Parametric Study of the Device Angle Dependency of a Single Vortex Generator on a Flat Plate

Ponencia presentada en el 10th World Congress on Computational Mechanics (WCCM 2012), Sao Paulo (Brazil).Publicados los abstracts en documento con ISBN: 978-85-86686-69-6.

HYBRID PHOTOVOLTAIC DEVICES BASED ON ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTING POLYMERS AND INORGANIC NANOSTRUCTURED ELECTRODES

La fotovoltaica orgánica es una tecnología solar emergente que todavía no ha entrado en el mercado. El objetivo de esta tesis ha sido acercar un poco más la industrialización de dicha tecnología mediante el incremento de la eficiencia y la durabilidad de estos dispositivos solares. Para la consecución de dicho objetivo se identificaron las limitaciones existentes y se diseñó una hora de ruta con diversas estrategias para poder superar cada uno de los problemas. Así, mediante un exhaustivo control de la nano morfología del film fotoactivo y la introducción de electrodos nanoestructurados se ha conseguido incrementar la eficiencia. La sustitución de los electrodos estándares por nuevos electrodos basados en óxidos metálicos confiere durabilidad al sistema. Por último, la sustitución del óxido de indio y estaño como electrodo transparente por nanohilos metálicos de plata habilita la posibilidad de fabricar dispositivos solares flexibles de bajo coste.

A Real-Time Sliding Mode Control for a Wind Energy System Based on a Doubly Fed Induction Generator

In this paper, a real time sliding mode control scheme for a variable speed wind turbine that incorporates a doubly feed induction generator is described. In this design, the so-called vector control theory is applied, in order to simplify the system electrical equations. The proposed control scheme involves a low computational cost and therefore can be implemented in real-time applications using a low cost Digital Signal Processor (DSP). The stability analysis of the proposed sliding mode controller under disturbances and parameter uncertainties is provided using the Lyapunov stability theory. A new experimental platform has been designed and constructed in order to analyze the real-time performance of the proposed controller in a real system. Finally, the experimental validation carried out in the experimental platform shows; on the one hand that the proposed controller provides high-performance dynamic characteristics, and on the other hand that this scheme is robust with respect to the uncertainties that usually appear in the real systems.

Self-Similarity and helical symmetry in vortex generator flow simulations

According to experimental observations, the vortices generated by vortex generators have previously been observed to be self-similar for both the axial (u(z)) and azimuthal (u(circle minus)) velocity profiles. Further, the measured vortices have been observed to obey the criteria for helical symmetry. This is a powerful result, since it reduces the highly complex flow to merely four parameters. In the present work, corresponding computer simulations using Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes equations have been carried out and compared to the experimental observations. The main objective of this study is to investigate how well the simulations can reproduce the physics of the flow and if the same analytical model can be applied. Using this model, parametric studies can be significantly reduced and, further, reliable simulations can substantially reduce the costs of the parametric studies themselves.