Automatic analysis of Pole Mounted Auto-Recloser data for fault diagnosis and prognosis

Fault diagnosis is a key part of a control and protection engineer’s role to ensure the effective and stable performance of electrical power networks. One challenge is to support the analysis and application of expert judgement to the, often, large data sets generated. To assist engineers with this task and improve network reliability, this research focuses on analysing previous fault activity in order to obtain an early-warning report to assist fault diagnosis and fault prognosis. This paper details the design of an integrated system with a fault diagnosis algorithm utilising available Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) alarm data and 11kV distribution network data captured from Pole Mounted Auto-Reclosers (PMARs) (provided by a leading UK network operator). The developed system will be capable of diagnosing the nature of a circuit’s previous fault activity, underlying circuit activity and evolving fault activity and the risk of future fault activity. This will provide prognostic decision support for network operators and maintenance staff

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

Improved power transformer condition monitoring under uncertainty through soft computing and probabilistic health index

Condition monitoring of power transformers is crucial for the reliable and cost-effective operation of the power grid. The health index (HI) formulation is a pragmatic approach to combine multiple information sources and generate a consistent health state indicator for asset management planning. Generally, existing transformer HI methods are based on expert knowledge or data-driven models of specific transformer subsystems. However, the effect of uncertainty is not considered when integrating expert knowledge and data-driven models for the system-levelHI estimation. With the increased dynamic and non-deterministic engineering problems, the sources of uncertainty are increasing across power and energy applications, e.g. electric vehicles with new dynamic loads or nuclear power plants with de-energized periods, and transformer health assessment under uncertainty is becoming critical for accurate condition monitoring. In this context, this paper presents a novel soft computing driven probabilistic HI framework for transformer health monitoring. The approach encapsulates data analytics and expert knowledge along with different sources of uncertainty and infers a transformer HI value with confidence intervals for decision-making under uncertainty. Using real data from a nuclear power plant, the proposed framework is compared with traditional HI implementations and results confirm the validity of the approach for transformer health assessment

Counteractive effects of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment on D1 receptor modulation of spatial working memory.

RATIONALE: Antenatal exposure to the glucocorticoid dexamethasone dramatically increases the number of mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons in rat offspring. However, the consequences of this expansion in midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons for behavioural processes in adulthood are poorly understood, including working memory that depends on DA transmission in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). OBJECTIVES: We therefore investigated the influence of antenatal glucocorticoid treatment (AGT) on the modulation of spatial working memory by a D1 receptor agonist and on D1 receptor binding and DA content in the PFC and striatum. METHODS: Pregnant rats received AGT on gestational days 16-19 by adding dexamethasone to their drinking water. Male offspring reared to adulthood were trained on a delayed alternation spatial working memory task and administered the partial D1 agonist SKF38393 (0.3-3 mg/kg) by systemic injection. In separate groups of control and AGT animals, D1 receptor binding and DA content were measured post-mortem in the PFC and striatum. RESULTS: SKF38393 impaired spatial working memory performance in control rats but had no effect in AGT rats. D1 binding was significantly reduced in the anterior cingulate cortex, prelimbic cortex, dorsal striatum and ventral pallidum of AGT rats compared with control animals. However, AGT had no significant effect on brain monoamine levels. CONCLUSIONS: These findings demonstrate that D1 receptors in corticostriatal circuitry down-regulate in response to AGT. This compensatory effect in D1 receptors may result from increased DA-ergic tone in AGT rats and underlie the resilience of these animals to the disruptive effects of D1 receptor activation on spatial working memory.The authors’ research is funded by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 086871/Z/08/Z), the MRC (G0701500), a joint award from the MRC (G1000183) and Wellcome Trust (093875/Z/10/ Z) in support of the Behavioral and Clinical Neuroscience Institute at Cambridge University, and an MRC strategic award to the Imperial College-Cambridge University-Manchester University (ICCAM) addiction cluster (G1000018).This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Springer at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00213-016-4405-8

Distributed negotiation in future power networks : rapid prototyping using multi-agent system

Technologies like multi-agent system (MAS) have the capability to deal with future power grid requirements such as frequency management and voltage control under a flexible, intelligent and active feature. Based on web of cells (WoC) architecture proposed by European Liaison on Electricity Committed Towards longer-term Research Activity Integrated Research Programme (ELECTRA IRP), a distributed MAS with distributed negotiation ability for future distributed control (including frequency management and voltage control) is proposed. Each cell is designed as an intelligent agent and is investigated in case studies with constraints, where each agent can only communicate with its neighbouring agents. The interaction logic among agents is according to the distributed negotiation algorithm under consideration by the authors. Simulation results indicate that the WoC architecture could negotiate resources in a distributed manner and achieve successful exchange of resources by coordinating distributed agents. Moreover, the prototype reported in this paper can be extended further for future grids' distributed control regimes. The option of MAS to be exploited for the support of the development and integration of novel power system concepts is explored

Transitioning from centralized to distributed control : using SGAM to support a collaborative development of web of cells architecture for real time control

This paper shares some early experiences of developing the Web of Cells (WoC) concept for real time implementation supported by the Smart Grid Architecture Model (SGAM) reference framework. One of the use cases identified for the WoC concept is elaborated upon and is mapped to SGAM, providing one of the first examples where the SGAM reference framework has been used to develop a future distributed control architecture for real time implementation in power systems. Furthermore, this paper offers some insight into the key contributions that this approach can bring, such as a more effective interdisciplinary collaboration, better understanding of the control problem, and its implementation and validation

Wess-Zumino Terms in Supersymmetric Gauge Theories

The Wess-Zumino term is constructed for supersymmetric QCD with two colors and flavors, and is shown to correctly reproduce the anomalous Ward identities. Supersymmetric QCD is also shown not to have topologically stable skyrmion solutions because of baryon flat directions, which allow them to unwind. The generalization of these results to other supersymmetric theories with quantum modified constraints is discussed.Comment: 4 pages (revtex

On 2D N=(4,4) superspace supergravity

We review some recent results obtained in studying superspace formulations of 2D N=(4,4) matter-coupled supergravity. For a superspace geometry described by the minimal supergravity multiplet, we first describe how to reduce to components the chiral integral by using ``ectoplasm'' superform techniques as in arXiv:0907.5264 and then we review the bi-projective superspace formalism introduced in arXiv:0911.2546. After that, we elaborate on the curved bi-projective formalism providing a new result: the solution of the covariant type-I twisted multiplet constraints in terms of a weight-(-1,-1) bi-projective superfield.Comment: 18 pages, LaTeX, Contribution to the proceedings of the International Workshop "Supersymmetries and Quantum Symmetries" (SQS'09), Dubna, July 29-August 3 200