Integration of technical equipment in a project driven learning environment

Purpose: This paper describes the integration of technical equipment in a project driven learning environment in the School of Engineering in the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment at Deakin University, Geelong, Australia. Technical or laboratory equipment is a critical factor when designing learning environments and more so in a project driven learning environment. Important Findings: Deakin University has strong partnerships with industry and the community and with its cloud and located based learning policy has extremely flexible learning environments tailored to the needs of the students, with all the programs being offered in on-campus mode as well as off-campus mode. The off-campus study mode has made it even more important to have flexibility in the usage and access of the technical equipment in the laboratories. Conclusion: The School of Engineering at Deakin University Australia has developed a project-oriented design based learning environment which allows students to learn through design activities while being driven by the deliverables and outputs of a project. The technical equipment is required to be able to be used for traditional laboratory experiments in order to achieve fundamental knowledge requirements as well as project oriented knowledge and practice

Issues and mitigations of wind energy penetrated network: Australian network case study

Longest geographically connected Australian power system is undergoing an unprecedented transition, under the effect of increased integration of renewable energy systems. This change in generation mix has implications for the whole interconnected system designs, its operational strategies and the regulatory framework. Frequency control policies about real-time balancing of demand and supply is one of the prominent and priority operational challenge requiring urgent attention. This paper reviews the Australian electricity market structure in presence of wind energy and its governance. Various issues related to increased wind generation systems integration are discussed in detail. Currently applied mitigations along with prospective mitigation methods requiring new or improved policies are also discussed. It is concluded that developing prospective frequency regulation ancillary services market desires further encouraging policies from governing authority to keep pace with current grid transition and maintain its security

Performance analysis of a grid-connected PV system in LV distribution network

Over the past decade, the growing demand of Grid-connected photo voltaic (GCPV) system has been increasing due to an extensive use of renewable energy technologies for sustainable power generation and distribution. High-penetrated GCPV systems enhance the operation of the network by improving the voltage levels and reducing the active power losses along the length of the feeder. This paper aims to investigate the voltage variations and Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) of a typical GCPV system modelled in Power system simulator, PSS SINCAL with the change of level of PV integrations in a Low Voltage (LV) distribution network. Five different case studies are considered to investigate the impact of PV integrations on LV nodes and the corresponding voltage variations and harmonics. In addition, this paper also explores and benchmarks the voltage improvement techniques by implementing On Load Tap Changer (OLTC) with respective to the main transformer and addition of Shunt Capacitor (SC) at appropriate node points in LV network

Building Resilience against COVID-19 Pandemic Using Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and IoT: A Survey of Recent Progress

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has significantly impacted the entire world today and stalled off regular human activities in such an unprecedented way that it will have an unforgettable footprint on the history of mankind. Different countries have adopted numerous measures to build resilience against this life-threatening disease. However, the highly contagious nature of this pandemic has challenged the traditional healthcare and treatment practices. Thus, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) open up new mechanisms for effective healthcare during this pandemic. AI and ML can be useful for medicine development, designing efficient diagnosis strategies and producing predictions of the disease spread. These applications are highly dependent on real-time monitoring of the patients and effective coordination of the information, where the Internet of Things (IoT) plays a key role. IoT can also help with applications such as automated drug delivery, responding to patient queries, and tracking the causes of disease spread. This paper represents a comprehensive analysis of the potential AI, ML, and IoT technologies for defending against the COVID-19 pandemic. The existing and potential applications of AI, ML, and IoT, along with a detailed analysis of the enabling tools and techniques are outlined. A critical discussion on the risks and limitations of the aforementioned technologies are also included

Thermal performance of building-integrated horizontal earth-air heat exchanger in a subtropical hot humid climate

The current energy crisis across the globe is a major obstacle to human growth and development. The majority of energy use is accounted for by buildings, which must be controlled and reduced using energy-efficient technologies. Several passive technologies have been shown to be effective in reducing building energy consumption. The earth-air heat exchanger (EAHE) is one such technology capable of saving energy in buildings without relying on habitual mechanical equipment. Though different types of EAHE models have been developed over the last few decades, building-integrated EAHE model development using real-time data is rarely seen for a subtropical climate. This paper thus evaluates the cooling performance of a building-integrated horizontal EAHE system in a warm and humid subtropical climate in Rockhampton, Australia. To measure the cooling performance, a building-integrated horizontal EAHE model is developed in Ansys Fluent. Impacts of relative humidity, air velocity, soil temperature, and air temperature on the building cooling performance have also been investigated. The building-integrated horizontal EAHE system reduced the temperature in a single room building by a maximum of 2.18 °C, saving 415.92 kWh energy (on average 59.91 kWh) during a 3-months summer. This equates to an energy cost savings of AU$190.31, with an average savings of AU$105.10. The energy saved by the present system will make a substantial contribution to building energy management