European Technical Standards Research Articles

Decentralised Voltage Regulation through Optimal Reactive Power Flow in Distribution Networks with Dispersed Generation

The global capacity for renewable electricity generation has surged, with distributed photovoltaic generation being the primary driver. The increasing penetration of non-programmable renewable Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) presents challenges for properly managing distribution networks, requiring advanced voltage regulation techniques. This paper proposes an innovative decentralised voltage strategy that considers DERs, particularly inverter-based ones, as autonomous regulators in compliance with the state-of-the-art European technical standards and grid codes. The proposed method uses an optimal reactive power flow that minimises voltage deviations along all the medium voltage nodes; to check the algorithm’s performance, it has been applied to a small-scale test network and on a real Italian medium-voltage distribution network, and compared with a fully centralised ORPF. The results show that the proposed decentralised autonomous strategy effectively improves voltage profiles in both case studies, reducing voltage deviation by a few percentage points; these results are further confirmed through an analysis conducted over several days to observe how seasons affect the results.

POSSIBLE WAYS OF TRANSFORMATION IN ENERGY UKRAINE ON THE GROUNDS OF BIOSPHORE COMPATIBILITY

The ways of further transformation of the existing energy market in Ukraine under the conditions of biosphere compatibility are analyzed. The use of renewable energy sources is one of the most important directions of modern energy policy, aimed both at improving the state of the environment and at saving traditional fuel and energy resources. Adopted legislative and regulatory acts contributed to the rapid growth of "green" energy in Ukraine. Currently, the uncontrolled construction and commissioning of exclusively solar power plants at rates that are ahead of planned indicators have caused a threat to the energy security of our state. At the same time, other types of renewable sources, which in the vast majority can be used to balance the energy market, are underdeveloped. Waste from agricultural production, solid household waste landfills under certain conditions can be transformed from sources of environmental pollution into renewable energy sources with biogas generation. Its main components are methane and carbon dioxide. One of the promising ways to increase the efficiency of fuel use can be the synthesis of methane from hydrogen, which is obtained with the use of electricity from alternative sources, and carbon dioxide, which is formed during the production of biomethane. In this way, a complex problem is solved - the simultaneous loading of nuclear power plant units, the use of excess electricity from wind and solar power plants with a decrease in the balancing capacities of thermal generation. The meaning of the ecological and energy optimization process is not to replace one energy source with another, but economic and industrial transformation, decarbonization and decentralization. To solve these problems, measures are proposed to improve the requirements of the regulatory and legislative acts in force in Ukraine on the regulation of the state's energy sector by introducing greater competition, European technical standards and transparent regulatory rules, a better investment climate in the domestic market.

A comparison between new European technical standards and dynamic simulation tools for chiller modelling

In the last years, new technical standards for the assessment of the energy efficiency of technical building systems were developed by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). These procedures were conceived as to combine the easiness of the calculation methodologies and their related assumptions with a sufficient level of accuracy. While the former objective is often achieved, the latter is a challenging task as the procedures sometimes fail to simulate in a proper way the actual performance of the technical systems. On the other hand, the detailed procedures applied by detailed dynamic energy simulation tools are more precise and complex; however, for their application, they need a wide range of input data that are often hard to collect. For this reason, simplified procedures are now commonly applied, above all in the case of existing buildings. Nevertheless, these procedures need to be deeply analysed and validated. In this paper, the main standard calculation procedures addressed to chillers and specified in EN 16798-13:2017 were analysed, with a focus on the required input data and the calculation procedures. The same approach was then applied to the more detailed calculation methods used in the dynamic tools EnergyPlus and TRNSYS, and the results were compared. The theoretical analysis was then followed by a case study approach. A reference office building, representative of the Italian building stock, was selected and analysed in two different Italian climatic zones. The determination of the thermal energy need for cooling was performed by means of EnergyPlus, while the assessment of the energy demand related to technical building systems was performed both with EnergyPlus and with the standard procedures. This paper is part of a wider research activity finalised to the analysis of the technical building systems calculation procedures, taking into account different generation systems and thermal coupling modes between the technical systems and the building itself.

Evaluation of the use of blast furnace slag as an additive in mortars

Clinker is the raw material used in the manufacture of cement. However, this material is very harmful to the environment, since it is estimated that for every ton of clinker produced, about 1.0 ton of CO2 is released into the atmosphere. For this reason, alternatives were sought for the use of other materials that are less harmful to the environment. This has led to the use of industrial by-products with the aim of increasing their use and thus reducing the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. Blast furnace slag is a by-product used in the manufacture of some cementitious products. The aim of this research is to conduct a study on the use of slag as an additive for cement or concrete. The mortar samples were tested according to Brazilian, American and European technical standards. Physical, chemical and compressive strength tests were carried out which confirmed the possibility of using the slag without chemical or thermal activation.

Optimizing of the Geometrical Accuracy of Windows and External Doors

Geometric accuracy of building structures is an important part of the quality of construction work. Within the technical standards, it is assumed that the designer determines the functional geometrical parameters of building structures by calculation. The functional geometrical parameters are to be determined primarily for critical elements, i.e. for structures whose geometrical accuracy is important for structures that require high precision or are subject to functional requirements. If, for any reason, the designer fails to perform the calculation of the functional geometric parameters, the designer may use the recommended values of the geometric parameters given by the technical standards. The assumption is that the designers incorporate these geometrical deviations in the planning of spatial parameters of building structures, which should ensure that the minimum dimensional requirements for finished structures are met. The problem may arise in the implementation phase when the contractors follow the technical standards for the execution of individual parts of building structures. At present, when we adopt European technical standards, the system of technical standards is not interrelated and there may be situations where the standard requirements for the geometric accuracy of successive structures will differ significantly or will not be determined at all. These differences could lead to the fact, that the designer considered the design documentation with a margin for geometrical deviations for finished structures, with specified geometric accuracy requirements and required dimensions will not be met. One of these constructions are windows and external doors. Therefore, it is necessary to pay attention to the determination of the basic geometric accuracy requirements and to define procedures for the fulfilment of these basic requirements in all related operations.

Evaluation of flexible pavement construction cost according to the design method

The aim of this paper is to propose a cost-optimal design method for flexible pavements based on specific design parameters, in compliance with Greek and European technical regulations and standards regarding roadworks. Three design methods for flexible pavements that are most commonly used in Greece were evaluated, namely the Asphalt Institute (AI) method, the British design method and the method of Egnatia Odos (EO). The first two methods are used worldwide whereas the EO method was developed by Greek designers and has found wide application in Greece and neighbouring countries. The design parameters evaluated in this study were traffic volume, subgrade soil bearing capacity and air temperature. In most of the examined design scenarios, the AI method was found to offer the lowest-cost design solution for flexible pavements. However, the British design method provided a reduced-cost solution taking pavement thickness into account for heavy or very heavy traffic loads and a poor-quality subgrade soil. If the design case is a road with heavy traffic load and good-quality subgrade soil, the EO method produced the lowest cost for a flexible pavement.

Topic analysis of Road safety inspections using latent dirichlet allocation: A case study of roadside safety in Irish main roads

Under the Safe System framework, Road Authorities have a responsibility to deliver inherently safe roads and streets. Addressing this problem depends on knowledge of the road network safety conditions and the number of funds available for new road safety interventions. It also requires the prioritisation of the various interventions that may generate benefits, increasing safety, while ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to remedy the deficiencies detected within a reasonable timeframe. In this context, Road Safety Inspections (RSI) are a proactive tool for identifying safety issues, consisting of a regular, systematic, on-site inspection of existing roads, covering the whole road network, carried out by trained safety expert teams.This paper aims to describe how topic modelling can be effectively used to identify co-occurrence patterns of attributes related to the run-off-road crashes, as well as the corresponding patterns of road safety interventions, as described in the RSI reports. We apply latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA), a widespread method for fitting a topic model, to analyse the topics mentioned in RSI reports, divided into two groups: problems found; and proposed solutions. For this study, 54 RSI gathered over six years (2012–2017) were analysed, covering 4011 km of Irish roads.The results indicate that important keywords relating to the “forgiving roadside” and “clear zone” concepts, as well as the relevant European technical standards (CEN-EN1317 and EN 12,767), are absent from the extracted latent topics. We also found that the frequency of topics related to roadside safety is higher in the problems record set than in the solutions record set, meaning that problems are more easily identified and related to the roadside area than interventions may be.This paper presents methodological empirical evidence that the LDA is appropriate for identifying the co-occurrence patterns of attributes related to the ROR crashes in road safety inspections’ reports, as well as the interventions’ patterns associated with these crashes. Also, it provides valuable information aimed to determine the extent to which national road authorities in Europe and their contractors are currently capable of implementing and maintaining compliance with roadside standards and guidelines throughout the life cycle of roads.

Evolution of Electronic Noses from Research Objects to Engineered Environmental Odour Monitoring Systems: A Review of Standardization Approaches.

Since electronic noses are used more and more for air quality monitoring purposes, and in some countries are starting to have a legal value, there is a need for standardization and programs for the quality verification of instruments. Such quality programs have the aim to guarantee the main characteristics of the instrument for both the final user and local authorities, let the user establish a suitable maintenance procedure and give information on measurement uncertainty. One critical aspect when dealing with electronic noses for environmental odour monitoring is that environmental odours are complex mixtures that are not repeatable nor reproducible, giving that they are not suitable for quality verifications. This paper aims to review and discuss the different approaches that can be adopted in order to perform quality checks on electronic noses (e-noses) used for environmental odour monitoring, thereby referring to existing technical standards, such as the Dutch NTA 9055:2012, the new German VDI 3518-3:2018, and the Italian UNI 1605848 project, which directly refer to electronic noses. Moreover, also the European technical standards that are prescriptive for automatic measuring systems (AMSs) are taken into consideration (i.e., EN 14181:2014 and EN 15267:2009), and their possible applicability to electronic noses is investigated. Finally, the pros and cons of the different approaches are presented and discussed in the conclusions section.

HARMONIZATION OF ECONOMIC AND LEGAL MECHANISMS FOR DEEPENING EU-UKRAINIAN RELATIONS

The policy of Ukraine for the establishment and development of relations with the European Union began in 1993, was carried out all the years of Ukraine’s existence, and received intensive deepening with the beginning of the formation of an international treaty – the Association Agreement, which includes a list of legal, social, economic, and technical regulations, and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), in 2014 and its final signing in 2017. Political and economic objectives of the Agreement are of fundamental importance to the future of both Ukraine and the whole European region. The political goal is to implement European standards on the territory of Ukraine. This implies the introduction of fundamental European values, namely democracy, rule of law, respect for human rights and the standards of the European security system. The Agreement does not foresee membership in the European Union, however, does not exclude such an opportunity in the future. The economic goal is to help to modernize the Ukrainian economy by expanding trade volumes with the EU and other countries, as well as reforming economic regulation mechanisms in line with the best European practices. Subject to the improvement of the business climate, Ukraine will become attractive for foreign and domestic investment for further production for export to the EU and other markets of the world. Harmonization of standards and European regulations has become a much more important process than the fulfilment of strictly technical requirements and underlies the introduction of effective governance without corruption. In the process of harmonization of interaction, an adaptive institutional mechanism was formed (the highest level – annual Summits; the key coordinator is the Association Council, consisting of members of the Council of the European Union and members of the European Commission, and members of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine; the level of operational coordination – the Association Parliamentary Committee, which includes members of the European Parliament, representatives of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, and the Civil Society Platform; in order to coordinate processes on the territory of Ukraine, the Ukrainian government has introduced a few supervisory committees and commissions). The harmonization of the economic aspect of the mechanism has been determined in solving issues of openness of markets for duty-free import from Ukraine in April 2014, obtaining a visa-free regime with the EU, abolishing export-import tariffs, implementing European technical standards for food safety, phytosanitary norms, competition policy, service provision, and public procurement policy. The issues of further deepening of relations include a review of the terms for the introduction of regulations and legislative provisions before their actual implementation, stabilization of financial and economic processes in the country, and further development of democratic values and social institutions.

EXPERIMENTAL TESTING OF PASSIVE INFRARED DETECTORS AND EXAMINING THE PROBABILITY OF INTRUDER DETECTION

The article describes intruder alarm systems, experimental testing of selected components of these systems, and examining the probability of intruder detection in a protected area. Component parameters are specified in the producer technical documentation (datasheets, service manuals) and they have to comply with European technical standards. Specifically, the article focuses on passive infrared motion detectors, which are among the most used components of intruder alarm systems. Experiments were carried out under the conditions specified in the European technical standards and also beyond these conditions. The experiments were performed in controlled measuring and testing laboratories. The results of the experiments can be used as a basis for improving the European technical standards, a proposal for their modification, and also for the evaluation of intruder alarm systems.

Efficiency Evaluation of Concrete Surface Treatment

This paper presents the simplified method of efficiency evaluation of surface protection products for concrete elements. This evaluation method was designed to consist of as few testing procedures as possible and to use as few specimens as well. Several testing processes most of which were based on the European technical standards were used to compare five commercially available products. Those comparisons served to assess whether the chosen method has sufficient informative value and does not require a disproportionate amount of time and money. The main examined properties were impact on color and reflectivity of the original surface, durability of the coating in extreme weather conditions, wettability of the surface and amount of labor needed for its maintenance. All of these experiments were optimized so that they could be performed on one type of specimen.

Testing of Method for Assessing of Room Thermal Stability

The paper presents the interim results of our research on the developing methodological procedure which could be used for assessment of a thermal stability of buildings with regards to its thermal accumulative parameters. The principle of testing is based on a combination of computer simulation of cooled room model developed in COMSOL Multiphysics software and on theoretical calculations with respect to compliance with valid European and Czech technical standards used in building industry and architecture under conditions obtained by real measurement for the room to be tested. The presented example shows the effect of the heataccumulation properties of the outside wall insulation materials on the course of the cooling room for winter conditions.

Another Stage in the Research into Deck Bridges with Encased Filler-Beams – Dynamic Load Tests

Deck bridges with encased filler-beams are traditionally exploited as load-bearing structural systems. From the structural point of view, there have not been major changes in their design over time. What has changed, however, is the approach to the calculation of the resistance of such composite structures. First, concrete used to fulfil a reinforcing function only. Later, it was assigned a load-bearing role (acting in compression) and the resistance of a composite structure was determined using the method of permissible stresses. Nowadays, the verification of cross-sectional resistance is based on limit state design principles stipulated by European technical standards – EUROCODES. These standards allow for material plasticization, even in bridge structures.

ЗОВНІШНЬОТОРГОВЕЛЬНА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ УКРАЇНИ В РАМКАХ ПІДПИСАННЯ «ЗВТ+» З КРАЇНАМИ ЄС ТА ЗВТ СНД

This article deals with the prospects, possible risks and threats of deep and comprehensive free trade area («FTA+») between Ukraine and the EU. Features of foreign economic activity of Ukraine within the framework of FTA with the CIS are also considered in the article. A detailed analysis of the foreign trade statement and regional pattern of exports and imports of Ukraine is presented for the last few years. The key difference between «FTA+» with the EU and classic free trade areas is determined. Risks of the external economic collaboration of Ukraine with the European countries are described after intensifying of the conflict between Ukraine and Russian Federation. Reasons of suspension of the Free trade agreement between Russia and Ukraine are marked. It operated within the framework of FTA with the CIS, trade and economic collaboration between the countries until the abolition of a free trade with Ukraine by Russian Federation. The consequences of the European technical and phytosanitary standards, substantial diminishing of export and import duties and measures related to the preparation of internal market to «FTA+» are analysed for Ukraine. The form of «FTA+» is found out, which foresees the reduction and liquidation of trade barriers within the framework of a free trade regime. It doesn’t deal only with liberalization of bilateral commodity trade but such spheres, as: trade in services, regime of foreign direct investment, public purchasing and labour force movement. The form of «FTA+» also foresees a wide adaptation program of economic and sectoral legislation of Ukraine to the norms and standards of the EU that will allow removing of nontariff barriers for domestic exports to internal market of the EU.

Verification of Sealing Possibilities of Cement – Based Structures without Additional Surface Treatment

The paper introduces the results of research study aimed at sealing possibilities of cement-based substrates. The intention of the presented research is to verify whether the permanent and reliable seal in materials can be implemented even without additional surface treatment. The task is approached experimentally, using test procedures based on relevant European technical standards. The tested substrate is made up of glass-fiber reinforced concrete facade elements intended for the final cladding of buildings without any further surface treatment. The selected substrate is 13 mm thick, one test sample consist of two identical pieces of substrate connected by chosen sealant. A group of ten industrially-produced, commonly available sealants by three manufacturers is included in the experimental measurements. The research brought an answer to the question of the sealing possibilities of an unprocessed structures and also solved the issue of the most suitable type of sealant meant for this purpose.

Determination of Adhesion of Silyl Modified Polymer Adhesives to Wooden Façade Cladding – Case Study

Adhesives are currently very often designed specifically for bonded façade systems. The potential of bonded joints should be studied and described in more detail and verified through experimental measurements. Presented results are therefore focused test methods intended for vented wooden façade systems with bonded joints. For the purpose of tests two types of silyl modified polymer adhesives intended for structural bonding were selected, however, only one of them is recommended for façade systems. The spruce profiles and three types of façade cladding (i.e. Cement-bonded particleboard - Cetris, Siberian larch and Wooden Plastic Composite - WPC) represent the structure of vented façade. The focus was on experimental verification thus all test procedures are following relevant European technical standards. The adhesive bonds were tested in adhesion of the surface finish to the substructure as well as in tensile lap - shear at a temperature of (20.0 ± 3) °C and a relative humidity of (55.0 ± 10) %. The performed tests showed the equivalence of the bonded joint system for ventilated facades in comparison with mechanical joints. During the tests appeared differences in stability and failure behaviour between the adhesive systems as well as within the sheeting material. Another conclusion arising from the series of tests is the fact that the use of a wooden substructure for ventilated facades is not a limiting element for the whole system and is a more financially viable option in comparison with an aluminum or steel substructure.

Biomass gasification systems for residential application: An integrated simulation approach

The energy policy of the European member States is promoting high-efficiency cogeneration systems by means of the European directive 2012/27/EU. Particular facilitations have been implemented for the small-scale and micro-cogeneration units. Furthermore, the directive 2010/31/EU promotes the improvement of energy performance of buildings and use of energy from renewable sources for the building sector. In this scenario, systems based on gasification are considered a promising technological solution when dealing with biomass and small scale systems.In this paper, an integrated approach has been implemented to assess the energy performance of combined heat and power (CHP) systems based on biomass gasification and installed in residential blocks. The space-heating loads of the considered building configurations have been simulated by means of EnergyPlus. The heat load for domestic hot water demand has been calculated according to the average daily profiles suggested by the Italian and European technical standards. The efficiency of the whole CHP system has been evaluated supplementing the simulation of the gasification stage with the energy balance of the cogeneration set (i.e., internal combustion engine) and implementing the developed routines in the Matlab-Simulink environment. The developed model has been used to evaluate the primary energy saving (PES) of the CHP system compared to a reference case of separate production of heat and power. Economic analyses are performed either with or without subsidizations for the generated electricity. The results highlight the capability of the integrated approach to estimate both energy and economic performances of CHP systems applied to the residential context. Furthermore, the importance of the generated heat valorisation and the proper system sizing have been discussed.