In power system studies, some parameters cannot be measured directly by using the currently existing power meters. These power system parameters include the power system Thevenin impedance, harmonic impedances, zero sequence impedance, and the load model parameters. The power systems Thevenin impedance at a load bus is an important parameter for power system planning and operation. The effects of changing the system operation conditions on voltages at the load buses can be easily determined if the power system impedance parameters are known. Moreover, by knowing the Thevenin equivalent parameters, one can calculate the systems voltage stability margin and maximum loadability. The knowledge of power system harmonic impedances is necessary for harmonic mitigation, determination of harmonic limit compliance, prediction of system resonance, and harmonic propagation studies. Moreover, real-time monitoring of the systems harmonic impedances provides significant improvements to the design and operation of active filters. The systems zero sequence impedance at the substation bus is also important information for power system studies. It is used to calculate the different ground fault levels at substations. Furthermore, the loads in power systems play a significant role in power system planning, control, and stability analysis. Having reliable and accurate models of the loads is essential for designing automatic control systems and optimizing their configuration. Obtaining such models has been a challenging problem for power system engineers for decades, especially in the current deregulated market environment. This thesis presents newly developed and verified algorithms for online measurement and monitoring of these power system parameters. The algorithm proposed for monitoring the systems Thevenin, harmonic, and zero sequence impedance parameters, uses the natural variations of the loads connected to the substations. The proposed algorithm for monitoring of load model parameters uses the voltage and current waveforms captured during the operation of the Under Load Tap Change (ULTC) transformers installed in the distribution substations. The proposed algorithms are applied to several field measurements from different substations. The results show that the algorithms fulfill the requirements for the online measurement and monitoring of power system Thevenin, harmonic and zero sequence impedances as well as the load model parameters. / Energy Systems

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No description available.

Wireless sensor nodes are emerging in a wide range of critical applications such as environmental monitoring, health applications, home automation and military surveillance and reconnaissance. The addition of low power wireless capability to such sensor nodes allows communication between a node and a base station or between nodes, resulting in the formation of wireless sensor networks. Sensor networks can use the information available from the distributed sensor nodes to determine the location and nature of a stimulus or environmental condition. The information collected by the base station can be used to determine the appropriate course of action for dealing with the stimulus. In chemical/biological defense or safety monitoring scenarios, wireless sensor networks can be used to identify and track harmful chemical or biological agents which might be present in a particular area. Due to the potentially remote areas that wireless sensor networks aim to cover, it is essential to minimize the power consumption of a sensor node so that it can operate over a long period of time without a connection to the power grid. Sensor nodes can contain multiple blocks, such as the readout circuit which interfaces with the sensor, an embedded processor, and the wireless transceiver circuits, all of which need to operate on a low power budget. This thesis specifically focuses on design of low power mixed signal readout circuits which interface with chemoresistive chemical sensors, i.e. sensors that demonstrate a variation of resistance (or impedance) in the presence of chemical agents. For this thesis, the sensor can be either a chemoresistive bead or a nanowire. By integrating multiple non-specific chemoresistive sensors together in arrays, a cross-reactive array can be realized, where the combined response of the arrayed sensors can be used to determine analytes present in a mixture even if their concentrations are low. In this thesis, a CMOS resistive readout circuit based on a sigma-delta ADC is presented. The design is used to measure the resistance of chemoresistive beads and nanowires with respect to time. The frequency of the ADC output varies as the resistance of a sensor changes and, based on the magnitude and duration of the variation, the type of chemical agent and its concentration can potentially be estimated. For future cross-reactive sensor applications, an array of 16x16 sites is also included in the readout circuit design. Individual sites in the sensor array can be accessed using addressing blocks which designed to select a particular row and column using an 8-bit addressing system. This thesis also covers the techniques used for integration of chemoresistive beads and nanowires into the array locations provided on the prefabricated CMOS IC. Measurement results that demonstrate the operation of the resistive readout circuitry are presented. Finally, a second readout circuit is proposed to measure complex impedance variations of a sensor device. Measurement of magnitude and phase changes of a sensor device can provide another degree of freedom in the analysis of chemical mixture. Simulation results demonstrating the functionality of the proposed impedance measurement system are also presented. / Master of Science

This dissertation describes a new electrochemical synthesis of novel composite materials based on montmorillonite (MMT) clay and intrinsically conducting polyaniline (PANI). PANI was successfully incorporated into MMT galleries to form PANI−MMT nanocomposites. Electropolymerization of anilinium ions which are intercalated inside the clay layers have been carried out at a constant applied potential. The synthetic conditions have been optimized taking into account the effect of concentration of aniline, magnetic stirring and potential cycling. The resulting organic-inorganic hybrid material, PANI-MMT has been characterized by various physicochemical techniques. Results of elemental analysis show that nanocomposite contains only 10 % of conducting PANI. Formation of PANI inside the clay tactoid has been confirmed by the expansion of inter layer distance of MMT as revealed by X-ray diffraction studies. Relatively lower interlayer expansion for PANI-MMT than that of anilinium-MMT indicates the higher stereoregularity in PANI-MMT which has strong influence on electrical properties of nanocomposites. Infrared spectroscopy studies reveal the presence of physicochemical interaction, probably hydrogen bonding, between clay and polyaniline. Cyclic voltammetry studies indicate that presence of electroinactive clay does not influence the electrochemical activity of PANI. Electrochromic behaviour of PANI-MMT nanocomposites have been studied using in situ UV-Vis spectroscopy which reveals that electrochromism of PANI in the composite material has been retained. One of the main technological applications of conducting polymers, particularly PANI, is in the area of corrosion protection of active metals. PANI-MMT nanocomposites synthesized using the present method and a chemically synthesized PANI which is soluble in organic solvents have been used to protect C45 steel surface against corrosion. Corrosion studies have been performed using electrochemical impedance measurements(EIM)and anodic polarization studies. Electrochemical impedance data has been analyzed using a suitable equivalent circuit. Corrosion protection of steel offered by both PANI-MMT and organically soluble PANI is evident form the increase in the value of charge transfer resistance of the coated steel surfaces. Time dependent EIM measurements reveal that charge transfer resistance gradually decreases with time, however, the values are much higher than that of uncoated surfaces. Two capacitive loops, one at higher and another at lower frequencies, observed in the Nyquist plots have been assigned to the electrical properties of coating material (in the present case, PANI-MMT or soluble PANI) and electrochemical process at the interface, respectively. An anodic shift in the corrosion potential, a decrease in the corrosion rate and a significant increase in the polarization resistance indicate a significant anti-corrosion performance of both PANI-MMT nanocomposite and organically soluble PANI deposited on the protected steel surface. / Diese Dissertation beschreibt eine neue elektrochemische Synthese neuartiger Compositmaterialien basierend auf dem Tonmineral Montmorillonite (MMT) und intrinsisch leitfähigem Polyanilin (PANI). Die Elektropolymerisation von Aniliniumionen, welche in die Tonmineralschichten eingebaut sind, wurde bei einem konstanten Potenzial durchgeführt. Das resultierende organisch-anorganische Hybridmaterial PANI-MMT wurde mit verschiedenen physikochemischen Methoden charakterisiert. Die Ergebnisse der Elementaranalyse zeigen, dass nur 10 % des Nanocompositmaterials aus leitfähigem PANI bestehen. Die Vergrößerung des Zwischenschichtabstandes von MMT, die bei Röntgendiffraktometrieuntersuchungen beobachtet wurde, lässt auf die Bildung von PANI innerhalb der Tonmineral-Taktoide schließen. IR-spektroskopische Untersuchungen deuten auf das Vorhandensein von Wechselwirkungen physikochemischer Art, wahrscheinlich Wasserstoffbindungen zwischen dem Tonmineral und Polyanilin, hin. Untersuchungen mit zyklischer Voltammetrie zeigten, dass die Anwesenheit von elektroinaktivem Tonmineral die elektrochemische Aktivität von PANI nicht beeinflusst. Das elektrochrome Verhalten von PANI-MMT Nanocompositen wurde mit UV-Vis-Spektroskopie untersucht, wobei sich herausstellte, dass das elektrochrome Verhalten vom PANI im Compositmaterial erhalten bleibt. Eines der technologischen Hauptanwendungsgebiete von leitfähigen Polymeren, insbesondere von PANI, ist der Korrosionsschutz von aktiven Metallen. PANI-MMT Nanocomposite die mit der angegebenen Methode (elektrochemisch) synthetisiert wurden und chemisch synthetisiertes in organischen Medien lösliches PANI wurden zum Korrosionsschutz von C45 Stahl eingesetzt. Die Korrosionsuntersuchungen wurden mit Hilfe von elektrochemischen Impedanzmessungen (EIM) und anodischen Polarisationsuntersuchungen durchgeführt. Der von PANI-MMT und von in organischen Medien löslichem PANI gebotene Korrosionsschutz ist wahrscheinlich auf die Zunahme des Ladungsdurchtritts widerstandes der beschichteten Stahloberfläche zurückzuführen. Die anodische Verschiebung des Korrosionspotenzials, eine Verringerung der Korrosions-geschwindigkeit und eine deutliche Zunahme des Polarisationswiderstandes sind eindeutige Hinweise für das Antikorrosionsvermögen von PANI-MMT und auch von in organischen Medien löslichem PANI, welche auf der zu schützenden Stahloberfläche abgeschieden wurden.

An indirect impedance measurement approach that does not require direct cable attachment or large space using a two-port network is presented. Using a straight wire monopole as an interrogating antenna and measured impedances of three calibration standards, the input impedance of a small spherical helix dipole over a ground plane is retrieved. It is found that accurate result is obtained around the dipole resonance frequency. The accuracy and sources of error are discussed.

Traditional means of controlling sound radiated by electrical power transformers involve the construction of large expensive barriers or full enclosures, which cause maintainability and cooling problems. One promising alternative is to use active noise control to cancel the noise. This thesis is concerned with one of the many problems which need to be investigated to develop a practical active noise cancellation system for transformers. This work, in particular, is concerned with the physical system design which includes the selection of the control source types and the evaluation of the near-field sensing strategies. Loudspeakers have been widely used in the past as an acoustic source for canceling transformer noise. The principal disadvantage of using loudspeakers is that to achieve global noise control, a large number, driven by a multi-channel controller, are required. However, if large panels are used in place of loudspeakers as control sources, it is possible that the number of the control sources and complexity of the controller could be reduced substantially. In addition to reducing the number of control sources and simplifying their application, panel sound sources could also overcome some disadvantages of the loudspeakers, such as limited life and deterioration due to the weather. Thus, part of the work described in this thesis is concerned with the development of a resonant curved panel with a backing cavity as an acoustic type source. The advantages of using a curved panel rather than a flat panel are twofold: first a curved panel is more easily excited by the extensional motion of the piezoelectric patch actuators; and second, it is more difficult to adjust the resonance frequencies of the efficient modes of a flat panel than of a curved panel. The analytical models for the design of the panel cavity systems have been developed. As an example, a resonant curved panel with a backing cavity system was constructed and the sound radiation of the system was measured. Results show that a resonant panel-cavity sound source could be used as an alternative to a number of loudspeakers for active cancellation of electric power transformer noise. Due to the advantages of using the vibration type control sources, two types of vibration control sources (inertial electrodynamic shakers and piezoelectric patch actuators) were considered and the mechanical output of the inertial shakers has been compared with that of the piezoelectric actuators. In contrast with the piezoelectric actuators, the resonance frequencies of the inertial shakers can be tuned to the frequencies of interest using simple tuning procedures, so that the output efficiency of the shakers can be increased. The output performance was evaluated for two types of actuators by measuring the structural response of either a panel or a transformer when excited by the actuators at half their rated voltage input. Results demonstrated that a much larger output amplitude at the frequency of interest can be achieved by the tuned inertial type actuators. Two near-field sensing strategies, the minimization of the sum of the sound intensities and the minimization of the sum of the squared sound pressures, have been studied. A quadratic expression was derived for the minimization of the sum of the sound intensities in the near-field. To evaluate the control performances achieved using both sensing strategies, a flat-panel was modelled with a harmonic point force disturbance and several point force control sources. Simulation results show that the control performance could be improved by minimizing the sum of the sound intensities in the hydrodynamic near-field, provided that a very large number of error sensors were used, otherwise better results were achieved using near-field squared pressure sensing. Both sensing strategies were used to predict the noise reductions that resulted for the active noise control of a small transformer in the laboratory environment and for a large electrical power transformer on site. To optimize the locations of the control sources (for the large transformer on site) and the locations of the error sensors (for the small transformer in the laboratory environment), a genetic algorithm (GA), which is an evolutionary optimization technique, was employed as a search procedure to optimize the control source and error sensor locations. The results showed that the control source locations and/or the error sensor locations must be optimized to achieve the maximum sound reduction for either error sensing strategy, especially for the sound intensity minimization; otherwise, the sound field level may increase after control due to the character of the cost function (the sum of the sound intensities). The simulation results were experimentally validated for the small transformer in the laboratory environment. Due to the limitation of the number of controller channels, the control performance was only evaluated for squared pressure minimization. The results demonstrated that for the case of 8 control sources and 8 error sensors, at 100 Hz, an average sound pressure reduction of 15.8 dB was achieved when evaluated at 528 monitoring locations at 0.25 m intervals on a surface that surrounded the transformer. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Engineering (Department of Mechanical Engineering), 2000.

Alternative diesel fuels have been the subject of extensive investigation. Fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) based Biodiesel manufactured from vegetable oils or animal fats is an excellent candidate to replace common diesel fuel being renewable, non-toxic and often giving rise to reduced exhaust gas emissions. The transesterification process has been commonly and widely used to produce biodiesel from vegetable oil or animal fat. Vegetable oils or animal fats generally have viscosities higher than standard diesel oil. This means that it is necessary to reduce the viscosity by means of reacting vegetable oil with alcohol in the presence of a suitable catalyst. The target product for this reaction is methyl ester, with glycerol and potentially soap produced as by products with the process of transesterification. Methylester (Biodiesel) is produced by converting triglycerides to alkylesters. A batch transesterification process has two significant mechanisms, and exhibits a mass transfer controlled region that precedes a second order kinetically controlled region. In order to control the conversion process it is useful to employ process monitoring. In particular monitoring of the mass transfer processes that limits the initial reaction rates could prove to be beneficial in allowing for process optimization and control. This thesis proposes the use of a new method of biodiesel process monitoring using low frequency (15kHz) impedance sensing which is able to provide information regarding the progress of mass transfer and chemical reaction during biodiesel production. An interdigitated (ID) sensor has been used to monitoring the biodiesel process The ID sensor is of simple construction and consists of two sets of interleaved electrodes (fingers). The two sets of electrodes are separated by a gap and when an AC excitation voltage is applied across the interleaved electrodes an oscillating electric field is developed. The response of the fluid surrounding the sensor to the applied excitation was then used to determine progress of the chemical reaction by evaluating the real and complex impedance. A significant and unambiguous change in the components of impedance has been shown to occur during mixing (mass transfer) and transesterification. The impedance measurements gained during transesterification were then used for the development of a system model. A systematic approach was used to select mathematical models and system identification techniques were evaluated. The system identification investigation used real process measurement data in conjunction with the Matlab system identification toolbox.

Impedance spectroscopy (IS) is a powerful and sophisticated tool to characterize intrinsic electrical properties of any materials and its interface, measuring the electric and transport properties of the materials, investigating the mechanism of electrochemical reaction etc. The fundamental principle of IS is the measurement of the impedance (equivalent to resistance in DC analysis) of the system under investigation over a wide frequency range. The IS study provides quantitative information about the conductance, the dielectric coefficient, the static properties of the interfaces like contact resistance, and its dynamic change due to adsorption or charge transfer phenomenon. Commercial Impedance analyzers that are available today are bulky and cannot be carried or deployed at remote locations for monitoring so easily, also such systems are expensive. Though IS concept is not new, standard Impedance analyzers are interfaced to the computer and require detailed analysis of the data by experts. Advancement in data conversion and signal processing is opening up opportunities for handheld smart devices. Hence it is felt that there is a need to develop a versatile low cost, portable (handheld) impedance analyzer instrument which can be used to characterize non linear materials like semiconductors, biological objects, and electrochemical samples. The instrument should be capable accepting test parameters using a touch screen based keypad and display test results on a Graphical LCD for quick analysis. Hence a standalone handheld instrument is designed to work independently without any PC control. The designed instrument consists of Digital Direct Synthesis (DDS) signal generator, a constant current source, Analog to digital convertor, Microcontroller to control frequency sweep parameters and acquire data, TFT Graphics LCD for displaying various plots, touch screen user interface to input sweep parameters and data storage section for offline analysis of obtained data. The instrument is designed to work on a battery or a regulated power supply. The instrument has options to display Nyquist plot, capacitance versus frequency plot, real and imaginary value of impedance versus frequency plot etc. Experimental investigations are conducted using this instrument on few passive components like resistor, inductor, capacitor and combinations. The instrument is also used to monitor the performance of polyimide based capacitive humidity sensor and its characteristics like sensitivity, linearity, repeatability and hysteresis. The measurement accuracy of the impedance varies from 0.7% to 4.67% depending on the impedance range. Bio impedance measurements are carried out on biological samples like Banana and the measured values are compared with the standard LCR meter. The bio impedance measurements are repeatable and comparable with the standard LCR meter readings and it is found to be within ±1% accuracy at the calibrated frequency. The instrument is also validated using industry standard Gauge R & R procedure to understand the repeatability and reproducibility of the instrument. The instrument exhibited good Repeatability and Reproducibility in current mode excitation than voltage mode excitation and Gauge R & R is 55% with P/T ratio is less than 2.5%.

This dissertation describes a new electrochemical synthesis of novel composite materials based on montmorillonite (MMT) clay and intrinsically conducting polyaniline (PANI). PANI was successfully incorporated into MMT galleries to form PANI−MMT nanocomposites. Electropolymerization of anilinium ions which are intercalated inside the clay layers have been carried out at a constant applied potential. The synthetic conditions have been optimized taking into account the effect of concentration of aniline, magnetic stirring and potential cycling. The resulting organic-inorganic hybrid material, PANI-MMT has been characterized by various physicochemical techniques. Results of elemental analysis show that nanocomposite contains only 10 % of conducting PANI. Formation of PANI inside the clay tactoid has been confirmed by the expansion of inter layer distance of MMT as revealed by X-ray diffraction studies. Relatively lower interlayer expansion for PANI-MMT than that of anilinium-MMT indicates the higher stereoregularity in PANI-MMT which has strong influence on electrical properties of nanocomposites. Infrared spectroscopy studies reveal the presence of physicochemical interaction, probably hydrogen bonding, between clay and polyaniline. Cyclic voltammetry studies indicate that presence of electroinactive clay does not influence the electrochemical activity of PANI. Electrochromic behaviour of PANI-MMT nanocomposites have been studied using in situ UV-Vis spectroscopy which reveals that electrochromism of PANI in the composite material has been retained. One of the main technological applications of conducting polymers, particularly PANI, is in the area of corrosion protection of active metals. PANI-MMT nanocomposites synthesized using the present method and a chemically synthesized PANI which is soluble in organic solvents have been used to protect C45 steel surface against corrosion. Corrosion studies have been performed using electrochemical impedance measurements(EIM)and anodic polarization studies. Electrochemical impedance data has been analyzed using a suitable equivalent circuit. Corrosion protection of steel offered by both PANI-MMT and organically soluble PANI is evident form the increase in the value of charge transfer resistance of the coated steel surfaces. Time dependent EIM measurements reveal that charge transfer resistance gradually decreases with time, however, the values are much higher than that of uncoated surfaces. Two capacitive loops, one at higher and another at lower frequencies, observed in the Nyquist plots have been assigned to the electrical properties of coating material (in the present case, PANI-MMT or soluble PANI) and electrochemical process at the interface, respectively. An anodic shift in the corrosion potential, a decrease in the corrosion rate and a significant increase in the polarization resistance indicate a significant anti-corrosion performance of both PANI-MMT nanocomposite and organically soluble PANI deposited on the protected steel surface. / Diese Dissertation beschreibt eine neue elektrochemische Synthese neuartiger Compositmaterialien basierend auf dem Tonmineral Montmorillonite (MMT) und intrinsisch leitfähigem Polyanilin (PANI). Die Elektropolymerisation von Aniliniumionen, welche in die Tonmineralschichten eingebaut sind, wurde bei einem konstanten Potenzial durchgeführt. Das resultierende organisch-anorganische Hybridmaterial PANI-MMT wurde mit verschiedenen physikochemischen Methoden charakterisiert. Die Ergebnisse der Elementaranalyse zeigen, dass nur 10 % des Nanocompositmaterials aus leitfähigem PANI bestehen. Die Vergrößerung des Zwischenschichtabstandes von MMT, die bei Röntgendiffraktometrieuntersuchungen beobachtet wurde, lässt auf die Bildung von PANI innerhalb der Tonmineral-Taktoide schließen. IR-spektroskopische Untersuchungen deuten auf das Vorhandensein von Wechselwirkungen physikochemischer Art, wahrscheinlich Wasserstoffbindungen zwischen dem Tonmineral und Polyanilin, hin. Untersuchungen mit zyklischer Voltammetrie zeigten, dass die Anwesenheit von elektroinaktivem Tonmineral die elektrochemische Aktivität von PANI nicht beeinflusst. Das elektrochrome Verhalten von PANI-MMT Nanocompositen wurde mit UV-Vis-Spektroskopie untersucht, wobei sich herausstellte, dass das elektrochrome Verhalten vom PANI im Compositmaterial erhalten bleibt. Eines der technologischen Hauptanwendungsgebiete von leitfähigen Polymeren, insbesondere von PANI, ist der Korrosionsschutz von aktiven Metallen. PANI-MMT Nanocomposite die mit der angegebenen Methode (elektrochemisch) synthetisiert wurden und chemisch synthetisiertes in organischen Medien lösliches PANI wurden zum Korrosionsschutz von C45 Stahl eingesetzt. Die Korrosionsuntersuchungen wurden mit Hilfe von elektrochemischen Impedanzmessungen (EIM) und anodischen Polarisationsuntersuchungen durchgeführt. Der von PANI-MMT und von in organischen Medien löslichem PANI gebotene Korrosionsschutz ist wahrscheinlich auf die Zunahme des Ladungsdurchtritts widerstandes der beschichteten Stahloberfläche zurückzuführen. Die anodische Verschiebung des Korrosionspotenzials, eine Verringerung der Korrosions-geschwindigkeit und eine deutliche Zunahme des Polarisationswiderstandes sind eindeutige Hinweise für das Antikorrosionsvermögen von PANI-MMT und auch von in organischen Medien löslichem PANI, welche auf der zu schützenden Stahloberfläche abgeschieden wurden.