Commercial Power Supply Research Articles

The Open SprayBot: A high-throughput paper spray mass spectrometry platform for disease screening

Newborn disease screening increases survival, improves quality of life and reduces treatment costs for healthcare systems. Mass spectrometry (MS) is an effective method for metabolic screening. However, conventional analytical methods require biofluid handling and cooling conditions during transport, making the logistics difficult and expensive, especially for remote regions. ’Paper-spray’ (PS) ionization generates a charged solvent spray from samples deposited on paper strips. Therefore, samples can be applied on a suitable matrix and shipped as dried spots to diagnostic laboratories with standard postal or messenger services. We built a robotic platform, the ’Open SprayBot’, to automatically analyze paper-deposited samples via PS-MS and increase the sample throughput. The system is operated via RUMBA32 and Arduino Mega boards. A commercial syringe pump and power supply provide solvent application and electrical current required for PS-MS. The usability of the Open SprayBot was demonstrated by quantifying palmitoyl-l-carnitine, a common biomarker in newborn screening.

Extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields facilitate both osteoblast and osteoclast activity through Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the zebrafish scale.

Electromagnetic fields (EMFs) have received widespread attention as effective, noninvasive, and safe therapies across a range of clinical applications for bone disorders. However, due to the various frequencies of devices, their effects on tissues/cells are vary, which has been a bottleneck in understanding the effects of EMFs on bone tissue. Here, we developed an in vivo model system using zebrafish scales to investigate the effects of extremely low-frequency EMFs (ELF-EMFs) on fracture healing. Exposure to 10millitesla (mT) of ELF-EMFs at 60Hz increased the number of both osteoblasts and osteoclasts in the fractured scale, whereas 3 or 30mT did not. Gene expression analysis revealed that exposure to 10mT ELF-EMFs upregulated wnt10b and Wnt target genes in the fractured scale. Moreover, β-catenin expression was enhanced by ELF-EMFs predominantly at the fracture site of the zebrafish scale. Inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling by IWR-1-endo treatment reduced both osteoblasts and osteoclasts in the fractured scale exposed to ELF-EMFs. These results suggest that ELF-EMFs promote both osteoblast and osteoclast activity through activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in fracture healing. Our data provide in vivo evidence that ELF-EMFs generated with a widely used commercial AC power supply have a facilitative effect on fracture healing.

Triboelectric nanogenerator powered dielectric elastomer: Mechanism and applications

Dielectric elastomer is a new kind of intelligent soft material, which deforms under strong external electric field. Dielectric elastomer has the characteristics of fast response, large deformation, high electromechanical conversion efficiency, low cost and light weight. It is widely used in optical systems, biomedical equipment, soft robots, energy harvesting and other fields. However, the driving voltage of dielectric elastomer actuator (DEA) exceeds 1000 V. The volume/weight and security risks of commercial high-voltage power supply limit the portability and wearability of the DEAs. Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is an energy generation technique based on contact electrification, which can instantly generate a high voltage output reaching few thousands volts. Accordingly, TENG is a quite suitable solution for the power supply of DEA. In this paper, we reviewed the development of TENG powered dielectric elastomer actuator (TENG-DEA) in recent years. The mechanism, material structure and performance of diversified applications are summarized, while the challenges and prospects of this combined system are put forward. The summary and discussion in this review provide a good guidance for the sustainable development of TENG-DEA.

Pulsed electrophoretic deposition of hybrid coatings from aqueous suspensions as surface functionalization and sealing technique of anodized AA2024. Part I: Morphological characterization, analysis of the interfacial interactions, and evaluation of pore impregnation of the anodic layer

In this two-part series, pulsed direct current for cathodic electrophoretic deposition (pulsed-CEPD) was studied as sealing technique of anodized AA2024 by depositing hybrid sol-gel films from aqueous suspensions. The coating was obtained using tetraethyl orthosilicate and hexadecyltrimethoxysilane as precursors and two pulse widths were used: 10 microseconds and 100 milliseconds. For comparison, continuous direct current for cathodic electrophoretic deposition was also performed. In this first article, it was developed a low-cost automated apparatus capable of creating pulsed fields using a commercial power supply. This was necessary since the automation system provided by the power supply manufacturer did not have a short enough response time able to create pulse widths in the order of microseconds. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and focused ion beam milling techniques were utilized to evaluate the surface morphology and interaction mechanisms in the interface anodic layer/film. Low voltage scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM)-in-FESEM, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to evaluate the pore impregnation provided by pulsed-CEPD. Results demonstrated that the developed apparatus successfully created pulsed fields. FESEM micrographs of the anodic layer sealed by pulsed-CEPD showed that the shortest pulse provided the best films, likely due to the greater control of hydrogen bubbles generation and the promotion of a more regular deposition. Also, they revealed two interfacial interactions between the anodic layer and the film. STEM-in-FESEM images showed that the shortest pulse width provided greater pore impregnation by particles. This observation was confirmed by TEM, which demonstrated an incomplete pore impregnation for the longest pulse. Discussion regarding result interpretations is presented based on the generation and dissipation of H2(g) (considering the current interruption); on an alternative to the colloidal stability theory due to the presence of a pulsed field; and on the electrokinetic effects at the electrodes during pulsed-CEPD, that discusses how electroosmotic flow influences the deposition.

Active signal-generating spacer-fabric-type continuous touch/pressure sensor

Attention toward automated driving has recently increased. This has also increased the need to monitor drivers’ actions, such as finger touch/pressure sensing on the steering wheel. This study demonstrates an active signal-generating spacer-fabric-type continuous touch/pressure sensor comprising five yarn layers: surface-insulating cotton, upper conductive, monofilament spacer, lower conductive and bottom-insulating cotton yarn. The sensor actively generates signals, and the magnitude of the voltage output through a diode bridge and capacitor circuit determines if the fingers are ‘not touching’, ‘touching’, ‘pushing’ or ‘pushing hard’. This demonstrates that the proposed sensor can be operated as an active signal-generating touch/pressure sensor and can also detect ‘pushing hard’ actions. Furthermore, the active signal-generating operation originates from the electromagnetic waves emitted by electrical appliances and cables powered by a commercial power supply frequency in the environment. The proposed sensor will contribute to developing high-cushioning touch/pressure sensors with low power consumption and excellent air permeability that can be used in electric and autonomous vehicles.

Power Transmission Characteristics in Commercial Frequency of Wireless Power Transfer System for Railway Vehicles Using High Temperature Superconducting Coil

This study investigated experimentally and analytically the power transmission characteristics of High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) coils at commercial power supply frequency (50 Hz) to realize highly efficient power transmission in wireless power transfer systems for railway vehicles. We proposed a solenoidal coil with a thin magnetic core as an HTS coil structure suitable for lower frequencies and investigated its effectiveness by finite element analysis. The analysis results showed that the proposed coil can significantly suppress the current increase due to the low frequency of the wireless power transfer system. We also investigated the core shape to reduce the losses of the proposed coil and found that the loss in the coil can be reduced by increasing the length and thickness of the magnetic core. Furthermore, we compared the power transmission characteristics between the proposed coil and the conventional spiral coil and showed that the proposed coil could improve the overall efficiency by about 10 %. The power transmission characteristics at 50 Hz were also measured using the scaled-down model coil. As a result, we demonstrated that highly efficient power transmission could be achieved at 50 Hz by using the proposed solenoidal coil with a magnetic core.

Energy Harvesting: Synthetic Use of Recovered Energy in Electrochemical Late‐Stage Functionalization

AbstractAn induction‐based energy harvesting (EH) device was presented. It converted part of the rotational energy of magnetic stirrers back into electrical energy, making it accessible for electrochemical transformations. After rectification, the induced AC voltage was optionally provided as a constant voltage or constant current whereby the available voltage could directly be adjusted by the stirring rate of the reaction. The comparability of the results with reactions carried out with commercial power supplies has been demonstrated on six different late‐stage functionalization, including methylation, carboxylation, trifluoromethylation, imidation, hydrolysis, and keto‐olefin coupling. Therefore, the described EH device is a low‐cost, resource‐efficient alternative to a commercial electrochemical set‐up and enables laboratories without specialized equipment to perform electrochemical reactions.

Wideband Noncontact Voltage Measurement for EMC Applications: Design and Implementation

A methodology of amplitude and phase compensation for non-contact voltage measurements, which can be applied to wideband signal and noise observation in the EMC application, is presented. The non-contact techniques are based on a small amount of coupling capacitance between probe electrode and cable conductor where the observed signal is induced. In this case, a main technical issue to be overcome is the amplitude and phase error introduced by stray capacitance of the internal circuit, which needs to be resolved for application of the wideband EMC measurements. Herein, a design and implementation of phase compensation with inverting OpA configuration are discussed. Moreover, by introducing a system calibration with numerical process, validity for recovering the frequency response at 100 Hz ~ 100 MHz is indicated. In the calibration process, frequency compensation for dielectric dispersion of the PVC cable is also discussed. As for the time-domain measurement, the evaluation result of the fast transient impulsive noise of tr/tf: 10 ns emitted from a commercial power supply module is also discussed.

Degradation of diclofenac and 4-chlorobenzoic acid in aqueous solution by cold atmospheric plasma source

In this study, cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) was explored as a novel advanced oxidation process (AOP) for water decontamination. Samples with high concentration aqueous solutions of Diclofenac sodium (DCF) and 4-Chlorobenzoic acid (pCBA) were treated by plasma systems. Atmospheric pressure plasma jets (APPJs) with a 1 pin-electrode and multi-needle electrodes (3 pins) configurations were used. The plasma generated using argon as working gas was touching a stationary liquid surface in the case of pin electrode-APPJ while for multi-needle electrodes-APPJ the liquid sample was flowing during treatment. In both configurations, a commercial RF power supply was used for plasma ignition. Measurement of electrical signals enabled precise determination of power delivered from the plasma to the sample. The optical emission spectroscopy (OES) of plasma confirmed the appearance of excited reactive species in the plasma, such as hydroxyl radicals and atomic oxygen which are considered to be key reactive species in AOPs for the degradation of organic pollutants. Treatments were conducted with two different volumes (5 mL and 250 mL) of contaminated water samples. The data acquired allowed calculation of degradation efficiency and energy yield for both plasma sources. When treated with pin-APPJ, almost complete degradation of 5 mL DCF occurred in 1 min with the initial concentration of 25 mg/L and 50 mg/L, whereas 5 mL pCBA almost degraded in 10 min at the initial concentration of 25 mg/L and 40 mg/L. The treatment results with multi-needle electrodes system confirmed that DCF almost completely degraded in 30 min and pCBA degraded about 24 % in 50 min. The maximum calculated energy yield for 50 % removal was 6465 mg/kWh after treatment of 250 mL of DCF aqueous solution utilizing the plasma recirculation technique. The measurements also provided an insight to the kinetics of DCF and pCBA degradation. Degradation products and pathways for DCF were determined using LC-MS measurements.

Home-made pulse magnet power supply for magnetizing permanent magnets and magnetic measurements

In this article, we propose a home-made pulse magnetic field generation system constructed using a thyristor and large capacitance capacitors to generate high magnetic fields to investigate magnetic properties and magnetize the magnet and high-performance magnetic materials at room temperature. The proposed system produced a magnetic induction (magnetic field) μ 0 H of 15.6 T with the 33.6 mF capacitor and an excitation voltage of 600 V. Further, we designed a new power supply system and a pulse magnet using the commercially available pulse magnet and power supply. We found that the duration time of the magnetic fields (t d) and the generated magnetic fields were three and four times larger than those for a conventional system, respectively. We also performed magnetization of a NEOMAX permanent magnet; the coercivity (Β CJ) was 2.0 T, and the magnetization saturated at ∼4.0 T. These results suggest that we can magnetise a permanent magnet such as NEOMAX with strong magnetic fields using this system. Further, the magnetic measurements of these magnets can be performed as well. The merit of our system is that the capacitance of the capacitor bank is larger than that of other studies or general commercial power supplies. Therefore, relatively high magnetic fields with long duration time can be generated. We also performed experiments on the magnetization process (M-H) of Gd to investigate the magnetocaloric effect in high magnetic fields. The magnetic entropy change was comparable to the result of former investigation. We believe that our research can contribute to the development of permanent magnets and magnetic materials for scientific and industrial use because our system allows the generation of strong magnetic fields at room temperature.

Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Is Effective against P. gingivalis (HW24D-1) Mature Biofilms and Non-Genotoxic to Oral Cells

The effects of helium cold atmospheric pressure plasma (He-CAPP) jet on Porphyromonas gingivalis (HW24D-1) biofilm, on human gingival fibroblasts (HGF) and human gingival keratinocytes (OBA-9) were assessed. Standardized suspension of P. gingivalis was obtained, and biofilms were grown anaerobically for 48 h. After exposition to He-CAPP, the biofilm viability was evaluated by XTT assay. HGF were grown at 37 °C, in an CO2 chamber in DMEM, while OBA-9 cells were cultured in keratinocyte serum-free medium. After 24 h, plates were exposed to He-CAPP for 1 to 7 min. Plasma was generated using a commercial AC power supply with amplitude modulated signal (voltage amplitude of 20 kVp-p, frequency of 31.0 kHz and duty cycle of 22%). The corresponding discharge power was 0.6W at He flow rate of 1 L/min. DNA damage was accessed by static cytometry. Data were analyzed by GraphPad Prism (p < 0.05). Significant reductions in P. gingivalis viability in relation to non-treated groups were detected (p < 0.0001), directly proportional to exposure time. Treated groups were slightly aneuploid after 5- and 7-min treatment in HGF, and for 3 min in OBA-9 cells, with 1.2 DNA index mean. Helium cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet showed inhibitory effect on P. gingivalis mature biofilm and was not genotoxic for epithelial gingival cells and human oral fibroblasts.

High-Attenuation Wideband Active Common-Mode EMI Filter Section

A high-attenuation wideband active common-mode filter (ACF) section is presented. Each section is composed of an active capacitor and a small common-mode (CM) inductor. The active capacitor is realized by using several coupling capacitors and a class-A bipolar-junction-transistor based amplifier for its low-cost, fast response, and good immunity to high voltage transients. The structure of the amplifier consists of a common-collector amplifier and a high-gain common-emitter amplifier with an active load. The working bandwidth of the ACF ranges from 150 kHz to 30 MHz. By cascading several ACF sections, a multistage structure that exhibits high filtering attenuation can be designed. The number of cascaded sections is optimized by considering the required filtering attenuation. The performance of single-stage and multistage ACFs is evaluated on two commercial power supplies with rated power of 90 and 1000 W, respectively. The CM noise of the power supplies with the proposed ACF and with the original passive filters is compared. The results show that the physical volume of the ACF is significantly smaller than that of the passive filter, and the power dissipation of the ACF is similar to that of the passive filter.

Reconstruction and fire risk assessment of arc‐tracking at a plug‐outlet connection point

SummaryPolyvinyl chloride (PVC), a typical plug insulating material, is an organic material with high tracking resistance. However, the tracking resistance of PVC gets considerably reduced by thermal degradation. In this study, a phenol resin with low tracking resistance was implanted between plug blades as an insulating material that simulated the thermally degraded insulating material of the plug, and a method that could efficiently and reliably reconstruct the arc‐tracking was proposed. Also, arc‐tracking experiments using the proposed method were conducted to evaluate fire risk at the plug‐outlet connection caused by arc‐tracking. To reconstruct the end state of insulation failure in which the tracking resistance of the plug insulation material deteriorated due to thermal degradation, the insulation material between the blades of a 12 A, 125 V rated PVC plug was cut out. Then, a phenol resin piece (6 or 3 mm width) was implanted in the entire, upper or lower halves between the plug blades. The end state of insulation failure was accelerated by applying carbon grease to the phenol resin surface. The implanted plug was inserted into a 15 A, 125 V rated outlet connected to a 100 V AC commercial power supply, and the arc‐tracking at the plug‐outlet connection was observed. When the width of the phenol resin to be implanted was 3 mm, we found that the outlet plate and plug could ignite due to the longer electrical discharge duration. The plug was often extinguished immediately after the end of the electrical discharge due to the self‐extinguishing properties of PVC, but when an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene resin outlet plate ignited, the combustion continued for several minutes. Even though PVCs have self‐extinguishing properties, they burn temporarily during arc‐tracking. From the results, the flame from the electric fire outbreak is believed to spread to the outlet plate and eventually developed into a fire.

Chemical warfare agents decontamination via air mircoplasma excited by a triboelectric nanogenerator

Low-temperature air plasma, as an emerging green and efficient technology, has great potential to do chemical warfare agents (CWAs) decontamination. However, conventional plasma devices are bulky, costly and inconvenient. More importantly, their practical application is limited by the power grid and battery capacity. Here, A double layer paper-strip rotary triboelectric nanogenerator (dps-rTENG) is fabricated to serve as a self-powered high-voltage device to induce microplasma in air for CWAs decontamination. The degradation efficiency of 2-chloroethylethyl sulfide (2-CEES), a surrogate for the sulfur mustard (HD), reaches more than 99% within 2 min of microplasma treatment, and the energy utilization efficiency (Ee) of the dps-rTENG is calculated to be 0.520 μg/J, which is one order of magnitude higher than those of the commercial power supplies. Further study confirms that the degradation process of the dps-rTENG induced microplasma is well controllable to avoid the formation of large amounts of 2-chloroethyl ethyl sulfone (2-CEESO2), a toxic excessive oxidation product. Triboelectric microplasma provides a new approach for self-powered, easily portable decontamination system for CWAs in future.

AT급전방식 통합접지시스템의 주파수별 접지임피던스 특성 분석

This paper, when lightning current flows into the AT electric railway power feeding system, the ground impedance characteristics according to the length of the buried earth wire and the earth resistivity are analyzed and presented. Due to the increase in accidents caused by lightning and surges in the electric railway operation section, the need to review the grounding impedance of the electric railway integrated earthing system is increasing. The grounding system currently applied to the electric railway operation section has been considered in terms of preventing electric shock to the human body and protecting facilities in the event of a ground fault or short circuit in a commercial power supply of 60[Hz] band. Recently, electronicization of signal and communication facilities installed around railway tracks, high-quality power supply is required. Therefore, the need for technical analysis on ground impedance and transients in high-frequency bands is increasing. The ground impedance is an important factor that distinguishes the characteristics of the AT electric railway integrated earthing system.

Buck-based DMPPT emulator: a helpful experimental demonstration unit

<span lang="EN-GB">Distributed control strategyrepresents the most promising solution to enhance the lackluster energetic performance of mismatched PhotoVoltaic (PV) systems. Moreover, many factors that contribute to such poor performance are still to be explored. To fully understand the advantages offered by the Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) approach, the implementation of a DMPPT emulator is necessary. Based on the above needs, this paper describes the realization and use of a Buck based DMPPT emulator and shows its high flexibility and potential. The realized device is capable to emulate the output current vs. voltage (I-V) characteristics of many commercial PV modules with a dedicated Buck DC/DC converter not only in controlled atmospheric conditions but also with different currents rating of the switching devices. The system implementation is based on a commercial power supply controlled by a low-cost Arduino board. Data acquisition is performed through a low-cost current and voltage sensor by using a multichannel board by National Instruments. Experimental results confirm the validity and potential of the proposed DMPPT emulator.</span>

A SIMPLE PATTERN RECOGNITION-BASED METHOD FOR POWER QUALITY DISTURBANCE DETECTION

Voltage disturbances are the most frequent cause of a large range of disruption in industrial, commercial, and residential power supply systems. These disturbances are often referred to as power quality problems and affect the Power Systems causing substantial losses. To avoid the storage of a large amount of data, the first task in monitoring the power quality is the realtime detection of disturbances, which must be performed by an accurate and low-complexity system. This paper proposes a low-complexity system for power quality disturbance detection. The method makes innovative use of simple features extracted from reduced segments of the monitored voltage waveform. The extract features (the mean value, variance, energy, and the maximum and minimum values of the filtered voltage signals) require low computational effort and allow a considerable dimensional reduction of the signals, leading to simple detection algorithms. The proposed method achieves high detection rates on both simulated and real signals.

Risk management strategy for a renewable power supply system in commercial buildings considering thermal comfort and stochastic electric vehicle behaviors

Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the building sector has become a global concern in terms of ensuring sustainable development. Thus it is imperative to investigate the utilization of clean electricity in buildings. This study proposes a novel, cost-effective commercial building-oriented power supply system for providing a comfortable environment in a shopping mall. An energy management strategy is also proposed for this system. Two types of electric vehicles (EVs) are considered, and their models are developed separately based on different stochastic behaviors. Furthermore, the integration of retired electric vehicle batteries (REVBs) in commercial buildings is one of the possible methods for achieving echelon utilization. To address the uncertainties in the system, the scenario-based stochastic optimization method is applied, which formulates the energy management problem as a mixed-integer linear programming model. Results show that by integrating only photovoltaic (PV) energy and both PV and REVBs into commercial buildings, reductions of 82.2% and 83.3%, respectively, in the expected operational cost can be achieved. This proves that the application of PV and REVBs is beneficial for commercial buildings. Moreover, the robustness of the employed method is proven through comparison with other methods.

Dynamic Boost Based DMPPT Emulator

The Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) approach is a promising solution to improve the energetic performance of mismatched PhotoVoltaic (PV) systems. However, there are still several factors that can reduce DMPPT energy efficiency, including atmospheric conditions, the efficiency of the power stage, constraints imposed by the topology, the finite rating of silicon devices, and the nonoptimal value of string voltage. In order to fully explore the advantages offered by the above solution, the implementation of a Boost based DMPPT emulator is of primary concern, especially if it behaves as a controlled voltage or current source. The repeatability of experimental tests, the tighter control of climatic conditions, the closing of the gap between the physical dimensions of a PV array and the space available in a university lab, the simplicity with which new algorithms can be tested, and the low maintenance costs are just some of the benefits offered by an emulator. This paper describes the realization and use of a Boost based Distributed Maximum Power Point Tracking (DMPPT) emulator and shows its high flexibility and potential. The device is able to emulate the output current vs. voltage (I-V) characteristics of many commercial PhotoVoltaic (PV) modules with a dedicated Boost DC/DC converter. The flexibility is guaranteed by the ability to reproduce both I = f ( V ) and V = g ( I ) characteristics at different values of not only the irradiance levels but also the maximum allowed voltage across the switching devices. The system design is based on a commercial power supply controlled by a low-cost Arduino board by Arduino (Strambino, Torino, Italy). Data acquisition is performed through a low-cost current and voltage sensor by using a multichannel board by National Instruments. Experimental results confirm the capability of the proposed device to accurately emulate the output I-V characteristic of Boost based DMPPT systems obtained by varying the atmospheric conditions, the rating of silicon devices, and the electrical topology.

Inactivation by helium cold atmospheric pressure plasma for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

A helium cold atmospheric pressure plasma jet (HCAPPJ) driven by a commercial neon power supply was designed and utilized for inactivation bacteria. The generated reactive spices by HCAPPJ were investigated by optical emission spectroscopy. The reactive species of OH, OI, OI, N21+, N21+ and He were identified in the UV–Vis wavelength region. The reactive species was not detected between 200 nm and 300 nm, as the flow rate of helium gas increased that led to the plasma temperature reducing to a value near to the room temperature. In this work, we studied the impact of HCAPPJ on Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The survival amounts of the two types of bacteria were decreased vastly when the rate flow rate was equal to 10 L/min.