This thesis studies the operating characteristics of lead acid batteries with the intermittent discharging current. Rest time is added periodically on purpose during the battery discharging to observe its impact on the releasable capacity. From the experimental results that take the frequency and the duty-ratio as two variables, batteries with the intermittent discharging at high frequencies or low duty ratios can release more capacity. The results also indicate that the depth of discharge (DOD) affects the intermittent discharging. More capacity is released while approaching the end of the discharging, whereas no clear difference is found in the beginning. Last but not least, the average current is proved experimentally to play a significant role in current discharging. With the same average current, the maximum capacity obtained from the intermittent current discharging is close to that from the constant current discharging.

The partial discharges (PD) measurement approach in power equipments is a very important inspection technique for insulation deterioration assessment. The PD based approach possesses the greatest potential for further development. This study proposes a noncontact type acoustic measurement system. We first investigate an acoustic measurement method in the laboratory. To prove the accuracy of the acoustic measurements, we proceed with, in the laboratory, signal-pattern comparison between the acoustic measurement method and the pulse current method. This study creates polar-coordinate and discharge type identification patterns. We propose the use of the q-£p-t patterns, the polar-coordinate patterns and discharge type identification patterns, with mutual cross-reference, to identify the discharge type. Then this study applies the wavelet transform to suppress noises; a wavelet mother function most similar to the acoustic PD signals is chosen and then set the filtering threshold value for the wavelet transform. The signals' features will be extracted after the noises are eliminated. The experimental results indicate that the application of wavelet transform can effectively eliminate the field noises. Next, the features will be used to build the training database for the back-propagation neural network (BNN) to construct the discharge patterns' recognition and identification system. Finally, we apply the finished neural networks to field signal-pattern identification. The proposed acoustic measurement system is applied on line to epoxy-resin transformers, power distributors, and the like. The superior measurement results we obtained shall be able to correctly identify power equipment's PD fault types.

No description available.

Abstract The arc behavior during the closing and opening of electrical contacts not only influences the surface morphology, but also causes the erosion of contact material. The mechanical stresses, the molten bridge, and the arc cause this erosion. Consequently, the erosion mechanism is very complex. Therefore, to avoid the influences of mechanical stresses and numerous arc striking, static-gap experiments with a single arc discharge are conducted to investigate the effects of pulse voltage, gap distance, and arc duration on the erosion characteristics and mechanism of silver based contact materials. Moreover, this experimental result is verified by the finding of the dynamic testing of electrical contacts. The results of the erosion characteristics show that the arcing and non-arcing regions have been distinguished at the supply voltage from 32 V to 500 V and the gap distance from 0.2 mm to 40 mm. The empirical formula for the minimum pulse voltage at arc initiation in terms of gap distance is established. When the pulse voltage is smaller than 200 V, the erosion area increases with increasing gap distance due to the action of the metallic-phase arc. However, when the pulse voltage is greater than 200 V, with increasing gap distance, the erosion area increases to a maxim, and finally diminishes due to the increase in the amount of gaseous-phase arc. The results of the erosion mechanism show that the arcing region is classified into three erosion patterns, namely, the molten metal bridge (B), metallic-phase arc (M), and gaseous-phase arc (G). At the gap distance of 0.2 mm, the erosion pattern of anode silver is varied from B, through B+M, and, M, to M+G. According to the electron transfer across triangular potential barrier, the thermionic emission causes the erosion patterns of B, B+M, and M, and mixed thermionic and field emission results in the erosion pattern of M+G. When the pulse voltage is 500 V, with increasing gap distance, the splashing of metallic particles around the anode crater becomes more dispersed, shorter with more silver powder, and finally disappeared with a little silver powder due to the influence of the gaseous-phase arc. The results of the anti-weld ability show that when the pulse voltage is 500 V and the arc energy is grater than 14 J at the static-gap experiments, the critical gap distance to produce welding for Ag-Ni, Ag-CdO, and Ag-SnO2 is 3 mm, 8 mm, and 15 mm, respectively. This indicates Ag-Ni contact possesses the best anti-weld ability. On the other hand, the results of dynamic testing of electrical contacts show that at the arc energy less than 10 J, the anti-erosion, anti-weld ability, and the welding area are seen to increase with contact materials in the following order: Ag-CdO > Ag-SnO2 > Ag-Ni. However, when the arc energy is greater than 10 J, the anti-erosion, anti-weld ability, and the erosion area are seen to increase in the reverse order: Ag-SnO2 < Ag-CdO < Ag-Ni, which are in very good agreement with the results of static-gap experiments. Furthermore, the erosion surface of the silver-based contact materials can be observed and analyzed by using the X-ray diffraction method (XRD), differential thermal analysis (DTA), and gravitation thermal analyzer (GTA). Results show that when the arc energy is greater than 14 J, Ag-CdO and Ag-SnO2 have been decomposed into Ag-Cd and Ag-Sn alloys, respectively, which reduce their anti-weld ability. On the other hand, the welding trend has been reduced due to the dispersion of NiO on the surface of Ag-Ni contact. Consequently, the anti-erosion and anti-weld ability for the Ag-Ni contacts are better than those of the other Ag-MeO contact materials.

A new closed-loop frequency-domain model is developed to incorporate the water hammer effect with pump rotordynamics, in order to investigate the sub-synchronous instability problem observed in a field pump. Seal flow-rate perturbations due to eccentricity are calculated from Soulas and San Andres's seal code. A complete transfer function matrix between rotor motion and reaction force due to pressure perturbation is developed in detail. Stability analysis with transfer-function'add-in' modules is conducted in XLTRC2. Seal clearances and the reaction force angle are found to be important in shifting natural frequencies and damping. The sub-synchronous instability observed in field is duplicated successfully with double-clearance seals.

This research proposes a new signal operation strategy aimed at efficient utilization of green time by cutting down on the start up and response loss times. The idea is to have a "pre-signal" on each main approach a few hundred feet upstream of the intersection in addition to the main intersection signal, which is coordinated with the pre-signal. The offset between the main and pre-signal ensures that the majority of start up losses does not occur at the main signal. The benefits of the system under various traffic conditions were evaluated based on analysis of the queue discharge process and Corridor Simulation (CORSIM) study. The proposed measure should reduce the travel time and total control delay for the signalized network. To attain the objective the following two studies were undertaken: 1. Development of a queue discharge model to investigate the expected benefits of the system. 2. Simulation of the system: In the second part of the research, the proposed strategy was tested using CORSIM to evaluate its performance vis-à-vis the baseline case. The queue discharge model (QDM) was found to be linear in nature in contrast to prior expectations. The model was used to quantify the benefits obtained from the pre-signal system. The result of this analysis indicated that the proposed strategy would yield significant travel time savings and reductions in total control delay. In addition to the QDM analysis, CORSIM simulations were used to code various hypothetical scenarios to test the concept under various constraints and limitations. As per expectations, it was found that the system was beneficial for high demand levels and longer offsets. The upper limit on offsets was determined by visual observation of platoon dispersion and therefore the maximum offset distance was restricted to 450 feet. For scenarios where split phasing was used, the break even point in terms of demand level was found to be 2500 vph on a three lane approach, whereas that for a lag-lag type of phasing strategy was found to be 1800 vph, also on a three lane approach.

This work addresses the problem of using seawater for cooling and the associated environmental problems caused by the usage and discharge of biocides. The discharged biocide and its byproducts are toxic to aquatic lives and must be decreased below certain discharge limits on load prior to discharge. The conventional approach has been to add biocide removal units as an end-of-pipe treatment. This work introduces an integrated approach to reducing biocide discharge throughout a set of coordinated strategies for inplant modifications and biocide removal. In particular, process integration tools are used to reduce heating and cooling requirements through the synthesis of a heat-exchange network. Heat integration among process of hot and cold streams is pursued to an economic extent by reconciling cost reduction in utilities versus any additional capital investment of the heat exchangers. Other strategies include maximization of the temperature range for seawater through the process and optimization of biocide dosage. This new approach has the advantage of providing cost savings while reducing the usage and discharge of biocides. A case study is used to illustrate the usefulness of this new approach and the accompanying design techniques.

A preliminary study shows that Submarine Groundwater Discharge (SGD) exists around Taiwan even though groundwater overdrawing is serious. Only five of the 20 sites studied did not record any SGD signal. Two nearly fresh SGD samples were obtained, providing strong and direct evidence for the existence of SGD in Taiwan. SGD is the submarine seepage of all fluids from coastal sediments into the overlying coastal areas. It has been well documented that SGD may contribute much nutrients to the coasts (Burnett et al.,2001, 2003; Church, 1996; Taniguchi et al., 2002; Zhang and Satake, 2002). Because of its difficulty in measurement, there are few reports on the characteristics of groundwater seepage, such as the flow rate and the water chemistry. In Taiwan, the only report was published in the Japanese journal Geochemistry (Chen et al. , 2005 ). In this study, samples were collected monthly from May, 2004 to June, 2006 at Xiziwan and Caishan in Kaohsiung. A flux chamber was also used in the observation of the SGD seepage rates. Further, samples were collected from 20 different places around Taiwan. The SGD collecting device, the SGD-Flux chamber and the Lee type seepage meter (Zhang et al., 2005) were used in this study, the latter being the first time used to explore the SGD flux in Taiwan. Salinity, dissolved oxygen saturation (%), nutrients (NO3, NO2, PO4, SiO2, NH3), total alkalinity, pH and major ions were analyzed. We averaged all seepage rate data at Xiziwan and Caishan to estimated the SGD seepage rate at about 1.32¡Ó1.57 L/m2/hr. The average concentrations of inorganic nitrogen (NO3+NO2+NH3), PO4 and SiO2 are, respectively, 48.6¡Ó86.3 (n=85), 0.78¡Ó1.26 (n=110) and 55.1¡Ó39.8

¡@¡@An electrical discharge coating method, which an isolated sleeve is used to form a closed space between the end surface of electrode and the workpiece so that the particles, the ions, and the pressure during the discharge process are concentrated on this space, is employed to increase the coating speed and the quality of the coating. The electrode for the cathode is made of brass, and the workpiece for the anode SKD11. They are immersed in kerosene containing W/C powder with the concentration of 50g/L. The time for the pulse-on is 25£gs and that for the pulse-off times 500£gs. The growing thickness and the quality of coating layer are investigated under the supply voltage of 50-400V, discharge coating time of 34-284s, and the gap distance of 50-300£gm. ¡@¡@Experimental results show that when the supply voltage is larger than 100V, the gap distance less than 150£gm and discharge coating time 142s, the area covered by the coating can achieve more than 90 percent of the total surface area. Moreover, the coating thickness increases with increasing gap distance and discharge coating time, but as the gap distance is larger than 150£gm, the coating thickness decreases with increasing gap distance. ¡@¡@For a special case, under the supply voltage of 200V, the gap distance of 100£gm and the discharge coating time of 142s, the coating thickness can achieve about 17£gm with little pore in the coating layer. The hardness of the coating layer can almost achieve the level of W/C hardness.

<p>Isolationsdiagnostik är ett redskap som är av stor betydelse för underhållsoptimering av elektriska anläggningar. Ett av de möjliga mått på isolationsförsämring som kan användas i diagnosticeringssyfte är partiella urladdningar. Det här examensarbetet beskriver ett modelleringsförsök av ett resistivt-kapacitivt nätverk för simulering av partiella yturladdningar i Matlab. Tyvärr blev försöket misslyckat på grund av ett oväntat stort beroende av högspänningskapacitanser på ytresistiviteten. Ytterligare ett försök genomfördes i COMSOL Multiphysics, ett program baserat på finita elementmetoden ämnat för simuleringar av fysikaliska processer. Den huvudsakliga nackdelen med COMSOL Multiphysics modellen är långa simuleringstider. Det visade sig vara möjligt att simulera urladdningar i COMSOL Multiphysics. Här modellerades ytresistansen med hjälp av ett resistivt skikt. Yturladdningar simulerades genom att ändra det resistiva skiktets konduktivitet. Här upptäcks ytterligare ett problem: mycket långa simuleringstider vid användandet av olinjära konduktivitetsuttryck som beror på det elektriska fältet.</p><p>Alla simuleringar, både i Matlab och COMSOL Multiphysics, utfördes på en dator med Intel dual-core processor: 2.13 GHz, 0.99 GB of RAM.</p> / <p>Insulation diagnostics is a very important tool in optimization of electric installations’ maintenance. One of the possible measures of insulation deterioration that can be used for diagnostic purposes are partial discharges. This thesis work describes an attempt to model a resistive-capacitive network for simulating partial surface discharges in Matlab. Unfortunately this attempt proved to be a failure due to an unexpectedly considerable dependency of high voltage capacitances on surface resistivity. Another attempt described here was performed in COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite-element based program for simulation of physical processes. The main drawback with COMSOL Multiphysics model is long simulation times. It proved to be possible to simulate discharges in COMSOL Multiphysics. Here surface resistance was modeled with the help of a resistive layer. Discharges were simulated by changing conductivity of the mentioned layer. Here another problem was discovered: very long simulation times when using non-linear, electric field dependent expressions for conductivity.</p><p>All the simulations, both in Matlab and COMSOL Multiphysics, were performed on a computer with Intel dual-core processor: 2.13 GHz, 0.99 GB of RAM.</p>