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| POWER QUALITY Electrical power quality has been a growing concern for the utilities and end-users in the recent decade. There are several reasons for this concern. One is the emergence of sensitive loads such as digital computers, electronic controllers, devices using switching circuits, etc. Such loads are highly sensitive to power system disturbances and an be tripped unexpectedly, leading to unwanted and costly interruptions of power. Considering large manufacturing plants of such industries as the semiconductor industry, even a very brief interruption (or distortion) of power may cost a significant amount in dollars due to the disruption of time-sensitive manufacturing processes. Another concern for today's utilities is the implications of the industry deregulation on the operation of the power systems. In the new and competitive energy market, the utilities need to address the power quality concerns of the end-users carefully in order to retain customers in their service areas. This will require better and more efficient monitoring, analysis and mitigation of power quality disturbances through the use of advance analytical and technological tools. This project is aimed at developing new hardware and software tools to be used in a unique digital simulator framework where these tools will have compatible and easy to use user interfaces. The project will apply advanced modeling and simulation techniques to accurately represent the unconventional loads and their behavior leading to power quality problems. An automated detection, classification and characterization method aimed at continuous monitoring and assessment of power quality disturbances will also be developed in this project. Finally, an optimization algorithm for the placement of power quality recording instruments in the system, will be designed and implemented. All developed software and tools will be tested using utility data as well as simulations. A software package, Power Quality Analysis Tools(PQAT), has been developed at Texas A&M University. The online user manual can be accessed here |
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