A liquid metal magnetohydrodynamics generation system (LMMGS) was proposed and demonstrated in this paper for collecting parasitic power in shoe while walking. Unlike the conventional shoe-mounted human power harvesters that use solid coil and gear mechanism, the proposed system employs liquid metal (Ga₆₂In₂₅Sn₁₃) as energy carrier, where no moving part is requested in magnetohydrodynamics generators (MHGs). While walking with the LMMGS, the foot alternately presses the two liquid metal pumps (LMPs) which are respectively placed in the front and rear of the sole. As a result, the liquid metal in the LMPs (LMP I and II) is extruded and flows through the MHGs (MHG I and II) in which electricity is produced. For a comparison, three types of LMMGSs (LMMGS A, B and C) were built where all the parts are the same except for the LMPs. Furthermore, performances of these LMMGSs with different volume of injected liquid metal were tested respectively. Experimental results reveal that both the output voltage and power of the LMMGS increase with the volume of injected liquid metal and the size of the LMPs. In addition, a maximum output power of 80 mW is obtained by the LMMGS C with an efficiency of approximately 1.3%. Given its advantages of no side effect, light weight, small size and reliability, The LMMGS is well-suited for powering the wearable and implantable micro/nano device, such as wearable sensors, drug pumps and so on.

With the increasingly extensive utilization of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in China today, sustainable and effective using of LNG cold energy is becoming increasingly important. In this paper, the utilization of LNG cold energy in seawater desalination system is proposed and analyzed. In this system, the cold energy of the LNG is first transferred to a kind of refrigerant, i.e., butane, which is immiscible with water. The cold refrigerant is then directly injected into the seawater. As a result, the refrigerant droplet is continuously heated and vaporized, and in consequence some of the seawater is simultaneously frozen. The formed ice crystal contains much less salt than that in the original seawater. A simplified model of the direct-contact heat transfer in this desalination system is proposed and theoretical analyses are conducted, taking into account both energy balance and population balance. The number density distribution of two-phase bubbles, the heat transfer between the two immiscible fluids, and the temperature variation are then deduced. The influences of initial size of dispersed phase droplets, the initial temperature of continuous phase, and the volumetric heat transfer coefficient are also clarified. The calculated results are in reasonable agreement with the available experimental data of the R114/water system.

This paper investigates a Luenberger flux observer with speed adaptation for a direct field oriented control of an induction motor. An improved method of speed estimation that operates on the principle of speed adaptive flux and current observer has been proposed. An observer is basically an estimator that uses a plant model and a feedback loop with measured stator voltage and current. Simulation results show that the proposed direct field oriented control with the proposed observer provides good performance dynamic characteristics. The induction motor is fed by an indirect power electronics converter. This indirect converter is controlled by a sliding mode technique that enables minimization of harmonics introduced by the line converter, as well as the control of the power factor and DC-link voltage. The robustness of the overall system is studied using simulation for different operating modes and varied parameters.

This paper explores the capability of modified differential evolution (MDE) technique for solving the reactive power dispatch (RPD) problem. The proposed method is based on the basic differential evolution (DE) technique with a few modifications made into it. DE is one of the strongest optimization techniques though it suffers from the problem of slow convergence while global minima appear. The proposed modifications are tried to resolve the problem. The RPD problem mainly defines loss minimization with stable voltage profile. To solve the RPD problem, the generator bus voltage, transformer tap setting and shunt capacitor placements are controlled by the MDE approach. In this paper, IEEE 14-bus and IEEE 30-bus systems are chosen for MDE implementation. The applied modification show much improved result in comparison to normal DE technique. Comparative study with other soft-computing technique including DE validates the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The increasing capacity of nuclear units in power grid poses threat to system stability and security. Load disturbance may cause overspeed of the units and trigger the overspeed protection controller (OPC). Repeating actions of valves have a strong impact on the security of the equipment and may result in a collapse of the power system. Based on the analysis of frequency regulation, mathematic models for nuclear units in the grid are established in this paper to simulate the dynamic process when load disturbance occurs. The critical action of the OPC is proposed as the constraint of safe operation for the units. The relationship between different styles of frequency regulation and the allowable capacity of the nuclear units in the grid is discussed. This research can help to estimate the capacity limitation of nuclear units in the grid.

The open circuit voltage (V_OC) of small-molecule organic solar cells (OSCs) could be improved by doping suitable fluorescent dyes into the donor layers. In this paper, 4-(dicyanomethylene)-2-t-butyl-6-(1,1,7,7-tetramethyljulolidyl-9-enyl)-4H-pyran (DCJTB) was used as a dopant, and the performance of the OSCs with different DCJTB concentration in copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) was studied. The results showed that the V_OC of the OSC with 50% of DCJTB in CuPc increased by 15%, compared with that of the standard CuPc/fullerene (C₆₀) device. The enhancement of the V_OC was attributed to the lower highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level in the DCJTB than that in the CuPc. Also, the light absorption intensity is enhanced between 400 and 550 nm, where CuPc and C₆₀ have low absorbance, leading to a broad absorption spectrum.

Frequency regulation in a generation mix having large wind power penetration is a critical issue, as wind units isolate from the grid during disturbances with advanced power electronics controllers and reduce equivalent system inertia. Thus, it is important that wind turbines also contribute to system frequency control. This paper examines the dynamic contribution of doubly fed induction generator (DFIG)-based wind turbine in system frequency regulation. The modified inertial support scheme is proposed which helps the DFIG to provide the short term transient active power support to the grid during transients and arrests the fall in frequency. The frequency deviation is considered by the controller to provide the inertial control. An additional reference power output is used which helps the DFIG to release kinetic energy stored in rotating masses of the turbine. The optimal speed control parameters have been used for the DFIG to increases its participation in frequency control. The simulations carried out in a two-area interconnected power system demonstrate the contribution of the DFIG in load frequency control.

The influence of the period of rotation on the effectiveness of the thermophotovoltaic (TPV) rotary regenerator was theoretically and experimentally investigated. It was found that the deviations of the theoretical results from the experimental ones decrease with the increase of the period of rotation. To the TPV system of 10 kW combustion power, the deviation is 3.5% when the rotation period is 3 s; while the deviation decreases to 1.5% when the rotation period increases to 15 s. The deviation could be mainly attributed to the cold and hot fluids carryover loss which was not considered in the model. With a new model taking account of the carryover loss established, the predicted results were greatly improved. Based on the modified model, the influence of geometrical parameters of rotary regenerator on the effectiveness was analyzed for TPV systems of various combustion power. The results demonstrate that the effectiveness increases with the increase of the rotary regenerator diameter and height, while fluid carryover loss increases at the same time, which weakens the impact of geometrical parameters.

The chemistry of char was probed by studying nitrogen release under the reactions with air and oxy-fuel combustion. The experiments were conducted in a drop tube furnace and a fixed bed flow reactor. NO was observed during those experiments. The results show that the particle size of char generated at 1073 K in CO₂ is larger than that in N₂. However, at 1573 K, it is smaller in CO₂ atmosphere due to particle breaking by gasification of char and CO₂. The Fe addition increases the NO conversion ratio, and the effect of Fe rises steeply with the process going until it becomes stable in the end. The results also indicate that the release of NO increases more significantly with the Fe addition in oxy-fuel environment.