B
O
O
K
by
John J.
Shea
Smart Grids
S. Borlase, editor
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway–NW,
Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
Phone: (800) 272-7737
Fax: (800) 374-3401
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
ISBN 978-1-4398-2905-9
595 pp., $99.95 (Hardcover), 2013
Smart grid has been described as the
convergence of the electric system and
information technologies. The electric
system will be updated and integrated
with digital technologies to provide utility customers the enhanced information,
services, and reliability that are crucial
in today’s market. Smart grid technology
has begun with an Advanced Metering
Infrastructure (AMI). These smart meters
allow customers access to energy data:
renewable generation, electric vehicle
charging, innovative rate structures, and
programs to allow consumers more control over how they use energy. Some envision being able to view energy usage via
mobile devices, or on the internet, or on
special home monitors.
While the smart grid includes smart
meters, it also involves extensive technologies across the grid that support communications and an array of intelligent
devices on distribution and transmission
systems that are able to isolate electrical problems, make automatic power ad-
November/December — Vol. 29, No. 6
R
E
V
I
justments as needed, and hasten system
recovery in the event of a fault or other
problem. This will create an advanced
analytical platform for better operational
awareness and real-time optimization of
the power system.
This book describes smart grid and
the present strategies of utilities, vendors, and regulators in regard to developing smart grid. It contains a blend of
views from many authors to get a broader overview since the actual implementation is constantly growing and evolving.
It describes the reasons for change in the
electric utility industry and discusses the
business motivation, benefits, and market outlook for implementing a smart
grid. It also identifies enabling technologies and solutions and describes the
role of technical developments and standards, including various initiatives and
organizations driving the smart grid effort. In addition, it contains both current
technologies and potential new technologies with discussions on any barriers and
critical factors for success from a utility,
regulatory, and consumer perspective.
There is also a summary of recent smart
grid initiatives from around the world
and an outlook for the future new drivers
and technologies.
Technology managers would find
this book very interesting based on the
amount of new ideas that will be generated and the possible new technologies
that will be developed opening up new
product or service businesses. Engineers
will also find this book useful for learning
about the future of smart grid and the new
technologies being used today. Based on
all the new standards and regulations that
need to be created, regulators and standards committee members will also find
this book to be very good source to learn
about potential forthcoming policies.
Electrical Impedance
L. Callegaro
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway–NW,
E
W
S
Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
Phone: (800) 272-7737
Fax: (800) 374-3401
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
ISBN 978-1-4398-4910-1
307 pp., $129.95 (Hardcover), 2013
Impedance measurements are generally used to characterize a device or system
to develop an equivalent electrical model.
The impedance of a material can also be
measured. By knowing a material’s impedance, properties such as resistivity,
permittivity, and permeability of that material can be derived. Impedance spectroscopy can also be used to characterize material behavior as a function of frequency.
However, impedance measurements can
be challenging since voltages and currents become geometry dependent, and
different parts of the circuit can interact
in unexpected ways because of mutual
inductances and stray capacitances. Careful technique and a good understanding
of the fundamental measurement method
being used are essential so that the experimenter can make accurate and reliable
impedance measurements.
This book provides the fundamental
background in many impedance methods
and practical measurement techniques.
It begins by defining quantities related
to impedance, some theorems, and how
impedance is determined. Equations representing resistors, capacitors, and inductors are defined along with two terminal
networks, multiport networks, linear response theorems (Kramers-Kronig and
Fluctuation-dissipation), and skin effect.
Impedance definitions are described for
multiterminal devices and devices with
multiterminal wire pairs. This is followed
by descriptions of the types of equipment
used to make impedance measurements.
These involve various types of voltmeters, power meters, tuned detectors, and
voltage and current ratio devices. There is
also very useful information on the effect
of cables and connectors on impedance
measurements and methods for shield-
75
ing samples (i.e., guard rings and coaxial geometries). Next, commonly used
measurements cover the I-V method,
two-voltage and three voltage methods,
bridges, LCR meters, resonance methods,
mutual inductance methods, and network
analysis. These are well-established reliable methods commonly used to measure
impedance. These methods are generally
considered analog measurements. Digital
methods for measuring are introduced.
These cover relevant background in digital sampling, digital signal analysis, and
digital impedance bridge measurements.
Measurements of the electromagnetic
properties of materials are shown using
the bar, eddy current, sheet, four-point
probe, Van der Pauw geometry methods
as well as measurement techniques for
liquids, suspensions, and gases. The final
chapters cover the topics of traceability and uncertainty, calibration standards,
and reproducibility. The references are
extensive and give the reader much further in-depth study.
This book is very well written and
provides an excellent source for the engineer or metrologist who needs to make
impedance measurements on materials or
devices. It provides a good background
on all the commonly used methods and
contains essential practical methods to
ensure accurate measurements. Having
all this information in one book is very
convenient for the experimentalist. If you
perform impedance-based measurements,
this book is well worth owning.
Polymer Processing
and Characterization
S. Thomas, D. Ponnamma,
and A. K. Zachariah
Apple Academic Press Inc.
3333 Mistwell Crescent
Oakville, ON L6L 0A2
Distributed by:
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway–NW,
Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
Phone: (800) 272-7737
Fax: (800) 374-3401
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
ISBN 978-1-926895-15-4
167 pp., $99.95 (Hardcover), 2013
76
Polymers have made many new applications possible. The synthesis of
new polymers only adds to the number
of new applications possible. This book
deals with the synthesis of new polymer
and polymer composites along with techniques used for polymer characterization.
Some of the characterization studies
cover adhesion and surface glass transition temperature of amorphous polymers.
Lap shear measurements were made as a
function of healing time at various temperatures. Polymers used were polystyrene (PS), polyphenylene oxide (PPO),
polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), and
polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with
the diffusion process being studied as
the bonding mechanism for these experiments. Methods for determining the surface glass transition temperature are given
using these diffusion bonded materials.
The surface glass transition temperatures
reported are generally much lower than
the material bulk transition temperatures.
Descriptions detailing the synthesis
of new materials include phthalonitrile
polymers, nanocomposite polymer electrolytes for lithium battery applications,
and zinc sulfide nanocrystals for luminescence applications. These also include
the effects of nanosized filler particles
of Al2O3 on the electrical and dielectric
properties on thin films of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).
Other areas cover a new method for
measuring the cyclic crack growth rates
of rubber vulcanizates as a function of
carbon black filler loadings and different
polymer types. There are also descriptions of the flow instabilities for thermoplastic vulcanized polybutadiene/highdensity polyethylene (TPV/HDPE). With
extrusion being the most common method
of forming polymeric parts, studying flow
instabilities is important to ensure consistent and reliable part production. Flow
instabilities can occur in melt processing
from a combination of viscoelastic forces
and large stresses that can create large and
rapid deformations. These high stresses
are generally associated with the high
viscosity of molten thermoplastics and
elastomers. The effect of a compatibilizer, maleated polyethylene (MAPE), to
reduce these stresses is investigated.
This is a very accessible book for those
interested in polymer synthesis and char-
acterization. The descriptions are well
written, clear, and concise, especially the
synthesis methods. Polymer chemists interested in nanoparticle effects on certain
polymers and polymer composites will
also find this book to be worth reading.
Scanning Electrochemical
Microscopy, 2nd Edition
A. J. Bard and M. V. Mirkin
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway–NW,
Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
Phone: (800) 272-7737
Fax: (800) 374-3401
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
ISBN 978-1-4398-3112-0
670 pp., $199.95 (Hardcover), 2012
Scanning electrochemical microscopy
(SECM) is a technique within the broader class of scanning probe microscopy
(SPM) that is used to measure the local
electrochemical behavior of liquid–solid,
liquid–gas, and liquid–liquid interfaces.
Spatially resolved electrochemical signals can be acquired by measuring the
current at an ultra-microelectrode (UME)
tip as a function of precise tip position
over a substrate region of interest. Interpretation of the SECM signal is based on
the concept of diffusion-limited current.
Two-dimensional raster scan information
can be compiled to generate images of
surface reactivity and chemical kinetics.
In addition to yielding topographic information, SECM is often used to probe the
surface reactivity of solid-state materials, electro-catalyst materials, enzymes,
and other biophysical systems. SECM
and variations of the technique have also
found use in micro-fabrication, surface
patterning, and micro-structuring.
Fundamentally, the instrument works
from manipulating the electric potential
through the UME tip in a bulk solution
containing a redox-active couple (e.g.,
Fe2+/Fe3+). When a sufficiently negative
potential is applied, (Fe3+) is reduced to
(Fe2+) at the UME tip, generating a diffusion-limited current. The steady-state current is governed by the flux of oxidized
species in solution to the UME disc given
by iT,∞ = 4nFCDa, where iT,∞ is the diffusion-limited current, n is the number of
IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine
electrons transferred at the electrode tip
(O + ne− → R), F is Faraday’s constant, C
is the concentration of the oxidized species in solution, D is the diffusion coefficient, and a is the radius of the UME disc.
In order to probe a surface of interest,
the tip is moved closer to the surface and
changes in current are measured.
There are two predominant modes of
operation, which are feedback mode and
collection-generation mode. In feedback
mode, in a bulk solution, the oxidized
species is reduced at the tip, producing
a steady-state current that is limited by
hemispherical diffusion. As the tip approaches a conductive substrate in the solution, the reduced species formed at the
tip is oxidized at the conductive surface,
yielding an increase in the tip current and
creating a regenerative “positive” feedback loop. The opposite effect is observed
when probing insulating surfaces, as the
oxidized species cannot be regenerated
and diffusion to the electrode is inhibited
as a result of physical obstruction as the
tip approaches the substrate, creating a
“negative” feedback loop and decreasing
the tip current.
In tip generation/substrate collection
(TG/SC) mode, the tip is held at a potential sufficient for an electrode reaction to
occur and “generate” a product while the
substrate is held at a potential sufficient
for the electrode product to react with or
be “collected” by the substrate. The reciprocal to this method is substrate generation/tip collection (SG/TC), where the
substrate acts to generate a species that is
measured at the tip.
When imaging a surface, changes in
current as a function of distance between
electrode tip and substrate surface allow
imaging of insulating and conducting surfaces for topology and reactivity information by moving the tip across surfaces and
measuring tip current, similar to atomic
force microscopy.
The most common scanning mode
is constant-height mode, where the tip
height is unchanging and is scanned
across the surface in the x-y plane. Alternatively, a constant-current mode can be
used, where the device attempts to maintain a constant current by changing the
substrate to tip distance, d, and recording
the change in d. Spatial resolution is dependent on the tip radius, the substrate to
November/December — Vol. 29, No. 6
tip distance, the precision of the electronics, and other considerations.
The first commercially available
SECM quickly became an indispensable tool for surface reactivity studies
because of its ease of use and practical
quantitative results. After becoming commercially available in 1999 and with the
introduction of new probes and new practical applications, SECM is now used to
characterize interfaces at nanoscale dimensions and to obtain molecular-level
surface chemical information.
This book presents the fundamental
theory and background and in-depth overviews of various applications. Besides the
many biological and chemical applications, some of the more relevant applications for our readers where SECM is used
are for metal deposition, metal and semiconductor etching, polymer formation,
and other surface modifications requiring
high resolution.
The book can be broken up into three
major parts, with the first part covering
experimental and theoretical background.
This includes principles of SECM measurements, instrumentation, SECM probe
preparation, imaging methods, and theory.
The second part discusses various applications and current research topics
ranging from biological systems, sensors, to probing reactions at liquid–liquid
interfaces. Each topic provides sufficient
details to allow a specialist to evaluate the
applicability of SECM for solving a specific problem.
The final part describes recent advances of SECM in the areas of single cells,
corrosion, electro-catalysis, and hybrid
scanning electrochemical techniques.
Researchers involved with liquid
surface chemistry on the micro and nanoscale resolution and self-assembly
will be intrigued by this book. It contains
state-of-the-art methods for analyzing
liquid surface chemistry and surface imaging using the latest SECM technology
that would be useful in their research.
SPICE for Power Electronics
and Electric Power,
3rd Edition
M. H. Rashid
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway–NW,
Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
Phone: (800) 272-7737
Fax: (800) 374-3401
http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
ISBN 978-1-4398-6046-5
558 pp., $149.95 (Hardcover), 2012
Spice was originally developed to model low-power electronic circuits. However, with the proper models and setup,
Spice can also be used to model higherpower circuits such as power electronics
and power distribution circuits. This book
demonstrates how to model these circuits
without any prior knowledge of Spice.
After a brief introduction to various Spice
platforms available on the market today,
the book uses the PSpice A/D platform
for examples thorough out the book, but
the methods presented will apply to any
particular type of SPICE program being
used, such as OrCad, LTSpice, B2, IsSpice. All perform the same function—
modeling circuits—but each has different
windows and the circuits created may not
be compatible with each other.
This book can be divided into three
major sections: first, is the introduction of
Spice commands and features, which includes source and element modeling and
Spice commands. This section is an excellent way to learn the basics of PSpice.
It provides many examples, generally
much better than the software manuals,
on how each circuit element is specified
and, more importantly, how the various
options and special commands are used.
There are also good examples that show
how to model various circuit components
such as a power transformer by using a
combination of elements and commands.
The commands cover all the Spice dot
commands in addition to Fourier, MonteCarlo, and sensitivity analysis. Although
this section is a very good introduction to
the basics of PSpice, the reader may also
want to review some of the recommended
reading referenced in the book.
The second part of the book focuses
on modeling power electronics. It covers
rectifiers, DC-DC converters, inverters
(pulse width modulated, resonant-pulse,
voltage-zero switching), AC voltage controllers, and other control applications
(Op-Amp control circuits and signal conditioning circuits). These examples show
77
how to model many commonly used power electronic components and conversion
circuits. The reader could easily apply
these examples to their own work to make
complete PSpice models. Many of the examples show how to model various types
of power electronic components such as
IGBTs, thyristors, and high-power diodes
and other higher-power components. Using component manufacturer’s device
data and the methods shown in this book
allow the reader to be able to create accurate circuit models and to optimize their
own circuit.
The final section pertains to characteristics of DC motors, induction motors, and simulation errors. This small but
practical section of the book shows the
fundamental theory of motors and how to
model the motor in PSpice. The material
on simulation errors contains excellent
advice on the little details in PSpice that
are important when higher currents and
voltages are being used in power electronics and other higher-power circuits.
Making the recommended adjustments to
default parameters and inserting certain
components to prevent convergence problems can prevent many difficulties commonly encountered with PSpice, especially at higher current and voltage levels.
Electrical engineering students, especially those with a power engineering
interest, will find this book very helpful
for validating circuit designs. Electrical
engineers will also find this book useful
as a concise reference source for PSpice
simulation examples for various power
electronic circuit examples. It could also
be used as a supplemental textbook in
an undergraduate electrical engineering
course, since it has problems listed at the
end of each chapter and is a very good instructional resource book.
Practical Reliability
Engineering, 5th Edition
P. D. T. O’Connor and A. Kleyner
John Wiley & Sons
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
Phone: (877) 762-2974
Fax: (800) 597-3299
http://www.wiley.com
ISBN 978-0-470-97981-5
502 pp., $79.95 (Softcover), 2012
78
Reliability is very important, especially in consumer and safety markets, where
it is demanded. Generally, reliable products demand a higher value or perceived
value such as seen in the automotive industry where reliability can be used to
market products and gain customer share
and loyalty. Improvements in product
reliability can be a market differentiator
driving new sales growth. Thus, reliability engineering is a very important part
of product design and needs to be considered in the product design process. This
book provides a practical introduction to
reliability engineering with the emphasis on practical applications of solutions
with mathematical theory limited to that
needed for the solution of the types of
problems covered. This book is suitable
for engineers or managers who deal with
quality control and product reliability
who need immediate solutions to their reliability process.
The book begins with an excellent description of what reliability engineering is
all about—why products fail, the probability of failure, failure patterns, standards
used to access reliability, and other fundamental areas. This lays the foundation for
the remainder of the book, which covers
various methods used to generate reliability statistics. Some of these methods
include life data analysis, Monte Carlo
simulation, load-strength interference,
life prediction methods, and design for
reliability (mechanical, electronics, software). There are also testing methods described—design of experiments, analysis
of variance, and extensive testing methods
described. These test methods provide a
basis for performing the necessary experiments to obtain the required information
to determine product failure modes and
life under accelerated life conditions.
There are many examples that show how
the theory can be applied to practical situations. The numerous appendices contain
values and tables used in various reliability analyses as well as a typical table for
corrective action reporting.
One of the appealing aspects of this
book, besides being very application oriented, is its coverage of not only the reliability of mechanical systems but also
electronics and materials. Its broad coverage will appeal to a wide audience, and
because it contains many practical ex-
amples, the book can be put to immediate
use since each chapter is self-contained
and does not rely on preceding chapters.
The Science of Energy
R. G. Newton
World Scientific Publishing Co. Ltd.
27 Warren Street
Suite 401-402
Hackensack, NJ 07601
Phone: (201) 487-9655
Fax: (201) 487-9656
http://www.worldscientific.com
ISBN 978-981-4401-19-7
109 pp., $14 (Softcover), 2012
Energy sustains life as we know it.
The earth receives virtually all its energy
from the sun, but there are many other
forms of energy on earth such as fossil
fuels and chemical, nuclear, and electrical energy that are used to perform work.
This book nicely describes the scientific
aspects of the concept of energy in a
language understandable to readers with
no scientific background. It starts with a
layman’s description of the fundamental
laws of energy conservation and explains
various forms of energy including chemical, electric, and nuclear. The author goes
on to describe ways in which energy can
be stored for a relatively long time frame
(i.e., petroleum, gas, and coal) or for short
periods of time in flywheels, batteries,
pumped storage, fuel cells, and liquid hydrogen. Modes of transporting energy are
also touched upon, especially optical and
electrical energy using lasers and transmission lines, respectively.
Quantum mechanics is also described
to present an altered view of energy and
discrete energy levels. There is also some
discussion on the development of the universe from the time of the big bang and
how this form changed from pure radiation to the creation of the chemical elements in the world.
This informative, quick read will
give the reader simple explanations and
an overview of the various major forms
of energy and how energy is stored and
transported. It is even more interesting
for those with a scientific background because it provides simple explanations on
complex topics that many of us maybe
familiar but have never really studied or
have forgotten about over time. It is also
IEEE Electrical Insulation Magazine
filled with background on many famous
scientists and various other historical
facts and certainly makes for interesting
and enjoyable reading.
Handbook of Dielectric
and Thermal Properties of
Materials at
Microwave Frequencies
V. V. Komarov
Artech House
685 Canton Street
Norwood, MA 02062
Phone: (800) 225-9977
Fax: (781) 769-6334
www.artechhouse.com
ISBN 978-1-60807-529-4
182 pp., $99.00 (Hardcover), 2012
The complex dielectric permittivity
of materials can provide a measure of
material behavior when it interacts with
electromagnetic radiation or more specifically how the material is affected by
an electric field and its effect on an electric field. The permittivity of a material
describes how much electric field (more
correctly, flux) is “generated” per unit
charge in that material. More electric flux
exists in a material with a high permittivity due to polarization effects. Permittivity is directly related to electric susceptibility, which is a measure of how easily a
dielectric material polarizes in response
to an electric field. Thus, permittivity relates to a material’s ability to transmit (or
November/December — Vol. 29, No. 6
“permit”) an electric field. The response
of materials to external fields generally
depends on the frequency of the field.
This frequency dependence reflects the
fact that a material’s polarization does
not respond instantaneously to an applied
field. Thus permittivity can be represented by a real and imaginary part, which is
a function of the angular frequency of the
applied field.
The static permittivity is a good approximation for alternating fields of low
frequencies, and as the frequency increases, a measurable phase difference occurs
between D and E. The frequency at which
the phase shift becomes noticeable depends on temperature and the properties
of the material with ε′ the real part of the
permittivity, which is related to the stored
energy within the medium, and ε″ the
imaginary part of the permittivity, which
is related to the dissipation (or loss) of energy within the medium.
Many items in use today are exposed to
microwaves including food, medical applications, and materials processing. This
handbook is a compilation of dielectric
and thermal properties of microwavable
materials as a function of temperature
and frequencies in the industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) frequencies or frequencies close to these bands. The tabular
data presented in this book are based on
food materials; biological tissues; fibrous
materials; polymers, resins, and plastics;
ceramics; soils and minerals; and pure
and composite chemical substances.
Unfortunately there are only tables
showing select values of the complex
dielectric permittivity (both real and
imaginary parts) rather than graphs over
a frequency and temperature range, but
nonetheless, these data points give the
reader a good measure of the permittivity
even if the frequency or temperature are
not the exact values desired.
Thermal data (density, heat capacity,
and thermal conductivity) for these materials are given in the form of analytical
equations, mainly polynomial expressions. These equations generally agree
with experimental data presented but, in
some cases, are only approximate. For
those who need to verify the source, references are provided that were used to
determine the information presented and
how it was obtained.
In addition to the tables of values, this
book provides a nice concise summary
of three different methods for measuring
complex dielectric permittivity and the
theory for temperature characterization
all in one convenient handbook. And for
those who model dielectric media, need
to determine material heating rates at certain frequencies, or just need to know a
material property at a certain temperature
and frequency, this book is an excellent
place to start.
79