Terms Of Electricity Consumption Research Articles

Study of an autonomous solar power plant for a motorhome

Problem. An RV combines two essential features desired by modern travelers: the ability to relax in unconventional locations while still being able to work remotely if your job requires remote access. However, if you're accustomed to the conveniences that rely on electrical power, you'll find yourself searching for places to connect to the centralized power grid. Alternatively, you'll need to seek solutions to this issue. One of the most intriguing and effective solutions is the installation of a low-power solar power station on the RV, based on photovoltaic modules. This solution enables you to park and enjoy any location you prefer while benefiting from all the available technologies powered by electricity. Goal. This study aims to investigate the installation of an autonomous solar power station on an RV and determine its electrical power generation capacity. Methodology. Analytical research methods were employed to explore the development and application of solar energy conversion methods and devices to generate electricity. Experimental research methods and mathematical techniques for processing experimental data were also utilized. Results. The RV type suitable for installing an autonomous solar power station has been identified, specifically the Roller Team Sirio 599. An investigation of its equipment in terms of electricity consumption has been conducted. Furthermore, a self-sustaining solar station has been proposed for the selected RV, and the electricity generation schedule of this station has been studied. The electricity consumption by RV appliances has been thoroughly examined. Originality. This study explored the volt-ampere characteristics of photovoltaic modules and their power generation dependency on the load. The investigated photovoltaic modules demonstrate maximum operational efficiency in the active load range from 3 ohms to 3.5 ohms. Practical Value. The research findings indicate that starting from March, the solar power station on the RV is fully capable of meeting its electricity consumption needs. In the winter months, particularly in November, in Ukraine's climate conditions, this solar power station may only cover a portion of electricity consumption needs. Considering that electrical devices are often used for heating the RV, this solar power station should not be relied upon as the primary source of electrical power.

Temperature change and daily urban-rural residential electricity consumption in northwestern China: Responsiveness and inequality

Daily temperature plays an important role in the comparison of the electricity consumption of urban and rural residents. Previous studies highlighted the impact of income on the relationship between temperature change and residential electricity consumption; however, urban-rural electricity consumption disparity and temperature-electricity response inequality have been neglected. This paper examines the response of urban and rural residents in a China’s northwestern province to temperature changes in terms of electricity consumption, and uncovers its impact on daily electricity consumption inequality between these two groups by using daily households’ electricity consumption dataset from 2017 to 2019. The study results show: (1) The urban response function exhibits a U-shaped distribution, whereas that of rural residents demonstrates a fluctuating upward trend. (2) When the daily mean temperature falls below 24 °C, the gap between urban and rural electricity consumption increases. (3) During the Spring Festival, the negative effects of extremely low temperatures will be reduced, while at the end of October, they will be increased. These findings can help policymakers reduce the electricity consumption inequality between urban and rural areas in the context of climate change.

Bottom-up assessment of household electricity consumption in dynamic cities of the Global South—Evidence from Kigali, Rwanda

Data on electricity consumption is crucial for assessing and modeling energy systems, making it a key element of sustainable urban planning. However, many countries in the Global South struggle with a shortage of statistically valid, geocoded, and disaggregated household-level data. This paper aims to develop a generic methodology for the generation of such a database in terms of electricity consumption. The methodology was tested in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, with a focus on all single-family residential building types of the inner city. Discrete data on buildings is obtained through combined information products derived from very high resolution (VHR) satellite imagery, field surveys, and computer assisted personal interviewing. In total, 509 valid geocoded survey datasets were used to evaluate and model household electricity consumption, as well as electrical appliance ownership. The study's findings reveal that the arithmetic mean of specific electricity consumption was 3.66 kWh per household per day and 345 kWh per capita per year in 2015. By subdividing the data into distinct building types as well as their spatial location, and weighting the specific values according to their proportion in the study area, a more accurate mean value of 1.88 kWh per household per day and 160 kWh per capita per year was obtained. Applying this weighted mean to extrapolate household electricity consumption for the study area, in conjunction with the sample's precision level, resulted in an estimate of 126–137 GWh for the year 2015. In contrast, using the arithmetic mean would have led to values twice as high, even exceeding the total electricity consumption of the entire city, including multi-family and non-residential buildings. The study highlights the significance of on-site data collection combined with geospatial mapping techniques in enhancing of understanding of residential energy systems. Using building types as indicators to distinguish between households with contrasting electricity consumption and electrical appliance load levels can address the challenges posed by rapid urban growth in the Global South. This proposed method can assist municipal administrations in establishing a database that can be updated resource-efficiently at regular intervals by acquiring new satellite images.

Non-thermal pasteurization of milk by an innovative energy-saving moderate electrical field equipped with elongated electrodes and process optimization

Environmental concerns and consumer demand necessitate alternative pasteurization techniques that sustainably produce safe and high-quality milk. To this end, a new non-thermal (<42 °C) moderate electric field (MEF) system was developed with elongated electrodes and a reduced electrode gap. Response surface methodology optimized technical and thermo-physical attributes, including viscosity, density, freezing point, solid non-fat (SNF), temperature, power usage, and specific energy consumption (SEC), by altering electrical field intensities (EFI) and mass flow rates (ṁ) from 25 to 30 V/cm and from 0.017 to 0.033 kg/s, respectively. The results were then compared with the conventional thermal pasteurization (CP, 63 °C for 30 min). Besides, process cost analysis in terms of electricity consumption was performed to identify cost reduction opportunity for the industry, and milk samples were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy to elaborate on the mechanisms involved. MEF optimal processing conditions were 29.8 V/cm EFI and 0.018 kg/s ṁ, which reduced 98.58% of energy consumption, 98.51% of SEC, and 99.09% of processing time in comparison with CP. Also, MEF possessed higher productivity than CP. D-value for total count bacteria (TCB) in MEF was significantly lower than CP (0.06 vs. 14.80 min), and MEF and CP reduced TCB by 99% and 88.61%, respectively. Compared with the previously reported MEF milk pasteurizer, the MEF system developed in this study saved energy, cost, and time by 99.2%, 99.0%, and 78.4%; therefore, this emerging technology could further contribute to sustainable manufacturing of foods.

Changes in the Pattern of Weekdays Electricity Real Consumption during the COVID-19 Crisis

In this paper, using data from Romania, we analysed the changes in electricity consumption generated during the COVID-19 crisis, and the measures taken against the spread of the coronavirus to limit the effects of the pandemic. Using a seasonal autoregressive econometric model, we found that, beyond seasonal (weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly) effects, the average daily electricity real consumption in Romania, during the state of the emergency period (16 March 16 to 14 May 2020) decreased by −194.8 MW (about −2.9%), compared to the historical data (2006–March 2022), and this decrease is not due to the action of some random factors, and it is not a manifestation of domain-specific seasonality. The literature discusses the hypothesis that during the pandemic time, the profile of daily electricity consumption on weekdays was close to the typical Sunday profile. We tested a similar hypothesis for Romania. As a methodology, we tried to go beyond the simple interpretation of statistics and graphics (as found in most papers) and we calculated some measures of distances (the Mahalanobis distance, Manhattan distance) and similarity (coefficient of correlation, cosines coefficient) between the vectors of daily electricity real consumptions, by hourly intervals. As the time interval, we have analysed, for Romania, the electricity real consumption over the period January 2006–March 2022, by day of the week and within the day, by hourly intervals (5911 observations). We found (not very strong) evidence supporting a hypothesis that, in the pandemic crisis, the profile of electricity consumption approaches the weekend pattern only for the state of the emergency period, and we could not find the same evidence for the state of the alert period (June 2020–March 2022). The strongest closeness is to the hourly consumption pattern of Saturday. That is, for Romania, in terms of electricity consumption, “under lockdown, every day is a Sunday” (Staffell) it is rather “under lockdown, every day is (almost) a Saturday”! During the state of the alert period, consumption returned to the pre-crisis profile. Since certain behaviours generated by the pandemic have been maintained in the medium and long term (distance learning, working from home, online sales, etc.), such studies can have policy implications, especially for setting energy policy measures (e.g., in balancing load peaks).

The Concept of Formation of Intelligent Control Systems of Power Supply of Urban Networks

Modern capabilities of intelligent control systems are increasingly being used in areas previously considered the exclusive work of people — experts with relevant experience in a particular field. Machine learning capabilities in the field of electric power industry, obtaining forecasts based on the data of intelligent sensors of various purposes are not an exception. At present the Russian Government has adopted a program for the development of the manufacturing industry until the end of 2035: during this time manufacturing output should grow by 192 %. It is obvious that this program should also meet the requirements of the modern scientific concept of industrial revolution "Industry 4.0", when manufacturing enterprises and corporations begin to develop and apply subsystems and elements of "smart manufacturing", which help to build intelligent communications between individual tasks and operations during the entire life cycle of production, in accordance with the principles and methods of systems engineering. It is important to note that the issues of intelligent management in the subject-oriented area of electric power industry (in our case — energy saving), as the basis of any industrial production in modern conditions, require the development and implementation, first of all, of new solutions based on modern IT-technologies. It is known that energy intensity in Russia, according to the World Bank, is 3-4 times lower than in European countries. It is also known that in connection with the new provisions in the field of housing and communal services, aimed at improving economic efficiency in terms of electricity consumption, it becomes very important to ensure its accurate and operational accounting with the possibility of further forecasting of electricity consumption and the state of power grid facilities, which will allow specialized organizations and services, as well as the managing bodies in the shortest time to make a balanced specialized decisions This paper proposes the concept of intelligent control system to manage the process of condition monitoring based on data from intelligent sensors. The novelty of the concept is to consider a variant of solving the problem of integration of information systems associated with weakly structured subject-oriented information flows in the electric power industry enterprise by using methods of set theory and category theory.

Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from aerobic and anaerobic wastewater treatment plants in Southeast of Italy

An evaluation of the operative functioning data of 183 Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) in Apulia (Southeast of Italy) has been carried out aimed to assess their Green House Gases (GHGs) emissions and the level for which the use of anaerobic sludge treatment should be more convenient in terms of electricity consumption and of GHGs emissions. Out of the 183 studies WWTPs, 140 are practicing aerobic digestion of sludge, while the remaining 43 are practicing anaerobic digestion of sludge. WWTPs in Apulia are serving about 4,81 million PE (Population Equivalent), yielding approximately 600,000-ton equivalent CO2 per annum. The production of GHGs emissions has been estimated by evaluating the contribution of CO2 deriving from: a) electric energy consumption (fossil CO2), b) biogenic CO2, c) N2O and d) CH4 emissions. The present study investigates a number of technical measures for upgrading the existing WWTPs, so to reduce GHGs emissions through the amelioration of CH4 production and capture in the anaerobic step, and through reducing the production of biogenic N2O and CO2 emissions in the aerated basin. The methodology employees artificial intelligence-based control for upgrading the aerobic oxidation of the organic carbon and the nitrification-denitrification steps. As a result, GHGs emissions are expected to be reduced by approximately: 71% for CH4, 57% for N2O, 20% for biogenic CO2 and 15% for fossil derived CO2.

Evaluating the Eco-Intensity Dynamics of the Mining Industry in Russia: Towards a Circular Economy

One of the main tasks of the circular economy is the decoupling between economic growth and natural resource consumption at the input and the volume of generated waste at the output. The effectiveness of this process can be assessed by the dynamics of the eco-intensity indicators at the macro-, meso- and micro-levels. The article presents the assessment results of the decoupling and growth color of the mining sector in Russia, which show the dynamics of eco-intensity indicators and may reflect the trend towards a circular economy. For the period 2010–2021, it was revealed that negative expansion decoupling and “Black” growth have been observed in terms of generated waste and atmospheric pollution, strong decoupling and “Green” growth in terms of hydrosphere pollution, weak decoupling and “Brown” growth in terms of electricity consumption, and according to water intake from natural water bodies, expansion coupling and “Black” growth. During the study period, the gross value added (GVA) of the mining industry in Russia in comparable prices increased by 77%, while the industry’s negative impact on the atmosphere increased by 34%; the volume of production and consumption waste generation increased by 131%, and the negative impact on the hydrosphere decreased by 51%. The growth of the environmental and economic efficiency of any system can be achieved by influencing the drivers and barriers to moving towards a circular economy, so it is important to identify the most significant factors of influence for a particular industry, region or country in the current conditions. Using the ordinary least squares (OLS) method, it was revealed that factors reflecting innovative activities of the mining industry have a significant impact on reducing eco-intensity in the field of electricity consumption and water intake from natural water bodies. The significance of these factors’ influence has been confirmed not only at the macro-level, but also at the micro-level.

Multilevel and Multiregional Analysis of the Electricity Metabolism of Mexico across Sectors

This paper presents a novel tool for electricity planning, based on an improvement of MuSIASEM (Multiscale Integrated Analysis of the Societal and Ecological Metabolism) by incorporating a new regional analysis of the electricity metabolism across levels. An analysis of Mexico illustrates this toolkit and shows that the industry sector has economic energy intensity (EEI) with 40.3 MWh/MMXN reaching a higher value than the commerce and services sector with 0.84 MWh/MMXN. Regarding the economic labor productivity (ELP) indicator (AV/h), the industrial sector with 208.5 TMXN/Kh reached a higher value than the commercial and services sector with 114.3 TMXN/Kh. Regarding the exosomatic metabolic rate (EMR), the household sector obtained 59.3 KWh/Kh, whereas the economic sector reached 2486.4 KWh/Kh. Disaggregation of the EMR indicator into economic sectors shows that the industrial sector reached 8.4 KWh/Kh and the commercial and services sector reached 0.10 KWh/Kh. The lack of complete data for the agricultural sector does not allow us to calculate EEI, ELP, and EMR indicators accurately. This innovative approach is useful for governance because it helps us to understand and reduce asymmetries across regions in terms of electricity consumption, resulting in more social equality and a better economic equilibrium across sectors and regions.

Measurement and Analysis with KPIs based on an AMI system

This paper presents the development of a series of key performance indicators (KPI´s) for the electrical system of the campus of the National University of Colombia based on the deployed smart metering infrastructure (AMI). In order to develop the proposed indicators, it was necessary to use different sources of information to complement the data provided by the AMI system. For each of the proposed indicators is presented the way in which each selected indicator is calculated, and an analysis of the behavior obtained for each KPI. It was possible to observe how, based on the results obtained from the different indicators proposed, periods of inefficiency in terms of electricity consumption were identified. Finally, the conclusions obtained during the development of the project are presented.

Performance evaluation of a MED-MVC desalination plant driven by a concentrated photovoltaic thermal system and an organic Rankine cycle

In this work, a novel integration of a multi-effect distillation (MED) desalination plant driven by mechanical vapor compression and powered by a concentrated photovoltaic thermal system and an organic Rankine cycle is presented. The combined system is designed to produce fresh water at a capacity of 2500 m3/day. Three desalination configurations are studied, forward, backward and parallel cross feed. Mass, energy and exergy balances for different component of the desalination plant are elaborated and validated. The results showed that the specific electricity consumption of MED increased by 69 %, 68 % and 40 % by increasing the steam temperature from 80 to 100 °C, for the forward, backward and parallel cross feed configurations, respectively. The performance ratio decreased by 40 %, 21 % and 28 % by increasing the seawater salinity from 32,000 ppm to 47,000 ppm, for the forward, backward and parallel cross feed configurations, respectively. The results also showed that the solution for optimizing the energy consumption of the compressor by using staged compression equipped with intermediate cooling has enabled a saving of approximately 12 % in terms of electricity consumption. The levelized cost of water desalinated for optimized MED configurations ranged from 0.4 to 1.965 US$/m3. The overall results showed that the parallel cross-feed is the best configuration for desalination driven by a concentrated photovoltaic thermal system and an organic Rankine cycle. The performance of the current desalination unit has been improved compared to that of other MED technologies integrated with renewable energy sources.

Limits on the integration of power to gas with blast furnace ironmaking

This article compares 16 Power to Gas integrations for blast furnace ironmaking by using 17 key performance indicators. The study includes 4 types of PtG (PtH2, PtSNG using pure CO2, PtSNG using treated BFG, and PtSNG using BFG), two types of blast furnaces (air-blown and oxygen) and two types of fossil replacement (coal or coke). The blast furnaces are modelled using the Rist diagram, validated with literature data (<2% deviation). For most cases, the decrease in total CO2 emissions is around 150–215 kgCO2/tHM per MW/(tHM/h) of electrolysis. The energy penalty (in terms of electricity consumption) was found to be mostly independent on the size of the PtG plant, but greatly dependent on the type of integration (10.1–20.6 MJ/kgCO2). If significant CO2 reductions are aimed, self-sufficiency in electricity consumption will not be achieved. In practice, the maximum PtG capacity to install is limited by the decrease in the flame temperature. In this context, the PtSNG integration consuming treated BFG, applied to OBF for coal replacement, provides the best results. Assuming a 500 tHM/h blast furnace, the PtG capacity of this concept could be as large as 490 MW and avoid up to 21% of the CO2 emissions.

Effects of Nitrogen and Light Intensity on the Astaxanthin Accumulation in Motile Cells of Haematococcus pluvialis

The dietary supplementation of Haematococcus pluvialis is a natural, safe, and sustainable method for fish pigmentation. However, astaxanthin-rich H. pluvialis cysts have a poor effect in pigmenting salmonid flesh due to their rigid and thick cell wall. H. pluvialis thin-walled motile cells have recently attracted attention due to their potential advantages in maintaining compound stability, easy digestion, enhancing the bioavailability of carotenoids, and reducing production costs. This study aimed to investigate the effect of various nitrogen concentrations and light intensities on astaxanthin production in motile cells. We first investigated the effect of four different concentrations of nitrogen on astaxanthin accumulation in motile cells. According to the results, the motile cells had the highest astaxanthin concentration and content under the 0 N condition. Then, we compared the differences in astaxanthin production in motile cells under three different light intensities under 0 N conditions. The results showed that after four days of treatment, the protoplasts of the motile cells in the medium light (ML) group and the high light (HL) group had distinct granularity. The cell mortality rate in the HL group reached more than 15%, which was significantly higher than that in the low light (LL) and ML groups, indicating that high light intensity was not suitable for inducing motile cells to accumulate astaxanthin. There were no significant differences between the LL and ML groups in astaxanthin content, motile cells percentage, and cell mortality rate. Considering these indicators, we recommended inducing motile cells to produce astaxanthin under low light conditions because it is more economical in terms of electricity consumption. This study added to the knowledge that nitrogen and light affects the accumulation of astaxanthin in H. pluvialis motile cells. The results would help determine the optimal nitrogen and light conditions in astaxanthin production from motile cells.

Prognozowanie zużycia energii elektrycznej w województwach Polski w kontekście zrównoważonego rozwoju

The goals of the EU energy policy result directly from the theory of sustainable development. There are also positions that there is a relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth. It should also be borne in mind that the knowledge of long-term forecasts, including electricity demand, is an important factor in planning future generation sources. The aim of the article is to present the results of the dynamic and prognostic analysis of electricity consumption in Polish voivodeships. The studied category was defined by means of eleven variables. The research tools are Holt exponential smoothing and medium-term rate of change. The research period was the years 2000–2023. The source of the data was the LDB. The construction of rankings of the shaping of these features in the future allowed for the identification of inequalities. In the course of the research, a two-component hypothesis was formulated. In light of this, most of the examined objects are characterised by a development tendency. We observe constant positions taken in the rankings prepared for the projected values of energy consumption in the basic economic sectors. The obtained results made it possible to assess the diversity of the examined objects. The leaders in terms of electricity consumption are Mazowieckie and Śląskie voivodeships. In the future, energy consumption will continue to vary across the main economic sectors. In the course of the research, the first part of the hypothesis was verified positively, and the second one – negatively. With regard to the industrial, energy and household sectors, one can expect that the positions occupied by the examined objects in the constructed rankings will be stable.

A Critical Overview of the State-of-the-Art Methods for Biogas Purification and Utilization Processes

Biogas is one of the most attractive renewable resources due to its ability to convert waste into energy. Biogas is produced during an anaerobic digestion process from different organic waste resources with a combination of mainly CH4 (~50 mol/mol), CO2 (~15 mol/mol), and some trace gasses. The percentage of these trace gases is related to operating conditions and feedstocks. Due to the impurities of the trace gases, raw biogas has to be cleaned before use for many applications. Therefore, the cleaning, upgrading, and utilization of biogas has become an important topic that has been widely studied in recent years. In this review, raw biogas components are investigated in relation to feedstock resources. Then, using recent developments, it describes the cleaning methods that have been used to eliminate unwanted components in biogas. Additionally, the upgrading processes are systematically reviewed according to their technology, recovery range, and state of the art methods in this area, regarding obtaining biomethane from biogas. Furthermore, these upgrading methods have been comprehensively reviewed and compared with each other in terms of electricity consumption and methane losses. This comparison revealed that amine scrubbing is one the most promising methods in terms of methane losses and the energy demand of the system. In the section on biogas utilization, raw biogas and biomethane have been assessed with recently available data from the literature according to their usage areas and methods. It seems that biogas can be used as a biofuel to produce energy via CHP and fuel cells with high efficiency. Moreover, it is able to be utilized in an internal combustion engine which reduces exhaust emissions by using biofuels. Lastly, chemical production such as biomethanol, bioethanol, and higher alcohols are in the development stage for utilization of biogas and are discussed in depth. This review reveals that most biogas utilization approaches are in their early stages. The gaps that require further investigations in the field have been identified and highlighted for future research.

Analysis of Electricity Loss and Electricity Consumption Law in low-Voltage Areas: A Case Study

Electric power is an important resource in energy. With the development of society, the consumption of electric power is more and more. Research on electricity consumption and power loss has become a hot topic.In this paper, we conduct statistical analysis on the power supply, power consumption and line loss rate of 395 power supply station.Line loss rate is an indicator to describe electricity consumption.We found that the line loss rate decreased over the course of a year.The overall distribution of line loss rate is approximately lognormal distribution. Total daily electricity supply and electricity consumption in the power supply area approximately obey exponential distribution.In terms of electricity consumption, a statistical analysis was made on the daily electricity consumption of 100, 000 users in three years, and it was found that the electricity distribution of users was in line with the power law distribution.

Energy consumption in anaerobic and aerobic based wastewater treatment plants in Italy

Abstract The aim of this study is to carry out an experimental investigation on electricity consumption in wastewater treatment plants in Italy based on aerobic and anaerobic digestion wastewater treatment plants (WWTP). The data refer to plants managed by two major water resources management companies in Italy, Hera and Acquedotto Pugliese (AQP). The survey makes use of statistical tools for data analysis of 202 urban wastewater treatment plants. In order to extend the reliability of the survey, electricity consumption data were analysed through three specific energy demand indicators: kWh/m3, kWh/PE•year, kWh/kgCODremoved referred to each plant. The results show that anaerobic systems are advantageous in terms of electricity consumption per m3 as they achieve more than 50% saving with values ranging from 1.02 kWh/m3 for aerobic plants, instead of 0.43 kWh/m3 for the anaerobic ones. Differences have been found in terms of anaerobic digestion efficiency between the data concerning the plants in northern Italy – Hera Company with an average of 0.33 kWh/m3- and those in Apulia – AQP company with an average of 0.53 kWh/m3. Aerobic systems showed more energy consumption also for HERA-managed WWTP. If anaerobic digestion were implemented on all the AQP WWTP, energy savings should be of approximately 16% and approximately 42% if related to HERA anaerobic-based WWTP average performance.

Extraction of Peppermint Essential Oils and Lipophilic Compounds: Assessment of Process Kinetics and Environmental Impacts with Multiple Techniques.

Consumers are becoming more mindful of their well-being. Increasing awareness of the many beneficial properties of peppermint essential oil (EO) has significantly increased product sales in recent years. Hydrodistillation (HD), a proven conventional method, and a possible alternative in the form of microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MWHD) have been used to isolate peppermint EO. Standard Soxhlet and alternatively supercritical fluid (SFE), microwave-assisted, and ultrasound-assisted extraction separated the lipid extracts. The distillations employed various power settings, and the EO yield varied from 0.15 to 0.80%. The estimated environmental impact in terms of electricity consumption and CO2 emissions suggested that MWHD is an energy efficient way to reduce CO2 emissions. Different extraction methods and solvent properties affected the lipid extract yield, which ranged from 2.55 to 5.36%. According to the corresponding values of statistical parameters, empiric mathematical models were successfully applied to model the kinetics of MWHD and SFE processes.

Development of Condition Monitoring System for Electric Resistance Spot Welding Used to Manufacture Railway Car Bodies

Stainless steel railway car bodies are assembled by joining the outer plates and the pillar materials using resistance spot welding. In recent years, more and more car bodies are being assembled using laser welding in addition to the resistance spot welding. For this laser welding system, we developed a condition monitoring system considering the processes before and after laser welding as a single system, and obtained and put into practical use an appropriate condition that suppresses spatter generation during laser welding. On the other hand, in resistance spot welding, the current, weld time, electrode load, and electrode tip shape are the main factors that determine the welding quality. Therefore, the configuration of the equipment is less complicated than that of laser welding system, and the condition monitoring is easier than that of the laser welding. In this study, by transferring the concept of the condition monitoring system developed for laser welding to resistance spot welding, we achieved a reduction of more than 60% in terms of electricity consumption and improved the appearance of the car body by optimizing the indentation shape. In addition to this technical achievement, we also present in this paper a case study showing the opportunity for innovation by restructuring the technological paradigm of the resistance spot welding in the production of stainless steel car body shells.

Monitoring the Technical Condition of AC Electric Locomotives using Traction Energy Consumption Rates

Currently, the methods of monitoring the technical condition of locomotives using data of on-board microprocessor-based control systems are widely used. This monitoring of Russia has become an operating technology of the locomotive maintenance and repair system.The main problem of monitoring is the limited set of sensors in locomotive circuits. Increased number of sensors leads to a decrease in reliability and to an increase in the cost of a locomotive and of its life cycle, while allowing to achieve better quality of diagnostic information.Besides, it is advisable to have integrated indicators of the technical condition of a locomotive. The article presents a computer software product for analysing the technical condition of a locomotive based on dynamic data on consumption of traction active power and generation of reactive power. The software was developed by using algorithmic language Visual BASIC for Applications, embedded in MS Excel, using probabilistic and statistical methods of analysis.The method for diagnosing the technical condition of a locomotive within the monitoring system is based on a comparison of dynamics of consumption of active and generation of reactive power by two sections of the same locomotive according to the principle of functional benchmarking. For monitoring the technical condition of locomotives, the term «pre-failure» is suggested, which is defined as the operable condition of a locomotive while there are internal hidden defects or damage. Pre-failure manifests itself in power consumption. To analyse the technical condition of AC electric locomotives in terms of electricity consumption, the initial data must have a high degree of unimodality, which is determined by uniformity of operating conditions.The resulting data obtained following the analysis of the technical condition of a locomotive based on the dynamic data on consumption of tractive active energy and generation of reactive power can be used to determine a defect that causes a change in consumption of electricity at the moment when the locomotive enters technical maintenance and repair depot. *Information about the authors: Semenov, Alexander P. – Ph.D. (Eng), General Director of JSC Research Institute of Technology, Control and Diagnostics of Railway Transport, Omsk, Russia, corp@niitkd.ru. Semchenko, Victor V. – Ph.D. (Eng), General Director of JSC Railroad Centre of Technology Implementation of Krasnoyarsk Railway, Krasnoyarsk, Russia, office@dcv.ru. Khromov, Igor Yu. – Business Analyst of LLC2050-Integrator, Moscow, Russia, KhromovIYu@yandex.ru. Article received 13.05.2020, accepted 23.10.2020. For the original Russian text of the article please see p. 62.