Young innovators: No need to blow your fuse, use a load controller
COMSATS students build country’s first electronic load controller for micro-hydro power plants.
The inventors claimed the machine would end the country’s dependence on costly imported load controllers. PHOTO: MUHAMMAD SADAQAT/EXPRESS
ABBOTTABAD:
Perturbed by frequent power fluctuations which destroy consumer electronics, four students from COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad have taken matters into their own hands. They have invented the country’s first electronic load controller (ELC) for micro-hydro power plants (MHPP).
The young inventors, final year students in COMSATS’ Electrical Power Engineering Department, Sana Sardar, Hammad Saeed Jadoon, Hammad Rafique Swati and Muhammad Omar claim the machine would end the country’s dependence on costly imported load controllers. ELCs will save millions of rupees in foreign exchange, they said.
Talking to The Express Tribune, the group explained they visited different parts of upper Hazara and Gilgit-Baltistan under their teacher Dr Abdul Rasheed’s supervision, and found the MHPP’s supplying electricity to consumers had no controlling mechanism.
“As a result, a lot of voltage fluctuation occurs, and whenever voltage crosses 220 volts, consumers’ electrical appliances get damaged,” said Jadoon.
He added even MHPP owners were confronting problems.
“Without a load controller, electricity generation is a very time-consuming process and also causes immense losses,” explained Jadoon.
Upon the group’s return, they conducted a brainstorming session and prepared a proposal for making an ELC.
“The Directorate of Science & Technology Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa approved the project and allocated Rs500,000. After a seven-month-long effort we succeeded in inventing an ELC at a cost of Rs160,000,” said Jadoon.
Salient features
“The single phase version of the machine is called Electronic Load Controller Version 1 and has the capacity of 5 kilovolts (kvs),” stated Jadoon.
The ELC will stabilise the power supply to the end user, saving their devices from damage along with ensuring safety to the power generator.
“If a village is using 20kv and the turbine is generating 30kv, the surplus power supply would be automatically diverted to heaters which have a capacity of 1,000 watts.”
Fellow inventor Sana Sardar said consumers could also enjoy the facility of electric geysers; something which will be possible automatically once power supply becomes surplus in their specific locality.
“Our ELC’s market price is Rs200,000, while MHPP owners in some areas have imported ELCs from European countries at a cost of Rs1.2 million,” said Sardar. Hammad Swati maintained their invention was also easier to operate.
Swati added they intended to develop an ELC Version II which would have a three phase capacity and a GSM messaging system for consumers to inform them if the load in the area is reduced or exceeding.
“Over 1,500 MHPPs are installed across Kaghan, Naran, Kohistan, Gilgit and Chitral. Since the K-P government is encouraging small hydropower plants instead of big dams, our machine would be in high demand in days to come, said Muhammad Omar.
“At the moment, we can manufacture 10-12 units of ELCs in a month,” said Omar.
However, he maintained financial support of the government was imperative for the sustainability of their project.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2013.
Perturbed by frequent power fluctuations which destroy consumer electronics, four students from COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad have taken matters into their own hands. They have invented the country’s first electronic load controller (ELC) for micro-hydro power plants (MHPP).
The young inventors, final year students in COMSATS’ Electrical Power Engineering Department, Sana Sardar, Hammad Saeed Jadoon, Hammad Rafique Swati and Muhammad Omar claim the machine would end the country’s dependence on costly imported load controllers. ELCs will save millions of rupees in foreign exchange, they said.
Talking to The Express Tribune, the group explained they visited different parts of upper Hazara and Gilgit-Baltistan under their teacher Dr Abdul Rasheed’s supervision, and found the MHPP’s supplying electricity to consumers had no controlling mechanism.
“As a result, a lot of voltage fluctuation occurs, and whenever voltage crosses 220 volts, consumers’ electrical appliances get damaged,” said Jadoon.
He added even MHPP owners were confronting problems.
“Without a load controller, electricity generation is a very time-consuming process and also causes immense losses,” explained Jadoon.
Upon the group’s return, they conducted a brainstorming session and prepared a proposal for making an ELC.
“The Directorate of Science & Technology Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa approved the project and allocated Rs500,000. After a seven-month-long effort we succeeded in inventing an ELC at a cost of Rs160,000,” said Jadoon.
Salient features
“The single phase version of the machine is called Electronic Load Controller Version 1 and has the capacity of 5 kilovolts (kvs),” stated Jadoon.
The ELC will stabilise the power supply to the end user, saving their devices from damage along with ensuring safety to the power generator.
“If a village is using 20kv and the turbine is generating 30kv, the surplus power supply would be automatically diverted to heaters which have a capacity of 1,000 watts.”
Fellow inventor Sana Sardar said consumers could also enjoy the facility of electric geysers; something which will be possible automatically once power supply becomes surplus in their specific locality.
“Our ELC’s market price is Rs200,000, while MHPP owners in some areas have imported ELCs from European countries at a cost of Rs1.2 million,” said Sardar. Hammad Swati maintained their invention was also easier to operate.
Swati added they intended to develop an ELC Version II which would have a three phase capacity and a GSM messaging system for consumers to inform them if the load in the area is reduced or exceeding.
“Over 1,500 MHPPs are installed across Kaghan, Naran, Kohistan, Gilgit and Chitral. Since the K-P government is encouraging small hydropower plants instead of big dams, our machine would be in high demand in days to come, said Muhammad Omar.
“At the moment, we can manufacture 10-12 units of ELCs in a month,” said Omar.
However, he maintained financial support of the government was imperative for the sustainability of their project.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 29th, 2013.