Condition Assessment of Medium-Voltage XLPE-Insulated Cables Degraded by Water Treeing. In Australia degraded underground XLPE cables are causing disruption of electricity supplies and high community costs. There is no reliable non-invasive technique for prediction of cable condition to optimise cable replacement and refurbishment. In this project a large-scale experiment will be undertaken on 22 kV cables to ascertain the effectiveness of a new cable refurbishment technology. New techniques for ....Condition Assessment of Medium-Voltage XLPE-Insulated Cables Degraded by Water Treeing. In Australia degraded underground XLPE cables are causing disruption of electricity supplies and high community costs. There is no reliable non-invasive technique for prediction of cable condition to optimise cable replacement and refurbishment. In this project a large-scale experiment will be undertaken on 22 kV cables to ascertain the effectiveness of a new cable refurbishment technology. New techniques for assessment of cable condition will be developed using unique data from the ageing experiment and computer models of fundamental phenomena. Successful conclusions from this project will save the industry partner and other electricity distribution companies tens of millions of dollars.Read moreRead less
Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics. Bridges form an important part of our physical infrastructure system and in Queensland alone there are nearly 3000 bridges with an annual maintenance cost in excess of 20 million dollars and a replacement value in excess of 2 billion dollars. It is necessary to ensure that these bridges function safely and efficiently at all times. Bridge failure will cause disruption to normal lives and expensive repa ....Monitoring and Maintaining the Structural Health of Bridges Using Vibration Characteristics. Bridges form an important part of our physical infrastructure system and in Queensland alone there are nearly 3000 bridges with an annual maintenance cost in excess of 20 million dollars and a replacement value in excess of 2 billion dollars. It is necessary to ensure that these bridges function safely and efficiently at all times. Bridge failure will cause disruption to normal lives and expensive repairs. Towards this end, this project will develop an innovative structural health monitoring system to monitor and maintain the structural health of our bridges. The project outcomes will have immediate applications in Australia and overseas with economic and social benefits to the community.Read moreRead less
Performance analysis of the Unified Power Flow Controller based on multi-bridge converter. The objective of this research is to conceive a new configuration of UPFC without series injection transformers, based on two-level full-bridge modules. The conceived system can be utilized for the power systems to control the power flow through the transmission line.
The benefit is in reducing restrictions on electricity transfer links.
The project will develop a laboratory version of the novel UPFC de ....Performance analysis of the Unified Power Flow Controller based on multi-bridge converter. The objective of this research is to conceive a new configuration of UPFC without series injection transformers, based on two-level full-bridge modules. The conceived system can be utilized for the power systems to control the power flow through the transmission line.
The benefit is in reducing restrictions on electricity transfer links.
The project will develop a laboratory version of the novel UPFC demonstrating the hardware and control requirements for this form of UPFC which could reduce the costs of this corrective solution up to 30% below existing solutions.
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EMERGENCY CONTROL FOR POWER SYSTEM SEPARATION. In 2003 we saw major blackouts of power systems for US/Canada, Italy and London leading to billions of dollars of lost production and major impacts on many peoples lives. One aspect contributing to some of these is the control of system dynamic response and the targeted use of emergency controls such as load and generator shedding. This project is contributing to the development of an integrated control response such that appropriate levels of emerg ....EMERGENCY CONTROL FOR POWER SYSTEM SEPARATION. In 2003 we saw major blackouts of power systems for US/Canada, Italy and London leading to billions of dollars of lost production and major impacts on many peoples lives. One aspect contributing to some of these is the control of system dynamic response and the targeted use of emergency controls such as load and generator shedding. This project is contributing to the development of an integrated control response such that appropriate levels of emergency controls are determined and the probability of cascading blackouts reduced through automated systems. Read moreRead less
Advanced Planning Tools for the Prevention of System-wide Blackouts of Large Power Systems. In 2003 there had been major power blackouts in US/Canada, Italy and in Scandinavia leading to billions of dollars of lost production and had raised concern about national security. Prevention of blackout should be one of the highest priorities of the electricity industry. National security for any critical infrastructure of any country is more vulnerable for a prolonged blackout. This project will provid ....Advanced Planning Tools for the Prevention of System-wide Blackouts of Large Power Systems. In 2003 there had been major power blackouts in US/Canada, Italy and in Scandinavia leading to billions of dollars of lost production and had raised concern about national security. Prevention of blackout should be one of the highest priorities of the electricity industry. National security for any critical infrastructure of any country is more vulnerable for a prolonged blackout. This project will provide comprehensive planning tools to prevent blackouts in the Australian National Electricity grid. Any benefit to electricity industry will finally result in further benefits to the national economy and security as a whole.
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Investigation of key factors affecting the polarisation based diagnostics of power transformers. To avoid system wide power interruptions, major assets in the electricity network must be always operating satisfactorily. One of the key assets in the electricity network is the power transformer. Currently many transformers are over 50 years old and failure of a transformer may result in long interruptions in supply and the loss of millions of dollars in revenue. The ageing of transformers needs to ....Investigation of key factors affecting the polarisation based diagnostics of power transformers. To avoid system wide power interruptions, major assets in the electricity network must be always operating satisfactorily. One of the key assets in the electricity network is the power transformer. Currently many transformers are over 50 years old and failure of a transformer may result in long interruptions in supply and the loss of millions of dollars in revenue. The ageing of transformers needs to be properly monitored to avoid catastrophic failures. This project will provide an innovative solution for the better understanding of the ageing processes of transformers and help
managers make correct decisions for maintenance and replacement strategies.
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Investigation of Demand Diversity and Appropriate New Generation Entry into Electricity Market Simulation Tools. The power industry is currently facing a great challenge in providing
better market operation and management following recent devastating blackouts in North America, UK and Italy. This project aims at investigating major mechanisms of market simulation techniques including impacts from load diversity and approaches to defining appropriate new generation entry into the market. From th ....Investigation of Demand Diversity and Appropriate New Generation Entry into Electricity Market Simulation Tools. The power industry is currently facing a great challenge in providing
better market operation and management following recent devastating blackouts in North America, UK and Italy. This project aims at investigating major mechanisms of market simulation techniques including impacts from load diversity and approaches to defining appropriate new generation entry into the market. From the outcome of this project the National Electricity Market will be able to manage the uncertainties of load diversity (one of the most common blackout causes), and efficiently minimise risk associated with decisions on new generation entry to enhance electricity supply infrastructure.
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POWER DELIVERY IN A DEREGULATED ENVIRONMENT. The recent deregulation of the power industry has opened up new technical challenges that must be addressed in order to ensure fair and equitable market operation. Significant among these is the availability of alternative routes for the delivery of power, between and across different ownerships. In this scenario, a major challenge is to determine the minimum cost contractual arrangement for the delivery of required power. To achieve this, new techniq ....POWER DELIVERY IN A DEREGULATED ENVIRONMENT. The recent deregulation of the power industry has opened up new technical challenges that must be addressed in order to ensure fair and equitable market operation. Significant among these is the availability of alternative routes for the delivery of power, between and across different ownerships. In this scenario, a major challenge is to determine the minimum cost contractual arrangement for the delivery of required power. To achieve this, new techniques for the analysis of power systems are required. This proposal aims to provide solutions to these analysis problems and hence to provide software to assist with market operation.Read moreRead less
Optimum location of FACTS devices with advanced control scheme for improving the security of complex power grid. Prevention of blackouts is one of the highest priorities of the electricity industry. One of the fundamental reasons for the recent blackouts in long transmission network is inter-area oscillations. Queensland's long transmission network is a vital part of the Australian electricity grid and is vulnerable to inter-area oscillations. There is a need for a comprehensive approach to inve ....Optimum location of FACTS devices with advanced control scheme for improving the security of complex power grid. Prevention of blackouts is one of the highest priorities of the electricity industry. One of the fundamental reasons for the recent blackouts in long transmission network is inter-area oscillations. Queensland's long transmission network is a vital part of the Australian electricity grid and is vulnerable to inter-area oscillations. There is a need for a comprehensive approach to investigate the effect of inter-area oscillation that contributes to blackouts. Focussing the Queensland network, this project will provide a complete assessment tool for the optimum location of FACTS devices with modern and advanced control schemes in improving the security of complex interconnected power-grid. Read moreRead less
Electricity Distribution in the Bush: Operation, Control and Energy Management of Grid Connected Distributed Generation Based Microgrids. Increasing the access of electricity by conventional means to remote areas requires a substantial increase in generating and transmission capacities over what is presently available. These will require large capital expenditure and will increase the levels of emissions of carbon dioxide and various nitrous oxides. As an alternative distributed generation (DG) ....Electricity Distribution in the Bush: Operation, Control and Energy Management of Grid Connected Distributed Generation Based Microgrids. Increasing the access of electricity by conventional means to remote areas requires a substantial increase in generating and transmission capacities over what is presently available. These will require large capital expenditure and will increase the levels of emissions of carbon dioxide and various nitrous oxides. As an alternative distributed generation (DG) using renewable energy resources and alternative fuels can be used to mitigate environmental impacts and cost. This project will contribute to the knowledge of operating a microgrid based on various DG energy sources that will be environmentally friendly and renewable. Community and economic benefits will flow from increased diversity of supply and reduced environmental impacts.Read moreRead less