Conventional AC Research Articles

Residential geothermal air-conditioning: inhabitants’ comfort, behaviour and energy use

How do occupants’ behaviour and expectations influence energy use for residential geothermal air-conditioning? This detailed study of 40 homes with geothermal AC in Sydney, Australia, during the period 2019–20 covers one of hottest Australian summers and increased daytime occupancy over the winter due to working from home during Covid-19 lockdowns. Monitored data are analysed for ground source heat pump (GSHP)-AC energy, occupancy, indoor conditions, as well as a snapshot resident feedback captured during hot and cold spells. Findings indicate that the homes built to comply with 2011 energy efficiency standards maintain indoor temperatures within 10–12°C of peak summer and minimum winter temperatures, without AC. A general preference to adopt adaptive strategies such as ceiling fans and appropriate clothing before deploying AC is evident for moderately hot and cold days. A heightened dependence on AC is seen for extreme days. However, a significant number of houses adhere to a narrow range of acceptable temperatures, thereby increasing the take-up of GSHP-AC and energy consumption. The replacement of conventional AC with alternate technologies is not a one-stop solution in, and of, itself. There is a need for improved building low energy design and construction based on a better understanding of occupant behaviour and energy consequences. <em><strong>Policy relevance</strong></em> Although geothermal systems offer potential energy savings (especially in extreme conditions) and their potential for seamless technological replacement of conventional AC in homes, the findings suggest GSHP-AC is not a one-stop solution to reduce dependence on AC. The study reveals that the unconstrained use of GSHP-AC can increase energy consumption and squander energy savings achieved through its technological efficiency. The ‘conditioned’ expectations of inhabitants, stimulated by a lower tolerance of ‘imperfect’ conditions and availability of heating and cooling on standby, can lead to increased dependence and usage. In an increasing warming world, more stringent guidelines are needed for thermal performance and design to mitigate residual discomfort and transform occupant practices. These must also be supported with occupant education and engagement to ensure the design intent is realised.

Transient electric field of the combined insulation structure under positive periodic square waveform voltage: Analytical analysis and application

The working voltage of the high-voltage high-power electronic devices is the positive periodic square waveform (PPSW) voltage, which is much different from the conventional AC or DC voltage. For the composite insulation structure of devices, it is important to analyse the transient electric field under the PPSW voltage. However, the existing investigations are often conducted under the electrostatic field due to the high frequency of the PPSW voltage. Thus, the transient characteristics of the electric field are missed. To obtain some qualitative conclusions, this paper focusses on the theoretical analysis of the transient characteristics of electric field for the composite insulation structure under the PPSW voltage. First, the formula of the electric field intensity and the interfacial charge density are derived analytically. Second, the influence of the cycle and the duty cycle on the transient characteristics are investigated. Third, the maximum of the electric field intensity and the interfacial charge density in the positive square waveform steady-state are discussed in detail. Besides, the engineering calculation methods for obtaining these maximum values are also suggested. Lastly, an actual model is employed to testify the validity of the analytical analysis. This work is significant for the numerical calculation of the transient electric field of composite insulation structure under the PPSW voltage in engineering.

Application of Novel AC–AC Matrix VFD for Power Factor Improvement in Conventional AC–DC–AC VFD-Loaded Power Distribution Lines

In this study, an innovative approach to matrix-converter-based AC-–AC variable frequency drives (VFDs) is introduced. The possibility of using AC–AC matrix VFDs for reactive power compensation in conventional AC–DC–AC VFD-loaded power distribution lines is investigated. It is found that the interaction of a large number of conventional AC–DC–AC VFDs with a conventional capacitor-based local compensation device leads to overcompensation in 0.4 kV power distribution lines. This is due to the fact that the conventional compensation device is designed to compensate the lagging reactive power produced by inductive loads, such as AC motors. This highlights the demand for the compensation of leading reactive power that is not predicted by the designer. To solve this problem, the modification of a certain number of previously installed VFDs by replacing their conventional AC–DC–AC converters with AC–AC matrix converters is proposed. This can lead to improvements in the power factor in 0.4 kV power distribution lines. In this study, the range of reactive power produced by conventional AC–DC–AC VFDs was determined mathematically, by simulation, and experimentally. The range of reactive power produced by the novel AC–AC matrix VFD was also determined. On that basis, the number of VFDs to be modified is defined to keep the power factor close to unity.

Impact of DC Transient Disturbances on Harmonic Performance of Voltage Transformers for AC Railway Applications.

This paper analyzes the impact of typical DC transient events occurring in railway grids on the frequency performance of instrument transformers (ITs) installed onboard trains and in AC substations for power quality (PQ) applications. PQ monitoring in railway systems is an issue of great interest because it plays a key role in the improvement of energy efficiency. The measurement chain for the PQ measurements, at 15 kV at 16.7 Hz and 25 kV at 50/60 Hz, commonly includes ITs to scale the voltage to levels fitting the input of the measurement units. Nevertheless, the behavior of ITs in the presence of PQ phenomena represents an open issue from a normative point of view, even for those installed in conventional AC power supply systems. In this context, the paper presents a possible definition of DC transient disturbances test waveforms, a measurement procedure, and a setup to assess the impact of these disturbances on the harmonic performances of ITs for railway systems. Preliminary experimental tests carried out on two commercial ITs under wide ranges of variation for the amplitude and the time duration of DC disturbances show that, in some cases, the error introduced in harmonic measurements can exceed 100%.

Dynamic Cantilever Magnetometry of Paramagnetism with Slow Relaxation

Dynamic cantilever magnetometry is a sensitive method that has been widely used in studying magnetic anisotropy in ferromagnetic materials and Fermi surface in quantum materials. We study a cobalt-iridium metal-metalloligand coordination polymer using dynamic cantilever magnetometry. The experimental data of dynamic cantilever magnetometry are well explained using the proposed model for Langevin paramagnetism with slow relaxation. Based on the proposed model, we calculate the magnetization and magnetic susceptibility of paramagnetic materials from frequency shifts of a cantilever. The extracted magnetization and magnetic susceptibility are consistent with those obtained from conventional DC and AC magnetometry. The proposed slow relaxation picture is probably a general model for explaining dynamic cantilever magnetometry data of paramagnetic materials, including previously observed dynamic cantilever magnetometry data of paramagnetic metals [Gysin et al. 2011 Nanotechnology 22 285715].

Energy-saving superconducting power delivery from renewable energy source to a 100-MW-class data center

With the significant increase of global data center infrastructure, how to delivery electric energy to data centers in an efficient and sustainable way needs to be carefully considered. This article presents a novel study on the energy-saving superconducting cables from the renewable energy source to a 100-MW-class data center, with the comparison using the conventional AC and DC power transmissions (9 cases in total). The design of superconducting cables and AC and DC power cables are shown with the details of materials, electrical and thermal characteristics. For all these transmission schemes, both the capital investment costs and operating costs are derived, and the economic analysis is carried out with the factors of different voltage levels, transmission distances from clean energy to the data center, and operating years. Results show the transmission schemes by superconducting cable have both the technical and economic advantages over the conventional AC and DC transmission schemes (e.g., for the 10 kV 10 km case, the total energy loss of superconducting transmission is merely 1.7% of conventional AC, and after 10 years the total cost of superconducting transmission is also cheaper), which can be a promising solution of energy transmission for the high-power data centers in the future.

Coherent Integration of Organic Gel Polymer Electrolyte and Ambipolar Polyoxometalate Hybrid Nanocomposite Electrode in a Compact High-Performance Supercapacitor.

We report a gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) supercapacitor concept with improved pathways for ion transport, thanks to a facile creation of a coherent continuous distribution of the electrolyte throughout the electrode. Poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP) was chosen as the polymer framework for organic electrolytes. A permeating distribution of the GPE into the electrodes, acting both as integrated electrolyte and binder, as well as thin separator, promotes ion diffusion and increases the active electrode–electrolyte interface, which leads to improvements both in capacitance and rate capability. An activation process induced during the first charge–discharge cycles was detected, after which, the charge transfer resistance and Warburg impedance decrease. We found that a GPE thickness of 12 μm led to optimal capacitance and rate capability. A novel hybrid nanocomposite material, formed by the tetraethylammonium salt of the 1 nm-sized phosphomolybdate cluster and activated carbon (AC/TEAPMo12), was shown to improve its capacitive performance with this gel electrolyte arrangement. Due to the homogeneous dispersion of PMo12 clusters, its energy storage process is non-diffusion-controlled. In the symmetric capacitors, the hybrid nanocomposite material can perform redox reactions in both the positive and the negative electrodes in an ambipolar mode. The volumetric capacitance of a symmetric supercapacitor made with the hybrid electrodes increased by 40% compared to a cell with parent AC electrodes. Due to the synergy between permeating GPE and the hybrid electrodes, the GPE hybrid symmetric capacitor delivers three times more energy density at higher power densities and equivalent cycle stability compared with conventional AC symmetric capacitors.

Functionalization of Smart Recycled Asphalt Mixtures: A Sustainability Scientific and Pedagogical Approach

The sustainable development of our societies demands strong efforts on scientific and technological research while informing and educating students and the general population. Air pollution and road safety hazards constitute two main public health problems that are insufficiently addressed pedagogically. With this work, we aim to contribute to tackeling the problem by presenting the results of scientific research on the development of photocatalytic, superhydrophobic, and self-cleaning recycled asphalt mixtures to achieve an eco-social friendly and smart material able to mitigate socioenvironmental impacts. The functionalization of asphalt is implemented by spraying particles’ solutions over a conventional AC 10, then evaluated by dye degradation and wettability. Firstly, different particles’ solutions (with nano-TiO2 and/or micro-PTFE under water, ethyl alcohol, and dimethyl ketone) were sprayed to select the best solution (BS), which was composed of TiO2-PTFE (4 g/L each) in ethyl alcohol. Two successive spraying coatings (diluted epoxy resin and BS) were performed over conventional and recycled AC 10 (with reclaimed asphalt pavement and steel slags). Their efficiency decreases with the highest resin amounts. The best results were obtained with 0.25 g resin and BS. For the lowest resin amount, all mixtures achieved superhydrophobicity and performed similarly regarding wettability.

MHz-Driving Current-Fed Snubberless Soft Switching DC-DC Converter

This paper presents a novel current-fed step-up DC-DC converter that is suitable for the front-end high-frequency link DC-DC converter (DC-X) in a grid-tied inverter of a fuel cell interface. The proposed DC-DC converter features the snubberless zero current soft-switching (ZCS) commutation with high-frequency switching by adopting quasi-resonance and parallel load resonance; the multi resonance while minimizing the number of additional circuit components. The switch-mode transitions of the proposed DC-DC converter are explained in detail for revealing the principle of snubberless ZCS due the multi resonance. In order to analysis the proposed DC-DC converter more precisely, a time-domain analysis is employed to examine the high-order harmonics in the three-level stepwise voltage of the quasi-resonant high frequency inverter, which is superior to a conventional sinusoidal AC analysis. The effectiveness of the proposed converter and the analytical strategy is demonstrated by comparing the theoretical and simulation results, after which the feasibility is verified by experiment of a 1 MHz-55 W class prototype with Gallium Nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT).

DC nanogrid for Buildings: Study based on experimental investigation of load performance and Annual energy consumption

Considering that most end-use electrical equipments are DC-driven, a thorough examination of the energy delivery system for buildings has become essential. Since alternate energy sources are majorly DC-based, using a DC distribution system instead of a conventional AC distribution system reduces the number of AC/DC conversion stages. This work focuses on the experimental verification of the difference in power consumption between an energy-efficient AC load and its equivalent energy-efficient DC load. Separate case studies are done for two different buildings, comprising mainly of light and fan applications. Since the consumption is majorly for light and fan applications for buildings, 48 V Extra Low Voltage DC (ELVDC) supply is most suited for DC nanogrid. The savings from DC appliances are highlighted, with a focus on actual outputs like illuminance for lights and effective wind speed for fans rather than rpm (the common practice). The energy savings and associated reduction in Green House Gas(GHG) emissions are calculated for buildings of different occupancies. If all the driving forces, viz. renewable energy agenda, loss avoidance in the distribution system and the opportunistic switch to energy-efficient appliances are clubbed together, the benefits are enormous when looked upon with the end destination as a cleaner green planet.

Grid Integration of DC Buildings: Standards, Requirements and Power Converter Topologies

Residential dc microgrids and nanogrids are the emerging technology that is aimed to promote the transition to energy-efficient buildings and provide simple, highly flexible integration of renewables, storages, and loads. At the same time, the mass acceptance of dc buildings is slowed down by the relative immaturity of the dc technology, lack of standardization and general awareness about its potential. Additional efforts from multiple directions are necessary to promote this technology and increase its market attractiveness. In the near-term, it is highly likely that the dc buildings will be connected to the conventional ac distribution grid by a front-end ac-dc converter that provides all the necessary protection and desired functionality. At the same time, the corresponding requirements for this converter have not been yet consolidated. To address this, present paper focuses on various aspects of the integration of dc buildings and includes analysis of related standards, directives, operational and compatibility requirements as well as classification of voltage levels. In addition, power converter configurations and modulation methods are analyzed and compared. A classification of topologies that can provide the required functionality for the application is proposed. Finally, future trends and remaining challenges pointed out to motivate new contributions to this topic.

DC microgrid-A short review on control strategies

In order to develop a secure and sustainable electric grid, the maximum possible energy must be harvested from distributed renewable energy sources (DER). Also, the ever-continuing aid coming from semiconductor materials technology in development and advancements in power electronic switching devices has enabled cost-effective power conversions, power conditioning, regulation and control of electrical parameters like voltage, current, impedance and phase angle. As a result, power utilities are swiftly moving towards more flexible forms of power generation to support sensitive loads such as electronic systems and commercial equipment. Microgrids powered by direct current (DC) have recently drawn a lot of consideration because of the proliferation of DC power sources, ESS (energy storage systems) besides load devices in power systems. Additionally, DC microgrids don't have issues related to harmonics, synchronization, frequency control or reactive power control like conventional AC systems. Nevertheless, the incorporation of multiple distributed generators into the same DC bus, like wind, PV, fuel cells, ESS and loads complicates the voltage and power sharing control of the DC bus. An outline of the benefits of DC microgrid (MG) over AC microgrid is provided in this paper. There is also a thorough discussion on control aspects applicable to a DC MG.

RES Based Islanded DC Microgrid with Enhanced Electrical Network Islanding Detection

An electrical islanding detection method for DC microgrid (MG) is proposed in this paper. Unlikely conventional AC MG system protection has been challenging for the DC MG system. The goal of the proposed scheme is to detect the islanding intelligently within the agent nodes. The proposed islanding detection technique detects the electrical link failure intelligently, and if any electrical link failure occurs, then the proposed technique maintains the MG operation and load sharing. Islanding detection is carried out using an injection signal and utilizes the existing communication network to check network connectivity. After checking the network connectivity, all the nodes maintain the look-up table of the connected network. This research work illustrates that the proposed electrical islanding detection technique is effective in maintaining the DC MG operation in the case of an electrical islanding/link failure scenario. The proposed scheme’s performance is checked through MATLAB/Simulink for the detection of islanding and maintaining the operation.

A Power Control Method for Hybrid Electrical Accommodation Systems

This paper presents a power control method for a hybrid electrical system, which enhances a conventional main AC grid by adding a DC sub-grid in parallel. In this system, each prosumer connects to the sub-grid via a couple of half-bridge inverters of a device called a power router. All of the power routers connected to the sub-grid are controlled such that they maintain the voltage of the sub-grid equally, which is an essential feature of peer-to-peer power accommodation without synchronization. This paper proposes an adaptive hysteresis current-control technique for controlling sub-grid-connected inverters that maintains the voltage of the sub-grid while accommodating a given power. The proposed control method also balances currents between positive and negative lines of the sub-grid simultaneously. The proposed control method is implemented on a high-speed FPGA-based digital controller and is evaluated on three prototypes of the power router. The experimental results show that the proposed method yields fast and stable responses and enables the power router to accommodate power with a high accuracy.

Comparison of AC and DC Nanogrid for Office Buildings with EV Charging, PV and Battery Storage

Future office buildings are expected to be integrated with energy intensive, inherently DC components such as photovoltaic panels (PV), electric vehicles (EV), LED lighting, and battery storage. This paper conceptualizes the interconnection of these components through a 750 V DC nanogrid as against a conventional three-phase 400 V AC system. The factors influencing the performance of a DC-based nanogrid are identified and a comparative analysis with respect to a conventional AC nanogrid is presented in terms of efficiency, stability, and protection. It is proved how the minimization of grid energy exchange through power management is a vital system design choice. Secondly, the trade-off between stability, protection, and cost for sizing of the DC buffer capacitors is explored. The transient system response to different fault conditions for both AC and DC nanogrid is investigated. Finally the differences between the two systems in terms of various safety aspects are highlighted.

Modeling and Stability Analysis of a Novel Voltage-Oriented Power Coordination Controlled Constant-Frequency AC Microgrid System

The conventional AC microgrid power regulation method is achieved using dual undulations of the grid-side voltage and frequency, whose complex variables and processes make the system less efficient and stable. For this problem, this paper proposes a novel two-hierarchical small signal model stability analysis for islanded AC microgrid systems with a designed power regulation algorithm under the constant frequency, mainly aimed at the continual switching microgrids, and considers the future expansion. MATLAB/Simulink simulations and experiments are conducted to validate the feasibility. It is found that there is a strong consistency between the stability of primary and overall systems, and that two key parameters affect the stability properties. Discussing the mutual influence of various parameters, k1 is positively correlated with control intensity and k2 determines the proportion of reactive power distribution in each power generation. Contrasting with the previous complex processes, the unique points of this method are the simplicity of calculation, parameter induction, response testability, strong operability, and system extensibility. The conclusion is that this constant frequency power control is simple, feasible, and stable under several specified conditions.

An effective fault management scheme and comprehensive double line‐frequency ripple propagation analysis for MVDC networks

This paper proposes an effective fault management scheme for medium-voltage direct current (MVDC) networks, which includes a virtual-impedance-based fault current limiter (VI-FCL) on the DC side and a positive-negative-sequence (PNS) control scheme on the AC side. Depending on the fault current value, different protection strategies are adopted, which include either isolating the fault by opening circuit breakers or riding through the fault with the proposed VI-FCL. It is known that unbalanced grid voltage can be found in conventional AC distribution feeders due to unbalanced loading conditions among three phases. The unbalanced grid voltage could induce double line-frequency (2ω) ripples on both DC voltage and current, which could thereby trigger protection malfunction in the DC sub-sections. Therefore, the PNS control scheme is used to eliminate the 2ω ripples of both DC voltages and currents caused by unbalanced AC voltages. Furthermore, a detailed 2ω mathematical model of the MVDC network under unbalanced AC voltage condition is derived to investigate how the 2ω ripple propagates across the network. A voltage source converter based multi-terminal MVDC network is built to test DC faults with different fault currents, unbalanced AC voltages, and different control schemes. The test results verify both the proposed fault management scheme and the 2ω ripple propagation analysis.

AC vs. DC Distribution Efficiency: Are We on the Right Path?

The concept of DC power distribution has gained interest within the research community in the past years, especially due to the rapid prevalence of solar PVs as a tool for distributed generation in DC microgrids. Various efficiency analyses have been presented for the DC distribution paradigm, in comparison to the AC counterpart, considering a variety of scenarios. However, even after a number of such comparative efficiency studies, there seems to be a disparity in the results of research efforts, wherein a definite verdict is still unavailable. Is DC distribution a more efficient choice as compared to the conventional AC system? A final verdict is absent primarily due to conflicting results. In this regard, system modeling and the assumptions made in different studies play a significant role in affecting the results of the study. The current paper is an attempt to critically observe the modeling and assumptions used in the efficiency studies related to the DC distribution system. Several research efforts are analyzed for their approach toward the system upon which they have performed efficiency studies. Subsequently, the paper proposes a model that may alleviate the shortcomings in earlier research efforts and be able to give a definite verdict regarding the comparative efficiency of DC and AC networks for residential power distribution.

Full-Band EEG Recordings Using Hybrid AC/DC-Divider Filters.

Full-band DC recordings enable recording of slow electrical brain signals that are severely compromised during conventional AC recordings. However, full-band DC recordings may be limited by the amplifier's dynamic input range and the loss of small amplitude high-frequency signals. Recently, Neuralynx has proposed full-band recordings with inverse filtering for signal reconstruction based on hybrid AC/DC-divider RRC filters that enable only partial suppression of DC signals. However, the quality of signal reconstruction for biological signals has not yet been assessed. Here, we propose a novel digital inverse filter based on a mathematical model describing RRC filter properties, which provides high computational accuracy and versatility. Second, we propose procedures for the evaluation of the inverse filter coefficients, adapted for each recording channel to minimize the error caused by the deviation of the real values of the RRC filter elements from their nominal values. We demonstrate that this approach enables near 99% reconstruction quality of high-potassium-induced cortical spreading depolarizations (SDs), endothelin-induced ischemic negative ultraslow potentials (NUPs), and whole-cell recordings of membrane potential using RRC filters. The quality of the reconstruction was significantly higher than with the existing inverse filtering procedures. Thus, RRC filters with inverse filtering are optimal for full-band EEG recordings in various applications.

Analisa Perbandingan Performansi AC SPLIT Konvensional Dengan AC SPLIT Tenaga Surya

Currently, the world's energi needs are still dominated by depleting fossil fuels, where the largest consumption produced from these fossils is electrical energi. For tropical country conditions, on average, every house and in city buildings use split AC as a tool to condition the room so that it feels comfortable for its residents. Where about 60% utilize electrical energi. In this study, split AC uses solar power as an alternative to electrical energi by using a solar photovoltage (PV) system as a medium for absorbing solar radiation to be converted into electrical energi in split AC. The goal is that the use of solar radiation is able to reduce the use of electricity from PLN, which so far requires a large amount of money. The research method begins by making a model of a device that is modified by an electric panel on a split AC connected to an inverter to convert DC to AC current from the PV cell. From the use of solar cells as electrical energi then the test results are compared with conventional split AC. The results obtained from the conventional split AC test can be seen that the efficiency is 85% while the solar-powered split AC has an efficiency of 73%, but for the use of electrical power that operates for 2 hours on a solar-powered split AC, it is more efficient with a power of 376 Wh per day.