Prof. Dr. Heinrich Brakelmann | Power Transmission and Storage
Personal Details
Professor Heinrich Brakelmann, VDE/CIGRE, Institute for Energy Transport and Storage at the Faculty of Engineering Sciences at the University of Duisburg-Essen. His main field of research are power cable technologies (ETG-award in 1982). He studied electrotechnique at the Technical University of Aachen (degree in 1971), where he wrote his doctoral thesis about circuit-breakers in 1973. In the following years, he worked for Felten & Guilleaume Energietechnik AG in Cologne, as the head of an R&D unit, engaged in power cable problems. In 1977, he took over the position as chief engineer at the University of Duisburg. Having received his habilitation in 1985, he was elected as a full professor in 1994. During most of these years, he was a member of the German working groups AK 411.1.1 and CIGRE WG21-02 (current ratings of cables). He is currently a member of AK CIGRE SC 21 (cables), CIGRE-WG B1-05 ("Transients affecting long cables") and CIGRE WG B1.23 ("Impact of EMF on Current Ratings and Cables"). He has authored more than 140 technical publications and published three books in the field of cable technique, as well as high-voltage and high-current problems. Dr. Brakelmann was involved as a consultant in numerous important cable projects. His current areas of interest include the design of on- and offshore cable routes, as well as the ecological implications of sediment heating by cables and their magnetic fields.
Teaching
The Chair offers courses for diploma, bachelor and master studies in the fundamentals of electrical energy technologies, high voltage engineering, electromagnetic compatibility, devices for power transmission, technologies for electric and magnetic highly stressed equipments etc. There are also laboratories offered by the chair, e.g. a laboratory in high voltage engineering.
Research
The Chair of Power Transmission and Storage professionally deals with a wide spectrum of topics, not only dealing with classical energy technology, but also drawing on neighbouring disciplines such as communications technology. One focus is power line communication (PLC), which transfers information through power supply lines.
The EMV is not only important for communication systems, but also for energy transmission systems. Moreover, in the vehicle area, where the consequences of unwanted influences are very dangerous, EMV is also taken seriously. The Chair does significant work in this field.
More and more modern technologies have entered the field of classical energy technology. Even in supposedly simple equipment, such as open wire cable and its operational management, huge development potential still exists. Thus, an autarkic working temperature measurement system that permits a stronger and, above all, safer utilization will be developed by the Chair. With precise knowledge of the temperature, the full potential lying within energy routes can then be used. In cooperation with industry, the developed lab pattern will be advanced to a system suited for industry.
The high-voltage laboratory of the Chair for Power Transmission and Storage has been accredited as a testing laboratory by DATech and is in accordance with ISO 17025. The University of Duisburg-Essen is thus one of three universities in Germany with a facility of this kind. The installed load, in particular, permits the performance of high-voltage and high-current experiments involving even longer cable lines.
Selected recent research projects have been:
- Ultra Wide Band Technology for Power Line Communications
- EMV of Power Line Communications
- PLC for Energy-Service
- EMC Modelling
- Ground Design
- Temperature sensors for high-voltage Power Lines
- New energy transmission technologies, as bipolar cable systems
- Design of bulk power cable systems
- Modelling of electromagnetic and thermal fields in high voltage applications
- Modelling of transient over-voltages
The Chair cooperates closely with companies such as EMC Test NRW GmbH, Power Plus Communications AG, NKT cables GmbH, Schniewindt GmbH and others.