Wave Control Systems (Canada)

The secondary distribution system plays a pivotal role in delivering electric power to residential consumers. Conventionally, secondary distribution systems are implemented using ac configuration. In recent years, the rapid proliferation of loads, such as electric vehicle (EV) chargers has led to significant overloading issues in ac-based secondary distribution systems. A straightforward solution involves upgrading distribution infrastructure including cables and transformers; however, this approach is often costly, requiring substantial investments in both equipment and labor. To address this issue, this article presents a cost-effective alternative: retrofitting existing ac systems into hybrid ac/dc systems using power electronic converters. This hybrid configuration not only enhances the system’s hosting capacity with minimal infrastructure modifications, but also provides additional technical benefits, including improved power quality and smart energy management. A real-world demonstrative hybrid ac/dc secondary distribution system was established in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, with extensive testing conducted to validate its technical benefits and practical value.

<p>Ongoing permafrost thaw in the extensive peatlands of boreal western Canada may mobilize previously frozen mercury (Hg) and result in enhanced production of the neurotoxin methylmercury (MeHg). The often waterlogged conditions in thermokarst wetlands may represent ideal environments for Hg methylation to MeHg, but methylation potential could vary across distinct wetland types (i.e., nutrient-poor bogs and nutrient-rich fens) that emerge after the thawing of drier peat plateaus, depending on landscape position and groundwater connectivity. Here, we examined MeHg concentrations in twelve wetlands of varying nutrient richness in the Taiga Plains of western Canada across a 500 km permafrost gradient. We analyzed peat porewater chemistry (Hg, MeHg, dissolved organic matter composition), inferred the degree of groundwater connection (electrical conductivity, ions), and assessed the vegetation composition at each wetland. The key research objectives of this study were to 1) determine how methylmercury concentrations vary amongst wetland types in the Taiga Plains and amongst permafrost zones, and 2) understand how physicochemical characteristics and groundwater connectivity may influence methylation potential. Through this, we hope to understand the factors that lead to hotspots of MeHg production in the rapidly thawing peatlands of the Taiga Plains.</p>

A facile electrochemical anodization method was used for producing hierarchically textured surfaces based on TiO2 nanotubes in two different configurations. It was found that perfluoro-functionalized TiO2 nanotubes exhibit high static contact angles for a variety of liquids such as apolar, polar aprotic and polar protic solvents. Wenzel and Cassie-Baxter theories were applied for theoretical contact angle calculations for the present study. By using Cassie theories, it is shown that a drop of polar liquid was in a fakir or Cassie-Baxter (CB) state on perfluoro-functionalized nanotube surfaces. The fakir state prevents spreading of the liquid on the surface. On the other hand, the wetting of non-polar liquids such as hexane is characterized by either Wenzel states or transition states characterized by partial imbibition that lie in between the CB and Wenzel states.