1,720,966 research outputs found

    Gas turbine combined cycle start-up and stress evaluation: A simplified dynamic approach

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    The main topic of this work is the development and validation of a simplified approach for the dynamic analysis of a Gas Turbine Combined Cycle (GTCC), with a particular focus on start-up procedure and associated mechanical stresses on the steam turbine (ST). The currently deregulated energy market led GTCC to undergo frequent startups, a condition often not considered during plant design. Moreover, the time required for the start-up is crucial under an economical viewpoint, though it is constrained by mechanical stresses imposed to thick components by thermal gradients. The framework proposed in this work aims to improve the accessibility to simulation software by applying commonly used office suite â Microsoft Excel/Visual Basic â with acceptable reduction in accuracy. Simplicity of model allow fast computation and its exploitation can be pursued by non-qualified plant operators. The obtained tool can be than adopted to support decision process during plant operations. The developed tool has been validated for a hot start-up against field measurements supplied by Tirreno Power S.p.A. Italy. Data are recorded through control and monitoring sensors of a 390 MW multi-shaft combined cycle based on the GT AEN94.3 A4 frame, but the results can be easily generalized to other layouts. Simulation result and stress evaluations around the steam turbine (ST) rotor show good agreement with experimental data

    Development and installation of control system for a test rig interconnecting a micro Gas Turbine, a Heat Pump and a PCM Storage system

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    The need to enhance flexibility on current power plant is linked to the strong penetration of non-dispatchable sources in the current energy network, which causes a dramatic need for ancillary services to sustain the grid operability. A framework including a micro Gas Turbine (mGT), a Heat Pump (HP) and a PCM Storage is considered to enhance plant flexibility while facing grid and price fluctuations during day operations. The system so composed is devoted to electrical energy production only. A proper use of the HP allows, for instance, to heat up the compressor intake temperature whilst the system is operating at minimum load. The system can then produce a lower amount of energy in order to be more competitive in the infra-day energy market. At the same time, the cold storage is charged and the stored energy can be later used to power up the system during the peak hours by cooling the compressor intake. This work presents then the installation of the control system devoted to the management and the control of such complex system. The test-bed is defined to test different operating conditions and to validate the operating framework of the whole compound

    Advanced Control System for Grid-Connected SOFC Hybrid Plants: Experimental Verification in Cyber-Physical Mode

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    This paper presents a Model Predictive Controller (MPC) operating an SOFC Gas Turbine hybrid plant at end-of-life performance condition. Its performance was assessed with experimental tests showing a comparison with a Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) control system. The hybrid system operates in grid-connected mode, i.e. at variable speed condition of the turbine. The control system faces a multivariable constrained problem, as it must operate the plant into safety conditions while pursuing its objectives. The goal is to test whether a linearized controller design for normal operating condition is able to govern a system which is affected by strong performance degradation. The control performance was demonstrated in a cyber-physical emulator test rig designed for experimental analyses on such hybrid systems. This laboratory facility is based on the coupling of a 100 kW recuperated microturbine with a fuel cell emulation system based on vessels for both anodic and cathodic sides. The components not physically present in the rig were studied with a real-time model running in parallel with the plant. Model output values were used as set-point data for obtaining in the rig (in real-time mode) the effect of the fuel cell system. The result comparison of the MPC tool against a PID control system was carried out considering several plant properties and the related constraints. Both systems succeeded in managing the plant, still the MPC performed better in terms of smoothing temperature gradient and peaks

    Gas Turbine Combined Cycle Flexibility: A Dynamic Model for Compressor Intake Conditioning Through a Heat-Pump

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    The flexibility of power plants is a critical feature in energy production environments nowadays, due to the high share of nondispatchable renewables. This fact dramatically increases the number of daily startups and load variations of power plants, pushing the current technologies to operate out of their optimal range. Furthermore, ambient conditions significantly influence the actual plant performance, creating deviations against the energy sold during the day-ahead and reducing the profit margins for the operators. A solution to reduce the impact of unpredicted ambient conditions, and to increase the flexibility margins of existing combined cycles, is represented by the possibility of dynamically controlling the temperature at compressor intake. At present, cooling down the compressor intake is a common practice to govern combined cycle performance in hot regions such as the Middle East and Africa, while heating up the compressor intake is commonly adopted to reduce the minimum environmental load (MEL). However, such applications involve relatively slow regulation of air intake, mainly coping with extreme operating conditions. The use of continuously varying, at a relatively quick pace, the air temperature at compressor intake, to mitigate ambient condition fluctuations and to cope with electrical market requirements, involves proper modeling of the combined cycle dynamic behavior, including the short-term and long-term impacts of intake air temperature variations. This work presents a dynamic modeling framework for the whole combined cycle applied to one of IREN Energia's Combined Cycle Units. The paper encloses the model validation against field data of the target power plant. The validated model is then used to show the potential in flexibility augmentation of properly adjusting the compressor intake temperature during operation

    A Simplified Hybrid Approach to Dynamic Model a Real HRSG

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    This paper proposes a dynamic simplified approach to model a Heat Recovery Steam Generator of a Gas Turbine Combined Cycle (GTCC) and its validation against field data. The adopted framework begins with some physical considerations on global HRSG structure, and then focuses on a specific application for a real plant, i.e. a 390 MW multi-shaft combined cycle based on the AEN94.3 A4 frame. Moreover the model embodies some parameters, which are easily derived from historical data to enhance the forecasting capabilities of the software, resulting in a hybrid model which covers a high range of working conditions. The whole model is designed to run in Excel/Visual Basic environment to allow for extended use by people who have limited experience in advanced modelling software. The model so created has been handled through a training process based on 10 days of experimental data, in order to create the basis for true system flexibility. Therefore, the feasibility of this approach has been verified using a Gas Turbine (GT) load profile accomplished in everyday working operations and validating the results against field data

    Advanced Control for Clusters of SOFC/Gas Turbine Hybrid Systems

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    The use of model predictive control (MPC) in advanced power systems can be advantageous in controlling highly coupled variables and optimizing system operations. Solid oxide fuel cell/gas turbine (SOFC/GT) hybrids are an example where advanced control techniques can be effectively applied. For example, to manage load distribution among several identical generation units characterized by different temperature distributions due to different degradation paths of the fuel cell stacks. When implementing an MPC, a critical aspect is the trade-off between model accuracy and simplicity, the latter related to a fast computational time. In this work, a hybrid physical and numerical approach was used to reduce the number of states necessary to describe such complex target system. The reduced number of states in the model and the simple framework allow real-time performance and potential extension to a wide range of power plants for industrial application, at the expense of accuracy losses, discussed in the paper.</jats:p

    Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis

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    The present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis

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    We provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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