M. Pasquali

Use of electrochemical storage in substations to enhance energy and cost efficiency of tramways

This paper evaluates, in a case study with real data, the advantages of using regenerative braking in a tram line, both in case of non-reversible substations and substations equipped with battery energy storage. It shows that the addition of storage enhances energy efficiency a lot, and therefore this is a very cost-effective solution.

Design procedures of lithium-ion battery systems: The application to a cable railway

The paper reports about a study that ENEA has been carrying out on the use of a storage system, composed by lithium batteries, in a cable railway plant, by presenting the design phase and the starting field tests. Following a preliminary study on a complete lithium-ion battery system, a cable railway of significant experimental interest was identified with the aim to verify the reduction in power demand and energy consumption, with related increase of overall energy efficiency, by recuperating braking energy. On the base of simulations and experimental data, but also logistic and practical reasons, a commercial battery system was chosen, bought and evaluated firstly by preliminary tests and then under the real working conditions. The experimental activity confirmed the used design procedure and the reliability of the battery management system. In addition, it gave indication about the thermal management, which suggested some changes in the final design. According to this design review process, ENEA modified the battery system to optimize the thermal dissipation by doubling the capacity and venting the cells.

Regulation strategy of an Ultracapacitor storage model for a gantry crane

This paper presents, for a system consisting of a gantry crane, the regulation strategy of an Ultracapacitor (UC) based storage system, and its performance test using a simulated model of the system A model for the study of the accumulation of electrical energy in Ultracapacitors was presented. This model was validated by comparing the simulation model data with experimental data obtained for a gantry crane with 22kW of nominal power. The validated model was used to investigate the behavior of the system for two different capacitance values, while maintaining unchanged the amount of energy drawn from the grid during the whole work cycle (lifting and descending). This investigation can allow to establish in each case, varying the number of work cycles per day and the cost of the plant. whether it is more advantageous to increase the capacity of the UCs reducing the size of the power plant design or, vice versa.

Multi Input Power Electronic Converter

The University of Rome “ROMA TRE” and ENEA, the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and the Environment, have jointly developed and tested a Multi Input Power Electronic Converter (MIPEC) that is able to manage the bi-directional electric power flowing from a maximum of three different sources to a common output.