Description
Learning Outcomes
LO1 Examine the demands, sources and construction of electrical power
generation and distribution systems
Demands of a power generation and transmission system:
Total power demands of a defined country over a period of a working week,
identifying average, minimum and maximum demands
Overall annual energy consumption of domestic, industrial, transport and other
systems, identifying and quantifying energy losses
Extent of delivered energy that is in the form of electrical energy
Comparison between the demands of a G20 industrial economy with that of a
Third World economy; analysis of the trends of energy supply and demand data
to predict future energy requirements and budgets
Identification of the contribution to the energy supplied by each of the significant
primary sources of energy of a defined country. Influence of long-term
governmental policy on managing the energy budget
LO2 Explore the interconnections of power systems and their protection to
explain the critical processes and the effects of failure and the importance
of electrical safety
Construction of power generation and transmission systems:
Comparisons between the distribution of power using DC and single-phase and
polyphase AC transmission systems, amplitude and phase of voltages and
currents in three-phase systems with resistive and complex loads
Power factor and power measurement techniques of AC systems, including
identification of a range of loads and their respective power factors,
consequences of loads with poor power factor and the advantages of applying
power factor corrections
Calculation of power factor correction components
Recognition of the effects of perturbations and harmonics within AC systems and
describing methods to measure and reduce harmonics
The need to protect the power distribution network from the effects of overload
or damage, and identification of the requirements of a robust protection system
Evaluation of the impedance of an AC transmission line, its power losses and its
effect on the power delivered to a load
Review safety procedures associated with power networks and techniques for
the safe measurement of system parameters
Analysis of a power network with multiple generators, transmission lines and
loads using power systems simulation software
LO3 Evaluate the effectiveness of forms of engineering activity to promote
sustainable development, with consideration of the economics of
components, power systems and alternative energy sources
Sources of electrical energy:
Efficiency, costs, security and environmental implications of energy production
using coal, oil and natural gas
Definition of ‘renewable’ in relation to sources of energy
Evaluation of the efficiency, costs, security and environmental implications of
energy production using renewable sources of mechanical kinetic energy,
including wave, tidal, large- and small-scale hydro and wind
Evaluate the efficiency, costs, security and environmental implications of energy
production using solar heating, solar photovoltaics, biomass, fuel cells and
geothermal techniques. Current state of research into nuclear, fusion and fission
energy and other novel forms of energy
LO4 Discuss new and emerging methods to optimise energy usage, conversion
and storage techniques
Techniques for optimising electrical energy generation:
Techniques for optimising the generation of electricity in power stations and
small-scale generators by using varied and distributed generation systems and
managing the generation of power
Techniques for optimising energy usage and conversion:
Evaluating technologies and techniques for improving the efficiency or reducing
the energy consumption of equipment in common use, including lighting,
heating, transport and industrial processes
Energy storage techniques:
The need for energy storage techniques as part of an energy management
programme, characteristics of short-term and long-term energy storage
techniques and their connection to the power grid, including, hydro, battery,
super capacitor, flywheel and thermal
Emerging battery technologies and battery management techniques