Power Imbalance Detection in Smart Grid via Grid Frequency Deviations: A Hidden Markov Model based Approach

We detect the deviation of the grid frequency from the nominal value (i.e., 50 Hz), which itself is an indicator of the power imbalance (i.e., mismatch between power generation and load demand). We first pass the noisy estimates of grid frequency through a hypothesis test which decides whether there is no deviation, positive deviation, or negative deviation from the nominal value. The hypothesis testing incurs miss-classification errors---false alarms (i.e., there is no deviation but we declare a positive/negative deviation), and missed detections (i.e., there is a positive/negative deviation but we declare no deviation). Therefore, to improve further upon the performance of the hypothesis test, we represent the grid frequency's fluctuations over time as a discrete-time hidden Markov model (HMM). We note that the outcomes of the hypothesis test are actually the emitted symbols, which are related to the true states via emission probability matrix. We then estimate the hidden Markov sequence (the true values of the grid frequency) via maximum likelihood method by passing the observed/emitted symbols through the Viterbi decoder. Simulations results show that the mean accuracy of Viterbi algorithm is at least $5$\% greater than that of hypothesis test.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures, accepted by IEEE VTC conference, Fall 2018 editio

Association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the multinational Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease has been associated with exposures in the workplace. We aimed to assess the association of respiratory symptoms and lung function with occupation in the Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease study. Methods We analysed cross-sectional data from 28 823 adults (≥40 years) in 34 countries. We considered 11 occupations and grouped them by likelihood of exposure to organic dusts, inorganic dusts and fumes. The association of chronic cough, chronic phlegm, wheeze, dyspnoea, forced vital capacity (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1)/FVC with occupation was assessed, per study site, using multivariable regression. These estimates were then meta-analysed. Sensitivity analyses explored differences between sexes and gross national income. Results Overall, working in settings with potentially high exposure to dusts or fumes was associated with respiratory symptoms but not lung function differences. The most common occupation was farming. Compared to people not working in any of the 11 considered occupations, those who were farmers for ≥20 years were more likely to have chronic cough (OR 1.52, 95% CI 1.19–1.94), wheeze (OR 1.37, 95% CI 1.16–1.63) and dyspnoea (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.53–2.20), but not lower FVC (β=0.02 L, 95% CI −0.02–0.06 L) or lower FEV1/FVC (β=0.04%, 95% CI −0.49–0.58%). Some findings differed by sex and gross national income. Conclusion At a population level, the occupational exposures considered in this study do not appear to be major determinants of differences in lung function, although they are associated with more respiratory symptoms. Because not all work settings were included in this study, respiratory surveillance should still be encouraged among high-risk dusty and fume job workers, especially in low- and middle-income countries.publishedVersio

Cohort Profile: Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study

The Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease (BOLD) study was established to assess the prevalence of chronic airflow obstruction, a key characteristic of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and its risk factors in adults (≥40 years) from general populations across the world. The baseline study was conducted between 2003 and 2016, in 41 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, the Caribbean and Oceania, and collected high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry from 28 828 participants. The follow-up study was conducted between 2019 and 2021, in 18 sites across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean. At baseline, there were in these sites 12 502 participants with high-quality spirometry. A total of 6452 were followed up, with 5936 completing the study core questionnaire. Of these, 4044 also provided high-quality pre- and post-bronchodilator spirometry. On both occasions, the core questionnaire covered information on respiratory symptoms, doctor diagnoses, health care use, medication use and ealth status, as well as potential risk factors. Information on occupation, environmental exposures and diet was also collected

Numerical Study of Evaporation Modelling for Different Fuels at High Operating Conditions in a Diesel Engine

A fuel injection system in a diesel engine has different processes that affect the complete burning of the fuel in the combustion chamber. These include the primary and secondary breakups of liquid fuel droplets and evaporation. In the present paper, evaporation of two different diesel fuels has been modelled numerically. Evaporation of n-heptane and n-decane is governed by the conservation equations of mass, energy, momentum, and species transport. Results have been plotted by varying the droplet diameter and temperature. It was observed that droplet size, temperature of droplets, and ambient temperature have notable effect on the evaporation time of diesel fuel droplets in the engine cylinder

Superluminescence and macroscopic exciton propagation in freestanding ZnO thin films

Recently we have reported properties of ZnO semiconductor films attached to CaF2 substrate. Presently we characterized absorption, emission and superluminescence of freestanding ZnO films, comparing these to the attached films with the same thickness values. The absorption spectra of the freestanding films had resolved bands, with the band density increasing with the nanofilm thickness. Additionally, the spectral transitions in these films were blue-shifted as compared to attached films. The absorption and emission spectra of freestanding films were resolved better than those of attached films, with the difference traceable to the surface roughness of the substrate used for deposition. We also explored exciton dynamics and propagation over macroscopic distances in freestanding films. The excitons lived longer and propagated further in freestanding films as compared to attached films. The superluminescence yield in freestanding 9.3 nm film of 0.43 +/- 0.05 was significantly larger than 0.17 +/- 0.03 in an equivalent attached film. We provided a detailed analysis of the results obtained. The reported data are unique, demonstrating significant difference in the optical properties of attached and freestanding ZnO thin films. Freestanding ZnO films are promising for optoelectmnic applications.PR NASA EPSCoR (NASA)National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) [80NSSC19M0049]PR Space Grant (NASA) [NNX15AI11H]http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0