Search

Defects, such as debonding and foreign matters in transformer insulation paperboard, lead to local field strength concentration, thereby seriously affecting the safe operation of equipment. At present, industrial X-ray computed tomography scanning technology is mostly used to detect such defects. However, the equipment is expensive, the operation is complicated, and radiation hazard exists. In this study, terahertz time domain spectroscopy is introduced to explore the nondestructive testing method of oil-paper insulation defects. Three typical insulation paperboard defects of interface debonding, metal foreign matter mixing, and local carbonization traces were taken as the research objects. An artificial defect model is prepared. The time and frequency domain waveform characteristics of terahertz pulse wave propagating in the defect model are tested and analyzed. The results show that when the thickness of insulation paperboard covering is less than 5 mm, based on the amplitude and delay characteristics of terahertz time-domain signal, the location and size of typical internal defects can be accurately obtained, and time spectrum imaging can be realized. This study proves theoretically and experimentally the feasibility of noncontact and nondestructive testing for the internal defects of insulation paperboard by using terahertz technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture accumulates with the growing aging progress of oil-paper insulation and further shortens the remaining life of the transformer. The frequency-domain spectroscopy (FDS) technique can be used to realize the moisture estimation. However, the moisture estimation results would be unreliable once the aging effect on FDS was ignored. Given this issue, an alternative model including the aging effect is thus proposed using FDS and intelligent algorithm. In this work, the feature parameters of FDS data are used to build the databases for characterizing the aging degree and moisture. Then, the moisture estimation models are developed using the weighted K-nearest neighbor (K-NN) algorithm. The accuracy and applicability of the proposed models are finally discussed in laboratory and field conditions. In that respect, the findings reveal that the reported model is available for moisture estimation of transformer oil-paper insulation under various aging degrees and test temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of nonuniform aging has not been considered in the prediction of the frequency domain spectroscopy (FDS) of the transformer oil-paper insulation (OPI) when using the finite element method (FEM). Given this issue, the modified simulation model was constructed based on the XY model and FEM. In the current work, the dielectric response property of the pressboards with different aging conditions in the modified model was characterized by its dielectric response parameters measured in the lab. Then the modified simulation model constructed in a 3-D system would be applied to study the effect of both nonuniform aging and the axial geometry on the FDS of OPI. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed models was verified by comparing the measured FDS and the predicted FDS. This article is expected to provide a model for predicting the FDS of the transformer OPI including the effect of nonuniform aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, the rapid development in health care industry and security has driven innovations in the field of wearable electronics and smart sensors. This report demonstrates the fabrication of molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) by a facile, low-cost and scalable hydrothermal synthesis method followed by a vacuum filter deposition on cellulose paper. The fabricated device is utilized as a pressure and strain sensor. The fabricated device is passivated using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and also, PDMS film enhances the flexibility of the device. The calculated sensitivity of pressure sensor is ~0.3 kPa−1, which is comparable and relatively better than the pressure sensor fabricated using sophisticated techniques. Furthermore, the device exhibited significant of merit for strain sensing with a gauge factor of ~6.84. The fabricated device showed excellent resilience in 500 cycle bending tests, which promises the robustness of the device. As an application, the fabricated sensor is used to develop a wireless keyboard by integrating the sensor on fingertips of an individual and a real-time human motion monitoring application in which the data are transmitted wirelessly to a smartphone with a dedicated android application. The successful fabrication of MoSe2/paper-based cost-effective, flexible, and biodegradable pressure-strain sensor shows tremendous applications in future intelligent user interface systems, human security, and personal health care monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of moisture content on space charge characteristics based on the dynamic space charge response and conductivity characteristics of oilpaper insulation under a DC electric field. Moisture contents ranging from 0.34–2.89% are considered under an electric field of up to 20 kV/mm. The results show that homocharge accumulates inside the oil-paper insulator near both electrodes, with the amount of charge gradually increasing as the moisture content rises. It may be related to the decreased charge injection barrier at the electrode-sample interface as the moisture level increases. The conductivity increases with the rise in moisture level. However, as the conductivity increases, the corresponding space charge accumulation during polarization does not decrease, but increases significantly. This indicates that space charge accumulation may be related to both charge injection and conductivity. The electric field distortion inside the oil-paper insulator increases as the moisture content rises, with the maximum electric field distortion rate going from 16.9 to 92.9% at 5 kV/mm and from 29.7 to 62.5% at 20 kV/mm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For extra-high-voltage high-temperature superconducting (HTS) cables, not only high electrical insulation performance but also low dielectric loss is required. Therefore, we focus on a porous synthetic paper with lower dielectric loss, e.g., Tyvek polyethylene nonwoven fabric, than that of polypropylene laminated paper (PPLP), which has been used for a conventional HTS cable insulation system. In this paper, we compare partial discharge inception characteristics for different liquid nitrogen/synthetic paper composite insulation systems. The partial discharge inception electric field strength in the composite insulation system depends on the electric field strength in the porous area of synthetic paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, charge distributions in three-layered epoxy resin and epoxy resin impregnated paper samples under AC and AC-DC superimposed electric fields are measured by the improved high-speed pulsed electro-acoustic system. To exclude the interferences caused by the discontinuity of relative permittivity, a method to distinguish between net dipolar charges and free charges is proposed. Through analysis, the influences of frequency, AC component and DC component on the charge transport and trapping characteristics in multi-layered epoxy composites are obtained, which could provide important reference to the structural design and optimization of converter transformer bushings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the underlying mechanism behind the interface charge barrier between oil and oil immersed paper. Two types of oils and two types of cellulose papers are selected in the study. The interface charges of the samples are measured by the pulsed electro-acoustic (PEA) method and the zeta potentials of different oil-paper combinations are also measured. The results show that the amount of interface charge changes with the type of oils and papers, and is much larger than the Maxwell-Wagner-Sillars (MWS) polarization charge. The difference in the amount of interface charges cannot be attributed to the difference in the conductivity and permittivity of the materials. It is suggested that the barrier for charge transport across the interface, which is formed due to the electric double layer, should be taken into consideration to explain the interface charge behavior in oil-paper insulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a method of aging diagnosis under different oil-paper ratios is proposed by investigating the accelerated thermal aging data with different oil-paper ratios. Aged oil-paper insulation samples with oil-paper ratios of 10:1, 15:1 and 20:1 are obtained by accelerated thermal aging tests. The Raman spectra of the transformer oil samples are measured by a Raman spectrometer, and screened by random forest algorithm to extract the features. A modified model is established to correcting the features of the aged oil samples under the conditions of 15:1 and 20:1 oil-paper ratio to features under the condition of 10:1 oil-paper ratio. An grid search optimized support vector machine (SVM) classification model is established, and verified by the corrected features. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively identify the aging of oil-paper insulation with different oil-paper ratios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article announces the IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society, scheduled from September 18-20 in Puebla, Mexico, focusing on the Social Implications of Artificial Intelligence (AI), inviting submissions from academia, industry, and government to explore AI's impacts.

In the last decade, much effort has been invested in using methanol as an oil-soluble chemical marker for assessing the condition of insulating paper. The use of this marker as paper life index presents many advantages particularly with new transformers insulated with thermally upgraded papers. However, until now, no interpretation model has been available for its extensive use by the transformer community. In this paper, a methanol-based interpretation model is presented for the first time using postmortem paper analysis on core-type transformers. This model allows the evaluation of the average degree of polymerization of a transformer's cellulose winding. Furthermore, threshold values based on the methanol concentration are given using this approach. Finally, model validation was performed on a limited number of papers taken from transformers being assessed in the repair shop. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper proposes a method of distinguishing the contributions of ionized and injected charges to the charge transport in oil immersed paper in triple-layer and double-layer samples. With the double-layer sample, the apparent mobility including the ions contribution is obtained by the calculation according to the speed of accumulated charge density at the interface. The contribution of ions is excluded by subtracting the accumulated charge density in the triple-layer sample from that in the double-layer sample. It is found that the interface charge mainly comes from the ionization charges under a low field, and the contribution of injected charge takes a more important part at higher electric field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil-paper insulation of higher voltage winding and traction winding in on-board traction transformers frequently withstand large AC fluctuation voltages mainly combined with AC and inter-harmonic components. This paper presents the characteristics of partial discharge (PD) of oil-paper insulation under superimposed inter-harmonic AC voltages. The experimental results show that the addition of the inter-harmonic to the fundamental sinusoidal component results in variation of peak voltage and dv/dt along the phase. This superimposed inter-harmonic AC voltages has a significant impact on PD including partial discharge inception voltage (PDIV), breakdown voltage, PD repetition rate, and phase resolved partial discharge (PRPD). In addition, a dynamic characterization method of PD statistical parameters is proposed to determine the developing trend. The critical values and inflection points of PD are obtained. Besides, the theoretical mechanism is expounded to better interpret and understand the influence of inter-harmonic component on PD properties. These methods will provide the dynamic datasets and more information for insulation condition assessment of on-board traction transformer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a flow control of the dye in the paper mill with the quasi-Z-source indirect matrix converter (QZSIMC) fed induction motor drive. More than a decade the voltage-source inverter (VSI) and current-source inverter (CSI) have been used to control the speed of the induction motor, which in turns controls the flow of dye. Recently, the matrix converter (MC) has been an excellent competitor for the VSI or CSI for its compactness. The voltage transfer ratio of the VSI, CSI, and MC has been limited to 0.866. Thus, the efficiency of these converters is less. To improve the voltage transfer ratio the quasi-Z-source network (QZSN) is to be used between voltage source and indirect MC (IMC). The modification in the shoot-through duty ratio of the QZSN varies the voltage transfer ratio greater than 0.866. Different voltage transfer ratios are needed for different voltage sag conditions. For a variation of the duty ratio of the QZSN, the fuzzy logic controller has been presented. To control the IMC vector control with space vector modulation has been presented. This paper proposes the implementation of QZSIMC adjustable speed drive for the flow control of dye in paper mill during different voltage sag conditions. A 4-kW prototype has been built and the effectiveness of the proposed system is verified with simulation results and experimental setup. Simulation is done in MATLAB, Simulink platform. Experimental setup is done with the aid of a TMS320F2812 (Texas Instrument) processor. The experimental results validate the maintenance of the speed of an induction motor at the set condition, thus controlling the perfect flow of dye in paper manufacturing technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study sets out to devise a universal function model to explain the characteristic curve obtained in the frequency domain spectroscopy (FDS) test on oil-paper insulation, based on its microscopic conduction and relaxation processes, and thus to enhance the accuracy and applicability of the test. First, from the analysis of the relationship between the real and imaginary parts of the dielectric's complex permittivity, it is demonstrated that a relaxation peak co-exists with the conduction process in the low-frequency band of an FDS curve obtained for oil-impregnated paper sample. Second, values for polarization barrier heights, essential to the determination of the microscopic polarization mechanisms, are presented as results of FDS and thermally stimulated depolarization current experiments carried out on oil-impregnated paper samples. The polarization peaks obtained in the imaginary permittivity frequency spectrum are determined as, respectively, space charge polarization and interface polarization. Finally, a function model in good agreement with experiment data is proposed, which quantitatively describes the FDS curve in oil-impregnated sample, including two relaxation processes and one conduction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Imperfect Channel State Information at the Transmitter (CSIT) is inevitable in modern wireless communication networks, and results in severe multi-user interference in multi-antenna Broadcast Channel (BC). While the capacity of multi-antenna (Gaussian) BC with perfect CSIT is known and achieved by Dirty Paper Coding (DPC), the capacity and the capacity-achieving strategy of multi-antenna BC with imperfect CSIT remain unknown. Conventional approaches therefore rely on applying communication strategies designed for perfect CSIT to the imperfect CSIT setting. In this work, we break this conventional routine and make two major contributions. First, we show that linearly precoded Rate-Splitting (RS), relying on the split of messages into common and private parts and linear precoding at the transmitter, and successive interference cancellation at the receivers, can achieve larger rate region than DPC in multi-antenna BC with partial CSIT. Second, we propose a novel scheme, denoted as Dirty Paper Coded Rate-Splitting (DPCRS), that relies on RS to split the user messages into common and private parts, and DPC to encode the private parts. We show that the rate region of DPCRS in Multiple-Input Single-Output (MISO) BC with partial CSIT is enlarged beyond that of conventional DPC and that of linearly precoded RS. Gaining benefits from the capability of RS to partially decode the interference and partially treat interference as noise, DPCRS is less sensitive to CSIT inaccuracies, networks loads and user deployments compared with DPC and other existing transmission strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, frequency dielectric spectroscopy (FDS) and an innovative optical sensor for the detection of 2-furaldehyde (2-FAL) are used to check the degree of ageing of differently processed oil-paper specimens when exposed to thermal stress. The analysis of the trend of moisture content and of 2-FAL concentrations confirms the influence of drying pre-treatment of the specimens on their ageing conditions. FDS elucidated the nature of the drying process of the specimens and the optical sensor correctly assesses a lower 2-FAL production for the vapour phase dried specimens during thermal exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization results of a paper-based, low-cost, easy-to-use, comfortable and wearable tactile sensor array for human health monitoring applications. Paper substrate and spray-deposited metallic electrodes and traces are employed to achieve a low fabrication cost. Capacitive sensing scheme employing a deformable triangular PDMS sensing membrane is chosen due to its high sensitivity and zero DC power dissipation. Trade-offs among different sensor array designs are investigated to achieve an optimal design, which consists of a $1\times 5$ sensor array occupying an area of 10 mm $\times10$ mm. Each sensor in the array achieves a nominal capacitance value and sensitivity of approximately 1 pF and 30 fF/mmHg, respectively. Fabricated sensor array can be comfortably attached to an individual’s temporal region and ankle area to monitor real-time blood pressure (BP) pulse waveform with high fidelity, from which heart rate and heart rate variability information can be accurately obtained. In addition, the prototype sensor array demonstrates its capability of detecting atrial fibrillation (AFib) from BP pulse waveform measured from an AFib patient. [2020-0179] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The life expectancy of a transformer is closely related to the ageing state of its paper insulation. This paper presents novel markers for ageing characterization of paper insulation in oil-filled transformers based on the dispersion staining colors of cellulose fibres. Accelerated thermal ageing experiments were performed for oil-paper specimens at 120 and 130 °C to obtain aged oil-paper samples of different ageing degrees. The average degree of polymerization (DP), crystallinity index, and refractive index of insulation paper were measured; the experimental results show that an increase in refractive index of insulation paper was observed with the increase of ageing degree. Meanwhile, the dispersion staining colors of cellulose fibres in oil were observed using dispersion staining method; the experimental results show that the refractive index of cellulose fibres detached from insulation paper increases with the increment of ageing degree of insulation paper. Finally, two ageing markers—that is, the primary color ratio-based ratio of blue to red and the primary color ratio-based Mahalanobis distance were presented. Their relationship with DP and ageing time of insulation paper were obtained, and were compared with the corresponding relationship with 2-furaldehyde (2-FAL) and carbon oxides. The proposed ageing markers demonstrate an advantage over 2-FAL and carbon oxides and show potential in ageing state evaluation and residual life prediction of paper insulation in transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Early stage diagnosis of sepsis without overburdening health services is essential to improving patient outcomes. Methods: A fast and simple-to-use platform that combines an integrated circuit with paper microfluidics for simultaneous detection of multiple-metabolites appropriate for diagnostics was presented. Paper based sensors are a primary candidate for widespread deployment of diagnostic or test devices. However, the majority of devices today use a simple paper strip to detect a single marker using the reflectance of light. However, for many diseases such as sepsis, one biomarker is not sufficient to make a unique diagnosis. In this work multiple measurements are made on patterned paper simultaneously. Using laser ablation to fabricate microfluidic channels on paper provides a flexible and direct approach for mass manufacture of disposable paper strips. A reusable photodiode array on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor chip is used as the transducer. Results: The system measures changes in optical absorbance in the paper to achieve a cost-effective and easily implemented system that is capable of multiple simultaneous assays. Potential sepsis metabolite biomarkers glucose and lactate have been studied and quantified with the platform, achieving sensitivity within the physiological range in human serum. Conclusion: We have detailed a disposable paper-based CMOS photodiode sensor platform for real-time simultaneous detection of metabolites for diseases such as sepsis. Significance: A combination of a low-cost paper strip with microfluidic channels and a sensitive CMOS photodiode sensor array makes our platform a robust portable and inexpensive biosensing device for multiple diagnostic tests in many different applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an improved method for detecting methanol and the concentration of methanol in transformer oil-paper. Acetonitrile is used as an extractant, and methanol is detected by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Experiments show a linear correlation coefficient of this method that reaches 0.99 and the minimum detected concentration of methanol in transformer oil can be as low as 5.57 μg/L. In order to investigate the relationship between the methanol concentration and the degree of aging of insulating paper, an oil-paper insulation simulation system is designed. The experiment shows that there is a linear relationship between the logarithm of methanol concentration and the degree of polymerization, the linear correlation coefficient is greater than 0.94. An actual oil sample from a transformer is used to show that the method can be used to further study the methanol concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the dissolved gases evolution in transformer oil under combined DC/AC electrical-thermal stress. Dissolved gases detected in transformer aged insulation oil reveal that oil under AC electric field combined with thermal stress can produce more dissolved gases than oil under DC electric field with thermal stress but less than the gases produced in oil under distorted AC or combined AC/DC voltage stress. This is attributed to the divergent migration properties of the charged components under different types of electric fields. To further understand this behavior, carrier recombination coefficient is proposed to explain the oil DGA results under various aging stresses. Results show that diagnostic parameters such as breakdown voltage, oil interfacial tension, and moisture content in pressboard should be used along with DGA results in order to accurately diagnose the insulation condition within converter transformers that impose a combined AC/DC voltage stress on the insulation system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a numerical model of bubble evolution is established by studying the microstructure of pressboard and the physical process of bubble generation. In the model, the porous structure of fibers is equivalent to microtubules, the gases in the bubbles are classified into two categories, and the ideal gas state equation is used to describe the bubble state. Then the pressure conditions at the bubble boundary and the evaporation rate of water are taken as solution conditions to solve the physical quantities in the state equation. The numerical model provides a new way to calculate the initial temperature of bubble escape (ITBE). And the bubble evolution inside the pressboard is obtained which is hard to be observed in experiment. After that, the influences of moisture content of pressboard and cellulose aging on ITBE in the numerical model are discussed. The model results show that the expansion rate of bubble is not uniform. Bubble growth is slow in the early stage of temperature rise, when the temperature reaches a certain threshold the growth rate of bubble radius increases significantly, which is of great significance to the temperature limit on oil-immersed power transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of technology firms in computerizing psychological tests from the 1960s to 1980s. It focuses on National Computer Systems (NCS)'s development of computer software to interpret the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. NCS trumpeted their computerized interpretation as a way to free up clerical labor and mitigate human bias, even as psychologists cautioned that proprietary algorithms risked obscuring decision rules. Clinics, courtrooms, and businesses all had competing interests in the use of computerized personality tests. I argue that test developers promoted computerized psychological tests as technical fixes for bias, even as courts and psychologists pointed to the complex layers of technological and social mediation embedded in software programs for psychological tests. This article contributes to histories of computing emphasizing the importance of intellectual property law in software development; to the relationship between labor, technology, and expertise; and to scholarship on the history and politics of algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil impregnated paper in power transformers deteriorates in long-term operation, which leads to the variations of its dielectric characteristics. This paper focuses on investigating the generation mechanism of the dielectric processes in oil impregnated paper and their variations with thermal aging. Firstly, a set of thermally stimulated current tests with bias-voltages were conducted in distinguishing the dielectric processes and revealing their generation mechanism. Secondly, the standard thermally stimulated current spectrum and the M″ spectrum of 0–1000 h aged samples were joint analyzed in investigating the variations of dielectric processes in thermal aging process. Finally, additional experiments of moisture, acidity and microscopic observation were conducted in explaining these variations. It is concluded that three dielectric processes can be found in oil impregnated paper, i.e. the dipole polarization, the interfacial polarization and the electric conduction. These processes are all strengthened with thermal aging. The generation of molecules with strong polarity, the structural changes in insulating paper, and the generation of hydrogen ions are responsible for the strengthening of these processes sequentially. This investigation on distinguishing dielectric processes and obtaining their mechanism can promote further understanding on oil impregnated paper and provide information for insulation design in power transformers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Several miniaturized viscometers, or microviscometers, have been developed exploiting numerous rapid prototyping techniques. Among them, paper microstrips, famously known as microfluidic paper-based analytical devices ($\mu $ PADs), have become popular due to their cost-efficacy, simple fabrication, fast response, and easily disposable. Many fabrication methods are existing to develop paper microstrips. Herein, an alternative fabrication method is proposed where fused deposition modeling (FDM)-based 3-D printer (3DP) has been employed using polycaprolactone (PCL) filament. F, image processing has been utilized to measure viscosity in such microfluidic domain. Viscosity was calculated by measuring the time taken by the fluid to cover a fixed length between two spots in the microchannel based on the programed and color-coded regions-of-interest. The image processing program was developed considering the change in the gray scale in the virtual region of interests (ROIs) in the microchannel during the fluid flow in the paper microstrips. A 3-D printed handheld platform, containing raspberry pi with on-board camera and display, was developed to execute the image processing and automate the entire work flow. In the proposed device, the accuracy was measured to be >92%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As sugar is an important intermediate in the early stage in the degradation of cellulose, this paper proposes to use the concentration of total sugar as an indicator of the degree of aging of insulating paper in an oil-paper insulation system. The oil-paper insulation system was simulated at 90, 100 and 110°C, and total sugar concentration in insulating paper and in transformer oil was measured by spectroscopy. The spectrum of sugar reaction was obtained by spectrometer, and TQ Analyst software was used to process the data. Our experiments have shown that the total sugar concentration increases significantly in the early stage of aging, and there is a linear relationship between the logarithm of total sugar concentration and the degree of polymerization. We obtained the relationship between absorbance and total sugar concentration using the partial least square method and the regression goodness of fit is better than 0.91. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of vibration-based condition monitoring methods to power transformers has shown the potential for detecting mechanical transformer failures. The ageing of winding insulation paper, which is a common problem in long-serving power transformers, affects both the electrical and mechanical strength of the windings. This paper is concerned with the vibration features of winding disks with aged insulation paper. The vibration characteristics of single-layer winding disks wrapped with insulation paper are investigated. By examining the vibration frequency responses of winding disks with different degrees of ageing of insulation paper, the effects of aged paper on the vibration behaviors of winding disks are demonstrated. The experimental results show that changes in the vibration responses of winding disks can be related to the ageing of insulation paper, and thus it is possible to detect this failure mode in a power transformer using a vibration-based method. A qualitative explanation for these changes is presented, using the degradation of the mechanical strength of the insulation paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The papers in this special issue were submitted to all the conferences organized by IEEE Technology and Engineering Management Society (TEMS) in a given calendar year. In 2017, IEEE TEMS initiated its flagship conference TEMSCON (held in Silicon Valley), which serves as rebranding from its original International Technology Management Conferences (ITMC). Following that, in 2018, two more conferences were initiated globally, one in Asia known as IEEE TEMS International Symposium on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (ISIE), and one in Europe as IEEE TEMS International Conference on Technology and Entrepreneurship (ICTE). For this special issue, we invited authors attending any of the three aforementioned conferences in 2018 to submit full manuscripts for reviews, and the present special issue with eleven papers is the result of a careful selection following our usual rigid double-blinded peer-review process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under long-term synergy effect of multi-factors, especially the thermal stress, insulating paper will be degraded and its insulation performance will decline due to carbonization and degradation of cellulose. This paper presents an optical approach for aging feature extraction of the insulating paper, where one of the image processing methods called texture analysis is utilized. By conducting laboratory accelerated thermal aging tests, insulating paper samples with different aging conditions for both Nomex and Kraft, evaluated with the aging time, are prepared. After taking optical microscopic images of insulating paper samples belong to different aging groups, up to 14 texture features are extracted using the gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM). With different feature selection methods applied, several of them are finally selected to represent the aging condition of insulating. Numerical tests with both supervised and unsupervised algorithms, as well as a linear regression method verifies the validity of these features in characterizing the aging condition of the insulating paper. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It is well established that copper sulfide is formed due to reaction of sulfur with copper conductors in transformers and reactors. However, there is very little experimental evidence to demonstrate copper sulfide diffusion into bulk of paper. Diffusion experiments have been carried out on three samples of kraft paper having different thickness. Positron Annihilation Lifetime Spectroscopy has been used to investigate the possibilities of copper sulfide diffusion into bulk of paper. This study has demonstrated that copper sulfide can diffuse into the bulk of paper leading to either increase or decrease in free volume of paper. The reasons for changes in free volume of paper due to copper sulfide deposits are explained. The consequences of copper sulfide diffusion on PD, voltage-current characteristics under ac and volume resistivity are discussed. Electric field simulation has been used to explain the effects of Cu ions and copper sulfide formation on electric stress distribution across paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being an offline measurement technique, Polarization Depolarization Current (PDC) data is conventionally measured after the oil-paper insulation of the equipment reaches thermal equilibrium. Depending on the condition of the insulation, PDC data measurement time typically ranges from several minutes to few hours. It is understood that atmospheric conditions controls the value of ambient temperature. During field measurement, these conditions may not remain constant throughout the PDC recording process. Variation in ambient temperature disturbs the thermal equilibrium that the equipment may have attained at the start of the measurement procedure. Such a condition invariably affects the recorded dielectric response data. However, methods that are available for analyzing relaxation current assume that temperature equilibrium is maintained throughout the measurement period. Results presented in this paper show that dielectric response data is indeed affected if the ambient temperature increases/decreases monotonically. A method is also proposed in this paper using which the effect of such temperature variation on the recorded relaxation current data can be eliminated. This also ensures correct interpretation of PDC data for condition assessment. Analysis presented shows that the value of the equilibrium temperature does not affect the performance of the proposed technique. The applicability of the proposed methodology is first tested on laboratory samples. Thereafter, it is applied to data collected from a real life power transformer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recipients of the 2021 NSREC Outstanding Conference Paper Award are Daisuke Kobayashi, Kazuyuki Hirose, Keita Sakamoto, Yuta Tsuchiya, Shogo Okamoto, Shunsuke Baba, Hiroyuki Shindou, Osamu Kawasaki, Takahiro Makino, and Takeshi Ohshima for their paper titled “An SRAM SEU Cross Section Curve Physics Model.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil-paper insulation ageing of transformer has characteristics of spatial locality due to uneven temperature distribution. The transformer is sealed, it is difficult to obtain the local ageing state of oil-paper insulation by sampling directly. Currently, there are no effective detection method to detect the insulation state of local regions. The oil-immersed paper resistivity inversion method can nondestructively assess the local state of oil-paper insulation. However, the current inversion methods still have shortcomings and need to be improved. In this paper, combining the back propagation neural network (BPNN) and Newton downhill method (NDM), an improved inversion method is proposed to optimize the current inversion method, so as to reduce the effect of initial value on it and make calculated results converge better. Finally, a 3D 10 kV transformer model is established to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The resistivity calculated by the improved method show that the method can provide initial resistivity values for technicians and improve the convergence and accuracy of current inversion method, which is more suitable for extending to the engineering practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although some have noted that combining technical and marketing content is precarious, technical communication professionals are increasingly involved in content marketing, which includes the creation of white papers. Literature review: The little existing literature on white papers provides conflicting guidance about managing the combination of technical and marketing content. Both soft-sell and hard-sell marketing approaches have been recommended. One source of such inconsistent guidance may be the lack of agreement about definitions. Research on print advertisements has described hard and soft selling as multidimensional rather than binary aspects of persuasive appeals. Research question: Which dimensions of hard- and soft-sell appeals are predominant in white papers? Research methodology: To complete our descriptive study, we collected a corpus of documents labeled as white papers in TechRepublic, and then selected and trained three raters to complete a series of judgments about dimensions of persuasive appeals in the corpus. We aggregated those ratings, calculating the mean and standard deviation for the dimensions to describe their distribution across the corpus. Results/discussion: Overall, hard-sell dimensions were more prevalent than soft-sell dimensions. However, the soft-sell category of “implicitness” was also dominant. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate the value of treating hard and soft selling as multidimensional, complementary, and combinatory marketing appeals that allow, for example, a single white paper to be both “subjective” (soft sell), and “precise” (hard sell), or both “creative” (soft sell) and “informative” (hard sell). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paper-based digital microfluidic biochips (P-DMFBs) have recently emerged as a promising low-cost and fast-responsive platform for biochemical assays. In P-DMFBs, electrodes and control lines are printed on a piece of photograph paper using an inkjet printer and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) conductive ink. Compared with traditional digital microfluidic biochips (DMFBs), P-DMFBs enjoy significant advantages, such as faster in-place fabrication with printer and ink, lower costs, and better disposability. Since electrodes and CNT control lines are printed on the same side of this paper, a critical design challenge for P-DMFB is to prevent control interference between moving droplets and the voltages on CNT control lines. Control interference may result in unexpected droplet movements and thus incorrect assay outputs. To address this design challenge, a control-fluidic codesign methodology is proposed in this paper, along with two demonstrative design flows integrating both fluidic design and control design, i.e., the droplet-oriented codesign flow and the electrode-oriented codesign flow. The droplet-oriented flow is suitable for designing biochips with sparse electrodes and relatively larger number of droplets, whereas the electrode-oriented flow is suitable for biochips with dense electrodes and smaller number of droplets. The computational simulation results of real-life bioassays demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed codesign flows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the global trend to establish smart distributed-generation grids, the level of AC-voltage harmonics is significantly increasing due to power electronic converters interfacing renewable energy sources with the grid. Such harmonics will not only degrade the power quality and increase the losses in the electricity grids but will also have a severe impact on oil impregnated paper (OIP) in power transformer bushings. While much attention has been given to investigate the deterioration of OIP under thermal and electrical stresses, the impact of voltage harmonics on the OIP structure is still uncertain and calls for more investigations. Therefore, this paper is aimed at investigating the variations of the multilevel structure of an OIP aged under high levels of AC-voltage harmonics. In this context, degree of polymerization of the aged OIP is measured to reveal the changes of OIP secondary structure. Also, X-ray diffraction, deuteration treatment and Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy are conducted to analyze the changes of the OIP aggregate structure during the aging process. Further experiments are performed to investigate the variation of the microscopic appearance, thermal behavior and dielectric properties, including scanning electronic microscopy, thermal gravity analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and frequency domain spectroscopy. This investigation on the variation of the multilevel structure of aged OIP not only promotes further understanding to the aging behavior and mechanism of OIP under AC-voltage harmonics, but also proposes crystallinity and accessibility as two new effective aging indicators for the OIP structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The breakdown and streamer behavior in double-layer oil-paper insulation under impulses of varying front time were investigated in this study to determine the prebreakdown process in oil-paper insulation. The relationships between front times and breakdown characteristics were investigated and impulse-polarity-dependent variations were observed. The complete impulse breakdown process and precise role of front time were assessed as per streamer initiation and streamer propagation based on emitted light signals and shadow images. The re-initiation of streamers in non-first oil gaps was determined to be the key factor in breakdown as-dominated by applied voltage and space charge accumulation. The initiation and propagation times of streamers were observed to find that the streamers tend to propagate at phases with higher voltage amplitude as front time increases, which facilitates streamer re-initiation and thus decreases the breakdown voltage. Equivalent applied voltages during streamer propagation were further calculated to quantitatively investigate the effect of front time on streamer propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the main material of the converter transformer dry-type bushing, the dielectric properties of epoxy/crepe paper at different temperatures and frequencies are related to the electric field and thermal field distribution of the bushing, which directly affects the safe and stable operation of the bushing. Here we report the dielectric response of samples of dry-type bushing insulation measured at a range of temperatures appropriate to operation and down to frequencies below those usually used. A significant loss peak observed below power frequency is interpreted as originating from the charging of internal epoxy resin interfaces by the transport of charge carriers on structured paths in the epoxy-impregnated crepe paper layers. A simulation model is proposed that allows estimation of the space charge and field distribution at any given frequency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Furfural content in oil is widely accepted as an effective parameter to mirror aging of insulation paper. However, pressboards are also abundant in transformers, which are always neglected in furfural analysis. Different masses of insulation paper and pressboard produce different amounts of furfural during the aging process. Thus, the furfural content in oil may differ in systems with different oil-paper-pressboard mass ratios. To address this problem, accelerated thermal aging experiments and furfural equilibrium experiments with different oil-paper-pressboard mass ratio systems were conducted under laboratory conditions. Furfural contents in oil, paper, and pressboard were measured. In a simplified oil-paper system, the furfural content in oil differs in systems with different oil-paper mass ratios. Further analysis shows the furfural amount produced by 1 g insulation paper is the same with good repeatability in groups with different mass ratios. Different oil-paper mass ratios change the distribution coefficient of furfural between oil and paper, and an increase in the mass of insulation paper leads to more furfural remaining in the insulation paper. The pressboards in field transformers produce little furfural during the aging process, but absorb part of the furfural from oil, which decreases the furfural content in oil. Therefore, more pressboard in an oil-paper-pressboard system indicates lower furfural content in oil. An increase in insulation paper in the oil-paper-pressboard system causes a decrease in the effect of pressboard on furfural content in oil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the space charge in oil-impregnated thick pressboard and Kraft paper were measured by the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) method from -20 to +60 °C. A bipolar charge transport model was used to simulate the transport processes of homocharge and heterocharge, and the acoustic attenuation process in the samples. The test results show that space charge accumulates in the thick pressboard and Kraft paper increases first and then decreases with temperature, and its maximum appears at 40°C, while little space charge accumulates at -20°C. The space charge near the lower electrode shrinks in the oil-impregnated thick pressboard at high temperature and the shrinkage is larger at 60°C. In the oil-impregnated Kraft paper, the accumulation and charge density of positive charge is different from negative charge. The ion transport process model simulates the charge shrinkage near the electrode, and disappears at the upper electrode after the acoustic attenuation simulation. The model established in this paper can well simulate the space charge distribution of oil-impregnated thick pressboard and Kraft paper under different temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil-immersed paper is a weak link in internal insulation of oil immersed power transformer, whose aging state distributes inhomogeneously. However, most of the current assessment methods fail to consider the spatial distribution of aging areas inside transformer. Aiming at this problem, this paper proposes the inversion detection method to obtain the resistivity of oil-immersed paper in various regions nondestructively, and uses the resistivity of oil-immersed paper to assess directly the insulation state of oil immersed power transformers. Finite element method is applied to establish the mapping relationship between the resistivity of oil-immersed paper in different regions, and the dielectric loss factor obtained from the port of transformer. Back propagation neural network is used to learn inversely this mapping relationship so as to calculate the resistivity. Applying the proposed method on a 10-kV transformer, the calculated results are close to the measured values. The study shows that the inversion method can effectively calculate the oil-immersed resistivity in various regions, which represent the aging state in different regions of the transformer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of furfural generation and partitioning on the aging assessment of oil-paper insulation of power equipment were investigated. Oil-paper samples with various furfural contents were prepared using an accelerated thermal aging experiment. The mass of the furfural generated during the aging of insulation paper was calculated and used to establish the quantitative equation between the accumulated furfural and the degree of polymerization (DP) of the insulation paper. Results showed that the reciprocal of the DP value was linearly related to the amount of furfural generated by the insulation paper. Effects of temperature, moisture, and temperature on the furfural partitioning ratio between oil and paper were analyzed using a furfural partitioning experiment, and a furfural partitioning model was established. Results showed that the furfural partitioning ratio in oil was positively correlated with temperature and moisture but negatively correlated with the DP of the insulation paper. A method for assessing the age of an insulation paper by integrating the furfural generation and partitioning models was proposed and applied on a 500-kV reactor that was returned for factory maintenance. The application result indicated that the method could accurately assess the overall aging condition of the oil-paper insulation of the power equipment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents the list of reviewers who contributed to this publication in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on theme of ISTAS 2024 inviting participation from practitioners in academia, industry, and government.

In this paper, the temporal space charge dynamics under both temperature and voltage polarity reversal of an epoxy resin impregnated crepe paper are characterized by pulsed electroacoustic method. It is found that the space charge injection and the interfacial traps located between the epoxy and paper plays an important role in determining the space charge dynamics. The results reveal that below 353 K, the calculated interfacial charge density is consistent with the Maxwell-Wagner (MW) model, while above 353 K, it is smaller than the measured value. The time constant during charging is much smaller than that predicted by the MW model and the space charge injection showed polarity effect, which leads to the interfacial charge densities under polarity poling voltage not being equal. It is proposed that the interfacial traps and space charge injection should be responsible for the observed space charge dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, aiming to characterize the dynamic polarization behavior of water molecules affected by hydrogen bonding with oil-paper insulation, we performed dielectric spectroscopy on oil-paper insulation with moisture contents of 0.4–4.7% in the terahertz band (0.3–3.3 THz). A relaxation-resonance integrated polarization model considering water-participant hydrogen bond (WHB) effects is established to describe the complex dielectric constant of oil-paper insulation with moisture. The theoretical model is in good agreement with the experimental results. By analyzing the relationship between the polarization parameters and moisture content, three states of WHBs are found. The WHB type, strength and disorder show different characteristics with increased moisture. Furthermore, molecular simulation studies are carried out, and the calculation results provided a persuasive argument for the analysis of terahertz dielectric spectroscopy. This research reveals an important new strategy for studying the polarization behavior of water molecules affected by oil-paper insulation as an experimental supplement to molecular simulation. The proposed test and analysis method render effective and sustainable progress in practical applications of rapid nondestructive evaluation and 2D imaging of moisture content distributed in oil-paper insulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]