Data management of on-line partial discharge monitoring using wireless sensor nodes integrated with a multi-agent system

On-line partial discharge monitoring has been the subject of significant research in previous years but little work has been carried out with regard to the management of on-site data. To date, on-line partial discharge monitoring within a substation has only been concerned with single plant items, so the data management problem has been minimal. As the age of plant equipment increases, so does the need for condition monitoring to ensure maximum lifespan. This paper presents an approach to the management of partial discharge data through the use of embedded monitoring techniques running on wireless sensor nodes. This method is illustrated by a case study on partial discharge monitoring data from an ageing HVDC reactor

Communications for smart grid substation monitoring using WIMAX protocol

The SMARTGRID is a general term for a series of infrastructural changes applied to the electric transmission and distribution systems. By using the latest communication and computing technology, additional options such as Condition Monitoring can now be implemented to further improve and optimise complex electricity supply grid operation. Lifecycle optimisation of high voltage assets and other system components in the utility provide a case in point. Today Utility experts agree that application of scheduled maintenance is not the effective use of resources. To reduce maintenance expenses and unnecessary outages and repairs of equipment due to scheduled maintenance, utilities are adopting condition based approaches. Real time online monitoring of substation parameters can be achieved by retrofitting the existing substation with SMARTGRID technology. The IEC 61850 is a common protocol meant for Substation Automation Systems, designed for the purpose of establishing interoperability, one that all manufacturers of all different assets must comply with. This thesis advocates the estimation of bandwidth required for monitoring a substation after retrofitting the existing substation with smart communication technologies. This includes establishing a latest wireless communication infrastructure from the substation to the control centre and evaluating the performance modelling and simulating the physical layer of communication technologies such as WIMAX (IEEE802.16) and MICROWAVE point to point using MATLAB SIMULINK and RADIO mobile online simulation software. Also, link budget of the satellite communication for the same application is calculated. Satellite communication in this case is considered as a redundant or back up technology to ensure that the communication between entities is continuous. On performing the simulation on different environments the results prove that the selected protocols are best suited for condition monitoring. The measured Latency could be the best approximated value which complies with the current objective. However the white noise that exists in the substation has significant hazard with respect to the security of the wireless network. To compensate this constraint whole substation is hard wired by means of plastic fibre optics and the data sent to the base station located near the substation

Emerging technologies and future trends in substation automation systems for the protection, monitoring and control of electrical substations

Tese de Mestrado Integrado. Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores (Automação). Faculdade de Engenharia. Universidade do Porto. 201

A Survey on Communication Networks for Electric System Automation

Published in Computer Networks 50 (2006) 877–897, an Elsevier journal. The definitive version of this publication is available from Science Direct. Digital Object Identifier:10.1016/j.comnet.2006.01.005In today’s competitive electric utility marketplace, reliable and real-time information become the key factor for reliable delivery of power to the end-users, profitability of the electric utility and customer satisfaction. The operational and commercial demands of electric utilities require a high-performance data communication network that supports both existing functionalities and future operational requirements. In this respect, since such a communication network constitutes the core of the electric system automation applications, the design of a cost-effective and reliable network architecture is crucial. In this paper, the opportunities and challenges of a hybrid network architecture are discussed for electric system automation. More specifically, Internet based Virtual Private Networks, power line communications, satellite communications and wireless communications (wireless sensor networks, WiMAX and wireless mesh networks) are described in detail. The motivation of this paper is to provide a better understanding of the hybrid network architecture that can provide heterogeneous electric system automation application requirements. In this regard, our aim is to present a structured framework for electric utilities who plan to utilize new communication technologies for automation and hence, to make the decision making process more effective and direct.This work was supported by NEETRAC under Project #04-157

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

SMART GRID COMMUNICATIONS

Smart grid technologies are starting to be the future of electric power systems. These systems are giving the utilities detailed information about their systems in real time. One of the most challenging things of implementing smart grid applications is employing the communications into the systems. Understanding the available communications can help ease the transition to these smart grid applications. Many of the utility personnel are spending too much time trying to figure out which communication is better for their application or applications. So this thesis presents the different communication types available with discussing the different attributes in which these communication types are going to offer to the utility. Then these communication types are looked such that utilities can quickly understand how to approach the difficult task of obtaining the information from the different smart grid applications by the use of different communication options

Integrating Low Voltage Distribution Systems to Distribution Automation

The aim of this thesis is to define and study the key elements and the main characteris-tics of the integration of the low voltage (LV) distribution systems to distribution auto-mation (DA). The key elements are defined by studying the development of essential systems in LV distribution networks as well as by studying the development of the net-works by way of evolution phases. The key elements and the main characteristics of the integration to DA are illustrated by a certain model of a LV distribution network under its development. For a start DA is reviewed by generally used functions and by technologies. The review includes the data and the information systems and in addition the communication net-works are studied generally. Thereafter the main elements of LV distribution networks are presented and their evolution visions are introduced. The main elements comprises of the distribution network, distributed generation, smart energy metering, electric vehicles and energy storages. The approach to the integration is the evolution of LV distribution networks, so four main evolution phases are introduced; traditional, boom of distributed generation, mi-crogrid and intelligent microgrid. The evolution phases bases on general research publi-cations and visions of Smart Grids. Management architectures for the networks are pre-sented. Also requirements for communication are evaluated by studying the number of nodes, capacity requirements for transferred data types and fault and event frequencies. In order to define a proposal for integrating LV distribution networks to DA, the man-agement architectures and the studied requirements are compared to produce functions for DA. As a result, the proposal is presented based on the studied architectures and re-quirements. In addition considerable issues are introduced relating to the functions in devices or sub-systems, which are needed for DA applications. This thesis indicates the need for further studies, such as: Which are the desired DA functions to be extended to LV distribution networks? Which device or system should offer the desired functions? How well the potential protocols using some media type serves the functions?fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

Effect of an Intelligent Communications System in Enhancing the Power Infrastructure in Developing Countries

Since reliable electric power is key to economic development, education and medical care.  Humanity finds itself confronting an enormous energy Challenge which shows that current patterns of energy use are environmentally unsustainable. Overwhelming reliance on fossil fuels, in particular, threatens to alter the Earth’s climate to an extent that could have grave consequences on the integrity of vital human and natural systems. At the same time, access to energy continues to divide the ‘haves’ from the ‘have-nots’, as a greater part of the world especially Africa still lacks access to one or several types of basic energy services, including electricity, clean cooking fuels and adequate means of transportation. It is necessary to improve the operation of distribution systems and hence the quality of power supply, which can be achieved by use of the intervention of information technology (IT) utilizing the available high speed computers and communication networks. This resulted into reduced technical loss,  support  for  commercial  loss reduction, improved cash flow, low service restoration time, reduction in equipment damage, availability of system information,  better operational  planning,  remote load control and shedding, and improved power quality and reliability. Keywords: grid, reliable, power, costing, Alternatives, billing

Communication requirements for future secondary substations to enable DSO functions

Reliable and scalable communication technologies are required to securely integrate and utilise the flexibility offered by different smart grid solutions. Smart secondary substations can play a critical role in enabling the flexibility services for the DSO with more monitoring and control functions being deployed at these substations. However, there are a number of challenges associated with the deployment and integration of communications to enable future DSO functions. This paper defines the key requirements for future secondary substation communications and provides a number of recommendations to address future operator needs. A case study related to the deployment of a Smart Transformer for better utilisation of network assets and voltage regulation is presented to illustrate the applicability of aforementioned requirements