Research Objectives and Approaches The objective of this research is the development of innovative modeling, operation, and planning methods for increased efficiency, reliability, and renewability in "smart" electric power systems. Essential to this work is the integrated electric power system test bed, which provides researchers with hardware for physical implementation and testing. It emulates a three-phase system with digital communication, renewable energy, and energy storage capabilities. The following approaches to research will be employed: 1) application of measurement-based techniques to load modeling, 2) implementation of effective demand response, 3) application of fast state estimation and optimal power flow analyses to operation and planning, and 4) utilization of storage to increase penetration of renewable energy.
Intellectual Merit The principal investigator has significant research experience in smart grid technology and renewable energy. His most recent works are accepted for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid and Elsevier International Journal of Electric Power and Energy Systems. The proposed research builds upon his previous work; however, it also explores the use of physical experimentation to make even greater contributions to these fields. This work is unique, because it employs hardware present at few academic institutions in the United States.
Broader Impacts The power system test bed will support multiple senior keystone projects per year as well as play significant role in the investigator?s "Power Systems and Renewability" course. Additionally, it will be utilized for high school student outreach programs in conjunction with the College's Center for Excellence in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics which will benefit local lower and middle class youth.
The objective of the "integrated power system test bed" project is the development of hardware, at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), that facilitates the study of innovative modeling, operation, and planning methods for increased "smart grid" efficiency, reliability, and renewability. The fully-reconfigurable six-bus, three-phase power system hardware operates with ratings of 208VLL (at 60Hz) and 0.2kW. It is composed of various synchronous generators with associated prime movers, induction motors with associated dynamometers, transformers, transmission lines, contactors / relays, constant-impedance loads, renewable generation-emulator modules, battery storage devices, and appropriate power electronic converters. This hardware serves as the basis for the Smart Electric Power System (SEPS) Laboratory at TCNJ. The principal investigator has been very active, using NSF MRI funding of interest to develop an integrated power system test bed at TCNJ. He spent 1.5 years working closely with the vendor (LabVolt) to design and implement an innovative power system laboratory structure, one that includes an array of smart grid technologies yet is cost and space efficient. He also spent more than six months testing and configuring the hardware for operation on-site. Currently, the laboratory is complete and fully-operational. The principal investigator acquired approximately $10k in additional research funding to purchase the PC control terminals used to observe power system operation and actuate hardware. The principal investigator has submitted three works related to the SEPS Lab. One focuses on the design and implementation of the laboratory itself. It is accepted for presentation at the IEEE Power and Energy Society General Meeting in Vancouver, Canada this July. A second work discusses how SEPS may serve as an example to faculty from smaller institutions with interest in power engineering. It recently cleared the first round of reviews for publication in the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. A third work focuses on optimal reconfiguration of power systems for reduced loss. The principal investigator is utilizing this hardware as part of a number of innovative research projects. Further publications will be generated in the next 6 - 12 months. The SEPS Laboratory supports two senior capstone projects this year, with total of six participating ECE students. They are tasked with the design, implementation, and testing of custom phasor measurement units (PMU) for the facility. This project will continue into the summer when the principal investigator will advise two undergraduate research assistants as part of TCNJ's Mentored Undergraduate Student Experience (MUSE) Program. These students will work in the laboratory full-time for eight weeks in June and July. The principal investigator has already begun organizing power-related capstone projects for 2014. The integrated power system test bed project has a number of broader impacts, relevant to other academic as well as industrial institutions. Many ECE programs in the United States support advanced power engineering laboratory facilities. Examples include Drexel University, Georgia Tech, Iowa State University, Kansas State University, and Texas A&M University. These laboratories facilitate innovative energy research, providing the ability to observe complex physical phenomenon (e.g. voltage collapse) as well as implement and test new hardware (e.g. power converters). They also facilitate greater student understanding of concepts related to power system analysis, power electronics, and electric machines through hands-on learning. Given the contemporary relevance of energy sustainability issues, it is problematic that relatively few undergraduate institutions in the United States support laboratories that facilitate teaching and advanced research in power engineering. The hardware is often considered too specialized, expensive, and space-consuming for implementation at these smaller schools. As such, their students and faculty have less incentive to pursue work relevant to the concentration of power and energy, further marginalizing its role in the field of electrical engineering as a whole. The graduates these smaller ECE programs generate cannot be neglected by the power community, especially given the significant need for junior engineers in their industry. The Smart Electric Power Systems (SEPS) Laboratory, developed with NSF MRI funds, is a truly unique facility with significant potential to impact the field of electric power engineering. There are few small, undergraduate engineering programs with the tools required to study three-phase power via hardware. The principal investigator has already written several papers discussing SEPS as well as advising colleagues on how they may implement similar facilities.
