Power system analysis using space-vector transformation

In this paper, the space-vector transformation used in machine vector control is applied to power system analysis. The proposed method is used to model electric machines, power electronic converters, transformers, and transmission lines and to analyze power sources and loads with different connections (delta and wye). This method can also be applied to analyze steady-state (or transient phenomena) and unbalanced sources, including harmonics. Models obtained with this method are as simple as those of the per-phase approach. With the space-vector transformation, instantaneous active and reactive power concepts can be generalized, and new power system control strategies can be developed when power electronic converters are used. Steady-state, transient behavior, and harmonic analyses examples and applications are presented to illustrate the performance and advantages of the proposed method. This method can be extended to unbalanced systems (e.g., unsymmetric faults) using instantaneous symmetrical components in polyphase balanced circuits.     

Corrosion behaviour of low-Si alloyed steels in neutral reducing conditions at 90 °C

Electrochemical investigations on low-Si alloyed steels with Si content ranging from 0.25 to 3.2 wt.% were carried out in a 0.1 M NaCl borate-buffered solution (pH 8.4) in reducing conditions at 90 °C. Silicon as an alloying element was proved to degrade at first the steel ability to passivate. For longer immersion times, protective effects developed more efficiently on the steel containing 3.2 wt.% silicon. Passive layers electrochemically formed in the transpassive domain on the steel containing 3.2% Si were shown to be significantly different from those grown at rest potential.     

The corrosion behavior of sputter-deposited aluminum-tungsten alloys

Thin films on aluminum-tungsten alloys were prepared by co-deposition of pure aluminum and pure tungsten, each sputtered by an independently controlled magnetron source, on glass and sapphire substrates. Completely amorphous films were obtained in the Al₈₀W₂₀-Al₆₇W₃₃ composition range. Passivity and corrosion behavior of amorphous Al-W alloys were investigated in 1 M deaerated hydrochloric acid solution using polarization and impedance spectroscopy measurements and have been correlated with the properties of pure alloy components. Tungsten and sputter-deposited Al-W thin films are inherently passive materials while aluminum undergoes pitting corrosion in hydrochloric acid solution. The passive film formed at the OCP on each alloy possesses excellent electric and dielectric properties comparable to those of the isolating film on tungsten. The absolute impedance increases with increasing tungsten content in the alloy. According to electrochemical polarization measurements, alloying Al with W in solid solution significantly enhances the material's resistance to pitting corrosion by shifting the breakdown potential above 2000 mV (Al₆₇W₃₃) and lowering the corrosion rate at the OCP by more than two orders of magnitude. The most likely mechanism explaining the passivity of amorphous Al-W alloys, the Solute Vacancy Interaction Model (SVIM), involves the formation of complexes between highly oxidized solute atoms (W⁺⁶) and mobile cation vacancies, which restrict the transport of Cl⁻ through the oxide film and inhibit its breakdown in hydrochloric acid solution. The role that film stress relaxation effects and microscopic defects in amorphous Al-W films, of the some composition, and deposited on various substrates play in their corrosion resistance is discussed.     

Prediction of swirling confined diffusion flame with a Monte Carlo and a presumed-PDF-model

This work aims to compare numerical results obtained by using the Monte Carlo composition-PDF method and a presumed-β-PDF in order to reveal their effects on the prediction of flow and scalar fields in swirling confined methane diffusion flame. Using the intrinsic low dimensional manifolds method for modelling the chemistry and a second moment closure for the turbulence, it is shown that both PDF-methods provide a similar accuracy level of the prediction of mean quantities. While the presumed-β-PDF performs using reasonable computational efforts, the Monte Carlo-PDF allows to capture well the turbulence-chemistry interaction and strong finite-chemistry effects such as local extinction.     

PES News

This paper presents a new method for the generation of a reference voltage for a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR). These voltages, when injected in series with a distribution feeder by a voltage source inverter, can tightly regulate the voltage at the load terminal against imbalance or harmonics in the source side. It is stipulated that the DVR does not supply any real power in the steady state. The reference voltage generation scheme is validated through digital computer simulation studies.     

New Reaction Engineering Concepts for Selective Oxidation Reactions

In order to enhance product yields in selective oxidation reactions, numerous reaction engineering concepts are being studied worldwide. Periodic operation has been investigated for decades, yet its application is limited to a few examples, such as the butane oxidation after DuPont or reverse-flow reactors for VOC removal. The use of microchannel reactors is a younger field, but it has already yielded promising results for process optimization. Catalytic wall reactors have proved to be a helpful tool for kinetic studies. On the laboratory scale, membrane reactors have displayed favorable behavior in selective oxidation. The Na vapor-catalyzed dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde is a final example of an unusual new concept for selective oxidation.     

Symmetry-breaking transitions in equilibrium shapes of coherent precipitates: Effect of elastic anisotropy and inhomogeneity

We examine the symmetry-breaking transitions in equilibrium shapes of coherent precipitates in two-dimensional (2-D) systems under a plane-strain condition with the principal misfit strain components ε* _xx and ε* _yy . For systems with cubic elastic moduli, we first show all the shape transitions associated with different values of t=ε* _yy /ε* _xx . We also characterize each of these transitions, by studying its dependence on elastic anisotropy and inhomogeneity. For systems with dilatational misfit (t=1) and those with pure shear misfit (t=−1), the transition is from an equiaxed shape to an elongated shape, resulting in a break in rotational symmetry. For systems with nondilatational misfit (−1<t<1; t ≠ 0), the transition involves a break in mirror symmetries normal to the x- and y-axes. The transition is continuous in all cases, except when 0<t<1. For systems which allow an invariant line (−1≤t<0), the critical size increases with an increase in the particle stiffness. However, for systems which do not allow an invariant line (0<t≤1), the critical size first decreases, reaches a minimum, and then starts increasing with increasing particle stiffness; moreover, the transition is also forbidden when the particle stiffness is greater than a critical value.     

Discussion influence of yield surface curvature on flow localization in dilatant plasticity

The results of finite element calculations for a hollow sphere micromodel are used to examine the underlying assumptions and the specific yield functions in the dilatant plasticity theories of Gurson (1977) and Mear and Hutchinson