Dr.S.P.Simon, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of National Institute of Technology, Trichy, Government of India, has delivered a Special Lecture on “Recent Devlopments in Power System” on 07-08-2010 in the seminar hall of our college. In his lecture, he specifically explained about the Computerised Intelligent techniques such as Genetic Algorithm and Artificial Neural Network as applied to Power System. After his presentation, he interacted with the students and clarified their doubts. The students found this session to be highly informative.

Dr.S.P.Simon, Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering of National Institute of Technology, Trichy, Government of India,

is delivering a Special Lecture on “Recent Devlopments in Power System” on 07-08-2010 at 09:30 am in the seminar hall of our college.
                                                                                                                                        

                                                                                                                                                                                             ------- HOD / EEE / Vickram College of Engineering.

III yr EEE students Anoop.V. Pillai, Nishwin sunny, Gibin Thomas ,Robin Roy,Toby John and team have presented a report on the future of energy resources under the heading “A PATH TO SUSTAINABLE ENERGY RESOURCE BY 2030” during the 5^th National Level Technical Symposium held at Vickram College of Engineering. The above report has been published in THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS daily dated 08-04-2010. We congratulate the students for the above venture.

WWS 2030- A DISPLAY

A brief account of the Project is as follows:

 Introduction:Now a days the major problem that our world is facing is global warming and energy crisIs. The major cause behind the Global Warming is the use of Fossil fuels and conventional power generation methods such as thermal,nuclear etc., and we could just scrutinize the use of Fossil fuels  by replacing it with renewable energy sources  like Water ,Wind and Solar and make it sustainable enough to satisfy the whole world’s power demand by 2030.Hence the research theme is named as  WWS 2030.

PRESENT SCENARIO: By the use of Conventional energy resources such a thermal, nuclear etc., we are consuming 12.5 TW (Tera Watt) and is been estimated to rise up to  16.9 TW by 2030 but if we  plan  to replace conventional energy resource with that of WWS, we could cut down the 16.9 TW to 11.9 TW ,the reasons being higher efficiency and zero transmission losses. 

WWS SPLIT UP NEEDED:Of this 11.9 TW ,water  can provide  1.1 TW, wind 5.8TW and solar can contribute to meet 4.6 TW. The good thing is that, we have a plenty of resources available untapped  ie. About 2 TW of water resources, 40 to 85 TW wind, and 580 TW of solar potential is available across the globe.

DO’S AND  DON’T’S: In the path to implement WWS,we need to follow certain Do’s and Dont’s in order to implement it successfully.

1)CHOOSE EMISSION FREE TECHNOLOGY

 Technology chosen should be completely emission free. It should not produce any kind of emission during operation and decommissioning. For eg:The carbon emission from nuclear reactor is 25 times more than that of wind energy. Hence  we need to consider only technologies that do not present significant waste disposal and terrorism risk.

2) INSTALL MORE NUMBER OF RENEWABLE INSTALLATIONS

For making our vision possible ,we need  to construct 49000 of tidal turbines, 5350 geo thermal plants, 900 Hydro electric plants, 38000000 wind turbines and 720000 wave converters. Though the number seems quite huge,this is possible because if, we can make Millions of cars and trucks a year, it is easy for us to manufacture these equipments too.

3)USE RECYCLED METALS TO MANAGE THE MATERIALS HURDLE

As the renewable installations to be manufactured is high so as to satisfy the whole world demand,the question arises about the availability of metals employed to construct these installations. Some rare earth metals,such as lithium, platinum,Neobdymium and silver is needed in large volumes. The only way to overcome this is effective and efficient recycling of these  metal s. So production processes can concentrate on strategies and ideas to recycle and replace these metals with abundantly available raw materials wherever possible.

4)USE  SMART MIX OF WATER,WIND AND SOLAR INSTEAD OF SINGLE CHOICES

All of us have a serious question in our minds that does the sun shine always and the wind blow continually in all regions?Being a logical query,We could install power plants by  making a smart mix of these renewable sources for eg: We could use Geo –thermal or tidal as the base supply along with solar at day and wind at night combined with the hydro electric plant which can be used along with this in such a manner that it could be used to meet our peak time demand. Thus it can be made more economic and reliable and provide way for uninterrupted supply.

 ADVANTAGES OF WWS:

 COST EFFECTIVE:At present, the total power generation charges  is Rs.2.4 per Kilo Watt Hour(KWH) and it is estimated to rise up to Rs 3.84 per KWH by 2030 due to rise in  power demands  ,if we are going by conventional sources, but if we shift to  WWS we could just cut down the rate  up to Rs 1.92per KWH  since there is no transmission losses as in the case of traditional power generation methods.

LESS DOWNTIME MAINTENANCE:The tradional coal plant suffers 46 Days/yr of downtime maintenance whereas Wind turbines and photovoltaic plants require just 7 Days/yr of downtime maintenance.

   In short we conclude that future of energy resources  is WWS which is clean, new, cost effective and reliable.

source:This project theme was based on the research undertaken by Stanford University and research article published in 'Scientific American India' magazine-Nov 2009 Issue.

NEWSPAPER EXCERPT:

Final Year EEE students won the Second and Third prize in  project display contest  “Sympulse’10” held at Syed Ammal Engineering College.

Ramesh.M, Rajasekar.A and Manikandan.K won the Second Prize in which they displayed a project tilted “ Automatic Length Measurement and cutting of Rubber using PLC”. In this project, the product (rubber) will be transported through the conveyor belt. The rubber cut at desired lengths, which automatically controlled using PLC. An encoder will be attached to the conveyor motor running. The pulses from the encoder will be counted and can be used to measure the length of the product. The blade temperature can be controlled using sensor. Fault annunciation can be done in 2 cases one is when the DC Motor is not running properly and the another condition is when no products are running on the conveyor belt.

 Another project displayed by Meenakshi Sundaram.M, Mohamed Imran Khan.M and Mohammed Farook.M won the Third Prize . The project titled "PWM Controlled DC Motor using IGBT." This project aims to perform the speed control of DC motor using PWM technique. The PWM pulse is generated by the Micro controller & given as input to the IGBT (Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor). The IGBT controls the speed of DC motor depends on the generated PWM pulse. The pulse can be generated at different frequencies called conducting period.

Congratulations to the winners !!!!!!

Suresh Kumar.P a II Year EEE Student was awarded Best Bowler of the tournament in the prestigious SS Rajan trophy organized by Tamil Nadu Cricket Association. It was an Inter-District match in which the final match was played between Madurai and Dindigul. Madurai district team won the match after 15 Years. His Best bowling in this series is 22/6 against Tiruvannamalai District Team.

“Praise the Bridge that Carried you over….”

"Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel".....

A SPECIAL THANKS TO:

There was a Seminar organized on 16th Feb 2010 by the Department of EEE on Energy Simulation & Conservation by Sri S.A.S. Syed Ahmed, Deputy General Manager, Tamilnadu Energy Development Agency(TEDA), Madurai. At the outset, Sri S.A. Syed Ahmed explained the importance of energy in the life of mankind. Then he listed various kinds of natural resources, through the means of which we derive energy.

Renewable & Non-Renewable Sources of Energy: Energy sources are classifiable under two headings – namely, conventional sources, and renewable sources. India is endowed with abundance of natural resources such as solar, wind, biomass etc., which can supply the energy needed even in remote areas. These are also called as alternative or renewable sources of energy because they are either inexhaustible or can be replenished with human effort. Of course, we use the latest technologies in extracting power from the various renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, bioenergy, ocean and geo-thermal etc. It is true that the initial cost is high, because of the installation devices, which cost more. But the benefits are long standing. As the awareness on renewable energy improves, it is hoped that more beneficiaries will come forward to use them and the initial cost will come down whereas under conventional energy, recurring cost always keeps increasing every year.

The renewable energy sources have certain advantages. One, they are inexhaustible, such as solar energy, wind energy, tidal energy. Two, they have universal availability. Three, the cost of production and operation is low. Four, they cause no degration of our environment through pollution or emission of Greenhouse Gases. The non-renewable resources mostly come from fossil fuels, called petroleum & coal. Because of their increased use, there is a problem of depleting these non-renewable resources. Besides, these non-renewable energy sources cause pollution and environmental degradation due to Green House Gas emissions.

Atomic Energy: Then Sri S.A.S. Syed Ahmed highlighted the two instances of power generation through the use of atomic energy. At present, India has ten nuclear power reactors in commercial operation – one at Kalpakkam, and the other at Koodankulam in Tamilnadu. It takes about 13,500 crores for generating 1000 MW. So it costs Rs.13.5 crores per 1 MW generation. The major drawbacks are that the commissioning period is too long. For instance, Koodankulam atomic station took nearly 12 years for its installation and power generation. Besides, there is a danger of nuclear accidents or radiations caused by hazardous wastes.

Solar Energy: While talking about solar energy, Sri S.A.S. Syed Ahmed observed that solar radiation sustains all forms of life on earth. According to estimates, sun radiates about 1.74 x 1017 W of power per hour to earth.. The daily solar energy incidence varies from 4 – 7 kWh per m2 and there are 250 to 300 sunny days in a year. The power potential of solar energy is 20 MW per sq.km. There are two categories called Solar Photo Voltaic (SPV) and Solar Thermal (ST). In India the maximum power generated by solar cell by a stand-alone power station is 2 MW. The main component for solar power plant is silicon-mono crystalline. The major drawbacks are that it requires large area. For example, for generation of 1 MW, the space required is 5 acres.

The Guest Speaker also commented on solar water heating system (SWHS). Solar water heater heats the water to 400C which is directly used for bathing purpose. This device supplies hot water at 60°C to 80°C using only solar thermal energy without any other fuel. The main economical advantage is that it saves about 1500 units of electricity per annum equivalent to about Rs.5000/- per year. The payback period would be about 3 years against the life of 15 years and above for the system. The government gives liberal incentives for solar power generation. A maximum amount of Rs.12.00 per Kwh will be provided as incentive for electricity generated from solar photovoltaics and Rs.10.00 per Kwh for electricity generated through the solar thermal route and fed to the grid from a power plant of minimum 1 MW capacity and above

Wind Energy: Then Sri S.A.S. Syed Ahmed talked about wind energy. Wind is generated due to heating of the earth’s surface. Uneven heating of different areas of earth causes difference in pressure and makes the air flow from high pressure region to low pressure region, which is termed as “Wind”. As wind contains tremendous amount of energy, it can be harnessed to generate power on a large scale matching with conventional sources. Initially, in India, wind mills were installed at the capacity of 250 KW only. But now the capacity is improved to 1.5 MW range. Tamil Nadu has installed capacity of 4287 MW accounts for 42 % and is No. 1 State in the country. The potential areas in Tamilnadu are Aralvaimozhi Pass (Muppandal area), Sengottah Pass (Kayathar area), Palghat Pass (Kethanur area) Coimbatore, Coastal area near Chennai and Rameswaram. The high wind prone zones are areas with annual mean wind speed of 18 kmph and above and annual mean Wind Power Density ( WPD ) of 150 W / m2 and above, at 50 m height. The Capital cost is 1/3rd of solar energy. In Kanyakumari , wind energy is available only for a period of 9 months in a year. The rest of the months, it could not be made available, and it is called seasonal energy. Of course, the government gives more subsidies to windmill erection. The subsidy for wind mill is 2.5*c up to 0.65 lakhs, where c is the capacity in MW. The major drawback is that there are no trained persons for maintenance.

Hybrid Power Generation: The latest method of power generation is hybrid power station in which the combination of both solar energy and wind energy are used to generate power. In this power station, solar cells are installed in the wind mill towers.

Bio-Energy: Bio-energy refers to energy derived from all kinds of organic wastes which are available in plenty in nature and at relatively lesser cost than fossil fuels and is also free from pollution. The different sources of bioenergy are Bio-mass, Bio-degradable waste and Bio-fuels. Biomass is produced by green plants through photosynthesis using sunlight and contains organic matter which can be converted to energy and replenished by human effort. Biomass can be broadly classified into three categories, namely Field level residues (Paddy straw, stalks of various crops etc. ),Plantation crop residues ( coconut residues like fronts, stems, Palmyra tree residues etc.) and Agro industry residues. Biomass today accounts for over one-third of all energy used in the developing countries. The estimated power generation potential from biomass in India is about 19000 MW. Biodegradable organic wastes, such as cow dung, kitchen waste, poultry litter, night soil etc. can be potential energy sources when they are subjected to anaerobic digestion. Biogas plants work on bio-methanation principle to produce methane and carbon-di-oxide.

Contribution of Tamilnadu in Harnessing Renewable Energy: Tamil Nadu has achieved tremendous success in harnessing renewable energy for generation of grid quality power. It has an installed capacity of 4790 MW from renewable sources which accounts for about 32% of TNEB's total grid capacity of about 15,100 MW. In respect of wind power, Tamil Nadu is No. 1 in India with an installed capacity of 4287 MW, which is about 44% of the total installed capacity in India. Besides, Tamil Nadu is a pioneer in introducing cogeneration in sugar mills and continues to lead with installed capacity of 466 MW.