Preserving Data Secrecy and Integrity for Cloud Storage Using Smart Contracts and Cryptographic Primitives

Cloud computing has emerged as a viable alternative to traditional computing infrastructures,offering various benefits.However,the adoption of cloud storage poses significant risks to data secrecy and integrity.This article presents an effective mechanism to preserve the secrecy and integrity of data stored on the public cloud by leveraging blockchain technology,smart contracts,and cryptographic primitives.The proposed approach utilizes a Solidity-based smart contract as an auditor for maintaining and verifying the integrity of outsourced data.To preserve data secrecy,symmetric encryption systems are employed to encrypt user data before outsourcing it.An extensive performance analysis is conducted to illustrate the efficiency of the proposed mechanism.Additionally,a rigorous assessment is conducted to ensure that the developed smart contract is free from vulnerabilities and to measure its associated running costs.The security analysis of the proposed system confirms that our approach can securely maintain the confidentiality and integrity of cloud storage,even in the presence of malicious entities.The proposed mechanism contributes to enhancing data security in cloud computing environments and can be used as a foundation for developing more secure cloud storage systems.

Research on Operation Optimization of Energy Storage Power Station and Integrated Energy Microgrid Alliance Based on Stackelberg Game

With the development of renewable energy technologies such as photovoltaics and wind power,it has become a research hotspot to improve the consumption rate of new energy and reduce energy costs through the deployment of energy storage.To solve the problem of the interests of different subjects in the operation of the energy storage power stations(ESS)and the integrated energy multi-microgrid alliance(IEMA),this paper proposes the optimization operation method of the energy storage power station and the IEMA based on the Stackelberg game.In the upper layer,ESS optimizes charging and discharging decisions through a dynamic pricing mechanism.In the lower layer,IEMA optimizes the output of various energy conversion coupled devices within the IEMA,as well as energy interaction and demand response(DR),based on the energy interaction prices provided by ESS.The results demonstrate that the optimization strategy proposed in this paper not only effectively balances the benefits of the IEMA and ESS but also enhances energy consumption rates and reduces IEMA energy costs.

Response of ecosystem carbon storage to land use change from 1985 to 2050 in the Ningxia Section of Yellow River Basin,China

Regional sustainable development necessitates a holistic understanding of spatiotemporal variations in ecosystem carbon storage(ECS),particularly in ecologically sensitive areas with arid and semi-arid climate.In this study,we calculated the ECS in the Ningxia Section of Yellow River Basin,China from 1985 to 2020 using the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs(InVEST)model based on land use data.We further predicted the spatial distribution of ECS in 2050 under four land use scenarios:natural development scenario(NDS),ecological protection scenario(EPS),cultivated land protection scenario(CPS),and urban development scenario(UDS)using the patch-generating land use simulation(PLUS)model,and quantified the influences of natural and human factors on the spatial differentiation of ECS using the geographical detector(Geodetector).Results showed that the total ECS of the study area initially increased from 1985 until reaching a peak at 402.36×10^(6) t in 2010,followed by a decreasing trend to 2050.The spatial distribution of ECS was characterized by high values in the eastern and southern parts of the study area,and low values in the western and northern parts.Between 1985 and 2020,land use changes occurred mainly through the expansion of cultivated land,woodland,and construction land at the expense of unused land.The total ECS in 2050 under different land use scenarios(ranked as EPS>CPS>NDS>UDS)would be lower than that in 2020.Nighttime light was the largest contributor to the spatial differentiation of ECS,with soil type and annual mean temperature being the major natural driving factors.Findings of this study could provide guidance on the ecological construction and high-quality development in arid and semi-arid areas.

An Investigation of Battery Energy Storage Aided Wind-Coal Integrated Energy System

This paper studies the feasibility of a supply-side wind-coal integrated energy system.Based on grid-side data,the load regulation model of coal-fired power and the wind-coal integrated energy system model are established.According to the simulation results,the reasons why the wind-coal combined power supply is difficult to meet the grid-side demand are revealedthrough scenario analysis.Basedon thewind-coal combinedoperation,a wind-coalstorage integrated energy system was proposed by adding lithium-iron phosphate battery energy storage system(LIPBESS)to adjust the load of the system.According to the four load adjustment scenarios of grid-side instructions of the wind-coal system,the difficulty of load adjustment in each scenario is analyzed.Based on the priority degree of LIPBESS charge/discharge in four scenarios at different time periods,the operation mode of two charges and two discharges per day was developed.Based on the independent operation level of coal-fired power,after the addition of LIPBESS(5.5 MWh),the average qualified rate of multi-power operation in March and June reached the level of independent operation of coal-fired power,while the average qualified rate of the remaining months was only 5.4%different from that of independent operation of coal-fired power.Compared with the wind storage mode,the energy storage capacity and investment cost of wind-coal-storage integrated energy system are reduced by 54.2%and 53.7%,respectively.

In-plane micro-sized energy storage devices:From device fabrication to integration and intelligent designs

The rapid development of micro-electronics raises the demand of their power sources to be simplified,miniaturized and highly integratable with other electronics on a chip.In-plane Micro-sized energy storage devices(MESDs),which are composed of interdigitated electrodes on a single chip,have aroused particular attentions since they could be easily integrated with other miniaturized electronics,reducing the complexity of overall chip design via removing complex interconnections with bulky power sources.This review highlights the achievements in the device fabrication of in-plane MESDs,as well as their integration and intelligent designs.We also discussed the current challenges and future perspectives for the development of in-plane MESDs.

Spatially Heterogeneous Response of Carbon Storage to Land Use Changes in Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration, China

Carbon storage of terrestrial ecosystems plays a vital role in advancing carbon neutrality. Better understanding of how land use changes affect carbon storage in urban agglomeration will provide valuable guidance for policymakers in developing effective regional conservation policies. Taking the Pearl River Delta Urban Agglomeration(PRDUA) in China as an example, we examined the heterogeneous response of carbon storage to land use changes in 1990–2018 from a combined view of administrative units and physical entities. The results indicate that the primary change in land use was due to the expansion of construction land(5897.16 km2). The carbon storage in PRDUA decreased from 767.34 Tg C in 1990 to 725.42 Tg C in 2018 with a spatial pattern of high wings and the low middle. The carbon storage loss was largely attributed to construction land expansion(55.74%), followed by forest degradation(54.81%). Changes in carbon storage showed significant divergences in different sized cities and hierarchical boundaries. The coefficients of geographically weighted regression(GWR) reveal that the alteration in carbon storage in Guangzhou City was more responsive to changes in construction land(-0.11) compared to other cities, while that in Shenzhen was mainly affected by the dynamics of forest land(8.32). The change in carbon storage was primarily influenced by the conversion of farmland within urban extent(5.05) and the degradation of forest land in rural areas(5.82). Carbon storage changes were less sensitive to the expansion of construction land in the urban center, urban built-up area, and ex-urban built-up area, with the corresponding GWR coefficients of 0.19, 0.04, and 0.02. This study necessitates the differentiated protection strategies of carbon storage in urban agglomerations.

A Self-supported Graphene/Carbon Nanotube Hollow Fiber for Integrated Energy Conversion and Storage

Wearable fiber-shaped integrated energy conversion and storage devices have attracted increasing attention,but it remains a big challenge to achieve a common fiber electrode for both energy conversion and storage with high performance.Here,we grow aligned carbon nanotubes(CNTs)array on continuous graphene(G)tube,and their seamlessly connected structure provides the obtained G/CNTs composite fiber with a unique self-supported hollow structure.Taking advantage of the hollow structure,other active materials(e.g.,polyaniline,PANI)could be easily functionalized on both inner and outer surfaces of the tube,and the obtained G/CNTs/PANI composite hollow fibers achieve a high mass loading(90%)of PANI.The G/CNTs/PANI composite hollow fibers can not only be used for high-performance fiber-shaped supercapacitor with large specific capacitance of 472 mF cm^-2,but also can replace platinum wire to build fiber-shaped dye-sensitized solar cell(DSSC)with a high power conversion efficiency of 4.20%.As desired,the integrated device of DSSC and supercapacitor with the G/CNTs/PANI composite hollow fiber used as the common electrode exhibits a total power conversion and storage efficiency as high as 2.1%.Furthermore,the self-supported G/CNTs hollow fiber could be further functionalized with other active materials for building other flexible and wearable electronics.

A power plant for integrated waste energy recovery from liquid air energy storage and liquefied natural gas

Liquefied natural gas(LNG)is regarded as one of the cleanest fossil fuel and has experienced significant developments in recent years.The liquefaction process of natural gas is energy-intensive,while the regasification of LNG gives out a huge amount of waste energy since plenty of high grade cold energy(-160℃)from LNG is released to sea water directly in most cases,and also sometimes LNG is burned for regasification.On the other hand,liquid air energy storage(LAES)is an emerging energy storage technology for applications such as peak load shifting of power grids,which generates 30%-40%of compression heat(-200℃).Such heat could lead to energy waste if not recovered and used.The recovery of the compression heat is technically feasible but requires additional capital investment,which may not always be economically attractive.Therefore,we propose a power plant for recovering the waste cryogenic energy from LNG regasification and compression heat from the LAES.The challenge for such a power plant is the wide working temperature range between the low-temperature exergy source(-160℃)and heat source(-200℃).Nitrogen and argon are proposed as the working fluids to address the challenge.Thermodynamic analyses are carried out and the results show that the power plant could achieve a thermal efficiency of 27%and 19%and an exergy efficiency of 40%and 28%for nitrogen and argon,respectively.Here,with the nitrogen as working fluid undergoes a complete Brayton Cycle,while the argon based power plant goes through a combined Brayton and Rankine Cycle.Besides,the economic analysis shows that the payback period of this proposed system is only 2.2 years,utilizing the excess heat from a 5 MW/40 MWh LAES system.The findings suggest that the waste energy based power plant could be co-located with the LNG terminal and LAES plant,providing additional power output and reducing energy waste.

Influence of hysteretic stress path behavior on seal integrity during gas storage operation in a depleted reservoir

In this study,we numerically investigate the influence of hysteretic stress path behavior on the seal integrity during underground gas storage operations in a depleted reservoir.Our study area is the Honor Rancho Underground Storage Facility in Los Angeles County(California,USA),which was converted into an underground gas storage facility in 1975 after 20 years of oil and gas production.In our simulations,the geomechanical behavior of the sand reservoir is modeled using two models:(1)a linear elastic model(non-hysteretic stress path)that does not take into consideration irreversible deformation,and(2)a plastic cap mechanical model which considers changes in rock elastic properties due to irreversible deformations caused by plastic reservoir compaction(hysteretic stress path).It shows that the irreversible compaction of the geological layer over geologic time and during the reservoir depletion can have important consequences on stress tensor orientation and magnitude.Ignoring depletion-induced irreversible compaction can lead to an over-estimation of the calculation of the maximum working reservoir pressure.Moreover,this irreversible compaction may bring the nearby faults closer to reactivation.However,regardless of the two models applied,the geomechanical analysis shows that for the estimated stress conditions applied in this study,the Honor Rancho Underground Storage Facility is being safely operated at pressures much below what would be required to compromise the seal integrity.

Integrated construction technology for natural gas gravity drive and underground gas storage

Based on the mechanisms of gravity displacement,miscibility,viscosity reduction,and imbibition in natural gas flooding,an integrated reservoir construction technology of oil displacement and underground gas storage(UGS)is proposed.This paper systemically describes the technical connotation,site selection principle and optimization process of operation parameters of the gas storage,and advantages of this technology.By making full use of the gravity displacement,miscibility,viscosity reduction,and imbibition features of natural gas flooding,the natural gas can be injected into oil reservoir to enhance oil recovery and build strategic gas storage at the same time,realizing the win-win situation of oil production and natural gas peak shaving.Compared with the gas reservoir storage,the integrated construction technology of gas storage has two profit models:increasing crude oil production and gas storage transfer fee,so it has better economic benefit.At the same time,in this kind of gas storage,gas is injected at high pressure in the initial stage of its construction,gas is injected and produced in small volume in the initial operation stage,and then in large volume in the middle and late operation stage.In this way,the gas storage wouldn’t have drastic changes in stress periodically,overcoming the shortcomings of large stress variations of gas reservoir storage during injection-production cycle due to large gas injection and production volume.The keys of this technology are site selection and evaluation of oil reservoir,and optimization of gravity displacement,displacement pressure,and gas storage operation parameters,etc.The pilot test shows that the technology has achieved initial success,which is a new idea for the rapid development of UGS construction in China.

Integrated Techniques of Underground CO_2 Storage and Flooding Put into Commercial Application in the Jilin Oilfield, China

Global warming touches everybody＇s nerve, and direct reason for sharp increasing of CO2 in the atmosphere results mainly from the use of fossil fuel in power generation and other industries. How can humans return this ＂devil＂ to underground, and keep a peaceful environment for human？ Scientists from all over the world have been exploring them.

Composition Modeling and Equivalence of an Integrated Power Generation System of Wind, Photovoltaic and Energy Storage Unit

利用间接组合建模的方法,在建立典型的双馈风机、光伏发电单元和储能单元的装置级机电暂态模型基础上,采用等值方法建立三者电站级的机电暂态模型,最终通过组合建模得到了风光储联合发电系统的机电暂态模型。在大型电力系统分析软件包的PSD-BPA暂态稳定程序中实现了风光储联合发电系统的仿真功能,通过典型算例和张北＂国家风光储输示范工程＂的仿真分析验证了模型的正确性,为风光储联合发电系统的并网研究提供了分析手段。

Study on integrated development and hybrid operation mode of nuclear power plant and pumped-storage power station

The nuclear power plant is suitable for base-load operation, while the pumped-storage unit mainly gives play to capacity benefit in the electric power system;hence, the integrated development and hybrid operation mode of the two can better meet the needs of the electric power system. This article first presents an analysis of the necessity and superiority of such mode, then explains its meaning and analyzes the working routes. Finally, it proposes the business modes as follows: low price pumping water electricity plus nuclear power in the near term;nuclear power shifted to pumped storage power participating in market competition in the middle term;and, in the long term, nuclear power shifted to pumped storage power as primary and serving as an electric power system when needed.

An Integrated Collector Storage Solar Water Heater and Study of its Temperature Stratification

In this paper we describe an integrated collector storage solar water heater for the North Western region of India for use as domestic water heater during the winter season and present the experimental results of temperature stratification. The system consists of a steel water storage tank with azimuthal orientation such that its walls face south east, south west, north east and North West directions. The sunlit walls (south east and south west) and the top cover surface of the storage tank are covered with transparent insulation material (TIM) and the off-sunlit sides with opaque insulation. Experimental results show that the top layer is at the highest temperature. The top layer is drained using a new design of the outlet. The system can be used in rural areas or as a pre heater in more affluent households. The system can return the cost of conversion of the storage tank into a Solar Water Heater in one winter season by saving the cost of electrical energy required for heating water during winter months.

Research on Operation of Electrothermal Integrated Energy System Including Heat Pump and Thermal Storage Units Based on Capacity Planning

In view of the Three North areas existing wind power absorption and environment pollution problems,the previous scholars have improved the wind abandon problem by adding electrothermal coupling equipment or optimizing power grid operation.In this paper,an electrothermal integrated energy system including heat pump and thermal storage units was proposed.The scheduling model was based on the load data and the output characteristics of power units,each power unit capacity was programmed without constraints,and the proposed scheduling model was compared with the traditional combined heat and power scheduling model.Results showed that the investment and pollutant discharge of the system was reduced respectively.Wind power was fully absorbed.Compared with the traditional thermal power unit,the proportion of the output was significantly decreased by the proposed model.The proposed system could provide a new prospect for wind power absorption and environment protection.

Effect of Periodic Variation of Sol-air Temperature on the Performance of Integrated Solar Collector Storage System

Parametric study is carried out in the present article to investigate the unsteady performance of solar energy gain and heat retention of two different integrated-collector-storage systems. The systems are the conventional rectangular-shaped storage tank and the modified tank shaped as rectangular cuboid with one semi -circular top. The two systems have the same absorber surface area and volume for water. The heat and fluid flow is assumed to be unsteady, two-dimensional, laminar and incompressible. The performances of the two systems are evaluated based on the maximum temperature in the system during daytime heating period and nighttime cooling period. For comprehensive study, 24 hours simulations for 3 cases with different wall boundary condition impose on the absorber plate are investigated. The simulation results show that the modified system has better heat retain than the conventional system. Periodic variations of both systems are investigated, and it is found that both systems show consistent results on different days. The modified system is able to store most of the thermal energy in the semi-circular top region with higher temperature than that of the conventional system.

The geomechanics of Shenhua carbon dioxide capture and storage(CCS) demonstration project in Ordos Basin,China

Carbon dioxide(CO2) capture and storage(CCS) is considered widely as one of promising options for CO2emissions reduction,especially for those countries with coal-dominant energy mix like China.Injecting and storing a huge volume of CO2in deep formations are likely to cause a series of geomechanical issues,including ground surface uplift,damage of caprock integrity,and fault reactivation.The Shenhua CCS demonstration project in Ordos Basin,China,is the first and the largest full-chain saline aquifer storage project of CO2in Asia.The injection started in 2010 and ended in 2015.during which totally 0.3 million tonnes(Mt) CO2was injected.The project is unique in which CO2was injected into 18 sandstone formations simultaneously and the overlying coal seams will be mined after the injection stopped in 2015.Hence,intense geomechanical studies and monitoring works have been conducted in recent years,including possible damage resulting from the temperature difference between injected CO2and formations,injection induced stress and deformation change,potential failure mode and safety factor,interaction between coal mining and CO2geological storage,determination of injection pressure limit,and surface monitoring by the interferometric synthetic aperture radar(InSAR) technology.In this paper,we first described the background and its geological conditions of the Shenhua CCS demonstration project.Then,we gave an introduction to the coupled thermo-hydro-mechano-chemical(THMC) processes in CO2geological storage,and mapped the key geomechanical issues into the THMC processes accordingly.Next,we proposed a generalized geomechanical research flowchart for CO2geological storage projects.After that,we addressed and discussed some typical geomechanical issues,including design of injection pressure limit.CO2injection induced near-field damage,and interaction between CO2geological storage and coal mining,in the Shenhua CCS demonstration project.Finally,we concluded some insights to this CCS project.

Applications of Lithium-Ion Batteries in Grid-Scale Energy Storage Systems

In the electrical energy transformation process,the grid-level energy storage system plays an essential role in balancing power generation and utilization.Batteries have considerable potential for application to grid-level energy storage systems because of their rapid response,modularization,and flexible installation.Among several battery technologies,lithium-ion batteries(LIBs)exhibit high energy efficiency,long cycle life,and relatively high energy density.In this perspective,the properties of LIBs,including their operation mechanism,battery design and construction,and advantages and disadvantages,have been analyzed in detail.Moreover,the performance of LIBs applied to grid-level energy storage systems is analyzed in terms of the following grid services:(1)frequency regulation;(2)peak shifting;(3)integration with renewable energy sources;and(4)power management.In addition,the challenges encountered in the application of LIBs are discussed and possible research directions aimed at overcoming these challenges are proposed to provide insight into the development of grid-level energy storage systems.

A distributed VSG control method for a battery energy storage system with a cascaded H-bridge in a grid-connected mode

With the high penetration of renewable energy,new challenges,such as power fluctuation suppression and inertial support capability,have arisen in the power sector.Battery energy storage systems play an essential role in renewable energy integration.In this paper,a distributed virtual synchronous generator(VSG)control method for a battery energy storage system(BESS)with a cascaded H-bridge converter in a grid-connected mode is proposed.The VSG is developed without communication dependence,and state-of-charge(SOC)balancing control is achieved using the distributed average algorithm.Owing to the low varying speed of SOC,the bandwidth of the distributed communication networks is extremely slow,which decreases the cost.Therefore,the proposed method can simultaneously provide inertial support and accurate SOC balancing.The stability is also proved using root locus analysis.Finally,simulations under different conditions are carried out to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.