The aim of this research project is to investigate and implement an effective equipment safety compliance system within the Queensland electrical entity ENERGEX and to influence Australian testing practices. The implementation of this work has facilitated the development of an Asset Management model for safety equipment and instrumentation to achieve compliance and effective management of $20M of assets. The work involved six projects to assist in the development of department ENERGEX - RedEquip compliance system. * Development of an Asset Management System to record test results, frequency, test method. * Redevelopment of Queensland Code for safety Equipment between ENERGEX and Ergon Energy * Portable Earthing Testing requirements and techniques * HV fibreglass stick testing to IEC 60855 and specific ENERGEX and Powerlink test criteria. * EWP testing to comply to AS 1418.10 - 2004 Cranes Elevating work platforms which have dramatically changed the EWP test methods. * Pole Leakage detector requirements The work has resulted in ENERGEX -RedEquip becoming an industry leader in safety equipment compliance testing. The thesis presents many findings based on the projects undertaken. The findings have resulted in major changes to testing frequencies of equipment and proposed new test methods. The major theme to this work was Safety and Testing, to align the two and provide a system that would satisfy the Queensland Electrical Safety Act 2002. The thesis is based on the individual work undertaken by the author to support this overall theme. The Asset management and Inspection Testing document project are fundamental in establishing the systems to manage safety compliance for ENERGEX. The other projects were a selection of individual equipment issues to demonstrate the complexity of equipment testing that need to be resolved.

Arc flash is one of the two primary hazards encountered by workers near electrical equipment. Most applications where arc flash may be encountered are alternating current (AC) electrical systems. However, direct current (DC) electrical systems are becoming increasingly prevalent with industries implementing more renewable energy sources and energy storage devices. Little research has been performed with respect to arc flash hazards posed by DC electrical systems, particularly energy storage devices. Furthermore, current standards for performing arc flash calculations do not provide sufficient guidance when working in DC applications. IEEE 1584-2002 does not provide recommendations for DC electrical systems. NFPA 70E provides recommendations based on conservative theoretical models, which may result in excessive personal protective equipment (PPE). Arc flash calculations seek to quantify incident energy, which quantifies the amount of thermal energy that a worker may be exposed to at some working distance. This thesis assesses arc flash hazards within a substation backup battery system. In addition, empirical data collected via a series of tests utilizing retired station batteries is presented. Lastly, a predictive model for determining incident energy is proposed, based on collected data.

A safe electrical connection between the human body and the recording circuit is required for the acquisition of physiological signals such as the electrocardiogram (ECG), electroneurogram (ENG), or electromyogram (EMG). The recording chip is conventionally connected to the human body through a blocking capacitor. The capacitor avoids any DC current flowing from the recording system into the patient¡¦s body in the case of chip failure. However, the large capacitor area in an integrated chip and its effect on the signal transform function make the use of a coupling capacitor undesirable. In principle, a DC-coupled system can be used to overcome this limitation. The DC-coupled amplifier connects directly to the patient. However, a DC failure current caused, for example, by a gate-oxide short failure could harm the patient. To detect a dangerous condition, a safety monitoring system is proposed in this thesis. The safety monitoring system applies a test signal and physiological signals to the amplifier input. The disappearance of the test signal in the event of circuit failure is detected at the amplifier output. The recording system can then be switched into a safe state. The analysis of the monitoring system, its design procedure and simulation results are presented in this thesis. Moreover, the first measured results are reported for a system realized as an integrated circuit in TSMC 0.35 £gm 2P4M CMOS process technology.

The continuing trend toward larger longwall mining systems has resulted in the utilization of higher system voltages. The increase in system voltage levels has caused the industry to face complexities not experienced with the lower-voltage systems. One such complexity arises from the larger system capacitance that results from the outby configuration commonly used on 4,160-V longwall power systems. Simulations show that during a line-to-ground fault, the larger system capacitance can cause a situation where the ground current sensed by the ground-fault relays in unfaulted circuits is greater than the mandated ground-fault relay pick-up setting. Simulations show that ground-fault relaying selectivity is potentially lost as a result of this situation. Two alternatives were identified which could improve ground-fault relaying selectivity. They are: the application of a directional relaying scheme and increasing the ground-fault relay pick-up setting. It was determined that directional relays have an application to high-voltage longwall power systems as the ground current sensed by the relay in the unfaulted circuits is out of phase with the ground-fault current sensed by the relay in the faulted circuit. Furthermore, it was determined that raising the ground-fault relay pick-up setting by a factor of eight would also improve ground-fault relaying selectivity. A safety analysis considering the potential for electrocution and the power dissipated by the maximum fault resistance showed that increasing the pick-up setting by a factor of eight would have no detriment to safety. Therefore, either method would improve ground-fault relaying selectivity on high-voltage longwall mining systems, yet because of the escalating size of longwall systems, a directional relaying scheme is a longer term solution. / Master of Science

Som en del av Elsäkerhetsverkets klimatanpassningsarbete undersöktes i detta examensarbete vilken kunskap som finns kring personsäkerhet vid översvämning av lågspänningsanläggningar, samt huruvida vanligt förekommande elapparater och elcentraler läcker ut ström när de nedsänks i vatten. Informationsinhämtning skedde genom sökning i artikeldatabaser. Sökningarna resulterade främst i artiklar om person-säkerhet i andra typer av vattenmiljöer med elanläggningar, i huvudsak båt- och hamnmiljöer. Mätningar på ett urval av eluttag, kopplingsdosor och elcentraler nedsänkta i vatten respresenativt för dagvatten visade att samtliga läckte ut ström till en jordelektrod på 1,2 m avstånd, förutom en elcentral av metall med jordat hölje och stängd dörr. De flesta läckströmmar var större än gränsvärden för farlig strömstyrka. Säkringar på 16 A och 25 A löste ut först vid vattenkonduktivitet representativt för havsvatten. Vid mätningarna uppmättes farliga potentialer i vattnet kring apparaterna och centralerna. Simuleringar med dataprogram visade att det elektriska fältets utbredning kunde påverkas stort av den specifika geometrin i rummet, med främmande ledande delar och olika konduktivitet i väggar och golv. Det bekräftar att strömfördelning och det elektriska fältets utbredning i reella översvämningsmiljöer  är svårförutsägbart. / As a part of the work by the Swedish Electrical Safety Authority to adapt rules and regulations to future climate changes, this thesis investigate the present knowledge about personal safety during flooding of low voltage distribution systems and private electrical utilities. It also investigate if common electrical equipment and distribution boxes leak current when immersed in water. Information seeking was done by searches in article databases. The search results mainly concerned personal safety in other types of  environments with water and electric facilities, mostly boats and marinas. Measurements on a selection of electric equipment and distrbution boxes immersed in water, representative of surface water, showed that all but one produced leak current in the water to a ground electrode at a distance of 1,2 m. Only a metal distribution box with grounded casing and closed door did not produce leak current in the water. Most of the leak currents exceeded limits for dangerous current levels. Dangerous potenatials where recorded in the water surrounding the equipment. Simulations with computer programs showed that the distribution of the electrical field could be greatly affected by the particular environment, consisting of different metal structures common in buildings and different conductivity in walls and floor. It confirms that current split and distribution of electric fields i real flooded environments are hard to predict.

Les conditionneurs alternatifs – continu à absorption sinusoïdale (PFC) pour les applications critiques se distinguent par un haut niveau de performances tel que les THD réduits, un haut rendement et une bonne fiabilité. Leur importance est d’autant plus nécessaire qu’une continuité de service des alimentations est requise même en présence d’une défaillance interne de composant. Deux types de structures associées à leur commande sont réalisés à cet effet, les structures à redondance parallèle et les structure à redondance en série. Elles consistent respectivement en l’ajout d’un bras d’interrupteur dans le cas de la redondance parallèle, qui est une option plus compliquée et en une suppression d’une cellule de commutation dans le deuxième cas. L’étude présentée ici, consiste en premier lieu en une exploration et une évaluation de nouvelles familles de topologies multi-niveaux, caractérisée par un partitionnement cellulaire en série. Ces nouvelles topologies, ainsi que leurs variantes, comportent au moins une redondance structurelle avec des cellules mono-transistor à défaut de commande non critique et symétriques à point-milieu. Elles sont donc génériques pour la mise en parallèle et l’extension en triphasé. Cependant, elles sont pour la plupart peu compétitives à cause des composants qui sont souvent surdimensionnés et donc plus onéreuses, en comparaison avec la structure PFC Double-Boost 5 Niveaux à composants standards 600 V (brevetée par l’INPT – LAPLACE –CNRS en 2008) que nous étudions. Cette dernière constitue le meilleur compromis entre un bon rendement et une maîtrise des contraintes en mode dégradé. Sur le plan théorique nous montrons que le seul calcul de fiabilité basé uniquement sur un critère de premier défaut est inadapté pour décrire ce type de topologie. La prise en compte de la tolérance de panne est nécessaire et permet d'évaluer la fiabilité globale sur une panne effective (i.e. au second défaut). L'adaptation de modèles théoriques de fiabilité à taux de défaillance constant mais prenant en compte, au niveau de leurs paramètres, le report de contrainte en tension et l'augmentation de température qui résulte d'un premier défaut, permet de chiffrer en valeur relative, le gain obtenu sur un temps court. Ce résultat est compatible avec les systèmes embarqués et la maintenance conditionnelle. Un prototype monophasé de PFC double-boost 5 niveaux à commande entièrement numérique et à MLI optimisée reconfigurable en temps réelle a été réalisé afin de valider l’étude. Il permet une adaptation automatique de la topologie de 5 à 4 puis 3 niveaux par exemple. Ce prototype a également servi de test d'endurance aux transistors CoolMos et diodes SiC volontairement détruits dans des conditions d'énergie maîtrisée et reproductibles. D’autres campagnes d'endurance en modes dégradés ont été réalisées en laboratoire sur plusieurs centaines d’heures en utilisant ce même prototype. Nous nous sommes axés sur la détection de défauts internes et le diagnostic (localisation) rapide, d'une part par la surveillance directe et le seuillage des tensions internes (tensions flottantes) et d'autre part, par la détection d’harmoniques (amplitude et phase) en temps réel. Ces deux techniques ont été intégrées numériquement et évaluées sur le prototype, en particulier la seconde qui ne requiert qu'un seul capteur. Enfin, nous proposons une nouvelle variante PFC expérimentée en fin de mémoire, utilisant deux fois moins de transistors et de drivers pour les mêmes performances fréquentielles au prix d'un rendement et d'une répartition des pertes légèrement moins favorable que la structure brevetée. / This work is an exploration and an evaluation of new variants of multi-level AC/DC topologies (PFC) considering their global reliability and availability: electrical safety with an internal failure and post-failure operation. They are based on a non-differential AC and centre tap connection that led to symmetrical arrangement cells in series. These topologies permit an intrinsic active redundancy between cells in a same group and a segregation capability between the two symmetrical groups of cells. More again, they are modular and they can be paralleled and derived to any number of levels. Only single low-voltage (600V) transistor pear cell is used avoiding the short-circuit risk due to an unwanted control signal. Comparisons, taking into account losses, distribution losses, rating and stresses (overvoltage and over-temperature) during the post-operation are presented. Results highlight the proposed 5-level Double-Boost Flying Capacitor topology. This one was patented at the beginning of thesis, as a solution with the best compromise. On the theoretical side, we show that the reliability calculation based only on a "first fault occurrence" criterion is inadequate to really describe this type of topology. The inclusion of fault tolerance capability is needed to evaluate the overall reliability law (i.e. including a second failure). The adaptation of theoretical models with constant failure rate including overvoltage and over-temperature dependencies exhibit an increasing of the reliability over a short time. This property is an advantage for embedded systems with monitoring condition. Local detection and rapid diagnosis of an internal failure were also examined in this work. Two methods are proposed firstly, by a direct flying caps monitoring and secondly, by a realtime and digital synchronous demodulation of the input sampled voltage at the switching frequency (magnitude and phase). Both techniques have been integrated on FPGA and DSP frame and evaluated on a AC230V-7kW DC800V – 31kHz lab. set-up. We put forward the interest of the second method which only uses one input voltage sensor. Finally, we propose in this dissertation a new generic X-level PFC Vienna using, in 5-level version, half transistors and drivers for identical input frequency and levels. At the cost of a slight increase of losses and density losses, this topology appears very attractive for the future. A preliminary lab. set-up and test were also realized and presented at the end of the thesis.

The thesis deals with the introduction of the measuring instrument SVA - M on the market for compliance with electromagnetic compatibility and electrical safety requirements. Furthermore it deals with determination of measuring accuracy instrument SVA - M and measurement uncertainties. For the determination of accuracy there is a theoretical analysis and subsequent practical measurements.

IEC 60601 elsäkerhetstest används fortfarande på många medicintekniskaavdelningar på sjukhus för testning av utrustning i samband med ankomstkontrolloch reparation. Denna rapport utreder möjligheten att ta fram ett underlag för attbörja implementera IEC 62353 som elsäkerhetsteststandard istället för IEC 60601.Studien fokuserar på huruvida Karolinska Universitetssjukhuset bör tillämpa IEC62353 som sin elsäkerhetsteststandard. Vidare diskuteras även skillnaderna mellande två ovanstående standarderna. Detta görs genom att ta reda på hur KarolinskaUniversitetssjukhuset ställer sig i frågan och informationsinsamling, samt hur IEC62353 standarden tillämpas i industrin.Den information som framställs i resultatet efter kontakt med flera sjukhus visar tvåolika aspekter. Den ena är självständig tillämpning av IEC 62353 som enelsäkerhetsteststandard, den andra är att följa tillverkarens instruktioner. Framtidastudier som kan ge tydligare vägledning ur tillverkarens synvinkel föreslås. / IEC 60601 electrical safety tests are still used in many medical engineeringdepartments in hospitals for testing equipment in connection with arrival controland repair. This report investigates the possibility of producing a basis for starting toimplement IEC 62353 as an electrical safety test standard instead of IEC 60601.The study focuses on whether Karolinska University Hospital should apply IEC62353 as its electrical safety test standard. Furthermore, the differences between thetwo above standards are discussed. This is done by finding out how the KarolinskaUniversity Hospital responds to the question and the collection of information, aswell as how the IEC 62353 standard is applied in industry.The information presented in the results after contact with several hospitals showstwo different aspects. One is an independent application of IEC 62353 as an electricalsafety test standard, the other is to follow the manufacturer's instructions. Futurestudies that can provide clearer guidance from the manufacturer's point of view arerecommended.