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At least 397 records · Page 22

Geomagnetically Induced Current Field Test on Large Grid-Connected Power Transformers: Analysis, Model Development, and Simulations

Geomagnetic-induced current (GIC) flow in power grids can cause undesirable effects such as transformer overheating, harmonics, higher reactive power demand, etc. Many simulation models have been developed to study these effects, but real-world verification on modern transformer designs is rare. Here, this paper presents the first long-duration GIC field test in the U.S. performed on high-voltage, grid-connected transformers featuring winding clamps and tie rods instead of conventional tie bars. Field measurements were taken to evaluate GIC effects. These measurements also aided in developing and validating thermal and electromagnetic transient (EMT) models of the transformers. During the test, significant current and voltage distortions were observed along with considerable transformer reactive power losses. Analysis of the field measurements showed that the transformers’ hottest spot was at the inner windings, and their k-factors were close to factory test and software default values. Thermal simulations indicated that the transformers would not violate their thermal limits even for a GIC waveform that peaks at about 200 A/phase. EMT simulations revealed that increased transformer loading may reduce GIC-induced reactive power demand and harmonics in certain scenarios. The study also highlighted potential inaccuracies in using the k-factor method to calculate transformer reactive power losses.

EMTDC↗

Combining Simulation and Emulation Systems for Smart Grid Planning and Evaluation

Software-defined networking (SDN) enables efficient network management. As the technology matures, utilities are looking to integrate those benefits to their operations technology (OT) networks. To help the community to better understand and evaluate the effects of such integration, we develop DSSnet, a testing platform that combines a power distribution system simulator and an SDN-based network emulator for smart grid planning and evaluation. DSSnet relies on a container-based virtual time system to achieve efficient synchronization between the simulation and emulation systems. To enhance the system scalability and usability, we extend DSSnet to support a distributed controller environment. To enhance system fidelity, we extend the virtual time system to support kernel-based switches. In conclusion, we also evaluate the system performance of DSSnet and demonstrate the usability of DSSnet with a resilient demand response application case study.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Sources and pathways of the upscale effects on the Southern Hemisphere jet in MPAS-CAM4 variable-resolution simulations

Impacts of regional grid refinement on large-scale circulations (“upscale effects”) were detected in a previous study that used the Model for Prediction Across Scales-Atmosphere coupled to the physics parameterizations of the Community Atmosphere Model version 4. The strongest upscale effect was identified in the Southern Hemisphere jet during austral winter. This study examines the detailed underlying processes by comparing two simulations at quasi-uniform resolutions of 30 and 120 km to three variable-resolution simulations in which the horizontal grids are regionally refined to 30 km in North America, South America, or Asia from 120 km elsewhere. In all the variable-resolution simulations, precipitation increases in convective areas inside the high-resolution domains, as in the reference quasi-uniform high-resolution simulation. With grid refinement encompassing the tropical Americas, the increased condensational heating expands the local divergent circulations (Hadley cell) meridionally such that their descending branch is shifted poleward, which also pushes the baroclinically unstable regions, momentum flux convergence, and the eddy-driven jet poleward. This teleconnection pathway is not found in the reference high-resolution simulation due to a strong resolution sensitivity of cloud radiative forcing that dominates the aforementioned teleconnection signals. The regional refinement over Asia enhances Rossby wave sources and strengthens the upper level southerly flow, both facilitating the cross-equatorial propagation of stationary waves. Evidence indicates that this teleconnection pathway is also found in the reference high-resolution simulation. Lastly, the result underlines the intricate diagnoses needed to understand the upscale effects in global variable-resolution simulations, with implications for science investigations using the computationally efficient modeling framework.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Experiences Integrating Transmission and Distribution Simulations for DERs with the Integrated Grid Modeling System (IGMS)

This paper discusses the development of, approaches for, experiences with, and some results from a large-scale, high-performance-computer-based (HPC-based) co-simulation of electric power transmission and distribution systems using the Integrated Grid Modeling System (IGMS). IGMS was developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as a novel Independent System Operator (ISO)-to-appliance scale electric power system modeling platform that combines off-the-shelf tools to simultaneously model 100s to 1000s of distribution systems in co-simulation with detailed ISO markets, transmission power flows, and AGC-level reserve deployment. Lessons learned from the co-simulation architecture development are shared, along with a case study that explores the reactive power impacts of PV inverter voltage support on the bulk power system.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

Evaluation of the Impact of Horizontal Grid Spacing in Terra Incognita on Coupled Mesoscale–Microscale Simulations Using the WRF Framework

Coupled mesoscale-microscale simulations are required to provide time-varying weather-dependent inflow and forcing for large-eddy simulations under general flow conditions. Such coupling necessarily spans a wide range of spatial scales (i.e., ~10 m to ~10 km). In this paper, we use simulations that involve multiple nested domains with horizontal grid spacings in the terra incognita (i.e., ≲km) that may affect simulated conditions in both the outer and inner domains. We examine the impact on simulated wind speed and turbulence associated with forcing provided by a terrain with grid spacing in the terra incognita. We perform a suite of simulations that use combinations of varying horizontal grid spacings and turbulence parameterization/modeling using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model using a combination of planetary boundary layer (PBL) and large-eddy simulation subgrid-scale (LES-SGS) models. The results are analyzed in terms of spectral energy, turbulence kinetic energy, and proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) energy. The results show that the output from the microscale domain depends on the type of turbulence model (e.g., PBL or LES-SGS model) used for a given horizontal grid spacing but is independent of the horizontal grid spacing and turbulence modeling of the parent domain. Simulation using a single domain produced less POD energy in the first few modes compared to a coupled simulation (one-way nesting) for similar horizontal grid spacing, which highlights that coupled simulations are required to accurately pass the mesoscale features into the microscale domain.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Equivalent-Circuit Models of Grid-Forming IBRs for Electromagnetic-Transient Simulations

We derive equivalent-circuit models of control- and physical-layer subsystems of grid-forming (GFM) inverter-based resources (IBRs) for electromagnetic-transient (EMT) simulations. Three different primary controllers are considered: Droop, Virtual Synchronous Machine (VSM), and dispatchable Virtual Oscillator Control (dVOC). In addition, the models include cascaded voltage- and current-control loops, and LCL output filters. Simulations for a single-inverter setup and for a network of five inverters in a modified IEEE 14-bus topology are presented. The equivalent-circuit models simulated with analog electronic circuit-simulator software (in our case, LTspice) offer the same accuracy, and with no explicit tuning of the solver, lower computational burden compared to block-diagram-based implementations in commercial off-the-shelf EMT software (in our case, MATLAB-Simulink).

electromagnetic transient simulation↗

LLNL Kimberlina 1.2 NUFT Simulations June 2018 (v2)

This dataset contains the output 6,000, 3-dimensional reactive multi-phase flow and transport aquifer simulations of brine and CO2 leakage into a protective aquiver in California’s San Joaquin Valley and input data files detailing the geologic mesh, aquifer physical properties and CO2 and brine injection rates. This data set was generated as an ongoing effort with the US DOE National Risk Assessment Partnership (NRAP) to evaluate the effectiveness of monitoring techniques to detect brine and CO2 leakage from legacy wells into underground sources of drinking water overlaying a CO2 storage reservoir. Each simulation contains a unique set of input parameters, generated stochastically. The outputs consist of these upper three geologic layers (from top): the Etchegoin, Macoma-Chanac, Santa Margarita-McLure formations. These simulations span the several distances (1, 3 and 6 km or wells W31-0.2, W31-0.5 and W31-1.0, respectively) from the CO2 injector, initiated from bottom hole pressure and saturation to calculate wellbore leakage from the storage reservoir, with low and high regional groundwater gradients and wellbore leakage into 5 leaky nodes. The dataset includes 1,000 unique simulations for each distance, which each contain a unique aquifer heterogeneity, aquifer and caprock permeability, and two model generations are included with a high permeability (prod07) and hybrid permeability (prod09). The range of permeability distributions is listed in Table 1. Each model generation consists of 3,000 simulations. Included in the dataset are the leakage rates determined from 2D wellbore models which utilize the pressure and CO2 saturation from LBL's reservoir simulations, NUFT mesh files with distributed lithology, NUFT rocktab files which describe the material properties for the geologic layers and the NUFT input files and post-processed output 'ntab' files. Each ntab file contains spatial (rows) and temporal (columns) model output tables for each model cell, the locations (x,y,z) and dimensions for each cells (dx, dy, dz). Table 1. Permeability distribution ranges for prod07 and prod09 model generations Geologic Layer: Permeability Range (log10 m^2) prod07 prod09 Etchegoin -12.92 to -10.92 -13.70 to -11.44 Macoma-Chanac -12.72 to -10.72 -13.50 to -11.24 Santa Margarita-McLure -12.70 to -10.70 -13.48 to -11.22 The input files used to generate the model include which are included in the dataset are: Time series of CO2 leakage input into the model (ex: Q_brn.W31-0.2.sim1000.layers123.tab) Time series of CO2 leakage input into the model (ex: Q_CO2.W31-0.2.sim1000.layers123.tab) Physical properties of the aquifer materials detailing the aquifer porosity, solid density, partitioning coefficients, permeabilities and van-Genuchten parameters detailed in a NUFT rocktab file: (ex: sim1000.usnt.rocktab) Numerical mesh and geologic data assigned to each model cell detailed in a NUFT genmsh format (ex: sim1000.mesh_k16.prod07.trans.genmsh) The primary output parameters are: pH (use absolute value) Change in TDS (mg/kg) Change in Pressure (Pa) Change CO2 gas saturation (fraction range 0.0-1.0) for example, the directory /p/lscratchh/mansoor1/nrap/kimberlina/prod09/mainfiles/sim1000/W31- 0.2 contains: sim1000.W31-0.2.trans.pH.red.ntab sim1000.W31-0.2.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab sim1000.W31-0.2.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab sim1000.W31-0.2.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab Each row in the NTAB files consist of model output per numerical grid cell. Each output file contains 33 columns (variables), including the information of numerical records, geologic location and sizes and the simulated parameter values over time. The first 13 variables are about numerical records and relative geologic information for a simulation grid: 1. index: simulation index 2. i: the ith grid of x-axis 3. j: the ith grid of y-axis 4. k: the ith grid of z-axis 5. element_ref: element reference 6. nuft_ind: nuft index 7. x: grid location in the x axis direction 8. y: grid location in the y axis direction 9. z: grid location in the z axis direction 10. dx: grid length in the x axis direction 11. dy: grid length in the y axis direction 12. dz: grid length in the z axis direction 13. volume: volume of the simulation grid The remainder (14, 15, 16...) variables are the simulated parameter values over time, take Pressure as an example, are: 14. 0.0y: initial pressure per cell. 15. 10.0y: simulated pressure at the end of the 10th year. 16. 20.0y: simulated pressure at the end of the 20th year. ... (repeated for every 10 years until 200 years)... The model extends 10,000 m, 5,000 m and 1,411 m in the x,y and z dimensions, respectively. The mesh consists of 164,832 cells with mesh dimensions of 101 x 51 x 32 (nx, ny, nz), with cell dimensions ranging from 100 m laterally (along x and y-axis) and model layers are as designated in the z-axis: Layer 1: atmosphere (1e-30 m thick) Layer 2: upper caprock (10 m thick) Layers 3-13: Etchegoin (536.23 m thck) Layers 14-27: Macoma-Chanac (679.04 m thick) Layers 28-32: Santa Margarita-McLure (185.94 m thick) The wellbore is placed along node i=51, j=26, and extends vertically along 5 nodes from the top to the bottom of the model. Special instructions when extracting files: Each Gzip archive (ex: prod07.sim1000-sim00099.tar.gz) contains 100 simulations. Gzip archives should be transferred into base directories (ie. In Linux: mkdir prod07; mv prod07.*.tar.gz prod07/.) before extracting, or files will be overwritten. Each sub-simulation tree should have the following file structure pattern (using the linux 'tree' command): |-- prod07 | |-- sim0001 | |-- W31-0.2 | | |-- Q_brn.W31-0.2.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- Q_co2.W31-0.2.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.trans.pH.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.2.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab | |-- W31-0.5 | | |-- Q_brn.W31-0.5.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- Q_co2.W31-0.5.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.trans.pH.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-0.5.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab | |-- W31-1.0 | | |-- Q_brn.W31-1.0.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- Q_co2.W31-1.0.sim0001.layers123.tab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.no_bg.trans.TDS.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.trans.pH.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.usnt.CO2_sat.deltabg.red.ntab | | |-- sim0001.W31-1.0.usnt.P.deltabg.red.ntab | |-- sim0001.mesh_k16.prod07.trans.genmsh Disclaimer This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. Neither the United States government nor Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, nor any of their employees makes any warranty, expressed or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States government or Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by Lawrence Livermore National Security, LLC, for the U.S. Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. This report was reviewed and released as LLNL-MI-753464.

aquifer↗

Is there a single spot size and grid for intensity modulated proton therapy? Simulation of head and neck, prostate and mesothelioma cases

Purpose: To assess the quality of dose distributions in real clinical cases for different dimensions of scanned proton pencil beams. The distance between spots (i.e., the grid of delivery) is optimized for each dimension of the pencil beam. Methods: The authors vary the {sigma} of the initial Gaussian size of the spot, from {sigma}{sub x} = {sigma}{sub y} = 3 mm to {sigma}{sub x} = {sigma}{sub y} = 8 mm, to evaluate the impact of the proton beam size on the quality of intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) plans. The distance between spots, {Delta}x and {Delta}y, is optimized on the spot plane, ranging from 4 to 12 mm (i.e., each spot size is coupled with the best spot grid resolution). In our Hyperion treatment planning system (TPS), constrained optimization is applied with respect to the organs at risk (OARs), i.e., the optimization tries to satisfy the dose objectives in the planning target volume (PTV) as long as all planning objectives for the OARs are met. Three-field plans for a nasopharynx case, two-field plans for a prostate case, and two-field plans for a malignant pleural mesothelioma case are considered in our analysis. Results: For the head and neck tumor, the best grids (i.e., distance between spots) are 5, 4, 6, 6, and 8 mm for {sigma} = 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 mm, respectively. {sigma} {<=} 5 mm is required for tumor volumes with low dose and {sigma}{<=} 4 mm for tumor volumes with high dose. For the prostate patient, the best grid is 4, 4, 5, 5, and 5 mm for {sigma} = 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 mm, respectively. Beams with {sigma} > 3 mm did not satisfy our first clinical requirement that 95% of the prescribed dose is delivered to more than 95% of prostate and proximal seminal vesicles PTV. Our second clinical requirement, to cover the distal seminal vesicles PTV, is satisfied for beams as wide as {sigma} = 6 mm. For the mesothelioma case, the low dose PTV prescription is well respected for all values of {sigma}, while there is loss of high dose PTV coverage for {sigma} > 5 mm. The best grids have a spacing of 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 mm for {sigma} = 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8 mm, respectively. Conclusions: The maximum acceptable proton pencil beam {sigma} depends on the volume treated, the protocol of delivery, and optimization of the plan. For the clinical cases, protocol and optimization used in this analysis, acceptable {sigma}s are {<=} 4 mm for the head and neck tumor, {<=} 3 mm for the prostate tumor and {<=} 6 mm for the malignant pleural mesothelioma. One can apply the same procedure used in this analysis when given a ''class'' of patients, a {sigma} and a clinical protocol to determine the optimal grid spacing.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

A Hubble Space Telescope Survey for Novae in M87. II. Snuffing out the Maximum Magnitude–Rate of Decline Relation for Novae as a Non-standard Candle, and a Prediction of the Existence of Ultrafast Novae

The extensive grid of numerical simulations of nova eruptions from the work of Yaron et al. first predicted that some classical novae might significantly deviate from the Maximum Magnitude–Rate of Decline (MMRD) relation, which purports to characterize novae as standard candles. Kasliwal et al. have announced the observational detection of a new class of faint, fast classical novae in the Andromeda galaxy. These objects deviate strongly from the MMRD relationship, as predicted by Yaron et al. Recently, Shara et al. reported the first detections of faint, fast novae in M87. These previously overlooked objects are as common in the giant elliptical galaxy M87 as they are in the giant spiral M31; they comprise about 40% of all classical nova eruptions and greatly increase the observational scatter in the MMRD relation. We use the extensive grid of the nova simulations of Yaron et al. to identify the underlying causes of the existence of faint, fast novae. These are systems that have accreted, and can thus eject, only very low-mass envelopes, of the order of 10{sup −7}–10{sup −8} M {sub ⊙}, on massive white dwarfs. Such binaries include, but are not limited to, the recurrent novae. These same models predict the existence of ultrafast novae that display decline times, t {sub 2,} to be as short as five hours. We outline a strategy for their future detection.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Voronoi Meshing to Accurately Capture Geological Structure in Subsurface Simulations

Mesh generation lies at the interface of geological modeling and reservoir simulation. Highly skewed or very small grid cells may be necessary to accurately capture the geometry of geological features, but the resulting poorly scaled or small grid cells can have a substantial negative impact on simulator accuracy and speed. One way to minimize numerical errors caused by gridding complex structures is to simulate on high-quality Voronoi meshes, which reduce grid orientation effects in fluid flow. This work presents a complete methodology to create Voronoi simulation grids, model fluid flow in complex geological systems, and visualize the results. A recently developed Voronoi meshing method that can automatically generate provably good unstructured meshes that conform to input surfaces creating closed volumes is used. Initially an analytical benchmark simulation is presented to validate the quality of the meshes and simulation results and demonstrate the superiority of simulation results using Voronoi meshes over flexed-hexahedral meshes on a domain with internal features. Next, meshes are created for test structures representing four of the most common geological features in the subsurface: layering, pinch-out, an interior lens that tapers to zero thickness on all sides and a fault with offset. Two benchmark flow simulations are run for each test structure. Finally, a realistic geological example for CO 2 injection into an anticline is simulated. Three realizations of the Voronoi mesh at the same resolution are generated for the simulations. Each mesh is highly refined near the injection wells and coarse in areas of less interest. These three meshes are used to model the CO 2 plume in the subsurface as it migrates to the top of the structure and then fills downward. Simulations on the meshes with randomly generated elements inside the input volumes each give slightly different fingering patterns for the viscous-unstable buoyant gas flow. The results presented in this work show a promising step towards utilizing fully automated Voronoi meshing for subsurface flow simulations in complex geology.

58 GEOSCIENCES↗

Residual estimation for grid modification in wall-modeled large eddy simulation using unstructured high-order methods

Here, the accuracy and computational cost of a large eddy simulation are highly dependent on the computational grid. Building optimal grids manually from a priori knowledge is not feasible in most practical use cases; instead, solution-adaptive strategies can provide a robust and cost-efficient method to generate a grid with the desired accuracy. We adapt the residual estimation algorithm developed by Toosi and Larsson for Discontinuous Galerkin Spectral Elements Methods (DGSEM) to guide the grid-adaptation process. The core of the method is the computation of the estimated modeling residual using the polynomial basis functions used in DGSEM, and the averaging of the estimated residual over each element. The final method is assessed in multiple channel flow test cases and for the transonic flow over an airfoil, in both cases making use of mortar interfaces between elements with hanging nodes. The method is found to be robust and reliable, and to provide solutions on grids with significantly fewer elements at comparable accuracy compared to when using human-generated grids.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

On the role of finite grid extent in SOLPS-ITER edge plasma simulations for JET H-mode discharges with metallic wall

The impact of the finite grid size in SOLPS-ITER edge plasma simulations is assessed for JET H-mode discharges with a metal wall. For a semi-horizontal divertor configuration it is shown that the separatrix density is at least 30% higher when a narrow scrape-off layer (SOL) grid width is chosen in SOLPS-ITER compared to the case for which the SOL grid width is maximised. The density increase is caused by kinetic neutrals being not confined inside the divertor region because of the reduced extent of the plasma grid. In this case, an enhanced level of reflections of energetic neutrals at the low-field side (LFS) metal divertor wall is observed. This leads to a shift of the ionisation source further upstream which must be accounted for as a numerical artefact. An overestimate in the cooling at the divertor entrance is observed in this case, identified by a reduced heat flux decay parameters λ q div . Otherwise and further upstream the mid-plane heat decay length λ q parameter is not affected by any change in divertor dissipation. This confirms the assumptions made for the ITER divertor design studies, i.e. that λ q upstream is essentially set by the assumptions for the ratio radial to parallel heat conductivity. It is also shown that even for attached conditions the decay length relations λ ne > λ Te > λ q hold in the near-SOL upstream. Thus for interpretative edge plasma simulations one must take the (experimental) value of λ ne into account, rather than λ q , as the former actually defines the required minimum upstream SOL grid extent.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗

A Machine‐Learning‐Assisted Stochastic Cloud Population Model as a Parameterization of Cumulus Convection

Abstract A machine‐learning‐assisted stochastic cloud population model is coupled with the Advanced Research Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to represent fluctuations in the cloud‐base mass flux associated with the life cycles and interactions among cumulus convection cells. In this cloud population model, the size distribution and the associated cloud‐base mass flux of the convective cells are related to their previous state and to the change in the total convective area via a transition function. The convective area tendency in turn is assumed to depend on the cloud‐base mass flux that is resolved by the host WRF model. The transition function is represented by a single hidden‐layer neural network trained by the evolution of convective cell size distributions in a 1‐km grid‐spacing WRF simulation run over the Australian Monsoon region. At every grid point of the host model, the cloud population model predicts the cell size and cloud‐base mass flux distributions from which a random sample of cells is fed to an entraining parcel model that calculates precipitation as well as the associated liquid water potential temperature and total moisture tendencies. These tendencies are averaged over the cells and provided to the host model. Several regional simulations are performed over tropical and midlatitude domains to test this as a potential approach to scale‐aware parameterization. It is shown that such an approach could be a new promising path to simulating realistic precipitation statistics and propagation of precipitation associated with the Madden‐Julian Oscillation while maintaining realistic depictions of the diurnal cycle over both land and ocean.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗

Examining System-Wide Impacts of Solar PV Control Systems with a Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Platform

High penetration levels of distributed solar PV power generation can lead to adverse power quality impacts such as excessive voltage rise, voltage flicker, and reactive power values that result in unacceptable voltage levels. Advanced inverter control schemes have been proposed that have the potential to mitigate many power quality concerns. However, closed-loop control may lead to unintended behavior in deployed systems as complex interactions can occur between numerous operating devices. In order to enable the study of the performance of advanced control schemes in a detailed distribution system environment, a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) platform has been developed. In the HIL system, GridLAB-D, a distribution system simulation tool, runs in real-time mode at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and supplies power system parameters at a point of common coupling to hardware located at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). Hardware inverters interact with grid and PV simulators emulating an operational distribution system and power output from the inverters is measured and sent to PNNL to update the real-time distribution system simulation. The platform is described and initial test cases are presented. The platform is used to study the system-wide impacts and the interactions of controls applied to inverters that are integrated into a simulation of the IEEE 8500-node test feeder, with inverters in either constant power factor control or active volt/VAR control. We demonstrate that this HIL platform is well-suited to the study of advanced inverter controls and their impacts on the power quality of a distribution feeder. Additionally, the results from HIL are used to validate GridLAB-D simulations of advanced inverter controls.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Recent Hydrodynamic Modeling Enhancements in OpenFAST

To improve the hydrodynamic modeling capabilities of the offshore wind design and modeling tool OpenFAST, a restructuring of the HydroDyn hydrodynamics module was undertaken with several new features implemented. The generation of the wave field is now separated from HydroDyn into a new module called SeaState. Unlike previous versions of HydroDyn, which precomputed the wave kinematics at the undisplaced positions of the hydrodynamic nodes, the new SeaState module computes the complete time history of the wave field at the vertices of a user-defined wave grid. During the simulation, the wave kinematics at any point within the grid can be efficiently interpolated, allowing the strip-theory wave loads to be evaluated based on the wave kinematics at the displaced structure position. A phase correction was also implemented for the potential-flow wave-exciting loads to account for large structure displacements. Several wave-stretching methods were implemented for the strip-theory solution along with a wave-load redistribution method that ensures smooth variation of the nodal loads as the nodes of a discrete hydrodynamic mesh enter and exit the water. The load smoothing is included to avoid the excitation of unphysical high-frequency structural vibration during hydroelastic simulations. The MacCamy-Fuchs diffraction correction for the strip-theory solution and the capability to insert a constrained NewWave into extreme stochastic sea states with directional spreading were also added. The present article documents the formulations of the new improvements to HydroDyn with example applications and numerical results.

constrained wave↗

Recent Hydrodynamic Modeling Enhancements in OpenFAST: Preprint

To improve the hydrodynamic modeling capabilities of the offshore wind design and modeling tool OpenFAST, a restructuring of the HydroDyn hydrodynamics module was undertaken with several new features implemented. The generation of the wave field is now separated from HydroDyn into a new module called SeaState. Unlike previous versions of HydroDyn, which precomputed the wave kinematics at the undisplaced positions of the hydrodynamic nodes, the new SeaState module computes the complete time history of the wave field at the vertices of a user-defined wave grid. During the simulation, the wave kinematics at any point within the grid can be efficiently interpolated, allowing the strip-theory wave loads to be evaluated based on the wave kinematics at the displaced structure position. A phase correction was also implemented for the potential-flow wave-exciting loads to account for large structure displacements. Several wave-stretching methods were implemented for the strip-theory solution along with a wave-load redistribution method that ensures smooth variation of the nodal loads as the nodes of a discrete hydrodynamic mesh enter and exit the water. The load smoothing is included to avoid the excitation of unphysical high-frequency structural vibration during hydroelastic simulations. The MacCamy-Fuchs diffraction correction for the strip-theory solution and the capability to insert a constrained NewWave into extreme stochastic sea states with directional spreading were also added. The present article documents the formulations of the new improvements to HydroDyn with example applications and numerical results.

constrained wave↗

Control Design and EMT Simulation Toward the Restoration of Faulted Wind-Dominant Grids

Present power engineers have been challenged to employ electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations to study the restoration of wind-dominant grids. This paper addresses this hurdle by developing strategies to: (i) reliably control the dc-link voltage of grid-forming wind turbines with dc-coupled batteries, (ii) tune controllers to stably interconnect wind power plants into a grid under recovery, and (iii) autonomously make restoration decisions if transmission faults occur during restoration. These contributions are assessed via EMT simulations of wind-dominant versions of the WSCC 9-bus grid and a 22-bus power system. Furthermore, this paper is significant to address recommendations by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation.

17 WIND ENERGY↗

Temperature and precipitation extremes in century-long gridded observations, reanalyses, and atmospheric model simulations

Knowledge about long-term changes in climate extremes is vital to better understand multidecadal climate variability and long-term changes and to place today's extreme events in a historical context. While global changes in temperature and precipitation extremes since the midtwentieth century are well studied, knowledge about century-scale changes is limited. This paper analyses a range of largely independent observations-based data sets covering 1901–2010 for long-term changes and interannual variability in daily scale temperature and precipitation extremes. We compare across data sets for consistency to ascertain our confidence in century-scale changes in extremes. We find consistent warming trends in temperature extremes globally and in most land areas over the past century. For precipitation extremes we find global tendencies toward more intense rainfall throughout much of the twentieth century; however, local changes are spatially more variable. While global time series of the different data sets agree well after about 1950, they often show different changes during the first half of the twentieth century. In regions with good observational coverage, gridded observations and reanalyses agree well throughout the entire past century. Finally, simulations with an atmospheric model suggest that ocean temperatures and sea ice may explain up to about 50% of interannual variability in the global average of temperature extremes, and about 15% in the global average of moderate precipitation extremes, but local correlations are mostly significant only in low latitudes.

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES↗