault level at the point as it happens. According to Figures 8 and 9,
when a fault happens in the network in 0.06s the making current is around 30kA and a fault
current over 2.1kA flows through the SSSC which will damage the power semiconductors used
in SSSC. Moreover, the secondary side of the coupling transformer which is in series with the
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.7
network could possibly get damaged and saturated. Therefore, protection is essential to the
SSSC.
Now, in the second case, thyristor crowbars are in shunt to the SSSC and a varistor is located
in parallel as in Figure 7. The voltage and current ratings of the SSSC semiconductors are 1700V
and 1600A respectively. The results of the varistor voltage and current, the SSSC current and
the current flowing through the crowbar close to Feeder 1 are shown in Figure 10. The current
flowing through the other crowbar is very small because it is next to the fault point thus it is
not shown here. The three-phase-to-ground fault occurs at t=0.2s and the voltage across the
varistor and SSSC increases immediately but is limited at the varistor clamping value 600V.
Meanwhile, most of the current is flowing into the varistor due to its low dynamic resistance
which resulting in that the increase of the current in SSSC is mitigated and can be kept within
the limit. After 2ms, the crowbars are turned on and most of the fault current starts to flow
to the crowbar because the thyristor’s turn-on impedance is much smaller. Then, after 5ms of
the fault, the circuit breakers ① and ② receive the signal to open.
132kV main grid
11kV primary Feeder 2 Feeder 1

busbar
Normally open point
Load Load
6 5
Varistor
Busbar 4 2 1 Busbar 3
SSSC
4 3
DG DG
3-phase fault
Thyristor Thyristor
crowbar crowbar
Figure 7. Schematic of proposed method by using both thyristor crowbars and Varistor
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.8
Table 1: Parameters of case study network

Feeder 2 Feeder 1
Voltage level 11kV 11kV
Source fault level 250MVA 250MVA
Resistance 0.06Ω/km 0.06Ω/km
Cable
Impedance 0.134mH/
Inductance 0.134mH/km
km
Cable length 10km 5km
Load 15MVA 10MVA
Figure 8. The fault current level at fault point
The ratings of the circuit breakers ① and ② can be very small because it is only required to
cut off a current which can be controlled small. For now, the most critical steps have been
shown and neither the voltage nor the current of SSSC has exceeded the rated value which
verifies the proposed protection scheme. Because the fault current is pushed away almost
immediately, the increasing of fault level in the looped network could be neglected which
means no upgrade on the infrastructure is necessary.
Figure 9. The fault current passing through SSSC
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.9
Figure 10. Voltage/current waveforms of varistor, thyristor crowbars and

SSSC before, during and after fault
5. Future Work
The temperature of thyristors during fault might be a great challenge whether it will exceed
the maximum tolerable temperature of the thyristor, after the 3-5 cycles before operating the
circuit breakers or relays. One of the ways to tackle these issues is selecting a higher pulsed
current rating for the thyristor.
Using phase change material (PCM) in the thyristor package could also help solving this issue
by maintaining the thyristor temperature in a specific range to give it more time for
withstanding the surge current. The properties of the used thyristor have been shown in Table
2.
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.10
Table 2: Characteristics of the Used Thyristor

VRRM ITAV @ Tc ITSM @ Tj Rc-s (k/kW)
Manufacture Type Double side
(V) (A @ °C) (A @ °C, tp=10ms) cooling
ABB 5STP_10T1600 1600 969 @ 70 15000 @ 125 10
Figure 11 shows the temperature of the thyristor when the datasheet surge current ITSM is
passed through it for 10ms (defined in datasheet). The peak is around 205°C and is treated as
maximum acceptable temperature. The junction temperature of the thyristor in the crowbar
close to Feeder 1 during the fault event is shown in Figure 12. The ambient temperature is
considered to be 125°C as worst case. Then about 4 cycles after the fault which occurs at
t=0.2s, the junction temperature rises to the critical value (205°C). The thyristor could be
damaged if it is not gated down in time due to disturbances or other reasons. Using PCM to
absorb the heat is a potential method to increase the tolerance for disturbances by prolonging
the time of the temperature rising to the critical value.
Figure 11. Maximum tolerable temperature of thyristor during surge test
Figure 12. Temperature of thyristor during fault
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.11
6. Conclusion
In this paper, using power electronic devices as soft open point to improve the networks’
performance is introduced. The performance and power efficiency of B2B VSC - link and SSSC
based soft open point are investigated afterwards. Although SSSC has significantly higher
efficiency and sufficient performance which are shown by simulation results, its application is
restricted due the lack of capability of tackling fault. Therefore, a protection scheme for SSSC
is proposed and verified by simulation. The protection consists of parallel thyristor crowbars
which draw the fault current and a varistor which limits the voltage and drives fault current
flowing through it rather than SSSC before the thyristors are turned on. Simulation results
show that the voltage and current across SSSC are kept within rated range during the whole
fault event. At last, the feasibility of thyristor crowbars is briefly investigated by calculating
the thyristor’s junction temperature during the fault. To use PCM to reduce the requirement
on thyristor or to increase the tolerance to disturbances is considered to be future works.
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flow in Back - to - Back converters by using linear and nonlinear control strategies," 2011
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n_Lines
REMOO–2018 — 10.025.16
QUEST FOR ENERGY
INFLUENCE OF INVERTER-INTERFACED GENERATORS

ON SHORT-CIRCUIT CURRENTS IN
LV- AND MV-DISTRIBUTION GRIDS
Benjamin NIERSBACH, Tim PLÖSSER, Benjamin BRAUN, Jutta HANSON
Technische Universität Darmstadt
Landgraf-Georg-Straße 4, 64283, Darmstadt, Germany;
benjamin.niersbach@e5.tu-darmstadt.de
Abstract
The energy transition leads to tremendous changes in the structure of distribution grids. One
third of the renewable energy sources that have been constructed in Germany in recent years
are connected to the low-voltage level. The effect of these components on the short-circuit
currents in low- and medium-voltage grids is investigated in this paper. The focus lies on the
rising share of photovoltaic systems in low-voltage grids, which feed a short-circuit current on
the low-voltage level even if no full dynamic voltage support is required by the network
operators as defined in national grid codes. The investigations show the influence of the
operating point of inverter-interfaced generators on the short-circuit current. Different
procedures to calculate short-circuit currents are derived from the behaviour of inverter-
interfaced generators. The short-circuit currents are calculated for the investigated ‘Campus
Grid’ of the Technische Universität Darmstadt. The effect of distributed generation on short-
circuit currents on different voltage levels is evaluated.
Keywords: Short-circuit current calculation; Distribution grids;

Distributed generation; PV
1 Introduction
In recent years distributed generation (DG) and especially photovoltaic (PV) power plants have
been predominantly installed in low- and medium-voltage (MV and LV) grids. The behaviour
of generators interfaced via full-size converters (PF – Power plants with Full-size converters)
such as PV depends on the specifications of the equipment and the control strategy of the
converters. The control strategy that is implemented by the manufacturers depends on the
guidelines defined in the grid codes. Recent adaptations in the grid codes [1, 2] are driven by
the regulation of the EU to “establish a network code on requirements for grid connection of
generators”, called “Network Code - Requirements for Generators (NC RfG)” [3]. VDE/FNN will
provide RfG compliant national grid codes for Germany until May 2018. In Germany, different
network codes for different voltage levels exist. Some of them are already outdated but still
relevant, as power plants are bound to the specifications according to the guideline present
at the date of their admission. These grid codes need to be taken into account when
conducting short-circuit studies. Short-circuit studies are an important part of the network
dimensioning and the design of power system protection. The focus in this paper lies on the
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.1
calculation of maximum short-circuit currents which are important when it comes to the
dimensioning of equipment in the network planning phase or to the evaluation of their
dimensioning due to changes in the network, e.g. the installation and connection of new
power plants.
The new standard for calculating short-circuit currents IEC 60909-0:2016 allows amongst
others to account for the influence of PF. The proposed procedure is to assess maximum and
minimum short-circuit currents by calculating with absolute values. It will be described in
chapter 3. In this paper, a way has been sought to investigate the effects of DG more
accurately but as simple as possible, enabling the investigation of operating points of DG on
short-circuit currents. It is also presented in chapter 3. The adapted calculation approach is
tested in an exemplary MV / LV distribution system. The results for this grid are presented in
chapter 4.
1.1 Research Project PHI-Factory

The rising share of renewable energy sources leads to increased volatility in terms of power
production within the electrical power system. Certain measures need to be taken to ensure
a reliable power supply. Utilising potentially flexible power demand within the industrial
sector is one possible solution for this problem. The feasibility of this concept will be shown
in the research project PHI-Factory, which is funded by the German federal ministry for
economic affairs and energy (BMWi). In order to investigate the interdisciplinary problems in
the project, the project team consists of three departments of the ‘Technische Universität
Darmstadt’, project partners from the software and automotive industry, an energy supplier
and a company in the area of mechanical and industrial engineering. A comprehensive
description of the research project can be found in [4]. In order to assess the effect of such a
flexible factory on the electrical power system, several studies are undertaken. The scope
covers load flow, power quality, short-circuit and reliability studies. The grid that supplies the
factory with electrical energy has a huge potential to install decentralized generation units
that are based on renewable energies such as PV. This paper contributes to the assessment of
short-circuit currents considering these potential power plants.
2 Investigated Network
The Eta-Factory belongs to the Technische Universität Darmstadt and is connected to the
‘Campus Lichtwiese’ grid. The anonymised single-line diagram of the grid is shown in Figure 1.
The 20-kV busbar ‘BB Power Plant 20 kV’ is connected to an equivalent network representing
the adjacent upstream distribution grid of the local distribution system operator (DSO) with a
short-circuit power of about = 250 MVA. Some departments of ‘Campus Lichtwiese’ are
directly connected to the 20-kV busbar, whereas others are connected to the 6-kV busbar ‘BB
Power Plant 6 kV’, which itself is coupled to the busbar ‘BB Power Plant 20 kV’ via three
parallel transformers. Three cogenerating units are connected to busbar ‘BB Power Plant
6 kV’, but they are neglected in the short-circuit studies for this paper.
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.2
Figure 1. Single-line diagram of the ‘Campus Lichtwiese’ grid
The maximum electricity consumption of the whole ‘Campus Lichtwiese’ grid is

, = 5 MVA. An internal study showed a long-term potential for the installation of PV
power plants of about , = 7.5 MVA on the roofs and facades of the buildings.
However, the full potential will not be exploited and in addition, the PV power plants will not
output maximum power at the same time, so realistically a total power of , = 5 MVA
is assumed.
2.1 Short-Circuit Behaviour of Active Components of the ‘Campus Grid’

In general, short-circuit current contributions from the equivalent network, the generators of
the cogeneration power plants, the photovoltaic systems, and asynchronous motors located
in the laboratories of particular departments have to be considered. Furthermore, the
Technische Universität Darmstadt plans to couple the heat and electricity sector using heat
pumps in the future. However, they will not contribute to the short-circuit current, as modern
heat pumps are not directly coupled to the grid, but by a converter. Since the scope of this
paper is the investigation of the influence of PV on the short-circuit current, the synchronous
generators of the cogeneration power plants and the asynchronous motors will be neglected
in the first place.
The German grid code for generators connected to the LV distribution network VDE-AR-N
4105 [2] is valid since August 2011. In this grid code, it is specified that generators have to be
disconnected after a maximum of 200 ms by the unit protection in case of a voltage sag below
0.8 pu. Two scenarios for the investigations in chapter 4 are deduced from this version of the
grid code. Up to 200 ms after the initiation of the short circuit, PF are considered to remain
connected to the grid if the voltage doesn’t drop below 0.15 pu. This is the terminal voltage
below which PF are considered to not be operational anymore. It is assumed that the full-size
converters use their pre-fault voltage in order to be able to continue feeding a current with a
certain power factor. After 200 ms all PF with a PCC-voltage below 0.8 pu are assumed to be
disconnected from the grid (PCC – Point of Common Coupling). The remaining connected units
will feed a current taking into account the voltage at their PCC, hence, the voltage is measured
accurately at the PCC in this period. Tolerable operating points for PF in LV-grids lie in the
range of 0.9 overexcited < cos < 0.9 underexcited .
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.3
A new draft of this grid code has been published in 2017 and requires generators to remain
connected to the grid and to reduce their current injection to zero after a maximum of 60 ms
if the voltage drops below 0.8 pu. This means that the results according to the old grid code
basically remain valid for power plants installed in compliance with the reworked grid code.
The only difference is that instead of 200 ms, which are already a conservative assumption, PF
units facing a terminal voltage below 0.8 pu will disconnect (or reduce their current infeed to
at most 10 %) after 60 ms. Eventually, the duration of this period depends on the speed of the
fault detection, the control and protection system. Taking the grid codes into account this
duration can conservatively be assumed as = 200 ms, but in reality converters might
be able to react much faster.
3 Calculation method
This chapter forms the basis for the investigations in chapter 4. First, the standard for short-
circuit calculation is introduced and then the expected results are discussed in a general way.
3.1 Short-Circuit Calculation according to IEC 60909-0:2016

A major renewal in the new edition of the standard IEC 60909-0: 2016 for the calculation of
short-circuit currents in three-phase a.c. systems [5] is the inclusion of PF which were not
considered in the former version of the standard. The standard proposes a calculation method
that is easy to handle and only needs few input parameters [6]. In case of a three-phase short
circuit at fault location F all voltage sources are short-circuited and an equivalent voltage
∙
source with the voltage = is placed at the fault location. However, since PF are
√
considered as constant current sources, they are not represented by the equivalent voltage
source and each unit has to be modelled individually. During the fault they are assumed to
feed their maximum current (or up to 1.5 times their maximum current). Therefore, the
current infeed is independent of the voltage sag at the point of common coupling (PCC).
Hence, the maximum initial short-circuit current for a specific busbar in case of a three-
phase short circuit is calculated by solving equation (1). The value of the maximum current is
to be provided by the manufacturer of the full-size converter and has to be communicated to
the network operator when the power plant is brought to service and connected to the grid.
∙
= + ∑ ∙ = + (1)
√
in this equation is the short-circuit impedance seen from the fault location F which
corresponds to in the nodal impedance matrix. The voltage correction factor is
chosen as 1.1 throughout the paper for maximum short-circuit calculations, thus assuming
that the voltage tolerance in the investigated low-voltage grids is at 10 %. are the
impedances between the faulty busbar i and the busbar j where a PF is connected to the grid.
are the reactive current injections of the PF at their PCC, is the maximum initial
short-circuit current without the influence of full-size converters which is fed e.g. by the
external grid, synchronous machines and asynchronous machines. is the contribution of
all PF to the initial short-circuit current. An exemplary short-circuit current calculation
including power plants with full-size converters is presented in [7].
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.4
3.2 Short-Circuit Calculation with Absolute and Complex Currents

Formula (1) provides a conservative approach to guarantee calculated short-circuit currents
on the safe side, because the absolute values of the partial short-circuit currents are
superposed to get the absolute initial short-circuit current. The advantage of this approach is
the simplicity and robustness against sign errors. Nevertheless, the downturn is its inaccuracy
especially when it comes to a superposition of two currents with different phase angles. The
reason is the underlying assumption that only current sources that change their current infeed
as soon as a fault is detected by the converter station have to be considered. Consequently, it
is assumed that the change in current infeed is purely reactive (full dynamic voltage support),
as this is the specified behaviour for PF in the grid codes for medium voltage to extra high
voltage level , see e.g. [1] and [7].
Yet, PF that continue to feed their pre-fault current might also contribute to the short-circuit
current, but will not feed a reactive current. This is the case for all PF connected to the LV
level, see [2], and the ones connected to the MV level that face a moderate voltage drop
during fault or that are not requested to provide a reactive fault current. In order to investigate
their influence, they will be included in the short-circuit calculation considered by their pre-
fault current in relation to their terminal voltage. This current will partially flow to the short-
circuit location according to current dissipation along the network and will increase the short-
circuit current. In order to investigate the relation between short-circuit currents fed by
external feeders and synchronous machines and the short-circuit contribution of PF, equation
(1) is modified to consider the complex impedances and currents. Equation (2) is, however,
more prone to errors, especially sign errors.
∙
= + ∑ ∙ = + (2)
√
According to chapter 2.1 three procedures are derived that are based on equation 2.
Procedure A enables to calculate short-circuit currents in the first period up to a maximum of
200 ms after fault initiation. The time-span depends on the speed of the fault detection and
control of the PF. Units with a PCC- voltage above 0.15 pu will remain connected, if the voltage
sags below 0.15 pu the PF are considered to not be operational anymore. The generators are
considered to feed a current with the pre-fault voltage at their PCC as a reference.
Procedure B is used to calculate the short-circuit current after period A. All power plants with
a PCC-voltage below 0.8 pu will be disconnected from the grid and the remaining feed their
pre-fault current, but according to the voltage angle at their PCC. In order to calculate the PCC-
voltage, the short-circuit calculation is executed one time without PF. The voltage levels are
then calculated and another short-circuit calculation is executed, but this time with
consideration of PF that feed a current in respect to the voltage at their PCC if the voltage
remains above = 0.8 pu. It has been shown that the current infeed of the converter
does marginally change the voltage angles and therefore no further iteration step is necessary.
Both methods have in common that not only the changed state of the system is considered in
the calculation. This does not conform to the standard and is, therefore, to be understood as
a different approach. This modification is done due to the fact that PF that retain their pre-
fault operating point will influence the short-circuit current and have to be considered. Their
representation might be compared to constant current loads and so the question is valid why
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.5
loads are not considered in the calculations. The reason is that the c-factor already accounts
for the negligence of loads in the calculation of short-circuit currents in the standard.
However, it is not meant to account for the before mentioned PF. The downturn of these
approaches is that they rely on the calculation of the bus voltages during fault and these
voltages are not calculated correctly when doing an assessment of maximum and minimum
short-circuit currents. E.g. in case of maximum short-circuit current calculations the voltage
support is generally overestimated.
Procedure C is to neglect the voltage-dependency and include all PF in the short-circuit current
calculation and the current is fed into the gird with the pre-fault PCC-voltage as a reference.
4 Calculation Results
The short circuits are calculated for a grid with a high share of PV, with a penetration level of
100 %, which means that the maximum installed PV power covers the load. Typical operating
points of PF are compared and the ones leading to the maximum short-circuit currents are
determined. Furthermore, the effects of PF on the short-circuit currents on different voltage
levels of the MV (20 kV & 6 kV) and LV grid (0.4 kV) are discussed.
As a first step the short-circuit currents have been calculated according to the new standard
with the use of equation (1). PF are assumed to support the voltage by feeding a reactive
current during the fault. Therefore, according to the standard of 2016 the reactive current is
represented in the changed state of the grid by each PV power plant with the value
that has been provided by the manufacturer of the power plant. The value is assumed to be
equal to the rated current of the PV power plants in this paper ( = ). The first row
of
Table 1 can be interpreted as the calculation results according to the standard of 2001 or 2016
if no PF are installed in the grid. The short-circuit currents in the rows below are calculated
according to the standard of 2016. For a rising share of PV in the distribution grid the short
circuit current rises at every busbar. The increasing effect diminishes for higher voltage levels.
Especially for the 20-kV busbar the influence of the PV power plants remains way below 5 %
even for a penetration level of 100 %. However, on the 0.4- and 6-kV level the short-circuit
current increases significantly, in the case of a penetration of 100 % about 5 %.
Table 1: Short-circuit currents for three of the four busbars according to the standard of
2016 and assuming dynamic voltage support of the varying PV penetration
Share Busbar PHI-Fac. Busbar BHKW Busbar L1-02 B Busbar BHKW

of PV 0.4 kV 6 kV MB 1/2 6 kV 20 kV
0% 12.48 kA 6.82 kA 6.05 kA 6.45 kA
50 % (+ 3.45 %) 12.91 kA (+ 2.79 %) 7.01 kA (+ 2.81 %) 6.22 kA (+ 1.09 %) 6.52 kA
100 % (+ 6.89 %) 13.34 kA (+ 5.57 %) 7.20 kA (+ 5.79 %) 6.40 kA (+ 2.17 %) 6.59 kA
4.1 Influence of the phase angle of the PV fault current infeed

In order to determine the effect of the integration of PV units that do not support the voltage
during fault (no reactive current infeed), three different penetration levels of PV are
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.6
investigated in Figure 2. Short-circuit currents are calculated according to procedure C in order

to show the maximum possible effect that a PF could have on the short-circuit current if the
phase angle of PF current infeed is taken into account. PF are supposed to even remain
connected to the grid at a very low PCC-voltage and they retain their current infeed with their
pre-fault PCC-voltage as reference. The penetration level of PV is given in relation to the
maximum load of the ‘Campus Grid’. Three exemplary operating points of the converters are
investigated that lie in the admissible range according to the grid codes.
The short-circuit currents are calculated for three of the before mentioned short-circuit
locations, three different operating points (cos = 0.9 / 1 / 0.9 ) and three different
penetration levels (0 % / 50 % / 100 %). It can be seen that the increase of installed converter
power almost linearly increases the percental difference. Converters that are underexcited
decrease the short-circuit current. Converters that are operated with cos = 1.0 increase
the short-circuit current and the ones operated in the overexcited region increase the short-
circuit current even more and up to 4 % for the given buses in the LV grids.
Figure 2. Deviation of maximum short-circuit currents according to procedure C to the

calculation according to the standard of 2001 (first row in
Table 1)
The theoretical influence of PV power plants in LV-grids on the short-circuit currents in grids
with higher voltage levels decreases significantly. For faults on the MV level (20 kV) the impact
remains below 1.34 % for all nodes. The short-circuit currents on the LV level increase up to
5.5 % at some busbars on the LV level (not shown in the figure) if the power plants with full-
size converter operate at cos = 0.9 overexcited. Furthermore, it can be seen that the
influence of PF on short-circuit currents is much smaller than the worst-case calculation
according to the standard of 2016 suggests (see results in
Table 1).
4.2 Short-Circuit Current Calculation according to Procedure A

The aim of this and the following subchapter is to investigate the short-circuit current
calculation according to procedure A and B. The difference between the calculation with
absolute values according to the IEC standard [5] will be compared to the calculation with
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.7
complex values. The X/R – ratio at the fault location defines the angle of the short-circuit
current, because the equivalent voltage source is assumed to lie in the real axis and from
equation 2 it can be deduced: ∠ = − ∠ . The same angle shift is applied to the
short-circuit current fed from the PF. Hence, the maximum short-circuit current will occur for
converters at busbar j when the real part of the product of and reaches its’ maximum
max real ∙ .
The short circuits currents have been calculated for the four exemplary buses doing a sweep
over all theoretically possible operating points from cos = 0 overexcited to cos = 0
underexcited. The results are shown in Figure 3. The calculated short-circuit currents (the
dashed and the continuous line) are related to the short-circuit currents according to the
standard of 2016 assuming that the PF support the voltage. The results of this calculation are
given in the beginning of chapter 4. The dashed line represents the results according to the
standard of 2001. The continuous line is the main result of the calculations. It shows the
absolute value of the maximum short-circuit current at the designated buses for different
phase angles of the PF infeed when calculating with equation (2) considering procedure A.
Figure 3. Short-Circuit currents for a short circuit at the four exemplary buses
according to procedure A
All of the graphs show the same characteristics. The short-circuit current is highest for a nearly
solely reactive current infeed at about 0.1 < cos < 0.2 overexcited. The inclination of
the curves is relatively small between 0.0 < cos < 0.4 overexcited and short-circuit
currents for these operating points are basically identical. Closer to the permissible range that
is defined in the grid codes for operating points of PF the inclination of the graph rises. The
value of the short-circuit currents in this region heavily depends on the power factor. Units
operated with a power factor of cos = 0.9 overexcited increase the short-circuit current
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.8
compared to the dashed line about 3 % in the LV grids and up to 2 % in the MV grid (6 kV). If
the units operate at a power factor of cos = 1.0 they increase the short-circuit current
about 1 % in the LV grids and up to 0.5 % in the MV grid (6 kV). If the units operate at a power
factor of cos = 0.9 underexcited they decrease the short-circuit current about 1.5 % in the
LV grids and up to 1 % in the MV grid (6 kV). If the units are operated in the underexcited
region with cos < 0.85 they will further decrease the short-circuit current, because they
consume a part of the reactive short-circuit current contribution of the equivalent network
that would normally feed the fault. It can be concluded that PF on the LV level have an impact
on the short-circuit current in LV-networks, but their influence is much smaller on the
upstream grids. The increase of the short-circuit currents on the 20-kV level is at 0 %, because
the voltage drops below 0.15 pu at every node in this case.
4.3 Short-Circuit Current Calculation according to Procedure B

Taking the voltage angles and the voltage threshold into account below which PF are allowed
to disconnect from the grid, the short-circuit currents in Figure 4 are calculated (procedure B).
Faults at one of the 6- and 20-kV buses lead to a voltage drop below the threshold of
= 0.8 pu which results in a disconnection of the PF and therefore no short-circuit current
contribution. The PV units do not increase the short-circuit currents on these voltage levels.
The short-circuit current calculation according to the new standard is done with absolute
values. Therefore, the nodal voltages cannot be calculated and it is not clear whether a power
plant would disconnect or not. Therefore, all PV power plants are considered in the
calculation. This leads to an overestimation of the short-circuit current of about 5 % on the 6-
kV level and about 2 % on the 20-kV level.
Figure 4. Short-Circuit currents for a short circuit at the four exemplary buses
according to procedure B
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.9
On the LV level a similar characteristic to the one in the previous section can be seen. The
curve is quite flat in the beginning at overexcited operating points. But in contrast to the
previous section the maximum value of the continuous line is not equal to the maximum short-
circuit current according to the standard because of two reasons. On the one hand, the PV
units connected to the faulty busbar are disconnected due to their low terminal voltage. On
the other hand, they feed a current with respect to the angle of their terminal voltage. As the
units are distributed in the grid, the voltage angles at their terminals differ in the faulty state
and therefore the worst-case current injection doesn’t coincide. In other grids this will cause
that the maximum of the short-circuit current is reached for a infeed with a different phase
angle. For the low-voltage buses PF increase the short-circuit current to a maximum of 3 %
when operated at cos = 0.9 overexcited, to a maximum of 1 % when operated at
cos = 1.0 and they decrease the short-circuit current about up to 1.5 % when operated at
cos = 0.9 underexcited.
5 Conclusion
The presented study investigates the influence of PV power plants in LV grids that are not
required to do a so-called full dynamic voltage support on the short-circuit levels. This has
been done in the exemplary MV-/LV-grid ‘Campus Lichtwiese’. The short-circuits have been
calculated according to the standard IEC 60909-0:2016 assuming that the PV power plants
support the voltage during fault. The procedure of the standard has been extended to also
account for the short-circuit current contribution of power plants that don’t change their
current infeed in the moment of fault initiation. Three procedures are used to assess the
influence of these power plants on short-circuit currents in the LV and MV grid. Procedure C,
which assumes that the PV units remain connected to the grid, leads to the highest short-
circuit currents. Procedure A assumes that the inverter-interfaced generators only feed a
current if the PCC-voltage remains above a critical value results in lower short-circuit currents.
Procedure B is appropriate to investigate the short-circuit currents in the period when
protection systems have already operated and provides overall lower short-circuit currents.
It has been shown that overexcited operating points of the converters lead to higher partial
short-circuit and that underexcited operating points even reduce the short-circuit current. The
operating point of a power plant with full-size converter has a strong influence on the partial
short-circuit that it provides during fault. As a conclusion, it can be said that inverter-
interfaced generators need to be considered when calculating short-circuit currents in LV
grids, because they might increase the short-circuit currents (up to about 10 %). Furthermore,
they might be neglected for the short-circuit calculation in MV grids, especially on the 20-kV
level, because they increase the short-circuit currents less than 1.5 %, even if the installed PV
power is high and they are assumed to remain connected to the grid for very low PCC-voltages.
Acknowledgements
The research presented in this paper is part of the PHI-Factory project
that is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and
Energy (BMWi).
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.10
References
[1] Technische Richtlinie Erzeugungsanlagen am Mittelspannungsnetz, bdew, 2008.
[2] Technische Regeln für den Anschluss und Parallelbetrieb von Erzeugungsanlagen am
Niederspannungsnetz, Entwurf VDE-AR-N 4105, 2011.
[3] Commission Regulation (EU) 2016/631 of 14 April 2016 establishing a network code on
requirements for grid connection of generators (Text with EEA relevance): RfG, 2016.
[4] T. Plößer, B. Niersbach, and Hanson, Jutta and Roloff, Nils, “PHI-Factory: Provision of
network services by a flexible factory,” in International ETG Congress 2017, Bonn,
Germany, pp. 544–549.
[5] Short-circuit currents in three-phase a.c. systems - Part 0: Calculation of currents, IEC
60909-0, 2016.
[6] R. Schürhuber, “Die Kurzschlussnorm IEC 60909-0: 2016 – Neues und Änderungen,” in
Springer Verlag Wien 2016, pp. 228–235.
[7] G. Balzer, “Short-Circuit Calculation with Fullsize Converters According to IEC 60909,”
CEPSI Bangkok, Thailand, Oct. 2016.
REMOO–2018 — 10.031.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
ECONOMIC EVALUATION OF URBAN ELECTRIC BUS CHARGE

STATIONS: CASE OF EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS
Çağrı YILMAZ*1, Gülgün KAYAKUTLU2
1
Istanbul Technical University, Institute of Energy Science and Technology
Ayazağa Kampüsü, 34469, Istanbul, Turkey; yilmazcagr@itu.edu.tr
2
Istanbul Technical University, Department of Industrial Engineering
İşletme Fakültesi Maçka Kampüsü, 34367, Istanbul, Turkey; kayakutlu@itu.edu.tr
Abstract
Global warming effects with heavy storms and hot days make countries take emissions
seriously. Hence, European cities gradually announce zero emission projects in the public
transportation sector. Transportation using battery electric buses plays important role in zero
emission projects. In the Netherlands, government targets zero emission for city buses in
public transportation by 2025. This obviously means replacing the fossil fuelled buses with
electric buses. However, the problem that arises with electric buses is the infrastructure of
battery management and battery charging. This research aims to optimize electric bus
recharging processes considering minimum total annual cost. A mixed integer linear
optimization model was developed to determine location, number, capacity of charge stations
and operational electric bus models. The optimization model was tested on seven city bus
lines in town center of Eindhoven, the Netherlands. The results provide economic analysis for
different locations for fast charge operations.
Keywords: Zero Emission Transportation; Electric Bus; Public Transportation;

Charge Station; Electric Vehicle
1 Introduction
Urbanization is increasing day by day in all over the world. Cities are becoming larger than
every previous day, besides this, they are the leading roles in economic growth. More than
the half of the world has been living in cities since 2008 [1]. In the first half of the century
number of people living in urban areas is going to increase according to the projections; this
number is estimated to be 3 billion more until 2050 [2]. Additionally, in 2016 %54 of total
population lived in cities, in Europe this ratio was %75 [3]. Environment and public health is
being affected by climate change and implicitly air quality is being decreased [4]. To sustain
the quality of city life is a big challenge and also infrastructure is vital at this point [5]. Making
city life better and sustainable in this enlargement is possible with protecting the
environment. Choosing public transportation improvement is a right option to realize this
goal. To achieve the goal, several policies and agreements were released such as Paris
Agreement. Announced in December 2015 and entered into force in November 2016, the
Paris Agreement stated that increase in average global temperature should be fixed 2°C above
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.1
pre-industrial level [6]. Within Paris COP21, it is declared that GHG emission will be reduced
by %70 in 40 years until 2050 [4].
In recent years urban planners are encouraging the use of public transportation to reduce
pollution which is a way to protect the environment. Big companies and manufacturers began
to work for alternative to diesel because of increasing in pollution and fuel prices [1].
Transport electrification is strongly related with decarbonisation and it is dominating actor in
International Energy Agency (IEA) scenarios to decarbonise the energy system [6]. For public
transportation, full electric and electric hybrid buses are rational alternatives for green life [5].
According to the realism of the world, the aim of the study is to optimize electric bus
recharging processes considering minimum total annual cost for an urban public
transportation network.
In this study, previous researches have been reviewed about electric bus recharging
processes. Especially, the rapid development of fast charging and battery technologies in
recent years is a reason for becoming widespread of the electric buses. That’s why there are
not many current researches on this subject. Due to this gap electric bus recharging scheduling
is determined to analyse. At this point, Eindhoven has been selected for the new and large
electric bus fleet that it has. Eindhoven urban bus network has 7 lines that are fully operated
with electric buses. 43 electric buses are serviced on these lines. All the data about Eindhoven
bus network and fast bus charging systems are collected and charging schedule model is
created.
The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 describes the important components of the
subject. Section 3 introduces the mathematical model which is a “Mixed Integer Linear
Programming” formulation and definitions of parameters and variables. Section 4 displays the
case study and model run on CPLEX Studio IDE 12.7.1. Section 5 gives the results of the solver.
Finally, Section 6 summaries the study and reviews about results with a conclusion.
2 Electric Buses and Charging

The number of battery-powered electric bus was nearly 345000 in 2016 all over the world,
which is 2 times of 2015 number [6]. There is a significant increase in electric buses usage in
previous years. China, surprisingly takes place in the top of ranking in the electrification of
buses with the amount of 343500 in 2016. In 2016, Europe had 1273 electric buses and US
had 200 [6].
Less energy consumption in comparison to buses with combustion engines, use of renewable
energy, less noise, lower particle emissions, less CO2, lower lifecycle costs, and reliable
services can be provided with the use of correct charging technology [5].
According to Policy Note of City Vitality and Sustainability (CIVITAS), co-financed by the
European Union, there are 5 types of buses: Fossil fuel, biofuel, electricity, hybrid, hydrogen
[7]. Commonly used bus types are fossil fuel and electric buses. Comparison of commonly used
bus types as explained in CIVITAS Policy Note is shown in Table 1 [7].
Fossil fuel includes coal, petroleum and natural gas which are non-renewable resources [7].
Purchasing costs are lower by nearly half than electric buses but releases the highest amount
of GHG which consists of CO2 [7]. Fossil fuel has 5 sub-types but commonly used types are
diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG).
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.2
Table 1: Comparison of commonly used bus types

Type Sub-type Advantage Disadvantage Range
Non-renewable,
Costs are low,
Diesel In the long term 600-900 km
Adaptable for biofuels.
energy security arise.
Fossil
fuel Lower noise emission
Non-renewable,
than diesel,
CNG In the long term 350-400 km
Pollutant emissions are
energy security arise.
low.
Opportunity One of the cleanest
charge technology, Purchasing costs are < 100 km
Local zero emission, high,
Electricity Battery Depot Electricity can be Infrastructure
(Overnight) produced from renewable investment is 100-250 km
charge resources, needed.
Low noise and smell.
Electricity powers trolley buses and electric buses. Trolley buses can be thought as trains
which achieve the electricity with a wire upon the bus. This study mainly focuses on electric
buses. Electric buses have rechargeable batteries and can be recharged in two ways: on depot
or on route. Depot charging requires a large battery due to being recharged only at night or
downtime. Buses are recharged with a plug-in chargers between 2-8 hours [8]. Depot charging
needs less-complex fleet deployment and charging infrastructure, on the other hand, requires
garage updates [8]. On route charge or opportunity charge (Opportunity charge) is the second
type of electric bus charging system. It is a fast charging technology with 5-10 minutes time
which charges on the bus stops. Opportunity charge requires a small battery and an overhead
pantograph with a road embedded charger [8].
3 Method and Proposed Model

3.1 Mathematical Model
Mixed integer linear programming has been selected to use in this article. Linear programming
as defined as maximizing or minimizing the objective function under the constraints. In mixed
integer programming, different from linear programming, at least one of the variable must be
an integer value.
3.2 Proposed Model

In this section, the problem we evaluate is to determine the electric buses recharging
scheduling for a transportation network. This network consists of 7 lines and one transit
center. The transit center is also the main station of each line. Every line has 2 termini and the
transit center-main station is one of these termini. There is only one depot where the buses
park out of working hours. The depot is located nearly 1 km far from the transit center. Each
electric bus leaves from the depot to carry out the scheduled trip in the morning and returns
to the depot when the daily trips are completed at night. Every trip has start and end time.
The trips either start from the transit center or termini of existing line. There is a time mostly
between two following trips carried out by the same electric bus. The depot is equipped with
charging stations that provides slow and fast charging for electric buses. The electric buses
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.3
can be recharged with slow chargers during the night when parked at depot. During the day,
the electric buses only can be recharged with fast chargers at the time between the trips at
depot. Meanwhile, fast charging is defined as opportunity charging. In this paper, recharging
scheduling is based on opportunity charging. To prepare this study, some assumptions are
determined. First of all, all the lines have the same conditions such as topography. Secondly,
consumed charge is related to driving distance. Thirdly, all chargers are opportunity chargers
and they are the same. Finally, the duration of recharging is constant.
First, to create a model, sets, parameters and variables using in the model are defined. B is
the set of trips, H is the set of opportunity charging stations, T is the set of time. and indices
describe following two trips, , ∈ B. h1,2,.. are the opportunity charge stations, h1,2,.. ∈ H. Time
covers from the start time of the first trip and the end time of the last trip in a day. si defines
the start time of trip , fi defines the end time of trip . d is the charging duration for each
opportunity charging. The electric buses can be recharged between two following trips, in
other words, the bus can be recharged between fi - end time of trip and sj – start time of trip
, if there is a possible time to recharge. This time interval between two trips must be enough
for recharging duration, d. For instance, the end time of trip i is 10 and the start time of next
trip j is 20. The opportunity recharging activity duration is 5 units. In this situation, if charge
station is located near the termini, this means no need more time for arriving the charge
station from termini, the recharging activity can be started at 11. On the other hand, the
recharging activity can start at 12, 13, 14, 15, but cannot start at 16 because of next trips’ start
time. t defines start time of recharging activity, t + d ≤ sj. The possible recharging start time
between trip i and j for this bus are 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15. The set of O contains these possible
recharging times for all trips. All sets, parameters and variables have been defined as:
All sets:
B set of trips
H set of opportunity charge stations
T set of time
O set of possible recharging times
P set of depot trip
All parameters:
si start time of trip i
fi end time of trip i
h1,2,3 opportunity charge stations
d charging duration
Rmax maximum energy of battery for a fully-charged
R usable energy of battery
α charging rate
li length of trip i
lih distance between the start/end point of trip i and charging station h
emin minimum energy level that the battery should have
ct cost of unit bus travel
ce charging costs in unit time; refers to the electricity costs
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.4
cf fixed costs per charge station; includes purchase and installation costs
cm maintenance cost per charge station
A number of operating days per year
λ annualized factor
All variables:
= 1,0 ; If the bus in trip i uses the charge station h at time t, 1; otherwise, 0.
= 1,0 ; If the charging station h is used, 1; otherwise, 0.
= ; the remaining energy in the battery before trip i.
A mixed integer linear programming model is created based on the article written by Wang et
al. [9]:
Cost = ∑ ∈ ∑ ∈ ( + ) + ∑ ∈ ( + ) 1)
The objective function (1) is to minimize annual total operating costs of electric bus recharging
system. It consists of two parts. The first part of function contains from the end point of trip
to the charge station travel costs and recharging costs, the second part of function contains
charger costs.
Subject to:
∑ ∈ ≤ 1∀ ∈ (2)
Constraint (2) defines the electric bus can be recharged at only one charge station at the same
time.
+∑ ∈ ( − ) ≤ ∀ ∈ (3)
Constraint (3) defines sum of the remaining energy in the battery and the recharged energy
cannot exceed the maximum energy limit of battery at bus.
= +∑ ∈ ( − ) − ∀ , ∈ (4)
Constraint (4) defines the energy changes of two following trips.
≥ ,∀ ∈ (5)
Constraint (5) defines the minimum energy of battery.
∑ ∈ ≤ 1∀ ∈ (6)
Constraint (6) defines one charger can recharge only one electric bus at charging period.
= ,∀ ∈ (7)
Constraint (7) defines initial energy for an electric bus for the first trip in a day.
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.5
4 Case Study
4.1 Eindhoven
The developed model was applied to the existing bus rapid transit network in Eindhoven, the
Netherlands. The bus rapid transit network of Eindhoven consists of 7 bus lines; 400, 401, 402,
403, 404, 405, 406 and 407. There is a transit center that connects these 7 lines in the center
of Eindhoven. The transit center is also the main station of Eindhoven. Each trip on these lines
starts or ends at the Eindhoven Station. The trip describes the journey from the start terminus
to last terminus. 43 battery electric buses took the place of fossil fueled buses and have started
operation by the end of 2016 on these 7 lines as shown in Figure 1 [10]. The depot, where is
the parking area of buses outside of service hours, is located 1 km far from Eindhoven Station.
Electric bus charging units are also located only at the depot. All the buses are parked and
slow recharged all night and, besides, the buses come to the depot for opportunity recharging
between two following trips in day.
Figure 1. Eindhoven electric bus lines
1023 scheduled trips are operated by 42 electric buses on weekdays [11]. All of the buses start
their first trip with full charged battery and, when the battery needs to be recharged, the bus
can be recharged at depot between the two trips. The opportunity chargers have 450 kW
power outlet, therefore ultrafast recharging is possible with pantographs of the charge
stations [12]. Opportunity charging is not possible at the end of each trip because of the depot
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.6
location. It is possible only trips that end at Eindhoven Station [12]. For instance, the line
between Eindhoven Station and Airport and trip 1 starts from Eindhoven Station to Airport.
When the bus arrives to Airport, it cannot be recharged. Trip 2, is the following trip for that
bus, starts from Airport to Eindhoven Station. When the bus arrives to Eindhoven Station, if
there is enough time for recharging before the following trip, the bus can be recharged at the
depot.
For the simplification of the model, a minute range has been accepted for the time. The
earliest trip starts at 05:34 in the morning and this time was set at “0”, the last trip ends at
00:40 at night and this time was set at “1146”. The bus service duration is 1146 minutes. All
times for all operations are shown in minutes in this range. The distance from Eindhoven
Station to the depot is 1 km. The connection and disconnection time of bus pantograph to
charger for recharging operations has been assumed to be totally 1,5-2 minutes. Considering
all, the time from Eindhoven Station to charge station to Eindhoven station, without charging
duration, has been assumed to be 4 minutes.
The battery pack capacity of the buses is 180 kWh [13]. The battery should never have energy
less than 10% of full capacity and should not be recharged more than 95% with fast charge
[13]. For that reason, the active capacity of the battery in use is 85% of its full capacity, 153
kWh [13].
Charging duration for each bus, d, has been assumed to be 5 minutes. The charging rate factor,
α, has been calculated to be 7,5 kWh per minute. It refers the charging capacity of the charger
per minute (450 kWh/60 minutes). Minimum energy, emin, has been recognized as 15% of
battery full capacity, 27 kWh, for arriving to the depot in exceptions. The electricity cost per
minute, ce, is € 0,13 in the Netherlands [14-15]. The travel cost, ct, has been assumed to be €
0,20 per km based on maintenance costs for electric bus [16]. The fast charge station fixed
cost per station, ccf, has been assumed to be € 250.000 and the fast charge station yearly
maintenance cost per station, ccm, has been estimated to be 3% of the investment cost, €
7.500 [16]. The useful life of the buses has been estimated to be 15 years and the interest rate
is 10%. The capital recovery factor (A/P, interest, useful life of the bus-n) was used for the
calculation of the annualized cost factor, λ, (A/P, 10%, 15)=0,1315 [17].
4.2 Model Run

The optimization model has been run with parameters as defined in the previous sections.
The model was solved using solver CPLEX Studio IDE 12.7.1.
5 Results
5.1 Base Line
The optimal minimized annual cost for fast charge operations was € 126.490. There were
3.500 constraints and 522.653 variables in the model. 43 electric buses traveled to depot for
fast charging after ending of the trip in a day. This travel duration is 4 minutes, 2 minutes to
reach to charge station and 2 minutes to reach to the start point of the trip after recharging.
This duration can be defined as dead time.
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.7
5.2 Charge Station Location Analysis

This analysis for the situations that the fast charge stations located at the last stop of the trip.
In this way, time is saved that 4 minutes corresponding to the recharge at the depot. The buses
could be recharged at the last stop of the trip. When the solver run for this situation, the
optimal minimized annual cost for fast charge operations was € 125.257. The annual fast
charge operations costs are close within base line situation. However, with savings of 4
minutes for each charging period, the transportation service for these 7 lines can be operated
by 40 buses instead of 43 buses. 3 electric buses could be removed from fleet.
It has been seen that the charging operational cost differences are not great for these cases.
However, the declining number of electric buses will significantly affect costs.
6 Conclusion
In recent years, the use of alternative fuel buses to diesel buses for public transportation have
been seen as a reduction of GHG pollution which is a way to protect the environment. The
rapid development of fast charging and battery technologies has been effective in the
widespread use of battery electric buses. The battery electric buses recharging operations
have a great importance with operational processes and costs. That’s why electric buses fast
recharging scheduling is determined to analyse. Annual operational costs for fast recharging
operations have been minimized.
In this study, electric bus fast charging scheduling optimization is solved with mixed integer
linear programming for an urban public transit network. It is established on a real network of
Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The research results indicate that the electric charge stations
locations affect the cost of charging operations and number of electric bus required for the
efficient transportation operations. The effect of charge stations location calculated in this
study only includes effect for a small fleet of 43 buses. The effect will be higher on costs for
day by day increasing number of electric buses and fleet growing. In the study, it was also
thought that the social carbon cost effect would be taken into consideration in the cost
analysis. But the distance between Turkey and the Netherlands has a negative effect on
reaching some data, for this reason, the social carbon cost effect is thought to be included in
the Summer’18.
References
[1] Warner, Bruce; Augé, Olivier; Moglestue, Andreas, Taking Charge - Flash Charging is Just
The Ticket For Clean Transportation, ABB Review, 4, (2013), pp. 64-69.
[2] Andersson, Malin, Energy Storage Solutions For Electric Bus Fast Charging Stations: Cost
Optimization of Grid Connection and Grid Reinforcements, Uppsala University, Uppsala,
Sweden, 2017.
[3] Urban population, The World Bank,

https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?locations=EU
[4] Environmental Solutions, Transdev, Province of North-Brabant, The Netherlands, 2017.
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.8
[5] Charge your future with the Siemens eBus charging infrastructure, Siemens, Munich,
Germany, 2016.
[6] Global EV Outlook: Two million and counting, International Energy Agency, France,
2017.
[7] Smart choices for cities: Alternative Fuel Buses, CIVITAS, EU, 2016.
[8] Lamb, Aaron, Battery Electric Bus Technology Review. Victoria Regional Transit
Commission. 2017, pp.7-10.
[9] Wang, Yusheng; Huang, Yongxi; Xu, Jiuping; Barclay, Nicole, Optimal recharging
scheduling for urban electric buses: A case study in Davis. Transportation Research Part
E, 100, 2017, pp. 115-132.
[10] Zero emission buses Transition in Eindhoven BRT, Bravo,

https://zerokonferansen.no/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Arwinade-
Boer.compressed-1.pdf
[11] Dienstregeling Printen, https://connexxion.nl/dienstregeling-printen/1220
[12] Nuiten, Michael, Charging urban life, Heliox, Province of North-Brabant, The
Netherlands, 2017.
[13] Dekker, Michel, Corporate presentation, VDL Bus & Coach, The Netherlands, 2017.
[14] Energy Taxation in Europe, Japan and The United States, Finnish Energy Industries, 2011.
[15] Electricity price statistics, Eurostat, http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-

explained/index.php/Electricity_price_statistics
[16] Lajunen, Antti, Lifecycle costs and charging requirements of electric buses with different
charging methods, Journal of Cleaner Production, 172, 2018, 56-67,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.10.066
[17] Factor Formulas

https://www.me.utexas.edu/~me353/lessons/S2_Evaluation/L02_Equivalence/factor_
formulas.html
REMOO–2018 — 11.028.9
QUEST FOR ENERGY
WASTE HEAT RECOVERY FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES:

BASICS AND THE MAIN CHALLENGES
Michael LANG*, Roland KIRCHBERGER
Institute of Internal Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics,Graz University of Technology
Inffeldgasse 25b, 8010 Graz, Austria;
michael.lang@ivt.tugraz.at, kirchberger@ivt.tugraz.at
Abstract
Conventional propulsion systems for heavy duty trucks using internal combustion engines
have evolved to a highly sophisticated level, reaching very good efficiency levels and thus
quite low CO2 emissions. Nevertheless, recent development of world’s climate has made
clear that even from the actual, refined technological level, further steps have to be made in
order to reduce fuel consumption of the Diesel drive train.
One option, which has attracted more and more attention in recent times, is to use the
“lost” heat of the engine being released into the environment unexploited via the cooling
system and the exhaust gas. The usage of this barren energy, the so called Waste Heat
Recovery (WHR), can be done via different methods, e.g. thermoelectrical elements,
thermoacoustic machines or with Rankine cycles.
The paper gives a short overview of the different possibilities of WHR and their pros and
cons; the Rankine cycle will be investigated in more detail, discussing the basic layout of the
cycle, its components and the challenges that have to be faced, be in the design of the
components, the selection of the working fluid, the build-up of the WHR system or its
operation.
Keywords: Waste Heat Recovery; Rankine Cycle; Superheated Steam Test Bench;
Water; Organic Working Fluid
1 Introduction
The future of propulsion systems for passenger cars and commercial vehicles based on
internal combustion engines (ICE) is strongly dependent on their environmental impact.
Although technology has evolved rapidly in the recent years under the pressure of
increasingly strict emission regulations, in particular concerning limited pollutant emissions
and CO2 emissions, the increase of energy efficiency of propulsion systems still is one of the
main development goals. Whereas the public discussion concerning passenger car
propulsion systems and their technological progress is in full swing already, the area of
commercial vehicles is moving in the focus. The latter, which are already working at a high
efficiency level, need to be enhanced even further; this can be done by refining the existing
classical engine components and systems, or by choosing new paths, such as using hitherto
unused energy.
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.1
The classic combustion engine suffers from the well-known problem that it cannot do
without producing obligatory waste heat. According to the Carnot process, the
transformation of heat to mechanical energy is limited. The chemical energy supplied by the
fuel (the calorific value of the fuel) is being burnt at a specific temperature, which is limited
by several boundaries such as air-fuel ratio, fuel type, wall heat losses, compression ratio or
residual gas. The upper process temperature TH at which the heat is supplied, together with
the lower temperature TC (i.e. the temperature at which the exhaust gas or heat leaves the
process) define the highest reachable efficiency, the so called Carnot efficiency ηmax (equ. (1),
[1]).
= 1− (1)
Numerous other influences reduce the efficiency even further.

But, according to the First Law of Thermodynamics, the so called “lost” energy cannot
disappear, but is being transformed to another energy form, i.e. heat. Although this heat
seems to be “wasted” at a first glance, it is still available at a comparatively high
temperature level. The higher the temperature is (at a given ambient temperature TC), the
higher the level of technically usable energy, so called exergy. The exergy content EQ of heat
can be calculated using the Carnot efficiency (equ. (2)).
= ⋅ = ⋅ 1− (2)
For internal combustion engine (ICE) powered vehicles as cars or trucks, the main share of
energy supplied dissipates into the cooling system and the exhaust gas, whereas only a small
portion can be used for propulsion.
Regarding a typical truck diesel engine, the energies subsumed under the term “waste heat”
(i.e. heat flow and enthalpy flow) can be displayed well: Whereas the cooling water is
available at about 90 degree Celsius, the exhaust gases show approximately 300 degree
Celsius, and the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) can reach 500 degree Celsius (cf. [2], p. 446).
According to equ. (2), this results in a theoretical portion of up to 62 percent (using a slightly
simplified calculation) which could be regained.
There are several reasons for making waste heat usable. The first one, of course, is plain to
see: The power gained from loss heat can be directly used for propulsion; therefore it does
not need to be generated by the main ICE, which thus burns less fuel, and, of course,
produces less CO2 emissions. This way, future emission regulations can be reached more
easily, be it concerning carbon dioxide or other limited exhaust components as NOx, CO or
hydrocarbons. However, the effect of fuel saving can be multiplied, when taking into
account the possibility of waste heat recovery during the design phase of the next
generation of truck engines. By using such technology, the peak power of the ICE itself can
be potentially reduced, which “downsizes” the engines and therewith increases their
efficiency.
As for CO2 legislation, contrary to passenger cars and light duty vehicles (cf. [3]), for medium
and heavy duty vehicles the exact development of future limits and measurement conditions
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.2
is not at all plain to see for all markets (cf.[4], p. 53 et seq.). From model year 2017 / 2018 on
CO2 emissions are subject to regulation (cf. [5]): For the period between 2017 and 2027, e.g.,
up to 24 % of CO2 are to be saved in the US (depending on the vehicle type). In the European
Union, the standardized measurement, report and, as a consequence, regulation of CO2
emissions for heavy duty vehicles are key stones for reaching the projected greenhouse gas
emission reduction of 60 % of the transport sector until 2050 with respect to its 1990 value
(cf. [6]).
One other reason for waste heat recovery (WHR) might be the continually rising electrical
performance requirements of today’s vehicles. When creating this power demand
conventionally, the whole efficiency chain from the combustion engine to the alternator and
further on through the electrical system of the vehicle has to be considered. Waste heat
recovery systems could supply this energy directly or through a generator (depending on the
system used), but with the decisive difference of the energy source which, in the case of
waste heat, is ‘free’.
2 Possible Strategies, Challenges and Applied Systems

The basic question is at which temperature the waste heat should be used. This will not only
influence the theoretically reachable efficiency number, but also the most suitable
technology. Some possibilities are listed in Figure 1, with the most obvious one being the use
of heat without any conversion to another energy form.
This can be done by directly using the waste heat, e.g. for heating the passenger
compartment of a car, or even for heating subsystems of the engine. Nevertheless, these
applications are very limited in the required heat quantity and thus contribute very little to
the overall efficiency. Additionally, the highest heat demand exists during cold start, when
the whole systems needs to heat up in order to reduce emissions as well as friction;
unfortunately, at this time very little waste heat is available at a high temperature level.
Therefore, the heat needs to be preserved in order to use it later on, either in the form of
latent heat, or via sensible heat or via a chemical storage.
The alternative approach is to convert the waste heat to other, more convenient, energy
forms, preferably mechanical energy or electricity. Of course the effort is much higher, as is
the advantage concerning efficiency.
Exhaust Gas
Heat
Heat Use Converter
Absorption &
Direct Heat Preserve Extended Turbocom- Steam
Gas Cycle Seebeck AMTEC Adsorption
Use Heat Expansion pounding Cycle
Heat Pumps
Chemical Latent Sensible Vuilleu-

Joule Stirling Ericsson
Storage Heat Heat mier
Figure 1. Possibilities for using waste heat (cf. [7], p. 716)
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.3
2.1 Direct Mechanical Use of Exhaust Gases

For using the exhaust gas energy resulting from an “under-expansion” in the ICE (as common
engines use fixed compression and expansion ratios respectively and therefore cannot fully
expand to ambient pressure), different approaches have been conceived, like
Turbocompounding (cf. [8], p. 479) or Extended Expansion (cf. [10], [11], [17]) for ICE.
2.2 Gas Cycle

Gas cycles can be open or closed cycles, all using a single-phase gaseous working medium.
According to this definition, the Turbocompounding process is an example of an open gas
cycle. The best known process is the ideal Joule cycle, named after James Prescott Joule, but
also other cycles as the Stirling (cf.[1], p. 498), Ericsson (cf. [12], p. 313) or Vuilleumier cycle
(cf. [13]) could be used for WHR.
2.3 Direct Conversion to Electric Energy

The principle underlying the thermo-electrical effect (also Seebeck effect, after Thomas
Johann Seebeck) can be easily described (cf. [14], p. 1-2): The thermocouple consists of two
different materials (labelled a and b), connected electrically in series. One junction is kept at
a high temperature TH, while at the other a lower temperature TC is maintained, resulting in
an electric potential Utherm.
Another approach for converting heat to electric energy is the alkali metal thermal-to-
electric conversion (AMTEC) technology; without moving parts, it is inherently noise-free,
vibration-free and highly efficient (cf. [15], p. 1152). Originally it was conceived in the Ford
Motor Company Scientific Laboratory in 1968 (cf. [15]).
2.4 Cooling devices

The conversion of heat to “cold” (which is, technically correct, a heat sink at temperatures
below ambient temperature) might be a promising option. First and foremost passenger cars
as well as heavy duty vehicles do need a certain amount of cold for comfort reasons, and its
generation from mechanical energy or electricity demands considerable amounts of fuel and
therefore contributes to high fuel consumption. Eliminating this expenditure of external
energy could be realized by employing a heat driven cooling device. Several types are
imaginable, be it cooling devices based on the Vuilleumier cycle or absorption / adsorption
heat pumps.
2.5 Steam Cycles

Steam cycles use working fluids that are alternatingly vaporized and condensed, i.e.
changing their state of matter (cf. [1], p. 444). Thus the comparatively high latent heat of the
medium can be used for creating rather small systems.
One of the best proven technologies seems to be the Rankine Steam cycle, as it has already
been used in the early industrial steam engines, developed by Rudolf Julius Emanuel Clausius
and William John Macquorn Rankine. The waste heat is used for heating up, vaporizing, and
overheating a working medium, that can be water or any other suitable fluid (like used, for
example, in the Organic Rankine cycle). Thereupon, the steam is being expanded using an
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.4
appropriate expansion engine which produces mechanical power. The used steam can be
condensed, pressurized, and reheated again, which closes the cycle (Figure 2). The
expansion engine itself can use either a periodic or a continuous working principle.
feed- heat
water exchanging ex- ICE
pump device pander
water tank condenser
Figure 2. Typical steam cycle as used for waste heat recovery in ICE powered vehicles
3 The Rankine Steam Cycle

As it is the basis of the following investigations carried out at the Institute of Internal
Combustion Engines and Thermodynamics (IVT) at Graz University of Technology, the
Rankine steam cycle (Figure 2) shall be described in detail. This process is used as the ideal
reference cycle for steam engines, be it a turbo machine or a reciprocating engine. It states a
reversible cyclic process where a working fluid is being processed through different changes
of state.
The liquid fluid is being pressurized. The following process heats up the liquid in the
economizer, vaporizes it (boiler) and adds even more heat in the superheater. The resulting
superheated steam can now be expanded in a corresponding expansion engine. The latter
can work either continuously (e.g. a turbo machine) or intermittently (e.g. a reciprocating
piston engine) and produces power. After having left the working machine, the waste steam
has to be liquefied in a condenser, which accordingly requires spacious cooler surfaces and
therefore is probably the most critical component concerning the packaging. The liquid
working fluid has now reached the starting point again.
There is a possibility to enhance the theoretical efficiency of the steam cycle, i.e. by
intermediate superheating. Therewith the upper peak temperature can be reached several
times and the process approaches the Carnot cycle. Adding some more intermediate
superheating stages further improves the cycle.
3.1 Expansion Engine: Key Tasks – Key Problems

The key demands an expansion engine concept for the use in Rankine Cycles has to fulfil can
be derived from the boundary conditions, resulting in the following main topics (cf. Figure 3):
• Packaging boundaries: As WHR-systems often debut as add-on modules for existing
vehicle concepts, space is strictly limited and the available space often features quite
unshapely forms.
• Weight: Being essentially driven by loading capacity, in recent times the transportation
industry emphasises lightweight development. Additionally to the increased payload
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.5
capacity, the decreased unladen weight improves fuel consumption. Thus, the weight
of the WHR-system has to be kept low.
• Efficiency: Efficiency of course should be as high as possible, but more important than
a peak in efficiency at one specific (design) load point is an even distribution of the
efficiency over as large an operational area as possible to reach high recovery rates in
real life use.
• Lifetime: The lifetime of the expansion engine is one of the key issues of the whole
system. The device has to survive for the complete operating life of the commercial
vehicle it is implemented in, i.e. at least 1 million kilometres.
• Reliability: Not only the total lifetime of the expansion engine is essential, but also fail-
safety at any time. This contributes to low maintenance costs as well as to high market
acceptance that is indispensable for new technologies.
• Costs: The main reason for customers to acquire vehicles equipped with WHR-systems
is solely economic benefit. Therefore the additional charge of such systems has to pay
off within one to two years; thus the maximum permitted production costs of the
expansion engine depend, among other things, on the vehicle type (e.g. long-distance
traffic or local transport) and overall economic conditions (fuel price etc.).
Figure 3. Main topics (blue) and resulting technical challenges (yellow) for the development
of a steam expander [18]
The above boundaries lead to four main technical challenges that need to be solved and are
closely linked to each other (Figure 3) and will be shortly discussed in detail:
• Working medium
• Lubrication concept
• Bearing concept
• Separation of process media
Working Fluids
The working medium of an expansion engine has to fulfil the task of absorbing the energy
brought in from the waste heat of the internal combustion engine and pass the energy on to
the piston, thus being more or less used for transmitting energy. The requirements on
working media are manifold, be it thermodynamic properties, economic and ecologic
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.6
properties as well as safety and handling issues. The following considerations are based on
the implementation of a reciprocating piston type steam expansion engine in a Rankine cycle
for the use of waste heat on vehicle propulsion systems based on ICE.
Thermodynamic properties: The working medium has to absorb heat energy from the heat
source, i.e. the exhaust gas and the EGR gas respectively. Thus the upper temperature level
of the Rankine cycle is defined, and in order to reach high Carnot efficiency, the process
medium should be able to cope with this high temperature level. Additionally to reaching
the highest possible medium temperature (i.e. peak exhaust gas temperature minus the
temperature drop in the heat exchangers), the mean temperature of heat supply should be
as high as possible.
Accordingly, heat dissipation of the process should happen at the lowest possible
temperature level, i.e. close to ambient temperature.
One can easily deduce the importance of the thermodynamic characteristics of the medium,
such as critical pressure, critical temperature, enthalpy of evaporation or the course of the
evaporation and condensation line, for the thermodynamic efficiency and power of the
Rankine cycle.
Figure 4. ph-plot of the Rankine-cycle for an ideal working medium (cf. [18])
The following properties can be derived (confer to ph-diagram, Figure 4):

• Condensation at low pressure at temperature t1 between 60 °C and 100 °C.
• Evaporation at high pressure at temperature T3 between 100 °C and 200 °C (depending
on heat source).
• The lines of constant entropy near the saturated steam line should run as flat as
possible: this enables high enthalpy differences (DE) and thus high specific work
during the expansion phase. The shape of these lines should also approach the
saturated steam line in D, so as to keep the heat dissipated between E and F low which
enables a small heat exchanger in vehicle use; nevertheless E should keep a certain
distance from the saturated steam line in order to avoid a liquid phase in the
expansion chamber.
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.7
• The lines of constant entropy near the evaporation line should run almost vertical in
order to keep the specific pumping work low.
• The pressure at t3 should stay within reasonable boundaries, as this pressure directly
influences the mechanical stress on the cycle parts.
Long term stability: The medium has to be able to cope with the demanded temperatures
during long term use without deterioration of the thermodynamic properties. It should
neither dissolve nor, if a combination of two media is used, demix even during repeated
phase change. The thermal stability has to be guaranteed at temperatures high above the
maximum temperature occurring in the cycle as hot spots within the heat exchangers can
considerably exceed the mean working medium temperature.
Additionally, the ignition temperature of the medium should keep a safe distance to the
maximum cycle temperature.
Legal compliance and moral considerations:
• Environmentally friendly
• Guarantee of long term legal permission
• Nontoxic
• Not harmful to health
Material compatibility:
• Good compatibility with the most common materials used for reciprocating piston
engines
• Provide corrosion protection for components used in steam cycle
Additional characteristics:
• Antifreeze properties
• Lubricity (for expansion engine crank drive and valve train)
• Non-inflammable
• Easily available
• Cost effective
Finally, the working fluids showing the highest potentials are water, alcohols (such as
ethanol), and some refrigerants (such as R245fa, cf. [17]).
Bearing Concepts
Closely connected to the lubrication system, the bearing concept of the steam engine is a
key component for the design of a reliant, effective WHR system. The main question is
whether pure lubricant is available, which allows the use of plain bearings, or only mixture
lubrication can be used, driving the need for roller bearings or some alternative solutions.
For lifetime issues, the chosen bearing concept is one of the key aspects.
Lubrication Concepts & Separation of Process Media
Especially when using expansion engines with translationally moving parts, such as piston
engines of any type, the lubrication concept is of vital importance. First, the moving parts
have to be protected from excessive wear, and second, the friction losses should be kept as
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.8
low as possible. The main problem in steam cycles, in contrary to most ICE, is that the fluid
loops (i.e. working fluid and lubricant) are closed and have to maintain their properties over
time. Therefore, the following concepts can be distinguished:
• Complete separation of the two media throughout the complete lifecycle, either by
completely sealing the piston and the valves, or by allowing the two media to slightly
mingle and separating them afterwards.
• Let the two media mix in the circle and use the lubricant contained in the working fluid
for lubrication, similar to mixture lubrication in 2-stroke engines.
• Doing without separate lubrication, either by using materials and concepts that don’t
need lubricant, or by using the working fluid as a lubricant. These concepts, however,
have turned out to be virtually without prospect of success for piston expanders.
The choice of the appropriate concept depends on the engine type, but also on the working
fluid (e.g. polar or non-polar, which is important for the miscibility with the lubricant) as well
as the boundary conditions of the WHR system such as temperatures, pressures and mass
flows.
Finally, the right combinations of the different possible solutions for the single components
will lead to a reliable, efficient and economical waste heat recovery system that can,
according to investigations at IVT, lead to a typical 3-5% of fuel consumption for a long haul
truck, ensuring the future application of ICE in heavy duty trucks.
4 Summary / Conclusion
The use of waste heat of ICE-based propulsion systems of passenger cars, but even more so for
commercial vehicles, is one of the most promising technical approaches for saving fuel and thus
CO2 and other emissions. The possibilities are wide spread, depending on whether the heat
should be used directly or after the conversion to mechanical or electrical energy. Whereas the
direct use is limited in its effect on fuel consumption, and the direct generation of electricity is
still very costly and shows low efficiency levels, the most promising approach seems to be the
generation of mechanical energy. This is preferably done in a Rankine Cycle.
For Rankine Cycles, different media can be used, be it water, alcohol, refrigerants or other
organic media. The basic demands on the media can be deduced from the thermodynamic,
ecological, economical and health issues. Depending on the chosen medium and other
boundary conditions, the expansion engine design has to be defined, with one important
influence being the lubrication concept and – connected to it – the bearing concept. The
expansion engine can work continuously, e.g. like a turbine, or intermittently like reciprocating
piston engines. The aim is, apart from high efficiency, low costs and low weight and size, a
waste heat recovery system that requires as little effort in control and maintenance as possible.
References
[1] Moran M.J., Shapiro H.N., Boettner D.D., Bailey M.B.: Principles of Engineering
Thermodynamics; 7. edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (Asia), ISBN: 978-0-470-91801-2,
2012
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.9
[2] Mollenhauer K., Tschöke H.: Handbuch Dieselmotoren; 3. edition, Springer-Verlag

Berlin Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-540-72164-2, 2007
[3] Delphi: Worldwide Emissions Standards – Passenger Cars and Light Duty vehicles
2015/2016; retrieved 9. 2015 from http://www.delphi.com/manufacturers /auto/
powertrain/emissions_standards
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/auto/powertrain/emissions_standards
[5] EPA: EPA and NHTSA Propose Standards to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and
Improve Fuel Efficiency of Medium- and Heavy-Duty Vehicles for Model Year 2018 and
Beyond; Regulatory Announcement, EPA-420-F-15-901, June 2015
[6] European Commission: Strategy for reducing Heavy-Duty Vehicles' fuel consumption
and CO2 emissions; Brussels, Communication from the commission to the council and
the European Parliament, COM(2014) 285 final, 21.5.2014
[7] Feulner P.: Zusätzliche Energiewandler in zukünftigen Antrieben; Motorentechnische

Zeitschrift, 2008/69(09), p. 714-721.
[8] Zima S., Ficht R.: Ungewöhnliche Motoren; 3. edition, Würzburg, Vogel Buchverlag,
ISBN 978-3-8343-3140-3, 2010
[9] Atkinson J.: Gas engine, US Patent, No.: 367,496, Aug. 2, 1887
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Expansion Engine with Mono-Shaft Cam Mechanism for Higher Efficiency - Layout
Study and Numerical Investigations of a Twin Engine; SAE/JSAE 2014 Small Engine
Technology Conference, Paper No. 2014-32-0102, Pisa, 2014
[11] Trattner A., Pertl P., Lang M., Stelzl R., Schmidt S., Kirchberger R.: Experimentelle
Untersuchungen eines Ottomotors mit erweiterter Expansion über den Kurbeltrieb
und die bedeutende Rolle der variablen Ventilsteuerung; 7. MTZ-Fachtagung
Ladungswechsel im Verbrennungsmotor, Stuttgart, 2014
[12] Stephan P., Schaber K., Stephan K., Mayinger F.: Thermodynamik – Band 1:
Einstoffsysteme; 17. edition, Springer Berlin New York Heidelberg, ISBN 978-3-540-
70813-1, 2007
[13] Schoofs S., Meyer F.: BINE Informationsdienst: Projektinfo 1/00;

Fachinformationszentrum Karlsruhe, Gesellschaft für wissenschaftlich-technische
Information mbH, ISSN 0937–8367, 2000
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2006
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[15] Levy G. C., Hunt T. K., Sievers R. K.: AMTEC: Current Status and Vision, Proc. 32 IECEC,
p. 1152-55, 1997
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Engines and Thermodynamics, Graz University of Technology, 2012
[17] Wurms R., Budack R., Grigo M., Mendl G., Heiduk T., Knirsch S.: The new Audi 2.0 l
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Technical Paper, 36. Internationales Wiener Motorensymposium, 2015
[18] Lang M.: Design of a Steam Expander; Doctoral Thesis, Graz University of Technology,
2016
REMOO–2018 — 11.044.11
QUEST FOR ENERGY
DATA CENTERS: ARE THEY CRITICAL ICT INFRASTRUCTURES

OR ICT ENERGY SOLUTION?
Abstract
Data centres have become a critical ICT infrastructure owing to software as a service, mobile
cloud applications, digital media streaming, and the expected growth of IoT. Data centre
energy consumption is currently growing at a compound annual rate of over 10%. Power and
thermal monitoring and control as well as recovery of waste heat play a key role in reducing
consumption and economic costs. However, ever more opportunities exist towards a
comprehensive integrated energy management system to enhance the energy and power
management of data centres in conjunction with renewable energy generation and
integration with their surrounding infrastructure, not much is known regarding real energy
consumption and CO2 emission nor energy hidden into manufacturing of ICT technologies.
This paper offers an insight into this field.
Keywords: Data centers; Cloud computing; Embedded carbon; Metric parameters;

Energy utilization; Virtualisation
1 Introduction
As Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is becoming more and more wide-
spread and pervasive in our daily life, it is important to get a realistic overview of the
worldwide impact of ICT on the environment in general and on energy and electricity needs
in particular Furthermore, to address the energy sustainability of ICT and capture the full
potential of ICT in resource efficiency, a multidisciplinary ICT-energy community needs to be
brought together covering devices, microarchitectures, ultra large-scale integration (ULSI),
high-performance computing (HPC), energy harvesting, energy storage, system design,
embedded systems, efficient electronics, static analysis, and computation. The crucial
development of ICT is seen through development of high-performance computing systems,
smart autonomous sensor systems for the so-called Internet of things (IoT) and data centers.
In the “information age” there is a vast amount of data that is stored and instantly made
available upon request. Thus, data centres have become a critical ICT infrastructure owing to
software as a service, mobile cloud applications, digital media streaming, and the expected
growth of IoT. Data centre energy consumption is currently growing at a compound annual
rate of over 10%. Power and thermal monitoring and control as well as recovery of waste heat
play a key role in reducing consumption and economic costs.
The EPA has set on efficiency target for government data centers: a 20% reduction in carbon
footprint by 2011. European Union (EU) members have agreed to cut their combined emission
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.1
of greenhouse gasses emission to 8% by 2012. Power and thermal monitoring and control as
well as recovery of waste heat play a key role in reducing consumption and economic costs.
However, ever more opportunities exist towards a comprehensive integrated energy
management system to enhance the energy and power management of data centres in
conjunction with renewable energy generation and integration with their surrounding
infrastructure. According to Spart2020 report, In 2002, the global data centre footprint,
including equipment use and embodied carbon, was 76 MtCO2e and this is expected to more
than triple by 2020 to 259 MtCO2e – making it the fastest-growing contributor to the ICT
sector’s carbon footprint, at 7% pa in relative terms. Furthermore, authors in Spat2020 predict
that the data centre footprint in 2020 If growth continues in line with demand, the world will
be using 122 million servers in 2020, up from 18 million today. In addition to this 9% pa
increase in server numbers, there will be a shift from high-end servers (mainframes) to volume
servers,30 the least expensive kind of server that can handle much of the computational needs
of businesses.
In this paper data centre energy consumption and its C02 emission are analysed. This paper is
organized as follows: Infrastructure of Cloud centers is briefly given in next Chapter.
Evolutionary leaps in digital world and emerging technologies as solution to complexity are
overviewed in Chapter 3. Key terms are defined in Chapter 4, and ICT behavioural patterns in
relation to energy consumption were gathered in Chapter 5. Embedded carbon in cellular
networks is analysed in Chapter 6. The metric parameters to measure energy utilisation are
given in Chapter 9. The key targets towards energy sustainability are pointed out in Chapter
9. Innovative technology employed by Google are briefly mentioned in Chapter 10. Study is
concluded by Chapter 11.
2. The Key Parameter Definitions

Complexity of ICT requires systematic study and understanding of the behavioural pattern of
ICT evolutionary leaps and holistic approach to energy consumption and CO2 emission. Key
terminology requires clear definition (see Tables 1-2).
3. Cloud Center: Building Blocks

Cloud data centers are the foundations to support many Internet applications, enterprise
operations, and scientific computations. Data centers are driven by large-scale computing
services such as web searching, online social networking, online office and IT infrastructure
outsourcing, and scientific computations. A cloud consists of several elements such as clients,
data center and distributed servers. It includes fault tolerance, high availability, scalability,
flexibility, reduced overhead for users, reduced cost of ownership, on demand services
Figure 1-2 shows a few images of data centre server tools, while block diagram of cloud is
shown in Figure 1(b).
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Table 1: Key parameter definition
Key Parameter Definition

A cloud consists of several elements such as Cloud data centres are the foundations to
clients, data center and distributed servers. It support many internet applications, enterprise
includes fault tolerance, high availability, operations, and scientific computations. Data
scalability, flexibility, reduced overhead for centers are driven by large-scale computing
users, reduced cost of ownership, on demand services such as web searching, online social
services etc. networking, online office and IT infrastructure
outsourcing, and scientific computations.
Server Count: Number of servers required to Multi-tenant/Multi-tenancy: Multi-tenancy

support a platform or the specific business defines IT architectures that let multiple
applications, inclusive of business continuity customers (tenants) share the same
and disaster recovery applications and/or compute resources with
security, reliability, and consistent
performance. It is through multi-tenant
architectures that cloud services achieve high
cost efficiencies, increased energy efficiency for
a given load of work, and can deliver low costs
because the infrastructure and services are
shared by many customers.
Table 2: Key parameter definition
Key Parameter Definition

Device Utilization: Computational Virtualization: Technology which allows numerous
load that a device (server, network, or “virtual machines” to run on one physical server. These
storage array) is handling relative to virtual machines can run different operating systems and
the specified peak load multiple applications on the same physical hardware,
which effectively increases the utilization of that server.
Power Usage Effectiveness: The total Emissions Factor of Server Room/Data Center
facility power divided by the power Electricity Source: The amount of carbon emitted to
used to run the IT equipment. The generate the electrical power consumed by the server
lower the PUE (with a minimum of 1.0 room or data center (in kilograms of carbon emissions
possible), the more efficiently the data per kilowatt-hour). The figure dramatically varies
center is run. However, because the between regions and is based primarily upon the mix of
PUE is relative to the IT power, it makes primary energy sources (coal, hydro, nuclear, wind, etc.).
no indication of how efficiently the
power is used for the IT equipment
itself
Embedded Carbon Emissions for IT Internet Transmission: Energy required for data
Hardware: Life-cycle estimates of transfer through access technologies and the internet
embedded carbon emissions on a per- backbone for cloud deployments.
server basis.
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.3
Figure1. a) Data Center - A huge amount of multi-tier networking infrastructure, racks, tries;
b) Block diagram of ICT technology
Figure 2. Data Center: A huge amount of electronic circuits and wires
Generally, Cloud computing has three distinctive pars (see Figure 3): energy and power
management system, services and applications, which all have to be efficiently utilized.
4. Evolving Complexity and Dissipative Structures in Evolution

Looking at humanity from the perspective of dissipative systems, two principal characteristics
of a major fluctuations seems to be present: increasing flow of energy and mater, combined
with high entropy. Consumption of energy is faced with problems of resource scarcity and
depletion. Cloud computing is emerging technology aiming to solve problem with energy
consumption and hyperlinks of multiple devices. Series of innovations occurred in the
transition from “fixed” to the “internet of things” & ubiquitous computing (see Tables 3-4).
Furthermore, Tables 3 and 4 shows characteristic behavioural pattern of evolution: diversity
in increasing number and diversity of complexity in society and technology created by society.
Moreover, diversity in both, complexity and quantity follow exponential growth. In
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.4
exponential growth, the rate of growth is proportional to the current size. This means that
the bigger something is faster it grows. Population is classic example. Moreover, there are
examples when increasing happen more rapidly than an exponential growth; this is called
“preexponential”. Such curves occur whenever the rate of growth not only depends on the
current size of the population but also builds on what already has been achieved in the past.
This is typical case with the rate of growth seen in internet of things. However, after a certain
period rate of growth slows down, it does not accelerate forever. The curve began to bend
over in the characteristic S-shape. This is the case also with Internet. The net expanded rapidly
as many other host computers from around the world connected into it. After growth of
Internet was based on number of connection, further growth was based in versality and
richness of connections. Mapping of their location in U.S. and EU is presented in Figure 4.
Figure3. Block diagram of cloud computing (Data Centre), and smart autonomous sensors.
The figure indicates the common elements in the system stacks between these different
ICT systems
Figure 4. Data centres across Europe and the U.S.
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.5
Table3. Evolutionary leaps in ICT (computing and technology)
Evolutionary leaps in ICT Evolutionary leaps in technology

(computing and technology) Internet Growth, Usage Phases, Tech Events [Source -
wstweb1.ecs.soton.ac.uk/wp-content].
Web evolved in its complexity from being used
only for reading towards web used for “writing”.
Different ICT technologies and applications were
created, each of them creating a new option and
possibilities. Series of innovations occurred in the
transition from “fixed” to the “internet of things”
& ubiquitous computing.
Changes in the number of devices (connections)

involved in different categories of ICT
technologies.
Table 4: Evolutionary leaps in ICT (computing and technology) [1]
Evolutionary leaps in ICT Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Cloud Computing (2015) Basically
Cloud computing provides services that are referred to as
(computing and technology) Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
Growth of data size and emerging of new ICT technologies

over last 50 years.
Cloud is still in its “infantile” face, early developing age,
and it will take time before its maturity is established,
Figures in Table shoes steps to cloud’s maturity and
obsolesce.
Evolution path of computing: from centralized towards

cloud and ubiquitous computing [1]
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5. ICT’s Behavioural Pattern: Energy Consumption

A number of studies have been looking at the energy consumption of ICT devices and systems
(Figure 5). While several sources especially on web pages provide guesses of the total
electricity consumption of ICT devices, there are a number of detailed studies that have tried
to accurately estimate the total energy consumption and CO2 emission [5-8].
Figure 5. The estimated energy consumption per annum for data centres, PC devices
(including desktops, laptops, and tablets), communications (Internet, networks, mobiles, and
smartphones), and data centres (servers including cloud computing) plus the total annual ICT
energy consumption. Total ICT energy does not include any entertainment and media use
such as TV, HiFi, DVD, CD, or radio. The ICT energy also excludes all manufacture and
disposal of ICT devices (Sources: [5-8]; Original retrieved from [15])
Figure 6. (a) The amount of CO2 equivalent emitted from the manufacture and use of ICT
equipment, infrastructure, and systems per annum along with predictions for 2020. b) The
percentage of ICT CO2 equivalent emissions as a percentage of total CO2 emissions (Sources:
[14], Originally retrieved from [15])
These studies have used trade data to estimate the number of devices, analyzed average use
and loading of devices and considered the power scaling to provide estimates of the total
electricity consumption (Figure 5) and CO2 emission (Figure 6 ). In particular, there are a
significant number of studies investigating the energy consumption and scaling of the Internet
as the present energy consumption of telecommunications is the fastest growing part of ICT
energy consumption. The key message as reported in [9] is that in 2015, around 4% of the
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.7
electricity generated worldwide is consumed by ICT devices [10] which results in 1 billion
tonnes CO2 equivalent, that is, about 2.3% of the global emission of CO2. These studies do not
include TV and media uses of ICT systems or the CO2 produced from the manufacture of the
ICT devices and systems. The suggestion from reference [11] is that TV and media has 82% of
the energy consumption of ICT but 131% of the CO2 emission of ICT. As media is now being
transferred to ICT devices and systems, a large part of this consumption may require being
included in the total ICT consumption and emission in the future.
Regarding ICT and ubiquitous computing, from the perspective of energy consumption, there
is following strategy: to have ubiquitous architecture of low-power consumers, wirelessly
supplied, and all connected to clouds and virtual servers. Figure in Table confirms it. Table
shows consumption of electricity in digital universe – correlation between increasing of total
ICT Energy and decreasing power per location. Exponential growth of electricity use by data
servers is expected and based in rapid increase in number of installed data servers all around
the world. Information economy as a new empire economy paced out transportation
economy as shown in Table 5 and 6.
Table 5. ICT energy consumption behavioural pattern [1]
Server in Global data centers[1].

Consumption of electricity in universe: Increasing of
total ICT Energy vs. decreasing power per location [1].
The power cost of Cellular Speed on High

Speed LTE, Networks [1]
Electricity to Power Data Canters [1]
U.S Share of GDP: Moving information vs.

Growth of digital data [1]
Moving People & Things
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Table 6. Gathered data in relation to the rise of data centre size and energy consumption [1]
Data centers comprise a high-profile feature of the

ICT architecture. Report [1] claims that a 300 000
square ft, 40 MW, Facebook data center opened in
2012 in North Carolina where electric rates are 10%-
30% below the U.S. national average (the local grid is
56% and 32% nuclear). There the Facebook facility
will save $100 million in operating coast compared to
national average rate and use on millions of coal
over decade.
Forecast of Global Internet Power Demand [1]
The size and power of leading-edge data centers keep

rising [1].
6. Embedded Energy and Cellular Network as Extension (Ubiquitous

Architecture) of Data Centers
Cellular congestion becomes visible problem. One solution is to miniaturize “tower” cells.
However, it means that enormous amount of manifesto cells will be built and embodied in
buildings (see Table 7).
Energy consumption will not be reduced that much. It will be hidden into fabrication of
femtocells as explain in Table 8.
7. Comparative Study between PC and Cloud Storage Energy

Consumption
Many studies were conducted aiming for evidences if moving to cloud computing significantly
reduce energy consumption and CO2 emission (see Table 8).
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Table 7. Data gathered in relation to the cellular network with embodied energy
Cellular network with embedded energy
In order to reduce the global cellular energy use, one
recommendation is to reduce cell tower congestion
by moving traffic towards in-building WiFi and
miniature cell “towers”. Tiny cigarette-box sized cell
“towers” are used increasingly: “two million shipped
in 2010, with 37 million forecasts by 2016”. Traffic on
millions of such picocells or femtocells, and on WiFi,
does not eliminate energy; it moves onto other
hardware. Such highly dispersed network may
increase overall energy use when counting both the
in-building network energy, and the energy to
manufacture millions of picocells.
Embodied vs. operating energy for a cellular base
More base station lowers per tower energy use and station [1]
traffic congestion too However, total energy use
rises when including embodied manufacturing
energy as it is shown in Figure. Forecast of Global
Internet Power Demand is shown in Figure.
5. Cellular network with Embodied Energy [1]
Table 8. A comparative study between PC and. cloud storage energy consumption

Doing the same computer-store tasks in the
Cloud instead of on a local PC can also reduce
total ICT energy use because of the efficiency of
using remote shared resources. However, as
pointed in NRDC report, one must be careful
with statements. Certain conditions require
different approach and sometime brings
opposite conclusions. For instance, if user
accesses the Cloud frequently, cloud computing
can consume more energy than computing on
local PC.
Energy per user vs. encoding task per per week Energy use for storing data : Local PC vs. Cloud Storage
[1]. [1]
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8. Data Center CO2 Emission & Embedded Carbon

An obvious way to reduce CO2 emissions is to use sustainable and renewable energy
generation sources. The top figure in Table 9 shows a comparison between the power
requirements of ICT devices and systems and available sustainable energy generation
technology. For a largescale energy generation, the real issue is that most sustainable energy
technologies require significantly higher capital outlay for installation (e.g., photovoltaic and
hydro) and have long payback periods. Also many of the renewable sources cannot deliver a
constant supply of energy and require both storage and/or alternative power supply
mechanisms to maintain. Already many HPC cloud servers are being located so that renewable
energy can be used to power at least part of the systems. Some of the best examples of low
carbon renewables that can be used are photovoltaic, hydro, and wind (see Figure 7 and Table
9). In every case, the correct environment is required for each of the renewable technologies.
A good example of this is photovoltaics that is being heavily used for a significant number of
Data Centres for cloud computing. Global energy source and corresponding CO2 emission,
energy consumption profile comparison of data center and office buildings, data centre total
carbon profile an example and Breakdown of embedded CO2 in building materials are
presented in Table.
Table 9: Dependence on coal for data centers and their CO2 emission
Since coal is the world’s largest source of

electricity – 68% of additional supply over
the past decade and forecast to supply at
least 50% for the next decade – it seems
that digital universe and cloud begins with
coal. Authors in [1] claim that the
infrastructure of the digital economy is
already over $5 trillion and will grow
another $3 trillion within a decade. Global
Big Data capital spending in last couple of
years is almost equal to Oil capital with one
difference – big data consumes energy Dependence on coal for data centers [Source:
Greenspace International: how is your cloud, April
2012) [1]
Around 300 million tons of CO2; is

equivalent to the total consumption of
coal, oil and gas by Turkey or Poland in
one year, or more than half of those
burned in the United kingdom. ICT CO2 emission from Cloud computing – compared to
industry is responsible for more than 2% countries CO2 emission [1]
of global CO2 emissions, making it at par
with the aviation industry
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.11
Figure 7. Typical power consumption of different ICT devices and systems versus the power
that can be generated from sustainable/renewable energy generation devices and systems
Analysing data presented in Tables 10, it is obvious that data centers present one of the
largest ICT consumers. It is also important to remember that Internet technology (its
manufacturing and operation including executing the applications) has set its foundation on
coal industry, and even today ICT components (manufacturing and operation) relay
significantly on coal as energy source supply.
Table 10: Embedded carbon
Embedded Carbon
Global energy source and corresponding CO2 Energy consumption profile comparison
emission of data center and office buildings
Breakdown of embedded CO2 in building

Data centre total carbon profile an example) materials
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.12
9. Key Metric Parameters to measure Power Utilisation

In the previous chapter we compare ICT and data center energy consumption to the globa
energy production and we also breakdown C02 consumption. To measure CO2 emission and
utilisation of energy consumption in leading ICT technology, cloud computing, it is important
to use standardized parameters. They are listed and defined in Table 11. Data centers and
metrics to measure power utilisation and CO2 emission are presented in Table 12 [2].
Comparing the values for PUE, GPUE and the content of renewable and coal contribution to
energy supply of data center one can conclude that PUE might not be good candidate to
measure energy utilisation and CO2 emission. The outcomes of critical analyses of reliability
of parameters PUI and GPUI are summarized in Table.
Another source of information presented here is used from NRDC report. The methodology
used by NRDC to develop their independent model is aligned to the assessment methodology
developed by the Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) and follows the process being
developed by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol’s forthcoming standard for the Information
Communications & Technology (ICT) Sector Guidance for Cloud Computing and Data Center
Services. can expect to realize based upon their given environment and potential constraints.
The results also specify key performance indicators per application type, which are being
recommended as the suggested metrics to manage by the GHG Protocol. The mode uses the
following key inputs and variables (Table 13) to assess performance under a variety of
deployment scenarios (Table 3) for a given application type.
Table 11: Lists selected parameters used to measure power utilisation [2]
Metrics to Measure Power Utilisation and Carbon Emission
Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) PUE is the ratio of total amount of power
used by a computer data center facility to
the power delivered to computing
equipment
PUE = Total Facility Power ÷ IT Equipment
Data center Infrastructure Efficiency (DCiE), DCiE is the reciprocal of PUE. It can be
mathematically stated
DCiE = 1÷ PUE = IT Equipment Power ÷
Total
Green Power Usage Effectiveness (GPUE), was GPUE = G * PUEX

first proposed by the organization
The factor G can be stated as,
GreenQloud. It can be stated as,
G = ∑ (%Energy Source * (1 + Weight))
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.13
Table 14: Data centers and metrics for measure energy and CO2 emission [2]
Table12: List of disadvantages of PUE as metric parameter
PUE is location and Data center tend to PUE was designed inly for dedicated
time sensitive subtract cerain data centers
factors to lower
the PUE rating.
PUE is not good metric parameters: Case Study – Even though Microsoft data center
has a low PUI, its GPUI is much higher than Google or GreenQload data centers,
due to the fact that Microsoft rely much more on electricity generated by coal than
other renewable sources.
GPU is better metric parameter
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.14
Table 13: Possible outcomes of different scenario on energy metric parameters [Source:
NRDC Report – [3]
Using publicly available data for the key

inputs of worst case, average, and best
practice, Figure 31 highlights the range
of performance realized in a given
deployment scenario, and the relative
impacts of changing variables. Effective
PUE of the server room or data centers
which are hosting the servers; Effective
utilization of the servers which are
running a given application and
corresponding number of physical
servers; and Carbon emission factor of
purchased electricity based on the
location of the server room or data
Comparison of Deployment Scenarios [3]
centers.
Deployment scenarios are as follows: On-Premise Not
Virtualized, Colocation/Outsourcing, On-Premise
Virtualized, Public Cloud
10. KEY Target towards ICT Energy Sustainability

Data centers are growing rapidly as well as the number devices connected to cloud computing.
It is important to have clear strategy and clearly defined key targets to keep optimal energy
conversion and to lower carbon emission (see Table 14).
Table 14: List of Key targets towards sustainable data centre
KEY target towards ICT energy’ sustainability in data centers
A key challenge at microarchitectural level – 1) Increased heterogeneity, with

energy efficiency advancements must specialized functional blocks for
take the form of a synthesis of particular tasks;
improvements at lower levels and
respond to the evolving needs at higher 2) Many-core systems, with various
levels. heterogeneous blocks as described
above, combined with groups of
homogeneous clusters;
3) Network-based interconnects or
complex, multi-layered buses, to
connect these many components,
along with caches, memory, and
peripherals, together.
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.15
The power consumption reduction through Dynamic voltage and frequency scaling, clock
architecture design such as: gating and clock distribution, dynamic partial
reconfiguration, power domains, caches and
interconnects. In the context of data centers
and HPC advance cooling infrastructure and
energy reuse is studied. Innovative
procedures such as a passive thermosiphon
(gravity driven) cooling system for servers and
racks, using energy only to remove the waste
heat out of the data centre room, and
innovative systems able to re-convert
generated heat into electricity, such as the
pressure reverse osmosis (PRO) process. Also
Co2 cooling is researched and applied.
Key target solution in data centers towards energy efficiency
Technical solutions, such as Virtualization, server power management, and single

responsibility for IT and facility costs are not
systematically applied
Virtualization: Virtualization and other related Fewer servers, even when running at higher utilization
techniques can address the inefficiencies of levels, consume less electricity, which also reduces the
need for cooling.
low server utilization by allowing multiple
applications to share a single server, thereby
Virtualization is a combination of software and
reducing the number of physical servers hardware features that creates virtual CPUs (vCPU) or
required to run workloads. virtual systems-on-chip (vSoC). These vCPUs or vSoCs
are generally referred to as virtual machines (VM).
Each VM is an abstraction of the physical SoC,
complete with its view of the interfaces, memory and
other resources within the physical SoC. Virtualization
provides the required level of isolation and partitioning
of resources to enable each VM. Each VM is protected
from interference from another VM. The virtualization
layer is generally called the virtual machine monitor
(VMM).
Chip-to-chip and on-chip photonic Optical cables between boards and racks are available
communication for Data Centres and HPC, but there is still significant
copper interconnects before getting to the
microprocessor, on-chip memory, or disk storage. The
development of integrated Si photonics where the
enormous yields of silicon foundries can be used to
produce far cheaper and larger bandwidth (through
parallel channels) has the potential to reduce energy
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.16
per bit far faster than older technologies. Such

technology is being developed for not only chip-to-chip
photonic communications but also on-chip
communications for the higher level and longer
interconnects
Chip Technology CMOS technology
Power consumption management in cloud Power consumption (in cloud computing

computing environment: static power consumption -
mainly determined by the type of transistors,
logic gates and process technology used on
cloud based infrastructure and dynamic
power consumption - created by circuit
activity (i.e., transistor, switches, changes of
values in registers, etc) and energy
management techniques are closely related
to each other.
Energy and Power Management [13].
11. Evolution Leap in Data Center Technology: Google
Figure 8. Google data center with cooling pipes
The core of our data centers are Google servers—high-performance computers running 24/7.
Google corporation is leader in innovative green solutions and improving their enviro The core
of our data centers are Google servers—high-performance computers running 24/7nmental
performance. Important step towards transparency was also done since recently Google
disclose his CO2 emission and energy consumption which are very large. data center . Google’s
report claim that they are working to design out waste from our data centers, embedding
circular economy principles into their server management by reusing materials multiple times.
Furthermore, report [] claims that Google is committed to achieving Zero Waste to Landfill for
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.17
our global data center operations by reducing the amount of waste we generate and finding
better disposal options. An old concept of cooling – CO2 cooling (Fig 8) is rediscovered again,
and Google invested significantly to advance and apply this technology. CERN also employ CO2
technology as cooling procedure. investment into CO2 cooling. Another significant
evolutionary leap is developing quantum computing (Fig 9).
The core of our data centers are Google servers—high-performance computers running 24/7.
Report [12] claims that up to a third of the energy consumed by a typical server is wasted
before it gets to the computing components that actually run software products and services.
Contrary to that, Google combats this by minimizing the number of times it convert power
from one type of electrical current to another and using high-efficiency batteries that they
keep as close as possible to the equipment they need to power so energy loss due to
transmission is reduced. Only 10% to 15% of the electricity Google’s servers use is lost during
power conversion steps—about half the loss of a typical server. They estimate that these
efforts have resulted in annual savings of around 500 kilowatt-hours per server.
Figure 9. D- wave Photograph of a chip constructed by D-Wave Systems Inc., designed to

operate as a 128-qubit superconducting adiabatic quantum optimization processor,
mounted in a sample holder
Google calculates its energy-efficiency performance using a measurement called power

usage effectiveness (PUE).
“In fact, we were the first data center operator to disclose detailed energy-efficiency data for all of our
data centers in 2008, and we’ve published this information every quarter since.… Our PUE was 1.21
when we first started reporting this metric in 2008, and we’ve significantly lowered it since then. The
average annual PUE for our global fleet of data centers was 1.12 in 2015, compared with the industry
average of 1.7.7 That means, compared with Google, the average data center uses nearly six times
more overhead energy for every unit of IT equipment energy. Our fleet-wide PUE dropped significantly
from 2008 to 2012, showing an approximate 40% reduction in overhead energy use over that period,
and it has remained constant at 1.12 for the past four years. The lowest quarterly PUE we attained in
2015 was 1.08, in Belgium.” [12].
Google use Deep Machine Learning to improve PUI.
“In partnership with our colleagues at DeepMind, Google’s data center team built models to recognize
and “learn” from patterns in large amounts of operational data, which enabled us to predict—and
improve—data center performance. After some trial and error, our models are now 99.6% accurate in
predicting PUE, and we’ve been able to reduce the amount of energy used for data center cooling in
test data centers by up to 40% (which equates to a 15% reduction in overall energy overhead after
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.18
accounting for electrical losses and other non-cooling inefficiencies). This enabled one of our test data
centers to bring its PUE to a new low and tie with the lowest PUE in the fleet—around 1.08” [12].
Table 15 lists building steps of data center in Finland.
Table 15: Finland’s Google data center [12]
In Hamina, Finland, Google This coastal site had its own power Google pumped cold
turned an abandoned paper substation (something company seawater to our data center,
mill into a high-efficiency data would normally have to build) and transfer heat from our
center. a 450-meter (1,500-foot) operations to the seawater
underground tunnel that ran into through a heat exchanger,
the Baltic Sea, which the mill had and then cool this water
used for cooling. before returning it back to
the sea.
From this existing infrastructure we This approach provides all the cooling we need year-
designed an innovative seawater cooling round— no mechanical chillers needed.
system, which was the first of its kind
anywhere in the world
12. Conclusion with Discussion on Future Steps

A few extensive papers were analysed, and information classified. A few metric parameters to
measure energy utilisation are overviewed and data centers’ energy efficiency “weighed”
according to assumed scenario operation. The question of whether a typical cloud platform is
significantly more energy- and carbon-efficient than an equivalent on-premise deployment
remains open. Virtualization and other related techniques can address the inefficiencies of
low server utilization by allowing multiple applications to share a single server, thereby
reducing the number of physical servers required to run workloads. Fewer servers, even when
running at higher utilization levels, consume less electricity, which also reduces the need for
cooling. Virtualization, if deployed effectively, is one of the key drivers of efficiency within data
center. It is estimated that, on average, servers running a single application may be about 5%
to 15% utilized, [3] meaning that for most of the time the majority of the server is drawing a
substantial amount of power but performing little or no useful computing. Even when the
server is idle or underutilized it may consume between 60% and 90% of its full power draw
[3]. This inefficiency causes tremendous energy waste, and according to recent research from
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.19
Microsoft®, for every 100 watts of power consumed in a typical data center, only three watts
are used for useful computing. In other words, a typical data center consumes more than 30
times the energy that it uses to perform computations.
PUE is used usually as metric parameter to measure energy utilisation. However, there are
some problems regarding this parameter and some authors suggested to use GPUI as better
parameter particularly to comparison of data centre’s efficiencies.
Furthermore, the reliability of carbon emissions factor depends on clarity and accuracy of
reported “mix” of power suppliers (coal, nuclear, water, wind, solar). For instance, two
identically sized and designed data centers using power from high-carbon sources such as
coal, or from lower carbon sources such as renewable energy, will have a very different carbon
footprint (varying by a factor of nearly four depending on which region in the U.S. they are
located in).
Embedded energy of capital equipment, transportation vehicles, buildings, and their energy
use are not usually transparently reported and included in embedded carbon. Manufacturing
energy for physical infrastructure of servers is neither reported. Facilities and mostly omitted
from carbon footprint report.
As communication is the biggest energy consumption, and sustainable energy is
environmental dependent, the question is what is the optimum distribution and location of
servers for the cloud if it is driven by sustainable energy ICT? Similarly, as the energy per bit
of wireless communication scales with distance, what is the optimum distribution of smart
autonomous sensors and data exchange to minimize energy consumption? It should be
pointed out that in some circumstances minimizing communication is not the lowest energy
solution—e.g., the processing required for heavy compression can cost more energy than you
save under most transmission scenarios. If significant energy reductions are to be achieved,
suitable education and tools are essential where an expert (e.g., in software) is provided with
sufficient knowledge to understand the energy impact (of code) at the other levels of the
stack. Realizing this vision requires interdisciplinary research at the boundaries of multiple
scientific domains (materials science, physics, electrical engineering, software engineering,
and mathematics.
For sure there is increse of carbon footprint from ICT. However there is also vision that ICT
technology will reduce the CO2 emission on the global level. Thus, it is important to look at
the whole system rather than looking at a single element of the system.
We will conclude this paper with findings from Smart2020 [16].
As reported in Smart2020 [16] “If growth continues in line with demand, the world will be
using 122 million servers in 2020, up from 18 million today. In addition to this 9% pa increase
in server numbers, there will be a shift from high-end servers (mainframes) to volume
servers,30 the least expensive kind of server that can handle much of the computational needs
of businesses. Row A of Figure 10 shows the increase in footprint that would be expected by
simply scaling up today’s data centre technology without the application of virtualisation
technologies in data centres”. It is an enormous amount - another one exponential
behavioural pattern assigned to human invention.
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.20
Figure 10. 2 Embodied and sue CO2 in data centers [16]: The net zero increase shown in Row
B is due to the adoption of volume servers that incorporate technologies such as multi-
core/multi-threading microprocessors with more sophisticated power-state sensing and
management. Additionally, the rapid adoption of newer processor microarchitectures has
refreshed the installed base of servers with a more power-efficient silicon transistor
technology. IDC analysis predicts 83 million servers will be needed in 2020 if virtualisation
effects are included
Reference
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Big Network, Big Infrastructure and Big Power – An overview of Electricity used by the
Global Digital ecosystem, Sponsored by National Mining Association & American
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[2] Chiranjeeb Roy Chowdhury, Arindam Chatterjee, Alap Sardar, Shalabh Agarwal, Asoke
Nath, A Comprehensive study on Cloud Green Computing: To Reduce Carbon Footprints
Using Clouds, International Journal of Advanced Computer Research (ISSN), 2015.
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Trends in Worldwide ICT Electricity Consumption from 2007 to 2012, Computer
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[7] J. Malmodin, A. Moberg, D. Lundén, G. Finnveden and N. Lövehagen, Greenhouse Gas

Emissions and Operational Electricity Use in the ICT and Entertainment & Media Sectors,
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Future” (2013)—Available at link: http://gesi.org/portfolio/report/72.
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https://www.theclimategroup.org/sites/default/files/archive/files/Smart2020Report.pdf
REMOO–2018 — 11.089.22
QUEST FOR ENERGY
A FRAMEWORK PROCESS FOR REGIONAL VARIATION AND

IMPLICATIONS FOR URBAN SUSTAINABILITY
Stefano ZAMBOTTI1*, I-Tsung TSAI2, Simon PEZZUTTO1
1
Institute for Renewable Energy, EURAC research,
Viale Druso 1, 39100 Bolzano, Italy; stefano.zambotti@eurac.edu
2
Engineering Systems and Management Khalifa Institute of Science and Technology, Abu
Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Abstract
The goal of this investigation is to understand the factors that influence the continuous
evolution of cities. We explore the process leading urban settlements of diverse regions to
exhibit different urban features that result in different energy demand patterns. We
developed a three-level holistic framework to characterize this process. i.) As depicted in the
first level of the framework, the value formulation level consists of interactions between
institutions and social norms which determine a value system comprising the attitudes,
preferences and priorities of the city inhabitants. ii.) At the decision-making level, which is the
second step of our process, the value system guides the formulation of policies. The
implementation of policies is followed by public- and/or private-sectors’ development
interventions that translate into land use patterns as well as technology development and
deployment. iii.) These interventions determine the resulting urban features; such as urban
built form as well as energy and transportation infrastructural development and performance.
The resulting urban features pose a constraint to the continuous reiterations of the process
as well as the level of cities’ resilience, creating a loop mechanism that we call path
dependence.
Keywords: Sustainable development; Urban built form; Urban energy
1. Introduction
The development of sustainable urban systems posts as a mega challenge facing
contemporary human being. Cities are responsible for 67-76% of global final energy
consumption and 71-76% fossil fuel related carbon dioxide emissions [1]. As if that wasn’t hard
enough to deal with, around 2.5 million people are expected to be added to the global
population between 2010 and 2050 [2]. Cities are complex, highly-interconnected and
interdependent systems that involve many stakeholders with different interest. An
intervention on one component of legacy urban systems may entail unexpected externality in
the absence of careful planning. This paper takes an evolutionary view on the development of
the urban systems. We propose a framework process that characterizes the dynamic process
of evolution of regionally diverse cities, and argue that a holistic approach that tackles various
internal and external factors that drive the urban evolution process and their relation of inter-
causality is required to facilitate the sustainable transition of urban systems in terms of built
REMOO–2018 — 12.051.1
form. The layout of a city, in terms of urban form, transportation and energy networks,
strongly affect two major forms of urban energy, namely operational and transport [3]. Urban
form, transportation and energy infrastructure affect human well-being and economic
productivity as well [4]. Urban form, transportation and energy infrastructure, being the two
principle domains used to describe the built environment at urban scale, will be adopted as
metrics defining the last level of the process framework.
2. Value Formulation
The first level of our framework depicts the interaction between political institutions and
culture. Yet a cluster of regional features and external influences affect this interaction and
alter its outcome. We called it Value Formulation.
Figure. 1 The Value Formulation level
2.1. Cultural Frameworks and Political Institutions

Political institutions are organizations that shape actions within a political system. They guide
the legislation and enforcement of laws. Inhabitants’ cultural frameworks are the broad set of
both values (world-view) and social norms. A two-ways causality characterizes these two
dimensions.
Cultural frameworks in general tend to change rather slowly as many social norms are rooted
in religion, which are generally guided by long-lasting precepts that change little over time.
They are indeed defined as slow-moving institutions [5]. Cultural frameworks entail individuals’
values and preferences. Sociologists defined four major clusters of cultural content that make
up what we define here as cultural framework; namely value traits, cognitive traits, normative
traits and material traits. Value traits are the sentiments by which a community assigns value
or lack thereof to objects and behaviours. Cognitive traits are the shared beliefs of a group and
are affected by scientific, religious and political beliefs. Normative traits are defined as
institutionalized expectations that define regulations and laws, which are part of the
interactions between cultural framework and political institutions. Material traits are the
material and technological output of a culture and the related skills needed to exploit them.
Buildings’ style and transportation means are examples of them [6].
Political institutions, compared to cultural frameworks, may change and evolve in a more
disruptive and discontinuous manner. They are defined as fast-moving institutions as they can
REMOO–2018 — 12.051.2
change suddenly, following an extended period of slow transformation of the underlying

cultural framework [5]. Political institutions, in turn, can affect the underlying process of
change. Compared with culture, the influence of political institutions is more substantial in
totalitarian regimes [5]. Political institutions and the cultural frameworks of inhabitants of
urban settlements interact through intermediate structures, such as legal norms and
organizations (i.e. corporations, agencies, political parties and movements). These
intermediate structures aggregate individual preferences into social choices through an
iterative process that admits or eliminates alternatives [7].
2.2. Regional Context

Regional contexts affect cultural frameworks, political institutions and intermediate structures
and inevitably their evolution. For what concerns urban settlements, the main determinants
of the regional context affecting their evolution are (a) Demographic patterns and changes [7–
9]; (b) Development [8, 10]; and (c) Natural environment [7, 11].
2.2.1. Demographic patterns and changes
Demographic patterns and changes have a bearing on political and cultural features of a
region. The demography of a region is described by its population size and structure. Variation
of population size is a function of birth and death rates as well as migration. For what concerns
population structure, the determinants are composition and distribution. Composition and
distribution depend on factors such as sex, age, literacy and marital status. Changes in
population structure affect family structure and the proportion of people in different age
group. This has consequences on characteristics such as education, employment and service
needs; thus, affecting cultural frameworks, political institutions and intermediate structures.
2.2.2. Technological development
Technology and culture are closely linked with strong influence on each other. Technology
affects cultural frameworks as much as cultural frameworks trigger advancements in
technology. The Industrial Revolution, a consequence of technological innovation, is a clear
example of how technology can affect culture and the contrary as well [12]. People moved
from simple farming villages to modern cities. Automation made goods cheaper and the
massive uptake of cars, due to its increased affordability, caused the scale, distribution and
functionality of cities to change [13].
2.2.3. Natural Environment
The geographic features of an urban settlement are of particular importance when it comes
to the built environment. We have identified three main determining factors, namely Climate,
Topography and Natural Endowments, as key geographic features of an urban environment.
Latitude, longitude and terrain define a region’s climate. Climate, in turn, affect the shelter
needs of inhabitants [14, 15]. Urban settlements, mainly their establishment and expansion,
are also affected by topography [16]. Meanwhile, economic development and political
institutions are affected by a region’s natural endowments. Abundance of mineral reserves
such as gas and oil allow the development of rentier economies whose political institutions
tend to be more autonomous than political institutions that depend on tax revenues [8].
REMOO–2018 — 12.051.3
2.2.4. External Influence

External influence entails the diffusion of cultural traits and it has been defined as the imports
of cultural elements from one group to another one [17]. The alteration, due to external
influence, of the cultural traits of a community affect cultural frameworks, political institutions
and consequently their interaction, such as legal norms and organizations.
3. Urban Policies and Decision Making

Within the first level of our conceptual framework, the cluster of interactions and intercausal
relations between cultural framework and political institutions, which are affected by the
regional context and by external influences, generate intermediate structures. Policies are
among these structures and define very strongly the development of urban settlements from
different perspectives. We are interested in defining how a particular set of determinants and
causal relations affect the physical/built environment. Policies, which are the system of
principles and procedures guiding decisions, arise from the priorities and preferences formed
in the first step of our framework, and are part of the cluster of the aforementioned
interactions. Unique conditions, such as political, institutional, and cultural landscapes
produce different sets of policy tools. Urban physical development is the product of the
decision-making process which is based on those policies. The outcome is not always the
expected or intended one as the effectiveness of policies and decisions depend on the
institutional capacity of the legal and political environment to enforce regulation tools and
instruments [18]. The translation of those policies and decisions are then, to a variable extent,
translated by the private sector. Despite the evolution of policies adopted by political
institutions during the centuries and their variability among regions of the world, they can
nevertheless be divided in two groups: regulations and market-based instruments.
Figure 2. The Decision-making level
3.1. Regulation concerning Technology and Land Use

Through regulation, institutions may require a certain land use, size and mass of development
on specific land plots; they may also impose the implementation of certain technologies
concerning transportation and energy generation. Regulations concerning technology and
land use can endorse a certain degree of density, compactness and single- or mixed-use
developments. Through regulation, institutions can specify land uses, such as residential,
REMOO–2018 — 12.051.4
retail, office or a mix of uses, they can specify transportation technologies to implement and
use in specific areas of the urban settlement and therefore influence the transportation means
of choice such as cars, trams, bicycles etc.
3.2. Market based Instruments concerning Technology and Land Use

Another way to influence urban development is through the implementation of market-based
instruments. Market-based instruments include taxes, charges, fees, fines, penalties, liability
and compensation schemes, subsidies and incentives. Such instruments, for instance, are used
to fund urban infrastructure and make households adjust their location choices and their
transportation means of choice in a more cost-efficient manner under the market mechanism.
4. Urban Features
Going through the process that we have outlined above, communities transform urban
settlements according to their needs, preferences and priorities. This process occurs through
green and brown developments, building from scratch or rebuilding spaces. These
developments leave their traces in the cities’ structure mainly in the form of city blocks and
transportation and energy networks, namely the infrastructure and the urban form remain as
a legacy. Urban form and infrastructure have a strong relation [19, 20]. Energy and transport
infrastructure are very influential apparatuses that shape urban settlements in terms of its
form as they determine where new developments would take place and vice versa [21–23].
4.1. Infrastructure
The infrastructure supports cities’ operations and functions. It includes transport
infrastructure, power generation and distribution, water supply systems, sewage and
telecommunications. We will consider the infrastructure that has both a major impact on
energy consumption and urban form, namely transportation and energy infrastructure [17].
4.2. Urban Form

The urban form is defined as the spatial arrangement of land use and its pattern,
transportation infrastructure and urban design elements [24, 25]. There are four
interdependent dimensions that characterize the urban form, namely density, mixed use,
connectivity and accessibility. i) Density refers to the ratio of people or dwelling units to
surface [26]. Across the different urban settlements of the world and even within the
settlements themselves, it is possible to observe a great variability in terms of density. The
less dense the urban settlement, the higher the automobile ownership. Level of density affects
transportation mode choices and thus, infrastructure layouts [27]. ii) Mixed-use is defined as
the diversity and integration of land uses. The main categories of land uses are residential,
commercial, industrial, institutional and land devoted to transportation. Transportation
technologies played and still play a very important role in determining diversity and
integration of uses within the city boundaries. Industrialization brought and still brings
separation in land uses within cities, people tend to cluster in areas away from the pollution
produced by factories. Since the transition from industrial economies to knowledge
economies started, especially in western countries, we have witnessed a reduction in
separation in land uses. Separation in land uses affects infrastructure development, it is linked
REMOO–2018 — 12.051.5
with sprawl as it increases travel distances and affects commuter transportation mode choice.
iii) Connectivity is a dimension that determines the intersection density of streets, their
design, proportion and the block size [28, 29]. Connectivity and transportation infrastructure
affect each other and commuters’ transportation mode choice [30]. iv) Accessibility refers to
access to people and places such as jobs, shopping and services in general within cities [31,
32]. It is defined as a combination of proximity and time needed to move from point A to point
B, it is clearly linked to mixed land uses. High accessibility means low commuting distances
and integrated transportation modes [33].
5. Path Dependence
When it comes to urban development, history matters. Continuity and persistence are core
characteristics of urban settlements [34]. Communities’ preferences, needs and priority
evolve but cities resist physical change, especially when it is of a considerable extent. This
constraint to change has been termed path dependence [35].
The two principal kinds of path dependence are physical constraints and policy constraints.
Urban physical path dependence is mainly linked to infrastructure networks, the built
environment in general, but also public spaces. Because of the link between transportation,
built environment and the functioning of cities, transportation networks are particularly
subjected to path dependence. Therefore, new developments must be compatible and
complementary to what already exists in terms of infrastructure and built environment in
general [10]. Urban policies are subjected to path dependence as well. According to many
authors, several are the factors preventing policies to evolve. Once a city or more in general a
region embarks on a path, the costs associated with the reversal of such decisions are
significant [36] and institutions and actors tend to preserve the current model [37] as they
become institutionalised [38]. Cities that find themselves in a region witnessing a quick
urbanization have the potential to influence density, land uses, connectivity and accessibility
[39].
6. Results and Conclusions
7.6.
In this research we explored the process leading regionally diverse cities to exhibit different
urban features that result in different energy demand patterns. We developed a three-level
holistic framework, depicted below in figure 3, to characterize this process. i.) As depicted in
the first level of the framework, the value formulation level consists of interactions between
institutions and social norms which determine a value system comprising the attitudes,
preferences and priorities of the city inhabitants. ii.) At the decision-making level, which is the
second step of our process, the value system guides the formulation of policies. The
implementation of policies is followed by public- and/or private-sectors’ development
interventions that translate into land use patterns as well as technology development and
deployment. iii.) These interventions determine the resulting urban features; such as urban
built form as well as energy and transportation infrastructural development and performance.
The resulting urban features together with policy constraints pose a constraint to the
REMOO–2018 — 12.051.6
continuous reiterations of the process as well as the level of cities’ resilience, creating a loop
mechanism that we call path dependence.
Figure 3. The Process Framework
The Process Framework we developed aims to provide the basis for further research on the
evolutionary process that cities follow. The Framework will be further researched and
validated through case studies. Following the Framework, a causal loop diagram based on
system dynamic theory can be developed to create scenarios. The different factors affecting
the evolutionary process that we have identified and described will have to be further
researched so as to define which of them can be affected in the short- and long-term to
eventually affect the physical urban features, namely urban form and infrastructure; features
that strongly affect two major forms of urban energy, namely operational and transport.
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WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO MEETING
YOU AGAIN AT THE NEXT REMOO-2019
Copyright: RENECON International
REMOO 2019
16-18 April 2019 HONG KONG
TOWARDS RELIABLE ENERGY
16 November 2018: Abstracts submission

23 November 2018: Notification of Abstracts acceptance
30 November 2018: Registration Forms of Authors
14 December 2018: Registration payment of Authors
29 March 2019: Full Papers submission
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Proceeding

QUEST FOR ENERGY

The 8th International Conference & Workshop

Front Cover Illustration

ENERGY FOR TOMORROW

T01 Power Plants Technologies and Engineering

T02 Advanced Energy Concepts and Technologies

T03 Materials and Structural Analyses

T05 Heat & Mass Transfer and Turbulence

T06 Experimental Support and Techniques

T07 Data Analysis

T08 Alternative Powertrain Modelling and Simulation

T09 Energy Storage

T10 Electrical Grids

T11 Commodities / Energy Mix and Environmental Engineering

T12 Energy Management

Source: http://de.123rf.com; Copyright: Wong Yu Liang

29–31 May 2018, VENICE / ITALY

INVESTIGATION OF WIND POTENTIAL

Keywords: Wind potential; Renewable; Wind speed; Satellite wind data;

2 Measured and Satellite Wind Data

Table 1: Locations of installed measuring equipment for the two locations

Table 2 shows the average monthly wind velocity in meters/second.

Figure 1. Measured and Average monthly wind velocities for location 1

4,50 Satellite Data

Table 4: Differences of measured and satellite average monthly wind velocities

3 Wind Energy Potential

3.1 Wind Turbines Maths

The mass flow formula can be written here as follows:

ρ [kg/m3] - Density of air

From the derivative of x the velocity formula can be written:

3.2 Measured and Satellite Wind Potential

A = π ⋅ l 2 = 3.141⋅ 402 = 5025.6 m2 (7)

ρ ⋅ A ⋅ v3 1.23 ⋅ 5025.6 ⋅ 3.593

Table 5: Measured and satellite average potential power production

Table 6: Differences of measured and satellite average monthly Power Production

Differences of energy production potential in kilowatts [kW]

4 Conclusion and future investigation

[5] P. Ruti, S. Marullo, F. D'Ortenzio and M. Tremant, “Comparison of analyzed and

29–31 May 2018, VENICE / ITALY

ADDITIONAL INCREASING EFFICIENCY AND REDUCING

Keywords: Efficiency; Heat; Flue; Exchanger; Upgrade

Figure 1. Gas-turbine cogeneration units H and J (site installation of last heaters)

2.1 Technical description

Figure 4. Cross section of intersection point – diverter and boiler duct

3 Heat Exchanger Guarantee Performance

Table 1: Heat exchanger performance

Item Unit Expected values

Temperature of the flue gas entering the heater °C 95

Temperature of the flue gas exiting the heater °C 72

Temperature of the DH water entering the heater °C 55

Temperature of the DH water exiting the heater °C 66

*Values which are taken as a guarantee measurement

4 Energy Balance and Economic Indicators

Table 2: EL-TO energy balance for 2017

5 Status of the project and conclusion

during construction there must be no injuries and downtime, especially regarding

29–31 May 2018, VENICE / ITALY