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The transformer is one of the most important electrical machines in electrical systems. Its proper operation is fundamental for the distribution and transmission of electrical energy. During its service life, it is under continuous electrical and mechanical stresses that can produce diverse types of damage. Among them, short-circuited turns (SCTs) in the windings are one of the main causes of the transformer fault; therefore, their detection in an early stage can help to increase the transformer life and reduce the maintenance costs. In this regard, this paper proposes a signal processing-based methodology to detect early SCTs (i.e., damage of low severity) through the analysis of vibroacoustic signals in steady state under different load conditions, i.e., no load, linear load, nonlinear load, and both linear and nonlinear loads, where the transformer is adapted to emulate different conditions, i.e., healthy (0 SCTs) and with damage of low severity (1 and 2 SCTs). In the signal processing stage, the contrast index is analyzed as a fault indicator, where the Unser and Tamura definitions are tested. For the automatic classification of the obtained indices, an artificial neural network is used. It showed better results than the ones provided by a support vector machine. Results demonstrate that the contrast estimation is suitable as a fault indicator for all the load conditions since 89.78% of accuracy is obtained if the Unser definition is used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For wide-area measurement systems and smart grids, phasor measurement units (PMUs) have become key elements since they provide synchronized information related to the fundamental frequency components of voltages and currents. In recent years, some works have extended the concept of PMU to harmonic analysis due to the proliferation of nonlinear loads. In this work, as a first contribution, the reference model for P-class and M-class PMUs provided by the IEEE Standard C37.118.1 is expanded with the aim of obtaining the harmonic information and electric power quantities. Additionally, as a second contribution, the approach of global harmonic parameters (GHPs) for PMUs is proposed. Specifically, GHPs are introduced in this work as unified quantities regarding the overall harmonic content of voltages and currents signals. With the help of these parameters, the estimation of power quality indices (PQIs) according to the IEEE Standard 1459 can be carried out but with an important advantage, i.e., a reduced amount of data, which reduces the requirements of management, storage, and analysis. Finally, the mathematical formulations for PQIs using the proposal are also presented. It is important to mention that they are equivalent to classical formulations that use individual harmonic information; however, they exploit the advantage of PMUs that require a reduced amount of data. Several tests with synthetic and real signals are carried out to validate the proposal. Results demonstrate the effectiveness and usefulness of the proposed approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High performance, highly efficient DC-DC converters play a key role in improving the penetration of renewable energy sources in the context of smart grids in applications such as solid-state transformers, built-in power drives in electric vehicles and interfacing photovoltaic and wind-power systems. Advanced medium-frequency transformers (MFTs) are fundamental to enhance DC-DC converters and determining its behavior, therefore MFT design procedures have become increasingly important in this context. This paper investigates which type of core material, between nanocrystalline and silicon steel, has the best properties for designing MFTs for distinct applications. Unlike to other proposals, in this work, two 1 kVA-120 V/240 V-1 kHz lab MFT prototypes, with a different type of core material, are developed for the purpose of comparing its physical characteristics, behavior, and performance under real-life conditions. A final section, the experimental results show that the nanocrystalline MFT has greater power density and efficiency. The results of this work introduce nanocrystalline MFTs as an option in a wider range of applications in niches in which other materials are currently used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]