Using Life Cycle Assessment in Investigating Electricity Generation Potential: (By Harnessing Garbage)

Solid waste is a waste that is predominantly domestic garbage. These wastes can be solid or semisolid form, but does not include industrial or hazardous wastes. Energy Recovery from garbage is not a new idea globally but the method of determining the energy content of the waste stream has developed over the period. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool used to determine the environmental impact, of any product from its raw material (cradle) stage to finally being discarded (grave) as a waste deposit. LCA can also be useful in identification of effective waste management system and in determining the energy content of a waste stream. For a complete LCA, scenarios have to be created which will aid the studies by comparing results of activities with the base case scenario. For this study, two scenarios were created, the base case scenario and energy recovery scenario. In the Base Case Scenario all the waste generated is taken to landfill. While in the Energy Recovery Scenario energy and material recovery is involved. From the result of the LCA, about 12MW of electricity can be recovered by harnessing the Garbage in UTM. With associated high decrease in environmental emissions from 5 tons of CO2 and 390Kg of deposited goods at the landfills to -0.97 tons of Co2 and no deposited goods because materials can be recovered from the waste that can be recycled. Gabi Software was used for the LCA assessment. Keywords: Scenario, LCA, Landfill, Gabi Software, University Technology Malaysia, energy recover

EFFECTS OF THE TEMPERATURE ON THE OUTPUT VOLTAGE OF MONO-CRYSTALLINE AND POLY-CRYSTALLINE SOLAR PANELS

People can make solar energy alternative energy by employing solar panels to generate electricity. The utilization of solar energy on a solar panel to generate electricity is affected by the weather and the duration of the radiation, and they will affect the solar panel’s temperature. There are various types of solar panels that can be found on the market today, including Mono-Crystalline and Poly-Crystalline. The difference in the material used needs to be observed in terms of temperature changes in the solar module. Our study’s findings showed that a change in the temperature would impact the solar panel’s output voltage, and the solar panel’s output voltage would change when it was connected to the load although the measured temperatures were almost the same

Water Tree Simulation on Underground Polymeric Cable Using Finite Element Method

Most insulation failures in polymeric underground cables have been caused by the formation of water tree in the polyethylene insulation that leads to electrical tree. Electric field intensity is fundamental to water tree growth, hence studying and modeling water tree in a cross-linked polyethylene (XLPE) insulation is vital as insulation failure is frequently triggered by water tree. The aim of this study is to determine the electric field intensity and to identify the electric potential distribution in XLPE insulation used in the underground medium voltage cable which are affected by water tree. Finite Element Method is used to perform the simulation works. The Electrostatic numerical models of 11kV single core XLPE cable affected by the variations of water tree models and size of water tree are analyzed. The two types of water tree, vented tree and bow-tie tree are modeled in the simulation and the properties of the models were set by the experimental value found in the literature. The simulation results revealed that regardless of water tree type, size, length, shape, dimension or location, water tree contributes to higher electric field at the affected region and thus reduces the dielectric strength of cable insulation. Nevertheless, the relative permittivity, shape, length and location of water tree induce a significant variation of electric field intensity in the insulation. The electric field is found to be more intensified at the region where water tree is closer to the conductor. Therefore, electrical tree is more likely generated from the vented water tree initiated from the outer surface of the insulation that grows towards the conductor rather than the other types of water tree

Partial Discharge Characteristics of Polymer Nanocomposite Materials in Electrical Insulation: A Review of Sample Preparation Techniques, Analysis Methods, Potential Applications, and Future Trends

Polymer nanocomposites have recently been attracting attention among researchers in electrical insulating applications from energy storage to power delivery. However, partial discharge has always been a predecessor to major faults and problems in this field. In addition, there is a lot more to explore, as neither the partial discharge characteristic in nanocomposites nor their electrical properties are clearly understood. By adding a small amount of weight percentage (wt%) of nanofillers, the physical, mechanical, and electrical properties of polymers can be greatly enhanced. For instance, nanofillers in nanocomposites such as silica (SiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and titania (TiO2) play a big role in providing a good approach to increasing the dielectric breakdown strength and partial discharge resistance of nanocomposites. Such polymer nanocomposites will be reviewed thoroughly in this paper, with the different experimental and analytical techniques used in previous studies. This paper also provides an academic review about partial discharge in polymer nanocomposites used as electrical insulating material from previous research, covering aspects of preparation, characteristics of the nanocomposite based on experimental works, application in power systems, methods and techniques of experiment and analysis, and future trends

Development of Compact On-Line Partial Discharge Analyzer Assessing Nanocomposite Insulation Performance for Research Purpose

Analyzing on-line partial discharge (PD) data using commercially available spreadsheet application software like Microsoft Excel is possible but very difficult to do. The problem is because the PD data are quite long and depend on the sampling rate used during testing. Increasing the sampling rate will increase data samples in one cycle of 50 Hz waveform, and longer time is needed to analyze the data. A further problem is associated with compiling the PD data; Excel uses a large memory to run, plot and calculate the PD data for analysis purpose, and sometimes this leads to computer memory crash. Due to this problem, an alternative on-line PD analyzer (on-LPDA) needs to be developed. This paper reports on the performance of the software that was developed using LabViewTM 8.5. The result shows that the software can extract PD parameters like PD numbers, PD magnitude, and plotting PD pattern without large time and memory consumption, compared with Excel, and experiences no memory crash up to 125 mega sampling (MS) rate

SOLID WASTE AS A RENEWABLE FEEDSTOCK: A REVIEW

ABSTRACT This paper reviews the effect of waste to energy in terms of environmental, energy production, as a tool for diverting waste from landfill and the suitability of adopting energy from solid waste as a renewable energy based on the environment protection authority's classification of waste into biogenic and non-biogenic elements. Lifecycle assessment (LCA) of various waste management methods in terms of environmental and sustainability influences favors waste to energy as the preferred method of waste management. Analysis shows that for every ton of solid waste converted to energy about 376 grams of emission is fossil related compared to 1,833 grams for conventional fuel, like coal. Although solid waste has a lower calorific value as compared to conventional means of energy generation with about one-third of the value for coal, it can generate 600 kWh, all from renewable components, thereby saving lots of fossil fuel from being burned to generate this energy. A case study of solid waste generated at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) is also reported in order to show the true status of solid waste as renewable energy

Partial Discharge Monitoring System on High Voltage Equipments using Electroacoustic Technique

Partial discharge (PD) monitoring system is considered as one of the most promising solutions for monitoring and detecting possible faults. PD is able to diagnose faults within the system in the most fundamental and simplest way. PD monitoring and measurement of high voltage equipment substations panel and power transformers have not gained the same attention in the electrical community as compared to those of rotating machines. PD tests are conducted on-site to verify the insulation of bushings, termination box and windings. The cost of an unexpected outage may be considerably more significant for a high voltage substation panel and power transformers system than just for a single motor failure. In this research, the electroacoustic PD monitoring technique is used, which is a combination of internal PD detection and ultrasound or surface PD detection was used. The testing equipment which will be used in this research is UltraTEV Plus+ equipment from EA Technology. Result shows the transient earth voltage (TEV) PD magnitude fluctuates with time. Significant high value of PD magnitude (> 19 dB) was detected and recorded at several switchgear panel and transformer. However, for the ultrasound or surface PD, from the monitoring and measurement record, no detection of PD signal was recorded at the UltraTEV Plus+ testing equipmen

Coal Fuel Efficiency with Mixed Palm Shell Biomass for Steam Power Plant

The accumulation of coal-based fuels is depleting and to obtain coal fuel requires a great amount of money, as a corollary, measures must be taken to reduce the usage of this fuel. PT. Pembangkit Jawa Bali (PJB) is currently investigating the co-firing technique by using oil palm shell biomass waste as a combination coal fuel with a proportion of 95% coal and 5% palm shell, the efficiency results will be compared to 100% of coal fuel. In this research, the Mathcad program and the Professional Simulator 8 were employed, the specific fuel consumption (SFC) technique is used to determine the efficiency of production expenses, as well as the direct and indirect methods to calculate the boiler efficiency. The results reveal that 4.09 IDR/kWh reduction in primary energy expenses could be achieved (0.65%). Co-firing fuel will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the boiler's performance, therefore when using 100% of coal as a fuel, the boiler efficiency value is 63.38% (Direct Method), while using the Indirect Method will produce up to 82.24%, respectively. However, when using co-firing fuel with 95% of coal and 5% of palm shell (Direct Method), the boiler efficiency value is 63.92%, and 83.71% when using the Indirect Method

Measurement of Dielectric Properties of Low-Density Polyethylene Nanocomposites Using “Sub-Hertz” Dielectric Spectroscopy

Recently, many studies have been conducted on the dielectric properties of Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) nanocomposites and produced different results. However, the composition of LDPE polymer and boron nitride (BN) as nanofiller has neither been well understood nor producing a convenient result. Similarly, the dielectric spectroscopy measured at “sub–hertz” frequency has been of little interest among researchers since it is often influenced by “conduction-like” effect. This research identified the dielectric properties of LDPE nanocomposites filled with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) nanofillers by using dielectric spectroscopy technique. The dielectric loss and relative permittivity for three different filler concentrations were investigated under “sub-hertz” frequency ranges at room temperature. The cylindrical electrode with guard ring configuration was used to conduct the experiment, in accordance to the ASTM D150 standard. The results revealed that 5 wt% filled polymer has lower loss tangent and permittivity compared to the unfilled polymer, due to the strong interaction between nano-particle and the polymer. This strong interaction is believed to limit the movement of the polymer chain. The decrease in loss tangent also indicates lower quasi-DC at low frequency. However, further increase in the filler loading has recorded an increment in the value of permittivity and loss tangent. This higher effective permittivity is mainly due to the influence of the filler permittivity

Effect of Humidity on Partial Discharge Characteristics of Epoxy/Boron Nitride Nanocomposite under High Voltage Stress

Partial discharge (PD) may lead to the degradation of insulating materials and affect the lifetime of high voltage equipment. This paper describes the effect of relative humidity on PD characteristic of epoxy/boron nitride (BN) nanocomposite under high voltage (HV) stress. In this work, CIGRE Method II was utilized as an electrode configuration. BN nanofiller was chosen because of its high insulating properties with high thermal conductivity. The PD characteristics such as PD charge magnitude, PD number or occurrence, and average of PD charge during certain of ageing time under HV stress against relative humidity were examined. The results revealed that PD number of humid samples is higher about 8~14% compared to the normal ones. It is considered due to the decrease of surface resistance of the humid samples. The PD charge magnitudes of humid samples are slightly higher compared to the normal ones. The epoxy/BN nanocomposite has lesser PD number and magnitude compared to the neat epoxy samples