John E. Candelo

RFID system on electrical substation equipment

Monitoring, controlling and identification processes of electrical equipment are logistical tasks that require to be automated. Some electrical substations use barcodes for identification. However, environmental factors make difficult to read this information. The use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a better option to automate this process in electrical substations. However, RFID UHF systems present problems when they are implemented over metal surfaces. This paper presents experiments of testing RFID systems for an electrical indoor substation, to determine the scope of implementing RFID technology on electrical equipment. Experimental results revealed that RFID UHF passive systems may be used on metal surfaces and electrical equipment. Nonetheless, system performance decreases when RFID tags are located on metal surfaces and sometimes, the reader does not detect RFID tags, even when they are within the coverage area.

Optimal power distribution network reconfiguration using Cuckoo Search

This paper presents an adaptation of a new meta-heuristic algorithm known as Cuckoo Search (CS) to solve the distribution network reconfiguration problem (DNRC), where the objective is to minimize the real power losses subject to constraints such as voltage levels in nodes, current levels in branches, and maintaining a radial topology in the distribution test system. The performance of the proposed method is compared with a popular meta-heuristic algorithm, Ant Colony Optimization (ACO). The methods have been tested on the IEEE 37 bus radial distribution system. Experiments were carried out to compare the simulation time, which is a critical measure for the real implementation of the method in real power distribution systems.

Software tool to detect hot spots on electrical insulators

This article presents a software tool to automatically detect hot spots on electrical insulators of 220 KV transmission lines subjected to high-polluted environments in the city of Barranquilla, Colombia. The aim of this research was to register the visual effects of pollution on three types of insulators, and analyze a set of images to record the number of hot spots and flashover arc during 14-day periods. Identification of hot spots on insulators was conducted by segmenting the images with machine vision techniques, which helped to determine the states of insulators for maintenance activities. Finally, the software tool performance was tested for different insulators subjected to polluted conditions in the Colombian Caribbean Region. As results, we obtained a visual tool to evaluate the effects of pollution on electric insulators, the visual verification of the behavior of electric insulators in polluted-environments after the rain and manual washing, and the threshold to obtain video segmentation of insulators and other elements of the power grid for automatic recognition.

Energy efficiency and environmental impact of small markets in Barranquilla-Colombia

This paper presents the identification of energy efficiency and environmental impact of small markets in the city of Barranquilla-Colombia. The aim of the research was to identify the usage patterns of electrical equipment, the energy efficiency of refrigeration, and the advance on the replacement of critical refrigerants. As important results, we found that although all the effort of environmental agencies to replace critical substances, small markets keepers still use equipment for cooling products with refrigerants that generate negative impacts on the environment. Also, market keepers do not apply energy efficiency plans to control the use of energy or guarantee the quality of products. We identified the need of a special plan focus on the habits of population in the Caribbean Region of Colombia. We proposed a financial method to replace refrigerators and improve energy efficiency and environmental impact.