The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 5, 2009). Thesis advisor: Dr. Wooseung Jang. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Eng.)--Memorial University of Newfoundland, 2003. / Bibliography: leaves 254-261.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). "January 2006." Includes bibliographical references (p. [173]-182). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:22:35Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2006-05-02Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:07:41Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_l_me_ilha.pdf: 1220297 bytes, checksum: 8114f0f4e2845064643f9a6f61a9b362 (MD5) / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / Este trabalho está direcionado à implementação de uma modelagem que venha possibilitar a realização dos cálculos das perdas técnicas no cobre do transformador trifásico de distribuição operando em condições não-senoidais, através da utilização do valor médio de Distorção Harmônica Total de Corrente drenada por suas cargas. Essa implementação visa facilitar a obtenção dos valores das perdas técnicas para múltiplas unidades transformadoras. Para atingir o objetivo mencionado, realizou-se um ensaio em curto-circuito através de ensaios experimentais aplicadas em uma unidade transformadora trifásica de distribuição com 15 kVA de capacidade. A fonte trifásica de alimentação utilizada na atividade proporciona o ajuste de tensão e da freqüência, possibilitando obter os valores de resistências CA dos enrolamentos do transformador para diferentes ordens harmônicas. Com o propósito de validar esta nova proposta, foi realizada uma análise confrontando-se os dados obtidos através da modelagem proposta neste trabalho e de uma outra bastante difundida pela literatura atual. Os cálculos foram efetuados utilizando-se dados de distorções harmônicas de correntes oriundas de medições de ramais de distribuição. Através da comparação dos resultados obtidos é possível verificar a validade da modelagem proposta. / This work is addressed to the implementation of a modeiling that comes to make possible the calculations of the technical losses in the copper of three-phase distribution transformers operating under non-sinusoidal conditions, using the médium value of Total Current Harmónio Distortion. This implementation seeks to provide easiness in the obtaining of the values of the technical losses for multiple transformer units in non-sinusoidal environment. Aiming to reach the mentioned objective, it was carried out a test in short circuit through appiied experimental activities in a three-phase distribution transformer unit with 15 k VA capacity. The three-phase source used in the activity provides the voltage and the frequency adjustment, making possible to obtain the values ofca resistances ofthe windings ofthe transformer for some harmónio orders. With the purpose ofvalidating this new proposal, an analysis was accomplished being confronted the data obtained through the modeiling proposed in this work with another one quite spread in the current literature. The calculations were carried out using current harmónio distortion data of measurements in distribution branch lines. Through the comparison of the obtained results it is possible to verify the validity ofthe proposed modeiling.

M.Ing. (Engineering Management) / Electricity is a crucial key component in every day life influencing the economy, safety; health, productivity and comfort just to name a few. The benefits and importance of electricity can be easily taken for granted by the consumer. Towards the end of 2007, South Africa suffered numerous power outages and that lead to the implementation of load shedding by Eskom, the electricity utility in South Africa, in order to manage the shortage of electricity. Electricity utilities constantly make decisions that affect the cost, reliability and quality of their services. Therefore engineering designs and maintenance strategies should be updated frequently. The benefits of these updates to the system would have a significant performance improvement in regards to reliability and the quality of the electricity. The outline of asset management is therefore to focus on the business assets so that the organisation could serve the customers effectively. As a result, the focus for the research is to develop a life cycle management plan for one of the main assets utilised in the distribution network namely power transformers. The research would include a study of power transformers and customs that could be used to improve the reliability, logistics, safety and the capital investments of the network. Power transformers are static equipment, and failure rate is very low compared to other assets found in substations. As a result of their sizes, transformers requires more time and special arrangements should a failure occur. A risk and condition analysis was conducted on transformers and the results and conclusions were discussed.

M.Ing. (Electrical & Electronic Engineering) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

M.Ing. / Low profile power electronics components are currently in great demand. The rapid advances in semiconductor and micro-electronics technology during the last ten years have played a major role in the creation of this demand. These advances are in turn driven by the need for compact design in computing, communication, consumer electronic goods and control systems with direct consequences in power supply design and manufacture. The study covered by this thesis involves the design, manufacture and thermal analysis of a planar inductor, which is a typical planar power electronics component. First, a throughout literature survey of planar magnetics revealed that satisfactory experimental procedures for the thermal analysis of passive power electronic components under operating conditions representative of modern applications are seldomly applied. Secondly, a computer based field-solver program and analytical methods are used to design and analyse a planar inductor. The applicability of different methods for determination of low power loss in passive components is discussed next. Finally, an experimental method suitable for low power loss determination is proposed and investigated. This method can be used in the analysis of inductors or capacitors of different sizes. It has a wide spectrum of application due to the advantages of frequency independence and different possible power levels.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Engineering / The sudden failure of oil paper-insulated current transformers has become a problem of considerable concern due to the cost of the resulting destruction, and danger to personnel. The aim of the dissertation is to determine the most suitable method of detecting incipient faults in current transformers, test this method on an experimental current transformer, and finally implement this technique in a low cost on-line monitor. A literature survey indicated that hydrogen gas-in-oil on-line monitoring would be the most suitable technique.(Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2019

Geomagnetically induced currents (GIC) could saturate a transformer core. Two significant effects are the abnormal stray flux in transformers and extremely large harmonic contents in excitation currents, which can lead to serious equipment damage and power system misoperation. Such incidents have occurred during the March 1989 K-9 solar magnetic disturbance. This dissertation starts with a systematically study of transformer magnetization under GIC. It reviews both dc and ac saturation patterns of five transformer core designs. Magnetic fields along various traverses for dc excitation are presented. Impedance matrix entries of a single phase transformer are compared for normal and dc operations. New observations have been formed based on the simulation results. The study helps to reveal the fundamental transformer magnetization mechanism under GIC in order to assess potential stray flux heating possibilities of geologically vulnerable transformer units. Based on the finite element analysis, an improved method of modeling transformer excitation under dc bias using equivalent magnetic circuit is developed. There are two unique points in this approach: first, information of 3D finite element magnetic flux distribution analysis is used to construct and verify the circuit model; second, the effect of the transformer tank: is included The model is capable of simulating transformer excitation currents under different levels of dc bias with good accuracy. As a consequence, the complete variations of excitation current harmonics with respect to an extended range of dc bias are revealed. The sensitivity of transformer winding impedances and core loss on the excitation characteristics are examined. The saturated transformer under no-load and various loading conditions is simulated. A laboratory test is performed on a small scale transformer and compared with the model results. Excitation harmonics generated from dc biased three phase transformer banks with different types of equivalent loads are also simulated The effect of both unbalanced dc excitations and unbalanced loads are investigated The results of this study contribute in understanding transformers as harmonic sources and the impact on power systems during a geomagnetic disturbance. / Ph. D.

In high-frequency power transformers, magnetic material properties cannot be assumed to be constant. These properties vary with frequency, temperature, and magnetic flux density. Heat generation is, in turn, a function of the magnetic permeability, magnetic flux density, and frequency. Current design methods are either empirical or based on linear, uncoupled models. To better understand the relationship between heat transfer, magnetic flux density, material properties, and core geometry in a miniature, high-frequency transformer, a finite-element program has been developed to solve the coupled thermal-magnetic equations for an axisymmetric transformer. The program accounts for nonlinear temperature and magnetic field dependent material properties, geometry, and driving frequency. The program, HT-MAG, is based on a series of derived magnetic field equations. The Ritz method is applied to the magnetic and thermal equations in the development of the program. The program alternately solves the finite element approximations to the thermal and magnetic governing equations until the magnetic properties match within a specified fraction or a maximum number of iterations are performed. In addition, the program can be linked with existing pre- and post-processors or can accept manual pre- and post-processing. Six test cases were run to test the validity of the program. The first two cases tested the uncoupled heat transfer calculations. One of these tested the thermal conduction calculations while the other tested the heat generation calculations. The next two cases tested the uncoupled magnetic equations. The first was a direct current (DC) case, while the second was an alternating current (AC) case. The final two cases tested the thermal magnetic coupling. Solutions to these cases are presented and discussed. / Master of Science