scholarly journals System-level simulation of molten salt small-scale CSP

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Armando Fontalvo ◽  
Ali Shirazi ◽  
John Pye
Keyword(s):  
Molten Salt ◽  
System Level ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
System Level Simulation

scholarly journals Economic Optimization of a Concentrating Solar Power Plant With Molten-Salt Thermocline Storage

2013 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott M. Flueckiger ◽  
Brian D. Iverson ◽  
Suresh V. Garimella
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Molten Salt ◽  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Minimum Cost ◽  
Plant Performance ◽  
System Level ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Economic Optimization ◽  
Levelized Cost Of Electricity ◽  
System Level Simulation

System-level simulation of a molten-salt thermocline tank is undertaken in response to year-long historical weather data and corresponding plant control. Such a simulation is enabled by combining a finite-volume model of the tank that includes a sufficiently faithful representation at low computation cost with a system-level power tower plant model. Annual plant performance of a 100 MWe molten-salt power tower plant is optimized as a function of the thermocline tank size and the plant solar multiple (SM). The effectiveness of the thermocline tank in storing and supplying hot molten salt to the power plant is found to exceed 99% over a year of operation, independent of tank size. The electrical output of the plant is characterized by its capacity factor (CF) over the year, which increases with solar multiple and thermocline tank size albeit with diminishing returns. The economic performance of the plant is characterized with a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) metric. A previous study conducted by the authors applied a simplified cost metric for plant performance. The current study applies a more comprehensive financial approach and observes a minimum cost of 12.2 ¢/kWhe with a solar multiple of 3 and a thermocline tank storage capacity of 16 h. While the thermocline tank concept is viable and economically feasible, additional plant improvements beyond those pertaining to storage are necessary to achieve grid parity with fossil fuels.

scholarly journals System Level Simulation of Microgrid Power Electronic Systems

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 644
Author(s):  
Michal Frivaldsky ◽  
Jan Morgos ◽  
Michal Prazenica ◽  
Kristian Takacs
Keyword(s):  
Smart Grid ◽  
Simulation Model ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Power Converter ◽  
System Level ◽  
Time Behavior ◽  
Operational Parameters ◽  
System Level Simulation ◽  
Time Operation ◽  
The Impact

In this paper, we describe a procedure for designing an accurate simulation model using a price-wised linear approach referred to as the power semiconductor converters of a DC microgrid concept. Initially, the selection of topologies of individual power stage blocs are identified. Due to the requirements for verifying the accuracy of the simulation model, physical samples of power converters are realized with a power ratio of 1:10. The focus was on optimization of operational parameters such as real-time behavior (variable waveforms within a time domain), efficiency, and the voltage/current ripples. The approach was compared to real-time operation and efficiency performance was evaluated showing the accuracy and suitability of the presented approach. The results show the potential for developing complex smart grid simulation models, with a high level of accuracy, and thus the possibility to investigate various operational scenarios and the impact of power converter characteristics on the performance of a smart gird. Two possible operational scenarios of the proposed smart grid concept are evaluated and demonstrate that an accurate hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system can be designed.

scholarly journals Gem5-X

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Yasir Mahmood Qureshi ◽  
William Andrew Simon ◽  
Marina Zapater ◽  
Katzalin Olcoz ◽  
David Atienza
Keyword(s):  
Visual Recognition ◽  
Energy Savings ◽  
Video Encoding ◽  
System Level ◽  
Heterogeneous Architecture ◽  
Video Analytics ◽  
Smart Systems ◽  
System Level Simulation ◽  
Many Core ◽  
New Applications

The increasing adoption of smart systems in our daily life has led to the development of new applications with varying performance and energy constraints, and suitable computing architectures need to be developed for these new applications. In this article, we present gem5-X, a system-level simulation framework, based on gem-5, for architectural exploration of heterogeneous many-core systems. To demonstrate the capabilities of gem5-X, real-time video analytics is used as a case-study. It is composed of two kernels, namely, video encoding and image classification using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). First, we explore through gem5-X the benefits of latest 3D high bandwidth memory (HBM2) in different architectural configurations. Then, using a two-step exploration methodology, we develop a new optimized clustered-heterogeneous architecture with HBM2 in gem5-X for video analytics application. In this proposed clustered-heterogeneous architecture, ARMv8 in-order cluster with in-cache computing engine executes the video encoding kernel, giving 20% performance and 54% energy benefits compared to baseline ARM in-order and Out-of-Order systems, respectively. Furthermore, thanks to gem5-X, we conclude that ARM Out-of-Order clusters with HBM2 are the best choice to run visual recognition using CNNs, as they outperform DDR4-based system by up to 30% both in terms of performance and energy savings.

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