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Full-Text Articles in Science and Technology Studies

Characteristics Of Power Quality Disturbance Levels In Australia, Sean Elphick, Vic Smith, Vic Gosbell, Robert Barr Dec 2015

Characteristics Of Power Quality Disturbance Levels In Australia, Sean Elphick, Vic Smith, Vic Gosbell, Robert Barr

Robert Barr

The Australian Long Term Power Quality Survey (LTNPQS) now covers 2,000 sites with a range of different characteristics including strength (related to fault level), line construction and dominant load type. This paper details the latest outcomes of the LTNPQS project in terms of both disturbance levels and reporting methods. A comparison of the differences between voltage, unbalance and harmonic THD levels at strong (close to transformer) and weak (towards the end of LV feeders) sites has been performed and significant differences have been found. A multivariable linear regression study has been undertaken in order to investigate the correlation between site …


Power Sharing Among Multiple Solar Photovoltaic (Pv) Systems In A Radial Distribution Feeder, Brian K. Perera, Philip Ciufo Apr 2015

Power Sharing Among Multiple Solar Photovoltaic (Pv) Systems In A Radial Distribution Feeder, Brian K. Perera, Philip Ciufo

Dr Philip Ciufo

With an increasing penetration of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, power distribution grids are becoming more susceptible to network voltage rise. As per applicable standards for grid-integrated PV systems, a PV system must be automatically disconnected from the grid when the terminal voltage of the PV system exceeds a defined maximum voltage. With this directive, in certain situations, PV systems connected at nodes at which the voltage sensitivity is high, may be disconnected from the grid while PV systems connected at less sensitive nodes are continuing to operate. In such a situation, owners whose PV systems are connected at nodes at …


Power Quality Emission Assessment Of Photovoltaic Inverters Based On Iec Technical Report 61000-3-15:2011, Devinda Perera, Philip Ciufo, Lasantha G. Meegahapola, Sarath Perera Apr 2015

Power Quality Emission Assessment Of Photovoltaic Inverters Based On Iec Technical Report 61000-3-15:2011, Devinda Perera, Philip Ciufo, Lasantha G. Meegahapola, Sarath Perera

Dr Philip Ciufo

The International Electrotechnical Committee Technical Report IEC 61000-3-15:2011 provides electromagnetic compatibility requirements and test conditions for distributed generators up to 75 A per phase. In the current research, two commercially available photovoltaic (PV) inverters up to the capacity of 3600 W were tested following the guidelines proposed in IEC 61000-3-15 in relation to low order harmonic emission and flicker emission. In addition, the harmonic and flicker emission behaviour of the PV inverters were investigated under varying irradiation conditions. Both PV inverters were observed to comply with the emission requirements prescribed by the technical report under most conditions except for even …


Impact Of Wind Generation Mix On Transient Stability For An Interconnected Power System, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Jason Kennedy, Tim Littler Dec 2013

Impact Of Wind Generation Mix On Transient Stability For An Interconnected Power System, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Jason Kennedy, Tim Littler

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

The rapid growth of wind generation in many European countries is pushing power systems into uncharted territory. As additional wind generators are installed, the changing generation mix may impact on power system stability. This paper adopts the New England 39 bus system as a test system for transient stability analysis. Thermal generator models are based on a likely future plant mix for existing systems, while varying capacities of fixed-speed induction generators (FSIG) and doubly-fed induction generators (DFIG) are considered. The main emphasis here has been placed on the impact of wind technology mix on inter-area oscillations following transient grid disturbances. …


Characterisation Of Flicker Emission And Propagation In Distribution Networks With Bi-Directional Power Flows, D Perera, L Meegahapola, S Perera, P Ciufo Dec 2013

Characterisation Of Flicker Emission And Propagation In Distribution Networks With Bi-Directional Power Flows, D Perera, L Meegahapola, S Perera, P Ciufo

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

With the increasing penetration levels of intermittent and fluctuating energy sources such as wind generating systems in the electricity grid, resulting voltage fluctuations and flicker can be expected to become an important power quality considerations. Due to significant bidirectional power flows resulting from large renewable power generation systems connected to downstream, voltage fluctuations may propagate from downstream to upstream. The work presented in this paper investigates and characterises flicker emission and propagation resulting from fluctuating generating sources connected to a distribution network. Mathematical models are developed for flicker emission under different generator control strategies and flicker propagation to upstream network. …


Comparative Analysis Of Dynamic Line Rating Models And Feasibility To Minimise Energy Losses In Wind Rich Power Networks, Mathew Simms, Lasantha Meegahapola Dec 2013

Comparative Analysis Of Dynamic Line Rating Models And Feasibility To Minimise Energy Losses In Wind Rich Power Networks, Mathew Simms, Lasantha Meegahapola

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Wind power generation has indicated an exponential increase during last two decades and existing transmission network infrastructure is increasingly becoming inadequate to transmit remotely generated wind power to load centres in the network. The dynamic line rating (DLR) is one of the viable solutions to improve the transmission line ampacity during high wind penetration without investing on an additional transmission network. The main objective of this study is to identify the basic differences between two main line rating standards, since transmission network service providers (TNSPs) heavily depend on these two standards when developing their line rating models. Therefore, a parameter …


Optimal Power Flow With Variable Wind Conditions, S Durairaj, L Meegahapola, D Flynn, B Fox Dec 2013

Optimal Power Flow With Variable Wind Conditions, S Durairaj, L Meegahapola, D Flynn, B Fox

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents simulation studies of an electric arc furnace (EAF) model in the MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. EAF was modeled as a current source controlled by a non-linear resistance. Voltage flicker, a phenomenon of annoying light intensity fluctuation, caused by EAF, has been a major power quality concern for both power companies and customers. A model was developed for the electric arc furnace and it was applied in the simulation studies of distribution static synchronous compensator (DSTATCOM) for voltage flicker mitigation. The controller for DSTATCOM was designed based on DQ-model for the reactive power management which helps in the mitigation of …


Voltage And Power Quality Improvement Strategy For A Dfig Wind Farm During Variable Wind Conditions, L Meegahapola, T Littler, B Fox, J Kennedy, D Flynn Dec 2013

Voltage And Power Quality Improvement Strategy For A Dfig Wind Farm During Variable Wind Conditions, L Meegahapola, T Littler, B Fox, J Kennedy, D Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents a voltage and power quality enhancement scheme for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind farm during variable wind conditions. The wind profiles were derived considering the measured data at a DFIG wind farm located in Northern Ireland (NI). The aggregated DFIG wind farm model was validated using measured data at a wind farm during variable generation. The voltage control strategy was developed considering the X/R ratio of the wind farm feeder which connects the wind farm and the grid. The performance of the proposed strategy was evaluated for different X/R ratios, and wind profiles with different characteristics. …


Impact On Transient And Frequency Stability For A Power System At Very High Wind Penetration, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn Dec 2013

Impact On Transient And Frequency Stability For A Power System At Very High Wind Penetration, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper analyzes the impact on transient and frequency stability for a power system at very high wind penetration (40% wind). Wind penetration is based on the doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG), and a systematic approach has been adopted for wind power integration. A sensitivity analysis has been carried out for each wind integration scenario and for different wind generator loading conditions. A range of fault locations has been selected for stability analysis based on the proximity to synchronous generation and wind farms. The analysis has shown that transient stability performance is subject to fault location in the network, especially when …


Optimal Allocation Of Reactive Power Resources To Minimise Losses And Maintain System Security, Eknath Vittal, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Andrew Keane Dec 2013

Optimal Allocation Of Reactive Power Resources To Minimise Losses And Maintain System Security, Eknath Vittal, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Andrew Keane

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Modern doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) wind turbines have significant reactive power control capability, even during low wind speed conditions. This can improve system security by providing terminal voltage control at buses in the system. Generally, such control employs the full range of reactive power production from the turbine which can lead to increased system losses. By utilizing optimal power flow analysis, and limiting the range of reactive power production at certain wind farms, system losses can be minimized. If the reactive power of the wind farms are optimized to achieve the minimum system losses this may adversely affect the voltage …


Transient Stability Analysis Of A Power System With High Wind Penetration, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Tim Littler Dec 2013

Transient Stability Analysis Of A Power System With High Wind Penetration, Lasantha Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Tim Littler

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents transient stability analysis for a power system with high wind penetration. The transient stability has been evaluated based on two stability criteria: rotor angle stability and voltage stability. A modified IEEE-14 bus system has been used as the main study network and simulations have been conducted at several wind power penetration levels, defined as a fraction of total system generation. A wide range of scenarios have been presented based on the wind farm voltage at the point of connection, i.e. low voltage (LV) distribution level and high voltage (HV) transmission level, and the type of wind generator …


Multi-Objective Reactive Power Support From Wind Farms For Network Performance Enhancement, Lasantha Meegahapola, Brendan Fox, Tim Littler, Damian Flynn Dec 2013

Multi-Objective Reactive Power Support From Wind Farms For Network Performance Enhancement, Lasantha Meegahapola, Brendan Fox, Tim Littler, Damian Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper examines the ability of the doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) to deliver multiple reactive power objectives during variable wind conditions. The reactive power requirement is decomposed based on various control objectives (e.g. power factor control, voltage control, loss minimisation, and flicker mitigation) defined around different time frames (i.e. seconds, minutes, and hourly), and the control reference is generated by aggregating the individual reactive power requirement for each control strategy. A novel coordinated controller is implemented for the rotor-side converter and the grid-side converter considering their capability curves and illustrating that it can effectively utilise the aggregated DFIG reactive …


Voltage Security Constrained Reactive Power Optimization Incorporating Wind Generation, L G. Meegahapola, E Vittal, A Keane, D Flynn Dec 2013

Voltage Security Constrained Reactive Power Optimization Incorporating Wind Generation, L G. Meegahapola, E Vittal, A Keane, D Flynn

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

This paper presents a comparative analysis between conventional optimal power flow (OPF) and voltage constrained OPF strategies with wind generation. The study has been performed using the New England 39 bus system with 12 doublyfed induction generator (DFIG) based wind farms installed across the network. A voltage security assessment is carried out to determine the critical wind farms for voltage stability enhancement. The power losses and individual wind farm reactive power generation have been compared with and without voltage stability constraints imposed on the OPF simulation. It is shown that voltage constrained OPF leads to much greater active power losses …


Capability Curve Based Enhanced Reactive Power Control Strategy For Stability Enhancement And Network Voltage Management, Lasantha Meegahapola, Tim Littler, Sarath Perera Dec 2013

Capability Curve Based Enhanced Reactive Power Control Strategy For Stability Enhancement And Network Voltage Management, Lasantha Meegahapola, Tim Littler, Sarath Perera

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Reactive power has become a vital resource in modern electricity networks due to increased penetration of distributed generation. This paper examines the extended reactive power capability of DFIGs to improve network stability and capability to manage network voltage profile during transient faults and dynamic operating conditions. A coordinated reactive power controller is designed by considering the reactive power capabilities of the rotor-side converter (RSC) and the grid-side converter (GSC) of the DFIG in order to maximise the reactive power support from DFIGs. The study has illustrated that, a significant reactive power contribution can be obtained from partially loaded DFIG wind …


Optimization Of Frt Active Power Performance Of A Dfig During Transient Grid Faults, L Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Tim Littler Dec 2013

Optimization Of Frt Active Power Performance Of A Dfig During Transient Grid Faults, L Meegahapola, Damian Flynn, Tim Littler

Dr Lasantha G Meegahapola

Optimal fault ride-through (FRT) conditions for a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) during a transient grid fault are analyzed with special emphasis on improving the active power generation profile. The transition states due to crowbar activation during transient faults are investigated to exploit the maximum power during the fault and post-fault period. It has been identified that operating slip, severity of fault and crowbar resistance have a direct impact on the power capability of a DFIG, and crowbar resistance can be chosen to optimize the power capability. It has been further shown that an extended crowbar period can deliver enhanced inertial …


Agent-Based Demand Management In A Power Distribution Network By Considering Distributed Generations, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Danny Soetanto Oct 2013

Agent-Based Demand Management In A Power Distribution Network By Considering Distributed Generations, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Danny Soetanto

Dr Fenghui Ren

A distribution network carries electricity from transmission network to consumers through facilities such as substations, buses and feeders. Distributed generations emerge as the new alternative power resource to a distribution network at a smaller and distributed scale. On one hand, distributed generations can decrease substations' load and power price. On the other hand, they will bring difficulties to substations for demand management. This paper proposes a multiagent model to represent a radial distribution network. The model includes five types of agents, which are substation agents, bus agents, feeder agents, load agents and generation agents. Through communicating with neighbouring agents, each …


A Multiagent Approach For Decentralized Voltage Regulation In Power Distribution Networks Within Dgs, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Danny Sutanto Oct 2013

A Multiagent Approach For Decentralized Voltage Regulation In Power Distribution Networks Within Dgs, Fenghui Ren, Minjie Zhang, Danny Sutanto

Dr Fenghui Ren

Voltage regulation (VR) is a procedure to keep voltages in a distribution network (DN) within normal limits. Conven- tionally, a voltage regulator can read voltage levels from pre- dened measures, and regulate the voltages. However, due to lacking of a distributed generator's (DG) information, the unexpected electricity from a DG will mislead readings on voltages levels, so as to disturb the VR in a DN. Adjust- ing a DG's reactive power output is an alternative way for VR. However, because of limited penetration levels, DGs need to collaborate with other devices in order to provide an eective voltage regulation. Therefore, …


Commentary On: Mann, Steve (2012): Wearable Computing, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael Apr 2012

Commentary On: Mann, Steve (2012): Wearable Computing, Katina Michael, M.G. Michael

Associate Professor Katina Michael

In Professor Steve Mann- inventor, physicist, engineer, mathematician, scientist, designer, developer, project director, filmmaker, artist, instrumentalist, author, photographer, actor, activist- we see so much of the paradigmatic classical Greek philosopher. I recall asking Steve if technology shaped society or society shaped technology. He replied along the lines that the question was superfluous. Steve instead pointed to praxis, from which all theory, lessons or skills stem, are practiced, embodied and realized. Steve has always been preoccupied by the application of his ideas into form. In this way too, he can be considered a modern day Leonardo Da Vinci.


If Post-Normal Science Is The Solution, What Is The Problem?, Robert Hoppe, Anne Wesselink Jan 2011

If Post-Normal Science Is The Solution, What Is The Problem?, Robert Hoppe, Anne Wesselink

Robert Hoppe

Post-normal science (PNS) is presented by its proponents as a new way of doing science that deals with uncertainties, value diversity or antagonism, and high decision stakes and urgency, with the ultimate goal of remedying the pathologies of the global industrial system for which, according to Funtowicz and Ravetz (1993, 739) existing science forms the basis. We critically examine whether PNS can fulfil this claim in the light of empirical and theoretical work on politics and policymaking. We credit PNS as innovative frontrunner in raising important issues regarding the limited problem-solving capacity of ‘normal science’ and ‘professional consultancy’. Yet, we …