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- All Subjects: engineering
- Creators: Ayyanar, Raja
- Creators: Alford, Terry
- Status: Published
Description
The high penetration of photovoltaic (PV) both at the utility and at the distribu-tion levels, has raised concerns about the reliability of grid-tied inverters of PV power systems. Inverters are generally considered as the weak link in PV power systems. The lack of a dedicated qualification/reliability standard for PV inverters is a main barrier in realizing higher level of confidence in reliability. Development of a well-accepted design qualification standard specifically for PV inverters will help pave the way for significant improvement in reliability and performance of inverters across the entire industry. The existing standards for PV inverters such as UL 1741 and IEC 62109-1 primarily focus on safety. IEC 62093 discusses inverter qualification but it includes all the balance of sys-tem components and therefore not specific to PV inverters. There are other general stan-dards for distributed generators including the IEEE1547 series of standards which cover major concerns like utility integration but they are not dedicated to PV inverters and are not written from a design qualification point of view. In this thesis, some of the potential requirements for a design qualification standard for PV inverters are addressed. The IEC 62093 is considered as a guideline and the possible inclusions in the framework for a dedicated design qualification standard of PV inverter are discussed. The missing links in existing PV inverter related standards are identified by performing gap analysis. Dif-ferent requirements of small residential inverters compared to large utility-scale systems, and the emerging requirements on grid support features are also considered. Electric stress test is found to be the key missing link and one of the electric stress tests, the surge withstand test is studied in detail. The use of the existing standards for surge withstand test of residential scale PV inverters is investigated and a method to suitably adopt these standards is proposed. The proposed method is studied analytically and verified using simulation. A design criterion for choosing the switch ratings of the inverter that can per-form reliably under the surge environment is derived.
ContributorsAlampoondi Venkataramanan, Sai Balasubramanian (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In modern electric power systems, energy management systems (EMSs) are responsi-ble for monitoring and controlling the generation system and transmission networks. State estimation (SE) is a critical `must run successful' component within the EMS software. This is dictated by the high reliability requirements and need to represent the closest real time model for market operations and other critical analysis functions in the EMS. Tradi-tionally, SE is run with data obtained only from supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) devices and systems. However, more emphasis on improving the performance of SE drives the inclusion of phasor measurement units (PMUs) into SE input data. PMU measurements are claimed to be more accurate than conventional measurements and PMUs `time stamp' measurements accurately. These widely distributed devices meas-ure the voltage phasors directly. That is, phase information for measured voltages and currents are available. PMUs provide data time stamps to synchronize measurements. Con-sidering the relatively small number of PMUs installed in contemporary power systems in North America, performing SE with only phasor measurements is not feasible. Thus a hy-brid SE, including both SCADA and PMU measurements, is the reality for contemporary power system SE. The hybrid approach is the focus of a number of research papers. There are many practical challenges in incorporating PMUs into SE input data. The higher reporting rates of PMUs as compared with SCADA measurements is one of the salient problems. The disparity of reporting rates raises a question whether buffering the phasor measurements helps to give better estimates of the states. The research presented in this thesis addresses the design of data buffers for PMU data as used in SE applications in electric power systems. The system theoretic analysis is illustrated using an operating electric power system in the southwest part of the USA. Var-ious instances of state estimation data have been used for analysis purposes. The details of the research, results obtained and conclusions drawn are presented in this document.
ContributorsMurugesan, Veerakumar (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Solar power generation is the most promising technology to transfer energy consumption reliance from fossil fuel to renewable sources. Concentrated solar power generation is a method to concentrate the sunlight from a bigger area to a smaller area. The collected sunlight is converted more efficiently through two types of technologies: concentrated solar photovoltaics (CSPV) and concentrated solar thermal power (CSTP) generation. In this thesis, these two technologies were evaluated in terms of system construction, performance characteristics, design considerations, cost benefit analysis and their field experience. The two concentrated solar power generation systems were implemented with similar solar concentrators and solar tracking systems but with different energy collecting and conversion components: the CSPV system uses high efficiency multi-junction solar cell modules, while the CSTP system uses a boiler -turbine-generator setup. The performances are calibrated via the experiments and evaluation analysis.
ContributorsJin, Zhilei (Author) / Hui, Yu (Thesis advisor) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Rodriguez, Armando (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Ball Grid Array (BGA) using lead-free or lead-rich solder materials are widely used as Second Level Interconnects (SLI) in mounting packaged components to the printed circuit board (PCB). The reliability of these solder joints is of significant importance to the performance of microelectronics components and systems. Product design/form-factor, solder material, manufacturing process, use condition, as well as, the inherent variabilities present in the system, greatly influence product reliability. Accurate reliability analysis requires an integrated approach to concurrently account for all these factors and their synergistic effects. Such an integrated and robust methodology can be used in design and development of new and advanced microelectronics systems and can provide significant improvement in cycle-time, cost, and reliability. IMPRPK approach is based on a probabilistic methodology, focusing on three major tasks of (1) Characterization of BGA solder joints to identify failure mechanisms and obtain statistical data, (2) Finite Element analysis (FEM) to predict system response needed for life prediction, and (3) development of a probabilistic methodology to predict the reliability, as well as, the sensitivity of the system to various parameters and the variabilities. These tasks and the predictive capabilities of IMPRPK in microelectronic reliability analysis are discussed.
ContributorsFallah-Adl, Ali (Author) / Tasooji, Amaneh (Thesis advisor) / Krause, Stephen (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Jiang, Hanqing (Committee member) / Mahajan, Ravi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Soft magnetic alloys play a significant role for magnetic recording applications and highly sensitivity magnetic field sensors. In order to sustain the magnetic areal density growth, development of new synthesis techniques and materials is necessary. In this work, the effect of oxygen incorporation during electrodeposition of CoFe alloys on magnetic properties, magnetoresistance and structural properties has been studied. Understanding the magnetic properties often required knowledge of oxygen distribution and structural properties of the grown films. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) was a powerful tool in this study to correlate the oxygen-distribution nanostructure to the magnetic properties of deposited films. Off-axis electron holography in TEM was used to measure magnetic domain wall width in the deposited films. Elemental depth profiles of Fe, Co, O were investigated by secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS). Magnetic properties have been determined by superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) measurements. Oxygen content in the CoFe deposited films was controlled by electrolyte composition. Films were deposited on Si 100 substrates and on other substrates such as Cu and Al. However, a good film quality was achieved on Si substrate. Electron energy loss and x-ray spectroscopies showed that the low oxygen films contained intragranular Fe2+ oxide (FeO) particles and that the high oxygen films contained intergranular Fe3+ (Fe2O3) along grain boundaries. The films with oxide present at the grain boundary had significantly increased coercivity, magnetoresistance and reduced saturation magnetization relative to the lower oxygen content films with intragranular oxide. The differences in magnetic properties between low oxygen and high oxygen concentration films were attributed to stronger mobile domain wall interactions with the grain boundary oxide layers. The very high magnetoresistance values were achieved for magnetic devices with nanocontact dimension < 100 nm and oxide incorporation in this nanoconfined geometry. The content of oxide phase in nanocontact was controlled by concentration of the Fe3+ ions in the electrodeposition solution. Magnetic device integrity was improved by varying amount of additive into plating solution. These results indicated that electrodeposited CoFe nanocontact is a novel class of materials with large application for magnetic field sensors.
ContributorsElhalawaty, Shereen (Author) / Carpenter, Ray (Thesis advisor) / Chamberlin, Ralph (Committee member) / McCartney, Martha (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The Smart Grid initiative describes the collaborative effort to modernize the U.S. electric power infrastructure. Modernization efforts incorporate digital data and information technology to effectuate control, enhance reliability, encourage small customer sited distributed generation (DG), and better utilize assets. The Smart Grid environment is envisioned to include distributed generation, flexible and controllable loads, bidirectional communications using smart meters and other technologies. Sensory technology may be utilized as a tool that enhances operation including operation of the distribution system. Addressing this point, a distribution system state estimation algorithm is developed in this thesis. The state estimation algorithm developed here utilizes distribution system modeling techniques to calculate a vector of state variables for a given set of measurements. Measurements include active and reactive power flows, voltage and current magnitudes, phasor voltages with magnitude and angle information. The state estimator is envisioned as a tool embedded in distribution substation computers as part of distribution management systems (DMS); the estimator acts as a supervisory layer for a number of applications including automation (DA), energy management, control and switching. The distribution system state estimator is developed in full three-phase detail, and the effect of mutual coupling and single-phase laterals and loads on the solution is calculated. The network model comprises a full three-phase admittance matrix and a subset of equations that relates measurements to system states. Network equations and variables are represented in rectangular form. Thus a linear calculation procedure may be employed. When initialized to the vector of measured quantities and approximated non-metered load values, the calculation procedure is non-iterative. This dissertation presents background information used to develop the state estimation algorithm, considerations for distribution system modeling, and the formulation of the state estimator. Estimator performance for various power system test beds is investigated. Sample applications of the estimator to Smart Grid systems are presented. Applications include monitoring, enabling demand response (DR), voltage unbalance mitigation, and enhancing voltage control. Illustrations of these applications are shown. Also, examples of enhanced reliability and restoration using a sensory based automation infrastructure are shown.
ContributorsHaughton, Daniel Andrew (Author) / Heydt, Gerald T (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Hedman, Kory W (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
The constant scaling of supply voltages in state-of-the-art CMOS processes has led to severe limitations for many analog circuit applications. Some CMOS processes have addressed this issue by adding high voltage MOSFETs to their process. Although it can be a completely viable solution, it usually requires a changing of the process flow or adding additional steps, which in turn, leads to an increase in fabrication costs. Si-MESFETs (silicon-metal-semiconductor-field-effect-transistors) from Arizona State University (ASU) on the other hand, have an inherent high voltage capability and can be added to any silicon-on-insulator (SOI) or silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) CMOS process free of cost. This has been proved at five different commercial foundries on technologies ranging from 0.5 to 0.15 μm. Another critical issue facing CMOS processes on insulated substrates is the scaling of the thin silicon channel. Consequently, the future direction of SOI/SOS CMOS transistors may trend away from partially depleted (PD) transistors and towards fully depleted (FD) devices. FD-CMOS are already being implemented in multiple applications due to their very low power capability. Since the FD-CMOS market only figures to grow, it is appropriate that MESFETs also be developed for these processes. The beginning of this thesis will focus on the device aspects of both PD and FD-MESFETs including their layout structure, DC and RF characteristics, and breakdown voltage. The second half will then shift the focus towards implementing both types of MESFETs in an analog circuit application. Aside from their high breakdown ability, MESFETs also feature depletion mode operation, easy to adjust but well controlled threshold voltages, and fT's up to 45 GHz. Those unique characteristics can allow certain designs that were previously difficult to implement or prohibitively expensive using conventional technologies to now be achieved. One such application which benefits is low dropout regulators (LDO). By utilizing an n-channel MESFET as the pass transistor, a LDO featuring very low dropout voltage, fast transient response, and stable operation can be achieved without an external capacitance. With the focus of this thesis being MESFET based LDOs, the device discussion will be mostly tailored towards optimally designing MESFETs for this particular application.
ContributorsLepkowski, William (Author) / Thornton, Trevor (Thesis advisor) / Bakkaloglu, Bertan (Committee member) / Goryll, Michael (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Microstructure refinement and alloy additions are considered potential routes to increase high temperature performance of existing metallic superalloys used under extreme conditions. Nanocrystalline (NC) Cu-10at%Ta exhibits such improvements over microstructurally unstable NC metals, leading to enhanced creep behavior compared to its coarse-grained (CG) counterparts. However, the low melting point of Cu compared to other FCC metals, e.g., Ni, might lead to an early onset of diffusional creep mechanisms. Thus, this research seeks to study the thermo-mechanical behavior and stability of hierarchical (prepared using arc-melting) and NC (prepared by collaborators through powder pressing and annealing) Ni-Y-Zr alloys where Zr is expected to provide solid solution and grain boundary strengthening in hierarchical and NC alloys, respectively, while Ni-Y and Ni-Zr intermetallic precipitates (IMCs) would provide kinetic stability. Hierarchical alloys had microstructures stable up to 1100 °C with ultrafine eutectic of ~300 nm, dendritic arm spacing of ~10 μm, and grain size ~1-2 mm. Room temperature hardness tests along with uniaxial compression performed at 25 and 600 °C revealed that microhardness and yield strength of hierarchical alloys with small amounts of Y (0.5-1wt%) and Zr (1.5-3 wt%) were comparable to Ni-superalloys, due to the hierarchical microstructure and potential presence of nanoscale IMCs. In contrast, NC alloys of the same composition were found to be twice as hard as the hierarchical alloys. Creep tests at 0.5 homologous temperature showed active Coble creep mechanisms in hierarchical alloys at low stresses with creep rates slower than Fe-based superalloys and dislocation creep mechanisms at higher stresses. Creep in NC alloys at lower stresses was only 20 times faster than hierarchical alloys, with the difference in grain size ranging from 10^3 to 10^6 times at the same temperature. These NC alloys showed enhanced creep properties over other NC metals and are expected to have rates equal to or improved over the CG hierarchical alloys with ECAP processing techniques. Lastly, the in-situ wide-angle x-ray scattering (WAXS) measurements during quasi-static and creep tests implied stresses being carried mostly by the matrix before yielding and in the primary creep stage, respectively, while relaxation was observed in Ni5Zr for both hierarchical and NC alloys. Beyond yielding and in the secondary creep stage, lattice strains reached a steady state, thereby, an equilibrium between plastic strain rates was achieved across different phases, so that deformation reaches a saturation state where strain hardening effects are compensated by recovery mechanisms.
ContributorsSharma, Shruti (Author) / Peralta, Pedro (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Solanki, Kiran (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) has facilitated great scientific advancements in many fields, like material science, engineering, medicine, biology, and health. EPR provided the ability to investigate samples on molecular level to detect chemical composition and identify harmful substances like free radicals. This thesis aims to explore current health and diagnostics EPR research and investigate the free radical content in related paramagnetic centers. Examining paramagnetic diagnostic markers of Cancer, Sicklecell disease, oxidative stress, and food oxidation. After exploring current literature on EPR, an experiment is designed and conducted to test seven different coffee samples (Turkish coffee, Espresso Coffee, European Coffee, Ground Arabic Coffee, American Coffee, Roasted Arabic Coffee, and Green Arabic Coffee), using Bruker ELEXSYS E580 spectrometer at x-band and under both room temperature (298 K) and low temperature (106 -113 K). Several microwave powers (1, mW, 0.25 mW, 0.16 mW, 0.06 mW, 0.04 mW) and different modulation frequency (10 G, 5 G, 3 G) are used. The results revealed average g-value was 2.009, highest linewidth was 16.312. Espresso coffee had the highest concentration of radicals, and green Arabic coffee beans had the lowest. Obtained spectra showed signals of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) radicals; believed to be result of natural oxidation process, as well as trace amounts of Fe3+ and other transition metals impurities, likely to be naturally found in coffee or resulting from the process of coffee production.
ContributorsMaki, Husain (Author) / Newman, Nathan (Thesis advisor) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Chamberlin, Ralph (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Organic materials have emerged as an attractive component of electronics over the past few decades, particularly in the development of efficient and stable organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and organic neuromorphic devices. The electrical, chemical, physical, and optical studies of organic materials and their corresponding devices have been conducted for efficient and stable electronics. The development of efficient and stable deep blue OLED devices remains a challenge that has obstructed the progress of large-scale OLED commercialization. One approach was taken to achieve a deep blue emitter through a color tuning strategy. A new complex, PtNONS56-dtb, was designed and synthesized by controlling the energy gap between T1 and T2 energy states to achieve narrowed and blueshifted emission spectra. This emitter material showed an emission spectrum at 460 nm with a FWHM of 59 nm at room temperature in PMMA, and the PtNONS56-dtb-based device exhibited a peak EQE of 8.5% with CIE coordinates of (0.14, 0.27).
A newly developed host and electron blocking materials were demonstrated to achieve efficient and stable OLED devices. The indolocarbazole-based materials were designed to have good hole mobility and high triplet energy. BCN34 as an electron blocking material achieved the estimated LT80 of 12509 h at 1000 cd m-2 with a peak EQE of 30.3% in devices employing Pd3O3 emitter. Additionally, a device with bi-layer emissive layer structure, using BCN34 and CBP as host materials doped with PtN3N emitter, achieved a peak EQE of 16.5% with the LT97 of 351 h at 1000 cd m-2. A new neuromorphic device using Ru(bpy)3(PF6)2 as an active layer was designed to emulate the short-term characteristics of a biological synapse. This memristive device showed a similar operational mechanism with biological synapse through the movement of ions and electronic charges. Furthermore, the performance of the device showed tunability by adding salt. Ultimately, the device with 2% LiClO4 salt shows similar timescales to short-term plasticity characteristics of biological synapses.
ContributorsShin, Samuel (Author) / Li, Jian (Thesis advisor) / Adams, James (Committee member) / Alford, Terry (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021