Assessing the reliability of adaptive power system protection schemes

Adaptive power system protection can be used to improve the performance of existing protection schemes under certain network conditions. However, their deployment in the field is impeded by their perceived inferior reliability compared to existing protection arrangements. Moreover, their validation can be problematic due to the perceived high likelihood of the occurrence of failure modes or incorrect setting selection with variable network conditions. Reliability (including risk assessment) is one of the decisive measures that can be used in the process of verifying adaptive protection scheme performance. This paper proposes a generic methodology for assessing the reliability of adaptive protection. The method involves the identification of initiating events and scenarios that lead to protection failures and quantification of the probability of the occurrence of each failure. A numerical example of the methodology for an adaptive distance protection scheme is provided

Living in space

Bioastronautical contributions to medicin

Spacelab program requirements, level 1

The design and development of Spacelab is reported including the ground support equipment, facilities, and operational planning. The shuttle interface, and user requirements are discussed along with product assurance and safety

Advanced extravehicular activity systems requirements definition study. Phase 2: Extravehicular activity at a lunar base

The focus is on Extravehicular Activity (EVA) systems requirements definition for an advanced space mission: remote-from-main base EVA on the Moon. The lunar environment, biomedical considerations, appropriate hardware design criteria, hardware and interface requirements, and key technical issues for advanced lunar EVA were examined. Six remote EVA scenarios (three nominal operations and three contingency situations) were developed in considerable detail

Development and Characterisation of a Gas System and its Associated Slow-Control System for an ATLAS Small-Strip Thin Gap Chamber Testing Facility

A quality assurance and performance qualification laboratory was built at McGill University for the Canadian-made small-strip Thin Gap Chamber (sTGC) muon detectors produced for the 2019-2020 ATLAS experiment muon spectrometer upgrade. The facility uses cosmic rays as a muon source to ionise the quenching gas mixture of pentane and carbon dioxide flowing through the sTGC detector. A gas system was developed and characterised for this purpose, with a simple and efficient gas condenser design utilizing a Peltier thermoelectric cooler (TEC). The gas system was tested to provide the desired 45 vol% pentane concentration. For continuous operations, a state-machine system was implemented with alerting and remote monitoring features to run all cosmic-ray data-acquisition associated slow-control systems, such as high/low voltage, gas system and environmental monitoring, in a safe and continuous mode, even in the absence of an operator.Comment: 23 pages, LaTeX, 14 figures, 4 tables, proof corrections for Journal of Instrumentation (JINST), including corrected Fig. 8b

A guide for performing system safety analysis

A general guide is presented for performing system safety analyses of hardware, software, operations and human elements of an aerospace program. The guide describes a progression of activities that can be effectively applied to identify hazards to personnel and equipment during all periods of system development. The general process of performing safety analyses is described; setting forth in a logical order the information and data requirements, the analytical steps, and the results. These analyses are the technical basis of a system safety program. Although the guidance established by this document cannot replace human experience and judgement, it does provide a methodical approach to the identification of hazards and evaluation of risks to the system

Possible safety hazards associated with the operation of the 0.3-m transonic cryogenic tunnel at the NASA Langley Research Center

The 0.3 m Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel (TCT) at the NASA Langley Research Center was built in 1973 as a facility intended to be used for no more than 60 hours in order to verify the validity of the cryogenic wind tunnel concept at transonic speeds. The role of the 0.3 m TCT has gradually changed until now, after over 3000 hours of operation, it is classified as a major NASA research facility and, under the administration of the Experimental Techniques Branch, it is used extensively for the testing of airfoils at high Reynolds numbers and for the development of various technologies related to the efficient operation and use of cryogenic wind tunnels. The purpose of this report is to document the results of a recent safety analysis of the 0.3 m TCT facility. This analysis was made as part of an on going program with the Experimental Techniques Branch designed to ensure that the existing equipment and current operating procedures of the 0.3 m TCT facility are acceptable in terms of today's standards of safety for cryogenic systems

What Are You Waiting For? 2014 National Report Card On Protecting Children In Disasters

This report analyzes data on emergency preparedness policies to protect children who are affected by natural and man made disasters

Human factors aspects of air traffic control

An overview of human factors problems associated with the operation of present and future air traffic control systems is presented. A description is included of those activities and tasks performed by air traffic controllers at each operational position within the present system. Judgemental data obtained from controllers concerning psychological dimensions related to these tasks and activities are also presented. The analysis includes consideration of psychophysiological dimensions of human performance. The role of the human controller in present air traffic control systems and his predicted role in future systems is described, particularly as that role changes as the result of the system's evolution towards a more automated configuration. Special attention is directed towards problems of staffing, training, and system operation. A series of ten specific research and development projects are recommended and suggested work plans for their implementation are included