With the rapid development of digital technologies such as IoT, AI, and big data, electrical energy consumption is rapidly increasing. Electrical facilities that supply electrical energy are operated with high reliability and stability for end-of-life time. In addition, depending on the type of electrical load that consumes electrical energy in various forms, electrical insulation systems deteriorate due to electrical and thermal stress, which reduces electrical and mechanical insulation strength. Due to such continuous stress and electrical transient phenomena, electrical facilities may experience electrical accidents due to electrical insulation breakdown before the expected design lifetime. In addition, periodic inspections according to related regulations must be conducted to prevent unexpected electrical accidents, but this leads to problems in which the electrical facilities cannot be turned off. Therefore, it is believed that an uninterruptible diagnostic judgment technique that determines compliance with related regulations such as electrical facility technology standards, internal wiring regulations, and inspection regulations without turning off the electrical facilities and at the same time detects abnormal conditions of the facilities early, it is possible to prevent electrical accidents and improve the efficiency of electrical facilities. In this paper, we propose an uninterruptible power diagnosis judgment technique that can prevent or reduce electrical accidents in cast-iron transformers by applying judgment criteria of diagnostic sensors for various types of measurement parameters that can diagnose and evaluate the presence or absence of abnormalities in electrical equipment, including partial discharge, and AI algorithms learned from data of diagnostic sensors.

Hazardous gas leakage incidents rank among the most serious safety accidents, leading to significant loss of life, extensive property damage, and severe environmental pollution. This paper describes an innovative IoT-based Assembly Double Pipe System (IADPS) designed for the prevention, early detection, and automated isolation of toxic gas leaks. The proposed system features a double-layered pipe design, with nitrogen charged between the inner and outer pipes, and gas detectors installed at strategic locations. This configuration is intended to prevent pipe corrosion, suppress ignition caused by escaping gas, and facilitate the early detection of gas leaks, thereby mitigating the risk of safety accidents. Furthermore, the system includes a comprehensive real-time monitoring system for pipe integrity and gas leakage, as well as an automated gas leakage detection and isolation system to quickly respond to any incidents.

Piezoelectric ceramics play an important role in electrical and electronic devices such as sensors, actuators, and microelectronic devices. However, traditional ceramics are difficult to be used in various process industries due to their high brittleness and low flexibility. Therefore, piezoelectric paint sensors have been designed for application to the curved surfaces of complicated structures. Furthermore, recently, significant attention has been focused on the development of paint sensors that can be used as structure health monitoring sensors for vibration, impact, and acoustic emission. Several studies have successfully demonstrated the possibility that smart paint sensors can take the place of traditional ceramic sensors. In this review, we briefly introduce the concept of the piezoelectric paint sensors and the expected application field as well as their preparation and history.

This paper reports a method to use a wireless sensor network deployed in the field to real-time monitor soil moisture, warning when the moisture level reaches a specific value, and wirelessly controlling an additional device (LED or water supply system, etc.). In addition, we report all processes related to wireless irrigation system, including field deployment of sensors, real-time monitoring using a smartphone, data calibration, and control of additional devices deployed in the field by smartphone. A commercially available open-source Internet of Things (IoT) platform, NodeMCU, was used, which was combined with a 9V battery, LED and soil humidity sensor to be integrated into a portable prototype. The IoT-based soil humidity sensor prototype deployed in the field was installed next to a tree for on-site demonstration for the measurement of soil humidity in real-time for about 30 hours, and the measured data was successfully transmitted to a smartphone via Wifi. The measurement data were automatically transmitted via e-mail in the form of a text file, stored on the web, followed by analyses and calibrations. The user can check the humidity of the soil real-time through a personal smartphone. When the humidity of a soil reached a specific value, an additional device, an LED device, placed in the field was successfully controlled through the smartphone. This LED can be easily replaced by other electronic devices such as water supplies, which can also be controlled by smartphones. These results show that farmers can not only monitor the condition of the field real-time through a sensor monitoring system manufactured simply at a low cost but also control additional devices such as irrigation facilities from a distance, thereby reducing unnecessary energy consumption and helping improve agricultural productivity.

Capacitive-type humidity sensors with a high sensitivity and fast response/recovery times have attracted a great attention in non-contact respiration biological signal monitoring applications. However, complicated fabrication processes involving high-temperature heat treatment for the hygroscopic film is essential in the conventional ceramic-based humidity sensors. In this study, a non-toxic ceramic/metal halide (BaTiO₃(BT)/NaCl) humidity sensor was prepared at room temperature using a solvent-free aerosol deposition process (AD) without any additional process. Currently prepared BT/NaCl humidity sensor shows an excellent sensitivity (245 pF/RH%) and superior response/recovery times (3s/4s) due to the NaCl ionization effect resulting in an immense interfacial polarization. Furthermore, the non-contact respiration signal variation using the BT/NaCl sensor was determined to be over 700% by maintaining the distance of 20 cm between the individual and the sensor. Through the AD-fabricated sensor in this study, we expect to develop a non-contact biological signal monitoring system that can be applied to various fields such as respiratory disease detection and management, infant respiratory signal observation, and touchless skin moisture sensing button.

Heating cables, widely used in office buildings, factories, streets and railways, deteriorate in electrical insulation during operation. The insulation deterioration of heating cables leads to electric discharges that can cause electrical fires. With this background, this paper dealt with a condition monitoring technique for heating cables by the analysis of discharge signals to prevent electrical fires. Insulation deterioration was simulated using an arc generator specified in UL1699 under AC operation, and the characteristic and propagation of discharge signals were analyzed on a 100 meter-long heating cable. Discharge signals produced by insulation deterioration were detected as a voltage pulse because they are as small as a few mV and they are attenuated through propagation path.The frequency spectrum of discharge signals mainly existed in the range from 70 kHz to 110 kHz, and the maximum attenuation of the signal was 84.8% at 100 meters away from the discharge point. Based on the experimental results, a monitoring device, which is composed of a high pass filter with the cut-off frequency of 70 kHz, a comparator, a wave shaper and a microprocessor, was designed and fabricated. Also, an algorithm was designed to discriminate the discharge signal in the presence of noise, compared with the pulse repetition period and the number of pulse counts per 100ms. In the experiment, the result showed that the prototype monitoring device could detect and discriminate the discharge signals produced at every discharge point on a heating cable.

We have proposed a novel planar lightwave circuit (PLC) optical sensor to monitor the contamination in a flow-cell where water is continuously supplied through a water quality measurement system. We designed a PLC chip with a V-shape waveguide and the simulated its function as a sensor for monitoring contamination in a flow-cell using a numerical the FDTD (finite-difference time-domain) analysis. A novel cross type of waveguide was introduced to make the PLC chip of the V-shaped waveguide. The fabricated PLC was cut into the cross waveguide. A change in the optical propagation loss of the PLC sensor was observed after immersing the PLC sensor into city water. It was determined that the propagation loss of the PLC sensor was 3 dB at a wavelength of 1.55 μm in the city water for 15 days.

The purpose of an electric railway system contact wire is to supply electric energy to trains through a contacted pantograph. This energy is then converted into mechanical energy. Recent developments in overhead contact lines include the increase in the tension force up to 34 kN according to train speeds that reach up to 400 km/h with a verified safety. Rigid conductor catenary (R-Bar) for high speeds of up to 250 km/h have been developed in tunnels to save on construction costs. This is significant because minor defects in R-bars in aspects, such as height and stagger affect installation conditions. In this study, we propose the use of a detector that measures the static characteristics to reduce the R-bar installation errors. This detector has been developed to measure the height and stagger of the contact wire using video images.

As a ZnO varistor is subjected to electrical and environmental stresses, it degrades gradually, which may result in power interruption by short circuit. This study investigates changes in the electrical characteristics of ZnO varistors due to deterioration owing to energy absorption, and determines the optimal parameters for on-line diagnosis of the varistor. Two types of varistors were used for an accelerated aging experiment involving the application of the 8/20 μs standard lightning impulse current. The electrical characteristics in terms of the reference voltage, total leakage current, resistive leakage current, and third-harmonic component of the total leakage current were measured, and their change rates were analyzed. The results revealed that the total leakage current increased slightly with an increase in the varistor absorbed energy, while the resistive leakage current and the third-harmonic component increased apparently. Therefore, the third-harmonic component of the total leakage current was proposed as the optimal parameter for on-line monitoring of ZnO varistor conditions.

Lamination is used extensively in various industries. The type of lamination applied to the material depends on the precision level required, which varies for materials needed for everyday use, materials used in high-tech industries, and processes employed to fabricate finished products. Especially in hot lamination, the distribution of the surface temperature of the heating roller is very important to avoid the generation of internal bubbles and ensure flatness of the attached materials, and thus maintain a good standard of quality and productivity. In this study, we have developed a system to monitor the surface temperature of the heating rollerby applying a heterogeneous controller and a non - contact temperature sensor. This monitoring system accurately measures the surface temperature of the heating roller and applies the RS485 MODBUS communication method for easy expansion. Using this system, a laminated prototype was fabricated, and its efficacy for non-contact temperature sensor calibration, Ethernet IP communication, stoppage of the heating roller, and determination of temperature distribution with rotation was examined for its potential usage in industries.

The advancement and diversification of urban functions has caused an increasing need to improve the reliability of power supplies. The diversification of urban areas causes social disruptions by paralyzing urban functions during power outages. A large power outage occurs in the event of an accident, owing to the subduction of distribution lines. Therefore, in recent years, for the sake of the environment and safety, the safety diagnosis of electric power facilities has become an important issue. In this system, because thermal information changes rapidly during unattended monitoring owing to heat concentration phenomenon due to abnormal load or deterioration, studies have been conducted on the development of a device that can notify the manager at all times.

Using both EVA and POE encapsulants, we fabricated polycrystalline Si PV modules and performed a set of reliability tests of PID, DH, TC, and Complex prior to outdoor installation. The power output with temperatures and insolation as well as I-V characteristics had been monitored under outdoor environments for 18 months. In the entire period, the total power of 3,576 kWh from POE PV modules was observed larger than 3,449 kWh from EVA PV modules by 3.5%. All the PV modules showed a 5.6~9.2% drop in the conversion efficiency. As for the solar power generation, the PV modules performed through PID, TC test revealed distinct difference in between EVA and POE for which the POE PV module produced more power by +11.4% and +6.6%, respectively, as measured in the 18^th month. In addition, POE was proved to protect better the solar cells under PID influence.

This paper dealt with the measurement and analysis of electromagnetic waves radiated from a partial discharge (PD) source in insulation oil to apply condition monitoring of oil-immersed transformers. Two types of narrow-band monopole antennas with the resonant frequency of a 500 MHz and a 1 GHz were designed and fabricated. Also, a needle plane electrode system was manufactured to simulate PDs and the curvature radius of the needle is 10 pm and the diameter of the plane is 60 mm. Electromagnetic wave was measured by the PD measurement system with the monopole antennas. Detection sensitivity of the fabricated antenna was compared for the same P1) magnitude; 620 mVpeak for the 500 MHz antenna and 960 mV1,t for the 1 GHz antenna to the PD magnitude of 74 pC. Consequently, the 1 GHz monopole antenna is more effective to detect PDs in oil immersed transformers.