Georgia Power (United States)

In this paper we have developed the hypothesis based on the dipolar theory on Earth magnetic field with the purpose of identifying and revealing importance of physical process in atmosphere and Earth magma. On the other hand the importance of electrical macrodipolar in convergence of Earth into magnetic macro-dipolar has been shown. This hypothesis can be applied during study in the course of magnetism at physics education process.

Direct energization of large power transformers from a utility grid can be expected to result in high magnitude inrush currents to be drawn from the grid that may take several seconds to decay. The phenomenon was verified and characterized by evaluating measurements that captured energization of a large Generator Step-up transformer (GSU) in an existing nuclear facility. The highly reactive and unbalanced nature of these inrush currents means that they have the potential to cause several undesirable system and facility impacts including protective relay maloperations, significant system voltage changes and electromagnetic torques on nearby operating generating units. A comprehensive time-domain modeling and simulation study was carried out to evaluate these concerns for new nuclear units being developed by Southern Company at Vogtle Nuclear Plant (NP) in Augusta, Georgia. The AP1000 nuclear reactors to be used have a design based on a generator breaker for unit synchronization which allows large GSU and Unit Auxiliary Transformers (UATs) to be energized from the transmission grid instead of the conventional practice of energization with the generator as it builds voltage prior to synchronization with the transmission grid. To mitigate the potential system impacts, several solutions were researched and evaluated and the most optimal solution for this application in the form of Pre-Insertion Resistors (PIR) switching was identified.

In the United States, there are more than 120,000 nail salons in which workers could be potentially exposed to a number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) used in various procedures. Measuring workers exposure in the field is time-consuming and could be very expensive. The purpose of this study was to estimate the VOC levels in the proximity of workers in nail salons through simulating the application process of some popular nail polishes in a laboratory chamber. The worst-case scenario was defined as a worker's exposure during nail polish application to one set of fingernails every 15 minutes for an 8-hour shift (total nail sets = 32). Nail polish was applied on paper plates in a flow-controlled test chamber. Air was sampled during the application of five different nail polishes for 8 hours using passive air samplers and the experiment was triplicated. Passive samplers were used for VOCs and formaldehyde. In this worst-case scenario setting, a total of 17 VOCs were detected, with eight that were found in all the samples. The mean concentration of butyl acetate (161-330 ppm, parts per million) and ethyl acetate (440 ppm) exceeded the threshold limit value (TLV) of 150 ppm and 400 ppm, respectively. Formaldehyde was analyzed separately and the mean concentrations exceeded the TLV of 0.10 ppm in all types of nail polish, ranging from 0.12 ppm to 0.22 ppm. Occupational safety and health professionals could use these data to increase awareness of workers' potential exposure to high levels of VOCs in nail salons and recommend practical measures to reduce potential exposures.

A collection of slides from the author's conference presentation was given. The topics discussed were manual fault isolation and restoration and automatic fault location isolation and service restoration.

Most of the GE gas turbine fleet operates with exhaust temperature control characterized by various forms of Temperature Control Curves (TCC). The TCC which all have specific isothermal limits (maximum exhaust gas temperature) assigned. The isothermal limit is defined mainly by the materials used in the exhaust area including the exhaust frame, exhaust diffuser, struts. The isothermal limit is set to protect the turbine exhaust section from damage by excessive temperature. Although the isothermal limit is typically driven by turbine exhaust temperature limitation, there is a growing demand for isothermal limit adjustment due to HRSG operation limitation, e.g., HP steam attemperation, and also due to emission issues at part load operation. The content of this paper presents a systematic approach for adjusting the isothermal limit to enhance the plant performance while still satisfying limitations in HRSG and DLN combustor operability. This exercise is a multi-disciplinary optimization process and it requires iterative communications among different disciplinary engineering teams. The methodology was applied to the case of 107FA Combined Cycle isothermal limit reduction for part load operation.

Many interconnected power systems are constructed to meet the ever increasing electric power transfer demand and the integration of renewable energy. A disturbance anywhere in such a system will directly influence the power transfer capability of major transfer interfaces, as well as the transient stability margin of the system. An index is proposed to locate the critical buses, which will be used to monitor the transient stability of a power system. Furthermore, a real-time Artificial Neural Network-based prediction model is proposed to allow the operators to predict the post-fault transient oscillation of critical buses by using several samples after fault clearing. The Eastern North American Power System, which has a large penetration of renewable energy, is used as a platform to illustrate the proposed method.

A novel, accurate, compact, and power-efficient lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery charger designed to yield maximum capacity, cycle life, and therefore runtime is presented and experimentally verified. The proposed charger uses a diode to smoothly (i.e., continuously) transition between two high-gain linear feedback loops and control a single power MOS device, automatically charging the battery with constant current and then constant voltage. An adaptive power-efficient charging scheme in the form of a cascaded switching regulator supply ensures the voltage across the charging power-intensive pMOS remains low, thereby reducing its power losses and yielding up to 27% better overall power efficiency. An 83% power-efficient printed circuit board prototype was built and used to charge several Li-Ion batteries to within plusmn0.43% of their optimum full-charge voltage and therefore within a negligibly small fraction of their full capacity

This paper reports a Southern Company-wide research effort to develop a geophysical method (Spectral Analysis of Surface Waves, SASW) for determining the stability design of directly embedded pole structures. For transmission lines, directly embeding of pole structures is a rapid construction process. The conventional design approach recommends a 10% of pole height plus two feet embedment depth, but does not differentiate between pole types, design loads, or inherent soil stiffness and strength. This paper describes the SASW soil analysis and an analytical method for determining the moment equilibrium of a directly embedded pole. The SASW method relies on the generation of small-strain stress wave propagation through soil media utilizing non-intrusive equipment. The tests have proven to be relatively easy to conduct, and inexpensive when compared to soil borings. Hence, it is an ideal technique for rapid site characterization. The analytical method determines pole stability and soil strain by limiting the ground line deflection. The results from five field studies with different site conditions prove that the method makes accurate predictions of pole capacities when compared with actual pull tests.

This paper presents design procedures that achieve specified lightning performance of overhead distribution lines. Since the lightning performance of distribution lines is affected by: (a) pole type and downlead conductor, (b) grounding arrangement, (c) soil resistivity, (d) proximity of trees, (e) arrester placement and (f) lightning activity and lightning parameters of the area, the problem is quite complex. Distribution line lightning performance is distinctly different than overhead transmission lines. This paper presents an integrated model of distribution poles, tower grounding and overhead line conductors. The model is utilized in a Monte Carlo simulation for the purpose of predicting the lightning performance of a distribution line. The paper presents the models and the simulation method. Typical results for typical distribution poles, arrester placement, proximity and height of trees and grounding arrangements are provided. A cost-benefit analysis is also presented that utilizes the results of the simulations towards the most economical design that meets specified performance criteria.

Recent advances in genetic technology and progress in the multinational Human Genome Project are providing scientists with the ability to look into and manipulate the very makeup of life: the DNA molecule. We can already examine many dozens of plant and animal genes for disease producing abnormalities. In the near future, we will have the ability to alter specific genes in living tissue. This genetic technology holds great promise in our quest for preventing, diagnosing, treating, and predicting disease, not just in humans, but in all forms of life. But there are some problems. Philosophically many are not ready for the implications of this technology. There are social and ethical issues that have not been well addressed, and which have, in part, resulted in an unprecedented amount of legislative activity over the past four years aimed at restricting access to and use of genetic information. The ability of the U.S. insurance industry to risk-select may be severely hampered if these restrictions are widely applied.