Kashif Liaqat, a second-year PhD. student in mechanical engineering (MECH) at Rice University, won first place in the student poster contest at the IEEE Conference on Technologies for Sustainability (SusTech 2023).
The conference theme was “How Emerging Technologies are Driving Sustainability” and Liaqat’s poster was titled “DNI Prediction Using Deep Learning for Optimization of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Plants.”
“Commercial scale concentrated solar-power plants have more than 10,000 mirrors and large-scale turbo machinery,” Liaqat said. “They require frequent mirror washing and preventive maintenance, which means some power production time is lost as the plant is not operational.”
His research aims to solve the scheduling problem by predicting the direct normal irradiance (DNI) using deep learning. The predicted DNI helps identify the periods when the entire plant or the solar field alone is not operational.
“The maintenance and mirror washing,” Liaqat said, “can be scheduled during these periods. This will significantly reduce the power generation loss due to maintenance activities and will result in a lower cost.”
Liaqat works in the Energy Systems Laboratory of Laura Schaefer, the Burton J. and Ann M. McMurtry Chair in Engineering, and professor and department chair of MECH. He earned an M.S. in MECH from Florida State University in 2021 as a Fulbright Scholar.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ SusTech Conference took place April 19-22 in Portland, Ore.