Projects in Power and Energy Systems

The protection of power systems with renewable energy resources against large fault currents and voltage transients are one of the main technical challenges hindering the large integration of renewable resources to the electric grid. This research project aims to address the protection challenges by developing and experimentally validating innovative relaying strategies for grids with wind farms.

Supervisor: Prof. Sahar Azad
Email: sahar.azad@uwaterloo.ca

Research Description: Research Description: The work will consist of electrical characterization studies on long samples (i.e. 3 to 10 meters) prepared from medium voltage (MV) polymeric cables utilized in power generation and distribution applications.  Students will have the opportunity to learn different, efficient, and practical characterization methods of power cables which are used in industry. These methods include but not limited to Dielectric Spectroscopy (DS), Polarization and Depolarization Current (PDC) measurements, Time- and Frequency- Domain Reflectometry (TDR and FDR) tests, high-frequency dielectric characterizations.

Supervisor: Prof. Shesha Jayaram
Email: shesha.jayaram@uwaterloo.ca

In order to encourage/accelerate the intake of EVs, a wide-spread fast-charging infrastructure would be necessary to reduce the charging time and alleviate range anxiety. To enable adoption of such infrastructure, various requirements in terms of available charging power from the grid, protection, and battery management system need to be satisfied. Also, the required equipment such as power electronic converter and BMS must be developed, keeping thermal management and cell balancing at high charging rates in mind. A feasible charging time has to be recognized as well. A few interesting topics that fall under EV Fast Charging are: (i) fast wireless charging, addressing feasibility, advantages/disadvantages, and issues/hurdles; (ii) the impact of fast charging on the grid and the resiliency of the grid in response to fast charging events; and (iii) optimal placement of fast charging stations.

Supervisor: Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani
Email: mkazerani@uwaterloo.ca

High voltage direct current (HVDC) grids, where a number of point-to-point HVDC links are connected together in a meshed configuration, have recently gained substantial attention in Europe, China and Canada. These HVDC grids enable the bulk and low-loss transfer of power and allow for large integration of renewable resources.  As future HVDC grids will be built by different manufacturers, various types of converters will be operating in the same grid. The creation of such hybrid HVDC grids will bring forth significant technical challenges. One significant challenge is the hybrid HVDC grid protection. This project revolves around developing a relaying algorithm for hybrid HVDC grids.   

Supervisor: Prof. Sahar Azad
Email: sahar.azad@uwaterloo.ca

Electrification is the future of transportation. This project focuses on electrification of air transportation. As electric propulsion and actuation systems are being studied and tested for incorporation in more-electric airplanes, electric braking (both in the air and on the ground) must be considered as a viable option with great potential in energy saving. This project starts with a thorough and critical literature survey and analysis of the methods proposed/implemented for electric braking in more-electric airplanes. It will then continue with modeling and simulation of the most promising schemes and assessing their feasibility, as well as techno-economic and environmental benefits.         

Supervisor: Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani
Email: mkazerani@uwaterloo.ca

The conventional protection strategies and protective relays in the electric power distribution systems have been developed based on the characteristics of large centralized generation systems, i.e.,  synchronous generators. The existing protection systems are not designed taking into account the different behaviour of electronically‐interfaced Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), e.g.,  renewables and energy storage systems. This project aims to enable reliable protection of the modernized distribution systems with increased penetration of electronically‐interfaced DERs, especially the large‐scale wind and solar power plants.

Supervisor: Prof. Sahar Azad
Email: sahar.azad@uwaterloo.ca

The step-up transformers in the windfarms are prone to premature failure due to high-frequency repetitive transients generated by the operation of power electronics switching and frequent circuit breaker operations. In this work, transformer insulation degradation under repetitive transient voltages will be evaluated. Partial discharge inception voltage, intensity of discharges, time to failure and the rate of hydrogen gas generation are the parameters considered to evaluate the level of degradation under different operating conditions.

Supervisor: Prof. Shesha Jayaram
Email: shesha.jayaram@uwaterloo.ca

In this project, an existing STATCOM, which is based on a full bridge modular multi-level converter, is used to provide power oscillation damping and other ancillary services to the power grid. The various steps in this project are:

1) Using the existing modular multi-level converter models in PSCAD to build a STATCOM

2) Develop the control and switching mechanism of the STATCOM to provide oscillation damping

3) Explore the STACOM capabilities to achieve other ancillary services such as frequency support

Supervisor: Prof. Sahar Azad
Email: sahar.azad@uwaterloo.ca

The project consists of: 

• A Critical Review of SoC estimation techniques for EV Battery Packs

• Design and design verification through simulation (based on a detailed model of a Li-ion battery cell).   

Supervisor: Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani
Email: mkazerani@uwaterloo.ca

The project consists of: 

• A Critical Review of SoH estimation techniques for EV Battery Packs

• Design and design verification through simulation (based on a detailed model of a Li-ion battery cell).   

Supervisor: Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani
Email: mkazerani@uwaterloo.ca

The project consists of: 

• A Critical Review of SoP estimation techniques for EV Battery Packs

• Design and design verification through simulation (based on a detailed model of a Li-ion battery cell).   

Supervisor: Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani
Email: mkazerani@uwaterloo.ca

Ammonia is a versatile chemical that has traditionally been used in the fertilizer industry for decades. However, ammonia’s inherent characteristics such as high hydrogen density, high volumetric density, ease of liquification, low flammability, and ease of transportation make it attractive as an energy storage medium in load-leveling applications. Renewable energy-based green ammonia is commonly produced using the electrified Haber Bosch (E/H-B) process; however, an alternative approach for green ammonia production using the “Electrochemical Nitrogen Reduction (ENR) Technique” is gaining attention. The E/H-B process is energy-intensive, requires expensive hydrogen electrolyzers, and a large, centralized HB plant (i.e., a high capital cost). The ENR technique, on the contrary, has low energy and capital costs, as it requires neither a hydrogen electrolyzer nor an HB plant, and it is decentralized which reduces transportation costs and enables deployment in remote locations. The objective of this project is to conduct and develop a techno-economic analysis of the ENR technique for ammonia production based on the Ontario electricity grid data. Conducting a sensitivity-analysis to study the economic impacts of ammonia production via the ENR technique, computing the Levelized Cost of Ammonia (LCOA) for the ENR technique, and comparing it with that of the E/H-B process will be used to show the economic competitiveness of the ENR approach. 

Supervisor: Prof. Mehrdad Kazerani

Email: mkazerani@uwaterloo.ca

Electric Vehicles (EVs) are rapidly evolving with higher operating voltages, hairpin winding motors, and wide-bandgap (WBG) power converters that enable faster charging and extended driving range. While these advancements enhance performance, they also introduce significant challenges for motor reliability, particularly in the turn-to-turn insulation system of stator windings. High-frequency, fast-switching pulses generated by WBG-based pulse-width modulation (PWM) drives impose greater electrical stress, increasing the risk of partial discharge (PD)activity and accelerating insulation degradation. This project focuses on characterizing and evaluating the performance of special type of winding insulation used in EVs under high-voltage WBG drive conditions. 

Supervisor: Prof. Shesha Jayaram
Email: shesha.jayaram@uwaterloo.ca