Power and Energy Commons^™

Online Nonintrusive Condition Monitoring And Fault Detection For Wind Turbines, Xiang Gong

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The goal of this dissertation research is to develop online nonintrusive condition monitoring and fault detection methods for wind turbine generators (WTGs). The proposed methods use only the current measurements that have already been used by the control and protection systems of WTGs; no additional sensors or data acquisition devices are needed. Current-based condition monitoring and fault detection techniques have great economic benefits and the potential to be adopted by the wind energy industry. However, there are challenges in using current measurements for wind turbine condition monitoring and fault detection. First, it is a challenge to extract WTG fault signatures …

Ternary Alloy Electrocatalysts For Oxygen Reduction Reaction, Jin Luo, Lefu Yang, Binghui Chen, Chuanjian Zhong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell represents an important electrochemical energy conversion device with many attractive features in terms of efficiency of energy conversion and minimization of environmental pollution. However, the large overpotential for oxygen reduction reaction at the cathode and the low activity, poor durability and high cost of platinum-based catalysts in the fuel cells constitute a focal point of major barriers to the commercialization of fuel cells. The development of nanostructured catalysts shows promises to addresses some of the challenging problems. The ability to engineer the composition and nanostructure of nanoalloy catalysts is important for developing active, robust and …

Electrocatalytic Activity Of Palladium Nanocatalysts Supported On Carbon Nanoparticles In Formic Acid Oxidation, Jie Huang, Zhiyou Zhou, Yang Song, Xiongwu Kang, Ke Liu, Wancheng Zhou, Shaowei Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Palladium nanostructures were deposited onto carbon nanoparticle surface by a chemical reduction method. Transmission electron microscopic studies showed that whereas the resulting metal-carbon (Pd-CNP) nanocomposites exhibited a diameter of 20 to 30 nm, the metal components actually showed a cauliflower-like surface morphology that consisted of numerous smaller Pd nanoparticles (3 to 8 nm). Electrochemical studies showed that the effective surface area of the Pd-CNP nanoparticles was about 40% less than that of Pd black, possibly because the Pd nanoparticles were coated with a layer of carbon nanoparticles; yet, the Pd-CNP nanocomposites exhibited marked enhancement of the electrocatalytic activity in formic …

Electrochemical Performance Of Screen-Printed Composite Coatings Of Conducting Polymers And Carbon Nanotubes On Titanium Bipolar Plates In Aqueous Asymmetrical Supercapacitors, Xiaohang Zhou, George Z. Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

Composites of conducting polymers (polypyrrole and polyaniline) with acid treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes were formulated into printable aqueous inks, with the aid of functional additives (benzethonium chloride as a surfactant with or without polyvinyl alcohol as a binder). The inks were screen-printed as fairly uniform coatings of various mass loading densities and areas (up to 75 mg cm^-2 and 100 cm²) on thin titanium plates (0.1 mm in thickness). These screen-printed plates were used to fabricate both unit cell and multi-cell stack of asymmetrical supercapacitors with screen-printed negative electrodes of activated carbon (pigment black) in aqueous electrolytes …

Advances And Challenges Of Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cells: A Concise Review, Sanping Jiang

Journal of Electrochemistry

Fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device to directly convert the chemical energy of fuels to electricity. Among all types of fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating at intermediate temperatures of 600~800 ^oC offer an attractive option that is much more fuel flexible than low temperature fuel cells such as proton exchange membrane fuel cells, and is suitable for a wide range of applications. However, two main challenges remain towards the commercial viability and acceptance of the SOFC technologies: the cost and durability. Both are critically dependent on the process, fabrication, performance, chemical and microstructural stability …

Electrocatalytic Oxidation Of Formic Acid On Pd/Ni Heterostructured Catalyst, Mingjun Ren, Liangliang Zou, Ju Chen, Ting Yuan, Qinghong Huang, Haifeng Zhang, Hui Yang, Songlin Feng

Journal of Electrochemistry

A Pd/Ni bimetallic nanostructured electrocatalyst was fabricated via a two-step reduction route. Owing to an epitaxial growth of Pd atoms on the surface of Ni nanoparticles, heterostructured Pd/Ni nanocomposites were formed and verified by high resolution transmission electron microscopy combined with energy-dispersion X-ray spectroscopy. X-ray diffraction confirmed that the as-prepared Pd/Ni nanocomposites possessed a single face-centered-cubic (fcc) Pd structure, probably due to a weaker diffraction intensity of metallic Ni and/or overlapping by that of Pd. The intrinsic catalytic activity on the Pd/Ni is higher than that on the Pd. Moreover, the durability of formic acid oxidation on the Pd/Ni was …

Adsorption And Electrooxidation Of Carbon Monoxide On Platinum Surfaces Modified With Sulfur, A. Mattox Mathew, W. Henney Matthew, Johnson Adam, Zou Shouzhong

Journal of Electrochemistry

Adsorbed sulfur is commonly considered as a reaction poison. However, small amounts of sulfur on platinum significantly increase the surface reactivity toward carbon monoxide (CO) electrooxidation. For the solution CO oxidation, the onset potential was shifted up to over 300 mV negative to that on S-free surface, and the extent of the negative potential shift increases with the sulfur coverage (X_s) up to about 0.6. The enhanced CO oxidation also depends on the solution pH. For the adsorbed CO, at low sulfur coverages (X_s < 0.3), the oxidation peak potential is about 40 mV negative to that of the corresponding clean Pt. However, at higher coverages, the peak potential is about 30 mV more positive. Surface-enhanced Raman spectra show that the adsorption of sulfur significantly redshifts the Pt-CO stretching frequency. These observations are explained by the weakening of the Pt-CO bond and the hindrance of CO diffusion by Sads.

Kinetic Study Of Photoelectrochemical Oxidation Of Lignin Model Compounds On Tio2 Nanotubes, Min Tian, Daniel Liba, Aicheng Chen

Journal of Electrochemistry

In this study, TiO₂ nanotubes were prepared via the electrochemical oxidation of titanium substrates in a non-aqueous electrolyte and their morphology and microstructures were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The photoelectrochemical oxidation of two lignin model compounds, 1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenoxy)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-1,3-propanediol (DMP) and 3-hydroxy-1-(3,4-dimethoxyphenoxy)-2-(2-methoxyphenoxy)-1,3-propanone (HDM), was investigated. A new band appeared at ~304 nm during the photoelectrochemical oxidation of DMP. The rate of DMP intermediate formation was amplified with the increase of initial concentrations, while it was diminished with increased temperature. Despite the similarity in structure between HDM and DMP, there are only small increases in absorbance …

Short Term Wind Power Forecasting Using Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average Modeling, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Wind energy is one of the most promising electricity generating sources as a clean and free alternate compared with the conventional power plants and due to the volatility feature in the wind speeds it will reflect some problems in power systems reliability particularly if the system is deeply penetrated by wind farms. Therefore, Wind power forecasting issue became and is still an important scope that will help in economic dispatch (ED), unit commitment (UC) purposes to get more reliable and economic systems. This paper introduces short term wind power forecasting model, based on autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) which will …

Technical Comparison Of Harmonic Mitigation Techniques For Industrial Electrical Power Systems, Almoataz Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Power system harmonics cause many problems like equipment failures, malfunctions and plant shutdowns. Accordingly, mitigation of these harmonics is considered an important target especially for the industrial applications where any short downtime period may lead to great economic losses. There are at least ten different mitigation techniques to choose from, each with specific technical advantages and disadvantages. Comparative studies for the harmonic mitigation techniques in industrial electrical systems are rarely found in the literature even though they are strongly needed. This paper, almost for the first time, provides comprehensive technical comparisons between the various practical harmonics mitigation techniques in the …

Detection Of Line Outage In Transmission Networks Using Phasor Measurement Units Aided By Support Vector Machine Algorithms, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Many protection applications are based upon the Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) technology. Therefore, PMUs have been increasingly widespread throughout the power network, and there are several researches have been made to locate the PMUs for complete system observability. This paper introduces an important application of PMUs in power system protection which is the detection of single line outage. In addition, a detection of the out of service line is achieved depending on the variations of phase angles measured at the system buses where the PMUs are located. Hence, a protection scheme from unexpected overloading in the network that may lead …

Protection Schemes Based On Support Vector Machine For Thyristor Controlled Series Compensated Transmission Line, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Recently, series compensation is widely used in transmission. However, this creates several problems to conventional protection approaches. This paper presents overcurrent and distance protection schemes, for fault classification in transmission lines with thyristor controlled series capacitor (TCSC) using support vector machine (SVM). The fault classification task is divided into four separate subtasks (SVMa, SVMb, SVMc and SVMg), where the state of each phase and ground is determined by an individual SVM. The polynomial kernel SVM is designed to provide the optimal classification conditions. Wide variations of load angle, fault inception angle, fault resistance and fault location have been carried out …

Phasor Measurement Units (Pmus) Based Fault Location Of Series Compensated Transmission Lines, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) have gained a great popularity in the field of control and wide area protection during the last decade. One of the major protection applications based on PMUs technology is to determine the fault location in a transmission line. Therefore, several researches have been developed in the field of fault location. Some of the researches are based on one-end measurements. But, a greater accuracy has been achieved on the basis of two-end measurements. Many researchers suggested only voltage measurements to avoid the current transformers (CT) errors. While, others suggested methods depend on both voltages and current measurements …

Optimal Pmu Placement For Complete Observability Using Heuristic Methods, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

An essential tool for power system monitoring is state estimation. Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) can greatly improve the state estimation process. However, for state estimation, the PMUs should be placed appropriately in the network. The problem of optimal PMU placement for full observability is analyzed in this paper. The objective of the paper is to minimize the size of the PMU configuration while allowing full observability of the network. At first, an optimal measurement set is determined to achieve full power system observability with ignoring zero injection buses. Then, the derived schemes are modified to maintain the observability after considering …

Transient Security Classification Using Gene Expression Programming Algorithm, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

No abstract provided.

Condition-Dependent Risk Assessment Of Large-Scale Grid-Tied Photovoltaic Power Systems, Sherwin Li

Master's Theses

This thesis reviews the methods for evaluating the reliability of large PV systems and techniques for quantifying the impacts of PV interconnection on distribution system reliability. In addition, a comparative study is performed to evaluate the seasonal condition-dependent risk performance of central-inverter and string-inverter grid-tied PV power systems. Major contributions include: 1) risk analysis of seasonal impacts for string and centralized PV systems. Seasonal sensitivities of PV system risks to system structures, temperature variation, solar insolation, and capacitor equivalent series resistance are analyzed; and 2) the incorporation of the effect of operational conditions and the aging failure model into the …

Z-Source Inverter For Automotive Applications, Omar Ellabban, Joeri Van Mierlo

Omar Ellabban

No abstract provided.

Novel Control And Harmonics Impact Of Pv Solar Farms, Byomakesh Das

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis presents a novel application of Photovoltaic (PV) solar system inverter, both during night and day, as a dynamic reactive power compensator STATCOM. This technology, termed PV-STATCOM, is designed and developed for power factor correction in the networks of two utilities: Bluewater Power, Sarnia, and London Hydro. This thesis further describes for the first time, the harmonic impact studies on a utility distribution network in presence of the largest PV solar farm in Canada.

This novel utilization of a PV-STATCOM for power factor correction of induction motor loads is demonstrated with (i) electromagnetic transient simulation in EMTDC/PSCAD software, (ii) …

Data Mining And Machine Learning Applications Of Wide-Area Measurement Data In Electric Power Systems, Penn Norris Markham

Doctoral Dissertations

Wide-area measurement systems (WAMS) are quickly becoming an important part of modern power system operation. By utilizing the Global Positioning System, WAMS offer highly accurate time-synchronized measurements that can reveal previously unobtainable insights into the grid’s status. An example WAMS is the Frequency Monitoring Network (FNET), which utilizes a large number of Internet-connected low-cost Frequency Disturbance Recorders (FDRs) that are installed at the distribution level.

The large amounts of data collected by FNET and other WAMS present unique opportunities for data mining and machine learning applications, yet these techniques have only recently been applied in this domain. The research presented …

The Architecture Selection, Design, And Discharge Modeling Of A Passive Compensation, Iron-Core, Two-Phase, Permanent Magnet Compulsator To Power A Small Railgun Platform, Collin Macgregor

Aerospace Engineering

The goal of this project was to design and build a compensated pulsed alternator, or compulsator, to power the Cal Poly Electromagnetic Railgun Mark 1.1. This project examines the feasibility of implementing mechanical pulsed power supplies for repeatable use with a railgun load for orbital debris hypervelocity testing. The final system architecture chosen was a passively compensated, iron-core, 2-phase, permanent magnet compulsator. The Cal Poly Compulsator will be capable of storing 45 kJ of mechanical energy with a peak operating speed of 5,000 rpm at 190 V. Theoretical calculations resulted in the following predicted electrical performance values: a peak output …

Management Of Electric Distribution Systems Planning, Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

Almoataz Youssef Abdelaziz

In the present paper a proposed planning management method for MV (medium voltage) distribution networks is formulated. This proposed method takes into consideration combined effect of voltage drop; overloads and a technical power loss based on the worst network conditions, and proposes the main constraints of mathematical calculation of the presented case studies. A genetic algorithm (GA) with multi-criteria optimization technique is applied for solving the problem of system reconfiguration in a distribution system. The GA has been tested with promising results on a real radial distribution system. The proposed algorithm can be applied efficiently to large systems, and the …

A Novel Neural Network And Backtracking Based Protection Coordination Scheme For Distribution System With Distributed Generation, Hadi Zayandehroodi, Azah Mohamed, Hussain Shareef, Masoud Farhoodnea

Dr. Hadi Zayandehroodi

With the increased installation of renewable energy based distributed generations (DGs) in distribution systems, it brings about a change in the fault current level of the system and causes many problems in the current protection system. Hence, effective protection schemes are required to ensure safe and selective protection relay coordination in the power distribution system with DG units. In this paper, a novel adaptive protection scheme is proposed by integrating fault location with protection relay coordination strategies. An automated fault location method is developed using a two stage radial basis function neural network (RBFNN) in which the first RBFNN determines …

Capacitor Voltage Control Techniques Of The Z-Source Inverter: A Comparative Study, Omar Ellabban, Joeri Van Mierlo, Philippe Lataire

Omar Ellabban

The Z-source inverter (ZSI) is a recently proposed single-stage power conversion topology. It adds voltage boost capability for complementing the usual voltage buck operation of a traditional voltage source inverter (VSI) with improved reliability. In this paper, a single-loop and dual-loop capacitor voltage control techniques for the ZSI are digitally designed based on a third order small signal model of the ZSI, implemented using a digital signal processor (DSP) and compared. Simulation and experimental results of a 30 kW ZSI during input voltage changes, load disturbances and steady state operations are presented and compared. The results show that the dual-loop …

Performance And Cost Analysis Of A Structured Concrete Thermocline Thermal Energy Storage System, Matt Nicholas Strasser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Increasing global energy demands and diminishing fossil fuel resources have raised increased interest in harvesting renewable energy resources. Solar energy is a promising candidate, as sufficient irradiance is incident to the Earth to supply the energy demands of all of its inhabitants. At the utility scale, concentrating solar power (CSP) plants provide the most cost-efficient method of harnessing solar energy for conversion to electrical energy. A major roadblock to the large-scale implementation of CSP plants is the lack of thermal energy storage (TES) that would allow the continued production of electricity during the absence of constant irradiance. Sensible heat TES …

Energy Harvesting Of Human Kinetic Movement, David Marusiak, Julia Carrillo

Electrical Engineering

Development of kinetic energy scavenging applications from the human body necessitates additional research to assist in designating a mounting position for a potential device. A data acquisition system adequately provides a parametric average power comparison among four locations on the body (waist, upper arm, hand, and calf) for both a male and female subject. Experimentally, the hand-held device provided the highest average power. Thus, subsequent investigation at set speeds provides further analysis of the output’s characteristically linear behavior. The physical energy-harvesting device features a plastic tube casing wrapped with the stationary coiled wire through which a neodymium magnet oscillates. While …

Single-Phase High Efficiency Motor Testing, Marc Henry Perez

Electrical Engineering

A three-phase induction motor has higher efficiency than the single-phase motor counterpart. It is possible to run a three-phase motor with a single-phase source to develop a single-phase high efficiency system. The single-phase high efficiency motor, or SHE-motor, uses capacitor banks to operate at a balanced three phase induction motor using a single phase source. Unfortunately, this design has been limited, as it can only be balanced for one load configuration at a time. This provides the system to have maximum system performance. Due to this limitation in operations, it has proven to be non-ideal in commercial applications. It is …

Residential Grid-Tied With Battery Backup Photovoltaic System, Thomas Stobuagh

Electrical Engineering

When power outages occur, many homes are left without power for some time as they are dependent on the power grid. This project aims to design a residential grid tied battery backup photovoltaic system that will provide up to 7.2kW in an area that gets 5.36-5.49 kWh/m2/day [1] to support a home with an average daily usage of 28.4 kWh/day. To effectively use this system the house remains connected to the electric utility at all times, so any power needed above what the solar system can produce is simply drawn from the utility. It includes battery backup or uninterruptible power …

Conductive Concrete For Electromagnetic Shielding – Methods For Development And Evaluation, Aaron P. Krause

Computer and Electronics Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This research investigates the development and evaluation innovative methods for the use of conductive concrete as an electromagnetic shield. New testing methods are developed to determine the best conductive components to use in the design of a concrete mixture for shielding that shows the best promise. The conductive concrete mixture has the potential to provide electromagnetic shielding that is cost-effective in terms of construction, operation, and maintenance compared to conventional approaches. Two testing methods, Small Sample Testing and Large Slab Testing, are developed based on standardized testing methods that have been modified for the testing of conductive concrete mixtures. As …

Optimization Of Nonlinear Switch Cells For Switching Converters, Bradley Alan Reese

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Switch cells consist of an array of power switches and passive components which can replace the main switches alone in many power topologies, allowing reduced switching loss without altering the power topology directly. This thesis discusses the development of a switch cell topology that utilizes a saturable resonant inductor to reduce the size and power loss of the cell. Additionally, the cell transfers energy stored in the inductor into a capacitor for efficient energy storage during the cell's conduction region. This energy is then transferred back to the system when the cell turns off, thus reducing the total switching energy.

Thermal And Electrical Parasitic Modeling For Multi-Chip Power Module Layout Synthesis, Zihao Gong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents thermal and electrical parasitic modeling approaches for layout synthesis of Multi-Chip Power Modules (MCPMs). MCPMs integrate power semiconductor devices and drive electronics into a single package. As the switching frequency of power devices increases, the size of the passive components are greatly reduced leading to gains in efficiency and cost reduction. In order to increase switching frequency, electrical parasitics in MCPMs need to be reduced through tighter electronic integrations and smaller packages. As package size is decreased, temperature increases due to less heat dissipation capability. Thus, it is crucial to consider both thermal and electrical parasitics in …