Simulation of surface and volume stress for high voltage transmission insulators

The bulk of power transmission from the generating stations to the load centres is carried through overhead lines. The distances involved could span several hundreds of kilometres. To minimize line losses, power transmission over such long distances is carried out at high voltages (several hundreds of kV). A network of outdoor lines operating at different voltages has been found to be the most economical method of power delivery. The disc insulators perform dual task of mechanically supporting and electrically isolating the live phase conductors from the support tower. These insulators have to perform under various environmental conditions; hence the electrical stress distribution along the insulators governs the possible flashover, which is quite detrimental to the system. In view of this the present investigation aims to simulate the surface electric field stress on different types of porcelain/ceramic insulators; both normal and anti-fog type discs which are used for high voltage transmission/distribution systems are considered. The surface charge simulation method is employed for the field computation to simulate potential, electric field, surface and bulk/volume stress.

Surface electrode switching of a 16-electrode wireless EIT system using RF-based digital data transmission scheme with 8 channel encoder/decoder ICs

A Radio Frequency (RF) based digital data transmission scheme with 8 channel encoder/decoder ICs is proposed for surface electrode switching of a 16-electrode wireless Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) system. A RF based wireless digital data transmission module (WDDTM) is developed and the electrode switching of a EIT system is studied by analyzing the boundary data collected and the resistivity images of practical phantoms. An analog multiplexers based electrode switching module (ESM) is developed with analog multiplexers and switched with parallel digital data transmitted by a wireless transmitter/receiver (T-x/R-x) module working with radio frequency technology. Parallel digital bits are generated using NI USB 6251 card working in LabVIEW platform and sent to transmission module to transmit the digital data to the receiver end. The transmitter/receiver module developed is properly interfaced with the personal computer (PC) and practical phantoms through the ESM and USB based DAQ system respectively. It is observed that the digital bits required for multiplexer operation are sequentially generated by the digital output (D/O) ports of the DAQ card. Parallel to serial and serial to parallel conversion of digital data are suitably done by encoder and decoder ICs. Wireless digital data transmission module successfully transmitted and received the parallel data required for switching the current and voltage electrodes wirelessly. 1 mA, 50 kHz sinusoidal constant current is injected at the phantom boundary using common ground current injection protocol and the boundary potentials developed at the voltage electrodes are measured. Resistivity images of the practical phantoms are reconstructed from boundary data using EIDORS. Boundary data and the resistivity images reconstructed from the surface potentials are studied to assess the wireless digital data transmission system. Boundary data profiles of the practical phantom with different configurations show that the multiplexers are operating in the required sequence for common ground current injection protocol. The voltage peaks obtained at the proper positions in the boundary data profiles proved the sequential operation of multiplexers and successful wireless transmission of digital bits. Reconstructed images and their image parameters proved that the boundary data are successfully acquired by the DAQ system which in turn again indicates a sequential and proper operation of multiplexers as well as the successful wireless transmission of digital bits. Hence the developed RF based wireless digital data transmission module (WDDTM) is found suitable for transmitting digital bits required for electrode switching in wireless EIT data acquisition system. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Ex Situ X-ray Diffraction, X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure, Electron Spin Resonance, and Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of the Hydrothermal Crystallization of Vanadium Oxide Nanotubes: An Insight into the Mechanism of Formation

The nucleation and growth of vanadium oxide nanotubes (VOx-NT) have been followed by a combination of numerous ex situ techniques. long the hydrothermal process. Intermediate solid phases extracted at different reaction times have been characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron spin resonance, and V-K edge :X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy. The supernatant vanadate solutions extracted during the hydrothermal treatment have been studied by liquid V-51 NMR and flame. spectroscopy. For short durations of the hydrothermal synthesis, the initial V2O5-surfactant intercalate. is progressively transformed into VOx-NT whose crystallization starts to be detected after a hydrothermal treatment of 24 h. Upon heating from 24 h to 7 days, VOx-NT are obtained in larger amount and with an improved crystallinity. The detection of soluble amines and cyclic metavanadate V4O12](4-) in the supernatant solution along the hydrothermal process suggests that VOx-NT result from a dissolution precipitation mechanism. Metavanadate species V4O12](4-) could behave as molecular precursors in the polymerization reactions leading to VOx-NT.

Switching of a Sixteen Electrode Array for Wireless EIT System Using a RF-Based 8-Bit Digital Data Transmission Technique

Surface electrode switching of 16-electrode wireless EIT is studied using a Radio Frequency (RF) based digital data transmission technique operating with 8 channel encoder/decoder ICs. An electrode switching module is developed the analog multiplexers and switched with 8-bit parallel digital data transferred by transmitter/receiver module developed with radio frequency technology. 8-bit parallel digital data collected from the receiver module are converted to 16-bit digital data by using binary adder circuits and then used for switching the electrodes in opposite current injection protocol. 8-bit parallel digital data are generated using NI USB 6251 DAQ card in LabVIEW software and sent to the transmission module which transmits the digital data bits to the receiver end. Receiver module supplies the parallel digital bits to the binary adder circuits and adder circuit outputs are fed to the multiplexers of the electrode switching module for surface electrode switching. 1 mA, 50 kHz sinusoidal constant current is injected at the phantom boundary using opposite current injection protocol. The boundary potentials developed at the voltage electrodes are measured and studied to assess the wireless data transmission.

Packet scheduling for priority based transmission in energy harvesting sensors

In this paper, we determine packet scheduling policies for efficient power management in Energy Harvesting Sensors (EHS) which have to transmit packets of high and low priorities over a fading channel. We assume that incoming packets are stored in a buffer and the quality of service for a particular type of message is determined by the expected waiting time of packets of that type of message. The sensors are constrained to work with the energy that they garner from the environment. We derive transmit policies which minimize the sum of expected waiting times of the two types of messages, weighted by penalties. First, we show that for schemes with a constant rate of transmission, under a decoupling approximation, a form of truncated channel inversion is optimal. Using this result, we derive optimal solutions that minimize the weighted sum of the waiting times in the different queues.

Modeling the effect of transmission errors on TCP controlled transfers over infrastructure 802.11 wireless LANs

There have been several studies on the performance of TCP controlled transfers over an infrastructure IEEE 802.11 WLAN, assuming perfect channel conditions. In this paper, we develop an analytical model for the throughput of TCP controlled file transfers over the IEEE 802.11 DCF with different packet error probabilities for the stations, accounting for the effect of packet drops on the TCP window. Our analysis proceeds by combining two models: one is an extension of the usual TCP-over-DCF model for an infrastructure WLAN, where the throughput of a station depends on the probability that the head-of-the-line packet at the Access Point belongs to that station; the second is a model for the TCP window process for connections with different drop probabilities. Iterative calculations between these models yields the head-of-the-line probabilities, and then, performance measures such as the throughputs and packet failure probabilities can be derived. We find that, due to MAC layer retransmissions, packet losses are rare even with high channel error probabilities and the stations obtain fair throughputs even when some of them have packet error probabilities as high as 0.1 or 0.2. For some restricted settings we are also able to model tail-drop loss at the AP. Although involving many approximations, the model captures the system behavior quite accurately, as compared with simulations.

Generation of a short-duration ultrawideband chirped-pulse using CRLH transmission lines

In this paper we present the various design issues related to CRLH-Transmission lines for the generation of short duration Ultra-Wideband chirped-pulse. The major parameters of the CRLH Transmission lines affecting the BandWidth are discussed and methods to increase BandWidth are also suggested. Also presented is the role of components of CRLH Transmission lines in determining the chirp duration. The techniques of controlling the chirp duration by regulating these components are also discussed. Simulations results are also included.

Analysis of distance relay trip regions for EHV and UHV transmission lines

This paper presents comparative evaluation of the distance relay characteristics for UHV and EHV transmission lines. Distance protection relay characteristics for the EHV and UHV systems are developed using Electromagnetic Transients (EMT) program. The variation of ideal trip boundaries for both the systems are presented. Unlike the conventional distance protection relay which uses a lumped parameter model, this paper uses the distributed parameter model. The effect of larger shunt susceptance on the trip boundaries is highlighted. Performance of distance relay with ideal trip boundaries for EHV and UHV lines have been tested for various fault locations and fault resistances. Electromagnetic Transients (EMT) program has been developed considering distributed parameter line model for simulating the test systems. The voltage and current phasors are computed from the signals using an improved full cycle DFT algorithm taking 20 samples per cycle. Two practical transmission systems of Indian power grid, namely 765 kV UHV transmission line and SREB 24-bus 400kV EHV system are used to test the performance of the proposed approach.

Control of switching surges due to energization of 765kV UHV transmission line

Reduction of switching surge over voltages allows an economic design of UHV transmission system with reduced insulation. The various means of switching surge over voltage control with pre-insertion resistors/closing resistors, shunt re-actors and controlled switching are illustrated. The switching surge over voltages during the energization of series compensated line are compared with uncompensated line. An Electromagnetic transients program has been developed for studying the effect of various means of control of switching transients during 765kV UHV transmission line energization. This paper presents the studies carried out on switching surges control in 765kV UHV transmission line energization.

Support vector machine based high speed protection relay for EHV/UHV transmission line

This paper presents a fast and accurate relaying technique for a long 765kv UHV transmission line based on support vector machine. For a long EHV/UHV transmission line with large distributed capacitance, a traditional distance relay which uses a lumped parameter model of the transmission line can cause malfunction of the relay. With a frequency of 1kHz, 1/4th cycle of instantaneous values of currents and voltages of all phases at the relying end are fed to Support Vector Machine(SVM). The SVM detects fault type accurately using 3 milliseconds of post-fault data and reduces the fault clearing time which improves the system stability and power transfer capability. The performance of relaying scheme has been checked with a typical 765kV Indian transmission System which is simulated using the Electromagnetic Transients Program(EMTP) developed by authors in which the distributed parameter line model is used. More than 15,000 different short circuit fault cases are simulated by varying fault location, fault impedance, fault incidence angle and fault type to train the SVM for high speed accurate relaying. Simulation studies have shown that the proposed relay provides fast and accurate protection irrespective of fault location, fault impedance, incidence time of fault and fault type. And also the proposed scheme can be used as augmentation for the existing relaying, particularly for Zone-2, Zone-3 protection.

Micro-blast waves using detonation transmission tubing

Micro-blast waves emerging from the open end of a detonation transmission tube were experimentally visualized in this study. A commercially available detonation transmission tube was used (Nonel tube, M/s Dyno Nobel, Sweden), which is a small diameter tube coated with a thin layer of explosive mixture (HMX traces of Al) on its inner side. The typical explosive loading for this tube is of the order of 18 mg/m of tube length. The blast wave was visualized using a high speed digital camera (frame rate 1 MHz) to acquire time-resolved schlieren images of the resulting flow field. The visualization studies were complemented by computational fluid dynamic simulations. An analysis of the schlieren images showed that although the blast wave appears to be spherical, it propagates faster along the tube axis than along a direction perpendicular to the tube axis. Additionally, CFD analysis revealed the presence of a barrel shock and Mach disc, showing structures that are typical of an underexpanded jet. A theory in use for centered large-scale explosions of intermediate strength gave good agreement with the blast trajectory along the tube axis. The energy of these micro-blast waves was found to be J and the average TNT equivalent was found to be . The repeatability in generating these micro-blast waves using the Nonel tube was very good and this opens up the possibility of using this device for studying some of the phenomena associated with muzzle blasts in the near future.

Transmission electron microscopy study of Ni-rich, Ag-Ni nanowires

Present work provides an electrodeposition based methodology for synthesizing Ni-rich, Ag-Ni nanowires using an alumina template. Ag-Ni system shows negligible solid solubility in the bulk. Detailed structural and compositional characterization of as-synthesized nanowires using transmission electron microscopy technique revealed a two phase microstructure. Regions along and near the nanowire axis contained crystalline Ag-Ni solid solution phase with Ag-rich composition. Whereas, regions away from the axis and near the nanowire boundary predominantly contained nanocrystalline Ni-rich, Ni-Ag solid solution phase. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Biogeochemical facsimile of the organic matter quality and trophic status of a micro-tidal tropical estuary

Seasonal studies were carried out from 21 stations, comprising of three zones, of Cochin Estuary, to assess the organic matter quality and trophic status. The hydographical parameters showed significant seasonal variations and nutrients and chlorophylls were generally higher during the monsoon season. However, chemical contamination along with the seasonal limitations of light and nitrogen imposed restrictions on the primary production and as a result, mesotrophic conditions generally prevailed in the water column. The nutrient stoichometries and delta C-13 values of surficial sediments indicated significant allochthonous contribution of organic matter. Irrespective of the higher content of total organic matter, the labile organic matter was very low. Dominance of carbohydrates over lipids and proteins indicated the lower nutritive aspect of the organic matter, and their aged and refractory nature. This, along with higher amount of phytodetritus and the low algal contribution to the biopolymeric carbon corroborated the dominance of allochthonous organic matter and the heterotrophic nature. The spatial and seasonal variations of labile organic components could effectively substantiate the observed shift in the productivity pattern. An alternative ratio, lipids to tannins and lignins, was proposed to ascertain the relative contribution of allochthonous organic matter in the estuary. This study confirmed the efficiency of an integrated biogeochemical approach to establish zones with distinct benthic trophic status associated with different degrees of natural and anthropogenic input. Nevertheless, our results also suggest that the biochemical composition alone could lead to erroneous conclusions in the case of regions that receive enormous amounts of anthropogenic inputs.

Better QOS with W/T SPR codes for the transmission of multimedia signals in Optical CDMA networks

In this paper optical code-division multiple-access (O-CDMA) packet network is considered, which offers inherent security in the access networks. The application of O-CDMA to multimedia transmission (voice, data, and video) is investigated. The simultaneous transmission of various services is achieved by assigning to each user unique multiple code signatures. Thus, by applying a parallel mapping technique, we achieve multi-rate services. A random access protocol is proposed, here, where all distinct codes are used, for packet transmission. The codes, Optical Orthogonal Code (OOC), or 1D codes and Wavelength/Time Single-Pulse-per-Row (W/T SPR), or 2D codes, are analyzed. These 1D and 2D codes with varied weight are used to differentiate the Quality of Service (QoS). The theoretical bit error probability corresponding to the quality of each service is established using 1D and 2D codes in the receiver noiseless case and compared. The results show that, using 2D codes QoS in multimedia transmission is better than using 1D codes.

Light transmission through and its complete stoppage in an ultra slow wave optical medium

Light wave transmission - its compression, amplification, and the optical energy storage in an ultra slow wave medium (USWM) is studied analytically. Our phenomenological treatment is based entirely on the continuity equation for the optical energy flux, and the well-known distribution-product property of Dirac delta-function. The results so obtained provide a clear understanding of some recent experiments on light transmission and its complete stoppage in an USWM.