Matching Items (10)
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- All Subjects: Electric insulators and insulation
- Creators: Vittal, Vijay
- Creators: Ayyanar, Raja
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
Insulation aging monitoring is widely used to evaluate the operating condition of power equipment. One important monitoring method is detecting partial discharges (PD). PD is a localized breakdown of dielectric and its characteristics can give information about the insulation aging. Most existing test methods cannot identify different kinds of defects. Also, the practical application of PD detection in most existing test methods is restricted by weak PD signals and strong electric field disturbance from surroundings. In order to monitor aging situation in detail, types of PDs are important features to take into account. To classify different types of PDs, pulse sequence analysis (PSA) method is advocated to analyze PDs in the rod-plane model. This method can reflect cumulative effects of PDs, which are always ignored when only measuring PD value. It also shows uniform characteristics when different kinds of detecting system are utilized. Moreover, it does not need calibration. Analysis results from PSA show highly consistent distribution patterns for the same type of PDs and significant differences in the distribution patterns among types of PDs. Furthermore, a new method to detect PD signals using fiber bragg grating (FBG) based PD sensor is studied in this research. By using a piezoelectric ceramic transducer (PZT), small PD signals can be converted to pressure signal and then converted to an optical wavelength signal with FBG. The optical signal is isolated from the electric field; therefore its attenuation and anti-jamming performance will be better than traditional methods. Two sensors, one with resonant frequency of 42.7 kHz and the other 300 kHz, were used to explore the performance of this testing system. However, there were issues with the sensitivity of the sensors of these devices and the results have been communicated with the company. These devices could not give the results at the same level of accuracy as the conventional methods.
ContributorsCui, Longfei (Author) / Gorur, Ravi (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Polymeric materials containing nanometer (nm) size particles are being introduced to provide compact shapes for low and medium voltage insulation equipment. The nanocomposites may provide superior electrical performance when compared with those available currently, such as lower dielectric losses and increased dielectric strength, tracking and erosion resistance, and surface hydrophobicity. All of the above mentioned benefits can be achieved at a lower filler concentration (< 10%) than conventional microfillers (40-60%). Also, the uniform shapes of nanofillers provide a better electrical stress distribution as compared to irregular shaped microcomposites which can have high internal electric stress, which could be a problem for devices with active electrical parts. Improvement in electrical performance due to addition of nanofillers in an epoxy matrix has been evaluated in this work. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was done on the epoxy samples to confirm uniform dispersion of nano-sized fillers as good filler dispersion is essential to realize the above stated benefits. Dielectric spectroscopy experiments were conducted over a wide range of frequencies as a function of temperature to understand the role of space charge and interfaces in these materials. The experiment results demonstrate significant reduction in dielectric losses in samples containing nanofillers. High voltage experiments such as corona resistance tests were conducted over 500 hours to monitor degradation in the samples due to corona. These tests revealed improvements in partial discharge endurance of nanocomposite samples. These improvements could not be adequately explained using a macroscopic quantity such as thermal conductivity. Thermo gravimetric analysis (TGA) showed higher weight loss initiation temperatures for nanofilled samples which is in agreement with the corona resistance experimental results. Theoretical models have also been developed in this work to complement the results of the corona resistance experiment and the TGA analysis. Degradation model was developed to map the erosion path using Dijkstra's shortest path algorithm. A thermal model was developed to calculate the localized temperature distribution in the micro and nano-filled samples using the PDE toolbox in MATLAB. Both the models highlight the fact that improvement in nanocomposites is not limited to the filler concentrations that were tested experimentally.
ContributorsIyer, Ganpathy (Author) / Gorur, Ravi S (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Richert, Ranko (Committee member) / Karady, George G. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Electric utilities are exploring new technologies to cope up with the in-crease in electricity demand and power transfer capabilities of transmission lines. Compact transmission lines and high phase order systems are few of the techniques which enhance the power transfer capability of transmission lines without requiring any additional right-of-way. This research work investigates the impact of compacting high voltage transmission lines and high phase order systems on the surface electric field of composite insulators, a key factor deciding service performance of insulators. The electric field analysis was done using COULOMB 9.0, a 3D software package which uses a numerical analysis technique based on Boundary Element Method (BEM). 3D models of various types of standard transmission towers used for 230 kV, 345 kV and 500 kV level were modeled with different insulators con-figurations and number of circuits. Standard tower configuration models were compacted by reducing the clearance from live parts in steps of 10%. It was found that the standard tower configuration can be compacted to 30% without violating the minimum safety clearance mandated by NESC standards. The study shows that surface electric field on insulators for few of the compact structures exceeded the maximum allowable limit even if corona rings were installed. As a part of this study, a Gaussian process model based optimization pro-gram was developed to find the optimum corona ring dimensions to limit the electric field within stipulated values. The optimization program provides the dimen-sions of corona ring, its placement from the high voltage end for a given dry arc length of insulator and system voltage. JMP, a statistical computer package and AMPL, a computer language widely used form optimization was used for optimi-zation program. The results obtained from optimization program validated the industrial standards.
ContributorsMohan, Nihal (Author) / Gorur, Ravi S. (Thesis advisor) / Heydt, Gerald T. (Committee member) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This research work illustrates the use of software packages based on the concept of nu-merical analysis technique to evaluate the electric field and voltage distribution along composite insulators for system voltages ranging from 138 kV up to 1200 kV ac. A part of the calculations was made using the 3D software package, COULOMB 8.0, based on the concept of Boundary Element Method (BEM). The electric field was calculated under dry and wet conditions. Compo-site insulators experience more electrical stress when compared to porcelain and are also more prone to damage caused by corona activity. The work presented here investigates the effect of corona rings of specific dimensions and bundled conductors on the electric field along composite insulators. Inappropriate placement or dimensions of corona rings could enhance the electric field instead of mitigating it. Corona ring optimization for a 1000 kV composite insulator was per-formed by changing parameters of the ring, such as the diameter of the ring, thickness of the ring tube and the projection of the ring from the high voltage energized end fitting. Grading rings were designed for Ultra High Voltage (UHV) systems that use two units of composite insulators in pa-rallel. The insulation distance, which bears 50% of the total applied voltage, is raised by 61% with the grading ring installed, when compared to the distance without the grading ring. In other words, the electric field and voltage distribution was found to be more linear with the application of grad-ing rings. The second part of this project was carried out using the EPRI designed software EPIC. This is based on the concept of Charge Simulation method (CSM). Comparisons were made be-tween electric field magnitude along composite insulators used for suspension and dead end configuration for system voltages ranging from 138 kV to 500 kV. It was found that the dead end composite insulators experience significantly higher electrical stress when compared to their suspension counterpart. It was also concluded that this difference gets more prominent as the system voltage increases. A comparison made between electric field distribution along composite insulators used in single and double dead end structures suggested that the electric stress experienced by the single dead end composite insulators is relatively higher when compared to double dead end composite insulators.
ContributorsDoshi, Tanushri (Author) / Gorur, Ravi S (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Farmer, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Composite insulators on overhead lines are frequently subjected to corona discharges due to increased electric field intensities under various conditions. These discharges can cause localized heating on the surface and affect the hydrophobicity of the insulator. A study has been undertaken to quantify and evaluate the thermal degradation that composite insulation is subjected to from corona discharges. This has been conducted primarily at the power frequency (60 Hz) and at the low frequency range (37 kHz). Point to plane corona discharge experiments have been performed in the laboratory at both the frequencies and varying levels of thermal degradation has been observed. The amplitude and the frequency of current spikes have been recorded at different voltage levels. A temperature model based on the amplitude and the frequency of current data has been formulated to calculate the maximum temperature attained due to these discharges. Visual thermal degradation has been found to set in at a low frequency range while there is no visual degradation observed at power frequency even when exposed to discharges for relatively much longer periods of time. However, microscopic experiments have been conducted which revealed degradation on the surface at 60 Hz. It has also been found that temperatures in excess of 300 Celsius have been obtained at 37 kHz. This corroborates the thermo gravimetric analysis data that proves thermal degradation in silicone rubber samples at temperatures greater than 300 Celsius. Using the above model, the maximum temperature rise can be evaluated due to discharges occurring on high voltage insulation. This model has also been used to calculate the temperature rise on medium voltage distribution equipment such as composite bushings and stand-off plugs. The samples were subjected to standard partial discharge tests and the corresponding discharge magnitudes have been recorded. The samples passed the tests and the corresponding temperatures plotted have been found to be within thermal limits of the respective insulation used on the samples. The experimental results concur with the theoretical model. A knowledge of the maximum temperatures attained due to these discharges can help in design of insulation with better thermal properties.
ContributorsSangaraju Venkateshwara, Pradeep Varma (Author) / Gorur, Ravi S (Thesis advisor) / Farmer, Richard (Committee member) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010
Description
Power flow calculation plays a significant role in power system studies and operation. To ensure the reliable prediction of system states during planning studies and in the operating environment, a reliable power flow algorithm is desired. However, the traditional power flow methods (such as the Gauss Seidel method and the Newton-Raphson method) are not guaranteed to obtain a converged solution when the system is heavily loaded.
This thesis describes a novel non-iterative holomorphic embedding (HE) method to solve the power flow problem that eliminates the convergence issues and the uncertainty of the existence of the solution. It is guaranteed to find a converged solution if the solution exists, and will signal by an oscillation of the result if there is no solution exists. Furthermore, it does not require a guess of the initial voltage solution.
By embedding the complex-valued parameter α into the voltage function, the power balance equations become holomorphic functions. Then the embedded voltage functions are expanded as a Maclaurin power series, V(α). The diagonal Padé approximant calculated from V(α) gives the maximal analytic continuation of V(α), and produces a reliable solution of voltages. The connection between mathematical theory and its application to power flow calculation is described in detail.
With the existing bus-type-switching routine, the models of phase shifters and three-winding transformers are proposed to enable the HE algorithm to solve practical large-scale systems. Additionally, sparsity techniques are used to store the sparse bus admittance matrix. The modified HE algorithm is programmed in MATLAB. A study parameter β is introduced in the embedding formula βα + (1- β)α^2. By varying the value of β, numerical tests of different embedding formulae are conducted on the three-bus, IEEE 14-bus, 118-bus, 300-bus, and the ERCOT systems, and the numerical performance as a function of β is analyzed to determine the “best” embedding formula. The obtained power-flow solutions are validated using MATPOWER.
This thesis describes a novel non-iterative holomorphic embedding (HE) method to solve the power flow problem that eliminates the convergence issues and the uncertainty of the existence of the solution. It is guaranteed to find a converged solution if the solution exists, and will signal by an oscillation of the result if there is no solution exists. Furthermore, it does not require a guess of the initial voltage solution.
By embedding the complex-valued parameter α into the voltage function, the power balance equations become holomorphic functions. Then the embedded voltage functions are expanded as a Maclaurin power series, V(α). The diagonal Padé approximant calculated from V(α) gives the maximal analytic continuation of V(α), and produces a reliable solution of voltages. The connection between mathematical theory and its application to power flow calculation is described in detail.
With the existing bus-type-switching routine, the models of phase shifters and three-winding transformers are proposed to enable the HE algorithm to solve practical large-scale systems. Additionally, sparsity techniques are used to store the sparse bus admittance matrix. The modified HE algorithm is programmed in MATLAB. A study parameter β is introduced in the embedding formula βα + (1- β)α^2. By varying the value of β, numerical tests of different embedding formulae are conducted on the three-bus, IEEE 14-bus, 118-bus, 300-bus, and the ERCOT systems, and the numerical performance as a function of β is analyzed to determine the “best” embedding formula. The obtained power-flow solutions are validated using MATPOWER.
ContributorsLi, Yuting (Author) / Tylavsky, Daniel J (Thesis advisor) / Undrill, John (Committee member) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
For a (N+1)-bus power system, possibly 2N solutions exists. One of these solutions
is known as the high-voltage (HV) solution or operable solution. The rest of the solutions
are the low-voltage (LV), or large-angle, solutions.
In this report, a recently developed non-iterative algorithm for solving the power-
flow (PF) problem using the holomorphic embedding (HE) method is shown as
being capable of finding the HV solution, while avoiding converging to LV solutions
nearby which is a drawback to all other iterative solutions. The HE method provides a
novel non-iterative procedure to solve the PF problems by eliminating the
non-convergence and initial-estimate dependency issues appeared in the traditional
iterative methods. The detailed implementation of the HE method is discussed in the
report.
While published work focuses mainly on finding the HV PF solution, modified
holomorphically embedded formulations are proposed in this report to find the
LV/large-angle solutions of the PF problem. It is theoretically proven that the proposed
method is guaranteed to find a total number of 2N solutions to the PF problem
and if no solution exists, the algorithm is guaranteed to indicate such by the oscillations
in the maximal analytic continuation of the coefficients of the voltage power series
obtained.
After presenting the derivation of the LV/large-angle formulations for both PQ
and PV buses, numerical tests on the five-, seven- and 14-bus systems are conducted
to find all the solutions of the system of nonlinear PF equations for those systems using
the proposed HE method.
After completing the derivation to find all the PF solutions using the HE method, it
is shown that the proposed HE method can be used to find only the of interest PF solutions
(i.e. type-1 PF solutions with one positive real-part eigenvalue in the Jacobian
matrix), with a proper algorithm developed. The closet unstable equilibrium point
(UEP), one of the type-1 UEP’s, can be obtained by the proposed HE method with
limited dynamic models included.
The numerical performance as well as the robustness of the proposed HE method is
investigated and presented by implementing the algorithm on the problematic cases and
large-scale power system.
is known as the high-voltage (HV) solution or operable solution. The rest of the solutions
are the low-voltage (LV), or large-angle, solutions.
In this report, a recently developed non-iterative algorithm for solving the power-
flow (PF) problem using the holomorphic embedding (HE) method is shown as
being capable of finding the HV solution, while avoiding converging to LV solutions
nearby which is a drawback to all other iterative solutions. The HE method provides a
novel non-iterative procedure to solve the PF problems by eliminating the
non-convergence and initial-estimate dependency issues appeared in the traditional
iterative methods. The detailed implementation of the HE method is discussed in the
report.
While published work focuses mainly on finding the HV PF solution, modified
holomorphically embedded formulations are proposed in this report to find the
LV/large-angle solutions of the PF problem. It is theoretically proven that the proposed
method is guaranteed to find a total number of 2N solutions to the PF problem
and if no solution exists, the algorithm is guaranteed to indicate such by the oscillations
in the maximal analytic continuation of the coefficients of the voltage power series
obtained.
After presenting the derivation of the LV/large-angle formulations for both PQ
and PV buses, numerical tests on the five-, seven- and 14-bus systems are conducted
to find all the solutions of the system of nonlinear PF equations for those systems using
the proposed HE method.
After completing the derivation to find all the PF solutions using the HE method, it
is shown that the proposed HE method can be used to find only the of interest PF solutions
(i.e. type-1 PF solutions with one positive real-part eigenvalue in the Jacobian
matrix), with a proper algorithm developed. The closet unstable equilibrium point
(UEP), one of the type-1 UEP’s, can be obtained by the proposed HE method with
limited dynamic models included.
The numerical performance as well as the robustness of the proposed HE method is
investigated and presented by implementing the algorithm on the problematic cases and
large-scale power system.
ContributorsMine, Yō (Author) / Tylavsky, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Armbruster, Dieter (Committee member) / Holbert, Keith E. (Committee member) / Sankar, Lalitha (Committee member) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Undrill, John (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
This thesis focuses on the influence of a grounded back electrode on the breakdown characteristics. The back electrode is an electrode which attaches at the back side of solid insulation. Insulation with grounded back electrode is a common type of insulation which is adopted in many high voltage power devices. While most of the power equipment work under AC voltage, most of the research on back electrode is focused on the DC voltage. Therefore, it is necessary to deeply investigate the influence of the back electrode under AC applied voltage. To investigate the influence of back electrode, the research is separated into two phases, which are the experiment phase and the electric field analysis phase. In the experiments, the breakdown voltages for both with and without back electrode are obtained. The experimental results indicate that the grounded back electrode does have impact on the breakdown characteristics. Then with the breakdown voltage, based on real experiment model, the electric field is analyzed using computer software. From the field simulation result, it is found that the back electrode also influences the electric field distribution. The inter relationship between the electric field and breakdown voltage is the key to explain all the results and phenomena observed during the experiment. Additionally, the influence of insulation barrier on breakdown is also investigated. Compared to the case without ground electrode, inserting a barrier into the gap can more significantly improve breakdown voltage.
ContributorsLiu, Jiajun (Author) / Karady, George G. (Thesis advisor) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Holbert, Keith E. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The power system is the largest man-made physical network in the world. Performing analysis of a large bulk system is computationally complex, especially when the study involves engineering, economic and environmental considerations. For instance, running a unit-commitment (UC) over a large system involves a huge number of constraints and integer variables. One way to reduce the computational expense is to perform the analysis on a small equivalent (reduced) model instead on the original (full) model.
The research reported here focuses on improving the network reduction methods so that the calculated results obtained from the reduced model better approximate the performance of the original model. An optimization-based Ward reduction (OP-Ward) and two new generator placement methods in network reduction are introduced and numerical test results on large systems provide proof of concept.
In addition to dc-type reductions (ignoring reactive power, resistance elements in the network, etc.), the new methods applicable to ac domain are introduced. For conventional reduction methods (Ward-type methods, REI-type methods), eliminating external generator buses (PV buses) is a tough problem, because it is difficult to accurately approximate the external reactive support in the reduced model. Recently, the holomorphic embedding (HE) based load-flow method (HELM) was proposed, which theoretically guarantees convergence given that the power flow equations are structure in accordance with Stahl’s theory requirements. In this work, a holomorphic embedding based network reduction (HE reduction) method is proposed which takes advantage of the HELM technique. Test results shows that the HE reduction method can approximate the original system performance very accurately even when the operating condition changes.
The research reported here focuses on improving the network reduction methods so that the calculated results obtained from the reduced model better approximate the performance of the original model. An optimization-based Ward reduction (OP-Ward) and two new generator placement methods in network reduction are introduced and numerical test results on large systems provide proof of concept.
In addition to dc-type reductions (ignoring reactive power, resistance elements in the network, etc.), the new methods applicable to ac domain are introduced. For conventional reduction methods (Ward-type methods, REI-type methods), eliminating external generator buses (PV buses) is a tough problem, because it is difficult to accurately approximate the external reactive support in the reduced model. Recently, the holomorphic embedding (HE) based load-flow method (HELM) was proposed, which theoretically guarantees convergence given that the power flow equations are structure in accordance with Stahl’s theory requirements. In this work, a holomorphic embedding based network reduction (HE reduction) method is proposed which takes advantage of the HELM technique. Test results shows that the HE reduction method can approximate the original system performance very accurately even when the operating condition changes.
ContributorsZhu, Yujia (Author) / Tylavsky, Daniel John (Thesis advisor) / Vittal, Vijay (Committee member) / Hedman, Kory (Committee member) / Ayyanar, Raja (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017