This paper investigates a new operation strategy for photovoltaic (PV) systems, which improves the overall reliability of the system as a result of the improvement in the reliability of the critical components. First, a mathematical model is proposed using the fault tree analysis (FTA) to estimate the reliability of the PV systems in order to find the suitable maintenance strategies. The implementations demonstrate that it is essential to employ smart maintenance plans and monitor the identified most critical components of PV systems. Then, an innovative analytical method based on the Markov process is presented to model smart operation plans in PV systems. The impact of smart operation strategy on the PV systems is then evaluated. The objective of this paper is to develop plans for improving the reliability of PV systems. A series of case studies have been conducted to demonstrate the importance of smart operation strategies for PV systems as well as the applicability and feasibility of the proposed method.
The aim of this paper is to observe the Nusselt number and friction factor behavior of the circular tube with conical strip inserts as turbulators in a laminar flow condition, using staggered and non-staggered conical strips with three different twist ratios (Y = 2, 3 and 5). The conical strip is inserted in the forward and backward direction individually compared to the flow of water which is the working fluid. The results indicate that the conical strip inserts increases the Nusselt number when compared to the plain surface tube. It is observed that the strip geometry has a major effect on the thermal performance of the circular tube. On examination of different strips for determining the enhancement of Nusselt number, the staggered conical strip with the twist ratio of Y = 3 has given a better result compared to the other two strips. Finally, correlations have been derived using regression analysis for predicting the Nusselt number and friction factor.
The current paper talks about the variable speed wind turbine generation system (WTGS). So, the WTGS is equipped with a doubly-fed induction generator (DFIG) and two bidirectional converters in the rotor open circuit. A vector control (VC) of the rotor side converter (RSC) offers independent regulation of the stator active and reactive power and the optimal rotational speed tracking in the power maximization operating mode. A VC scheme for the grid-side converter (GSC) allows an independent regulation of the active and reactive power to exchange with the grid and sinusoidal supply currents and keeps the DC-link voltage constant. A fuzzy inference system (FIS) is adopted as an alternative of the conventional proportional and integral (PI) controller to reject some uncertainties or disturbance. The performances have been verified using the Matlab/Simulink software.
The interest for the use of renewable energies has increased, because of the increasing concerns of the environmental problems. Among renewable energies, wind energy is now widely used. Wind turbines based on an asynchronous generator with a wound rotor present the inconvenience of requiring a system of rings and brooms and a multiplier, inferring significant costs of maintenance. To limit these inconveniences, certain manufacturers developed wind turbines based on synchronous machines with large number of pairs of poles coupled directly with the turbine, avoiding using the multiplier. If the generator is equipped with permanent magnets, the system of rings and brooms is eliminated. The control of the permanent magnet synchronous generator (PMSG) can be affected with the implementation of various techniques of control. This paper presented a new approach mainly based on the control strategy of power production system based on the PMSG. In fact, a mathematical model that simulates the Matlab chain was established with the introduction of control techniques, such as direct control of the torque (DTC) to control the load side converter (LSC), the control of the speed of the turbine and the DC-bus voltage ensured by PI regulators. To show the performance of the correctors used, some simulation results of the system were presented and analyzed.
Liquid breakup in fuel spray and atomization significantly affects the consequent mixture formation, combustion behavior, and emission formation processes in a direct injection diesel engine. In this paper, different models for liquid breakup processes in high-pressure dense diesel sprays and its impact on multi-dimensional diesel engine simulation have been evaluated against experimental observations, along with the influence of the liquid breakup models and the sensitivity of model parameters on diesel sprays and diesel engine simulations. It is found that the modified Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH)–Rayleigh-Taylor (RT) breakup model gives the most reasonable predicted results in both engine simulation and high-pressure diesel spray simulation. For the standard KH-RT model, the model constant Cbl for the breakup length has a significant effect on the predictability of the model, and a fixed value of the constant Cbl cannot provide a satisfactory result for different operation conditions. The Taylor-analogy-breakup (TAB) based models and the RT model do not provide reasonable predictions for the characteristics of high-pressure sprays and simulated engine performance and emissions.
Today, induction machines are playing, thanks to their robustness, an important role in world industries. Although they are quite reliable, they have become the target of various types of defects. Thus, for a long time, many research laboratories have been focusing their works on the theme of diagnosis in order to find the most efficient technique to predict a fault in an early stage and to avoid an unplanned stopping in the chain of production and costs ensuing. In this paper, an approach called Park’s vector product approach (PVPA) was proposed which was endowed with a dominant sensitivity in the case in which there would be rotor or stator faults. To show its high sensitivity, it was compared with the classical methods such as motor current signature analysis (MCSA) and techniques studied in recent publications such as motor square current signature analysis (MSCSA), Park’s vector square modulus (PVSM) and Park-Hilbert (P-H) (PVSMP-H). The proposed technique was based on three main steps. First, the three-phase currents of the induction motor led to a Park’s vector. Secondly, the proposed PVPA was calculated to show the distinguishing spectral signatures of each default and specific frequencies. Finally, simulation and experimental results were presented to confirm the theoretical assumptions.
This paper investigated the flow distribution and total pressure drop across a designed 3-D filter housing integrated with a 3-stage filtration system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The filter housing model was proposed for a heavy-duty industrial gas turbine plant operating at an average ambient temperature of 20°C.The pressure drops across the classes of filters were 652.8 Pa, 2692.2 Pa, 887.8 Pa, 776.2 Pa and 2304.2 Pa for I-GB, GB-GA, GA-FA, FA-HA, and HA-O, respectively. The results obtained indicated an acceptable total pressure drop of 7.2% for the entire filter housing before filter clean-up. Although the CFD simulation result shows that small outlet flow velocity and transonic flows exist at the outlet of the filter housing, the designed filter housing was proved compatible with the studied GT, for inlet flow conditions between 600≤W air≤610 kg/s and 60≤v air≤70 m/s for the air flow rate and velocity, respectively. Furthermore, the designed filter housing could be adopted for the studied GT and locations of Usan and Maiduguri in Nigeria, and other locations with similar environmental conditions.
A novel controller is proposed to regulate the DC-link voltage of a single phase active power filter (SPAPF). The proposed switched fractional controller (SFC) consists of a conventional PI controller, a fractional order PI (FO-PI) controller and a decision maker that switches between them. Commonly, the conventional PI controller is used in regulation loops due to its advantages in steady-state but it is limited in transient state. On the other hand, the FO-PI controller overcomes these drawbacks but it causes dramatic degradation in control performances in steady-state because of the fractional calculus theory and the approximation method used to implement this kind of controller. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to switch to the PI controller in steady-state to obtain the best power quality and to switch to the FO-PI controller when external disturbances are detected to guarantee a fast transient state. To investigate the efficiency and accuracy of the SFC considering all robustness tests, an experimental setup has been established. The results of the SFC fulfill the requirements, confirm its high performances in steady and transient states and demonstrate its feasibility and effectiveness. The experiment results have satisfied the limit specified by the IEEE harmonic standard 519.
There is a considerable number of works devoted to electrical characteristics of grounding. These characteristics are important in general. However, in application to grounding of transmission line towers they are not enough to determine what grounding construction is preferable in some particular case, because these characteristics are calculated or measured apart from the grounded object, and only limited number of current (or voltage) source waveforms is used. This paper indicates reasons in favor of the fact that to choose the optimum design of grounding, the calculation model should include the tower as it is. The probability of back flashover, which provides both qualitative and quantitative estimate of the grounding structure efficiency, can be taken as the criterion for the grounding design. The insulation flashover probability is calculated on the basis of engineering method, which evaluates breakdown strength of insulation for nonstandard waveshapes, and probability data on lightning currents. Different approaches are examined for identifying the back flashover probability, as not only amplitudes but also other parameters can be taken into account. Finite-difference time-domain method is used for calculations of transients. It is found that lightning current waveform can greatly influence calculated back flashover probability value.
Solar photo voltaic array (SPVA) generates a smaller amount of power than the standard rating of the panel due to the partial shading effect. Since the modules of the arrays receive different solar irradiations, the P-V characteristics of photovoltaic (PV) arrays contain multiple peaks or local peaks. This paper presents an innovative method (magic square) in order to increase the generated power by configuring the modules of a shaded photovoltaic array. In this approach, the physical location of the modules in the total cross tied (TCT) connected in the solar PV array is rearranged based on the magic square arrangement pattern. This connection is done without altering any electrical configurations of the modules in the PV array. This method can distribute the shading effect over the entire PV array, without concentrating on any row of modules and can achieve global peaks. For different types of shading patterns, the output power of the solar PV array with the proposed magic square configuration is compared with the traditional configurations and the performance is calculated. This paper presents a new reconfiguration technique for solar PV arrays, which increases the PV power under different shading conditions. The proposed technique facilitates the distribution of the effect of shading over the entire array, thereby, reducing the mismatch losses caused by partial shading. The theoretical calculations are tested through simulations in Matlab/Simulink to validate the results. A comparison of power loss for different types of topologies under different types of shading patterns for a 4 × 4 array is also explained.
Congestion of transmission line is a vital issue and its management pose a technical challenge in power system deregulation. Congestion occurs in deregulated electricity market when transmission capacity is not sufficient to simultaneously accommodate all constraints of power transmission through a line. Therefore, to manage congestion, a locational marginal price (LMP) based zonal congestion management approach in a deregulated electricity market has been proposed in this paper. As LMP is an economic indicator and its difference between two buses across a transmission line provides the measure of the degree of congestion, therefore, it is efficiently and reliably used in deregulated electricity market for congestion management. This paper utilizes the difference of LMP across a transmission line to categorize various congestion zones in the system. After the identification of congestion zones, distributed generation is optimally placed in most congestion sensitive zones using LMP difference in order to manage congestion. The performance of the proposed methodology has been tested on the IEEE 14-bus system and IEEE 57-bus system.