This work is focused on computer simulations of fractal capacitors. The geometry of capacitors and its influence is investigated. Simulations are realized in programs Matlab, SolidWorks and Comsol Multiphysics. There are also several specific examples of different geometrics of capacitors their comparisons and assessment.

This diploma thesis focuses on noise analysis of different integrated circuits used for generating temperature stable reference voltage. All noise contributions are studied separately and there is shown a way of their minimization. Circuit using external capacitor with pre-charging system is chosen as the best solution. Output noise of all analyzed circuits is compared and characteristics of final band-gap reference are summarized at the end of the work.

At present, the fiber optic ducts are connected by a mechanical type of joint. In this method, two ducts cut in the right angle are pushed in from both sides of the joint, and takes approximately one second to joint ducts together. The problem with the existing joint technology is that if there is water inside of the joint, it will be damaged when the water freezes into ice, and then may cause leakage. There is a risk of explosion when compressed air to blow the fiber. Thus, a joint protection device (silicone rubber sleeve) was developed to seal the joint for protection utterly. However, this will cause the larger size of the entire joint and limit the number of single-duct joints next to each other in a multi-duct joint. Fiber optic ducts are made of High-Density Polyethylene, which is the best plastic for remelting and can be welded by using the electro-fusion welding method. Based on the thermoplasticity of this material, this thesis developed a plastic joint with a built-in conductive metal wire inside. The applied voltage will heat the wire, then remelt the duct surfaces to weld them together through the joint. The welding system uses a portable battery operating system, so there is no need to connect it to the grid. To prevent the battery from being damaged by supplying too much current, a capacitor bank is used to store high energy for the preheating joints. The system uses a microcontroller to control and monitor current and voltage to ensure uniform heating of the metal wire. Theemphasisof this thesis isplacedon the implementation of basic experiments to run the welding system. Multiple welding experiments show that the welding system can manually set parameters to control the welding current of different joints, thereby ensuring the welding quality. Using a 2.5Ω joint to weld ducts will approximately consume 120J from the battery, so a fully charged 42V, 4.4AH rechargeable battery can perform almost 5600 times of welding. The suitable range of joint resistance will decrease as the required energy consumption increases/ the welding time decreases.

M.Tech (Department of Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Technology), Vaal University of Technology. / Due to the fickle nature of weather upon which renewable energy sources mostly depend, a shift towards a sustainable renewable energy system should be accompanied with a good intermediate energy storage system, such as a battery bank, set up to store the excess supply from renewable sources during their peak periods. The stored energy can later be utilised to supply a regulated and steady power supply for use during the off-peak periods of these renewable energy sources. Battery banks, however, are often faced with the challenge of charge imbalance due to the disparities that occur in the operating characteristics of the batteries that constitute a bank. When a battery bank with charge imbalance is repeatedly used in applications without an effective battery management system (BMS) through active charge equalisation, there could be an early degradation, loss of efficiency and reduction of service life of the entire batteries in the bank. In this research, a universal battery management system (BMS) in stand-alone photovoltaic application was proposed and designed. The BMS consists majorly of a switched capacitor (SC) active charge equaliser, designed with a unique configuration of high capacitance and relatively low switching frequency, which can be applicable to common battery types used in stand-alone photovoltaic application. The circuit was mathematically optimised to minimise losses attributed to impulsive charging and tested with lead acid, silver calcium, lead calcium and lithium ion batteries being commonly used in stand-alone photovoltaic application. The SC design was verified by comparing its simulation results to the digital oscilloscope results, and with both results showing similar values and graphs, the design configuration was validated. The design introduced a simple control strategy and less complicated circuit configuration process, which can allow an easy setup for local usage. The benefit of its multiple usage with different stand-alone photovoltaic battery types saves the cost of purchasing a different charger and balancer for different battery types. More so, the design is solar energy dependent. This could provide an additional benefit for usage in areas where energy dependence is off-grid.

Energy efficiency is a key requirement for wireless sensor nodes, biomedical implants, and wearable devices. The energy consumption of the sensor node needs to be minimized to avoid battery replacement, or even better, to enable the device to survive on energy harvested from the ambient. Capacitive sensors do not consume static power; thus, they are attractive from an energy efficiency perspective. In addition, they can be employed in a wide range of sensing applications. However, the sensor readout circuit–i.e., the capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC)–can be the dominant source of energy consumption in the system. Thus, the development of energy-efficient CDCs is crucial to minimizing the energy consumption of capacitive sensor nodes. In the first part of this dissertation, we propose several energy-efficient CDC architectures for low-energy sensor nodes. First, we propose a digitally-controlled coarsefine multislope CDC that employs both current and frequency scaling to achieve significant improvement in energy efficiency. Second, we analyze the limitations of successive approximation (SAR) CDC, and we address these limitations by proposing a robust parasitic-insensitive opamp-based SAR CDC. Third, we propose an inverter-based SAR CDC that achieves an energy efficiency figure-of-merit (FoM) of 31fJ/Step, which is the best energy efficiency FoM reported to date. Fourth, we propose a differential SAR CDC with quasi-dynamic operation to maintain excellent energy efficiency for a scalable sample rate. In the second part of this dissertation, we study the matching properties of small integrated capacitors, which are an integral component of energy-efficient CDCs. Despite conventional wisdom, we experimentally illustrate that the mismatch of small capacitors can be directly measured, and we report mismatch measurements for subfemtofarad integrated capacitors. We also correct the common misconception that lateral capacitors match better than vertical capacitors, and we identify the conditions that make one implementation preferable. In the third and last part of this dissertation, we investigate the potential of novel metal-organic framework (MOF) thin films in capacitive gas sensing. We provide sensitivity-based optimization and simple fabrication flow for capacitive interdigitated electrodes. We use a custom flexible gas sensor test setup that is designed and built in-house to characterize MOF-based capacitive gas sensors.

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Dizertační práce je zaměřena na studium elektrických a dielektrických vlastností iontových kapalin. Iontové kapaliny mohou nacházet uplatnění v široké škále aplikací, především pak v elektrotechnice. Teoretická část se věnuje popisu základních vlastností iontových kapalin a možností jejich uplatnění v kondenzátorech a elektrochemických senzorech plynů. Experimentální část se věnuje použitým metodám charakterizace vlastností iontových kapalin, jsou zde popsány teoretické poznatky o dielektrické spektroskopii včetně metod stanovení fyzikálních vlastností a vyhodnocení experimentálních dat. Experimentální část je rozdělena na dvě základní části. První se věnuje studiu iontových kapalin pro použití jako elektrolytu v kondenzátorech, druhá část se věnuje studiu vlastností připravených experimentálních senzorů na NO2, zejména vlivem vlastností iontových kapalin na sledované parametry senzoru.

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