Contactless measurement of electric current using magnetic sensors

We review recent advances in magnetic sensors for DC/AC current transducers, especially novel AMR sensors and integrated fluxgates, and we make critical comparison of their properties. Most contactless electric current transducers use magnetic cores to concentrate the flux generated by the measured current and to shield the sensor against external magnetic fields. In order to achieve this, the magnetic core should be massive. We present coreless current transducers which are lightweight, linear and free of hysteresis and remanence. We also show how to suppress their weak point: crosstalk from external currents and magnetic fields

Advanced water metering and its application in low income communities

In South Africa, it is a legislative requirement that all water supply points be metered (van Zyl, 2011). Conventional meters are mostly used as the main means of monitoring water consumption by South African municipalities. In the last two decades, the water metering industry has seen substantial developments with new capabilities added to the conventional water meter, known as advanced meters. These advanced water meters have capability of processing, storing and communicating data without the need of human intervention. As such they come with desirable capabilities for both consumers and municipalities. These include prepaid meters which are special type of advanced water metering technology that is mostly applicable in the low income areas of South Africa. However, advanced water meters have significant drawbacks, such as higher failure rates (due to electronics, batteries and more components), higher purchase and maintenance costs and susceptibility to tampering. It is therefore necessary to make a conscious and informed consideration when deciding on which metering technology to implement for different users. This could be achieved through having a technology evaluation framework. The goal of this research was to develop an evaluation framework to help municipalities in the selection of appropriate advanced water metering technologies for application in low income communities. This goal was achieved through: determining the range of functionality of technologies both available and under development for advanced water metering; documenting case studies of both successful and failed implementation of advanced water meters, including social perception and impacts; developing an evaluation framework that can evaluate advanced water metering; and evaluating on technical, social, economic and environmental grounds. The results from literature and case studies indicate that in low income communities, advanced water metering is mainly implemented for cost recovery purposes. However, some municipalities implement advanced metering schemes for water management and debt recovery. The most advanced water metering technology being installed in low income communities is prepaid meters. Prepaid meters have a potential to fulfill all the range of objectives that municipalities install advanced metering technology for. This technology is found to have high maintenance requirements due to high failure rate. For successful implementation, it is important that municipalities have adequate budget for repairs and maintenance or seek technical support from manufacturers

Trends in metering potable water

Abstract Sustainable management of drinking water distribution systems requires information on the operating status of system components to identify the best operational management measures. The ability to acquire information on tank levels, pipeline flow and real-time pressure offers an efficient and cost-effective management perspective, and enables wider monitoring, which can improve (physical) security as well. The technology of measuring instruments for hydrodynamic variables, used to monitor potable water systems, differs in their independence from electronic data acquisition components and ability to connect to remote data communication systems. Advanced water measurement infrastructure is characterized by the ability to capture data with measurable errors from anywhere in the system, without restrictions on communication type. This paper deals with the measurement of hydrodynamic parameters and a proposal for water meter classification. It includes analysis of the main water meter and data tele-acquisition infrastructure. Several selection criteria are evaluated with respect to their ability to support mathematical hydraulic models and expert systems for water distribution system management

Internet of Things-aided Smart Grid: Technologies, Architectures, Applications, Prototypes, and Future Research Directions

Traditional power grids are being transformed into Smart Grids (SGs) to address the issues in existing power system due to uni-directional information flow, energy wastage, growing energy demand, reliability and security. SGs offer bi-directional energy flow between service providers and consumers, involving power generation, transmission, distribution and utilization systems. SGs employ various devices for the monitoring, analysis and control of the grid, deployed at power plants, distribution centers and in consumers' premises in a very large number. Hence, an SG requires connectivity, automation and the tracking of such devices. This is achieved with the help of Internet of Things (IoT). IoT helps SG systems to support various network functions throughout the generation, transmission, distribution and consumption of energy by incorporating IoT devices (such as sensors, actuators and smart meters), as well as by providing the connectivity, automation and tracking for such devices. In this paper, we provide a comprehensive survey on IoT-aided SG systems, which includes the existing architectures, applications and prototypes of IoT-aided SG systems. This survey also highlights the open issues, challenges and future research directions for IoT-aided SG systems

Characteristics features, economical aspects and environmental impacts of gen-4 nuclear power for developing countries

The growing demand of energy has delicate the requirement of alternative sources of energies other than fossil fuels. Though renewable energy resources like solar, biomass, hydro and geothermal energy appear as environment friendly, replenishing sources of energy, a comprehensive solution appears far-fetched as far as large scale production and wide-spread dissemination is concerned when long term cost factors are taken into consideration. In this paper, discussions on the advanced fourth generation nuclear power on the basis of environmental contamination, energy security, cost of fossil fuels and electricity generation and have philosophy to the prospects of nuclear power as the ultimate future energy option for the developing countries are done. This study proposes that gen-4 nuclear appears to be a long term environment favorable panacea to the much discoursed problem of energy crisis by maintaining energy security and long term cost concern in developing countries as well as in the whole world. Keywords: Gen-4 nuclear, reactor, kinetics, neutron, delayed neutron, transient

A Survey on Wireless Network Applications in Automated Public Utilities Control and Management, Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2015, nr 3

Public utilities such as water, electricity and gas are essential services that play a vital role in economic and social development. Automation of public utility services addresses the huge losses faced by the utility services today, due to non-accounting of distributed utility resources. Automation improves government revenues. The different type of architectures are proposed and designed for automated metering, control and management of public utilities like water, gas, and electricity for effective management and control of resources. The various network topologies, hardware and software architectures to automation and management of public utilities are proposed by researchers. In this paper, the different technologies proposed by various researchers across the globe are surveyed and list of issues and challenges for automated meter reading and control of public utilities is identified

Metering and adaptive protection for a microgrid with distributed generation

The main objective of this project is to develop an adaptive relaying system that will protect the microgrid both in connected and isolated modes. Therefore the settings for the different relays will be observed for the two modes of operation. This will determine whether they are correctly coordinated in order to operate as an adaptive relaying system. A secondary but also important objective is to identify load management techniques through smart metering that could facilitate power system operation and in turn power system protection. To achieve the goal of this project the proposed relaying system will have to prove appropriate in all the test cases. Based on the results obtained in the simulations, conclusions about the relaying scheme were drawn. Based on cases where the scheme seemed inappropriate or could be improved, recommendations were made. The relaying scheme proposed in this project proved highly successful in detecting abnormalities and protecting the power system when necessary

The feasibility of implementing advanced metering technology in high income areas in South Africa

Water is an important natural resource and a building block to all life on earth. However, substantial increase in water demand and consumption has led to numerous nations, including South Africa, to face water scarcity. Improved water demand management strategies and water monitoring approaches are imperative. In South Africa, it's a legal requirement for all water supply points to be metered. Currently, water flow is primarily measured by conventional meters. However, substantial developments have been noted in the last two decades where conventional meters with added capabilities (such as communication capabilities) added have been introduced. These meters are known as advanced water meters. These capabilities offer functions such as leakage detection and more immediate consumption feedback. However, advanced meters also have significant disadvantages such as require high start-up capital and are susceptible to higher failure rates than conventional meters. It remains to be seen if advanced metering technology is an appropriate technology to be adopted in South Africa. Due to the different dynamics of South Africa's income level groups, the metering application and effects will differ for each income level group. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the feasibility of implementing advanced metering systems in high income areas in South Africa. An evaluation framework was developed to gauge the viability of implementing advanced metering systems on four performance criteria; technical, economic, environmental and social. The composite indicator framework template was selected as it was not tailor made for a specific reason and could be adapted for this research. The necessary framework input parameter data were acquired from practitioners in the field through questionnaires and from literature. Due to lack of advanced metering case studies in South Africa (except for prepaid meter), literature from developed countries were used as proxies. The input data entailed details of the current metering system, advanced metering system and new conventional metering system with the later used as a control for comparative purposes. The typical high-income scenario was derived from typical input data. For each input parameter, there were value ranges from the low parameter value to high parameter value. These ranges were used to conduct the sensitivity analysis on the framework to access critical input parameters to the success or failure of implementation Implementing advanced metering systems in high income areas in South Africa was found to be less economically viable than conventional meters. This is due to the lack of needed infrastructure for advanced metering as well as high initial capital costs and high operating costs. Advanced meters however proved to be more environmentally viable than conventional meters as they offered higher reduction in consumption. However, the manner in which faulty batteries are disposed could lead to environmental damage. Social factors were considered negligible for high income areas as revolts to introduction to new meters arises from financial constraints that those meters might induce. Further research with more South Africa based case studies and smaller scale advanced metering systems has been recommended

Implementation of single phase watt hour meter using LPC2148

The LPC2148 device is the latest system-on-chip (SOC), which belongs to the ARM generation of devices. This generation of devices belongs to the powerful 32-bit ARM platform bringing in a lot of new features and flexibility to support robust single, two and 3-phase metrology solutions. This thesis however, discusses the implementation of 1-phase solution only. These devices find their application in energy calculation and have the necessary architecture to support them. Furthermore, for large scale manufacturing, the costs can become lower than those of the electromechanical meters currently in production. This device presents a totally electronic single phase energy meter for residential use, based on ARM processor. A four digit display is used to show the consumed power. A prototype has been implemented to adequate measurement up to 5A load current from a 230V (phase to neutral) voltage. Higher current capacity can be easily obtained by simply replacing the shunt resistor. And, by changing the transformer tap and the voltage divider ratio, it can be easily manipulated for use in a 220 V supply