Matching Items (173)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Electrical Engineering
- Creators: Ayyanar, Raja
- Creators: Zhang, Junshan
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
The development of a Solid State Transformer (SST) that incorporates a DC-DC multiport converter to integrate both photovoltaic (PV) power generation and battery energy storage is presented in this dissertation. The DC-DC stage is based on a quad-active-bridge (QAB) converter which not only provides isolation for the load, but also for the PV and storage. The AC-DC stage is implemented with a pulse-width-modulated (PWM) single phase rectifier. A unified gyrator-based average model is developed for a general multi-active-bridge (MAB) converter controlled through phase-shift modulation (PSM). Expressions to determine the power rating of the MAB ports are also derived. The developed gyrator-based average model is applied to the QAB converter for faster simulations of the proposed SST during the control design process as well for deriving the state-space representation of the plant. Both linear quadratic regulator (LQR) and single-input-single-output (SISO) types of controllers are designed for the DC-DC stage. A novel technique that complements the SISO controller by taking into account the cross-coupling characteristics of the QAB converter is also presented herein. Cascaded SISO controllers are designed for the AC-DC stage. The QAB demanded power is calculated at the QAB controls and then fed into the rectifier controls in order to minimize the effect of the interaction between the two SST stages. The dynamic performance of the designed control loops based on the proposed control strategies are verified through extensive simulation of the SST average and switching models. The experimental results presented herein show that the transient responses for each control strategy match those from the simulations results thus validating them.
ContributorsFalcones, Sixifo Daniel (Author) / Ayyanar, Raja (Thesis advisor) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Tsakalis, Konstantinos (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Underwater acoustic communications face significant challenges unprecedented in radio terrestrial communications including long multipath delay spreads, strong Doppler effects, and stringent bandwidth requirements. Recently, multi-carrier communications based on orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) have seen significant growth in underwater acoustic (UWA) communications, thanks to their well well-known robustness against severely time-dispersive channels. However, the performance of OFDM systems over UWA channels significantly deteriorates due to severe intercarrier interference (ICI) resulting from rapid time variations of the channel. With the motivation of developing enabling techniques for OFDM over UWA channels, the major contributions of this thesis include (1) two effective frequencydomain equalizers that provide general means to counteract the ICI; (2) a family of multiple-resampling receiver designs dealing with distortions caused by user and/or path specific Doppler scaling effects; (3) proposal of using orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) as an effective multiple access scheme for UWA communications; (4) the capacity evaluation for single-resampling versus multiple-resampling receiver designs. All of the proposed receiver designs have been verified both through simulations and emulations based on data collected in real-life UWA communications experiments. Particularly, the frequency domain equalizers are shown to be effective with significantly reduced pilot overhead and offer robustness against Doppler and timing estimation errors. The multiple-resampling designs, where each branch is tasked with the Doppler distortion of different paths and/or users, overcome the disadvantages of the commonly-used single-resampling receivers and yield significant performance gains. Multiple-resampling receivers are also demonstrated to be necessary for UWA OFDMA systems. The unique design effectively mitigates interuser interference (IUI), opening up the possibility to exploit advanced user subcarrier assignment schemes. Finally, the benefits of the multiple-resampling receivers are further demonstrated through channel capacity evaluation results.
ContributorsTu, Kai (Author) / Duman, Tolga M. (Thesis advisor) / Zhang, Junshan (Committee member) / Tepedelenlioğlu, Cihan (Committee member) / Papandreou-Suppappola, Antonia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Great advances have been made in the construction of photovoltaic (PV) cells and modules, but array level management remains much the same as it has been in previous decades. Conventionally, the PV array is connected in a fixed topology which is not always appropriate in the presence of faults in the array, and varying weather conditions. With the introduction of smarter inverters and solar modules, the data obtained from the photovoltaic array can be used to dynamically modify the array topology and improve the array power output. This is beneficial especially when module mismatches such as shading, soiling and aging occur in the photovoltaic array. This research focuses on the topology optimization of PV arrays under shading conditions using measurements obtained from a PV array set-up. A scheme known as topology reconfiguration method is proposed to find the optimal array topology for a given weather condition and faulty module information. Various topologies such as the series-parallel (SP), the total cross-tied (TCT), the bridge link (BL) and their bypassed versions are considered. The topology reconfiguration method compares the efficiencies of the topologies, evaluates the percentage gain in the generated power that would be obtained by reconfiguration of the array and other factors to find the optimal topology. This method is employed for various possible shading patterns to predict the best topology. The results demonstrate the benefit of having an electrically reconfigurable array topology. The effects of irradiance and shading on the array performance are also studied. The simulations are carried out using a SPICE simulator. The simulation results are validated with the experimental data provided by the PACECO Company.
ContributorsBuddha, Santoshi Tejasri (Author) / Spanias, Andreas (Thesis advisor) / Tepedelenlioğlu, Cihan (Thesis advisor) / Zhang, Junshan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
There are many wireless communication and networking applications that require high transmission rates and reliability with only limited resources in terms of bandwidth, power, hardware complexity etc.. Real-time video streaming, gaming and social networking are a few such examples. Over the years many problems have been addressed towards the goal of enabling such applications; however, significant challenges still remain, particularly, in the context of multi-user communications. With the motivation of addressing some of these challenges, the main focus of this dissertation is the design and analysis of capacity approaching coding schemes for several (wireless) multi-user communication scenarios. Specifically, three main themes are studied: superposition coding over broadcast channels, practical coding for binary-input binary-output broadcast channels, and signalling schemes for two-way relay channels. As the first contribution, we propose an analytical tool that allows for reliable comparison of different practical codes and decoding strategies over degraded broadcast channels, even for very low error rates for which simulations are impractical. The second contribution deals with binary-input binary-output degraded broadcast channels, for which an optimal encoding scheme that achieves the capacity boundary is found, and a practical coding scheme is given by concatenation of an outer low density parity check code and an inner (non-linear) mapper that induces desired distribution of "one" in a codeword. The third contribution considers two-way relay channels where the information exchange between two nodes takes place in two transmission phases using a coding scheme called physical-layer network coding. At the relay, a near optimal decoding strategy is derived using a list decoding algorithm, and an approximation is obtained by a joint decoding approach. For the latter scheme, an analytical approximation of the word error rate based on a union bounding technique is computed under the assumption that linear codes are employed at the two nodes exchanging data. Further, when the wireless channel is frequency selective, two decoding strategies at the relay are developed, namely, a near optimal decoding scheme implemented using list decoding, and a reduced complexity detection/decoding scheme utilizing a linear minimum mean squared error based detector followed by a network coded sequence decoder.
ContributorsBhat, Uttam (Author) / Duman, Tolga M. (Thesis advisor) / Tepedelenlioğlu, Cihan (Committee member) / Li, Baoxin (Committee member) / Zhang, Junshan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Recent changes in the energy markets structure combined with the conti-nuous load growth have caused power systems to be operated under more stressed conditions. In addition, the nature of power systems has also grown more complex and dynamic because of the increasing use of long inter-area tie-lines and the high motor loads especially those comprised mainly of residential single phase A/C motors. Therefore, delayed voltage recovery, fast voltage collapse and short term voltage stability issues in general have obtained significant importance in relia-bility studies. Shunt VAr injection has been used as a countermeasure for voltage instability. However, the dynamic and fast nature of short term voltage instability requires fast and sufficient VAr injection, and therefore dynamic VAr devices such as Static VAr Compensators (SVCs) and STATic COMpensators (STAT-COMs) are used. The location and size of such devices are optimized in order to improve their efficiency and reduce initial costs. In this work time domain dy-namic analysis was used to evaluate trajectory voltage sensitivities for each time step. Linear programming was then performed to determine the optimal amount of required VAr injection at each bus, using voltage sensitivities as weighting factors. Optimal VAr injection values from different operating conditions were weighted and averaged in order to obtain a final setting of the VAr requirement. Some buses under consideration were either assigned very small VAr injection values, or not assigned any value at all. Therefore, the approach used in this work was found to be useful in not only determining the optimal size of SVCs, but also their location.
ContributorsSalloum, Ahmed (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Due to restructuring and open access to the transmission system, modern electric power systems are being operated closer to their operational limits. Additionally, the secure operational limits of modern power systems have become increasingly difficult to evaluate as the scale of the network and the number of transactions between utilities increase. To account for these challenges associated with the rapid expansion of electric power systems, dynamic equivalents have been widely applied for the purpose of reducing the computational effort of simulation-based transient security assessment. Dynamic equivalents are commonly developed using a coherency-based approach in which a retained area and an external area are first demarcated. Then the coherent generators in the external area are aggregated and replaced by equivalenced models, followed by network reduction and load aggregation. In this process, an improperly defined retained area can result in detrimental impacts on the effectiveness of the equivalents in preserving the dynamic characteristics of the original unreduced system. In this dissertation, a comprehensive approach has been proposed to determine an appropriate retained area boundary by including the critical generators in the external area that are tightly coupled with the initial retained area. Further-more, a systematic approach has also been investigated to efficiently predict the variation in generator slow coherency behavior when the system operating condition is subject to change. Based on this determination, the critical generators in the external area that are tightly coherent with the generators in the initial retained area are retained, resulting in a new retained area boundary. Finally, a novel hybrid dynamic equivalent, consisting of both a coherency-based equivalent and an artificial neural network (ANN)-based equivalent, has been proposed and analyzed. The ANN-based equivalent complements the coherency-based equivalent at all the retained area boundary buses, and it is designed to compensate for the discrepancy between the full system and the conventional coherency-based equivalent. The approaches developed have been validated on a large portion of the Western Electricity Coordinating Council (WECC) system and on a test case including a significant portion of the eastern interconnection.
ContributorsMa, Feng (Author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis advisor) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Committee member) / Heydt, Gerald (Committee member) / Si, Jennie (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
All-dielectric self-supporting (ADSS) fiber optic cables are used for data transfer by the utilities. They are installed along high voltage transmission lines. Dry band arcing, a phenomenon which is observed in outdoor insulators, is also observed in ADSS cables. The heat developed during dry band arcing damages the ADSS cables' outer sheath. A method is presented here to rate the cable sheath using the power developed during dry band arcing. Because of the small diameter of ADSS cables, mechanical vibration is induced in ADSS cable. In order to avoid damage, vibration dampers known as spiral vibration dampers (SVD) are used over these ADSS cables. These dampers are installed near the armor rods, where the presence of leakage current and dry band activity is more. The effect of dampers on dry band activity is investigated by conducting experiments on ADSS cable and dampers. Observations made from the experiments suggest that the hydrophobicity of the cable and damper play a key role in stabilizing dry band arcs. Hydrophobic-ity of the samples have been compared. The importance of hydrophobicity of the samples is further illustrated with the help of simulation results. The results indi-cate that the electric field increases at the edges of water strip. The dry band arc-ing phenomenon could thus be correlated to the hydrophobicity of the outer sur-face of cable and damper.
ContributorsPrabakar, Kumaraguru (Author) / Karady, George G. (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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
High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) technology is being considered for several long distance point-to-point overhead transmission lines, because of their lower losses and higher transmission capability, when compared to AC systems. Insulators are used to support and isolate the conductors mechanically and electrically. Composite insulators are gaining popularity for both AC and DC lines, for the reasons of light weight and good performance under contaminated conditions. This research illustrates the electric potential and field computation on HVDC composite insulators by using the charge simulation method. The electric field is calculated under both dry and wet conditions. Under dry conditions, the field distributions along the insulators whose voltage levels range from 500 kV to 1200 kV are calculated and compared. The results indicate that the HVDC insulator produces higher electric field, when compared to AC insulator. Under wet conditions, a 500 kV insulator is modeled with discrete water droplets on the surface. In this case, the field distribution is affected by surface resistivity and separations between droplets. The corona effects on insulators are analyzed for both dry and wet conditions. Corona discharge is created, when electric field strength exceeds the threshold value. Corona and grading rings are placed near the end-fittings of the insulators to reduce occurrence of corona. The dimensions of these rings, specifically their radius, tube thickness and projection from end fittings are optimized. This will help the utilities design proper corona and grading rings to reduce the corona phenomena.
ContributorsHe, Jiahong (Author) / Gorur, Ravi S (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Holbert, Keith E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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