Message from Dr. Mazzola
Greetings from EPIC! This edition of the EPIC newsletter is packed with articles and information, which is a fine reflection on the many efforts by faculty, staff, and students to advance the mission of EPIC and the electric energy production and delivery industry we support. But I am melancholy about one news item. Longtime Civil Engineering faculty member and "plank owner" of EPIC as Associate Director, Dr. David Young, is retiring. In his place, I welcome Dr. Rob Cox as EPIC's next Associate Director. For several months now, David and Rob have been working on a smooth transition, and David has been a tireless "long timer" throughout it all. Thank you David for your fine service to UNC Charlotte and your leadership that made my transition to EPIC easy.
|
|
 |
|
|
KIT and UNC Charlotte exchange participants |
EPIC welcomes KIT students
On April 2, 2019, EPIC, welcomed 8 students from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany, as they take part in a six-month research exchange program. KIT is one of the largest and most prestigious research and education institutions in Europe, and is known around the world for its high quality of research work. This partnership is a result of a "Memorandum of Understanding" signed in 2013, between KIT and EPIC with the purpose of building a trans-Atlantic energy bridge and aims to link academic and research initiatives of the two institutions around key energy issues. Students will work with UNC Charlotte faculty on a variety of energy-related research. On May, 5 UNC Charlotte students headed to KIT for a twelve-week exchange.
|
|
|
|
Jeff Merrifield speaks at EPRI conference |
EPIC Advanced Nuclear Construction Initiative
The purpose of the EPIC Advanced Nuclear Construction Initiative is to develop a transitional path with our partners for the planning, design, and construction of the civil works associated with new nuclear plants. It is this aspect that has been responsible for more than 50% of the costs associated with new nuclear plants attempted or completed in the last decade. For advanced reactors to be deployed the problem of completing new plants, especially those first-in-class, on schedule, and on budget must be solved. The objective of this initiative is to demonstrate feasibility of the digital twin in the capital-project construction industry, a technology pioneered by similar industries that use advanced manufacturing to build complex engineered systems on budget and schedule. Recently, Jeff Merrifield, partner with Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, spoke at an EPRI-led international forum on nuclear energy and shared details on EPIC's new initiative.
|
|
|
|
UNC Charlotte faculty, KIT faculty, and industry partners at KIT |
KIT-EPIC Workshop: "Convergent Research in the Design of a Modern and Resilient Grid
EPIC and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) organized a workshop in Karlsruhe, Germany titled "Convergent Research in the Design of a Modern and Resilient Grid". Fourteen UNC Charlotte faculty from the colleges of Engineering, Computing Informatics, Business, and Geography, one partner from the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and one from Duke Energy participated in the 4-day workshop that was held at KIT's Campus North on May 20-23, 2019. Fifteen scientists and researchers from KIT in similar disciplines also participated in the workshop.
Topics included multi-domain simulation models, microgrids/minigrids, optimization tools, sociotechnical systems, multilevel perspective theory, behavioral energy change, market economics, integrated resource and resiliency planning, computational tools, and thermal storage. The goal of the workshop was to familiarize each institution's scientists with the interests and capabilities of the other and expand the already successful student exchange program between EPIC and KIT to faculty collaboration. A follow up workshop is being planned next spring at UNC Charlotte.
|
|
|
|
David Young being honored and his grandchildren enjoying the celebration |
Farewell Dr. David Young
After 34 years of dedicated service to UNC Charlotte, Dr. David Young will retire on June 28, 2019. During his time at the university David has served as a faculty member, department chair of Civil Engineering, and most recently as the associate director of EPIC. On April 26, a reception was held in his honor to thank him for all he has done to help the university grow. His level of expertise, ability to connect with students, and unwavering support of EPIC will be sorely missed. But perhaps most missed of all will be his eager willingness to tell a great story - making for far less interesting meetings! Best of luck Dr. Young and thank you.
|
|
|
|
|
Measuring coal combustion residuals |
Environment & Construction Lab (ECL) developed custom testing
Due to the new federal regulations pertaining to coal-fired power plants, Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR) with no end-value are being disposed of in municipal solid waste (MSW) landfills. MSW landfills produce methane and carbon dioxide. However, CCR when it reacts with water or MSW landfill leachate, can also generate gases containing sulfur such as SO2 and H2S. These gases are toxic and can degrade the performance of gas to energy turbines that are commonly used at MSW landfills to harness the bio energy. The custom testing set-up developed at EPIC's ECL will allow quantification of sulfur containing gases to allow the landfill operator to gauge the operational issues arising from the disposal of CCR.
When CCR is disposed of in MSW landfills, the temperature of the landfill can rise and such elevated temperature (ET) landfills can pose serious operational and environmental challenges. For example, ET conditions can change the degradation mechanism of waste impacting the landfill gas and leachate quality in an adverse manner, produce odor issues, and it can result in excessive and rapid settlements of the landfill making it challenging to operate heavy machines. The device developed at EPIC ECL uses a Dewar flask with instrumentation that is automated to measure temperature rise and heat generation. This custom testing will allow the power utilities and landfill operators data sets unique to the CCR to develop operational methods to manage heat once disposed in the landfill.
|
|
|
|
Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan |
Congratulations Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan
Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan has been selected as the 2019-2022 Duke Distinguished Professor. Dr. Kamalasadan has been actively involved in power grid modernization related research and scholarly activities. At UNC Charlotte, since 2010, he has led the team to establish a $5M Grid Modernization laboratory, advised approximately 150 research-level graduate and undergraduate students, published over 150 research articles, and contributed towards $11M in grants and contracts.
|
|
|
|
Photovoltaic system on roof of EPIC building |
New Solar Installation for Microgrid Research
A 2.25 kilowatt solar photovoltaic (PV) system was just installed on
EPIC's rooftop has started serving renewable energy to the
Renewable Energy and Power Electronics Advanced Research (REPEARL) laboratory. The rooftop solar energy system includes a 20kWh Li-ion battery energy storage system to supplement energy during cloudy days. A system of this size is able to fully offset the energy needs of a typical single family dwelling. With funding received from EPIC, the College of Engineering and the ECE Department, this solar plus storage facility will be utilized for research by students and faculty. Meant to be operated as a standalone system, it can, however, be configured for connection to the grid if the need arises. The main purpose of this system is to enable a DC or an AC microgrid to operate within the laboratory. Researchers will be able to control and manage a fully functional microgrid with the placement of typical loads, like lighting, heating, and motors. They will also be able to study the performance and degradation of solar panels as well as lithium-ion battery cells.
|
|
|
|
Researchers working on curbside charger prototype |
EPIC has continued development of the technical solution for low cost integration of a Level 2 EV charging station into street lighting stanchions. Collaborative development of a commercialized product is being sought with the Eaton Corp. in support of this effort. In parallel, EPIC is working with Centralina Council of Governments to secure a public partner for deployment of publicly accessible evaluation units of the curbside charging station.
|
|
|
|
C-Ion testing |
Embedded Module Controller Development Begins
EPIC has begun the development of modules utilizing ZapGo C-Ion energy storage technology. The module is a line replaceable unit within a grid-scale energy storage system. The module design includes an embedded controller which manages charge balancing, cell monitoring, and system level communication. While currently evaluating module performance with generation 3 cells, EPIC is working closely with ZapGo to ensure a flexible module design to enable rapid adoption of generation 4 cells. Generation 4 carbon-ion cells will provide the energy storage density necessary to make the technology competitive with Li-ion batteries while providing greater cycle life and higher charge/discharge rates.
In addition to module development the EPIC team has conducted demonstrations for Itouchu and Sentinel Analytics. The EPIC team has created a
video of the charge/discharge cycling procedure to support remote demonstrations (the video is intended to be viewed with guidance from EPIC and is not a comprehensive demonstration).
|
|
|
|
Senior Design Expo |
Senior Design Spring 2019
The Spring 2019 Expo was held on May 6, where more than 470 students participated in showcasing 54 completed projects and 33 new projects. 14 of the completed projects were energy-related (26% of total), 6 of the new projects were energy-related (18% of total) with 96 students who are working on energy related projects (20% of total). 18 finalists were selected, four of which were EPIC Affiliates Program sponsored in collaboration with our industry partners.
- Meter and Device Placement for Duke Distribution Circuits - Phase 3 - Duke Energy
- Monitor Underwater Sediment Collection Behind Dam Face - EPRI
- Hyperspectral Imaging Pipe Platform - EPRI
- Design of a ROV for Spent Fuel Pool NDE Sensor Delivery - EPRI
|
EPIC Affiliates news
2019 EPIC Affiliates Annual Meeting
The 2019 EPIC Affiliates annual meeting took place on May 10, 2019 at EPIC. Member companies, faculty, and students, discussed the current membership year, plans for FY2020 and heard about this year's seed and KIT research projects from the participating students. Project topics included "Modeling and Analysis of Synchronous Condenser to Improve Grid Stability and Management with Renewables", "Evaluation of Fault Scenarios with High-Penetration Inverter-Based Renewable Energy Resources on the Power Distribution System", and "Optimization of Heating Efficiency and Resiliency in Residential Buildings".
Inaugural EPIC Innovator selects winners
On May 7, 2019, the EPIC Affiliates Program hosted the first EPIC Innovator competition. The competition invited individuals and teams to submit ideas, projects, technology concepts, or prototypes that could be worthy of further exploration and funding. Nine ideas were submitted and the top five were selected to present in front of judges from Energy United, Framatome, Power Engineers, Siemens, SOS, and Ventureprise. Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all who participated. A special thank you to our judges who had the difficult task of selecting from the many fantastic ideas!
First Place Bhaskar Mitra "Real-Time Controller Hardware in the Loop for Grid Monitoring Operations Using Wavelet Transform"
Second Place Casey Nichols "In-conduit Current Energy Converter with Magnetic Transmission"
Third Place Jeffrey Bubar & Justin Fox "Oxyhydrogen As a Means of Energy Storage"
|
|
|
|
Nasser Althailban (l) and Joshua Gibbons (r) with SOS CEO, Rocky Sease |
Energy-related scholarship recipients announced
EPIC is pleased to announce the recipients of scholarships for students who are pursuing an engineering degree with a focus on energy. Thank you to the sponsors of these scholarships for your commitment in helping to build the energy-related workforce pipeline.
AREVA M Curie EPIC Scholarship
This scholarship was established to help attract and retain top undergraduate students with an end-goal of increasing the pipeline of top engineering talent for employment in the energy sector. Named in honor of Marie Curie, this scholarship is intended to recognize the top engineering student who is a known mentor to other female students.
Recipient: Lydia Miller
AREVA P Curie EPIC Scholarship
This scholarship was established to honor Pierre Curie and is intended to recognize the most collaborative engineering student; provide financial support, encourage scholastic achievement among engineering majors participating in energy related academics areas or pursuing careers in the energy sector, to recognize leadership in the classroom, on campus, and in the community, and to effectively prepare students to enter into the workforce in an EPIC related field.
Recipient: William Heidtmann
AREVA Tesla EPIC Scholarship
This scholarship was established to help attract and retain top undergraduate students with an end-goal of increasing the pipeline of top engineering talent for employment in the energy sector. Named in honor of Nikola Tesla, this
scholarship is intended to recognize the most innovative student in electrical and mechanical engineering.
Recipient: Leon Johnson
Duke Energy Distinguished EPIC Student Fellow Program
This scholarship was established to provide financial support to encourage scholastic achievement among Mechanical and Electrical Engineering majors with declared concentrations in energy who aspire to have a career in the energy sector, and to recognize leadership in the classroom, on campus, and in the community along with effectively preparing the Student Fellow to enter into the workforce in an EPIC-related field.
Recipients: Christina Lawson, Emily Abbate, and Samuel Leach
Siemens Energy Scholars Award
The purpose of the award is to help The William States Lee College of Engineering attract and retain top undergraduate students with an end-goal of increasing the pipeline of top engineering talent for employment in the energy sector. The Fund will provide non-renewable merit-based awards to rising junior and senior-level students enrolled in an energy-engineering program 1 curriculum or degree program.
Recipient: Albert Shank
William H. Grigg Endowed Scholarship
This scholarship was established in honor of William H. Grigg to provide financial support while attracting and retaining top undergraduate students with an end-goal of increasing the pipeline of top engineering talent for employment in the energy sector.
Recipients: William Heidtmann, Erin Jebsen, Jesse Mallard, and Lydia Miller
SOS NERC Certification Training
Two students are the inaugural recipients of the SOS NERC Certification Training Scholarship. Junior Joshua Gibbons and Senior Nasser Althailban each receive scholarships to achieve their NERC Certification through the SOS NERC Certification Program. The students were selected because of their academic achievements, technical skills, critical thinking, and collaboration abilities.
Recipients: Nasser Althailban and Joshua Gibbons
|
EPIC staffing updates
EPIC is pleased to announce the following staff changes at EPIC.
Dr. Rob Cox has been selected to serve as EPIC's new Associate Director, upon the retirement of Dr. David Young. Previously Cox served as
the Assistant Director for the Energy Management Research Vertical within EPIC where he focused on advancing EPIC's research in the areas of grid resiliency and energy utilization. His team is part of the National Science Foundation's Industry / University Cooperative Research Center for Sustainably Integrated Buildings and Sites (SIBS). This work focuses on the use of data to improve energy utilization in buildings. His team works closely with many industry partners, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Ingersoll Rand, Duke Energy and Atrium Health.
Andrew LeClair will join EPIC on July 1, as Research Engineer - Electro-Mechanical Systems Design and Integration Specialist. Andrew previously was a Research Engineer and Lab Manager at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University where he was instrumental in designing and developing over twenty patented prototypes. He received a B.S. and M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Mississippi State.
|
Upcoming Events
IEEE Power Electronics Society Webinar
Presenter: Ehab Shoubaki, EPIC Research Engineer
July 18, 2019
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
|
|
|
EPIC generates the interest of industries, organizations, and educational institutions from across the US and countries around the world. We'd welcome a visit from you! Contact
Christina Kopitopoulou to schedule your visit.
|
Atkins
|
| Duke Energy |
| EnergySec |
|
EPRI
|
|
Mitsubishi
|
| NCDEQ |
| PowerSecure |
| SEL |
| SOS |
| V2Techs |
|
|
|
About EPIC: The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte, serves as a state-of- the-art research center that provides
education
and applied research opportunities to students with energy related interests. Our industry-education partnerships unite students, faculty and industrial partners to collaborate on interdisciplinary research and learning.
|
|
|
|
|
|
