Editorial pubs.acs.org/IECR
Dynamics and Control of Energy Systems−A Recent Perspective: Preface to the Special Issue on Energy System Modeling and Optimization Conference (ESMOC 2013) he first Energy System Modeling and Optimization Conference (ESMOC 2013) was held at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), in Durgapur, India, December 9−11, 2013. The primary objective of the meeting was to create a forum for various stakeholdersindustrial practitioners, representatives of government agencies, and academicsto discuss the multifaceted challenges of sustainable energy generation, and to propose rational engineering solutions. The problem of sustainable generation of energy has taken on global importance, as a consequence of the rapidly increasing demand for energy, driven by the unprecedented increase in population in the developing world, and also by the simultaneous desire to improve quality of life globally. One of the defining challenges of our time is to meet this demand in an efficient and environmentally friendly manner with minimal emission of greenhouse gases. While it may be fashionable to search for the “silver bullet” solutionthat single technology capable of solving all the problems of sustainable energy generationa more-realistic engineering assessment suggests that we are far more likely to succeed by taking an “all-handson-deck” approach. With this ecumenical perspective, the conference covered the generation of thermal, nuclear, and renewable energy, focusing on the associated process engineering challenges. The conference also considered the unique challenges faced by today’s petroleum and petrochemical industries, focusing on the role that modeling and optimization can play in the 21st century operation of the key processes upon which these mature industries rely. With more than 100 participants from across the globe (primarily from India, the United States, United Arab Emirates, and Switzerland), the conference featured 80 oral presentations, organized into 14 parallel technical sessions spread over 3 days. In addition, there were special sessions on Nuclear Science and Engineering and on Industrial and Domestic Energy Saving Practices. A tutorial session on Neural Network for Energy Systems was conducted exclusively for student participants. A post-conference screening of the presented papers led to invitations to submit full-length versions of the most compelling papers for possible publication in this journal. After the usual rigorous peer review process, the result is this special issue, containing a final cohort of 14 such papers, augmented with 3 other invited nonconference papers on related topics, for a total of 17 papers. We trust that the process systems engineering community will find the ecumenical spirit and contents of these carefully selected papers to be valuable and informative. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the assistance received from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Durgapur, the Journal of Heat Transfer Engineering, and India’s Department of Science and TechnologyScience and Energy Research Board (DST-SERB), Department of Atomic EnergyBoard of Research in Nuclear Sciences (DAE-BRNS), Council for
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© XXXX American Chemical Society
Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). Without their support, this unique conference could not have been as successful.
S. Pushpavanam Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai 600 036, India
P. Gupta National Institute of Technology (NIT), Durgapur, West Bengal 713 209, India
Babatunde A. Ogunnaike*
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University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware 19716, United States
AUTHOR INFORMATION
Corresponding Author
*E-mail:
[email protected]. Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
Special Issue: Energy System Modeling and Optimization Conference 2013
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie504592v | Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
