UT-Austin Student Research on Smart Sustainable Grids:

IGERT and Pecan Street Inc.

Thomas F. Edgar, Abell Chair of Engineering

University of Texas – Austin

Director, Energy Institute

06/12/2013

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UT-Austin Pecan Street Smart Grid

Demonstration Project

• 9 faculty from the School of Architecture and the School of Engineering

• 7 graduate student researchers (pursuing Ph.D.) and one postdoc engineer

• Research projects support main activities of Pecan Street

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IGERT: Sustainable Grid Integration of

Distributed and Renewable Resources

Thomas F. Edgar, PIDepartment of Chemical Engineering

University of Texas - Austin

UT – Austin IGERT* Grant OverviewSustainable Grid Integration of Renewable and Distributed

Resources

• 24 faculty from Architecture, Engineering, Business, Law, LBJ, and Natural Sciences and 11 IGERT Fellows/year ($3 million over 5 years)

• Student research projects carried out in areas of power distribution, energy storage, business utility/consumer models, systems modeling and integration, and building-integrated solar energy (two year fellowships)

• Coordination of interdisciplinary course sequence from the above schools

• Based around goals of Pecan Street Inc.

• Internships in industry/government organizations and study abroad (TU München)

http://research.engr.utexas.edu/igertsustainablegrids/

*Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship

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External Advisory Committee

Members

Pat Chapman SolarbridgeMike Hightower Sandia National LabsJohn Hoffner CH2M HillBill Kramer NRELBrewster McCracken Pecan Street Inc.Richard Morgan Austin EnergyPeter Sauer University of Illinois U-CNoel Schulz Kansas State UniversityJeff Tester Cornell University

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Executive Committee

• Thomas Edgar , PI

Chemical Engineering

• Ross Baldick , Co-PI

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Suzanne Barber, Co-PI

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Alexis Kwasinski, Co-PI

Electrical and Computer Engineering

• Michael Webber, Co-PI

Mechanical Engineering

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TraineesFirst Year

• Alex Headley – Mechanical Engineering (M. Chen)

• Erin Keys – Mechanical Engineering (M. Webber)

• Kristen Markham - Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering (A. Novoselac)

• Kate McArdle – Electrical and Computer Engineering (C. Julien)

• Abigail Ondeck – Chemical Engineering (M. Baldea / T.F. Edgar)

• Kristina Tajchman – Architecture (S. Moore)

Second Year

• Robert Crawford – Mechanical Engineering (A. da Silva)

• Arturo Gutierrez – Materials Science and Engineering (A. Manthiram)

• Sean Wood – Chemical Engineering (B. Mullins)

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Affiliates• Electrical and Computer Engineering

– Dave Tuttle – Hunter Estes– Harsha Kumar– Amir Toliyat

• Chemical Engineering– Akshay Sriprasad– Wesley Cole– Krystian Perez– Kody Powell

• Mechanical Engineering– Robert Fares– Charles Upshaw

• Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering– Steve Bourne– Josh Rhodes

• Materials Science and Engineering– Matt Charlton

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IGERT Enrichment

• Weekly meetings and presentations (since 10/10)

• Ethics seminar (2/2011)

• Study abroad (May-June, 2011 and 2012) –TU Munich (Werner Lang – liaison)

• IGERT Project: Church energy audit (March-August, 2011)

• Commercialization Short Course (PSP – August 17-19, 2011)

• Outreach events, field trips (e.g., ExploreUT, various K-12 interactions)

• Develop solar energy module for UTeach Engineering

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IGERT Curriculum

• Interdisciplinary courses offered

• List posted on website

• Six new courses

developed

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IGERT Curriculum – New Courses

1. Energy Development and Policy (Adelman)

2. Modern Control Theory (Edgar)

3. Intro to Electric Power and Locational Marginal Pricing Short Course (Baldick)

4. Advanced Topics in Power Electronics (Kwasinski)

5. Animation of Home Energy Management Systems (Barber)

6. Technology Commercialization Short Course, etc. (Webber)

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Energy Development and Policy -

Spring 2013Professor David Adelman (Law School)

• Introduction to legal, business, and engineering facets of energy development and entrepreneurship

• Two case studies: wind development and natural gas combined cycle plant

• Covers site selection, due diligence, permitting, contracting, and financing

• Involves outside experts in utility and renewable energy sectors

• Interdisciplinary teams from law, business, public affairs, and engineering (25 total students)

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New Short Courses Have Been Created in

Affiliation with the IGERT Program

• Target audience includes professionals and graduate

students

• “Clean.Smart.Energy”: energy technology, policy, and

commercialization

• “Water Technology & Policy”

• “Future of Energy”

• “Energy Technology & Policy”

• “Energy 101” MOOC

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Graduate Portfolio Program in

Energy Studies

• Campus-wide interdisciplinary program

• Students must complete four thematically related courses in energy field

• Students must complete a research project and present results at a professional meeting or on-campus event

• Aiming for 100 students enrolled

• Students apply for the portfolio certificate, awarded upon graduation (in addition to disciplinary degree)

• Formal approval expected in Fall 2013

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Selected Student Research Projects

• Second, third, and fourth year Ph.D. students featured (eight projects)

• First year students typically have not developed their PhD research proposal, focusing mostly on coursework

• Other students presenting today and tomorrow (Josh Rhodes, Chioke Harris, Dave Tuttle)

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Modeling and Simulation of Distribution System Components in

Anticipation of a Smarter Electric Power Grid

Amir Toliyat – Electrical Engineering

Potential smart grid architecture

Purpose:• To model the behavior, performance, and cost of

distribution-level smart grid components

• To provide a basic insight into the energy transfer of

such components

• To understand the design and configuration of a smart

grid

voltage

power generated

current

PV SUBSYSTEM

power generated

voltage

current

0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 35000

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

4500

5000

Time [seconds]

Po

we

r [w

att

s]

Power Consumed by Air Conditioning Load

0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2

x 104

3839

3839.5

3840

3840.5

3841

3841.5

Time [seconds]

Pow

er

[watts]

Power Consumed by PEV Charging

Approach:• Derive dynamic equations (where applicable) of

components

• Create modules, or ‘blocks’ for each component

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Utility MeterConsumer

LoadsPower

Power

Consumption data

Utility

Loads

Power & price data

Consumption data

Thermostat settingsLoad priorityCost limits

Power and control

Generation (PV)

Storage

Consumer Interface

Consumption data

Disaggregate and identify

schedulable loads

Predict demand using past data and schedule loads to satisfy constraints

HEMS/Meter

� Air conditioning loads (HVAC in general) are one of the big consumers of energy and can draw significant power even at night (depending on location) . Shifting loads to off peak/night times should be managed to avoid new peaks.

� Using just price signals to implement demand response can correlate normally uncorrelated loads creating new power peaks.

� Managing generation (PV) and storage with load scheduling can help with peak shaving .17

Modeling Demand Response and the Smart GridAkshay Sriprasad – Chemical Engineering

• Research Goals

– To model and optimize the pricing and behavioral aspects of energy consumption

– To study demand response, dynamic pricing models

• Techniques

– Real Time Optimization (RTO)

– Statistical Analysis

• Tools

– MATLAB/Simulink

– Smart meters, controllers, and appliances

Demand Response- Electricity price

reduction as an output of decreased loadFigure Credit: Pecan Street Project

Current

generation

home energy

controller, this

one produced

by Cisco

Systems, Inc.

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Reduced-order Modeling for Home PrecoolingWesley Cole – Chemical Engineering

• 900-home

community

• Half of homes

occupied all day

• Precooling:

– 18% lower peak

– 13% increase in

energy

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

0:00 4:00 8:00 12:00 16:00 20:00 0:00

HV

AC

En

erg

y (

kW

h)

Time

No precooling

Optimal precooling

Thermostat Set Point

WeatherHVACElec f

=

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Modeling, Optimization and Control Systems for Thermal

Energy Storage SystemsKody Powell – Chemical Engineering

Thermal Energy Storage can be used with Concentrated Solar Power Plants

to level electricity generation rates and extend generation periods to when

the sun is night shining.

Thermal Energy Storage can be used for cooling applications. Ice is

made at night, which is then used during the day to cool buildings.

Modeling systems that use thermal storage can provide insight into economics and

design. By applying advanced control and optimization, the performance of these

systems can be improved resulting in energy and financial savings.

Research Goals:

•Modeling, control, and optimization

of systems that use thermal energy

storage

•Solar thermal systems

•Energy storage for peak shifting

•Combined heat and power

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Fuel Cell ModelingAlex Headley (Dr. M. Chen)

• Proton-Exchange-Membrane (PEM) fuel cells are a promising technology for power generation applications o Quick transient response

o Only emission is pure water

• Temperature and humidity management are still major challengeso Poor humidity control can cause

• Hot spots in the membrane

• Liquid water blockages in the channel plate

o Optimal Temperature around 80 Celsius• Difficult control due to the interconnected nature of fuel cells

• Need a dynamic, control–oriented model for temperature, relative humidity, and cell output voltage

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Benediction

• Students involved with Pecan Street have broad interdisciplinary training and are generating relevant research results on a real-world problem

• They are committed to the field of sustainable power production

• They are excellent candidates for industry and government internships or permanent employment (all IGERTs are U.S. citizens)

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