AM

M. Sc. Albertus Malan

  • Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT) Campus Süd
    Institut für Regelungs- und Steuerungssysteme
    Geb. 11.20 (Engler-Villa)
    Kaiserstr. 12
    D-76131 Karlsruhe

Curriculum Vitae

Electronic Engineering at the University of Pretoria (UP), South Africa, Bachelor’s Thesis: Design of a Two Axis Stabilised Gimbal (2015). Design engineer at Airbus DS Optronics GmbH, Oberkochen, in the Stabilised Platforms department (2016 - 2017). Electrical Engineering and Information Technology at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). Master’s Thesis at the Institute of Control Systems (IRS) on the topic Plug-and-Play Control and Stability Analysis of Inverter-Based AC Microgrids (2019).
Research associate at the Institute of Control Systems (IRS) since July 2019.

Research

High Level Plug-and-Play-Based Control Strategies for Multi-Carrier Energy Systems

Multi-Carrier Energy Systems:
Future energy systems will no longer simply comprise the disjointed electricity, heating and gas networks, but will instead focus on an interconnected, holistic approach. The aim of a joint consideration of these energy systems is the increased the robustness and flexibility achievable by balancing out the energy surpluses or deficiencies amongst the various energy systems. In light of the accelerating trend towards renewable energy sources (RESs) in the electrical grid especially, interconnecting the various energy domains provides a potential means of compensating for the inherent intermittency with which RESs generate power.

Plug-and-Play: Due to the large number of RESs needed to satisfy current and future electricity demands, the tried and tested centralised control structures traditionally used for regulating large power stations are unsuited for an electrical grid dominated by numerous sources spread out over a large distance. Similar to the peripherals of modern computer, a Plug-and-Play compatible approach would allow energy sources to connect to and disconnect from the energy networks seamlessly and without a central authority required to govern and configure the sources.

High Level: Beyond simply regulating the fundamental variables of the energy networks (e.g. the voltages and frequency for the electrical grid), high-level objectives – such as the interaction and coordination of components in and among the various energy systems and considerations for the flow of power – must be considered to realise efficient and symbiotic interactions between the various energy systems.

Open Theses
Title Type