Engineering topics

Tuffner, Francis K

Publications and source records attributed to Tuffner, Francis K.

11 records

DOE OSTI2016

Thermal energy storage devices, systems, and thermal energy storage device monitoring methods

Thermal energy storage devices, systems, and thermal energy storage device monitoring methods are described. According to one aspect, a thermal energy storage device includes a reservoir configured to hold a thermal energy storage medium, a temperature control system configured to adjust a temperature of the thermal energy storage medium, and a state observation system configured to provide information regarding an energy state of the thermal energy storage device at a plurality of different moments in time.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2014

Grid regulation services for energy storage devices based on grid frequency

Disclosed herein are representative embodiments of methods, apparatus, and systems for charging and discharging an energy storage device connected to an electrical power distribution system. In one exemplary embodiment, a controller monitors electrical characteristics of an electrical power distribution system and provides an output to a bi-directional charger causing the charger to charge or discharge an energy storage device (e.g., a battery in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV)). The controller can help stabilize the electrical power distribution system by increasing the charging rate when there is excess power in the electrical power distribution system (e.g., when the frequency of an AC power grid exceeds an average value), or by discharging power from the energy storage device to stabilize the grid when there is a shortage of power in the electrical power distribution system (e.g., when the frequency of an AC power grid is below an average value).

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2013

Grid regulation services for energy storage devices based on grid frequency

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2012

Battery charging control methods, electric vehicle charging methods, battery charging apparatuses and rechargeable battery systems

Battery charging control methods, electric vehicle charging methods, battery charging apparatuses and rechargeable battery systems. According to one aspect, a battery charging control method includes accessing information regarding a presence of at least one of a surplus and a deficiency of electrical energy upon an electrical power distribution system at a plurality of different moments in time, and using the information, controlling an adjustment of an amount of the electrical energy provided from the electrical power distribution system to a rechargeable battery to charge the rechargeable battery.

25 ENERGY STORAGE↗

DOE OSTI2011

The Influence of Topology Changes on Inter-area Oscillation Modes and Mode Shapes

The topology of a power grid network is a piece of critical information for power grid operations. Different power grid topologies can change grid characteristics, inter-area oscillation modes, mode shapes, and even the robustness of the power system. This paper presents some preliminary study results, based on an approved WECC operating case and a modified low damping WECC system, to show the impact of topology changes resulting from N-1 contingencies on power system modes and mode shapes. The results show that topology changes can have very different impact on modal properties in a power system: some result in unstable situation, while others can improve small signal stability. For the former, the studies show about 4.5% damping reduction, so 5% damping margin would be required to ensure the system can sustain the contingencies. For the latter, those topology changes could be used as a control method to improve small signal stability. Mode shapes normally do not change when there is an N-1 topology change. These observations suggest that the inclusion of topological information is useful for improving the accuracy and effectiveness of power system control schemes.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Effects of Distributed Energy Resources on Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR)

Conservation Voltage Reduction (CVR) is one of the cheapest technologies which can be intelligently leveraged to provide considerable energy savings. The addition of renewables in the form of distributed resources can affect the entire power system, but more importantly, affects the traditional substation control schemes at the distribution level. This paper looks at the effect on energy consumption, peak load reduction, and voltage profile changes due to the addition of distributed generation in a distribution feeder using combinations of volt var control. An IEEE 13-node system is used to simulate the various cases. Energy savings and peak load reduction for different simulation scenarios are compared.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Using Electric Vehicles to Mitigate Imbalance Requirements Associated with an Increased Penetration of Wind Generation

The integration of variable renewable generation sources continues to be a significant area of focus for power system planning. Renewable portfolio standards and initiatives to reduce the dependency on foreign energy sources drive much of the deployment. Unfortunately, renewable energy generation sources like wind and solar tend to be highly variable in nature. To counter the energy imbalance caused by this variability, wind generation often requires additional balancing resources to compensate for the variability in the electricity production. With the expected electrification of transportation, electric vehicles may offer a new load resource for meeting all, or part, of the imbalance created by the renewable generation. This paper investigates a regulation-services-based battery charging method on a population of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles to meet the power imbalance requirements associated with the introduction of 11 GW of additional wind generation into the Northwest Power Pool. It quantifies the number of vehicles required to meet the imbalance requirements under various charging assumptions.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Vehicle to Grid Communication Standards Development, Testing and Validation - Status Report

In the US, more than 10,000 electric vehicles (EV) have been delivered to consumers during the first three quarters of 2011. A large majority of these vehicles are battery electric, often requiring 220 volt charging. Though the vehicle manufacturers and charging station manufacturers have provided consumers options for charging preferences, there are no existing communications between consumers and the utilities to manage the charging demand. There is also wide variation between manufacturers in their approach to support vehicle charging. There are in-vehicle networks, charging station networks, utility networks each using either cellular, Wi-Fi, ZigBee or other proprietary communication technology with no standards currently available for interoperability. The current situation of ad-hoc solutions is a major barrier to the wide adoption of electric vehicles. SAE, the International Standards Organization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC), ANSI, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and several industrial organizations are working towards the development of interoperability standards. PNNL has participated in the development and testing of these standards in an effort to accelerate the adoption and development of communication modules.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2011

ANALYSIS OF DISTRIBUTION FEEDER LOSSES DUE TO ADDITION OF DISTRIBUTED PHOTOVOLTAIC GENERATORS

Distributed generators (DG) are small scale power supplying sources owned by customers or utilities and scattered throughout the power system distribution network. Distributed generation can be both renewable and non-renewable. Addition of distributed generation is primarily to increase feeder capacity and to provide peak load reduction. However, this addition comes with several impacts on the distribution feeder. Several studies have shown that addition of DG leads to reduction of feeder loss. However, most of these studies have considered lumped load and distributed load models to analyze the effects on system losses, where the dynamic variation of load due to seasonal changes is ignored. It is very important for utilities to minimize the losses under all scenarios to decrease revenue losses, promote efficient asset utilization, and therefore, increase feeder capacity. This paper will investigate an IEEE 13-node feeder populated with photovoltaic generators on detailed residential houses with water heater, Heating Ventilation and Air conditioning (HVAC) units, lights, and other plug and convenience loads. An analysis of losses for different power system components, such as transformers, underground and overhead lines, and triplex lines, will be performed. The analysis will utilize different seasons and different solar penetration levels (15%, 30%).

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Deriving Optimal Operational Rules for Mitigating Inter-area Oscillations

This paper introduces a new method to mitigate inter-area oscillations of a large scale interconnected power system by means of generation re-dispatch. The optimal operational control procedures are derived as the shortest distance from the current operating condition to a desired damping ratio of the oscillation mode by adjusting generator outputs. A sensitivity based method is used to select the most effective generators for generation re-dispatch and decision tree is trained to approximate the security boundary in a space characterized by the selected generators. The optimal operational rules can be found by solving an optimization problem where the boundary constraints are provided by the decision tree rules. This method is tested on a Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) 179-bus simplified network model and simulation results have demonstrated the proof of concept and shown promising application in real time operation.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2011

Energy Storage for Variable Renewable Energy Resource Integration - A Regional Assessment for the Northwest Power Pool (NWPP)

This paper addresses the following key questions in the discussion on the integration of renewable energy resources in the Pacific Northwest power grid: a) what will be the future balancing requirement to accommodate a simulated expansion of wind energy resources from 3.3 GW in 2008 to 14.4 GW in 2019 in the Northwest Power Pool (NWPP), and b) what are the most cost effective technological solutions for meeting the balancing requirements in the Northwest Power Pool (NWPP). A life-cycle analysis was performed to assess the least-cost technology option for meeting the new balancing requirement. The technologies considered in this study include conventional turbines (CT), sodium sulfur (NaS) batteries, lithium ion (Li-ion) batteries, pumped hydro energy storage (PH), and demand response (DR). Hybrid concepts that combine 2 or more of the technologies above are also evaluated. This analysis was performed with collaboration by the Bonneville Power Administration and funded by the Energy Storage Systems Program of the U.S. Department of Energy.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗