@article{SchwagerFleschSchwarzboezletal.2022, author = {Schwager, Christian and Flesch, Robert and Schwarzb{\"o}zl, Peter and Herrmann, Ulf and Teixeira Boura, Cristiano Jos{\´e}}, title = {Advanced two phase flow model for transient molten salt receiver system simulation}, series = {Solar Energy}, volume = {232}, journal = {Solar Energy}, publisher = {Elsevier}, address = {Amsterdam}, issn = {0038-092X (print)}, doi = {10.1016/j.solener.2021.12.065}, pages = {362 -- 375}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In order to realistically predict and optimize the actual performance of a concentrating solar power (CSP) plant sophisticated simulation models and methods are required. This paper presents a detailed dynamic simulation model for a Molten Salt Solar Tower (MST) system, which is capable of simulating transient operation including detailed startup and shutdown procedures including drainage and refill. For appropriate representation of the transient behavior of the receiver as well as replication of local bulk and surface temperatures a discretized receiver model based on a novel homogeneous two-phase (2P) flow modelling approach is implemented in Modelica Dymola®. This allows for reasonable representation of the very different hydraulic and thermal properties of molten salt versus air as well as the transition between both. This dynamic 2P receiver model is embedded in a comprehensive one-dimensional model of a commercial scale MST system and coupled with a transient receiver flux density distribution from raytracing based heliostat field simulation. This enables for detailed process prediction with reasonable computational effort, while providing data such as local salt film and wall temperatures, realistic control behavior as well as net performance of the overall system. Besides a model description, this paper presents some results of a validation as well as the simulation of a complete startup procedure. Finally, a study on numerical simulation performance and grid dependencies is presented and discussed.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{GedleSchmitzGielenetal.2022, author = {Gedle, Yibekal and Schmitz, Mark and Gielen, Hans and Schmitz, Pascal and Herrmann, Ulf and Teixeira Boura, Cristiano Jos{\´e} and Mahdi, Zahra and Caminos, Ricardo Alexander Chico and Dersch, J{\"u}rgen}, title = {Analysis of an integrated CSP-PV hybrid power plant}, series = {SOLARPACES 2020}, booktitle = {SOLARPACES 2020}, number = {2445 / 1}, publisher = {AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville, NY}, isbn = {978-0-7354-4195-8}, issn = {1551-7616 (online)}, doi = {10.1063/5.0086236}, pages = {9 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {In the past, CSP and PV have been seen as competing technologies. Despite massive reductions in the electricity generation costs of CSP plants, PV power generation is - at least during sunshine hours - significantly cheaper. If electricity is required not only during the daytime, but around the clock, CSP with its inherent thermal energy storage gets an advantage in terms of LEC. There are a few examples of projects in which CSP plants and PV plants have been co-located, meaning that they feed into the same grid connection point and ideally optimize their operation strategy to yield an overall benefit. In the past eight years, TSK Flagsol has developed a plant concept, which merges both solar technologies into one highly Integrated CSP-PV-Hybrid (ICPH) power plant. Here, unlike in simply co-located concepts, as analyzed e.g. in [1] - [4], excess PV power that would have to be dumped is used in electric molten salt heaters to increase the storage temperature, improving storage and conversion efficiency. The authors demonstrate the electricity cost sensitivity to subsystem sizing for various market scenarios, and compare the resulting optimized ICPH plants with co-located hybrid plants. Independent of the three feed-in tariffs that have been assumed, the ICPH plant shows an electricity cost advantage of almost 20\% while maintaining a high degree of flexibility in power dispatch as it is characteristic for CSP power plants. As all components of such an innovative concept are well proven, the system is ready for commercial market implementation. A first project is already contracted and in early engineering execution.}, language = {en} } @inproceedings{MahdiDerschSchmitzetal.2022, author = {Mahdi, Zahra and Dersch, J{\"u}rgen and Schmitz, Pascal and Dieckmann, Simon and Caminos, Ricardo Alexander Chico and Teixeira Boura, Cristiano Jos{\´e} and Herrmann, Ulf and Schwager, Christian and Schmitz, Mark and Gielen, Hans and Gedle, Yibekal and B{\"u}scher, Rauno}, title = {Technical assessment of Brayton cycle heat pumps for the integration in hybrid PV-CSP power plants}, series = {SOLARPACES 2020}, booktitle = {SOLARPACES 2020}, number = {2445 / 1}, publisher = {AIP conference proceedings / American Institute of Physics}, address = {Melville, NY}, isbn = {978-0-7354-4195-8}, issn = {1551-7616 (online)}, doi = {10.1063/5.0086269}, pages = {11 Seiten}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The hybridization of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) and Photovoltaics (PV) systems is a promising approach to reduce costs of solar power plants, while increasing dispatchability and flexibility of power generation. High temperature heat pumps (HT HP) can be utilized to boost the salt temperature in the thermal energy storage (TES) of a Parabolic Trough Collector (PTC) system from 385 °C up to 565 °C. A PV field can supply the power for the HT HP, thus effectively storing the PV power as thermal energy. Besides cost-efficiently storing energy from the PV field, the power block efficiency of the overall system is improved due to the higher steam parameters. This paper presents a technical assessment of Brayton cycle heat pumps to be integrated in hybrid PV-CSP power plants. As a first step, a theoretical analysis was carried out to find the most suitable working fluid. The analysis included the fluids Air, Argon (Ar), Nitrogen (N2) and Carbon dioxide (CO2). N2 has been chosen as the optimal working fluid for the system. After the selection of the ideal working medium, different concepts for the arrangement of a HT HP in a PV-CSP hybrid power plant were developed and simulated in EBSILON®Professional. The concepts were evaluated technically by comparing the number of components required, pressure losses and coefficient of performance (COP).}, language = {en} } @article{BoehnischBraunMuscarelloetal.2024, author = {B{\"o}hnisch, Nils and Braun, Carsten and Muscarello, Vincenzo and Marzocca, Pier}, title = {About the wing and whirl flutter of a slender wing-propeller system}, series = {Journal of Aircraft}, journal = {Journal of Aircraft}, publisher = {AIAA}, address = {Reston, Va.}, issn = {1533-3868}, doi = {10.2514/1.C037542}, pages = {1 -- 14}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Next-generation aircraft designs often incorporate multiple large propellers attached along the wingspan (distributed electric propulsion), leading to highly flexible dynamic systems that can exhibit aeroelastic instabilities. This paper introduces a validated methodology to investigate the aeroelastic instabilities of wing-propeller systems and to understand the dynamic mechanism leading to wing and whirl flutter and transition from one to the other. Factors such as nacelle positions along the wing span and chord and its propulsion system mounting stiffness are considered. Additionally, preliminary design guidelines are proposed for flutter-free wing-propeller systems applicable to novel aircraft designs. The study demonstrates how the critical speed of the wing-propeller systems is influenced by the mounting stiffness and propeller position. Weak mounting stiffnesses result in whirl flutter, while hard mounting stiffnesses lead to wing flutter. For the latter, the position of the propeller along the wing span may change the wing mode shapes and thus the flutter mechanism. Propeller positions closer to the wing tip enhance stability, but pusher configurations are more critical due to the mass distribution behind the elastic axis.}, language = {en} } @article{StiemerThomaBraun2023, author = {Stiemer, Luc Nicolas and Thoma, Andreas and Braun, Carsten}, title = {MBT3D: Deep learning based multi-object tracker for bumblebee 3D flight path estimation}, series = {PLoS ONE}, volume = {18}, journal = {PLoS ONE}, number = {9}, publisher = {PLOS}, address = {San Fancisco}, issn = {1932-6203}, doi = {10.1371/journal.pone.0291415}, pages = {e0291415}, year = {2023}, abstract = {This work presents the Multi-Bees-Tracker (MBT3D) algorithm, a Python framework implementing a deep association tracker for Tracking-By-Detection, to address the challenging task of tracking flight paths of bumblebees in a social group. While tracking algorithms for bumblebees exist, they often come with intensive restrictions, such as the need for sufficient lighting, high contrast between the animal and background, absence of occlusion, significant user input, etc. Tracking flight paths of bumblebees in a social group is challenging. They suddenly adjust movements and change their appearance during different wing beat states while exhibiting significant similarities in their individual appearance. The MBT3D tracker, developed in this research, is an adaptation of an existing ant tracking algorithm for bumblebee tracking. It incorporates an offline trained appearance descriptor along with a Kalman Filter for appearance and motion matching. Different detector architectures for upstream detections (You Only Look Once (YOLOv5), Faster Region Proposal Convolutional Neural Network (Faster R-CNN), and RetinaNet) are investigated in a comparative study to optimize performance. The detection models were trained on a dataset containing 11359 labeled bumblebee images. YOLOv5 reaches an Average Precision of AP = 53, 8\%, Faster R-CNN achieves AP = 45, 3\% and RetinaNet AP = 38, 4\% on the bumblebee validation dataset, which consists of 1323 labeled bumblebee images. The tracker's appearance model is trained on 144 samples. The tracker (with Faster R-CNN detections) reaches a Multiple Object Tracking Accuracy MOTA = 93, 5\% and a Multiple Object Tracking Precision MOTP = 75, 6\% on a validation dataset containing 2000 images, competing with state-of-the-art computer vision methods. The framework allows reliable tracking of different bumblebees in the same video stream with rarely occurring identity switches (IDS). MBT3D has much lower IDS than other commonly used algorithms, with one of the lowest false positive rates, competing with state-of-the-art animal tracking algorithms. The developed framework reconstructs the 3-dimensional (3D) flight paths of the bumblebees by triangulation. It also handles and compares two alternative stereo camera pairs if desired.}, language = {en} } @article{MoehrenBergmannJanseretal.2024, author = {M{\"o}hren, Felix and Bergmann, Ole and Janser, Frank and Braun, Carsten}, title = {Assessment of structural mechanical effects related to torsional deformations of propellers}, series = {CEAS Aeronautical Journal}, journal = {CEAS Aeronautical Journal}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Wien}, issn = {1869-5590 (eISSN)}, doi = {10.1007/s13272-024-00737-7}, pages = {22 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Lifting propellers are of increasing interest for Advanced Air Mobility. All propellers and rotors are initially twisted beams, showing significant extension-twist coupling and centrifugal twisting. Torsional deformations severely impact aerodynamic performance. This paper presents a novel approach to assess different reasons for torsional deformations. A reduced-order model runs large parameter sweeps with algebraic formulations and numerical solution procedures. Generic beams represent three different propeller types for General Aviation, Commercial Aviation, and Advanced Air Mobility. Simulations include solid and hollow cross-sections made of aluminum, steel, and carbon fiber-reinforced polymer. The investigation shows that centrifugal twisting moments depend on both the elastic and initial twist. The determination of the centrifugal twisting moment solely based on the initial twist suffers from errors exceeding 5\% in some cases. The nonlinear parts of the torsional rigidity do not significantly impact the overall torsional rigidity for the investigated propeller types. The extension-twist coupling related to the initial and elastic twist in combination with tension forces significantly impacts the net cross-sectional torsional loads. While the increase in torsional stiffness due to initial twist contributes to the overall stiffness for General and Commercial Aviation propellers, its contribution to the lift propeller's stiffness is limited. The paper closes with the presentation of approximations for each effect identified as significant. Numerical evaluations are necessary to determine each effect for inhomogeneous cross-sections made of anisotropic material.}, language = {en} } @article{ThomaGardiFisheretal.2024, author = {Thoma, Andreas and Gardi, Alessandro and Fisher, Alex and Braun, Carsten}, title = {Improving local path planning for UAV flight in challenging environments by refining cost function weights}, series = {CEAS Aeronautical Journal}, journal = {CEAS Aeronautical Journal}, publisher = {Springer}, address = {Wien}, issn = {1869-5590 (eISSN)}, doi = {10.1007/s13272-024-00741-x}, pages = {12 Seiten}, year = {2024}, abstract = {Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) constantly gain in versatility. However, more reliable path planning algorithms are required until full autonomous UAV operation is possible. This work investigates the algorithm 3DVFH* and analyses its dependency on its cost function weights in 2400 environments. The analysis shows that the 3DVFH* can find a suitable path in every environment. However, a particular type of environment requires a specific choice of cost function weights. For minimal failure, probability interdependencies between the weights of the cost function have to be considered. This dependency reduces the number of control parameters and simplifies the usage of the 3DVFH*. Weights for costs associated with vertical evasion (pitch cost) and vicinity to obstacles (obstacle cost) have the highest influence on the failure probability of the local path planner. Environments with mainly very tall buildings (like large American city centres) require a preference for horizontal avoidance manoeuvres (achieved with high pitch cost weights). In contrast, environments with medium-to-low buildings (like European city centres) benefit from vertical avoidance manoeuvres (achieved with low pitch cost weights). The cost of the vicinity to obstacles also plays an essential role and must be chosen adequately for the environment. Choosing these two weights ideal is sufficient to reduce the failure probability below 10\%.}, language = {en} } @article{SaretzkiBergmannDahmannetal.2021, author = {Saretzki, Charlotte and Bergmann, Ole and Dahmann, Peter and Janser, Frank and Keimer, Jona and Machado, Patricia and Morrison, Audry and Page, Henry and Pluta, Emil and St{\"u}bing, Felix and K{\"u}pper, Thomas}, title = {Are small airplanes safe with regards to COVID-19 transmission?}, series = {Journal of Travel Medicine}, volume = {28}, journal = {Journal of Travel Medicine}, number = {7}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, address = {Oxford}, issn = {1708-8305}, doi = {10.1093/jtm/taab105}, year = {2021}, language = {en} } @misc{MayntzKeimerTegtmeyeretal.2021, author = {Mayntz, Joscha and Keimer, Jona and Tegtmeyer, Philipp and Dahmann, Peter and Hille, Sebastian and Stumpf, Eike and Fisher, Alex and Dorrington, Graham}, title = {Aerodynamic Investigation on Efficient Inflight Transition of a Propeller from Propulsion to Regeneration Mode}, series = {AIAA SCITECH 2022 Forum}, journal = {AIAA SCITECH 2022 Forum}, publisher = {AIAA}, address = {Reston, Va.}, doi = {10.2514/6.2022-0546}, year = {2021}, abstract = {This paper discusses a new way of inflight power regeneration for electric or hybrid-electric driven general aviation aircraft with one powertrain for both configurations. Three different approaches for the shift from propulsion to regeneration mode are analyzed. Numerical cal-culation and wind tunnel results are compared and show the highest regeneration potential for the "Windmill" approach, where the propeller blades are flipped, and rotation is reversed. A combination of all regeneration approaches for a realistic flight mission is discussed.}, language = {en} } @misc{KeimerGirbigMayntzetal.2022, author = {Keimer, Jona and Girbig, Leo and Mayntz, Joscha and Tegtmeyer, Philipp and Wendland, Frederik and Dahman, Peter and Fisher, Alex and Dorrington, Graham}, title = {Flight mission optimization for eco-efficiency in consideration of electric regeneration and atmospheric conditions}, series = {AIAA AVIATION 2022 Forum}, journal = {AIAA AVIATION 2022 Forum}, publisher = {AIAA}, address = {Reston, Va.}, doi = {10.2514/6.2022-4118}, year = {2022}, abstract = {The development and operation of hybrid or purely electrically powered aircraft in regional air mobility is a significant challenge for the entire aviation sector. This technology is expected to lead to substantial advances in flight performance, energy efficiency, reliability, safety, noise reduction, and exhaust emissions. Nevertheless, any consumed energy results in heat or carbon dioxide emissions and limited electric energy storage capabilities suppress commercial use. Therefore, the significant challenges to achieving eco-efficient aviation are increased aircraft efficiency, the development of new energy storage technologies, and the optimization of flight operations. Two major approaches for higher eco-efficiency are identified: The first one, is to take horizontal and vertical atmospheric motion phenomena into account. Where, in particular, atmospheric waves hold exciting potential. The second one is the use of the regeneration ability of electric aircraft. The fusion of both strategies is expected to improve efficiency. The objective is to reduce energy consumption during flight while not neglecting commercial usability and convenient flight characteristics. Therefore, an optimized control problem based on a general aviation class aircraft has to be developed and validated by flight experiments. The formulated approach enables a development of detailed knowledge of the potential and limitations of optimizing flight missions, considering the capability of regeneration and atmospheric influences to increase efficiency and range.}, language = {en} }