Feasibility of Remote Earth Monitoring for SWER Systems

Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) is an example of engineering brilliance which is elegant in its simplicity. The design involves one high voltage conductor with the mass of the earth acting as the path for the return current and as a protective measure to dissipate fault currents. The connection between the earthing conductors and ground is an integral component of the SWER distribution system and it is essential for electricity providers to maintain reliable low resistance connections. SWER was originally developed as a cost-effective alternative to supply customers in rural and remote areas. Australia has approximately 200,000km of active SWER line across the States and Territories with Queensland’s Energy Queensland operating and maintaining the largest portion of 65,000km. Ergon Energy, a subsidiary of Energy Queensland, has 26,066 SWER earths to maintain on a rolling six year cycle. Currently the only inspection method for SWER earth connections is with an instantaneous reading taken via a field visit to each site. Soil is non-homogeneous by structure causing this instantaneous measurement to reflect the chemical composition and level of moisture in the soil at one point in time. This can cause erroneous measurement results due to the influence of seasonal and local effects on soil conditions and makes trending analysis difficult. This research project provides a feasible theoretical non-intrusive method to remotely monitor live SWER earths without the need to drive test electrodes. The calculations and simulated models are correlated against baseline conventional earth testing methods and field test results. The stretch target aims to procure a prototype online monitoring unit and build a test site

Manual de riscos elétricos : introdução às redes de proteção

Tese de mestrado. Mestrado em Engenharia de Segurança e Higiene Ocupacionais. Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

Using Virtual Reality Modelling to Enhance Electrical Safety and Design in the Built Environment.

This thesis presents a prototype desktop virtual reality model entitled ‘Virtual Electrical Services’, to enhance electrical safety and design in the built environment. The model presented has the potential to be used as an educational tool for third level students, a design tool for industry, or as a virtual electrical safety manual for the general public. A description of the development of the virtual reality model is presented along with the applications that were developed within the model. As part of the VR development process, this research investigates the cause and effects of electrical accidents in domestic properties. This highlights the high-risk activities, which lead to receiving an electric shock in a domestic property and identifies at-risk groups that could most benefit from electrical safety interventions. It also examines the theory of transfer touch voltage calculations and expands on it to show how to carry out a sensitivity analysis in relation to the design parameters that are being used by designers and installers. The use of Desktop Virtual Reality systems for enhancing electrical safety and engineering design is a novel prospect for both practicing and student electrical services engineers. This innovative approach, which can be readily accessed via the World Wide Web, constitutes a marked shift in conventional learning and design techniques to a more immersive, interactive and intuitive working and learning environment. A case study is carried out to evaluate the users’ attitudes toward VR learning environments and also the usability of the prototype model developed. From the completed case study, it appears that there is sufficient evidence to suggest that virtual reality could enhance electrical safety and design in the built environment and also advance training methods used to educate electrical services engineers and electricians. The thesis includes a discussion on the limitations of the system developed and the potential for future research and developmen

Scalable and high-sensitivity readout of silicon quantum devices

Quantum computing is predicted to provide unprecedented enhancements in computational power. A quantum computer requires implementation of a well-defined and controlled quantum system of many interconnected qubits, each defined using fragile quantum states. The interest in a spin-based quantum computer in silicon stems from demonstrations of very long spin-coherence times, high-fidelity single spin control and compatibility with industrial mass-fabrication. Industrial scale fabrication of the silicon platform offers a clear route towards a large-scale quantum computer, however, some of the processes and techniques employed in qubit demonstrators are incompatible with a dense and foundry-fabricated architecture. In particular, spin-readout utilises external sensors that require nearly the same footprint as qubit devices. In this thesis, improved readout techniques for silicon quantum devices are presented and routes towards implementation of a scalable and high-sensitivity readout architecture are investigated. Firstly, readout sensitivity of compact gate-based sensors is improved using a high-quality factor resonator and Josephson parametric amplifier that are fabricated separately from quantum dots. Secondly, an integrated transistor-based control circuit is presented using which sequential readout of two quantum dot devices using the same gate-based sensor is achieved. Finally, a large-scale readout architecture based on random-access and frequency multiplexing is introduced. The impact of readout circuit footprint on readout sensitivity is determined, showing routes towards integration of conventional circuits with quantum devices in a dense architecture, and a fault-tolerant architecture based on mediated exchange is introduced, capable of relaxing the limitations on available control circuit footprint per qubit. Demonstrations are based on foundry-fabricated transistors and few-electron quantum dots, showing that industry fabrication is a viable route towards quantum computation at a scale large enough to begin addressing the most challenging computational problems

Mission oriented R and D and the advancement of technology: The impact of NASA contributions, volume 2

NASA contributions to the advancement of major developments in twelve selected fields of technology are presented. The twelve fields of technology discussed are: (1) cryogenics, (2) electrochemical energy conversion and storage, (3) high-temperature ceramics, (4) high-temperature metals (5) integrated circuits, (6) internal gas dynamics (7) materials machining and forming, (8) materials joining, (9) microwave systems, (10) nondestructive testing, (11) simulation, and (12) telemetry. These field were selected on the basis of both NASA and nonaerospace interest and activity

LHCb Vertex Locator Upgrade Development and Rare b-quark Decays in LHCb

This work describes contributions and results obtained within the scope of the LHCb collaboration. Analysis of two decays of b hadrons using the LHCb detector are discussed: Λ 0 b → pKJ/ψ(µµ) and its use to probe lepton universality and the very rare B+ → a + 1 (1260)(πππ)µµ and its feasibility in LHCb. The development and testing of the LHCb Vertex Locator(VELO) upgrade pixel sensors and readout chips is presented, with a discussion of the challenges and solutions of a silicon detector operating at 5.1 mm from the LHC interaction region. There is an extensive discussion on the testing of different silicon sensor designs both before and after irradiation up to a fluence of 8 × 1015 1 MeV neq cm−2 . Results obtained in the laboratory and in a testbeam environment are shown, proving the chosen solution, a planar n-on-p, 200 µm thick, 450 µm guard-ring sensor design meets LHCb’s requirements. The testing methods for sensors and readout chips for the module production are presented together with a new method to bias hybrid pixel assemblies under vacuum before wire-bonding. This work was part of the campaign to deliver the VELO upgrade detector for a 2020 installation and physics operation in the LHC in 2021