Industry-Academic-Research (IAR) Co-operation Project with Water Company

 

Team member:
Prof. Man-Chung WONG, mcwong@umac.mo, Personal Homepage
Dr. Chi-Seng LAM, cslam@umac.mo, Personal Homepage
Mr. Wai-Hei CHOI, heichoi@umac.mo
Mr. Xiaoxi CUI, sunstarcxx@msn.com

• Research Project Background

Ever since the establishment of electric power engineering laboratory (previously named as power electronics laboratory), our research team has been focusing on doing researches on power quality compensation devices and techniques.

One of the most remarkable researches is the “low-loss low-cost current quality compensator (CCPC)”, which has advantages such as lower cost and higher energy efficiency compared to traditional devices such as active power filter (APF). Our research team have nearly over a decade experience of doing researches on relevant topic. The research has become a successful example of industry-academic-research project through the co-operation project with Macao Water Company, which begins from year 2012.

• Project Goal

The goal of this project is to reduce the electric fee and enhance the energy usage efficiency of Macao Water Company. This goal is achieved so by eliminating the undesired reactive power consumption caused by the inductive water pump in the station. In the project, the researched CCPC is installed, as shown in Fig. 1. For preliminary testing, reactive power compensation is provided for a selected water pump.

 

Fig. 1: Diagram illustrating the energy saving scheme in the water company, by providing reactive power compensation using the energy saving device CCPC researched by University of Macau Electric Power Engineering Laboratory. 

As shown in Fig. 2, the researched CCPC can be regarded as a combination of passive filter and active power filter technologies, and possesses combined advantages of providing dynamic compensation, no having resonance problem, reduced power loss and cost.

Fig. 2: The researched CCPC being a combination of passive filter and active power filter with combined advantages. 

Detailed circuit schematics of CCPC for reactive power compensation is shown in Fig. 3. A hybrid LC coupling structure is used to reduce the power loss and device rating.

Fig. 3: Circuit schematics of CCPC as three phase converter with hybrid LC coupled structure. 

• Project Achievement

As a successful industry-academia-research project, achievements are made in the corresponding aspect, as shown in Fig. 4. 

 

Fig. 4: Project Achievements 

A. Industry 

At industry level, the main achievement is the economic benefits. According to Table I, after the installation of CCPC researched by our UM power research team, the reactive power fee of the water company drops immediately by around 99.7%.

Table I. System Parameters before and after CCPC installation. 

System Source Grid	Before CCPC Installation	After CCPC Installation	Percentage Change (%)
Source Current IS (A)	193	177	8.3%
Reactive Power (kVARh)	18,920	>50	99.7%
Power Factor	0.90	1.00	9.9%

The variation of paid reactive power from year 2013 to year 2016 is presented in Fig. 5. The paid reactive power drops immediately after installation of our researched energy saving device CCPC.

 

Fig. 5: Variation of paid reactive power. 

B. Academic and Research

Prior to the installation of CCPC at the water company, the UM Power Research Team has done many researches and preliminary experimental analysis. The followings, but not limited to, are achieved.

i) A book published on Springer
(Over 2057 download records at year 2014)
Some relevant studies of the research on the energy saving devices are summarized and published on Springer, which is a TOP level publisher in Science and Technology. There are also over 2057 recorded download times.
Chi-Seng Lam, Man-Chung Wong, "Design and Control of Hybrid Active Power Filters", Series of Springer Briefs in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Springer, Nov. 2013 (E-Version) & Jan. 2014 (Printed Version).

ii) Over 25 academic publications on international TOP IET/IEEE Journal Transactions and Conferences
Relevant study of the research project has been published on over 25 international TOP SCI/EI indexed IET/IEEE Journal Transactions and Conferences, including IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics (Impact Factor: 6.383, Rank: 2/249 in related area) and IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics (Impact Factor: 4.953, Rank: 3/249 in related area). 

iii) 2 Chinese & 1 US Patents granted
In this project, there is 2 Chinese and 1 US patents granted:

• Chi-Seng LAM, Man-Chung WONG, Wai-Hei CHOI, Ying-Duo Han, “Adaptive dc-link voltage controlled LC coupling hybrid active power filters for reactive power compensation”, US Utility Patent, Granted, No. 9,122,296, Sept. 2015. 

• Man-Chung Wong, Chi-Seng Lam, Wai-Hei Choi, “Control strategy of adaptive dc-link voltage controlled LC-VSI device for reactive power compensation”, Chinese Patent for Invention, Granted, Application No. 201210051133.2, Sept., 2014.

• Man-Chung Wong, Chi-Seng Lam, Ning-Yi Dai, “Capacitive-coupling STATCOM and its control”, Chinese Patent for Invention, Granted, No. 200710196710.6, May, 2011.

This course introduces the engineering and technical aspects of renewable energy conversion systems utilizing solar, wind and others. It emphasizes basic generation and power conversion technologies of renewable energy generation systems. Topics include different available sources of sustainable energy and power, their applications, their limitations, energy conversion, integration circuits and storage for renewable technologies.

• iv) 2 Awards
  Third Class Award of the Technological Invention Award, 2014 Macao Science and Technology Awards

• 2nd Class Award in National University Student Social Practice and Science Contest on Energy Saving & Emission Reduction

The project is awarded 2nd Class Award in National University Student Social Practice and Science Contest on Energy Saving & Emission Reduction at Year 2012 (Xian), in which there are 2050 teams from China, and only 141 (7%) can go into final round. The project is also awarded Third Class Award of the Technological Invention Award, 2014 Macao Science and Technology Awards.

• Project Phase Schedule

The project is mainly divided into four phases
(details shown in Fig. 7):

i) Preliminary analysis (before year 2012)

ii) On-site measurement (year 2013-2014)

iii) Design and Implementation (year 2014)

iv) Industrial Trial Operation (after year 2014) 

Fig. 7: Different phases and achievements of the research project.

At testing site, through the installation of UM researched CCPC, the reactive power consumption of the water pump is successfully reduced from 56.6 kVAR to 3.0 kVAR. And the efficiency of the energy saving device CCPC is 98.8%, which is higher than other existing energy saving devices. 

• Developed Hardware Prototype

Under this industry-academia-research project, different hardware prototypes are being constructed in different phases, as shown in Fig. 8. They are namely:

a) Experimental Platform (Academia): 55V/1.65kVA (Year 2007)

b) Experimental Platform (Research): 220V/10kVA (Year 2012)

c) Industrial Platform (Industry): 400V/70kVA (Year 2014)

Fig. 8: Developed Hardware Prototype of CCPC

• Project Achievement

There are still further researches ongoing in related area. For any inquiry or research study opportunity, please feel free to contact our team and laboratory members.

• Acknowledgement

We would like to express our appreciations for Macau Science and Technology Fund, University of Macau Research Committee, Macau Water Company Ltd and Moxlink Ltd. for their supports and help.