VEBIC (UWASA)

Photo: UWASA, VEBIC

Within the interdisciplinary research platform of VEBIC, the University of Vaasa has uniquely integrated laboratories for boosting future fuels (fuel-lab), combustion engines (ICE-lab) and research for reliable integration of electrical and energy systems (FREESI-lab).

The fuel-lab performs comprehensive liquid fuel analyses from several basic properties to trace elements and oxidation stability.

The ICE-lab comprises a medium-speed Wärtsilä 4L20 engine for marine and power plant applications, loaded by an ABB alternator. The test bench uses a Speedgoat model-based control system. An ABB drive enables engine operation at variable speeds. The exhaust system makes it possible to study various exhaust cleaning systems. The large measurement system covers determination of engine performance, combustion analyses, gaseous and particulate emissions, air and exhaust pressures, temperatures and flow rates. The University of Vaasa has also validated in-house and commercial toolchains for simulation of engine and propulsion systems.

The FREESI-lab consists of Protection & Automation & Control-laboratory (PAC) for testing and training the IEC 61850 based protection systems as well as OPAL-RT OP5600 real-time simulator platform, which at present time, enables control hardware in the loop (CHIL) and microgrid modelling. The FREESI-lab is connected to the Sundom SmartGrid living lab (suburban) environment, with twenty IEC61850 data streams feeding data to the VEBIC FREESI–laboratory. The ongoing and future investments into the FREESI-lab will enable the expansion of research activities and cooperation especially in the area of smart and flexible energy systems.

Please visit UWASA’s VEBIC Laboratories website to learn more.