Sharif Digital Repository

This paper proposes a novel decentralized control approach for islanded direct-current (DC) microgrids (MGs) based on model predictive control (MPC) to regulate the distributed generation unit (DGU) output voltages, i.e. the voltages of the point of common coupling (PCC). A local controller is designed for each DGU, in the presence of uncertainties, disturbances, and unmodeled dynamics. First, a discrete-time state-space model of an MG is derived. Afterward, an MPC algorithm is designed to perform the PCC voltage control. The proposed MPC scheme ensures that the PCC voltages remain within an acceptable range. Several simulation studies have been conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of... 

This paper presents a robust dc-link voltage as well as a current control strategy for a bidirectional interlink converter (BIC) in a hybrid ac/dc microgrid. To enhance the dc-bus voltage control, conventional methods strive to measure and feedforward the load or source power in the dc-bus control scheme. However, the conventional feedforward-based approaches require remote measurement with communications. Moreover, conventional methods suffer from stability and performance issues, mainly due to the use of the small-signal-based control design method. To overcome these issues, in this paper, the power from DG units of the dc subgrid imposed on the BIC is considered an unmeasurable... 

This paper presents a robust dc-link voltage as well as a current control strategy for a bidirectional interlink converter (BIC) in a hybrid ac/dc microgrid. To enhance the dc-bus voltage control, conventional methods strive to measure and feedforward the load or source power in the dc-bus control scheme. However, the conventional feedforward-based approaches require remote measurement with communications. Moreover, conventional methods suffer from stability and performance issues, mainly due to the use of the small-signal-based control design method. To overcome these issues, in this paper, the power from DG units of the dc subgrid imposed on the BIC is considered an unmeasurable... 

This paper presents a new nonlinear voltage control strategy based on backstepping control and a high-order sliding mode differentiator for an islanded microgrid. The microgrid consists of multiple distributed generation (DG) units with an arbitrary configuration that can be parametrically uncertain or topologically unknown. The proposed controller robustly regulates the microgrid voltages in the presence of parametric uncertainties, unmodeled dynamics, load imbalances, and nonlinear loads with harmonic/interharmonic currents. In contrast to existing methods, the controller does not need to know the frequency of harmonic and interharmonic current of microgrid loads that lead to the reduction... 

This paper presents a distributed, robust, finite-time secondary control for both voltage and frequency restoration of an islanded microgrid with droop-controlled inverter-based distributed generators (DGs). The distributed cooperative secondary control is fully distributed (i.e., uses only the information of neighboring DGs that can communicate with one another through a sparse communication network). In contrast to existing distributed methods that require a detailed model of the system (such as line impedances, loads, other DG units parameters, and even the microgrid configuration, which are practically unknown), the proposed protocols are synthesized by considering the unmodeled... 

This paper presents a new nonlinear current control strategy based on backstepping control and high-order sliding mode differentiator in order to employ distributed generation (DG) unit interfacing converters to actively compensate harmonics/interharmonics of local loads. The converter-based DG unit is connected to a weak grid (with uncertain impedance) and local load (that can be parametrically uncertain and topologically unknown) through an LCL filter. The proposed strategy robustly regulates the inverter output currents and delivers pure sinusoidal, three-phase balanced currents to the grid. The new controller demonstrates the robust performance and robust stability of the DG unit system... 

This paper proposes a new distributed cooperative secondary control for both frequency and voltage restoration of an islanded microgrid with droop-controlled, inverter-based distributed generations (DGs). Existing distributed methods commonly design secondary control based on the minimum real part of the nonzero Laplacian matrix eigenvalues related to the microgrid communication graph, which, however, is global information. In contrast to the existing distributed methods, in this paper we design a fully distributed adaptive control based on the dynamic model of DG units and on information from neighboring units. Therefore, the proposed control scheme increases the system reliability,... 

This study addresses the robust stability analysis for an islanded microgrid with droop-controlled inverter-based distributed generators (DGs). Owing to large load changes, microgrid structure reconfiguration, and higher-power demands, the low-frequency (LF) dominant modes of a microgrid stir toward unstable zone and make the system more oscillatory or even unstable. In this study, a robust two-degree-of-freedom (2DOF) decentralised droop controller, which is the combination of the conventional droop with a robust transient droop function, is utilised for each inverter-based DG unit. Unlike conventional tuning of 2DOF droop controllers, a new design procedure is proposed to robustly... 

The prediction of mass-transfer rates into and from moving drops in the liquid-liquid systems has usually used the well-known Whitman two-film theory approach. According to the latter, the total resistance to mass transfer resides on each side of the interface and is described by the individual film mass-transfer coefficients for the continuous and dispersed phases in the absence of surface-active agents (contaminants). In the present work, the same approach has been used to model the excess mass-transfer resistance exerted by surface-active agents in the continuous phase. To achieve this goal, an experimental investigation has been conducted on the mass transfer into and from single drops... 

Growing the need for long-life and high-available programs, dynamic reconfiguration is going to be an important research issue. Dynamic reconfiguration enables the software systems to change at runtime to decrease their down-time in case of any updating, upgrading or in any changes. Any invalid reconfiguration at runtime may lead programs into invalid states. In this paper, we investigate on validity of dynamic reconfiguration for component-based programs and propose validity conditions for it. We show that the problem of validity assurance in general is undecidable and there is no general-purpose algorithm to verify dynamic reconfiguration validity. To have a computable algorithm for... 

This paper proposes a novel distributed noise-resilient secondary control for voltage and frequency restoration of islanded microgrid inverter-based distributed generations (DGs) with an additive type of noise. The existing distributed methods commonly are designed as secondary control system systems that operate on the assumption of ideal communication networks among DGs. However, the channels are prone to stochastic noise, whereas each DG obtains noisy measurements of the states of its neighbors via environmental noises. The existing distributed noise-resilient methods, ignore a complete model of the system. In contrast, this paper proposes consensus protocols that take into account both... 

Demand forecasting plays an important role as a decision support tool in power system management, especially in smart grid and liberalized power market. In this paper, a demand forecasting method is presented by using support vector regression (SVR). The proposed method is applied to practical hourly data of the Greater Tehran Electricity Distribution Company. The SVR parameters are selected by using a grid optimization process and an investigation on different kernel functions. Moreover, correlation analysis is used to find exogenous variables. Acceptable accuracy of load prediction is shown by comparing the result of SVR model to that of the artificial neural networks and the actual data,... 

The secretary problems are of types of the optimal stopping theory problems and are also distinguished as well known problems in applied probability, statistics and decision theory fields. The importance of these kinds of problems defines many new conditions which have been discussed till now. The significance of these types of problems in social issues causes to define many conditions which are vastly discussed. In this paper, a new condition of this problem is considered. These conditions which have been performed using a real time method are based on Multi-Agent Systems techniques. In this paper, after evaluating this method, the resulted answers are examined using Multi-Agent system... 

The isomerization of D-glucose to D-fructose using the immobilized glucose isomerase, as a typical model system of solid-liquid enzyme reactions has been carried out in a novel type of two-impinging-jets reactor (TIJR), which is characterized by a rotating inner cylinder in a stationary one. Because of the impinging process, turbulence, and complex trajectory of the solid particles within the reactor, the fractional conversion of glucose obtained in the TIJR increased dramatically compared to that obtained by conventional reaction systems. A compartment model was considered to describe the pattern of flow [residence time distribution (RTD) of solid particles] within the TIJR. Considering... 

A phenomenological discrete bubble model has been developed for freely bubbling dense gas-solid fluidized beds and validated for a pseudo-two-dimensional fluidized bed. In this model, bubbles are treated as distinct elements and their trajectories are tracked by integrating Newton's equation of motion. The effect of bubble-bubble interactions was taken into account via a modification of the bubble velocity. The emulsion phase velocity was obtained as a superposition of the motion induced by individual bubbles, taking into account bubble-bubble interaction. This novel model predicts the bubble size evolution and the pattern of emulsion phase circulation satisfactorily. Moreover, the effects... 

In this article, a novel cooperative secondary voltage/frequency control considering time-varying delays and noises in fading channels is presented for an autonomous alternating current (AC) voltage sourced-based converter (VSC)-based microgrid (MG), including inverter-interfaced distributed generations (DGs). Fading phenomenon makes complex random fluctuations on the voltage and frequency of every DG received from its neighbor DGs. In multi-agent cooperative systems, in addition to the total additive noise and time-variant delay, a multiplicative complex random variable is considered to model the main received signal and its replicas due to multipath propagation. The proposed... 

A compartment model was developed to describe the flow pattern of gas within the dense zone of a membrane-assisted fluidized-bed reactor (MAFBR), in the bubbling mode of operation for steam reforming of methane both with (adiabatic) and without (isothermal) entering oxygen. Considering such a flow pattern and using the experimental data reported elsewhere [Roy S, Pruden BB, Adris AM, Grace JR, Lim CJ. Fluidized-bed steam methane reforming with oxygen input. Chem Eng Sci 1999; 54:2095-2102.], the parameters of the developed model (i.e., number of compartments for the bubble and emulsion phases) were determined and fair agreements were obtained between model predictions and experimental data.... 

In this article, the digital image analysis (DIA) technique has been used to study the bubble size and bubble size distribution evolution in a pseudo-two-dimensional gas-solid fluidized bed. In addition, a numerical discrete bubble model (DBM) based on the bubble-bubble interactions was developed and the model predictions were compared with the experimental data. The developed model can predict the bubble size and bubble size distribution through the bed height and the lateral distribution of bubbles. Comparison between model predictions and the result of DIA measurements shows that bubble breakage has a significant effect on the bubble size distribution especially at heights far from the... 

In this article, the transesterification of waste cooking oil (WCO) to biodiesel fuel (BDF) has been studied using KOH loaded on millimetric γ-Al2O3 particles in a novel type of two-impinging-jets reactor (TIJR). The effects of various parameters such as KOH loading (wt %), catalyst loading, and methanol-to-oil molar ratio on the BDF yield were studied. The catalyst particles with a KOH loading of 25 wt % at appropriate reaction conditions (i.e., catalyst loading = 4 wt % and methanol-to-oil molar ratio = 15:1) and at 65 °C were used in the TIJR. The influences of various operating and design parameters such as jet Reynolds number value, feed flow rate, jet diameter, and the internozzle... 

Mixed-convection flow of nanofluids inside a vertical rectangular channel partially filled with open-cell metal foam and subject to a constant wall-heat flux was investigated experimentally and numerically. Al2O3-water nanofluids with different concentrations were prepared and their stability was examined using UV-Vis spectroscopy. Dynamic light scattering method was used to determine particle size distribution of the nanofluid feedstock. The outlet temperature and pressure drop were measured for different nanofluid flow rates (i.e., Reynolds number values). In the numerical section, a two-dimensional volume-averaged form of the governing equations was used. The velocity and temperature...