Thesis (MTech (Electrical Engineering))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2009 / Traditional high voltage power transformers feature sensors measuring basic parameters
from oil and gas and are limited to on-site monitoring. Unforeseen failures and breakdowns
on these transformers have led to extensive financial losses even with planned maintenance
schedules in place. A distinct need has arisen to actively monitor and identify causes of such
failures. However, no or little infrastructure exists for effective remote condition monitoring.
Wireless sensor networks can be introduced to actively monitor and identify causes of
such failures. Sensor motes in the network are battery operated and therefore constrained
by limited energy in these batteries. An alternative to battery-powered sensor motes is
the conversion of available energy harvested from the surrounding environment into useable
electrical energy powering the sensor motes.
The primary objective of this research was to examine methods to harvest energy from
both the environment and high voltage power transformer. A low cost and feasibly sized
hybrid energy harvesting power management prototype was successfully developed that enabled
sustained sensor mote operation for prolonged condition monitoring of high voltage
transformers.
The sensor mote utilised a piezoelectric cantilever to generate usable electrical energy from
the transformer tank vibration. Together with solar energy harvesting, the system allowed
for a battery-less self-sustained wireless sensor mote capable of autonomously monitoring its
surroundings.
The power management system's modular architecture provided for the inclusion of additional
energy harvesting techniques. This allowed condition monitoring solutions not exclusively
for power transformers but proposed an extensible condition monitoring solution for
various applications.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:cput/oai:localhost:20.500.11838/1067 |
| Date | January 2009 |
| Creators | De Villiers, Daniel Johannes |
| Publisher | Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/za/ |
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