Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC)

Dr. Johan H Enslin, FIEEE, PrEngDirector, Energy Production & Infrastructure Center (EPIC)

Duke Energy Distinguished Chaired ProfessorUNC Charlotte, NC, USA

JEnslin@uncc.edu; http://epic.uncc.edu

Charlotte Region – A Power Hub

• 260+ Energy-related with 28,000 workers in energy sector• E4 Carolinas, an Energy Trade Association • 11,000 Power and Energy Engineers• 39 Power plants in the 16 counties, and 12 Nuclear reactors• Growing renewable energy portfolio• Several grid modernization initiatives• Change of generation mix towards natural gas

University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC)The Charlotte Research Institute (CRI)

• North Carolina's urban research university• Over 27,320 students with over 100,000 alumni• 80 Bachelor's, 64 Master’s and 21 Doctoral degree programs• www.uncc.edu and https://cri.uncc.edu/• One of 17 in UNC System (Responsible for 46 % of annual growth)

UNC System Partner InstitutionsNorth Carolina State UniversityUNC Chapel HillNorth Carolina A&T

Partner with Community CollegesRegional Universities International Universities

KIT, TU-Vienna, US, etc.

University Research Park Institute

University Research Park

UNC CharlotteCharlotte Research Institute Campus

EPIC Background • EPIC was FOUNDED by the energy industry. • Industry needs energy talent for the future:

• Average age of professionals is 55+• Innovation in power industry – new skills• Economic Development

• Professional development and life-long learning of employees

• Applied research needs for a safe, reliable, and sustainable energy future.

EPIC Goals

• Education• Educate Multi-disciplinary Energy Students• Develop well-balanced curriculums • Develop Energy Concentrations • Program development with regional universities

• Research and Development• Applied multi- disciplinary research in the energy field • Coordinate efforts with regional and global universities

• NCSU, Clemson, USC, Georgia Tech, UARK, • KIT (D), Stellenbosch (ZA), Birmingham (UK), etc.

• Economic Development• Creation of energy workforce pipeline• Grow jobs, vendors, suppliers of energy companies.• Incubation of energy related startup's• Outreach and leadership activities

EPIC Building• 200,000 ft2 , $ 76 M building

• Opened in Fall 2012• Unique LEEDs Gold Certified features. • Auditoriums, Classrooms & Conference rooms • Faculty and staff offices • Academic laboratories for Electrical &

Computer and Civil & Environmental engineering

• Unique power and energy related laboratories:

• Flexible and Smart Grid power labs, • High bay structural lab and Environmental labs• Advanced Manufacturing lab and PV research ,• Smart Grid lab

• Laboratories and Offices for Industrial Partners • Conference and event facilities

EPIC Partners and Research Sponsors

The Pinnacle Forecast

EPIC – a successful Public Private Partnership

• State of North Carolina• Capital for building $ 76 M• 25 new Faculty and staff $ 4.5 M per annum• Operational budget $ 500 k per annum

• Industry Startup Funding & Support - $ 19 M • Research and grants FY 2014

- 18 Direct EPIC Faculty Hires – $ 4.6 M - 75 EPIC Associates - $ 10 M

- Federal and State - $7.5 M - Industry Funded – $2.5 M

2014/15 EPIC Dashboard & Metrics• 75 EPIC Associates across five colleges• EPIC Associates funded around 180 graduate students• Provided 15 GRAs and 14 URAs to EPIC Associates• EPIC Associates targeted $69.9 M in research proposals

• EPIC Hires proposed $20.6M in research proposals

• $10.05 M research proposals awarded to EPIC Associates• EPIC Direct Hires awarded $4.6 M in research

• 5 new faculty hires and 3 post-doc students• Start-up support for 5 EPIC faculty members• Established 10 adjunct professor positions• 18 Student Exchanges with Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)• CAPER - Southeastern Grid Modernization Center – Kicked off• Dedicated $2.2 M Siemens Manufacturing Solutions Lab.

2014/15 EPIC Dashboard and Metrics (2)• 16 EPIC Seminars including 2 Distinguished Lecture Presentations• Rolled out three executive education programs • More than 180 meetings with potential clients, project collaborators, tours for media and

industry, STEM outreach, NC policy makers, school teachers and international partners. • EPIC received recognition in 2014 Signs of Competitiveness Report • Urban Eden won USGBC 2014 Sustainable Business Award• CBJ Energy Leadership Award – Johan Enslin• Leadership on National Ash Management Advisory Board• EPIC delivered numerous keynote addresses at workshops and conferences• EPIC moderated and participated in numerous panel discussions• Energy Analytics Course awarded IIF Student Forecasting Award• Leadership in Smart Grid Panel Form sponsored by Duke Energy and AREVA• Energy focused CMS School launched in Fall 2014 with 100 students• EPIC grew existing online marketing strategy and created Twitter profile• EPIC Power and Energy Society (PES) student group growing members• Startups: SineWatts, Smart Charge and International Thermodyne• E4 Carolinas and CLT Joules moved into EPIC

EPIC Applied Research Clusters1. Large Power Component Design and Manufacturing – Dr. John Ziegert

• Siemens Large-scale Manufacturing Solutions Lab• Large Component Metrology• Robotics and Welding Technologies

2. Power Infrastructure Development – Dr. David Young• High-bay large-structures laboratory • Power infrastructure design and testing • Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)

3. Power Systems Modernization – Dr. Rudy Shankar• Duke Energy Smart Grid Laboratory – NSF MRI• Distribution Automation, Security and Microgrids• Electric Vehicle and Energy Storage Integration

4. Energy & Environment – Dr. Milind Khire • Beneficial utilization and recycling of waste streams • Spent fuels, coal ash, air quality, fracking fluids and water management• Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL)

5. Renewables and Energy Efficiency – Dr. Ed Stokes• Photovoltaic Technology Research Laboratory• Clean-rooms with PV cell, module, inverter and LED process manufacturing• Off-shore wind, biomass and small-scale hydro technologies• Integration of renewables and energy efficiency measures

6. Energy Analytics and Markets – Dr. Badrul Chowdhury • Big Data Energy Analytics Laboratory (BigDEAL)• Distributed energy markets and operational research• Cyber and Physical Security of power systems • Energy Analytics, optimization, visualization and forecasting• Quality Assurance, Nuclear Safety, Regulatory, Policy, Standards

EPIC Focused Research Centers• Energy & Environmental Assistance Office (EEAO) – Mr. David Causey

• EEAO collaborates through EPIC Associates and EPIC facilities with industry and agencies for technical services projects.

• Projects are executed on all the EPIC areas, including professional development

• Sustainable Integrated Buildings and Sites (SIBS) – Dr. Rob Cox• I/UCRC NSF Center with industry related research• PV integration in dense urban settings • Energy modeling for DSM, energy storage, and renewables• Natural and Built Site Design and Analysis (Green Buildings)• Energy audits, technology upgrades and behavior change

• Center for Advanced Power Engineering Research (CAPER) - Dr. Johan Enslin

• Integrate multi-university research in grid modernization • Affiliates program with utilities, service organizations and vendors• Power Delivery, Utilization, Generation, Policy and Markets

Charlotte Engineering Early College High School (CEEC)

• Partnership with Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System• Grades 9-13 (500 students)• Students reported 8/25/14• STEM focus with energy

concentration

High-bay Structures Laboratory

High-bay Structures Laboratory

Educational and Research Activities Large-scale structures testingModel validation, design improvementsStandard developments

Lab Equipment and ModulesTwo geotechnical pitsEnvironmental chambersMachining/fabrication shopTwo Westinghouse 30 Ton Cranes 3-D Laser TrackerHigh-bay 92’ x 47’ strong floor and 32’ tall strong wall

Test Bed forLarge-scale structure design and testingEnvironmental and multi-hazard loading impact analysis

Dr Youngjin Park

Education and Workforce Development:• Develop future power professionals• Real-time system operations• Control center for EPIC power labs• Evaluate new grid technologies• Hardware in the loop education• Professional & Lifelong education• Hands-on grid modernization training

Smart Grid Laboratory

Research & Economic Development: Emulation of power, control and IT Grid Modernization test-bedIncubate new grid technologiesGenerator exciter test-bedAttract grid companies Incubation evaluation

Dr Sukumar KamalasadanDr Yamilka Baez-Rivera

DESG Lab - Capabilities

• Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) – 3 enhanced racks

• 32 core OPAL-RT real-time power simulator

• 90 kVA Ametek Grid Simulator and Amplifier

• 150 A with 120V, 208V, 480V 1&3 phase power supplies

• Amatek TerraSAS 10 kW PV Simulator

• High speed fiber connections between labs and server room

• Dedicated and secured private LAN for external data streams

• Raised floor access for power, communication and control cables

• 6 fast response large LCD Screens and image control

• Data storage devices and SCADA gateways

• Communications - Private HP Server for data analytics

• HP X820, 16-Core, Dual Processor Xeon Workstation

• Simulation tools including - PSS/E; ETAP; EMTP-RV;

• RSCAD; PSCAD; Hypersim, RTLAB, etc.

Duke Energy Smart Grid Lab.

Large-scale Manufacturing Solutions Lab.

• Research Thrust Areas• In-factory non-contact spatial location technologies• Fiducial-based manufacturing• Process integrated dynamic machine tool metrology• Enhanced model-based dimensional metrology• Deterministic precision assembly• Welding, robotics and fabrication technology

• Facilities• Climate controlled space for large machines• Large 5-axis machine tools, VTLs• Leitz large-scale metrology• Large CMM, laser trackers, articulated arm CMMs • Portable non-contact metrology sensors

Dr John ZiegertDr. Gert Goch

Photovoltaic Technologies Research Lab.• Educational and Research Activities:

• Design of high efficiency solar cells (Si, GaAs. GaN, InGaN etc)• Modeling of solar cells using 1, 2 and 3D computer programs, • Optical modeling using SUNRAYS computer program• Fabrication of high efficiency low-cost solar cells

• Lab Equipment:• Wet chemistry bench for cleaning and texturing• Phosphorus & Boron diffusion furnaces• PECVD Silicon Nitride for AR coating deposition• Screen Printer for contacts application• Inline Contact firing furnace

• Characterization Tools:• PCD for minority carrier lifetime measurements• SUNS_VOC measurements system for contacts diagnostics• Light I-V simulator to measure the cell efficiency• Four point probe station.• Internal quantum efficiency measurements system• Contact resistance measurements station

PECVD & diffusion furnaces

Contact firing furnaces

Solar Simulator

Dr Aba Ebong

Interactive power system educationInteractive drives and power electronicsLaboratory from US Didactic & FeedbackUnder- and Post Graduate Courses

System includes:Traditional and renewable generationTransmission and Distribution EmulatorEnergy storage and fuel cellsPower electronics and drivesT&D Protection & SCADA Smart energy meters

Dr. Benny Rodriguez-Medina

Power Systems Teaching Lab

EPIC Energy Analytics Laboratory (BigDEAL)

• Research areas:• Electric Load and Price Forecasting• Renewable resource forecasting and integration• Demand response analytics• Outage management analytics• Energy trading and risk management

• Certifications, Under- and Graduate courses• Introduction to Energy Systems• Energy Markets• Energy Systems Planning• Energy Analytics

• Facilities • Dedicated Visualization & Analytics Tools• Extensive SAS Energy and Forecasting Tools• Dedicated HP server• Real-time data and analytics streams

Dr Tao Hong

Flexible Power LaboratoryLab allows test component and systems to be subjected to extreme boundary conditions with real variable voltages, currents and frequency.• Main functions of lab:

• De-risking of power conversion, substation and distribution technologies • Testing with variable voltage and variable frequency grid emulator and dynamic

load and resource emulation. • Educational and research activities.

• Key Facilities:• Variable frequency / voltage research and test lab• 1.5 MVA, 480 V, 3 phase / 1200 A supply• Possible Medium Voltage: 12.4 kV / 200 A supply• Dielectric HV (150 kV) test bay• 690 V, 1 MVA Converter B-t-B test bay • High current (2 kA), low voltage test bed• Optic-fiber link to Smart Grid Lab (# 1250)• 200 kW B-t-B Motor-Generator dyno set – Drive testing

• Initial partners: Parker, ABB, DNV-GL (KEMA)

Dr Madhav Manjrekar

Flexible Power Lab

Capability to test 7 scenarios as follows:

1. Baseline AC-AC System Testing2. AC-AC System Testing under Non-ideal Grid

Conditions3. AC-AC System Testing under Non-ideal Grid

Conditions with Power Recirculation4. Baseline DC-AC System Testing5. DC-AC System Testing with Power Recirculation6. AC-DC System Testing with Power Recirculation7. DC-AC or AC-DC System Testing under Non-ideal

Grid Conditions with Power Recirculation