Communications of the ACM
Simulation Models Optimize Water Power
Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies, and Image Exploitation are working to develop information technology that will boost the efficiency of hydroelectric power generation systems.
Credit: Fraunhofer IOSB
Fraunhofer Institute of Optronics, System Technologies, and Image Exploitation (IOSB) researchers are developing information technology to boost the efficiency of water power generation systems, with the Advanced System Technology department producing simulation and optimization models that consolidate external variables and generate optimized plans for operational facilities.
Such data helps operators refine each power station's generating power to fulfill current energy economics and to sell the power for the highest possible yield.
The HyPROM project is being applied to an extensive dam system in the Columbia River basin in the United States. "Hydroelectric plants can be operated optimally only when you take all the variables into account," notes the IOSB's Divas Karimanzira. "As an additional challenge, HyPROM takes on the complexity of the extensively networked Columbia River basin dam system--it covers two different rivers with an average water flow of 7,500 cubic meters per second, 10 hydro plants, 10 reservoirs and an altitude difference of 350 meters."
Researchers are currently striving to expand the simulation and optimization model to better weigh energy-economic factors. The project partners intend to integrate the HyPROM technology into a system that will help employees make the right decisions in running the facility.
From Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
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Abstracts Copyright © 2014 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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