Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2002. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 100 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-72).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xi, 88 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 84-85).

Thesis (M.S.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xvi, 112 p. : ill. (some col.). Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 85-87).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 1986.

As the awareness of energy security and global warming is increasing, alternative technologies are being developed such as electric vehicles. In addition, the integration of a more sustainable energy system with renewable resources put a lot of pressure on the electricity system in terms of regulation power. This thesis has investigated and developed proposals of business models with electric vehicles, which by their construction can raise value for both customers and electricity companies. The development of the business models have been done using a model, which was based on the complexity of the frequency control market, the charging of vehicles and the behavior of the drivers. The proposed models address two types of customer segments; business and private customers. In addition, applying a perspective that includes active and non-active customers has segmented these further. Based on the assumptions in the thesis, the most promising area of interest is the non-active business customer, in this case, a car pool. This proposal was based on the simulation results together with an analysis of advantages and disadvantages with active and non-active customers. This proposal assumed that customers preferred to be non-active in order to maintain flexibility and freedom, which could be studied further by customer surveys.

Today’s debate regarding the United States (U.S.) transportation sector has never been more important. As similar discussions embroil electricity generation, one can see the powerful forces of the status-quo pitted against growing momentum behind alternatives. The electric vehicle (EV) finds itself somewhere in the middle of the debate, as a possible alternative to the conventional vehicle (CV). As demonstrated in this report, electric vehicles are neither new nor technologically infeasible. Current circumstances have initiated what appears to be a revival of the EV – this includes years of high oil prices, geopolitical instability, and growing awareness of environmental concerns resulting from CV usage. Nevertheless, impediments remain. One of the most important is the prospect of building public charging infrastructure to allow drivers to use an EV like their conventional vehicle, for both long and short distances. Public charging infrastructure, however, cannot be built without some critical mass of EV’s on the road to use them – otherwise they are not economically feasible. This report analyzes various facets of both EV’s and public charging infrastructure to give the reader a clear understanding of the complex criteria that must be understood to assess EV’s in the United States. Texas is given special consideration as a case study in this report, particularly the Austin area where public charging infrastructure for EV’s is currently being implemented. Through a detailed analysis of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, as well as the United States transportation system, this report seeks to reach conclusions over the role EV’s and public charging infrastructure should play in the future U.S. transportation system. / text

published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

There are unique challenges and opportunities related to the integration of electric vehicles into the future power grid, especially the modern distribution grid since electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities and fast-charging stations are usually tied to low-voltage and medium-voltage power networks. The grid-connected EVs, if properly controlled, can operate as distributed energy storage and provide various ancillary services, such as peak shaving, fast-response reserve capacity, frequency regulation, voltage control and reactive supports. The purpose of this thesis is to integrate EVs to the power grid and provides suitable ancillary services to improve the grid reliability and stability. The larger future penetration of EVs and renewable energies is also taken into account to develop the vehicle-to-grid (V2G) control scheme with the constraints of EV charging and communication infrastructures. The main contents include: V2G mathematical model and system configuration; impact evaluation of EV integration and the V2G control framework; energy scheduling of EVs integration; V2G dynamic regulation services; control method of EV aggregator for dispatching a fleet of EVs; and the evaluation of V2G control scheme and hardware-in-the-loop experimental system design. 　　In the thesis, the impact of EV charging demand on the conventional distribution grid is firstly estimated to reveal the negative effects of the arbitrary EV charging and the necessity to control the EV charging process. The potential benefits EVs can bring into the power grid support are discussed and a V2G control framework is proposed to perform the V2G optimization and various regulation services. The current power electronics applied EV charging facilities and communication network are integrated into the V2G operation in the future distribution grid with microgrid and smaller installation of renewable generation units. 　　Next, mathematical model of V2G power control is formulated. Two optimization methods are proposed to schedule the EV charging and discharging energy to minimize the power losses and the operating cost while satisfying the mobility needs and the power system limitations. Subsequently, the dynamic regulation of V2G power is investigated to unleash the potential of EVs to provide multiple ancillary services simultaneously. In addition to V2G optimal energy scheduling, EVs can also be employed for dynamic power regulation which requires the fast response to the instantaneous imbalance between the power supply and demand. V2G power is controlled to mitigate the power fluctuation caused by the intermittent wind energy resources, and thus stabilize the system frequency and voltage. Finally, an EV-centric hybrid energy storage system is proposed, which combines the merits of V2G operation and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) to enhance the power quality and system frequency stability. The critical issues in V2G applications are summarized in the end. / published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In recent years, since the concept of smart grid rises and the existing power grids are continuously modernized, more and more electric vehicles (EVs) are integrated into the power grid. In the power grid, EVs are expected to provide various energy services, such as spinning reserves, regulation services, optimization services, stability improvement, reactive compensation and grid security. This thesis is to model, analyze and implement these energy services of EVs. 　　Firstly, a multilayer framework of a power system with vehicle-to-grid (V2G) and vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) operation is proposed. Its fundamental components including batteries, renewable energy sources are modeled for system analysis. Moreover, a general model for multiply purposes is presented. 　　Secondly, based on the modeling of EVs and the power systems, the analysis on frequency regulation and transient stability of the V2G system can be carried out effectively. The objectives of the frequency regulation are to keep the system frequency constant, and eliminate the deviations fast and effectively. While, the transient stability is to observe the performances of the power systems integrated with EVs and superconducting magnetic energy storage (SMES) during emergency cases. The results illustrate that EVs are valuable for improve the frequency and transient stability of the power systems. 　　Finally, the coordination and optimization of the power systems with EVs are studied. Unit commitment involving EVs is analyzed, which uses EVs to replace some expensive generating units to achieve minimum operating cost and emissions. In addition, the optimal sizing of EV aggregations in the distribution power system is conducted to minimize the total power loss. And the individual EV in the aggregations is dispatched to achieve minimum charging cost by satisfying the optimal sized demand and the real-time pricing. The results verified that EVs can be used to achieve optimized goals, such as minimum costs, emissions and losses. / published_or_final_version / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

M. Tech. Mechanical Engineering / In order to increase the vehicle crashworthiness and decrease the weight of the vehicle in today’s automotive industries, composite materials have been replacing the conventional high strength steel material. The main advantage of composite material is the very high weight to strength ratio that will result in lighter automobiles, which will improve fuel efficiency and reduce exhaust emissions. In this research, the optimal orientation of fiber within the matrix was explored. It was found that different orientation of the fiber in the different matrix resulted in different mechanical properties and energy absorption rate.