3CON PROJECT

 

Control-based Hierarchical Consolidation of Large Consumers

for Integration in Smart Grids

 

The 3CON research project is funded by Croatian Science Foundation. Overall project duration is 36 months, in period from December 1, 2014 to November 30, 2017.


News

Our LARES research team published an article "Hierarchical Model Predictive Control for Coordinated Electric Railway Traction System Energy Management" - H. Novak, V. Lešić, M. Vašak, in IEEE Transactions on Intelligent Transportation Systems, a prestigious IEEE scientific journal. The paper is published within a Special Issue on Intelligent Rail Transportation, focussed on development and application of intelligent technologies for improvement of railway's autonomy, cooperation and integration.

The paper presents a novel railway energy management system based on hierarchical coordination of electric traction substation energy flows and on-route trains energy consumption levels. The levels are coordinated through parametric hierarchical model predictive control with the main goal of additionally increasing the energy efficiency and decreasing the operational costs of the overall system.

You can download the article preprint here or take a look at it on the Journal web.

Author: Hrvoje Novak

Our LARES research team published an article "A Battery Management System for Efficient Adherence to Energy Exchange Commands under Longevity Constraints" in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, a prestigious IEEE scientific journal focussed on advancement of theory and practice of electrical and electronic engineering and application of electrical systems.

The article presents a new method for energy management of energy storages in microgrids that resides on model predictive control and ensures energy exchange between the storage and the rest of the microgrid is performed in exactly the commanded amount within the given time, all while taking into account the storage longevity constraints and ensuring maximum storage system efficiency.

You can download the article preprint under the Research Tab or take a look at it on the Journal web.

 

Author: Hrvoje Novak
Invited lecture at Croatian Academy...

3CON project lead prof. Mario Vašak will hold a lecture titled "Control-based Hierarchical Consolidation of Large Consumers for Integration in Smart Grids" on November 13th, 2017 at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

During the lecture, 3CON project methodology, as well as results and future research plans, will be presented. Fellow researchers and others interested are invited to attend the lecture.

Invitation and lecture outline (in Croatian) can be found here.

 

Author: Hrvoje Novak
LABAT 2017 Conference, Golden Sands,...

LABAT 2017 - International Conference on Lead-Acid Batteries took place in the Golden Sands Resort, Bulgaria from from 13th - 16th June 2017.

During the conference, 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Closed-loop predictive control for adherence to the commanded energy exchange with a VRLA battery - G. Kujundžić, M. Vašak.

Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
SST 2017 Conference, Osijek, Croatia

SST 2017 – the International Conference on Smart Systems and Technologies took place in Osijek, Croatia from 18th – 20th October 2017.

Within the conference session Smart Power Systems, 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Upgrade of a typical office building automation system for enabling open energy management services – M. Vašak, A. Starčić, V. Lešić and A. Martinčević. The session was also chaired by the 3CON PI, Mario Vašak.

Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Vinko Lešić
ITSC 2017 Conference, Yokohama, Japan

ITSC 2017– the IEEE 20th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems took place in Yokohama, Japan from 16th - 19th October 2017.

Within the conference session Traffic management, LARES research team presented a paper titled: Hierarchical Coordination of Trains and Traction Substation Storages for Energy Cost Optimization - H. Novak, M. Vašak, and V. Lešić. The Traffic management session was also chaired by LARES member Vinko Lešić.

Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
EDPE 2017 Conference in Dubrovnik,...

The 19th International Conference on Electrical Drives and Power Electronics took place on 4th-6th October 2017 in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Our LARES research team presented two papers:

DC link voltage control of back-to-back converter robust to grid conditions, M. Car, V. Lešić, M. Vašak
Control of a buck-boost DC-DC power converter for microgrid energy storage, M. Car, M. Vašak, V. Lešić

Both papers can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
IFAC 2017 World Congress, Toulouse,...

The 20th World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control took place from 9th to 14th of July 2017 in Toulouse, France.

Our LARES research team presented a paper titled: On Operating Envelope Protection Design for Nonlinear Discrete-Time Systems, N. Hure, M. Vašak.

The paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
The 2017 American Control Conference...

ACC 2017 – the American Control Conference took place on May 24 - 26, 2017 in Seattle, WA, USA.

Our LARES research team presented the following paper: Robust Microgrid Control Using Tube Scaling Approach - N. Branimir, J. Matuško, M. Baotić.

The paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
ISIE 2017 Conference in Edinburgh,...

The 26th IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics took place on 19th-21st June 2017 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Our LARES research team presented a paper titled: Comfort Control in Buildings with Adherence to the Required Thermal Energy Input in Zones – A. Martinčević, F. Rukavina, V. Lešić, M. Vašak.

The paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
PC 2017 Conference in Štrbské Pleso,...

PC 2017 – the 21st International Conference on Process Control took place on 6th - 9th June 2017 in Štrbské Pleso, The High Tatras, Slovakia.

Our LARES research team presented two papers: 

Nonlinear Hierarchical Building Zone and Microgrid Control based on Sensitivity Analysis - V. Lešić, M. Vašak, A. Martinčević and H. Novak, 

Clustering-based Identification of MIMO Piecewise Affine Systems - N. Hure and M. Vašak. 

Papers can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
Parametric hierarchical control...

Our LARES research team published an article "Modular energy cost optimization for buildings with integrated microgrid" in Applied Energy, a prestigious scientific journal focussed on energy topics. It introduces and elaborates the modular energy management in buildings developed in 3CON project, and presents its performance analysis through a case study performed on a part of the skyscraper building of the Faculty. You can download the article preprint under the Research Tab or take a look at it on the Journal web.

Author: Vinko Lešić

IEEE PEMC 2016 – 17th International Conference on Power Electronics and Motion Control, took place on 25th - 30th September 2016 in Varna, Bulgaria.

Our LARES research team presented a paper titled: Comparison of Battery Management Approaches for Energy Flow Optimization in Microgrids - M. Vašak and G. Kujundžić. Paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak

IECON 2016 – the 42nd Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society, took place on 24th - 27th October 2016 in Florence, Italy.

Our LARES research team presented a paper titled: Predictive control for heating power variance and peak reduction in buildings - A. Starčić , V. Lešić and M. Vašak. Paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
ISGT 2016 Europe Conference in...

ISGT 2016 Europe – IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies, Europe, took place on 9th - 12th October 2016 in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Our LARES research team presented a paper titled: Multi-level Optimal Control of a Microgrid-supplied Cooling System in a Building - M. Gulin, A. Martinčević, V. Lešić and M. Vašak. Paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Vinko Lešić

ICIRT 2016– the 2016 IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Rail Transportation took place at the University of Birmingham from 23-25th August 2016.

Within the conference session Power and Traction, 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Hierarchical Energy Management of Multi-Train Railway Transport System With Energy Storages - H. Novak, M. Vašak, and V. Lešić. Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak

MED 2016 – the 24th Mediterranean Conference on Control and Automation took place on 21st - 24th June 2016 in Athens, Greece. Our LARES research team presented a paper titled: Model Predictive Control for Energy-saving and Comfortable Temperature Control in Buildings​ - A. Martinčević, M. Vašak and V. Lešić. Paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Vinko Lešić

AUP 2015 – the 35th Conference on Transportation Systems with International Participation Automation in Transportation took place on 3rd - 8th November 2015 in Zagreb, Croatia. Within the conference session Railway transportation, 3CON research team presented a paper titled: State of the art control methods for energy efficient train operation in railway traffic system - H. Novak, M. Vašak, and V. Lešić. Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
ICCBE 2015 Conference in Dubai,...

ICCBE 2015 – the 17th International Conference on Civil and Building Engineering took place on 17th - 18th October 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Our 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Computer-assisted Management of Building Climate and Microgrid with Model Predictive Control - V. Lešić, M. Vašak, A. Martinčević, M. Gulin, A. Starčić and H. Novak. Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Vinko Lešić

MET 2015 – the 12th International Conference on Modern Electrified Transport took place on 4th - 7th October 2015 in Trogir, Croatia. Within the conference session Electric transport for a smart city, 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Railway transport system energy flow optimization with integrated microgrid - H. Novak, M. Vašak, M. Gulin and V. Lešić. Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Conference photos can be found in the detailed news content.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
3CON Industrial advisory board meeting

Second meeting of the 3CON industrial advisory board took place on the 30th September, 2015 at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing.

After a short presentation of the current project progress and dissemination overview, the initial validation environments and scenarios for railway transport systems and buildings case studies were presented. Case studies presentation was followed by a discussion with the advisory board on the proposed scenarios where future work directions were defined.

Author: Hrvoje Novak

EDPE 2015 – the 18th International Conference on Electrical Drives and Power Electronics took place on 21th - 23th September 2015 in Tatranská Lomnica, The High Tatras, Slovakia.

Within the conference, 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Predictor-Corrector Method for Weather Forecast Improvement using Local Measurements - M. Gulin, M. Vašak and J. Matuško. Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak

ECC 2015 – the 15th European Control Conference took place on 15th - 17th July 2015 in Linz, Austria.

Within the conference session Optimization and Linear Systems, chaired by the 3CON project coordinator Mario Vašak, the 3CON research team presented a paper titled: Analysis of Microgrid Power Flow Optimization with Consideration of Residual Storages State - M. Gulin, M. Vašak and M. Baotić. Full paper can be found under the Research tab.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
Visit to Croatian Railways...

On May 22, 2015 3CON researchers Dr. Vinko Lešić and Hrvoje Novak visited the Croatian Railways Dispatching Centre in Zagreb.

The visit was led by Prof. Dr. Zdravko Toš from Faculty of Transport and Traffic Sciences, University of Zagreb and Croatian Railways employees. Dispatching Centre is in charge of one of the larger energy systems in Croatia, monitoring 75 electric traction facilities placed in the western part of Croatia. It was reconstructed by the end of 2012. when a new SCADA system was installed.

Photos from the visit can be found in the detailed news content.

Author: Hrvoje Novak
3CON industrial advisory board...

Initial meeting of the 3CON industrial advisory board took place on the 27th February, 2015 at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing.

After the initial introduction of the industrial advisory board members and 3CON researcher team, a view of the work plan, assignments and activities were given by Asst. Prof. Dr. Mario Vašak. All board members were informed about the project objectives, outputs and activities, and initial discussion about the proposed case studies for buildings and railway traffic systems environment was held.

After the meeting advisory board members were given an opportunity to visit the Laboratory for Renewable Energy Systems (LARES) of University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing.

Photos from the meeting can be found in the detailed news content.

Author: Hrvoje Novak

3CON researchers Vinko Lešić, Marko Gulin and Hrvoje Novak participated in a two week "Model Predictive Control" course. The course was held by Prof. Dr. Manfred Morari from 16-26 February 2015 at Eidgenössische Technische Hochshule (ETH), Zürich.

Apart from learning about model predictive control concepts and their properties researchers had an opportunity to listen to speakers from various industries, such as ABB and Shell, about a wide range of applications where model predictive control was used with great benefit.   

Author: Hrvoje Novak