Η παρούσα διπλωματική εργασία πραγματεύεται την μελέτη, τον σχεδιασμό και την κατασκευή ενός ηλεκτρονικά ελεγχόμενου μηχανικού φορτίου. Η εργασία αυτή εκπονήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο Ηλεκτρομηχανικής Μετατροπής Ενέργειας του Τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών της Πολυτεχνικής Σχολής του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών. Σκοπός είναι η δημιουργία ενός μηχανικού φορτίου του οποίου το προφίλ μπορεί να ελέγχεται με την χρήση ψηφιακού μικροελεγκτή. Αρχικά, εξετάζεται η θέση που κατέχει το μηχανικό φορτίο σε ένα ηλεκτρικό κινητήριο σύστημα και παρουσιάζονται οι χαρακτηριστικές καμπύλες των διάφορων τύπων μηχανικών φορτίων. Στη συνέχεια, μελετώνται η βασική αρχή λειτουργίας, οι μαθηματικές εξισώσεις καθώς και τα κατασκευαστικά χαρακτηριστικά των μηχανών συνεχούς ρεύματος αλλά και της μηχανής που χρησιμοποιήθηκε στην κατασκευή. Στο επόμενο βήμα, γίνεται μια θεωρητική ανάλυση του κυκλώματος της πλήρους γέφυρας που κατασκευάστηκε καθώς και όλων των υπόλοιπων κυκλωμάτων και στοιχείων που είναι αναγκαία για την λειτουργία της. Επιπροσθέτως, αναλύεται η μέθοδος παλμοδότησης των διακοπτικών στοιχείων του μετατροπέα, που είναι η Διαμόρφωση Εύρους Παλμών (PWM) καθώς και τα ιδιαίτερα χαρακτηριστικά του μικροελεγτή που χρησιμοποιήθηκε. Για το συνολικό σύστημα, αποτελούμενο από την μηχανή συνεχούς ρεύματος και τον μετατροπέα τύπου πλήρους γέφυρας, δημιουργήθηκε ένα μαθηματικό μοντέλο στο περιβάλλον Simulink για να ελεγχθεί η συμπεριφορά του. Τέλος, αναλύονται τα τεχνικά χαρακτηριστικά όλων των κυκλωμάτων που κατασκευάστηκαν και παρατίθενται τα παλμογραφήματα που προέκυψαν από τα πειράματα που διενεργήθηκαν μετά την ολοκλήρωση της κατασκευής. / This thesis deals with the study, design and construction of an electronically controlled mechanical load. The work was conducted in the Laboratory of Electromechanical Energy Conversion, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering School of Engineering, University of Patras. The aim is to create a mechanical load whose profile can be controlled using digital microcontroller. First, was considered the position of the mechanical load in an electric driving system and shows the characteristic curves of various types of mechanical loads. Then was studied the basic principle of operation, mathematical equations and the construction of DC machines and the machine used in construction. The next step is a theoretical analysis of the full bridge circuit that is constructed and all other circuits and components necessary for its operation. In addition, explains the method of interrupted pulses data converter, which is shaping pulse width (PWM) and the characteristics of icroconroler which is used. For the total system, consisting of the DC machine and type full bridge converter, a mathematical model in Simulink environment to verify its behavior. Finally, analyzing the technical characteristics of all circuits built out and the curves obtained from experiments carried out after the completion of construction.

A hybrid ac/dc microgrid is a more complex but practical network that combines the advantages of an AC and a DC system. The main advantage of this network is that it connects both alternating current and direct current networks via an interlinking converter (IC) to form a unified distribution grid. The hybrid microgrid (HMG) will enable the direct integration of both alternating current (AC) and direct current (DC) distributed generators (DGs), energy storage systems (ESS), and alternating current and direct current (DC) loads into the grid. The alternating current and direct current sources, loads, and ESS are separated and connected to their respective subgrids primarily to reduce power conversion and thus increase overall system efficiency. As a result, the HMG architecture improves power quality and system reliability. Planning a hybrid microgrid entails estimating the capacities of DGs while taking technical, economic, and environmental factors into account. The hybrid ac-dc microgrid is regarded as the distribution network of the future, as it will benefit from both ac and dc microgrids. This thesis presents a general architecture of a hybrid ac-dc microgrid, which includes both planning and design. The goal of the Hybrid ac-dc microgrid planning problem is to maximise social welfare while minimising total planning costs such as investment, maintenance, and operation costs. This configuration will assist Hybrid microgrid planners in estimating planning costs while allowing them to consider any type of load ac/dc and DER type. Finally, this thesis identifies the research questions and proposes a future research plan.

Over the last years, electrical roads have emerged as a cost effective and environmentally friendly solution towards a transportation system with less dependency on fossil fuels. This thesis presents the design of a search and locate system for road-bound conductive electrical roads with position control in two axes. The system is intended to find and follow the position of an electrified rail. The actuator system constitutes a firm groundwork for further research and development in this field. A laboratory test set up has been designed and both hardware and software parts have been constructed. The control of the system uses the CompactRIOTM technology from National Instruments. Results from the practical evaluation suggest that the non-linear characteristic of the system and the lack of direct position feedback from the motor rotation are the main causes of a non-accurate position control. Future development steps should focus on improving the mechanical design and include encoder feedback for the control loop as well as absolute automatic control with the incorporation of rail sensors.

Cette thèse s’inscrit dans le contexte de la surveillance des postes sous enveloppe métallique (PSEM) en courant continu (DC). La disponibilité de ces équipements étant primordiale pour leurs utilisateurs, il est nécessaire de disposer d’un outil de surveillance (monitoring) permettant de prévenir toute défaillance. Cet outil doit être capable de détecter et d’identifier les défauts présents, afin d’apporter une réponse adaptée. Depuis de nombreuses années, le monitoring des PSEM en AC est réalisé grâce à la mesure des décharges partielles (DP). Malheureusement, les connaissances des DP dans les PSEM en DC sont encore lacunaires, et les techniques d’identification des défauts sont intrinsèquement liées à l’environnement AC. De nouvelles techniques sont donc nécessaires en DC.Ce travail de thèse avait pour but de caractériser les décharges partielles dans les postes sous enveloppe métallique en tension continue, et de mettre en place une solution de reconnaissance automatique des défauts. Pour cela, un banc de mesure des décharges partielles a d’abord été mis en place. Afin de garantir la pertinence des résultats pour des systèmes industriels, les travaux ont été réalisés dans une section de PSEM sous tension continue. Le comportement des DP a été étudié pour deux types de défauts : des pointes sur le conducteur haute-tension et des particules libres métalliques. La caractérisation a porté sur l’influence de plusieurs paramètres : la nature et la pression du gaz, le niveau et la polarité de la tension. La mesure des DP a d’abord été réalisée en conformité avec la norme IEC 60270, permettant ainsi d’évaluer la pertinence de cette méthode pour les applications DC. La caractérisation a été complétée grâce à d’autres chaînes de mesure : une mesure de courant stationnaire, une mesure de courant haute-fréquence, une mesure de lumière, et une mesure des ondes ultra-haute fréquence (UHF). Le travail sur l’identification des défauts a d’abord consisté à construire une signature pertinente à partir des mesures de DP, puis à constituer une base de données, et enfin à implémenter un algorithme de reconnaissance automatique.Ces travaux ont montré que la méthode conventionnelle de mesure des DP présente certaines limites pour la détection des décharges partielles en DC, notamment pour les décharges couronne. Elle a tout de même permis de faire une bonne partie du travail de caractérisation. Les résultats obtenus avec les autres chaînes de mesure utilisées ont permis d’expliquer les lacunes de la méthode conventionnelle. Ils ont également permis un véritable apport pour la caractérisation des DP engendrées par des défauts de type pointe et particule. Enfin, une classification automatique efficace des défauts a été mise en place. Elle s’appuie sur le diagramme q(Δt) issu des données de la mesure conventionnelle des décharges partielles et sur un algorithme de réseau de neurones. / The framework of this thesis is the monitoring of High-Voltage, Direct Current (HVDC) Gas-Insulated Substations (GIS). The availability of these equipment is crucial for electrical networks operators. That is why they need a preventive diagnosis tool. The solution must be able to detect and identify the insulation defects, so that an appropriate maintenance can be planned. The last 40 years have seen Partial Discharges (PD) measurement become a classic monitoring tool for AC GIS. Unfortunately, there is a lack of scientific information about PD in HVDC GIS, and the known defect identification techniques are very specific to the AC environment. New techniques are thus needed in DC.This thesis aimed to characterize partial discharges in DC gas-insulated substations, and to develop an automatic defect identification tool. The first step of this work was the development of a partial discharge measuring bench. The complete study has been performed in a GIS section, so that the results can be directly applied to industrial equipment. Two kinds of defect have been investigated: protrusions on the high-voltage conductor, and free metallic particles. The influence of parameters such as gas nature and pressure, voltage level and polarity has been evaluated. First, PD have been measured in conformity with the IEC 60270 standard, and the relevance of this method in a DC environment has been evaluated. Then, other measuring chains have been used to improve the characterization of partial discharges: a steady-state current measurement, a high-frequency current measurement, a light measurement and a measurement of Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) waves. Finally, a relevant signature for defect identification has been designed and extracted from DP recordings. A database has been constituted, and an automated recognition algorithm has been implemented.The results show that the conventional PD measurement technique is not fully adapted to partial discharges detection in DC, corona discharges being the most problematic situation. Nevertheless, this method has brought enough information to start the characterization of PD. The limitations of the conventional method have been explained thanks to the results of the other measurements. These other experimental results have led to an actual improvement of the characterization of protrusion and particle-generated partial discharges. An effective automated defect classification solution has been implemented. The signature is derived from the q(Δt) diagram that has been extracted from the data obtained with the partial discharge conventional measurement. The identification algorithm has a neural network structure.

Στόχος της παρούσας διπλωματικής εργασίας είναι ο σχεδιασμός και η κατασκευή του ηλεκτρικού κινητηρίου συστήματος ενός ηλεκτροκίνητου σκάφους. Πραγματοποιήθηκαν μία σειρά από τεχνικές επεμβάσεις ώστε να μετατραπεί ένα απλό σκάφος σε ηλεκτροκίνητο. Στην εποχή μας τα ηλεκτροκίνητα σκάφη και η ηλεκτρική πρόωση αποτελούν τμήμα των ηλεκτροκίνητων μέσων μεταφοράς. Τα ηλεκτροκίνητα μέσα μεταφοράς αποτελούν πιθανή λύση στην συνεχώς αυξανόμενη ζήτηση στον τομέα των μεταφορών καθώς και στα ενεργειακά και περιβαλλοντικά προβλήματα που αυτή προκαλεί. Ο υψηλός βαθμός απόδοσης των ηλεκτρικών κινητήρων και των ηλεκτρονικών μετατροπέων ισχύος, το υψηλό επίπεδο ελέγχου μέσω των ηλεκτρονικών μετατροπέων ισχύος που προσφέρει ευκινησία σε ένα σκάφος, η έλλειψη θορύβου-διαταραχών και η απουσία ρύπανσης μας οδηγούν στη χρήση των ηλεκτροκίνητων σκαφών και της ηλεκτρικής πρόωσης όλο και περισσότερο στις μέρες μας. Στη συγκεκριμένη εφαρμογή για πρακτικούς λόγους αλλά και για λόγους ασφάλειας οδηγηθήκαμε στην επιλογή κινητήρα συνεχούς ρεύματος (Σ.Ρ.) μονίμου μαγνήτη χαμηλής τάσης 24V. Αυτό έχει ως αποτέλεσμα υψηλή τιμή ρεύματος για την επίτευξη της απαιτούμενης ισχύος 1,5 kW . Για αυτό το λόγο σχεδιάστηκε και κατασκευάστηκε ο ηλεκτρονικός μετατροπέας υποβιβασμού συνεχούς τάσης σε συνεχή με διαδοχική αγωγή τεσσάρων κλάδων, ο οποίος έχει τη δυνατότητα διαχείρισης υψηλών τιμών ρεύματος και είναι ιδανικός για τέτοιου είδους εφαρμογές. Ο συγκεκριμένος μετατροπέας αποτελείται από 4 παράλληλους κλάδους, λειτουργεί στην συνεχή αγωγή και υποβιβάζει την τάση των 36V σε 0-24V για τον έλεγχο των στροφών του κινητήρα, ο οποίος έχει ονομαστικό ρεύμα 78A. Ο μετατροπέας εξετάστηκε αρχικά μέσω της εξομοίωσης χρησιμοποιώντας το λογισμικό PSpice και στη συνέχεια πειραματικά πραγματοποιώντας μία σειρά από δοκιμές και μετρήσεις. Από τις δοκιμές, παρατηρούμε ότι ο βαθμός απόδοσης του μετατροπέα διαδοχικής αγωγής που κατασκευάστηκε, κυμαίνεται γύρω στο 95%, άρα είναι μια καλή λύση στην οδήγηση κινητήρων συνεχούς ρεύματος (Σ.Ρ.) χαμηλής τάσης (υψηλού ρεύματος). Τέτοιοι κινητήρες χρησιμοποιούνται σε πληθώρα εφαρμογών ηλεκτροκίνητων μέσων μεταφοράς. Η καθέλκυση του ηλεκτροκίνητου σκάφους και οι δοκιμές που πραγματοποιήθηκαν στη θάλασσα, δίνουν σαφή εικόνα των πλεονεκτημάτων της ηλεκτρικής πρόωσης. / The object of this diploma thesis is the designing and the construction of an electric drive system for an electric boat. A number of technical interventions were made to transform a simple boat to an electrically driven boat. In our days the electric boats and the electric propulsion in general constitute a part of the electric transportation. The electric transportation may be a possible solution in the continuously increasing demand in the sector of transports as well as in energy and environmental problems that this causes. The high efficient electric machines and power electronic converters, the high control level of power electronics that offers manoeuvrability in a ship, the lack of noise - disturbance and the absence of pollution lead us to use electric boats and electric propulsion more and more in our days. In our application for practical and safety reasons we were led to the choice of a low voltage permanent magnet direct current (DC) motor. This is resulting to a high value of current to get the nominal power of 1.5 kW. For this reason an interleaved four – channel dc/dc converter was designed and constructed which has the ability to control high currents and is ideal for such type applications. The particular converter is constituted by 4 parallel channels, it is working in the continuous conduction mode (CCM) and it degrades the voltage of 36V to 0-24V for the control of the rpm of the dc propulsion motor which its full load current is 78A. Firstly a number of simulations made via PSpice program and also a number of experiments to see how the converter is working. The experiments shows that the efficiency of the interleaved converter of the application is about 95%, so it is a good solution for driving low voltage – high current dc motors. Such types of electric motors are used in many electric transportation applications. The launching of the boat and a number of sea tests shows us the advantages electric propulsion has.

Currently conventional sources like coal, petroleum and natural gas meet the energy requirements of developing and undeveloped countries. Over a period of time there is high risk of these energy sources getting depleted. Hence an alternate source of energy i.e. renewable energy is the need of the hour. The advantages of renewable energy like higher sustainability, lesser maintenance, low cost of operation, and minimal impact on the environment make the role of renewable energy sources significant. Out of the various renewable energy sources like solar energy, wind energy, hydropower, biogas, tidal and geothermal, usage of solar energy is gradually increasing. Among various solar energy sources, Photovoltaics has dominated over the past two decades since it is free clean energy and availability of abundant sunlight on earth. Over the past few decades, thin film solar cells (TFSC) have gained considerable interest as an economically feasible alternative to conventional silicon (Si) photovoltaic devices. TFSCs have the potential to be as efficient as Si solar cells both in terms of conversion efficiency as well as cost. The advantages of TFSC are that they are easy to prepare, lesser thickness, requires lesser materials, light weight, low cost and opto-electronic properties can be tuned by varying the process parameters. The present study is focused on the fabrication of AgInS2/ZnS heterojunction thin film solar cell. AgInS2 absorber layer is deposited using both vacuum (sputtering/sulfurization) and non-vacuum (ultrasonic spray pyrolysis) techniques. ZnS window layer is prepared using thermal evaporation technique, detailed experimental investigation has been conducted and the results have been reported in this work. The thesis is divided into 6 chapters. Chapter 1 gives general introduction about solar cells and working principle of solar cell. It also discusses thin film solar cell technology and its advantages. Layers of thin film solar cell structure, Significance of each layers and possible materials to be used are emphasized. A detailed overview of the available literature on both AgInS2 absorber layer and ZnS window layer has been presented. Based on the literature review, objectives of the present work are defined. Chapter 2 explains the theory and experimental details of deposition techniques used for the growth of AgInS2 and ZnS films. Details of characterization techniques to study film properties are described in detail. Chapter 3 presents a systematic study of AgInS2 thin films deposited by sulfurization of sputtered Ag-In metallic precursors. Initially, AgInS2 films are deposited by varying the substrate temperature and properties of as-deposited films are characterized. Structural, morphological, electrical and optical properties of AgInS2 films are explained. From these studies, samples with better properties at particular substrate temperature are optimized. By fixing the substrate temperature, deposition time of silver is varied by keeping other deposition conditions same and the properties of films are discussed. It was observed that deposition time of silver doesn’t have much impact on structural properties of AgInS2 films. However, opto-electric properties of AgInS2 films are enhanced. Based on characterization studies, deposition time of silver is optimized. Deposition time of indium is varied by keeping substrate temperature and silver deposition to optimized value. The properties of as-deposited films are discussed. Based on the above studies, the optimized p type films have a band gap of 1.64 eV, carrier concentration of 1013 ions/cm3 and Resistivity of order 103 Ω-cm. Chapter 4 presents a systematic study of AgInS2 thin films deposited by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis. AgInS2 films are deposited by varying the substrate temperature and properties of as deposited films are characterized. Structural, morphological, electrical and optical properties of AgInS2 films are explained. From these studies, samples with better properties at particular substrate temperature are optimized. By fixing the substrate temperature, concentration of silver molarity in the precursor solution is varied by keeping other deposition conditions same and the properties of films are discussed. Structural, optical and electrical properties of AgInS2 films are enhanced with the increase in silver concentration. Based on characterization studies, concentration of silver is optimized. Similarly concentration of indium molarity in the precursor solution is varied and the properties of as-deposited films are discussed. Finally, sulfur molarity in the precursor solution is varied and properties of films are discussed. It was observed that increasing sulfur after certain limit does not have any effect on the properties of the films. Based on the above studies, this method resulted in the films with resistivity of 103 Ω-cm and band gap of 1.64 eV. These films showed a carrier concentration of 1013 ions/cm3. Chapter 5 describes the growth of ZnS films using thermal evaporation technique. Influence of thickness on the properties of ZnS films is explained. Samples with good crystallinity, high transmission, and wider gap are selected for device fabrication. This p type layer showed a band gap of 3.52 eV. Solar cells have been fabricated using the AgInS2 films developed by both sputtering and ultrasonic spray pyrolysis techniques. A maximum cell efficiency of 0.92 percent has been achieved for the cell with 0.950 µm thick sputtered AgInS2 layer and thermally evaporated 42 nm thick ZnS layer. In comparison, the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis deposited films gave an efficiency of 0.54 percent. These values are comparable to those mentioned in a couple of reports earlier. Chapter 6 summarizes the conclusions drawn from the present investigations and scope of future work is suggested.