Volume 14, Issue 4 -

The blending of transformer oil (used mainly as an insulating oil) with appropriate synthetic antioxidants, such as BHT (2,6-di- tert -butyl-4-methylphenol) and DBP (2,6-di- tert -butylphenol) have been previously reported. This article is focused on the use of antioxidant extracts from turmeric ( Curcuma longa ), a natural source. Turmeric is well known for its antimicrobial, antioxidant and anticarcinogenic properties owing to the active nature of its components. Extracts from powdered turmeric were subsequently blended into naphthenic-based uninhibited virgin transformer oil, hereinafter referred to as extract-oil blends (E-OB). Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) of the oil blends revealed that five components extracted from turmeric powder were successfully blended into the oil. Subsequent gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) analysis confirmed the presence of the compounds: curcumene, sesquiphellandrene, ar -turmerone, turmerone and curlone. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the extract-oil blends, containing various levels of extracts, revealed an average temperature shift of ∼8.21°C in the initial onset of degradation in comparison to virgin non-blended oil. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay showed that an increase in the mass aliquot of turmeric extracts in the transformer oil increased the free radical scavenging activity of the oil. Electrical properties of the oil investigated showed that the dissipation factor in the blended oil was found to be lower than that of virgin transformer oil. Evidently, a lower dissipation value renders the oil blend as a superior insulator over normal virgin non-blended oil. This investigation elucidated improved physico-chemical properties of transformer oil blended with turmeric antioxidant extracts.

This article presents applications of the excitation function on the prediction of the radio interference (RI) of overhead transmission line (OHTL), due to corona effect. These applications are done under different weather conditions such as heavy rain, wet conductor, and fair weather.Also, this article investigates the factors influencing the RI level, namely, the height of conductors, phase spacing, number of subconductors in the bundle, diameter of subconductor, and subconductor spacing in the bundle.In this article, it is shown that the RI level is dependent on the weather conditions. Where the RI level under heavy rain has the maximum level, hence, it should be considered as a basic level of any OHTL.

This article proposes a distribution static compensator (DSTATCOM) with interface LCL (inductor-capacitor-inductor) filter for load compensation in three-phase four-wire distribution system. DSTATCOM, consisting of voltage source inverter (VSI), is connected in parallel to the load and injects currents corresponding to load reactive, harmonic powers. But this injected current consists of unnecessary high-frequency switching ripple generated by VSI. This LCL filter has superior switching ripple attenuation capability compared to L filter. Moreover, this can be achieved with small value of overall LCL filter inductance than L filter. Thus providing high slew rate for output current to track the desired reference current closely, reducing voltage drop across it, as well as cost and size of filter. However, one major concern with LCL filter is its resonating frequency (determined from its L, C, L values), which can create high-resonance oscillating currents and results in improper load compensation. Therefore, in this study, proper design of LCL filter with high switching ripple attenuation and a current controller with proportional integral (PI) plus harmonic compensation (HC) regulators along with active damping feature of LCL filter in synchronous rotating reference (dq0) frame are presented. HC regulator minimizes the steady-state error in the non-sinusoidal filter currents (fundamental and harmonic) which are tracked by the VSI. Active damping feature (obtained by capacitor current feedback control of LCL filter) is used to overcome resonance oscillations and provides proper control, operation of DSTATCOM under steady-state and dynamic load conditions. Stability studies for designed LCL filter and current controller using Bode and root locus plots are also performed and presented. Extensive simulation study, to understand the compensation performance of LCL filter DSTATCOM with two types of current controllers (PI and PI plus HC) under steady-state and dynamic load conditions, is carried out in PSCAD simulator and the corresponding results along with THDs of various parameters are presented.

In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in applying micro-grid systems not only to improve reliability but also to enhance power quality. One of the major challenges associated with the implementation of micro-grids is to design an appropriate protection scheme which has the ability to protect micro-grids in both grid-connected and islanded mode. In order to overcome this challenge, different approaches have recently appeared in the literatures. This paper aims to provide an introspective review of the available protection schemes used for addressing micro-grid protection issues in both grid-connected and islanded mode. In addition to description of existing protection schemes to date and categorizing them into specific clusters, a comparative analysis is done in which the merits and demerits of each methodology are evaluated.

Multilevel inverters are emerging as a new breed of power converter options for power system applications. Recent advances in power switching devices enabled the suitability of multilevel inverters for high voltage and high power applications because they are connecting several devices in series without the need of component matching. Usually, a transformerless battery energy storage system, based on a cascaded multilevel inverter, is used as a measure for voltage and frequency deviations. System can be reduced in size, weight, and cost of energy storage system. High-frequency link circuit topology is advantageous in realizing compact and light-weight power converters for uninterruptible power supply systems, new energy systems using photovoltaic-cells, fuel-cells and so on. This paper presents a DC–DC type high-frequency link DC (HFLDC) cascaded multilevel inverter. Each converter cell is implemented a control strategy for two H-bridge inverters that are controlled with the same multicarrier pulse width modulation (PWM) technique. The proposed cascaded multilevel inverter generates lower voltage total harmonic distortion (THD) in comparison with conventional cascaded multilevel inverter. Digital simulations are carried out using PSCAD/EMTDC to validate the performance of the proposed cascaded multilevel inverter.

Although there is a plethora of literature dealing with Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) communication delay, there has not been any effort made to generalize empirical delay results by identifying the distribution with the best fit. The existing studies typically assume a distribution or simply build on analogies to communication network routing delay. Specifically, this study provides insight into the characterization of the communication delay of both unprocessed PMU data and synchrophasors sorted by a Phasor Data Concentrator (PDC). The results suggest that a bi-modal distribution containing two normal distributions offers the best fit of the delay of the unprocessed data, whereas the delay profile of the sorted synchrophasors resembles a normal distribution based on these results, the possibility of evaluating the reliability of a synchrophasor application with respect to a particular choice of PDC timeout is discussed.

This article proposes new power management based current control strategy for integrated wind–solar–hydro system equipped with battery storage mechanism. In this control technique, an indirect estimation of load current is done, through energy balance model, DC-link voltage control and droop control. This system features simpler energy management strategy and necessitates few power electronic converters, thereby minimizing the cost of the system. The generation–demand (G–D) management diagram is formulated based on the stochastic weather conditions and demand, which would likely moderate the gap between both. The features of management strategy deploying energy balance model include (1) regulating DC-link voltage within specified tolerances, (2) isolated operation without relying on external electric power transmission network, (3) indirect current control of hydro turbine driven induction generator and (4) seamless transition between grid-connected and off-grid operation modes. Furthermore, structuring of the hybrid system with appropriate selection of control variables enables power sharing among each energy conversion systems and battery storage mechanism. By addressing these intricacies, it is viable to regulate the frequency and voltage of the remote network at load end. The performance of the proposed composite scheme is demonstrated through time-domain simulation in MATLAB/Simulink environment.

Wave turbine emulator (WTE) is an important equipment for developing wave energy conversion system. The emulator reflects the actual behavior of the wave turbine by reproducing the characteristics of real wave turbine without reliance on natural wave resources and actual wave turbine. It offers a controllable test environment that allows the evaluation and improvement of control schemes for electric generators. The emulator can be used for research applications to drive an electrical generator in a similar way as a practical wave turbine. This article presents the development of a WTE in a laboratory environment and studies on the behavior of electrical generator coupled to the emulator. The structure of a WTE consists of a PC where the characteristics of the turbine are implemented, ac drive to emulate the turbine rotor, feedback mechanism from the drive and power electronic equipment to control the drive. The feedback signal is acquired by the PC through an A/D converter, and the signal for driving the power electronic device comes from the PC through a D/A converter.