The fast-growing electric vehicles (EVs) market demands huge efforts from car manufacturers to develop and improve their current products’ systems. A fast charge of the battery pack is one of the challenges encountered due to the battery limitations regarding behaviour and additional degradation when exposed to such a rough situation. In addition, the outcome of a study performed on a battery does not apply to others, especially if their chemistries are different. Hence, extensive testing is required to understand the influence of design decisions on the particular energy storage device to be implemented. Due to batteries’ nonlinear behaviour that is highly dependent on external variables such as temperature, the dynamic load and aging, another defying task is the widely studied state of charge (SOC) estimation, commonly considered one of the most significant functions in a battery management system (BMS). This thesis presents an extensive battery fast charging aging test study equipped with promising current charging profiles from published literature to minimize aging. Four charging protocols are carefully designed to charge the cell from 10 to 80% SOC within fifteen minutes and have their performances discussed. A dual state estimation algorithm is modelled to estimate the SOC with the assistance of a capacity state of health (SOHcap) estimation. Finally, the dual state estimation model is validated with the fast charging aging test data. / Thesis / Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Network lifetime is an important performance metric in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). Transmission Power Control (TPC) is a well-established method to minimise energy consumption in transmission in order to extend node lifetime and, consequently, lead to solutions that help extend network lifetime. The accurate lifetime estimation of sensor nodes is useful for routing to make more energy-efficient decisions and prolong lifetime. This research proposes an Energy-Efficient TPC (EETPC) mechanism using the measured Received Signal Strength (RSS) to calculate the ideal transmission power. This includes the investigation of the impact factors on RSS, such as distance, height above ground, multipath environment, the capability of node, noise and interference, and temperature. Furthermore, a Dynamic Node Lifetime Estimation (DNLE) technique for WSNs is also presented, including the impact factors on node lifetime, such as battery type, model, brand, self-discharge, discharge rate, age, charge cycles, and temperature. In addition, an Energy-Efficient and Lifetime Aware Routing (EELAR) algorithm is designed and developed for prolonging network lifetime in multihop WSNs. The proposed routing algorithm includes transmission power and lifetime metrics for path selection in addition to the Expected Transmission Count (ETX) metric. Both simulation and real hardware testbed experiments are used to verify the effectiveness of the proposed schemes. The simulation experiments run on the AVRORA simulator for two hardware platforms: Mica2 and MicaZ. The testbed experiments run on two real hardware platforms: the N740 NanoSensor and Mica2. The corresponding implementations are on two operating systems: Contiki and TinyOS. The proposed TPC mechanism covers those investigated factors and gives an overall performance better than the existing techniques, i.e. it gives lower packet loss and power consumption rates, while delays do not significantly increase. It can be applied for single-hop with multihoming and multihop networks. Using the DNLE technique, node lifetime can be predicted more accurately, which can be applied for both static and dynamic loads. EELAR gives the best performance on packet loss rate, average node lifetime and network lifetime compared to the other algorithms and no significant difference is found between each algorithm with the packet delay.

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento CientÃfico e TecnolÃgico / As estacas prÃ-fabricadas sÃo uma alternativa de fundaÃÃo indicada em situaÃÃes em que a vizinhanÃa nÃo apresenta restriÃÃes quanto a vibraÃÃes decorrentes de sua execuÃÃo. AlÃm disso, perfis de solos com baixa capacidade de suporte superficialmente e que se estende a maiores profundidades tambÃm apontam para a possibilidade de escolha dessa alternativa. Nestes casos, alÃm de outros, fundaÃÃes em estacas prÃ-fabricadas de concreto podem proporcionar fundaÃÃes tecnicamente possÃveis e economicamente mais atraente. Nesta dissertaÃÃo, à feito uma anÃlise da aplicabilidade dos principais mÃtodos de previsÃo de capacidade de carga e recalque de estacas prÃ-moldadas de concreto armado em perfis de solos granulares tÃpico dos encontrados comumente em Fortaleza. O objetivo deste trabalho à avaliar se previsÃes realizadas por mÃtodos semi-empÃricos de capacidade de carga e de recalque, realizados a partir de sondagens à percussÃo (SPT) e em perfis de solos granulares, sÃo concordantes tendo como referÃncia resultados de 7 provas de cargas estÃticas realizadas. AlÃm disso, pretende-se ainda avaliar se, provas de cargas interrompidas prematuramente sÃo capazes de serem extrapoladas de forma a proporcionar previsÃes da carga de ruptura concordantes. Para isso foram realizadas sondagens a percussÃo (SPT) e provas de cargas em alguns locais situados em Fortaleza. A seguir foram estimados os valores da capacidade de carga e do recalque de cada estaca ensaiada nas provas de carga, e para a carga de trabalho, atravÃs de mÃtodos semi-empÃricos, utilizando valores do Ãndice resistÃncia de sondagens à percussÃo (NSPT) corrigidos, e nÃo corrigidos, a partir da estimativa da eficiÃncia das sondagens utilizadas. As previsÃes realizadas a partir dos valores do Ãndice resistÃncia (NSPT) corrigidos proporcionaram estimativas da capacidade de carga e do recalque das estacas avaliadas mais concordantes. Os mÃtodos semi-empÃricos que apresentaram uma maior concordÃncia nas previsÃes das capacidades de carga foram o Aoki e Velloso (1975) e o Decourt e Quaresma (1982). Os mÃtodos semi-empÃricos que apresentaram uma maior concordÃncia nas previsÃes de recalque foram Bowles (1979) e Poulos & Davis (1980). / Prefabricated piles are a foundation of alternative indicated in situations where the neighborhood has no restrictions on the vibrations resulting from its implementation. In addition, soil profiles with low carrying capacity and surface extending deeper also indicate the choice of this alternative. In these cases and others, foundations Precast piles of concrete foundations can provide technically feasible and economically attractive. In this dissertation, it is made an analysis of the applicability of the main load capacity forecasting methods and repression of precast piles of reinforced concrete in typical granular soil profiles of commonly found in Fortaleza. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether predictions made by semi-empirical methods of load capacity and repression, carried out from polls to percussion (SPT) and granular soil profiles are consistent with reference to results of 7 load tests still performed. Furthermore, even if you want to evaluate whether evidence interrupted prematurely loads are able to be extrapolated to provide consistent breaking load forecasts. For that they were conducted polls percussion (SPT) and evidence of loads in some places situated in Fortaleza. The following were estimated values ​​of load capacity and settlement of each tested stake in load tests, and the workload, through semi-empirical methods, using values ​​of resistance index surveys to percussion (NSPT) corrected, and uncorrected, from the estimation of efficiency of used soundings. The predictions made from the values ​​of the resistance index (NSPT) provided fixed load capacity of estimates and the settlement of the piles evaluated more consistent. The semi-empirical methods that presented a greater agreement on forecasts of load capacities were Aoki and Velloso (1975) and Decourt and Lent (1982). The semi-empirical methods that showed a higher agreement in settlement predictions were Bowles (1979) and Poulos & Davis (1980).

Lead acid batteries are widely used in domestic, industrial and automotive applications. Even after lot of advancements in battery technologies, lead acid cells are still in use because of their high capacity and low cost. To use any battery effectively, first we should be able to identify the available capacity or State of Charge (SoC). There are many techniques available to measure SoC of a lead acid battery. One such unique method is to measure the capacity using eddy current sensors. This method is unique because it is non-obtrusive and online. Eddy current sensors (ECS) are wire wound inductors which work on the principle of electromagnetic induction. Eddy currents are the currents generated on a conductive material when it is kept in a varying magnetic. Eddy current sensors generate varying magnetic eldest and will be able to identify the properties of conductive materials like thickness, conductivity, material composition etc. Also they can be used as proximity sensors. Lead acid batteries use lead metal as cathode. Upon usage(discharge) the lead metal converts to lead sulfate and revert back to lead after charging. These changes in lead electrode can be monitored using eddy current sensors. The impedance of an eddy current sensor will change when it is kept close to the lead electrode when the battery is charging or discharging. These impedance parameters can be monitored to determine the battery SoC. When lead is deposited on cathode, there will be more eddy current loss in the target and the total resistance of coil increases. On the other hand, when lead is deposited on the electrode because of increase in the magnitude of eddy currents which oppose the source magnetic, the total inductance of coil decreases. We can observe exactly opposite behaviour of coil resistance and inductance when the lead electrode is converted to less conductive lead sulfate. There is a lot of research on using ECS to measure SoC of lead acid batteries and there are still many challenges to be addressed. First we have explained about different circuit designs we have used to monitor the battery capacity using eddy current sensors. After that, we have explained about our complete experimental setup and the procedure to measure the sensor parameters using the setup. Then, we have discussed about different issues involved in the eddy current sensing based state of charge measurement. Eddy current sensors are affected by temperature variations. We have studied the coil resistance behaviour with temperature at different frequencies using simulations and experiments. We have obtained the conditions for linear variation of coil resistance with temperature. The measured temperature compensation scheme is applied and the results are discussed. We have also modified the measurement system design in order to minimize the lift o errors. We have used a metallic clamp structure to minimize the lift o errors. We have used finite element analysis based simulations to study different design parameters and their effect on the sensitivity of eddy current sensor. We have created 2D eddy current models and the sensitivity of coil resistance is computed by changing the coil dimensions and the core permeability. We have also performed error analysis and computed the error due to the tilt angle shift between coil and electrode. We have also computed the error due to the internal heating of battery. We have also studied the effect of acid strati cation on state of charge for both sealed and hooded batteries. We have proposed a multi coil method to minimize the errors in SoC measurement due to acid strati cation for Flooded type batteries. We have used finite element analysis based simulations to compute the error due to acid strati cation by increasing the number of coils. Finally we have derived the equation for electrode Q factor using the transformer model of eddy current sensor. The derived Q factor equation is then used to study the aging of lead acid batteries both by using experiments and simulations. Finally we have explained a detail procedure to measure the state of charge(SoC) and state of health(SoH) of a hooded lead acid battery using eddy current sensing method.

The objective of the first part of master’s thesis is mapping the potential of various types of renewable sources in Europe and Czech Republic, especially solar energy, wind energy, water energy and biomass. There are described principals and ways of energy generation from these sources, brief overview of current technologies, and also their advantages and limitations. An important part is electric supply continuity from renewable sources, there are large differences and the resulting to restrictions on construction and connecting the units to the power system. In this work there are mentioned some impacts on network and rates of change of supply, some sources are also evaluated in terms of maximum power, that can be connected to the power system in our country. The conclusion of the first part is dedicated to energy storage technologies, which are suitable and usable for renewable sources, there are described their principals, properties, status of development and types of aplications, in which these technologies are used. This chapter also focusses on the price level of each technology. The second part of the thesis deals with 1 MWp on-grid photovoltaic power plant design. This design includes also the redox flow batteries accumulation, the first variant calculates on 24-hour steady energy supply, the second optimalized variant calculates on daily energy supply. There are the accumulation system costs estimated and also the payback period for the both variants. Additionally there is also determined minimum penalization for cost-effective operation. The last part is dedicated to changes of impact on the local grid and changes of system impacts, after the accumulation system is installed.