Development of microcontroller-based energy management systems for medical facility
Date
2024-05
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Federal University of Technology, Owerri
Abstract
To conserve energy and to prevent frequent power outages due to overload or partial loss of supply on medical facilities that require uninterrupted power, a microcontroller – based medical facility energy management system is developed. Smart energy management system (EMS) basically monitors and controls loads and energy supplies to connected facilities. In medical facilities, there are critical loads and non – critical loads depending on functionalities required. Critical loads should never be turned off or loose supply while non – critical loads may be turned on or off depending on the power consumption and supply pattern. In practice, various combinations of load management and conservation measures are targeted at energy efficiency such as power factor corrections, rescheduling and combination of energy storage mechanisms. The functionalities implemented for electrical load management in this work are load prioritization, load scheduling, load add, and load shed. In addition, an algorithm for the determination of system loading condition such as normal load, under load and overload as well as automated load adding, and load scheduling schemes based on the operating conditions and customer’s priority are developed. A C++ program is developed to achieve this algorithm. Furthermore, this thesis explores the potential cost savings associated with integrating an Arduino, a current sensor, and an Automatic Transfer System (ATS) into energy management, as seen in Figure 3.3. This is one of the most reliable and economical ways to improve the reliability and quality of the power supply. The University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu was used as a case study. The result of this practical experiment shows that this scheme can improve distributional load management by reducing power change over time, loss of lives and great saving in cost of operation.
Description
Degree of Master's of Engineering in Power System
Keywords
Automatic transfer system (ATS), energy conservation, energy management systems (EMS), load prioritization, microcontroller, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Citation
Ugwu, K. U. (2024). Development of microcontroller-based energy management systems for medical facility (Unpublished Master's Thesis), Federal University of Technology, Owerri.