Opportunity for PhD Studentship in SCHOOL

Opportunity for a PhD Studentship in Characterisation of parameters to identify Partial Discharge in voids in power cables – vented and unvented.

Applications are invited for a full-time PhD research Studentship within the School of Engineering and Computing.  The studentship is for a period of three years, subject to satisfactory progress and provides payment of tuition fees at the UK/EU rate plus an annual stipend of £13,900 [please note that students from outside the EU are required to pay the difference between International and EU fees, this would amount to £6,100 per annum].  The successful candidate is expected to undertake up to 6 hours of academic support activity per week.

Project Description

The High Voltage and Insulation Diagnostics Group at Glasgow Caledonian University is involved in both basic research programmes and industrially sponsored projects. The main focus of the research work of the HVIDG is identifying the precursors of failure mechanisms in insulation materials. The reason for this focus is to allow asset managers to prevent loss of power to customers; the ability to do this is still not fully successfully developed. One important precursor is Partial Discharge (PD) activity, which results when high levels of electrical stress exist upon poor insulation. Signals which are propagated from the PD can, in some cases, be related to the conditions at and around the fault.

PD results from faults in power insulation systems and exacerbates failure. This project aims to measure and identify the difference in characteristics of PD to quantify the physical conditions in the insulating material. This has been identified as being of vital importance to the power industry at a number of major international seminars and conferences and also by industry itself. The ability to identify specific signal characteristics, such as frequency of discharge and magnitude of discharge, and relate that to the known physical constraints at the fault site would aid asset managers with assessment of the physical degradation of the insulation.
The main objective of the project is to identify and interpret insulation condition through correlation of electrical signals generated in the fault. The initial stages of the programme will be directed towards construction of two forms of fault which are known to occur in solid insulation materials. The differences in response of these fault types when subjected to electrical stressing will be the main focus of the work. This project is applicable to current and future power plant.
The work in this programme, whilst fundamental in content, is complementary to that of an EPSRC funded project currently ongoing at Glasgow Caledonian University. The outcomes of this course of study will be used to inform and enhance the funded work programme and the student would be supported in their endeavours by others working in this area.
The project objectives are as follows:

1. To construct specific fault geometries in a range of polymeric or resinous materials;
2. To stress the faulted solid insulation samples under typical stresses found in electrical power plant;
3. To identify electrical and chemical markers in stressed samples;
4. To correlate the signals and chemical changes which occur in the stressed regimes to the constraints present in the fault and to use these to provide signifiers to asset engineers.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a good honours degree (minimum 2.1) or Masters in Electrical Engineering or a related discipline who will have good analytical and investigative skills and a positive attitude toward cross-disciplinary research and teamwork. The student would be expected, as part of their professional development, to present research findings at conferences and to industrial forums. For informal enquiries and further details of this project please contact Dr. Donald Hepburn by email at: dmhe@gcal.ac.uk.

School of Engineering and Computing

The School offers Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Professional Short Course Training and Research opportunities in the three broad areas of Computing & Creative Technologies, Communication, Network and Electronic Engineering and Energy Systems Engineering.
The School of Engineering & Computing offers you a dynamic and vibrant environment for research. The School has more than 100 academics spanning all levels from research students to research lecturers, readers and professors. We aim to carry out a high level of recognised research across a wide range of areas in computing and engineering. For the 3 areas submitted to the RAE2008 from SEC, Computer Science and Informatics and General Engineering have 70% in the internationally recognised/excellence category (2*/3*) and in Applied Mathematics 5% in the World Class category (4*).
We have spent over £1.5m on research and knowledge transfer infrastructure over the last 2-3 years and have state-of-the-art facilities. We have an established record of supervising high quality research degrees (PhD and MPhil). We currently have 70 research students registered for MPhil and PhDs, studying full or part-time.

Each student receives a core induction programme, regular 1-1 tuition, personal development planning, and research methods, employability and other training courses relevant to their needs. Many also work directly with companies on leading edge applied research, they publish papers and present at international conferences and are members of the Caledonian Graduate Centre and have access to all its services.

How to Apply:

Application forms are available from Ms Diane Dickie (Tel: +44 (0)141 331 8096; E: D.Dickie@gcal.ac.uk)
Please state the Project Title on the completed application form and return – along with your current curriculum vitae, copies of academic qualifications and references – to:
Ms Diane Dickie, The Graduate Centre, Glasgow Caledonian University, Cowcaddens Road, Glasgow, G4 0BA, UK
The closing date for applications is Friday 31st July 2009; short-listed candidates will be contacted to attend for interview in mid August 2009 with a commencement date of September/October 2009 desirable.