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At least 649 records · Page 36

A numerical method for deriving shape functions of nanoparticles for pair distribution function refinements

We report that in the structural refinement of nanoparticles, discrete atomistic modeling can be used for small nanocrystals (< 15 nm), but becomes computationally unfeasible at larger sizes, where instead unit-cell-based small-box modeling is usually employed. However, the effect of the nanocrystal's shape is often ignored or accounted for with a spherical model regardless of the actual shape due to the complexities of solving and implementing accurate shape effects. Recent advancements have provided a way to determine the shape function directly from a pair distribution function calculated from a discrete atomistic model of any given shape, including both regular polyhedra (e.g. cubes, spheres, octahedra) and anisotropic shapes (e.g. rods, discs, ellipsoids) [Olds et al. (2015). J. Appl. Cryst. 48, 1651–1659], although this approach is still limited to small size regimes due to computational demands. In order to accurately account for the effects of nanoparticle size and shape in small-box refinements, a numerical or analytical description is needed. This article presents a methodology to derive numerical approximations of nanoparticle shape functions by fitting to a training set of known shape functions; the numerical approximations can then be employed on larger sizes yielding a more accurate and physically meaningful refined nanoparticle size. Lastly, the method is demonstrated on a series of simulated and real data sets, and a table of pre-calculated shape function expressions for a selection of common shapes is provided.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Adaptive PID Gain Scheduling Control for Hydropower Turbine Using Neural CDE and Stochastic Distribution Shaping

This paper introduces a gain-scheduling PID controller design strategy for hydroturbine frequency control mode. This scheme first uses real data to learn the nonlinear dynamics of the hydroturbine using neural controlled differential equations and then perturbs the obtained nonlinear system at different equilibrium points, based on which a static output feedback adaptive dynamic programming algorithm is then used to optimize the PID gains for each equilibrium point. Moreover, a continuous-time version of stochastic distribution control is proposed to further fine-tune the optimized PID gains. Finally, the controller is obtained by implementing linear interpolation between the optimized PID control gains. The simulation results show that the proposed gain-scheduling PID controller can control a larger range of operation points compared with the given fixed PID controller and the baseline method. Compared with the given fixed PID controller, the proposed gain-scheduling PID controller can regulate hydroturbine frequency against disturbances induced by power-load variation with over 50% less overshoot for some operation points.

13 HYDRO ENERGY↗

Impact Analysis of Future Electric Vehicles Using Model of Real Distribution Feeders

Globally, the number of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to increase. This on-going trend poses challenges for power distribution systems. The inclusion of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) should be compatible with a changing energy system, whose structure is becoming increasingly distributed. The impact of future EVs should be analyzed and considered in the system planning and upgrades. In this study, impact analysis of future EVs is conducted for a utility company of U.S. West Coast. Real data of distribution feeders is converted into the GridLAB-D model for running power flow analysis. An estimation of the additional loading of EVs in 2050 is provided by the utility company. Simple mitigation methods are tested to improve voltage profiles and complete this case study.

Xie, Jing↗

Irradiance Field Reconstruction From Partial Observability of Solar Radiation

Photovoltaic (PV) panels have become a significant source of electric power generation. These panels are considered to be one of the cleanest energy production systems available, so their spread is expected to increase in the following years, especially because recent technologies have reduced the cost of these panels. Unlike classic energy production methodologies that are connected to the high-voltage transmission power lines, many PV panels are connected directly to the lower voltage distribution networks of the electric power grid, making the management of the grid an ongoing challenge. In this letter, we address this challenge and show that the irradiance field that is required to calculate the expected power output of the PV panels can be estimated in a simplistic methodology, using partial observability of the solar radiation. We validate our proposed methodology by conducting an empirical study that uses real data of the solar radiation taken from satellites, and we show that even when the observability of the solar radiation is as low as 10% (meaning that only one in ten points of interest in a regular grid is observable), the irradiance field can be accurately estimated.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗

Performance of coincidence-based PSD on LiF/ZnS Detectors for Multiplicity Counting

Abstract: Mass accountancy measurement is a nuclear nonproliferation application which utilizes coincidence and multiplicity counters to verify special nuclear material declarations. With a well-designed and efficient detector system, several relevant parameters of the material can be verified simultaneously. 6LiF/ZnS scintillating sheets may be used for this purpose due to a combination of high efficiency and short die-away times in systems designed with this material, but involve choices of detector geometry and exact material composition (e.g., the addition of Ni-quenching in the material) that must be optimized for the application. Multiplicity counting for verification of declared nuclear fuel mass involves neutron detection in conditions where several neutrons arrive in a short time window, with confounding gamma rays. This paper considers coincidence-based Pulse-Shape Discrimination (PSD) techniques developed to work under conditions of high pileup, and the performance of these algorithms with different detection materials. Simulated and real data from modern LiF/ZnS scintillator systems are evaluated with these techniques and the relationship between the performance under pileup and material characteristics (e.g., neutron peak width and total light collection efficiency) are determined, to allow for an optimal choice of detector and material.

Robinson, Sean M.↗

Using Distributed Dynamic Voltage Restorers to Improve the Frequency Stability of Low-Inertia Networked Microgrids

This paper elucidates the novel concept of using distributed dynamic voltage restorers (DVRs), which are traditionally used to compensate for voltage sags, to improve the frequency stability of low-inertia networked microgrids. During frequency transients, the distributed DVRs rapidly regulate load voltages within an acceptable range, resulting in a fast change of load power consumption and helping improve frequency stability. To enable large-scale network simulation, a phasor-based model of DVRs is developed and validated against real data from a commercially available device. Finally, simulation results of a modified IEEE 123-node test feeder that comprises three microgrids and six DVRs verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Du, Wei↗

QuGAN: A Quantum State Fidelity based Generative Adversarial Network

In the recent years, Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have been arguably one of the largest strides forward in Deep Learning. Many papers illustrate the use of GANs to accomplish extremely impressive goals, such as text-to-image or image augmentation. Specifically, GANs have seen this success in the computer vision domain. However, GANs are not without their own set of problems. GANs are computationally expensive, sometimes computationally prohibitive, and can suffer a multitude of convergence problems. As research on classical GANs continues to push the topic further, a branch of GANs, namely Quantum GANs, has seen research interest in the past years. In this work, we intend to push this research further with an illustration of a Quantum GAN architecture that provide stable convergence of the model and is extended onto real data sets. Furthermore, unlike many other Quantum GANs out there, our model's GAN architecture runs the discriminator and the generator primarily on Quantum hardware through the use of a Quantum-based similarity metric. When compared to the very few other Quantum GAN papers, our architecture leads to significantly better results in almost all aspects.

Stein, Samuel A.↗

Material Identification From Radiographs Without Energy Resolution

We propose a method for performing material identification from radiographs without energy-resolved measurements. Material identification has a wide variety of applications, including in biomedical imaging, nondestructive testing, and security. While existing techniques for radiographic material identification make use of dual energy sources, energy-resolving detectors, or additional (e.g., neutron) measurements, such setups are not always practical— requiring additional hardware and complicating imaging. We tackle material identification without energy resolution, allowing standard X-ray systems to provide material identification information without requiring additional hardware. Assuming a setting where the geometry of each object in the scene is known and the materials come from a known set of possible materials, we pose the problem as a combinatorial optimization with a loss function that accounts for the presence of scatter and an unknown gain and propose a branch and bound algorithm to efficiently solve it. We present experiments on both synthetic data and real, experimental data with relevance to security applications— thick, dense objects imaged with MeV X-rays. We show that material identification can be efficient and accurate, for example, in a scene with three shells (two copper, one aluminum), our algorithm ran in six minutes on a consumer-level laptop and identified the correct materials as being among the top 10 best matches out of 8,000 possibilities.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Joint Planning of EV Fast Charging Stations and Power Distribution Systems With Balanced Traffic Flow Assignment

To tackle the challenges introduced by the fast-growing charging demand of electric vehicles (EVs), the power distribution systems (PDSs) and fast charging stations (FCSs) of EVs should be planned and operated in a more coordinated fashion. However, existing planning approaches generally aim to minimize investment costs in PDSs while ignoring the risk of worsening traffic conditions. To overcome this research gap, this article integrates the interests of traffic networks into PDS and FCS joint planning model to mitigate negative impacts on traffic conditions caused by installing FCSs. First, a novel microscopic method that is different from traditional assignment methods is proposed to simulate the influences of FCSs on traffic flows and EV charging loads. Then, a multiobjective joint planning model is developed to minimize both the planning costs and unbalanced traffic flows. A new bilayer Benders decomposition algorithm is designed to solve the proposed joint planning model. Numerical results on two practical systems in China validate the feasibility of our microscopic method by comparing the simulated results with real data. Compared with existing approaches, it is also demonstrated that the proposed joint planning approach helps to balance traffic flow assignments and relieve traffic congestion.

bilayer expanded Benders decomposition↗

Variational Dirichlet Blur Kernel Estimation

Blind image deconvolution involves two key objectives: 1) latent image and 2) blur estimation. For latent image estimation, we propose a fast deconvolution algorithm, which uses an image prior of nondimensional Gaussianity measure to enforce sparsity and an undetermined boundary condition methodology to reduce boundary artifacts. For blur estimation, a linear inverse problem with normalization and nonnegative constraints must be solved. However, the normalization constraint is ignored in many blind image deblurring methods, mainly because it makes the problem less tractable. In this paper, we show that the normalization constraint can be very naturally incorporated into the estimation process by using a Dirichlet distribution to approximate the posterior distribution of the blur. Making use of variational Dirichlet approximation, we provide a blur posterior approximation that considers the uncertainty of the estimate and removes noise in the estimated kernel. Furthermore, experiments with synthetic and real data demonstrate that the proposed method is very competitive to the state-of-the-art blind image restoration methods.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Circular Trajectory Approach for Online Sinusoidal Signal Distortion Monitoring and Visualization

The increasing complexity and uncertainties of modern power systems are placing significant demands on signal monitoring techniques. This work proposes the Circular Trajectory Approach (CTA) for online sinusoidal signal distortion monitoring and visualization. CTA can detect distortions of a sinusoidal signal. Compared with existing waveform anomaly detection techniques, CTA is faster in detection and less computation intensive. It thus supports edge devices and online applications. CTA also offers a new means of sinusoidal signal distortion visualization. It can reveal the distorted sections in a sinusoidal cycle and clearly display the distortions. The proposed approach is tested on real data from an open source EPRI dataset.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

Improved PV System Control Strategies to Reduce Power Management Costs in Nanogrids

An improved PV system control method is proposed to reduce nanogrid operation costs in this paper. A model including it various components such as photovoltaic (PV) systems, energy storage systems (ESSs), gateways, and household loads is considered with the constraints of the ESS, PV irradiance from real data, and household load. We designed an optimal economic dispatch strategy with an improved PV system control method. Combining the proposed optimal economic dispatch and PV system control strategies, it can improve the control performance for both transient and steady-state responses thereby enabling the maximum power to be extracted from the PV. Consequently, the PV power is maximized, which allows the ESS to use less power and sell the surplus to external power sources, which means the proposed method decreases the nanogrid operation costs. Furthermore, this performance is verified via nanogrid simulations and PV experimental kit.

PV system control↗

A convex pseudolikelihood framework for high dimensional partial correlation estimation with convergence guarantees

Sparse high dimensional graphical model selection is a topic of much interest in modern day statistics. A popular approach is to apply l1-penalties to either parametric likelihoods, or regularized regression/pseudolikelihoods, with the latter having the distinct advantage that they do not explicitly assume Gaussianity. As none of the popular methods proposed for solving pseudolikelihood-based objective functions have provable convergence guarantees, it is not clear whether corresponding estimators exist or are even computable, or if they actually yield correct partial correlation graphs. We propose a new pseudolikelihood-based graphical model selection method that aims to overcome some of the shortcomings of current methods, but at the same time retain all their respective strengths. In particular, we introduce a novel framework that leads to a convex formulation of the partial covariance regression graph problem, resulting in an objective function comprised of quadratic forms. The objective is then optimized via a coordinate wise approach. The specific functional form of the objective function facilitates rigorous convergence analysis leading to convergence guarantees; an important property that cannot be established by using standard results, when the dimension is larger than the sample size, as is often the case in high dimensional applications. These convergence guarantees ensure that estimators are well defined under very general conditions and are always computable. In addition, the approach yields estimators that have good large sample properties and also respect symmetry. Furthermore, application to simulated and real data, timing comparisons and numerical convergence is demonstrated. We also present a novel unifying framework that places all graphical pseudolikelihood methods as special cases of a more general formulation, leading to important insights.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

A self-adaptive case-based reasoning system for dose planning in prostate cancer radiotherapy

Purpose: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in the male population. Radiotherapy is often used in the treatment for prostate cancer. In radiotherapy treatment, the oncologist makes a trade-off between the risk and benefit of the radiation, i.e., the task is to deliver a high dose to the prostate cancer cells and minimize side effects of the treatment. The aim of our research is to develop a software system that will assist the oncologist in planning new treatments. Methods: A nonlinear case-based reasoning system is developed to capture the expertise and experience of oncologists in treating previous patients. Importance (weights) of different clinical parameters in the dose planning is determined by the oncologist based on their past experience, and is highly subjective. The weights are usually fixed in the system. In this research, the weights are updated automatically each time after generating a treatment plan for a new patient using a group based simulated annealing approach. Results: The developed approach is analyzed on the real data set collected from the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, City Hospital Campus, UK. Extensive experiments show that the dose plan suggested by the proposed method is coherent with the dose plan prescribed by an experienced oncologist or even better. Conclusions: The developed case-based reasoning system enables the use of knowledge and experience gained by the oncologist in treating new patients. This system may play a vital role to assist the oncologist in making a better decision in less computational time; it utilizes the success rate of the previously treated patients and it can also be used in teaching and training processes.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Observation and differential cross section measurement of neutral current DIS events with an empty hemisphere in the Breit frame

The Breit frame provides a natural frame to analyze lepton–proton scattering events. In this reference frame, the parton model hard interactions between a quark and an exchanged boson defines the coordinate system such that the struck quark is back-scattered along the virtual photon momentum direction. In Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), higher order perturbative or non-perturbative effects can change this picture drastically. As Bjorken-x decreases below one half, a rather peculiar event signature is predicted with increasing probability, where no radiation is present in one of the two Breit-frame hemispheres and all emissions are to be found in the other hemisphere. At higher orders in $\alpha$ s or in the presence of soft QCD effects, predictions of the rate of these events are far from trivial, and that motivates measurements with real data. We report on the first observation of the empty current hemisphere events in electron–proton collisions at the HERA collider using data recorded with the H1 detector at a center-of-mass energy of 319 GeV. The fraction of inclusive neutral-current DIS events with an empty hemisphere is found to be 0.0112 ± 3.9% stat ± 4.5% syst ± 1.6% mod in the selected kinematic region of 150 < Q 2 < 1500 GeV 2 and inelasticity 0.14 < y < 0.7. The data sample corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 351.1 pb -1 , sufficient to enable differential cross section measurements of these events. The results show an enhanced discriminating power at lower Bjorken-x among different Monte Carlo event generator predictions.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Portable+: A Ubiquitous And Smart Way Towards Comfortable Energy Savings

An air conditioner (AC) consumes a significant proportion of the total household power consumption. Primarily used in developing countries, decentralised AC has an inbuilt thermostat to cool the room to a temperature, manually set by the users. However, residents are incapable of specifying their goal through these thermostats - maximise their comfort or save AC energy. State-of-the-art portable thermostats emulate AC remotes and assist occupants in remotely changing the thermostat temperature, through their smartphones. We propose extending such thermostats to portable+ by adding a Comfort-Energy Trade-off (CET) knob, realised through an optimisation framework to allow users to balance their comfort and the savings without worrying about the right set temperature. Analysis based on real data, collected from a controlled experiment (across two rooms for two weeks) and an in-situ deployment (across five rooms for three months), indicates that portable+ thermostats can reduce residents’ discomfort by 23% (CET selection for maximal comfort) and save 26% energy when CET is set for maximising savings.

Jain, Milan↗

Why Do Electricity Policy and Competitive Markets Fail to Use Advanced PV Systems to Improve Distribution Power Quality?

The increasing pressure for network operators to meet distribution network power quality standards with increasing peak loads, renewable energy targets, and advances in automated distributed power electronics and communications is forcing policy-makers to understand new means to distribute costs and benefits within electricity markets. Discussions surrounding how distributed generation (DG) exhibits active voltage regulation and power factor/reactive power control and other power quality capabilities are complicated by uncertainties of baseline local distribution network power quality and to whom and how costs and benefits of improved electricity infrastructure will be allocated. DG providing ancillary services that dynamically respond to the network characteristics could lead to major network improvements. With proper market structures renewable energy systems could greatly improve power quality on distribution systems with nearly no additional cost to the grid operators. Renewable DG does have variability challenges, though this issue can be overcome with energy storage, forecasting, and advanced inverter functionality. This paper presents real data from a large-scale grid-connected PV array with large-scale storage and explores effective mitigation measures for PV system variability. We discuss useful inverter technical knowledge for policy-makers to mitigate ongoing inflation of electricity network tariff components by new DG interconnection requirements or electricity markets which value power quality and control.

14 SOLAR ENERGY↗