Category: katy

Research Paper Published on Efficient Smart and Connected Community

Nathan Kurtz on

An efficient smart and connected community (SCC) depends on the interconnectivity of essential infrastructure systems. However, current modeling tools cannot determine which interconnections are most important to include, particularly as system dynamics become more complex with high-order effects.

As a joint effort of current and former SBS Lab Ph.D. students Saranya Anbarasu, Kathryn Hinkelman, and Jing Wang, our new paper in the Journal of Energy and Buildings proposes a comprehensive framework that incorporates multi-layers, multi-blocks, and multi-agents to model interdependent infrastructure systems. Interconnections span cyber, physical, and logical aspects, including human interactions. With the equation-based object-oriented language Modelica, we model energy, transportation, communication, and water systems for a hypothetical SCC and assess higher-order interdependency effects during normal operation. Additionally, we develop a quasi-Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis framework and use variance-based sensitivity metrics to assess the impact of interdependencies on energy system operation.

This paper can be accessed freely until September 5, 2024 at this link.

 

SBS Lab Member Kathryn Hinkelman Receives the 2024 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award

Nathan Kurtz on

SBS Lab Member Kathryn Hinkelman Receives the 2024 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award at Pennsylvania State University. Prof. Zuo had the honor of accepting the award on her behalf. Dr. Hinkelman’s interdisciplinary research develops sustainable, resilient, and equitable energy systems through advanced modeling and simulation and bio-inspired design. Her research innovation and productivity, funding achievements, and dedication to mentoring students led to her selection as the 2024 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar. She will join the Department of Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont as an Assistant Professor in Fall of 2024.

 

Current and Former SBS Lab Members Win Awards at SimBuild 2024

Nathan Kurtz on

The Lab received a total of 6 prestigious awards at the SimBuild 2024 conference in Denver:

  • Prof. Zuo received IBPSA-USA Outstanding Researcher Award
  • Former Ph.D. student Yunyang Ye received IBPSA-USA Emerging Contributor Award
  • Current Postdoctoral Scholar Katy Hinkelman received SimBuild 2024 Best Reviewer Award
  • Current Ph.D. student Rosina Adhikari and former M.S. student David Milner received SimBuild Travel Scholarship
  • Best Poster Award was given to a paper led by former Ph.D. student Xu Han and his Ph.D. student Zhuorui Li together with former Ph.D. student Jing Wang and Prof. Zuo

We greatly appreciate all of the support from mentors and advisors as well as the support of colleagues and collaborators throughout the industry. This conference was a great experience for our current and former lab members to network and learn with others in the industry.

SBS Lab Members Katy Hinkelman and Saranya Anbarasu Publishes Paper

Nathan Kurtz on

SBS lab members Katy Hinkelman and Saranya Anbarasu published a paper applying innovative solutions to building decarbonization. In the newly published paper by Energy and Buildings, they applied ecological network analysis (ENA) for buildings. Exergy is proposed as the best for ENA dynamic systems with multiple types of energy. They also demonstrate how ENA can add novel complex network information for buildings.

They then performed case studies to redesign the heating and cooling systems for an office and data center, coupling the systems together via ambient-loop district energy. These redesigns achieved 84% heating/cooling energy savings. The paper can be accessed freely until January 24, 2024 at this link.

Opensource Modelica models related to this work have been publicly released at:

  1. Modelica Buildings Library (MBL): https://simulationresearch.lbl.gov/modelica/
  2. Biomimetic Integrated Community Energy and Power Systems (BICEPS) Library: https://sites.psu.edu/sbslab/tools/biceps-library/

This research led by Katy Hinkelman and Saranya Anbarasu at Penn State University is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) IBUILD program and the National Science Foundation (NSF). Other related papers can be found at this link.

 

Release of New Sand Heating Systems Modelica Package

Nathan Kurtz on

We are excited to announce the release of open-source Modelica package for sand heating systems. The package contains models for particle-based silica-sand thermal energy storage (TES) in heating applications.

Silica sand is an abundant, low-cost, and efficient storage medium for solar power and electricity generation. Solid particle TES could be used to benefit building and district heating systems, particularly as building electrification and renewable energy penetration increases. To enable heating system design and evaluation with sand TES, the package contains base classes through complete systems with equipment, controls, and ready-to-use scripts for simulating and plotting.

This research was led by SBS Lab members Katy Hinkelman and David Milner. The details are documented in the conference paper “Open-Source Models for Sand-Based Thermal Storage in Heating Applications“, which was presented at the 15th International Modelica Conference. This research was done in collaboration with researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory where another conference paper was published demonstrating the usage of the package via case study for district energy systems.

To access the package and related papers please visit Modelica Sand Heating Package.

 

SBS Lab Member Katy Hinkelman Presents at Drexel University

Nathan Kurtz on

SBS lab member Katy Hinkelman visited and held a research seminar with Architectural Engineering at Drexel University. She presented several of the topics of her Ph.D. thesis, including equation-based modeling and ecosystem biomimicry for integrated energy systems. She was hosted by Professors L. James Lo and Jin Wen and had the great opportunity to meet their students.

 

Congratulations to Katy Hinkelman on Passing Her Ph.D. Defense

Nathan Kurtz on

Congratulations to Katy Hinkelman on passing her Ph.D. defense. Katy is the lab’s first Ph.D. graduate from Penn State. Katy integrated solid engineering research in Modelica modeling and district energy systems with novel ideas from ecosystem biomimicry to improve the efficiency and resilience of energy infrastructure. She not only published 9 journal papers but made significant contributions to LBNL’s open-source Modelica buildings library throughout her time in the lab. Katy also received 1- fellowships and awards including DOE IBUILD Fellowship and P.E.O. Scholarship and she helped Prof. Zuo to secure more than $4M in research grants from NSF and DOE. We are thankful for all the support that Katy’s committee gave her throughout her research. The SBS Lab celebrated this amazing accomplishment with dinner and a hike.

IBSPA Modelica Working Group Starting

Nathan Kurtz on

International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA) approved the IBPSA Modelica Working Group on January 25th.  This group will provide more international collaboration for developing Modelica libraries for energy systems. Led by Dr. Michael Wetter at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Dr. Zuo, Katy Hinkleman, and Mingzhe at SBS Lab are among the initial members who proposed this group together on August 1, 2022. Participation is open to anyone who intends to contribute and will meet monthly to coordinate developments.

Click Here for more information on the IBPSA Modelica Working Group.

Katy Hinkelman Receives 2022-23 Boyer Graduate Scholarship

Julia Ho on

Congratulations to SBS Lab PhD candidate Katy Hinkelman, who recently received the Lester L. Boyer Graduate Research Scholarship for the 2022-23 academic year. Katy is a senior PhD student in the lab who has made invaluable contributions to the lab’s research on district energy systems and sustainable communities. Katy’s current research focuses on incorporating patterns and processes found in nature, a technique called biomimicry, into energy distribution networks. Biomimicry has been adopted in many engineering fields and Katy is helping to pioneer its use in the building and energy sectors. Katy, like Dr. Boyer, also started her own family during graduate school.

We thank the late Dr. Boyer and the Penn State Architectural Engineering program for their generous support. We are very grateful.

Biomimicry Literature Review Published

Julia Ho on

Katy Hinkelman, an SBS Lab PhD candidate, is in the midst of an impressive research project that integrates biomimicry into district energy design and operation. For those of us less versed in such topics, biomimicry is a growing technique defined by the Biomimicry Institute as “a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges.” As part of said research, Katy wrote a recently published literature review on the prevalence of biomimicry research in engineering applications with fellow labmate Yizhi Yang. The review systematically sifts through papers related to biomimicry and bins their biomimetic case studies into physical systems, cyber systems, or cyber-physical systems. In this way, Katy clearly lays out trends in biomimetic research by field and research goal and provides a comprehensive reference for engineers interested in biomimetic research practices that have previously been intimidated by the lack of pertinent, accessible literature.

This literature review has been published in the journal of Bioinspiration and Biomimetics and is open access here.

See Katy’s and Professor Wangda Zuo’s related LinkedIn posts here.