Master Theses & Projects (FEAS)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10155/687

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A Graph Neural Network for pairwise surrogate modeling in population-based algorithms with tournament selection
(2024-04-01) Gharavian, Vida; Makrehchi, Masoud; Rahnamayan, Shahryar
Optimization problems widely arise in various science and engineering fields. Optimisation involves evaluating a candidate solution, which can be computationally intensive. Machine learning-based surrogate models can contribute to learning the specific pattern among the decision variables and objective values to reduce the computation time of fitness evaluation. In this study, we have proposed a novel pairwise surrogate model to identify the superiority between candidate solutions in a pairwise comparison. We demonstrated a Graph Neural Network (GNN) to be trained on number of pairs, then utilized to compare a pair of candidate solutions. To examine the efficacy of our model, we utilized the surrogate model on CEC2017 benchmarks in different dimensions. Moreover, the result of surrogate-assisted and none-assisted form of two well-known optimization algorithms were compared. Results show that the proposed method can significantly reduce the computing cost. In the presence of higher dimensions, our model is more effective than most surrogate models for comparison-based optimizers.
A hybrid approach for intersection management in V2X-enabled connected vehicles
(2024-08-01) Elmoghazy, Ammar; Elgazzar, Khalid; AlWidian, Sanaa
Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) have the potential to revolutionize transportation by enhancing safety, efficiency, and convenience. However, AVs face significant challenges in complex urban environments, particularly in accurately perceiving and navigating through intersections mainly due to occlusions. This thesis addresses these challenges by integrating Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) communication with onboard sensors to improve AV perception and decision-making capabilities. In particular, this thesis proposes a hybrid centralized-decentralized management system, which maximizes the benefits of centralized control for strategic traffic management and the responsiveness of decentralized decision-making, using edge nodes as a traffic coordinators helps reduces the computational needs on the vehicle. Such a system leverages V2X data to enhance situational awareness, optimize traffic flow, and improve overall safety and efficiency in urban environments. The methodology involves using Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping - SLAM for mapping, particle filters for localization, and waypoint generation for planning and control. The hybrid system’s performance was evaluated through simulations and real-world experiments using scaled-down vehicles equipped with advanced sensing and communication technologies. Compared to purely centralized or decentralized approaches, the hybrid system achieved up to a 14% reduction in average travel times through intersections and a 20% improvement in overall traffic flow efficiency. This thesis contributes to the development of intelligent transportation systems by demonstrating the efficacy of hybrid intersection management in enhancing AV performance in urban environments.
A hybrid compensation-based misalignment tolerant wireless power transfer system for e-mobility
(2024-04-01) Shrestha, Niranjan; Williamson, Sheldon
The thesis focuses on developing a hybrid compensation with a phase shift control strategy, aiming for misalignment tolerant constant current/constant voltage (CC/CV) charging through a wireless power transfer (WPT) system for e-mobility. The thesis proposes a hybrid multi-resonant compensation network (LCC-LCC and LCC-S) for CC/CV charging during perfect alignment, controlled by the secondary side only. Additionally, the thesis introduces a phase shift control technique in the inverter to maintain the corresponding CC and CV charging mode during the misalignment up to 100 mm between primary and secondary coils. Initially, the theoretical analysis of the proposed system is described in detail. Then, simulation results for 3.7 kW and 270 W peak load were carried out in MATLAB Simulink. Lastly, experimental testing and validation were conducted for the proposed hybrid compensated system for 270 W peak load, applicable to the E-bike. The experimental results show good consistency with theoretical and simulation analysis.
A multistage-constant-current, temperature-controlled, health-conscious fast charging algorithm for lithium-ion batteries
(2024-08-01) Chetri, Chandan; Williamson, Sheldon
The economical operation and wider adaptability of an electric vehicle (EV) is highly governed by the energy storage system used in the vehicle. To enhance user convenience and compete with their gasoline counterparts, EVs need fast charging methods to achieve equivalent refueling times. However, fast charging can adversely affect the health and cycle life of the battery due to excessive temperature rise resulting in accelerated degradation of the battery chemistry. Especially in subzero conditions, the chemical reactions are much slower, resulting in increased internal impedance. This leads to a higher rate of temperature rise in battery temperature and eventually faster battery degradation. This thesis proposes a closed-loop Multistage-constant-current, Temperature-controlled (MCC-TC), Health-conscious Fast Charging strategy, which modulates the charging current considering the battery temperature as feedback. The experimental validation on an automotive grade battery cell depicts lower temperature rise and rate of temperature rise following the MCC-TC charging algorithm compared to the conventional Constant-Current Constant-Voltage (CC-CV) charging algorithm.
A novel approach for route generation and real-time scheduling for public services
(2024-04-01) Baghyari, Farhad; Seo, Jaho
Snowplowing and sweeping are essential services to municipalities, which affect travel safety, environment protection, and health to residents. To provide acceptable quality services, route optimization is one of the key strategies that allow for enhancing efficiency, saving costs, and balancing workloads among operational teams. In order to address this issue and reflect on recent research trends in routing problems that require variable conditions and real-time events, this study proposes two heuristic methods: Smart Selective Navigator and a two-stage algorithm for real-time scheduling and route generation. Through two major case studies — winter operations in the City of Oshawa and autonomous street sweeping in Uchi Park —the proposed methods demonstrate superior performance in generating optimal routes that satisfy complex constraints such as turn restrictions and supply limits and handle real-time events like vehicle breakdowns.
Achieving high efficiency thermoelectric heating and cooling with metal foam heat exchangers
(2014-04-01) Clark, Gavin; Rohrauer, Greg
This thesis examines the development of a high efficiency heat pump system using thermoelectric (TE) and reticulated metal foam (RMF) technologies to power a vehicle`s battery thermal management system. The focus is split into two areas: first a review of TE’s sourcing or removing heat, second an examination of compact heat exchanger (HX) design. Five TE suppliers were investigated to understand the performance and limitations of their TE modules. Testing showed the Kyrotherm product to be superior so it was used as a design basis. RMF’s are known to be an effective means to improve the performance of compact heat exchangers, thus HX’s were evaluated with RMF foams compressed to varying densities in order to understand their potential in conjunction with thermoelectric devices. Experimental results showed performance was limited due to adequate bonding, yet still on par with the highest efficiency technologies currently on the market.
Active balancing of lithium-ion cells for maximum power discharging
(2018-07-01) Capano, David; Williamson, Sheldon
The future of Electric Vehicle’s (EV) depends on the adoption of the technology. Currently the limiting factor for EV adoption is mainly the initial cost, the driving range, charging capability, and the battery life. The Battery Management System (BMS) in any Lithium chemistry battery system is used to keep the cells in the optimal operating conditions. The BMS in standard EV batteries employ series cell balancing only while charging. The discharge balancing technique can be used to increase useable capacity from an EV battery because at the end of a cycle the stronger cells have some remaining capacity which can used to assist the weaker cells. This work explores the difference in useable capacity with active cell balancing vs. passive balancing for both new and aged cells near End of Life (EOL). In this work the proposed discharge balancing technique has been researched, simulated, and implemented in hardware testing.
Active transport and concentration of analytes in microfluidic paper based analytical devices using ion concentration polarization
(2019-04-01) Crowley, Michael; MacDonald, Brendan
Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (µPADs) have a high potential for miniaturizing complex testing functions, since they are inexpensive, disposable, and portable. Paper has the advantage over traditional fluid channel systems in that it houses capillary-driven flow, which requires no external pumps or equipment. However, these paper-based devices have one disadvantage in that they do not enable further flow of fluids after becoming fully wet. In this work, active transport and concentration of analytes in fully wet paper-based assays is demonstrated by leveraging ion concentration polarization (ICP). The efficacy of ICP-inducing µPADs is demonstrated through transporting and concentrating dye, fluorescein and immunoglobulins. The application of actively concentrating immunoglobulins - antibodies with sample concentrations that are typically below traditional limits of detection - is a novel application of ICP and can be used to create universally accessible allergy tests.
Adaptive IEEE 802.15.4e LLDN scheduler for wireless network control systems
(2015-12-01) Karimpoor, Kiana; Liscano, Ramiro
An active area of research in the automotive research community is the stability of Long Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) using active trailer steering and/or braking. These LCVs rely on sensor data located across different regions of the tractor and trailers and compose the LCV. Communication of the sensor data to the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of the active trailer system is performed through a conventional wired bus. The benefits of wireless communication for an LCV are improved flexibility, maintenance, elimination of physical socket connections and, reduction of weight related to the wires in the vehicle. In LCVs there is a natural demarcation point between the tractor and trailers where wireless communications can replace the wired communication bus. This thesis investigates the latency and throughput of wireless communication using IEEE 802.15.4 and IEEE 802.15.4e Low Latency Deterministic Network (LLDN) protocols for different sensor sampling rates in an LCV scenario and creates a guidelines for the system designers to select the right sensor sampling times. Furthermore, it proposes a new adaptive IEEE 802.15.4e LLDN algorithm that computes the optimal timeslot and superframe duration based on the sensor node data inter-arrival times to achieve the desired LCV controller latency that will exhibit stable behaviour. Simulation results confirm that this adaptive IEEE 802.15.4e LLDN algorithm can configure the IEEE 802.15.4e LLDN that present the best results for delay as well maximum throughput for a desired latency.
Advancing the technology development for better quality wood plastic composites: process ability study
(2009-03-01) Semeralul, Hamid Osman; Rizvi, Ghaus
Wood Plastic Composites (WPC) have advantages over natural wood such as improved stiffness, recyclability, and waste minimization. However, issues such as the difficulty of processing WPC with conventional methods, volatile emission from the wood and the composites’ lack of strength must be addressed. A system for continuous extrusion of rectangular profiles of WPC was developed and some critical processing strategies were identified. The use of a lubricant and a calibrator also improved the profile extrusion of WPC. In this work, glass was also added to improve WPC’s mechanical strength. Generally, a glass content of 2.5% appears to improve the properties but further addition does not have a significant effect. Foaming of WPC, which can enhance their properties, was investigated through studying the effect of heating time and temperature on void fraction and cell density.
The aeroacoustics response and shear layer dynamics of confined cavities subject to low Mach number turbulent flow
(2023-04-01) Hanna, Marc; Mohany, Atef
Cavities exposed to low Mach number flow in various engineering applications are often liable for generating flow-excited acoustic oscillations, resulting in large acoustic amplitudes and vibrations. This compromises the safety and reliability of critical equipment due to a phenomenon attributed to interaction between the instability of the shear layer and the acoustic modes of a given system. This thesis experimentally investigates the aeroacoustics response of cylindrical cavities having aspect ratios of h/L = 0.5, 1, and 1.5, where h is the cavity depth and L is the shear layer impingement length, up to flow velocities of Mach 0.4. In view of the cavity confinement, the effects of the admission ratio w/W, where w is the cavity width and W is the duct width, on the aeroacoustics response and shear layer dynamics are also considered. The work extends the investigation to two-dimensional rectangular cavities and square cavities with similar aspect and admission ratios to the cylindrical cavities, as to establish the effect of the cavity shape on the resonance excitation frequencies and hydrodynamic modes of the system. Acoustic pressure measurements present Strouhal periodicities that agree well with values reported in literature. Cylindrical and square cavities with aspect ratio h/L = 0.5, however, exhibit unique behaviour due to the interference of the recirculation region within the cavity, ultimately modifying the symmetry of the shear layer. Particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements present spatial characteristics of the shear layer dynamics, revealing improved flow modulation with increasing acoustic pressure, and significant asymmetry for shallow aspect ratios. The work presented in this thesis provides novel insight of the shear layer instability in confined cavities, and its effect on the flow-sound interaction mechanism.
Analysis and assessment of integrated waste-to-energy systems based on plastic wastes for multigeneration
(2022-04-01) Ismail, Mohamed; Dincer, Ibrahim
This thesis proposes three wastes to energy multigeneration systems that are based on plastic wastes. The three systems are coupled with renewable energy resources like solar energy, geothermal energy, and wind turbine energy. The three systems are designed to convert plastic waste into five useful outputs of electric power, heating, fresh water, domestic hot water, and hydrogen. The proposed locations for the three systems are Cordoba, Spain for the first multigeneration system, Kakkonda, Japan for the second multigeneration system and Tarfaya, Morocco for the third system. The systems are analyzed thermodynamically and studied parametrically to identify optimum operating conditions. Energy and exergy analyses are performed to identify the efficiency of each system. According to the findings, the first system has the highest overall energy efficiency at 71.43%, while the second system has the highest exergy destruction rate 8,141.58 kW at the gasifier.
Analysis and feasibility of an evaporative cooling system with sessile droplet evaporation to provide cooling for microprocessors
(2017-04-01) Chakraborty, Soma; MacDonald, Brendan D.; Rosen, Marc A.
The study investigates the cooling requirements for the Intel Xenon Processor and the Intel Core i7-900 Processor using diffusion based evaporation of sessile droplets. An analytical model is developed to determine the capacity of a single layer of droplets to provide sufficient cooling. It is found that a single layer can provide sufficient cooling for the processors with tiny droplets. A numerical model is developed to analyze a tiered system that fits within the space restrictions corresponding to the current heat sinks with larger droplets and fewer of them. The results of the numerical modelling work found that a minimum of 41 posts connecting each of the tiers were required to cool the Xenon Processor and 42 posts for the Core i7-900 Processor. It was also found that a minimum of 3 tiers were required for the Xenon Processor, with a droplet radius of 2 mm, and 4 tiers for the Core i7.
Analysis and optimization of fuel cell based integrated powering systems for clean rail applications
(2019-08-01) Al-Hamed, Khaled H. M.; Dincer, Ibrahim
In this thesis, proposals of novel integrated fuel cell powering systems for cleaner railway applications are presented and analyzed thermodynamically. Both energy and exergy analyses are conducted on these systems for such an application to evaluate and compare them thermodynamically, in terms of their power outputs capabilities and energetic and exergetic efficiencies. Next, parametric studies on each of the proposed integrated fuel cell systems are provided to have a deeper understanding of the operation of these systems under various conditions. This understanding can help us in the optimization of exergetic efficiency and packaging feasibility of the systems in a locomotive. A newly introduced method of multi-objective optimization is implemented to optimize the integrated systems in terms of exergetic efficiencies, power split for space reductions, and hydrogen production rate. Lastly, economic and environmental justifications are given through a case study of a duty cycle of a passenger train. Fuel costs and CO2 emissions of these proposed integrated systems are compared to the current technology of diesel-electric engines used in railways of Canada. The thermodynamic analysis shows that these systems can reach high energetic and exergetic efficiencies of 80.06% and 77.55%, respectively for methane-based solid oxide fuel cell systems, while ammonia-based systems have the values of energetic and exergetic efficiencies of 61.20%, and 66.30%, respectively. Fuel costs of passenger train operation, using these proposed systems, are significantly reduced compared to diesel-electric engines. The most efficient system is system 3 and has a brake specific fuel consumption of 0.08902 kg kWh-1, whereas a typical diesel-electric engine has a value of 0.2318 kg kWh-1.
Analysis and processing issues of plastic color mismatch
(2011-05-01) Rabbani, Musharaf; Rizvi, Ghaus
Color is a visual characteristic which imparts the ability to categorize different objects. When light strikes an object, there are three possibilities as to what can happen. The light may be reflected, refracted or scattered. Human perception of color is due to a combination of these. Plastics are polymeric materials. Polymers are generally colorless and need colorants in order to have some color. One or more pigments in certain ratios can be used to give a specific color to plastics. Slight variations in the proportions of either of the used pigments, or their dispersion, may result in a color that is different from the desired one. There can also be many other reasons for color mismatch such as processing or degradation effects. This study utilized the historical data records of SABIC IP to look at effects of changing Grade on color (i.e. when the same color is produced from resin blends which may have different amounts of resins, pigments or additives). These records were also used to study effects of change in screw diameter and configuration on color (i.e. when the same grade of a color is produced on two different production lines, different screw diameters and configurations). The effects of the processing parameters on the colors were also investigated by carrying out experiments using a twin screw extruder at SABIC IP’s plant in Cobourg. Resins, pigments and additives were dry blended and extruded while being subjected to different processing conditions. Three processing parameters, namely temperature, rpm and feed-rate, were chosen for the study. A three level factorial design of experiments was used. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) has been utilized to find the effects of individual parameters on color and the interaction between two parameters and their cumulative effect on color.
Analysis and techniques for non-intrusive appliance load monitoring.
(2014-11-01) Alshareef, Sami; Morsi, Walid
The increased public awareness of energy conservation and the demand for smart metering system have created interests in home energy monitoring. Load disaggregation using a single sensing point is considered a cost-effective way to sense individual appliance operation as opposed to using dedicated sensors for appliance monitoring. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the effectiveness of the analysis methods and techniques used in load disaggregation using a single point sensing. Time-frequency analysis methods such as Wavelet transforms are carefully examined and machine learning classifiers are used to develop the appropriate prediction models. The results have shown that the use of different Wavelet functions can significantly affect the classification accuracy. Among the four wavelets investigated in this thesis, two wavelets (Daubechies and Symlets) are able to provide the highest mean classification accuracy.
Analysis and techniques of cyberattack types classification in smart grids
(2023-09-01) Ijeh, Victor Odion; Ibrahim, Walid Morsi
The smart electric grids rely on integrating the information and communication technologies (ICT) into the electric power grid infrastructure to facilitate the exchange of information for an enhanced and economic operation. Such integration of ICT into the existing electric grids makes them vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, ranging from data breaches to service disruptions. The work in this thesis investigates the use of machine learning techniques to detect and classify such cyberattacks. A novel approach that uses a fine tree bagging ensemble learning technique to detect and classify the cyberattack types from normal and power quality disturbances is developed. The proposed approach extracts the relevant features for classifying different cyber-attack types such as message suppression, denial-of-service and data manipulation. The proposed approach is tested on a publicly available dataset and the results are compared to three other machine learning techniques, namely decision tree, nearest neighbor, and support vector machine. The results have shown that the proposed approach is very effective in the detection and the classification of the cyberattack types as well as it is insensitive to the selection of the training and the testing datasets.
Analysis and techniques of data compression in smart grids in the context of IEC 61850 communication protocol
(2020-02-01) Ayub, Rizwan; Ibrahim, Walid Morsi
A smart grid is characterized by a two-way communication between the generation and the loads in addition to the distributed energy resources, which dictated the integration of smart monitoring devices to achieve full observability of the network. In smart grid operation, the monitoring and the measuring devices such as smart meters, phasor measurement units (PMUs) and the intelligent electronic devices (IEDs) typically record the data and share the information across each level of the grid. In distribution substations, the data and hence the information is then further transferred throughout the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and the data control center using the communication protocols. As a result, a large amount of data is transferred among different monitoring devices, data control centers, and SCADA within the smart grid, which calls for new requirements for the communication channels and the storage capacities. Data compression is considered promising techniques to reduce the burden on the communication channels as well as the storage in particular during the smart grid operation. This thesis focuses on studying the data compression techniques when applied to power system disturbances in the context of the IEC 61850 communication protocol, which is extensively used in smart distribution substation automation. A proposed approach for data compression is introduced in this work and it is based on a combined wavelet-surrogate binary regression tree and a hybrid thresholding method. The proposed approach for data compression is tested experimentally in real-time in the context of IEC 61850 communication protocol and the performance is compared to the existing approaches for data compression. The results have shown that the implementation of the proposed data compression approach may lead to significant reduction in the number and sizes of the Generic Object-Oriented Substation Event (GOOSE) messages, which are exchanged between the IEDS and the SCADA within the smart distribution substation automation in smart grids.
Analysis of alternative energy options for buildings
(2009-08-01) Rezaie, Behnaz; Esmailzadeh, Ebrahim; Dincer, Ibrahim
The importance of utilizing different types of energy and their technical application is discussed. Awareness around the globe about the world energy crisis and its critical environmental condition has put more emphasis on the use of renewable energies in every corner of life. It is a well‐known fact that global warming, inefficient use of energy and greenhouse gases are damaging the environment, species and human life drastically. These issues will be discussed in recently conducted research. To address the crucial state of our environment, two simultaneous scenarios are considered. Initially, energy conservation and the switch to a low carbon/no carbon fuel are studied. As for energy conservation in buildings, smart methods in the use of energy in buildings are discussed. Based on different research reported, humans must change their attitude toward the use of resources, and in particular, be conscientious about energy consumption. Next, renewable energy promises a suitable alternative to energy needs in this century, and the best means to overcome the environmental issue and energy crisis is discussed. The practical methods of calculation for solar technology equipment, ground source heat pumps, and wind turbines are explained. In the application part of the study, four buildings are chosen as case studies; two of them from residential sectors, one is a commercial/institutional building, and the fourth is an industrial building. A ground source heat pump for heating and cooling, a solar water heater for heating space or hot water, and a photovoltaic panel for generating electricity are designed for the case studies. Even projects under hybrid systems combined from two technologies are designed. 36 different energy options are calculated for the four case studies. Results show that if a target is reducing CO2 emissions, what systems are the best. In contrast, when decision making is based on budget, what system is the first choice? Not only are technology, environmental protection and cost the main parameters for deciding on renewable technologies, but so are reliability, installation, maintenance and ease of use. Hence, renewable energy systems are categorized based on a broad vision.
Analysis of heat transfer and fluid flow in an evaporating sessile droplet for evaporative cooling applications
(2015-08-01) Mahmud, Md. Almostasim; MacDonald, Brendan
Cooling is of critical importance for a number of fields, particularly in microelectronic devices and other miniaturized technology. The evaporation of the sessile liquid droplet facilitates the phase change of that liquid and provides cooling to the system, because a large amount of latent heat is required to change the phase. Evaporation takes place at the liquid-vapour interface, so to enhance the phase change process, it is essential to understand the interfacial energy transport mechanisms involved in transporting energy to the liquid-vapour interface from the solid substrate and the vapour surrounding. A series of experiments were conducted under different experimental conditions to understand interfacial energy transport in an evaporating sessile droplet. The experimental results demonstrate the effect of the ambient and substrate temperature on the evaporation process and the relative contributions of the conduction energy transport and other modes of energy transport in the total energy required for the phase change process.

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