Distribution Infrastructure Research Articles

Model to inform the expansion of hydrogen distribution infrastructure

A growing hydrogen economy requires new hydrogen distribution infrastructure to link geographically distributed hubs of supply and demand. The Hydrogen Optimization with Deployment of Infrastructure (HOwDI) Model helps meet this requirement. The model is a spatially resolved optimization framework that determines location-specific hydrogen production and distribution infrastructure to cost-optimally meet a specified location-based demand. While these results are useful in understanding hydrogen infrastructure development, there is uncertainty in some costs that the model uses for inputs. Thus, the project team took the modeling effort a step further and developed a Monte Carlo methodology to help manage uncertainties. Seven scenarios were run using existing infrastructure and new demand in Texas exploring different policy and tax approaches. The inclusion of tax credits increased the percentage of runs that could deliver hydrogen at <$4/kg from 31% to 77% and decreased the average dispensed cost from $4.35/kg to $3.55/kg. However, even with tax credits there are still some runs where unabated SMR is deployed to meet new demand as the low-carbon production options are not competitive. Every scenario, except for the zero-carbon scenario (without tax credits), resulted in at least 20% of the runs meeting the $4/kg dispensed fuel cost target. This indicates that multiple pathways exist to deliver $4/kg hydrogen.

Spatial Distribution of Service Stations and Access to Fuel in the Municipality of Bohicon in Benin

The mobility of people and things is a necessity in the life of populations. It generates various modes of movement. Also fuel consumption becomes an obligation for the proper functioning of the machines. The availability of fuel and its accessibility arises in the municipality of Bohicon . The objective of this research is to evaluate access to fuel, in particular gasoline from service stations in this municipality. The methodological approach used consisted in carrying out enough documentary research followed by various field work using different tools and materials such as survey questionnaires, interview guides, a notepad and a GPS. This is followed by the processing of the data collected and then the presentation of the results using Word, Excel and QGis; A total of 24 service stations and 10 points of sale in the municipality as well as to understand the behavior consumers. However, it is noted the unbalanced distribution of the various service stations and points of sale. Also it is noted that there are only 18% of consumers who get their gasoline at the service station against 82% who prefer adulterated gasoline for various reasons although they are aware of the quality of that of service stations. Hence the need to revise the policies of this sector and a proposal for a development plan for service stations for an upgrade of sector of Petroleum Products Storage and Distribution Infrastructures (ISDPP).

A meso-level exploration of citizen’s mGov adoption from SD logic perspective: the case of COVID-19 tracking app of India

PurposeThis study aims to explore the factors affecting the adoption of mGov apps using the theoretical foundations of service-dominant (SD) logic. The authors specifically explore the impact of resource distribution (infrastructure and knowledge) and environmental variables (health infrastructure) among the Indian states on the adoption of Aarogya Setu (the COVID-19 tracking app) by their citizens.Design/methodology/approachFor the meso-level study, the states of India are the unit of analysis. The authors have used secondary data published by the government and other reliable organizations. The study is based on 29 states of India and Delhi, a union territory and the capital of India. The authors conducted a regression and moderation analysis using SPSS and PROCESS macros on the collected secondary data.FindingsThe findings reveal that operand resources (state domestic productivity per capita and internet penetration rate) positively impact the adoption of the mGov app. The operant resource (literacy) and the environmental variable (health index) are, however, negatively affecting the adoption of the mGov app. On the other hand, another operant resource, digital literacy, was found to have no significant effect on the adoption of the mGov app. Further, the moderating variable, health index, is found to be moderating all the relationships except internet penetration and adoption of the mGov app.Originality/valueThe study is novel in two aspects. First, in using the theoretical foundation of SD logic to examine the factors impacting the adoption of mGov app. Second, it is a meso-level study, which is not a widely explored avenue in mGov research.

Free Simulation Tools for Power Quality and Grid-Integration of Renewable Energies Cases

The analysis of Power Quality issues and/or the integration of renewable energy into the grid requires the use of different tools, among which the use of computer simulation applications stands out. The basic objective is to obtain a model of the electrical system under study that allows for knowledge, with a reasonable degree of precision, of its behavior under different operating conditions. The benefits of these tools are manifold, since they allow us to understand the response of the system, both in transient and steady-state conditions, to situations that are difficult to reproduce in practice: short circuits, failures in generation, transmission and distribution infrastructures, etc. Additionally, these tools can be used as platforms for operator training and network planning. Currently, a wide variety of commercial tools that are de facto standards can be found on the market. Some of these tools have a high cost and cannot be used by students outside the academic environment. In parallel, and thanks to the efforts of the scientific community, simulation tools have been developed that are available free of cost under several licensing models. This contribution analyzes some of the available tools, with special attention to those that are published under several open source and academic non-commercial software licenses that are available to the academic community free of cost.

Hydrogen blending in Italian natural gas grid: Scenario analysis and LCA

In this paper, a detailed analysis of the impact of hydrogen blending in the natural gas grid in terms of potential increase of Intermittent Renewable Energy Source (IRES) penetration, increase of electrolyzer power installed, reduction of CO2 emission and environmental footprint, is provided formulating models in EnergyPLAN and OpenLCA software. The Italian energy system is taken as case-study. Three scenarios have been analysed: BASELINE scenario represents the current energy system; MID-SCENARIO foresees a total IRES capacity of 158.17 GW (x5 compared to 2019 capacity) derived from the capability to convert intermittent electricity surplus in hydrogen and inject it in the natural gas grid; in the END-SCENARIO, the IRES capacity is pushed up to 272.1 GW.The main outcomes of the study attest that blending of hydrogen in the natural gas grid leads to beneficial impacts in terms of environmental footprint. Considering the global energy system, hydrogen production and blending in the natural gas grid leads to a maximum decrease of 15% in CO2 emissions compared to 2019. The impact is significant but limited by a threshold in the maximum hydrogen amount that the gas distribution infrastructure can currently accept (hydrogen molar fraction <20%).Focusing the study on the electricity generation sector, the reduction of CO2 emissions reaches −66% in the END-SCENARIO. The LCA index “Fossil resource scarcity” is reduced by up to −77% due to the replacement of fossil fuels, starting from coal. On the other hand, the LCA category “Mineral scarcity” undergoes an increase (x3.03 in MID-SCENARIO, ×2.73 in END-SCENARIO) due to the large amounts of materials needed to manufacture the photovoltaic plants, wind farms and electrolyzers, such as copper, aluminum, platinum, nickel, titanium and silicon, exacerbating the critical materials issue.

Exploring the Real-Time WRF Forecast Skill for Four Tropical Storms, Isaias, Henri, Elsa and Irene, as They Impacted the Northeast United States

Tropical storm Isaias (2020) moved quickly northeast after its landfall in North Carolina and caused extensive damage to the east coast of the United States, with electric power distribution disruptions, infrastructure losses and significant economic and societal impacts. Improving the real-time prediction of tropical storms like Isaias can enable accurate disaster preparedness and strategy. We have explored the configuration, initialization and physics options of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to improve the deterministic forecast for Isaias. The model performance has been evaluated based on the forecast of the storm track, intensity, wind and precipitation, with the support from in situ measurements and stage IV remote sensing products. Our results indicate that the Global Forecasting System (GFS) provides overall better initial and boundary conditions compared to the North American Model (NAM) for wind, mean sea level pressure and precipitation. The combination of tropical suite physics options and GFS initialization provided the best forecast improvement, with error reduction of 36% and an increase of the correlation by 11%. The choices for model spin-up time and forecast cycle did not affect the forecast of the storm significantly. In order to check the consistency of the result found from the investigation related to TS Isaias, Irene (2011), Henri (2021) and Elsa (2021), three other tropical storms, were also investigated. Similar to Isaias, these storms are simulated with NAM and GFS initialization and different physics options. The overall results for Henri and Elsa indicate that the models with GFS initialization and tropical suite physics reduced error by 44% and 57%, respectively, which resonates with the findings from the TS Isaias investigation. For Irene, the initialization used an older GFS version and showed increases in error, but applying the tropical physics option decreased the error by 20%. Our recommendation is to consider GFS for the initialization of the WRF model and the tropical physics suite in a future tropical storm forecast for the NE US.

Towards zero energy infrastructure buildings: optimal design of envelope and cooling system

Optimal design of building envelopes/HVAC systems and free cooling strategies are today necessary to reduce energy, economic and environmental impact of telecommunication, electricity distribution, or electric transportations infrastructures. To this aim, designers and operators require advanced techniques and tools.Target of this paper is to present the development of a simulation model for assessing and optimizing cooling performance of new/existing infrastructures to be designed/refurbished from the energy point of view. The model is implemented in a computer tool to assess the related potential benefits of different energy saving technologies/strategies and optimize different objective functions.By the presented approach new design and operating criteria are developed by varying all the occurring boundary conditions (weather, temperature limitations, electricity tariffs, etc.).To show the capability and suitability of the proposed approach, a case study concerning the equipment cooling of a railway substation is developed. The analysis is conducted for different Italian climates, obtaining remarkable energy savings. Specifically, by optimizing free cooling operation and thermal insulation the cooling energy consumption can be decreased up to 80% and 10%, respectively. By an energy refurbishment of all the Italian railway substations an annual electricity cost reduction due to equipment conditioning of about 0.5 M€ can be achieved, 47% lower.

Power Distribution System Faults and Wildfires: Mechanisms and Prevention

Wildfires are one of the most hazardous natural disasters in Australia in terms of fatalities, property damage and financial losses. Events of catastrophic wildfires are recorded across the world including in the United States and Canada. Failures along power distribution infrastructure and network faults have been identified as some of the causes for the initiation of wildfires. Thus, it is critical to better understand the mechanisms and the potential prevention strategies for wildfires caused by power distribution system faults. In this light, this paper presents how the power distribution network faults cause wildfires highlighting the main mechanisms. Further, this paper reviewed studies on recent advancements for the prediction, detection and prevention of wildfires. Condition assessment of power distribution infrastructure including poles, crossarms, overhead cables and other attachments are paramount to detect potential defects and to carry out timely replacements which can subsequently mitigate the possibility of wildfire initiation. Therefore, this paper summarized the studies on condition monitoring and surveillance techniques for power distribution infrastructure. Altogether, this paper aimed to enhance the awareness about the prevention strategies for wildfires caused by power distribution system faults.

Counseling on Transportation Logistics Curriculum Level III Jabodetabek Region

Logistics transportation manages and provides transportation facilities and infrastructure for smooth logistics distribution. Logistics activities or freight forwarding services refer to the management and distribution of logistics goods obtained from users, stored in logistics warehouses, sorted shipments, and transported and sent to the destination address. Logistics activities have an important role in a business company, but the important role of logistics transportation is also major in distributing goods. This activity aims to produce graduates of experts who are reliable and best in transportation and logistics and have a reputation for ready-to-use labor. The methods used are lectures, discussions, and questions and answers. The implementation of the training activities of the participants was no obstacle in conducting counseling, and the internet connection was not interrupted. In support of infrastructure, facilities are adequate, namely the availability of laptops or personal computers from participants so that all participants can take part in counseling optimally

A comprehensive study and assessment of electricity acts and power sector policies of India on social, technical, economic, and environmental fronts

The study aims to present a comprehensive assessment of India’s electricity acts and power sector policies using a qualitative research design. The present study employs document analysis to explore the implications of the policies on social, technical, economic, and environmental dimensions. The challenges faced by the power sector and the policy implications of these challenges have also been outlined. The study finds that the Electricity Act of 2003 has been instrumental in transforming the power sector in India by promoting competition, encouraging private investment, and improving the efficiency and transparency of the power sector. However, several challenges are still facing the sector, including high AT&C losses, inadequate transmission and distribution infrastructure, and low financial viability of DISCOMs. Challenges associated with the policies and schemes include the need for increased investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure, ensuring the affordability of electricity, and promoting the adoption of new and renewable energy sources. Policy recommendations include increasing investment in transmission and distribution infrastructure, encouraging the adoption of new and renewable energy sources, implementing effective policies and regulations to address the challenges facing the power sector, and promoting the financial viability of DISCOMs.

Autoignition enhancement of ammonia spray under engine-relevant conditions via hydrogen addition: Thermal, chemical, and charge cooling effects

With the growing trend of decarbonization in ground transportation, low and zero-carbon fuels have attracted extensive research interest. Liquid ammonia is a promising alternative fuel due to its relatively high volumetric energy density, mature production and distribution infrastructure, convenience of storage, and zero carbon emissions. However, ammonia combustion also suffers from low flame speed and weak chemical reactivity. In this work, we computationally investigate the suitable engine-relevant thermochemical conditions for auto-ignition of constant volume ammonia spray, as well as its spray dynamics, vaporization, flash boiling effects, and emissions. The simulation is first validated by comparing it against available experimental data from a vaporizing ammonia spray and is then extended to chemically reactive conditions. Results show that ammonia sprays under engine-relevant conditions (60 bar and 1200 K) can only successfully auto-ignite for cases with ambient hydrogen addition, through enhancement of thermal condition and chemical reactivity. A chemical flux analysis is conducted to further understand the important species and reactions that promote ammonia auto-ignition from hydrogen, which potentially can be introduced via H2 solubility, exhaust gas recirculation, and onboard ammonia thermal decomposition. Furthermore, results have indicated that charge cooling effects can further decrease the temperature in the flow field and make auto-ignition more difficult. This study provided useful insights for the application of ammonia as a zero-carbon diesel fuel for ground transportation.

Dynamic Safety Assessment and Enhancement of Port Operational Infrastructure Systems during the COVID-19 Era

Seaports function as lifeline systems in maritime transportation, facilitating critical processes like shipping, distribution, and allied cargo handling. These diverse subsystems constitute the Port Infrastructure System (PIS) and have intricate functional interdependencies. The PIS is vulnerable to several external disruptions, and the impact of COVID-19 is severe and unprecedented in this domain. Therefore, this study proposes a novel general port safety framework to cope with recurring hazards and crisis events like COVID-19 and to augment PIS safety through a multi-state failure system. The PIS is divided into three critical subsystems: shipping, terminal, and distribution infrastructure, thereby capturing its functional interdependency and intricacy. A dynamic input–output model is employed, incorporating the spatial variability and average delay of the disruption, to determine the PIS resilience capacity under the stated disruptions. This study simulates three disruption scenarios and determines the functional failure capacity of the system by generating a functional change curve in Simulink. This study offers viable solutions to port managers, terminal operators, and concerned authorities in the efficient running of intricate interdependent processes and in devising efficient risk control measures to enhance overall PIS resilience and reliability. As part of future studies, given the difficulty in obtaining relevant data and the relatively limited validation of the current model, we aim to improve the accuracy and reliability of our model and enhance its practical applicability to real-world situations with data collected from a real-world case study of a PIS system.

Predicting future GB heat pump electricity demand

To meet net zero carbon targets by 2050s, countries with cold winters, such as Great Britain (GB), will turn to low carbon domestic heating systems such as electric heat pumps. In this paper, a statistical model is developed using measured performance data from over 550 heat pumps installed in GB homes in 2012. The model is used to predict the additional load on the GB electricity generation and distribution infrastructure for various current and future (2050) climates, dwelling energy efficiencies and heat pump deployment scenarios. For a cold year in the 2020s, a 100% uptake of heat pumps in the existing GB dwelling stock gave a peak electricity demand for the heat pumps of 78 GW and an annual electricity demand of 189 TWh. When added to the other, existing electricity demand, this represents an increase in the GB peak electricity demand in excess of 100% and an annual electricity demand increase of around 60%. Making reasonable assumptions about heat pumps’ future efficiency and use, and the future climate and dwelling stock fabric efficiency, and assuming 80% heat pump uptake and no load shifting, the peak heat pump electricity demand for a cold year in the 2050s halved to 37 GW. By shifting demand for water and space heating the 2020s cold year peak demand reduced by 15%. The work provides a more robust estimate of future GB heat pump electricity demands than any previously available. The predicted future ramp rates, peak and annual total electricity demands, are lower than predicted by previous analysts.

Local distribution infrastructure and robust vaccine manufacturing facilities in LMICs should be prioritised to tackle ongoing and future pandemic risk.

Local distribution infrastructure and robust vaccine manufacturing facilities in LMICs should be prioritised to tackle ongoing and future pandemic risk.

Improving Energy Access in Low-Income Sub-Saharan African Countries: A Case Study of Malawi

The inaccessibility of modern energy in low-income countries (LIC), especially in the Sub-Saharan African (SSA) region, continues to be a problem in the 21st century. The lack of access to modern energy has led to an inability to implement developmental structures and initiatives. While considerable progress and successes have been realised in the last three decades with increased activities and global commitments from international governments and multinational agencies through electrification projects in the SSA region, SSA countries remain off-track in their efforts to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7. This is mainly demonstrated in sparsely populated rural regions where the high cost of centralised power generation, poor transmission and distribution infrastructures and economic factors have been a major barrier to electricity expansion. Although the use of RES (i.e., decentralised or stand-alone systems) have been acknowledged by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to be the least expensive route to improving access, its impact has not been effectively demonstrated regionally. Decentralised RES use in SSA countries have not seen significant uptake and/or enjoyed long-term sustainability owing to a number of factors. Malawi, despite its significant hydropower resources and the favourable proximity of its inhabitants to grid infrastructures, still has one of the lowest levels of access to electricity globally, with 86% of the population having no access to electricity. The country provides a good case study to investigate factors limiting electricity access in SSA countries. This paper explores the main issues that have historically hindered the uptake and sustainable operation of decentralised RES in the country. Recommendations to facilitate a potential improvement in RES use as a pathway to improved universal energy access are then put forward.

Bookselling infrastructure in Siberia and the Far East in 2019–2021 (based on the materials of the project «Cultural map of Russia. Literature. Reading»)

The article is based on the materials of the next stages of the project «Cultural map of Russia. Literature. Reading» the state of the bookselling infrastructure of the Siberian-Far Eastern region in 2019– 2021 and has been analyzed. The aggregate infrastructure of book distribution, the availability of bookstores are characterized. The leaders and outsiders among the subjects of the Federation of Siberia and the Far East have been identified. The main characteristics and features of the current state of the book trade in the region are summarized, the peculiarities of the adaptation of the elements of the bookselling infrastructure to the consequences of the pandemic are revealed. The ways of optimizing the development of book distribution in the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts are determined.

Bilevel Optimal Economic Dispatch of CNG Main Station Considering Demand Response

Compressed natural gas (CNG) main stations are critical components of the urban energy infrastructure for CNG distribution. Due to its high electrification and significant power consumption, researching the economic operation of the CNG main station in demand response (DR)-based electricity pricing environments is crucial. In this paper, the dehydration process is considered in the CNG main station energy consumption model to enhance its participation in DR. A bilevel economic dispatch model for the CNG main station is proposed, considering critical peak pricing. The upper-level and lower-level models represent the energy cost minimization problems of the pre-system and rear-system, respectively, with safety operation constraints. The bilevel programming model is solved using a genetic algorithm combined with a bilevel programming method, which has better efficiency and convergence. The proposed optimization scheme has better control performance and stability, reduces the daily electricity cost by approximately 21.04%, and decreases the compressor switching frequency by 50.00% without changing the CNG filling demand, thus significantly extending the compressor’s service life. Moreover, the average comprehensive power cost of processing one unit of CNG reduces 20.62%.

“Platformization of News”, Authorship, and Unverified Content: Perceptions around Local Media

In recent years, the growing importance of platforms for producing, sharing, and consuming news has been evident. However, several challenges associated with this growth have emerged, such as those linked with disinformation and news authorship. In this article, which uses part of the data from a more extensive study of local media in the central region of Portugal, we present the results from three focus groups with editors, journalists, and local media consumers. Through this information, we try to understand their perceptions about how platforms change news work and distribution, affecting journalists and the public. The focus groups results showed that although local media professionals consider it essential to be present on distribution platforms, they are concerned about the inability of audiences to distinguish the content created by local media from others that circulate online. We believe the results presented are significant to reflect on changes made by platforms to journalism and to think in terms of new strategies of media literacy concerning how and what ways platforms are involved in news distribution infrastructures.

Ethical Obligations of Global Justice in the Midst of Global Pandemics

This paper considers the obligation higher income countries have to lower and middle income countries during a global pandemic. Further considers which reforms are needed to the global supply-chain of medical resources. The short-comings in distribution and medical infrastructure have exacerbated the health crisis in developing countries. Global justice demands radical redistribution of medical resources in order to prevent mass casualties. This is argued first by highlighting that the COVID-19 pandemic should be acknowledged as an issue of global justice, secondly, higher income countries ought to account for distribution inequity as a matter of rectifying past injustices, and thirdly argue for reform in distribution while considering the vaccine rollout as a prime example. We aim to show how the differences from country to country in response capabilities are a result of the economic foundation colonialism established and a direct result of cyclical poverty, which wealthy countries perpetuate to this day.

Evaluation of Distinct EV Scheduling at Residential Charging Points in an Unbalanced Power Distribution System

Electric vehicles (EVs) have significant potential and sustainability in the future transportation sector due to their less pollution and low operating cost. The uncoordinated charging of these EVs may push the power delivery system towards lower performance and even at the risk of damaging the power system equipment. The proper scheduling and coordination of EVs with the system may lessen the negative impact. In this paper, a multi-objective scheduling approach for individual candidate-based EVs is proposed to relieve the distress in power delivery in the best possible way. Minimization of average demand deviation and system unbalance reduction are selected as the objectives to restore the power delivery performance. The proposed approach has been verified on a realistic three-phase power distribution infrastructure. A simple linear regression model is employed to predict the near future number of EVs in the test region. An optimizitaion algorithm based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique is operated to find the finest solution satisfying EV charging constraints. The stochastic nature of load demands at the node points of the test network is analyzed with the help of a probabilistic demand model and it is further incorporated into the optimization framework. It is possible to reduce the system’s average demand deviation and unbalance level by 53.74% and 51.36%, respectively, with the proposed EV scheduling approach. A comparative study with the existing methods further claims the efficacy of the proposed approach. HIGHLIGHTS Framework for home charging schedule of distinct EVs Compliance with multi-objective power supply efficiency Probabilistic modeling of load demand from real collected data Optimization-driven solution for a test case in Mysore city in India