Empirical Cost of Electricity Outage on Labour and Capital Productivity in Nigeria

This study empirically examined the impact of electricity power outages on Nigeria’s capital and labour productivity. The emphasis is on how frequent electricity outage reduces labour and capital effectiveness and other factors of production. To achieve the above objective, annual time series data on Total Factor Productivity - a proxy for Nigeria’s factors productivity, Power Outage (electric power transmission and distribution losses as % of output), and other controlled variables were used to estimate the relationship and all data were from World Bank Development Indicators (WDI). The Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FOLS) technique was adopted for analysis. The empirical results showed a negative relationship between power outages and factor productivity. The result also reveals that electricity pricing has a significant negative impact on the factor productivity while both electricity generation and population have a significant positive impact on Nigeria’s total factor productivity. The implication is that the substitution effect between labour and capital is positive, meaning that Nigeria exhibits a labour-intensive production function. In conclusion, the study is of the opinion that power outage and electricity pricing negatively impact factors productivity while electricity generation and population have a positive relationship with factors productivity in Nigeria.

Development of Automatic Switch for Electric Power Transfer

This article addresses the issue of power outage while transmitting electric power to consumer’s end. Electricity demand in today’s world has risen sharply where it must be generated not only using conventional fuels, but also from renewable sources in order to meet this demand. In this regard, an automatic switch is being developed that allows switching between sources in such a way that first and foremost, electric power from solar and wind farms is transferred to the consumer or to the general network. It not only resolves the issue of unforeseen blackouts and power outages, but it also ensures that the consumer end is receiving voltage from a stable generating source. This is how the automatic switch will work effectively in the best interests of the consumers.

Kinerja Filter Portabel Tepat Guna dalam Mereduksi Kekeruhan Air Banjir untuk Sanitasi atau MCK

During flood people had difficulties in obtaining clean water for sanitation (toilet). There was plenty of flood water but highly turbid. The water filter required electricity but its power outaged during flood. Filters usually used energy from electricity or gravity. This study evaluated the performance of a new handy-manually operated flood water portable filter. The standard of Permenkes No. 32/2017 was used as a reference. The flood water filter was pressurized by 0.025 kgf/cm2 and 0.051 kgf/cm2 and used local media: gravel, silica sand, anthracite, sponge. The results showed that pressure 0.025 kgf/cm2 was able to reduce turbidity from 220 NTU to 20.17 NTU with efficiency 90.83%. At 0.051 kgf/cm2 the filter was able to reduce turbidity from 220 NTU to 29.67 NTU with efficiency 86.52%. The pressure variation significantly affects the filtrate quality. The filter with pressure 0.025 kgf/cm2 could be applied for optimal filtration and produced 100-150 liters before clogging. This filter still needs to be studied related to physical strength, type and composition of media, portability and volume of water produced. This flood water filter will be an alternative solution for areas that often flood but no electricity or the power outage during flood.

Health Effects of Power Loss After Hurricane Irma on Nursing Home Residents in Florida

Previous research establishes that hurricanes adversely affect nursing home (NH) resident health but specific causal pathways are still unclear. We combined power outage data with Medicare claims to determine the effects of power loss from Hurricane Irma(2017) among NH residents in Florida. Out of 580 facilities, 289 reported power loss. These facilities had higher star ratings; higher beds counts, and were preferentially in the Southeast region of Florida compared to facilities without outages. There were 27,767 residents living in a NH without power. They were comparable in characteristics to residents that did not lose power (N=26,383). We ran adjusted generalized linear models with robust standard errors, clustering for NH. We found power loss was associated with a trend towards increased odds of mortality within 7-days (OR:1.12, 95% CI:0.96, 1.30) and 30-days (OR:1.10, 95% CI:1.00, 1.21) post-storm, but not with hospitalization. Future research should investigate the time-specific effects of power outages.

Microcontroller based Multifunctional Automated Weather Monitoring and Logging System

This paper describes a microcontroller-based prototype Automated Weather Monitoring and Logging System that can col- lect meteorological data such as air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, light intensity, and rain detection from any distant location. The Weather Monitoring and Logging System is entirely automated, and measured weather data is transferred to a public server while showing immediate data on a liquid crystal display (LCD) and stored to a Secure Digital (SD) card. For private viewers, Android-based smart phones may be interfaced with the weather station and operated via the android application. The weather station is supplied by a direct current (DC) source, with a backup rechargeable battery. In the event of an emergency power outage, the system will immediately switch to battery power. Two Atmega 328p and Two ESP 8266 microcontrollers are utilized as the core of the control and coordination of the relative multitude of exercises of the singular modules. All of the sensors in the systems have been calibrated, ensuring that the system’s accuracy seems to be exceptional. This system will benefit all users, and it will benefit the meteorological industry because it will allow them to work from a remote location. Keywords: Automated Weather Station; Microcontroller; Sensor; Meteorological Instrument

Long-Term Power Outage and Preparedness of the Population of a Region in the Czech Republic—A Case Study

The power outages that have occurred in recent years around the world point to widespread problems with consequences for the lives and health of the population, but also material damage. This is a case study that focuses on the evaluation of the preparedness of the population of a selected region in the Czech Republic for a long-term power outage. This article deals with a case study that focuses on the evaluation of the preparedness of the population of the Karlovy Vary region in the field of emergency survival. Part of the study is the evaluation of the respondents’ answers, which provides an overview of the actual state of preparedness for power outages on a sample group of respondents in the Karlovy Vary region. The research method used was a survey using questionnaires. The obtained information was subsequently statistically evaluated by nonparametric correlation using Kendall’s taub. From the presented results of the survey, it is clear that the inhabitants of smaller municipalities are better prepared for a power outage and can create basic conditions for emergency survival.

A Novel Pre-Dispatching Strategy of Power System under Extreme Weather

Pre-dispatch is an important way for distribution networks to cope with typhoon weather, enhance resilience and reduce economic losses. In order to accurately describe the faults and consequences of components’ failure in the distribution network, this paper establishes a pre-dispatch model to cope with typhoon weather based on line failures consequence analysis. First, Monte Carlo simulation is used to sample the typical fault scenarios of vulnerable lines. According to the location of switchgear, the distribution network is partitioned and a block breaker correlation matrix is established. Combined with the line fault status, a fault consequence model of distribution lines related to the pre-dispatching strategy is established. Then, the objective function is given to minimize the sum of the cost of the pre-dispatch operation and the power outage, and then establish a pre-dispatch model for the distribution network. In order to reduce the computational complexity, PH (Progressive Hedging) algorithm is used to solve the model. Finally, the IEEE-69 test system is used to analyze the effectiveness of the method. The results show that the proposed dispatching model can effectively avoid potential risks, reduce system economic losses and improve the resilience of power grids.

Direct Actuation of Large Sized Valves by a Hydraulically Relieved Electromechanical Actuation System

Extensive actuation forces and strokes are required for the actuation of large sized valves normally implemented in high power hydraulic systems. A hydraulically piloted operation is, for now, the most suitable solution and state of the art. However, there are some applications where electromechanical valve actuation systems are at advantage against common pilot operation systems. In this contribution it is analyzed in which cases the application of electro-mechanical actuators can be of advantage and why displacement-controlled systems may be one of these applications. A novel electromechanical valve actuation system for large sized 4/3-way directional control valves for the use in displacement-controlled systems is presented. This new actuation system is characterized by a hydraulic relief of the centering springs. Therefore, the springs are only active in safety-critical conditions, such as a power outage. Since the actuator is not working against the spring force during every displacement, the necessary actuation force is reduced drastically. Thus, common electromechanical actuators can be used. In case of a power outage, the spring relief is deactivated causing the stored energy to center the spool in its neutral position. The performance of the novel actuation system is examined through measurements conducted on a manufactured demonstrator for valves of nominal size 25 with a flow rate of up to 600 l/min.