ABB Ltd

About: ABB Ltd is a company organization based out in Zurich, Switzerland. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Voltage & Signal. The organization has 6222 authors who have published 6852 publications receiving 83994 citations.

Communication protocols and networks for power systems-current status and future trends

Abstract: Minimizing implementation time and manual configuration, as well as straightforward upgradability are the key requirements of efficient substation automation systems. For larger utilities this often necessitates achieving interoperability between different devices from multiple vendors. Since the early 1990's it was noticed that the speed of advances in communication technology seemed to overpass its power system counterpart, which called for more adaptability by substation automation systems and higher independence from the underlying communication technology. The natural shift in the industry from proprietary communication protocols to open access standards was therefore further accelerated and was directed towards more advanced solutions that provide an interoperable and future proof environment. In order to be able to respond to these concerns, IEC 61850 was proposed as a future proof, adaptable communication protocol, capable of providing interoperability in a multi-vendor environment and with a highly advanced object oriented modeling structure. The migration from legacy protocols and de facto standards such as Modbus, DNP3, and IEC 60870-5 has already started and it seems likely that it will continue at a steady pace in the future. In addition to the efforts to provide an advanced solution for substation automation systems, there is also a need for extending the “automation” benefits to beyond the substations either downstream, at the feeder level or upstream, at a higher level of network management. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the current status of communication networks for substations using IEC 61850, and also discuss the possible future trends for extending the scope of the standard and using its capabilities for other applications within the distribution system.

A virtual control panel

Abstract: A system that enables a user to interact with a virtual control panel using a user controlled pointing object. The system includes a portable identification element, a tracking unit adapted to capture data representing the position of the pointing object and the position of the identification element, a storage unit, storing at least one pre-defined graphical interface representing a control panel of a device, a graphics unit, generating a graphical representation of the control panel, a registering unit, registering the graphical representation of the control panel in a fixed relation to the portable identification element to produce a virtual control panel and a display unit, showing the user a view including the real world and the virtual control panel.

Components for embedded software: the PECOS approach

Abstract: Software is more and more becoming the major cost factor for embedded devices. Already today, software accounts for more than 50 percent of the development costs of such a device. However, software development practices in this area lag far behind those in the traditional software industry. Reuse is hardly ever heard of in some areas, development from scratch is common practice and component-based software is usually a foreign word. PECOS is a collaborative project between industrial and research partners that seeks to enable component-based technology for a certain class of embedded systems known as "field devices" by taking into account the specific properties of this application area. In this paper we introduce a component model for field device software. Furthermore we report on the PECOS component composition language CoCo and the mapping from CoCo to Java and C++.

Burner for operating a heat generator

Abstract: In a burner for operating a combustion chamber, which burner essentially comprises a swirl generator (100), a transition piece (200) arranged downstream of the swirl generator, and a mixing tube (20), transition piece (200) and mixing tube (20) forming the mixing section of the burner and being arranged upstream of a combustion space (30). The swirl generator (100) itself comprises at least two hollow, conical sectional bodies (140, 141, 142, 143) which are nested one inside the other in the direction of flow, the respective center axes of these sectional bodies running mutually offset in such a way that the adjacent walls of the sectional bodies form inlet ducts (120), tangential in their longitudinal extent, for a combustion-air flow (115). In the region where the combustion-air flow (115) flows into the swirl generator (100), fuel injectors (116, 116a) are arranged on both sides along the inflow edges, which fuel injectors act offset with respect to one another, in such a way that the inflow cross section of the duct (120) is integrally covered with fuel, with the result that a maximized premixing is achieved.

Performance evaluation of electric distribution utilities based on data envelopment analysis

Abstract: In this paper, a method for benchmarking performance of electric distribution utilities based on data envelopment analysis (DEA) is presented. Basic theory of DEA is followed by case studies addressing performance analysis of the 50 largest (based on megawatt-hour sales) electric distribution utilities in the U.S. The results include performance efficiency, gaps in inputs and outputs of inefficient utilities, sensitivity-based classification of utilities, and a gap report. Also, peer-to-peer comparison of inefficient with efficient utilities is provided. Based on these results, inefficient utilities can develop strategic plans to improve performance.