Storage Equipment Research Articles

Low-Carbon Transition Paths of Coal Power in China’s Provinces under the Context of the Carbon Trading Scheme

The importance of coal power in maintaining the security of the national power supply and the stability of the grid is irreplaceable for China at present, as was reflected in the “power shortage” event of 2021. To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the low-carbon transition paths of coal power for each province were analyzed in the context of China’s emission trading scheme (ETS). The prospect and importance of coal power was preliminarily analyzed first. Following the “bottom-up” direction, the real option method was used to establish decision models for investing in carbon capture, utilization and storage equipment (CCUS) and eliminating high carbon-intensive units. Results showed that Inner Mongolia will first adopt CCUS in 2037 and the thresholds can be met in all provinces before 2050. However, the ETS will not lead to the elimination of coal power during the studied period. Combined with an evaluation of the development potential of coal power, four transition paths were distinguished for Chinese provinces. Considering that China’s ETS is in the developing stage, its full potential for stimulating the low-carbon transition of coal power was further discussed. On this basis, several policy implications were provided.

A combined state-of-charge estimation method for lithium-ion battery using an improved BGRU network and UKF

Lithium-ion batteries have become the fastest-growing energy storage equipment available for extrinsic and intrinsic reasons. State of Charge (SOC) is one of the lithium-ion batteries' most critical performance indicators, reflecting the remaining capacity. An accurate and stable estimate of SOC is critical for any lithium-ion battery. This paper proposes a hybrid method to achieve stable and real-time battery SOC estimation at different temperatures, composed of an Improved Bidirectional Gated Recurrent Unit (IBGRU) network and Unscented Kalman filtering (UKF). The proposed method is experimentally validated using data from UDDS and US06 driving cycles. The verification results show that the method can adapt to various working conditions and obtain good estimation accuracy and robustness, with MAE and RMSE less than 0.83% and 1.12%, respectively. After transfer learning, the method can also be applied to new lithium-ion batteries and achieve good estimation performance at new temperature conditions. The maximum errors are 4.98% and 5.76% at 25 °C and −10 °C, respectively. Therefore, the IBGRU-UKF method can achieve a more accurate and stable SOC estimation with good expansion performance for different lithium-ion batteries.

Recognizing Design Issues in Process Industry for Safer Design

Recognizing Design Issues in Process Industry for Safer Design

Influences of mechanisms on investment in renewable energy storage equipment

Influences of mechanisms on investment in renewable energy storage equipment

An integrated energy management system using double deep Q-learning and energy storage equipment to reduce energy cost in manufacturing under real-time pricing condition: A case study of scale-model factory

Reducing energy costs is an emerging aspect in the research on the economic and environmental dimensions of manufacturing systems. The share of electricity cost accounts for approximately 60 % of the total energy cost of a manufacturing system, whereas the share of oil, coal, and gas accounts for the remaining 40 %. The electricity cost is dependent on the electricity price and usage. In terms of the electricity price, one of the pricing strategies widely used in the USA and Europe is called real-time pricing (RTP), which is characterised by hourly price changes. Compared to other pricing strategies, RTP yields the highest reward and the highest risk. In the RTP strategy, the electricity price is influenced by the supply and demand of the energy market. Hence, the energy cost of manufacturing cannot be determined by the manufacturing companies, implying a high level of risk. However, if manufacturing companies seize the opportunity to perform more manufacturing tasks when the energy price is low, the cost-savings will be significant, implying a high level of reward. In this study, we propose an integrated energy management system (IEMS) to reduce the energy cost of manufacturing systems. The IEMS consists of an energy storage equipment and an intelligent switch mechanism. When the electricity price is high, the manufacturing system is powered by the energy storage equipment. When the electricity price is low, the manufacturing system is powered by the public electricity grid, and the energy storage equipment is charged. The decision-making of these operations is performed by the intelligent switch mechanism based on double deep Q-learning. To validate this framework, a case study is conducted, in which an IEMS is developed to reduce the electricity cost of a scale-model factory. Based on an online test of the IEMS in different manufacturing cycles, it is concluded that the proposed IEMS approach achieves a cost reduction of approximately 57.21 %.

B/N/O/Zn doped porous carbon materials for supercapacitor with high performance

• B/N/O doped porous carbon materials were prepared by organic ligand to ensure the sustainable acquisition of raw materials and avoid uneven doping. • Synergic effects between heteroatoms and appropriate pore structure provide more active sites and wettability, which is conducive to electrolyte penetration and electron transport. • A high capacitance and high specific energy were obtained. • B, O and N co-doping offers pseudocapacitance for enhancing the capacitive properties. Owing to the need for new-generation energy storage equipment and industrial application, the development of carbon electrode materials with comprehensive electrochemical performances and convenient production processes has become a top priority. In this study, B/N/O/Zn doped carbon materials were prepared using a simple one-step method with 4-(2,4,6-tricarboxylphenyl)-2,2′:6′,2′’-terpyridine (TT) as a raw material. Owing to the doping of many heteroatoms, particularly boron atoms, the optimized TT(Zn/B)-700 exhibits a large specific surface area, proper pore distribution from micropore to macropore, and high degree of graphitization. These structural and morphological features ensure high capacitance performance, such as a specific capacitance of 418.75F/g at 0.5 A/g, and a specific energy of 83.75 Wh/kg at 300 W/kg. In addition, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor exhibits excellent specific energy (5.88 Wh/kg at 150 W/kg, and 5.00 Wh/kg at 3000 W/kg) and specific capacitance (117.5 F/g at 0.5 A/g, and 100.0 F/g at 10 A/g). These carbon electrode materials demonstrate great potential for applications in high-performance supercapacitors.

Heat loads analysis and creation of a uniform model for commercial refrigeration equipment calculation

The global commercial refrigeration equipment market size was valued at USD 33.53 billion in 2020. It is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.2 % from 2021 to 2028. Furthermore, factors such as regulatory pressures, shift to lower Global Warming Potential (GWP) refrigerants, technological breakthroughs, and the ability to cater to the ever-changing consumer behaviors are also anticipated to create promising growth opportunities for the market. Environmental issues related to high GWP refrigerants, including global warming and ozone depletion, are compelling commercial refrigeration equipment manufacturers to seek alternatives. The rising demand for advancements in technologies that can help reduce hazardous gas emissions has led to the market participants increasingly equipping their products with modern and magnetic refrigeration systems. Apart from this, these systems improve the energy efficiency of refrigeration equipment, bringing down the cost of operation.
 The analysis of the structure and heat loads of the commercial freezer with monitoring of temperature distribution on the body of heat-insulating fences and in the internal volume during operation of the system is carried out. The heat loads on the body depending on the structure of the freezer are substantiated on the example of the M400S commercial freezer model. The obtained results allow to significantly reduce the time of selection and calculation of the dimensions of a given model range of equipment for product storage, by developing a standard calculation taking into account the climatic class in which the equipment will be used, and taking into account experimental data obtained during the experiment

Seasonal Variations of Milk Composition of Sarda and Saanen Dairy Goats

Traditionally, in Mediterranean areas the goat population was composed of autochthonous breeds with strong milk production seasonality. In the last decades, high productive alpine breeds were introduced together with more widespread out-of-season milk production practices. This study is a large-scale survey on the seasonal variations of the main compositional characteristics of goat milk obtained from Sarda and Saanen breeds reared on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia (Italy). Analysis of data indicated that milk from the Sarda breed was significantly richer, at p < 0.001, in protein, fat, and lactose, and had a lower urea mean content than Saanen. Throughout the year, fluctuations of mean contents of the milk parameters were similar for the two groups of goats, indicating that, besides genetic intrinsic differences, climate and herbage growth influenced the Sarda as well as the Saanen goats. During the summer, milk from Saanen showed a marked drop in fat and protein contents, with 21% of samples showing a fat-to-protein ratio <1. No significant differences were found for the somatic cell count; however, the Sarda breed showed a higher bacterial count, suggesting improper milk handling and/or storage equipment more frequently encountered in extensive and semi-extensive farm systems.

Research on integrated complementary optimization of hydro and wind and photovoltaic power generation

Considering the impact of wind and solar energy random fluctuation characteristics on the safe and stable operation of power system, the construction of integrated water and wind and photovoltaic renewable energy integrated development base based on flexible dispatch of hydropower can promote sustainable and healthy energy development. In this paper, we propose an optimized operation model of integrated water and wind and photovoltaic power generation based on large system decomposition and coordination technology. Taking investment cost and economic efficiency as the objective function, the model is built into three levels, which are power supply ranking, calculation of electrical energy index, allocation of power supply capacity and load, and determination of operation cost, realizing water and wind and photovoltaic investment decision and complementary optimal operation. Finally, a census of the surrounding resources and sites of TS terrace hydropower station is conducted, and the integrated development of TS local power station is carried out according to the built model. The financial internal rate of return of capital funds under three scenarios are compared between integrated development and wind and photovoltaic direct grid connection and addition of energy storage equipment. It proves that the integrated development of water and wind and photovoltaic generation can realize the improvement of effective power absorption by wind and solar power networks, reduce the investment cost of consumption, and have good economic prospects.

Ventdef: A new engineering model for vented gas deflagration based on NFPA 68 (2018)

AbstractHydrogen production and storage equipment are often located inside confined enclosures such as containers or buildings. Deflagration vent panels are one of the most common and simplest methods to mitigate the consequences of gas deflagrations in confined systems. There are well‐established methods for sizing vent panels, such as the National Fire Protection Association standard NFPA 68, but these are often challenging to apply to hydrogen (a highly reactive gas) if the conservative worst stoichiometric fuel/air concentration is used. This paper presents a new engineering model, Ventdef, based on NFPA 68 (2018) and applied section 7.2.3.2 in NFPA 68 (2018) for the calculations of Su and Pmax using actual gas concentrations. In addition, Ventdef also predicts overpressure external to the deflagration vent and has a new, less conservative method for predicting the size of the external fireball. The model is validated against a series of recent full‐scale hydrogen confined volume deflagration tests performed under the EU‐funded project “Improving hydrogen safety for energy applications through pre‐normative research on vented deflagrations” (HySEA). Since the modifications to NFPA 68 are based on combustion fundamentals, the approach should be equally applicable to other flammable gases.

Performance study of transcritical CO2 heat pump integrated with ejector and latent thermal energy storage for space heating

This study proposes a new transcritical CO2 heat pump integrated with ejector and latent heat energy storage system, and compares the performance of the system with and without energy storage equipment based on TRNSYS and experimental results. The results show that the new system operates more stably and is more conducive to space heating. Compared with the transcritical CO2 heat pump system with only ejector, the new system is more affected by the water flow rate and its performance can be improved by 18.53% when the water flow rate is 0.103 kg·s−1. The new system has more energy saving potential in low temperature environment, for which the utilization rate of primary energy and the primary energy ratio could reach 15.33 kgce·m−2 and 1.24, respectively. After thermo-economic optimization, it can be found that the minimum life-cycle cost of the new system is about 51.91 thousand CNY, which is reduced by 11.46% compared with the only ejector system. Therefore, the new system is superior to the previously transcritical CO2 heat pump systems both in terms of thermodynamic performance and economic performance. The research results are helpful to further promote the research and application of air source heat pump for space heating in low temperature area.

Medical-Waste Chain: A Medical Waste Collection, Classification and Treatment Management by Blockchain Technology

To prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019 has seen unprecedented demand for medical equipment and supplies. However, the problem of waste treatment has not yet been given due attention, i.e., the traditional waste treatment process is done independently, and it is not easy to share the necessary information. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, the interaction between parties is minimized to limit infections. To evaluate the current system at medical centers, we also refer to the traditional waste treatment processes of four hospitals in Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh cities (Vietnam). Almost all hospitals are handled independently, lacking any interaction between the stakeholders. In this article, we propose a decentralized blockchain-based system for automating waste treatment processes for medical equipment and supplies after usage among the relevant parties, named Medical-Waste Chain. It consists of four components: medical equipment and supplies, waste centers, recycling plants, and sorting factories. Medical-Waste Chain integrates blockchain-based Hyperledger Fabric technology with decentralized storage of medical equipment and supply information, and securely shares related data with stakeholders. We present the system design, along with the interactions among the stakeholders, to ensure the minimization of medical waste generation. We evaluate the performance of the proposed solution using system-wide timing and latency analysis based on the Hyperledger Caliper engine. Our system is developed based on the hybrid-blockchain system, so it is fully scalable for both on-chain and off-chain-based extensions. Moreover, the participants do not need to pay any fees to use and upgrade the system. To encourage future use of Medical-Waste Chain, we also share a proof-of-concept on our Github repository.

Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2 coated three-dimensional graphene composite for high energy storage and capacitance retention supercapacitors

This research prepares a new Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2 flower-like particles by hydrothermal sulfidation. Fumaric acid is used as a carbon source to synthesize three-dimensional graphene (3DG) to disperse Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2 flower-like particles to obtain Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2/3DG composite material. The Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2/3DG-10 has the best electrochemical performance. The specific capacitance of Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2/3DG-10 is up to 2454.1 F g−1 at current density of 1 A g−1. In addition, at two-electrode applications, the energy density of Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2/3DG-10//AC is as high as 51.7 Wh kg−1. After 8000 cycles at a current density of 10 A g−1, the capacitance attenuation of Ni0.96S/NiS/Ni3S2/3DG-10//AC is only 7.8%. The interaction between different phases can increase the storage space of charge. The special flower-like morphology can provide extra large buffer space for volume changes, thus improving the cyclic stability of the material. Furthermore, Appropriate 3DG quality can effectively improve the dispersion of particles, accelerate electrolyte penetration and ion transport, and give full display to the synergy between pseudo-capacitance and double layer capacitance. Therefore, this research provides a new idea for designing a metal sulfide composite carbon material with a controllable structure and applying it to energy storage equipment.

ANTI-CORROSION PROTECTION OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT

Corrosion of metals is a key problem for military equipment, weapons and ammunition. Its pernicious impact leads to losses of both the metal itself and the fact that corrosion wear of parts of mechanisms, assemblies reduce the accuracy and reliability of their action, as a result, and the readiness of the equipment. Therefore, protection against corrosive destruction of military equipment, weapons and ammunition is an urgent aim of today.
 To prevent corrosion processes, a rational method of protection is the use of inhibitors, which, at low capital costs, prevent the destruction of equipment, structures and mechanisms. Therefore, inhibitors are added to some lubricating oils that have long-term contact with metals and alloys, and wear of parts as a result, corrosion is reduced. Such lubricants can be used as corrosion protection by applying them on a metal surface. Inhibitors based on mustard oil are designed to protect the surfaces of steel equipment and communications operated in acidic and neutral working environments and have a high protective effect – 95-99.5%.
 The article considers the issues of anticorrosion protection increase of steel surfaces by introducing an effective environmentally-safe corrosion inhibitor into the composition of anti-friction lubricant used in the operation and storage of military equipment, weapons and ammunition. The introduction of the inhibitor increases the anti- corrosion properties of the lubricant by forming a protective adsorption film on the steel surface that prevents the corrosion activators from accessing the metal, which is confirmed by the results of the electronic spectrometry.

Optimal Allocation Method of Source and Storage Capacity of PV-Hydrogen Zero Carbon Emission Microgrid Considering the Usage Cost of Energy Storage Equipment

Aiming to meet the low-carbon demands of power generation in the process of carbon peaking and carbon neutralization, this paper proposes an optimal PV-hydrogen zero carbon emission microgrid. The light–electricity–hydrogen coupling utilization mode is adopted. The hydrogen-based energy system replaces the carbon-based energy system to realize zero carbon emissions. Firstly, the mathematical models of photovoltaic, hydrogen and electric energy storage systems in a microgrid are built. Then, the optimal allocation model of the microgrid source storage capacity is established, and a scheduling strategy considering the minimum operational cost of energy storage equipment is proposed. The priority of equipment output is determined by comparing the operational costs of the hydrogen energy storage system and the electric energy storage system. Finally, the proposed scheme is compared with the scheduling scheme of the battery priority and the hydrogen energy system priority in an actual microgrid. It is verified that the scheme can ensure stable power-generating, zero carbon operation of a microgrid system while reducing the total annual power costs by 9.8% and 25.1%, respectively.

Phthalocyanine-supported single-atom catalysts as a promising bifunctional electrocatalyst for ORR/OER: A computational study

• A new class of TM-Pc-based electrocatalysts was proposed. • These TM-Pc materials exhibit high stability and excellent properties. • Ir-Pc performs as an efficient ORR/OER bifunctional catalyst. • The high catalytic activity of Ir-Pc can be ascribed to its optimal binding strength with oxygenated intermediates. Developing excellent performance catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is fundamental for the commercialization of energy transduction and storage equipment. In our works, the potential of plenty of transition metals (TMs) anchored on phthalocyanine (TM-Pc) (TM = Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Mo, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Re, Os, Ir, and Pt) as electrocatalysts for the ORR/OER was systematically explored through synthetic density functional theory (DFT) computations. These TM-Pc candidates exhibited high electrochemical stability owing to the intense binding among the anchored TM and the Pc-based substrate. Interestingly, the free energy profiles showed that Ir-Pc can be performed as an outstanding bifunctional electrocatalyst for ORR/OER due to its ultralow overpotentials ( η ORR = 0.46 V and η OER = 0.23 V), which can be reasonably explained by energetic and electronic descriptors. The present findings not only expand the database of single-atom catalysts (SACs), but also open the way for the reasonable design and development of advanced electrocatalysts for renewable energy technology.

Perceiving Effect of Environmental Factors on Prevalence of SARS-Cov-2 Virus and Using Health Strategies: A Review

Newly emerged SARS-CoV-2 virus has been identified in China since 2019 and is still progressing as a tense threat to the human health worldwide. This virus can cause an acute respiratory infection and lead to death under acute circumstances. To describe the environmental factors affecting the prevalence of the disease as well as make an appropriate health strategy, some databases were reviewed. Coronavirus is mainly transmitted by direct contact through respiratory droplets. It can also be transmitted through secondary routes such as air, close contact and contaminated surfaces. The transmission through food has not been conclusively proven, but there are concerns about the food preparation, storage, infected staffs and improper use of personal protective equipment as the source of infection. Some possible sources of transmission are the contaminated water and sewage, especially in the areas where patients have the symptoms of diarrhea and vomiting. In this study, we described the essential strategies in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19 disease. Based on the most important criteria, this study developed a prevention model and health strategy including updated training information, improvement programs, risk assessment, environmental monitoring, operational measures as well as supportive approaches and programs, which can be used step by step to reach a healthy environment, increase the compliance with protocols and, eventually, decrease the incidence of COVID-19.

P055 ‘Silver Lining’: Encouraging Outcomes and Perceived Best Practices for Child Nutrition Directors During COVID-19 Pandemic

BackgroundCOVID-19 pandemic school shutdowns impacted child food security. Resilient school meal programs are imperative to cope and persist through shocks and stressors.ObjectiveTo explore unforeseen positive outcomes and determine best practices during the COVID-19 pandemic for child nutrition directors in Mississippi (MS), Louisiana (LA), and West Virginia (WV).Study Design, Setting, ParticipantsA semi-structured focus group discussion guide was developed based on the resilience capacity model (RCM). Four focus group discussions with child nutrition directors (n = 16) from MS, LA, and WV were conducted to elicit directors’ perceptions of encouraging outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic and best practices for building resilient school meal programs.Measurable Outcome/AnalysisThe discussion guide was tested for content validation by subject experts and face validation by testing the guide in one focus group discussion session. The primary researcher developed a codebook based on the conceptual RCM. Two researchers independently reviewed and coded transcripts to assess interrater reliability. Predominant themes were identified using an inductive and deductive content analysis approach.ResultsEncouraging outcomes included acknowledgment of school nutrition staff as essential workers and recognition of child nutrition programs as important for child food security. Best practices recommended by child nutrition directors include effective communication and networking among all personnel from policymakers to staff involved in food preparation and distribution, revision of standard operating procedures to include disaster/pandemic related mitigation strategies, taking initiatives to improve school meal provision process, and emergency management training for everyone involved in school meal provision process. Director recommendations included: in-class food distribution, increased food storage, preparation, and distribution equipment, and developing a best practices policy document for each state with a comprehensive plan for emergency management situations.ConclusionsFuture emergency school nutrition policies should encourage efficient communication, revision of existing standard operating procedures, and implement training for all school nutrition personnel.FundingAchieving Equity Investment Grant 2021 (University of Mississippi)

Assessment of Physical and Thermal Properties of Velvet Bean (Mucuna pruriens) as Potentials for Development of Processing Machines

The engineering properties of food materials have helped design, develop, and select suitable equipment for preservation, processing, packaging, and storage of food material, including velvet bean, an underutilised legume. Therefore, this research work is aimed at assessing the influence of moisture variation on some engineering properties of velvet beans. The velvet bean seed used was conditioned to moisture content ranging between 8.12 and 28.21 % to determine some selected physical properties. The thermal properties were determined using a KD2-Pro thermal analyser. The physical properties results indicated that the arithmetic mean, geometric mean, volume, and surface area increased with varying moisture content while there was a decrease in the sphericity and aspect ratio. Thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat capacity ranged from 0.18 to 0.65 W/mK, 1.2×10-7 to 3.1×10-7 m2/s and 1.57 to 2.16 kJ/kgK, respectively. The physical and thermal properties of the seeds were measured and their respective high correlation coefficients indicate that they can be used to simulate these parameters within the moisture domain investigated. The physical and thermal properties of velvet bean differ significantly with moisture contents. The information obtained on some engineering properties of velvet bean seeds could help design processing machinery and optimise milling operations.

Design of Affordable Cold Storage for Horticulture Products (Urban Farming “Mom's Farm” in Sampora Village)

Growing the world’s population to almost 9.7 billion by 2050 will continue to address the challenges facing the food and agriculture sector. The aim of this study is to reduce food losses in Sampora Village, Cisauk – South Tangerang by creating an affordable cold-storage of Modified Atmosphere Storage (MAS) equipment with a capacity of 4.77 m3 so that it can increase the quality of food for a longer period without deterioration of the horticultural products stored. Temperature control, humidity control, air circulation, maintenance of space between containers for adequate ventilation, total capacity, dimensions, efficiency, development costs, durability, performance, and features are involved in the design. This cold storage is designed with a Design Thinking method. A qualitative research was conducted through interviews to gain insight and synthesize the needs. The selection prototype concept was chosen by the Pugh Matrix and finally this study proposed in an affordable cold-storage technology.