Baza natječaja

3 PhD Stipends in Control of Smart Grids (8-11031)

Position No.
8-11031

At the Faculty of Engineering and Science, Department of Electronic Systems 3 PhD stipends in Control of Smart Grids are available within the general study programme Electrical and Electronic Engineering. The stipends are open for appointment from August 1, 2011 or as soon as possible thereafter.

Job description
Three PhD positions (A, B og C) are open from August 1, 2011 for the period of 3 years. The positions are associated to the Smart & Cool project hosted in the Department of Electronic Systems of Aalborg University. The objectives of the project is to develop control methods for smart grids. The main focus is on the coordination of generation and consumption of electricity such that the overall energy balance on the grid is maintained. The projects is conducted in collaboration with Technical University of Denmark, Danfoss A/S and DONG Energy A/S. The research of the three PhD students will be carried out within three subjects: control methods for energy balancing via consumption in supermarket refrigeration-systems, control methods for decentralized electricity production on smart grids, and control methods for energy balancing between production and consumption.

A: Control methods for energy balancing via consumption in supermarket refrigeration-systems
The electrical energy used in a refrigeration system for moving heat from the cold reservoir (display case, cooling room) to the hot reservoir (outdoor surroundings) depends on the temperature difference between them. This implies that the energy efficiency is higher if cooling takes place during the night than during the day hours. By establishing a cooling pool, energy may be temporarily stored during the night and used during the day. As a consequence, the consumption of energy can be partly moved from day to night. In particular, it is possible to reduce the consumption of the electrical energy in critical periods, which helps the electrical energy balancing. This means that effective usage of the thermal capacity helps the producers to keep the energy balance whenever there is the need for the ramp of energy production. A challenge for this consumer flexibility is that temperature limits for the food stuff has to be sustained in order not to compromise the quality of foodstuff.

Essential for the project is to develop: energy planning models (usage of energy when it is cheapest vs. compensation for acting as a storage unit), energy storage models (no food damage, heat capacity etc.), capacity limits, predictive COP/thermal mass control (exploiting time varying physics etc.), predictive heat wave control (exploiting thermal mass), robust MPC and de-synchronization issues in relation to power saving.

B: Control methods for energy balancing between production and consumption
An electric grid consists of a large number of actors that either produce or consume electric energy. Each of the actors converts one form of energy to another. For instance, thermal power plants convert the heat into electric energy, wind farms convert wind energy into electric energy, and refrigeration systems convert electric energy into cooling. A well functioning grid maintains energy balance at all time, i.e., the levels of consumption and production are the same. If the energy produced is regarded as a positive number and the energy consumed as a negative number, the control task is to turn the grid into a conservative system with total energy 0. Our hypothesis is that an efficient energy balancing can be done by means of automatic control, which restraints or stimulates the energy flow among the actors on the grid. The project addresses both modelling and control challenges. Generic models of the grid based on the first principles, and economic models for services-transfer between the actors will be developed. The modeling paradigm that suits best the problem will be chosen from statistical formalisms (ergodic systems, statistical mechanics), dynamical systems (ordinary and partial differential equations), and combinatorial models (automata). The challenge in this part of the project is the trade-off between information loss and complexity of the model. Subsequently, the economic feedback mechanism will be developed. It acts on the market and affects the behaviour of the actors. For this purpose, numerically tractable optimization algorithms for geographically distributed systems will be devised. It is anticipated that price signal both historic and future will serve as a control input.

C: Control methods for decentralized electricity production on smart grids
Over the last two decades, the electricity grid in Europe has undergone a rapid change from a centrally operated system with comparatively few, large production units (typically fossil or nuclear fuel thermal plants) toward a decentralized system with many more smaller production units - local combined heat and power plants, biomass-fired plants, wind farms, hydro-plants and so forth. In principle, all of these diverse production units are interested in producing power and selling it on the market as advantageously as possible. At the same time, the market imposes strict rules on bidding etc., and demands must be met at all times. The question thus becomes: how can one design an efficient system with many players aiming for the same goal, while remaining competitors? This project attempts to solve this problem taking a bottom-up approach, in the sense that the focus is on developing control methods for individual power producers that allow for optimal production while at the same time accommodating the overall problem of supplying the needed electricity in the most efficient manner to the market.

The project is likely to involve dynamical modeling of various production units, review and choice of appropriate control strategies, as well as game theoretic concepts. The outcome should be a set of local feedback control strategies that an individual producer may employ at a given market situation. The strategies should be rigorously tested via simulation and mathematical proofs of feasibility, optimality etc. should be given wherever possible.

You may obtain further information from Professor Rafal Wisniewski , Department of Electronic Systems, phone +45 9940 8702 , email: raf@es.aau.dk  concerning the scientific aspects of the stipends.

PhD stipends are allocated to individuals who hold a Masters degree. PhD stipends are normally for a period of 3 years. It is a prerequisite for allocation of the stipend that the candidate will be enrolled as a PhD student at the Doctoral School of the Faculty of Engineering and Science, in accordance with the regulations of Ministerial Order No. 18 of January 14, 2008 on the PhD Programme at the Universities. According to the Ministerial Order, the progress of the PhD student shall be assessed every six months. It is a prerequisite for continuation of salary payment that the previous progress is approved at the time of the evaluation.

The qualifications of the applicant will be assessed by an assessment committee. On the basis of the recommendation of the assessment committee, the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Science will make a decision for allocating the stipend.

For further information about stipends and salary as well as practical issues concerning the application procedure contact Ms. Tine Lützhøft, The Faculty of Engineering and Science, email: tl@adm.aau.dk, phone: +45 9940 7380.

The faculty have a research school, The Doctoral School of Engineering and Science: www.phd.ins.aau.dk and a Network for all PhD students: www.pau.aau.dk

The application is only to be submitted online by using the "Apply online" button below.
 

Agreement
Appointment and salary as a PhD fellow are according to the Ministry of Finance Circular of October 1, 2008 on the Collective Agreement for Academics in Denmark, Appendix 5, regarding PhD fellows, and with the Ministry of Finance Circular of June 13, 2007 on the employment structure at Danish Universities.

 

Deadline
20/06/2011


Apply online


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