Public Distribution Network Research Articles

Effect of Ripple Control on Induction Motors

One method for the remote management of electrical equipment is ripple control (RC), based on the injection of voltage interharmonics into the power network to transmit information. The disadvantage of this method is its negative impact on energy consumers, such as light sources, speakers, and devices counting zero crossings. This study investigates the effect of RC on low-voltage induction motors through the use of experimental and finite element methods. The results show that the provisions concerning RC included in the European Standard EN 50160 Voltage Characteristics of Electricity Supplied by Public Distribution Network are imprecise, failing to protect induction motors against excessive vibration.

Quality and security of drinking water supply in the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the quality of the different sources of drinking water supply, the impacts of poor management of conveyance systems on the quality of drinking water and its possible consequences on human health. and describe the potential for contamination or deterioration of water in the system. 4881 households were visited and responded to our questionnaire. From our results, the distribution processes, the poor use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), or galvanized pipes as well as the management of fountains constitute the major elements which influence the quality of the water consumed by the population of Lubumbashi and thus exposing them to diseases due to microbial and allergic contamination. An approach, not only to raise awareness among the community that this would be necessary, but also, standardized training in the matter must be carried out for the benefit of each user of both the public water distribution network and boreholes as well as the fountains.

A Blockchain Approach for Migrating a Cyber-Physical Water Monitoring Solution to a Decentralized Architecture

Water is one of the most important resources in our lives, and because of this, the interest in water management systems is growing constantly. A primary concern regarding urban water distribution is how to build robust solutions to facilitate water monitoring flows with the support of consumer involvement. Crowdsensing solutions contribute to the involvement in social platforms for increased awareness about the importance of water resources based on incentives and rewards. Blockchain is one of the technologies that has become increasingly popular in the last few years. The possibility of using this architecture in such different sectors while integrating emerging concepts, such as crowdsensing, the Internet of Things, serious gaming, and decision support systems, offers a lot of alternatives and approaches for designing modern applications. This paper aims to present how these technologies can be combined in order to migrate the functionalities of a water distribution management system from a centralized architecture to a decentralized one by leveraging blockchain technologies. The proposed application was designed to facilitate incident reporting flows in public water distribution networks. The proposed solution was to migrate the rewarding mechanisms using the Ethereum infrastructure. The novelty of this solution is determined by the introduction of this decentralized approach into the architecture and also by increasing customer interest by offering tradeable rewards and dynamic subscription discounts. This results in a new decentralized architecture that allows for more transparent interactions between the water provider and clients and increases customer engagement to contribute to water reporting flows.

Intentional Islanding of Active Distribution Networks by GenSets: An Analysis of Technical Constraints and Opportunities

The willingness to improve the security and reliability of power supply to end-users, often pushed by prescriptions of national regulatory authorities, is bringing considerable challenges for distribution system operators. Islanding a portion of the public distribution network after a fault is considered a measure to mitigate the effects of service interruptions. This procedure is usually carried out by counterfeeding the grid through a generator set (GenSet). Even if this approach is widely adopted around the world, reenergizing the grid and keeping the electric island stable is not a trivial task. In this framework, the scope of this paper is to provide a set of technical guidelines for the usage of GenSets to supply public grids in emergency conditions. The goal is to highlight the static and dynamic limits of the GenSet operations and simplify their exploitation for the grid operators. The numerical analyses, which have been carried out through the RMS simulation tool of the DigSilent PowerFactory software, also aim to evaluate the technical constraints in the case of active networks, which involve distributed generation implementing regulations according to ENTSO-E and Italian technical standards.

Influence of Design Efficiency of Water Supply Network Inside Building on its Optimum Usage: Review

The water supply network inside the building is of high importance due to direct contact with the user that must be optimally designed to meet the water needs of users. This work aims to review previous research and scientific theories that deal with the design of water networks inside buildings, from calculating the amount of consumption and the optimal distribution of the network, as well as ways to rationalize the use of water by the consumer. The process of pumping domestic water starts from water treatment plants to be fed to the public distribution networks, then reaching a distribution network inside the building till it is provided to the user. The design of the water supply network inside the building is mainly affected by the amount of water consumed in the building. On this basis, the pipes' dimensions and the water tank's volume are determined. The operating pressure of the water supply network inside the building is calculated to overcome the height difference and the friction inside the pipes and provide sufficient pressure to operate the most remote fixture. The most important results of the research are that the optimal use of the water distribution network inside the buildings is achieved by the correct design and implementation using skilled labor, materials, and devices of high quality and rationalization of water consumption by the user.

Water Supply Processes Are Responsible for Significant Nitrogen Fluxes Across the United States

AbstractExcessive nutrient concentrations within fresh waters are a globally persistent problem. Developing effective nutrient management strategies requires improvements to nitrogen (N) mass balances, including the identification and quantification of previously unrecognized anthropogenic N fluxes. Using publicly available data, we establish that freshwater abstractions from both surface waters and groundwaters, alongside watermains leakage from public distribution networks, are responsible for significant nitrate‐N (NO3‐N) fluxes across the contiguous United States. Nationally, freshwater abstraction temporarily retains 417 (min‐max: 190–857) kt NO3‐N yr−1, equivalent to 21% of pastureland N uptake and 2% of previous global abstraction‐N flux estimates. Fluxes due to irrigation, thermoelectric power, and public water supply collectively account for 87% of this total. We find large intercounty variation in area‐normalized abstraction fluxes (min‐max: 0–8,267 kg NO3‐N km−2 yr−1), with eastern regions generally associated with larger fluxes. Watermains leakage returns 7 (min‐max: 6.3–7.7) kt NO3‐N yr−1 back to the environment, equivalent to 13% of NO3‐N initially abstracted for public supply and 1.3% of previous global leakage flux estimates. Our analyses reveal inter‐county variations in area‐normalized leakage fluxes (min‐max: 0–576 kg NO3‐N km−2 yr−1), with this flux exceeding other major N inputs (agricultural N fertilizer) in some urbanized and coastal counties, highlighting their importance in these areas. The local and national importance of these fluxes has implications for policy makers and water resource managers aiming to better manage the impacts of N within the environment and calls for their inclusion in both US and global N budgets.

Role of Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana in Enhancing the Paradigm of Financial Inclusion in Rural India

This article examines the role of the Prime Minister Jan Dhan Yojana (PM JDY) in boosting public wealth. Millions of households around the country benefit from financial inclusion and banking access, as well as insurance coverage and a sense of security, thanks to this programme. As a result of integrating this scheme with many other government initiatives, money will be immediately credited into the accounts of the recipients, eliminating intermediaries and reducing leakages. This strategy enables access to micro-credit in the later stages of the programme. Many of the accounts created under this plan, however, were idle, a problem that will be addressed once the government links it to other government-run programmes like NAREGA Job Yojna and other direct cash benefit transfer programmes. Overall, this plan has the potential to be a game changer and alter the country's landscape. It might be able to help plug leaks and boost the efficiency of specific public distribution networks. A systematic questionnaire was used to collect primary data, while secondary data was gathered from a variety of sources including books, papers, and published materials. Finally, it makes an effort to propose relevant recommendations to improve PM JDY's standing in terms of increasing public wealth.

An Efficient Method for Testing the Quality of Drinking-Water Filters Used for Home Necessities.

This paper presents research conducted in the direction of analyzing the efficiency of filters used for drinking water intended for domestic consumption, with effects on the water quality gained from the public distribution network. A basic method that uses accessible techniques, such as optical microscopy and tests that involve the use of existing products on the consumer market, was developed regarding the filtration capacities of the main filters existing on the market—a method that has advantages, such as speed and ease of application, a unitary character in obtaining samples, low costs, and high efficiency. The technique approached is that of microscopy, and the samples used were taken from the laboratory tests made on the mentioned filters, using a specific experimental stand designed to support laboratory tests by using chosen filter cartridges. The research results obtained were analyzed to make a classification from the perspective of filtration efficiency, in terms of using statistical analysis tools (mathematical models and methods processed in MATLAB software). Moreover, by using a certain type of application based on specific mathematical algorithms, which takes into account some influential factors with a decisive role on household consumers, it was aimed to identify the optimal filter element for acquisition and use in its own regime. The aim of the study was to identify the optimal filter cartridge from the perspective of quality–price ratio.

Geospatial mapping of public electricity distribution network systems in Owerri Municipal Local Government Area, Imo State Nigeria

The Owerri Municipal Local Government Area is plagued by problems such as inability to meet the target set for power generation, insufficient equipment, substandard methods of transmission, poor zoning of distribution, low voltage supply, unauthorized connection and disconnection, corruption in its management, equipment vandalization and inefficient distribution. This study is therefore aimed at Geospatial mapping of public electricity distribution network systems in this Local Government Area. The methodology employed in this research started from the planning, primary data acquisition from the field using handheld GPS and questionnaire, secondary data acquisition from Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), Enugu and Imo State, database design and creation, query and analysis, visualization and presentation of result using ArcGIS 10.5. From the result of the spatial analyses carried out, the study area has 26,350 public electricity distribution network systems. These public electricity distribution network systems comprise of 2507 High Tension lines, 8536 Low Tension lines, 11502 Low Tension poles, 3238 High Tension poles, 505 Transformers (DSS), 59 Solar Energy systems and 3 distribution feeders as at the period of study. The spatial search carried out showed that Umueche community has the highest number of occupants and also the highest number of transformers spread across. The spatial distribution result showed that Arugo layout and Onitsha Road layout are where industrial activities are concentrated and they have a total number of 20 and 21 transformers spread across each area respectively. Ikenegbu layout was revealed to have 25 transformers (DSS) spread across it. It is recommended that this study should serve as a decision support system for siting of power generation facilities within the study area.

Geospatial mapping of public electricity distribution network systems in Owerri Municipal Local Government Area, Imo State Nigeria

Geospatial mapping of public electricity distribution network systems in Owerri Municipal Local Government Area, Imo State Nigeria

A Scalable and Energy-Efficient MAC Protocol for Linear Sensor Networks

Linear topologies arise naturally in the context of Internet-of-Things (IoT) applications for smart cities, where the infrastructure itself commonly has a linear or semi-linear structure. This is the case of buildings, public transportation systems, road infrastructure, and utility distribution networks. Given the prevalence of this type of topologies, several Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols have been designed to take advantage of their particular properties. Unfortunately, most of them do not scale well as the node density and the distance in hops to the sink increases. The result is that packets generated many hops away from the sink tend to experience unacceptable high end-to-end delay and low delivery probabilities. This paper introduces HP-MAC, a synchronized duty-cycled MAC protocol for Linear Sensor Networks (LSNs) that assigns transmission priorities to nodes to avoid collisions, through the implementation of distributed elections based on hash functions. HP-MAC also implements a packet queuing scheme that acts as a mechanism to control the amount of network resources allocated to data flows generated at different distances to the sink. This way, packets can reach their destination with loss probability and end-to-end delay that do not depend on their distance to the sink. We use a Discrete-Time Markov Chain (DTMC) to model the performance of the proposed protocol. Numerical solutions of this model show that HP-MAC outperforms state-of-the-art representatives in terms of throughput, end-to-end delay, power consumption, and packet loss probability. These results are validated through extensive discrete-event simulations.

Modeling of Residential Photovoltaic (PV) System Connected to Low Voltage (LV) Network: Application to Public Distribution Network of Burkina Faso

Residential photovoltaic (PV) systems connected to the grid are used for self-consumption. Any surplus production is fed into the grid and contributes to improving the voltage. Several techniques are developed to model their connection. However, studies on methods of injecting energy production into the Low Voltage (LV) network are nowadays a problem. This paper proposes a mathematical model to determine the current to be injected and calculate each node’s voltage. The current equation is a recurrence relation with an initial condition. This initial condition is for the case of a single PV system connected to the LV grid. The equation can also be written in matrix form. Similarly, the voltage solution is a recurrence relation. It also has an initial condition for the first node. Both mathematical formulae with the proposed initial conditions are consistent and can be used for the determination of the current and voltage of the different nodes in the grid.

ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT NEEDS FOR DISTRIBUTION NETWORK TARIFFS IN THE CASE OF ENERGY COMMUNITIES AS NEW EMERGING USER TYPES

This paper discusses distribution network pricing in the presence of energy communities (EC) as new emerging user types. ECs can take many forms and by utilizing distributed energy resources (DER), they can aim to effectively minimize electricity bills of their members. However, if ECs either operate over the public distribution network or have a connection to it, they will impose costs on the distribution system operator (DSO). According to the requirements set by the European legislation, it should be made sure that ECs contribute to the cost sharing of the distribution system. In this paper, we discuss items related to distribution network pricing and what kind of challenges ECs might impose on the business of DSOs. As present distribution tariffs are designed for traditional load customers, they might not be suitable for different types of ECs as such. Present tariffs might result in a free-riding problem, which is problematic, e.g., from equality and cost-reflectivity perspectives. This pushes DSOs to develop alternative pricing schemes so that the requirements set to pricing by the legislation and common pricing principles are fulfilled. There is a clear need for a more thorough quantitative research regarding distribution tariffs of ECs in the future.

EXPERIENCES FROM IMPLEMENTATION AND OPERATION OF A DISTRIBUTION NETWORK AND ELECTRICITY MARKETS INTEGRATED BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM

A pilot project was carried out to verify a distribution network and electricity markets integrated battery energy storage system (BESS) concept based on shared ownership of the equipment, dual use of the system resources and a new service market model. The pilot installation has been in full operation since May 2020. The paper presents the overall technical structure of the implemented BESS, learnings from the pilot project, the key results from the commission tests and experiences gained from the operation of the BESS as a part of the public electricity distribution network and as a trading resource at the electricity markets.

A performance evaluation framework of public health distribution network for essential medicines: lessons from the select Indian states

AbstractThe present work has been carried out to develop a performance evaluation framework of distribution network design in public health with specific reference to essential medicines based on six different types of public health distribution networks (PHDNs) prevalent across six Indian states. We evaluated the performance of PHDNs on the criteria of cost and service and also on the sub‐criteria of cost and service by following the analytic hierarchy process. We utilized the pairwise comparison method in determining the relative importance of criteria and sub‐criteria by seeking responses from several experts and subsequently evaluated the PHDNs on all sub‐criteria in a 7‐point Likert scale by seeking views from the same experts. Finally, we developed the “cost–service matrix,” in which cost and service have been depicted in the horizontal and vertical axes, respectively. We demonstrated the performance of six PHDNs in this matrix in terms of cost and service by plotting scores obtained by them on cost and service, respectively. The findings of the study provide rich insights to the policy planners of public health.

Research on Flexibility Evaluation of Microgrid System with Energy Storage

Background: Microgrid is an effective integration mode of distributed generation (DG). It can eliminate the negative effect caused by the intermittent DG and consume the energy locally. Methods: For a public distribution network, a microgrid performs as a controllable and flexible unit. However, when the public distribution network has the demand of flexible regulation, there is no reasonable quantitative indexes to evaluate the flexibility of microgrid for dispatching decision. For this problem, the operational flexibility indexes of a microgrid are defined in this paper. Results: The indexes are quantified according to the maximum energy and active power regulation margin of each flexible equipment in the microgrid. The operational flexibility of microgrid is closely related to the scheduling strategy. Therefore the corresponding dispatching model of a microgrid is also provided in this paper. Conclusion: A case study shows how to calculate and use these flexibility indexes in an operation cycle of a microgrid system with energy storage (ES) facility and demonstrates the availability and practicability of the evaluation indexes and the method.

A New Filter Concept for High Pulse-Frequency 3-Phase AFE Motor Drives

The size of back-to-back converters with active front end is significantly determined by the size of the passive filter components. This paper presents a new complete EMC filter concept for this type of converter system that is effective on the input and the output. This involves filtering the main common mode interferences from the grid and motor sides with a single CM choke. Since only the difference of the generated common mode voltage-time areas of both converters is absorbed by this component, the size of the required filter can be greatly reduced compared to conventional filter concepts. The concept is validated on a grid feeding inverter that can be connected to the public distribution network with an output power of 63 kW. The size reduction is demonstrated by means of a design example on a system with the same power and electrical requirements. It is elaborated why, applying the new filter concept, the impedance of the DC link potentials to ground and other electrical potentials should be as high as possible and therefore associated parasitic capacitances should be minimized. From this requirement, rules for the design of the power modules of PFC and motor converters for the application of this filter concept are derived.

Assessment of the Level of Heavy Metals in Tap Water Network System of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Water pollution due to the presence of heavy metals may affect the health of millions of people around the world. Therefore, the awareness of water quality and its continuous monitoring is essential for human safety. This work aimed to investigate the presence of heavy metals in the water for human consumption distributed in the network of Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, potentially affected by industries, agricultural, and chemical treatments. Water samples were collected from tap water and water treatment plant stations in Riyadh. All samples were tested for the physical parameters: such as total dissolved solids (TDS), pH, and electric conductivity (EC), as well as the concentration of eight trace metals (Al, Cr, Fe, Ni Cu, Zn, Cd, and Pb). The results showed that, with the exception of Fe, the heavy metal concentrations and the physical parameters in the investigated water samples satisfied the drinking water guidelines established by national and international organizations (WHO, EU, and SASO). Fe average concentration was found to be 833 µg L-1, which is higher than the permissible limit (300 µg L-1, SASO) in more than 95 % of the investigated samples. Thus, this research suggests that further investigation and assessment should be implemented for human safety by governmental agencies to public water distribution networks and the water treatment plant stations' product water.

Повышение энергоэффективности путем уменьшения хищения электроэнергии

This paper examines the problem of electricity theft and the method of commercial losses decrease. Incidents of unauthorized electricity consumption by private owners are happening all over the world. Companies are taking measures to stop theft but the scale of the problem is still significant. The paper has analyzed causes, presented results of the implementation of technical and organizational methods of theft elimination, and evaluation of the outcome on the example of public utilities and distribution networks.

Analysis and Design of Continuous Water Distribution System against Existing Intermittent Distribution System for Selected Area in Pandharpur, M.S., INDIA

In infrastructural development the public drinking water distribution network which includes pipes, bents, valves, pumps, tanks etc. is one of the major investments. The design, modeling of distribution network with efficient outcome is an important task. Therefore, the present study is aimed at design of continuous as well as intermittent water distribution systems with adequate water pressure with the use of WaterGEMS Vi8 software. The study is carried out for Manisha Nagar and Padmavati in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. The system comprised of a pipeline network consisting of one source node and several demand nodes is considered to find its optimal geometrical layout which delivers known demands from source to consumers over a long period of time. The effect of forecasted resident population and floating population on demand, head loss gradient, pressure gradient is analyzed. This study is carried out for immediate stage - Year 2021, intermediate stage - Year 2036 and final stage - Year 2051. From the analysis it is observed that, as population increases from year 2021 to 2051, the demand, head loss gradient and pressure development increases.