LBNL Building Technology

/0 Comments/in , /by

(One of a series of notes detailing results of recent visits to
Lawrence Berkeley National Labs – LBNL)
————————————————————–

Building Technology Dept. http://eetd.lbl.gov/BT.html

Commercial Building Systems, Simulation, Windows & Daylighting, Lighting, and Applications
LBNL has one of the largest US building RD&D activities; active since 1976 in this field, approx. $18M per year in funding currently; with about $12M from DOE and remainder from other sources, addressing most major aspects of building energy use, including hardware, systems, software, indoor environmental issues.
http://eetd.lbl.gov/BT.html
Stephen Selkowitz, Dept. Head, 510-486-5064 seselkowitz@lbl.gov

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Diagnostics for Building Operation and Commissioning
Commercial buildings alone consume about 15% of all energy at a cost of $85 billion annually. Half of this consumption is wasted, compared to what is cost-effectively achievable. To realize these savings requires a careful examination of the process by which buildings are designed, built, commissioned, and operated, using a life-cycle approach.

A multi-year project is underway to develop and apply technology to improve building operation and maintenance. In a collaborative effort among researchers, building owners, utilities and private industry, an interdisciplinary team has been gathered to:
– Assess the current state of performance technology
– Develop an appropriate information gathering and diagnosis capability
– Test this new diagnostic system in real buildings

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Information Monitoring and Diagnostic System (IMDS)
160 Sansome, San Francisco

The first IMDS has been installed and is now operating in an 18 story 100,000 sq ft, class A, San Francisco office building, built in 1964.

The IMDS includes 56 sensors, 34 calculated fields (for a total of 90 monitored data points), computer-based communications, data archival and retrieval capabilities, diagnostic information processing, data visualization, and other components that meet the needs expressed by building owners and property management companies. Existing proven hardware and systems were used, and the focus is on obtaining detailed accurate technical data (e.g. sufficient for calculations for a performance contract). Note this is a passive system, performing measurements only, and not control of equipment. A detailed specification is to be published.

This system implements a top-down approach, with diagnostic and information visualization algorithms, at three levels.
– Level I diagnoses whole-building performance at the aggregate level,
comparing to other buildings with similar energy services.
– Level II examines major end-use systems, and
– Level III focuses on major subsystems.

Savings opportunities of 10% were identified in the first four months. Life cycle cost issues have come into play, for example, improper rapid cycling of equipment. The active participation of the building’s innovative owner and operators should help publicize the effort and influence others in the industry. More recent findings suggest that the IMDS has proven extremely useful to the on-site building operators, helping them to improve control of the entire building.

CONTACT:
Project Team Leader: Mary Ann Piette, 510-486-6286, mapiette@lbl.gov
The project homepage: http://eetd.lbl.gov/btp/iit/diag/

“Development and Testing of an Information Monitoring and Diagnostic System for Large Commercial Buildings,” (paper presented at the ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, August 1998).
http://eetd.lbl.gov/EA/IIT/diag/pubs/ace3/aceee.html

There is a detailed “Virtual Tour” at: http://poet.lbl.gov/tour/
A project overview appears at: (http://eetd.lbl.gov/ciee/BuildingSystems.html)

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Building Life-Cycle Information Support System (BLISS)

BLISS is intended to provide a distributed computing environment for managing, archiving, and providing access to the wide variety of data and information that is generated across the complete life-cycle of a building project.

— > Identify Contraints/Opportunities — >
** Design — > Construction — > Commissioning — >
Monitoring — > Operations/Maintenance — >
Retrofits/Use changes — >
Re-evaluate Opportunities — > **

BLISS requires standardization in both a common building database model and in the mechanisms for transferring this information between tools.

The project has three major elements: (1) to specify the distributed software architecture, (2) to develop a life-cycle building model database schema, and (3) to develop a mechanism to capture and update “design intent” throughout the life cycle. The distributed systems architecture describes how various software components communicate, and the building model schema specifies the structure and semantics of the database (e.g. how performance metrics are defined and represented quantitatively).

BLISS is being developed within the evolving software specification from the International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI). The IAI is a non-profit alliance of the building industry with six international member chapters. Its mission is to integrate the industry by specifying Industry Foundation Classes (IFCs) as a universal language to improve communication, productivity, delivery time, cost, and quality throughout the building life cycle.

Currently, Metracker is a tool being developed to help capture design intent via a number of performance metrics and then track changes in those metrics over the life of the building. The data schema is built on the IAI building data model. It is being tested on a new building in Oakland CA.
http://eetd.lbl.gov/BTP/CBS/BPA/
Contact Rob Hitchcock, 510-486-4154, rjhitchcock@lbl.gov

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Remote Building Monitoring and Operations(RBMO)

A prototype system has been developed which permits remote monitoring and control of multiple commercial buildings across the Internet from a single control center. Such a system would be used by owner/operators of multiple buildings, such a school districts, governments, universities, large retailers, utility companies, building management firms, etc. Average savings estimated at 15% would come from reducing energy waste from equipment that runs when it does not need to, set point optimizations, and correcting operations and control deficiencies.

The project was initiated as a demonstration of the use of internet protocols and open systems for building monitoring, permitting integration of equipment from multiple vendors. It addresses similar IT issues of authentication, access-security, etc., which arise in a major Lab program on sharing scientific instrumentation over the internet.

The project includes the following components.

An Internet-to-building-EMCS (Energy Management Control System) gateway which speaks CORBA (Common Object Request Broker Architecture) protocol atop TCP/IP on the Internet side and either (preferably) BACnet atop TCP/IP, or a proprietary EMCS communications protocol, to the building EMCS.

Development of applications-level object specifications for HVAC objects, e.g., chillers.

A remote building monitoring and control center which will provide data visualization, database management, building energy simulation, and energy usage analysis tools.

Deployment and testing of the system in multiple buildings with diverse types of EMCS systems. Our goal is to assess scalability of the system to large numbers of buildings, both in terms of performance and accommodating heterogeneity of control systems and HVAC systems.

Remote control of HVAC systems – this awaits the availability of a secure CORBA implementation.

http://www.lbl.gov/~olken/RBO/rbo.html
Frank Olken 510-486-5891 olken@lbl.gov

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Simulation Research
http://gundog.lbl.gov/

The Building Energy Simulation User News is a quarterly newsletter for the DOE-2, BLAST, SPARK, EnergyPlus and GenOpt programs. Sent without charge, the newsletter prints documentation updates, bug fixes, inside tips on using the programs more effectively, and articles of special interest to program users. The winter issue features a cumulative index of all articles ever printed. Current issues are available electronically (below). All issues are available via regular mail, by request.

To subscribe or to request a back issue, contact: Kathy Ellington, KLEllington@lbl.gov

DOE-2 is a computer program for the design of energy-efficient buildings. Developed for DOE, DOE-2 calculates the hourly energy use and energy cost of a commercial or residential building given information about the building’s climate, construction, operation, utility rate schedule, and heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) equipment. A new version, DOE-2.2, includes an integrated SYSTEMS-PLANT program based on circulation loops with tracking of temperatures and flows, luminaire/lamp modeling of lighting systems, a window-blind thermal/daylighting model, input value defaulting using expressions, and expanded building component libraries.

EnergyPlus – A new-generation building energy simulation program based on DOE-2 and BLAST, with numerous added capabilities. Developed by the Simulation Research Group, the Building Systems Laboratory at the University of Illinois, the U.S. Army Construction Engineering Research Lab, and DOE.

GenOpt – A tool for multi-dimensional optimization of an objective function that is computed by a simulation program. This project at LBNL is sponsored by the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences, the Swiss National Energy Fund, the Swiss National Science Foundation, and DOE.

SPARK [Simulation Problem Analysis and Research Kernel]
A program that allows users to quickly build models of complex physical processes by connecting calculation modules from a library.

BDA: Building Design Advisor – A computer program that supports the concurrent, integrated use of multiple simulation tools and databases, through a single, object-based representation of building components and systems. Based on a comprehensive design theory, the BDA acts as a data manager and process controller, allowing building designers to benefit from the capabilities of multiple analysis and visualization tools throughout the building design process. The BDA has a simple Graphical User Interface that is based on two main elements, the Building Browser and the Decision Desktop.

International Alliance for Interoperability (IAI) – With international partners, develop Industry Foundation Classes(IFC) and an integrated building information model for describing buildings. Develop methods for allowing applications, such as CAD and energy analysis, to interoperate with the information model. Interoperability will allow diverse building drawing and simulation tools to share the same building description and to exchange results, thus simplifying building design, construction and operation.

RESFEN – A PC-based computer program (using DOE-2 as the simulation engine) for calculating the heating and cooling energy performance and cost of residential fenestration systems. RESFEN is free on a CD.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Windows & Daylighting

http://windows.lbl.gov/
Stephen Selkowitz 510-486-5064 seselkowitz@lbl.gov

– > Glazing Materials Research – Low-Emittance and Solar Control; Static spectral filters; Deposition Processes

– > Characterization facilities/optical lab for in-house research, manufacturers, and to support product rating and related standards activities.

– > The Optical Data Library provides glazing layer (peer-reviewed) optical data for over 800 commercially available products; this data is used with the WINDOW and Optics software.

– > New Materials: track of new materials R&D around the world–strong ties to IEA.

– > Manage the DOE Electrochromic Initiative – 2 labs, 4 manufacturers
Electrochromics or “smart windows” have the potential for becoming an important element in building load management due to their ability to control perimeter cooling loads and lighting loads, both of which are major elements of building peak demand. Occupant control of window shading systems is notoriously unreliable. A smart window whose solar heat gain coefficient can be modulated over a 5:1 range provides a significant new opportunity. While coating development work continues at LBNL and with industry partners, a German product is being purchased by LBNL to test in an office building in Oakland, with a focus on control integration and load management issues.

– > Advanced Systems development, testing, evaluation

– > Window Properties – determining the thermal and optical performance of window systems

– > Daylighting – LBNL has recently recieved substantial funding from California utilities to help convert RADIANCE, a lighting and daylighting research tool that is highly accurate but hard to use, to a desktop environment design tool with a user friendly interface and link to CAD software. A first version will be released in 1999; improved version with additional capabilities in 2000.

– > Residential performance – support Energy Star program; Annual Energy Ratings

– > Commercial Glazing Performance- ramping up R&D in this area, beginning with development of a design guide for architects and engineers. Later will be looking at advanced facade systems and their role in intelligent buildings. Innovative building skins are seen as not only energy savers but as building features that enhance the quality of the indoor space.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lighting Research

The Lighting Research Group researches and develops fixtures, controls, and software which employ and promote energy efficient lighting. The group is primarily funded by DOE, although some funding is provided by industry for specific projects. The group is recognized as one of the main players in the lighting industry, as both technology developers and as observers/influencers. As such they have an indepth awareness of technological developments, issues and trends in the industry.

Research projects include sources, controls, fixture design, and human factors. Software for lighting design is a major R&D area. The test lab has the equipment which is essential for testing and designing energy efficient lighting fixtures, including a goniometer, integrating sphere, and spectro-radiometer for measuring light output. There is also an electric power analyzer for testing power and power quality of light sources.

The lab has in-house and collaborative work in new kinds of light sources that are being developed — solid state, electroluminescent, white LED, and organic liquids.

Their work to design the (non-halogen) compact fluorescent torchiere has led to the commercial availability on a wide scale of these much safer and more efficient lamps. Several universities did free exchange programs for dormitory residents, and now some utilities are doing it for their customers.
(see website for more details: http://eetd.lbl.gov/btp/lsr/torchiere.html)

Of interest to utilities, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) are growing in popularity, but there are issues about price, quality, and longevity. Some imports have low prices, but don’t last as long as they should. To deal with this, some utilities are specifying an unecessarily high number of life hours. Specifications need to incorporate the issue of how often lights are turned off and on, but current testing procedures don’t deal with this effectively. LBL is proposing a new approach to life testing, but lacks the funding to demonstrate it.

Controls
“Bi-level” light switching is cost effective, and it is now in the building code for the state of California. (two switches–one controls 1/3 of the lighting in a room, and the other controls the remaining 2/3). Other effective measures are photosensors (for daylighting) and occupancy sensors. But it is important to solve the right problem. Hotels got little benefit from occupancy sensors, because guests rarely leave lights on when they’re out of the room. The biggest waste was found to come from bathroom lights left blazing as a night light — providing a dimmed setting would work better.

Recently, LBL combined low-glare, lower level ambient lighting with custom designed task light fixtures, in a US Post Office sorting facility. Occupancy sensors turned the task light on only when the clerk was present. Task light levels were improved while overall energy was reduced by 70%.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lighting Software

RADIANCE – A suite of programs for the analysis and visualization of lighting in design. Input files specify the scene geometry, materials, luminaires, time, date and sky conditions (for daylight calculations). Calculated values include spectral radiance (ie. luminance + color), irradiance (illuminance + color) and glare indices. Simulation results may be displayed as color images, numerical values and contour plots. The primary advantage of Radiance over simpler lighting calculation and rendering tools is that there are no limitations on the geometry or the materials that may be simulated. Radiance is used by architects and engineers to predict illumination, visual quality and appearance of innovative design spaces, and by researchers to evaluate new lighting and daylighting technologies. (for UNIX)
http://radsite.lbl.gov/radiance/HOME.html

ADELINE 2.0
(Advanced Daylighting and Electric Lighting Integrated New Environment)
ADELINE is an integrated lighting design computer tool developed by an international research team within the framework of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Solar Heating and Cooling Programme Task 12. It provides architects and engineers with accurate information about the behaviour and the performance of indoor lighting systems. Both natural and electrical lighting problems can be solved, in simple rooms or the most complex spaces. ADELINE produces reliable lighting design results by processing a variety of data (including:geometric, photometric, climatic, optic and human response) to perform light simulations and to produce comprehensive numeric and graphic information. (for PC)
http://radsite.lbl.gov/adeline/HOME.html

SUPERLITE 2.0 is a lighting analysis program designed to predict interior illuminance in complex building spaces due to daylight and electric lighting systems. SUPERLITE enables a user to model interior daylight levels for any sun and sky condition in spaces having windows, skylights or other standard fenestration systems.
http://eetd.lbl.gov/btp/superlite20.html

LBL Lighting publications are available (some can be downloaded) at:
http://eetd.lbl.gov/btp/pub/LGpub.html

Steve Johnson 510-486-4274 sgjohnson@lbl.gov
http://eetd.lbl.gov/btp/lsr/

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Home Energy Saver

http://HomeEnergySaver.lbl.gov.

The Home Energy Saver(HES) website, announced in March ’99, brings advanced building simulation software to an interactive website to help consumers identify the technologies that will save them the most energy and money.

The Home Energy Saver quickly computes a home’s energy use on-line based on methods developed at LBNL. By changing one or more features of the modeled home, users can estimate how much energy and money can be saved and how much pollution prevented by implementing energy-efficiency improvements. All end uses (heating, cooling, major appliances, lighting, and miscellaneous uses) are included.

The Home Energy Saver’s Energy Advisor calculates energy use and savings opportunities, based on a detailed description of the home provided by the user. Users can begin the process by simply entering their zip code, and in turn receive instant initial estimates. By providing more information about the home the user will receive increasingly customized results along with energy-saving upgrade recommendations.

Developed for the ENERGY STAR Program (EPA and DOE).

The HES Mission Statement ( http://hes.lbl.gov/hes/mission.html ) explains the way the program seeks to work with and support private-sector vendors, by complementing their efforts, not competing with them.

Nor is it intended to compete with private vendors of web-based software who seek revenues from utilities who license their products. Nevertheless, utility partnerships with HES are still possible, and indeed some have already begun.

Contact: Rich Brown, 510-486-5896, REBrown@lbl.gov

LBNL CO Occupational Dosimeter

/0 Comments/in , /by

(One of a series of notes detailing results of recent visits to
Lawrence Berkeley National Labs-LBNL)
————————————————————–

CO Sensor – Occupational Dosimeter

A new lightweight, inexpensive, accurate carbon monoxide (CO) sensor and monitoring system has been developed by scientists LBNL and Quantum Group Incorporated (QGI, San Diego), under a cooperative R&D agreement (CRADA).

The original impetus was to create a device to do population exposure studies, since outdoor measurements of levels of CO (as required by the Clean Air Act) don’t relate to deaths and acute poisonings caused by CO. CO poisoning deaths (500-1000 per year) occur indoors, involving accidents, misuse of heaters, unvented gas flames, and auto exhaust. 19,000 poisonings were reported by poison control centers in 1995.

There is limited understanding about carbon monoxide exposure risks, partly because there has been no affordable way to accurately measure CO in the field. Some of the current methods of measurement require expensive, heavy equipment or unwieldy air bag samplers. Others are relatively inexpensive and lightweight, but they are not accurate or sensitive enough to provide credible quantitative results for a large number of sites.

To fill this gap, LBNL and QGI developed the new CO sensor, which can clip onto a person’s clothing. It can be used as an occupational dosimeter, which measures a worker’s average exposure, or as a residential passive sampler measuring exposure in a home or office over a one-day to one-week period. Analysis is simple—the device is placed into a standard lab spectrophotometer which, by measuring its color change, instantly indicates how much carbon monoxide the sensor absorbed. A single sensor can be reused many times.

To test the sensor’s performance, a study was done of the CO exposure of workers at San Francisco’s Moscone Convention Center, where propane powered forklifts are active throughout, and trucks drive up to interior loading docks. (The Center already had installed a number of measures to reduce CO exposure.) Workers wore sensors and commercially available diffusion tube devices. CO levels were also measured by traditional means.

The tests showed that the device measured average workshift CO exposures accurately to within one part per million. The commercially available diffusion tube under-reported CO exposures by an average of about 3 parts per million.

QGI is now looking for private-sector partners for distribution and is developing plans to manufacture and market the CO occupational dosimeter.

See press release May 17, 1999, at:
http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/carbon-monoxide-sensor.html

Contact: Michael Apte, MGApte@lbl.gov, 510-486-4699

Quantum Group (San Diego CA) produces a line of CO detection products including detectors for residential and RV use, appliance safety shut-off, and ventilation controls.
http://www.qginc.com/

Mark Goldstein, President, 619-457-3048 x103 fax 619-457-3229
Michelle Oum, Director, Sensor R&D, x110

LBNL Insurance Program

/0 Comments/in , /by

Date: Wed, 07 Jul 1999 09:44:52 -0700

(First of a series of notes detailing results of recent visits to
Lawrence Berkeley National Labs-LBNL)
————————————————————–

Insurance Loss Protection Through Sustainable Energy Technology

LBNL has begun a new and novel area of inquiry, exploring how energy relates to insurance-loss risks. The program is opening a number of fascinating new areas, and opening lines of communication between the insurance industry and the many different players in energy and environment.

Utilities have begun to initiate collaborations with insurance companies: there are many interesting and innovative opportunities for cross marketing and introduction of new types of customer services, product differentiation, and customer retention measures.

See Program website at http://eetd.lbl.gov/insurance

Contact: Project Leader: Evan Mills, 510-486-6784, emills@lbl.gov

Climate Change Risks
It is clear that weather-related natural disaster losses are becoming more and more severe, and possibly uninsurable. Global warming may or may not be responsible for global climate change, and greenhouse gases and energy consumption may or may not be major contributors to warming or climate change. Nevertheless, there is a growing view that something needs to be done, hastened by the growing scientific consensus about the linkages.

This article provides a good review of these ideas:
“The Coming Storm – Global Warming & Risk Management”
Risk Management magazine, May 1998, pages 20-27.
http://eande.lbl.gov/CBS/PUBS/comingstorm.html

The insurance industry – in Europe, particularly – is tackling the issue head-on, realizing that they have the most at risk and the most to lose. If energy impacts need to be reduced, then insurers have a stake and a role to play. A leading group of international insurers and reinsurers, led by companies in Europe and Asia, has joined together as the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Insurance Industry Initiative on the Environment. (This kind of effort isn’t new. Historically, the industry has lead developments such as establishing fire departments and the Underwriter’s Laboratory.)
http://eetd.lbl.gov/CBS/insurance/UNEPinvite.html (more on UNEP)

Direct Risk/Loss Reduction — “No Regrets”
Even if you don’t believe in global warming, there are many untapped opportunities to reduce insured risks through the application of energy-efficient and renewable-energy technologies and services. The promotion of technologies and services for insurance loss reduction and loss prevention is as old as the fields of insurance and risk management, but this research is finding a whole new category of technology to be applied.

This approach provides a “no-regrets” opportunity for insurers, as the risk-reducing benefits offer distinct immediate value, irrespective of the timing or extent of damages related to global climate change.

Example–Halogen torchiere lamps consume a lot of energy, and pose a significant fire hazard. Replacing them with compact fluorescent torchieres reduces both. An insurance company and utility cofunded a program to do this in college dorms.
See: http://eetd.lbl.gov/cbs/EMills/arkwright.html

LBNL identified 78 technologies and techniques that can help reduce insurance losses and manage risks. See LBNL Report #41432, August, 1998
( http://eetd.lbl.gov/CBS/insurance/LBNL-41432.html )

The most common physical perils addressed were power failures, fire and wind damage, and home or workplace indoor air-quality hazards. These can potentially reduce insurance losses for many types of coverage — boiler and machinery, builder’s risk, business interruption, commercial property insurance, completed operations liability, comprehensive general liability, contractors liability, environmental liability, product liability, professional liability, service interruption, workers’ compensation, health/life insurance, and homeowners insurance.

UK Renewables Review

/0 Comments/in , /by

(Renewables are being taken up faster in Europe than in the US, with commitments at all levels of government and industry, so it’s important for us to follow developments there closely.)
———
The UK Department of Trade and Industry has some very interesting stuff on its website, at: http://www.dti.gov.uk

In particular, they issued a major report recently. Here is a notice about it.
UK GOVERNMENT PUBLISHES RENEWABLES REVIEW

In March, Energy Minister John Battle set out the Government’s blueprint for the future of renewables, reaffirming its commitment to developing the industry and boosting research and development expenditure to £43 million over the next three years. Launching the Consultation Paper “New and Renewable Energy ? Prospects for the 21st Century”, which reports on the outcome of the Government’s review of new and renewable energy policy, Mr Battle said:

“The Renewables Review paper demonstrates that there is tremendous potential for renewables to become a fully competitive part of UK energy supply. The Government intends working towards a target of renewable energy providing 10% of UK electricity supplies, cost-effectively, as soon as possible. This report seeks views on the issues raised to enable the Government to frame its future policy. I look forward to receiving those views and plan to make a further announcement about our way forward in due course”.

Responses should be made by 28 May 1999 to Neil Hornsby, Energy Technologies Directorate, DTI, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET. Copies of the Review are available from: DTI Publications Orderline, Admail 528, London SW1W 8YT, Tel: 0870 1502 500, Fax: 0870 1502 333, e-mail: dtipubs@echristian.co.uk. The document is also available on the Internet at:

– >> http://www.dti.gov.uk/renew/condoc
——-
At this link, there are pdf and word downloads available of the report itself. Also provided — a 277 page pdf document: “Supporting Analysis for New and Renewable Energy”, which appears to be a very comprehensive report on all types of renewables.

Found in: NEW REVIEW, ISSUE 40, May 1999
The Quarterly Newsletter for the UK New and Renewable Energy Industry
http://www.dti.gov.uk/NewReview/nr40/html/renewables_review.html
——–

Also Recommended:
Canadian Association for Renewable Energies Association
http://www.renewables.ca/
Their free weekly email newsletter is a great source of information.
(This is where I learned of the item above)

T Line Sag Mitigator Gets Funding; Partner Wanted

/0 Comments/in , /by

Recall this UFTO Note?
————-

Subject: UFTO Note – Sagging Line Mitigator
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999

This unique device would replace or work with standard insulated hangers on power transmission towers, to counteract the effect of temperature on the sagging of overhead transmission lines. This allows increased line ampacity (load current capacity) of existing lines during curtailed summer months, reduced tower heights, and/or increased tower spacing. This device will significantly reduce the risk of forest fires and outages caused by sagging lines, increase the efficiency of energy transfer, delay the need for additional line capacity, and delay the construction of new lines.
————–
The developers now have substantial funding from the Calif Energy Commission to proceed with development, and they are looking for a host utility to be involved.

They’re proposing that a utility would provide the electrical engineering person(s) they need for the development team. They would cover part of salary and incremental costs. A “recruitment” notice appears below. Other business arrangements are also certainly possible. The important thing for them is to get industry expertise, and for the utility, early access to a possibly very significant transmission system innovation.

—————————-
In my own discussions about this with some utility folks, the value of this device hasn’t been immediately obvious, so I asked the company about it. Here is their reply:

Question: How often is sag an important limitation?

Answer: Some lines are designed w/sag limits and some w/temperature limits (which again relate back together!). Also, there are lines for which winter loads (cold) are an issue (lack of sag – high tension). Our device would keep sag practically constant and hence will help these conditions. Benefits of such a device which keeps line profile constant are numerous and not all of them are obvious. In our contacts with transmission line experts, we have generally received favorable reposnse, however, I have also noticed that the benefits of the device may not be obvious to some. That, I believe, maybe because they consider load curtailment as part of design. However, from a designer/planner point of view, slim would make it possbile to increase those ampacities, which would lead to significant benefits.

SLiM can also solve a multitude of temperature related issues with these lines, including mitigation of fatigue loading/failures and reduction of high tensile loads during cold ice storms.
———————

Material Integrity Solutions, Inc., specializes in mechanical and structural analysis and design of complex components for a number of industries including power generation, gas transmission, electronics, and manufacturing. The company is seeking partnerships and expertise in conductor and transmission system design, for development of the SLiM device.

Experience Requirements

Applicants must have excellent knowledge, expertise, and experience, as demonstrated by minimum of 5 years of utility transmission design and/or construction, in:

– Electrical and electromagnetic analysis/design of overhead transmission systems
– Design and analysis, technical and economic, of overhead transmission
systems including conductors, insulators, and towers
– Computer modeling of overhead transmission components for simulating
their electromagnetic behavior particularly in evaluation of their corona performance
– Materials used in and their behavior for overhead transmission systems
– Issues related to maintenance and integrity of overhead transmission systems
– Familiarity with Codes and Standards and knowledge of technical
committees applicable to transmission lines
– A minimum of B.S. degree in electrical engineering or equivalent
and excellent written communication skills are required.

The position is for a 1-2 year involvement in a multi-disciplinary team whose goal is to design, test, fabricate and market a new line of patented components for electrical transmission lines. The individual will be a key member of our team and will bring the expertise delineated above to the project and contribute to the successful implementation of this design. Therefore, the applicant must be highly motivated and self-directed, a hard worker, a fast learner, and a team player. The actual work will be performed at both our offices and applicant’s organization offices.

Contact: Dr. Manuchehr Shirmodhamadi
Material Integrity Solutions, Inc., Berkeley, CA
510-594-0300 mshir@misolution.com
http://www.misolution.com

Is DG like the PC?

/0 Comments/in , /by

This article by our friend Mark Mills appeared in World Climate Report, and again (modified) in the June 1 issue of Public Utility Fortnightly. A good reality check on the rhetoric of distributed generation. I especially like the point that there’s no “Moore’s Law” for electric power generation.

===================

http://www.nhes.com/back_issues/Vol4/v4n12/fueling.html

Distributed Generation is to Electricity as PCs are to…?

By Mark P. Mills

Distributed generation is the latest “killer application” at energy conferences and seminars. Global apocalysts say DG is to electricity what the PC has been to the computer industry. Just as PCs supposedly took down mainframes and the likes of IBM, so too will DG erase central, fossil-fueled power plants and big utilities.

Even otherwise serious vendors of DG technology have found themselves seduced into playing the climate change card in the hopes of benefiting from imminent federal largess.

DG enthusiasts believe the day will soon come when consumers can head over to Home Depot and buy a little “appliance” to take home, plug in, and supply all the power needed, grid-free. Prototypes already exist for a refrigerator-size generator that works like the “auxiliary power units” airplanes use to make electricity while sitting at the gate (don’t they make life comfortable?). The trade press is filled with DG hype. Independence (from those “evil” utility giants who’ve provided us with cheap power for 75 years) looms near.

Eco-hype

Energy tech forecasters and global climate change scaremongers share an ally. The anti fossil-fuel lobby has for 25 years been predicting the imminent demise of fossil fuels, the planet’s primary energy sources, and the imperative to shift to something else. The climate change threat only increases the urgency of making an ostensibly inevitable transition to a post?fossil-fuel world.

What’s more, DG kills two birds with one technology: Fossil fuels and utilities, both of which apocalysts reflexively dislike. DG, they believe, will set us free of central coal-fired power plants. After all, coal supplies 55 percent of what goes into the power grid. And that percentage is unlikely to diminish.

Exciting things are happening on the DG front. But they will not have the transformative effect their advocates would have you believe they will. In fact, DG will not replace coal plants, but will complement them and almost certainly increase the use of fossil fuels and likely pit oil (not favored by apocalysts) against natural gas (reluctantly favored by apocalysts).

PC-mania

The PC analogy, while seductive, completely fails. Regardless of the astronomical growth in PC use, the venerable mother of computing’s “heavy iron,” IBM, is far from out of the picture as a major corporation, as its stellar stock performance this decade attests. IBM and its ilk are benefiting from, not being eviscerated by, the information revolution in all its forms.

The data traffic that PCs and the Internet create, and the data appetites expanding applications for computing create, are driving the market toward so-called “super servers”—the 21st-century version of “mainframes.”

But those using the DG: PC analogy usually mean to imply that DG stands on the threshold of rapid cost reductions, emulating the collapsing price and rising performance of PCs over the past 10 years. You hear them warning utilities that central station power plants will follow the fate of slide rules.

The PC price/performance trend arose from advances in the technology used to fabricate integrated circuits. Declining scale and increasing speed equal lower costs. It’s “Moore’s Law.” Still, though today’s desktop is more powerful than yesterday’s mainframe (and today’s mainframes are awesome), Moore’s Law just doesn’t apply to DG and electricity. Sorry.

Power plants have the distinct disadvantage of being constrained by a much longer-standing law, from the realm of physics—the Carnot limit for thermo-dynamic systems, which is the same for all power plants, big and small. Translation: The temperature of combustion sets the limit for the energy efficiency of burning a fuel. Size doesn’t matter; and small actually may be worse. Technologies to tweak efficiency are not only applicable to all sizes, but many of the tweaks are easier and more cost-effective for big iron. This basic tenet holds true for all of the DG technologies based on burning fuels, which are the most likely near-term DG systems.

PCs Ain’t PVs

But what of solar, wind, and fuel cells, the apocalysts’ true DG darlings? After all photovoltaics (PVs) are made from the same basic stuff as microprocessors. Sorry, the analogy still fails.

Sure, PVs are made from silicon (or similar materials) just like microprocessors. Here the similarity ends. To gain greater PC power, engineers make ever-smaller components of increasing density, thus expanding the total number of microscopic electronic devices per square inch.

But you just can’t make a smaller, more efficient PV. Rather, you need more (lots more) square inches—nay, square acres—of silicon devices to gather the fuel, which is in this case the sun’s energy. True the sun is limitless, but it’s just too darn far away to produce high-density power, hence the need for lots of acreage to gather the dilute power. (Not so of course on Mercury, where ponds would be molten metal, not water).

Wind power suffers from the same problem. Greater economy and power don’t come by making windmills smaller—you need bigger ones and more of them, lots more, to power a nation.

Then what of fuel cells, those intriguing devices that use electrochemical magic to make electricity without combustion? In brief: Too expensive and they still need fuel. The materials that make the electrochemical magic happen are expensive. Lower costs face basic, almost intractable (but probably eventually solvable) materials issues.

Fuel cells run on fuel, ideally hydrogen. Virtually all of the solar system’s hydrogen is in the sun: inconvenient. So we can make hydrogen here (expensive and energy-intensive) or use the hydrogen inherent in conventional fuels such as methanol and even gasoline, also a costly exercise. We will, to be sure, eventually see real advances in fuel cells, but they’re no threat today to the gigawatts of conventional generation.

Oil-fired DG

Which brings us to the last category for DG: microturbines and diesel engines. Most of the current market hype surrounds microturbines, which are really just very small jet engines tied to an electric generator. They do work, but they need fuel—usually natural gas, but oil works too. They still cost too much, and despite the hype, you still can’t buy one. Worse yet for efficiency mavens, they are less thermally efficient than central power plants.

That said, it is clear that practical and useful microturbines will emerge soon, and almost certainly in advance of any other new form of DG. The most likely near-term applications for microturbines will be in three areas: where reliability supercedes cost; where power is very expensive, capital scarce, and incremental power needs modest (Costa Rica, for example); and in meeting costly peak demands.

Remember last summer’s astronomical price spike for peak power during the heat wave? Just a few of those go a long way toward covering the higher costs for DG peaking. In all likelihood, the folks installing microturbines to shave peaks will be the same as those operating or selling coal-fired baseload power to create a seamless, blended reliable and economical power source.

Ironically, the only immediately cost-effective DG technology is the venerable diesel engine. So-called diesel-gen sets already exist by the tens of thousands, powering oil fields, small villages, and military bases. Recent advances in materials and controls have made diesels even cheaper and more efficient (better than microturbines), and exceptionally reliable. And you can buy them right now.

Power experts are already forecasting that deregulation will generate a boom in use. They can burn either oil or natural gas, and in most applications use the former. This is clearly not what apocalysts intend deregulation of utilities to effect.

Off-peak coal: a real “killer app”

Perhaps the worst nightmare for coal-haters is the potential of new technologies to achieve cheap off-peak kWh storage—distributed storage. Small, high-tech flywheels look promising (just park them outside beside your central AC unit). You spin them up at night with an electric motor powered by otherwise “wasted” and ultra-economical (maybe 1.5¢/kWh) off-peak power. The motor works as a generator in the daytime, drawing the kinetic energy off the flywheel. Easy, reliable, no new fuels, one moving part. Slick. Uses the cheapest off-peak power too; hydro (and nuclear) in a few places, coal everywhere else.

The capital costs for diesel gen-sets are already a lot lower than for central power plants. Given that, and the low cost of fuel, why isn’t every business making its own power already? Few end-users want the operational and maintenance hassles. Electricity coming off the grid is awfully low-maintenance. The collective cost of tending to millions of distributed (quirky) products remains the showstopper.

We’re all winners

Nonetheless, significant and viable niche markets for DG are inevitable, probably up to 10 percent of total U.S. demand. Once momentum starts building, and reliability grows, emerging technologies can make a noticeable dent in new supply. A critical leap for fuel-based DG will be cost-effective, network-based remote maintenance and monitoring of distributed equipment through advanced sensors, information technology, and neural networks.

Bottom line: DG is coming. The computer analogy does work in one way. Just as PCs are driving demand for mainframes, so too will DG drive demand for larger, more efficient and low-cost central power sources.

——
Physicist Mark P. Mills is a technology strategist and energy consultant and president of the research-consulting firm Mills McCarthy & Associates Inc.

———————————

World Climate Report is the nation’s leading publication covering the breaking news concerning the science and political science of global climate change. Available online at — http://www.nhes.com/home.html

Wave Power Nearing Commercial Reality

/0 Comments/in , /by

Over the years, there have been many attempts to harness the power of the ocean waves (and this is excluding tidal and ocean thermal schemes). A small company in New Jersey called Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has worked intensively on this since the company began operations in 1994, and appears to have a solution at hand. Their story merits a close look.

OPT started its development effort with a revolutionary approach based on piezoelectric polymers, where wave motion flexes an array of strips of the material to generate power. That work reached a prototype stage, but it was determined two years ago that a polymer with lower losses was needed. A major DOD development contract is now underway continuing that effort. AMP Inc, a major investor in the company, supplied the piezoelectric material, and also provides cabling, hubs and connectors.

In a parallel program, OPT has come up with a hydrodynamic device that looks like a standard ocean buoy, and generates power from wave motion. The system uses standard off the shelf proven marine technology: buoys, mooring and anchors, and underwater power cable. These aspects are supported through a strategic relationship with Penta-Ocean Construction Co, Japan’s largest ocean engineering company.

Mechanical energy is obtained as the buoy moves against a self-contained “sea anchor”. Inside the water tight compartment, this mechanical stroke motion is converted into hydraulic pressure, which in turn drives a generator. Special electronic controls deal with the randomness of the input wavepower.

The technology is inherently modular. The initial 20 kW module (buoy) is a cylinder 20 m. long and 5 m. diameter, which rides at the surface, mostly submerged, and anchored to the ocean floor in 100 feet of water.

The company holds 12 patents, and 8 more are pending, but has maintained a very low profile. They have assembled a large body of knowledge and expertise on wave behavior, marine engineering, and oceanographics, as well as obtaining exclusive rights to certain related technologies. One year of ocean trials have been successfully completed.

(UFTO has been in touch with them since early 1995, and followed their progress closely until such time as it appeared appropriate to report. This summary provides the first real look at what OPT is up to.)

Recently, a large European company did extensive due diligence, and reported that OPT is far ahead of other wave energy programs (mostly in the UK and Scandinavia). Negotiations are underway to possibly form a separate joint venture company for Europe. An Australian utility has placed an order for the first system. The US Dept of Defense (particularly the Navy) is supporting projects for self-powering buoy-based systems, for remote power supply for naval bases, and for desalination. The company probably could bootstrap itself with these program revenues, however in the interest of moving faster they are privately raising an investment round of $10 M.

Estimates are that smaller systems (~500 kW) will deliver power at 7-10 cents/kWh, while larger (grid connected) systems > 10 MW will do it at 3 – 4 cents. (Capital cost of $2700/kW) Installations of 100 MW would occupy about 1/5 of a square mile, out of sight from shore. Installation and commissioning would be quick. Duty cycles should be 80-90%, and highly predictable. Sites are abundant all over the world. Systems would even provide additional environmental benefits of reducing beach erosion and supplying fish habitats.

The company is very interested in participating with a major utility in the first installations.

Contact: Dr. George Taylor, President, 609-730-0400, oceanpwr@aol.com

POLUX – Non Destructive Wood Pole Inspection

/0 Comments/in , /by

The POLUX system of wood pole inspection is a new non-destructive evaluation (NDE) technology that is being increasingly used worldwide for wood pole inspection and management. POLUX and its analysis software K-Store offer a fast, much more reliable and more cost-effective means of testing and managing a utility’s wood pole fleet.

POLUX is a hand-held portable instrument to test the condition and strength of wood poles, non destructively, in the field. It gives an instantaneous indication (red or green light) whether the pole is safe to climb, and an estimate of the expected remaining service life. It succeeds where other attempts have failed, by measuring both compressive strength and moisture, and correlating the two variables and comparing against parameters developed from measurements under controlled conditions. A handheld computer provides visual data display. (Future plans may include incorporation of GPS.)

POLUX was developed and commercialized in Europe by a Swiss company with funding from Electricite de France. EdF has accredited it for safety and has adopted it as their only acceptable method for wood pole testing. More than 100 instruments are in use in Europe, validating its performance and providing a base of experience. The instrument is manufactured to ISO 9002 standards and the testing procedure has been certified ISO 9001 in Europe.

Pole + Management Inc., in Montreal, is the exclusive licensee in North America for the POLUX technology. The company has done exhaustive testing and calibration (i.e. for the different wood species used in the Americas), and is now beginning to market it. They made their first major public showing at the April IEEE T&D show in New Orleans.

In 1998, Pole + began inspections for a dozen small utilities in Ontario, and also performed wood pole inspections for Ontario Hydro on some of their transmission lines. Hydro-Quebec did tests at their research center IREQ which compared POLUX, sonic, drill, x-ray, and other methods of pole inspection– the POLUX measurements consistently had the highest correlation ( r > 0.85) with the actual residual breaking strength of the pole. (reports available). Other utilities who have also evaluated different methods of measuring pole strength, concluding that sonic testers do not correlate with the pole breaking strength and that a valid instrument must have a correlation of at least r > 0.7.

The strength of a pole is proportional to fiber stress and to the cube of the circumference of the pole. Almost 80% to 90% of the bending capacity in a typical utility pole is developed in the outer 2 to 3 inches of the shell. The center portion of a pole adds very little to its bending strength, so voids or decay there are far less important.

Many US utilities rely on core samples (to detect the presence of decay) and treatment programs, but this can give a false sense of security, and be less cost effective in the long run. (Treating a pole that doesn’t need it can sometimes actually reduce its strength and remaining life!) In some companies, work practices and union rules may hinder adoption of this different approach, but the company (and Europe!) is convinced that it is the better way to go, for many reasons.

Benefits from Reliable Non-Destructive Wood Pole Inspection
– Decisions based on reliable, repeatable, objective data, independent
of operator interpretation
– Capability to decide when to replace, retreat or strengthen poles
– Capability to plan purchasing, storage, and maintenance needs
– Long term trend patterns will provide a sound basis for new, cost-effective
and ecologically sound strategies for pole selection, placement, re-inspection
and maintenance
– Reduce capital and maintenance cost
– Improve system reliability and customer satisfaction.

The company will send on request a CD-ROM that provides the complete story. Also, their website gives a good introduction to the technology and concepts.
http://www.poleplus.com

They are looking for U.S. utilities to participate in small pilot demo programs, where the company will test several hundred poles (at $10 each).

Contact: Edward Ezer, Pole+ Management, Inc. (Montreal, Quebec)
514-947-0122 eezer@poleplus.com

(UFTO has been following these developments since mid 1996.)