This thesis discusses the results of an investigation that was initiated in January 1996 to determine the root cause of the increasing fault trend in respect of transient earth faults on the 275 kV transmission grid in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Historically it was thought that the persistently poor performance of this network was caused by pollution faults. This network was reinsulated with silicone composite insulators, and cane fire as well as veld fire management programmes were introduced. These projects did not result in a consistently decreasing fault trend on this 275 kV transmission grid. The burn marks caused by the power arcs, which were identified in this study, appeared to indicate that air gap breakdown was occurring. Birds were also observed in close proximity to the faulted towers. Consequently it was thought that bird streamers caused the transmission line faults. Welded rod bird guards designed to prevent bird streamer faults were installed on eighteen 275 kV transmission lines. The accumulative length of these transmission lines is 932 km. The implementation of this initiative coincided with a 73% reduction in the total number of transient earth faults. This improvement in performance indicates a strong statistical correlation showing that a large number of the transient earth faults on the transmission grid are related to bird streamers. Bird streamer induced faults were identified by means of the following diagnostic techniques: • Burn mark analysis • Time-of-day analysis Bird streamer line faults have been observed on I string, V string and strain jumper assemblies on the 275 kV power lines. However, on the 400 kV power lines bird streamer faults have only been observed on V string assemblies. Experimental work involved simulated bird streamers and determining the minimum flashover distance for AC system voltages. Electric field measurements by means of a capacitive probe were undertaken at the ground plane. The electric field measurements at the ground plane under bird streamer intrusion confirm that if the streamer is moved away from the live tower hardware, the electric field enhancement at the ground plane decreases below the background streamer propagation field. This case study determined that in order to prevent bird streamer faults the bird streamer must be moved away from the live tower hardware. The distance it must be moved is at least 900 mm for 275 kV power lines and 1 100 mm for 400 kV lines. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-125).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Montana State University--Bozeman, 2006. / Typescript. Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Hashem Nehrir. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 133-138).

Thesis (MTech (Quality (Engineering)))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2016. / The research study establishes the maturity level of the outage process of the Outage Management Department at Eskom. The outage process started in 2012 to contribute to the effective planning and execution of outages. The successful completion of outages depends on effective planning and execution of an outage. At the time of the research study, poor outage performance at Eskom’s power stations contributed to load shedding of electricity in South Africa. The research problem statement reads as follows: The absence of an outage process maturity indicator diminishes the ability of the Outage Management Department (OMD) to comprehend the current process maturity level. The research question: Will the Outage Management Department be able to identify improvement opportunities if the maturity level of the outage process is established? iv The key research objectives are: • To consider how process maturity enables improvement. • To identify critical elements in an outage process. • To determine what is included in outage planning, control and improvement. • To identify a suitable process maturity model. • To identify a measurement instrument to determine the maturity level of Eskom’s outage process The research study uses a descriptive research design and applies the survey research method. Greener and Martelli’s (2015: Online) Business Research Process (Sources: Greener & Martelli, 2015: Online) is used together with Farooq’s Research Steps for Survey Research (2015, Online). The survey questionnaire adopted from Smith’s Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Maturity Matrix (2013: Online) was used to develop the survey questionnaire. The author developed the Outage Management Maturity Framework by combining Business Process Management Maturity model and a Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Maturity Matrix. The research finding is that a process maturity model can determine the maturity level of the outage process and is useful as a process improvement tool. The research findings rank the maturity level of the outage process at Level 2, Experimenting.

Thesis (MTech (Quality))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2017. / The research study establishes the maturity level of the outage process of the Outage Management Department at Eskom. The outage process started in 2012 to contribute to the effective planning and execution of outages. The successful completion of outages depends on effective planning and execution of an outage. At the time of the research study, poor outage performance at Eskom’s power stations contributed to load shedding of electricity in South Africa. The research problem statement reads as follows: The absence of an outage process maturity indicator diminishes the ability of the Outage Management Department (OMD) to comprehend the current process maturity level. The research question: Will the Outage Management Department be able to identify improvement opportunities if the maturity level of the outage process is established? The key research objectives are: • To consider how process maturity enables improvement. • To identify critical elements in an outage process. • To determine what is included in outage planning, control and improvement. • To identify a suitable process maturity model. • To identify a measurement instrument to determine the maturity level of Eskom’s outage process The research study uses a descriptive research design and applies the survey research method. Greener and Martelli’s (2015: Online) Business Research Process (Sources: Greener & Martelli, 2015: Online) is used together with Farooq’s Research Steps for Survey Research (2015, Online). The survey questionnaire adopted from Smith’s Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Maturity Matrix (2013: Online) was used to develop the survey questionnaire. The author developed the Outage Management Maturity Framework by combining Business Process Management Maturity model and a Maintenance Planning and Scheduling Maturity Matrix. The research finding is that a process maturity model can determine the maturity level of the outage process and is useful as a process improvement tool. The research findings rank the maturity level of the outage process at Level 2, Experimenting.

Orientador: José Alfredo Covolan Ulson / Coorientador: Paulo Sérgio da Silva / Coorientador: Rui Manoel Esteves Araújo / Banca: Rogério Andrade Flauzino / Banca: Rodrigo Augusto Modesto / Banca: Paulo José Amaral Serni / Banca: Fernando de Souza Campos / Resumo: Neste trabalho, é realizado o estudo da aplicação da inversão de sistemas dinâmicos para diagnóstico de falhas nos IGBTs dos conversores de potência de dois nı́veis CA-CC-CA bi-direcionais (back-to-back) aplicados na geração de energia elétrica com fonte eólica por meio de geradores de indução duplamente alimentados. Inicialmente à falha detectada, pode-se avançar para o diagnóstico do IGBT que apresenta a mesma; para tal propósito, utiliza-se o método do produto interno L 2 . Desta forma, com a detecção da falha e o di- agnóstico do componente, esta tese aborda um modo de tornar o conversor aqui estudado tolerante às falhas oriundas nos IGBTs. Com isso, adiciona a redundância fı́sica com a adição de um braço extra que permanece ocioso na ausência de falha e, caso contrário, assume o lugar do braço que apresenta a falha. O principal objetivo é demonstrar que a inversão dinâmica de sistemas pode ser utilizada como uma ferramenta de redundância analı́tica baseada em modelo; método que reduz custos por estimar sinais sem a neces- sidade de utilizar sensores, ou até mesmo utilizar o método para redundância do sensor. Para validar as ferramentas matemáticas aplicadas por esta tese, um conversor boost foi ensaiado em bancada de teste e sua inversa dinâmica foi discretizada, onde constatou sua funcionalidade em sistema embarcado utilizando um (DSP). Simulações no ambi- ente Matlab/Simulink/SymPowerSystems foram realizadas em pequena escala (gerador de 1,1kVA). Durante as simulações ... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: This thesis, the study of the application of the inversion of dynamic systems to diagnose failures in the IGBTs of two-level converter back-to-back applied in the generation of electric energy with a wind power source through double-fed induction generators. Ini- tially to the detected fault, one can proceed to the diagnosis of the IGBT that presents the same; for this purpose, the L 2 -inner product method is used. Thus, with the fault detection and component diagnosis, this thesis approaches a way to make the converter studied here fault tolerant from the IGBTs. This adds physical redundancy to the addi- tion of an extra arm that remains idle in the absence of failure and otherwise takes over the arm that has the fault. The main objective is to demonstrate that dynamic system inversion can be used as a model-based analytical redundancy tool; a method that reduces costs by estimating signals without the need to use sensors, or even use the method for sensor redundancy. In order to validate the mathematical tools applied by this thesis, a boost converter was tested on the test bench and its dynamic inverse was discretized, where it verified its functionality in an embedded system using a (DSP). Simulations in the Matlab/Simulink/SymPowerSystems environment were performed on a small scale (1.1kVA generator). During the simulations, the faults were inserted and the robustness of the methods studied for detection, diagnosis and fault tolerance was verified with the operation of ... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

No description available.

Networked systems integrating software with the physical world are known as cyber-physical systems (CPSs). CPSs have been used in diverse sectors, including power generation and distribution, transportation, industrial systems, and building management. The diversity of applications and interdisciplinary nature make CPSs exciting to design and build but challenging to manage once deployed. Deployed CPSs must adapt to changes in the operating environment or the system's architecture, e.g., when outdated or malfunctioning components need to be replaced. Skilled human operators have traditionally performed such adaptations using centralized management protocols. As the CPS grows, management tasks become more complex, tedious, and error-prone. This dissertation studies management challenges in deployed CPSs. It is based on practical research with CPSs of various sizes and diverse application domains, from the large geographically dispersed electrical grid to small-scale consumer Internet of Things (IoT) systems. We study the management challenges unique to each system and propose network services and protocols specifically designed to reduce the amount of management overhead, drawing inspiration from autonomic systems and networking research. We first introduce PhoenixSEN, a self-managing ad hoc network designed to restore connectivity in the electrical grid after a large-scale outage. The electrical grid is a large, heterogeneous, geographically dispersed CPS. We analyze the U.S. electrical grid network subsystem, propose an ad hoc network to temporarily replace the network subsystem during a blackout, and discuss the experimental evaluation of the network on a one-of-a-kind physical electrical grid testbed. The novel aspects of PhoenixSEN lie in a combination of existing and new network technologies and manageability by power distribution industry operators. Motivated by the challenges of running unmodified third-party applications in an ad hoc network like PhoenixSEN, we propose a geographic resource discovery and query processing service for federated CPSs called SenSQL. The service combines a resource discovery protocol inspired by the LoST protocol with a standard SQL-based query interface. SenSQL aims to simplify the development of applications for federated or administratively decoupled autonomous cyber-physical systems without a single administrative or technological point of failure. The SenSQL framework balances control over autonomous cyber-physical devices and their data with service federation, limiting the application's reliance on centralized infrastructures or services. We conclude the first part of the dissertation by presenting the design and implementation of a testbed for usability experiments with mission-critical voice, a vital communication modality in PhoenixSEN, and during emergency scenarios in general. The testbed can be used to conduct human-subject studies under emulated network conditions to assess the influence of various network parameters on the end-user's quality of experience. The second dissertation part focuses on network enrollment of IoT devices, a management process that is often complicated, frustrating, and error-prone, particularly in consumer-oriented systems. We motivate the work by reverse-engineering and analyzing Amazon Echo's network enrollment protocol. The Echo is one of the most widely deployed IoT devices and, thus, an excellent case study. We learn that the process is rather complicated and cumbersome. We then present a systematic study of IoT network enrollment with a focus on consumer IoT devices in advanced deployment scenarios, e.g., third-party installations, shared physical spaces, or evolving IoT systems. We evaluate existing frameworks and their shortcoming and propose WIDE, a network-independent enrollment framework designed to minimize user interactions to enable advanced deployment scenarios. WIDE is designed for large-scale or heterogeneous IoT systems where multiple independent entities cooperate to set the system up. We also discuss the design of a human-subject study to compare and contrast the usability of network enrollment frameworks. A secure network must authenticate a new device before it can be enrolled. The authentication step usually requires physical device access, which may be impossible in many advanced deployment scenarios, e.g., when IoT devices are installed by a specialist in physically unreachable locations. We propose Lighthouse, a visible-light authentication protocol for physically inaccessible IoT devices. We discuss the protocol's design, develop transmitter and receiver prototypes, and evaluate the system. Our measurements with off-the-shelf components over realistic distances indicate authentication times shorter or comparable with existing methods involving gaining physical access to the device. We also illustrate how the visible-light authentication protocol could be used as another authentication method in other network enrollment frameworks.

Reliability and restoration are important considerations in electric distribution systems. Reliability analysis is generally considered as a design tool to be used to improve the performance of the system. Restoration analysis is generally considered as a tool to be used for outaged situations. Reliability and restoration analysis are related, and some of the relationships are pointed to in this work. / Ph. D.

This research analyzes the linkage between power system disturbances and failures in relaying systems. The annual disturbance reports prepared by the North American Electric Reliability Council were examined. It has been found that relaying system failures plays very important role in power system cascading outages. The type of relaying system failures that are the most troublesome are the ones that have a potential to remain hidden until being exposed by some abnormal power system states to trigger relay misoperations. Each commonly used relaying scheme in transmission system is examined for any hidden failures that can lead to relay misoperations and multiple power system contingencies. Each hidden failure mode has a region, called region of vulnerability. Inside this region, some abnormal power system states can expose the hidden failure. The reach of the region depends largely on the settings of the relay in question. A method of computing the relative importance of each region of vulnerability, called vulnerability index, was proposed. The calculation of the index can be based on some measurements of power system performances. In this research, the stability measurements of the system following some contingencies that may occur in the region are chosen. With this approach, vulnerable relays can be identified. A preventive method was proposed so that the number of relay misoperations due to hidden failures and, ultimately, the number of power system disturbances can be reduced. / Ph. D.