Optimal Engineering Design for Dependable Water and Power Generation
in Remote Areas Using Renewable Energies and Intelligent Automation

OPEN-GAIN - 6th project meeting

admin — 2009-12-29T10:36:15Z

OPEN-GAIN - 6th project meeting

The 6th project meeting took place on 9&10th of December 2009 in Beirut, Lebanon. The meeting was attended by: Prof. Essam Badreddin (Chair, Project Coordinator), Dr. Amr Kandil (UHEI), Dr. Mohammedi Kamel, Mr Sadi Abdelkrim, (CDER), Prof. Sami Karaki (AUB), Mr. Firas Alawneh (NERC), Mr. Makis Kartalides, Dr. George Arampatzis (NTUA), Prof. Cesar Prada, Mrs Johanna Salazar (UVA), Prof. Amenallah Guizani, Dr Hamza Elfil (CRTEn). Participants presented and discussed the project work progress and results achieved up to 3rd project period. The goal of this meeting was to prove exactly what has been done until now in the project and the plan for the last project year. UHEI presented the project goal and the new work plan and the new list of deliverables after the extension of the project were discussed.

OPEN-GAIN 5th project meeting

admin — 2009-12-06T09:44:06Z

OPEN-GAIN 5th project meeting

The 5th project meeting took place on 25th et 26th of June 2009 in Hammamet, Tunisia. The meeting was attended by: Prof. Essam Badreddin (Project Coordinator), Dr. Amr Kandil (UHEI), Prof. Sadi Abdelkrim, Dr. Mohammedi Kamel (CDER), Prof. Sami Karaki (AUB), Mr. Firas Alawneh (NERC), Prof. Dionysis Assimacopoulos, Mr. Makis Kartalides, Dr. George Arampatzis (NTUA), Prof. Cesar Prada, Dr. Fernando Tadeo, Mr Luis Palacin (UVA), Prof. Sassi Ben-Nasrallah, Prof. Amenallah Guizani, Dr Hamza Elfil, Dr Ridha Andoulsi, Khenissi Lotfi (CRTEn). Participant presented and discussed the project work progress and results achieved up to the first half of the 3rd project period

The 4th project meeting

admin — 2009-01-24T08:30:17Z

The 4th project meeting

The 4th project meeting took place on 16-18th of December 2008 in Tunis, Tunisia. The meeting was attended by: Project Officer Mario Scalet (European Commission), Prof. Essam Badreddin, Dr. Amr Kandil (UHEI), Prof. Sadi Abdelkrim, Dr. Mohammedi Kamel (CDER), Prof. Sami Karaki, Karim Kabalan (AUB), Mr. Firas Alawneh (NERC), Prof. Dionysis Assimacopoulos, Mr. Makis Kartalides, Dr. George Arampatzis (NTUA), Prof. Cesar Prada, Dr. Fernando Tadeo, Mr Luis Palacin (UVA), Prof. Sassi Ben-Nasrallah, Prof. Amenallah Guizani, Dr Hamza Elfil, Dr Ridha Andoulsi, Mrs Kamila Ben-Youssef (CRTEn). Participant presented the work achieved during the second period of the project with emphasis on equipments acquisition and housing construction for the prototype. A field visit was organized to the construction site where the project members and project officer had the opportunity to assist to the reverse osmosis running test.

admin — 2008-11-19T09:01:44Z

Open-gain Newsletters

Newsletter'1 Covering project 1st year period (2007)

First mid-year 2008 meeting

admin — 2008-10-29T08:34:32Z

First mid-year 2008 meeting

The project 1st semestral meeting of year 2008 took place on 23-24th of June in the historical city of Athens – Greece. The meeting was attended by: Prof. Essam Badreddin, Dr. Amr Kandil (UHEI), Prof. Sadi Abdelkrim, Dr. Mohammedi Kamel (CDER), Prof. Sami Karaki (AUB), Mr. Firas Alawneh (NERC), Prof. Dionysis Assimacopoulos, Mr. Makis Kartalides, Dr. George Arampatzis (NTUA), Prof. Cesar Prada, Dr. Fernando Tadeo (UVA), * Unfortunately Dr Imed Chouch, Ms Kamilia Ben-Youssef (CRTEn) did not manage to attend the meeting due to organizational problem At this stage of the project, the partners discussed relevant issues as:

- Design and the specification of the power systems, subsystems and equipments.

- Assessment of the work progress.

- Equipments acquisition and transportation .

- Actions to undertake with regards to project on-going.

NERC, AUB and UHEI took part in sub-commission meeting. The discussions were mainly about the size of the different system components according to the typical user's profile (electricity and water in Tunisia) and within the available funds.

The First Annual Meeting

admin — 2008-02-12T13:55:14Z

OPEN-GAIN 1st annual meeting

The project 1st annual meeting took place on 5-7, December 2007 in the beautiful city of Hammamet – Tunisia. The meeting was attended by: Prof. Essam Badreddin, Dr. Amr Kandil, Mr. Michael Kröger (UHEI), Prof. Sadi Abdelkrim, Prof. Mohammedi Kamel (CDER), Prof. Sami Karaki (AUB), Mr. Firas Alawneh (NERC), Prof. Dionysis Assimacopoulos, Mr. Makis Kartalides, Dr. George Arampatzis (NTUA), Prof. Cesar Prada, Dr. Fernando Tadeo (UVA), Prof. Sassi Ben Nasrallah, Dr. Imed Chouch (CRTEn.), Mr. David Torrijos, Mr. Juan Robles, Mr. Javier Lucia (SETA) Nearly one year after the project start-up, this was a good opportunity to assess the work performed during the first period.

The main goals of the meeting are:

1) to assess work performed during the first period

2) to discuss relevant issues with regard to the project on-going

3) to discuss with SETA the issues relative to the RO unit

A visit was organised by CRTEn.to the site where the project prototype will be built

Fruitful discussions arose through the presentations and appropriate advices issued for up-coming actions.

Kick-Off Meeting

admin — 2008-02-12T13:20:10Z

OPEN-GAIN Kick-Off Meeting

The meeting took place in Hurgada Egypt during the period April 18-20, 2007. The meeting was attended by Prof. Badreddin (UHEI) -Coordinator- , Martin Wolf (UHEI), Prof. Assimacopoulos (NTUA), Dimitris Galanis (NTUA), Prof. de Prada Moraga (ISA), Luis Gomez Palacin (ISA), Imed Chaouch (C.R.T.En.) Firas Alawneh (NERC), Prof. Sadi (CDER). Prof. Chedid (AUB) was unable to attend the whole meeting due to the cancellation of his flight.

The main goals of the meeting are:

1) to discuss and clarify on the technical issues necessary to start the project

2) discuss and agree on the administrative issues especially with regard to the finances

3) discuss the site for the prototype since (C.R.T.En.) has problems of administrative nature which can lead to difficulties building the prototype there

4) presentation and socialization of the partners

Workpackage8

admin — 2008-01-27T09:48:11Z

WP-8: Dissemination of Scientific Work

Workpackage number: WP-8 Start date or starting event: 0

Participants: DZ LB TN JO Total PM Person-months per participant: 15 8 6 4 33

Objectives

O-8.1: To increase awareness and education level on problems and opportunities in the field of desalination using renewable energies

O-8.2: To reinforce the building of capacities to promote new results and the importance of automated systems in general

O-8.3: To disseminate information in the shape of local and public authorities by supporting and promoting de-centralized water and power production for remote areas

O-8.4: To disseminate the know-how acquired through the project within all MENA countries, which will be actively identified to facing de-central water and power supply difficulties

Description of work

T-8.1: Resources and conditions assessment (DZ, LB, TN, JO): To develop the data basis for the decision support system, which has to take into account country boundary conditions for the design, national information sources on water, wind, and solar conditions as well as socio-economic, administrative and political boundary conditions for every participating MPC will be reviewed. This data will also later be used to support dissemination.

T-8.2: Potentials assessment (DZ, LB, TN, JO): National information on technical knowledge, manufacturing capacities/capabilities and conditions for public-private partnerships for each participating MPC will be reviewed. Studies on socio-economic and political impact of the dissemination of the results, regarding quality of life, gender, migration, employment and regional conflicts, will be undertaken and reported to the commission.

T-8.3: Results dissemination (DZ, LB, TN, JO): Results will be disseminated by the water authorities within their countries. Besides further submitting publications with the latest results to all relevant conferences, the leader of WP-8 will organize exhibitions and an international workshop.

T-8.4: Access policy to the facilities (DZ, LB, TN, JO): A policy for the future accessibility to the facilities for research will be established. Hereby it will be kept in mind that the laboratory itself shall, under conditions pre-established from the EU, become accessible to every institution interested in the knowledge and tools developed by the project and/or in additional research, including experimenting with the plant itself.

T-8.5: Dissemination MENA wide, advisory and services (DZ, LB, TN, JO): Results of the project will be distributed into MENA countries by using the networking capacities of MEDRC. Studies on socio-economic and political impact of the project obtained from T-8.2 regarding quality of life, gender, migration, employment, regional conflicts will be transmitted. Moreover, R&TD consultancy and engineering services will be offered to water and power authorities, companies and research institutions.

Deliverables

D-8.1: Individual MPC reports on “Resources and Boundary Conditions for the proposed plant”

D-8.2: Reports on potentials for local manufacturing of components and systems in each MPC

D-8.3: Report on “Dissemination of project results into MENA countries”

Milestones and expected result

R-8.1: Organization of an on-site workshop to disseminate and exemplify results

R-8.2: Proposal from MPC to develop co-operative research by using the prototype in the future

R-8.3: Interest and decision of MENA countries to introduce high technological desalination in their arid remote areas

Tasks T-8.4 and T-8.5 from TN shall be performed by the subcontractor CO3 from Tunisia.

Workpackage7

admin — 2008-01-27T09:47:03Z

WP-7: Integrated Implementation and Control System Design of a Prototype

Workpackage number: WP-7 Start date or starting event: 21

Participants: TN DE ES JO DZ Total PM Person-months per participant: 13 10 9 4 2 38

Objectives

O-7.1: To specify the hardware and software for the real-time operation

O-7.2: To integrate the RO plant, the power supply subsystem and the control system to obtain the whole prototype

O-7.3: To start up the whole plant and to carry out intensive operative tests, data logging and model validation

Description of work

T-7.1: Transfer of components: (TN): All tested components should be transported to the place, where the prototype will be assembled. The corresponding groups will be responsible for the delivery of the components and TN for the reception and care at installation site. Laboratory infrastructure has to be created before this deadline.

T-7.2: Prototype integration (TN): The whole plant will be built in the laboratory. Later, when the containerised prototype is working properly at laboratory conditions, it should be moved to the exterior to start field-testing outdoors. The energy supply subsystem including all components (photovoltaic panels, wind turbine, diesel generator, batteries and energy management), the RO plant and the instrumentation will be joined to create a small-scaled plant, which will produce drinking water and electrical power based on renewable energies.

T-7.3: Start-up and field-testing of the whole plant (TN, JO, DZ,): The plant will be started up progressively subsystem by subsystem. An iterative procedure to solve malfunctions will be applied. First operational tests will be performed: Check of operability of all subsystems, check of proper functioning of sensors, energy consumption, etc. Chemicals for pre-treatment and post-treatment have to be chosen and prepared.

T-7.4: Implementation of the real-time control system (DE, ES): Specifications for the real-time hardware and software shall be performed. The definition of interfaces for the real-time software development as well as the implementation and optimisation of algorithms for real-time operation (start up, shut down, control, change of operation points, etc.) will constitute the most activities of this task. Monitoring and fault-detection tasks require appropriate modelling of the plant behaviour and prediction methods also including weather-forecast data.

T-7.5: Test of the real-time system (TN, DE, ES): The real-time system has intensively to be tested to detect inconsistencies and programming errors.

Deliverables

D-7.1: Optimal prototype for RO desalination with renewable energies

D-7.2: Real-time system for fault-tolerant control, supervision and remote monitoring

D-7.3: Report and handbook on the real-time control system

Milestones and expected result

M-7.1: Start integration after all parts were delivered

M-7.2: Start-up and field testing completed

M-7.3: Start control system implementation after the plant is operative

R-7.1: Successful prototype start-up and testing

R-7.2: Successful control and supervision system

T-7.5 and partially the task T-7.3 shall be carried out by the subcontracted company CO2.

Workpackage6

admin — 2008-01-27T09:45:22Z

WP-6: Power Supply Subsystem

Workpackage number: WP-6 Start date or starting event: 10

Participants: JO DZ TN Total PM Person-months per participant: 13 11 9 33

Objectives

O-6.1: To obtain an up-to-date catalogue of components for renewable energy supply

O-6.2: To build prototypes for the each energy supply according to the results given in WP-3 (PV, wind, diesel and batteries)

O-6.3: To construct the energy manager

O-6.4: To integrate the prototypes in order to obtain the power supply subsystem

O-6.5: To start up the power supply subsystem and to carry out operational tests

Description of work

T-6.1: Market analysis (JO, DZ): Based on the component list supplied by WP-3, a market analysis will be carried out in order to select the components for the power subsystem. The results will be introduced in the database.

T-6.2: Construct/Order components (JO, DZ): According to the market analysis carried out in the previous task and the field conditions, the necessary components to build the prototype will be constructed and/or ordered from the corresponding providers. Moreover, the structure to support the components (including place for the RO-plant) will be designed and constructed.

T-6.3: Prototype building (JO, DZ, TN): Following the plans from WP-3 and using the components constructed or ordered in the previous task, prototypes for each part of the power supply subsystem will be built. Moreover, the corresponding infrastructure for the instrumentation including the field bus shall be designed.

T-6.4: Operation and laboratory testing of prototypes (DZ): the constructed power supply subsystem will be started-up and a battery of operational tests will be carried out on it. Changing loads will be emulated in order to analyse the response and the behaviour of the prototype.

Robustness and fault tolerance will be also tested. Data logging for model validation purposes has also to be performed.

Deliverables

D-6.1: Report about the market analysis for the components and data for the databases

D-6.2: Prototypes for the power supply subsystem

D-6.3: Report about the characteristics of prototypes and the plans

D-6.4: Handbook for the operation of the system and information to connect it with RO plant

Milestones and expected result

M-6.1: Selection of components after market analysis according to the plans of WP-3

M-6.2: Construction of prototype system completed

M-6.3: Start-up and laboratory testing completed. Start point for model validation

R-6.1: Successful prototype design and construction

R-6.2: Successful testing and prototype delivery

Optimal Engineering Design for Dependable Water and Power Generation in Remote Areas Using Renewable Energies and Intelligent Automation

OPEN-GAIN - 6th project meeting

OPEN-GAIN 5th project meeting

The 4th project meeting

Newsletter

First mid-year 2008 meeting

The First Annual Meeting

Kick-Off Meeting

Workpackage8

Workpackage7

Workpackage6

Optimal Engineering Design for Dependable Water and Power Generation
in Remote Areas Using Renewable Energies and Intelligent Automation