Paul Nicolae Borza

Integrating the Electrical Vehicles in the Smart Grid through unbundled Smart Metering and multi-objective Virtual Power Plants

This paper presents a solution for integrating Electrical Vehicles in the Smart Grid through unbundled Smart Metering and Virtual Power Plant technology dealing with multiple objectives. Within this frame, EV can benefit of cost-effective energy during the charging period but can also provide multiple ancillary services to the network, by wisely using their storage capability and their flexibility in coupling to the grid. Simulation of an EV providing services under a multi-objective VPP is also presented, with analysis and conclusions about the technical feasibility of such applications.

Thermal and voltage testing and characterization of supercapacitors and batteries

The aim of the paper is to present and emphasize the benefits of using hybrid storage devices (composed of batteries and supercapacitors) and typical controllers in a wide range of applications, especially in the automotive field. In order to offer an optimal integration of the mentioned devices for different types of applications, the focus is oriented on an experimental study of the electrical and thermal behavior of the organic supercapacitors. The impedance spectroscopy and DC charge / discharge tests were made to observe the behavior of the fast release storage devices and to experimentally determine the electric series resistance and the capacitance variation of the supercapacitors. The experimental and simulation results are presented, analyzed and compared. Also, the mathematical model was determined by interpreting the experimental data obtained as a result of the DC charge / discharge measurements.

Smart grid security issues

The smart grid concept is being fostered due to required evolution of the power network to incorporate distributed energy sources (DES), renewable energy sources (RES), and electric vehicles (EVs). The inclusion of these components on the smart grid requires an information and communication technology (ICT) layer in order to exchange information, control, and monitor the electrical components of the smart grid. The two-way communication flows brings cyber security issues to the smart grid. Different cyber security countermeasures need to be applied to the heterogeneous smart grid according to the computational resources availability, time communication constraints, and sensitive information data. This paper presents the main security issues and challenges of a cyber secure smart grid, whose main objectives are confidentiality, integrity, authorization, and authentication of the exchanged data.

Energy Management System and Controlling Methods for a LDH1250HP Diesel Locomotive Based on Supercapacitors

The present research is focused on developing solutions for increasing the lifetime of the batteries used on diesel locomotive. In order to increase the lifetime of the batteries and to reduce the fuel consumption and the pollutants, an intelligent starting system of the diesel locomotive is proposed. The starting system is composed of supercapacitors, batteries and adequate control system used for controlling the power flow from the storage devices to the internal combustion engine in the starting process. The implementation is described, modeled and simulated and the results of the simulations are compared with the experimental ones.

Model of supercapacitor-starter assembly used for internal combustion engines starting

The advantages of supercapacitors at the starting of internal combustion engines (ICE), as a complementary source to classical batteries, are nowadays certitudes: the significant extension of battery life span, the reduced volume and weight, meeting the environmental demands and lowering starting time and energy. The paper intends to develop a model of the electrical behavior of the assembly supercapacitor-starter driven by the ICE crankshaft, model allowing reasonable estimations of supercapacitors characteristics used for ICE starting. The development of the model was based on real signal analysis on a conventional battery-starter starting system.

A biological approach for energy management in smart grids and hybrid energy storage systems

The concept of smart grid has evolved during the last years. Smart grid is now a collection of power devices, Distributed Energy Sources (DES), Renewable Energy Sources (RES), and monitoring devices using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to interact between them. A proper power network management needs to be resilient, reliable, and redundant to prevent malfunctions in the power network operation. This paper presents a biological approach to manage smart grids using characteristics such as self healing, different types of control strategies (feedback, feed forward), learning algorithms, different types of energetic storage, and a hierarchical architecture. These characteristics are present in living beings and are important in the smart grid management. An analogy between biological systems and technological systems is made and the similarities between these two systems are presented. A particular case of biological approach applicability in a Hybrid Energy Storage System (HESS) is presented to demonstrate how this approach can be scaled from a single energy cell to an entire power network.

Wearable computing for patients with coronary diseases: Gathering efforts by comparing methods

Cardiovascular diseases are a prime cause of mortality and morbidity around the world. The World Health Organization names this as a global epidemic identifying it as a big challenge to Information and Communication Technologies that can provide valuable tools to improve population health and well-being. In tandem with a strategy to provide information and education to individuals at risk, several projects across the world at national or regional levels are trying to address this challenge. The HEARTRONIC project developed an innovative system for prevention and early warning by continuous monitoring the heart conditions. This system is wearable by the patient, monitors and analyzes the ECG, and in the event of results that could predict a heart attack or stroke an alert message is sent to a server and then relayed to the responsible healthcare professional. The system uses ECG processing for automatic detection of abnormal functioning. First response actions are taken but the healthcare professionals are always in the control. The BIOMED-TEL project developed an innovative remote patient monitor that supervises 24 hours/7 days the main patients vital signals in its environment. These signs are: SpO2, ECG one derivation, arterial blood pressure (BP), in conjunction with the body vibration acquired from chest zone and, glucose concentration in blood all above mentioned signs being relevant for the health patient status. With the correlation of the signals, the remote monitor is able to dynamical adapt his working regime from local storage of data acquired (as a classical holter) to continuously transmission of data acquired from patient to the hospital server, providing a quick time intervention of the health care professional in case of patients alarm or emergency situation. Both projects are gathering efforts by comparing methods in order to assess the best practices and address the technical challenges that came across the development of such useful platforms.

Embedding patient remote monitoring and assistive facilities on home multimedia systems

This paper proposes a new architectural approach of a home-appliances system that embeds three different main components: smart home entertainment, remote monitoring and assistive systems. A review of State of the Art of the actual implementations in the field of e-Heath systems is presented. A rational approach for system developing is detailed, starting from a prototype point of view to the new integrated smart home entertainment system. This system shows another perspective about remote and assistive monitoring and its features. A stream-based home entertainment system will provide a friendly and immersive environment facilitating the connection between the technical system and the house residents. Sensors forming a Body Area Network (BAN) will be also integrated with the new smart home entertainment devices.

Characterization of the organic and inorganic supercapacitors

The aim of the paper is to emphasize the differences between the behavior of the organic and inorganic supercapacitors in order to obtain a good understating of their optimal applications. The differences were obtained and determined while testing two types of supercapacitors with cycling temperature, DC charge discharge and electric impedance spectroscopy procedures. To anticipate the behavior of such devices in applications of electric vehicles and hybrid electric vehicles, the corresponding models were necessary to be determined. The testing procedures were necessary for determining the values of the parameters used in the modeling process and for validating the developed electric models. In the present paper, the results of the experiments were interpreted, the specific parameters were identified and the electrical models were determined.

PV cells test bench system with remote access trough Internet

A test bench system for testing the solar cells is presented. The system allows remote access through Ethernet in order to measure the I-V characteristics at different levels of lighting and the dynamic behaviour of solar cells using light or current pulses. The paper presents two different solutions and emphasizes their advantages allowing high accuracy in the measurement of the PV cell parameters. The paper shows the architecture and elements of a data acquisition system that was developed based on high resolution ADCs. The user interface is implemented in the LabVIEW environment.