Wireless Power Transmission (WPT) has wide application in aerospace. Nikola Tesla is best known for his incredible work regarding the WPT. Power can be transmitted wirelessly over a long distance is with either laser or microwaves. Laser is incompatible with environmental factors such as clouds and rain and hence, cannot provide continuous power. Whereas, microwave achieves lower atmospheric attenuation. Catching the sunbeam in space has unmistakable focal points since there is no loss of microwave vitality going through the earth’s climate and there will be no problem for global warming. The two main problem for installing the Space Solar Power Satellite (SSPS) are cost and to make the power satellite in space it is too difficult to lift the parts to geosynchronous orbit (GSO). Using SKYLON we can lift the parts to lower earth orbit (LEO) and from LEO to GSO, we can use a ground powered electrical drives. This can reduce the cost to less than $200/kg, compared to present cost of lifting communication satellites. The aim of this examination work is to give an overview of the cost of installation and techniques for lifting the parts to GSO.
Introduction
Demand for electrical energy is growing due to population growth. The economic boom in many developing nations will increase growing power consumption. According to Worldwide Power Outlook 2018, electricity consumption is rapidly growing [Fig:1]. The global demand for electrical electricity in customer areas will increase from 196 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) in 2015 to nearly 256 quadrillion Btu in 2040 and in the industrial zone, it will enlarge form 237 quadrillion Btu in 2015 to 276 quadrillion Btu in 2040. To fulfill these needs, new generating capacity will be required by 2040 to meet the developing demand. The majority of conventional electricity generation utilizes exhaustible supplies like coal, oil, and nuclear fuel. The most considerable supply of power that is on the earth is solar energy, so to meet the growing energy demand, it is essential to put ahead for new generation technologies that use solar energy [1].
Transmitting electricity without wires is not new concept. Sir Nikola Tesla, who is the founder of AC electricity, was the first person to conduct experiments on WPT. His idea originated from the concept that earth itself is a conductor that can carry a charge throughout the complete surface. While Tesla’s examinations were not making power, but simply exchanging it, his thoughts can be connected to explain our electricity crisis. Two techniques in WPT are near-field and far-field techniques. Near field techniques consist of Electromagnetic (EM) Radiation, Inductive Coupling, and Magnetic Resonant Coupling. Whereas, far-field techniques aim at high power transfer and need line of sight. It has two classes which are Microwave Power Transmission (MPT) and laser power transmission [2].
In the Laser power transmission technique, a laser beam transmits power in the form of concentrated light through the vacuum of space and the atmosphere. The main property of a laser is it is coherent and non-dispersive. This technique requires small equipment for transmission and receiving solar power from space to Earth. Much research is taking place on laser power transmission. Laser beam transmission depends on its wavelength. JAXA research team studied a laser power transmission system with a wavelength of approximately 1070nm and a continuous wave. Employing this technique is difficult because it causes skin and eye damage on Earth and this technique is incompatible with atmospheric disturbance. [3].
Microwaves are electromagnetic waves presently used for communication systems. In the MPT technique, electrical energies, are transmitted in the form of microwaves. As a microwave, energy density is low, compared to a laser so it is safe to operate. This technique is independent of atmospheric disturbance. Therefore, the JAXA research team developed the MPT technique with accuracy and demonstrated the experiment at ground level. This technique requires large equipment for transmission and receiving solar power from space to Earth.
Cash’s design seems to have addressed all the problems that have been faced by SSPS’s development in the past. We can realize one thing from past research papers they have not used space planes like the Skylon. The unit cost of Skylon is around $ 1.2 billion. The design concept uses SABRE, a combined cycle, air-breathing rocket propulsion system; this means that it could be reusable for 200 flights compared to the current spacecraft’s one flight. Because the SABRE technology allows the spacecraft to take off and land on a runway. Skylon’s flight rate would be more than 10,000/year; the flight rate to reduce costs is not a problem. [4]
Working of SSPS System
SSPS system has three units: generation, transmission, and receiver. DC power can generated from the solar panel, then the generated DC power is converted to RF power and it is transmitted through the earth’s atmosphere using a transmitting antenna. The RF power received by Rectenna at the ground. Using a rectifier, we can convert back to DC.
Cost Analysis
A present economic analysis by Reaction Engines Limited (REL) shows that Skylon can get a pound of mass to orbit, which can cost around $686 to $1,230/pound. The lifting process contains two things; first carrying cargo to LEO and second moving cargo from LEO to GSO.
SKLON is a single orbiting winged spaceplane reusable stage designed to give regular entry to space at low cost. The vehicle can take off and land on conventional runways on its underground carriage by combining air-breathing propulsion and pure rocket mode. When the payload from the large payload bay is deployed in orbit. The system runs automatically, but the payload bay can contain a passenger module. The REL study group forecasted SSPS with a mass of 30,000 tons could produce 1GW power. Taking into account the requirement for LEO to GSO transfer and SPS assembly, the total number of flights to LEO is approximately, 1.5 times the number of flights to launch the simple SSPS hardware to LEO. Each GW installed in GSO will therefore require approximately 4500 tones. A program to install 33.3GW can contain 10,000 flights, 300 SKYLON flights would be required for each GW in space.
The European Union (EU) is expecting to increase capacity by approximately 250 GW over the next 20 years to a total installed capacity of 900 GW. If SSPS provided this new capacity and SKYLON launched it, the total cost of the LEO orbit would be $ 225,000 million. The International Energy Agency estimates that the existing construction program for new power plants will cost $ 530,000 million between 2000 and 2030.
Figure shows the cost distribution for the 10,000 flights per year. We can observe that vehicle repayment, fuel, parts & maintenance are the biggest costs.
In the case of SKYLON, where all costs can be recovered, the cost of launching 150,000 tonnes, at $ 200 / kg, into orbit is $ 30,000 million per year. This clearly shows that Skylon is an essential part of the implementation of the SSPS system.
Conclusion
Energy and environmental issues are crucial for the world’s future development and well-being. The county’s accessibility of power and its age in a way that does not cause unsatisfactory ecological harm is an important factor. The development of SSPS would have a transforming property to approach the space. SSPS systems can not be built without a safe, low cost and reliable approach to space. This system can eliminate nuclear power generation in the future. By essentially decreasing the expense of orbiting and giving a protected and routine approach, new enterprises and opportunities are opened up. These requirements for launch can not be met by expensive rockets and fully reusable spacecraft must be developed. This need can be satisfied by using a skylon spaceplane.
[Mohammad Shidujaman, Hooman Samani, Mohammad Arif. “Wireless Power Transmission Trends”. 3rd international conference on informatics, electronics & vision 2014.
[Susumu Sasaki, JAXA Advanced Mission Research Group. “Microwave Power Transmission Experiment on Ground for SSPS Demonstration”. Aerospace Research and Development Directorate (ARD) JAXA, Chofu, Japan.
Haihong Ma, Yaning Yang, Nan Qi, Shang Ma, Xi Li. “Demonstration of a High-Efficiency MWPT System for Aerospace”. 978-1-5386-5159-9/18/$31.00, 2018 IEEE.
James E, Dudenhoefer and Patrick J. George. “Space Solar Power Satellite Technology Development at the Glenn Research Centre-An Overview”. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA/TM-2000-2120210.
Hariom Nagar, Ankur Yadav, Sumit Parashar.” Research on Solar Power Satellites with Micro Wave Power Transmission Technology in India”. April 2016, IJIRT, Volume 2, Issue 11.
Alan Bond. “Solar Power Satellite and Spaceplanes – The SKYLON Initiative”. Research Engines Limited, September 2008.
Electricity is an essential part of modern society. Many humans depend on it. Electricity helps power our computers and mobile devices, making work easier for millions of people. Electricity helps power stoves and microwaves, making it more convenient to cook and warm food. Electricity has made a huge impact on technological advancement and will continue to in the near future.
There are many ways to generate electricity. One way is generators, where kinetic energy is converted into electrical energy. Another way is electrochemistry, where chemical energy is directly converted into electrical energy, for instance, a battery. Electricity is generated in power plants, industrial facilities reserved for the generation of electricity.
The speed of electricity is incredibly fast. Electricity travels at the speed of light or 186,000 miles per second. Electricity can also have a dangerously high voltage, going up to 25.5 megavolts.
Electricity is the best form of energy that can be transferred from one place to another. This is usually done with the help of long conductive cabling. These cablings can run from one city to another.
Electricity is stored in many ways. Direct current electricity is stored in batteries. For example, car batteries, cell phone batteries, and other things. There is no way to store alternate current electricity as it is a favorable means for transferring electricity.
Another form of electricity is static electricity. It is generated on the surface of objects and it can jump from one object to another, creating a spark. Static electricity shocks can be damaging to electronics if not properly grounded. A single spark of static electricity can measure up to 3,000 volts.
Electrical energy can be converted into mechanical energy by using motors. This process is the reverse of electricity generation from mechanical energy. This is applied in several industries including electric cars, heavy industry, and many more applications.
When electricity flows through a conductor, it produces a magnetic field around it. This phenomenon can be used to make electromagnets. In an electromagnet, the force of the magnetic field is available as long as an electric current is flowing through the conductor.
An interesting fact is that the human body also has its own electricity to function. A person’s heartbeat is controlled by electrical signals sent from the brain. The muscles inside the heart contract and relax in response to electrical impulses.
Electricity as a form of energy is an extremely interesting phenomenon, which is confirmed by the information presented in this essay.
Wireless Power Transmission (WPT) has wide application in aerospace. Nikola Tesla is best known for his incredible work regarding the WPT. Power can be transmitted wirelessly over a long distance is with either laser or microwaves. Laser is incompatible with environmental factors such as clouds and rain and hence, cannot provide continuous power. Whereas, microwave achieves lower atmospheric attenuation. Catching the sunbeam in space has unmistakable focal points since there is no loss of microwave vitality going through the earth’s climate and there will be no problem for global warming. The two main problem for installing the Space Solar Power Satellite (SSPS) are cost and to make the power satellite in space it is too difficult to lift the parts to geosynchronous orbit (GSO). Using SKYLON we can lift the parts to lower earth orbit (LEO) and from LEO to GSO, we can use a ground powered electrical drives. This can reduce the cost to less than $200/kg, compared to present cost of lifting communication satellites. The aim of this examination work is to give an overview of the cost of installation and techniques for lifting the parts to GSO.
Introduction
Demand for electrical energy is growing due to population growth. The economic boom in many developing nations will increase growing power consumption. According to Worldwide Power Outlook 2018, electricity consumption is rapidly growing [Fig:1]. The global demand for electrical electricity in customer areas will increase from 196 quadrillion British Thermal Units (Btu) in 2015 to nearly 256 quadrillion Btu in 2040 and in the industrial zone, it will enlarge form 237 quadrillion Btu in 2015 to 276 quadrillion Btu in 2040. To fulfill these needs, new generating capacity will be required by 2040 to meet the developing demand. The majority of conventional electricity generation utilizes exhaustible supplies like coal, oil, and nuclear fuel. The most considerable supply of power that is on the earth is solar energy, so to meet the growing energy demand, it is essential to put ahead for new generation technologies that use solar energy [1].
Transmitting electricity without wires is not new concept. Sir Nikola Tesla, who is the founder of AC electricity, was the first person to conduct experiments on WPT. His idea originated from the concept that earth itself is a conductor that can carry a charge throughout the complete surface. While Tesla’s examinations were not making power, but simply exchanging it, his thoughts can be connected to explain our electricity crisis. Two techniques in WPT are near-field and far-field techniques. Near field techniques consist of Electromagnetic (EM) Radiation, Inductive Coupling, and Magnetic Resonant Coupling. Whereas, far-field techniques aim at high power transfer and need line of sight. It has two classes which are Microwave Power Transmission (MPT) and laser power transmission [2].
In the Laser power transmission technique, a laser beam transmits power in the form of concentrated light through the vacuum of space and the atmosphere. The main property of a laser is it is coherent and non-dispersive. This technique requires small equipment for transmission and receiving solar power from space to Earth. Much research is taking place on laser power transmission. Laser beam transmission depends on its wavelength. JAXA research team studied a laser power transmission system with a wavelength of approximately 1070nm and a continuous wave. Employing this technique is difficult because it causes skin and eye damage on Earth and this technique is incompatible with atmospheric disturbance. [3].
Microwaves are electromagnetic waves presently used for communication systems. In the MPT technique, electrical energies, are transmitted in the form of microwaves. As a microwave, energy density is low, compared to a laser so it is safe to operate. This technique is independent of atmospheric disturbance. Therefore, the JAXA research team developed the MPT technique with accuracy and demonstrated the experiment at ground level. This technique requires large equipment for transmission and receiving solar power from space to Earth.
Cash’s design seems to have addressed all the problems that have been faced by SSPS’s development in the past. We can realize one thing from past research papers they have not used space planes like the Skylon. The unit cost of Skylon is around $ 1.2 billion. The design concept uses SABRE, a combined cycle, air-breathing rocket propulsion system; this means that it could be reusable for 200 flights compared to the current spacecraft’s one flight. Because the SABRE technology allows the spacecraft to take off and land on a runway. Skylon’s flight rate would be more than 10,000/year; the flight rate to reduce costs is not a problem. [4]
Working of SSPS System
SSPS system has three units: generation, transmission, and receiver. DC power can generated from the solar panel, then the generated DC power is converted to RF power and it is transmitted through the earth’s atmosphere using a transmitting antenna. The RF power received by Rectenna at the ground. Using a rectifier, we can convert back to DC.
Cost Analysis
A present economic analysis by Reaction Engines Limited (REL) shows that Skylon can get a pound of mass to orbit, which can cost around $686 to $1,230/pound. The lifting process contains two things; first carrying cargo to LEO and second moving cargo from LEO to GSO.
SKLON is a single orbiting winged spaceplane reusable stage designed to give regular entry to space at low cost. The vehicle can take off and land on conventional runways on its underground carriage by combining air-breathing propulsion and pure rocket mode. When the payload from the large payload bay is deployed in orbit. The system runs automatically, but the payload bay can contain a passenger module. The REL study group forecasted SSPS with a mass of 30,000 tons could produce 1GW power. Taking into account the requirement for LEO to GSO transfer and SPS assembly, the total number of flights to LEO is approximately, 1.5 times the number of flights to launch the simple SSPS hardware to LEO. Each GW installed in GSO will therefore require approximately 4500 tones. A program to install 33.3GW can contain 10,000 flights, 300 SKYLON flights would be required for each GW in space.
The European Union (EU) is expecting to increase capacity by approximately 250 GW over the next 20 years to a total installed capacity of 900 GW. If SSPS provided this new capacity and SKYLON launched it, the total cost of the LEO orbit would be $ 225,000 million. The International Energy Agency estimates that the existing construction program for new power plants will cost $ 530,000 million between 2000 and 2030.
Figure shows the cost distribution for the 10,000 flights per year. We can observe that vehicle repayment, fuel, parts & maintenance are the biggest costs.
In the case of SKYLON, where all costs can be recovered, the cost of launching 150,000 tonnes, at $ 200 / kg, into orbit is $ 30,000 million per year. This clearly shows that Skylon is an essential part of the implementation of the SSPS system.
Conclusion
Energy and environmental issues are crucial for the world’s future development and well-being. The county’s accessibility of power and its age in a way that does not cause unsatisfactory ecological harm is an important factor. The development of SSPS would have a transforming property to approach the space. SSPS systems can not be built without a safe, low cost and reliable approach to space. This system can eliminate nuclear power generation in the future. By essentially decreasing the expense of orbiting and giving a protected and routine approach, new enterprises and opportunities are opened up. These requirements for launch can not be met by expensive rockets and fully reusable spacecraft must be developed. This need can be satisfied by using a skylon spaceplane.
[Mohammad Shidujaman, Hooman Samani, Mohammad Arif. “Wireless Power Transmission Trends”. 3rd international conference on informatics, electronics & vision 2014.
[Susumu Sasaki, JAXA Advanced Mission Research Group. “Microwave Power Transmission Experiment on Ground for SSPS Demonstration”. Aerospace Research and Development Directorate (ARD) JAXA, Chofu, Japan.
Haihong Ma, Yaning Yang, Nan Qi, Shang Ma, Xi Li. “Demonstration of a High-Efficiency MWPT System for Aerospace”. 978-1-5386-5159-9/18/$31.00, 2018 IEEE.
James E, Dudenhoefer and Patrick J. George. “Space Solar Power Satellite Technology Development at the Glenn Research Centre-An Overview”. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA/TM-2000-2120210.
Hariom Nagar, Ankur Yadav, Sumit Parashar.” Research on Solar Power Satellites with Micro Wave Power Transmission Technology in India”. April 2016, IJIRT, Volume 2, Issue 11.
Alan Bond. “Solar Power Satellite and Spaceplanes – The SKYLON Initiative”. Research Engines Limited, September 2008.
Created in order to reduce the harmful effect of the cars that run on petrol, hybrid cars are a rather successful marriage of two vehicles, which are an electric car and the aforementioned gas car. While a hybrid car has its problems, the key one being its weight and bulkiness, it clearly has a number of advantages in terms of saving the environment from the toxic CO2 emissions that gasoline powered cars are so infamous for. By using the motor of a car as both the generator of electricity and the key source of the mechanical power to rotate the wheels, the designers managed to make a logical compromise between the unreasonably expensive yet environmentally safe electric cars, which, for the most part, remain concepts, and a traditional gasoline powered car, which obviously harms the environment more than its owners can possibly imagine.
The link between gasoline and electricity
Describing the principles of a hybrid car work, one can claim that, in contrast to a traditional car that runs on gas, a hybrid car uses an electric motor in order to supply the power for the wheels to rotate. Though rather general, this statement is quite right; however, the source of the electric power generated for the motor still remains rather obscure. A closer look at the processes of energy conversion, which occurs in a hybrid car, will help resolve the above-mentioned mystery.
Time to recharge batteries
To start the car, it is required that electricity should be delivered to the motor; hence, the need in batteries arises. A hybrid car design presupposes that the mechanism should run on two key power resources, i.e., two batteries, which are charged with the help of a power generator described below. The batteries allow the electric motor mentioned above to rotate the wheels (Westbrook 2001a, p. 12).
Generator: the heart of a hybrid car
It would be wrong to assume that the batteries mentioned above also serve as the source of power for the generator. In contrast to the motor, which is run on batteries, the work of a power generator is facilitated by a gasoline engine. As it has been stressed above, the key specifics of a hybrid car is that it comprises two different sources of power, i.e., the energy produced from a gasoline motor and the energy generated from an electric current (Westbrook 2001, p. 7). The key task of the designers, therefore, constituted the methods of linking the two into a single system. The power generator appeared to be the solution. By using the MG1 and MG2 inverters, generating the AC power becomes possible (Xaodong & Chau 2011, p. 641).
However, when it comes to defining the core of the mechanism, one must admit that the generator is only what facilitates the production of electricity. The power split device is what makes it possible to start the car’s engine – allowing for the transformation of electric energy into mechanical one, it literally makes the car run.
Nevertheless, speaking of the production of electricity inside a hybrid car, the generator is what technically provides the aforementioned resource; seeing how it charges the batteries with the energy required for making the wheels turn, it can be assumed that the given part of a hybrid car is the focus of the electricity generation process.
At this point, it is necessary to mention that the flow of electricity is not consistent – instead, it is supposed to change its direction depending on whether the device performs the function of a motor or an electricity generator. In the latter case, it is supposed to flow “out,” seeing how a generator must consume mechanical power in order to produce electricity (Dijk & Masaru 2010, p. 1371).
Conclusion: Taking Care of the Environment
A hybrid car is far from being the perfect solution for the environmental pollution problem that has been brewing for several decades running. However, the energy transformation facilitated by the inverters and the power split still helps reduce the amount of CO2 emissions. Though temporary, the solution that the invention of a hybrid car and the use of the energy transformation principle provide will help in making the air cleaner.
Consales, C, Merla, C, Marino, C & Benassi, B 2012, ‘Electromagnetic fields, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration,’ International Journal of Cell Biology, vol. 1012, no. 1, pp. 1–16. Web.
Dijk, M & Masaru, M 2010, ‘The emergence of hybrid-electric cars: Innovation path creation through co-evolution of supply and demand,’ Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 77, no. 8, pp. 1371–1390. Web.
Westbrook, M H 2001, The electric car: development and future of battery, hybrid and fuel-cell cars, Society of Automobile Engineers, Warrendale, PA. Web.
Westbrook, M H 2001a, The electric and hybrid electric car, Society of Automobile Engineers, Warrendale, PA. Web.
Xaodong, Z & Chau, K T 2011, ‘An automotive thermoelectric–photovoltaic hybrid energy system using maximum power point tracking,’ Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 641–647. Web.
“Lives of all great men remind us that we can make our lives sublime and leave footprints in the sands of time.”-Anon. Science and Technology have played a major role in our lives. The advancements in this field have made our lives simpler, manageable, entertaining, and above all, “advanced.” All this advancement didn’t come by in the period of a few years or so but rather is the outcome of the struggle of millions of countless people striving for the betterment of this planet ever since its inception.
The part played by scientists and inventors cannot be overruled. These are the people who have made this possible. Without them, the concept of life at hand is unimaginable. People often argue that science has made our lives easier and comfortable, but on the other hand, the inventions of bombs and ballistics have increased the threat of total annihilation of this planet. This can be explained by the fact that one needs to harness the resources at hand in the best possible manner for the interests of mankind.
Of the many inventors and scientists, the name of Thomas Alva Edison needs no introduction. He was an institution in his own right. His life is the stuff that the American Dream is made of. From humble beginnings to the giant that he was, Edison’s life is a source of inspiration to the thousands of young people trying to make their mark in the world. The Wizard of Menlo Park, Thomas Alva Edison, was born in Milan[1], Ohio, in the year 1847. Having only three months of formal education and being regarded as retarded by his schoolmaster, Edison ventured out to give more than a thousand inventions to this world, many of which are still there and providing solace to millions around the globe.
To go through the inventions of Edison is no walk in the park. I wish to take you through Edison’s achievements in chronological order so as to have a feel for the immense work he has done in the field of science and Technology. When Edison was 12 years old, he started selling newspapers on the Grand trunk railway, and in one of the carriages later, he developed the world’s first newspaper to be published from a carriage. Grand Trunk Herald, published in 1862, was a weekly newsletter published from a freight car.
The same place also served as Edison’s “laboratory. He once saved the life of a child of a railway officer, who had connections in the telegraph office, and he posted him there. Edison learned telegraphy, and along with that, he also invented the automatic telegraphing machine, which could send messages without the presence of an operator.
In 1868 when he was 21 years old, Edison invented an electrical vote recorder. Being an invention ahead of its time, the electronic vote recorder didn’t sell, and thereafter Edison concentrated on inventing objects that he expected were readily marketable. Sometime after, in 1869, Edison went to New York.
By chance, he came to Gold and Stock Telegraph Company. Keeping in mind the fact that he had some training as a telegraph operator and had the mind of a genius, he was able to repair a broken down ticker apparatus, which nobody could repair and was given a job at three hundred dollars a month, a huge sum in those days.
After that, he also started selling telegraphic devices and made around 40 000 dollars, through which he established his laboratory at Menlo Park in 1876. This laboratory served as the base or the impetus of his further research activities. Afterward, when he became popular, the local press started referring to him as the “Wizard” OF Menlo Park. The notion alternately amused and angered him. “Wizard, Phew, It’s plain hard work that does it.” Was all that he said? The phonograph was invented by Edison in the year 1877, and by this device, one was able to record sound mechanically on a tinfoil cylinder. This phonograph made it possible for recordings to be made of sound, and then these recordings could be played on the record. A modern tape recorder is a loose form of the original phonograph, which was invented by Edison.
The discovery or the invention which made Edison gain worldwide fame and popularity was the invention of the incandescent light bulb[3]. It was not that it was one of its kind. Because electric arc lamps were present and being utilized in France, it was his improvement of a 50-year-old concept that Edison was able to utilize the bulb for ordinary home use.
The light bulbs which he invented at first didn’t last long, but he kept on experimenting. What he thought that if the vacuum is replaced by inert gas and the filament is made of a stronger material, maybe that would answer the question. Edison kept on experimenting with different materials until. Finally, he came up with Argon[4], which he used to fill in his bulbs, and the result was a more durable and long-lasting light source. In 1879 using low electricity, carbon filament, and vacuum inside a tube, he was able to devise a practical lighting system.
Now that he had made the bulb, the next problem was providing electricity to an ordinary house. This started the development of an electrical distribution system. Utilizing his previous knowledge gained at the telegraph office, where he had mastered the concepts from early innovators such as Franklin, he applied the principles to electricity and came up with a manageable, cheap electrical distribution system to be used for the mass provision of electricity for common use.
What Edison did was that his bulb, together with the system of distribution of electric power that he developed, made electric lighting practical for home use. His company by 1882 was manufacturing bulbs, and electricity distribution systems were being devised to help in the distribution of electricity and thus, providing light through a bulb was made possible through the electric distribution system.
On September 4, 1882, the first commercial power station located on Pearl Street went into operation, providing electricity to a population within a one-mile radius. This was the start of the electric age. After this, Edison spent many years perfecting and improving his electric distribution system and the light bulb.
In 1887 Edison moved his laboratory from Menlo Park, New Jersey, to West Orange, New Jersey, where a large laboratory complex was constructed for research and experimentation. Now this laboratory complex which employed quite a workforce, served as a prototype of the large research laboratories that so many industrial firms later established. Edison’s origination of the modern, well-equipped research laboratory, where many people work together as a team, was the concept which the large industrial complexes are utilizing and can be considered his most important invention.
The success of the electric bulb resulted in Edison being projected to new heights of fame and fortune. The various electric companies continue to grow until eventually, in 1889, they were merged together to form Edison General Electric. When it dawned upon Edison that such a venture would require a lot of capital, he turned to investors, and JP Morgan was among the first ones to participate and help Edison in his endeavors. Due to this, Edison had to drop the prefix “Edison” and named the company “General Electric.”
The Kinetoscope was invented by Edison in 1888, which was the first machine ever to produce motion pictures through a series of stills. Sometime after that, he was also able to produce storage batteries. It was in 1891 that he patented the motion picture camera, which made it possible to take, reproduce and project motion pictures, and this concept is being used today in the film industry as well.
Another of Edison’s discovery was made in 1882 when he discovered that in vacuum or near-vacuum electric current can be made to flow between two wires which do not even touch each other. At that time, Edison couldn’t think of a manner that might employ this principle or make this principle practical. This was called the Edison effect and was later utilized in the development of the transistor. Thus this invention revolutionized the electronics industry long after Edison ever thought of it.
During the First World War, there was a severe lack of carbolic acid, and since Edison was using lots of it due to its use in the photographic industry at the time, he started to manufacture it on his own and within four weeks was making more than a ton of it. He also developed plants for the manufacture of benzene, carbolic acid, and aniline derivatives.
The department of the United States Navy appointed him as president of their consulting board, and he perfected and designed several types of equipment for used onboard the vessels as well as for ordinary use. In the year 1914, he devised the “Telescribe,” which permitted to record both sides of a telephonic conversation.
From 1917 – 1918 Edison worked with the department of defense and helped in formulating methods to locate the position of guns by sound ranging, the invention of sonar waves, detection of torpedoes by ships, developed collision masts for ships and submarines. This and several other inventions and discoveries for the United States Military helped the Military in gaining a tactical and strategic edge over the enemy.
A total of more than a thousand inventions were patented by Edison. He had seriously impaired hearing, but he made up for it through his hard work and persistent efforts. The last experimental work of his life was carried out on the requests of his friends Henry Ford and Harvey Firestone. They asked him to manufacture synthetic rubber as the natural rubber couldn’t be sought in America. He was working on this project till the very last days of his life.
He was married twice and had three children by each marriage. Edison spent the last days of his life away from his laboratory. He went to Glenmont for vacations. It was in Glenmont in August that he collapsed; he was subsequently taken to New Jersey, where his condition continued to deteriorate. On October 18, 1931, he died in West Orange, New Jersey.
Giving a cursory look over the plethora of devices that Thomas Edison invented, one cannot help but marvel at the very essence of the kind of person he was. There has been some criticism related to Edison over the fact that the light bulb was already there and he did no wonder in reinventing it, but what people fail to comprehend is the fact that inspires of it being there the light bulb couldn’t be used in a practical manner. It was only Edison who managed to curtail the problems associated with it and brought it out as a practical device.
Through the invention of the light bulb, as has been explained previously, he also laid down the foundations of the electrical distribution system, which was unheard of in those days. This laid the foundation of the modern electrical distribution system. This is the very system which makes it possible for electricity to reach our homes from the power stations.
At the time of the development of the electric distribution system, a kind of rivalry developed between Edison and George Westinghouse. Edison was of the view that distribution systems should carry DC or direct current because his company was providing DC, so he tried his best to win public favor in this regard, while Westinghouse was a strong advocate of AC or Alternating current to be carried through the electric distribution systems.
Edison and his company workers even held demonstrations in this regard and protested that Alternating current could be used in electrocuting a person. After a lot of deliberations, it finally came out that the main power distribution lines carry DC while the current is changed to AC and supplied for home use.
The discovery of the “Edison effect” made modern inventions in electronics possible, as without the transistor, there might have been no future of electronics. The tremendous advancements in the field of electronics couldn’t have been made without the transistor, and as such transistor served a very practical purpose of Edison’s concept termed as the Edison effect.
Edison used to say, “For most of my life, I refused to work at any problem unless its solution seemed to be capable of putting into commercial use.” It is this thought that made him go through all those years and made him the person that he was. It wasn’t that he didn’t have failures; he had them but always used to take failures as a step towards success. When he failed, he used to comment, “We haven’t failed, and we now know a thousand things that won’t work. So we’re that much closer to finding what will.” This kind of attitude is what is required in modern-day society to succeed.
The way that Edison’s inventions have changed the way we live is of magnanimous proportion. These are the people to whom we are proud and owe our convenient lives.
This age of technological advancement has affected almost all the fields of society, and science is no exception. The modern sciences have undergone a complete metamorphosis ever since the turn of the century. The future lies in expanding the horizons of our intellect and looking beyond what we term as possible, but we need to bear in mind the ethical issues, the broadening gap between the developed and the underprivileged.
The scope of modern technological advancements is quite broad, and every day new technologies are emerging which offer hope to the millions of people around the globe. Being able to comprehend the true potential of these advancements and being able to use them for the betterment of mankind is what can be considered the ultimate reward.
References
Gerald Beal’s (2005) Thomas Alva Edison.
Michael H Hart (1987) the 100-A ranking of the most influential people in history (pg 222-225) Citadel press 1987
The demand for electricity as a commodity has been rising as consumers and providers become more concerned about the convenience of the existing system.
What is more, the change in lifestyle and the increasingly demanding life requires processes that save on time and money.
It is necessary to automate the electricity billing process, hence, the need for smart electricity meters that are able to record electricity consumption data and relay that data to the relevant recipients.
These digital electricity meters have various benefits and capabilities.
Providers and consumers are able to get data on electricity consumption at their desks to facilitate the payment process.
Some processes that consume a lot of time and cost money are eliminated.
The digital meter has other added features that provide various benefits to the provider and the consumer such as notification on power outages and power quality.
The relatively higher cost of the digital meters is justifiable as compared to the conventional electricity meters considering the value of their added features during their operation.
The features, thus allow a reduction of cost for the whole process of acquiring electricity consumption data. That is, it would be more expensive to acquire these data through the conventional meters as compared to the digital meter in spite of the fact that the initial cost of the digital meter is a bit higher.
The digital meter should be reliable, durable, provide convenience, and be secure to use or rather not vulnerable to criminal activities such as illegal programming.
The functional unit of the digital meter translates to the input function, the processing function, the output function, and the transmission function.
The input functions include the analog and digital signals for configuration, and the current or energy input.
The output functions involve the display of the processed data including notifications and billing information, and the electricity current/energy for continuity of power.
The transmission function involves linkage to a telecommunication system that sends data to the provider and consumer into a suitable media.
External search indicates the possibility of the viability of the digital electricity meter.
Lead users approve of its importance and demand.
Experts agree on the possibility of its design and implementation as well as the need to have such equipment.
Similar inventions also inspire its development in that they have been received positively in the market. Nonetheless, these innovations have limited features.
Internal search affirms the discovery made through external search.
That is there is the need to develop a gadget that sends electricity consumption data to the electricity provider and consumer.
However, the development team questions the significance of sending these data to both the provider and the consumer simultaneously.
The proposal is that the data could be sent to the billing agent centre, which would then send the processed data to the consumer after verification.
This would be vital for security.
There is a need to further explore the usefulness and cost-effectiveness of the processes.
Introduction
Electricity is a vital commodity, whose consumption has been rising with its demand. What is more, electricity consumers and providers are becoming more concerned about the accuracy, reliability, and effectiveness of the billing systems. With the reality of the increasingly demanding life, there is a need to introduce innovations in this sector to allow both the electricity providers and consumers to save on time and costs by eliminating certain physical processes. In this respect, it would be necessary that it is possible to send electricity retail data such as the amount consumed and charges to the provider and consumer. This, in addition, would allow consumers to receive electricity consumption data conveniently to make arrangements for payments. This requires that a reliable digital meter with the capability of sending data to a receiver is designed and produced for the market.
Problem clarification
The problem
The digital electricity meter would provide additional capability, services, and benefits as compared to the conventional electricity reading meters. The meter should be able to send data, more so data regarding electricity consumption, to the electricity consumer and provider through and a suitable medium; the possible appropriate media could be a mobile phone or the email technology for the consumer, and through email technology to the provider.
The electricity consumptions data that is sent to the consumer would be displayed as an electronic invoice in a format that would make it possible to print it out. The data would include the amount of energy consumed (which will be measured in kilowatt), the total charges as well as charges per kilowatt, the minimum charge, and the time when the electricity was consumed. In addition, the meter could analyse changes in electricity quality and relay this information to the consumer as well as the electricity service provider. These additional features, which are definitely not incorporated in the commonly used conventional analog meters should not translate to a very high cost for the meter.
The cost of the meter should be relatively low. It should be possible to retail the meter at an average price of 250 AUD (Australian Dollar). Although this is a bit higher than the average retail price of about 190 AUD of the commonly used meters, the additional benefits should make it competitive in the market.
As people adopt new modern lifestyles, there is also an increasing demand for the automation of various processes and activities. Electricity billing is one area where there is a growing demand for automation. So many people want to have their electricity bills delivered to them reliably and conveniently, and at the right time. This is to facilitate the consumers’ budgeting of their finances as well as eliminate some processes that consume a lot of time and money.
What is more, inclination to technology has driven several services-providing companies to deliver information through technology. In effect, consumers have felt the need to harmonize the mean by which they receive this information. Therefore, it would be crucial that electricity providers can send information to their customers electronically. In fact, the providers themselves need to receive certain data from the consumer side such as the electricity consumption and quality of electricity conveniently and efficiently.
Electricity service providing companies or their billing agents need to have information about their customer’s use of electricity. They need to have data on the amount of electricity to calculate various charges, and also information such as the quality of electricity to enable them to analyse their customer’s satisfaction, and may give them discounts. Therefore, the availability of devices that would allow them to implement a system that relays such data to them without the need for the physical processes would be very crucial.
The digital electricity equipment, therefore, should be reliable, efficient, and durable as well as being automatic and programmable. In addition to the usual functions of a conventional meter, which is to record and display the amount of electricity consumed in terms of kilowatts, the digital electricity meter should make calculations and relay all data to the electricity provider’s billing centre and the customer. It should be possible to program the meter, more so, regarding the charge rates because these are not always constant and sometimes change with the changing status of an economy. However, it should be designed such that unauthorized persons are not able to configure it, or if any tampering occurs, the security unit of the electricity provider or the billing agents are notified.
Problem decomposition
The problem or the issue about the digital electricity meter is well understood in examining related functional parts independently. The meter records data, stores data, and computes and synthesizes data. It also relays these data to the electricity consumer and the electricity provider or the billing agent and also displays the recorded information on its integrated display unit. In this regard, it converts digital information into analog data for transmission.
Moreover, it should be possible to configure the digital meter locally as well as accept remote signals for remote configuration, probably from the billing centre. The fact that data or information into and from the digital meter is transmitted through a public network, authentications, and security measures are significant here. Furthermore, it should be able to also convert analog data into digital data. These constitute input, processing, output and transmission.
Functional decomposition
The functional elements of the digital electricity meter are represented in the diagram below. It features the input function, the processing function, the output function and the transmission function.
Figure 1. A basic functional diagram of the digital electricity meter.
The meter must accept electric current/energy synthesizes it into human-readable data, store it, and relays it to a transmission network that allows the data to be received through media such as a mobile phone or email.
Figure 2. A functional diagram representing further decomposition of the digital electricity meter functions.
On top of these critical functional components, the digital meter could give notifications for a power outage, monitoring for power quality. These functions are not very critical and could be traded off for the sake of reducing cost.
The critical components
Critical to the functioning and marketability of the digital electricity meter is the capability to read and display electricity data and relay the data to the billing centre and the consumer. Therefore, critical to the core functioning of the meter is a powerful processor that makes computation, and other components that would make analog/digital conversion as well as a display of the processed information.
The analog/digital conversion components can be either integrated independent from the digital meter, however, the digital meter should have the slots to connect such devices. This is vital to allow linkage to a telecommunication system.
External
Information on the proposed digital electricity meter was sought both internally and externally. An external search involved interviewing the lead users, experts, and professional societies as well as searching patents and literature, standards, and benchmarking (Ulrich and Eppinger 2004, pg. 100). The internal search involved individual and group methods in finding solutions for the existing problems (Ulrich and Eppinger 2004, pg. 100).
The outcome of an external search indicates that digital electricity meters that would send electricity data to consumers are in demand. The highest percentage of lead users interviewed indicate that they would wish to have their electricity data sent to them automatically. These lead users of the digital electricity meter, who include both the consumer and the electricity provider, indicated that the immediate benefit is the reduction of certain time-consuming physical processes, as well as cost for that matter.
What is more, most manufacturers of digital electricity meters that only record and display consumption data agree that digital meters are more preferred than meters because of their reliability and accuracy? However, consumers indicate reluctance in opting to incur more expenses for electricity billing. The cost-effectiveness of the digital electricity meter, nonetheless, outweigh the factors that discourage potential customer for the meter.
The overall cost of receiving electricity consumption data through printed invoices in a process that involves a physical reading of the meters is more expensive. Considering the cost of traveling by the meter reader and the consumer as well as the printing costs, this meter would cut a substantial amount of operating cost. Furthermore, its initial cost is only slightly higher than the conventional meters.
Several companies and entities have introduced smart meters that are almost similar to the proposed digital meter. They, in fact, send certain data to the electricity providers. However, they generally lack the capacity to send specifically electricity consumption data, although some innovations are coming up; currently, these innovations have a high retail price.
The meters are in demand to the electricity consumers; however, the electricity providers determine their use because it is, they who makes installation; in spite of that, consumers contribute to a greater extent the use of such innovations.
Internal search
The ideas generated by the development team of the digital electricity meter indicate support to the already determined features discussed above. Digital electricity meters are necessary with contemporary circumstances. To start with, almost all the analog and mechanical-based types of equipment are being replaced by digital gadgets. It is generally known that digital gadgets provide more precise results than mechanical equipment.
Moreover, digital technology is more reliable, efficient, and convenient especially citing that the trend is the computerization of processes. Most of the electricity reading meters that are on the market have been built using mechanical/analog technology. It is with the realization of the general trend in the market and most industries that make is crucial to consider the development of digital electricity meters. In fact, this is vital to allow interoperability with other digital-based systems. Even more crucial, is the consideration to add a feature to the digital meter that would allow automation of processes associated with it.
A smart digital meter would even be more necessary considering the emerging lifestyles. First, people are increasingly adopting lifestyles that require efficiency and enhancement of various processes. Automation is a solution to these requirements. Therefore, it is significant that processes that are involved in electricity billing be automated to conform to the contemporary trend. This makes the development of smart meters that are able to record, display and send electricity data to electricity consumers and providers very viable. Such kind of an electricity meter means that a communication network system would be involved to implement its capability.
The meters, therefore, must be designed such that they are compatible with the telecommunication technology that is available in the market. It would be a tragedy to build meters that would necessity the development of other unique technologies for communication to be possible. However, there is the significant question of the importance of the meter’s capability to send data to both the billing agent and the consumer.
There is the issue of the need by the electricity provider or the billing centre to verify the correctness of data before it is sent to the consumer. Therefore, it would be more sensible to send the data to a central billing centre, which then sends the processed information to the consumer. Furthermore, it would be the design of the communication network or system that should make consideration on the need to have data sent to both the consumer and the provider simultaneously. Apparently, as long as the meter is able to communicate through a telecommunication system, then it would be possible to have data reach any number of recipients.
What should be of most importance in regard to communication is the capacity of the smart digital meter to support a certain amount of data flow. Note that designing the communication system such that electricity data is first verified by the billing agents or the electricity providers is vital to ensure that the providers or their billing agents are in control of the information that is received from the digital meters. This is so, especially in a situation where there is the tampering of the device or a compromise in the communication network to avert cases of conflict between the provider or agent and the consumer over issues of misleading or mismatch of data; thus, the agent or provider would be able to rectify the information before it is sent to the consumer.
Systematic Exploration: the concept combination table
The functioning of the smart digital meter would require that certain components are incorporated in its design. The most critical components include a processor or an integrated circuit that is able to interpret electricity current and synthesize it into a digital language and human-readable language. Further, the processor should be able to make computations and return numerical data. In addition, the meter should have input capability that makes it possible to read electricity current signals and computer signals for both local and remote configurations.
It should also have output capability where data can be displayed locally through a small integrated display unit. Moreover, it should allow the connectivity of a communication system that allows data to be transmitted to the provider and the consumer. Thus, there should be an integrated system that converts digital data into analog data for transmission through the telecommunication system and also converts the received analog signals into digital data.
Table 1. A concept combination table for a digital electricity meter.
Convert electrical current into numerical data and text
Output the numerical data and text
Send the numerical data and text notifications
Processor (Integrated circuit) Electric current synthesizer
Display unit Moving current
Mobile phone display Email notification Text notification
Reflection
There are very critical considerations that would be vital for the development of this kind of digital electricity meter. They include relatively low cost, accuracy, and reliability, convenience, efficiency, and viability. That is would it be more convenient to have information sent automatically to the consumer and the electricity provider than employing the physical process of acquiring that information, probably from a simple conventional meter?
This question leads to the whole cycle of the physical as compared to the automated process while factoring in the overall cost and time spent; definitely, automation results in reduced cost and the time spent. It would be necessary to emphasize these advantages to potential customers to make them realize the overall cost-effectiveness of the digital meter as compared to the conventional meters.
On top of the core function of recording, displaying, and sending electricity data to the consumer and electricity provider or the billing agent, the digital meter could send notifications on power outages and power quality to the provider and consumers as well. This would allow the provider to make improvements to ensure the stability of the electricity output and also give compensations to consumers who are affected by interruptions.
It would also allow providers to make proper distribution of electricity based on the consumption data recorded by the meter. Nonetheless, not all electricity providers are willing to provide such compensation, and so this could act as a deterrent. It is this fact that make is necessary to focus on the core functions of the meter which are to record, process, and display electricity consumption information and send that information to the electricity provider and consumer.
Nonetheless, there are issues in sending data to both the provider and consumer simultaneously. The electricity provider or their billing agents might opt to have the electricity consumption information sent to their centre first, perhaps to undergo a verification process or to make sure they are in control in case there is an emergency situation before the information is sent to the consumer.
This would avert instances of conflict between the provider and the consumer when, for instance, information sent to the consumer is falsified through tampering of the system and the provider had not taken measures to rectify the misinformation.
The information gathered through this concept generation process may have left out some necessary functions. Therefore, there is a need to explore further into literature, experts, lead users as well as analyze the success of the existing smart meters and make a review on the gathered information to come up with a product that is superior to previously defined designs. This would entail extensive research for an extended time.
References
Concept generation, 2009. Web.
Karl, T, U, and Steven, D, E 2004, Product design and development, (4th edn), p. 117, Irwin McGraw-Hill, New York.
Ogot, M, Okudan-Kremer, G, Kremer, G 2004, Engineering design: a practical guide, Trafford Publishing, United Kingdom.
Webster, J 1999, Wiley encyclopedia of electrical and electronics engineering online, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.
This project charter discusses the development of a project to generate electricity. The electricity will be harnessed from the wastes generated by the sugar cane after the milling and extraction of the sugar juice. These wastes are combusted and used to generate electricity.
The main element of the project includes project planning, inception, execution, completion and commissioning of the project (American National Standards, 2004; Project Management Institute, 2013). This work entails the development of a project charter for this project.
Project Purpose
The purpose of this project is to provide pertinent details with regard to the installation of power plants that utilize sugarcane wastes to generate electricity. The plant is being set up so as to minimize wastes generated by the sugar mills (Morris, 2010).
Scope Statement
In this project, a 200 MW power generation plant will be installed at the sugar company. The plant will be operated using waste sugarcane. The project will be installed in the sugar processing plants. All the details of the project are summarized in this project charter and will not be altered without prior information and consent for all the stakeholders (Burke, 2010).
Project Objectives and goals
The main project objective is the development and installation of a power plant that uses sugarcane wastes for generations of electricity. The specific objectives for this project are:
To carry out a feasibility study on the use of sugar mill wastes for power generation. This will entail evaluations on the possibilities of generating electricity using these wastes as well as quantification of the amount of energy that can be generated by the plant. The feasibility study will also identify the equipment to be used for this project
To develop a project charter and project management plan detailing all the requirements for the project, their timelines and costs.
To execute the project within the specified time and financial constrains. The execution of the project will entail the installation, testing and commissioning of all the equipments.
Project Stakeholders
The project stakeholder is a list of all the people that are involved in the project as well as those affected by the project (Maylor, 2001). They include both external and internal stakeholders (Morris, 2010). The main project stakeholders for this project include:
Project manager –He is in charge of the project
Project team members-they are in charge in implementation of the project
Sugar mill management- they are the project sponsors and will provide all the financial support
Employee- these are the employees of the sugar mill
Transmission Company – will distribute the electricity
Local residents – they reside in the area where the plant will be installed, they are affected by the project
Project Deliverables
Project deliverables can be regarded as the outputs of the project. For this project, the main deliverables include:
Conducting a feasibility study so as to indentify the main equipments, their size and other parameters and variables related to the project
The development of a project charter
The development of a project management plan for the installation of the power plant (Knutson, 2004)
The installation of the power plant using wastes sugarcane for power generation
Project Milestones
The project milestones are the main achievements in the project (William, 2005). These milestones are usually important steps achieved during the implementation of the project.
Milestone name
Milestone description
Feasibility study
A feasibility study will be carried out so as to establish the financial viability of the project. The main achievements of this feasibility study are
To assess the amount of energy that can be generated
To determine the space and other site conditions
To establish communication and teamwork among all the major partners
Project inception
This entails the initial activities that will be carried out at the start of the project. These include
Development of project charter
Development of a scope statement
Team selection
Formulation of the project plan
This will entail the development of the project management plan
Selection of the project team members
All the team members for the project will be selected. These include: team members, project managers, the project leader and other specialists.
Design and configuration of the plant
The plant will be designed such that all the equipments and other components are effectively positioned in the right place and all the materials required are identified.
Selection of plant
The main equipments and machinery will be selected and their specifications examined. This will ensure that the procurement process will be effective and efficient. Some of the main equipments to be purchased include: Boiler- will be used to generate steam. The wastes sugarcane will be feed to the boiler for the purpose of steam generation
Heat exchanger – used for cooling
Water pump –circulating the steam
Turbine – steam is expanded in the turbine producing a rotational motion
AC generators- this will be rotated by the turbine and used to generate electricity
Wires – connection
Power control modules – will be used to control the whole equipment
Purchasing of the materials
All the materials will be purchased as per the procurement management plan and with regard to the time schedule.
Installation
The equipments will be installed based on the design specifications and the project schedule developed using project management software.
Testing
Various machineries such as boilers, turbines and generators will be tested during the installation process. The complete test runs will be run after the installation and any improvements made
Training
The sugarcane workers, management staff and specialist in power generation will be trained on how to handle and maintain the plant.
Commissioning
The project will be commissioned and handled over to the sponsor
Project completion
The project will be wound up. All the machines used ion installation will be handed over to the sugar company. All the financial accounts will be settled upon completion.
Projects Constrains
Financial constraints.This project has a Budget of 50 million$ and no supplementary budgets or other financial sources included; therefore it is imperative to make proper planning to avoid overspending (Lewis, 2002).
Time constraint: the project will be completed within a period of 2 years. This will require proper time management and planning to avoid extensions and delays which have financial implications.
Labor constraint: Availability of manual and skilled labor from the surrounding area may be a challenge.
Project Schedule
A project schedule indicates the major project milestones, their completion dates, the resources involved and acceptance criteria (Kloppenborg, 2011).
Milestone Name
Completion date
Stakeholders involved
Acceptance criteria
Project start date
September 1st2013
Sugar company managers, project managers, employees and power distribution company
Ensure that all the project stakeholders are informed of the project and the comments taken to account
Selection of the project team members and coordinators
September 10th2013
Project team managers, sponsors and other company managers
-Ensure that project team members are well selected -Ensure that all specialists are hired
Feasibility study
October 30th2013
Project managers, distribution company, power/ electricity specialists and plant technicians
Ensure that all power plant aspects such as plant size, plant power capacity and other parameters are evaluated
Formulation of the project plan
November 30th2013
Project managers and project team members
Ensure that a detailed Project management plan is developed. all sections must be incorporated
Design and configuration of the plant
December 20th2013
Project managers, project team members and specialists
Ensure that the plant layout and design are completed to the required standards
Selection of plant equipments
February 15th2013
Specialists in electrical power generations, plant engineers and technicians
Ensure that the correct equipment are selected Ensure that the equipments are compatible with each other
Purchasing of the materials
June 20th2014
Project managers, procurement team, Specialists in electrical power generation, plant engineers and technicians
-Ensure that the procurement process is followed strictly such that high quality and affordable equipment are purchased. -Ensure all equipments are delivered on time.
Installation
February 25th2015
Project managers, procurement team, Specialists in electrical power generation, plant engineers and technicians
Ensure all the machines are properly installed as per the design layout
Testing
April 20th2015
Project managers, procurement team, Specialists in electrical power generation, plant engineers and technicians
Ensure that all the equipments are working as per the specifications
Training
August 1st2015
Specialists in electrical power generation, plant engineers and technicians
Ensure that engineers and plant technicians are trained on the new equipment.
Commissioning
August 30th2015
All stakeholders
Hand over the plant to the sponsors
Project completion
August 30th2015
All stakeholders
Finalize all the works
Project Risks
Financial risk: These may arise due to unforeseen circumstances such as changes in the prices of materials to be used in construction, or changes in the design. They will be overcome by introducing a supplementary budget if needed (Westland, 2007).
Faulty equipment: Equipment failure during the construction phase poses a risk to the implementation of the project. This is because of time consumed in repairs and unnecessary work delays (NTG, 2012).
Safety Risks: Occurrence of accidents during construction phase is a risk to the workers.
Materials procurement risks: Delayed delivery of equipments poses risk of delay in project implementation phases. Items sourced by importation require early planning to avoid delays (Project Management Docs, 2012).
Availability of skilled labor and appropriate technology: The scale of project requires advanced technology as well as highly qualified engineers who may not be available in the country (Zhang, 2011).
Change Management
The process of Change management will be done In accordance with the change management standards. (Burke, 2010)
Develop a change log to track all changes occurring in the project cycle.
A change order form will be used to record all changes.
Assessment of changes must be done to determine impact cost and effect on time of completion.
All changes must be reviewed by the project managers and the directors to enable them approve extra funding of the project.
The changes must be acceptable to the owner.Changes not approved by the owner will not be implemented (Northrop Grumman Corporation, 2007).
Changes affecting the project schedule must be updated on the schedule and on the budget to reflect the effects.
Financial Management
All financial obligations are borne by the directors of the organization. The managing director has the right to alter the money allocated to the project during the periodic reviews (Project management institute, 2012).
Financial management will be handled under three key areas.these are capital budgeting, cost management and cost measurement.
Capital Budgeting
There are various ways in which capital budgeting can be carried out. This includes cost/benefit analysis, internal rate of return and net present value assessment. A sensitivity analysis will also be carried out (Project Management Professional, 2002).
In the cost benefit analysis the long run cost of the project is assessed against the potential returns.it will also be assessed by the net present value method and the internal rate of return. (IRR).This analysis will assist the company to determine the viability of the project as well as financial planning.
Cost management
A cost management plan will be developed that will indicate all costs and management team that will oversee project costs. The project leader will inform the directors on the cumulative costs of the project every month. The total cost of project is estimated at 500 million (Butcher and Demmers, 2003).
Cost measurement
Costs are managed using the earned value management technique. The measurement metrics to be computed include (US Department of Energy, 2011).
Variance from the schedule
Cost variance
Schedule performance index
Performance of cost index.
The indexes to be used to determine the cost performance and output expected include; cost variance, earned value, schedule variance, schedule performance index and the cost performance index.
References
American National Standards.(2004). A guide to project management body of Knowledge third edition. New York: American National Standards.
Burke, R., (2010). Fundamentals of Project Management 2nd edition. New York: Burke Publishing.
Butcher, N and Demmers, L. (2003). Cost estimation simplified. Web.
Kloppenborg, J.T. (2011). Contemporary Project Management organize / plan / perform. Mason, OH:South Western, Cengage Learning.
Knutson, J. (2004). “Transition Plans,” PMNetwork 18 (4) 64-80.
Lewis, J. (2002). Fundamentals of project Management. New York: AMACOM.
Margery, M. (2001).Expectations Management: Reconfirming Assumptions; Project Management for Business Professionals: A Comprehensive Guide. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Maylor, H. (2001). Project Management, Third Edition. Singapore: Person publishers.
The world is facing growing energy demands that traditional electricity generation methods have been unable to satisfy. Nuclear energy has emerged as a feasible option for providing power for the world. Nuclear power stations have experienced great advancements since they were first implemented five decades ago.
These stations are built with a strong emphasis on safety and cost. They are expected to produce adequate electricity to meet consumer demands and at prices that are competitive compared to other sources of electricity. This paper will discuss how nuclear power has been exploited to generate electricity.
How Nuclear Power Works
Nuclear power plants generate electricity by harnessing the heat generated from nuclear reactions and using the heat to produce electricity in conventional ways. The nuclear reaction used by modern power plants is fission which involves splitting radioactive isotopes into two.
This process creates a chain reaction as the newly formed nuclei travel at high speeds in opposite directions and collide with neighboring atoms therefore initializing a chain reaction. The nuclear process takes place in a specially constructed nuclear reactor. Sivanagaraju (2010) reveals that the reactor is made up of a core that has the nuclear fuel, control rods for controlling the fission process and a moderator for slowing the neutrons.
During the nuclear reaction process, enormous heat energy is generated at the core. Water is used to provide cooling and it is contained in a primary and secondary loop (Sivanagaraju, 2010). The primary loop is in contact with the core which makes it potentially radioactive. The water in the secondary loop is not in contact with the core hence it is not radioactive.
During the cooling process, heat energy is transferred to the primary loop water. This primary loop water is pressurized to ensure that it remains in liquid state. Using a heat exchanger, the primary loop water heats the secondary loop water turning its water into steam that turns turbines to generate electricity.
Advantages of Nuclear Power
Nuclear power has reduced the detrimental environmental impact caused by traditional power generation methods. The use of nuclear power has reduced the reliance on environmentally degrading methods such as coal burning and the use of fossil fuels (McKinney & Schoch, 2012).
By using nuclear power, nations have decreased their greenhouse gas emissions significantly since nuclear power plants do not emit these harmful gases. This power source has therefore led to a significant reduction in the environmental damages caused by power generation.
A significant advantage of nuclear energy is that it helps satisfy the growing global electricity demands. Due to population increase and industrial growth in many countries, electricity demands have risen rapidly over the last decade.
This has put a strain on the traditional sources of electricity such as hydropower and fossil fuels. Nuclear energy has emerged as a feasible alternative, capable of producing reliable power for the remotely near future (McKinney & Schoch, 2012). Unlike other alternative sources such as solar power and wind power which are unreliable, nuclear power is able to provide continuous energy.
In addition to this, nuclear power is able to significantly reduce the energy dependence that a country has on others. Presently, fossil fuels are the primary source of energy for most nations. However, fossil fuel reserves are only available in a few countries.
Many countries therefore have to import the fuels creating a huge energy dependency on the oil-producing nations. Nuclear power plants ensure that a nation can generate power. This reduces the demand for the fossil fuels and promotes energy independence by the nation (Sivanagaraju, 2010).
Finally, nuclear power plants require comparatively less space to implement. Compared to electricity production methods such as solar power plants, wind farms, and hydroelectricity, the space requirements for nuclear power facilities is small (Sivanagaraju, 2010).
This is a significant merit since it means that nuclear facilities can be constructed near load centers such as cities where large spaces of land for the other electricity generation methods might not be available.
Disadvantages of Nuclear Power
Nuclear fuel is a nonrenewable energy source meaning that it will run out after a certain duration of use. Loyn (2011) explains that the reserves of uranium, which is the primary fissile fuel for modern reactors, are finite and the reserves are projected to be depleted in about a century.
As such, while nuclear power stations can serve as an alternative source of energy for the near future, they cannot be relied upon to provide for the global energy needs indefinitely.
Another significant demerit of nuclear power is that it produces toxic waste products. This toxic waste is radioactive in nature and can cause harm to the environment. To make matters worse, the waste produced has a very long half-life which means that they remain harmful for thousands of years (Loyn, 2011). The material must therefore be stored safely using expensive and sophisticated storage devices.
Nuclear power plants expose the society to significant dangers in the event of a major disaster in the nuclear power plant. If the power plant is damaged significantly, the harmful radiation at the core can escape into the environment causing great devastation. McKinney and Schoch (2012) reveal that nuclear accidents can result in the deaths of up to a hundred thousand people and the radiation poisoning of tens of thousands more.
Nuclear Power and the Environment
Nuclear power has a mostly negative relationship with the environment. These facilities present a real danger to the environment in case of a disaster in the power plant. The huge quantities of toxic waste produced by power plants are also a danger to the environment.
Accidental spillage of the radioactive waste can contaminate food chains and drinking water therefore degrading the environment (Loyn, 2011). In addition to this, the mining and processing of nuclear fuel are harmful to the environment. Uranium mining is energy intensive and huge tracks of land have to be strip mined to obtain the fuel.
However, nuclear power can be positive for the environment. Most of the negative effects would require catastrophic failures to occur in the power plant. However, this occurs in rare situations since nuclear power plants are built with safety considerations as a priority (McKinney & Schoch, 2012). The nuclear power plant therefore presents little danger to the society while reducing the harmful effects caused by fossil fuels.
Modern Nuclear Plants
Many governments are beginning to invest in modern nuclear power plants to meet the energy demands of their countries. The World Nuclear Association (2013) reveals that currently, there are over 60 modern nuclear reactors being constructed. These constructions are taking place in 13 countries distributed in various regions of the world.
However, most of the nuclear plants are being built in the Asian region where the rising population and growing economy has created a huge demand for energy. China has the largest number of new reactors under construction with 26 reactors already commissioned by the government to increase the country’s nuclear capacity (World Nuclear Association, 2013).
The China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group is responsible for most of the nuclear power plant constructions in China. India has seven new power plants under construction and these new plants are being built based on modern western and Russian designs. The Indian public sector enterprise Nuclear Power Corporation of India is responsible for most of the new nuclear power plant constructions in the country.
The Future of Nuclear Power
Significant advances are being made in an effort to increase fuel efficiency in nuclear reactors. Templeton (2013) reveals that extensive research has been carried out on molten salt reactors (MSR). The concept of molten salt reactors is to use a liquid fuel as opposed to the traditional solid pellets to power the nuclear reactor. When implemented, the molten salt can play the role of both fuel and coolant.
It will circulate with the help of pumps from core to heat exchangers with higher thermal efficiency (Templeton, 2013). In the present, technology is not used for commercial purposes. However, as greater energy production is demanded of individual reactors, this technology will become prevalent.
Another expected future development in nuclear power is the use of fusion technology. The fusion process involves having the nuclei of light elements fuse together to form heavier elements (Loyn, 2011). Using this technology will ensure that the world has an unlimited supply of nuclear fuel since ordinary seawater will be used for nuclear fusion.
Conclusion
This paper set out to discuss how nuclear power is being exploited to generate electricity. It noted that nuclear fission is the method employed by modern power plants. The paper has noted that nuclear power has advantages such as low pollution, reliability, increased energy security, and lower space requirements.
However, nuclear power suffers from being a non-renewable resource and the toxic waste produced can harm the environment. The future of nuclear power entails increased efficiency of fuel use fuels through molten salt reactor utilization and perfecting nuclear fusion technology.
References
Loyn, C. (2011). Can Nuclear Power Save the Climate? Young Scientists Journal, 9(1), 16-19.
McKinney, M.L. & Schoch, R.M. (2012). Environmental Science: Systems and Solutions. NY: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Sivanagaraju, S. (2010). Generation and Utilization of Electrical Energy. New Delhi: Pearson Education India.
There are any number of real-life, pragmatic reasons for studying the behaviour of electricity markets. While this paper revolves on a database from the 1937-1938 period in UK history, when voluntary compliance by regional power monopolies with a central electricity authority was the rule, contemporary circumstances predicate even more watchful analysis.
For instance, contemporary concerns about global warming and the ‘carbon footprint’ of the UK power industry (accounting for half of all emissions in the UK) virtually dictate official attention to matters of fuel in use and the national volume of electricity consumption.
Secondly, the advent of spot markets even for electricity has required even greater vigilance and sophistication about day-ahead forecasting performance of price models that account for the impact of economic, technical, strategic and risk factors on even intra-day prices, and how these effects behave over time. Addressing these concerns, Karakatsani and Bunn (2008) found that models relying on market fundamentals and time-varying coefficients have the best predictive performance of all alternatives when applied to the British market.
Methodology
Develop a multiple regression model which could be used to predict the demand for electricity (KWH) from all the other variables in the database: CUST, INC, MC4, MC6, MC8, GAS6, GAS8, CAP AND EXPEN. The variable definitions are as follows:
CUST Average number of consumers with two-part tariffs in 1937-38, in thousands;
INC Average income of two-part consumers, in pounds per year;
MC4 The running charge (marginal cost) on domestic two-part tariffs in 1933-34, in pence per KWH;
MC6 The running charge (marginal cost) on domestic two-part tariffs in 1935-36, in pence per KWH;
MC8 The running charge (marginal cost) on domestic two-part tariffs in 1937-38, in pence per KWH;
GAS6 The marginal price of gas in 1935-36, in pence per therm;
GAS8 The marginal price of gas in 1937-38, in pence per therm;
KWH Consumption on domestic two-part tariffs per consumer in 1937-38, in kilowatt hours;
CAP The average holdings (capacity) of heavy electric equipment bought on hire purchase (leased) by domestic two-part consumers in 1937-38, in kilowatts;
EXPEN The average total expenditure on electricity by two-part consumers in 1937-38, in pounds.
The database to be tested contained 42 observations or cases.
The reference here to two-part electricity tariffs is to the Act of 1926, which established a public interest corporation, the Central Electricity Board (CEB). The CEB was mandated to, among others, construct a national transmission grid and rationalize UK electricity prices (Foreman-Peck and Hammond, 1997). During the era represented by the database, public utility monopolies in the Kingdom usually raised revenue through a two-part tariff consisting of a standing charge (or ‘line rental’), which must be paid to gain access to the utility; and a price for each unit consumed (or running rate, Salies and Price, 2003). The existence of three different unit prices, denoted MC#, in the database reveals the existence of electricity price increases approved by the CEB between 1933 and 1938 (see variable definitions above).
The power generation industry was privatised in the eighties and nineties but reregulated in recent years. A dual-tariff structure remains in effect, albeit varying by region across the UK.
In Minitab 15, load data file ‘UKELEC.MPJ”. Then trigger, in succession, the command sequences for:
Scatter plots of all the (presumed) predictor variables against the criterion variable KWH by executing Graph-Scatterplot, in order to winnow out the candidates for the next step.
Quantify the nature of the relationship between KWH and each predictor variable by performing simple correlation and linear regression (Stat-Basic Statistics-Correlation.
Test the ability to predict KWH from the meaningful combination of predictor variables with a multiple regression run: Stat-Regression-Regression. In the menu, type in, or transfer ‘KWH’ to the ‘Response’ box. Tab to ‘Predictors’ and choose (or type in) the assigned predictor variables: CUST, INC, MC4, MC6, MC8, GAS6, GAS8, CAP AND EXPEN.
Choose all necessary diagnostic options in the sub-menus.
Findings
One-to-One Relationships
The first screen on the database reveals that several variables are inversely correlated with electricity demand. These are CUST, MC4, MC6, MC8 and GAS8.
For CUST (see Figure 1 overleaf), the inverse nature of the relationship looks to be unusually affected by the extreme value of the outlier pair with a CUST value of 2.2 but KWH consumption of 3,183 (see lower right quadrant of chart). There are other outliers in the upper left quadrant (e.g. KWH demand = 874, CUST value = 88.7; KWH demand = 896, CUST value = 60.6; KWH demand = 1,314, CUST value = 56.4; and three others closer to the calculated trend line) but without the first-mentioned extreme value, their likely effect is to provoke a flat demand curve.
Figure 1. Scatterplot of CUST vs KWH.
Such a flat demand curve is demonstrated by the plotting the intersections of GAS6 and electricity demand (Figure 2 overleaf). Both the data scatter and the flat trend line bode no good for hypothesizing any meaningful relationship between whatever GAS6 represents and electricity demand in the UK.
Like CUST, GAS8 appears inversely correlated with KWH (see Figure 3 overleaf). In an otherwise random scatter of pair-points, an extreme case like that at the rightmost edge (KWH demand = 3,183, GAS8 value = 7.5) can tug the trend line downward, as do the outliers in the bottom-middle area.
Figure 2. Scatterplot of GAS5 vs KWH.Figure 3. Scatterplot of GAS8 vs KWH.
MC4, which varies within a very narrow range of 0.4 to 1.0, also evinces an inverse relationship with electricity demand (Figure 4 below). This time, it is the influence of ‘upward-tugging’ outliers in the upper right quadrant (low KWH demand = 758, MC4 value = 1.0; modest KWH demand = 1,811, MC4 value = 0.9) that alter what is very likely a flat trend line. In short, the correlation value is likely to be close to zero.
Figure 4. Scatterplot of MC4 vs KWH.
Very much the same ‘anomaly’ seems to characterise the association between MC6 and electricity demand (see Figure 5 overleaf). What should clearly have been either flat or gently sloping downward is unduly influenced by outliers in the upper right quadrant (low KWH demand = 798, high MC6 value = 0.75) and the lower middle third of the chart (e.g. moderate KWH demand = 772, low MC6 value = 0.33).
Similarly, the semblance of an inverse relationship between MC8 and KWH (see Figure 6 overleaf) has to be carefully evaluated owing to upper-left quadrant (e.g. low KWH demand = 798, high MC8 value = 0.75) and lower middle third (e.g. moderate KWH demand = 1,772, very low MC8 value = 0.33) outliers
Figure 5. Scatterplot of MC6 vs KWH.Figure 6. Scatterplot of MC8 vs KWH.
Like that for GAS6, the relationship between CAP and electricity demand should display as flat or random except for the opposing pull of outliers in the upper left (low KWH demand = 1,052, maximum CAP value = 2.52) and lower right (very high KWH demand = 3,183, very low CAP value = 0.17) quadrants. As a result, the relationship looks to be inverse.
Figure 7. Scatterplot of CAP vs KWH.
On the other hand, the predictor variables that may be of interest for correlation tests and inclusion in a predictive model – by reason of showing even a slightly positive and linear relationship – are EXPEN and INC (see Figures 8 and 9 overleaf).
Figure 8. Scatterplot of EXPEN vs KWH.Figure 9. Scatterplot of INC vs KWH.
The results of multiple correlation analyses confirm what visual inspection deduced from the scatter plots: electricity demand is most closely related to average total expenditure on electricity by two-part consumers in 1937-38, in pounds (EXPEN, Pearson’s r = 0.87) and to average income of two-part consumers, in pounds per year (INC, Pearson’s r = 0.77). In both cases, Minitab returned p values lower than 0.005. This means that the twin conclusion about INC and EXPEN being closely related to KWH has less than 5 chances in 1,000 sampling tries (of UK households) of being wrong.
Table 1: Results of Multiple Correlations Runs.
Income as a predictor variable aside, one must view with caution the the finding that EXPEN correlates highly with KWH. Since the former represents payments to the utility while the latter is about unit consumption, the prudent analyst should be watchful for collinearity.
Linear Regression and the Derived Multiple Regression Model
Testing, first of all, for the simple linear regression between INC and KWH, we obtain the following result and diagnostics:
This is the mathematical expression of the relationship graphed in Figure 9 (page 8) where, first of all, the intercept is at 274 KWH. This is tantamount to the minimum level of electricity consumption when neither income nor any of the other predictor variables are accounted for. In statistical terms, this is the likely KWH consumption when income is zero. In the real world, of course, income is never zero.
Further, the value of the coefficient β = 1.6824 suggests that electricity consumption rises by 1.7 KWH for every £1 gain in annual family income. In short, electricity use increases disproportionately with income.
At p < 0.005, such a relationship between INC and KWH is likely to hold in 995 out of a thousand samplings of UK households. The odds are very low that such a result could have occurred by chance alone.
While the ANOVA portion of the linear regression model yields such a high F value as to preclude pure chance (p <0.005), the proportion of the variance in the criterion variable accounted for by income (R2) is robust enough at 58% to suggest that INC will prove to be the primary predictor variable when multiple regression model is built.
Constructing this model, we select INC and other predictor variables that attained satisfactory correlation with KWH in Table 1 (page 9). These are EXPEN and the three MC# variables (CUST must be set aside because it accounts for population size whereas the criterion variable, KWH, is expressed in per-capita consumption terms).
The first component of this prediction model, though the least important, is the initial number on the right hand side of the equation, 1134.7. This is technically known as the “intercept”, the starting point for the prediction line if one were to chart the result of the prediction model. It is a value on the Y axis, meaning that over the time period for which there is data, annual electricity consumption amounts to 1,135 KWH (see also the first value Minitab reports in the ‘Coef’ column above, Table 3) if none of the independent variables were in effect. In short, one may consider the intercept as something akin to a ‘base value’ in this analysis.
The second point worth noting is that the prediction model contains a mix of plus and minus signs. This combination reveals that electricity consumption is directly proportional to family income and average spending on electricity (keeping in mind the earlier caveat about autocorrelation) but inversely proportional to all the marginal or running charges in the two-part tariff structure that prevailed from 1933 to 1938.
And the third, most important piece of information is embodied by the ‘beta coefficients’, the values associated with each predictor variable. These tell us that, taken together:
An increase of £0.48 in average annual family income will lead to an increase of 1 KWH in the criterion variable.
Similarly (again, this must be treated cautiously), an increase of £236 in average electricity payments through 1937 and 1938 should boost electricity demand by 1 KWH. The workings of collinearity are obviously at work here since power could not possibly have cost so much in the pre-war years.
In turn, the composite index is inversely related to marginal costs on domestic two-part tariffs. Specifically, an increase of 880 pence per KWH in 1937-38 tariffs, 338 pence per KWH in 1933-34 tariffs and 1242 pence per KWH in 1935-36 tariffs depresses electricity consumption by one KWH.
What the above show is that electricity consumption was both income- and price-elastic.
Diagnostics
How well does this predictive model stand up to the standard indices of reliability and explanatory power?
First of all, there is R, the correlation between the observed value and the predicted value of the criterion variable. The computed value for Pearson’s R (0.93) shows a near-optimal fit between the actual and predicted levels of the composite index.
R Square (R2), shown in the Minitab model summary (Table 4 ), is the square of R and reveals the proportion of the variance in the criterion variable accounted for by all four variables incorporated in the model. Thus, INC, EXP, MC4, MC6 and MC8 together account for a high 87% of the variance in electricity consumption.
R2 is a fundamental and widely-cited measure of how good the prediction of the KWH criterion variable becomes as long as we have reliable information on where the predictor variables are headed.
However, R2 is prone to slightly over-estimate the success of the model when applied to ‘real-world’ rigour (Gujarati, 1999). Hence, Minitab also calculates an ‘Adjusted R2 value to account for the number of variables in the model and the number of observations (probably regions in the UK, in this case) the model is based on. At 85.2%, the Adjusted R2 value renders the more reliable measure of the success of the model. In this case, we are more confident that the model has accounted for 85% of the variance in the criterion variable. This measure of the strength of the relationship between actual power consumption and the predicted KWH is called ‘multiple correlation’.
Given the beta coefficients and the standard error for each, we can derive the 95% confidence interval via: β ± (1.96*SE). Following this, we derive the intervals below with only a 5% chance that we are wrong:
INC = -0.01042 to 0.96762
EXP = 159.742 to 311.838
MC4 = -1039.18 to 364.18
MC6 = -2622.232 to 138.232
MC8 = -2201.436 to 441.036
By way of example, we state that every additional pound sterling in annual family income either reduces KWH by 0.01 throughout 1937 to 1938 or adds 1 KWH.
We then need to address a second major concern in model diagnostics, parsimony. That is, does the predictive analysis include as few predictor variables as possible by eliminating those that are highly correlated with each other? This is known as testing for collinearity.
The concern with collinearity springs from the intercorrelation findings (Table 1 in page 9) that MC4, MC6 and MC8 all bear correlations with each other of at least 0.456. As well, EXPEN is highly correlated with KWH.
Other measures for detection of multicollinearity, as suggested by Gujarati (1999, 322) are:
If none of the 6 items are detected, there should not be any multicollinearity in the model. But multicollinearity is a strong supposition if at least one of the 6 items is found.
For the first test, Table 3 (page 11) affirms that R2 is high (85% of variance explained) but all the t ratios except for EXPEN fail the statistical significance hurdle of α = 0.05.
On the other hand, the model meets the test of ‘High partial correlation values: abs(pcv ) > 0.9’. All the partial correlation values in Table 1 turn out to have absolute values ranging from 0.19 to 0.87.
Thirdly, all the Variance Inflation Factors (VIF’s, see Table 3 above) except for MC4 are greater than 2.
Table 5.
Test Performed
Pass/Fail
High R2but few significant t ratios
Fail
High absolute values for pairwise correlations among explanatory variables
Fail
High partial correlation values
Pass
High R2‘s with auxiliary regressions
Not done
Unexpected sign on regression coefficients
Pass
High Variance Inflation Factors
Fail
One therefore concludes that the model contains multicollinearity. Refining the model to eliminate these will require eliminating at least one of the predictive variable (EXPEN, most likely, since it is the pounds expression of the criterion variable KWH) or re-sampling from more recent periods, reconceptualise the model, restudy the literature to gain new insight on other predictor variables, or transform the variables (Gujarati, 331-334).
Continuing with diagnostics for this regression model, we see from the Analysis of Variance section of the output that at 5 degrees of freedom, the computed F value is 48.2 (see Table 6 below). An F value of this magnitude can occur by chance less than five times in a thousand sampling runs of regional electricity markets in the UK. Hence, we conclude that the model permits predictions of extremely high confidence.
Table 6. Analysis of Variance.
Yet a sixth diagnostic available in the multiple regression model is the Durbin- Watson test, employed to test the hypothesis that the autocorrelation parameter, r, is zero. Specifically…
versus (for positive autocorrelation)
For the number of predictor variables k = 5 and n observations = 42 (~40 in Savin and White, 1977), the standard table for the Durbin-Watson Statistic at 5 Per Cent Significance Points of dL and dU provides hurdle values of 1.047 and 1.583 for dL and dU, respectively. Since the calculated Durbin-Watson statistic = 2.10172 is higher than the dU value, we conclude that the autocorrelation coefficient is not present and accept the null hypothesis. There is no autocorrelation in this database: consumers in UK regions consume electricity irrespective of prior states of the market.
Lastly, one checks the model based on the ‘four-in-one charting’ facility available in Minitab. Were the residuals normally distributed, the Probability Plot of the KWH predictor variable should show all the red (predicted KWH) points very close to the blue line and an overall shape resembling a normal distribution. This is the case (Figure 10 below).
Figure 10. Normal Probability Plot.
The residuals versus fitted values (Figure 11 overleaf) shows, as expected, random scatter. On the other hand, the model is rendered somewhat weak by the finding that the histogram of residuals (Figure 13 overleaf) does not quite show a normal distribution.
Figure 11. Versus Fits.Figure 12. Versus order.Figure 13. Histogram.
In turn, the observation order chart (Figure 12 in prior page) is a critical diagnostic only if the order of observations in the dataset has some meaning. This does not seem to be the case for the electricity database.
Conclusions
It stands to reason, of course, that family incomes are a very strong predictor of electricity consumption. The upper class – represented in 1937 and 1938 by households earning from £800 to in excess of £1,400 a year – are bound to demonstrate the phenomenon of rising expectations. That is, the more one makes, the higher the lifestyle one aspires for, quite irrespective of aspirations handed down from centuries of hobnobbing with the aristocracy and peerage. Even in this day and age, being well-off can still mean having a country seat and a larger residence in town. More homes mean more servants, more electrical conveniences (as evidenced and disproportionately high per-capita electricity consumption.
Recommendations
The results of this analysis have implications beyond the purely academic. In an age when governments must concern themselves with the environmental costs of electricity generation – Salies and Price (2003) report that the sector is responsible for half the carbon dioxide emissions in the country – efforts to comply with the Kyoto Protocol for emissions reduction may well extend to restructuring tariffs so as to combat the income-elasticity of electricity consumption. This likely entails at least a three-rate structure that charges families consuming more than 1,000 KWH disproportionately more and thereby signals to the public at large that the convenience of electricity comes with enormous social costs.
Bibliography
Foreman-Peck, J. S. & Hammond, C. J. (1997) Variable costs and the visible hand: The re-regulation of electricity supply, 1932-37. Economica, 64, no. 253, pp. 15-30.
Gujarati, D. (1999) Essentials of Econometrics. 2nd ed. Boston, Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Karakatsani, N. V. & Bunn, D. W. (2008) Forecasting electricity prices: The impact of fundamentals and time-varying coefficients. International Journal of Forecasting. Vol. 24, (4) pp. 764-785.
Salies, E. & Price, C. W. (2003) Pricing structures in the deregulated UK electricity market. Discussion Paper, Department of Economics, School of Social Sciences, City University London.
Savin, N.E. & White, K. J. (1977) The Durbin-Watson Test for serial correlation with extreme sample sizes or many regressors. Econometrica 45, pp. 1989-1996.
Electrical Safety is a part of industrial safety programs aimed to protect workers and outside environment from threats and risks. The electrical safety regulation involves congressional legislation stating the need to protect health, safety, and the environment; setting goals for improvements in the present condition; and establishing the commissions to deal with the day-to-day problems of actually achieving the goals. Once established, the new agencies attempt to settle quickly into full-blown and efficient administrative processes. While the legislation provided guidelines as to why the agency should proceed, it usually does specify the method or process of regulation.
Main text
Electricity is dangerous for a human causing death and health hazards. If a current runs through a human body it burns the flesh and causes the shock. In its turn, shock leads to heart attack and heart failure. One-tenth of an ampere may prove death if it passes through the main part of the body. “Of all the skin layers, keratin exhibits the highest resistance to the passage of electricity” (Cadick et al 2005, p. 1.20).
For instance, the 110 volts is enough to be fatal. in industrial setting, electricity is dangerous because it causes rapid heating and expansion of sap vapors in case of fire. In current, “electrons move because they push on each other to spread apart. When more electrons are in one place than another, those in the crowded area push harder than those in the emptier area, so electrons move from the former to the latter. Resistance is modeled as a blocking process in which “imperfections” in the material act as obstacles in the electrons’ paths” (McCutchen 1999, p. 259).
In industrial settings, electricity is dangerous because of high voltage and metal constructions used in many plants and factories. “Employees who work around electricity don’t survive on luck. Worse is the fact that having a near death accident doesn’t “feel” lucky to most” (Cadick et al 2005, p. 8.14). The regulation of worker safety goes toward specifying equipment. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 is enacted to reverse the rising trend of worker accidents during the 1960s. When the act became law, the secretary of labor set the first safety standards based on equipment specifications arrive at over the previous two decades by industry health associations and nonprofit safety organizations (Viscusi 2000).
Today, electrical safety issues contain extremely detailed specifications of the physical conditions of production, ranging from the cleanliness of the working area to the position and size of mesh screens over moving machinery. The goals are to set in terms of improving health and safety across the country, EPA, NHTSA, and OSHA regulations evolved away from performance to setting out and partially enforcing detailed equipment specifications (Viscusi 2000).
Because standard setting has been litigious and prolonged, the existing set of rules has not been complete. But these regulations when available and applied to the individual plant have proven to be extremely detailed and inflexible. When they have not fit, the only way to resolve an all-or-nothing confrontation has been to postpone application. in utility and industrial settings, ”electricity is conducted along copper wires in power generation, transmission, and distribution” (Cadick et al 2005, p. 11.8).
By controlling equipment and production processes, the agencies regulating electrical safety have had some impact on industry costs and prices. Electrical safety concerns logically fall into four basic categories: product design standards, installation standards, safety-related maintenance information and usage instructions “(Cadick et al 2005, p. 6.16). The impact is realized by the companies in higher equipment costs and reduced equipment options. This, in turn, increases the long-run, and increases the short-run, costs of production. Behavior modification approaches to workplace safety invoke a domino model, such that reinforcement strategies affect safe behavior, which in turn affects accident rates.
Following Patterson (1999), the simplest form of event sequence model accords less attention to causes and more attention to the outcomes leading up to an accident. The nuance here is that an accident is a process, rather than a single discrete event. Patterson (1999) conceptualizes the accident process as a hazard buildup cycle. At first, the workplace is safe with no uncontrolled hazards. As people start to work, however, tools are left out in work spaces, and different people enter the work space to do different things with different tools and equipment. People and objects move around and make opportunities to bump into each other.
Eventually hazards accumulate to a critical level when an accident occurs. Notice that there is a entropy concept implicit in the hazard buildup view of an accident process. For instance, in industrial settings: “whenever possible, safety grounds are applied to create a zone of equal potential around the employee. This means that the voltage is equal on all components within reach of the employee” (Cadick et al 2005, p. 2.84).
An intervention based on the hazard buildup cycle would emphasize training for good factory housekeeping. Other possible forms of training would center on the best use of tools, and procedures that would minimize the acceleration of the hazard buildup. Workers should learn to recognize the buildup cycle, and to spontaneously intervene by reorganizing their work spaces for a safer outcome (Viscusi 2000). The intervention essentially kick-starts a self-organization process for all workers. Entropy, having increased unto chaos, now causes the system to self-organize into a state where there is less internal entropy, and a more controlled transferral of energy into the work environment.
The concept of electrical safety climate was first expressed by Zohar (1980 cited Patterson 1999), who was investigating the safety practices, and workers’ views of those safety practices, that distinguished factories with good safety performance from those with poor performance. Attitudes toward the organization’s safety program and its effectiveness, worker training, availability of needed tools and personal protection equipment, and the foreman’s attentiveness to rule violations, all served to distinguish high and low performing groups (Viscusi 2000). The set of survey questions, taken together denoted a climate for safety.
The concept of climate was similar in principle to the organizational climate concepts, except that climate was viewed with respect to a more limited set of objectives or issues. The introduction of an organizational construct was justified because the measurements distinguished organizations rather than individuals (Patterson 1999).
Electrical workers and inspectors operate with a variety of notions of compliance. Full compliance is a standard set of conditions which they are aiming towards: this will usually be at least the legal or administrative definition of compliance, and it may represent a standard above the legal minimum. Inspectors may also operate with temporary definitions of compliance, that is a state of affairs which is less than full compliance but which is tolerated for a fixed period, until such time as they consider it reasonable for a state of full compliance to have been achieved (Cadick et al 2005).
Both of these are positive definitions, to the extent that they emphasize the degree to which something measures up to the required standard. When inspectors are wanting to emphasize the negative aspects of a situation they talked in terms of non-compliance. The definition, achievement, and maintenance of compliance is a process which continues for as long as a business is in operation and known about by the regulatory authorities. But while the activities regulated by inspectors are continuous, inspectors’ visits to these sites are ‘momentary’ and sometimes infrequent (Patterson 1999).
They therefore make decisions from ‘snapshots’ of activity, and with the benefit of varying levels of training, guidance, and experience. Issues of compliance therefore emerge in different contexts and settings and the meanings they take on are molded accordingly. It may take inspectors a long time to become familiar with some very large and complex organizations, a task which may be made more difficult by reorganizations.
For instance, British Railways is perhaps a good example, since its national organization was differentiated both on a regional basis and according to specialisms such as civil engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, signals and telecommunications, and operations (Patterson 1999). Not only was this a complicated organization in itself but it was not a static organization. Each of the parts might be reorganized, leaving members of the RI with the problem of not knowing whom to contact, especially if jobs were awkwardly defined. However, some inspectors felt that reorganizations could help them if individual managers became responsible for larger areas, as inspectors would then need to contact fewer managers to effect improvements across a greater area.
In industrial settings, the environmental hazard parameters can be thought of as background and trigger variables, respectively. The relationship between hazards and accidents is thought to be linear in the sense of the Patterson (1999) hazard buildup process. Other evidence suggests that the electrical safety is actually a log-linear relationship, such that hazards are more closely related to the log of accidents rates, rather than to accident rates directly (Parkhurst and Niebur 2002).
Variables that represent sources of stress, which in turn affect performance, are thought to cause a sharp inflection of risk over a short amount of time when the background hazard level is sufficiently strong. Risk inflection, which is greatest when anxiety and stress are high, safety management is poor, and group size is small. Good safety management is thought to produce only a relatively low. Safety management is a control mechanism both in real circumstances and as a bifurcating effect in the model. Tests of the cusp model in two situations showed that the model provides a good description of the accident process and affords a variety of qualitative recommendations that an organization can use to enhance its safety performance (McCutchen 1999).
Conclusion
In sum, electricity is dangerous because it causes deaths and injuries if the workers are not protected and safety measures are not kept. Behavior modification programs, which selectively reward desired safety responses and censure undesirable behaviors, rank among the most effective means of controlling accidents, as long as the contingencies of reinforcement center on rewarding the desired behavior to a greater extent than on punishing undesirable behavior. Their chief limitations are, however, that they require constant monitoring by the agencies delivering the rewards, and only a narrow set of behaviors can be targeted effectively within a specific program. Also, they tend to view targeted behaviors in isolation, rather than as results of a complex system process. Sometimes those limitations are not problems, of course, but sometimes they are.
Bibliography
Cadick, J., Capelli_M., Neitzel, D. K. Electrical Safety Handbook. McGraw-Hill Professional; 3 edition, 2005.
McCutchen, D. Making Their Own Connections: Students’ Understanding of Multiple Models in Basic Electricity. Cognition and Instruction, 17, 1999. 249-259.
Patterson, W. Transforming Electricity: The Coming Generation of Change. Earthscan Ltd, 1999.
Parkhurst, D. J., Niebur, E., Variable-Resolution Displays: A Theoretical, Practical, and Behavioral Evaluation. Human Factors, 44, 2002, p. 611.
Viscusi, K. Corporate Risk Analysis: A Reckless Act? Stanford Law Review, 52, 2000, pp. 547-597.
