MMAE Seminar - Renewable Energy Systems Design and Optimization Under Uncertainty
Armour College of Engineering's Mechanical Materials & Aerospace Engineering Department will welcome Dr. Jie Zhang, a Research Engineer at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado, to campus on Tuesday, March 10th, to present his Renewable Energy Systems Design and Optimization Under Uncertainty lecture.
Abstract
Variable renewable energy resources such as wind and solar are becoming increasingly important energy sources in the electric power system. The consistent growth of renewable energy calls for a paradigm shift in energy systems technologies. This presentation addresses two important research questions regarding renewable energy: (i) how do we address the complex interactions among the various critical design and natural elements in planning high-performing wind farms? and (ii) how do we efficiently solve power systems challenges with large penetrations of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies?
To address those challenges, the following methodologies were developed: (i) an Unrestricted Wind Farm Layout Optimization methodology, which obviates traditional assumptions regarding turbine placement, turbine-wind flow interactions, variation of wind conditions, and types of turbines (single/multiple) to be installed; (ii) uncertainty propagation from the wind resource into the energy production; and (iii) improved wind power, solar power, and ramp forecasting using big data information processing technologies, leading to significant production cost reductions in power system operations. With this foundation, research plans are developed to support (i) the complex engineered systems design and optimization and (ii) the modernization of the electricity infrastructure for energy systems integration.
Biography
Dr. Jie Zhang is a Research Engineer in the Power Systems Engineering Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO, USA. Dr. Zhang received his Ph.D. (2012) from the Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical, and Nuclear Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), Troy, NY, USA. He received his B.S. (2006) and M.S. (2008) from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, China. His research expertise and interests are multidisciplinary design optimization, complex engineered systems, wind energy, power & energy systems, renewable integration, and big data analytics. This research has resulted in over 70 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications. He is a member of the AIAA Multidisciplinary Design Optimization technical committee and the ASME Solar Energy Division technical committee.