Sharif Digital Repository

SiO2-CaO-MgO glass and glass-ceramic powder doped with Nd 3+ were synthesized with sol-gel method. Tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS), Ca(NO3)2·4H2O, Mg(NO 3)2·6H2O, Nd(NO3) 3·6H2O, ethanol, distilled water, and HNO 3 were used as starting materials. The synthesized powder's properties were examined with simultaneous thermal analysis (STA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. The STA curves showed that the softening point and crystallization temperatures were shifted to higher temperatures with increasing dopant content. Regarding XRD patterns of glass samples, Nd was found to act as an intermediate oxide in glass matrix. The XRD... 

In this paper, a new control strategy and power management for a stand-alone PV/battery hybrid power system has been suggested. The solar cell arrays provide energy in the steady-state and the battery provides energy in transient states. Here, a charge controller system based on the MPP tracking technology, suitable for using in the islanded micro grid that contains a solar panel and a battery is designed. The charge controller includes a unidirectional DC-DC converter as an interface circuit between the solar panel and the DC bus, a bidirectional DC-DC converter as an interface circuit between the battery and the DC bus with a control system and power management in different states of... 

In this paper a novel structure of a zero- voltage transition PWM boost converter is proposed. The main switch and diode of the converter are turned on and off under zero voltage transition. In addition the auxiliary switch and both diodes operate in ZCT condition. The auxiliary circuit consists of a transformer, a snubber capacitor and two diodes. Without imposing much current stress, the switching loss reduces significantly. So a higher efficiency converter is achieved. The simple structure and a wide range of operating current are the advantages of the proposed converter, which make it useful for solar battery chargers etc. The operation principles of the proposed converter are explained... 

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of P 2O5 particle size distribution on the crystalline phases and microstructure of lithium disilicate glass-ceramics derived from the TiO2-ZrO2-Li2O-CaO-Al2O 3-SiO2 system for dentistry applications. The samples were made via fusion and casting procedure. Crystallisation as well as the morphology and microstructure of the samples were investigated using X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetric and scanning electron microscopy. The results showed that the crystallisation of the samples occurred in the range of 500-650°C. The main crystalline phase was lithium disilicate (Li2Si2O5) along with Lithium metasilicate (Li2SiO3),... 

Two and three dimensional modeling of a single cell of vanadium redox flow battery has been done thoroughly according to electrochemical and fluid mechanic equations in this study. The modeling has been done in stationary state and its results have been presented in three chemical, electrical and mechanical sub models. The parametric analysis on some of important factors in cell operation demonstrated that increase in electrode and membrane conductivity and electrode porosity contributes to electric potential increase in cells. Also operational temperature increase leads to decrease in cells' voltage. Better fluid distribution on the electrode surface area results in better cell operation,... 

It has been attempted to gain a new viewpoint in transient cell modeling of vanadium redox flow battery. This has been achieved by considering electrochemical relations along with conceptual electrical circuit of this kind of battery. The redox flow battery is one of the best rechargeable batteries because of its capability to average loads and output power sources. A model of transient behavior is presented in this paper. The transient features are considered as the most remarkable characteristics of the battery. The chemical reactions, fluid flow, and electrical circuit of the structure govern the dynamics. The transient behavior of the redox flow battery based on chemical reactions is... 

Nickel-zinc batteries as safe and economic energy storage devices suffer from lack of high electrochemical performance of cathode materials. Herein, a new cathode material for rechargeable Ni/Zn batteries is introduced based on various compositions of mixed metal oxide (MMO) through a calcination process of nickel-vanadium layered double hydroxide at different temperatures. The results demonstrated that the prepared sample at 500 °C presents the best electrochemical properties such as a good electrochemical discharge capacity (278.4 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1), good cycle life (capacity retention of 74% after 1000 cycles at 5 A g-1), and excellent rate capability (177 mAh g-1 at 5 A g-1). These... 

Demand for high-capacity, long cycle life, and aqueous batteries based on abundant metals such as nickel, zinc, aluminum, and so on is rising in the energy storage field. In this study, we design a hierarchical morphology as a nanosheet-built microsphere of nickel vanadium layered double hydroxide (NiV LDH) with conductive agents graphene oxide (GO) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) through a low-cost hydrothermal synthesis method. The experimental results demonstrate that the graphitic structures and functional groups of the GO and CNT play an important role in controlling nucleation, growth speed, size, and finally morphology of hierarchical nanosheets. The electrochemical results... 

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) are characterized by short-range wireless communication between inherently resource-limited sensors that operate in the vicinity of the human body for recording certain physiological signals. One of the main limitations of WBANs is in terms of their available power. Since the nodes are typically battery-driven, an efficient power transmission is essential to guarantee long-lasting communications among nodes without the need for frequent battery replacement or charging. In this study, aiming to improve the WBAN performance, we first investigate the power allocation problem by choosing the ergodic capacity and the outage probability as the desired metrics.... 

Wireless body area networks (WBANs) are characterized by short-range wireless communication between inherently resource-limited sensors that operate in the vicinity of the human body for recording certain physiological signals. One of the main limitations of WBANs is in terms of their available power. Since the nodes are typically battery-driven, an efficient power transmission is essential to guarantee long-lasting communications among nodes without the need for frequent battery replacement or charging. In this study, aiming to improve the WBAN performance, we first investigate the power allocation problem by choosing the ergodic capacity and the outage probability as the desired metrics.... 

Nowadays, the high penetration of renewable energy resources, with variable and unpredictable nature, poses major challenges to operation and planning studies of power systems. Employing energy storage systems (ESSs) has been introduced as an effective solution to alleviate these challenges. Several studies have been presented in the literature to provide a framework for expansion planning studies of ESSs. However, they usually have two main drawbacks: i) ignoring the positive effect of independent-locally operated ESSs on the bulk power system preferences, ii) inability to model the charge/discharge schedule of independent-locally operated ESSs based on their investors' acceptable risk... 

Designing transactive energy (TE) markets in distribution systems has been a hot topic due to the increased presence of residential prosumers. In the literature, several residential market platforms have been proposed; however, they usually have two main drawbacks: 1) ignoring the effect of single-phase distributed energy resources on the voltage unbalance (VU) in active distribution networks to develop a transactive coordination model that will effectively mitigate the VU and 2) inability in providing a user-friendly strategy for home occupants to adjust the willingness to pay/accept of responsive assets according to their comfort and economic purposes. This article amends the shortcomings... 

This paper proposes a new energy management model for residential buildings to handle the uncertainties of demand and on-site PV generation. For this purpose, the building energy management system (BEMS) organizes a transactive energy (TE) market among plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) to determine their charge/discharge scheduling. According to the proposed TE framework, the PEV owners get reimbursed by the BEMS for the flexibility they offer. In this regard, the PEV owners submit their response curves for reimbursement upon arrival. Then, the BEMS solves an optimization problem to maximize its own profit and determine the real-time TE market-clearing price. Afterward, based on the clearing... 

Introducing suitable electrode materials and electrolytes for supercapacitors and next-generation batteries should be considered for the industrial application of these devices. Among the proposed materials for them, transition metal chalcogenides (TMCs), are attractive and efficient options due to their unique properties such as appropriate layered structure, good oxidation state of transition metals, high thermal and mechanical stabilities, etc. However, applying other layered materials with high electrical conductivity e.g. carbon-based materials can lead to producing remarkable results for the mentioned applications. However, an interesting point is how making TMCs composite with... 

Implementation of various incentive-based and time-based load management strategies has great potential to decrease peak load growth and customer electricity bill cost. In recent years, developments in Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) have provided various environmental and economic advantages. However, high penetration of electric vehicles in to the grid may cause high peak loads at different times of the days. Using advanced metering and automatic chargers makes it possible to optimize the charging cost, and release generation capacities to provide sustainable electricity supply. Using an appropriate encouraging program is a simple way for vehicle owners to manage their energy... 

Lead-acid battery is a storage technology that is widely used in photovoltaic (PV) systems. Battery charging and discharging profiles have a direct impact on the battery degradation and battery loss of life. This study presents a new 2-model iterative approach for explicit modelling of battery degradation in the optimal operation of PV systems. The proposed approach consists of two models: namely, economic model and degradation model which are solved iteratively to reach the optimal solution. The economic model is a linear programming optimisation problem that calculates the optimal hourly battery use profile based on an assumed value of the battery degradation cost. The degradation model,... 

Glass-ceramic composites in the SiO2-CaO-MgO-(Na2O) system, reinforced with 5, 10 and 20 wt.% aluminum titanate were synthesized by pressureless sintering. Optimum sintering temperatures with maximum relative density were determined for each composition. The composites were fired above the crystallization peak temperature of glass-ceramic. Mechanical properties of glass-ceramic and sintered composites, such as fracture toughness, flexural strength and Vickers microhardness, were investigated. The sintered composites were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersion spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The results showed that the composite containing 10... 

Discharge characteristics of nanorods (NRs), microsized and nanosized copper (II) oxide (CuO) particles prepared via thermal decomposition and thermal oxidation routes are examined as cathode materials of a Zn/CuO cell without membrane separators. The electrochemical discharge is examined galvanostatically at a current density of 500 mAg−1 and reveals that the first discharge cycles of all the CuO materials contain one potential plateau; subsequent discharge cycles involve three potential plateaus. Each potential plateau is due to an electrochemical reaction. The first, second, and third potential plateaus are attributed to Cu2O3, CuO, and Cu2O discharges,...