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At least 127 records · Page 7

All sources NASA NTRS DOE OSTI

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Subscale Hardware-In-The-Loop Results for Hybrid Electric Turbofan Controls Use Cases

NASA is investigating hybrid electric turbine engine systems for commercial transport aircraft due to the potentially significant improvements hybrid electric technology offers in performance, fuel consumption, and operational and design flexibility. Recently, the technology has been tested at full scale in partnership with industry and advanced to Technology Readiness Level 4. This presentation will focus on a recent subscale hardware-in-the-loop test of an open source turbofan engine model developed by NASA. The Advanced Geared Turbofan 30,000 lbf – electrified (AGTF30-e) engine is used as a reference model to demonstrate control system design and use cases for an example mild hybrid electric system with no large-scale energy storage. This model is run in real-time in NASA’s Hybrid Propulsion Emulation Rig (HyPER) and is used to drive an emulation of the turbomachinery system using subscale electric machines. This dynamic scaled shaft emulation interacts with a subscale (<100 kW) hybrid system consisting of electric machines, motor controllers, and a programmable electronic load. Specific use cases demonstrated include the use of Turbine Electrified Energy Management to improve operation during transients, megawatt-scale power extraction from the AGTF30-e, and power transfer between engine spools. Results related to the effectiveness of hybrid systems are qualitatively compared to results from industry testing.

Hybrid↗

DOE OSTI2021

Real-time Simulation Framework for Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing of Multi-port Autonomous Reconfigurable Solar Power Plant (MARS)

Multiport autonomous reconfigurable solar power plant (MARS) has been proposed for integrated development of photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage system (ESS) that can connect to high-voltage direct current (HVdc) and alternating current (ac) transmission grid. To de-risk the development of this complex integrated system that consists of hundreds to thousands of power electronics modules, a controller hardware-in-the-loop (cHIL) test setup will be extremely beneficial. The cHIL testing can be used for evaluation of modules as well as the hierarchical control system in MARS. With the unique configuration of power electronics modules in MARS, it becomes necessary to develop custom-designed real-time simulation models in the cHIL setup in absence of off-the-shelf models. In this paper, high-fidelity dynamic model of MARS, control algorithms at the lower level, and required communication algorithms are developed and optimized for real-time performance in the cHIL setup. Real-time experimental results from the cHIL are provided.

Dong, Zerui↗

DOE OSTI2025

A Robust Communication-Free Protection Scheme for Islanded Microgrids with Relay Logic and Hardware-in-the-Loop Validation

This paper presents the Imbalance Square Factor (ISF) detection algorithm, an effective, computationally lightweight method for detecting faults in inverter-based microgrids. ISF provides a high magnitude at the time of the fault, which allows for fast detection and coordination between primary and backup relays. The imbalance squared factor, calculated using local voltage and currents, is used for fault detection and coordination among three relays. ISF is validated in hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) implementation inside commercial-grade relay logic (SEL-751). The HIL validation shows that ISF can coordinate primary, secondary, and tertiary relays in the 13-bus system in islanded operation.

Ferrari Maglia, Max [ORNL]↗

NASA NTRS2017

Implementation of Real-Time Hardware in the Loop Simulation for WAVE Instrument Avionics

The Regolith and Environment Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) payload will lead the Resource Prospector rover to hydrogen-rich locations on the moon supporting NASA's in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) mission. The Water Analysis and Volatile Extraction (WAVE) system will be responsible for heating up regolith samples and analyzing their volatiles in a vaporized state. Given the space environment, testing flight hardware and software using the scientific instruments can be costly and time consuming, which can hold back progress involving the instruments. A hardware-in-the-loop (HITL) simulation will test the Avionics Data Acquisition as well as the Instrument Interface Unit, through simulating sensors and actuators involved in supporting the WAVE instruments. HITL is a platform for testing and developing WAVE's avionics and software, where the simulation plant will imitate the LAVA and OVEN instruments, thus allowing for an accessible, efficient, and replicable testing environment.

Al Qaraghuli, Ali↗

DOE OSTI2024

A hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed for cyber-physical energy systems in smart commercial buildings

In recent years, there has been a growing trend toward the development of smart buildings that rely on cyber-physical systems (CPS) to optimize occupant comfort, safety, and energy efficiency. To ensure the reliable and efficient operation of CPS with designed control strategies, it is important to evaluate their performance under various scenarios before deploying them in the real world. This is where a Hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testbed designed for studying sensor and control-related studies in smart buildings can be highly valuable. With the growing threat of cyber-attacks and physical faults targeting smart buildings, it is essential to ensure the security of building operations. A HIL testbed can emulate cyber-attack and physical fault scenarios, allowing researchers to develop and test threat detection and mitigation algorithms. This enables researchers to identify potential issues and optimize the algorithms in a safe and controlled environment before they are deployed in real-world settings, reducing the risk of failures that can negatively impact occupant comfort, safety, and energy efficiency. Therefore, this paper developed a HIL testbed designed for cyber-physical energy systems (e.g. buildings automation system (BAS)) in smart commercial buildings. The HIL testbed is comprised of a real-time building and Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) emulator using Modelica-based dynamic models, a set of BAS controllers, and a BAS computer server. The data generation capability of the HIL testbed is demonstrated by tracking normal and faulty operating data in the BAS, as well as monitoring detailed network traffic in the local BAS network. Here, this study further demonstrates the HIL testbed’s capability by conducting case studies on real-time physical fault and cyber-attack experiments using a Department of Energy (DOE) prototype commercial building. It is anticipated that the fully functional HIL testbed will be utilized for a variety of sensor and control-related studies, including but not limited to testing, developing, validating of different HVAC control strategies, fault detection & diagnosis, energy monitoring and analysis, cyber security study, etc.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗

DOE OSTI2024

High-Fidelity Dataset Generation for Sensor Anomalies in Power Grids using Hardware-in-the-Loop Testbed

Sensor anomalies in power grids can have significant impacts on the operation of the grid due to the increased reliance of the grid operation on data-driven applications. However, there is a lack of datasets that accurately capture these anomalies as many of the anomalies go undetected using the current bad data detectors. High-fidelity labeled datasets are essential for developing robust applications that can detect and mitigate the impacts of anomalies. In this paper, we propose a hardware-in-the-loop testbed model that can emulate the grid behavior with high-fidelity. This testbed is used to inject anomalies at various levels in the grid architecture and generate labeled datasets. These high-fidelity datasets can be used for development and validation of data-driven applications for detection and mitigation of anomalies in grids and other cyber-physical systems.

Hyder, Burhan↗

DOE OSTI2023

Development of A Hardware-In-the-Loop (HIL) Testbed for Cyber-Physical Security in Smart Buildings

As smart buildings move towards open communication technologies, providing access to the Building Automation System (BAS) through the building's intranet, or even remotely through the Internet, has become a common practice. However, BAS was historically developed as a closed environment and designed with limited cyber-security considerations. Thus, smart buildings are vulnerable to cyber-attacks with the increased accessibility. This study introduces the development and capability of a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIT) testbed for testing and evaluating the cyber-physical security of typical BASs in smart buildings. The testbed consists of three subsystems: (1) a real-time HIL emulator simulating the behavior of a virtual building as well as the Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment via a dynamic simulation in Modelica; (2) a set of real HVAC controllers monitoring the virtual building operation and providing local control signals to control HVAC equipment in the HIL emulator; and (3) a BAS server along with a web-based service for users to fully access the schedule, setpoints, trends, alarms, and other control functions of the HVAC controllers remotely through the BACnet network. The server generates rule-based setpoints to local HVAC controllers. Based on these three subsystems, the HIL testbed supports attack/fault-free and attack/fault-injection experiments at various levels of the building system. The resulting test data can be used to inform the building community and support the cyber-physical security technology transfer to the building industry.

Li, Guowen↗

DOE OSTI2022

Power Electronic Hardware-in-the-Loop (PE-HIL): Testing Individual Controllers in Large-Scale Power Electronics Systems

Large power electronics systems like multi-port autonomous reconfigurable solar power plant (MARS) are increasingly being researched upon to integrate emerging energy sources. MARS connects photovoltaic (PV) systems and energy storage systems (ESSs) to high-voltage direct current (HVdc) links/grids and high-voltage alternating current (ac) transmission grids. As these large power electronics systems incorporate complex hierarchical control systems that are close-by and communicate fast, the control systems require an unique power electronic hardware-in-the-loop (PE-HIL) real-time architecture to evaluate individual controllers. In this paper, a PE-HIL real-time architecture is proposed to evaluate one of the hundreds to thousands of digital signal processors (DSPs) that are a part of the complex hierarchical control system. The DSP connects to a central processing unit (CPU) and a field programmable gate array (FPGA) that form a part of the upper levels of the control system. The DSP is part of the lower level of the control system. The proposed PE-HIL architecture is tested and evaluated. Preliminary test results are presented to showcase the concept.

Debnath, Suman↗

DOE OSTI2023

Controller Hardware-in-the-Loop Modeling and Operation of a High-Power DC Charging Hub

High-power charging (HPC) concept will be a critical enabler for the wide-scale adoption and integration of electric vehicles (EVs). HPC hubs will have a significant impact on achieving this goal, particularly when considering the charging requirements of next-generation medium and heavy-duty vehicles (MD/HD) used in various vocational scenarios. This emphasizes the significance of evaluating and confirming the technical planning and multi-level operation of HPC hubs through modeling, protocol implementation, and simulation before hardware demonstration. The focus of this study is to develop the architecture, modeling, communication, and real-time controller hardware-in-the-loop (C-HIL) simulation of HPC hubs using the DC distribution system approach. Specifically, this work demonstrates the practical implementation of a custom Smart Energy Management System (SEMS) for a real-time C-HIL HPC hub simulation using the Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP) for communication. OCPP is implemented on the Node-Red framework and the custom controller is executed in Python. We developed a rule-based controller to demonstrate the proposed approach.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗

DOE OSTI2021

Hardware-In-the-Loop Benchmarking Setup for Phasor Based Control Validation

Phasor Based Control is a novel approach to controlling Distributed Energy Resources that aims at relieving various constraints that arise in the distribution grid. It is a two-layer control system with a supervisory control that coordinates distributed controllers to reach voltage phasor targets. The distributed controllers use local synchrophasor measurements and operate as feedback controllers. This control method is currently under development with several algorithms being under consideration for both the central and distributed components. In this report, we present the experimental setup that was prepared to prototype a hardware implementation and validate the control method in Hardware-In-the-Loop.

24 POWER TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION↗

DOE OSTI2021

Hardware-In-the-Loop Benchmarking Setup for Phasor Based Control Validation

Phasor Based Control is a novel approach to controlling Distributed Energy Resources that aims at relieving various constraints that arise in the distribution grid. It is a two-layer control system with a supervisory control that coordinates distributed controllers to reach voltage phasor targets. The distributed controllers use local synchrophasor measurements and operate as feedback controllers. This control method is currently under development with several algorithms being under consideration for both the central and ditributed components. In this paper, we present the experimental setup that was prepared to prototype a hardware implementation and validate the control method in Hardware-In-the-Loop.

Baudette, Maxime↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Power/Propulsion System Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Results

Electrified Aircraft Propulsion (EAP) technology offers a promising path forward for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other negative environmental effects from the commercial aviation sector. EAP systems can reduce fuel burn and improve performance over state-of the-art designs, however the increased complexity and highly coupled nature of these systems present challenges that require new control approaches. The SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Electrofan is a concept aircraft developed by NASA as a reference design for a commercial transport aircraft with a highly integrated hybrid-electric powertrain. This paper summarizes the results of a Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) test of a control architecture developed for the SUSAN power/propulsion system (PPS). The test was performed in the Hybrid Propulsion Emulation Rig (HyPER) facility at the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) and involved a real-time reference model of the SUSAN PPS and control system running with a sub-scale electro-mechanical system replacing one of the PPS subsystems. A side-by-side comparison of the simulated and real systems in the HIL test results shows that the control architecture functions well in both the simulation and the real-time HIL environment. In both cases the controller is able to simultaneously deliver the required thrust response and balance power levels between the electrical and turbomachinery subsystems.

Jonah J Sachs-Wetstone↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

SUbsonic Single Aft eNgine (SUSAN) Power/Propulsion System Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Results

EAP↗

DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of Optimal Net Load Management in Microgrids Using Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation: Preprint

This paper presents the performance evaluation of a net load management (NLM) engine that balances load and generation in an isolated community to power a critical facility after a grid interruption event (e.g., lost a large generation unit). The NLM engine is a central dispatch control system that provides high-speed cost-optimal coordination of a set of net loads (combination of generation and deferrable loads) connected to the same electrical network. The NLM algorithm cost-optimally dispatches the grid-following inverters and deferrable loads based on the demanded power and load priorities, and the grid-forming inverters use droop control to form system voltages and share active and reactive power. A controller-hardware-in-the-loop platform is developed to evaluate the control performance of the NLM algorithm. The experimental results indicate that the NLM engine can achieve the targeted system voltage and frequency and balance load and generation to serve the critical facility.

droop control↗

DOE OSTI2025

Evaluating Thermostats’ Deadbands Using HVAC Hardware-In-the-Loop Experiment for Advanced Control Strategies

Thermostats play a crucial role in energy consumption, user control, and occupant comfort by serving as the interface between the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system and the building's occupants. The deadband, also referred to as temperature differential, is defined as the temperature difference between the desired setpoint and upper threshold or lower threshold for the HVAC equipment to turn on or off. It is a key factor influencing energy efficiency and user satisfaction. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the deadbands of five different thermostats, tested with a residential heat pump, aiming to identify variations in their deadband settings and implications for energy usage and management. The experimental study was conducted using a HVAC hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) system that allows thermostats to be connected with physical HVAC equipment, driven by conditions in a simulated residential building. The study explores the trade-offs between energy efficiency and occupant comfort and highlights how different thermostats cycle differently based on their deadband settings. The findings offer valuable insights into how thermostat deadband affects comfort and energy use, as well as the cycling frequency of a heat pump.

Ramaraj, Sugirdhalakshmi [National Renewable Energ↗

DOE OSTI2021

Hardware-in-the-Loop Investigation of Emissions Challenges in Hybrid Medium- and Heavy-Duty Powertrains Using a Pre-Production Diesel-Electric Parallel Hybrid System With and Without Stop-Start Operation

Hybrid electric powertrains are a growing market in medium- and heavy-duty applications. There is a lack of available information to understand the challenges in the integration of engine platforms into electrified powertrains, such as cold-start, restart, and load-reduction effects on emissions and emission control devices. Results from the Heavy Heavy-Duty Diesel Truck (HHDDT) cycle using a conventional medium-duty diesel engine were compared with those of a parallel hybrid architecture. Oak Ridge National Laboratory in collaboration with the US Department of Energy and Odyne Systems, LLC developed a powertrain in a hardware-in-the-loop environment, integrating the Odyne Systems, LLC medium-duty parallel hybrid system, which was used for the hybrid portion of this study. Experiments under the HHDDT cycle showed increasing improvements in fuel consumption and engine-out emissions with the integration of stop/start, hybrid, and hybrid with stop/start. However, the effects of load reduction and exhaust temperature on the thermal management strategy have shown an increase in fueling in the second part of the HHDDT cycle. Four configurations of medium-duty electrification were studied and contributed to building a unique data set containing combustion, emissions, and system integration data. Each electrification level was compared with the conventional baseline. The calibration of the conventional engine was not altered for this study. Opportunities to tailor the combustion process were identified with the stop/start strategy.

Lerin, Chloe↗

DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of Optimal Net Load Management in Microgrids Using Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

This paper presents the performance evaluation of a net load management (NLM) engine that balances load and generation in an isolated community to power a critical facility after a grid interruption event (e.g., the loss of a large generation unit). This NLM engine is particularly important for microgrid systems because it provides a high-speed, cost-optimal control solution to coordinate grid-forming inverters and to dispatch grid-following inverters and deferrable loads in microgrid systems to enhance grid resilience and reliability. The NLM algorithm cost-optimally dispatches the grid-following inverters and deferrable loads based on the demanded power and load priorities, and the grid-forming inverters use droop control to form system voltages and share active and reactive power. A controller-hardware-in-the-loop platform is developed to evaluate the control performance of the NLM algorithm with two sequential contingency events of lost generation units. The experimental results indicate that the NLM engine can maintain system stability, achieve the targeted system voltage and frequency, and balance load and generation to serve the critical facility with improved system resilience and reliability.

grid-following inverter↗

DOE OSTI2022

Evaluation of Optimal Net Load Management in Microgrids Using Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation

This presentation discusses the performance evaluation of a net load management (NLM) engine that balances load and generation in an isolated community to power a critical facility after a grid interruption event (e.g., the loss of a large generation unit). This NLM engine is particularly important for microgrid systems because it provides a high-speed, cost-optimal control solution to coordinate grid-forming inverters and to dispatch grid-following inverters and deferrable loads in microgrid systems to enhance grid resilience and reliability. The NLM algorithm cost-optimally dispatches the grid-following inverters and deferrable loads based on the demanded power and load priorities, and the grid-forming inverters use droop control to form system voltages and share active and reactive power. A controller-hardware-in-the-loop platform is developed to evaluate the control performance of the NLM algorithm with two sequential contingency events of lost generation units. The experimental results indicate that the NLM engine can maintain system stability, achieve the targeted system voltage and frequency, and balance load and generation to serve the critical facility with improved system resilience and reliability.

droop control↗